port huron

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

McMorran Ready to Rock with Styx November 4th 

The band Styx is coming to Port Huron. The rock band that got started in the 1970s will be rocking McMorran Arena on Thursday, November 4th at 8:00 p.m.

This is the actual band Styx, not a cover band. They are known for 1970s hits like “Come Sail Away” and “Babe” and 1983’s “Mr. Roboto”. Styx’s most popular song was 1978’s “Renegade”.

The members of Styx are mostly in their 60s and 70s, and they are still actively making music and touring the country.. The tour that is coming to Port Huron coincides with the release of their latest album, Crash of the Crown.

It’s been a while since McMorran has had a big show. They hosted some big shows like Third Eye Blind and Newsboys over the past fifteen years or so, but this is the first post-shutdown big show that is sure to draw a sell-out crowd.

Tickets go on sale October 1st through the McMorran Box Office. Prices start at $55. They can be bought online or at the box office with no additional fees.

McMorran has a full schedule of entertainment on the calendar for the rest of the year. Go to mcmorran.com for the details.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

MOC Building Will List for $5 Million

At their regular meeting Monday night, the Port Huron city Council approved listing the Municipal Office Center, or the MOC building, for sale.  The building will be listed for $5 million with Kramer Realty on October 1st.

Port Huron Mayor Pauline Repp said the city has been considering listing the building for awhile, and the timing seems advantageous to pursue sale of the property now. They hope to see something move to the site that would be an economic driver for the city.

“When it was [built] it was the right thing to do because we got all kinds of money. The site down there was pretty much industrial, and we got a lot of federal funds in order to fix up that property and put the building up. So, it wasn’t a big cost to the taxpayers when that went up,” said Repp.

Repp also said the purchaser of the building would have to submit a development plan before the sale was approved. “We will not allow anyone to purchase it and just hold on to it,” she said.

The only thing for sale is the building and the parking lots. The City will keep ownership of Keifer Park, and the public will still have access to the waterfront.

At this time, there is no plan for relocating the city’s employees or tenants when the building sells. Current tenants include Michigan Works! and other State of Michigan offices, Port Huron Police Department, and the St. Clair County EDA. In August, The EDA announced plans to build its own building at Desmond Landing near the Blue Water YMCA.

Repp said the Council also issued certificates to DTE Energy and the city’s police, fire, and forestry departments at the meeting. They commended them for everything they did to assist residents and deal with the aftermath of last week’s storms.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

 

 

Pottery for Everyone at Foundry

If you’ve ever wanted to take a pottery class, now is your chance. Foundry, Port Huron’s home for creators, has several pottery options in October for beginners on up.

Denny Snyder and Mark “Pappy” Brandt have been working hard to get the pottery studio at the former Studio 1219 rebooted to fit Foundry’s mission to connect local artists in a comfortable and inspiring atmosphere.

October’s classes mix traditional weekly beginning classes where students learn to use the wheel with “Just for Fun” nights and ceramic pumpkin carving classes. On Saturday, October 16th, there is an outdoor pottery experience where participants make RAKU Jack-o-Lanterns.

“This is a really cool process like the one we did last November on our big opening,” said Snyder.

They will have a bunch of pre-made Jack-o-Lanterns, skulls, ghosts, and maybe even a few Christmas trees that participants can pick out and paint. The RAKU process involves popping the piece into an open fire and then cooling it in a trash can. The whole process takes about an hour.

“It’s a really cool unique thing that you can’t really do anywhere else around here in the area,” said Snyder. “It’s instant gratification because you can do it and take it home that night.”

Classes are available for all ages, and booking is online at Foundry’s website <HERE>.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Kids Can Participate in Photo Shoot at Palmer Park

A ribbon cutting for the new Quantis Climber play structure at Palmer Park is Tuesday, September 28th at 4 PM. The public is invited to join in the celebration which includes testing out the new play equipment, popsicles, games, and music.

The Quantis Climber is designed for kids 5 – 12 years old, and it involves a rope assisted climb around twists and turns to get to the slide on top. Kids can create new ways to advance and move around the structure while building muscle and having fun.

Palmer Park received several updates this year including new swing sets, and a new pavilion and benches are up next. The Quantis Climber was funded by the combined efforts of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation and the Community Foundation of St. Clair County.

Kids who want to participate in a photo shoot after the ribbon cutting can sign up with the Penchura company by signing a photo release. Penchura needs 30 -40 kids from 2 – 12 years old for the photoshoot, and kids will receive a free gift if they sign up.

Learn more about signing up for the photo shoot here:

https://www.playlsi.com/en/contact-us/model-release-form/

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Area Code Must Be Dialed Starting October 24th

“Your call can not be completed as dialed. Please hang up and dial again.” That is what callers will hear if they leave off the area code starting October 24th.

The area code will have to be included in all calls, even local, in the 616, 906, 989, and the 810 area codes. 810 includes the Blue Water Area.

This might not seem like a big deal, but with so many preprogrammed numbers for safety and security equipment, it is a critical change. Most equipment uses a 10-digit default setting, but older equipment might still use 7 digits.

Vulnerable devices that might need to be reprogrammed include medical alert systems, PBX business phone systems, fax machines, alarms and security systems, voicemail services, and of course phone contact lists on cell phones.

The reason for the change is to make room for the National Suicide Prevention Line, which is 988. Some area codes have 988 as a local “prefix”, or first three numbers, so the addition of the area code is needed to distinguish the local numbers from the hotline.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland