Plans by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians to construct a municipal marina in Peshawbestown have prompted the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to ask for public comment on a permit being sought by the tribe.

The state DEQ recently issued a public notice allowing members of the public until Feb. 7 to comment on the GTB’s plans to construct a 129-slip marina on West Grand Traverse Bay waterfront between Omena Bay and Suttons Bay.

To build the marina, the tribe must secure a lease of 11.62 acres of state owned bottomland in Lake Michigan, portions of which could be dredged. The MDEQ has asked anyone interested in submitting comments on the tribe’s application for a marina lease to do so in writing. The DEQ is accepting comments through its Land and Water Management Division, P.O. Box 30458, Lansing, MI 48909-7958.

Copies of public notices including drawings are available at the Leelanau County Clerk’s office, the Suttons Bay Township clerk’s office, the Leelanau-Benzie District Health Department, and the Grand Traverse Band. In addition, details are available online through the Michigan DEQ’s website at www.michigan.gov/deq. The tribe’s DEQ permit application is file number 07-45-0107-P.

Tribal officials announced plans for the new marina in October 2007 and said they hoped construction would be under way in 2008. Since last year, tribal officials have been working with the Army Corps of Engineers and with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies on the project. Preliminary estimates put the project’s overall pricetag at between $5 million and $6 million.