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MOUNT VERNON — The dirt pile on the southeast corner of Yauger and Upper Gilchrist roads drew the attention of a Knox Pages reader.
“What’s going on at the southeast corner of Yauger and Gilchrist Road. Lots of digging on that city property,” she wrote.
The answer is straightforward: The city is trading dirt.
As those who have been following the cattle dam saga know, Mark Haynes Construction is the contractor charged with building a causeway at the Knox Cattle Company dam and lake farther west on Yauger Road.
A causeway is essentially a secondary dam in the middle of the lake that creates two smaller unregulated dams instead of having one big dam and lake.
Interim City Engineer Quentin Platt said the contractor needs clay material to construct a watertight causeway. The contractor must also remove accumulated sediment from the lake.
“So we needed a place to put the sediment and a place to get clay from,” Platt said.
It just so happens the city owns property down the road.
“We took a look at the soil map and decided there was a good chance that would be good clay material,” Platt said.
After geotechnical specialists tested the soil, they agreed it was good material for the causeway.
“So basically, we are just swapping dirt. As we dig out the clay material from the intersection there at Upper Gilchrist and Yauger Road, we’re bringing that on site [at the pond]. Then we’re filling it back in with the sediment from the pond,” Platt said.
Solving an 18-year-old problem
Excavators dug about 12 feet before hitting bedrock. Platt said that is good information. Now city officials know approximately how deep they must dig if they build a fire station on the site in the future.
“Either way, that clay material was going to have to come out, because it’s not suitable for building a structure on top of,” Platt said. “And removing the topsoil will be just as easy, if not easier, when they go to construction for the fire department.”
The dam project traces its roots to 2008 when Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials notified property owners of measures needed to bring the dam into compliance.
In June 2020, at the request of ODNR, the State of Ohio filed a civil suit in Knox County Common Pleas Court. The state asked the court to declare the legal owner(s) of the Yauger Road dam.
The case wound its way through the court to determine ownership and a solution to bring the dam into compliance.
Although final homeowners’ association documents and future maintenance fees are not yet finalized, Platt said the contractor is fairly close to winding up the construction part of the cattle dam project.
The outlet structure should be complete this week, and Platt anticipates finishing the causeway by the end of July.
“After that, there will just be some restoration work, and they’ll be packing out. Early or mid-August is our goal, weather depending,” Platt said.
“I think it’ll be a weight off of a lot of people’s chests, and hopefully, the residents, too. They’ve kind of been in limbo for the past decade, not knowing what’s going on. To know it’s going to be maintained … it’ll be something that’s resolved.”
