Lake George Living Bridge

& Flood-Sponge Wetland

This is/was intended for the Mayor & City Council Members

(I’m not sure if it was printed or sent for sure - but we still have time for the grant deadlines!)

CITY OF HOBART

PROJECT PROPOSAL TO CITY COUNCIL
PRESENTER: CHRISTINE PIERCE – Disaster Avoidance
DATE: 2026 Budget Cycle

PROJECT TITLE: Lake George Living Bridge & Flood-Sponge Wetland - A zero-cage, self-cleaning, fish-growing, flood-eating, money-saving downtown attraction

ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARY: Build a 600-ft glowing walk-on-water mycelium bridge across the narrows and turn the shallow east side into an open wetland that stops downtown flooding, cleans the lake, super-charges fishing, and pays for itself in 4–6 years — all for a net city cost under $400,000 after grants.

TOTAL CAPITAL COST

$810,000 – $980,000
Grants already available (70–80%) → $560,000 – $780,000
City cash share → $250,000 – $400,000 (spread over 2–3 budget years)

WHAT WE ACTUALLY BUILD (2 phases)

Phase 1 – 2026–2027 ($550–650k total, city share ~$150–200k)

600 ft × 12 ft floating, glow-at-night living bridge across the narrows (Festival Park to west peninsula)
Open flood-sponge wetland on the shallow east side (fish hatchery - no nets, no cages)
Reroute 2/3 of the Stormwater outfalls into the wetland instead of the lake
Student-built swales & berms along Front St / Old Ridge Rd (Disaster Avoidance Team)

Phase 2 – 2028 ($300k, almost 100% grant-funded)

Expand wetland + additional check-weirs, if needed
- (beautifully designed holding bowls to slow the flow of water, if needed)

ANNUAL BENEFITS TO HOBART

Benefit

Dollar Value / Year

Flood damage avoided: $250,000 – $400,000

Fish harvest: $40,000 – $80,000

NFIP/CRS insurance discount (Class 7–6): $90,000 – $150,000

Tourism & events boost: $500,000+ indirect spending

Water treatment savings: $200,000+ (no new plant)

Total annual return: $1.0 – $1.5 million

Payback: 4–6 years even if we ignore tourism

FLOOD MITIGATION FACTS

Detains 5–10 million gallons per storm
Could cut 100-year flood depth on Front & 3rd St by 1–2 ft
Qualifies Hobart for CRS Class 7
- 15–20% discount on every flood policy in town
- We may currently be rated at a 10
- This could even out for the impending tax increase in girl-math…
- Just sayin… if they were shoes 90% off - they’d already be in the cart

NO MAINTENANCE NIGHTMARES

No fish cages to clean
No pumps, no chemicals
Mushrooms & plants do the work
Ice? Everything floats and flexes

WHO PAYS FOR IT (already lined up)

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) – $300–500k
EPA Section 319 Nonpoint Source – $150–250k
NRCS EQIP / RCPP – $100–150k
Sustain Our Great Lakes – $100k
DNR Lake & River Enhancement – $50k

All five programs have told Lake County partners they will fund exactly this kind of project in 2026–2028.

WHY THIS IS THE RIGHT PROJECT RIGHT NOW

We flood every year — this slows the flow and uses it more effectively
The lake is dirty — this cleans it for free and could be beautiful
People already come downtown — visitors can take inspiration with them
Students and volunteers will build half of it doing requirements they already need to fill
The grants expire if we don’t use them!

REQUESTED ACTION FROM COUNCIL

Apply for the five grants listed above
Budget $150–200k local match in 2026–2027
Direct Parks & Public Works to partner with Disaster Avoidance

This project can make the city money. Restaurants & shops in town will get more business. We will create a reputation for doing the right thing & showing that it can also be prosperous. Coupled with the multiple simultaneous plans that could solidify into projects… They could probably all come in season & filling in, in about 3 years.

And that’s why the team needs that landscape architect - to create the bones, the structure - the curves and heights. And then the permaculture expert to fill in the heights and shapes, and what to plant where so that it gets the best light or its preferred micro-climate, and again… with that hügelkultur and swale knowledge so they can instruct the team of students. These students will WANT to be there. To learn this skillset and all the angles, so they can ultimately become experts in the whole process and confidently lead these kinds of projects here locally, in surrounding areas, or abroad helping disaster-stricken areas. This is a highly impactful, niche field providing excellent learn-by-doing training and education from collaborating with the city water/stormwater & civil engineering experts.

These shifts will put us on the map for ecotourism, and if the catalyst spread into our neighboring cities & BIG’s along the lakeshore - the change would be monumental. General calculations of South Basin and inlet waterways hinted at cleaning ~70% of the pollution on Lake Michigan, because most comes from the rivers, so it never even makes it to the lake! This makes anything the BIG’s do, work much more effectively. The potential calculations point to a total reversal of erosion - gaining 1-2 feet of beach per year after glass-crushing initiatives by year 3 or 4.