Public Works Poorly Manages North Omaha Stormwater Pond

Another indication how the Public Works Department of the City of Omaha poorly manages another stormwater facility in north Omaha is obvious at the pond along the bend of Carter Boulevard, east of Fontenelle Boulevard.

Another visit was made to this location early on the morning of June 1, 2014 to consider the situation. The flora was doing great, but there were multiple indications of a how poorly the site is being managed.

Initially obvious before even getting out of the driven vehicle, the grass along the street had been recently mown. The height of grass ranged from short-shorn to many inches in height. There was obviously no effort to remove the ubiquitous trash before the cutting, so the publicly tossed debris was shredded and spread further about.

Area sign; note the use of the word "care" in the verbage. A thistle is blocking the lower extent of the sign.

Mown grass along Carter Boulevard, illustrating the even result of the work. It is not known who was responsible for the mowing, but it would not pass muster if it had been done on private property.

It was a humid and warm morning on Sunday. Despite the summery conditions, about a dozen species of birds were present. Overall, based upon numerous records kept since 2011, 30 different species are known to occur at this locality.

There was one morning when a Wild Turkey was limping among the woods of the west slope, and was seen to have an injured leg.

Having big pieces of debris strewn about the trees, if obviously results in a condition not suitable for man nor beast.

The Omaha Public Works Department has no knowledge of the value of this locality for fauna and flora. They have never made an effort to understand these features and make management decisions for the benefit of urban nature in a manner that will also be suitable for a primary goal of stormwater management.

During multiple visits to this site, there has never been any indication that staff of Omaha Public Works to make any effort to clean up this space. The public is responsible for the trash, but the Public Works is responsible for its continual and ongoing upkeep. They posted cameras to catch the perpetrators, but had no success. So instead of cleaning up the site, they tried to catch someone that they could blame for the long-lasting problem.

Officials of Public Works would likely explain the trashy situation away by saying that it is their intent to keep the place clean and simply cannot keep up with the ongoing problem of thrown-away things. Rather than trying, they seem to have done nothing..

Noted during the visit were mostly household items and asundry trash, especially strewn on the west hillside. There were pieces of a couch. Portions of a television. Some carpet was strewn among the arboreal splendor.

Views of trash at the stormwater pond along Carter Boulevard.
The typical presence of a thrown away tire, which is a common feature of City of Omaha green spaces.

Another item that can't be ignored, is the growth of noxious weeds along the east side of the pond. Thistles are a prohibited noxious weeds. Mowing occurred adjacent to a couple of growths of this plant, but they were left. It's quite indicative that one thistle plant is growing right where the Public Works Department of the City of Omaha has their sign indicating their ownership of site.

The trash at this Carter Boulevard site is one-again symptomatic of the many recent management mistakes being made, time-and-time again by administrative officials and their staff, associated with the Public Works Department. There has been excuse after excuse heard in regards to other shortcomings by this City of Omaha agency.

City administration, however, also continues to let it occur. The office of Mayor Jean Stothert, has not directly responded to continued emails indicating problems in taking care of city resources. They talk nice on the phone, but...

Unsatisfactory conditions occur throughout Omaha, and its residents have to deal with the unsightly and wanted situations that indicate a lack of respect and any taking of responsibility.

Martin Grate and Robert Stubbe, and other city of Omaha officials need to take direct and effective action to clean up our green spaces. If that requires them personally working onsite, without suit-and-tie garb, and get sweaty and dirty. They get paid enough in a regular and ongoing stipend to really work for the citizens to whom they are responsible.

Add in some members of the Omaha City Council, in the same regard.

However, based upon previous experience, this sort of a situation would be like hoping to find a leprechaun's treasure of gold on the moon!

Public Meeting Held for Spring Lake CSO! Project

A large turnout occurred at the pre-construction meeting for the pending phase one the CSO! project at Spring Lake Park, in eastern Omaha.

"It is historic to have so many people" present, said Janet Bonet, president of the Spring Lake Neighborhood Association, and community coordinator for the project. The crowd meant a lively discussion.

The Spring Lake Project is a "signature project" for the Omaha CSO! effort, said Marty Grate, environmental services manager for the city. It will "improve water quality and provide amenities for the public." He also indicated that the "piping" of the creek south of F Street could not be discussed at the meeting.

Several other public officials and consultants then discussed various aspects of the project, including mitigation for removed trees, construction scheduling, road closures (a common concern), etc.

Tree mitigation will occur within Spring Lake Park, as well as nearby Lynch Park, the Campos soccer complex (at 33rd and Q streets) and Novacek Memorial park.

There were numerous comments made about tree removal during the time when questions could be asked; especially upsetting to some was the removal of "valuable" large oak trees that been so unique to the park.

Another notable topic was the pond to be created just north of F Street by removing the ground to a particular depth below the current surface-level. It will apparently be about 2 acres in size, with a maximum depth of 15 feet, with greater depths during water runoff events.

When asked when project plans and other associated documents would be available online, no date was given but the reply indicated this item will be a topic for further discussion between Public Works officials and their community involvement consultant.

Pre-construction meeting at Spring Lake Park golf course clubhouse.

Construction is expected to start May 6th.

This phase of the project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2016. Once finished, there will be no sewer lines through the park space, they will either be removed or filled with grout, according to officials.

Map graphic indicating the two phases associated with the CSO! project at Spring Lake Park. The green area is the current project, and the pink area indicates phase two.

About 75 people — including public officials — were present at the meeting at the golf course clubhouse on the evening of April 29th.

While waiting for the meeting to start, to people of the community were overheard discussing how the two electronic signs placed along Spring Lake Drive had originally indicated the meeting started at 6 p.m. The time was eventually changed to indicate the correct 6:30 p.m. start time.

Improving Northwest Pond at Levi Carter Park

The Northwest Pond Natural Habitat Area at Levi Carter Park is cleaner now than it has been for a long time, and it has been seeded to improve the flora because of activities on Wednesday morning, November 20th.

As the sun was rising behind clouds in the east, the day started with a personal, quick pickup of trash, and then a repeat effort. There were two unwanted concrete blocks that were a heavy burden to carry from the edge of the woods to a place along Carter Boulevard where they could be taken away.

There was then an opportunity to converse with a local resident — he stopped his truck on the street to talk — about the ponds, stormwater runoff, street trash, and most importantly experiences with city of Omaha staff. We agreed that a natural setting was something to appreciate. He was not however satisfied that neighborhood has to deal with the trash (and he mentioned several disgusting things) and water from the "upland" to the west. He certainly wanted the ponds to be kept clean and that Levi Carter Park be managed in a manner that reflects local interests. He was more than disappointed in city officials that made claims that something was going to be done, and then nothing happened. There were "promises made" and they have not been completed. His comments were an acute perspective on how some city officials, with Brook Bench, the Omaha Parks Recreation and Public Property Department specifically mentioned as being a particularly problematic official. This residents words may have been different, so his perspectives in conveyed in a civil manner.

We did not agree on everything, but it was obvious that city officials be forthright and honest in what they say and how they present public property changes and plans to the public, and especially to residents in the neighborhood.

Site Improvement

Staff of the Stormwater Section, of Omaha Public Works then arrived. The three men got to work, using rakes to work the soil to improve and prepare its condition for seeding, and also removing errant twigs on the ground.

The seeds they spread were a native prairie-grass mix which included big bluestem, little bluestem, side-oats grama, indian grass, switch grass, said Andy Szatko. These are warm-season species that flourish later in the growing season. Cool-season species included were Virginia and Canada wildrye, and western wheat-grass. The mix included some oat seed with an intention for it to provide a cover crop.

Some forbs were included in the mix, according to Andy Szatko. He indicated jopye weed, partridge pea, spotted menarda, prairie blazing star, black-eyed susan and echinachia were among the seeds spread. They had been individually collected from other stormwater project sites in Omaha, so there was no cost for their purchase.

With snow pending, the conditions are great for the seeds to get established and sprout in the 2014 growing season.

Through a group effort, a bunch of trash was taken away, including numerous plastic bottles along the railroad tracks and newspaper pages, a nearly oblivious pad of some sort among the grass which was personally torn away and taken to the curb for disposal, a large circular piece of plywood, a mess of carpet, a pile of tiles, a tire from the water, and no longer necessary markers for the nearly completed culvert work.

Also at the scene and actively involved on a great day for this bit of a natural area, were city workers Ben Beller, Jim Kee and Christine Antoniak.

Andy Szatko removing a bunch of tile trash.	Ben Beller planting native prairiegrass mix.
Jim Kee checking the recent culvert work, which was not yet entirely finished.	Carpet trash pulled from the woods by Christine Antoniak, along with other trash we removed.

We accomplished a lot.

There were even a few unwanted cedar trees pulled from the ground to ensure this invasive species would not flourish and create a subsequent, unwanted condition among the flora.

The pond area is jointly managed by the Public Works Department primarily, along with the Parks and Recreation Department. The goal is to have a naturalistic setting at the site, Szatko said. Other benefits include improving visual appeal, establishing a buffer at the pond in association with the adjacent streets, enhancing habitat value, and reducing the extent of maintenance, such as mowing.

Public Works is responsible for the maintaining the pond, and ensuring that trash does not accumulate.

On Monday, Public Works personnel had excavated and worked dirt to improve flow conditions through the culvert beneath the U.P. railroad tracks. That work was done with consideration given to the site being a natural habitat area.

The stormwater pond was initially established in the mid-1990s, Szatko said.

Seeds of the native prairiegrass mix.