NC State Mandated Dam Rehab
Donation protected
My name is David Samonds.
I am raising money to help offset the cost of the State Mandated repairs to our dam. I need to be able to pay the engineers and the contractor for the work done to and for the dam. They are ready to break ground on the dam.
A little back ground story. This property was my parent’s property. Because of the area it is in, it afforded them a sanctuary in the city of Charlotte. My mom always wanted to do something to preserver the property as a sanctuary for the many water fowl that call the pond home. The pond is known by the state as a farm pond as it is not that large and has a simple structure. When my mom passed away my wife and I were able to purchase the house from the family trust both for the affordability to us since we already had equity in the property, but also to be able to preserve the land like my mother wanted. Little did I know what the state had instore for us. The City of Charlotte had surveyed the pond to see if it qualified for them to take over the maintenance of the dam since it is part of the storm water runoff. They decided that it was in good shape and that it did not need any upgrades so they did not need to take over the care of the dam. Well, all the data and survey information was given to the NC Department of Natural Resources. They used it to determine the rating of the dam and rated it as High Hazard. This does not speak to the structure of the dam, it is based on what could happen if in a hundred year flood event, the dam were to be over topped, started to fail and failed catastrophically. Now to have this rating, not only does our dam have to fail, but the dam below us would have to catastrophically fail at the same time. The City did take over the dam below us and rebuilt it to the tune of $250,000.00 and they oversized everything so it could control anything that were to happen if our dam were to fail. The state does not take that into account. Because it is rated High Hazard the state has jurisdiction over it. If it was rated intermediate they would not because the pond is not large enough. They do not like the material that the spill way pipes are made of and the fact that there is not a bottom drain in case we would need to drain the pond for repairs or any other reason. So we were given two options, have an engineering firm draw up plans that need to be approved by the state and have the repairs done by a qualified contractor or face $450.00 a day fine for not having it done. The only bright side is they are not forcing us to rebuild it like the city did for the dam below us. Especially because that cost is greater than the value of our house. And because the value of our house is not that large, the second mortgage we have taken does not cover the full cost of the repair and all the engineering cost. And frankly, we are at the point of having to sell everything we own just to get out from under the debt this has caused us.
FEMA was mandated to help the dam owners in Columbia, SC for any state mandated repairs to their dams after the flooding there. For us there is no agency available to help pay for this repair. We are often asked by family and friends about why we would not just breach the dam and get rid of the headache. The short term cost of that is even greater than the repair of the dam and the state would be fully involved in that as well. And when you walk out in the backyard in the morning when the city is still quiet and see a Great Blue Heroin walking the water’s edge looking for food, it just makes you want to keep this sanctuary in the city for the water fowl that call it home. So that is why I humble myself to reach out and ask for any assistance you might be able to offer to help us pay for this unexpected expense.
I am raising money to help offset the cost of the State Mandated repairs to our dam. I need to be able to pay the engineers and the contractor for the work done to and for the dam. They are ready to break ground on the dam.
A little back ground story. This property was my parent’s property. Because of the area it is in, it afforded them a sanctuary in the city of Charlotte. My mom always wanted to do something to preserver the property as a sanctuary for the many water fowl that call the pond home. The pond is known by the state as a farm pond as it is not that large and has a simple structure. When my mom passed away my wife and I were able to purchase the house from the family trust both for the affordability to us since we already had equity in the property, but also to be able to preserve the land like my mother wanted. Little did I know what the state had instore for us. The City of Charlotte had surveyed the pond to see if it qualified for them to take over the maintenance of the dam since it is part of the storm water runoff. They decided that it was in good shape and that it did not need any upgrades so they did not need to take over the care of the dam. Well, all the data and survey information was given to the NC Department of Natural Resources. They used it to determine the rating of the dam and rated it as High Hazard. This does not speak to the structure of the dam, it is based on what could happen if in a hundred year flood event, the dam were to be over topped, started to fail and failed catastrophically. Now to have this rating, not only does our dam have to fail, but the dam below us would have to catastrophically fail at the same time. The City did take over the dam below us and rebuilt it to the tune of $250,000.00 and they oversized everything so it could control anything that were to happen if our dam were to fail. The state does not take that into account. Because it is rated High Hazard the state has jurisdiction over it. If it was rated intermediate they would not because the pond is not large enough. They do not like the material that the spill way pipes are made of and the fact that there is not a bottom drain in case we would need to drain the pond for repairs or any other reason. So we were given two options, have an engineering firm draw up plans that need to be approved by the state and have the repairs done by a qualified contractor or face $450.00 a day fine for not having it done. The only bright side is they are not forcing us to rebuild it like the city did for the dam below us. Especially because that cost is greater than the value of our house. And because the value of our house is not that large, the second mortgage we have taken does not cover the full cost of the repair and all the engineering cost. And frankly, we are at the point of having to sell everything we own just to get out from under the debt this has caused us.
FEMA was mandated to help the dam owners in Columbia, SC for any state mandated repairs to their dams after the flooding there. For us there is no agency available to help pay for this repair. We are often asked by family and friends about why we would not just breach the dam and get rid of the headache. The short term cost of that is even greater than the repair of the dam and the state would be fully involved in that as well. And when you walk out in the backyard in the morning when the city is still quiet and see a Great Blue Heroin walking the water’s edge looking for food, it just makes you want to keep this sanctuary in the city for the water fowl that call it home. So that is why I humble myself to reach out and ask for any assistance you might be able to offer to help us pay for this unexpected expense.
Organizer
David Samonds
Organizer
Charlotte, NC