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Two Rivers investigating EPA grant

Marcus Nesemann
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The City of Two Rivers is preparing to apply for grant dollars from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Lake Michigan.

Neshotah Park swimming, jet skiing, picnic tables sign in Two Rivers.

City Manager Greg Buckley on Monday, Jan. 4, informed the City Council the city received a notice from the EPA regarding the availability of the grant money.

"(We received communications) regarding the possible availability of some Great Lakes Restoration Initiative dollars for projects at Neshotah Beach ... as it relates to water quality, stormwater management and that sort of thing," Buckley said. "The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is something the Obama administration has made a priority, and Congress has seen fit to fund. It's something we need to be mindful of."

Council President Brad Yaggie said "there have been discussion of some possible projects" the grant could help fund.

Expanding on that, Buckley said stormwater runoff would be a priority.

"We're certainly mindful of the impact stormwater runoff has on water quality at the beach," Buckley said.

The grant application has a deadline of Feb. 29, "so be assured we'll be engaging on that and we'll be reporting back to the council on what we propose to do there," Buckley said.

A more in-depth plan related to applying for the grant and possible projects the money could be used for will be brought before the council at a future meeting.

Strategic planning sessions

The city is also preparing to hold two special strategic planning sessions to review and update the city's comprehensive plan, harbor master plan and waterfront master plan.

It was originally reported those meetings would be held in February and March.

Instead, those meetings will take place at 6 p.m., Jan. 25 and Feb. 22.

"We'll be looking at our implementation priorities that were identified out of (the comprehensive) plan, which dates back to 2010, so it's going on six years old," Buckley said. The harbor master plan was adopted in 2013 and the waterfront master plan was adopted in 1999.

The sessions will include a comprehensive review of the documents, with a focus on "community development," Buckley said.

The meetings will be open to the public and will be in City Hall.

Copies of the documents can be found at www.two-rivers.org.

Reach Marcus Nesemann at 920-242-4866 or mnesemann@gannett.com.