Park friends discuss what to do to save lakes

July 25, 2015 at 4:35p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Since he was a child, Chance Metz had enjoyed hundreds of hiking expeditions with his father near and around Mill Creek MetroParks’ three main lakes, as well as the Lily Pond.

The downside to his forays, however, has been the increasingly unmistakable foul smell of sewage coming from lakes Newport, Cohasset and Glacier – and the knowledge that the three popular fishing and boating areas will be closed until further notice.

“To begin with, this should never have happened in the first place,” the Austintown man said, referring to what he sees as a result of Youngstown’s combined sanitary-sewer and storm overflows and discharges into the lakes. “Volney Rogers predicted this would happen and he was right.”

Metz, a member of a group called Save the Wildlife at Mill Creek Park, was one of about 20 people who attended Saturday’s Save Our Lakes picnic near the park’s Silver Bridge.

The two-hour informational gathering was to discuss what attendees believe needs to be done to address and correct some of the park’s problems and challenges and to preserve its natural beauty.