As discussed yesterday, it is obvious to me that a problem has become apparent regarding the pending project at Spring Lake Park.
According to the plans seen yesterday during an onsite project gathering at Spring Lake Park, Public Works has gone ahead and indicated a project feature that will result in complete destruction of a portion of the creekway on the south side of F Street. This destruction has not been a portion of the plans discussed at the public meetings, so it was a Public Works decision to make this change.
People have made so many comments in regards to maintaining natural features of this park, especially some of the spring features, then suddenly a huge change is added at the end of the road, without any opportunity for the public to comment. Are there other similar revisions?
And then a contract will be approved that includes this change. Why is a final contract for work being done when there has been no final public meeting. The design plan should have been presented at a final public meeting before a contract for construction was completed and ready now for final signatures so work will get underway.
This creekway destruction is simply not acceptable, despite what some bureaucrat in an office has decided. Did the agency which made this decision even visit the site?
Attached are some pictures, taken yesterday, which indicate some of the creek features which will be destroyed. This is a completely unique creek in the city of Omaha, and to allow it to be destroyed would be a completely wrong in so many ways. It would be a huge loss of a unique feature of the cities natural heritage. This creek has flowed here for decades, and to allow some bureaucratic decision to lead to the loss of its integrity is simply not acceptable.
How will Public Works revise the project plan to ensure that this creek continues to flow in a naturalistic manner for park visitors for years to come? I will also be posting this email onto the web so others know about the lack of attention to detail that would have made certain that this creekway would be conserved.
