Flood Conditions 2008
Current park status: OPEN
Park is open as of 5/16 @ 5:00 p.m.
Note from Cindy regarding volunteer efforts for clean-up dated 5/5/08:
Hi everyone, Thanks for contacting us about volunteering for park cleanup. We don't have scheduled times to work this week, but if you can show up and get anything done, please get there when you can.
We need to get debris cleaned off the fence lines so that the city can get in behind us as soon as its dry enough and fix the fence.
We are bagging up glass, plastic and any other inorganic material and taking it out to the dumpster. The dumpster is locked but the key is in the trash cans up on
the platform next to the dumpster. There are also some mint colored trash bags in one of the cans on the platform that you can use for trash.
The strategy for dealing with the organic stuff goes like this. Big stuff sorted into a pile for the city to haul off. Some of the grass and smaller material can be
chopped up by city lawn mowers. We have been pulling stuff out of the fences by hand. We need to get debris off of all of the fences, even the ones that don't
appear damaged. That is because the water has eroded the soil underneath and we need to be able to see where escape holes need to be plugged. If an area is
too wet to work in, let it dry until we can get to it without damaging our turf.
Split wood, fire wood, deck lumber and pallets and metal stands belong to the cabins next door. It is OK to put that stuff back over the fence by the cabins.
Caution because some of the deck lumber has nails.
We also need to be working on our regular spring maintenance. There is a pile of wood chip mulch off the side of the parking lot towards the BMX track. We
need to bring mulch into the park and mulch our trees in the mown area of the park. If you have a wheelbarrow and can bring it you will find it usefull. Wear
gloves and sturdy shoes.
We have many people coming out, even though we have the park posted as closed. We have been trying to engage them to find out why they are not getting
the notices from our K9Cola newsgroup. Please have them get in touch with me. My phone number and e-mail address are posted in multiple places at the park.
Last but not least, please let me know the amount of time you volunteer. We like to estimate an annual total of volunteer time to give to the city and also some
grants we apply for request that information.
We have another Yahoo group set up called "Waggers" You can follow this link to join http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Waggers/.
We would like our volunteers to join this group because we can send out more detailed information as users are a little more tolerant of park questions.
THANK-YOU! Volunteers are the people that keep our park clean and safe. I respect your willingness to volunteer to help your community.
Cindy Weddington
K9Cola Chair
Cindy@k9cola.org
or
cell phone 319-361-0678
Check into news about Cedar River Flooding from the National Weather Service:
http://tinyurl.com/3mcwet
Site report from Steve 5/01/08: We met a Parks Department guy at the park today. I got the stuff out of the shed so it can start to dry. We had 2 feet of water inside the shed. I got some of the mud out too. A lot got wet that will need to be scrubbed later. The Parks guy didn't really tell us anything new. There are still pools of water in the park. The shed and most of the entry area still have water. I think we can start cleaning out the fence lines where there are grass, wood, and debris in the fence. I will be there Saturday and Sunday if it doesn't rain. We need volunteers to come out and help if they can. I will be there by 10:00 a.m. both days. Volunteers need to wear tall boots and expect to get muddy. They should bring gloves, wheelbarrows, and rakes. Most of the work will be done by hand. Nobody should bring their dogs. Both the back fence and the fence adjoining the rugby field are down; there is glass and trash throughout the park, and it is too muddy to use. It will probably be 2-3 weeks before the city can get the fences back up. If it keeps raining it will take longer. The ground has to dry out before they can do it. We also need to make sure people know the park is still closed. I figure once we get the fences clean, then we wait for the city to do their part. I don't know if the porta-john will get cleaned by the weekend; it may not be useable in time for the beginning of our clean-up efforts.
Site report from Cindy 4/30/08: The water is out of the parking lot. I was able to drive up and park in front of the gates and walk in. There is still water in the entry yard, but I was able to get through the gate and walk to the small dog yard. I'm surprised at how good everything looks so far. There has been lots of debris washed in. As best I can tell, the fence that runs north and south between the main yard and the rugby field has been pushed over, similar to the 2004 pictures of that area. I went back and drove down the cabin lane at the back of the park. Same story, the low spot by the cabins has the fence leaning, similiar to 2004. I could not tell the condition of the east/west running fence on the north end of the main yard. I didn't try to get to the shed. All other fences appear to be intact. Also, there was a great big swan swimming in the main yard.
See photos as the flooding progresses in the park.
Good article in May 7, 2008 Gazette about our flooding!