04/11/2007

Crooked River lock repairs begin, but more work is needed

Nearby business owners express concerns

By CRAIG McCOOL

cmccool@record-eagle.com

ALANSON — Some repairs to the Crooked River lock are under way, though officials believe more work is needed before the lock can open to boaters cruising northern Michigan's Inland Waterway this summer.

Wayne Schloop, Chief of Operations for the Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District, said federal and state officials inspected the lock last month but weren't able to see it operate.

The state Department of Natural Resources had removed and shipped some parts for repair, he said.

"Some of the reduction gearing had been sent out … prior to us actually inspecting the lock,” Schloop said. "We'd like to go back to see the lock operating and do another assessment after” the repair is finished.

"We think as a minimum there're probably some electrical upgrades, or even wholesale replacements of the electrical motors,” Schloop said. The 40-year-old facility is owned by the Corps, but the DNR operates it under a lease agreement, running the lock at an annual cost of about $30,000. State officials said the lock experienced a host of problems last season and would need an overhaul before reopening this spring. That worries waterfront business owners who depend on Inland Waterway traffic. The lock at Alanson connects Crooked and Pickerel lakes to the rest of the 40-mile waterway, which flows across the tip of the Lower Peninsula and empties into Lake Huron at Cheboygan.

Wayne Blomberg, on the board of directors for the Pickerel-Crooked Lakes Association, owns Ryde Marine on Crooked Lake near the locks. "Virtually 100 percent of the pontoons we rent go up the waterway at least as far as Burt Lake,” Blomberg said. "I've already got reservations on boats for this summer. When those people get here, if they find out they can't do the trip, they're going to be disappointed.”

Bill Boik, head of the DNR waterways planning unit, said gears are being repaired in a Detroit-area machine shop. Boik said the DNR "didn't get any indication” when repairs would be completed.

Also unclear is who will pay the tab. Schloop, of the Corps, said the state was footing the bill though Boik could not confirm it.

To concerned locals, the apparent disconnect is frustrating. "You have two parties trying to operate it and neither one knowing what the other party is doing,” Blomberg said. "Realistically, the heavy use doesn't occur until the middle of June, but we're starting to run out of time.”