Council Gets Update on Les Lacs Pond Liner Replacement

At the April 9 Council Meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Janna Tidwell reintroduced the Les Lacs Pond Liner Replacement project to Council that was started in 2017. The project, which had been put on hold until other projects could be completed, involves replacing the Les Lacs pond liner that is beginning to tear.

Mrs. Tidwell shared some of the community input that was recently received on the project. To help facilitate public input, staff developed an online web portal called "Imagine Addison" that allowed participants to build their own project by adding proposed enhancements for the pond edge condition, planting style, interactive elements, site improvement elements, environmental elements, and aesthetic improvements onto the base project. As participants built their own project, the project budget would adjust to include their selections. In addition to developing the project budget, the portal tallied the potential tax implications associated with the project if taxes were to be increased to fund the project. Although there are other funding options that can be considered for the project, calculation of the tax rate provided residents with a tangible avenue to weigh project costs. The portal also allowed participants to provide additional feedback to staff regarding the project. 

Council provided feedback on the elements that were shared with the public and discussed next steps. Staff will continue researching possible grants that might help offset the cost of some of the amenities around the pond and will come back to Council at a later date with more information and recommendations.