Rendell plugs $4.8 Million Grant into Leaky Leaser Lake Dam
Archie Attends the Ceremony
 By Christian Berg, The Morning Call, September 29, 2006
The problem, which dates to the early '90s, may be fixed by 2010, officials say.
Gov. Ed Rendell pledged $4.8 million Thursday. Despite the delay, most of the nearly 200 local residents who gathered for Rendell's announcement at the lake's south boat launch said they are thrilled the Lynn Township lake will finally be fixed after more than a decade of problems.
''I think it's great because there are a lot of people who will use it,''
said Reggie Rickard, president of Pioneer Fish and Game of Allentown. |
Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham, a strong supporter of the project since taking office in January, alluded to the long wait for funding as he introduced Rendell to the crowd.
''This governor got done what a lot of people talked about for a lot of years,'' said Cunningham, who served as Rendell's general services secretary before being elected to his county post. |
 Of the $4.8 million committed by Rendell, $2.25 million will come from the state's Growing Greener II initiative, an environmental bond issue approved by voters last year. Another $1.8 million will be taken from the state's capital budget, with the final $750,000 coming out of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Community Conservation Partnerships Program.
Combined with $500,000 already pledged by Lehigh County , there is now $5.3 million available for the project, which the state estimates will cost $5.7 million. Despite a potential funding gap, Rendell told Thursday's audience officials built a $1 million cushion into their estimate and assured residents there will be enough money to get the job done.
 ''This is going to bring your lake back to its former glory,'' said Rendell, who is running for re-election against Republican Lynn Swann.
Jim Creedon, the state's general services secretary, said he hopes to hire an engineering firm to design the project by the end of this year. If all goes well, Creedon said, the project could be ready to bid by fall 2007. Construction could start in spring 2008 and finish in 2010, Creedon said. But even after that, it will take time for feeder streams that run off nearby Blue Mountain to refill the 117-acre lake.
''It seems like a long time, but you want to design it right and do a good job,'' said Creedon, a Bethlehem resident who attended Thursday's event.
Owned by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Leaser Lake is the centerpiece of a 540-acre park maintained by Lehigh County . It is named after Revolutionary War hero Frederick Leaser, a Colonial farmer who helped hide the Liberty Bell at Zion 's Church in Allentown so it wouldn't fall into the hands of the British.
Built with federal money in 1971, the lake has had problems since the early 1990s, when leaks showed up in its earthen dam. Earlier repairs failed to correct the problem, and in 1999, safety concerns forced the commission to permanently lower the water level by about 20 feet. As a result, the lake now covers only about 40 acres, and its 45-foot depth has been halved.
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