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Riverside Info » About Riverside

1. commonsense
   Member

   Spatny posted on another thread that the retaining wall at Swan Pond needs attention. He writes:

   I would rather spend $10-15,000 to fix the riverwall along the Swan Pond so the water would not flood it out for months at a time. It came in yesterday and is still pouring in over 3-4 low spots in the wall that only need to be repaired with the same broken road material that has lasted since the WPA built it. Now the water (and the mosquitoes that will breed in it will have the park for the next five-six weeks or so. This is the fifth inundation since just last September, and the natural action of the water over topping these areas will eventually undermine the wall and cause more costly damage to repair. It seems to me this modest expenditure should be done soon - the people that rebuilt the steps down there could do it - and it is the kind of expenditure that will save the village money in the future - besides restoring the ability to use this beautiful park. I would think this is exactly the kind of project that our capital improvements fund should pay for. I have asked the last two boards on many occasions, all the way back to when Mike Hullihan was in charge, and it was never done. I shall ask again on Monday night to have this problem dealt with. It makes good economic sense and is the right thing to do.Interested parties could go to the Little Dam and take a look - the water was dropping a little but will still be high for a few days and probably continue to come in for another 24 hours.

   John M writes this...

   Don,

   Your point about Swan Pond is a good one. I moved back to the area in 2007, and shortly after that, we got the huge rainstorm that resulted in Swan Pond being flooded. I immediately took my kids down there to show them, saying that "You won't see this again for another 10-15 years"--I only recall this happening once during the 20 years I lived here before.

   Well, Dad was wrong again, because this is becoming routine. SOmething needs to be done down there, or the nature of Swan Pond is going to change drastically--you can already see the sediment that's piled up in the park around the little dam area.

   I agree with John M and Spatny - it would be great to fix the wall to prevent flooding. Tom Jacobs also wrote a clever article in a Landmark describing his idea of Riverside utopia – among other things - restoring Swan Pond back to an actual waterway with an island for picnics. Interesting.

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 09:37 #

2. Catherine
   Member

   Swan Pond used to be an actual pond with, I believe, a bit of land in the center. The idea was boating to and picnicking there. Swans were often placed by Olmsted in his landscapes. The idea has sometimes been floated of restoring this. But I do not favor this idea myself; I like the wide open space.

   Would the wall not have to be rather high to prevent this flooding? I think this all might be a function of the strange weather patterns we have been having.

   Good thing to discuss.

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 10:31 #

3. TS
   Member

   The impact of Swan Pond flooding is minimal. The priority should be preventing flooding to the homes in Riverside. This is a problem that needs to be addressed before concerning ourselves with Swan Pond. Trustee Sacchi is making an effort to assist, hopefully he can be an advocate for Riverside to the County, State and Federal governments.

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 11:25 #

4. JohnM
   Member

   I think the strange weather has a great deal to do with this. It seems like we're getting the perfect combination of circumstances--heavy local rains as well as heavy rains further upriver--that lead to this flooding.

   I also think--although I may be mistaken, that dams and walls on rivers are the purview of the US Army Corps of Engineers, and that while they will allow a wall to be repaired, they will not--absent very unusual circumstances--build new or higher walls, as the water has to go somewhere. In other words, if we stop the flooding in Swan Pond, the water will just pour over somewhere else downstream. Having said that, the Lincoln Avenue berm is a fairly new development, so perhaps there is some room to do something.

   TS--I'm editing my post to acknowledge yours. You are absolutely right that if flooding is addressed, the problems of residential damage should be paramount. I don't believe these issues to be mutually exclusive, though. I'm glad to hear that the Village is addressing the problems.

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 11:25 #

5. spatny
   Member

   Actually, only a small section needs to be raised back to where it was - over the yearsthe top row of blocks has beenbroken or tipped in or something. It only needs about 50 feet repaired to where it was. It would then stop all but the very highest record floods, which would be OK. Now there is so much concrete up north that th water gets into the river too quickly and thus the quick storm surges and rapid rise of the river. Repairing the wall so the park sis usable for months more a year and to eliminate the summer flooding and stagnant water for mosquito breeding is certainly a worthwhile effort, and we need that done before we buy new swing sets to replace perfectly usable ones. And other things like that.

   The old configuration of that area was before 1933, and was swampy a great deal of the time. The WPA project made it into a very nice parkland, it just requires maint. Longer we wait, more it will cost.

   Catherine - about 10" is the heidth of the missing blocks - all it needs is some holes cemented and about 50 feet of 10" concrete slab added where missing and it would probably last another 75 years.

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 12:58 #

6. TS
   Member

   Again, the priority should be prevent flooding of homes in Riverside. The cost of flooding is significant. Not to minimize the importance of Swan Pond but the inconvenience of flooding in Swan Pond pales in comparison to the cost and impact flooding has to our neighbors in Riverside.

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 13:45 #

7. EricSundstrom
   Member

   Other than building a berm along the river, fronting the West street properties,you will not be able to counter flooding in Riverside. As was stated earlier in the thread,the only authority to appeal to to alleviate floodng is the Army Corps of Egineers. I've heard that in the recent past they were approached with a new berm request and they refused.

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 14:58 #

8. TS
   Member

   Building a berm is not the only solution. A number of approaches are being investigated. What is missing is the willingness of the County, State or Federal government to assist with a solution.

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 15:05 #

9. HRCollins
   Member

   FYI - It is aganist the law to picnic in Riverside parks. See the MC:

   6-1-14: PUBLIC PARKS, RESTRICTIONS:

   No person shall hereinafter occupy or use any part of the public parks or parkways within the village or any part of the Barrypoint Road bridge or the Forest Avenue bridge or any other bridge within the village for fishing or picnic purposes or for snowmobiling; or to operate or drive any motorcycle, motor bike, moped or any motor vehicle (except for police, emergency and other authorized vehicles) upon or across said parks and parkways; nor shall any person fish or picnic or launch or retrieve any boat, canoe, raft or other water vessel from or within said parks or parkways or upon said bridges or operate any or drive any motor propelled sled or snowmobile upon or across said parks or parkways or bridges or any part thereof, or upon or across any public street, sidewalk, alley or highway or upon or across any portion of any navigable river or stream located within the village. (Ord. 1780, 10-19-1987)

   Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 15:53 #

10. JohnM
    Member

    Ha. My kid's preschool class is having an end of the year picnic in Turtle Park on Thursday. Do you think there's any reward money in it for me if I snitch them out to the police?

    Posted Monday Jun 22, 2009 16:05 #

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