In what might be a belated Christmas present for Peachtree City, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) on Dec. 30 announced that the dam on Lake Peachtree will be classified as a Category II dam. The decision will save millions in what would have been costly upgrades as a Category I dam.
Though EPD Director Judson Turner said he did not agree with an analysis submitted by the city he said, “As a result of the Division’s ongoing review, it has been determined that the data does not fully support the reclassification of the Lake Peachtree dam at this time. Therefore the classification of the dam will remain at Category II and the letter reclassifying the dam is hereby withdrawn.”
Responding to the announcement, Mayor Vanessa Fleisch said, “This results in a savings of up to $4 million to the taxpayers and ratepayers of Fayette County over what a Category I dam overhaul would have cost. The city will work with the county on various spillway and dam repair options. While the county dredges the lake, hopefully repairs to the spillway can be made. As soon as the dredging is complete and the spillway is repaired, Lake Peachtree will be restored once again to the beautiful lake we have all come to love and enjoy.”
Fleisch noted that it was nearly a year ago that the water level of Lake Peachtree was lowered to allow homeowners along its shoreline to perform maintenance to their properties.
“During this time, while checking the dam and spillway, a city employee discovered a problem. That problem was reported to the county, who maintains the dam and spillway, and ultimately to EPD,” Fleisch said.
It was during the summer that the city and Fayette County disagreed with the EPD’s reclassification of the dam as a Category I structure and filed a legal challenge.
Fleisch said that had the city and county efforts failed and had the dam been classified at the Category I level (where a potential loss of life could result from a dam failure) it would have cost $5-7 million to upgrade it.
Since the reclassification of the dam in June, Fleisch and Council have been engaged in ongoing talks with both the county and the state in order to achieve a dialogue to get this matter resolved in a timely manner. Work on the spillway had to wait until EPD issued this final letter classifying the dam as a Category II dam, Fleisch said in a Dec. 30 press release.
