On September 30 we did some final work at the picnic area — here are photos.
Signs
We emplaced signs at several places around the area.
DANGER — STAY OFF THE ROCKS
We placed two of these signs as shown in the photo. One sign is at the foot of the stairs leading from the Potomac River deck into the water; a second sign is at the far western end of the bulkhead. A third warning sign will be placed in the water near the breakwater.
PLEASE KEEP THE AREA CLEAN
There have been a few instances of people fishing from the end of the Potomac River pier leaving cut bait and other mess on the pier. This warning sign should help.
FIRE DEPT REFILL POINT
This sign — located on our Presley Creek dock — requires a bit of explanation. Because the County does not have municipal water, there are no fire hydrants in the county. In place of fire hydrants, our two volunteer fire departments have several water tankers that carry water to fires. These tankers carry 2,500 – 3,500 gallons of water each. The other pieces of fire equipment carry smaller quantities of water — 250 or 500 gallons. Controlling even a moderate house fire can require over 15,000 gallons of water.
The tankers also carry a folded, collapsible water tank — similar to an above-ground swimming pool — with built-in hose connections. If necessary, the tanker will deploy the tank, dump all the tanker’s water into the tank, then, the tanker will go to the nearest refill point. These refill points are located around the county and consist of a large-diameter PVC pipe permanently laid into a creek or river. The tanker connects to the refill pipe and pumps water from the creek or river into the tanker. When filled, the tanker returns to the fire scene.
The local fire departments have these refill points mapped and they regularly train on locating and connecting to the refill points. This sign is reflective and will make it easier for fire departments to locate the refill point in the dark or in bad weather.
New Grass
After we completed the work to raise the western end of the bulkhead, our contractor added topsoil, compacted, graded, and sowed grass seed. Here is the western end of the picnic area with new grass sprouting under the netting.
Finally
We levelled and raked the pea gravel under one of the two new picnic tables. Due to time constraints, the two volunteers had to put off levelling and raking gravel under the second picnic table for a few days.
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