Road and Infrastructure
As noted earlier this year, we own and maintain 14.5 miles of roadway. Leveraging the earlier road study and physical inspection by the Roads Committee and Operations staff we have been busy planning how to address our infrastructure and develop record-keeping and planning tools for the future. The goal was to plan out the overall road infrastructure projects and their associated costs. While still a lot of planning work to be done, the result of this effort is a new strategy for tackling our road maintenance activities, which we started implementing in August.
We are transitioning from a long-term strategy of saving for full road resurfacing efforts to a project-based approach driven by two primary factors: the condition of the road surface and the state of essential infrastructure such as roadbeds, culverts, and ditches. The strategy is to break the roadway surface into sections and address all necessary work as a comprehensive project. In some cases, sections of the roadway require resurfacing sooner and have less underlying infrastructure issues, therefore larger sections can be resurfaced.
For sections where the road surface is still in good condition, we will prioritize infrastructure improvements—such as culvert replacements. Where possible like we did in the L block earlier in August we will resurface as much of the road as possible in conjunction with the culvert work.
East Side project – as I write this article we are in the middle of a large road resurfacing project. From the south end of the dam to just short of Alley Jackson (Gate 7) intersection as well as a stretch in the H block area where the road surface has crumbled away. Using the new planning strategy and taking advantage of substantially lower material costs, the Roads Committee decided to move forward with this large stretch of resurfacing along with three culverts to be replaced. Also, a big thank you to our Operations team who snapped into action and worked on cleaning all the ditches in the area before the milling work began.
Also, Tim Gravlin worked with the paving company to offer a 3’ access paving for gravel and existing asphalt driveway owners. This was an Opt-In option. In addition, Tim negotiated a deal for any member that wanted to lay asphalt on their gravel driveway or resurface if already asphalt. We’ve had a lot of owners take up the offer, which will help long term with gravel in the road and save members money versus going out on their own. Our plan will be to make a similar offer to all members where we are doing the roadwork.
Lower Water Crossing Project – the bridge/culvert crossing between Gates 3 & 4 collapsed and has been closed since July 4th flooding. We are actively working with Lamp Rynearson that did a design several years ago to update the design and integrate a permanent dredge pipe crossing.
The design calls for concrete Box Culverts, which have a 12 week plus lead time. As soon as we can update the design we will go out for bid and order the box culverts. In addition, we have major utilities crossing in the same area that will have to be relocated, so timing of those efforts is unknown. As soon as the contract is awarded the selected contractor will begin excavation and preparation tasks so that when the box culverts are delivered and utilities relocated the project can get underway. Weather of course will play a factor.
Unfortunately for members impacted we have to keep the crossing closed until this work is completed. This does mean for many using Gate 4, which this winter will be a challenge. The Operations team will be monitoring the overall situation and doing what can be done to mitigate if bad weather becomes a factor.
Depending on overall timing and temperatures, the Roads Committee is looking at resurfacing the road between Gate 3 & 4 at completion of the project.
What’s next for Roadway Work and Funding – as we wrap up this year’s projects, we are already preparing for future years and using 2024 project costs (variable and tied to global oil prices) as guidance on what we can accomplish in 2025 and forward.
With the 2025 budget we will implement a change from past practice with the incorporation of the historical Roads Assessment into a dedicated line item in the budget. This change reinforces our commitment to ensuring that capital road projects are treated as a routine investment, funded through regular annual allocations rather than relying on special assessments. Our roads are one of our critical assets that we have to properly fund and will always require saving for the future through the Road Reserve. Did you know – a capital reserve account helps the LLA protect that portion of income from taxation. Similar to the calculation of the annual assessment, this annual line funding will be driven by forecasted funding and minimum reserve requirements. At the annual budget meeting we will highlight the amount in the budget for the Road Reserve so members are aware. This also means that being a part of the dues going forward, the office saves time and money in dealing with the assessment.
Roadway maintenance like ditch cleaning, vegetation mowing and trimming, crack sealing and pothole fixing are all operating expenses and will be in the budget outside of the reserve allocation. We will cover this in detail during the November budget meeting.
Board Meeting Highlights
- Marine Concept – the boat covers offered by this company have been reviewed and approved as within our Rules and Regulations.
- Access Road – the current access road to Silt Basin #3 will be paved with a new culvert and drain system to help with runoff and provide proper access for our crews and authorized 3rd
- Construction Work – requires a silt fence prior to any construction starting. Violations will trigger points to the homeowner, so please help us police your contractor. Also, make sure their plans are within the setback lines and both City and LLA permits have been acquired to avoid fines.
- Lota Smoke will be returning this fall so mark your calendars!
Courtesy Reminders – A reminder that our vendors who use boats on the lake are approved in advance and provided with a Vendor Flag to use when on the lake. This flag will be the color of the boat registration sticker, which is pink for 2024.
Sincerely,
Jeff Clemow
President