Shadow Lake Dredging One Step Closer

The is expected to take the next step toward  the long-anticipated at next week's meeting.

A public hearing and subsequent vote on the $3.8 bond ordinance to authorize issuance of bonds or notes to cover the entire cost of dredging the 80-acre lake is scheduled for the committee's Jan. 17 meeting.

The township has already received the necessary environmental permits and a funding authorization from the private .

Based in, the EIT issues loans and low-cost financing to municipalities, counties and some private water companies to help pay for water and environmental projects, according to its Web site, www.njeit.org.

The dredging will free the lake in the township's section from silt and algae that have have gathered at its bottom for many years and rendered it shallow and unusable for recreation, according to .

About 150,000 cubic yards of material, or the equivalent of a seven-story building or football field, will be dredged from the lake's western or upper portion.  It will then be deposited on a portion of the nearby to be dewatered or drained.

Once the dredged materials are dry, they will be removed from the tract and deposited off-site.

Post-dredging results, expected to last 20 years according to a copy of the bond ordinance, include improved drainage flow, protection of the lake's ecosystem and better recreational opportunities.

A separate bond ordinance, also up for a vote on Jan. 17, calls for the township committee to appropriate to Debmar Drive, which is located off Nut Swamp Road, as well as the and on the campus of .

Of the $800,000 appropriated, the township would bond for $760,000 for work and materials needed to complete the construction.

The drainage improvements have an estimated useful life of 40 years according to a copy of the bond ordinance, which was introduced on Jan. 1.