05/15/2007

Lock reopens after fixes

BY SHERI McWHIRTER

smcwhirter@record-eagle.com

ALANSON — A once immobile lock on the Crooked River has reopened — after a fee hike and repairs that officials don't expect to last.

The lock in Emmet County's Alanson opened Saturday and Sunday for 14 boats to pass through and will reopen on weekends until May 26, when daily hours begin.

"I saw every one of them. In fact, half of them stopped at our place,” said Michael Lloyd, owner of Sherman's Pizzeria on the banks of the Crooked River.

Lloyd hopes the recent repairs keep the lock operational through the boating season, but officials aren't so sure.

The work was "a short-term fix” and state officials hope to coordinate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a serious upgrade, said Gary Ellenwood, parks and waterways supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

"We think the lock is safe and operational now, but we can't guarantee all year,” Ellenwood said.

State coffers will cover about $40,000 worth of repairs that were finished last week. More than 10,500 boats passed through the lock in 2006, a season cut short by two weeks after two motors in the system burned up.

The lock is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will not have any funds to repair or replace the system until at least 2009, said Wayne Schloop, the agency's operations chief in Detroit.

New daily passage fees are $6, up from $4, and annual passes are now $45, a $15 hike from last year. Those increases will help pay for the repairs and operations, Ellenwood said.

Many in the community feared the lock might not reopen this summer and cost unknown tourism losses to local businesses.

"We were definitely biting at our nails to get that open,” said Mark Cook, assistant manager at Spanky's Marina on the Crooked River, which sells parts and rents both pontoon boats and personal watercrafts. "Without the locks, we'd be pretty hard up.”

The lock in Alanson is the gateway to the last leg of northern Michigan's Inland Waterway, a popular 38-mile route that stretches from Pickerel and Crooked Lakes, to Burt and Mullett Lakes, down the Cheboygan River and out into Lake Huron.