By Mary Drier (Contact / Staff Bio)
January 3, 2009 - 12:10 p.m. EST

SEBEWAING — With the Sebewaing River dredging project nearly complete, the community is looking forward to the new year with enhanced recreational opportunities.

The Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) approved dredging about 3,200 feet of the river to a span of 50 feet wide.

“The Army Corps of Engineers awarded the dredging contract to MCM Marine, of Sault St. Marie, but some of the work was subcontracted to Bieri Excavating of Caseville,” said Sebewaing Harbor Commission Chair Chris Bolzman.

“They did as much of the work that they could, and the Army Corps of Engineers was to finish the rest. They didn’t make it back up this fall, but they are supposed to be back this spring to finish,” he added.

The dredging is about a $460,000 project which was primarily paid for by ACOE funds.

The channel that serves the marina is about three miles long, and in some places is only about two feet deep.

“Back last fall (2007), a two-mile section of the river was dredged out where it was the worst, but sediment started coming back,” said Bolzman. “This work will take care of that, and should for years to come.

“Before the work was done, it was real tough for boats to get out. Once this is all done, it will take care of the problem and be a big help to the marina.”

A complete dredging should last eight to ten years.

“It’s been eight to nine years since it was done, so we were due,” Bolzman said.

It was the state’s idea to build the marina in Sebewaing. In the early 1990s, the DNR provided a large part of funding towards construction of the $3 million, 24-acre marina. The marina has 125 slips, because the state wanted additional seasonal slips on public land and an area of refuge for boaters.

Initially, the marina was to have operated as a private venture, but because of finances, Sebewaing Village and Sebewaing Township bought the marina back in 2003 from the people who had been operating it.

Each municipality contributes funds for the marina’s operations, and the Sebewaing Harbor Commission oversees it.

Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.