Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment Water Quality topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Erie Soil and Water details Mills Creek floodplain restoration to Sandusky commission
Summary
At the May 11 Sandusky City Commission meeting, Erie Soil and Water Conservation District representatives described a nearly-complete, H2Ohio-funded Mills Creek restoration at the Mills Creek Golf Course that uses wetlands, berms and stream realignment to reduce nutrient runoff and protect infrastructure; public tours and volunteer plantings are scheduled.
Brianne Homan of the Erie Soil and Water Conservation District told the Sandusky City Commission on May 11 that the Mills Creek floodplain restoration at the Mills Creek Golf Course is nearing the end of construction and is designed to both improve water quality and protect golf-course infrastructure.
Homan said the district secured an H2Ohio design-and-build grant administered through the Division of Wildlife and that the project’s budget was established during design. “We got about $975,000 from them to do this project,” Homan said. She described the work as a combination of wetland cells, berms and regrading intended to treat runoff and reduce erosion before water reaches Sandusky Bay.
“There's always a lot of improvement we need to do for our streams,” Homan said, noting Mills Creek drains roughly 42 square miles. She emphasized the water-quality goal: Mills Creek is listed as an impaired water for nitrogen and phosphorus, contributors to algal blooms in Lake Erie. Homan cited local swim-advisory data near Lions Park, saying that in the most recent season about 60% of the swimming season was under advisory.
Jared Trendle of the district reviewed construction photos and the April storm that tested the new features. Trendle said the system withstood much of the runoff but that four inches of rain exceeded the design stabilization of newly planted areas: “We really got to test them… luckily, they hold water,” he said, adding the contractor responded quickly to rematt and reseed eroded areas.
Homan described the project’s on-course approach: about eight wetland cells that will collect and treat stormwater (some begin to hold water at about one inch of rain), stream realignment near Tiffin Avenue to reduce bank erosion, and a berm to protect storage buildings. To limit impacts on play, designers kept improvements within out-of-bounds areas and made a smaller alteration on Fairway 3; the city retained soil for future work.
Project partners named in the presentation include designer GPD and contractor Mark Haines Construction. Homan said the project is currently under the projected construction cost figures presented in design and that final work and establishment of plantings will continue into the summer, with the district estimating a multi-season period for full establishment.
The presenters invited the public to two project tours on May 26 (morning and evening) and described volunteer wetland plantings planned in June; Trendle said the district will plant about 12,000 flowering plugs to add color while native seeding establishes. Commissioners thanked the presenters and encouraged public participation in tours and volunteer events.
The presentation framed the work as both habitat and water-quality improvement: it creates floodplain storage and treatment before water reaches Sandusky Bay, while protecting course infrastructure in an area that the presenters said is within the 100-year floodplain.
