Keep It Wild - Keep It Whole - Make It Grow
From Alison and David Swan

Current Status of the Land Swap Applications
   The City of Holland and Laketown Township continue to pursue Saugatuck Dunes State Park as a location for a regional water plant. The DNR's initial opinions on the Holland proposal, made public by the Holland Sentinel, are negative. They have not, however, culminated in a letter from the new Parks Chief (See below) advising that Holland's application be rejected. Holland, according to the DNR, is investigating bore technology (to lay the pipeline) which, in our opinion, does not address the problem of the pumphouse, access road or treatment plant. In April, the former Parks Chief advised rejection of the Laketown proposal. However, Laketown asked for and received time to revise that proposal. The DNR granted this request and awaits a new proposal from Laketown.

New Parks Chief at the DNR. Rod Stokes, Friend of the Park, Has Retired
   Rod Stokes has retired--yes, the one who wrote the powerful April 11 letter defending the park against the water plants. The new acting chief, Vicki Anthes, needs to hear from us. Write or call:

     Vicki Anthes, Acting Chief Parks and Recreation Bureau
     Lowen Schuett, Assistant Chief Parks and Recreation Bureau
     Department of Natural Resources
     P. O. Box 30028
     Lansing, MI 48909
     (517) 373-9900

Tell Holland, Laketown, and Allegan County to Respect the Sovereignty of the Park
   The City of Holland (Call City Manager Soren Wolf and Mayor Al McGeehan at (616-355-1301), Laketown Township (Call Township Manager Al Meshkin and Laketown Township Building Authority President Robert Scanlan at 616-335-3050), and the Allegan Board of Commissioners (616-673-0205) need a new wave of letters and phone calls asking them to back off and go elsewhere for water. You'll find contact info on our Government Contacts page.

   If you want more detailed info on who's who, email or phone David Swan (616-857-8234). If you don't have access to email, phone us or write: P.O. Box 1136, Saugatuck, MI 49453.

Use Your BPW Bills to Let Holland Know What You Think
   One of our members wrote: "A thought occurred to me while making out a check for my utilities to Holland's BPW. What if everyone who sends their utility invoice and check back to their energy provider wrote a small message on the invoice: 'Please do not build any part of a water plant inside Saugatuck Dunes State Park.' The beauty of this idea is you could do it once a month, everyone could do it (e-mail or no), and the message would certainly go up from the accounts receivable dept. to the top." Great idea! Pass it on!

Return to Concerned Citizens for Saugatuck Dunes State Park Resources & Reference page.

www.SaugatuckDunes.org