Inside the Association for October, 2009
Klinger Lake Dam Maintenance and Level Control Committee
Chairman James Kasey
At the October 12, 2009 regular meeting of the Board of Directors our President, Susan Puckett, assigned the following board members to address maintenance and control actions pertaining to the Klinger Lake Dam.
James Kasey was assigned as Chairman. Committee Members include Tom Fudge, John Nelson, and Dan Evert.
The committee meeting was held October 19, 2009 at 7:00 PM. The original question was; should association members continue to control the Dam, and subsequently the lake level, or should it be controlled by the Drain Commissioner with an employee of his choice. The Drain Commissioner had suggested he was willing to take over control relieving the Association of such duties.
The committee concluded that it is in the best interest of the association members, and residents of Klinger Lake, to maintain control of the Dam with volunteer members from the Klinger Lake Association. It was overwhelmingly approved by the Board of Directors, and our proposal was accepted by Jeff Wentzel, the Drain Commissioner. The commitment of controlling the Dam by one member was determined by the committee to be too much for one volunteer. The committee concluded that we should address the absence of historical data for the operation of the dam as well.
Here is the list of action items and controls that were approved. I have made some have minor enhancements due to the evolving knowledge the team has acquired from the operation and study of the dam:
- A volunteer group of not less than four KLA members will be responsible for lake level control and routine Dam Maintenance.
- The responsibilities will be rotated on a weekly basis from March to December when the water level of Klinger Lake is critical for recreational use, and must meet a court ordered elevation of 806.52 feet above mean sea level.
- A schedule designating the person responsible for the operation of the Dam will be provided by the Chair of the Committee.
- When members are on operational duty, the Dam will be visited a minimum of every other day.
- A log of the operator’s activities and adjustments will be maintained at the Dam or via e-mail. If e-mail is utilized the Drain Commissioner will be copied on operational and maintenance activities. The log will include, but not be limited to the following; as conditions change more or less data may be recorded as the need arises.
- Date & Time
- Weather Conditions, rain, snow, etc.
- Lake Level at the Dam
- North and South Gate settings at the time of arrival
- Adjustments made to each gate and the North and South gate settings at the time of departure.
- Trash gate position at the time of arrival
- Trash gate position at the time of departure
- Irregular conditions, such as flow restrictions due to trash, logs, etc. or an over flow condition from damage to the Dam. Basically anything that prohibits the normal operation of the Dam.
- Record maintenance requests that are beyond the capabilities of the operator. (Emergency contact information will be provided for the operator in this section of the record.)
- When maintenance issues are determined to be beyond the capabilities of the Dam operators, a formal request for the Drain Commissioner to intervene will be issued by our Klinger Lake Association Liaison.
- There will be a request by the KLA Liaison for the Drain Commissioner to address the removal of locks from the gates restricting access to the dam from Dogwood Lane.
- The Drain Commissioner Liaison will issue, collect, and re-issue keys to the Dam Operators as volunteer members change.
- A preventative maintenance schedule for greasing the Dam’s mechanical mechanisms will be established.
- The acting President, currently Susan Puckett, will be the contact person for residents concerning the lake level.
- The initial team of operators for the 2010 season will be;
- James Kasey
- Tom Fudge
- John Nelson
- Dan Evert
- Mike Main
Other interested Klinger Lake Association members should contact a member of the team or the KLA President.
As of November 6, 2009 the following items have been addressed.
- Instruments are in place on the gates for gathering of data at the Dam.
- New locks have been procured and installed.
- The security Fence has been reconfigured to provide added security.
- A Record of Activity log has been developed and implemented as a pilot program to determine what records are essential to meet our goals.
- Records of dam adjustments and conditions influencing the water level are being kept. The record will allow us to gather base line data. We will develop an operational procedure for our dam based on the data collected.
- The dam has been surveyed and a new gage is ready for installation when the water level is at 805.0, or winter level.
- To simplify future surveys a surveyor’s benchmark is being established on the dam.
- John Nelson donated a tool to retrieve debris from the dam.
Please contact James Kasey if you have questions or concerns regarding our activities. 269-651-3336
jameslkasey@aol.com
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Jamie Kasey
Editor
