Hello, Collar City! This is Issue 10, dated Nov. 16, 2018.



It snowed! I've changed the banner accordingly. This issue of TL features an update on the Mt. Ida Lake Dam saga, a dispatch from the sentencing of two ex-cops, a list of pending city property sales, and more. Plenty of conversational fodder for Thanksgiving, I'd say!



Please remember to keep me apprised of the things you'd like me to be apprised of. I recently bought a paper planner that's the size of a phone book (I didn't know it was that large when I ordered it) and I'm very eager to pencil in any/all events that you think might be newsworthy.



Last night, the city council's general services committee, which is chaired by District 5 councilmember David Bissember, held the first of what are slated to be monthly meetings on the status of the Mt. Ida Lake Dam , which the city last month announced would need to be partially deconstructed to prevent its imminent failure.Deputy mayor Monica Kurzejeski and Chris Wheland, the city’s superintendent of public utilities, provided an update on the project and answered questions about it from the council and public.Probably the biggest news is that this week the city submitted an application to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for a temporary removal permit. Wheland expects to hear back from the agency within a week. The permit's approval may have certain conditions attached, like a mandated timeline for the city to come up with a permanent solution (which, per Wheland, is T.B.D.). Deconstruction work could start as early as the first week of December.One concern for DEC about the city's initial removal proposal, since modified, involved the contractor's plan to use a "hydro shovel" to remove sediment from the structure. The shovel will still be used, but the sediment will be pumped to the shoreline into sediment bags, which hold matter as water drains out. The owners of the hydroelectric plant downstream, with whom the city is in ongoing discussions, have expressed concerns about silt getting into their equipment, Wheland said.It's possible that prior to the start of deconstruction, the city, in partnership with DEC and/or volunteers, will perform a fish catch at Ida Lake, which the city's outside engineering firm has projected will drain considerably . (The fish would be moved elsewhere.) An environmental impact study for this emergency project is not required, Wheland said, but one will need to be conducted if the city opts to permanently decommission the dam. (The city will also need to survey the land and analyze water flows.)One potential issue with the dam's partial deconstruction and the lake's attendant lowering is that tree branches and other debris might more easily get caught on the remaining, exposed wooden structure, creating something like a beaver dam. Wheland said that the city will use a backhoe or other equipment to remove that stuff, as necessary. Councilmember Anasha Cummings seemed particularly concerned, in the event of a flood, about this catching effect, and Wheland said he'd explore the matter further with the city's outside engineering firm.If the city decides to rebuild the dam, it will not be made of wood (as the current, deteriorated one is). Wheland said the structure would likely be fashioned from concrete and steel, intended to last half a century. (This would require approval from the State Historic Preservation Office.) Wooden dams no longer meet DEC standards, which were changed in 2009, Wheland said.The outside engineering firm discovered issues with the dam's spanning timbers during a kind of preparatory review for FEMA-funded work on the dam's abutments. (That work is now, obviously, on hold.) The issues were brought to the attention of DEC, which is now requiring the pending mitigation work.This is somewhat odd: The unspent FEMA funds, which total around $800K and stem from Hurricane Irene, can only be used for work on the abutments on the existing dam (and some related erosion control work); they can't be used to repair the currently problematic portion of the dam. And if the city rebuilds the dam with a different material, the money will be forfeited. But if the city decommissions the dam, those funds, pending FEMA's approval, can potentially be used for another capital project, Wheland said.There is DEC grant funding available for dam decommissioning, said Wheland, who added that, conversely, he is not aware of any state or federal funding opportunities for dam construction.There is no truth whatsoever to the persistent rumor that, once the dam is decommissioned and the pond lowers, the city intends to sell the land for development, Wheland said. "That is somebody's imagination. What is in that pond is silt and sediment...If somebody wanted to build there, it's not going to be structurally sound."Wheland said the city will soon post (and henceforth update) questions and answers on a project webpage on the city's website.: Earlier this month, WOOC's Andrew Lynn took a paddle on Ida Lake and spoke with a couple of people who live nearby