Marquette Harbor Committee targets Cinder Pond Marina

A group in Marquette is working hard to protect the future of the city’s harbors.

With the renovation of the Presque Isle Marina well underway, the City of Marquette Harbor Advisory Committee is looking to help fund future repairs to maritime venue. Their attention has shifted a policy that will be brought before the City Commission regarding the allocation of funds for the upkeep of the Cinder Pond Marina.

“I think our biggest goal with that is to try to make sure some money and some funds are put aside for any significant replacement issues that might come up in the future,” committee chair Bob Frazee said. “As a lot of people know, we’ve had some significant damage and significant replacement with the Presque Isle Marina, and in doing that we’ve had to look at state funding as well as the city matching half the funding, and it’s become quite a very expensive project.”

The committee is hoping it can proactively fund items like floating docks, which will eventually need replacing regardless of preventative maintenance. One additional concern for Cinder Pond has been this year’s harsh winter.

“We do have some concern with some increased damage, I guess you’d say, from the amount of icing that’s going on in the Cinder Pond Marina right now,” Frazee added. “We probably won’t have a realistic idea of how much more damage has been done this year from the ice than in the past until the spring.”

A similar policy for the Presque Isle Marina will also be considered in the long term. The committee plans to complete the second phase of the marina’s restoration, which involves replacing its boat launch and the adjacent parking lot area, by the spring of 2015.