MUSKEGON, MI – A new water conditions warning system will be installed at Muskegon’s Pere Marquette beach next year.
The SwimSmart Warning System uses a series of lights to inform visitors about conditions in Lake Michigan. The Muskegon City Commission agreed to pay $13,600 for two light installations at the park.
The installation of the warning system follows a summer of several Lake Michigan drownings. Nine drownings occurred this year along Michigan’s shore of Lake Michigan during summertime daylight hours.
If it’s successful, the system could be expanded to other locations, including Kruse Park that also is on Lake Michigan, Muskegon Public Works Director Leo Evans told MLive.
“It’s really a scalable platform that we could grow into other areas,” Evans said.
The system involves a light fixture that resembles traffic signals with red, yellow and green lights. It is connected to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that monitors water conditions. Green would mean the water is safe, yellow would advise swimmers to take caution and red would advise against swimming.
A second red strobe light would flash when the conditions are too hazardous for swimming. A shield could be placed on the light if it proves irritating to occupants of homes along Beach Street, commissioners were told.
A set of lights would be placed on the bathhouse/concession stand building and another at the “kiteboarding” building farther south on the beach across from the water filtration plant.
The red strobe lights likely will be on a 20- to 25-foot poles, Evans said. The red, yellow and green lights will be affixed to the buildings and face the road.
Some other beaches use a red, yellow, green flag system to advise visitors of water conditions.
“We had started looking at trying to put some kind of flag system in place,” Evans said. “We decided it would require too much upkeep and maintenance and liability on our part to keep it up in a manner that is proper.”
The light system has a manual override so that if conditions appear worse than NOAA indicates, the lights can reflect that, Evans said.
If the system works well, the city could expand it to Kruse Park and even place the tri-color lights on roadways approaching the beach, Evans said.
The city will pay for the warning system with parks department money earmarked for contractual services, which is under budget this year, according to information provided the commission. The system itself costs $7,600 while electric installation will cost another $6,000.
The system likely will be installed in May 2021, Evans said.
In 2014, the city proposed a $70,000 system at Pere Marquette beach that included two 30-foot towers outfitted with flashing red lights and audible tones that could be activated to warn beach-goers of hazards.
Problems securing funding and concerns of citizens, including those who live near the beach, prompted city officials to drop the proposal.
The city used to pay to have lifeguards at Pere Marquette beach, but that program was eliminated in 2010. MLive found in its investigation earlier this year that most Michigan beaches along Lake Michigan do not have lifeguards. Two communities are currently considering adding lifeguards to Lake Michigan beaches.
Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson said earlier this year that lifeguards weren’t on the table.
“At some point in the recent past, our insurance carrier has helped us understand that they’re more of a liability than they are a help,” he said.
Also on MLive:
Could these lives have been saved by lifeguards along Lake Michigan
Freeze, flooding disaster relief loans available to West Michigan businesses
‘Devastating’ COVID-19 deaths, ICU patient rates still high in Muskegon but overall cases drop
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