Sheboygan’s master plan for the Lakefront and Marina were given Common Council approval last night, as was the go-ahead for design engineering of a pedestrian bridge, but neither came without discussion.
The passage of the lakefront master plan generated the most back-and-forth among the members, with Alder Trey Mitchell calling the $77 million price tag a “no-starter”. Council President Dean Dekker explained that the action taken would not commit to that spending, but rather move the project to a phase where grant applications and other moves required to make the project possible could be made. That passed with two “no” votes.
The pedestrian bridge generated similar discussions, with concern that committing to the $1 million – plus expenditure now could be for naught, and lost, if the final project becomes unaffordable. Again, grant funding, in part, drove the process, as that money must be expended by certain dates. Eventually, the Council approved that first step, although again the vote was not unanimous.
With last night’s action, both projects are still on-track.
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