Update: The Elberta Beach Project
Is underway. New info below the divider line below.
Well, I just found out today, via Instagram, that the Elberta Beach Project started last Friday.
No heads-up from the project manager (Fleis & Vandenbrink), or from our Village President Jen Wilkins, who, to be fair, didn’t find out they were starting until last week herself, she said. DPW also didn’t know until Justin was called down by AJ’s last week.
This grant-funded project has been in the works for about five years. It was thrown off course by the pandemic and by inflation after the pandemic, which caused it to be reduced in scope; it’s been a topic of conversation at council meetings, and we knew it was going to start this spring. Still, I would have loved to have been able to let you all know before the ground was actually broken.
A preconstruction meeting was held March 15 and at that time, the exact timeline and even the name of the foreman were not finalized, according to Wilkins.
I posted the project plan on the Village website in October 2023 (a selection of photos from that plan are below). It calls for an expanded parking area beyond the houses, barriers to keep offroading from occurring, and plumbed bathrooms where the old defunct restrooms used to be. It’s possible that the scope of work has changed, but I guess I wouldn’t know, because I haven’t seen a recent plan.
Most of the funding comes from a grant from the DNR, and some came from Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. I am told that Critical Dune Act guidelines will be followed and disruption to the ecosystem will be kept to a minimum. Sure hope so.
2 p.m. 4/10/24: I just spoke with Ken Mlcek, of Fleis & Vandenbrink. A rough timeline for the project was established at the preconstruction meeting, with work set tentatively to begin about April 1. It was tentative, he said, because of wave activity. The weather has just recently gotten favorable, so work began.
Mlcek says most of the earth-moving work will be done by Memorial Day. The timeline for the pavilion and restrooms and boardwalk structures are dependent on the manufacturer and materials availability. Fleis and (I guess) the Village (aka Wilkins) have not yet reviewed and approved the restroom building. These structures will be installed as they become available through the summer. Dune grass will be (re)planted in the fall, which is botanically appropriate, Mlcek said.
The scope of work has not changed since the plan below, per Mlcek, so what you see there is what we’ll get.
Mlcek himself is supervising the project and will be onsite once or twice a week. He says he’ll update me as things go.
