There’s a new staircase now installed at Cherry Beach in Chikaming Township. The old staircase was destroyed by high water levels and wild conditions on Lake Michigan back in January. Chikaming Township Supervisor David Bunte tells us the township was going to wait to replace the stairs until the lake level went down, but then some residents started a crowdfunding effort for a new staircase. They managed to raise more than $7,000, and the stairs got the approval of the township inspector this week. The stairs were officially reopened on Friday. Meanwhile, the planned expansion of Cherry Beach got a major boost this week when the Michigan Legislature approved the next round of Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grants. They included more than $2 million for Chikaming Township to buy property adjacent to the beach.
