Honey Lake dam

Michael F. Daciek
Pennington
    Half a million dollars to design a pile of dirt.
   After reading the article, “Township: Honey Lake Dam resolution is OK’d,” I had another of those “no wonder our taxes are so damn high” moments. Paul Pogorzelski, township administrator and engineer, is quoted as saying the DEP said $500,000 would be available for design of a dam that would meet safety standards. Total cost of the construction of the damn has been estimated at $2.8 million.
   My first thought was — half a million dollars just to design a glorified pile of dirt? Excuse me, earthen dam.
   Aren’t the drawings for the design of the original construction of the dam sitting on a shelf somewhere that could be used again?
   What’s changed since 1960 besides the fact that these so-called lakes are mostly swamps now about a foot deep on average. Bring a canoe down to Baldwin Lake sometime and see how many times you find yourself sitting on the bottom barely able to move.
   I’m sure I’m slightly oversimplifying it, but I’m willing to bet a first year engineering student could take existing plans from any number of the thousands of dams like this across the country and in couple of hours and with some CAD software modify the plans to fit one of these “ponds.”
   Most of the utilitarian farm ponds created in the 1900s that are still holding up today were probably designed on a sheet of paper at the kitchen table by hard-working farmers and built in a season with a few laborers and a tractor. Also, most of these countless scenic fishing holes and wildlife habitats wouldn’t even be allowed to be constructed with today’s DEP.
   Before any more tax dollars are spent, first let’s ask why a large pile of dirt costs $500,000 to design.