|
IP/LSLC approves Black Bear land purchase; township asked to fund
sewage system with grants
CALUMET, COPPER HARBOR ’Äì International Paper/Lake Superior Land
Company’Äôs contract with Black Bear Entertainment,
Recreation and Adventure Company for the purchase of the
proposed Mt. Bohemia sewage treatment site has been
approved at the corporate level. The sale of about
59 acres, located near the Lac La Belle Road about a
mile uphill from the ski hill yurts and parking lot,
is now awaiting state approval of Commercial Forest
designation removal.
Meanwhile, Grant Township is
considering Black Bear’Äôs request that they apply
for federal and state grants to fund building the
proposed sewage treatment system. Should the
township become the applicant for these funds, it
would also become the owner and accept
responsibility for the system.
Residents recently expressed concern that
Black Bear is proposing a ’Äúcommunity’Äù system for
its commercial purposes without providing enough
information on costs to the township.
|
At the April 11 Grant Township Board Meeting
in Copper Harbor, Walt Arnold (left), IP/LSLC director of marketing and
sales, said the company awaits state approval of their application
to remove from Commercial Forest designation (CFR) the proposed
Mt. Bohemia sewage treatment system site. Tom Collins (center,
foreground), South Shore Association president and candidate for
township trustee, and Paul and Anita Campbell (right) were among
residents raising concerns about Black Bear's request that the
township apply for grants to fund the sewage treatment
system.
|
Walt
Arnold, IP/LSLC director of marketing and sales,
said the company is waiting to hear from the state
of Michigan on their application for CFR withdrawal,
made several months ago. The land must be withdrawn
from CFR before it can be used for a commercial
purpose other than forestry.
Arnold
said he could not reveal the amount of the sale or
whether Black Bear intends to purchase the land and
then turn it over to the township in return for
grant monies.
’ÄúRight
now our contract is with Black Bear, not with anyone
else,’Äù Arnold said on Wednesday, April 18. ’ÄúThey
could close tomorrow.’Äù
|
During
the Grant Township Board's April 11 meeting in the Copper Harbor Community Building, Township Supervisor Ken Korhorn, left, and Trustee Gary
Barker, right, listen as Black Bear President Lonie Glieberman,
center, asks the board, to fund the proposed Mt.
Bohemia sewage treatment system by applying for grant
monies.
|
At
the April 11 Grant Township Board meeting in Copper
Harbor, Black Bear President Lonie Glieberman
mentioned the purchase agreement while at the same
time asking the township to become the owner of the
system by applying for grant monies. Although he
presented his request as an opportunity for some
local residents to tie into a ’Äúcommunity
system,’Äù he did not give details on the purchase
agreement or on possible costs to residents who
might want to hook up to the system.
Residents voice concerns about developer’Äôs
request
Residents’Äô
reactions to the Black Bear request have been mixed.
Some say the developer is inviting Lac La Belle
residents to tie into a ’Äúcommunity’Äù system but
planning to build a system designed for the
company’Äôs commercial needs. While some township
officials appeared supportive of the idea, the
board, which still lacks one trustee to fill a
recent vacancy, asked for more information before
they could make a decision on the grant
applications.
If
Black Bear purchases the land before the township
makes a decision, the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality could approve the
developer’Äôs application for a Part 31 Groundwater
Discharge Permit, which would allow them to build a
private system. However, a grant application by the
township would change the DEQ requirement to include
a Part 41 construction permit for a community
system. A Part 41 permit is required in addition to
the Part 31 discharge permit if there is more than
one owner or if the system is to be owned by a
municipality.
The
DEQ Waste Management Division awaits settlement of
the ownership question and more details on the plans
and specifications for the construction of the
system before it can issue a Part 31 Groundwater
Discharge permit.
During
the April 11 meeting, Township Supervisor Ken
Korhorn said he had heard two questions from local
residents: ’ÄúWhy would we tread where the county
chose not to tread last year?’Äù and ’ÄúWhat benefit
is it to the township?’Äù
Last
year at this time, Crosswinds, Inc., Black Bear’Äôs
parent company, asked Keweenaw County to apply
for state and federal grants totaling more than
$900,000 to fund the Mt. Bohemia sewage treatment
system, but the board voted against it after
receiving advice on liability from Keweenaw County
Prosecuting Attorney Donna Jaaskelainen. The
potential grant applications at that time were
addressed to the Economic Development
Administration, or EDA (federal funds under the
United States Department of Commerce), and to the
Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)
Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, which
also includes federal funds. Black Bear has proposed
the township apply now for these same grants.
At the April 11 township
meeting Black Bear President Lonie Glieberman said
the two grant agencies were supportive of the Mt.
Bohemia project. He added his company would post
bonds to protect the municipality should the system
have to be shut down, and the benefit to the
township would be a clean wastewater system.
’ÄúThere will be a brand new
clean water wastewater system,’Äù Glieberman said,
’Äúand others can tap into it if they choose to.’Äù
|
John Sullivan, principal of U.P.
Engineers & Architects, Inc., second from left
in audience, said the township would have to apply soon for
Economic Development Administration (EDA) funds in order to be
eligible for funding this fiscal year. Clyde Wescoat, Copper
Harbor resident and candidate for township trustee, far right, was
supportive of Black Bear's request.
|
John Sullivan, principal of U.P.
Engineers & Architects, Inc., said the system
would not be designed to serve all of Lac La Belle.
Although the original design submitted to the DEQ
was meant for just the Mt. Bohemia lodge and 50
cabins, Black Bear now anticipates fewer skiers than
originally projected.
’ÄúWe could either amend the
permit and make it (the system) a little larger or have the Bear
commit to less for Bear itself,’Äù Sullivan said.
He noted that if Grant Township
were the applicant for the grant money, the township
would have ’Äútotal control’Äù of the system.
’ÄúYou would set the rates, and
(the users) would have to pay the costs,’Äù Sullivan
said.
He noted the application for EDA
(’Äúbig money’Äù) funds would be critical since
their deadline for this fiscal year is Sept. 30,
2001, while the CDBG funds would be available any
time.
’ÄúThey (EDA) could obligate by
September if we got the application in right now,
but if we miss that we would have to wait until the
next fiscal year,’Äù Sullivan explained. ’ÄúIf we
could get an obligation this year we could start
construction this year.’Äù
The EDA
Web site says the average EDA grant for
fiscal year 1999 was $829,000. The maximum CDBG
grant for a project is now $750,000, according to
Jennifer Kopp, MEDC communications manager, who said
CDBG grants also
require both an environmental review and an
archaeological study.
The CDBG grant guidelines also require citizen
participation and one or more public meetings.
Kopp
confirmed a CDBG representative met with Black Bear,
U.P. Engineers and the Western Upper Peninsula
Planning and Development District (WUPPDR) to discuss the grant on April
10; but, she added, it was really only an "exploratory
meeting.’Äù She noted the township would have to
file a Notice of Intent before beginning the grant
application process.
|
Grant
Township Board members listen to public comments on Black Bear's
request that the township apply for grants to fund the Mt. Bohemia
sewage treatment system. Pictured from right are Ken Korhorn,
supervisor; Karen Trucks, treasurer; Kelly Coltas, clerk; and Art
Davis, deputy clerk. Not pictured here but also present: Gary
Barker, trustee.
|
Kelly Coltas, Grant Township
clerk and Copper Harbor resident, said she thought
it might be cheaper for the township to have a
system already in place for residents to use in the
future, but Korhorn pointed out it that applying for
grants to fund a community system separate from
Black Bear’Äôs would entail essentially the same
procedure as the
grant application procedure being proposed now.
After some discussion at the
meeting, Coltas noted the board was not prepared to
make a decision right away.
’ÄúWe want to know ’Ķ all the
answers,’Äù Coltas said. ’ÄúIf we’Äôre going to sign
this we need more information.’Äù
South Shore Association
President Tom Collins, who has applied for the open
trustee position on the Grant Township board, said
he agreed with Coltas that more information is
needed.
’ÄúI think that it’Äôs
important we have all the figures before us,’Äù
Collins said. ’ÄúIt’Äôs important that we have all
the information up front.’Äù
Gary Barker, Grant Township
trustee and Lac La Belle resident, questioned
whether the system could pay for itself, given the
problems Copper Harbor has been experiencing with
increased rates ’Äì
attributed to insufficient volume from users,
many of whom are seasonal residents.
’ÄúHow could this be
cost-effective if anybody wanted to tie into it?’Äù
Barker asked. ’ÄúIf I wanted to tie in, what would
it cost me?’Äù
While Sullivan said typically a
new user could expect to pay about $35 a month, Copper Harbor resident Jim
Billings said his recent sewer bill for three people was
$124 a month.
Lac La Belle resident Guy
Snyder recounted an experience downstate in which
his family was expected to pay for a sewer system
before it was put in and also later charged $8,000
for a hook-up fee once it was built.
’ÄúYou still haven’Äôt said
what it’Äôs going to cost or estimated the cost of
what it’Äôs going to cost to hook up to it,’Äù
Snyder told Glieberman.
|
Lac La Belle resident Robert
"Dutchy" Piche
|
Lac La Belle resident Robert
"Dutchy" Piche said he didn’Äôt think it was right for Grant
Township residents to pay for Black Bear’Äôs system.
’ÄúIf you want it, put it
in,’Äù Piche said. ’ÄúPut it in yourself.’Äù
Copper Harbor resident and
business owner Ken Twardzik agreed that the
developer should not use public funds to pay for the
system.
’ÄúI have no objection to the
hill and no objection to his putting in a sewer
system, but I think he should use his own
funding,’Äù Twardzik said.
Steve Brimm said he wondered if
it was economically feasible for the people of Lac
La Belle to tie into a system that is located up a
mountain and at a considerable distance from their
homes.
’ÄúYou’Äôre trying to make it
sound like maybe it’Äôs something it’Äôs not,’Äù
Brimm said to Glieberman. ’ÄúIf it’Äôs your system,
and if Grant Township wants to pay for your system,
then that’Äôs fine; but I don’Äôt think that the
people here want to be told that it’Äôs something
for them if it’Äôs not, because if your system is
only sized for you, not for other people, and if
there’Äôs no feasible way for them to hook into it
that’Äôs economically feasible ...
that’Äôs what I’Äôm trying to understand.’Äù
Copper
Harbor business owner Janet Shea noted, ’ÄúHe (Glieberman)
is trying to promote this thing to the community as
a community system, which it is not. It is not
designed for that. It is designed strictly to take
care of Black Bear’Äôs commercial needs.’Äù
Collins
noted the grants Black Bear is considering to fund a
’Äúcommunity system’Äù are based on a need to create
jobs.
In
fact, both the EDA and the MEDC grants are intended
to support infrastructure for economic development
rather than for residential community use. The EDA
grant is part of the Public Works Program, whose
goals include empowering ’Äúdistressed communities
in economic decline to revitalize, expand, and
upgrade their physical infrastructure to attract new
industry, encourage business expansion, diversify
local economies, and generate or retain long-term,
private sector jobs and investment.’Äù
CDBG
grants are intended for projects that create and
retain jobs for low- and moderate-income persons (as
defined by federal guidelines) and meet community
development and housing needs of such persons.
Karen
Trucks, Grant Township Treasurer and Copper Harbor
motel owner, said she thought the Mt. Bohemia Ski
Hill contributed to the economy of the area, since
about 30 percent of her winter customers were Mt.
Bohemia skiers.
Clyde
Wescoat, Copper Harbor resident and candidate for
the open trustee position on the township board,
said the system could help some Lac La Belle
residents whose septic systems are old or rusty.
Said
Barker, ’ÄúEverybody keeps talking about the
rusted-out sewer systems around Lac La Belle, yet I
have heard nothing from DEQ or anybody verifying
(that) or any documentation that there’Äôs anything
wrong with the water in Lac La Belle. Now if you
show me that I’Äôll take it into consideration.’Äù
Lac
La Belle resident Roxann Smith, who is also applying
for the open trustee position, said she recently
invested in her own septic system and would not
want, in two more years, to have to hook up to a
public system.
’ÄúGo
ask people how they feel,’Äù she told Glieberman.
’ÄúIf you want to get one, get it, but don’Äôt ask
us to hook up to it.’Äù
Said
Korhorn, "We should make a decision no later
than the next board meeting."
Click
here for a continuation of this article ...
| 
