GRANBY — George Mastorakis passes through the narrow path bordered by golden meadow grasses to the lounge spot he created 40 years ago.
The camp is simple: a child’s school chair covered in a layer of red and brown duct tape, a wooden bench drilled into the tree roots, a black trash bag weighed down by a broken tree branch, a plastic gallon water jug and a dirt firepit.
But the view of Forge Pond’s algae-dusted water and surrounding autumn-speckled forest does not require much adornment.
“In my opinion, this is a postcard year-round,” Mastorakis said.
The secluded spot is an oasis for Mastorakis, a lifelong Granby resident who lives across the street. There, he has met visitors from as far as Maine and Florida enjoying the 32-acre pond off School Street, near The MacDuffie School, which is held back by the Forge Pond Dam and Dike.
Initially created to support Massachusetts’ 19th-century metal-forging industry, the dam holds back water from Turkey Hill Brook and Weston Brook before allowing it to continue through Batchelor Brook.
But the dam supporting Granby’s great natural attraction has become one of the town’s greatest liabilities.
A 2020 inspection report rated the Forge Pond Dam and Dike in poor condition, noting “sprawling, transverse” cracks in parts of the structure, an inoperable dike gate and a failing retaining wall. A failure could send water over School Street and flood Trompke Avenue, North Street and Porter Street.
Both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) have mandated that Granby fix the dam. Conservation Agent David Desilets said the estimated $2.9 million cost to fully replace the Forge Pond Dam and renovate the dike has stalled the project.
“With the state of affairs that we’re in, it’s a two-year project window, but the big question is: When does it start?” Desilets said.
With the mandate hanging over it, Granby continues to search for money.
A thicket of grasses and invasive vegetation blocks any view of the Forge Pond Dam defects, which are mostly along the sides of the dam. Photos in the 2020 inspection report show cracks lacing the concrete of both training walls, which direct pond water to the dam. A rubber tire wall, which supports the stone retaining wall to hold back soil and rock, has slid a bit out of place.
Next to the dam, the dike gate materials and the stop logs — stacked planks that control the amount of water released from the dam — have degraded and don’t work.
DCR classifies the Forge Pond Dam and Dike as a “significant” hazard, which means loss of life from a dam failure is unlikely, but infrastructure damage is possible. Forge Pond Dam and Dike is one of eight dams in Franklin and Hampshire counties at risk of failing, according to the National Inventory of Dams.
Extreme weather only adds to the possibility of Forge Pond Dam breaking down. Massachusetts is expected to receive more precipitation each year as the climate warms. A hotter atmosphere can also hold more water vapor, increasing the intensity of storms. The heavier rains push aging infrastructure faster toward its limit.
“In the world of climate change and climate resilience, dams are such a focus in this [Healey-Driscoll] administration,” said Rep. Mindy Domb, who represents a portion of Granby. “It’s part of what makes us resilient to drought, but it’s a great potential hazard if they fail.”
Mastorakis has never been concerned about the dam breaking or toppling over. He is more worried about the algae growth caused by weeds removing oxygen from the water and trapping heat. But the mandate takes precedence.
Design plans for the dam and dike repair maintain most of the dike structure, only replacing the gate and stop logs. The dam, however, requires a new foundation and concrete cap. The two upstream training walls and two downstream retaining walls will connect to the dam wall like a sturdy “H” to prevent any logs or debris flowing downstream from breaking the dam.
“It becomes almost impossible to topple over,” Desilets said. “It’s going to be a pretty substantial structure.”
The project will take two years to complete, but the start date remains unknown until Granby can secure enough funding for it. The capital cost is a heavy lift for the small town, which only recently scraped together $5.6 million to transform the former West Street School into town offices.
Financing challenges appeared early in the project. Desilets said Granby did not have enough funds to finish the second phase of the dam inspection, which provides a professional recommendation to repair or remove the structures. The state awarded Granby a $100,000 Dam and Seawall Repair and Removal grant to draft the dam and dike designs, but the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs passed over the project in the recent round of grant awards.
“This dam has needed to be repaired and replaced for a very long time,” Domb said. “I hear grumbling about it in Granby a lot, and Granby is not a wealthy community.”
Domb has earmarked $1 million for the Granby project in a $3.5 billion multiyear environmental bond bill known as the Mass Ready Act (H.5518/S.3064). The legislation is currently in conference committee.
Desilets also plans apply for the Dam and Seawall grant again when the application reopens in January. He hopes that a stronger proposal will convince the state to fund the replacement.
Until then, the project is dammed up.
