This is how the west end of Waverly Lake looked at mid-day Saturday, July 15, 2023.
The planned operation to clean Waverly Lake of unsightly green growth has been delayed and likely won’t start until August. That’s the message from Albany officials on the city website and on social media.
In May, the city council authorized the parks department to contract with Aquatic Harvesting LLC, of Centralia, Wash., to rid the lake of plants and algae. The department budgeted $60,000 for this.
City Manager Peter Troedsson told the council in his weekly Friday report:
“The work at Waverly Lake (algae removal and installation of an aeration system and fountain to try to minimize future algae growth) was originally anticipated to be performed in July but has been delayed. June was the hottest month on record and aquatic vegetation is a significant problem up and down the west coast. Our contractor is in high demand: the work they do and the equipment they use are highly specialized. Consequently, they’ve been delayed on many of the projects they’re working, and we now anticipate work beginning in Waverly in August… .”
It was NASA and ofher agencies that reported that June was the hottest June on record worldwide.
In the mid-valley, the Hyslop Farm weather station recorded that high temperatures in June averaged 5.5 degrees F higher than normal. The low readings for the month were 1 degree higher than normal. (Normal is considered the average of the last 30 years.)
May also was warmer than the 30-year average for the month at Hyslop. But March and April were about 4 degrees colder than the averages for those months. (You can easily look up local weather data at OSU’s Climate Service here.)
Anything else new at Waverly Lake?
The concrete path lining the lake’s western shore, torn up for sewer construction, has been rebuilt and is almost finished. On Saturday only the few feet of path leading to Pacific Boulevard remained to be poured. (hh)
The brand-new concrete path on the west end of Waverly Lake. (Saturday, July 15, 2023)
If the company doing the work cannot get to Albany until some “indefinite” time, and since the algae problem clears-up on its own in September, then why spend $60-thousand dollars? If the company doing the work gets here in early August, the bottom line is a “pleasant view” of Waverly Lake for roughly 30-days prior to the time the lake would have cleared-up naturally … or $2000.00 per day. Certainly there must be a better way to spend $2000/day than this 76-Trombones scheme.
“Harvesting” these carbon-sucking weeds does not help us save the planet from global warming.
It’s sinful to eradicate these valuable weeds for aesthetic reasons. And unforgivable if the motivation is to generate profit through tourism and paddle boats.
Don’t be a sinner. A weed infested Waverly Lake offers some salvation to Mother Earth. Please keep the faith.
Oh no! We can’t have algae in our parks! The water is supposed to be filled with shopping carts and garbage!
If the city can spend 60 grand on a fountain, it can spend some hiring someone to pick up garbage. The APD bought grappling hooks to fish carts out of Periwinkle Stream, why don’t they use them? Why is there a giant pile of garbage spread out across the Periwinkle Bike Path?
What happens when pictures of this disgusting waste of city park gets noticed online? Why should anyone care about algae in the lake when there’s literally piles of garbage clogging up Periwinkle Stream?
Since no one can answer these questions honestly, I will. It’s because nobody cares. The mayor doesn’t use my park. He doesn’t have to live next to this crime-infested garbage heap. But he probably does have to drive alongside Waverly Lake for 30 seconds. The same goes for the rest of the city council. Great job ignoring half the city so you can pretend as if this were a good place to live.
I’ve got a hundred pictures of trash piles, taken during months of neglect, in Kinder Park and the surrounding areas. When is re-election? Since y’all won’t deal with this now, you can deal with it then.
Did the city put off because of the overage on the demolition of a perfectly sound building? Didn’t know you couldn’t hire a local company. I’ve been saying a fountain for years, but what do I know? Oh that’s right, this is how the southern states keep their lakes clean……
It is interesting that Albanians don’t even blink at a $60-thousand bill for algae removal yet complain to High Heaven that the City would spend up to $12-thousand annually to build and maintain the new Homeless camping site. That 3-second view the tourist rubes see when passing by Waverly Lake is deemed more important than taking care of the less fortunate. I guess we know where Albany’s priorities lay.
Since all of the sudden you’ve become “holier than thou”, you’ve probably got a backyard and a garage that could be used to house some of these less fortunates. Put up or shut up! We’re tired of you preaching your garbage.
I feel as though I’m preaching to the choir.
The city is going to spend WAY MORE than $12k annually. I rode by this morning on the bus and there were 2 police vehicles and an overflowing dumpster. I wonder how many “police hours”/day are spent there?
And a fire there (Second Chance Shelter) this afternoon. And more cost for more first responders.
Wait until next year…