Berkeley Lake's city engineer has issued a new report estimating repairs to the city's flood-battered dam at $3.7 million. Initial repair estimates had put the cost at $4 million.
Money from the special purpose local option sales tax can fund about $337,000 of the total, according to the report by city engineer Rich Edinger.
The city hopes the bulk of the remaining tab will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Off and on for nearly a year, Berkeley Lake and FEMA have disagreed over the extent of damage caused by last September's floods to the city's 85-foot-high dam.
FEMA had estimated the flood-related damage at $1.7 million and said it would pay 75 percent of that, or $1.3 million. Then this summer, the agency agreed to take a fresh look at the dam.
If FEMA agrees to pick up more of the tab, Mayor Lois Salter has said it would ease the tax burden on the Gwinnett County city of 2,000, which in June raised the property tax rate by 33 percent.
Construction documents for the dam repair are 80 percent complete. A current copy is available at City Hall.
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