CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — It was always John Andrew’s dream to restore the pond next to his home in East Royalty and eventually donate it to the public.
Charlottetown city council voted unanimously at its monthly meeting Tuesday to accept the donation of Andrew’s Pond North (St. Peters Road divides the pond in two) and to provide John and his wife, Christine, with a taxable receipt.
The 6.6 acres of land has an appraised value of $416,000.
“I think the pond should belong to the city,’’ John said matter-of-factly when reached at home following council’s decision. “It’s the proper organization to own it.’’
John Andrew said it’s been his dream for the past eight years to restore the pond to its original state and create a place where residents could enjoy nature and wildlife could thrive.
Eight years ago, the pond contained about 12 feet of siltation, reduced to about six feet five years ago.
“The pond was dying,’’ said Coun. Terry Bernard, chairman of the finance committee that passed the resolution accepting the donation and councillor who represents the area. “It had gone anoxic a couple of times.’’
So, Bernard met with Andrew and Darren Riggs, a member of the local watershed organization and work began on restoration efforts.
Water was removed from the pond and machines got busy dredging down to its original depth. Machines dug down eight feet into the top soil to find the bottom.
Bernard said they also managed to uncover five fresh water springs that now pour 1,200 gallons of water an hour over the spillway.
The city is in the process of working on a trail system that will loop the entire pond.
“We have bald eagles that are nesting in the area now and muskrats in the water. There’s (even) beavers and a beaver dam, many ducks and, this time of year, hundreds of geese. It’s quite an asset for the city.’’
-Coun. Terry Bernard
And, wildlife has returned.
“We have bald eagles that are nesting in the area now and muskrats in the water. There’s (even) beavers and a beaver dam, many ducks and, this time of year, hundreds of geese. It’s quite an asset for the city.’’
In all, the city corporation has spent about $200,000 on the restoration efforts over the past eight years. That includes the installation of infrastructure that allows people to launch kayaks and canoes at the pond.
At one time, Andrew’s Pond was said to be the most popular fishing spot in the province.
Andrew said he’s thrilled all the hard work has paid off.
“Oh, yes, absolutely, very much so,’’ he said, adding that donating the 6.6 acres to the city was his goal from the very beginning.
Bernard said the city still has plans for the area. Additional lookouts will be placed, the trail system will continue to evolve and more message boards detailing the area’s history will go up.
There are remain some challenges with siltation, Bernard said.
“There is still some siltation that comes in from some projects up the road so we’re still looking to mitigate that. There are still a couple of areas we could work on where there is some direct water coming down into the pond that can be pretty red because of construction. That’s something the city needs to deal with.’’
