Council Hopes to Make Beach Entrance a Bit More Splashy

Lake Michigan provides natural beauty that is the reason many residents live in Port Washington and the inspiration for many visitors to come to the city every year. But even though the lake is naturally attractive, city officials are concerned about a few issues on both North and South beach.

The Common Council this week discussed the possibility of more improvements to the North Beach entrance to create what Mayor Tom Mlada called "high-class beach entrance."

This suggestion comes after the council . The curb-like edging solution should be added by next week, City Adminstrator Mark Grams said. The curb will help channel the water down to the beach, and shouldn't cost more than $500. The Board of Public Works is meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss possible longterm solution to this problem.

But beyond runoff, Mlada said the beach entrance could use some more work; it's not just the beach that should be pretty, after all.

Currently, visitors to North Beach must pass around the water treatment plant — either through a wire fence gate and around the back, or on a winding path overlooking the water, with lightposts interrupting the pathway every few  feet.

"The location of the lightposts in that walkway around the fenced area frankly is not conducive to a wheelchair," Mlada said, adding its also difficult for parents to navigate a stroller and keep their other children off the rocks — just as another example. 

The council also suggested the possibility of adding some more landscaping to "hide some of the ugly," such as vines that would grow along the fences.

Of course, this is all just discussion — and the very beginnings of such, however City Engineer Rob Vanden Noven is confident that some budget fixes could be figured out to make the place have more appeal.

"I think for not too much money we can make it a lot better," he said.

On South Beach, We Energies also plans to do some cleaning up, removing rubble that dots the beach after years of shifting sand — according to an article on the Ozaukee Press. The company has submitted an application to the Department of Natural Resouces and Army Corp of Engineers for permits; the beach will close for about 5 to 7 days for the work to be completed, and signs will be posted prior to that.