Update on Village Pond Park

I’ve been busy updating you on projects in The City of Lake Forest –

· Traffic Advisory Group

· Musick Jail

Today’s update is about Village Pond Park. Click here for previous articles about this subject.

It’s nearly impossible to believe that the City allowed the problem of excessive urine and feces from ducks and geese to endure and (literally) fester for so long before finally taking action. But now it seems that we are moving forward.

ORDINANCE

The prohibition against feeding wildlife was finally resurrected after more than a year in limbo, and my colleagues voted to pass the ordinance and institute fines (they later backed down and reduced the amount, but at least we got something). Before the fines went into effect (July 1), we asked for a program to educate people about the health dangers of feeding ducks and geese, and the existence of the fine program.

The City put up signs and prepared “Do Not Feed the Wildlife” postcards which have been distributed to 356 park visitors. To date there is no information on how successful the education program has been. Anecdotal records indicate that there has been some minor reduction in the amount of bird feces in the park, and there are also some complaints from neighboring areas that more geese have moved into those areas (which I guess means that fewer geese are now in the Park, which is a positive result unless you live in one of the neighborhoods that now have more geese).

The staff was asked by Mayor Pro Tem Hamilton to put an evaluation component into the program, but to date we haven’t seen it. Hence it’s difficult to say whether or not the education program is working.

PARK RE-DESIGN

The City commissioned a $200,000+ re-design for the Park. Very few of the elements in the new Park design actually address the problem of the excess ducks and geese, but the Park itself was said by some to be looking a little dated, and some people felt that a renovation was due in any event. More than $1,000,000 has been set aside for the park renovation. When you combine that with the costs of the original evaluation, the re-design plans, and the actual new construction costs, that comes to a hefty sum.

As with most City projects, we have no idea when the first draft of the re-design will appear. We are being told that it will be here soon. In City-talk that probably means before the end of the year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 3 pm to 5 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting every month. The next meeting will be on August 15 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.