Dockery pond freed of lily pad weeds

Dec 24, 2018 | Community News | 0 comments

Kids, families, and community members will now be able to fish off the bank of the Dockery Park pond while enjoy the wildlife and all the rest of the park’s natural landscape.
Park Board member Ira Sloan says it has been a problem keeping the park’s pond clean for years. It had become overgrown with lily pads.
“We wanted to get it cleaned up so people can enjoy the pond and go fishing with their families from the bank, not just the dock,” he says.
After discussing the issue over the summer and deciding on a plan of action, the board bid out the work of removing the lily pads. Will Salmon of Salmon Excavating won the bid.
The pond has slowly been overtaken with the lily pads, which tend to branch out underwater. The plants have an aggressive growth rate and can out-compete other beneficial plants. They become noxious weeds, damaging to the fish and other plant life as well as an eyesore.
Mr. Salmon delayed the job until he had access to an extended track hoe so he could get out in the water further to scoop out as many of the lily pads as possible. He piled the mud on the banks of the pond and as soon as it dries out he will spread it out on the back of the pond bank.
Mr. Sloan said about 90% of the lily pads are out now. The park board will treat the pond chemically once in the spring next year and once in the fall, and after that about once a year to keep the lily pad population under control.
Mr. Sloan said that along with the work on the pond, the park’s bathrooms have been remodeled, the bleachers fixed up, and a new fence added on the upper ball field.
“We want people to know that we are making changes for the good at the park,” he says.


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