Posted on August 22, 2016
By Steve Lord, Chicago Tribune
Aurora aldermen next week will vote on a contract to dredge Waubonsie Lake on the far East Side for the first time in more than 20 years.
The City Council is set to vote on about a $1.85 million contract with Lakes and Rivers Contracting Inc., of Lemont, to dredge and filter the lake bottom in Waubonsie Lake Park, off Kautz Road near Clarendon Lane.
The vote is set for the Aug. 23 council meeting. Aldermen meeting as a Committee of the Whole this week put the vote on the consent agenda.
While Waubonsie Lake Park is a Fox Valley Park District park, the district and the city have an intergovernmental agreement dating back to 1991 that says the park district takes care of the park and all the land around the lake, and the city maintains the lake itself.
Mayor Tom Weisner pointed out that Waubonsie Creek is “the primary stormwater mover through the East Side.”
The creek runs from Willow Lake Park at McCoy Drive and Frontenac Street, twisting through the East Side, through Waubonsie Lake, and eventually to the Fox River.
In the past 20 years, much new development has come up along the creek, driving more runoff and silt into Waubonsie Lake.
This particular agreement between the Park District and the city is somewhat unusual, although the city does have maintenance responsibility for other lakes or waterways in the city, Aurora officials said.
Carie Anne Ergo, Aurora’s chief management officer, said city officials surveyed those and estimate none will need dredging within the next five years.
“So there won’t be any coming through soon,” she told aldermen.
Source: Chicago Tribune
