Town of Dyer, Indiana

Pheasant Hills Park Pond Water Quality Improvement Project

Start Date: 10/1/2011 Complete Date: 9/30/2012 Responsible:

Full Description
The Lake Michigan Coastal Program through the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has awarded the Town of Dyer a grant to conduct a water quality assessment of Pheasant Hills Pond. The grant award is $15,075 of federal funds, with the town matching those funds dollar for dollar through cash and in kind resources. The town contracted Christopher Burke Engineering to conduct a water quality improvement study at Pheasant Hills Pond. There will also be a lot of public outreach in the form of articles on the town website, brochures targeted to adjacent property owners, community presentations and workshops and newsletter articles. Information will include steps residents can take to protect water quality in their own homes, lawns and gardens and household hazardous waste information. We already have three public outreach meetings scheduled for March 1st, April 5th and May 3rd at 6 pm for each date. Meetings will be held in the main meeting room at Town Hall. We will be raffling three rain barrels at each meeting and you must attend at least one meeting to be eligible to win the rain barrels. For any questions about this project, contact Lindsay Grove at 219-865-6108.

Summary
The Town of Dyer has received a grant from the Lake Michigan Coastal Program to conduct a water quality assessment of Pheasant Hills Pond. The hope is that once we receive the results of this study we will be able to implement the suggestions to make Pheasant Hills Pond more accessible and cleaner. As part of this grant program, we will be conducting public outreach through meetings, brochures and updates on our website. The public outreach meetings will be held to inform residents about things they can do to help keep the water in Pheasant Hills Pond cleaner, as well as to encourage residents to install rain gardens in their backyards. We will provide tips on how to establish and protect a rain garden. We will also be discussing what to expect during a habitat restoration project to encourage public support for the implementation of this water quality assessment. The public outreach meetings will be held at 6 pm at the Dyer Town Hall on the following dates: March 1, April 5 and May 3. We will be raffling off three rain barrels at each of these meetings, for a total of 9 rain barrels. In order to enter the drawing for the rain barrels, you must attend at least one entire meeting. For any questions about this project, contact Lindsay Grove at 219-865-6108.