Town crew’s continued work on Happy Creek bank nets Stop Work Order

In response to our late Friday (Nov. 6) questions regarding County permitting of Town work along the banks of Happy Creek adjacent to the Greenway path between South and Prospect Streets, we received a weekend email response from County Building Official David Beahm.

As reported in our initial story, following a phone conversation with Board of Supervisors Chairman Walt Mabe, landscaping professional and Tree Steward member David Means believed a Stop Order had been placed on that stabilization and stormwater control Town work due to permitting issues. Interim Town Manager Matt Tederick countered that to his knowledge no Stop Order had been placed; rather, a request for an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan had been placed by Beahm. That plan from Town I&I (Inflow & Infiltration) consultant CHA had been submitted to the County and work would continue, Tederick told Royal Examiner at the end of last week.

It turns out both Means and Tederick were partly right, or partly wrong about the continuation of work at the site.

Above, Happy Creek’s bank as it appeared at the end of last week. Below, as it appeared Monday afternoon, Nov. 9, when a Stop Work Order was handed to Town crews by County Building Official David Beahm. Beahm believed the Town had agreed to voluntarily stop the work till as many as 30 permitting issues were resolved. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

Beahm said no Stop Order had been placed because the Town and its project consultant CHA had voluntarily offered to stop work on the Happy Creek bank stabilization and stormwater management project pending resolution of permitting issues. But his receipt mid-week of CHA’s Erosion and Sediment Control Plan did not satisfy all the issues in play, Beahm said.

In fact, he said he alerted CHA and Town officials to the fact that the submitted plan had as many as 30 unresolved permitting issues that had to be clarified before work could resume.

“I received plans on Thursday the 5th (November) at 2:34 p.m. electronically from the Town. This was after discussions with the Town and their design firm, that was under the impression that their approval received from Virginia Marine Resource Commission (VMRC) was all that they required. After a brief look at the plans, they were found to be insufficient. I contacted the Town to inform them that a resubmission would be required, but that a full review will start early next week (workweek of Monday, November 9) to fully document the deficiencies. The design firm has been provided with what is required to be on the plans and should already be doing a self-review to correct many of the items before the official review is complete,” Beahm wrote Royal Examiner this past weekend, adding, “Here is the statement from the (project) designer on Wednesday the 4th to me that was copied to the Town and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ): “In the meantime, work on the project was suspended last week pending approval of the plans by the County and will not be restarted until all permits and approvals are in place. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.”

Above and below, post Stop Work Order, Town Public Works crew drags silt fencing around rocks placed earlier.

Then Monday, November 9, arrived and several reports were received by interested parties that creek and creek bank work at the Prospect Street Bridge at Front Street was continuing. This led to County Building Official Beahm’s appearance at the site, where a Stop Work Order was handed directly to Town officials. According to witnesses Melody Hotek and Chris Anderson, present to receive that Stop Work order were Public Works Director Robbie Boyer and the Department’s Street Maintenance Supervisor Alan Pack. Hotek is President of the Front Royal-Warren County Tree Stewards; Anderson is Page and Warren County Coordinator of the Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, a regional environmental watchdog group.

When this reporter arrived at the scene shortly before 2 p.m., Beahm was gone and work appeared to be continuing around silt fencing buffering the new bank full of rocks on the Commerce Avenue side of Happy Creek that had not been there over the weekend. Those large rocks are the “rip-rap” Interim Town Manager Matt Tederick cited last week as earmarked to replace the removed creek bank vegetation – “It’ll be beautiful,” Tederick promised of the completed project.

Piece of large machinery utilized in stages of Town stabilization and creek bed clearing lies silent mid-afternoon, Monday, upstream from rip-rap work at Prospect St. Bridge.

Contacted, Beahm verified his serving of the Stop Work Order to Town officials. Asked about continuing work at the scene, the County Building Official said that if that work included the placing of any additional rocks the Town would be looking at fines. However, no rock placement was observed as crews seemed focused on stabilization of the surrounding fence buffer around the newly placed rocks.

Contacted late Monday afternoon Interim Town Manager Tederick agreed there had been a failure in the line of communications between the County and Town on permitting requirements. He said Town crews had done no more vegetation cutting which he thought was agreed to be put on hold pending permitting clarification. However, he thought getting the rip-rap rocks into place to facilitate flood control prior to Tropical Storm Eta’s remnants potentially dropping significant amounts of rain on us by the end of the week to be advisable.

Above, looking northeast in the section where cutting has been accomplished. First shot below, a section not yet cleared on the east side of the creek; and below that semi-cleared sections on the west bank approaching South St. intersection with Happy Creek.