Cara had Pat McGinnis from the City of Grand Haven as a visitor from the GH Rotary. They promoted the 2020 City Banner Program for this year. If you are interested in celebrating a local veteran or someone currently serving in any branch of the US Military, reach out to Cara or email Pat at pmiginnis@grandhaven.org
Rotary’s Adopt-A-Highway Clean Up is July 23rd @ 6pm. Meet at the Holiday Inn.
3/13/2020 Ed Grafton Michael Flanagan ICE Assistant Special Agent 3/20/2020 Gary Garlach Ed Grafton Bow Tie Interview 3/27/2020 Kevin Green Renee Denslow Bluebird Cancer Retreats 4/3/2020 No Meeting. Spring Break
Spring Lake Rotary Club Scribe Report – Friday, March 6th 2020
Presentation – Nick Bonstell with Ottawa County Emergency Management
“County High Water Issues”
The Ottawa County collaborates with federal, state, and other local agencies when it comes to Emergency Management
There is a County Emergency Operations Center and a partially staffed State Operations currently. As of last week, the State Office was partially staffed due to the Coronavirus but they probably have more people staffed now.
When it comes to declaring a county state of emergency, the falls onto the plate of the Chair of the County Commissioners. That is currently Roger Bergman – former mayor of Grand Haven.
High water = Erosion. They are related and not separate problems.
Nick’s office talks to the National Weather Service almost daily
The last 10 years have been much wetter than normal
We’ve had the wettest 1 year period, wettest 3 year period, and wettest 5 year period on record in 120 years
We’ve gone from a record low point in 2013 to a record high point within 5 years
From 1999 to 2020 – there has been nothing but a major increase of precipitation
The latest forecast from the Army Core of Engineers from January to July looks a lot better than it did about a month ago. Not a lot of rain or snow this winter has helped a lot.
We are looking at an unknow range of 0-3 feet of water level increase. Right now the extreme looks to be more like 6-8 inches and 4-6 inches likely
The unknown factor is how much rain we will get this spring
The damage of the Lakeshore was much worse this year because the lake didn’t freeze over like it usually does. The ice cover usually protects the lakeshore from the huge waves that weather systems bring
30,000 un-filled sand bags have been delivered to 11 partner locations in preparation of water level increases. They are in undisclosed locations so that those who report issues will be notified of where they can pick up and fill sand bags
Properties that have been impacted due to erosion: 7 have been voluntarily demolished, 8 properties moved to new foundations, and 22 are currently within the danger zone
If you haven’t already, please go to Smart911.com to create a profile so that emergency personnel has more information upfront about you and your property