By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
The Waterford Waterway Management District has clarified the steps to be used as the community considers approving a proposed dredging project.
“The DNR has, up to this point, accepted the permit,” Barb Baron, chairman of the WWMD, said, adding that the public hearing was just part of the process.
Residents of the area had until July 7 to register any comments or concerns by email or letter to the DNR. From there, Baron said, the DNR would make a decision by July 27.
“By then, we’d know if the permit would be approved,” Baron said.
The next step, she said, would be a separate meeting – being referred to in the community as a “straw vote” – that will weigh community input on the project, separate from the annual budget meeting. According to Baron, that separate meeting has yet to be set.
Prior to that meeting, Baron said, the WWMD would hold informational meetings to educate the public.
The decision will not be made at the annual budget meeting, as previously reported.
Baron said that the WWMD needs direction from the public before it proceeds.
“The straw vote will give us direction. It’s not binding,” Baron said.
The work on the waterway has been in progress for more than a decade. The WWMD will have to pursue funding before any work is done, and the actual cost to riparian owners is unknown.
“We’re trying to be fair to everybody,” Baron said.
Setting it straight
The information in last week’s story about the amount dredged was incorrect. The actual amount will be 480,000 cubic yards. The drainage pipes will cross .54 acres of wetlands to a quarry, not dump into the wetlands, and widths of the channel to be dredged would be 25 feet, 50 feet and 100 feet.
We apologize for the error.
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