Preston Park pond, dam targeted for improvement planning
Butler Township commissioners on Monday, April 1, approved a $73,000 request to the Commonwealth Financing Authority to plan for the rehabilitation of Preston Park’s pond and dam — which the township has not maintained since it took ownership in 2008.
Tom Knights, township manager, said officials found buildup of sediment at the bottom of the pond of Preston Park that left room for only about 2 to 4 feet of water in the rest of the pond. The grant from the financing authority would help the township plan for the pond’s rehabilitation, but the actual work on the pond and dam would have to be bid out later, once a plan is developed.
Knights is already predicting that the project will be extensive.
“There's dam repairs, so we'll have to have some drainage of the pond, have the sediment removed,” Knights said Wednesday. “There may be some bank protection we have to put on. We know that we have to create one sedimentation pond; there might be need for two of those.”
In addition to a local funding match from the township, Knights said the dam work will have to be approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency dams are registered with.
According to Knights, applications for the grant are due in May, and the recipients should be announced in October. He said taking care of the pond is a priority for Butler Township.
“I don't know how long it will take to develop, especially with dam repair,” Knights said of the repair work. “It’s definitely something we don't want to linger on, because we would just get more sediment built up.”
The township commissioners also approved an agreement with Butler County to allow for a fireworks display at Butler Township community day, scheduled for the evening of July 2 at Alameda Park. Knights said the community day will take place from 5 to 8 p.m., and the fireworks display will be set off at dusk.
