ROAD REPAIRS ... October 2018
 

On Saturday, October 13, 2018, a reported 1.41 inches of rain fell overnight in our neighborhood (at the Monument Manor weather station on Old Vine Road).  This resulted in significant erosion in the upper, steeper areas of the neighborhood and sand deposition in the lower areas. As you know, all of Joshua Tree and surrounding communities were affected.  One 50-year resident said it was the biggest storm during her time here. Equipment operators were in great demand, but after the storm the Association quickly made some hand repairs and scheduled Sean Molina to do tractor work.  We inspected the roads and provided Sean with a map and description of the most immediate repairs.  He subsequently worked in more than 20 locations throughout the Manor, adding dirt in eroded areas, removing sand, and repairing drainage features. Our previous preventative work paid off; our roads were not as badly affected as in previous monsoons.  However, our emergency storm repair allocation of $1,500 was not sufficient to address all the storm damage. We are currently putting together a list of additional work for Sean to complete.  Among the tasks being considered is transporting sand off-site.  Typically, we push the sand out of the roads, piling it up along the road shoulders, but eventually, when it builds up, we have to remove some of it. This is an expensive but necessary task; we can't use sand to repair roads because it does not compact well.  We have reduced the rate of sand buildup by slowing the runoff, but in big storms it still accumulates.  We will also be importing and adding more dirt in areas that saw significant erosion.