Lake Wyman could make a comeback
Marci Shatzman mshatzman@tribune.com
Boca could consider
resurrecting the Lake Wyman Project at a city park in a city neighborhood.
Three
city advisory boards have recommended reintroducing the county's Lake Wyman
Restoration Project in Boca Raton, a move that was welcomed by county
officials if the city acts.
Plans
in 2012 called for adding picnic areas, a boat dock, more boardwalks and an
observation platform, and sinking acres of land for sea grass behind Lake Wyman
Park and James A. Rutherford Park on the west side of the Intracoastal
Waterway.
City
Council approved its share of the funding in May 2012, and former Mayor Susan
Whelchel talked it up in her state of the city address in 2013.
But
there was opposition. Some Golden Harbour neighbors wanted an independent study
on how tides would flush in their neighborhood, built on canals. They also
asked for a sinking fund to maintain the mangroves, and canoe and kayak trails
that were overgrown and no longer usable.
But
there were deadlines for grants at the time, and since then nothing has
happened on the proposed 50-acre project.
Then on
Dec. 10, 2014, the city's Marine Advisory Board started the ball rolling again
when it recommended contacting the Palm Beach County Department of
Environmental Resources Management, which had shepherded the project along
before.
Marine
Advisory Board chairman Gene Folden brought the letter before the Parks and
Recreation Board at its January meeting. And the Environmental Advisory Board
voted unanimously to join the support effort Jan. 29. Chairman Stephen Alley
called for a vote and the panel unanimously approved it.
Resurrecting
the project, priced at $3 million at the time, would please former Boca Ratonmayor now County Commissioner Steven
Abrams, who has always championed the project.
Robert
Robbins, director of Environment Resources Management, said if the city wants
to move forward, the county could start from scratch on the design and the
funding. His department still lists Lake Wyman on its website as an estuary
project.
"We
still believe this is a very valuable project and would be happy to resume
working with the city, but there's two things we need to know," Robbins
said. "If the city wants us to come back and work with them, and we need
to know the residents are engaged.
"We're
fine looking at a project again with a clean slate and fresh eyes. It has to be
environmental restoration and we prefer a public use component," he said.
Stakeholders
include the city and county, Florida Inland Navigational District, called FIND,
which was picking up most of the funding, and the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, among
others.
"The
FIND money would have to reapply, and the county money was used for other
projects. That doesn't mean we can't find other money and look at other grants
sources. But first there has to be an agreement as to the vision," Robbins
said.
Abrams
said everything remains on hold and "when the time is right we're more
than willing to jump start the project," he said. "It's still a
worthwhile project to do when they feel the time is right in renewing it."
He's
still concerned about the neighbors.
"We
have really worked hard to redesign the project to address their
concerns," he said. "Ultimately, they live next door to a public park
yet they have issues and we have to take those into account."
