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Sinkholes create more woes for ‘Farm’ HOA
Heather Mays - Thu, Jul, 14, 2011
It’s all a matter of geology.
Repairs to The Farm at Willow Creek’s leaking stormwater drainage system are expected to begin soon, but that might not be the last of the subdivision residents’ woes. That’s because, according to Farragut Town staff, there are six sinkholes on the property.
The Farm at Willow Creek has had a leaking stormwater drainage system for years, which has caused road collapses in the subdivision and a sidewalk collapse on Evans Road. The original developer and subcontractors never repaired the system because none could agree on what the problem was, or with who fault lay; instead entering into a number of suits and countersuits.
Eventually developer Chip Leonard declared bankruptcy and a new developer, Freeman Webb, bought the remaining lots in the subdivision. Freeman Webb president Kent Burns negotiated a deal with the Town to split the cost of repairing the drainage system.
However a June 27 letter from Town associate administrator Gary Palmer indicates repairs to the drainage system aren’t the subdivision’s only problems.
The letter advised Burns and the subdivision’s homeowners association that as it was readying to make repairs, the Town rediscovered four previously known sinkholes, then uncovered two more.
Burns did not respond to calls from farragutpress.
One of the sinkholes is, in fact, the centerpiece pond of the subdivision, which was lined and filled with water. The pond feeds water into the subdivision’s leaking drainage system.
“The town of Farragut needs to extract and replace the large concrete inlet structure located in the pond which feeds the stormwater into the storm system infrastructure,” Palmer stated in his letter.
“The Town contacted [Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation] in order to find out if there were any requirements of the Town since we were going to be temporarily removing the inlet structure. TDEC pulled their files which revealed that the originally issued Class V Injection Well permit for the three (3) identified sinkholes [plus pond] had expired.”
The permit, Palmer said, is a state law requiring homeowners associations to maintain, in perpetuity, the sinkholes they are aware of. That would include the pond.
The trouble is, the permit Leonard originally filed has expired. The Farm’s HOA now needs to renew it before the Town can implement any fix.
And according to Palmer, TDEC and Town staff found a total of six sinkholes, not four.
“TDEC will require the HOA to submit a Class V Injection Well Permit Application ... [that] must illustrate the exact location of the sinkholes and a maintenance plan for each individual sinkhole,” Palmer said in his letter.
Until that happens, no repair can be made.
However, “There is no delay to the project due to this permitting process,” Palmer said in an e-mail to farragutpress.
“The project will not make any modifications to the pond; it only involves the infrastructure. I am not sure of the turnaround time for a permit through TDEC,” he added.
And, Palmer said, he doesn’t anticipate any extra cost to the Town.
“This will not impact the cost to the Town, as the pond is not part of the project,” he said.
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