Efforts continue to clean up a couple eyesores in Macomb.
One is the site of the former Haeger Pottery plant on West Calhoun Street. The buildings are gone, but piles of rubble remain.
Mayor Mike Inman said they’ll apply for a US EPA Brownfields Remediation Grant.
“And with any grant there’s no guarantee, but we think there’s a high probability we’d score high and get the grant,” he said.
The city will apply for the grant this fall. Inman said it would cover the entire cost of remediation and would possibly pay some of the cost of redeveloping the site into a park.
Inman called that an ideal solution, but details need to be worked out.
The property is still privately owned by the Estes family. To qualify for the grant, it would have to be turned over to the city or an entity such as the land bank that Macomb recently joined.
Inman said that would be done with the understanding that if they don’t get the grant, the land would revert back to the family, which he said is also interested in cleaning the property.
“They’ve been working diligently over the last many years to remedy the site,” Inman said.
The grant application is due this fall. If the city receives it, the cleanup could begin next year.
“The sooner, the better. It’s been a long time,” Inman said.
The other site the city would like to remediate is the old Macomb Inn on U.S. Route 67 on the north edge of town, which Inman said is in a “deplorable state.”
He said the city is currently in court with the owners to get that site brought up to code.
“I know folks are getting anxious. This seems to be taking forever. It’s a process. We know that. We’re doing our due diligence,” Inman said. “We get it. People are getting anxious and want some resolution. We do too.”
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