BASS LAKE PROJECT

The Bass Lake Preserve is part of a large circulation and recreation area including the proposed LRT station, Excelsior Boulevard transportation system, the intercity Cedar Lake Trail, and the Wolfe Lake Neighborhood – the largest neighborhood geographically in St. Louis Park and the most populous, with more than 2000 residents now and new housing being built.. The George Haun Trail that encircles the lake is popular both as a commuter bike corridor and as a recreational walkway.

To accommodate increasing use by active residents, and enhance it, the Bass Lake area should be improved to prevent Trail flooding, provide better access points, facilitate pedestrian and wheeled traffic, and develop a healthy ecology in the basin.

In 2012, the City Council demonstrated its commitment to clean water in our City by allocating $10.8 million to restoration of natural ponds degraded by pollutant-carrying stormwater. Bass Lake was designated as the priority project based on the multiple social benefits to the Community.

The staff/Barr technical memorandum lists engineering design challenges at Bass Lake which are similar to other projects in St. Louis Park. The Highway 7 project and the recent Japs-Olson project had very high levels of pollution requiring specialized control techniques. Cattails similar to the Bass Lake infestation have been successfully removed in the Minneapolis Park Board Loring Pond project. Other concerns are also manageable.

Improving ecological conditions in the basin requires a management plan for the entire Bass Lake sub-watershed. Techniques include water level control, upstream retention of inflows, pollution reduction and removal of invasive species.

Projects of this scale require partnerships with regulating agencies, funders, technical consultants and other stakeholders. These conversations have not been undertaken.

It is time for St. Louis Park to initiate a design process for the Bass Lake and Wolfe Lake sub-watershed area, to be incorporated into the mandated City Stormwater Management Plan for 2017-18.

The Friends of Bass Lake take the following positions for the restoration of the Bass Lake Preserve:

Provide better access/entry points

Allow greater and safer pedestrian traffic

Develop walkways that access the marsh

Develop healthy forests

Prevent flooding while providing more open water

Develop a healthy ecology in the lake basin leading to cleaner more open water.

Positions 1-4

Specific recommendations are under construction.

Position 5 and 6

Specific recommendations use drop down tabs.

Specific response May, 2016 City Council funding recommendations, click link below