Haines City commission to deal with restoration of lakes, budget

HAINES CITY — Restoring lakes will be the topic of conversation at tonight’s City Commission meeting.

The City Commission is expected to say yea or nay to a restoration feasibility study that could combine Lake Henry and Lake Eva. “Lake Henry has some flooding issues, but the water quality is substantially better than at Lake Eva,” Public Works Director Addie Javed said. “With trying to connect the two, we want to have some sort of rainwater treatment before it flows into Lake Eva.”

The item is part of the city’s Lakes Management Initiative. Lake Eva is on the state’s list of impaired water bodies.

If the commission elects to go forward with the project, it can vote on whether to contract with national firm Brown and Caldwell, which has offices in Tampa and Maitland. The study is the project’s first phase. The second would be forming a way for the two lakes to flow together.

The study’s cost would be $538,000, but about $250,000 of that would be funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The study is expected to be completed next summer.