Complete question: Please explain the costs, rationale and associated regional benefits of repairing, replacing or removing the Horseshoe Lake dam, as well as dredging the lake, as compared with those assessed and incurred several years ago at Green Lake and Andover Road dam. Was the Green Lake project more beneficial to the regional stormwater management plan than Horseshoe Lake?
Answer: We estimate the cost to replace the dam at Horseshoe Lake to be $20.7 million because a lot of sediment must be removed from the current lake bed to the depth required for a healthy lake. The separate cost to replace the dam at Lower Lake is $13.6 million.
The Horseshoe Lake dam could be replaced but the Sewer District cannot fund the replacement with Regional Stormwater Management Program dollars because there is no significant flood control benefit to the region, which includes Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights and the City of Cleveland.
Flood control isn't the only thing we look at; we also consider issues like streambank erosion and water quality when we're developing the Master Plans and prioritizing projects.
Our proposed project is to remove the dam at Horseshoe Lake, fully restore Doan Brook and eventually replace the dam at Lower Lake. The Sewer District can pay for this solution through the Regional Stormwater Management Program and our estimated cost for this project is $28.3 million.
The cost for the “Shaker Lakes Dam Rehabilitation Phase I and Green Lake Dredging Project” was $5.6 million, with Shaker Heights using $500,000 of their Regional Stormwater Management Program Community Cost Share funds. The dam at Green Lake is a Class 2 dam – as opposed to those at Lower and Horseshoe Lakes that are Class 1 – but it, too, was out of compliance with ODNR. The Green Lake project was completed before the completion of the Stormwater Master Plan for this watershed.
Posted August 9 in response to question submitted for the August 9 public meeting.