Boiling Spring Lakes has a plan to restore their multiple dry lakes

BOILING SPRING LAKES, NC (WWAY) — It’s been more than two years since Hurricane Florence left its mark in the Cape Fear, but some places around the area are still seeing evidence from the storm.

In Boiling Spring Lakes, several of the city’s lakes are still dry. City Manager Jeff Repp says the town is finally putting a plan in motion to solve the issue.

“The city was faced with four dams that were breached that were built in the early 1960’s before there were dam standards,” Repp said.

Two years later, those dams in Boiling Spring Lakes are still damaged, and a few of the lakes are still empty. However, the city is confident things will change soon.

“We hope to be bidding this project out in March of next year,” Repp said. “We will be doing a request for qualification process starting in October where we’ll be having construction firms submitting documentation who are interested. Then we’ll be narrowing that down by the use of a matrix to determine who’s most qualified to do this work.”

Many residents have been upset with how long it has taken to get to this point and Repp says he shares their concerns.

“I live on a lake. I understand their frustration,” Repp said. “The same concerns they have, I feel. But I can also say that we’ve been moving as fast as we can getting the information and providing it to the state so we can get these permits in time.”

On a positive note, Repp says the new dams will be built to withstand any future storms the city may face.