Council approves wetlands grant application

PORT CLINTON - City officials want to get the ball rolling on a $1.2 million project to wipe out phragmites — an invasive species of tall reeds — and restore several acres of native wetlands by a popular walking area near Lake Erie.

Port Clinton City Council on Tuesday approved a $352,325 grant application to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the project.

The city's Lakefront Coastal Wetlands Restoration Project would restore about 12 acres of wetlands in an area west of Derby Pond near Ohio 163. Some of the wetlands are in the lake, said Mayor Hugh Wheeler.

Cuoncilman Gabe Below said the restoration would help the flow of water to and from the lake and clear out the invasive phragmites that block the view of a walking path through the area used by residents.

"I'm sure a lot of folks are out there (on the path)," Below said.

Tracy Colston, the city's safety service director, said the city is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Buffalo office on the project. He said the grant would represent the city's portion of the project funding, with the Army Corps covering the remaining costs of the $1.2 million project.

Colston said the project includes invasive plant species removal, revegetation and wetlands expansion.

"The lake is something we're trying to protect," Colston said, noting that the restoration goes hand-in-hand with the city's sewer and infrastructure projects downtown.

Colston said the Ohio EPA's program — the Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program — is the same one the city of Fremont used to fund part of its Ballville Dam removal project.

Wheeler said the city should find out by November if it was awarded the state grant. If the funding is in place, the project could start by the fall of 2018, the mayor said.

He said there were several residents on Perry Street that wrote letters of support for the restoration project.

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