HF Pond Restoration
Harting Farm Stream Restoration & Pond Retrofits Project
Greeting, friends and neighbors; we need your participation in another vote! The HOA has been working with Anne Arundel County to reach an agreement regarding granting easements to restore our ponds and stormwater management system. The county has designed this project to improve the stormwater that eventually enters Mill Creek and has requested a construction easement on our property to facilitate the required pond construction.
We started a vote for this last spring, but there has been one major change since the last time we voted on this. The county will no longer be staging heavy equipment in the clubhouse parking lot and transiting by the pool entrance. Instead, they will solely be staging near the project starting point off of Long Meadow Way. We feel this will eliminate the concerns of damaging the pool during construction.
The HOA board of directors fully endorses the project and thinks it will better our community and the local environment. We encourage you to vote for the property easement to allow AACO to perform this work. This will improve water flow in our community and allow our pond fountains to finally be reinstalled!
Project Details
The Mill Creek tributary runs from a culvert at Long Meadow Way to the south and west through the community ponds and outfalls just upstream of Jones Station Road. The series of ponds will each undergo specific modifications to enhance stormwater detention volume and increase water quality treatment so that the stormwater coming out of each pond is cleaner than what went in. Here is the work that will be performed:
The upper pond, near Blakiston Court, will be drained, the pond bottom excavated out and a new concrete riser structure will be installed.
The middle (and largest) pond will receive concrete riser modifications to increase storage during rain events.
The lower pond will be converted into a step-pool system by removing the failing lower embankment, riser, and pipe. The proposed design will maintain compliance with MD-378 Pond Code and the MDE Embankment Retrofit Design Guidelines. The stream restoration work will be performed upstream of the upper pond and will focus on installing rocked grade control structures to prevent future erosion of the channel.
or read on for more information…
Improvements Negotiated by HOA
2 New Pond Fountains: The Board of Directors has negotiated for the county to replace the fountains for our upper and middle ponds.
Pond Path Repair: We are also working with the paving contractor to negotiate better pricing to fix the asphalt path around the ponds while they are already here working on the county project. We don’t have answers on the path yet, but are hopeful.)
Noteworthy Contract Language
Special Provisions, Harting Farms Ponds Retrofit | Project # B571100 | Harting Farm HOA, Inc. The following shall be made part of the Deed of Easement and Agreement between the Harting Farm Homeowner’s Association, Inc. (“HOA”) and Anne Arundel County (“COUNTY”):
The County shall be responsible for all structural and critical components to keep the storm water management infrastructure improvements in compliance with MDE 378 Pond Standards, specifically, the pond riser structures, outfall barrels, riprap outfalls, rock weirs, embankment tree clearing and general slope stability issues within the easement area. The HOA shall be responsible for all day-to-day maintenance, including mowing, landscaping, fountains, docks, piers, pavement and any other amenity features that are not covered under Code compliance activities.
The HOA shall be responsible for all signage and or fencing.
The County shall repair or replace in-kind the portions of the existing asphalt path around the pond that may be impacted during construction. This work shall be under warranty for one year after completion of the construction at which time all future maintenance activities shall be assumed by the community.
The County shall purchase and install a pump and fountain for BMP 631 and BMP 636 shown on plat sheets 3 and 7 of Exhibit “B”. The County shall provide a one year warranty period from the commissioning date, at which time all maintenance, repairs, replacements, etc. shall be the sole responsibility of the HOA. The HOA shall be solely responsible for providing power supply to the pump and fountains prior to, during, and after construction.
Project FAQs - Impact to Residents
Below is a list of questions from our HOA representative and answers from the county’s project manager. This may help give you a better understanding of the project and how it may impact the community.
What type of machinery will enter the community? Typical construction equipment to be used are: Excavator w/bucket, bobcat, dump truck, & flatbed trucks.
When is the project currently scheduled? The county would like to start construction as soon as possible.
What is the project's expected duration? The engineer estimates 99 working days (Monday through Friday), or approximately 4.5 months.
Minimum: 3.5 months
Maximum: 6+ months
What, if any, potential setbacks could shift/extend the timeline?
Numerous issues could impact the project, but 99% of the time weather makes or breaks the project schedule because we are working in wet stream channels and ponds and need to dewater to maintain 'dry' workable conditions continuously.
Rain events cause delays because it takes about a day to dewater the site, so a series of moderate rain events spaced a day or two apart can really lead to long periods of maintenance only work and no actual progress. Conversely, long periods of dry weather significantly reduces dewatering efforts and allow for much more efficient operations.
Another option we have available at times is to add a second crew which for this project means Sections 1 and 2 could be worked on concurrently.
What days and hours will the crew work? Our crews work a typical Monday - Friday 8–10-hour days, from approximately 7am to 4-5 pm.
How would access to the path around the main pond be impacted and for how long? We will work in sections and leave as much of the path open as possible. Most walkers/bikers could skirt the edge of our work zone in the grass, but people with mobility issues would need to turn around. Each Section should take 4-6 weeks to build, and we would have permanent fencing and signage posted as warnings.
