Dredging of park pond on hold

(8/20) Efforts to dredge the pond in the town’s park have been put on hold, for at least this year, due to the limitations placed on Community Parks and Playground (CPP) grants, which the Town was hoping to use to fund the project.

Commissioner Bill Rittlemeyer told his fellow commissioners that projects which utilized CPP grant funding are not allowed to seek additional grant funding for future work after accepting the CPP funds.

Unfortunately, Rittlemeyer explained that the Town used CPP funding to install the current aerator in the pond back in 2015, so we will not be able to seek a grant from them to dredge the pond.

At the July meeting, Rittlemeyer suggested that the Town dredge the pond in the town’s park before it’s filled with silt to such an extent that it would no longer be considered a pond, "but a marsh."

Rittlemeyer noted that over the years silt had been building up in the pond to the point that during last year’s drought, Israel Creek, which feeds the pond, stopped running, resulting in the pond level dropping to the point that it was less than 12 inches deep in some spots.

The pond, which serves as a "fill buffer" to prevent the creek from overflowing its banks and running onto Route 550 or into the back yards of homes along Copper Oaks Court, is no longer performing that task, Rittlemeyer explained. During heavy rains last fall and this spring, the creek routinely rose to the level of the street and into back yards. While it didn’t block the street or flood a yard, it’s only a matter of time before it does.

Rittlemeyer told the Council that he had reached out to a specialist who would be willing to come look at the pond and give the Town an estimate for what it would cost to dredge out all the accumulated silt and restore the pond to its initial state.

"It’s not going to be cheap," Rittlemeyer said. Burgess Barnes agreed with concerns over the status of the pond, and, along with Rittlemeyer’s fellow commissioners, was encouraged to get a cost estimate from the dredging specialist so work could begin on submitting the CPP grant paperwork.

While Rittlemeyer was clearly disappointed that the Town could not seek funding from the State’s Community Parks and Playground grant, which is set up to be used for restoration projects, like dredging the pond, for which the state will pay 100%, he suggested the Town wait until next year and apply for a Project Open Space (POS) grant, and even thought they only pay 90% of out-of-pocket expenses, "90% is better than nothing."

Burgess Barnes and the Council agreed to defer work on the pond until next year. "Hopefully, as we didn’t crowd the field this year asking for POS money, next year other towns will open the door for us to get funding for this much needed project."