Today, Jason and I had a meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers. We took him down the mountain to the brook, discussing what we would like to do, need to do, and what we would have to do.
The whole reason for the invite for the sitewalk, was to answer our question, of do they need to give us a permit. The short answer is yes.
The longer answer is complex. But to keep it simple, anything that disturbs the soil, bank to bank in a stream needs a permit through them. Part of the clean water act.
What I had decided before we met, is we should permit in sections. Only get permits for what we can reasonably do before the permit expires. The first section will involve the Fossel Washout, and a small cross pipe just north of the Fossel property line, and will stop before the slide.
Next section would consist of the slide. No Army Corps involvement there, but I suspect a DEP permit may be needed. Third section would include the next two washouts, and perhaps make it to the approach to the bridge. This third section may be split, depending on the type of work we decide to do at one of the washouts.
The two washouts will need to have plans for the approval from Army Corps. We can't just drop in a pipe, throw in some gravel and continue. Nothing we can't handle, but needs to be planned out and the plan followed.
The first washout north of the slide will be a substatially larger project than I thought, and there will be much discussion before we actually decide what to do there.
Next, I need to schedule a walk with DEP...
