City brush clearing raises eyebrows

The Rogers City Council received a letter dated July 4th from an irate citizen complaining about the removal of all vegetation from a section of Lake Huron shoreline along South Shore Park. The council discussed their response to the letter from Mary Ann Heidemann of 136 South First Street in Rogers City at Tuesday?s meeting. In fact, the council was in a quandary about how to treat the letter, either by reference or by citing the text in the public record. Mayor Beach Hall noted that, ?To my knowledge, we have never placed an intact letter in the minutes before.?

COUNCILMAN Jim Sinclair said it should be part of the record and he would read the letter in public if necessary to get it into the minutes. Karl Heidemann said, ?I am in the awkward position of having to agree with my wife in public.? He wanted to know why two acres of land with 400 feet of beachfront had to be completely stripped of all vegetation for a drainpipe, noting that 20 feet would have been sufficient. City Manager John Bruning stated, ?Specifically, I guess I don?t have a particular answer for that. I did speak with the DPW superintendent and he had that on his work schedule for some time.? ?Apparently, once they got in and started doing work, there was quite a bit of poison ivy. I don?t know, I was not on site,? he continued.

HEIDEMANN wrote that she was very upset about the fact that city staff and equipment was used to destroy natural habitat on the property located at the north end of the Little League ball diamonds. ?Not only was the vegetation cut and removed, but the roots were disked up, leaving only exposed raw sand,? she wrote. Bruning told the council the DPW was removing poison ivy and preparing the site for an upgraded storm drain. Heidemann had written in her letter, however, that the resulting vegetation removal, ?was literally overkill?? She noted that the area had a diversity of plants including beach grasses, horsetails, willow shrubs, dogwood, wild rose, and other wetland species. ?Rogers City is a well run-city and the DPW does a good job, but it seemed so unnecessary,? Heidemann told The Advance in a phone interview after Tuesday?s meeting.

WHEN ASKED if the work might be considered routine maintenance, Heidemann responded, ?It?s desertification; not maintenance. Now they have to start all over again. It will take 15 years or more to restore the natural vegetation in that spot, if ever.? Council member Gary Nowak pointed out in the meeting that flowers and plants also had to be remov

ed for the construction of the trail along Lake Huron leading to Hoeft State Park and the result was good. Heidemann?s letter alluded to possible favoritism given to some people looking for a clear view of Lake Huron from their home across Calcite Street. She also noted on the phone after the meeting that the matter had gone before the Parks Commission two times before but had been turned down each time. Her letter asked, ?Do I have a similar right to ask the City to chop down all the trees in Lakeside Park that block my view of the water? Or how about the residents across the street from Seagull Point?? she wrote.

The last word on the subject has not been heard as Heidemann concluded in her letter, ?It?s too late to get the vegetation back, but I will be asking appropriate regulatory agencies if they have any ideas about restitution.? ?It is ironic that lack of money forced the city to cut the parks budget this year, but the city still seems to have plenty of funds to kill off the beauty that nature gives us for free,? she said.