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Rusty Spinner we need a dam buster

Pete said:
I'm not sure, but you may have to join the forum to read at the first link.
Click to expand...

I did have to register and am going on now to learn more...

Scratch that, I only got through the initial registration. A person/site admin needs to allow me access before I have permissions to view and to post. I'll circle back later, but I do see the thread in question (I just just can't open it yet).
 
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Pete said:
I'm not sure, but you may have to join the forum to read at the first link.
Click to expand...

It is a trick.

A dirty trick to get you to joing that message board.

Petey-Po is the membership chair of that board and he is just trying to get more people to join.
 
AKSkim said:
It is a trick.

A dirty trick to get you to joing that message board.

Petey-Po is the membership chair of that board and he is just trying to get more people to join.
Click to expand...


Dam/damn, that dirty little trick worked to perfection. He got me, hook line and lead-free sinker:)

---------- Post added at 06:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:52 PM ----------

Pete - I wish you the best with this issue and you know you can always lean on me for info or help. I would say that 99% of the time in the end, the lake associations find a way to fund rehabilitation of their dams.
 
I was hoping to hear some TNT explode last night, and wake up to find the dam gone, and you with a bunch of boy scouts planting trees along the new stream bed.

I guess that's not going to happen....

Seriously, your input helped explain an alternative that no one had really considered, much better than I could.

Thanks again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's a meeting next Thursday night, at the middle school, where the lake association, is going to explain how they're going to make everyone in the general area pay to repair and maintain the dam.

It runs past my "bedtime", but I hope to stay long enough to find out what's going on, (before I say something that gets me thrown out). I'll know more then.
 
Happy to help, Pete. As I said on that forum, this is common with weak lake associations who do not plan for dam maintenance. Sorry you have to deal with it. Been there, done that (twice).
 
I had to leave the "informational meeting" around 8:00 PM.

When I left the crowd was getting pretty angry.
The idea of breaching the dams was getting pretty popular. Turns out there are two Dams. Nearby Mirror Lake is also managed by the Lake association. It lies on a small tributary to the brook that feeds Crystal Lake. This brook actually has a chance to become a TP stream, but it's too small to support much of a fishery.

The association's Lawyer was blowing smoke about how we "should have known" what we were getting into. (some vague references buried in deeds and title searches). I appears she wants us to believe that every home buyer, since the '60s, was stupid, and all the lawyers that handled closings were negligent.

Dollar amounts of the proposed levy had not been mentioned.

In hindsight there's one thing I wish I'd said before I had to leave.

Their lawyer mentioned that dam removal costs would be in the same order of magnitude, as repairs.

I wish I'd pointed out that dam removal & stream remediation are a ONE TIME cost, but dam & lake maintenance lasts FOREVER!

There were at least three Borough Council members (maybe four) on the victim list, two of them were threatening lawsuits. One of these was quite outspoken about it.

I'm watching another forum to see if anyone reports what happened after I had to leave.
 
So typical of when lawyers get involved. This one sounds like a real mess. Your thoughts after the mtg. were dead on, rehabilitation and liability costs are always in the picture if you own a dam. Remove it and both are gone for good.


Come to the Somerset Show tomorrow, have a beer or three with the motley cast of NEFF characters I met today, and forget about it for awhile.
 
quality time said:
Hopefully this dam removal in Milford won't go as bad!

Milford eyes cheaper plan for dam removal | NJ.com



---------- Post added at 07:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------

....or this one on the Raritan. Interesting comments at the end of the article....

Fish will benefit from dam removal on the Raritan River, paid for by past owner of Tenneco plant in Raritan Twp. | NJ.com
Click to expand...


I'm working with both the town council and many citizens in Milford to not only see the town owned dam removed, but the stream restored through that town. Lots of good people are coming together to help. As for the Raritan dams, one has been removed and 2 more are slated to be removed under this settlement. NJ led all states in 2011 with dam removals with 11. Four of them on the Musky alone!
 
Pete - interesting read. At least the worst case scenario is less than $400 assessment which everyone will be able to come up with although that certainly is not the point. If my deed did not list the fact that I was buying a share in the association, I would sue my deed preparer. Because there is so little in funding being asked of each homeowner, I doubt this will lead to massive lawsuits, but if it were in the thousands of dollars each I bet it would be a huge mess!

As for the guy trying to scare everyone by telling them a drained lake would be a messy swamp, tell him you know a guy that gets native trees and shrubs planted along streams from time to time:)
 
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Oddly enough there is a Mirror Lake in the Whippany drainage that the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee (WRWAC) is watching with the same situation. This group is leaning towards dam removal since it is much cheaper. The WRWAC will then propose a bio-retention basin which is something with a lot of interest on the Whippany side. It's all about ground water replacement and flooding mitigation (and goose management) these days with porous pavement, bio-retention basins, filterra units, and rain barrels (remember them!). We are trying to disconnect storm water sources from direct entry into streams, which seems odd with TU's mission of connecting streams. However, the TU version is connecting sections of stream not disconnecting rain gutters from streams.
 
JeffK said:
Oddly enough there is a Mirror Lake in the Whippany drainage that the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee (WRWAC) is watching with the same situation. This group is leaning towards dam removal since it is much cheaper. The WRWAC will then propose a bio-retention basin which is something with a lot of interest on the Whippany side. It's all about ground water replacement and flooding mitigation (and goose management) these days with porous pavement, bio-retention basins, filterra units, and rain barrels (remember them!). We are trying to disconnect storm water sources from direct entry into streams, which seems odd with TU's mission of connecting streams. However, the TU version is connecting sections of stream not disconnecting rain gutters from streams.
Click to expand...

Bio-retention?

Dude, you gotta stop for a few days.

Seriously.

You scaring people off.
 
Update: https://www.northjersey.com/story/n...amapo-mountain-lakes-association/69590445007/

They won the court case, but with all the newly enfranchised members, lost control of the company in the 2022 directors election.

The new directors would like a considerate solution, but costs are snowballing.
We owe the lawyer that sued us about 350K
Insurance for an exposed population of over 1000 families is prohibitive.
Dam repairs appear to be about 250K.

I gave two of the new directors Brian's name, in case dam busting turns out to be competitive.
 
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I produce an annual fund raiser at Crystal Lake and have been worried it won't be there much longer. It's really a fun place to go see a band in the summer. I don't really see how breaching the dam will do anything meaningful for any local fishing. It's not really connected to the Ramapo. A member did reach out to me yesterday to let me know he's 90% sure it will be business as usual. As far as the conflict amongst the various members and forced members.....that's all theirs to resolve.
 
tompg said:
I produce an annual fund raiser at Crystal Lake and have been worried it won't be there much longer. It's really a fun place to go see a band in the summer. I don't really see how breaching the dam will do anything meaningful for any local fishing. It's not really connected to the Ramapo. A member did reach out to me yesterday to let me know he's 90% sure it will be business as usual. As far as the conflict amongst the various members and forced members.....that's all theirs to resolve.
Click to expand...
It has a top release dam that dumps warm water, at trout killing temperatures, almost directly into the Ramapo.
It's so close to the river that there's no opportunity for cold water tributaries, nor evaporative cooling to temper the damage.
The only consolation is that only three of the more popular fishing access points are downstream.

IMHO: If you need a place to pick up tipsy moms, go PTA meetings.
If you want to listen to a loud band, don't do it in a residential area.
Do not make me pay for someone else's high maintenance, trout killing, landscaping feature.
 
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