Partnership Project holds meeting
On March 18th, 2003 the Beaver Island Partnership Project held another meeting, attended by 11 members including Shirley Roloff (County Commissioner), Don Schneider (undersheriff), Rod Cortright (MSU extension), and Jim Haveman (Conservation Resource Alliance) from off the Island. Much of the meeting was taken up by reports from members, primarily Pete LoDico, who talked about the Housing Commission's narrowing of their focus, and Bill Cashman, who discussed the Historical Society's decision to try to make its Oral History project self-supporting.
The Partners had written a letter to the District Fisheries Biologist to ask that 30 to 50,000 of the State's 300,000 Chinook salmon fingerlings be released in Beaver Island's harbor. Shirley Roloff mentioned that there was a down side to this program, judging from how it went in Charlevoix. “If the conditions aren't right, they'll die,” she stated. “We had the banks of the river cluttered with dead fish.”
The subcommittee concerned with promoting eco-friendly tourism, particularly in the off season, presented a rough draft of a list of viable businesses that might be sought and encouraged. Rod Cortright suggested that a team from MSU's Tourism Resources program might be induced to come to Beaver Island in the middle of May, look the Island over during the first day, and then conduct a public meeting in the evening before meeting with the Partners the next day. Another person who might come over at this time is Tom Bailey of the Nature Conservancy, who might hold a seminar on the complexities of creating conservation easements on private land.
Plans are afoot for Charlevoix County to lease space in the Medical Center for a bunk room, office, and holding cell. A question was raised: “If you have this additional space, will we see more of the State Police?” Those who have grown used to our friendly deputies find the State Police to be somewhat arrogant by comparison. The answer: “You'll probably see them less, because of all the budget cut-backs. But they'll be here for Homecoming at least.”
The Real Beacon:
Search the Beaver Beacon Web Site & Archive:
|
