The retention pond “moat” is designed with a retaining wall (seawall) in the ground.
LHE moat
See attached permit cross-section of the pond design showing the seawall on the lake side.
Seawall permit sketch
Also, see attached photo of wall in discussion.
Seawall
(This does not include the individual walls along the house side of the moat. These are not part of the original design and were installed by individual homeowners along the moat).
The State does not authorize NEW seawalls along state lands waterways, such as Lake Henry. The wall suggested as an option would be a replacement to repair a 30+ year old wooden wall designed to separate the pond from the lake. This wall isn’t typical for a storm-water pond, but due to the proximity to the lake, it was installed knowing someday this very situation could happen.
The pond seawall is deteriorating and will someday need to be replaced as part of the storm-water maintenance required by the SWFWMD storm-water permits. Since this a maintenance issue and would not be installed in the lake, but in front of the existing upland grass area, it may be exempt from state permitting.
The Lake Henry Estates Board of Directors had a virtual meeting with representatives of SWFMD and with our consultant, Cathy Litscher, on February 9, 2021. The meeting was to discuss whether a permit modification was required or would the installation of a new 515 ft wall on the lake side would be covered in the existing permit as maintenance of the retention pond.
It was deemed that it could be covered as a MAINTENANCE of the wall and LHE asked if it had to be wooden or could a more permanent no-maintenance material, such as aluminum, be used. SWFMD had no preference, so we are proposing the use of aluminum.
We had contractors bid the work. We had obtained 4 quotes for a wooden wall replacement, ranging from approximately $55,000 to $126,000.
We then received 3 quotes for an aluminum wall installation. The quotes ranged from approximately $75,000 to $131,000.
We have chosen a contractor whose primary work is in marine wall construction at approximately $87,000. Once the paperwork is in order, we will sign the contract and hopefully begin construction soon.