Cooperation and Progress by Steve Burgoon
Silt at North Lake entrance — After three months of rain we haven’t had but a few drops in a month which is great for drying out the silt bags at North Lake. We pulled the weeds out of the bags on August 1 and cut the tops off the front two bags on August 8. The site is much more presentable and with the dry, hot air the silt is drying. We still have to cut the tops off the “slot” bag so that can dry and be ready for movement to be deposited at the Lathan’s Landing pit. The Grounds and Grounds Beautification Committee will meet with the Lake Committee’s Silt team to establish a final re-landscaping plan that includes maintenance of the area.
Lathan’s Landing – Our plan has been approved by Lake County Storm Water Management and we should have final costs from vendors by the end of August. We await the permit from US Army Corps of Engineers. After we receive that permit we can begin the work to cut in a new and larger storm sewer, catch basin, shoreline “shoulder” and finally, the movement of the silt/dirt. If we receive the permit before mid-October we believe we can complete the bulk of the work.
319 Grant for Excavated/enhanced rain gardens – The final paperwork has been completed and the application has been submitted to Illinois EPA for a large grant to develop and construct rain gardens at Bay’s Park and Wagner Park (East Lake Boat Landing). This is a collaborative effort of TLIA and the Village of Tower Lakes. We have been told that MANY more applications have been received in 2015 than in the past so it will be a very competitive process. Thankfully we have received “Letters of support” from Lake County to go along with our application.