A discussion on additional dredging for Lake Peachtree at the Nov. 6 meeting of the Peachtree City Council came with a consensus that the issue must be addressed and that the discussion should continue at the Nov. 20 meeting. At play is a dredging cost of $400,000 to $1.35 million in addition to other costs such as hauling and disposal. Meantime, the dredging of others areas of the lake by the county is expected to begin in January.
A resident with a home on the lake, Councilwoman Kim Learnard on Monday said she would not recuse herself on the dredging issue. The issue involves dredging the lake as a whole and is not geared to specifically benefitting her property, Learnard said.
County Administrator Steve Rapson in an Oct. 24 letter said the county’s dredging project remains on schedule, with the letting of the actual dredging bid scheduled near the end of December and with the first dirt to be removed in January. The county-funded dredging includes a large area immediately south of Ga. Highway 54 and several smaller areas primarily on the west side of the lake.
A city-funded study by Integrated Science and Engineering (ISE) noted other areas of the lake where silt had accumulated over the years. City Manager Jim Pennington said that while occasional discussions had been held over the past two years about ways to address the issue, he felt it was time to revisit it. The council agreed by consensus.
Pennington also referenced the possibility of the city piggy-backing on the county’s contract and dredging other areas of the lake that have experienced silting and a reduction of depth.
County Water Services Director Lee Pope at the Nov. 6 meeting suggested that the cost could be less if the city were to piggy-back on the county’s dredging proposal.
Areas identified in the ISE study include sections on the east and west sides of the lake and the area immediately south of the large section to be dredged by the county.
The additional areas identified for possible dredging which lie outside the area to be dredged by the county carry estimated cost of $400,000 to $1.35 million based on a price of $30-50 per cubic yard.
The difference in the price deals with the depth at which the dredging would occur. Removing material at a depth of three feet would cost an estimated $400,0000-700,000 while dredging at a depth of four feet would run between $800,000 and $1.3 million.
A portion of the expense could include removing silt build-up along the shoreline, especially on the east side of the lake, where the depth of the lake is less than three feet and will not prevent the growth of plants and algae, according to ISE representative Dan Davis.
Davis cautioned that, beyond those potential expenses, actual costs could vary significantly and would have to take into account issues such as haul routes, damage to city infrastructure from truck loads, disposal sites and environmental permitting.
Some residents at the meeting called for the the city’s dredging project to be put into action while others suggested a different approach which could include leaving things as they are now since the vegetation will die off during the winter and will be covered by the water when the lake level is restored.
Mayor Vanesa Fleisch noted that the dredging project is not funded, while Councilman Eric Imker suggested that other ways could be sought to pay the expense. An example of that, said Imker, would be a 20-year bond based on a $2 million project that would cost taxpayers $10 per year over 20 years.
While options exist, Learnard echoed the thoughts of others on the council, saying that “the issue needs to be addressed now.”
Davis said surveyors were also asked to assess the island near Battery Way Park, sometimes referred to as Snake Island, which was apparently formed when the lake was dredged prior to 1993.
The estimated cost if the island were removed would be $2.925 to $4.875 million.
