Frankenlust files lawsuit to stop construction of site to pile river muck

Thursday, September 15, 2005 By Jeff Kart Bay City Times Writer

Frankenlust Township is seeking a court injunction to stop Saginaw County from constructing a facility for Saginaw River dredgings.

But County Public Works Commissioner James Koski said he hopes to avoid a court battle. He plans to meet with Township Supervisor Hilda Dijak this morning to talk about having the township withdraw the civil complaint, filed in Bay County Circuit Court this week.

Both sides sounded in disagreement on Wednesday, however.

Saginaw County has acquired land in Frankenlust and Zilwaukee townships for a Dredged Material Disposal Facility to hold 20 years worth of river mud. The county, working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, wants to dredge the river's navigational channel, from Bay City south to Saginaw.

Koski said construction is to start next month on the facility. The $5 million project, to acquire the land and build the facility, is funded by federal, state, county and private sources.

"If the money goes away and the river closes, we can talk to the people who stopped it," Koski quipped.

Frankenlust Township officials contend that 165.3 acres of property in the township that the county has acquired for the facility is zoned as a "Wetlands Conservation District," which does not allow for building such a facility.

Dijak said the township notified the county more than a year ago that it needed to apply for a special use permit or make a rezoning request. But the county hasn't gone through the process, she said.

"If I make Joe Schmoe do it because he's a developer and I don't make Saginaw County do it, isn't that a little bit unfair?" Dijak said.

Koski said the land has been farmed since the 1930s and he believes it's improperly zoned.

The township board voted by resolution to file the complaint. The township is seeking an injunctive order from the court prohibiting the county from constructing the facility.

"We need some assurances that we're not later on hung with the liability," Dijak said.

Koski said he's offered to do baseline environmental assessments of any adjacent land. "Then if there's contamination, we will be responsible for it," he said.

Besides the Frankenlust complaint, an environmental group called Citizens Against Toxic Substances is contesting a state floodplain development permit issued to Saginaw County for the project.

But Koski said the permit issue isn't over construction, so the Army Corps and county are moving forward with the project and picking a general contractor.

No court date has been scheduled for the Frankenlust case, which has been assigned to Judge Lawrence Bielawski.
 

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