Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
Ironwood — Plans to repair the boat launch on Lake Superior at Little Girl’s Point were discussed Thursday by the Western Upper Peninsula Citizens Advisory Council.
The work is scheduled to begin Monday, according to Doug Rich, western Upper Peninsula Department of Natural Resources parks and recreation supervisor.
It’s hoped the short-term project can be completed by the end of June because Saxon Harbor and Black River Harbor boat landings are also closed in a summer that is shaping up as a nightmare for area boaters.
The mouth of the Oman’s Creek will be rebuilt following the flash flood of July of 2016 that destroyed the Saxon Harbor marinas.
A total of $140,000 is being provided from a Waterways Capital Outlay Fund.
The west side of Oman’s Creek will be “armored” with boulders the size of Volkswagens by Angelo Luppino Construction, of Iron Belt, Wis., according to Rich.
The goal of the project over the next six weeks will be to rebuild the boat launch area to pre-storm conditions. That will mean dredging after debris is removed from the site.
On the long-range basis, a groin that could cost $2 million is still planned to be built into the lake.
Rich said $40,000 a year has been allocated for dredging at the creek, with the MDNR partnering with the Gogebic County Forestry and Parks Department.
Boat enthusiasts and Little Girl’s Point residents attending the meeting offered input and suggested the dredging be more flexible, so if there is more than one storm in a week, the creek launch won’t be shut down for many days.
Eric Oman suggested fill be placed where the boulders will be situated, so boats won’t be damaged by crashing into the rocks.
Rich said 90 percent of the groin project, planned to prevent erosion, has been designed.
One Point resident said he has been waiting for 60 years for a viable solution to the creek erosion problem. A Point resident said in the past it gets to the point where planning requires big dollar expenditures and the talk then ends.
One resident praised the DNR for its recent efforts. Rich said that included a brainstorming session of 45 people at the Little Girl’s Point County Park last October.