City Subscriptions

City of Duluth and state partners to host public meeting regarding Hartley Pond and Dam Feasibility Study

[DULUTH, MN] The City of Duluth and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will co-host a public meeting regarding the Hartley Pond and Dam Feasibility Study. The meeting will include a presentation of the recommended alternative identified during the course of the Feasibility Study, description of next steps, and the opportunity to provide formal public comment.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 23 from 6:00 pm until 7:15 pm at the Hartley Nature Center, located at 3001 Woodland Ave.

The Feasibility Study evaluated proposed options to improve the aquatic habitat and recreational value of Tischer Creek and Hartley Pond. For many years, there has been a desire to investigate the possibility of improving the cold-water brook trout habitat in Tischer Creek by mitigating the impacts of warm water inputs from the pond. At the same time, any mitigation action must maintain downstream flood protection.

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. Input from community members like yourself is very important to this process, and we hope you will join us to learn more and provide comments.

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/. Public feedback via the survey on the website is encouraged.

###