By Chad Pelishek, Director of Planning and Development
It is hard to believe, but the 4th of July is right around the corner. As we approach the summer swimming season, city staff wants to remind residents and visitors about the enhancements to the north and south beaches. In the fall of 2016, a beach restoration project funded with the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative federal grant funds concluded. This project addressed two main concerns on our beaches. The large storm sewer outfall at the end of Michigan Avenue at the north beach was retrofitted and a berm was created at the end of the discharge to allow storm water runoff to infiltrate into the sand, purify the water, and penetrate into Lake Michigan. The purpose of this project was to eliminate the direct discharge of storm water into Lake Michigan and to stop the pooling of water.
The second project at both the north and south beaches was to harvest sand that had been washed into the water and place it back on shore. After the sand was placed, beach grasses were planted to stabilize the shore as well as once they are established to cut down on the amount of sand that blows when the winds are from the east/northeast.
Residents have been asking what the snow fences represent and whether they will stay for the 4th of July. Yes, the snow fences will be staying up as long as it takes to get the beach grasses established. Therefore, we ask the general public and beach goers to respect the fencing for this summer and then after this summer, the grasses should be established enough that they will be able to handle people walking through them.
Residents have also expressed concerns that they have lived here a lot of years and have never seen grass growing on the beach. A thriving beach includes beach grass to respond to constantly shifting sands. Without beach grass present, the beach is unstable and subject to the ravages of the wind and water. The City has a similar program with beach grass stabilizing the beach along the Blue Harbor. The location of the beach grasses were chosen to have the most impact to stabilizing the beach reducing sand from blowing but still providing the pristine areas for beachfront activities. Please respect the efforts to protect our beaches as you attend beachfront activities including the 4th of July festivities.
Similar to other years, Visit Sheboygan, Inc. in partnership with City staff will be coordinating the City’s 4th of July festivities. The Wisconsin Bank and Trust parade starts at 9 am at N. 8th Street and Center Avenue. The parade route is N. 8th Street to Michigan Avenue to Broughton Drive. The Johnsonville Big Bang Celebration starts at 11 am at Deland Park with music, food, bouncy houses, waterfront activities, and is free to the public. The Festival Foods fireworks show begins at 9:30 pm from South Pier. There will be other activities at South Pier and Fountain Park.
Also, the City staff is asking for your help in shaping the City of Sheboygan by taking our annual Community Survey. We value the opinions and ideas of our residents. We use your feedback to help determine how well we are doing meeting the goals you have helped establish in the Strategic Plan. Your comments will provide the tools we need to improve and advance our city. The survey consists of ten questions and takes approximately ten minutes to complete. The survey is available at tinyurl.com/ya5kpeg5