In 2012, Sheboygan Beaches were named by iVillage.com as one of The Best Beaches for Families in the world and a Best Midwest Beach by the Travel Channel. When the winds are up the waters off of north beach are home to some of the best fresh water surfing and has led to Sheboygan’s reputation as the Malibu of the Midwest, south beach is the favorite location for wind surfers.
One of the desirable beach activities for Sheboygan residents is to have a campfire on the beach with family and friends. Public Works, the fire department and volunteers have worked hard to provide several fire pit rings for public use on the beaches of Lake Michigan since 2010. After closely monitoring the rings the last two years, it has been determined that even with the guidelines that are in place, there is an abundance of violations related to this activity.
Since August 9th the Public Works Committee, City Council, Board of Marina Parks and Forestry and concerned citizens have discussed the elimination of beach campfires except for the fourth of July or permitted bonfires. The document to make this change is currently being held by the Board of Marina Parks and Forestry. They are waiting to see if volunteers will come forward to assist the city to see that campfires are cleaned up on a daily basis. If there is an organized group of volunteers willing to assist the city with the cleanup of the beach campfires the Board may recommend that the beach campfires are allowed to continue.
The committee also discussed the three factors that need to be addressed if campfires are allowed to continue: the enforcement of the ordinance, cleanup of the fire rings and which city department is responsible for overseeing the fire ring program. Citizens interested in adopting a beach fire ring should contact Park Superintendent Joe Kerlin at the Department of Public Works, 920-459-3440, joe.kerlin@sheboyganwi.gov.The Board’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Public Works Committee and then it is expected to come back to the City Council for final approval at the November 21st meeting of the City Council.
The City received a $239,000 beach restoration grant from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year to do green infrastructure projects at King Park and Deland Park. Our Sheboygan beaches are slated for upgrades aimed at improving accessibility to Lake Michigan, improve the filtering storm water runoff from neighboring streets into Lake Michigan and reducing the amount of sand that is blown off the beach and clogs up the storm sewer pipes.
The project will add dune grass and other vegetation at storm water outfalls in King and Deland parks, which will naturally retain and filter water before it enters the lake. Currently, rainwater flows freely from storm sewers into the lake. New sand berms will be constructed to provide a natural barrier that will prevent sand from blowing off the beach and into nearby streets, sewers and grass, which creates additional maintenance issues for the City crews.