Sanford dam debris removal concludes

From October 19-November 6, 57,000 cubic feet of debris was removed from Sanford Dam. Check out this video to see a time lapse of the process. 

This effort is thanks to a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Fisher Contracting, Sanford Village President Dolores Porte, volunteer Bill Gebo, and many other volunteers whose work cleaned the water and dam and reunited property owners with lost items. 

We're also thankful for safety gear donations from Home Depot, Douglass, Three Rivers and Spicer that provided hardhats, visibility vests, etc. for volunteers.

Debris Removed:

• 90% trees
• 10% treated timber (demolished dock sections and building material), scrap metal (boats and dock rails) and unsalvageable items

Recovered Items:

• Recovered 86 items
  • 15 boats, kayaks and pedal boats
  • About 12 undamaged dock sections 
  • Boat accessories, lawn furniture, propane tanks, transformer

Unclaimed Items:
A variety of unclaimed undamaged items were donated to nonprofits. Chippewa Nature Center received the large floating dock to be used at their wetlands pond, Little Forks Conservancy received six wooden dock sections to be used as boardwalk on their hiking trails, and Sanford Rebuild Fund received a few plastic watercraft and a wide variety of smaller items. Sanford Rebuild will post them on the Sanford Strong Facebook page to see if anyone claims anything. ​