The Shell Rock River Watershed District board of managers voted Tuesday to open bids for the first phase of dredging in Fountain Lake.

The contract will focus on the redevelopment of Edgewater Bay, in the western portion of Fountain Lake.

As part of the action, the district will obtain bids from contractors, request approvals and permits from outside agencies and enter into any other agreements or contracts necessary to complete the Fountain Lake restoration project.

“Well this is a big step for us,” said district board manager Bruce Haugsdal after the vote. “We have been working for a long time to make this resolution, and it feels pretty good. It is going to be fun to see that (confined disposal facility) completed and the dredge start pumping dirty water. This is great for us, this is what we are here for.”

The resolution, which was passed with a unanimous 5-0 vote, launched the next step in the dredging process, which authorizes Watershed District staff to move forward with their proposed plan.

Watershed District Administrator Brett Behnke described the action as a formality that needed to be completed.

The goals and objectives of the Fountain Lake restoration project plan are as follows:

Implement rehabilitation that improves water quality and clarity in Fountain Lake

Employ lake management techniques to restore and improve aquatic vegetation

Consolidation, removal and stabilization of lake bottom sediments

Control of rough fish populations

Enhancement of aesthetic values

Reduction of water and wind erosion

Reduction of soil loss during storm events

Reduction of sediment delivery to surface waters

As outlined in the dredging contract, the district believes that the proposed watershed management plan will eventually result in benefits that will be greater than the cost of the implementation of the restoration project.

The district broke ground on a confined disposal facility site on March 31 north of Albert Lea to host removed sediment from the lake. The disposal site will be ready to receive sediment from the lake dredging project in August.

District officials said they have been preparing to dredge Fountain Lake since the district’s establishment in 2003 by installing fish barriers, conducting lake reclamations, restoring streambanks and using best agricultural management practices.

In April, the Watershed District’s board of managers voted to initiate the restoration and dredging of Fountain Lake. After the vote, a 30-day review period allowed for agencies such as Natural Resource Technology Inc. and the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources to provide feedback on the project.

The board of managers heard the comments of both NRT Inc. and Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources Tuesday and proceeded to accept the contract.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources had not yet provided comments on the project for the board at the time of the meeting, although comments were provided by the DNR previously in the process.

As outlined in Behnke’s guest column last month, it is the intent of the Watershed District to issue a bond for approximately $1.8 million to proceed with the project this year. Once a bond is issued to the district, the bond provider requires a secure source of income to ensure bond payments will be made.

The district awaits legislative renewal for the half percent sales tax. The district is looking to extend the sales tax for either 15 years or until $15 million has been collected for the project. The Watershed District has been looking to the tax levy option as a possible solution to the delay in the Legislature.

The next step for the Fountain Lake dredging project will be to obtain a credit rating in order to secure bond funding. The credit rating process will involve management calls with staff to discuss the project, financial outlook of the project, budget processes and expectations and management practices.

This process will cost an estimated $9,500 to the Watershed District.

After discussion, certain members of the board of managers did not feel comfortable proposing a second resolution and therefore the board was not able to vote on the seeking of a credit rating in the dredging project Tuesday.

The issue will be brought back up in two weeks when the board meets again.

Watershed District attorney Matt Benda called the second resolution, which seeks a credit rating for the Watershed District, of the meeting, “the preliminary step to get (the board) to a point to accept a bond issue.”