Dredging of the Bourbonnais Municipal Center pond recently was completed.

It marked the first time in more than three decades the pond had been dredged, Bourbonnais Public Works Superintendent Terry Memenga said.

The process took two weeks. It started the Tuesday after Memorial Day Weekend.

Trustee Randy King asked Memenga about the project during a recent Economic and Community Development Committee meeting.

King chairs the public works committee.

Memenga said following the work, two feet of silt was removed from the bottom, he said.

Before the work, the depth was measured at about six feet.

With the silt removed, the pond should be healthier, Memenga said.

“By keeping it deeper, it keeps the water temperature down a little bit, better for the fish that are in

There,” Memenga said.

“Keeping the sunlight off the bottom reduces that overgrowth of algae and blooms that would

happen a lot.”

The algae turned out to be a problem the past two to three years.

The added space will give the fish residing in the pond more space to roam.

The annual Bourbonnais Friendship Festival holds a cane pole fishing contest. It added fish through the years.

Asked if anything unusual was found, Memenga said. “There was nothing of great value or interest.”

A Colorado license plate was recovered.

It is believed to have been on a vehicle that crashed into the pond in December 2020.

Bourbonnais Fire Protection District officials recalled the accident.

They said the occupants were able to get out of the vehicle on their own.