Volunteers have finished another portion of work on Flinty’s Boardwalk.
Work continued on the site late last month, with eight helpers flattening out the opening portion of the boardwalk near Third Avenue and placing portions of boards back down on Aug. 21.
“It went very smoothly and very quickly, as well. We were done in about half an hour. That was good,” said Dave Price with the Flinty Boardwalk Committee.
“Basically, the boardwalk is in good shape.”
Now that the flattening work is complete, Price and other boardwalk committee members will focus on other areas of the boardwalk itself.
In early August, portions of the boardwalk trail were flooded after heavy rains and a dramatic rise in the water level of Ross Lake.
Price said the water is now gone from the boardwalk, leaving behind piles of leaves, sticks and other detritus on the trail. Volunteers may soon be needed to clean the site over the coming weeks. Some areas of the trail have already been cleaned.
“There may be some tidying up to do with cleaning the muck off the trails that the flood left behind,” said Price.
Other fixes, such as taking care of portions of the boardwalk that Price called “wobbly,” adding new boards and removing trees that fell after a major storm last month, will also continue.
“There’s still some windfall trees – they’re not blocking the trail or anything, but we need to do a little tidying up after that,” he said.
One major project could also be started in the fall – staining the stairs on the northern portion of the boardwalk, leading to the portion of the boardwalk located on the rocks above the west shore of Ross Lake.
“We’re looking at possibly getting a start at staining the big stairs before the season is out,” Price said.
“The last time it was done, it was by a group of volunteers in 2011. It needs doing again, and I was wondering whether we might do it this year or delay it to next year.”
Price added that a local volunteer group had discussed carrying out at least part of the project.
“It sounds as though the Kinsmen may want to make that a project that they might start come September or next spring.”
