Special Town Council Meeting Summary - Wednesday, May 10, 2023

The Lake Lure Town Council held a special meeting on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at the Lake Lure Municipal Center (Town Hall).  The Public was invited to attend. The following is a summary of the meeting for those who could not be present. You may download a copy of the meeting packet for further details.  Please note that this is a summary and not formal minutes.  Minutes from this meeting will be included in the following month's meeting packet for the Regular Town Council Meeting.  

I. Call to Order: Mayor Carol Pritchett called the meeting to order.

II. Agenda Adoption: The meeting agenda was approved as written.

III. Discuss Drain Valve Bid Award Recommendations:  Town Manager Hank Perkins and Project Manager Mike Dydula presented an overview of the Reservoir Drain Valve installation bids that were received.  The lowest bid was in the range of $7.5 million. There was a detailed discussion of all of the related costs including the cost for the valve itself and the engineering oversight costs. 

IV. Discuss Schnabel Engineering Reservoir Drain Construction Services: The Town of Lake Lure (Town) is implementing the reservoir drain as the first phase in the overall rehabilitation of Lake Lure Dam. In addition to addressing a major dam safety requirement, the reservoir drain will allow the Town to further lower the reservoir level, beyond the limitations of the existing spillway gates, to support the rehabilitation of the sanitary sewer system and additional maintenance activities such as lake dredging or work on the spillway gates.

The objectives of Schnabel’s services proposed are to provide construction phase services for the installation of the reservoir drain at Lake Lure Dam.

There was a discussion regarding the timeline that had been proposed by Schnabel Engineering for installing the Reservoir Drain Valve. The original estimates were very optimistic in comparison to the reality based on the amount of time it is taking to build the reservoir drains.  It is likely the reservoir drain will not be installed until the spring of 2024. 

V. Discuss GMP Submitted by Ruby-Collins: There was a lengthy discussion regarding the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) submittted by Ruby-Collins.  This GMP is dependent upon the reservoir drain being installed and will have to be revised since the installment will not be until after the 2024 lake drawdown.

VI. Discuss Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Project: Town Manager Perkins advised that unfortunately the Town has advertised this project twice and there have been no bidders. 

VII. Discuss 2024 Drawdown Schedule: The Town is awaiting the proposal from LaBella Associates on what can be done in the next year with the understanding that the lake level will be limited to 12 feet this year.  A decision on the timeline for the drawdown will be made after LaBella's proposal is received and considered.

VIII. Discuss Dam Bridge Replacement: There was a discussion about options for the new Dam Bridge. This is an NC DOT Bridge.  A meeting was held with their team recently and they conducted an inspection.  They asked for input regarding potential options for the placement of the bridge. This issue will be revisited at the 5/24/23 meeting. 

IX. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned.