About 50 residents gathered at Columbia Heights Public Library on April 17 got an update on what’s happening at Anoka County’s Kordiak Park:
• The replacement pavilion should be complete and ready for use by the end of this summer.
• The paths through the park will be eight feet wide and not 10 feet as proposed in an earlier version of the plan. Resident input had favored the narrower path.
• The bridge on the north side of Highland Lake will be kept as it is.
• Some of the trails on the north side will be moved away from the lake.
• The south wooden bridge will be removed and replaced with an underground box culvert.
• The retaining walls along the west side of the lake will be replaced.
• A minimum number of trees — mostly diseased ashes — will be removed, and a variety of more trees will be planted.
• Construction on all the park changes, except for the pavilion, will begin in the summer of 2026.
Those at the meeting seemed okay with the plans for the park, and most of the questions centered around saving Highland Lake, which is not part of the county park project.
The lake, over the last decade, has gone from clear water to being clogged with lily pads. One resident asked if the county had plans to keep the lake from becoming a swamp.
Quinn Palar, natural resources manager for Anoka County parks, said the condition of the lake is not part of the Anoka Parks system’s oversight and that surface water is controlled by the state. He said the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources had been contacted, but the vegetation growing in the lake is all natural and so the DNR has decided not to deal with it.
Still, Quinn said, the county is working with Barr Engineering on a possible solution for the lake, but the study will cost $35,000 to $50,000. Quinn said there needed to be a plan developed in partnership with other governmental bodies.
Staff said new data is needed to determine why Highland Lake was deteriorating so rapidly.
Another resident asked why the county would want to spend all this money on park improvements that surround a swamp.
Parks director Jeff Perry suggested the local residents form a lake association, much like Silver Lake has. Such an organization can gather funding and help the various government agencies work together. He said a meeting had been held recently with Columbia Heights Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula.
Perry told the history of a “bubbler” — a system which keeps lakes from freezing — that was installed at the lake 35 years ago, but it was found the bubbler churned up the bottom of the lake and did not help the problem.
He said the key will be to come up with a scientific plan for the lake that will work.
A resident noted that people living near the lake should be cautious about using harmful fertilizers that get into the storm sewers and enter the lake. Another resident said local people should clear leaves from the storm sewers.
The conversation moved back to the park, Minnesota’s oldest county park, and Palar said all the trees that are being removed will be replaced. He said 17 different species will be planted.
The county staff and the residents talked about the preservation of the historic monuments at the park’s parking lot. Some of that will be determined by facilitating the county’s plowing equipment.
This fall, one more meeting will be held to gather resident impact on the final plans for the park.