FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – Homeowners in one area the Country Club of South Carolina say they are stuck in the middle of a battle between private owners and Florence County.
The neighborhood group, formed by neighbors who live near Bennett Lake, want to repair the lake’s dam so they can restore it to what it was before Hurricane Matthew.
Florence County Urban Supervisor Marion Joyner says the county owns a closed portion of Byrnes Boulevard, but the county can’t fix damages to the road until the dam is repaired.
“I always said I wanted to live on water somewhere or something of that sort,” says Larry Lutgen, Bennett Lake Home Owners Association Treasurer.
Lutgen and his wife bought their home near the Country Club of South Carolina because of the lake view, a view that is now nothing but dried out mud.
“You can see the sprinkler system lines and boats,” says Lutgen as he looks out at the lake from his backyard pier. “It’s kinda sad.”
The dam in the lake gave way during Hurricane Matthew, destroying a portion of Byrnes Boulevard.
“It’s really kind of confusing on who owns it,” says Lutgen. “Is it the county’s problem? Is it the state’s problem? Is it the country club’s problem? So, right now we are just trying to get the lake back.”
“The Lake itself is still owned by the corporation that used to own the Golf Course. But they are no longer in business. They are defunct… they have no reason to fix it. So we are in the process right now of trying to get them to agree to give ownership to the homeowners association. If we fix it then we will own it too,” he explains.
The neighborhood group has come together to raise $300,000 to make the necessary repairs to the dam so that the lake can be restored.
“The whole idea is to collect the funds from property owners or the membership owners to fix the dam itself to get the lake restored,” explains Lutgen.
So far, 33 out of the 58 lake front homeowners have contributed. Lutgen says he hopes the other 25 homeowners chip in to restore the lake.
“I’m worried about conflicts,” admits Lutgen. “You’ll have one neighbor that paid the money to get the lake back and another that didn’t. Of course that could cause some conflicts.”
The group has hired a private engineer and surveyor to assess the damages and create a plan on the needed repairs.
“Right now it’s just a mess,” says Lutgen.
Lutgen says the engineer’s study will be complete within the next 30 days. Those plans will be submitted to DHEC for approval.