Peabody pond dredging projects estimated below price expectations

PEABODY – A recent estimate to dredge Crystal Lake and Elginwood Pond in Peabody has come in well below previous predictions, said Community Development Assistant Director of Planning Blair Haney.Haney came before the City Council last week to give an update on the ongoing plans to clean up what were once two of the city’s most treasured bodies of water. Prior to his presentation, the city was bracing itself to find funding for the estimated $2.5 million project. Councilors breathed a brief sigh of relief when they learned that a Colorado-based company pinned the project at roughly $1.9 million, which means a savings of over half a million dollars.”That’s a substantial amount of money, which is good news for the city,” said Haney, adding that although they are just budgetary numbers, the total does include plenty of room for assumptions.The dredging and dewatering process, which would suck the water out of the sludge like a vacuum, would also take a fraction of the time. Genesis Solutions estimated that the entire project could be completed in as little as four months or 110 days, rather than the previously estimated two years.Councilors, although pleased with the findings, were still frustrated by the slow movement.”This seems to be an ongoing process,” said Councilor Dave Gamache. “We have to have a deadline, we have to have a goal.”Haney, who has been handling the project for the past few years, attributed the delay in progress to the numerous required steps that come with receiving federal grant money. He said ideally, he would like to get the waters cleaned up sooner than later. Councilors then took it upon themselves to ask for a May 1 deadline, at which point an engineer would have been hired and the design process could begin.”We just can’t keep shopping around,” said Councilor Mike Garabedian. “It’s a stall tactic and I’m getting tired of it.”With $25,000 in local aid and two $400,000 grants from the state, Haney has been in search of the most cost effective approach. So far, the city has spent $125,000 since 2006 on several studies to identify the severity of the problem and its causes. In Haney’s opinion, it “was certainly worth the money.”Studies showed that there are two major locations contributing to the waters’ high levels of vegetation growth. According to the reports, the highest level of nutrients are found in Crystal Lake from Goodale Street and in Elginwood Pond from Devil’s Dishfull and the Old Kennedy School Sports Field between Pine Street and Elginwood Drive. The findings solidified the point made by Haney in presentations past that the first steps to solving the problem is to prevent it.