Path around lake will close so site prep work can begin

Residents will soon see construction work underway on Huddleston Pond, as contractor crews will be reworking the dam area, replacing the spillpipe and performing other safety and aesthetic upgrades.

Construction on the project should start sometime near the end of October, according to City Engineer David Borkowski.

And now the city is preparing to close the path around the lake so silt fencing can be erected and other site prep work can take place, city officials said.

The project is being funded out of the city’s stormwater program.

The lake’s level has been lowered for quite some time after problems were discovered with the spillpipe, creating the possibility that the dam could be breached and send a massive amount of water downstream. City crews worked with assistance from the city’s Water and Sewer Authority in a bid to temporarily fix the spillpipe, but there was no way to make it work.

Meanwhile the pond’s level has been low for more than a year and city council members have gotten an earful from residents complaining about the length of time to get the repairs underway. Part of the delay has been chalked up to the need for two separate environmental permits: one from Georgia officials and one from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Another small reason contributing to the delay paid off: a wait for soil testing showed the city will be able to re-use soil at the site instead of trucking new soil in, saving approximately $100,000 Borkowski has estimated.

The dam’s structural problems were initially found in March 2006.

The new dam will have a slope that’s less steep than the current dam, which will allow the area closer to the lake to be mowed. The city will also have to remove some trees from the dam area because they were part of the problem that led to the spillpipe degradation.

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