Lake update

Looks like we might have feed you some slightly optimistic information. Indian Lake has lowered approximately 9” which brings the pool elevation to roughly 2279.25.

I will keep you posted.

Brief report on lake.

As of this morning the lake is down 13".

The valve has been opened since Friday, however we have had rain. I was just down lakeside on my property and water is flowing across my land into the lake like I have never seen it before. I am sure this is normal around the lake at present.

Lake drawdown

For your information, following is a copy of an email received this AM. Despite a few hiccups, we are proceeding with the 3 foot drawdown as previously advised. This should give you a better idea of timing.

"FYI commencing this Friday, March 26, Indian Lake will open their valve to drop the lake 3 feet. This is being done as requested by DEP so we can measure discharges from the lake at a lower water level. Please note, this is not a safety problem. Frankly, with the snow melt and rainfall that occurred on the weekend of March 13, the lake filled much faster than we wanted. The plan was to bring the lake back up slowly so we could monitor the flows/water levels in the flumes and piezometers as the lake filled.

Depending on the weather, it may take up two weeks to drop Indian Lake the 3 feet DEP is requesting. The lake will then be held at that level for 1 week, after which the lake will be refilled.

The discharge from Indian lake will create a raise in the pool level of Lake Stonycreek – (note: in the fall when Indian Lake lowered, the raise in Lake Stonycreek was about 1 foot). CME will be monitoring both the drop in Indian Lake and the level in Lake Stonycreek. If anyone sees a problem, please notify me. Thanks."

The above from Sean Isgan, President of CME, the Borough's Engineering Consultants. A big thanks to Sean and Theresa, our Borough Manager, for all they did to facilitate this.

Safety

There is a lot of floating and semi-submerged debris in our lake due to the drawdown.

Already there are reports of a kayak, a paddle boat, and a jet ski on the lake!

My personal recommendation would be to stay off the lake with any powered craft at this time. Hitting some submerged , or semi-submerged debris could be very dangerous, even fatal.

So a word to the wise, Be Careful out there.

More news about lake level

Well I hope you enjoyed Spring at Indian Lake. The temperature right now is 35 and we have been having snow off and on today. The only thing more fluid around here is dam news.

At least the naysayers, those who were sure the lake would never refill, are now silent. Now there are those who had work scheduled for this Spring and the water has come up too fast for their projects, and let's not forget the DEP.

There has been a lot of scuttlebutt about lowering the lake to accommodate each group, however only one of the entities has the power. Our Lake Draw Down Permit expired March 15, 2010. History tells us that it takes at least 30 days to obtain a permit. However, yesterday the DEP - Dam Safety instructed us to lower the lake three (3) feet, commencing this Friday, and holding the lake at -3 feet (2277 +/-) for a week. Then to bring it up one foot at a time.

So those with Spring projects will have a small window of opportunity.

Lake level, opening of the valve

I apologize but I am away for a week at Myrtle Beach, but not out of touch.

It looks very much like the valve will need to be opened, but this is still in flux.

I view the situation as a "catch 22". The DEP wanted us to slowly fill the lake so as to allow the dam to be slowly saturated. This was for safety reasons and to watch the water flows through the dam itself. The storm and snow melt precluded their plan.

They have now requested that the "pool be lowered and held at an elevation approximately one foot below the spillway approach elevation. This will allow the approach channel to remain dewatered and allow for better monitoring of the flow coming through Flume #4. (a device for measuring water flow through a specific area) Once the snow has had a chance to melt and the flumes rates have stabilized, the pool can continue to be filled." One concern is adding more water to Lake Stonecreek, which is above normal pool level and incurring damage to docks.

Discussions are ongoing today with DEP.

I will keep you posted as I learn of developments.

Service Corp.

The annual Service Corp. Meeting and Town Hall is scheduled for May 15th, 10:00 AM at Shanksville High School.

Fireworks are scheduled for Saturday July 3rd, rain date the following Saturday.

You will receive much more on these events as their times approach.

Now your tired, overwork, Blogger shuts down for a week for some R & R.

Dam

The grouting is complete as of yesterday. All that remains to be done on this Phase of the project is to remove the equipment (on going), some regrading and landscaping, which will wait until the Spring.

The cost for this Phase will be lower than contracted! Less grout was required than was estimated. Both Howard Concrete and CME are to be congratulated for their professional work despite adverse weather conditions.

The lake is currently down about 15 feet. The refilling will have to be regulated by opening our drain valve. The DEP does not want the earthen dam filled too rapidly. They require a plan so that the soil will be rewetted and stabilized slowly to prevent failure. Also we must watch that ice flows do not damage docks around the lake. There is also concern about flooding in areas of the lake's watershed, Indian Lake can absorb some of the area's snow melt and regulate downstream flows.

There will be plenty of water to refill our lake, just don't expect it to be done by Monday.

Just an FYI, once the lake is at normal pool level, the divers will return to adjust the new sluice gate valve. At the same time it's hydraulic system well be reworked.

Court Hearing 2/5/2010

On Friday a hearing was held in Somerset Court on a request for a monetary Bond by St. Clair Construction due to an appeal filed by attorney Ging on behalf of Mary Jo Takacs. The appeal was of a court decision upholding an Indian Lake Zoning Hearing Board decision which upheld an Indian Lake Council decision regarding construct of condominiums by St. Clair Construction. Yes you read that correctly, there have already been 3 decisions on the matter! Even though this request for the bond was filed by St. Clair Construction, which was represented by their attorney, the Borough and the Zoning Hearing Board were also represented by their respective attorneys. It was alleged by St. Clair Construction that the appeal filling was frivolous and intended only to delay St. Clair Construction's developments.

After hearing from all attorneys. and allowing for rebuttal by all attorneys, the judge ruled in favor of St. Clair Construction and ordered a Bond in the amount of $380,000 be put up by the plaintiff within 10 days.

Summation:

If this Bond is not posted within the 10 days, then the appeal is rendered null and void. Doing away with this appeal will not just be great news for St. Clair Construction, but also for the Borough. It is significant that the Judge only allowed 10 days rather than 30 days, and in his ruling stressed Rule 1023.1 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, concern frivolous suites, which allows for court ordered sanctions including having the plaintiff libel for all legal and court costs.

Please note, this summation is the opinion of a lay person trying to interpret the legal jargon.

Visit to the Dam 3/3/2010

Let me tell you, walking on the face of the dam with several feet of wet snow is no picnic. The good news is that I fell, well went down on one knee, only once. Our contractor, Howard Concrete, and our engineering firm, CME, are working in some difficult situations, and doing a fine job. The bad news, there is none.

I met Sean Isgan ('our' engineer), President of CME, and Joe Schultz, Consulting Geologist for the PADEP at the sight. Joe's visit was more of a courtesy visit than anything else. Sean did run several decisions past Joe and asked for him opinion and/or approval. Joe approved of the planning to finish this phase of the project. Joe seemed more than pleased with our progress and plans.

If the weather holds and a little luck we will be done by next Friday (March 12th) with this phase, except for some regrading and seeding.

Dam Update as of February 26, 2010

This Post is rather length because it is my first full report of status. Future reports should take less of your time to digest. As always, if you have questions, ask.
The story continues to be the weather. The contractor did get some valuable work done this week but was shut down on Friday due to our latest blast of snow. Now valuable time must be spent digging out.
On the Dam breast- all of the primary hole have been drilled, these are the 'planned holes'. All but one have been completely grouted. In excess of 3500 cubic yards of grout have been used to date.
As holes are grouted, the engineers and contractor decide upon secondary hole locations due to the quantity of grout a primary hole takes, or does not take.
There are currently 9 secondary holes to be drilled and grouted.
A grout 'curtain' is also being place across the spillway. Two rows of holes have been drilled and grouted. A few holes in the center of the two rows will be pressure tested when work restarts. If pressure holds, we're done, if not we will have to drill and grout a center row. To date 211 cubic yards of grout have been used.
When drilling and grouting are completed, a construction report and engineering certificated need to be submitted to the PADEP. Anticipated end of March submittal.
After the lake returns to normal level, divers will need to come back and adjust the new sluice gate valve. There is also some work to be done on the hydraulic system for opening and closing this valve at the same time.
After some reseeding, this phase will be completed.
The engineering has started for the final phase of the remediation project, but more on that at a later date.