Dam Bill

I meant to update this fall with some pictures of the new dam, but just didn’t manage to find the time. As any of you who have visited since September no doubt observed, it is big and wide and solid and everything we asked for! Here’s a couple pictures:

 

 

We also had pebble put in for a beach area (holds up better than sand) and Eric & Cheryl gave up part of their stone wall to replace the old jetty (this one is perpendicular to the bank which we’re sure the fishermen will appreciate).

 

I guess I should mention, Doug & Deepa also had some work done on their side that they paid for separately. They had the path on the other side of the pond widened so it’s easier to access and walk around.

 

 

The pond has filled back up considerably since the work was done (and it’s low point in these pictures). The new dam is functioning wonderfully well! Ken determined that although the knoll at Eric & Cheryl’s was suitable fill (no excessive shale), it turned out it didn’t have as much clay in it as he hoped for. So a good deal of clay was brought in and mixed into the material from the mound as the dam was built. After his prep work (lowering the pond a little further, clearing old dead wood from behind the dam, pulling tree stumps from dam, etc.), Ken and his men added layers of the mixed materials and compacted it after each layer. It is so solid, it feels like it’s always been there!

The amount of time needed and the additional materials were a bit more than originally anticipated. As a result, our final bill is slightly higher than we had figured. We finally received our bill from Ken this Friday, January 12^th. He approached Joe last month once he had initially figured it out. He felt bad about it coming in a bit higher. Joe assured him that we would take care of it and we knew the original numbers were best guesses. Ken decided to knock the bill down a bit anyway (as you can see on the invoice). He’s a great guy and wants to make sure we’re happy with his work. Personally, I think he did a fantastic job and went over and above by discounting us more than half of the overage from our original guesses!

At any rate, as you can see on the bill above, the grand total was $16,965. We have already paid Ken $10,000, so our outstanding balance is $6,965. Since we have $3,823.23 in our account right now, that leaves us with a shortage of $3,141.77. So we need to raise a little over $3,000. Joe & Shelley and Andy & Beth have each pledged $500, so there’s $1,000. We still need over $2,000 more.  If any of you could chip in, it would be greatly appreciated!

PS  I would like to suggest that any extra monies received be given to Doug & Deepa to reimburse them for the pond path. (They paid about $2,000.)