Pond dredging not scheduled for 5-7 years

Hidden Valley Pond
It turns out that it’ll be a few years before Hidden Valley Pond is dredged. Here’s the email from Brian Welch, Engineering Resources Manager for the City of Northfield:

Mr. Wigley,

We plan to dredge the pond just east of Heywood Rd (between Creek Ln & Sunset Dr ), that we refer to informally as Rosewood Pond. The pond near Hidden Valley Rd. is in reasonably good shape compared to the ponds at Rosewood, John North Park and Grant Park. Those three ponds will be addressed first, and then Hidden Valley and the two ponds near the High School (east of Division on either side of Washington St S) at a later date.

Given the cost of restoration for each pond we expect that it will take at least 5-7 years to complete the first three ponds (the are included in the CIP to be presented to the Council tomorrow night). Hidden Valley Pond would likely come after that, closer to 2018-2020. The current rate of sediment infill is low so we do not anticipate significant changes to the pond’s functionality in that time frame.

We have a meeting scheduled this week with the regulatory agencies (DNR, Corps of Engineers, BWSR, etc.) to discuss their jurisdictional claims on the first three ponds. The construction time frame will be governed by any regulatory permitting process we are required to complete. Once we have a handle on the permitting process we will hold a neighborhood meeting for the Rosewood Pond area. The John North Park Pond work will be discussed in conjunction with the road work planned in 2012 for that neighborhood.

TJ will likely be involved in the initial draining of the Rosewood Pond, but the dredging project itself will be run through the Engineering Dept. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Regards,

Brian

——-
Brian Welch, Engineering Resources Manager/Transit Manager
City of Northfield
801 Washington St S.
Northfield, MN 55057
507-645-3027

See: