By John Burton
FAIR HAVEN – There will be life for McCarter Pond.
The Borough Council has already taken steps to work on the pond, located on Fair Haven Road in the vicinity of Linden Drive, beginning this past spring, and more is in the works for the coming year, Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli assured.
“We’re committed to a maintenance program,” for the time being, Lucarelli said. And in spring 2016, “We’re reopening the issue of dredging the pond,” the mayor added.
Area residents became upset and concerned about the pond’s condition – as it has become overgrown with vegetation and an abundance of silt, to the point of possibly endangering the pond’s life – and went to a public borough council meeting.
“At this point it seems many of the council are interested,” in doing the work needed to ensure the pond’s viability, said Gail Mura, a member of the Friends of McCarter Pond, said after attending the council meeting.
Councilman Roland Wilhelm attended a couple of the group’s meetings at Mura’s home, offering his support, Mura said. Wilhelm did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.
“I see where there’s a movement starting in town,” to save the pond, Mura added, “which is a good thing.”
So far, based upon a report from the borough Environmental Commission and discussions with a contractor, Lucarelli said, some work has already commenced. The pond was treated with environmentally friendly chemicals/bacteria to help kill some of the duckweed and other vegetation has proliferated, especially of late. In addition, the borough installed three aerators, placed just under the surface. They “help maintain the oxygenation at the bottom of the pond” and for the water from the neighboring stream that feeds into the pond, according to Lucarelli.
The next step will be dredging to remove the extensive silt, which has developed in the overall approximately three-foot deep manmade pond, Lucarelli offered. Silt, if not removed, would eventually rob the water of oxygen and ultimately the pond its life.
McCarter pond, which had become overgrown with vegeta- tion. Officials have begun treating the manmade pond, used for ice skating in winter and fishing in warm weather, with plans to dredge it in the near future. Photo: Marion Lynch
The silt results from vegetation, mostly duckweed, that dies, sinks to the bottom and decays. “It turns into muck,” Lucarelli said. “And that is nature’s way to turn a pond back into a meadow.”
Right now the vegetation is so thick that “ducks walk on top of it,” Lucarelli said.
“The problem with dredging is that it’s a mucky, dirty process,” Lucarelli continued, and would require the removed fill to be hauled away or somehow used. The mayor suggested drying the silt, mixing it with clean fill and using it for what is called near-shore fill in the area of the pond’s bulkhead.
The dredging has its cost. So far the borough has $335,000 penciled in, as a working amount, for the pond project. But the dredging could mean that cost could rise to about $500,000 in total, Lucarelli suspected.
“If we can find a grant,” he added, “fantastic.”
“There’s going to have to be a lot of work done, not just the dredging,” Mura acknowledged.
But she is thankful that the project will be undertaken for the important traditional recreational opportunity here in the borough.
“It is an intergenerational experience,” locally, featuring ice skating and hockey games when winter weather permits, Mura said.
And, Lucarelli added, it is used annually for the borough’s fishing derby in the spring.
This winter the borough Parks and Recreation Commission hopes to hold “Friday Night Lights” events, lighting the pond to allow for evening ice skating, Lucarelli said.
The man-made pond was part of the McCarter estate, between Fair Haven Road and Buttonwood Lane. The estate was owned by Thomas McCarter (1867-1955), a prominent lawyer, who built it in the early 20th century. The pond measures 3 ½-feet deep across its length and was built for both ornamental and recreational purposes.
There was even a time when local youth use to go swimming in it, Lucarelli offered.
“It’s part of the identity of the town,” the mayor said. “That’s why I think it’s important to invest in it.”
