Council OKs dredging at Venetian Canal

The Ventura City Council has approved a dredging project for the Venetian Village Canal, located on the lake’s north shore.

At its Monday, April 25 meeting the Council heard from consulting engineer Jason Petersburg, of Veenstra & Kimm, as well as members of the Venetian Village Canal Association.

The City of Ventura has jurisdiction over the East Lake Street bridge over the canal and 30-foot walls on each side.  The dredging of the canal is the responsibility of the Venetian Village Canal Association and is paid for by its 43 members.

Michael Schweizer and Bob Foell, from the association, informed the Council the bottom of one of the wing walls at the canal is still eroding since repairs made last year.  They asked the Council for a reprieve on the engineer requirement for this year’s dredging activities.  Schweizer explained that the dredger would not be near the bridge this year and therefore posed no threat to undermining the footings.

Petersburg stated that the southwest wing wall could be managed with the installation of wall anchors and offered options regarding the northeast wing wall erosion problem.

The Council voted unanimously to approve the 2016 dredging project as presented, contingent upon not dredging near the wing walls and bridge and excused the onsite engineer requirement for this year.

The association has already obtained its annual permits from the Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers for dredging activities.