This letter may give some insight into the Feb. 8 article, "Decision on dams looms."
I have attended most of the Boardman River Dams Committee and Bottomlands/ Property Owners meetings. I am also a fly fisherman, who probably has more time fly fishing than most members of Trout Unlimited and Friends of the Au Sable. I have owned land along the southern end of Boardman Pond for 22 years.
FACT: The Dams Committee did not, contrary to a claim by a committee member, "place just as much emphasis on Hydroelectric" as it did on removing the dams.
At a Dams Committee meeting the project coordinator was putting up study/discussion topics on the blackboard, I suggested "put up electricity"and was told by the coordinator "that is not on our agenda." I requested two or three times to add electricity and finally the coordinator reluctantly added electricity. (A coordinator should not be a decision- maker!)
FACT: I did not see any owner of any fly fishing shop at any of the Dams Committee meetings.
FACT: Grand Traverse County Administrator Dennis Aloia said, "Sue us for a decision." If mandated by a court, the county (and Traverse City) would not be forced to make a possibly poor political decision, because the court conveniently saved them from having to make a decision.
FACT: I, as with most of the property owners north of us in the Keystone Subdivision, was sold the property with riparian rights. That's ownership to the center of the natural river, not to the waters' or bottomlands' edge.
The Dams Committee hired a reputable law firm in Grand Rapids to determine riparian ownership. Their opinion was that Traverse City Light&Power was deeded the Bottomlands if the dams were removed. The deeds were issued about 1895 and 1925. I spoke with a senior partner of a very respected and ethical Michigan law firm, and was told, "They (the Grand Rapids firm) can be beat." I will not relinquish my riparian rights!
I talked with the treasurer and register of deeds in Crawford County, where the Sailing Dam was removed from the Au Sable River and was told "if they had riparian rights before the dam was removed, they continued to retain riparian rights."
An official of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said "this was not correct." That official was wrong, and gave wrong information to the Dams Committee. The Crawford County treasurer asked me to ask our county and city officials, "What would they do with the bottomlands?"
FACT: The Dams Committee used a manipulative process (sometimes called the Delphi Technique) to conduct the Dams Committee meetings. Such a process, in one person's opinion, is unethical. I gave a reprint of that opinion to the city and county commissioners at their joint meeting of Jan. 26.
FACT: The Dams Committee and some county officials said we would have an answer in late 2008. Now, "a decision in about three months or at least by year end"
About the author: Jim Pryor, of Traverse City, has owned land along Boardman Pond for more than 20 years and is an avid fly fisherman.
About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.
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