A review of previously received Georgia Open Records Act (“GORA”) Responses shows that on April 30, 2021, within hours of receiving a copy of the most recent 2020 & 2021 Lake Petit Dam Inspection Reports, Georgia Safe Dams (“GSD”) Engineer Kate Betsill wrote to the Director of GSD, Tom Woosley and stated,
“We need to request the camera inspections of the low-level (?) pipe done in November and December 2020.”
Who is Kate Betsill?
According to GSD, Kate Betsill is Georgia Safe Dam’s “Primary Engineer” contact for Lake Petit Dam.
What has been done regarding Primary Engineer Kate Betsill’s advice?
Ms Betsill’s advice has to this day been intentionally ignored. FOBC Newspaper put in a GORA Request (Request #0037 / Oct. 15, 2021). Following was the GORA Response from Georgia Safe Dams / EPD:
“In response to Request #0037 (Oct. 15), EPD has not specifically requested that the dam owner or their engineer submit their camera inspections or dive reports to us….”
As of this writing, 7 months after Ms Betsill suggested that GSD acquire these reports, Big Canoe POA has not voluntarily released the information to the GSD, nor the public, nor property owners. Almost immediately after receiving this letter, Safe Dams Director Tom Woosley resigned. His replacement, David Griffin, who has been involved with the Lake Petit Dam for over a decade, has continued Woosley’s long standing bureaucratic policy of “look the other way” in regards to the numerous, ongoing and blatant Compliance Violations by the Lake Petit Dam Owner, Big Canoe POA.
The bottom line is that having those Camera Reports is something that GSD is legally entitled to have, and would unquestionably be of great informational value to the GSD Engineers. This is clearly evidenced by Engineer Kate Betsill’s suggestion that they be requested. So why haven’t the Camera Reports haven’t been “officially” requested?
Answer: The POA and the bureaucracy within GSD, both know that if that were to occur, GSD would be legally obligated via Open Records to supply that information to this newspaper (FOBC), and that subsequently those reports would be made public. Makes one wonder what was revealed in those inspections, and just how bad the situation is, that they are going to such extraordinary lengths to keep those reports from being publicly released.
Meanwhile, new surface flow areas are opening up around the downstream face of the Dam, and the lower ballfield is increasingly saturated with spongy, wet ground, as the phreatic line in the Dam continues to rise, and water seepage through the face and subsurface of the Dam increases.
The situation has continued to deteriorate, pressure from GSD on the Big Canoe POA has recently increased, GM Scott Auer has again been caught manipulating information (lying?) to residents, and the estimated Cost and Timelines to fix the Dam are escalating rapidly.
Stay tuned. Several new articles will be published in the the next several weeks.
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Peace,
– david / publisher
Focus on Big Canoe, GA
* a publication of The Mountains Voice
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