Hamilton Reef
01-14-2006, 11:22 PM
DNR grant to help fund dock, boat launch
(Hart Lake, Oceana Co)
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1137237441325630.xml&coll=8
Saturday, January 14, 2006 By Sally DeFreitas CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
The Hart City Council Tuesday approved a grant agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for a new dock and boat launch on Hart Lake at John Gurney Park in 2007. The grant provides $1,700 for preliminary engineering studies and requires the city to provide matching funds.
Hart City Manager Stan Rickard said the earliest possible construction date would be fall 2006 and that working with state agencies makes it hard to predict a schedule.
Rickard said as soon as engineering studies are complete, the next step would be to submit a grant application for construction money by the April1 deadline.
"Then it will taken at least three months for that funding to be approved, which will put us into the middle of summer," Rickard said.
Rickard said the boat launch project was recommended by the power board to help fulfill requirements imposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission when the Hart Hydro Dam's license was renewed in 2003.
Rickard provided a memo from an October 2004 council meeting that verified the decision.
The power board had reviewed a list of possible improvements and targeted the boat launch ramp project, noting that the old ramp had fallen into disrepair and was not accessible to people with disabilities.
The October memo included a recommendation from the Grand Rapids-based engineering firm Prein and Newhof for an 18-foot launch ramp, removable skid pier and new access ramp, with all structures in compliance with the federal American with Disabilities Act.
At the firm's recommendation, the city is pursuing a DNR Waterways and Engineering Infrastructure Repair grant, which will pay 50 percent of engineering costs and 75 percent of the estimated $48,600 construction costs.
(Hart Lake, Oceana Co)
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1137237441325630.xml&coll=8
Saturday, January 14, 2006 By Sally DeFreitas CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
The Hart City Council Tuesday approved a grant agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for a new dock and boat launch on Hart Lake at John Gurney Park in 2007. The grant provides $1,700 for preliminary engineering studies and requires the city to provide matching funds.
Hart City Manager Stan Rickard said the earliest possible construction date would be fall 2006 and that working with state agencies makes it hard to predict a schedule.
Rickard said as soon as engineering studies are complete, the next step would be to submit a grant application for construction money by the April1 deadline.
"Then it will taken at least three months for that funding to be approved, which will put us into the middle of summer," Rickard said.
Rickard said the boat launch project was recommended by the power board to help fulfill requirements imposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission when the Hart Hydro Dam's license was renewed in 2003.
Rickard provided a memo from an October 2004 council meeting that verified the decision.
The power board had reviewed a list of possible improvements and targeted the boat launch ramp project, noting that the old ramp had fallen into disrepair and was not accessible to people with disabilities.
The October memo included a recommendation from the Grand Rapids-based engineering firm Prein and Newhof for an 18-foot launch ramp, removable skid pier and new access ramp, with all structures in compliance with the federal American with Disabilities Act.
At the firm's recommendation, the city is pursuing a DNR Waterways and Engineering Infrastructure Repair grant, which will pay 50 percent of engineering costs and 75 percent of the estimated $48,600 construction costs.