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HomeMy WebLinkAbout_External_ RE_ Duke Energy Lake Services - Unauthorized Impacts - 104 Fairfax Court (Iredell County)Baker, Caroline D From: carolyn.lamascus@gmail.com Sent: Monday, June 26, 2023 3:00 PM To: 'Broadway, Chad' Cc: Hoy, Amie; Burkhard, Michael; 'Whitaker, Dennis J'; 'Kluttz III, Joseph R' Subject: [External] RE: Duke Energy Lake Services - Unauthorized Impacts - 104 Fairfax Court (Iredell County) Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Completed CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified. Report suspicious emails with the Report Message button located on your Outlook menu bar on the Home tab. Hi Chad, Thank you for the e mail. I will get working on this ASAP. I appreciate you taking the time to explain things to me. I'll keep you updated on my progress. Thanks Carolyn Lamascus 909-227-1817. From: Broadway, Chad <Chad.Broadway@duke-energy.com> Sent: Monday, June 26, 2023 10:55 AM To: carolyn.lamascus@gmail.com Cc: Hoy, Arnie <amie.hoy@deq.nc.gov>; Burkhard, Michael <michael.burkhard@deq.nc.gov>; Whitaker, Dennis J <Dennis.Whitaker@duke-energy.com>; Kluttz III, Joseph R <Joseph.Kluttz@duke-energy.com> Subject: Duke Energy Lake Services - Unauthorized Impacts - 104 Fairfax Court (Iredell County) Ms. Lamascus, To follow up on our phone conversation from a few minutes ago, I visited the area in front of your property on Friday, June 23rd and observed a number of unauthorized impacts within the FERC Project Boundary of the lake. The FERC Project Boundary, which is generally defined by the 760-elevation full pond contour, is the federally regulated boundary of the lake and certain activities/impacts are heavily restricted or prohibited. For your reference, I have included an aerial image below that represents the location of the FERC Project Boundary (the bright green line) in relation to your home and the metes and bounds of your property (the yellow lines). While a portion of the FERC Project Boundary is located on the metes and bounds of your property, the same rules and restrictions for impacts would apply regardless of property ownership. Based on our conversation, it is my understanding that you did not understand the applicable restrictions for this area and you hired a contractor to clear the understory to facilitate planting of turf grass. As we discussed, there is no provision to be able to remove vegetation within the FERC Project Boundary except for trees that present an imminent danger to life or a structure. Separately from that, you also hired a contractor to construct a river rock ditch to address drainage concerns. Both of these items are a violation of our Shoreline Management Guidelines and must be corrected. To resolve the violations, the following items must be completed: • You must hire a Professional Land Surveyor to stake the location of the FERC Project Boundary along and within your property. The surveyor must stake the FERC Project Boundary within regular / close intervals, particularly in areas with more curve/bend like the area near your home. • The river rock drainage channel appears to be within the FERC Project Boundary. If the surveyor confirms this, all portions of the drainage ditch within the FERC Project Boundary must be removed. • Turf grass is not eligible to be placed within the FERC Project Boundary. Plans to plant grass within the area identified as FERC Project Boundary must be abandoned. • All impacts within the FERC Project Boundary must be ceased immediately and the areas must be allowed to re - vegetate with natural vegetation • You must submit a letter to Lake Services acknowledging that you understand the restrictions of the FERC Project Boundary and that you will not complete additional clearing/cutting of vegetation (including spraying of herbicides/pesticides) or commission a company to complete clearing/cutting on your behalf Ongoing impacts and planned impacts must be ceased immediately, but we are offering a 45-day timeline for completion of the survey and removal of unauthorized stone. Please let me know when you have hired a surveyor and keep me informed of their timeline. Per your request, I have included three companies below that are known to complete lake -front surveying work on Lake Norman. Please note that these are not recommendations or endorsements and any licensed surveyor is capable of completing this task. I would recommend that you complete your own due diligence prior to hiring a surveyor. • Lake Norman Surveying • Dedmon Surveys • Don Allen and Associates If the corrective actions are not completed in a satisfactory manner and/or if the timelines are not met, then Duke Energy— Lake Services may also require the following action: • Submittal of an Engineered Restoration Plan designed by either NC registered professional engineer, Landscape Architect or a certified Wetland Specialist. The Restoration Plan must detail how you will restore the Project Boundaries back to the pre -violation condition. The Restoration Plan must include the timeline for completing this work; the location and condition of existing vegetation; the types of native woody vegetation you will use in the restoration of the Project Boundary; and the date by which the Project Boundary will be restored. The plan must incorporate the planting of 2" caliper trees at a rate determined by the impacted area. Regarding impacts within the 50-foot Catawba River Riparian Buffer and your questions about the buffer, I've copied Amie Hoy with the NC Division of Water Resources on this email. Please work with Amie on any questions regarding the buffer and for resolution of any issues within the buffer. Let me know if you have any questions about the items detailed in this email. We will also be following up with certified mail notifying you of these violations. Thank you for your cooperation in addressing this matter. Image detailing the FERC Protect Boundary: I Chad Broadway I Lake Services Representative Duke Energy Lake Services 526 S. Church Street I Charlotte, NC 28202 1 EC12Q (704) 574-4065 1 Chad.Broadway@duke-energy.com 91