Posted on July 31, 2017
By Thomas Jewell, cleveland.com
Citing “regulatory issues,” Shaker and NEORSD officials recently announced new plans to go with 100 percent hydraulic dredging that will require no draining of Green Lake.
Using a dredging barge and de-watering belt presses to be set up between Lee and Andover roads, the work is set to begin the first week of August and should be completed before winter, with site restoration to follow next spring.
That will include the repatriation of most of the turtles that were rescued earlier from the Green Lake, also known as “The Duck Pond.”
More than two dozen turtles remain in the care and custody of the Herps Alive Foundation, a nonprofit based in South Euclid.
The cost of the project will more than double to $3.3 million, with $500,000 of that in a contingency fund.
The extra $1.8 million is coming out of Storm Water Management fees that all property owners pay to NEORSD, as opposed to more money being applied from Shaker’s Community Cost Share allocation.
With the city’s CCS funds, Shaker officials earlier agreed to pay a local share of $500,000 — or $100,000 annually for five years — on the Green Lake dredging, along with dam improvements at Andover Road and Horseshoe and Lower Shaker lakes.
Shaker Heights Chief Administrative Officer Jeri Chaikin noted that the original $1.5 million contract NEORSD awarded was below their original estimate.
Then the total cost went up when they had to change the dredging method because historic artifacts were uncovered after the project was designed.
The new approach is described as being “more ecologically friendly.” The goal still calls for restoring the 6.5-acre lake closer to its original depth of 6 feet, as opposed to the current average 2-foot depth.
As for new traffic patterns, Parkland Drive and Attleboro Road will be opened in both directions, while Andover Road will remain closed to traffic permanently.
Andover will then be turned into a pedestrian walkway as part of the Green Lake dam repair project that NEORSD will be doing after the dredging, Chaikin added.
Source: cleveland.com
