Lake dredging referendum price tag could be $1.75 million
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Evansville's Lake Leota is now a large field of brush and weeds after it was drained in 2005. The city is considering a referendum to approve money for dredging the lakebed and restoring Lake Leota.
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Evansville's Lake Leota has been a large field of brush and weeds since it was drained in 2005.
EVANSVILLE — Evansville residents might vote Nov. 4 whether Lake Leota should be dredged at a cost of no more than $1.75 million.
The public works committee recommended the following wording for a November advisory referendum: “Shall the Evansville Common Council approve spending an amount not to exceed $1.75 million in order to restore Lake Leota?”
The city council will vote on the referendum at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 9.
The cost of the project still is subject to change and is based on city negotiations to dump sediment dredged from the lake onto adjoining land. Officials will work with engineers at Vierbicher Associates in the coming days to nail down the cost.
Mason Braunschweig and Janis Ringhand, who are members of the public works committee and the council, both said Tuesday night they didn’t want the cost to be so high that it would scare people, but they didn’t want it too low that it wouldn’t cover the cost of the project.
“It has to be as accurate as possible,” Braunschweig said.
Gilbert Wiedenhoeft, a member of the Save Our Lake Environment group, questioned whether the dollar amount had to be exact because the referendum isn’t binding.
“It’s not binding, but boy it’s pretty telling,” Braunschweig responded.
“It’s our credibility for how we proposed the issue and carried through, kept our word,” Ringhand added.
Public debate has centered on a mix of numbers.
In February, Vierbicher presented a plan to dredge the lake for $1.7 million to $2.6 million, with the range depending on how far 200,000 cubic yards of lakebed material would have to be transported.
The price tag now is on the lower end because City Administrator Dan Wietecha reported Tuesday he is nearing agreement with nearby landowners to place the sediment on their property.
In July, the park board recommended the council move forward with dredging without a referendum at a cost of $1.7 million, depending upon the city’s ability to dump dirt on neighboring property owners’ land.
If the $1.75 million price tag for the referendum changes, it will be discussed at the city council meeting Sept. 9. Referendum wording for the ballot needs to be delivered to the Rock County Clerk’s Office by Tuesday, Sept. 23.
“The council’s pretty much our last chance to get (the dollar amount) right,” Braunschweig said.
Committee members discussed directing the city to place the project out for bids at its September meeting. If the proposed referendum is approved Nov. 4, the council could award a bid at its Nov. 11 meeting.
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:36 a.m.
Suggest removal
It would seem like the soil would be prime. But maybe not. The farmers in the area are not in any big hurry to have the dirt dumped on their fields. That is part of the problem right now. Why was it drained in 2005?? Good question. It never should have been touched before they had more definite answers. Poor decisions by the city and s.o.l.e. committee. The biggest joke was when they tried to mow it last year, had to rent equipment to do it and got it, the rental equipment stuck in the muck. It would have been very funny had it not been at tax payer expense. But a 'certain' family thought it should be mowed. We should have charged that fiasco to them.
Aug 27, 2008 at 11:59 p.m.
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1.75 mill. wow if they arn't in a hurry i could do it for 1.3 mill. I'll be selling soil right after i start digging.
Aug 27, 2008 at 8:03 p.m.
Suggest removal
There actually is some merit in that snark, pooroldman. The city should decide whether it can afford the dredging, but if it does, it should immediately consider ways that they can generate any kind of recreational fees from the lake to offset the considerable maintenance cost (which is basically $100,000 per year).
Aug 27, 2008 at 4:47 p.m.
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dig it out and then charge 5 bucks a person to look at it.
Aug 27, 2008 at 1:52 p.m.
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I would be all about digging that thing myself. I know that some people sure could use that fill to raise properties out of the flood areas in Janesville.
Aug 27, 2008 at 10:10 a.m.
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Because it had filled with so much runoff and silt it was a 40 acre mud puddle with a fantastic smell of death and a cloud of mosquitoes.
That fill is prime, black soil. Why can't the city sell the dirt as fill? Heck, I might take some to grade my lawn.
Aug 27, 2008 at 9:31 a.m.
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I'm sorry, for asking, but why was the lake drained in 2005 in the 1st place?
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