ByJames Windell
In a Harbor Commission meeting on February 17, 2026, officers were elected.
Kevn Conway, who is serving a three-year term that ends at the end of 2026, was re-elected Chair. Brent Nichols, whose term expires in 2027, was elected as Vice-Chair.
In other business conducted at this meeting, license agreements with IT-IL-DO Charters, LLC for operation of their vessel “Sea Rocket,” that was set to expire on October 15, 2026, was renewed for five years.
Chad Bard, owner of IT-IL-DO Charters, has operated a charter fishing boat at South Marina since 2014 and a tour boat at South Marina since 2016. The agreement approved by the Harbor Commission allows Bard to continue to dock his vessels at the South Marina deck from 2027 to 2031. The fee for this license will be $10,418.63 for 2027 with annual 5 % increases for the remaining years of the agreement.
The City of South Haven also has had a license agreement with IT-IL-DO Charters, LLC for operation of their tour boat operation vessel “Sun-Setter.” That agreement was also expiring in October, 2026. The Harbor Commission approved a new 5-year license for “Sun-Setter” with the same fees as for “Sea Rocket,” that will increase to $12,663.86 by 2031.
Michael Landis, Assistant City Manager and Harbor Master, reported that he and City Manager Kate Hosier recently met with the Army Corps of Engineers. Landis indicated that in 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) started looking at the repairs or wave topping that exists in Section L of South Haven’s South Beach where waves often go over to the parking lot and to the City’s wastewater treatment plant.
“We were contacted by ACE in 2020,” Landis told the Harbor Commission, “and they began looking at three different design choices that could help eliminate some of the wave action that causes beach erosion.” He added that the water washing over the beach causes a great deal of destruction.
“ACE approached us and said they were about 30 % of the way there in terms of designs,” Landis said. “They said it was now time to talk to us about design options.”
He explained that ACE is in a design phase for improving “Section L” which is a section of the pier in-between the pier gate and concessions area on the south side. “The history of this stems from the continued waves lapping over the section of pier which impacts the structure, the beach and city infrastructure,” Landis said.
The three options that ACE is reviewing range from raised concrete and parapet walls, raised and improved structural parapet walls with seating, and full reconstruction of the walls.
Landis said that the easiest approach is just building on top of the existing wall and the estimated cost of that would be about $3.5 million. The second option, which would add support to the existing wall would run about $7.5 million, while full reconstruction would cost about $13 million.
“These would be federal projects,” Landis said, “so we wouldn’t have to foot the entire bill.” He told the Harbor Commission that no decisions needed to be made at the present time, but ACE wanted to let the City know what the options are so that the City could ultimately decide what approach they wanted to take to deal with the wave problem.
After the meeting, Landis said that the scope of the project is not set in stone. “But ACE wanted to engage the city early while they review funding options,” he said.
