Public meeting on Hartley Pond and Dam Feasibility Study

The City of Duluth along with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will hold a public meeting regarding the Hartley Pond and Dam Feasibility Study on Thursday, May 23. Organizers say the meeting will include a presentation of the recommended alternative identified during the course of the Feasibility Study and a description of next steps. The event will begins at 6:00 p.m. at the Hartley Nature Center, 3001 Woodland Ave.

There will be an opportunity for the public to provide comments.

According to a release from the City of Duluth, the Feasibility Study evaluated proposed options to improve the aquatic habitat and recreational value of Tischer Creek and Hartley Pond. Officials say there has been an interest of improving the cold-water brook trout habitat in Tischer Creek by mitigating the impacts of warm water inputs from the pond. According to the release, any mitigation action must maintain downstream flood protection.

The release say the recommended alternative is an open-bottom culvert through the earthen Hartley Dam, with or without a roughly 3-acre pond off the Tischer Creek channel. Now that this alternative has been identified as a feasible project, the MN DNR would like to secure funding to move forward with a design of the preferred alternative, with the approval of the City.

Organizers say input from community members is very important to this process.

A copy of the full Feasibility Study draft report, previous meeting materials, a public comment
form, and a short survey are available on the project webpage, which you can access using the
QR code below or by visiting: duluthmn.gov/parks/parks-planning/progress-in-the-parks/hartley-pond-tischer-creek-feasibility-study/.

City officials say public feedback via the survey on the website is encouraged.