In late 2021, Atlantic National Capital received confirmation of the funding for the reconstruction of the Woodlake Dam to help prevent downstream flooding throughout Spring Lake and Fayetteville. While discussions and progress towards the reconstruction have commenced, there are still many steps and hurdles in achieving the final result. The first step in the process is the surveying of the dam and spillway area which most homeowners may have already seen happening in their backyard. Please see below update on what to look for from the survey Company on their tasks, access, and presence in the community:
“WithersRavenel has been completing several land surveying tasks at Woodlake during the last few weeks. These tasks include work on and around the dam itself, as well as detailed topographic survey of the shoreline of the entire lake area. Most of the shoreline work will be completed with Small Unmanned Aircraft (sUAS or drones) and GPS technologies. All efforts will be made to have equipment and survey staff perform work within the lake area and road right-of-ways, however, there may be times where the WithersRavenel staff will need to physically access or fly drones over private property. No disturbance of private property is anticipated, only standard data collection to support Engineering efforts for the design of the new dam structure. The survey crews will also be required to obtain finish floor elevations on all structures within a certain distance of the lake shoreline. WithersRavenel will employ technology solutions as much as possible to minimize survey crews having to physically measure all structures, however there may be some structures/houses where survey crews must access front or rear porches, etc., in order to obtain these critical elevation locations. Please be on the lookout for WithersRavenel trucks and personnel in the coming weeks as they continue to perform surveying tasks.”
In addition to the surveying, Schnabel Engineering has commenced boring and drilling for the initial steps required to obtain a full set of design and engineered plans to reconstruct the dam. While we have begun some clearing of the lakebed, we anticipate the majority of that would need to be done in conjunction with knowing a more formal timeline on the dam completion and water return. Our best guess now based off of the information we are receiving is that it could potentially take anywhere from 24-30 months to receive a final constructed dam. ANC will make sure to provide plenty of advance notice to homeowners for options on dock repair before the anticipated return of water levels to the lake. While the dam reconstruction may seem like a long process and timeline and there are certainly still obstacles to navigate, we are cautiously optimistic of the outcome and starting to see a clearer path in achieving a resolution. However, there are still no guarantees at this point. Due to the length of time since the dam breach, we have various permitting hurdles that we will need to overcome. In addition, construction costs have soared more than 30% in the past year, leaving us several million dollars short on funding at this time.
Despite these obstacles, they are pale in comparison to the obstacles we faced just a year ago and have made tremendous progress in the past year. These accomplishments include removing all German ownership from the property, clearing of all liens, including six years of back taxes, and securing almost ten million ($10M) in funding from the State. In addition, we have revitalized the Maples Course to a standard better than its original condition, and now are working on a master plan for Woodlake Club facilities.
As we continue to work toward our ultimate goal, we appreciate the continued support and positive reinforcement we are receiving from the community. We are very excited about our upcoming fall reopening of the Maples Course and being able to offer social memberships as well as golf rounds as early as this Year. We also plan to have additional details released very soon on the opening of the pool in early summer.
-The ANC Family