NEWFANE — The Selectboard approved emergency spillway repairs at privately owned Kenny Pond, also known as Grout Pond, at an estimated final cost of $3,700.
About $500 of the total cost will be paid by affected property owners.
The work is needed because, as Morris Root from Root Engineering tells the town, the condition of the 1930s-era dam has declined due to issues with the principal spillway conduit and a downstream stone wall.
At $3,200, Vernon-based Renaud Bros. was low bidder at the town's expense, and it will begin immediate and long-term repairs, according to draft meeting minutes of the Oct. 2 Selectboard meeting.
Selectboard member Todd Lawley, who also serves as Newfane's road foreman, explained Renaud would reroute water that now is infiltrating the ground rather than following the spillway. The spillway goes under a town road, he said.
Chris Druke moved for Lawley to proceed with emergency repairs; Mike Fitzpatrick seconded. The vote was unanimous.
This work stems from an agreement the Selectboard struck with affected property owners in August to split a $1,000 engineering assessment of the dam and spillway.
Lawley noted that the deadline for working in the waterway falls in this month.
“Something needs to be done, or by spring, we're gonna have a whole lot bigger issue here,” he said at the Sept. 19 Selectboard meeting.