CARROLL
VALLEY, Pa. —When Daniel Patton and his family moved
to Carroll Valley five years ago, Daniel and his wife were
looking forward to enjoying a smaller, cozier home after the
last of their children moved out. And that is just what happened.
In fact, Patton’s property has continued to grow smaller
over the time they have lived there.
The
problem is erosion caused by Lake Kay, which the property
abuts. Patton enjoys the lakefront property because he has
easy access to the lake, which he frequently enjoys via
paddleboat. But after five years in Carroll Valley, he has
lost about 10 feet of his property to erosion. He said it
is not only a cause for concern for him but for several
other homeowners on the west bank of the lake who are experiencing
similar
problems.
“There’s
a lot of concern for safety, the trees are pretty much ready
to go down,” Patton said, pointing to several trees
leaning over the water in unnatural angles. Where land once
supported the trees from beneath, water now flows, slowly
undercutting the roots of the trees, causing the trees to
tilt and become unstable making the trees susceptible to
falling at anytime and on anyone. Also, on Northern Pike
Road, the erosion has begun to undercut the road and drainage
pipe, creating a crack in the pipe and a potentially hazardous
situation.
To
prevent further erosion and damage, Patton has been slowly
shoring up his property line with rocks over the past two
to three years, as have several other property owners on
the west shore of Lake Kay. It has stopped further erosion,
but that can be expensive and ending the erosion all together
is a much more complicated issue.
Although
the property owners surrounding Lake Kay have access to
the Lake’s shore, not all of the properties on the
Lake fully extend to the shore, as the borough of Carroll
Valley owns, in some cases, several feet of property between
the lake and the homeowners property line. Thus, while the
shoreline slowly recedes closer to their homes, some of
those not owning the shoreline property are waiting until
the erosion reaches their property line to take action.
“I
think they’re probably not doing anything because
they don’t own the property [being eroded],”
Patton said. “They’ll let the borough come out
and fix their own property.”
While
Patton said he understands that mind set, he would like
to see the problem fixed now, rather than later. Thus, as
a member of the Carroll Valley Borough Council, Patton has
addressed the council concerning the Lake Kay erosion and
presented the board suggestions for solving the issue.
Initially
Patton proposed the idea that the town hand over the shoreline
properties to the adjacent homeowners, but complicated legal
issues would make the process a tricky task, thus Patton
suggested that the town provide the rocks to shore up the
entire western shoreline.
The
council has yet to discuss the issue at hand, but in the
meantime Patton said he hopes something is done before an
accident happens and a tree falls and hurts someone.
“I
behoove the borough in the early spring to get the trees
down,” Patton said. “One storm this year may
be just enough to bring a tree down.”
