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Residents urge Sudden Valley board to study seismic and landslide risks to lake infrastructure
Summary
Property owners urged the Sudden Valley board to assess the lakefront and water-tank infrastructure for landslide and seismic scenarios, citing historical disasters and asking the board to commission engineering modeling and slope inspections.
Several property owners used the meeting’s property-owner comment period to press the board for seismic and slope-stability work around the lake and key infrastructure.
A resident who identified himself during public comment recounted historical examples — the Lituya Bay megatsunami (1958) and the Vajont (Vajont/Vajontt) dam disaster in Italy (1963) — and urged the board to commission modeling of a potential magnitude-9 earthquake and to walk and inspect slopes around the lake for cracks. The commenter said bank failures and large slope slides could generate waves that threaten marina and lakeside infrastructure and recommended an engineering study of the lake and tank siting.
Chris Weitzel, another resident, described past flooding and debris problems on the lake, recounting a 1986 flood that inundated the golf course and citing past logging-related debris jams on creeks that contributed to the event. Weitzel urged the board to consider historical logging and debris issues when assessing flood and slide risk.
During the meeting the board acknowledged the concerns and referenced separate project work in the packet — including bridge design and permitting activity — but no formal board action to commission a specific seismic or slope-stability study was recorded in the minutes. The GM and staff noted permitting work and capital projects underway; they did not commit to a new engineering study on the record during the meeting.
Ending
Commenters asked staff and the board to inspect shorelines and slopes and to consider engineering modeling for extreme seismic scenarios; staff said it would pass the concerns to the appropriate departments for consideration during capital planning and permitting.
