Bay County Building
515 Center Avenue, Suite 501
Bay City, Michigan 48708-5941
ogarl@baycounty.net

Community Initiatives

PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) Program
An innovative way to help Bay County businesses save money, create jobs, grow the tax base and green our state! On March 10th, the Bay County Board of Commissioners voted to approve Resolution 2015-45 to officially join the PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program. A resolution was previously adopted by the Board of Commissioners on January 21, 2014 with the intent to create a program aimed at sharing opportunities for energy efficiency with local business through the development of a PACE program in Bay County. PACE was created through Act No. 270, Public Acts of Michigan (2010) for the purpose of promoting renewable energy systems and energy efficient improvements for eligible local businesses. Following this, a public hearing was held on the matter on February 11, 2014. The PACE program has identified improvements, renewable energy systems and energy projects within the Bay County PACE district.

11th Annual Beach Wellness Event - June 24, 2017
The 11th Annual BEACH WELLNESS event will take place on Saturday, June 24, 2017 beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Bay City State Recreational Area located at 3582 State Park Drive, Bay City, MI 48706. The event will feature the 11th Annual Beach Wellness 5K run & walk, 10K run, 15K run as well as a children’s 1/4 mile run. There will be a volleyball tournament on the beach which will be run by the YMCA and information for this tournament can be obtained by contacting Willi Pickvet at the “Y”- 989-895-8596. A classic car cruise is also part of the day’s festivities! ALL PROCEEDS DONATED ARE STRICTLY USED FOR BEACH GROOMING!

Yellow Jug Old Drugs Program
Yellow Jug Old Drugs is a program operated by Great Lakes Clean Water Organization to collect and properly dispose of unwanted/unused drugs in a safe and approved manner to help keep our water clean. Individuals bring in unused/unwanted/expired drugs to their local pharmacy for proper disposal. The Yellow Jug Old Drugs containers and contents are picked up at pharmacies and are then transported to a Waste-to-Energy facility for secure and assured destruction. Click HERE to find a participating pharmacy in your area.

Dispose My Meds
Dispose My Meds is an online resource to help you to find medication disposal programs at the local independent community pharmacy near you. More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms.

Exploring the Cass River and it's Watershed
The Cass River Watershed encompasses an area of 908 square miles (approx. 578,812 acres), contains 1352 total river miles and hundreds of miles of county drains. The Cass River flows to the Saginaw River and eventually to Saginaw Bay. Located in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula Thumb Region the watershed includes portions of Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, Saginaw, Sanilac, and Tuscola counties. Communities in the watershed include Bridgeport, Cass City, Caro, Frankenmuth, Marlette, Millington, Tuscola, Vassar, and Ubly. 

Michigan Clean Sweep Program
Looking for a way to safely dispose of unusable, outdated or unwanted pesticides? There is no charge for properly disposing of these materials through the Michigan Clean Sweep Program. Both pesticides and mercury items are accepted. No fertilizers will be accepted for disposal under the Clean Sweep Program unless they are part of a pesticide formulation.

Buildout Analysis

Economic impacts of urban sprawl development on agricultural production, demand for community services, transportation corridors and services, lost open space and loss of community linkages affect every sector of the economy, manufacturing, government resources, tourism, medical, education and other services.

The Build Out Analysis provides a tool needed by government, business, agricultural and real estate professionals to measure the impacts to local resources if no regional planning takes place.  We hope to create a link across political boundaries to the environment, economy and future bay community.

The Build Out Analysis is part of a broad-based community effort involving the Bay Area Community Foundation's Sustainable Develepment Initiative, local business and government leaders, farmers and agricultural business representatives, environmental/conservation oriented activists, and citizens interested in the future of this community.  This analysis was performed through a grant from the WIN initiative (Watershed Initiative Network).

Above PAR:  Planning for Placemaking, Access, and Redevelopment

Farmland Preservation (PDR)

Michigan Green Schools

Michigan Green Schools is a non-profit 501(c)3 agency dedicated to assisting all Michigan schools – public and private – achieve environmental goals which include protecting the air, land, water and animals of our state along with world outreach through good ecological practices and the teaching of educational stewardship of students pre-kindergarten through senior high school.