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TO: Mayor John Laesch
FROM: Ian Wade, Capital Projects Manager
DATE: May 11, 2026
SUBJECT:
A Resolution authorizing the Director of Purchasing to enter into agreements with Semper Fi Landscaping, Inc. of Yorkville, IL in the amounts of $4,600,000.00 and $576,183.06 for the Mastodon Lake Dredging and Shoreline Restoration projects, respectively
PURPOSE:
To improve water quality in Mastodon Lake, improve shoreline aesthetics, and make the shoreline less susceptible to erosion.
BACKGROUND:
Mastodon Lake was excavated in the 1930s during the construction of Phillips Park. Over the years, sediment and decaying organic matter have accumulated at the bottom of the Lake to an average depth of nearly 2 feet, making the average water depth throughout the Lake now less than 2.5 feet. Such a shallow aquatic system is susceptible to warming, excessive nutrients, and becoming overrun with algae and other aquatic vegetation. These conditions are unsightly and limit recreational opportunities such as boating and fishing. In recent years, the City has used herbicide to control the growth of aquatic vegetation and has vacuumed the sediment near the intake for the Phillips Park Golf Course's irrigation system, but these are not long-term solutions to the problem.
In order to properly address these conditions, the City began working with selected Engineering firm HR Green in 2020 to develop a project which includes environmentally, aesthetically, and operationally friendly hydraulic dredging and reshaping of the lake bottom, creating stabilized stone access points for visitors, installation of aerator fountains and directional circulators, and various stormwater best management practices such as planting of upland and wetland plugs for the creation of an urban filter strip and emergent wetlands to remove nutrients from incoming runoff and stabilize the shoreline.
In 2023, $4,000,000 was reappropriated from the Build Illinois Bond Fund to the Department of Commerce...
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