Bay city officials have created three committees to explore options for renovating its aging bridges.
Public outcry over the possibility of privatizing two bridges in need of over nine million dollars in repairs pushed the city to explore other options first. City officials say they will first pursue state takeover.
Republican State Senator Mike Green represents Bay County. He said state takeover is unlikely.
“I sure hate to take some of the money that we need to fix our potholes with and use it to fix a bridge. I don’t think the majority of the people in the state would want that.”
Matthew Felan is with the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance. He said local officials will lobby aggressively for state control.
“If that doesn’t work we have to have backup plans.”
Felan says if the state won’t take over the city will reach out to the county and attempt a mileage before moving on to privatization. But he said, privatization is a last resort.