Egg Harbor News Notes

Egg Harbor. File photo by Rachel Lukas.

Village Negotiating with Frontier for Broadband Coverage

The Village of Egg Harbor is negotiating a contract with internet service provider (ISP) Frontier to provide fiber to every address village-wide. Egg Harbor is the second Door County municipality to date to favor Frontier, following the Town of Jacksonport’s selection of the company in November 2022. 

The trustees formed an ad hoc committee earlier this month for the purpose of negotiating the contract with Frontier. 

“We’re not entering into a contract with them; we’re just starting those conversations,” said Megan Sawyer, village administrator.

The village sent out requests for proposals in February, and of the ISPs that responded, Frontier received the highest score, Sawyer said. 

At $1.7 million for the total project cost – and only $450,000 of that the village’s responsibility – it was also the least expensive estimate for village-wide fiber that’s expected to be less expensive and faster than other options within the village, said village board president John Heller. 

“It’s a super deal,” he said. “I don’t think it’s an opportunity we can pass on.”

New Subdivision Receives Preliminary Approval

The Village of Egg Harbor’s board approved preliminary plans for a new subdivision earlier this month. Jack Jackson, president of The Orchards Properties, is subdividing a parcel of land at the northwestern corner of County EE and Harbor View Road into 17-18 parcels. 

At this point, the lots would be for single-family homes – similar to the development across the street that Jackson said was Phase 1 – but unlike that first subdivision, the covenants for the property owners’ association would restrict short-term-rental units.

“I like that they’re not short-term-rental units,” said village trustee Lisa Van Laanen.

The final plat approval will take place during an upcoming meeting. 

Trail Project Will Receive National Park Service Assistance

The Village of Egg Harbor will be getting assistance from the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program to help create a network of safe, off-road trails to connect the Village of Egg Harbor with surrounding neighborhoods and municipalities. 

The village has been working with neighboring communities to investigate options for an off-road, multimodal trail between the village and Fish Creek, as well as a connection between Murphy Park and the village. 

The National Park Service has provided a professional landscape architect and a community planner to offer assistance that will include identifying and engaging partners and stakeholders, implementing public outreach and engagement, collecting stakeholder input, and developing trail-feasibility recommendations. 

“We are thrilled to have the professional assistance of the National Park Service for our trails project,” said John Heller, president of the Village of Egg Harbor. “The lack of safe pedestrian and biking travel options has been a long-standing concern in our community, and this assistance is a major step forward toward helping us address that issue.”