Parks, waterways to get some TLC

Cleanups planned for Silver Lake, Milburn Pond

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Two of Baldwin’s main parks, Silver Lake Park, on Foxhurst Road, and Milburn Pond Park, on Merrick Road, are scenic spots, but their small bodies of water regularly collect litter and debris. And neither Silver Lake nor Milburn Pond is fed by an inflow of fresh water; both owe their existence to rain and storm runoff.

“Basically, any trash that goes down the gutter goes in there,” said County Legislator Laura Curran, a Democrat from Baldwin. “You can clean it up today, do a beautiful job and it’s pristine, and after a big rainstorm it’s going to be full of trash.”

According to Curran, Silver Lake Park collects runoff from Grand Avenue, south of Sunrise Highway, as well as from part of Rockville Centre. Runoff from Milburn Creek, along Brookside Avenue, ends up in Milburn Pond.

On any given day, people can find litter in and around the waterways, which prompted several residents to contact State Assemblyman Brian Curran, a Republican from Lynbrook, in 2012. In response to the complaints, Curran organized a cleanup at Milburn Pond that spring. Community groups, county workers and volunteers turned out, and the effort was a hit.

“Milburn just needed a touch here and there,” Brian Curran said, “and once we did it, it just highlighted how important the parks are to the community. After we had such great success at Milburn, we started getting calls from people around the Silver Lake area as well.” So there was a second cleanup last spring, and this one, too, attracted a large turnout.

Now Brian Curran, working with County Executive Ed Mangano and Baldwin community groups and businesses, is planning a cleanup April 26 from 11a.m. to 3 p.m. at both parks.

Volunteers from the Baldwin Civic Association, the Baldwin Foundation for Education, Baldwin 4 Children and the Chamber of Commerce, in addition to Mahler Realty, which merged its annual park cleanup with Curran’s, will meet at Silver Lake Park before splitting up to cover more ground. Also, Curran said, members of Sanitary District No. 2 will be on hand with a power washer.

In years past, volunteers have picked up litter, planted flowers and painted railings to enhance the parks’ aesthetics, and Curran said he expects more of that work this weekend.

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