Paulus Park is a 29 acre± park owned and operated by the Village of Lake Zurich. The park has on average 75,000 visitors yearly. The park has approximately 2,200 lineal feet of lake frontage on the southern shoreline of Lake Zurich (lake) which is a relatively clear, glacially formed lake in south central Lake County, IL. The Village provides access to two beaches on Paulus Park. Of these two beaches one is a paid access beach monitored with lifeguards and fully maintained with clean sand buoyed with identified swimming limits. The other beach is passive and unkempt.
The area surrounding this second beach was subject to frequent nuisance ponding and an overabundance of geese. The droppings created due to the geese population was troubling due the proximity to both beaches. Fecal coliform was a valid concern. The geese enjoyed sunning themselves upon an asphalt walking path along the beach.
On behalf of the Village, Manhard applied for and obtained a Lake County Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) Watershed Management Board (WMB) grant to offset the cost for installation of site best management practices (BMPs). Site BMPs installed include the removal of the 200 feet of asphalt pathway and installing a pervious asphalt path using FLEXI-Pave, the installation of a goose abatement light, and a surface water intercept. The intercept is meant to collect runoff from the park and distribute to an underdrain system beneath the beach.