Park plans lake cleanup day

As McKinley Lake continues to slowly drain, vegetation, sediment and trash get washed ashore. While the dredging of the lake can’t take place until the area is dry, the Creston Parks and Recreation board has come up with an idea to help the dredging process along: a lake cleanup day.

The dredging of McKinley Lake has been a topic of conversation for a number of years. The restoration of McKinley Lake was approved in the November 2021 ballot. The project includes lake sediment removal (dredging), shoreline improvements, improvement of fish habitat and angling access and other recreational amenities.

The draining of the lake began in August but has run into some hiccups due to the amount of materiel in the lake.

“The lake was doing great until the last two 2-inch rains we got, and then stuff gets stirred up and the drain gets clogged. Anything from vegetation to, mostly silt,” board president John Kawa said. “The lake’s been bored at least once.”

Kawa said the lake is back down to the levels it was before the last rain, and with no precipitation in the forecast, the project should continue as planned. However, to save time and money once the lake is completely drained, he proposed a community lake cleanup day.

“We could figure out a day and we could go down that way and throw stuff in a couple of dumpsters,” Kawa said. “We could get some volunteers before it dries out to come and do that, have a day where we can walk around there and pick stuff up. That would save us money in the long run when they haul the dirt away.”

He explained the park used to have an annual cleanup day, but attendance quickly waned. This year, with so much community focus already on the lake, the board hopes for better attendance.

Board members suggested contacting service groups, such as the local Lions Club or Boy Scouts. However, an agreement on a day could not be reached, with multiple sporting events happening on Saturdays and most NFL games happening on Sundays. Board member Katie Turner suggested doing a full weekend to give people options.

“Why don’t we do it the weekend of the 19th and 20th and you can go on Saturday and we could see if there’s organizations that could go either Saturday or Sunday,” Turner said. “We could do two days, just make sure you have your dump trucks there. I just say we leave it open all day.”

Community members are invited to come at any time on Saturday, Oct. 19 or Sunday, Oct. 20 to help clean up the lake. Volunteers are asked to provide their own trash bags and safety gear, and to keep out of any area not dry.