Grant Information

December 26 - Babbling Brook Stabilization Update #4
Steve Larry BBP Manager, Rebecca Olson, Natural Resource Consultant

Hello all,

To add to Steve's list for spring work, we will also be planting 15 elderberry bushes on the north shoreline next to the bridge, and the coir logs will receive native plugs and seed.

Rebecca Olson, M.S.

As many of you can see by visiting the site, we have completed the work as planned for this year and the project has been "put to bed" (except for the placement of straw bales for erosion control on Schings Park rip rap construction. Woody will take care of this) for the winter months. Scheduled for completion in early spring, we have the following:

The educational piece for which Joe is responsible;

Planting of 10 trees and over seeding of areas;

Finish landscaping which includes but not limited to: removal of scrub stumps exposed ground cover material; additional top soil to tie in slope landscaping at the east end; "raking out" top soil along shoreline above gabions and top dressing gabions with 2 inches of top soil to within a foot of the edge over the waterline;

Seeding and raking of Schings Park rip rap area;

The refurbishing of lot 15 where we staged a lot of materials and used it as access to the southeast side of the bank;

Final inspection

The piles of soil removed and placed on the ground behind the church have been smoothed out. The pile of stumps and brush will be burned over the winter so board members, if you get complaints, we are sorry, BUT, it is to be done and we all will just have to put up with some smoke smell for awhile until it is all gone (we saved literally several thousands of dollars because of it vs. having to haul it away and disposed of).

I think that is about it for now. Thanks to everyone, including property owners, for your support and cooperation throughout the project. As I said to many, it will be ugly until it gets done. The good is now shining through.

Steve Larry

September 27, 2011 - BBP Notice #3

Good afternoon everyone.

You may have noticed that equipment has arrived and gabion basket materials are staged. Tree cutting, weather permitting, will begin this week. As we progress with the project, if you have any questions or concerns, please call me or Joe Rush. The contractor employees probably will not be able to answer any of your questions. They are there to do a safe job according to the direction they get. So between Joe and I, we can better expedite answers. I hope you are as excited as we are in getting this going and completed.

Steve Larry, BBP Manager

September 15, 2011 - Babbling Brook Stabilization Update #2, Steve Larry BBP Manager

My first update garnered some questions regarding the changes made and that is good. I hope now all can determine that these changes are good ones for the project. Changing the blanket near the bridge for riprap will actually save some shoreline vs. the original plan because the slope will be a little less. The change upstream will need a little more shoreline due to slope, but the riprap will extend into the stream as the plan shows at that end. Another update is that Fischer has indicated the work will only take about a month, so the project, based on weather, may be completed before winter sets in. Tree and shrub removal will begin in the next few weeks. Again, I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions. Becky Office: 815 652-2006; Steve Cell: 630 740-4263

Steve Larry
BBP Project Manager

September 2011 - Babbling Brook Stabilization Update, Steve Larry BBP Manager

You may know by now that the bidding process has been completed and we have selected Fischer Excavating to do the work we have previously shared with you. Fischer has done work for us in the past and we have an excellent relationship with them. Their bid was the lowest (although it was about $60,000 over our construction budget) and their qualifications make them the best choice. Work clearing trees and brush will begin within the next few weeks marking the beginning of construction.

To reduce the construction cost to one that fits our budget yet does not compromise the integrity of the project we made two significant changes to the plan. The first is to replace the slope mattress with riprap that extends from the bridge about 380 ft. upstream (if you still have our construction map this would be area #2). This will save us about $25,000. The second is to replace the gabion baskets with riprap on the west bank just south of area #3 at the farthest upstream end of the project. Area #3 has riprap already, so this is just an extension of that. This will require a little more bank preparation on the Hutchinson property but will save us an additional $16,000. The remainder of the savings will come from lake shore stabilization.

Finally, we are bidding riprap of about 120 ft. of shoreline on Schings' Park near the bridge. This is part of our commitment to the EPA under the current grant. That work will be done to coincide with the BBP.

Steve Larry, BBP Project Manager

In April of 2011, the RCD received their first reimbursement check from the 3191003 grant in the amount of $67,504.58.

In May of 2010, the EPA approved the RCD's 319 grant request for the stabilization of Babbling Brook and Lost Lake in the amount of $528,500, of which the RCD must match 40% or $211,400 in funds or services.

In 2009, the EPA approved the RCD's 319 grant request for watershed planning for the amount of $88,000, of which the RCD is responsible for a $22,000 match in funds or services. The EPA has paid out $63,891.92 to the RCD so far.