The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has required that we
file an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) on or before January 1, 2011.
Part of the EAP is An inundation map showing the at risk houses. This is
also part of the Hydrologic and Hydraulic Analysis (H&H) which is also
required to develop the Plans & Specifications (P&S) for the dam repair.
http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/assets/public/compliance/field_ops/damsafety/gi-
394.doc
Below are the links for all of the relevant documents.
Original 2005 Inspection Report
Revised 2009 Inspection Report
Some background documents
Hydrologic and Hydraulic Guidelines for Dams in Texas
Guidelines For Operation And Maintenance Of Dams In Texas
Ryan Larson is a newly elected board member, replacing Jeff Neuenschwander
who decided not to run again at this point. Kay Davis and Daryl Tschoepe
were re-elected, and will be returning to the board for another term.
Thanks to all who attended, and we'll be posting up more info from the
meeting soon.
In fact, even the normal seepage you'd expect from an earthen dam has now
dried up. In May we had the same professional engineer that did the
original report in 2005 just come out to review and update that report, and
he found no evidence of leakage either.
We have only had 25% of our average rainfall so far this year. Coupled
with 40+ days of over 100° temperatures and the evaporation is far above
normal. You may have heard that Lake Travis is down 28 FEET from normal
July levels, and the last boat ramp will probably soon be closed as it is
supposed to be shut down at 640 feet, and the lake is currently at 637! We
are in a drought of a severity that hasn't been seen since the 50's, and we
may come close to the 1903 number! A true hundred year drought.
The LCRA says that Lake Travis is currently losing about two inches a week
due to evaporation, and that is a much colder and deeper body of water. Our
lake will evaporate faster and faster as it's average temperature rises.
Many of the small tanks and ponds in the neighborhood have been dry since
the early part of the year. If the 100° days and no rain continues, the
large lake may well follow them.
As far as recovering the lake level, I'd say we will operate on the same
plan that the LCRA is using to recover the highland lakes. We need rain,
lots of rain.
A leak is not the issue with our dam.
Now, what work the dam does need in order to meet Texas Commission of
Environmental Quality guidelines is more spillway, ironically enough. Far
from a leak, the problem is we don¹t have enough spillway area to safely
pass floodwaters without failing and the plan and costs to get in
compliance will be a major topic of discussion at the annual meeting. The
hydrological engineer who has done all of the research on our dam will be
there as well, so I'd encourage you to attend. He will also be the project
manager if we decide to fund the repairs, so he should be able to provide as
detailed an answer as is currently possible to your questions.
Keep your eyes peeled!
A version of the deed restrictions that you can actually search, and even
copy and paste. This should make it much easier to find information, and
it's actually readable as well.
Click on any of the homeowner, builder, buyer or restriction buttons at the
top of the website, and you'll see the "searchable version" button
underneath the button for the original scanned version.
First, there are only two trees too large to take out by "amateurs". Both
will need to be trimmed back some, but both can be left for now.
One is a big mesquite close to the road that is already dying. It needs to
be trimmed, but it might get bulldozed as part of building the second
spillway anyway, so just trimming it up for now is fine.
The second is surrounded by poison ivy, it's in the middle of the clump or
trees and brush in the narrow part of the dam. For sure it will probably
need to be professionally removed and backfilled, eventually. It makes
sense to do this when the berm is built and the fill work is done, although
it too needs to be trimmed and have the underbrush around it removed.
All the other brush and vegetation can be removed.
The biggest change is that with the current TCEQ requirements, a second
spillway needs to flow much less water than what was required in 2005. As a
result, it doesn't need to be another concrete one. Some fiberglass mat
compound that grass grows up and through to make it erosion resistant can be
laid on the ground and seeded. So essentially a small area can be bulldozed
next to the road and this stuff laid down and the second spillway is done.
Net result is the new estimate will probably be in the $100-110,000 range
for ALL the work that needs to be done (assuming we can get some volunteers
for the clean up of the slope and existing spillway).
There's advantages to working during a recession apparently.
This is a big enough savings that I think we need to look into getting a
loan to do the work now.
If you're interested, feel free to attend. Bring gloves, their may be work
involved ;-)
The fence damage from last years storm has been repaired.
Mowing around the entire fence line has been completed, and that is now a
regularly scheduled event.
Gate to the park has been sanded and repainted by neighborhood volunteers,
saving money.
Estimates to replace and/or upgrade all of the neighborhoods signage is now
being worked up by a Georgetown vendor.
Dock repairs (and possibly painting) will also soon be undertaken by
volunteers. The underlying structure is sound, there is just some vandalism
to the railings that needs to be repaired. A coat of white paint will
really make it pop. So if you want to participate, watch here for the date.
We will soon have a PE come out and inspect the dam to determine what trees
we can remove versus what will have to be professionally removed. Once that
is done, we will again be having a volunteer day to remove some of the
brush. Also, that will be the day we do some spillway maintenance. So if
you'd like to help, and save us all some money in the process, watch for the
date!
The 47 to 16 vote was enormously important. It allows the Property Owners
Association (POA) to start operating on a firm financial footing again. In
2009 we will be operating in the positive for the first time since 2005!
This gives us the ability to continue to vigorously enforce the ACC
restrictions on new construction, and also to step up routine maintenance
and landscaping that has been restricted in the past due to funding
shortfalls. It will also allow the POA to stop dipping into capital
reserves for normal operations.
All in all, a very important vote, and we'd like to thank the membership for
recognizing that an increase was long overdue to insure the the POA can
continue to function and look after the best interests of our community.
Not entirely unexpected, as many of the estimates were rougher than you¹d
hope for numbers of that size. But pulling vendors out here to provide
detailed numbers has proved difficult for the board, especially on short
notice. But as noted on one of the ballots, "Real Budget Numbers" will be
acquired before the next vote on the issue.
Another comment that came up in relation to the issue was "We need to look
into allowing homeowners perform volunteer maintenance: installation of
sprinklers and fence repair, etc." This is a great concept, and one that
would certainly be more cost effective. There is nothing that prevents
property owners from doing any of the needed work. While it won't be
discounted, we do have to face the reality that in the past when calls for
action have gone out, the response has been less than stellar. That doesn't
mean it won't work out, but if we look at history we can't really count on
volunteer labor for critical tasks. Of course, it would be great if this changed!
Apparently there was some discussion amongst owners about a slight rise in
the maintenance charge over the next two years, as "We need to increase
annual by $60 per year for 2 years" was on several ballots. While this
would certainly be better than no additional funds at all, and would raise
over $13,000 by the end of the second year, it wouldn't be enough to fund
either the fence or new signage in the first year, or probably even by the
end of the second year. So even if the repairs could be done for that
amount you'd be talking about either leaving signage down or the fence
broken up for two years waiting to raise the funds. This doesn't really seem
to be what most people want according to the surveys, as broken signage and
busted up fences don't really contribute to the neighborhood or to our
property values. This would also push out the window for addressing the
dam, which is something the Board would like to do in the 2010 budget cycle.
You can expect to see this issue come up again, although next time it should
be with some firmer numbers and a range of pricing. It needs to be done
faster than two or three years out.
Re-elected to the board are Ed Smith and Kathy Schnautz.
Still serving out the remainders of their terms are Kay Davis, Jeff
Neuenschwander and Daryl Tschoepe.
