Oregon OKs design for stream restoration project

        Oregon City Council recently approved an agreement with Mannik & Smith Group, Inc., Maumee, to provide professional engineering services for stream restoration at the Oregon Recreational Complex for $111,974.75.
        In order to improve water quality in Wolf Creek, the city is moving ahead with stream restoration at the Oregon Recreational Complex.
        As part of several approved local projects in the Maumee Area of Concern (AOC), the city applied for and received a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region 5 Great lakes National Program Office (GLNPO). The grant is for the design and construction of a stream and wetland restoration project within the Oregon Recreational Complex, 5401 Starr Ave. Extension. The grant will reimburse the city for 100 percent of the eligible design and construction costs up to a maximum of $1,344,000 for the project.
        The Stream Restoration at Oregon Recreational Complex will reduce degradation of stream benthic communities (insects, snails, worms, crayfish, etc.) and improve fish habitat by stabilizing 5,300 linear feet of eroding and incised stream banks in Wolf Creek. The two-stage channel design will create a benched floodplain and a low flow channel, which will promote habitat features such as meanders, pools, and riffles.
       
Two-stage
        “Many of you have seen the wetland work we’ve done along Wynn Road Brachman Ditch, where you see the very widened channel,” Public Service Director Paul Roman said to council. “When we say `two-stage,’ there’s a lower bank area that’s just a foot higher than the flow line or stream ditch bottom. That is where you have pools and riffles. That’s where you have a lot of the habitat restoration.”
        The project will also reduce nonpoint source pollution by intercepting agricultural drainage and capturing nutrients and sediment and routing through a constructed wetland system.
        A walking path and viewing areas are planned to provide passive recreation and educational opportunities for visitors of the park.
       
Qualifications
        Roman requested qualification statements from qualified, professional consultants to provide professional engineering services for preliminary and detail design of the project. 
        Besides the Mannik & Smith Group, Inc., qualifications were received by Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.; GEI Consultants; ECT Inc.; Davey Resource Group; and Oxbow River and Stream Restoration.
        “Mannik & Smith was determined to be the most qualified for the design,” said Roman. “They were the designer for our urban runoff Capture Project, which was a passive park and creation of wetlands for Otter in Euclid Park. They did a very good job.”
        It will take three years to complete the project, said Roman.
        “We submitted this grant application last summer. We were made aware of the award in the fall. The design will probably take a year, and the construction will probably take a year as well. That’s about the norm,” said Roman.