More improvements planned at lake

The next phase of improvements at the Pratt County Veterans Memorial Lake will include three upgrades to the existing sanitation facilities.

Three improvement phases are planned for 2009. The phase one projects for 2009 are replacing an existing vault restroom with a flushing toilet, installing an RV dump station and adding a lift station to treat and remove waste from the restroom and dump station, said Peggy Lee, chairperson of the lake committee.

The cost of all three projects in phase one is $68,000 and, weather permitting, are all scheduled for completion by April 2009.

The first of the three projects is replacing the existing vault restroom on the west end of the lake with a new facility featuring flush toilets. The old restroom will be removed and the new facility will be in the same location.

Besides providing a better restroom facility at the lake, the new flush toilet will meet the state requirements for a sign on U.S. 54 that will designate the park as a camping area. The lake couldn’t get the sign unless the flush toilet was in place, Lee said.

The second addition will be an RV dump station by the road adjacent to the west edge of the lake. This will allow RVs to stay at the lake to dump their waste rather than have drive into Pratt and use the RV dump area at Sixth Street Park.

“That will be our first priority to get the flush toilet and RV dump done,” Lee said.

The third portion of the update is a lift station located between the RV dump station and the new flush toilet restroom. A lift station processes the waste and sends it out of the lake area through a new one and one half inch pipe that also has to be laid. The new sewer line is expected to connect with the sewer lines at Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. The new sewer line is the last portion of the lift station project.

The second proposed phase for 2009 is 10 additional RV sites just to the west of the existing sites on the west side of the lake. The existing RV sites will become drive through with the road between them and the ten new sites that will be back-in sites, Lee said.

The additional sites are a needed because several times during the year the existing sites could not hold all the RVs wanting to stay at the lake.

The next phase of improvements at the Pratt County Veterans Memorial Lake will include three upgrades to the existing sanitation facilities.

Three improvement phases are planned for 2009. The phase one projects for 2009 are replacing an existing vault restroom with a flushing toilet, installing an RV dump station and adding a lift station to treat and remove waste from the restroom and dump station, said Peggy Lee, chairperson of the lake committee.

The cost of all three projects in phase one is $68,000 and, weather permitting, are all scheduled for completion by April 2009.

The first of the three projects is replacing the existing vault restroom on the west end of the lake with a new facility featuring flush toilets. The old restroom will be removed and the new facility will be in the same location.

Besides providing a better restroom facility at the lake, the new flush toilet will meet the state requirements for a sign on U.S. 54 that will designate the park as a camping area. The lake couldn’t get the sign unless the flush toilet was in place, Lee said.

The second addition will be an RV dump station by the road adjacent to the west edge of the lake. This will allow RVs to stay at the lake to dump their waste rather than have drive into Pratt and use the RV dump area at Sixth Street Park.

“That will be our first priority to get the flush toilet and RV dump done,” Lee said.

The third portion of the update is a lift station located between the RV dump station and the new flush toilet restroom. A lift station processes the waste and sends it out of the lake area through a new one and one half inch pipe that also has to be laid. The new sewer line is expected to connect with the sewer lines at Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. The new sewer line is the last portion of the lift station project.

The second proposed phase for 2009 is 10 additional RV sites just to the west of the existing sites on the west side of the lake. The existing RV sites will become drive through with the road between them and the ten new sites that will be back-in sites, Lee said.

The additional sites are a needed because several times during the year the existing sites could not hold all the RVs wanting to stay at the lake.

“We were full quite a bit,” Lee said.

The third proposed phase for 2009 is an ADA approved handicapped pier and fishing ramp. The plans call for a floating fishing platform attached to an existing pier that will allow a handicapped person to take a wheel chair onto the platform and fish.

No funding is available at this time for the second and third projects so donations are welcomed and encouraged. Donations for lake improvements should be made to the Pratt County Clerk on the second floor of the Pratt County Courthouse.

The lake committee would like to complete all three phases during 2009 but need donations to make all three happen.

“We want to have all three phases done by the end of 2009,” Lee said.

Besides monetary donations, the lake committee is also grateful for and needs donations of supplies and/or labor.

The lake committee will get some additional funds from a newly instituted $3 fee for anyone parking on the piers overnight. The fee for the RV parking places with water and electric is $10 per night.

Everyone who shoots fireworks at the Lake is reminded that fireworks are only allowed between June 27 and July 11.

Fireworks are not permitted at any other time and violators are subject to a fine, said Lake Superintendent Don Swift.