Posted on February 8, 2018
By John Matuszak, The Herald Palladium
For years residents of southern Berrien County have been swimming against the current to find a solution to severe beach erosion they blame on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Buffalo breakwall the agency built in 1975.
They warn that the erosion threatens not only private homes, but the beaches that generate tourism dollars, and even the area’s water pumping station, which residents say is “one storm away from falling into the lake.”
They may have found a lifeline amid the storm.
Last year, Berrien County Commissioner Ezra Scott, a New Buffalo resident representing District 9, made contact with high-level Washington D.C. officials about the crisis and arranged a meeting this month to address the issue.
“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Scott said of the discussions that started during a conference in August for Michigan county commissioners held at the White House.
“I’m not a politician, so I talk to anyone.”
Scott’s efforts have the potential to benefit the entire Great Lakes region, as well as his south county constituents.
“Ezra has worked tirelessly and has become the champion for getting this issue addressed and fixed,” said Ed Oldis, a board member of the New Buffalo Shoreline Alliance who has seen his lakeside property and that of his neighbors threatened by a disappearing beach and encroaching waves. “He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the work he has done.”
Oldis will accompany Scott, New Buffalo Mayor Lou O’Donnell, New Buffalo Township Supervisor Michelle Heit and others to the summit Feb. 22 to demand that the Army Corps of Engineers keep its promise to replenish the sand lost due to the construction of the breakwall at New Buffalo harbor.
That beach replacement was undertaken from 1975 to 1995, but was discontinued when the Army Corps explained it no longer had the money. Since then, beaches south of the breakwall have receded, while enough sand has accumulated north of the harbor to cover 35 football fields.
“All we’re asking is that the Army Corps do what it committed to do when the harbor went in,” Oldis said.
A fix won’t be cheap. A study by Edgewater Resources, paid for by homeowners, recommended the construction of 33 underwater breakwalls to stop and reverse the beach erosion, at a cost of $22 million, plus ongoing beach replacement.
They propose that boaters, hotels and other tourist-related businesses share the cost with homeowners, with the city of New Buffalo and New Buffalo Township establishing tax increment financing that would direct increased property taxes toward shoreline maintenance.
While in Washington, the contingent expects to meet and strategize with staff members of Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Fred Upton, who are staunch supporters of their quest.
“The continued destruction of this Michigan shoreline and the potential destruction of a public utility cannot be allowed,” Upton stated in a letter to the assistant secretary of the Army.
Over their heads
Until last summer, residents appeared to be treading water on the beach issue, but something big was about to break.
Michigan’s county commissioners were invited to the White House as part of President Trump’s effort to reach out to local government officials. Scott, elected in 2016, was accompanied by Berrien County Commissioners Teri Freehling, Debra Panozzo, Mamie Yarbrough, Don Meeks, Jim Curran and David Vollrath.
Scott said that while some Michigan commissioners were lining up for photo ops with cabinet officials, the Berrien group was asking questions and making contacts.
Scott started a conversation with Adam Killian, liaison to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and outlined the shoreline emergency taking place in his district, which includes New Buffalo, New Buffalo Township and Grand Beach.
Fifteen minutes later Scott received a cell phone call from the FEMA honcho asking for more information. He further spoke with Justin Clark, deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, described as “the front door” for local governments.
Scott forwarded Clark a copy of a deposition from the Army Corps of Engineers in which it admitted that building the harbor would take away sand from the south beach that would need to be replaced.
Ninety minutes later, while in the Treaty Room, Scott was approached by Clark, who asked him to step into the hallway and requested all the information available on the erosion matter.
That was a tall order, as Berrien residents had accumulated a 300-page binder of data. But Scott mailed the documents, and was assured they would make it to the president’s desk.
Even before the packet arrived, Scott was getting phone calls from some unexpected quarters. A person called from the Environmental Protection Agency and wanted to know how much water is pumped from the New Buffalo station, and to how many customers. The Department of the Interior phoned and asked if water from the station goes to the Four Winds Casino & Resort (it does).
Even the administrative assistant to the director of NASA chimed in, inquiring about what month and year the harbor breakwall was completed. When Scott asked why the space folks were interested, they said that their satellites fly over every day and that they could determine from photos how much sand had moved from the beach.
Scott continued his frequent contacts with Justin Clark and Billy Kirkland, deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, even using Clark’s personal cell phone number. He didn’t realize how big a fish he had landed until he told a liaison from Gov. Rick Snyder’s Washington office who he had been talking to.
“When I told him the phone went dead silent,” Scott said. “He said ‘You can’t just pick up the phone and call Justin Clark.’”
But that’s just what Scott had been doing.
Scott said he told Clark that between $250 million and $500 million in property was at risk because of the ongoing erosion.
“That got his attention,” Scott said.
The New Buffalo Shoreline Alliance estimates that property owners have suffered $7.5 million in losses from damage and repairs.
Finding a life line
A lot of hopes are riding on this month’s Washington pow wow, and Scott is confident that they could see results.
He said he has been told by different officials that it is unlikely the group would be called to D.C. just to be told no.
“They could do that in an email,” Scott reasoned.
Ted Grzywacz, president of the Shoreline Alliance, said he hopes to “walk away from the meeting with the beginning of a solution” to a problem he emphasized is “getting worse by the day.”
He praised Scott as “an unbelievable asset to our organization.”
The efforts could have a ripple effect throughout the Great Lakes.
Scott said their proposal has the backing of about 20 members of the U.S. House and senators from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and New York – Great Lakes states facing the same problems.
Whatever the outcome, local representatives have made valuable contacts in the nation’s capital.
Scott said that two weeks ago he learned that the White House has established an Office for Intergovernmental Affairs to act as a liaison between the Army Corps of Engineers and local governments across the country.
The county commissioner acknowledged that President Trump and his aides could be currying favor with Great Lakes states that could be important in elections in 2018 and 2020, but he said he doesn’t care if there is a political motivation.
“I just want the problem fixed,” Scott said.
Source: The Herald-Palladium
