Eagle Harbor Township committee to hold public input meeting Eagle Harbor Township Land Use Steering Committee members discuss survey models at their March meeting in the Eagle Harbor Town Hall. Pictured clockwise from left are George Hite, Barbara Been, Janet Shea, Jean Ellis, Phoebe Wienke, Virginia Jamison, Robert Crampton (not visible), Doug Sherk and Lori Hauswirth, associate planner for the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development District (WUPPDR). EAGLE HARBOR ’Äì The Eagle Harbor Township Land Use Steering Committee will hold a Community Input Meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1, at the Shoreline Restaurant in Eagle Harbor. The purpose of the meeting is to receive input from township residents on their vision of the future for Eagle Harbor Township and to set goals for defining the direction of future development in the township.   The committee’Äôs flyer for the meeting says, ’ÄúCome and tell us what you think. Come and find out what your neighbors think. Help plan the future.’Äù   The meeting agenda includes: a video showing some issues and concerns for rural areas; answers to some general questions;   group work on future goals residents want for Eagle Harbor Township; final discussion of all group conclusions;   consensus on goals people want and what they don’Äôt want.   Doug Sherk (far left) , Eagle Harbor Township Land Use Planning Steering Committee co-chair, announced the May 1 public meeting to the Eagle Harbor Township Board at their April 9 meeting. Board members pictured (at table) are Richard Lantz, trustee, and Jeane Olson, clerk; (in background) Bruce Wagner, deputy clerk.  Also present but not pictured were Jim Boggio, supervisor; Ann Johnson, treasurer; and  Thomas Gries Ellis, trustee.  At a recent Eagle Harbor Township Board meeting, Steering Committee Co-Chair Doug Sherk said, ’ÄúThe whole meeting is devoted to people telling us what we should be doing.’Äù   Sherk noted while all residents of Eagle Harbor Township are especially invited, the meeting is open to the public. The results of the meeting will be used in designing a public survey and in planning a summer public meeting.   Committee member Janet Shea, who has been researching survey types, said the survey will probably be done early this summer.   ’ÄúWe want to make sure we have as many people in the area as possible to contact with the survey,’Äù Shea explained. ’ÄúIt’Äôs going to be as short as possible.’Äù   Shea noted that since the content of the survey will be based on the results of the May 1 meeting, the committee wants everyone who is affected by a Keweenaw County land use plan to come to the meeting.   ’ÄúWe need all the input we can get,’Äù she said.   That includes input from people who may have little knowledge of the land use planning effort but want to learn about it. The first part of the meeting will include an introduction explaining the role of the township land use planning committees, which were formed when the county Zoning/Planning Commission asked the townships to provide input for a county land use plan. The plan will be the basis for zoning recommendations to be proposed to the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners, who must also approve the plan.   Shea noted the May 1 public meeting will include an example of a ’Äúbuildout’Äù exercise similar to those practiced at the Michigan State University Extension land use planning workshops conducted by Rod Cortright last March. The purpose of the exercise is to show what an area of the township could look like if developed under the present zoning laws. Cortright also donated the video for the meeting.   Eagle Harbor Township Supervisor Jim Boggio said the land use planning effort is something that has been necessary for quite some time.   ’ÄúThe committees are all doing a good job,’Äù Boggio said. ’ÄúIt’Äôs one of the few times that all of the townships have been working for the good of the county, and it should be done more often. I’Äôm sure that when they put this all together the county will definitely benefit.’Äù   Committee members said they need to enlist the involvement of as many people as possible in the land use planning process since the plan is for all county residents, not just for the steering committees.   At the Eagle Harbor Township Land Use Steering Community's February meeting, George Hite (seated second from right), committee co-chair,  presents information from WUPPDR land use maps he has been researching.  The Eagle Harbor Township committee has spent several months gathering and analyzing township data on such topics as population and census, tax patterns, the Coordinated Planning Act, plat and subdivision ordinances, archaeological sites, water and sewage, Natural Beauty Roads and Heritage Routes. The group agreed recently they wanted to invite experts to provide more information on three specific areas relevant to the township: sewage and septic systems, the county soil survey and forestry. It was decided that these topics would be of interest to all five township planning committees and that visiting speakers on these topics should be asked to address representatives of all the planning groups at their joint meetings.   Lynn Tarbutton, left, director of environmental health for the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, discusses septic systems in her presentation to the joint meeting of the Keweenaw County township land use planning committees on April 23 in the Allouez Community Building.   Sewage and Septic Systems   Lynn Tarbutton, director of environmental health for the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, gave a presentation on sewage and septic systems at the April 23 joint meeting of the land use planning groups.* The Eagle Harbor Township Committee said they needed to know how the health department evaluates septic systems and how they can tell if increasing the number of systems per area will be tolerated or whether the area can be overwhelmed by further developments. Tarbutton’Äôs presentation emphasized the importance of knowing the soil types in an area in order to determine how it can handle septic systems. She said the health department was waiting anxiously for the Keweenaw County Soil Survey to be completed.   This map illustrates the progress of the Keweenaw County soil survey by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. Green areas indicate completed surveys, while black areas are to be given priority in the survey this summer. The five-year soil survey of the county is expected to be published in about two years. Meanwhile, NRCS is providing township planning groups with some detailed soil survey maps of specific areas.       Keweenaw County Soil Survey Keweenaw County’Äôs soil survey ’Äì a five-year study ’Äì is now only in its third year of being compiled. However, some soil survey maps are being made available to the townships by United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service staff, who are doing the survey. NRCS staff are scheduled to present ’ÄúHow to Read a Soil Survey’Äù at the Keweenaw County Zoning/Planning Commission’Äôs May 29 meeting. Forestry Committee members hope a forester familiar with Keweenaw County forests will be able to explain to them where the valuable forest lands are and what the planning groups can do to help protect them from development. Although the Eagle Harbor Township committee has invited Walt Arnold, International Paper/Lake Superior Land Co. director of marketing and sales, to meet with them, Sherk reported recently that Arnold declined, saying IP/LSLC is waiting until they have a chance to review the soil survey and a chance to finalize plans. Sherk said Arnold told him any information given now concerning what specific areas are considered valuable timberland to IP would be speculative. Committee member Barbara Been presented information on a ’ÄúLand Bank’Äù system (in effect in Cape Cod, Mass.) in which a government unit collects an impact fee of one or two percent of a sale or new building project above a baseline cost of about $100,000 and places the fee into a trust fund for the governing unit to use to purchase or match grant funds to buy land for itself. Been noted apparently the State of Michigan would have to pass legislation for this to happen. Been is doing more research on this topic before possibly presenting it to the County Board.   Been has also been working with Barb Battersby of Grant Township and Genie Mintken of Allouez Township on the possibility of obtaining Michigan Heritage Route or Natural Beauty Road status for some of the roads in Keweenaw County which pass through the three townships. Michigan Heritage Route status protects certain state or interstate highways in order to enhance and promote the unique, scenic, historical and recreational qualities adjacent to them. The program, under the Michigan Department of Transportation, is limited to roads indicated by an ’ÄúM,’Äù ’ÄúUS,’Äù or ’ÄúI.’Äù Local roads, such as the Cliff Drive, could possibly qualify for a Natural Beauty Road status, which also offers protection of aesthetic qualities.   Virginia Jamison, committee member from Gratiot Lake, said Bud and Janet Avery, members of the Association Working Against Keweenaw Exploitation (AWAKE), have offered AWAKE's support for any projects that help land conservation efforts. They could provide limited funds and assistance such as researching grant resources and photocopying. The committee agreed to add AWAKE to their resource list.       *Editor’Äôs Note: Watch for a report on the April 23 joint planning meeting soon.                                                                     ’Äì Michele Anderson                                                                                             April 29, 2001