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Date: 1/9/2024
HOLLAND — During its Jan. 2 joint meeting with the Lake Oversight Committee, the Holland Board of Selectmen reviewed McClure Engineering’s recent report on the condition of Hamilton Reservoir Dam.
The report contained data from an Oct. 29 inspection by the engineering company as well as analysis and recommendations for the town on how to proceed with maintaining the dam.
Following its inspection, McClure Engineering stated that the dam was in “fair” condition, listing several “deficiencies,” such as multiple areas with vegetation to be removed, cracks, erosion and a lack of an operation and maintenance manual. In total, the company estimated that the needed repairs to the dam would cost $622,000.
Throughout the meeting, Board of Selectmen and Lake Oversight Committee members raised various points of interest from the report.
Initiated by Board of Selectmen Chair James Whalen, one discussion centered around the report’s hydraulic and hydrologic analyses. In this section of the report, McClure Engineering stated that the 2010 report of the dam utilized inaccurate data for the flow and spillway capacity. As a result, the company recommended that a full report be made of those aspects, Whalen explained.
“I’ve seen at least a number of times, people commenting on how fast or how slow the lake drains … [McClure Engineering] noted in here that there should be a general flow rate in and out and I’m wondering if that might have something to do with why we see the variations we do in how the lake moves,” Whalen stated. He highlighted that having a firm idea of the dam’s flow rate was important for handling emergency situations, such as flood warnings.
Board of Selectmen member Kate Landers also suggested adding a “trespass camera” near the dam’s control panel. This was raised while discussing the report’s statement that security devices were located on Sturbridge and Leno roads.
Concerning regular maintenance, McClure Engineering recommended removing vegetation and debris, lubricating the dam’s lower outlet gate and repairing the masonry on the dam’s left side. These points were also discussed in Lenard Engineering’s 2018 Hamilton Reservoir Dam report.
Moving forward, the Board of Selectmen and Lake Oversight Committee agreed to consolidate and submit questions to Town Administrator Stacy Stout about the report during their respective meetings.
Once the questions were answered by McClure Engineering, the groups decided they would host another joint meeting to decide which projects to prioritize for the dam.