
Q&A:
3 CURRENT PROJECTS FUNDED BY RIZ
Lane Rumelhart, project manager for the Lake Panorama Association who oversees projects financed by RIZ, talks about each of the undertakings.
Posted 10/5/2021
By Susan Thompson
Lake Panorama Times
The Lake Panorama Rural Improvement Zone (RIZ) is a local government body formed in 1998 under Iowa Code Chapter 357H. RIZ works to improve Lake Panorama and its watershed through funding of erosion control, sediment removal and water quality improvements.
The tax increment financing district allows tax growth dollars to stay within the Lake Panorama development for water quality purposes. At the time the Lake Panorama RIZ was formed, it was estimated this could mean up to $75,000 a year coming back to Lake Panorama. Today, estimated revenue for the current fiscal year is $2.6 million.
The Lake Panorama RIZ is managed by a five-member Board of Trustees who are elected to three-year terms by residents of the Rural Improvement Zone.
A key focus of RIZ is the dredging of sediment from Lake Panorama. This ensures lake depth remains suitable for safe enjoyment by LPA members and their guests. But in addition to the dredging, RIZ has financed a number of water quality improvement projects.
Lane Rumelhart is project manager for the Lake Panorama Association and oversees projects financed by RIZ. In this month’s Q&A, Rumelhart talks about three current projects.
Q. Tell us about the three RIZ projects underway in 2021.
A. These projects are the Burchfield Shore Armoring Project, the County Basin Shore Armoring Project, and the 180th Trail Basin expansion project.
Work on the Burchfield Shoreline Project began the first week of August. JNC Construction from Clearfield was awarded the contract in June. This project is finishing up on the west side of the Burchfield channel, just south of the bridge along Sage Trail.
The contractor placed limestone rip rap along the entire west side from the bridge all the way south to the end of LPA property, which amounted to about 1,700 feet of shoreline. The contractor also created a bench for future long-reach excavator work with a pit on the backside for future sediment storage. This will allow better access for LPA crews in the future and create a convenient location for dredge material coming out of the channel.
Work on the County Basin Shore Armoring Project will begin soon. JNC Construction also was awarded this bid, and will shift their operation to this project as the Burchfield project wraps up. The County Basin is located northwest of Lake Panorama along the west side of Poplar Avenue and south side of 190th Street.
This basin is where our dredge sediment currently is being stored. Since this basin is our active storage location, we raised the water level to its maximum height to maximize the amount of storage space available. With high water levels, strong winds from the south and west caused large waves to eat into the embankment of the basin.
In addition, this past spring, large amounts of broken up ice pushed into the embankment and cut out more soil than anticipated. The bank now needs to be protected and will be rip rapped with the same material as the Burchfield shoreline. About 2,300 feet of rip rap will be placed along the shore’s most vulnerable area.
There also will be several yards of concrete poured around the walkway that leads to the outlet structure. If members travel this direction, expect some travel restrictions and one lane traffic control in mid-to-late fall. The contractor will be using the west half of the road to place rip rap along the edge.
Our next and by far the largest project is the expansion of the 180th Trail Basin. Some refer to this as the CIPCO basin, as CIPCO developed it back in the 1980s. The basin is located just south of 180th Trail on the northeast end of the lake. You can see the south edge of the basin if you are in the Upper Basin portion of the lake and look directly north beyond the debris trap.
For this project, Spring Lake Construction of Polk City will raise the dam elevation of the basin by about 17 feet. This basin has been expanded before, so will require a two-phase approach to be fully complete.
The contractor will first borrow dirt from surrounding areas to add and compact on top of the existing dam. Geotechnical engineers require the newly compacted dirt to sit for at least six months before adding a new layer on top, so contractors will work over a two-year period to add, compact and repeat the process to get the embankment up to 17 feet high.
The current dam has two outlet structures that can raise or lower the water level in the basin by adding or removing stop logs. These structures will be abandoned at the end of this project, and a new outlet structure will be built in the center of the new dam embankment.
Shive Hattery engineers expect the contractor to move more than 750,000 yards of dirt to build up this embankment. RIZ has spent a lot of time and resources over the past couple years to make this project happen. Spring Lake Construction should have most of their equipment on site and begin excavating in October.
Q. All of these projects involve sediment storage. Why is sediment storage so important for Lake Panorama?
A. You are right, these projects all deal with sediment storage either directly or indirectly. The future of Lake Panorama relies heavily on the ability to store dredge spoils. Without a place to store sediment, the lake would eventually fill up with silt and become a very glamorous wetland.
RIZ will always encourage eco-friendly farming tactics and silt control projects upstream, but until the lake receives less silt runoff, projects like expansion of basins and creation of wetlands and new basins will be a priority.
Q. Does RIZ have future plans to build more basins and wetlands?
A. Yes, RIZ recently acquired some land on the west side of Burchfield Cove that will eventually be built into a wetland and silt basin. RIZ also plans to try and build another wetland north of the Smith wetland, which was installed to help protect water flowing into Burchfield Cove. This project is still up in the air, as permit requirements with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers have slowed progress.
For more information on Lake Panorama RIZ, visit its website at www.lakepanoramariz.org.
By Susan Thompson
Lake Panorama Times
The Lake Panorama Rural Improvement Zone (RIZ) is a local government body formed in 1998 under Iowa Code Chapter 357H. RIZ works to improve Lake Panorama and its watershed through funding of erosion control, sediment removal and water quality improvements.
The tax increment financing district allows tax growth dollars to stay within the Lake Panorama development for water quality purposes. At the time the Lake Panorama RIZ was formed, it was estimated this could mean up to $75,000 a year coming back to Lake Panorama. Today, estimated revenue for the current fiscal year is $2.6 million.
The Lake Panorama RIZ is managed by a five-member Board of Trustees who are elected to three-year terms by residents of the Rural Improvement Zone.
A key focus of RIZ is the dredging of sediment from Lake Panorama. This ensures lake depth remains suitable for safe enjoyment by LPA members and their guests. But in addition to the dredging, RIZ has financed a number of water quality improvement projects.
Lane Rumelhart is project manager for the Lake Panorama Association and oversees projects financed by RIZ. In this month’s Q&A, Rumelhart talks about three current projects.
Q. Tell us about the three RIZ projects underway in 2021.
A. These projects are the Burchfield Shore Armoring Project, the County Basin Shore Armoring Project, and the 180th Trail Basin expansion project.
Work on the Burchfield Shoreline Project began the first week of August. JNC Construction from Clearfield was awarded the contract in June. This project is finishing up on the west side of the Burchfield channel, just south of the bridge along Sage Trail.
The contractor placed limestone rip rap along the entire west side from the bridge all the way south to the end of LPA property, which amounted to about 1,700 feet of shoreline. The contractor also created a bench for future long-reach excavator work with a pit on the backside for future sediment storage. This will allow better access for LPA crews in the future and create a convenient location for dredge material coming out of the channel.
Work on the County Basin Shore Armoring Project will begin soon. JNC Construction also was awarded this bid, and will shift their operation to this project as the Burchfield project wraps up. The County Basin is located northwest of Lake Panorama along the west side of Poplar Avenue and south side of 190th Street.
This basin is where our dredge sediment currently is being stored. Since this basin is our active storage location, we raised the water level to its maximum height to maximize the amount of storage space available. With high water levels, strong winds from the south and west caused large waves to eat into the embankment of the basin.
In addition, this past spring, large amounts of broken up ice pushed into the embankment and cut out more soil than anticipated. The bank now needs to be protected and will be rip rapped with the same material as the Burchfield shoreline. About 2,300 feet of rip rap will be placed along the shore’s most vulnerable area.
There also will be several yards of concrete poured around the walkway that leads to the outlet structure. If members travel this direction, expect some travel restrictions and one lane traffic control in mid-to-late fall. The contractor will be using the west half of the road to place rip rap along the edge.
Our next and by far the largest project is the expansion of the 180th Trail Basin. Some refer to this as the CIPCO basin, as CIPCO developed it back in the 1980s. The basin is located just south of 180th Trail on the northeast end of the lake. You can see the south edge of the basin if you are in the Upper Basin portion of the lake and look directly north beyond the debris trap.
For this project, Spring Lake Construction of Polk City will raise the dam elevation of the basin by about 17 feet. This basin has been expanded before, so will require a two-phase approach to be fully complete.
The contractor will first borrow dirt from surrounding areas to add and compact on top of the existing dam. Geotechnical engineers require the newly compacted dirt to sit for at least six months before adding a new layer on top, so contractors will work over a two-year period to add, compact and repeat the process to get the embankment up to 17 feet high.
The current dam has two outlet structures that can raise or lower the water level in the basin by adding or removing stop logs. These structures will be abandoned at the end of this project, and a new outlet structure will be built in the center of the new dam embankment.
Shive Hattery engineers expect the contractor to move more than 750,000 yards of dirt to build up this embankment. RIZ has spent a lot of time and resources over the past couple years to make this project happen. Spring Lake Construction should have most of their equipment on site and begin excavating in October.
Q. All of these projects involve sediment storage. Why is sediment storage so important for Lake Panorama?
A. You are right, these projects all deal with sediment storage either directly or indirectly. The future of Lake Panorama relies heavily on the ability to store dredge spoils. Without a place to store sediment, the lake would eventually fill up with silt and become a very glamorous wetland.
RIZ will always encourage eco-friendly farming tactics and silt control projects upstream, but until the lake receives less silt runoff, projects like expansion of basins and creation of wetlands and new basins will be a priority.
Q. Does RIZ have future plans to build more basins and wetlands?
A. Yes, RIZ recently acquired some land on the west side of Burchfield Cove that will eventually be built into a wetland and silt basin. RIZ also plans to try and build another wetland north of the Smith wetland, which was installed to help protect water flowing into Burchfield Cove. This project is still up in the air, as permit requirements with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers have slowed progress.
For more information on Lake Panorama RIZ, visit its website at www.lakepanoramariz.org.