County scores key grant for nature preserve

Plans to purchase 135 lakefront acres in the City of Port Washington for the proposed Clay Bluff Cedar Gorge Nature Preserve moved an incremental step closer to reality on April 29 when Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Department Director Andrew Struck announced the county has been awarded $538,290 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetland Conservation Program to help finance the purchase of the land.

The County Board approved accepting the grant Wednesday, May 5. 

Struck called receipt of the “highly competitive national grant” a huge win for Ozaukee County.

“We’re very excited,” he said. “We did well. It gets us a lot closer.”

The purchase will also be funded by $200,000 in county funds and a portion of the tentatively-awarded $1.1 million Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grant applied for by the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, which would purchase the property and then deed it to Ozaukee County, like it did with nearby Lions Den Gorge Nature Preserve.

“We’re definitely more than half of the way there,” Struck said of fundraising efforts, adding he is waiting to hear about another possible grant award.

“We should be hearing very shortly,” he said.

  The Lake Michigan bluff land is located on the far south side of Port Washington, east of Highway C.

Supr. Tom Winker of Belgium, a member of the Finance Committee, said he does not support spending any more county funds on the Clay Bluff Cedar Gorge Nature Preserve acquisition.

County acquisition of Clay Bluff Cedar Gorge Nature Preserve was approved on a 20-3 vote of the County Board on July 1, 2020.

County Administrator Jason Dzwinel told Ozaukee Press that plans for Clay Bluff Preserve, in process since 2015, are nearing reality.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to preserve something that’s really unique along the shores of Lake Michigan,” Dzwinel said, noting that the property had originally been slated for subdivision development in the 1990s. “I think our Planning and Parks Department and (director Andrew Struck) in concert with the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, have really done a great job of seeking and securing grants. 

“We are close to completion. I think in the coming months we’re really going to have some great news that all the funds have been raised or grants received and we’ll be able to finally create this great amenity for our citizens. It’s been a long time coming. It’s good to know that we’re close to the finish line.”

In other action on April 29, the Finance Committee recommended accepting two Planning and Parks Department revenue increase requests. The County Board approved them on May 5.  

They include $72,800 in restitution for damage and vandalism at Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve and a $10,000 Department of Natural Resources River Protection Planning Grant.

Struck reported that $72,800 in court-ordered restitution was sought by the Ozaukee County district attorney’s office as compensation for the loss of approximately 104 trees at Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve after a neighboring property owner cut down “fairly large trees” on county property to “get a view” of Lake Michigan.

While some of the trees have been planted, the restoration work will likely span two years, Struck said.

The $10,000 surface water planning grant, which will be paid over two years, will provide funding for as much as 67% of the cost for continuing water quality monitoring on Mole Creek in the Town of Saukville, Ulao Creek in the Town of Grafton and the Little Menomonee River and Little Menomonee Creek in the City of Mequon in conjunction with large-scale habitat restoration projects.

The monitoring will provide data to establish pre and post-construction conditions for the ongoing habitat restorations projects and allow for the analysis of water quality impacts as a result of the restoration activities.

Struck noted the monitoring has been conducted “for the last several years.”

The remaining project costs and matching funds will come from a Fund For Lake Michigan grant and in-kind county contributions of staff time, supplies and equipment, he said.