Update: Lakeview Park Canals Are Clearing


The canals are beginning to look cleaner in Lakeview Park. Compare the weed-choked images of a few weeks ago with today, and you see much less duckweed and algae, water that at times allows you a view down to the bottom, and - a nice plus - plenty of ripples and leaps from fish, frogs, turtles and other living creatures (including a gator, see below) that seem to be enjoying the slightly deeper, and more oxygen-rich, waters.

The canals are being fed from the lake via the pump, which was turned on a couple of weeks ago after a meeting at the pump site that included a representative of the county along with folks from Lake Sarasota, Bent Tree, and the Sarasota Sky Pilots Disc Golf Club.

For the water to circulate properly, a berm had to be constructed to move the incoming water through the park's canal system and back out through the culvert (the large pipe) to the lake. That job, using giant rocks from the landfill, took county worker Pete Sauchinitz three days, working by himself. Everyone thinks he did a great job, and golfers now have another way to cross the canals. We owe Pete -- and his boss, Patty Gergen -- a debt of sincere gratitude.

Berm

One of the park's most frequent visitors is Odel Gipson, who lives on the lake, fishes and plays disk golf. Lately he's been helping prune trees and clear some of the waterways.


Odel says the waters are clearing. He also has been keeping an eye on the four-foot gator that's been loitering in the canals. The other day he pointed out where the gator had been hanging out for a few days, next to the tree on hole 14. Sure enough, the young alligator was still there, right near the canal's edge, probably hoping a duck or possum would wander by. One thing's for sure: , no one would have been able to see that gator in the canal amid the murky, stagnant green waters of a few weeks ago.


There have been no reports of aggressiveness on the part of the gator. A few people say they've thrown sticks or stones at the animal, which apparently doesn't scare easily. No one so far is reported to have fed the gator -- which is universally considered the dumbest thing one can do for him or for people, as doing this adds people to his menu.


So here's a question for all those who have worked so hard to improve the park (many of whom we'll no doubt see on Aug. 16th, at the Sky Pilots' clean-up): To add even more oxygen and motion to the Lakeview canals, how about a fountain?



Comments

Friend 53 said…
The man shown in the picture helping clean the park is Odel Gipson, not Gibson.(last name is spelled with a "P" not a "B") He does alot of free work at the park, at least spell the man's name correctly! Thank You and Great Job!! Looks nice over there.
Odel is someone we've come to admire and respect, and have always known as just "Odel." We regret the error and appreciate the correction.
Anonymous said…
THANK YOU for the correction. Don't regret the error, alot of people mispell it. I am Odel's son from Jacksonville and constantly have my last name mispelled too. I was starting to think we were the only Gipson's in Florida with a "P" and thought maybe we would have to go ahead and just change it to a "B" :)
I know everytime I call my parents my Dad is usually over at the park.
It really looks nice over there!
Thanks - your dad does a great deal for the park, and for the community that is always using it. Appreciate the kind words.

Popular posts from this blog

Bee Ridge Road Public Hearing: Update

Sarasota Baptist's planned development: Careless? Indifferent? Dangerous?

Water Moccasin or Water Snake?