For those of you who have not experienced Traverse City's 1,320-acre jewel known as the Brown Bridge Quiet Area, you should treat yourself to an outing on a sunny fall day.
Enjoy the hiking trails and the 190-acre pond. Enjoy watching the eagles soar over the pond as they fish for their young in the early summer. Located 11 miles southeast of Traverse City on the Boardman River, it has been maintained in a natural state offering quiet and reflective relaxation for the past 30 years.
In 1977, the city asked voters to approve a charter amendment authorizing drilling for oil and gas on the city's nearly 1,300 acres, including language that would establish the Brown Bridge Trust Fund. Oil and gas royalties would be deposited in the Trust Fund and interest earned by the trust would be deposited in the city's general fund and applied toward the city's operational budget; $3.6 million has been deposited in past 10 years.
The voters approved the charter amendment with the stipulation any changes to the trust would require a three-fifths voter approval. The city commissioners at the time were very respectful of the property, and on March 24, 1977, passed a management plan for the newly designated Quiet Area.
While not specifically stated, historical memory relates that the Trust Fund would be intended to provide for the preservation of the property in perpetuity. It has been tapped twice by the voters -- $350,000 for the purchase of West End Beach and $70,000 for the purchase of 40 acres that adjoins the original property on the Boardman River.
The city has a proposal on the Nov. 6 ballot asking residents to fund the $6.9 million street and sidewalk repair project by capturing $1.3 million from the fund principal. In addition, the proposal asks that oil and gas royalties, estimated at $450,000 annually, be diverted to the street and sidewalk project for the next five years.
The ballot proposal does not take in to consideration the fact that the city and county and many other local partners are currently invested in an engineering and feasibility study of the Boardman River dams. The results of this study, available in 2008, will require restoration monies regardless if the recommendation is to leave the dam in or take it out.
We already know that the Brown Bridge Dam is in need of some repair. Brown Bridge Pond has been drawn down 18 inches this year due to concerns about the safety of the dam. The royalties from the oil wells could finance necessary restoration costs while maintaining the principal balance would generate revenue for the general fund that could be applied to the street project.
I believe the original intent was that oil well revenues would be directed to the preservation of the property, from which the revenues were derived, assuring maintenance in perpetuity.
Save Brown Bridge Trust Funds for the Brown Bridge Quiet Area. Vote "no" on Proposal 1.
About the author
Beverly J. Cuthbert is a former member and chair of the Brown Bridge Advisory Committee and a current member of the Boardman River Dams Committee.
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