Family Center Supporting Filtration Pond

2/21/12 – The Beaver Dam Common Council approved plans to start work on a new storm water management pond near the Family Center. The basins are part of a state DNR-mandate that requires municipalities to filter pollutants from storm water. Officials are trying to construct one pond a year. While several locations have been identified, Beaver Dam is running out of city-owned property and has already had several sites rejected, for everything from contamination concerns to a wetlands designation. Officials say they have identified an ideal spot near Prospect Avenue and Jacob Gassen’s Way, right near the Family Center. For starters, the grassy field is located at the intersection of four large storm sewers. The project would also tie-into the city’s 2013 reconstruction of Prospect Avenue which is being done in conjunction with a state reconstruction of Highway 151. Council action last night allows the city to hire the state contractor to remove dirt from the pond site for use in ramp construction. The price tag is $25,000, which is about $100,000 cheaper than it would have been without the agreement. The Family Center Board told the city’s Operations Committee last week that the non-profit organization has long

considered making an offer on the city-owned parcel to add a second ice rink. Family Center Board President Paul Uttech asked the city’s Operations Committee last week to consider building a pond somewhere else. Operations Committee Chair Laine Meyer said he would give the Family Center a week to determine if they were ready to move forward in the immediate future. Uttech told the city last night that his board agreed the pond project was in the best interest of the city. He says the Family Center board will further explore a city offer to use the water filtration pond in the cold weather months as an outdoor skating rink.