LIVONIA – Vitale Park is about to receive a lush rain garden courtesy of a grant from New York State.
According to a press release from Livingston County, the New York Sea Grant (NYSG) in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) recently awarded $25,000 to the Livingston County Planning Department to install the 500-square-foot garden, two 50-gallon rain barrels, and approximately 400 feet of shoreline restoration at Vitale Park on the shore of Conesus Lake.
“The Town is very interested in employing green infrastructure and shoreline restoration to ameliorate water quality in Conesus Lake and downstream and serving as an educational model for future projects elsewhere,” said Livonia Town Supervisor Eric Gott. “We look forward to working with the Livingston County Planning Department and all involved stakeholders on this project.”
Livingston County said that the state grant was intended to go to a project that ‘benefits the environment and economy of New York’s Great Lakes basin by demonstrating the application of ecosystem-based management (EBM) to local watershed challenges.’ This small grants program is designed to support local projects that lead to larger-scale activities described in the Great Lakes Action Agenda (GLAA).
The Livingston County Planning Department and the Town of Livonia will handle the installations. The garden, barrels and shore restoration will doubly serve as a functional demonstration project, to be accompanied by an interpretive public education kiosk.
A landowner how-to booklet for shoreline restoration, lake friendly landscaping, and green infrastructure will be developed to accompany the Conesus Lake Watershed Council’s newly developing ‘Shorescaping’ public education campaign.