VETERANS PARK CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN IN JULY

Rising Sun, MD - Look for heavy equipment and fencing soon in Veterans Memorial Park to signal the start of a project designed to fix erosion and flooding issues, town officials said Tuesday.
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Representatives from the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) and Ecotone outlined the plans for the project slated to begin in July during a town meeting Tuesday. Four goals are to be met: improve conditions on Stone Run, construct three upland water quality treatments to include a bioswale, reduce the volume and velocity of stormwater running through the park, and reduce sediment and nutrients entering Stone Run.

​Laura Gardner, an engineer with CWP, said slowing down the stormwater will eliminate erosion and enhance the park. That will be accomplished with step pools in the stream and retention areas. “We’re going to capture the sediment coming off the ball fields ... which should help contain some of the runoff and make a nice feature for the park,” Gardner said of the planned bioswale.

Jon Stewart, restoration designer for Ecotone, said the park would remain open throughout construction because the bulk of the work would occur away from the playground equipment and the popular areas along the stream. However, visitors need to stay clear of the construction areas.

Commissioner Augie Pierson asked if it would be possible to erect signage in the park to explain the project. He reasoned that could help the public understand what is happening and why.

Dave Warnick, the town commissioner overseeing the project, said that, when completed, visitors will notice that the area in between the picnic pavilion and the basketball courts is drier, the banks of the stream are stabilized and there are more places for children to play along and explore the stream. An added bonus is the project could save the Rising Sun Little League some money. “The retention area will allow us to capture some of the soil from the Little League field and put it back,” Warnick said, adding that the special material added to the infield costs the league about $1,000 a ton.

Stewart said when trees are cut down the wood will not leave the park. “Any tree we remove will get used in construction,” he said.
Wood-based riprap and other water diversion methods is what would become of the lumber.

Rising Sun has received almost $783,000 in grants for the project. The bulk of that came from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and its Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund. 

“DNR wants to spend their money where the kids have access and can interact with the environment,” said Bryan Seipp, CWP watershed manager. The day he gave the state agency a tour of the proposed project there were children playing in the stream, which he views as the proof of the project’s validity. 

​Warnick said that activity was key. “We know kids play in that stream,” Warnick said. “That’s why we put a splash zone in the design.”

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Article by Jane Bellmyer, The Cecil Whig. To learn more, please visit The Cecil Whip newspaper at http://bit.ly/2rDCmex​