By JOSEPH SAPIA
Working with a federal grant of more than $300,000, Avon and Bradley Beach officials have been dredging Sylvan Lake, along with removing debris from it.
An estimated 10,000 cubic yards of spoils would be removed, opening water drainage to east end outflow gates that are clogged, along with adding lake depth to retain more water, said Steve Kegelman, Avon’s deputy emergency management coordinator. Workers also cleared stormwater drains entering the lake, which runs between Ocean Avenue and Main Street/Route 71, Kegleman said.
The lake has needed to be dredged for years, said Kegelman, adding the lake’s depth is only one or two feet, rather than the four feet it should be.
The dredging of the 10,000 cubic yards is more a start than a remedy, Kegelman said.
Complicating the matter was soil that flowed or was blown into the lake on the boundary of the two towns during Superstorm Sandy, which hit the area in late October of last year. During Sandy, the sand blew or flowed from the east and, after the storm, it drained from the west, Kegelman said.
This first phase of dredging and cleaning began in late September and was to be completed earlier this week, Kegelman said. Then, the spoils would have to be hauled away, he said.
Exactly where the spoils will be taken — and, in turn, how much it will cost — for proper disposal has yet to be determined, Kegelman said. The spoils cannot be reused or disposed of locally, because they are contaminated by normal roadway fuel residue levels, Kegelman said.
A future phase of clearing debris and dredging at the east end of the lake would depend on various factors, including how much money would be left over from the $300,000 after the spoils are hauled away, Kegelman said.
