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Land May Be Traded in Harbor Deal

Clark Township operates a dock on Hodeck Street with 16 slips that can be used for up to three hours during the day. It plans to add another dock with 20 slips to its boat launch facility on Meridian Street. Clark Township wants to build a Cedarville harbor facility at its boat launch on Meridian Road and may offer some land to the state in exchange. The township hopes to add a second launch ramp, build a harbormaster's building with restrooms, office, and showers, install 20 boat slips, and provide a designated area with docks for emergency trucks and vessels at its current boat launch site on Maridian Street.

As it negotiates with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the township board has agreed to offer township land in exchange for the use of the lake bottom to expand the facility. The offer came at the suggestion of the Les Cheneaux Islands Waterways Restoration Group and was approved by Township Trustees at the board's Thursday, January 22, meeting.

An artist's conception of the proposed improvements to Cedarville's harbor and boat launch shows a new dock, designated parking for emergency units, the expanded boat launch, and the harbormaster building. These plans are in the early stages of development, and Clark Township must first seek approval from the State of Michigan to use state-owned bottomlands before seeking funding for the expansion. (Illustration by Robert C. Robley) In addition to commercial docks, Clark Township provides two places for boaters to tie up in the summer months, the 30-slip public marina in Hessel and a 16-slip dock on Hodeck Street in Cedarville. The 16 slips in Cedarville, provided by the township free of charge, are for day-use only by Les Cheneaux Islands residents and other boaters as convenient docking to purchase supplies from local businesses.

Cedarville's boat launch on Meridian Street has a gazebo, parking area, and a double-wide boat launch. Clark Township wants to double the width of this boat launch, add a harbormaster's building with an office, restrooms, and showers on the south end of the facility, and build a dock with 20 slips to compliment the existing dock on Hodeck Street several feet away. Bob Dunn of the Les Cheneaux Islands Waterways Restoration group said using state-controlled Lake Huron bottomlands for the dock expansion may be mitigated by giving township property to the state. He suggested the township offer land west of its old landfill and north of State Road.

"It's wetlands there," he said. "The property holds a low value to the township at this time."

Mr. Dunn said he is not sure how much township land would be needed for mitigation. The township is asking to use just under one-half acre of bottomland for the proposed harbor facility expansion.

The township vision, he said, is for a vibrant harbor facility in Cedarville Bay with enhanced boat access and more business for local stores. The new facility would create more day slips for islanders, designated docking for fire and ambulance rescue boats, and transient slips for visitors.

"The primary focus is to give the island residents more facilities to get their supplies and be better equipped to deal with island emergencies," Mr. Dunn said.

The harbormaster facility, as the group envisions it, would be staffed during summer months and a docking fee would be assessed to all those mooring there. The boat launch in Cedarville also needs to be expanded, Mr. Dunn said, since on busy days in the summer it can become congested. The plan would be to add a second double-wide boat launch ramp to alleviate this congestion.

Creating of a harbor at Cedarville will help stimulate the local economy, he said, by bringing in more boaters from the islands and drawing passing boaters on their way places like Mackinac Island, the North Channel, and Lake Michigan.

"There are empty commercial buildings along our shorefront," he said. "Economically, the area is depressed. This definitely would stimulate our economy."

The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers will undertake a $2.1 million dredging project in the islands channel this summer, expected to enhance navigation for larger boats.

The Michigan Waterways Commission announced Cedarville Harbor is in line to receive up to $250,000 for emergency harbor dredging to supplement the Army Corps of Engineer's dredging project this summer. The Waterways Commission has also slated Cedarville for a matching grant in 2012 to fund harbor facility expansion, Mr. Dunn said.

"We want bigger boats to be able to navigate into Cedarville Bay. We used to have 50-footers come in and stay a couple days," he said. They might refuel, get groceries, get a haircut, spend a couple nights, maybe eat a few meals. It spurred our economy."