Comment

Comment by Jefferson F. Henry on November 19, 2015 at 3:28pm

The P.M. Watershed Council was basically non-existent from approximately 1985-2010, maybe became a bit more active but not until we, The Henry's of Henry's Landing Campground in Scottville tried to get federal funding to repair or replace the Scottville WWTP by taking the Federal Government to Court. The DEQ interrupted this action and placed an Administrative Consent Order (AC0) on the City which was the only way to stop the action.  David Gibbs finally contacted us and told me the council was basically him and others he didn't name,  After we were drug through the mud to clean up the sewage infrastructure and treatment (just as Ludington may soon face if their lagoon's clay liners are most likely washed out) of storm water, infiltration and sewage was corrected then the P.M. Watershed Council made up of many land owners of Lake County are in many ways negated through the designation of the P.M. as a Natural Wild and Scenic River, (1980) now under DNR Zoning. That zoning ends at Pere Marquette Township, plus Scottville is exempt from the zoning. The zoning does begin in Baldwin so someone from that council should comment on what actions they are involved with. Because Ludington and Pere Marquette Township is part of an Intra County Drain Agreement with the county and MDOT there is no oversight of the watershed that empties into the creek which empties into the Creamery Corner Drain, the Bayou, the P.M. Lake and finally Lake Michigan except the DEQ and they have allowed the City to operate under an expired NPDES permit for several years. There are brownfields around the stream/creek, drain, Bayou and P.M. Lake system that are outlined in a new DEQ report. A council is needed to educate the people on the polluted sites and encourage grants to get these areas cleaned up and stop any further movement into Lake Michigan. The COL needs to become more involved with these areas as they will have a new discharge permit for the WWTP that goes into effect on January 1, 2016. If they cannot meet these new discharge limits, a new location for the near daily discharges the DEQ may place an ACO, which could include fines, for not having their system corrected. If their lagoons clay liners are gone, just as they were in Scottville, the cost would likely skyrocket for all of Mason County users of that facility. The last serious maintenance on those lagoons according to WWTP employees was done around the mid 1990's. The Permit system is a part of the Corp of Engineers and EPA. A more localized group is necessary to go into action to help clean every site that is a brownfield site. I'm not aware of the City Manager making any announcements of the findings from this report. A local council is paramount as LIAA came in to describe the important of Ludington and the County's "footprint". This is where reducing the footprint should be begin in my opinion and without any further delay to keep the COL, P.M. Township, and the DEQ policing the need for the many corrections needed.  I will be pointing out the documents on Transparency but the council needs to start forming now, today, to encourage those we have contacted actions are getting taken to show the storm water is under remediation and redevelopment stopping harm to the waterfront. I am compacting a lot of information so if anyone has questions or clarification please ask and I'll do my best to explain to the best of my ability. The City Manager should make this 480 page report available to the public. It cannot be emailed but it could be set for download. The report centers on the bayou and the history of the bayou, the drain/stream/creek. 

Comment by XLFD on November 19, 2015 at 1:12pm

Jefferson, glad to hear you're feeling better.  You've likely heard of the PM Watershed Council, is this the same council you propose commitment to, or are you suggesting the creation of a more localized group? 

Comment by Jefferson F. Henry on November 18, 2015 at 10:56pm

Due to an injury I suffered in the woods in my home I'm finally getting back on my feet. Transparency is just about to pass 100 views on YouTube on every installment, 344 on the Ludington Torch for Part V. I have been reviewing a 480 report compiled by the DEQ and the EPA on the Pere Marquette Lake and Bayou. The Iron is hot enough to strike. The people need to contact me to commit to the Ludington Watershed Council. The beaches of Stearns Park may already be at stake. Please email me at jfordhenry@gmail.com for details. Transparency VI, VII, VIII and IX are in production. These are going to blow open and expose those that destroyed the charter boat marinas and the salmon fishery. 

Comment by Jefferson F. Henry on October 2, 2015 at 12:45pm

Watching the Transparency Videos are important to understand the facts that were presented in a uniformed fashion. For example we must understand the Waterways Commission is an advisory "board" for the Parks and Recreation Department. The Waterways fund often is confused with the the Michigan State Waterways Commission (MSWC) or Waterways Commission. They do not control one penny of Waterways Fund grants. The Waterways fund is under Parks and Recreation Department but is controlled by the DNR Director, the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) and foremost by the Governor. Over the past two years the Governor has taken greater control of this fund. There is a lot of politics taking place now and changes have been made on how the Waterways Fund is used. Michigan State Parks are in need of repair, State operated marinas are in need of repair, State owned and operated boat launches are in need of repair. The DNR has taken over properties such as Belle Isle in hopes of increasing income. These will take priority over the Harbors of Refuge and the people need to know this. The importance of these changes are magnified when in Transparency it was shown the COL did not apply for a grant in the required time after the July 18, 2013 meeting I have mentioned every time. After that year the Governor took over the vast control of funds and the funds that may have been available for that fiscal year were spent. The application from the COL was not submitted until months after the deadline according to DNR grants management. If not for the multi pronged approached there may be no granting recourse to clean the bayou and Creamery Corners Drain. There still may not be any way for the COL to find any funding to clean up the Madison Road event and sewage flow events.

We have offered to make the audio and transcript available to any person that would like to listen or view them. That offer remains open. Only parts of two pages have been in the Transparency series. There is over 60 pages in total and an hour or so in audio. In Transparency I clearly showed opinions from the Attorney General, email from the Chief of PRD of the place of the MSWC. Lack of cohesion should not hamper anyone in viewing what is documented sources that are put clearly in the light without any shadows over them. One reason I keep pointing to these videos is because of the great deal of information that is pack together. This story should be a mini series or a large book but the attempt is to show the paths of government that have been abused or even misunderstood from administration to administration; Democrat to Republican parties. Someone asked what am I doing involved in something when I'm not a citizen? Thomas Jefferson is telling us to shed light if we have it to shine and to come out of the darkness when we see the light. It is that time that more need to come out into that light and discern one from the other. 

Every COL Commission Meeting video is available online and the number of people that attend are usual one or two and the views rarely reach over 20. There is more light than we know and we need to walk in it when it's made available with your own tax dollars. I have many sound reasons to move back to Mason County but those came long before these problems were brought to my attention and I was asked to look at them as I have responded before in this thread. 

Comment by XLFD on October 1, 2015 at 6:58pm

It was Thomas Jefferson that first said that "Light and liberty go together", one of the things we attempt to do at the Ludington Torch is to shed light on shadowy government policies meant to rob the people of their rights and shine illumination on those officials who do not act in the public's interest.  Jefferson also stated:  ""I know no safe depositary of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."

Many of our society are not given a proper education in basic civics, many in our area depend on the COLDNews for their local information.  These are the people we need to reach, but it is mostly impossible to do so unless you can engage them directly and get them to listen to often-complex issues.  Our area's Jefferson must contend with this inertia. 

Thanks for your engagement in the issue, jfc123, but you sound as if you have reason to be.

Comment by jfc123 on October 1, 2015 at 6:19pm

Why should we pay anything at all, we do not discharge into it?  Why is it not being maintained by the city or county? The marinas, and adjacent property owners are at the end of the drain how did they contribute to what has come out of the drain? The COL council is absolutely clueless wanting us to pay for any part of this, we do not discharge anything into the bayou. It does not help that when the storm of 2008 hit and the waste water system failed and all the water rushed down the creamy corners drain and took the road and sewage system with it and dumped it into the bayou, which is still there! The sewage ran into the bayou for weeks before it was FINALLY stopped. Again no clean up to date! COL never did a thing to clean ANY of it out, and it is still there, now counting to 7 years later. Shay blows it off that we want it dredged because of water levels? We just want the road and contanimation out that we did not put there, so that we can try to compete against government owned marinas. One marina is pretty much out of business due in large part to this lack of drain maintenance and the 2008 storm. Sad because another mom and pop is being taken down by our government. The charter boat issue is another huge blow. SMH I cant believe that this is going on in a free market where we are competing against our government operating a business?

Also, all comments are appreciated, none falling on deaf ears here. I definitely do not know everything or think that I'm always right. Thank you for your input and corrections if I have the story wrong!

Learning as much as I can!

Comment by XLFD on October 1, 2015 at 4:54pm

That would be Jefferson Henry on Oct. 28-2013 during the public comment, Aquaman.  City officials griped about footing the bill for half of a $15,000 engineering study (the Waterways Commission did the other half) but the city felt that the property owners surrounding the bayou should have paid proportionally the costs.  Councilor Castonia even made the point to highlight that none of the marinas contributed financially at that December 16, 2013 meeting. 

Funny, earlier that year they dredged the city marina for over $200,000 and eventually got fully reimbursed from the State, even though the state has no adjoining property to that site.  And here's a major difference of the two which should give you pause to reflect:  the bayou's problems were caused primarily by sediment and junk buildup coming from a county drain and runoff from contaminated non-marina sites; the city marina's depth problems were not.

Comment by AQUAMAN on October 1, 2015 at 2:24pm

Can't remember who, but someone went before the City Council in the last year and made a issue about that PM Bayou being cleaned up. Seemed like Shay mentioned something about getting grants to do just that. Where did that program go? Did he say no or didn't he follow up? Seems like that would be a good place to start and then move on to the State Charterboat issues with Waterways at the Municipal Marina. Just my 2 cents, and I think this is my last post here, as it appears my ideas are getting a deaf ear, and aren't appreciated anyhow. Good luck guys. 

Comment by Jefferson F. Henry on September 30, 2015 at 9:17pm

This medium has been useful to get a message, news worthy words out to the public. it has not been a motive to expose some ideas of strategy. However others have asked for strategies or why I have been involved. many people have moved to Mason County for her water pleasures. I grew up enjoying them. My friend asked for some advice and ideas.  We would not, if any existed, lay out a legal strategy to the public. Those are done through court filings. Now there are others ways for those that have put their own skin in the game to gain further dialogs by using private means. I have appreciated the frustrations I've read and I sure believe confidence should be restored through the shavings of hard evidence in the Transparency series thus far. I hope others look to give their thoughts as well.  JFH

Comment by jfc123 on September 30, 2015 at 8:58pm

Great point XLFD! Makes me realize that the only one that has really been harmed is us, we are the ones that could not operate a business due to the road/sewage still in the water causing so many weeds and high spots in the bayou. 1-2 boats while many here who were full to almost full are complaining or expanding? Trust is a thing of the past it seems. You can not trust anyone these days they only want what is best for themselves. Sad thing is everyone says bad things about Detroit but Matty Moroun was doing the same things that the people running the COL council are doing but now have turned on him and supporting the landowners in getting fair money for their property. I have a close friend  running for a seat and will be bending her ear alot to get me access to Mayor Duggans team, Snyder has been non responsive!

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