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Home My WebLink About20140739 Ver 1_More Info Received_20140902Homewood, Sue From: Michael Brame < mbrame @pilotenviro.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2014 1:01 PM To: Bailey, David E SAW Cc: Homewood, Sue Subject: RE: Request for Additional Information: proposed Kiger property field leveling project,Greensboro, Guilford Co., NC; SAW - 2014 -01474 (UNCLASSIFIED) Attachments: Addendum Letter - PEI Project 1040.pdf ••• Eff - •• 1. • • Sincerely, NdI Bra me PWS 336.708.4620 (c) 336.310.4527 (o) P u I' www, com mbrame @ pilotenviro.com P I L O T ENVIRONMENTAL I N C From: Bailey, David E SAW [ mailto: David.E.Bailey2 @usace.army.mil] Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 1:17 PM To: Michael Brame Cc: 'Homewood, Sue' Subject: RE: Request for Additional Information: proposed Kiger property field leveling project,Greensboro, Guilford Co., NC; SAW- 2014 -01474 (UNCLASSIFIED) Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE Michael, Thanks for your e -mail as well as speaking with me on the phone this afternoon. I will try to address your comments below (see comments in green): If you have any questions now or along the way, please call or e -mail. Thanks. -Dave Bailey David E. Bailey Project Manager US Army Corps of Engineers CE- SAW -RG -R 3331 Heritage Trade Drive, Suite 105 Wake Forest, North Carolina 27587 Phone: (919) 554 -4884, Ext. 30. Fax: (919) 562 -0421 1 • P I L O T • E N V I R O N M E N T A L • I N C • September 2, 2014 Mr. David Bailey U.S Army Corps of Engineers Raleigh F;bgulatory Feld Office 3331 Heritage Trade Drive, S.Iite 105 Wake Forest, North Carolina 27587 F;bference: Addendum to NWP Application Action ID- SAW- -2014 -01474 Klger Property Leveling Project Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina PB Project No. 09 -1040 Dear M r. Bai I ey: The purpose of this letter is to address concerns from an August 17, 2014 email from Mr. David Bailey with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The following is intended to supplement information already presented within the PCN application. Following the August 16, 2014 site verification, PB revisited the site to include additional area that was determined to bejurisdictional wetlands during the August 16, 2014 site meeting. The revised impact exhibit reflectsthe additional wetland area (attached). Thus, proposed permanent wetland impact is to 0.075 acres of wetland. The proposed impact to jurisdictional wetlands would increase conventional row crop (i.e. corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.) production area by approximately 2.1 acres. Without impact to the wetland, the most that the production area could be increased is less than one acre. Additionally, the result of cultivating on the existing slope within the one acre of additional crop land would likely cause excessive sedimentation entering the wetland and down - gradient stream /pond. The increase in sediment inputs to the down - gradient water bodies would increase water body eutrophication, thus, degrading down - gradient water quality when compared to the proposed action. Utilization of conservation measures like terraces, vegetative strips, etc. to reduce anticipated sedimentation/eutrophication cannot be justified considering the size and potential economic return of one acre of additional crop area. Likewise, the result of utilization of only one acre of the proposed crop field expansion instead of the proposed 2.1 acres is one -half of the desired and required return yields. Crop fields in NCless than one acre in size, are often only used for tobacco or other highly labor intensive crops with associated significantly higher economic yields due to limitations associated with machinery accessibility, safety and maneuverability. Therefore, the use of the additional one acre of row crop www.pilotenviro.com Addendum to NWPApplication September 2, 2014 area is not feasible from an economic and safety stand -point and likely would result in more detrimental impact to the environment and down - gradient water bodies from sedimentation and eutrophication. An approximate one acre pond, approximately 1,000 linear feet of stream channel and approximately one acre of wetlands exist on the landowners approximate 30 acre property. The land o0■§6f farming operations currently consists of approximately 20 acres of the site and has been conducted in a manner to avoid impacts to jurisdictional features located on the site. Therefore, the remaining approximate 0.925 acres of wetland, one acre pond and 1,000 linear feet of stream channel are being avoided. To expand on the project purpose and need, the grower /land owner desiresto increase economic returns associated with conventional row crops yields instead of utilizing the field for its existing use of pasture land and /or fescue hay production. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture 2013 average crop yieldsand market valuesfor corn, soybeansand fescue hay is listed below: • Corn: 142 bushels(acre @$4.90 /acre = net return of $695.80/ acre. • SDybeans. 33 bushels(acre @$12.90 /acre = net return of $425.70/ acre. • Fescue Hay: 2.41 tons( @$110.00 /acre = net return of $265.10 /acre. Therefore, the land owner can increase his rate of return by 200 to 300% by utilization of the proposed 2.1 acre field for conventional row crops instead of its current use as fescue hay pastureland. Likewise, overall estimated increase in returns for all farming operations from the proposed additional 2.1 acresof conventional crop land isapproximately a 10 %increase compared to the landowners existing return. On behalf of the applicant, Mr. George Kiger, we request that the impactsdetailed in the permit application be modified to 0.075 acres of permanent wetland impacts. Based on the information outlined above and in the previous Nationwide 40 Permit Application, it is the opinion of PD that all requirements have been fulfilled and we recommend that the permit be issued. Pease contact us at (336) 708 -4620 if you have any questions concerning this letter or if you need additional information. Sncerely Bra ey Luckey Proj ect anager Enclosures. Wetland Impact Areas Exhibit i�ae .Brame, Principal CC Ms. 9ueHomewood, NCDENRDWR(viaemail) 2 alley, williams, carmen, & king, inc. CONSULTING ENGINEERS FIRM LICENSE No. F-0203 120 SOUTH MAIN STREET P.O. BOX 1248 KANNAPOLIS, NC 28082 704/938 -1515 KIGER PROPERTY LEVELING PROJECT 4226 WILLIAMS DAIRY ROAD FENTRESS TOWNSHIP GUILFORD COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA u 1'Qq D ELNA PUGH KIGER PIN: 7881 -37 -1838 ZONING: RS -40 AREA: 1.05 AC WILL 78 -E -119 QUITCLAIM DEED BK 3114, LO x � �) b PROPERTY LINE EXISTING INDEX CONTOURS EXISTING INTERMEDIATE CONTOURS PROPOSED INDEX CONTOURS SS x �� PROPOSED INTERMEDIATE CONTOURS STREAM WETLANDS FEMA FLOODWAY { ` N(6;/ FEMA 100 —YR FLOOD FRINGE t 4P j LIMITS OF DISTURBANCE \ fI TREE LINE 4 LEGEND —755 LOD - ' NOTES: WETLANDS LOCATIONS ARE BASED ON A FIELD EVALUATION BY PILOT ENVIRONMENTAL INC. AND f THE US ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS 5 r it 1 6� 4"z:: Rev. No. 0escaronoN DATE iranal SCALE 7 -11 -14 2 WETLANDS, & EC 9 -2 -14 GWW 1' = 60' RCC PKRLE e" GW W \�\A °CARS'''',, �o�oFEssioti SEAL < ° 16883 REVISED WETLANDS IMPACT AREAS