Saugus to begin dam projects

SAUGUS-Strangers spotted near the Golden Hills dams today should not be taken as a threat to Homeland Security.Public Works Superintendent Joseph Attubato said work to repair the dams gets under way this week and it starts with surveys being done by engineering firm Weston & Sampson.”They’ll be at Spring Pond Dam doing test borings,” he said.Last November, the Department of Conservation and Recreation directed the town to not only repair the aged Spring Pond dam but to do it on its own dime. Listed in poor condition, at the time it was called a potential hazard.Nearly two years ago Weston & Sampson issued a report on all three dams in the Golden Hills area that said none of them were aging well. The inspection that was done per order of the DCR said Griswold Pond Dam and Lower Pond Dam were both in fair condition with hazardous potential, but Spring Pond Dam was generally in poor condition.The dam, which is believed to be close to 100 years old, suffers from an eroded footpath, small depressions and cracking in the road that extends across the crest of the dam, a deteriorating wall with structural cracks and a broken splash pad. The wooden guardrails along the crest are also rotting and there is dense vegetation along both the upstream and downstream slope.If the town doesn’t deal with the repairs it could face a $500 per day fine. However, Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said that is not going to happen.”DCR put us on notice and gave us certain deadlines but we’ve met all the deadlines,” he said.Attubato said he expects the town would be back in compliance soon.”They’re not big dams,” he added. “It shouldn’t be a big deal.”The spruced up dams will fit in nicely with the rehabbed ponds they protect. Bisignani said the ponds have responded fantastically to a program started two years ago aimed at eradicating invasive vegetation.An over abundance of milfoil, fanwort and swollen bladderwort was spreading through the ponds, putting them in danger of turning them into bogs. But, in June of 2007, the Conservation Commission approved the use of a sonar herbicide treatment in Griswold Pond that proved so successful it was later introduced to the other two bodies of water.Bisignani said the ponds have since flourished.”The algae disappeared, the water is clear, the fish are still thriving and safe and it was all done with a natural process,” he said. “It worked like a charm.”Attubato said he expects the repairs to the dams will go just as smoothly.