During its work session Tuesday, Aug. 4, the mayor and town commissioners heard Assistant Town Engineer Holly Miller described the plan to completely renovate the boat access at the Smith Creek Reservoir for about $800,000, money already available from last fall’s bond issues.
A new paved driveway, a parking area with spaces for 20 or 21 vehicles and three boat trailers, a refurbished boat ramp, a new floating dock with kayak launches, a new bridge to the greenway, signs, landscaping and picnic tables are included in the plan drawn up by Brandon White with Kimley-Horn Associates. “It’s a wonderful project,” he said, and residents who viewed the plan in July agreed.
The cost breaks own to $116,000 for design and permitting with construction estimated at $684,000.
The discussion about the plan got sidetracked early on into one about the liability plan for the 1960 earthen dam and who should pay for it, the town or the City of Raleigh which owns the reservoir, dam and water treatment plant under the terms of the water/sewer merger agreement. Raleigh has agreed to hand over the reservoir and dam “maybe this year,” Miller said. The town has the right to make improvements before the handoff and to permit the land and water to be used for recreation. “There’s some good fishing in there,” Miller said.
The city will retain the treatment plant for the time being, and Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell said it could be expensive when it reverts to the town. “When it comes back to us, we will have to dismantle it and demolish it” because of the chemicals in the plant. “It’s going to be expensive.”
The town plans to develop an emergency action plan and the $50,000 for the plan is already budgeted, Miller said. In the case of a catastrophic dam failure, the plan would describe who would happen, who would be impacted, who should respond and how along with how to fix or repair the damage. The plan is required by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
“I for one think they [City of Raleigh] should pay for it,” Commissioner Margaret Stinnett said.
“How much liability are we absorbing?” Commissioner Zachary Donahue asked, and Miller said the premium was $1,000, which will be added to the town’s insurance policy along with the dam at Flaherty Park.
There are some geologic and technical investigations Miller and White would like to carry out which could provide some negotiating points during discussions with Raleigh. “You would know what you’re getting,” White said.
Donahue said that if the dam and reservoir are not conveyed to the town by November or December, “they would bear the cost of the study.”
The soft trails around the reservoir, only partly built now, will connect to the greenway system. There are bridges over the streams the trails cross, but there will have to be a different solution at the dam because of the spillway. “You cannot put a bridge over the spillway because of the use,” Miller said.
