The biennial dredging of Mill Pond is underway, an approximately $10,000 maintenance project that alternates each year with Mead.
The town is dredging Mill Pond—officials do so every other year, alternating with Mead Pond. Credit: Michael Dinan
Mill Pond, which gets a far heavier sediment load from the Fivemile River than Mead does from the subterranean waterway that feeds it, additionally has a screening system called a “gabion weir” installed, according to Mose Saccary of the New Canaan Department of Public Works.
“We put this in and the plan is if we keep pulling debris out of the weir, the rest of the pond will stay clear,” Saccary said.
Fire Marshal Fred Baker stands near a truck full of equipment for a ‘Dry Hydrant’ that will be installed in Mill Pond now, during a dredge. Credit: Michael Dinan
The pond—site of the popular annual fishing derby—had gone without a dredge for some 25 years until 2008, when a $1 million project was needed to clear the pond, just eight inches deep and sprouting weeds at the time.
The contractor on the job is Norwalk-based Hussey Brothers Excavating.
Fire Marshal Fred Baker said a “dry hydrant” is being installed in the pond—a backup hydrant for emergencies as well as a good spot for firefighters to train.
“It’s just like putting a giant straw in the water,” Baker said.