Another Delay for Bay Plug Removal
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Joel Porter | 4/30/2012 .jpg)
Hesco bags are being pulled and the remaining sandbag piles are being hauled away. This week, heavy trucks are moving once again in Mandan to continue cleaning up any remnants from last summer`s flooding.
"All three of them went in in about a three to four day period. I think it`ll probably take seven to eight days to remove each plug right now," said City Administrator Jim Neubauer.
There are four remaining bay plugs that have to be dug out, including Marina Bay and Lakewood Harbor.
"The plug saved us from getting wet, certainly. But the river deposited 25,000 cubic yards of sand between the plug and the open water," said Al Reid, the treasurer for the Lakewood Homeowners Association.
On the removal project, FEMA is only reimbursing the city for the cost of removing the plug itself. Homeowners will be on the hook for any sand and silt removal.
"The numbers that were thrown out by educated folks were half a million dollars and we were all concerned," Reid said. "So we did come in quite a bit less than that. Our association probably has the funds available to pay for it without any special assessments."
Reid says after a meeting this weekend, they`ve found a contractor to handle the sand removal. Currently, they`re waiting on a FEMA permit to allow them to start hauling out dry sand. However, there is one more catch before they can dig out all of the remaining sand.
"There`s kind of a restriction on there while fish are spawning that they don`t want a lot of material moving into the river until after June 1st," Neubauer said.
Which means it may be the official start of summer before many homeowners can regain access. FEMA granted the city an extension on the plug removal.
Mandan has until the end of September to qualify for reimbursement.
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