Prospect cleaning popular pond

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PROSPECT — The town plans to have a local pond cleaned and stocked by fishing season.

The town began dredging the pond at McGrath Park, which is next to Long River Middle School, earlier this month.

“This hasn’t been done in 26 years,” Mayor Robert Chatfield said. “It is just time to clean the pond.”

Chatfield said the pond, which is a popular fishing spot, had filled with silt and there was a variety of algae growing along the bottom of the pond. The silt and algae clogged the fountain that used to aerate the pond, he said.

The Town Council last week approved transferring $27,000 from medical benefits in order to pay for the work. Chatfield said the medical benefits account is expected to have a surplus of about $50,000 or $60,000.

Chatfield said the $27,000 should cover the cost of the town draining the pond and removing the silt. The silt that is removed will be stored at the town garage and reused as loam, he said.

The town began draining the pond at the end of January and expects to have the silt removed by the end of next week, Chatfield said. Once silt has been removed the town will start to let the pond refill, he said.

Once the work is complete and the pond is refilled, the town will reinstall the fountain, Chatfield said.

The town is doing the work now because the winter has been mild and the pond hasn’t iced over, Chatfield said. Doing the work now also means that by fishing season, which begins in April, the pond will be completely refilled and the silt that was stirred up will resettle, Chatfield said.

Chatfield said he asked the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which stocks ponds, to stock this pond last to ensure the fish would survive.