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Good news for LOW on dam Date published: 3/7/2010
BY ROBIN KNEPPER Jubilation is in the air at Lake of the Woods, where it looks as if the state Senate will join the House of Delegates in approving a bill that will allow the homeowners association to avoid costly dam upgrades. LOW has been fighting with the state for eight years to avoid compliance with state dam-safety regulations, but there's a new governor and a new political climate in Richmond. In January Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, introduced legislation (with Del. Ed Scott, R-Madison, as co-patron) that would have allowed dam owners to avoid repairing their dams if they had an emergency-action plan and the state didn't provide money for repairs. That passed the Senate but met strong resistance from the Department of Conservation and Recreation and national dam-safety and civil-engineering associations when it got to the House of Delegates. After a week of negotiations a new bill was crafted, and it passed the House on Friday by a 97-2 vote. An emergency clause was added and approved that will allow the bill to take effect as soon as it's signed by the governor. Anticipating passage, the LOW Association board of directors voted yesterday to issue a stop-work order to Faulconer Construction Co. and to halt all work on the spillway construction project. The contract had been award in October, and the new spillway was expected to be completed by late summer. In January 2009, LOW finally agreed to build an auxiliary spillway on its high-hazard dam that would be capable of discharging a probable maximum flood, defined as 37 inches of precipitation falling in 24 hours. The fact that that amount of rain has never fallen in the state was the strongest argument against the present dam-safety regulations. As a condition of LOW's agreeing to build the new spillway, the state was to grant the homeowners association $1 million to be used for the project. To further fund the $6 million project, the LOWA board of directors approved a special assessment of $1,200 on each of the 4,257 lots in the subdivision. The special assessment was due to be paid by Dec. 1 but uproar from the community got the directors to relent and provide various payment plans. According to LOWA President Bruce Kay: "As soon as the bill passes and is signed by the governor, the general manager [of LOW] will look at the costs incurred and all unspent funds will be returned. However, those who haven't paid anything will still incur penalties and late charges." Although the resistance to meeting state dam-safety regulations was focused on the dam on LOW's largest lake, the Keaton's Run dam on the subdivision's smaller lake also will benefit. LOW was anticipating state-mandated upgrades to that dam this year but, according to Kay, both dams meet all safety requirements under the new legislation.
Robin Knepper: 540/972-5701
Here's what the management office has said so far..... When, and if, it is determined that the project does not have to becompleted, the board will assess all of the incurred costs, pay alloutstanding invoices and fees, and have the general manager refund thespecial assessment, on a pro-rata basis to those who have paid. Those whohave not paid will be required to pay their share including the late fees. Melanie ParmeleeCommunications CoordinatorLOWA Inc
The DCR, Dam Safety Assc., and the civil engineers have all rang the warning bell.
called in no few chits for this one. Must really like those poor folk out there at LOW. Maybe he got lifetime rights at their newly redone golf course. $ for golf course refurb but none for dam repair; life is tough.
it looks like to me that this is a "private" dam and if any repairs are needed they should be paid for by those who own the property not the taxpayers who live outside of Lake of the Woods. When will the the government bailouts stop?????
Not all property owners paid, nor did they all pay the same amount, yet the GM and LOW BOD want to use the funds received to pay costs, to include legal fees spent fighting this issue which were already in the budget over the past couple of years. ALL special assessment funds should be returned and LOW include all fees not yet paid in the new budget to be paid by everyone through the regular annual assessment. Property owners should not pick up the cost because they paid on time!
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