by MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
TENAFLY, N.J. —— An estimated $50,000 repair to a dam at Pfister’s Pond – the first phase of an effort to help restore the ecologically important pond – will likely occur after state environmental permits are received and before the end of summer 2018, said councilman Mark Zinna on Dec. 12.
[slideshow_deploy id=’899′]
Zinna said a working group including himself, Tenafly Nature Center Director Peter Punzi, Center Board of Trustees Vice President Andrew Mikesh, Councilman Daniel Park, and Borough Engineer Andy Hipolit, of Maser Consulting, met Dec. 11 to discuss the next steps in repairing the dike.
Following discussion and heated debate over the estimated $661,000 cost of pond restoration—an estimate from Hipolit—a split council voted 3-2 Oct. 24 to appropriate the entire amount from its Municipal Open Space Trust Fund.
The funds may be used to finance a five-step, two-year plan for pond restoration prepared by Hipolit. Councilwoman Shama Haider and Councilman Maxim Basch were opposed.
The funds were appropriated Oct. 24 with the understanding that each phase of pond restoration and associated costs will be discussed and voted on by council members.
The council approved by consensus $50,000 to begin repairs on the pond dam.
Zinna said Hipolit would set up a meeting with state environmental officials to obtain necessary permits for the dam rehabilitation work. He said Hipolit estimated it could take “three to six months to get permits” for the work.
“If the dam is easier than we thought to repair it, it will be quicker for the permits. If it is what we think it is, it could be up to six months,” said Zinna.
[slideshow_deploy id=’899′]
He said that work could not begin in the spring due to reproductive cycles of pond “biodiversity” and necessary dam repairs may only occur after June.
Zinna said the dike repair should take 6-8 weeks.
“It depends on the degree of repairs” necessary, he said.
The effort to increase water levels in the pond is critical to keeping it as a functioning pond ecosystem, said Punzi, via phone Dec. 13.
Punzi said the dike repairs should help to control the water level in the pond and increase the volume of water in the pond for an optimum environment for aquatic life and mammals to live in.
On Sept. 26, a two-year, five-step plan to restore the pond costing “up to” $661,000 was presented by Hipolit and Punzi.
The restoration plan includes: $50,000 for fixing a control structure and dike rehabilitation; $500,000 for minor dredging of inorganic sediment and installation of sediment control structure; $50,000 for hydroraking of weeds and aquatic plants from non-dredged areas; $5,000 for installation of an aeration system; and $6,000 for application of muck digestion pellets.
[slideshow_deploy id=’899′]
Pfister’s Pond is a 3.5-acre man-made pond built in the early 1900s. It attracts a variety of waterfowl during spring and fall migrations and is a major focus of the center’s active and passive environmental education programs.
The pond suffers from accumulating sediment, aquatic plant growth, and low oxygen levels, which are slowly turning it back into a wetland.
Begun in 1961, Tenafly Nature Center comprises 400 wooded acres used for conservation, education and recreation purposes.