Posted on July 26, 2016
By Barrett Lawlis, Newark Advocate
Residents on Buckeye Lake’s east side have called for a meeting with contractors of the Buckeye Lake Dam Project to discuss their needs with the lake’s low depth this summer.
Honey Creek Homeowners Association Chairman Pete Myer said the meeting will be an opportunity to inform the state of the issues the residents on the east side have been facing.
“We’ve got canals full of vegetation,” he said. “Some of the older seawalls are crumbling without the pressure from the lake to keep them up.”
The lake has been kept below its normal summer pool level since the start of the dam project in 2015. After completing phase one of construction this spring, the state announced it would allow Buckeye Lake to rise up to one foot below summer pool level in June. But the lake’s level has remained consistently low in recent weeks with the hot summer weather.
Construction spokesman Ian Nickey said the meeting is part of the project’s community outreach.
“This is one of a number of meetings we’ve held to help keep the public informed during the project,” he said. “We’ve been holding these smaller meetings so that what we have is more like a conversation than it is a meeting. We are intent on answering as many questions as we can.”
Nickey added there will be more informational meetings for the general public as the second phase of construction gets closer.
He said the $150 million dam project is on schedule to be completed some time in 2019. The next phase has started and contractors are removing defects, such as flag poles, decks and patios, from state property along the dam project.
“They will be clearing the crest of the dam through this fall and construction will begin in the spring of 2017,” Nickey said. “Information necessary, such as soil samples and to complete the design of this next step is still being gathered.”
In an e-mail, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Spokesman Matt Eiselstein said dredging operations on the lake are ongoing, with three dredges currently working and a fourth to be brought to the lake soon.
Dredges are working near Liebs Island, Alexander’s Landing and Buckeye Marina, he said. Dredging has been going smoothly throughout the summer.
Source: Newark Advocate
