Voters to decide Lake Leota's fate
EVANSVILLE — Evansville voters will decide Nov. 4 whether Lake Leota should remain a swampy field or be restored to the park's centerpiece.
The ballot will include this non-binding referendum:
"Shall the Evansville Common Council approve spending an amount not to exceed $2 million in order to restore Lake Leota?"
Dredging proposed by engineers would create a 15-foot-deep "fishing area" and an 8-foot-deep "recreational area." Recreational options would be discussed later, City Council President Mason Braunschweig said, but paddleboats, kayaks, canoes, Jon boats and other small craft would be allowed.
If the advisory referendum result is near a 50/50 split, then the council would look at several factors in a "healthy discussion," he said.
But he said he's "absolutely dedicated to the will of the people."
"If 70 percent want the lake or don't want the lake, then that's the way I'm going to vote when it comes back to the council," he said.
Despite tough times, voters have to consider ramifications of having the project completed versus having "this big question mark in the very middle of our city," he said.
The project would be financed through general obligation bonds.
The city estimates the tax impact on a $100,000 residence from a 20-year bond would be $50 the first year and declining through the life of the bond.
The $2 million includes excavating about 200,800 cubic yards of lakebed material and distributing it on 100 acres of nearby farmland owned by Daria and Declan Every. The city would pay the Everys $110,000 to place the dredged material on their land, according to the contract
Among the preventive measures to keep the lake from refilling with sediment would be the creation of a 10-foot-deep fore bay southwest of the railroad tracks.
"As it (sediment) comes in, it's going to dump here rather than spread throughout the entire lake," City Administrator Dan Wietecha said.
Some voters say the city is leaving out additional costs. They refer to two projects that Braunschweig, also chair of the public works committee, and Wietecha said are separate from dredging:
-- An un-designed culvert under the railroad tracks between the upper and lower portions of the lake. The culvert would partially reroute the stream back into the upper lake to reduce the downstream movement of sediment, according to engineering reports.
The idea is just conceptual, Wietecha said, with no timetable or approval. And it may not even be needed, Braunschweig said.
A conservative price tag could be a half-million dollars, Wietecha said, though engineers have said it could be up to $400,000.
-- Repair of the Allen Creek walls.
"The creek wall and the lake are two different animals," Braunschweig said.
The creek always will be there regardless of the lake, and the deteriorating walls are a huge public safety issue, he said.
The city's proposed capital budget allocates $100,000 next year and $50,000 for the following four years to repair the walls, Wietecha said, though he stressed it's still only proposed.
The lake was drained in 2005 without a dredging plan. It has sat empty since, though grass, weeds and bushes are growing in the lakebed.
If the referendum fails, the lake's future is unclear. No costs or official proposals have been presented, Braunschweig said.
The dam could be closed, leaving the lake to return to its shallow state of three years ago, though that would include undetermined costs to remove the lakebed growth.
"It's not free, but it's probably in the terms of tens of thousands of dollars, maybe a hundred thousand dollars," Wietecha said.
The state Department of Natural Resources also could force the city to do something if the lake is not dredged, Braunschweig said.
If approved, the dredging would be done by spring. Bids for the work are to be opened Nov. 10, and the council would vote at its Nov. 11 to approve a bid, if that's what the voters and council decide.
TO LEARN MORE
Engineers will give an overview of the Lake Leota dredging project at the public works committee meeting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 28, at City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville.
Oct 20, 2008 at 10:35 p.m.
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"FREE DIRT...U-HAUL" should be on the signs they have posted at every inroad to e-ville.
Its sad that the residents have already "bought" a tract of swampland for thier new fire station. The dirt from the "lake" could have been hauled there to atleast get the station completely out of the flood plain.
If the dirt HAD been put there the citzens of e-ville and Union T-ship could have been burden with more tax payments for the (now nixed) helicopter landing pad.
What guarantee are the new "dirt owners" giving the city/taxpayers that thier new soil will not find its way back to the "lake" and fill it in???? Do they have an engineer approved erosion control/containment plan in writing???
Oct 20, 2008 at 2:32 p.m.
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What I like about having the audio mentioned blog is no one can deny saying something. In the meeting I went to , which there is audio for on this site, they actually talked about how if they put I believe it was either 2.4 or 2.65 on the ballot they knew it would not pass. Or feared it would not. This is all on audio. The total project number is not 2 million.
Also its funny how they talk about safety of the creek walls yet when Evanville had all the flooding on the west side, which Evansville tax payers are still paying for, that still is not comepletely fixed. They would not put up a fence around a retaining pond to keep kids from getting in there and drowing, but we can worry about the 'safety' of the creek walls. The retaining pond is as deep if not deeper than the creek. Very sad.
If you go and read the history of 'lake leota' you will see it was never meant to be a lake but a mill pond.
Oct 20, 2008 at 2:28 p.m.
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Let nature take its course and leave it alone. It wasn't a lake to begin with.
Oct 20, 2008 at 2:04 p.m.
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http://evansvilleobserver.blogspot.com/-... go to this website, where you can hear the council members toss the numbers around like a baseball. Trying to figure out how they are going to do this. There own words, them talking about the numbers. 2.65 million dollars. Thank goodness for audio.
Oct 20, 2008 at 1:56 p.m.
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We are voting no as well as quite a few other people we have been talking to. 2.65 million is to much money, when if it is financed over 20 years as planned, we will have to start over again with dredging plans as soon as we are finished paying for this one. Not to be crude but some of the people who have pushed for this the hardest will pass way after paying very little for very little of this lake. At the meeting I had attended they had a 'petition' with less than 500 signatures out of a town of 4000+ . This lake is not a need it is a want. We need a waste water treatment plant, not a lake that is a money pit, smells, and has on going costs associated with it. WE don't get enough tourism in this town to help pay for it. With people losing their homes, jobs, struggling to feed their families, pay for health care this is a extremely selfish idea of a few. If there are those who want this, let them pay for it. Does not sound like such a great idea, when those who want it have to pay for it alone does it?
2.65 million dollars. What city in their right mind at this time continues to borrow?? Even Monroe is putting off building a fire station because of the economic times. Foolish spending for years now by the city of Evansville is what caused this. Meaning if they did not go over budget on almost every project they have ever done, maybe they would have some excess to put towards the lake without having to borrow. This town has grown so much in the last 10 years that there are many new people in town who do not have a emotional attachment to that MILL POND. It was never meant, nor was it suppose to be a lake. It was never suppose to cost 2.65 million dollars.
Several years ago someone (businessman here in town offered to dredge the lake for the cost of gas.) and they turned him down, dropped the ball.
They had their window of opportunity to do this years ago, when they could have done it for a fraction of the cost. They had their window and the window is closed.
Oct 20, 2008 at 1:36 p.m.
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It is ALL coming out of tax payer money. IT does not matter how they spin it. IT still is 2.65 million dollars they would be spending if it passes. 2.65 million dollars. Not to mention the 3 million on the upgrades the the water treatment plant we are looking at . 2.65 million dollars..
My question would be two months back they were saying 1.75 million just for dredging. Then it went up to 2 million just for dredging with out a explanation as to why it went up.
Could it be the land owners where we need to put the dirt are trying to rake in the dough off this project. Which says they don't care if the lake is done or not. As long as they get there money. I have followed this and that was the one big thing left up in the air was how much, to use the farmers land for this dirt placement.
S.O. L. E. has been a joke.
Oct 20, 2008 at 1:28 p.m.
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Evansville needs there lake back!!!!!
VOTE YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE.. the park is not a park with out a pretty lake!!!
VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!VOTE YES!!!
Oct 20, 2008 at 12:08 p.m.
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I know there are tough times now but I feel if the citizens of Evansville vote NO they will be throwing a very big part of Evansville away-it makes the park. You will not draw people into the park without Lake Leota. I beleive it should have been cleaned up years ago and not wait till it cost alot more money. But don't throw away a landmark. Vote YES
Oct 20, 2008 at 11:37 a.m.
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CC, you seem to be hell-bent on ignoring what has been said. The creek walls are not a part of the Lake Leota project nor are they a part of the referendum. You should ignore that when you think about the referendum.
As to the culvert, it may not even be necessary. If it is, there's still some discussion about the potential costs.
The lake and its focus for Evansville is too important to vote "No" to save a quarter a day. Do the math. If you have a $200,000 home the impact for the first year would be $100. That works out to be 27 cents a day per household. Is that too much to save something that is so much a part of the character of Evansville?
Oct 20, 2008 at 9:51 a.m.
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So folks the total cost, is 2.65 million. NOT 2 million that will be on the ballot. VERY misleading. Just vote no.
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