SPRING LAKE — The borough was recently awarded a $850,000 water-improvement grant from the state of New Jersey, to be used to dredge Lake Como.
Spring Lake received $850,000 that is directed to be “used to collect pre-project site-specific survey/topographic data, engineering sizing, hydrologic modeling and baseline ecological data.” The state awarded $9.95 million total to 23 towns and nongovernment organizations, all selected and tasked to carry out efforts to improve water quality and combat the impact of stormwater pollution and flooding.
County Administrator W. Bryan Dempsey shared the good news during the council meeting, saying, “We put in a proposal to the Department of Environmental Protection for dredging in Lake Como. The application was submitted a couple months ago. We did get the reward, a good amount for dredging at Lake Como.”
The grant is awarded to Spring Lake because it owns about two-thirds of the lake, while a third of it belongs to the borough of Lake Como, south of Belmar.
Dredging would start on the western side of the lake at the Polypod Brook. The brook is found on Third Avenue and crosses the street and enters the lake. The borough will work and consult with Lake Como on the project.
The funding is expected to help “perform required lake dredging and safe disposal of dredged material,” Mr. Dempsey said.
He further underlined the importance and timeliness of the grant money in helping prevent flooding should big storms or hurricanes happen again in the near future.
“We don’t have all the money yet, but it is something that we can look forward to in 2023. This is going to be baby steps, like what we did in Wreck Pond. We got some grants and then we got some more grants,” he said. “Over time, we have gathered all that money together and done a big project. We are imposed with the flood waters with the big storms coming in. We want to make sure that we push out the floods from coming in.”
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