Ludington city Facebook page explains Stearns Park snow fence installation.

Ludington city Facebook page explains Stearns Park snow fence installation.

LUDINGTON — Last week snow fences were installed on the east side of Stearns Outer Drive in Stearns Park, causing much discussion on social media and also in the community. The City of Ludington posted an explanation for this on its Facebook page on Sept. 11 stating that if the snow fences were not put up a week after Labor Day weekend that city residents would have to pay for extra sand removal.

“Your City taxes cover those expenses and if money is used for extra sand removal then that money is not available for other projects that need to be done in the parks,” the Facebook stated. “We also need to consider the timing of the sand fence installation because we have other duties that need to be accomplished in the fall of the year. The same 10 people that install sand fence are the same 10 people that pick up your leaves, remove the beach walkways, remove the benches and trash cans from downtown, install the holiday decorations, put up the Christmas tree, pick up your brush, remove the hanging flower baskets from downtown, remove the launching ramp docks, trim the trees for snowplow routes, patch the streets and any other odd job that comes up in the fall in preparation for winter.

“During a typical fall it’s rainy and windy. This year was the exception with many picture perfect, warm fall days. We tried to give the beach goers and sunset viewers as much time as possible by installing the fence on the east side of Stearns Outer Drive first. At least if we did get a wind storm the grassy area of Stearns Park would be somewhat protected. This allowed the beach area to be unobstructed for a few more days. We also waited an extra week following Labor Day to begin the fence installation.

“We do understand your concerns and frustrations when it comes to covering our beautiful beach with ugly sand fence. It signals the end of summer and the end to what most people consider the best time of the year. Each year we have to make that decision as to when we will start the sand fence installation and that is a decision that we don’t take lightly.

After all, we live here too.”

Winds later this week are expected to pick up to about 16 mph out of the northwest.