$80,000 Overhaul Planned for Lake Emily

Residents of the Landings subdivision can look forward to a much nicer Lake Emily in the coming years, after the alderman signed off on a new, potential 10-year contract with Pizzo & Associates to conduct maintenance around the lake.

“This area has gone—native is not the right term—it has gone wild,” said City Administrator Troy Ishler. “We have sought professional help to guide through a process of stewardship and do maintenance for the pond.”

The contract, which can be renewed annually for up to 10 years, calls for the city to pay $10,000 during the first year for labor and the controlled burn.

For the first year of service, the contract calls for Oak Forest to pay Pizzo $10,000 for services rendered between November 2012 and October of 2013. Pizzo's services will include a controlled burn, control of invasive woody and herbaceous plants, mowing of all restored area, if necessary, and planting supplemental native seeds.

“We were looking for, not just maintenance, but also how could we restore it to what it was supposed to be,” Ishler said. “Back in the 1990s they had a vision of what this was supposed to look like. … [Pizzo] went into great detail about how they were going to plant, how they were going to maintain year-after-year and get it back to what it's supposed to look like.”

The final contract, which the board approved unanimously, calls for yearly renewal for up to 10 years, based on the satisfactory completion of work around the lake. Should the city see the contract through to completion, Oak Forest will have paid $78,000 to Pizzo & Associates.  

Keep up with Oak Forest Patch!

• Sign up for our newsletter!
• Follow us on Facebook!