At the August meeting of the Board of Commissioners, Schnabel, a independent engineering firm from Greensboro presented a preliminary report on their findings of a visual inspection of the dam and surrounding area.
The representatives told the commissioners that the leaking was visually apparent, but without further testing, the source of the leaks could not be determined.
Perry Williams, Yadkinville's Public Works Director said that the leaks are worse than they were over the past few months.
"The leaks are worse and have got to be fixed," Williams said. "There's not much choice. The engineer talked about the possibility of the seepage coming out below the toe drains and the stability of the dam with the leaks.
"This engineering firm is our second opinion," Williams said. "They were there (at the August board of commissioners meeting), to give their opinion of what possible solutions they recommended to fix the seepage from the outer bands of the dam.
"The board of commissioners is planning a work session to discuss the findings and make a decision on the best way to move forward."
Yadkinville's Mayor Hubert Gregory said the purpose of calling in a second opinion was to have an independent engineering firm, a "non-interested person, not directly involved" look at the problem.
"The engineering firm Schnabel recommended several options for us to consider," Gregory said. "One of those options is a soil test at a proposed cost of $30 - $50,000. The base of the dam is clay, but other soils and aggregates make up the banks of the dam.
"The engineering firm also gave us the option of digging wells to try to find where the water is leaking from within the dam," he said. "The water that seeps out should be controlled by the toe drains, but it appears that the toe drains are not at a level that is helping with this situation.
"I'm told that all dams leak," Gregory said. "But, if I understand correctly, these drains are gravel and I believe the original design called for sand. It's got worse since the meeting and Perry (Williams) went back and said he thought it was more, (water coming out).
"We supposedly had someone from the NC Dam safety department on site as it was being built, but there is some question as to that now."
Gregory said that although there is always a risk of a dam collapsing, there is no-one down-stream from the dam.
"There is a house across from the dam, but nothing else," Gregory said. "The flood plain is just below the dam's tract of land. At the very end of the dam, some of that land was designated as wetlands and we had to trade back what we use at a ratio of three acres back to every one we used."
Gregory said the board will be holding a work session to go over the recommendations of the engineering firm and to decide what the next move should be.
"Somewhere along the line, the seriousness of who pays for it (the repairs), will be addressed," Gregory said. "But right now, we need to find a solution to the problem of the leaking."
The Town of Yadkinville has no remaining debt service on the current dam.
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