Posted on August 30, 2016
By Steve Lord, Chicago Tribune
The City Council has approved a contract to dredge Waubonsie Lake on the far East Side for the first time in more than 20 years.
Aldermen approved 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.
While Waubonsie Lake Park is a Fox Valley Park District park, the district and the city have an intergovernmental agreement dating to 1991 that says the district takes care of the park and all the land around the lake, and the city maintains the lake itself.
Mayor Tom Weisner had 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. New development in the past 20 years is pushing more runoff and silt into the lake.
The lake and the park includes trails, open areas and a modern picnic shelter and is considered one of the crown jewels of the Park District system.
The agreement between the district and the city is somewhat unusual, although the city does have maintenance responsibility for other lakes or waterways in the city, officials said. But they estimated there won’t be any other dredging projects necessary within the next five years or so.
Source: Chicago Tribune
