A pilot project along Pike Lake at Lucerne Park will help battle shoreline erosion, the City of Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety heard Monday morning.
The proposal was tabled until the board’s next meeting, however, so information on the warranty for the project’s materials could be gathered.
Stormwater Coordinator Theresa Sailor said the proposal is for the restoration of 200 lineal feet of shoreline at Pike Lake. The project is a collaboration between the utility and parks departments.
“This summer the utility looked at all the public properties that we own, and we have over 4,000 lineal feet of waterway areas that includes ditches and areas around the lakes that need restoration for erosion,” Sailor said.
The 200 lineal feet at Pike Lake is the first area to be taken on, she said. Sailor said she went to Parks & Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer and he chose that 200 feet.
“Throughout our park system we’re having erosion problems at every park that is on a lake and we have for years,” Plummer said.
He said it was good that Sailor approached him to finally start being proactive in doing something to keep the erosion from happening.
“I picked this particular site due to the fact that we are having a lot of erosion at this point. It’s also a place where we have a lot of weddings, we have fishing, we have a multi-use area. So we thought this would be a good trial basis to try this out,” Plummer explained.
In the proposal there are rocks and stones, and this would serve not only as a continued fishing area but also would be a place for wedding pictures when the amphitheater is used to take photos on the rocks, Plummer said.
“Kind of a multi-use area as opposed to putting up just high grass and erosion control and not having anyone to have use of this site at the park,” he continued.
He said there are several hundred feet in the parks that have eroded and “we need to take steps to prevent this,” Plummer said.
Sailor said the proposal from Heartland Restoration Services Inc. is more expensive because of the rocks but the area at Lucerne may be the only area that they can put rocks in.
“It’s a bio-engineered seawall so it’s all plants, and it would be done by Heartland out of Fort Wayne,” Sailor said. “They have done a lot of work for the City of Fort Wayne.”
Information from the stormwater utility states that, “Because of its use and value to the public, the contract stipulates plants instead of seed to reduce the time for the native plants to mature. It will also include a rock outcropping of large flat-topped boulders that can be used for a photographing area, fishing, or just a resting place by the lake. The rest of the shoreline will have native plants with deep root systems. Those plants will not be mowed but rather serve as a thick attractive border of grasses around the lake that resist erosion and help deter goose congregation.”
Sailor told the BOW that this project is a “total change to how we have maintained our waterways around lakes.” It will have signage so the public understands what’s happening and how long it will take – three to five years.
Board member George Clemens asked if they had to get a permit from the state. Sailor said they had to get a permit from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and she’s already talked to them.
“It was $3,200 on here (for Heartland) to get permits, but that’s something we can do ourselves,” she said.
Total cost of the project is $37,500, according to provided information.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said looking from a contractual standpoint, he wanted to know if there was a warranty with this as far as the materials performing.
“They provide maintenance for one year. And usually there is a one-year (warranty) – but I can check on that if you want to postpone (approval of this) until the next (meeting). I’ll be glad to get specific information for that,” Sailor responded.
Thallemer said he knew nothing about erosion control, but if the city was going to spend money on this, he wanted to make sure it was covered in the event that something happened to the material.
While no one can be completely covered, Sailor said she’d be glad to get more information on the warranty on the plants.
“This (money) is coming from the stormwater?” Thallemer also asked.
“Yes,” Sailor said.
“I think this is great,” Plummer said of the proposal. “As she said, this won’t be the fix for every spot in our parks. There will be some other alternatives – seeding, as opposed to plugs, things of that sort. … But we wanted to do this section right because it has multiple uses for the park as opposed to putting tall grass and not being able to use the facility”
Plummer said there are several shores at Central Park and Pike Lake that are city-owned that “really need this,” as there are places where 20 to 30 feet of shoreline have been lost over the years.
Since the project can’t start until next year, Sailor told Thallemer and the board that she didn’t mind tabling the proposal until its next meeting.
She said the company would start growing the needed plants in the winter using vegetated coir logs in a greenhouse. Coir logs are constructed of interwoven coconut fibers that are bound together with biodegradable netting, according to information provided. The plants are established in the logs, and then the logs are brought out to the lake and transplanted without disturbing them.
(Story By The Times Union)