Politics & Government

Atwater Bluff Restoration Starts This Spring

Continuing ongoing efforts to combat erosion and shifting land on the bluff overlooking Atwater Beach, village officials approved a $24,995 contract Monday for restoration work.

Continuing its ongoing efforts to combat erosion and shifting land on the bluff overlooking Atwater Beach, the Village Board approved a $24,995 contract Monday for restoration work.

The village spent nearly $1 million for work over the summer in 2011 to stabilize the bluff after torrential rains caused severe erosion. An access road for service and emergency vehicles and boardwalk were also built during the work.

This spring, Marek Landscaping, the contractor hired by the village, will do maintenance, including invasive plant species management, on portions of the bluff where work occurred in 2011 and further grow the dune grasses introduced at the base of the bluff, two years ago. Marek will also manage public tours to be offered this summer. 

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 from the Fund for Lake Michigan. The village will pull from $15,000 in budgeted monies to fund the difference. 

The Fund for Lake Michigan seeks projects that focus on habitat preservation and restoration and reducing pollutants in the watersheds of Southeastern Wisconsin.

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The new bluff work is the start of a larger, five-year native costal dune/beach, wetland and upland restoration project, aimed at restoring habitat, increasing bio-diversity and improving water quality.

Trustee Jeff Hanewall said there are portions of the bluff that weren't addressed in 2011 — because other areas required immediate attention — but over the long-term project, restoration work will occur on those portions. Over the long-term project, the village will likely have to devote approximately $25,000 a year. 

"It is probably going to be about five years before we cover and really have a good handle on all areas of the bluff," he said. 

If the village wants to keep up, and eventually defeat, the invasive species that could threaten the stability of the bluff, they need to complete the long-term project, trustees said. 

"You have to keep up with controlling the invasive weeds," Trustee Ellen Eckman said. "You have to keep going after them each year until they don't produce anymore seeds."

The village did not bid out this year's contract, but officials said they might look into that in future years, especially with the grant being a one-year deal, not guaranteed past 2013.


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