MILTON — Locklin Lake needs costly improvements, and several homeowners and city officials plan to see they’re provided.
City leaders this week voted to approve a resolution and a letter of support for the Locklin Lake Restoration Project Inc. The LLRP, a state-certified homeowners association, seeks legislative funding to restore the lake.
“We are appealing to the state to help us get rid of the weeds and dredge the bottom,” LLRP President Matthew Dollhausen said. “(The lake) should be about 8 to 12 feet deep, depending on where you are, but right now it is 5 — it’s been silted in.”
City Manager Brian Watkins said siltation built up around 1999 during roadwork on Dogwood Drive.
In 2005 and 2006, the city received two $400,000 legislative grants for a three-part project in restoring Locklin. However, the funding was only enough to restore the lake’s dam.
Ten years later, the problem remains.
“We got the plans for getting the dredging work done, but we don’t have any money to do it,” Watkins said.
‘A LOT OF MONEY’
Engineers have estimated that dredging the lake would cost around $800,000. Another project in restoring the lake — installing trash and sediment capture structures — could cost nearly $2 million.
“We are talking about a lot of money in order to get the whole thing done,” Watkins said.
Dollhausen said he and Mayor Wesley Meiss plan to make the case for restoring the lake before state representatives in Tallahassee.
“We are asking them to introduce a bill in the legislature to dredge the lake,” Dollhausen said.
The plan, according to Dollhausen, is to rebuild the lake by removing silt along with the large amount of weeds, which have seemed to overtake Locklin.
“Some of (the weeds) are intrusive, non-native,” he said.
Once dredged, Dollhausen said he would like to see the lake’s catfish population increase; that would help control the overgrowth issue.
HIGHER PROPERTY VALUES
Locklin Lake’s problems weren’t always so severe. Dollhausen, who’s owned a home there for two years, said at one time he could canoe along the lake. However, weeds now make that impossible.
“Now you can’t put a boat in because you can’t go anywhere,” he said.
Improving the lake would give a boost to property values of area homes, Meiss said.
“The beauty of this is that if the lake is restored and looks pristine, I think you can see the property values around the lake go up, which is good for the city of Milton,” Meiss said. “Plus, I think the houses across the street and even two or three streets up are going to benefit from this.”
Dollhausen understands residents who criticize seeking legislative funding for a lake surrounded by private property. However, he believes there is a lot at stake concerning Locklin Lake’s environmental state.
“Yes, we are selfishly seeking our value of our property to go up, so we will have a nice lake, but it’s Milton’s (lake) as well,” he said. “(Locklin) is a reservoir for Blackwater; if there is pollutants or these weeds get out of control, they are going to flush into the Blackwater.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: State funding sought for Milton lake restoration