For some Chesco residents, loss of reservoir a dam shame
East Goshen residents consider the Milltown Dam and the Hershey's Mill Dam to be landmarks in their town of 18,000. They fought for years to save the recreational dams, which have been part of the town in some form for centuries. Their failure last year has led some to leave their homes.
Paul Knox and his family wake up in their Monument, Colo., home every morning to spectacular views of Pikes Peak, the Rocky Mountain summit that climbs more than 14,000 feet into the sky.
To hear him tell it, however, the family had not wanted to give up the humbler but beloved view they enjoyed for eight years back in East Goshen Township, Chester County — that of a more than 10-acre artificial lake where residents ice-skate, fish, and watch a host of wildlife.
"The whole reason we moved there was because of that reservoir," said Knox, 57, who is self-employed. "If they're getting rid of the reservoir, there was no reason for us to stay."
His family is one of several that have left the neighborhood or have said they will leave because of the township's decision last year to lower the 20-foot-tall Milltown Dam and shrink the reservoir into a pond to comply with new state Department of Environmental Protection safety regulations. More than 1,000 people had signed a petition against changing the dam.
Residents consider Milltown Dam and also Hershey's Mill Dam to be landmarks in their town of about 18,000. Knox and his neighbors fought for years to save the recreational dams, which have been part of the town in some form for centuries. But in June 2016, township officials decided to breach Hershey's Mill Dam and partially breach Milltown Dam to cut future upkeep costs. The DEP said the structures could fail in a major rainfall, so the town had to either breach or fix them.
A year and several committee meetings and public surveys later, town officials decided last month how they want the dams to look. At the location of the larger of the two, Milltown Dam, a 2½-acre pond would replace the reservoir. The popular spot on Reservoir Road just north of West Chester Pike will continue to host recreation. Town officials plan to add a fishing pier, trails, a meadow, a boardwalk, and parking spaces over a 19-acre area.
Vincent McGinnis, a resident and chairman of the committee that came up with the plan, called it "a very good second choice." McGinnis, 68, said that he moved into his house 32 years ago because of the waterfront and that he and some neighbors joined the committee to try to save as much water as possible. Public surveys showed that was what most people wanted.
Chuck Hepler, who said the reservoir was a factor in his decision to locate in the neighborhood, said it seems most residents feel that the final plan for the site is better than they had feared, although they wish the township had saved more of the reservoir.
"It's a very rare gem to have something like that in a suburban area that's as built up as it is around West Chester," Hepler said. "It was worth fighting for."
Hepler, 63, plans to move to Lancaster County on Friday, a decision to downsize "accelerated" by the coming loss of acres of reservoir.
Roughly three miles away, at Greenhill and Hershey Mill Roads near 202, the seven-acre basin at Hershey's Mill Dam would be replaced by a 1/7-acre pond and trails, according to plans. Step pools would create smaller versions of the waterfall that drivers and residents of the 55-and-older community of Hershey's Mill across the street were used to seeing.
Neil DeRiemer, who lives next to Hershey's Mill Dam and formed a community group years ago to try to save it, is not ready to give up on the dam.
He wrote letters to township officials asking them to reconsider their new plan. He wants them to consider reducing the size of the dam and adding concrete blocks to control erosion, so they can keep a bigger pond and waterfall.
"I said this is a hail Mary," DeRiemer, 71, said. "I get that."
He said his plan would save the town money.
Town officials have been applying for grants to pay for the roughly $2.1 million needed for the Milltown changes and the more than $670,000 needed for Hershey's Mill Dam.
"It's going to be really quite nice," said E. Martin "Marty" Shane, chair of the township's Board of Supervisors, of the plans for the dams. Last year, the longtime township official said the decision about what to do with them was "one of the toughest decisions I've had to make in 30 years."