celery pond

In one of the most intriguing events at City Hall to date, a special Council meeting convened last night in a round table discussion.  Along with all Council members present were the Parks Commissioners, the Harbor Commissioners and the public.  All were invited to comment on the proposed Steelheaders efforts to seek Great Lakes Fisheries grant monies for a steelwall and ten and a half foot cement walkway on the edge of the new linear park area (behind the old DPW building off Dunkley Avenue).

This unique event was a cohesive way to determine how to proceed.  It was finally decided to postpone such a push effort to reach a grant application on September 8th in order to explore other possible grant sources as well as asking the whole community to begin to share a vision of what might be in this new space of green.

The Celery Pond Advocates presented 8 slides of power point pictures to show what we’d recommend.  One major recommendation was to keep the floodplain open and with the present green space available on the site.

We strongly urged Council and the Commissioners to consider a more natural encasement or a lower stone encasement for the riverfront along with a natural gravel path - which would still qualify for handicap accessible requirements.

The resolution of Councilwoman, Suzie Fitzgibbon, appealed to both the Steelheaders and Celery Pond Advocates to work together to come forward with alternative ideas.  The resolution was seconded and approved.  It was suggested that along with this collaborative effort, the whole community be invited to come forward to create a community planning process while working with all present in the round table officials.

What a dynamic and new way for us to explore what community living can be.  We applaud all parties for another segue of action and involvement.

There will be a special City Council meeting this Monday, August 31st, at 6pm at City Hall.  The subject is whether or not the City should apply for a seawall grant from the Great Lakes Fisheries to meet the September 8th, 2009 deadline.

Debate will be open to the public, the Harbor Commissioners and Parks Commissioners to allow Council to gather more input on what is appropriate action.

About one month ago (July 20th) this idea was informally introduced in a council workshop by the Steelheaders, a local nonprofit group. The seawall grant proposal was on the Council program on August 17th.  In a deadlock vote, with one council person absent, it was decided to seek more input.

Please come and let your voice be heard.  Should a rigid seawall be sought or a curved stone wall embankment or should other such ideas be pursued?  Should we work together to develop a plan for this new linear park?  Or should the grant be sought and then look at these issues?

Celery Pond Advocates would recommend keeping the green space and more natural shoreline so that the floodplains can operate as best they can.  There is general consensus among the group that more time is needed to coordinate all the needs and issues of the new layout of the linear park - we’d like to contribute ideas as a conservancy working with the Parks Department.

Monday, August 31st, 6pm….come with your ideas or email your council delegate.

The Celery Pond Advocates is organizing a get-together on Friday, August 28th, from 5-7pm to share their continuing support to preserve and enhance the public lands of the Celery Pond area.  We invite Celery Pond members and supporters, along with members of all area clubs to join us.  During the event we’ll discuss what we can do together as a community to blend art and nature in the areas around Celery Pond.

With the recent parkland added to the City of South Haven within the Celery Pond/Dunkley Redevelopment area, the CPA will be exploring avenues of gifts to the City for these areas.

A sculpture by Marian Anderson, a renowned local sculptor, is one of the works being considered.  We will also be raising monies and accepting offers of in-kind services to beautify the area around the proposed installation, as well as raising monies to contribute signage about Celery Pond Wetland to the City.

Join us at the lovely country home of Arthur Frederick, owner of Button-Petter Gallery, and building contractor Mark VanderLeek, just north of Glenn.  See how art and nature come together in a home and natural environment of shady woods, wetland and lake: something to inspire everyone.

Tickets are $35 (of which $25 is tax deductible).  The tickets can be purchased at Wolverine Hardware (420 Phoenix Street) and Whimsy (415 Phoenix Street).   Come join us for wonderful hors d’oeuvres by Suzie Blair and complimentary wine.

(To reserve tickets, please call 269-637-1491, if you are unable to pick up the tickets at the two locations mentioned. ) (Directions will be given with ticket purchase.)

Thirty-nine people attended the Two Rivers Coalition event on Saturday, August 1st.  Everyone was made aware of the importance of conservation of clean waters, along with the risks of overdevelopment in the Black River and Paw Paw River watersheds.

Dave Forrester, head of the 501 (c) 3 organization, heralded this first year’s effort to host such a public event.  It was a successful day, bringing like-minded people together to kayak, walk and enjoy a picnic in Stanley Johnston Park.

Further on the progress of the linear park proposal in the Dunkley Street area near Celery Pond, another round of city meetings brought the Council to a laborious decision.

Rather than readily giving approval to the five parcels of the lands on Black River, including the old DPW building, the ordinance was amended.  The proposed 1.89 acres for a linear park for the people was reduced down to a singular waterfront strip of .48 acres.

Of the 37 acres of public lands which are in public hands, gaining a half-acre of land for the parks department, after over 5 years of people asking to hold their lands, seems disappointing:  a baby step to indicate that the lawmakers are listening to their constituents.

We can only hope that the Council will respond to all the people who have been asking for so long, for more lands to be included in the parks system in that area at a later date.

We encourage the Council to reconsider this new linear park to eventually include the two side arm flanks of lands, C2 and C1 and eventually the entire parcel of DPW footprint land, D1.  Meanwhile, having the riverfront secure for the public, at least at this date, seems something of measure.

Saturday, August 1st, the Two Rivers Coalition will be hosting an event in South Haven, meeting at the Michigan Maritime Museum from 10am to 3pm.

All Celery Pond Advocates - please plan to come.  This organization is working to protect and preserve the beauty and clean waters of Black River and Paw Paw River.

To endorse our support of the event and over-all project, I’ve agreed to host a walk around the riverbanks and wetland starting around 10:30am.  The main location will be busy with social events from 1 - 3pm.

Come and join in the exercise and fun.  Kayaking and canoeing will be open for all during this time, along with pertinent lectures and information.

On July 6th, 2009,  Sandra Tyrrell (Vice President and Secretary of CPA) and I addressed the City Council during their workshop.

We offered our organization’s support for the proposed linear park in the 5 parcels of land within the Dunkley Redevelopment area (B1, B2, C1, C2 and D on the city website).  Ten pictures of a waterfront park of similar size which was created by the late Frederick Franck in Warwick, NY, were shown with his many sculptures integrating art, man and nature, in order to give visual possibilities to the Council of what could be done in South Haven.

We encouraged Council to include all five parcels of public lands into the parks system.  They could make the true wetland park for the public as they give entrance to the flow of Black River into and out of the wetland.

We proposed a possible renovation of the DPW building, much like Frederick Franck did with an old abandoned watermill building across the river from his home.  After being in Africa working with alongside Albert Schweitzer, Franck decided that by reinventing the eyesore into something beautiful for everyone to use was what he had to do.

He and a couple others took out 1200 wheel barrows of debris, put on a new wooden roof, added a unique hand carved wooden door and stained glass windows - all on a shoestring budget.  When finished, it evolved into a performing arts center, used for chamber music performances, poetry readings and short dramas.

If the current DPW building were so revitalized, it could allow for meetings year round; it could also include an indoor wetland classroom for adults and their children.  Monies could be made by leasing parts of the building to a restaurant or gift shop.  Since these require parking, the whole triangle of lands would need to be put into the parks system to explore the idea completely.

Celery Pond Advocates would be happy to contribute signage for such a wetland park, working with the city to set up a wetland classroom outdoors and even indoors.  We would also consider donating a piece of sculpture to enhance the beauty of the riverside, combining art and nature.

The Council later voted to move ahead on the linear park plans.  After a lengthy discussion, the City Council gave approval for the city staff to create legal descriptions for several parcels of city-owned land off Dunkley.  The Council asked for the description to also include leasing possibilites for commercial use within the potential park lands.