By Jonann Brady
In the first major capital project in Baldwin since the 1960s, the legislature has allocated $4.4 million to rehabilitate Lofts Pond, Silver Lake and Milburn Pond. The remainder of the $6 million bond earmarks money for Roosevelt Pond in Roosevelt and Mill Pond in Merrick.
"It's a huge, huge lift," said Fifth District Legis. Joseph Scannell, who along with Fourth District Legis. Michael Zapson, pushed for the monies.
Work will begin on Milburn Pond, which received $2.7 million, this summer, said Scannell, and could be finished by the fall. Lofts Pond and Silver Lake, which received $1.7 million combined, will undergo their face-lifts the following summer.
The rehabilitation will include sediment removal and control, shoreline stabilization and other aesthetic improvements. All three ponds have suffered from neglect in the past several years as the county's finances have plummeted and Parks Department budget and personnel have been slashed.
Sediment-laden stormwater runoff and other environmental factors have also conspired to make the ponds shallower, dirtier and inhospitable to fish and wildlife. All three will be dredged and several thousand cubic yards of sediment and muck will be removed, creating deeper waters suitable for fish. An aeration system will be installed in each pond to keep the water fresh and oxygenated.
Each pond will aslo receive aesthetic shoreline restoration, such as rebuilt bridges, new walkways and trees, shrubs and benches. A new gazebo will be built at Lofts Pond.
Long-time residents near Lofts Pond are thrilled that the area will be reinvigorated.
Joan Flatley has lived on Coventry Road for the past 30 years and remembers strolling along the shoreline and taking her four children ice skating there in the winter.
Last year, she had a rude awakening when she took her three-year-old grandson for a walk around Lofts Pond.
"We were attacked by ducks," said Flatley. "And it was filthy."
Flatley and other neighbors say that the deterioration is a vicious cycle -- once people see the area is neglected, they show less care, and the filth continues to accumulate.
Mickey Rapaport, a 34-year resident of Lancaster Avenue, said the rehabilitation will be a boon to the area.
"We're delighted something's being done. It will improve the neighborhood and raise the price of the houses," said Rapaport.
