A popular resident swan in the El Dorado Park Duck Pond has died, maintenance crews have not been able to keep up with demand there and a long-planned multi-million dollar rebuild has been postponed again.
Eric Lopez, director of the Public Works Department, said he still hopes to take a construction contract to the City Council by the end of September. But first, another $1.2 million to $2.7 million — depending on the person doing the calculations — must be found before work can begin.
“When I was recently walking my dog in the area, I witnessed multiple broken walkways, water thick with algae and dead fish floating in the pond,” Fifth District resident Marilyn Goldberg wrote last week in an email to Councilwoman Stacy Mungo. “It was truly a disgusting sight. As of today, I hear that the lovely resident swan was found dead.”
Brent Dennis, director of the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department, confirmed the swan’s death. But so far, he said, no cause has been determined.
The duck pond, between the El Dorado Park Library and the El Dorado Park Golf Course, has for years been both a popular spot for families and a source of maintenance problems. Water quality varies because aerator fountains and irrigation pumps frequently fail while flocks of ducks and other migratory birds foul the pond with waste, officials said. People fish there illegally — despite multiple “no fishing” signs — leaving fishing line, hooks and trash behind.
And the pond leaks.
The most recent problems started when a pump failed, Dennis said.
“Last week, when notified that the pump at the El Dorado Park Duck Pond went down, I immediately worked with our Water Department to borrow surface-mounted aerators to restore and improve the water quality for the wildlife attracted to the pond,” Dennis wrote in an email. “While we have been anticipating the Duck Pond Improvement project for several months, we were aware of the revised Fall target start date and I have continued to work with Azteca — our park maintenance service provider — to maintain and in many cases through community input increase some of their services in the area.”
Last spring, a multi-department plan to repair and improve the plan was approved. A formal bid process took place, with bids due on April 14. About $4.6 million in financing had been found.
“Only no one bid on the contract,” Lopez said. “That almost never happens. So we solicited proposals from contractors we have worked with in the past.”
Contractors told the city the project was overly complex and would cost from $5 million to $7 million, in addition to the estimated $2 million it will cost to deal with wildlife and biological issues. The proposed work includes draining the pond to add a new liner; re-landscaping to include wetlands areas and planters; adding a forebay; replacing pumps and other equipment; putting in new sidewalks, irrigation pumps and piping to the golf course; and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements from the parking lot to the pond.
After taking the biological work out of the contract and taking it inside Public Works, three construction proposals were received, Lopez said. The cost ranged from $4.9 million to $7.1 million, he added, leaving an estimated $2.7 million shortfall.
Mungo, whose Fifth District includes El Dorado Park and the duck pond, said this week that there is nearly $1 million in contingency funds (extra money to cover cost overruns) in the current budget, and a contingency isn’t required to start work. Also, the artificial turf soccer field further east of the park has been completed $500,000 under budget, and that money could be moved to the duck pond project if the council agrees.
“That means we’re $1.2 million short to start,” Mungo said. “We’ll need to find the contingency eventually, but we can start without it. We’re approaching the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy and the Measure W (county tax measure) regional funding to make up the difference now.”
It’s important to get the rebuild project started this fall, Lopez said. That means getting council approval in September.
“We don’t want to miss the fall construction season,” he said. “We need to start before we run up against the bird nesting season.
“I recognize the frustration of the residents,” he added. “But this is not minor work. It takes a major project to fix the problem.”
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