Eric Posted May 3, 2021 Report Share Posted May 3, 2021 In late fall of 2020, I noticed that many of the trees and shrubs along the banks of the Fox River in Batavia and Montgomery had been cut down. While it freed up a lot of shoreline access, the clear-cutting and removal was concerning due to loss of buffer zone, habitat, and bank stabilization. I reached out to both the City of Batavia and the Village of Montgomery in early February of 2021, explained my concerns, and received the responses below. I wanted to share these in case anyone else wondered as I did. For reference, the area in Batavia that I inquired about centered around Clark Island – from the Wilson Street bridge all the way down to the south end of Clark Island. The area in Montgomery that I inquired about was from the dam south to the VFW Post 7452. This includes the bank and culvert alongside the former BBQ place that is being remodeled (west side of river, just south of Mill Street). City of Batavia “Hi Eric. I am the Interim Director of Parks for the Batavia Park District. I was sent your email earlier today regarding the riverbank stabilization. First off, I want to thank you for your interest in the health of the Fox River and the buffer zones along the banks. It is nice to know that we have people looking out for the health of our waterways. The trees that have been cut down have all been dead, dying, or diseased trees along the bank. The only exception to that would be tree of heaven, buckthorn, or honeysuckle which we have a high number of all those species. As for a plan, we are in the beginning stages of creating a cooperative Batavia River Corridor Master Plan with the City of Batavia. We are excited to get this off the ground and had the first official meeting today (2/2/21) which included representatives from the Park District, City of Batavia, and a design engineering company. Once the plan is completed, we will be using this as a guide to enhance areas along the Fox River. This will take a while, but we are excited to get started on the journey and know that great improvements will be happening to benefit the Fox River soon. I hope this answers your questions. If at any time you have more questions, feel free to reach out to me.” (Interim Director of Parks, Batavia Park District) Village of Montgomery “The Village is working on a long-term plan with the Fox Valley Park District to enhance these areas and help with bank stabilization. The area on the south side of Mill Street is private property and is part of the redevelopment of that site. I do not have the specific information on that, but all changes on that property (related to the riverbank) must be permitted and approved by the Army Core of Engineers. I do not have anything at this point to share as far as the Village’s plans because we are still in the early phases of the project. Let me know if you have any other questions.” (Director of Public Works, Village of Montgomery) Response from Friends of the Fox River (FOFR) when I shared my findings with them… Friends of the Fox River “Thanks Eric. It does seem very encouraging. We have a good trend with river towns turning to face the river for economic benefit but also to revitalize the natural communities as well. I think I will be contacting the City of Batavia to learn more. I really liked how you were thanked for your interest in river health. FOFR was founded to empower citizens to protect their river. You are certainly doing that. Thank you.” (Gary Swick, Friends of the Fox River) Feel free to include this in the Bronzeback Bulletin if you'd like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Clifford Posted May 3, 2021 Report Share Posted May 3, 2021 Awesome work, and promising replies all-around. Would make a great article as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted May 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2021 Thank you, Mike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dodge Posted May 3, 2021 Report Share Posted May 3, 2021 Thank you Eric! I’m sure I can slip it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev-mo Posted May 3, 2021 Report Share Posted May 3, 2021 Thanks for posting Eric! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich mc Posted May 3, 2021 Report Share Posted May 3, 2021 isnt batavia a site for possible water willows this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Loebach Posted May 4, 2021 Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 No answer yet on planting this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted May 4, 2021 Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 10 hours ago, Eric said: In late fall of 2020, I noticed that many of the trees and shrubs along the banks of the Fox River in Batavia and Montgomery had been cut down. While it freed up a lot of shoreline access, the clear-cutting and removal was concerning due to loss of buffer zone, habitat, and bank stabilization. I reached out to both the City of Batavia and the Village of Montgomery in early February of 2021, explained my concerns, and received the responses below. I wanted to share these in case anyone else wondered as I did. For reference, the area in Batavia that I inquired about centered around Clark Island – from the Wilson Street bridge all the way down to the south end of Clark Island. The area in Montgomery that I inquired about was from the dam south to the VFW Post 7452. This includes the bank and culvert alongside the former BBQ place that is being remodeled (west side of river, just south of Mill Street). City of Batavia “Hi Eric. I am the Interim Director of Parks for the Batavia Park District. I was sent your email earlier today regarding the riverbank stabilization. First off, I want to thank you for your interest in the health of the Fox River and the buffer zones along the banks. It is nice to know that we have people looking out for the health of our waterways. The trees that have been cut down have all been dead, dying, or diseased trees along the bank. The only exception to that would be tree of heaven, buckthorn, or honeysuckle which we have a high number of all those species. As for a plan, we are in the beginning stages of creating a cooperative Batavia River Corridor Master Plan with the City of Batavia. We are excited to get this off the ground and had the first official meeting today (2/2/21) which included representatives from the Park District, City of Batavia, and a design engineering company. Once the plan is completed, we will be using this as a guide to enhance areas along the Fox River. This will take a while, but we are excited to get started on the journey and know that great improvements will be happening to benefit the Fox River soon. I hope this answers your questions. If at any time you have more questions, feel free to reach out to me.” (Interim Director of Parks, Batavia Park District) Village of Montgomery “The Village is working on a long-term plan with the Fox Valley Park District to enhance these areas and help with bank stabilization. The area on the south side of Mill Street is private property and is part of the redevelopment of that site. I do not have the specific information on that, but all changes on that property (related to the riverbank) must be permitted and approved by the Army Core of Engineers. I do not have anything at this point to share as far as the Village’s plans because we are still in the early phases of the project. Let me know if you have any other questions.” (Director of Public Works, Village of Montgomery) Response from Friends of the Fox River (FOFR) when I shared my findings with them… Friends of the Fox River “Thanks Eric. It does seem very encouraging. We have a good trend with river towns turning to face the river for economic benefit but also to revitalize the natural communities as well. I think I will be contacting the City of Batavia to learn more. I really liked how you were thanked for your interest in river health. FOFR was founded to empower citizens to protect their river. You are certainly doing that. Thank you.” (Gary Swick, Friends of the Fox River) Feel free to include this in the Bronzeback Bulletin if you'd like. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Durham Posted May 5, 2021 Report Share Posted May 5, 2021 Village of Plainfield has been and is currently doing the same thing along the Dupe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark K Posted May 6, 2021 Report Share Posted May 6, 2021 Everywhere I go I'm seeing crews removing invasive species, clearing trees, controlled burns. Cook, Dupage, Will... like everywhere. You got to wonder who is paying for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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