June 2nd Update On Bridgeport's Lyle And Davis Parks

I haven't been able to get to the parks in several weeks but my dog and I made it there this morning.  I thought with Bridge Fest starting in a few days that Bridgeport Township would have made a effort to clean up the old mosquito breeding tires and the trash in the parks.  Alas, nothing has been done to clean these parks up.
The water is gone from the low wet area alongside the walking trail through Lyle park for now until the next flooding or heavy rains, but the 7 tires remain. I was able to get to only 4 of the 7 tires due to the high weeds and heavy mosquito's, but the 4 tires I was able to photograph are sitting there with water in them breeding mosquito's.  If Bridgeport Township Government is not going to do anything to clean the trash up and get those tires out of there, then maybe there is some kind of state agency that needs to be notified.  If West Nile Virus, Encephalitis and Malaria aren't bad enough, there is a new mosquito borne disease that is expected to spread to the United States this year.  It is called Chikungunya --  Mosquito-borne virus could become public health nuisance for Florida
It is predicted that it will hit Florida this year, I am not sure if it will spread throughout the rest of the country or not this year, but it has been showing up in northern climates as well as the tropics.
After we left Lyle Park we went over the Fort Street bridge and I took my dog out on the big sandbar that has formed at the end of the canal that was dug back in the 1970's along Fayette St./Fort Rd. out to the Cass River.   You can walk out onto the sandbar from Fayette St. right by the base of the Fort St. bridge. The sandbar continues to grow in size but has not succeeded yet in totally closing off the canal from the river. There is only a little area of semi free flowing water at that end of the canal there and down in the big pool where the water flows from the wetlands on the other side of Fayette St. through the culvert.  The rest of the canal along Fayette St. is just isolated pools of stagnant water, perfect mosquito breeding grounds.  As the weather continues to get warmer the isolated pools will continue to dry up... UNTIL we get more rain or flooding, then they will fill back up, slowly go back down to the stagnant pools breeding mosquito's... It is a never ending vicious cycle.
Saginaw County Mosquito Abatement Commission just released a statement regarding the high mosquito population this year -- "As a result of a wet spring and significant rainfall in May, Saginaw County is experiencing high nuisance mosquito populations. To promote community-wide mosquito control our agency has temporarily discontinued all spraying of individual properties. Additionally, spray shifts are working extended hours and weekends to expediently reduce mosquito densities throughout the County."
Bridgeport Township could fix that problem of the mosquito breeding grounds that the canal has become if they would repair that damage that they caused by filling in that useless canal.  Maybe there is some free grant money out there for a project like this.  That would be a better use of the free grant money/taxpayer funds to repair the damage and close off that canal then to put in two more canoe launches that will probably end up failures like their previous attempts.
Once into Davis Park things weren't any better there.  The once beautiful pond is drying up like it does every year after the flooding is over.  I found ironic the "No Swimming" sign and the "Boat Launch" sign from the previous failed canoe launch fiasco that has caused all the damage to the river and pond.
The grass in Davis Park is once again only mowed in the front part of the park.  On the island part of the park the grass is only mowed near the picnic tables and the playground equipment, then there is one path mowed around the perimeter of the island.  The grass in the middle is way over ten inches!!  Where are you Ron Wheatley?  Maybe he is too busy out slapping fines on the private property owners in the township to notice that the township itself is in violation of their own codes..  Hopefully Bridgeport will find the time to at least mow the rest of the grass on the island before Bridge Fest. Then there is the rest of the island and wooded area in Davis Park that is waist and chest high weeds, including weeds that Bridgeport lists in their "Code Of Ordinances" as banned in this township.  Private property owners will get huge fines for the mess that is found in the township parks, maybe the township parks are exempt from their own codes.
My dog and I braved the mosquito's and high weeds to go back into the wooded area and I saw that the trash pile's were still there, the railroad ties with the rusty spikes sticking up were still there, the huge tractor tire was still there.
Nothing seems to change in Bridgeport and obviously nothing ever will. They can spend $10,000 dollars on all the flower pots they want, the flower pots don't hide the garbage in the parks.  Hopefully Bridge Fest will draw visitors to our little township, but my recommendation to the visitors is to stay out of the parks.