The ponds at Willowhaven and Diamond Point parks in Bourbonnais Township will be getting some much-needed dredging.

The Bourbonnais Township Park District board approved the work by a 5-0 vote during Monday’s monthly meeting.

Double G Excavating of Manteno was awarded the contract with a bid of $35,000. It was the lone bidder.

BTPD Executive Director Mike O’Shea said the work should begin shortly.

Last year, a survey on the pond was completed, O’Shea said.

Currently, the two 6-foot-deep ponds have between 2 and 4 feet of sediment throughout.

It has been several years since the two ponds have been dredged. Both are stocked with fish by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

“It’s got to be done,” board President Dave Zinanni said. “It’s going to get to the point where someone is having a wedding [at Willowhaven] and the pond will be dried up.”

The barn at Willowhaven is rented out for events. For a time, it was a nature center.

“Diamond Point is the worst,” Zinanni said. “When I went out there, you couldn’t even fish.”

In the future, dredging can take place every five to 10 years.

It can be done in sections at a time, Zinanni said.