• Activities have continued on the Thompson Creek Project in several areas in the last month. These have included updating grant agreements and reports, working through review comments from the EPA on the Project Implementation Plan, designing and bidding demonstration projects for storm water management, and public education and outreach efforts. Additional efforts have included pre-construction monitoring of Thompson Creek water quality and quantity from runoff events. A major item for public outreach in the last month was holding the Inaugural La Vista Bio Blitz that was held on May 17 at Central Park from 10 am to 4 pm and approximately 100 persons attended. We were able to make presentations to a science class from the Papillion La Vista North High School on May 16 and we plan to build on an educational relationship with the school district for ongoing events.
• OPPD has been working on preparing easement documents for the new route of their overhead power lines which must be moved to allow the channel reconstruction earthwork. They anticipate beginning to contact property owners during mid-June to start acquiring the easements. The City will also be contacting property owners this summer to obtain rights to perform grading. Efforts to obtain increases in grant funding were unsuccessful and it is necessary to reduce the scope of the initial channel reconstruction project to match the available funds. A portion of the project in Central Park west of Edgewood Boulevard will have to be deferred until additional funding is found at a future date. This section was chosen since it has less significant degradation than areas east of Edgewood Boulevard. Some stabilization work near the pedestrian bridge remains in the project.
• Construction work on the channel stabilization project is still expected to begin in the fall of 2014 and last into the summer of 2015. A permit application is underway with the Corps of Engineers to seek the necessary approvals for construction.
• The consultant team has been working on a 9-Element Watershed Plan that must be approved by the EPA in order to receive additional funding through the NDEQ.
• The Rain Barrel Program has been extended in order to meet this year’s goal of signing up 40 rain barrels in the Thompson Creek Watershed this year. Applications will be accepted until 40 rebates have been granted. At this time approximately 30 rebate applications have been authorized. The program provides for a 50% rebate up to a maximum of $60.00 towards acceptable rain barrels that are installed by September 5, 2014.
• The City’s consultant team has continued to work on plans for rain gardens around City Hall and a grant application was made for a bio-retention basin for the City Hall parking lot. The grant for the bio-retention basin in the parking lot was approved subject to approval of an implementation plan by the EPA. These projects are expected to be constructed during summer and fall of this year. The installation of a street filter at the southwest corner of the Park View Blvd and 73rd Avenue intersection is expected to start in July of this year and be completed in September.
• Staff and students from UNO have conducted water quality sampling on Thompson Creek and personnel from USGS are measuring flows during storm events. This information will be used to demonstrate successes in improving the management of storm water runoff in the Thompson Creek watershed.
• More information on the Thompson Creek Watershed Restoration project can be found at www.cityoflavista.org/thompsoncreek