Progress is happening quickly since finally breaking ground a couple of weeks ago. There has been a lot of social media talk this week about what is happening at our construction site, so I thought I would shoot you a quick update.
Entrance Relocation
Work has begun to cut in our new and permanent property entrance. There will ultimately be one entrance lane and one exit lane at our parking lot. The old entrance is being covered over so the grade will match.
Tree Clearing and Trench Digging
This is where the social media stink was apparently caused, so let me clear it up as best as I can.
A segment of the Westward facing slope was cleared of trees. This slope was just starting to sprout trees on it when we bought the property in 2018. (see 2nd photo, below) It all grew up over the last seven years because those slopes are really hard to manage!
Obviously, we bought this piece of land in large part because of the incredible views all the way around, and we wanted to restore some of that… BUT that isn’t the primary reason for clearing the trees! The main reason is that we are required to provide stormwater runoff from the property into the storm sewer system along Highland Parkway. In order to do this, we have to install several manholes down that slope, connecting into the current manhole at the bottom beside the road.
The manholes and the storm pipes will be DEEP. Each manhole will extend down to over 20’ below the surface of that slope. This will be a very deep subsurface structure.
In order to install these pipes and manholes, we are required to create a very deep trench with sides that angle downward at a certain slope, required by Georgia State Building Code. (we don’t want any construction workers falling in the trench, AND we don’t want anything falling on their heads while they are down there!) THAT means this trench will be… Get this… SIXTY feet wide. That is a six-story building on it’s side. Most of the trees that were removed were done so to accommodate this trench.
Ian Duncan, our project superintendent, walked the top of the slope with me before removing the first tree. We intentionally did not want to remove any of the older-growth trees that are along the slope south of the building location. We felt this was appropriate, and would maintain more of the natural look for residents that live across the street from our property. We are all sorry that this has caused some heartache for some of our neighbors, and we hope that our presence in this new location will be a blessing to our entire community.