The new mayor's plan for the bay front area and his plan to pay for it.
By Diana Fairbanks
Monday, November 16, 2009 at 4:02 p.m.
Read more: Local, Politics, Economy, Community, Bzdok, Traverse City, Waterfront, Diana Fairbanks, Fact Finder, Your Bay Your Say, Fact Finder
People from across the region and around the country visit Traverse City's waterfront. And it has come a long way from when it was home to industry and power plants.
But Traverse City's new mayor is proposing big changes to the bay front that come with a big price tag.
The details are tonight's Fact Finder Report.
It's about a mile stretch of land along West Grand Traverse Bay. There's not much there but beach, open space, and what's left of the former zoo.
But Traverse City's new mayor is asking if it could be something more.
Chris Bzdok says, "Do you want the waterfront to sit empty here, the zoo sit empty, or do you want things to do here now?"
While he says all ideas are on the table, he does have a starting point. The "Your Bay Your Say" project that was several years in the making with final plans presented in 2007
Bzdok says, "It seems people, for years have wanted things to do down here, so that's an important part of the proposal as well. The safe crossing of the highway, enhancements to the beach areas, a central park on the zoo and leaving the open space open for views and throwing the Frisbee, that sort of thing."
But making those changes will mean spending some money. Bzdok is proposing up to three million dollars. And he's suggesting it come from the city's Brownbridge Trust Fund. A 12 million dollar fund from oil and gas revenues on city owned property.
Bzdok says, "It is a responsible use of money because we're not raising anybody's taxes, we're not talking about millages. We're talking about using an asset set aside for recreational purposes on recreational amenities that have been planned for 4-5 years."
And while some people say we should be careful with our money in this economy, Bzdok says now is actually a good time to invest in a project like this because he says the dollar can go a lot farther now than it might in the future. But he says there's a more important reason to move forward with this project now.
Bzdok says, "I think now is the time because we face a choice. we can nibble away at this for 10-15-20 years and everybody in the city that has kids can see their kids in college before it's done and essentially the next generation can enjoy these amenities that are called for or we can say we have assets we want to invest in them in amenities for the people of the city and visitors to the city and we want that now."
Bzdok says, "This property here is arguably the most valuable per square foot property that we have in the city and it's being used for storage right now and not much else. There are lots of things that could be done and there are a lot of things people can do down here."
Many people outside of Traverse City use this area and would be impacted by any changes, but because this proposal involves Brownbridge trust fund money, it's up to Traverse City voters to approve it. Bzdok expects the earliest it could be on the ballot would be in August.
But you can weigh in on the idea now. What do you think about the plan?
Leave your comments below.
Click here to read the "Your Bay Your Say" proposal.
