The Peachtree City Council is holding a special called meeting tonight at 6 p.m. in City Hall to consider an agreement with county officials to appeal a state ruling on Lake Peachtree.
The lake has been at a reduced level since it was drained in February to allow dock and shoreline maintenance for what was supposed to be a couple of months. During that time, problems were found with the concrete spillway and further investigation revealed a cavernous structure underneath, likely caused by erosion.
That void sparked concern that if the lake were to be refilled, the spillway could fail, causing flooding downstream. Thus, the county has left the lake almost completely unfilled as efforts are made to fix the problem.
Those efforts were complicated by a decision from state regulators last month that will almost certainly push the cost well upwards of $1 million.
The Fayette County Commission approved the agreement Thursday night, which makes the city responsible for conducting a dam breach analysis to determine what would happen downstream if the dam or spillway were to fail.
That analysis is important because the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has determined that such flooding would cause at least one death downstream if not more. Because of that ruling, the city is facing a significant upgrade to the current dam and spillway structure.
If the dam breach analysis proves that flooding from a dam breach would not endanger homes downstream, it would be good ammunition to have for convincing the state that an upgraded dam and spillway are unnecessary.
