Michigan City, IN) - The Michigan City Common Council is attempting to block plans to convert the U.S. Coast Guard station in the lakefront community into a part-time facility.
On Tuesday night, the council unanimously approved a resolution asking federal lawmakers representing the area to attempt to have the decision reversed.
According to the resolution, the U.S. Coast Guard station has been operating year-round 24 hours a day, seven days a week since 1888.
“It’s definitely something critical for our lakefront with the amount of tourists we have annually and just the amount of people that frequent that lakefront,” said Council President Sean Fitzpatrick.
“It adds to the safety and security of our community,” said Councilman Dr. Vidya Kora.
The resolution, announcing the city council’s opposition to the plans and requesting the Coast Guard to reconsider, will be sent to 1st District Congressman Frank Mrvan of Hammond, along with both U.S. Senators from Indiana Mike Braun and Todd Young, and the U.S. Coast Guard office in Washington D.C.
Phil Gurtler, a public affairs officer at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Cleveland, said there’s been no change in plans since elected officials roughly two months ago started to be notified about the intent to downsize the Michigan City facility.
The plan remains to fully staff and equip the U.S. Coast Guard station on weekends during the summer when the use of Lake Michigan is at its greatest. He said whether it would be open from Friday through Sunday or strictly two days on weekends during the summer has not been decided.
Gurtler said a manpower shortage nationwide is forcing the decision to downsize a select number of U.S. Coast Guard stations across the country, to restore staffing and other resources to levels they should be in areas where service calls are highest.
“We are going to reallocate some of the personnel and assets,” he said.
On average, Gurtler said, staffing at all locations is down by about 10 percent from what the Coast Guard feels a station should have to be “optimally manned.” He added that the numbers reflect the growing challenge of recruiting people into the military over the past few years.
“It’s been a continuous issue. It’s just kind of reaching a point now where some decisions have to be made,” he said.
The Michigan City station averages about 125 search and rescue calls a year, according to figures provided by the U.S. Coast Guard. The primary coverage area of the Coast Guard station in Michigan City includes a good stretch of the northwest Indiana shoreline and east into Michigan, including Grand Beach and New Buffalo.
Gurtler said service calls when the station is not open will come from either the Coast Guard locations at Calumet Harbor near Chicago or St. Joseph, Michigan. Whichever site is closest to the emergency will respond. He said local first responders with access to boats, helicopters, and other water rescue gear will be relied on to handle calls until the U.S. Coast Guard can get there in a boat or by air.
Already, Gurtler noted, police and firefighters begin rescue attempts if they’re the first ones to arrive.
“It’s kind of a coin flip sometimes to see if we get on scene first,” he said.
Councilman Don Przybylinski expressed concerns about longer response times in a city that has a lot of boaters using the lake to fish in the spring, summer, and fall as well as for recreation, primarily during the summer.
He said the decision would be like police and fire departments becoming part-time.
“To me, this is a very serious situation. They need to be there. They have to be there,” he said.
Gurtler said he doesn’t argue that U.S. Coast Guard response times in the Michigan City area would suffer. However, he says that a U.S. Coast Guard boat from Chicago or St. Joseph can still be there within the two-hour time frame mandated by Congress for coverage areas.
“I can say with certainty if the Coast Guard wasn’t confident we could meet all of the requirements and, frankly, keep the public safe, we wouldn’t be selecting these particular spots,” he said.
Councilman Bryant Dabney suggested a pay increase for Coast Guard officers should be given first to see if that would help draw more recruits, as higher wages for lifeguards in the city purportedly worked to restore staffing levels at the public beach.
“I think we should be asking if they can solve that issue,” he said.
