The design and permitting for the restoration of Milford Pond was initiated during the month of September 1998. The project engineering consultant, Baystate Environmental Consultants, Inc. (BEC) began the acquisition of background material and previous reports regarding Milford Pond. Aerial photographs of the pond from 1995 were obtained in both photographic prints at 100-scale and in digital format. On September 22, Tom Jenkins, P.E. and Paul Davis, Ph.D. conducted a detailed field review of the pond and its vicinity. A vegetative assessment of the pond was conducted by Dr. Davis, and a sketch plan was prepared from which the base vegetation plan has been developed. Henry Papuga of the Milford Water Company was interviewed at his offices, and potential sediment disposal sites were investigated.

In late September and October, BEC personnel were on the pond conducting bathymetric probings over the open-water portions of the pond. Passage through the pond was extremely difficult because of the density of vegetation and the low water level. Global positioning (GPS) was utilized in the field survey efforts, which included the surrounding vicinity of the pond for reference and orientation. In November, a meeting of the Milford Pond Restoration Committee (MPRC) was held to discuss and review the progress being made. The history and past use of the pond was discussed. BEC indicated that hydraulic dredging will likely prove the preferred dredging methodology, and a potential containment area was identified adjacent to the pond along Simmer Street. Background data on this property was obtained and the property was incorporated into the conceptual designs for the dredging project. In December, the MPRC traveled to Berlin, CT to observe a large freshwater hydraulic dredging project currently underway at Silver Lake, which is owned and managed by the CTDEP. The Silver Lake operation, including the dredging, sediment containment, and return water treatment facilities, is of a scale similar to that required at Milford Pond.

Preparation of preliminary dredging designs and containment facility layouts were fully underway in December. The sediment sampling and testing program was conducted in the winter of 1998-00. The conceptual design of the project was also advanced during this period. A draft of the "Conceptual Dredging Program for Milford Pond" was completed in February and presented to the MPRC at a public meeting held March 2, 1999 at Milford Town Hall.

Several MPRC meetings were held in the spring of 1999 to review the conceptual dredging program and to review alternative sites for the dredging containment basins. The Environmental Notification Form (ENF) was under preparation during these months, and was reviewed by the MPRC in the summer. Contact was made with the Massachusetts National Heritage and Endangered Species Program regarding the potential for state-protected rare species in the vicinity of Milford Pond. Additional parcels were investigated for potential use as containment basin sites. Further discussions were had with the Milford Water Company regarding use of their property along Dilla Street as a possible containment site.

Revisions to the ENF forms issued by MEPA in October of 1999 necessitated the complete remake of the draft ENF. The revised ENF document was submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management in November and remains under their review. Following receipt of MADEM's comments, the ENF will be submitted to the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs for the mandatory environmental review process.