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Nine-Year-Old Circulates Water-Weed Petition

A nine-year-old girl who lives on Cove Road is speaking out about aquatic weeds in the bay of Sturgeon Bay through a petition drive.

Kenzie Jeanquart – who was present with her mother, Kristen, for the Sturgeon Bay Common Council meeting Sept. 6 – said she submitted a petition after gathering 29 signatures from residents living along Cove Road and East Vine Court, where aquatic plants have been problematic.

“I started this petition to hopefully help to change the seaweed problem,” she said.

Her petition urges the city to “renovate the weed cutters” so that they do a better job of harvesting the weeds in the bay.

“I have noticed that the weed cutters in the bay have not been picking up all the seaweed they cut,” the petition states. “This is a problem, especially for those who live by the bay because they have seaweed all over their shores. This is also a problem for those who love tubing, boating and kayaking because the seaweed makes them hard and unenjoyable.”

Kenzie Jeanquart’s petition ends with the following postscript: “My mom says if you make a mess, you clean it up!”

The issue of how the city manages aquatic plants in the bay came before the council this summer, courtesy of residents who live along Memorial Drive who are calling for more to be done.

The city is now allowed to harvest aquatic plants on 116 acres of the bay through a permit approved by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). 

City officials want to update the aquatic-plant management plan for next year and, with DNR approval, possibly expand the total acreage harvested. District 1 alder Helen Bacon – who chairs the city’s Joint Parks and Recreation Committee/Board, which oversees the efforts to remove weeds from the bay – invited Kenzie Jeanquart to be present at public meetings when the city considers revising the management plan.