Stafford makes offer to Lake Arrowhead: You can borrow $542,000 to fix your dams

Stafford Rock Hill District Supervisor Wendy Maurer will collect 300 signatures before moving forward to fix to failed dams in the county’s Lake Arrowhead neighborhood.

“I want to have the general consensus of the residents before we move forward with this,” said Maurer.

Maurer and volunteers are working to collect those signatures by going to door to door and talking with neighbors about Stafford County’s offer to loan Lake Arrowhead residents $542,010 to repair the two dams that make up the community’s two lakes: Big and Little Lake Arrowhead.

The dams have been in a state of disrepair since 2003.

A subsequent tax increase will be needed to repair the dams. It will take 10 years to pay off the debt incurred by the dam fix, said Maurer. Afterward, the increased property tax would be decreased by 2/3, as the county will still need to collect $30,000 a year to maintain the dams.

Unlike other neighborhoods with homeowners associations that manage lakes and community amenities, Lake Arrowhead’s HOA disbanded nearly 20 years ago after allegations of theft within in the organization, added Maurer.

A letter from county officials to residents outlines the county’s offer to Lake Arrowhead residents:

The Lake Arrowhead community owns two lakes, Lake Arrowhead and Little Lake Arrowhead, which serve as amenities for all property owners in the community. Both lakes are formed by dams that are regulated by the Commonwealth of Virginia to ensure the dams are maintained in a manner which protects the safety of those living downstream of the lakes. For many years, these dams have not been monitored and maintained in compliance with state requirements.

While your community has taken some steps to investigate the necessary measures to return these dams to compliance with state requirements, the process is still incomplete.

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors recognized the broader safety concerns of these dams and initiated an engineering study earlier this year to assess the dams. The study also identified costs and options to first bring the dams into compliance and then ensure future maintenance.

The engineering study was recently completed and renovations are required for both dams to comply with safety requirements. Total cost for the work is estimated at about $705,000, including engineering, permits, construction and an appropriate contingency.

The results of this study have been provided to the Dam Safety Division with the state, and we have obtained their concurrence with our findings. We are now in a position to begin the detailed engineering design for both dams with the assurance that the basis of design will be accepted by the regulating authority.

The County believes that a feasible approach to fund the repairs includes the use of about $138,000 from the remaining funds collected by the Lake Arrowhead Sanitary District, the use of $25,000 in grants from the state, with the balance of about $542,000 provided as a loan by the County to the Lake Arrowhead community. Details on the estimated costs and funding strategy are provided below.

We propose that the Lake Arrowhead community repay the County for the loan through the formation of a service district. This allows the residents to pay back the debt through an assessment on their property tax bill. Assuming a loan balance of $542,010 as noted above, a 10 year payback schedule, and an interest rate of 2.5% for the life of the loan, our preliminary calculations indicate that a tax rate of 9¾¢ per thousand would be necessary to fund capital cost for the renovations, along with maintenance reserve funding. After the rehabilitation loan is paid off, the rate would drop almost two-thirds to fund continuing maintenance responsibilities. The table below provides a range for the annual costs for property owners based on the assessed value of their property.

We recognize this is a major decision for the Lake Arrowhead community, and a great deal of information to provide by way of a letter. Whereas many of you may wish to be provided additional information about this proposal, and have questions answered before making a decision of this importance, we have scheduled a community meeting at the A. G. Wright Middle School on October 13 beginning at 7:00 PM. Your Rock Hill District Supervisor, Wendy Maurer, will be present along with County staff to present information on the recently completed study, as well as details on the funding possibilities to complete the renovations. We hope to see you there.

The lakes will not be drained to repair the dams. A rusted-out culvert at the Little Lake Arrowhead dam needs to be repaired, and dam at Big Lake Arrowhead needs to be raised seven inches taller, said Maurer.