Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Members of the Oregon city council hosted the latest committee of the whole meeting on July 20, which was highlighted by a discussion of a public boat launch design proposal, a NatureWorks grant for South Shore Veterans Park, a proposed amendment to the city’s charter in relation to data centers and plans for a ceremony to commemorate the 25-year anniversary of 9/11.
Public boat launch
First, council decided to advance an item to the regular council meeting that would enter the city into a design contract with Littoral Services LLC to provide professional engineering services for the preliminary design of a boat launch facility for an amount not to exceed $39,720.
The city’s public service director, Paul Roman, discussed more specific details of the proposal. He said this item was included in the 2026 CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) budget due to the public’s interest in a deeper public boat launch and to develop a preliminary design to obtain construction grants.
“A lot of times U.S. Fish and Wildlife has a certain, they call it the big boat infrastructure grant, and there's other grants that we could try to go after with a preliminary design,” Roman said. “The problem is we just don't know the exact cost and layout. We've been in talks with Walleye Energy with land swaps, and we've talked with them in the past. We want to start that going again, but it's better to have a design, and the area we're proposing is off of the intake to Walleye Energy.”
The reason for that location is two-fold.
“One, because of the intake, because of that cooling water going to the power plant, sediment cannot drop out like it does everywhere else in the lake,” Roman said. “But the power plant itself blocks northeast winds, and that's another plus for not getting deposits there. With our current boat launch, unfortunately, it only serves small craft because you really don't have a jetty or anything next to it that blocks northeast wind from bringing in sediment. Even if you try to dredge, it could fill in within a month later. It's always going to be a very shallow launch.”
Roman said they put out qualification statements and received four back. Among them, city officials felt Littoral Services was the best option.
“Littoral Services was definitely the most qualified,” Roman said. “(They) are specialized in waterfront marine infrastructure. The project manager is from our area, has worked at Meinke Marina, has had a lot of experience with our area and we thought they were the best pick for it.
“I did not list this as an emergency. It's not. But I do think it's something it would be nice to do in order to try to get other grant dollars for it.”
In a follow-up Q&A, Roman said this is unrelated to the Army Corps of Engineer’s proposal from several years ago as he said that fell flat. Several years ago, there were also conversations with Harbor View Yacht Club about developing a launch there. That also fell flat. Approximately nine years ago, council paid for a study to look at a boat launch in Oregon, and it said the drop-off would have to be maintained every year by dredging out the channel.
“Have we consulted the two other studies that were previously paid for to look at with doing this and why is this one different than the two we've already looked at that didn't work?” councilmember Steve Hornyak said.
Roman said everything mentioned previously was for a boat launch east of the power plant.
“The study from nine years ago was actually covered through a grant to deal with the dredging,” Roman said. “We had no cost in that, but I did run the public meetings for that. And people along the coastline did not like the idea of dredgings being placed further in the bay because it's already shallow. The concern was trying to establish habitat restoration, but yet it took away from more boating. Now, if that power plant ever closes, you're going to get the habitat restoration anyways because it's just going to fill in with sediment. But the reason this is so different is it's west of that. It's on the intake to the power plant. And as long as that power plant stays open, and granted, it could still shut down. But let's say it did shut down. It still blocks a northeast wind. It still would prevent sediment from building up, at least not as quickly. But with the intake still running, it doesn't allow the sediment to drop out. That's why the Harbor View Yacht Club is such a great location. It's because they're off that intake for a reason. And that's why it's there.”
Roman said officials at Harbor View Yacht Club are very interested in the project.
“I think what they love is the idea you have Cullen Park across the river, which if you ever look at that site from a map, you'll see that there is a jetty alongside it,” Roman said. “You have Grassy Island, which also blocks the northeast winds. It's a great location, but to drive there, it's a good 20-30 minutes. Meinke Marina is probably 30 minutes east of us. The Yacht Club is definitely interested in this. They say speedboats also have an interest in this because (with) speedboats, they don't want to leave the boat in the water. They want to put it in through the ramp and take it out as soon as they're done. They think they would attract more members.”
Roman believes it’s something where the city would do a joint grant application with the Village of Harbor View. If not the village, at least the Yacht Club.
“We would also try to go to the port, try to get them to donate the land or get it for a low cost,” Roman said. “I remember our original boat launch, we got a 100-year lease for like a dollar. We would try to do the same thing here. We still have to work through Edison. They own some land in the same area, but this is so different because it is west of the power plant, off the same intake as the Yacht Club. We have definitely talked with them. They are definitely interested.”
Roman emphasized this is a preliminary design and that it could lead to grants to support the building and development of a boat launch.
“The hope is to actually come up with a good construction cost estimate,” he said. “And then you still have to get permitting to some degree from the (Army) Corps. It could be just a general permit, (a) nationwide permit. But (the idea is) you'd get all those costs ahead of time and then apply for the grants. It'd be more of a design than a study.”
South Shore Park grant
Another key item allows city officials to apply for a NatureWorks grant, previously discussed multiple times, which would allow for improvements to the South Shore Veterans Park area. It would include a rubberized surface under the playground equipment and accessible concrete walkways for a projected total cost of about $83,520.
“The requested grant is for $62,460, so that leaves financial liability out of the city at about $21,060,” Oregon city administrator Brody Walters said. “There are some possibilities for donations to help match that, so this is a matching funds grant. Most of the city's work would be done through labor that was provided, as well as the purchasing of concrete.”
Walters said it is listed as an emergency because the grant application was due July 15, which he said the city has submitted with stipulations.
“Our application will not be activated for review unless it is also accompanied with this ordinance that is a resolution,” he said. “It takes the place of the resolution for authorization for us to submit that. We have up to 30 days from July 15th to file that with the ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources). Our intent would be to hopefully get that moved over to the next council agenda, passed as an emergency at that point, and then for that ordinance, which would really serve three purposes. It is authorization to submit the grant and approve the grant if it's awarded, and it also fulfills that requirement of the authorization to proceed.”
Council will vote on that at the July 27 meeting.
Charter amendment for data center
Resident Jim Davis spoke at the meeting and challenged council members to put a measure on the ballot that would limit the construction of a large-scale data center facility at its proposed location. His group, United Neighbors of Oregon, has been attempting to gather 1,700 signatures via petition to get it on the ballot. With that not achieved, at least not yet, he challenged council to schedule a November vote, and he said it would take five votes for it from council to put it on the ballot.
With that, it is believed that council can’t change the charter themselves, but they can put a charter amendment on the ballot, which can then be voted on by citizens.
Davis said he is confident his group will achieve the needed signatures, which would put it on the ballot either way, but it’s unclear whether this is a pivot in case the group doesn’t get the signatures needed.
Later in the meeting, councilmember Beth Ackerman asked for clarification on what council can do about the topic. Officials will have to speak with the city’s law director, Chynna Fifer, to discuss the legal aspect of things with more to come July 27.
9/11 25-year anniversary
Oregon mayor Steve Salander said details are still being worked out, but there will be a ceremony in the city on Sept. 11 for the 25-year anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. He said he has met with local officials, and the ceremony will take place at fire station 41. More information will be released later, including details about a speaker who was at the first WTC bombing and also injured during the fall of the second WTC building in 2001.
“I imagine it to be a very emotional ceremony,” Salander said.
