A Peek at What is Coming

Happy New Year! Another long break between updates, so my apologies.  There hasn’t been too much new going on out on the site other than a few things I’ll go over here, but there has been a lot happening indoors that is keeping us busy. 

The contractor has been continuing with the stretch of stormwater pipe that was discussed previously and was able to tie into the existing system around the EarthFit building last week.  What this means is that the large ditches that ran along Cherokee Farms Road can now (and now have been) filled in because the water in that area can now utilize the new pipes to be transported to the new pond.  It is important to note that the only water using the pipes is the water coming from the already developed portion (i.e., the EarthFit building and the church).  All newly installed catch basins are covered because you do not want water from the construction site to go into the pipes, as it will carry with it a whole lot of dirt and we will have a big mess on our hands!  So, only runoff from the impervious areas that were existing.  

The manhole towards the bottom of the picture is the existing stormwater box that the crew has been making their way to for the past month to tie in the existing system.

This is the same manhole as above and the crew has dug down to where the existing pipe was coming out of the box.  They have cut the pipe off and are using a jackhammer to knock out the concrete in the opening so that the new pipe can be inserted into the box.

This is the pipe coming towards that box, with just one more segment of pipe to be put in.  The black fabric is wrapped around each joint in the pipe.

There are electrical and telecommunication utilities running all through here and they have caused multiple issues because they cannot be moved and are not always where you thought they would be.  Here, the engineer had to be consulted about how to move a box from where it was designed to be so that a major power line could be avoided.

Looking down into a narrow storm drain box that was recently installed.  The contraption at the bottom is the laser tool they use when laying pipe to get the right alignment and slope.

Filling in the large ditches allows the crew to finish the last run of sewer that extends to the EarthFit and church buildings.  They are installing that this week.  Please note that this will impact these areas.  There will be a few days where the temporary back lane on the north side of these buildings will be closed, so parking will be restricted to the parking areas behind the buildings and the street in front.

There are few small stretches of water line and stormwater pipes that remain to be installed and require some dirt to be moved, so those will be done after this sewer line is completed.  If we’re lucky, we may start seeing a few streets start getting cut in in a few weeks in order to start seeing how the compact the existing subgrade is.  We are working with geotechnical engineers to test compaction in various ways that we’ll discuss in a future update.

The inside work that is keeping us busy is working with all of the involved parties to start getting the vertical aspects of the project ready.  This includes the multi-family apartments, the model homes, the pool and pool building, and the potential independent/assisted living facility.  Habersham Row has closed on the property for the apartments and are waiting to be put on the agenda for the County’s final review of their development plan, landscaping and architecture.  They will still have to submit for a building permit after that.  Several of the approved builders are scheduled to close on their model home lots in the coming weeks and 4 have received final HARB approval for their plans.  Two more are forthcoming. We hope to start seeing activity on these model homes in the next month or so.  The pool building has been designed, approved by the county and will be going out for bids in the coming weeks.  Construction of that is a few months out.  The independent/assisted living facility is not final yet.  The developer of that project is still working on financing, as it is much more complex than these other things.  Currently, this is still considered a conceptual project but is one that we hope will come to fruition.  

There is a lot going on while the infrastructure is being put in.  As you may start hearing more about these various projects, you may see it referred to as being a part of the Pondcrest phase.  This is the name that was chosen to refer to this portion of Habersham.