Hope Mills hopes repair of lake dam on fast track after lawsuit settlement

July 16--With a $9.4 million settlement in hand, Hope Mills wants its lake back.

"We're not waiting," Mayor Jackie Warner said. "We made a point to our town manager -- we're lighting a fire here."

Having agreed Monday night to settle their lawsuit over the failure of the $14 million dam in 2010, town leaders met with lawyers Tuesday to begin drafting the request for proposals to advertise for engineers to oversee the repairs. They hope the centerpiece lake, so crucial to this town's identity, could be full again by sometime in 2016.

"It's probably going to take a year, year-and-a-half," Warner said.

Work on clearing the lake bed could begin by the end of this year, Commissioner Jerry Legge said.

"I certainly think by the first of the year we'll see some activity," he said.

The lawsuit, filed against the designers and builders of the failed dam, was settled after three mediation sessions did not yield any agreement. A trial was scheduled for July 28. Under the settlement, the town got enough money to clear the lake and repair the dam, based on estimates ranging from $8.5 million to $9.2 million.

"We figure we've got enough to do what we need to do," Warner said. "We're a more informed board this time. We've done our homework. We're more knowledgeable than boards have been in the past."

The settlement also gave the town ownership of the two repair plans already drawn up. Warner said the engineer the town is now seeking will have to review those plans, and tweak them if necessary, before the repair work is put out to bid.

The existing repair plans received approval from state Dam Safety officials in January 2013. That approval, good for 12 months, has since expired. But Steve McEvoy, state dam safety engineer, said the approval could be extended with an addendum to accommodate any tweaks. If the new engineer makes wholesale changes, a new plan would have to go through the entire permitting process, he said.

Warner said the town has been told new approvals, if needed, can be swift.

"They do assure us that the permitting process would not take as long this time, because they are so familiar with the case," she said.

The town has been advised not to completely replace the dam, Warner said, but the repair could alter its appearance in ways that aren't yet known.

"It might look different when it's complete," she said. "It'll be up to the engineer to design any changes needed."

At the last accounting, the town had spent $1.2 million in legal fees on the suit. Warner said the final total will be closer to $2 million. She said about $350,000 was paid for through permit fees the town charged to Internet sweepstakes businesses. The rest was covered through a $1.5 million loan. Warner said the board committed to paying the loan back without raising taxes.

"Should we have spent that money? We would not be at a point of getting at least some hope that we would have the dam back if we hadn't followed through," Warner said.

Commissioner Jerry Legge said going to trial would have cost a lot more.

"If it went to court and we won, which I think we would have, there's going to be an appeal process and all we're going to do is spend more money on lawyers fees and court costs," he said. "I think it's very important we cut those losses, get to the other side of the field and move forward."

Mayor pro tem Bob Gorman attended every mediation session. He said the lawyers the town hired accomplished what no one else had: getting all the parties involved -- Crowder Construction, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., McKim and Creed, Morrison Engineers, Mosher Engineering and Timothy LaBounty -- to agree.

"It was amazing to watch those guys work," he said. "We didn't leave any rocks unturned."

Gorman has been on the board since 2003, the same year the 80-year-old earthen dam was washed out by record-breaking rainfall. The replacement opened in 2008 and failed less than two years later, once again draining the town's signature lake that Gorman and others call "the gem of Hope Mills.

"Every one of us wants to see it as soon as possible," he said.

Customers at Professional Eye Care, in the old municipal building a stone's throw from the dam at Lakeview Road and Main Street, are always asking when the lake will be fixed, said Rhonda Carter, who works there. Lynn Holder lives within a short walk of the lake. She misses seeing the ducks emerging from the lake and occasionally stopping traffic as they crossed the road.

"People are really bummed because it's been gone so long," she said.

Gorman acknowledged that.

"We've been through an awful lot, with the failing of the first dam then the failing of the second dam," Gorman said. "I just think the citizens are ready for us to get something that's going to stay for another 100 years."

Staff writer Gregory Phillips can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3596.

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