Wednesday, September 13, St. Ignace City Manager Eric Dodson (left) and Mayor Paul Grondin right) present pictures taken last spring of Mackinac Island Mayor Pro Tempore Smi Horn and Mayor Margaret Doud as they arrived in St. Ignace on the first ferry crossing of the season. St. Ignace Mayor Paul Grondin and City Manager Eric Dodson are proposing dialog between St. Ignace, Mackinaw City, and Mackinac Island, three communities that vie for the same tourist dollars in the Straits of Mackinac.

"We're all in this together," said Mr. Dodson at a Mackinac Island City Council meeting Wednesday, September 13. The two men attended a Mackinaw City Village Council meeting the week before.

"We are the Straits area. The issues of tourism, the issues of tomorrow, we all face together," Mr. Dodson told Mackinac Island politicians and residents at the meeting.

"Our agenda is to promote communications between the three governmental agencies we have within five miles of each other," said Mayor Grondin. "We think that's important."

Island council members responded positively to the communication plan and Mackinac Island Mayor Margaret Doud pointed out the communities have common interests and ties, including the boat lines that transport residents and visitors between the Island and docks in St. Ignace and Mackinaw City.

Messrs. Dodson and Grondin now plan to organize an October meeting in St. Ignace and to establish monthly or bi-monthly meetings, depending on schedules. In March, they met with Mayor Doud and Alderman Armand "Smi" Horn in St. Ignace and met once during the summer with Mackinaw City Manager Jeff Lawson and Village President Bob Heilman.

Mr. Grondin said communication between the three communities has dissolved over the years, although he doesn't know why.

"We're all competing for the same tourist dollar," he told The St. Ignace News later. "We continue to compete, but Eric and I believe that it would be more beneficial for all three communities if we could work together. Positive results could come if we all work together."

Mr. Dodson agreed.

"I think tourism is the biggest issue," he said Monday, September 18. All three communities are impacted by tourism and high gas prices and the meetings could provide an opportunity to bounce ideas around. He said the communities share other concerns, like high water rates on Mackinac Island and an ice arena in Mackinaw City.

Mr. Lawson said Mackinaw City officials are looking forward to meeting with Island representatives and that they already have been communicating this summer with St. Ignace over operational issues involving the marina, land use questions, and utility rates.

"We definitely have a lot of similarities," he said. "The most important thing is we're all partners here. We all rely on tourism. It's important for us to compete as a region. We're all working together to compete against other tourist areas."

Mr. Lawson said tourists come to the Straits for the package of what all three communities have to offer.

"I think if we're working together, we can do it better," he said.

Mayor Grondin noted one connection between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace being the Mackinaw Trolley, which brings tourists across the Mackinac Bridge daily during the peak summer season to visit sites in St. Ignace.

"That's 3,000 to 4,000 more people visiting St. Ignace that would not have crossed the bridge," he said. "All three communities have different things of offer that are good for people to experience. We all have our own identity."

Mayor Grondin said he wants to talk about business, the problems and issues the three communities face, community events, and he hopes "to foster the belief that we (the three cities) should be on the same page."

Of the three communities, Mr. Dodson said St. Ignace is the largest, although least noticed, which is something he would like to change.

"When people think of the Straits area, people kind of forget us over here," he said.