Local News

St. Clair County Parks and Recreation is planning to add another park to its portfolio with a planned acquisition of land in the southern part of the county. The land is located along the North Channel in Clay Township and would be initially purchased by the Six Rivers Land Conservancy who is representing the county until it is able to secure a Trust Fund acquisition grant. According to Commissioner Bill Gratopp, after April 1, a grant will be submitted to the DNR with hopes of being approved by November or December. Clay Township has also agreed to pay for a portion of the project while the nearby Harbor Club tentatively has nearby land the group is considering giving to the park. 

The cost of the property is $1.7 million. Similar deals have been made with previous park purchases. Six Rivers is a private non-profit whose mission is to “conserve, sustain, and connect natural areas, lands, and waters that make the places we live special.” This property is desirable because it has the potential for a public swimming beach. Gratopp said he has been working to secure a park at the southern end of the county for more than eight years.  

A rendering of the proposed park was presented to the County Board of Commissioners who approved the project at a regular meeting. The park is proposed to have an open play area, playground, picnic pavilions, concessions, and restroom building, along with fishing and boat landings. There will also be a kayak launch and beach area. The entrance to the park is off of M-29.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Construction is now underway by Enbridge for the drilling and placement of a new petroleum pipeline underneath the St. Clair River. According to Enbridge, the preliminary work on the line replacement is happening now, with drilling planned to start March 1, weather permitting. Construction is expected to take four months. 

Due to the ongoing construction, there will be significant noise with the Horizontal Directional Drill, but noise mitigation structures are planned. The St. Clair River line is part of “Line 5” and goes between Marysville and Froomfield, Ontario. The line will carry petroleum products from western Ontario to Eastern Ontario. It is the same line that is under the Mackinaw Bridge and has been the object of years of litigation and environmental protest.

The new St. Clair River section of the pipeline is expected to be around 30 feet below the river. The current pipeline is four feet under the river. The 645-mile-long Line 5 will carry about 22.6 million gallons per day, and according to Michigan Oil and Gas Association, it provides much of the petroleum products needed to heat and run homes and businesses throughout Michigan.

 Michigan’s Attorney General has tried to shut down Line 5 citing it as an unacceptable environmental risk to the Great Lakes, but the Line 5 agreement has been upheld by courts and regulatory agencies in both the United States and Canada.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Travis Pastrana will make his way to St. Clair this summer as the Miss GEICO Offshore Racing Team has welcomed Pastrana to the crew. He is best known for his appearance in Nitro Circus, his thrilling tricks in the X Games, supercross, and NASCAR and his record-breaking stunts. Pastrana will share the cockpit with Sir Steve Curtis and together they will seek to clinch a world championship title during the 2020 World Offshore Championship Series which includes a stop in St. Clair, Michigan. Other stops for Class ONE include four locations in Florida and one in Michigan City, Indiana. 

Curtis said of Pastrana that, “As an expert in off-road motorcycle racing, Travis’ ability to adjust to changes in the terrain will translate perfectly as the driver for the Miss GEICO Offshore Racing Team.” The 2020 Offshore races in St. Clair are set to take place July 24-26.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, getting your hunting and fishing licenses, as well as Off-Road vehicle and snowmobile permits, is about to be more streamlined and technologically advanced, but not before there will be a shutdown of the system. From February 15-18, the statewide licensing system will be offline. For those planning a trip up north to go snowmobiling, it’s suggested residents obtain permits and licenses now.

Starting on February 18, users can expect the upgraded service. Changes are, in part, due to a new vendor who will utilize a bar code system, QR security codes, and more user-friendly features than the previous system which was operated by the same vendor 26 years. According to DNR Director, Dan Eichinger, the change has taken more “than two years of planning and developing a modern license sales system that offers up-to-date, convenient and cost-effective services for customers and retail partners.” The new system is expected to be operational by noon on February 18. The DNR generates around $77 million with the issuance of over 4 million licenses and permits each year.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

St. Clair County is setting plans into motion for the formation of a Public Defender Office to provide services to defendants who can’t afford legal counsel on their own (also known as indigent defendants).

According to St. Clair County Administrator/Controller Karry Hepting, work has begun on the offices that will house 18 total employees, 12 being public defenders, at  302 Michigan Street in Port Huron. The office will be a new department for the county and operate under the direction of the St. Clair County Administration Department. The new department will replace the current structure of contracting 23 court-appointed attorneys assigned to cases on a part-time basis. 

Based on statewide numbers available through the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, the County estimates that approximately 75% of criminal cases in its court system are partially or completely indigent, meaning defendants are considered unable to pay the fees required to hire a defense lawyer.

Hepting said the hope is that the offices will be occupied by late spring.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Monday night’s Port Huron City Council Meeting included approvals of some big expenditures for the city. The City accepted bids for nearly $300,000 worth of equipment from TNT Equipment for use by the Utilities Division. The equipment includes a tractor with a price tag around $200,000 and a vacuum/slurry tank for holding biosolids which are a byproduct of the Wastewater Treatment Plant that will cost approximately $100,000. Currently, the biosolids are treated and available for farmers to use to fertilize their fields.  

Councilmember Ken Harris broached the subject of sending the biosolids to the Smiths Creek landfill for use as power generation through their septage bioreactor process. City Manager James Freed explained that it would be cost-prohibitive to do so. 

The council also approved bids for pavement striping, maintenance equipment, and dredging of the canal near Lakeside Beach. Some of the excess sand will be deposited to help with erosion at residential lakefront properties. The dredging is contingent upon weather conditions. 

The council approved a recommendation from MDOT to put Hancock Street on a “road diet” and change it from four lanes to three lanes at the intersection between I94/I69 and Pine Grove Avenue. This change came from safety concerns and citizen complaints and is intended to make driving safer in that area.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.