Port Huron Water Filtration Plant Tour Wows Community Members

Water is a pretty big deal around here and Port Huron’s water filtration plant is a very big deal.  A tour of the plant brought the inner workings of the massive plant, located near Pine Grove Park, to local officials and interested citizens.

The water filtration plant takes water right out of the St. Clair River and turns it into clean drinking water that goes to up to 60,000 customers, including homes, businesses, and industries. Right now, the plant treats around 8 million gallons of water per day, but it has the capacity to treat 30 million gallons if needed.

The plant, built in 1966, is in a constant state of maintenance and monitoring to continue to treat and pump fresh, clean water to Port Huron and the surrounding townships 24 hours a day. Steps have been taken recently to increase security at the plant.

The operators of the facility hold high-skill jobs and the City of Port Huron is actively recruiting to fill future vacancies at the plant. The jobs are high-paying and require extensive certification and training.

Port Huron City Council Member Anita Ashford remarked on the complexity of the water plant, saying, “We want the best with no shortcuts. We are stewards of the water for a lot of people.”

Reporting for WGRT- Jennie McClelland

Prevailing Wage is Reinstated for State Projects

Union trades leaders are applauding the recent Prevailing Wage requirement announced by the State of Michigan. The ruling applies to state construction projects.

Tom Lutz, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, said, “This decision protects Michigan’s investments in infrastructure because when prevailing wages are the expectation, contractors have to compete on a level playing field based on quality of their skilled work, not on the exploitation of their workers.” 

Michigan’s prevailing wage rule was repealed in 2018. Prevailing wages differ geographically. The total costs of projects does increase with prevailing wage rulings, but is thought to increase standards.

Steve Claywell, President of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council said, “The restoring of prevailing wage provides a fair and equal bidding process allowing for highly trained men and women to be paid a good wage.”

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the ruling, saying it was “offering Michigan a highly-trained workforce to rely on as we build up our roads and bridges, replace lead pipes, install high-speed internet, and more.”  

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

SC4 Launches Mission Lunar Quest

St. Clair County Community College has opened registration for its Mission Lunar Quest at the Challenger Lunar Center. The center will launch in Spring of 2022, but students and educators, businesses and corporations, and community members can reserve a spot now.

Dr. Deborah Snyder, president of SC4, said “The Challenger Learning Center at SC4 will help support STEM education, exploration and innovation with experiences that go far beyond an everyday field trip, outing or corporate training session.”

Guests to the Challenger Learning Center can schedule half day or full day experiences that are geared toward 5th through 8th graders but can be adapted for older guests. The interactive experience simulates a trip to the moon and utilizes a variety of STEM-based roles.

Lance Bush, president and CEO of the Challenger Centers, said, “We’re hard at work building the Spacecraft and preparing Mission Control to welcome students and community members to fly our newest space missions that we developed in partnership with NASA.”

Galaxy Quest STEM Summer Camp is in the works for next summer. A link to more information can be found at WGRT.com.

https://challenger.sc4.edu/

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Port Huron’s Wastewater Treatment Plant Provides Critical Infrastructure for Region

Along with a tour of the water filtration plant, community members were given a look at Port Huron’s Wastewater Treatment Plant last week. It is safe to say that those in attendance were in awe of the extensive effort that goes into taking wastewater from the City and surrounding townships and making it clean enough to safely send back into the St. Clair River.

Dianna Siefert, Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent, has worked at the plant for over 21 years and gave a fascinating presentation to community members who have a stake in the stewardship of the river as well as the local economy that depends on the vital service.

Siefert explained the innovative process that Port Huron uses to collect biosolids from the wastewater and send them out to over 150 farmers to fertilize their fields. It is the biggest recycling program in St. Clair County. She also gave a tour of the facility, which is getting some expensive, yet vital, upgrades.

The plant is massive and can handle up to 20 million gallons of wastewater per day. It usually handles 9.5 million gallons. The plant operates 24 hours per day, 365 days a year with an operating budget of approximately $5 million each year.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Port Huron to Get 1000 New Trees over Decade

Port Huron is about to get a fresh stock of new trees.

September’s rough weather took out some trees in Port Huron, but it could have been a lot worse, according to Port Huron City Manager James Freed. The city has been removing dead and diseased trees throughout the city for several years to reduce the danger of falling limbs and trees. Freed credited the Forestry Division with spearheading the effort to clean up the trees that needed to go.

Now it’s time to plant some new trees to replace the ones that have been removed. Freed said that he asked the Forestry Department to draft a plan for planting 100 new trees each year for the next ten years.

The city plans to work with the MSU Extension and an arborist to put the right trees in the right places. The plan will replace trees that have been removed as well as strategically placing trees in boulevards and city parks. The south side of Port Huron will get special attention as it has recently lost a lot of old trees.

Freed called the investment in 1000 trees over the next decade “generational” as it will ensure that Port Huron maintains its tree canopy for years to come.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Bridge Cards to Get Permanent Increase to Pay for Healthy Food

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has announced that those who receive food benefits will get a permanent increase in the monthly payment. The increase is a jump of about 6.8%. The increase is meant to make a healthy diet more affordable for beneficiaries.

A larger than normal benefit increase from federal funding saw some food benefits go up 15% over the past year, but those temporary benefits will expire this month. The permanent increase will start with the October loading of Bridge cards. The maximum benefit for a family of four will go from $782 to $835.

The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, is administered by MDHHS. Michigan recipients use Bridge cards to spend their benefits. This year, the program was increased greater than the cost-of-living rate because the benefits were not keeping up with the increases in the cost of a healthy diet.

No action is needed to be taken by recipients to get the increased amount. More than 1.25 million Michiganders get their nutrition at least in part from SNAP.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland