Ocqueoc River Commission conducts its first meeting; plans set
It was the first-ever meeting of the Ocqueoc River Commission, which was officially sanctioned by the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners in late January. The organizational meeting was conducted Monday to begin the transition from developing a watershed management plan, which commission members now have in place, to actually implementing projects. As a part of the first meeting of the newly-formed group, meeting dates were set, and there was discussion of short term goals and the organizational structure of the commission. There also was a preview of what probably will be a controversial subject: setbacks on the river.
The commission consists of supervisors of the five townships the river runs through as well as at-large members, although only half of the group was in attendance for the meeting. Chairing the meeting was Dave Nadolsky, former mayor of Rogers City, who has put some of his efforts into preserving many of Presque Isle County?s natural resources since his term in office. Nadolsky has been part of the Ocqueoc River Watershed Partnership, which met for a year developing the Ocqueoc River watershed management plan. The last meeting of the partnership was November 10.
?THIS COMMISSION is really quite unique,? said Nadolsky. ?It hasn?t been a model that has been used before.? Although officers have not been elected, Nadolsky has agreed to accept the chairmanship, if he?s voted in, for at least a year. Huron Pines Resource Conservation and Development Area Council Inc. has been involved in the process of developing the plan and now will assist in implementing it as one of the commission?s short-term goals. ?For us, this is pretty exciting in that the planning process, what we?ve come to think of as the first phase, is complete and it?s time to move into implementing some of these projects,? said Brad Jensen of Huron Pines. ?By that I mean instead of talking about a road-stream crossing that?s contributing tons of sediment into the river each year, let?s fix it. It?s a much more exciting part of the project to work on because you get to see things get done.?
ABOUT $100,000 of grant funding from the Environmental Protection Agency which will be administered through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will assist the commission to begin working on projects during the first year. ?The plan?s done, and so often we fear that the plan gets done and our staff walks away and the group sits around talking about what they would like to do, but there is no money to do anything,? said Jensen. ?In this case, there?s at least some money to get started. Hopefully, we can raise some more.? Pat Henry of the Presque Isle County Conservation District said a $30,000 grant has been applied for from the Great Lakes Basin Sedimentation and Erosion Program, but word of approval has not been received yet.
NADOLSKY COMPLIMENTED Henry for the work he performed on the plan. ?About a third of the document…came from Pat?s field work. He is the guy who actually trudges around and looks in all the nooks and crannies and inventories everything.? Another short-term goal is educating the public and getting youth involved. The commission?s education committee will take a huge step toward accomplishing that goal with a May Day celebration cleanup planned for May 1. The Rogers City Kiwanis Club and the Key Club will be a part of cleanup events at the US-23 access site, at Ocqueoc Falls, and in Millersburg. Lunch and T-shirts will be available to volunteers. The Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association and the Hammond Bay Trading Post are assisting with the cost for the event, because no other funds are available yet. Educational speakers and materials will be part of the day in Millersburg, said Lisha Ramsdell,
AS THE MEETINGS continue every other month, the issue of a recommended 75-foot setback may be debated, and it took up a great deal of time at Monday?s meeting. Paul Spens, who has a home at the mouth of the river, said the commission should consider a smaller setback, while Jensen argued that there will be less water quality if the setback is 30 feet. ?I think at the planning and zoning commission level, those are the types of issues that have to be discussed,? said Nadolsky.
It was decided that meetings of the commission will be conducted the second Monday of the month and alternate to different sites in the watershed district. The next meeting will be June 14 in Bearinger Township.