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Councilman Crowley is 'Hands Dirty, Feet Wet' on the Mill Creek

Cincinnati Councilman David Crowley, Mill Creek Yacht Club "Chief Petty Officer" Cincinnati -- The Mill Creek Yacht Club recently completed a 3-hour canoe trip past the soaring arches of the Western Hills Viaduct, a tree-lined stream corridor and two proposed sites for stream restoration.

The Yacht Club’s latest canoe outing began in Millvale at the Mill Creek Road Bridge and ended at the Mill Creek Barrier Dam in Queensgate. The canoeists made it all the way to the Ohio River before returning upstream to the take-out point near the Dam.

Cincinnati City Councilman David Crowley was on board for the four-mile trip and wholeheartedly endorsed the Yacht Club’s motto: ”Hands Dirty, Feet Wet.”

“It was a short trip that taught me an encouraging long-term lesson," said Crowley.

MSD to Build In-Stream Habitats

The Metropolitan Sewer District has contracted Woolpert LLP to design in-stream habitat structures near the Hopple Street Viaduct and the Gest Street Bridge. At both sites, the plan is to enhance the stream with man-made riffles.

The project will improve water quality, remove a barrier to fish migration and create a better habitat for aquatic insects and the fish that eat those insects. Trees and shrubs, native to the area, will be planted next to the riffles to stabilize the streambank, reduce soil erosion and diversify the streamside habitat.

Woolpert associate Warren High has created designs with infrastructure improvements in mind. At the Hopple Street site, the project will help protect a sewer line that crosses the Mill Creek beneath its streambed. At the Gest Street site, the project will eliminate a low-water crossing that was identified for removal 40 years ago. Project cost has been estimated at $250,000.

“Waterways like the Mill Creek can be reclaimed and restored to their natural state of beauty when environmentalist, city officials and the public work together to achieve that restoration. I am pleased that I took the time to make the trip,” added Crowley.

“Feet wet is another way of saying go down to the creek. Hands dirty means picking up junk, planting trees and doing other chores that physically improve the stream corridor,” said Bruce Koehler, who organizes the canoe trips as an environmental planner at OKI Regional Council of Governments. He is also known as The Commodore.

“It will take the support of many citizens and key public officials, like Councilman Crowley, to clean up the Mill Creek.”

Yacht Club "Commodore" Bruce Koehler, in the coveted Mill Creek Yacht Club T-Shirt The Mill Creek Yacht Club is a spark in the imagination…that began 10 years ago when “Commodore Koehler” and his sister-in-law’s husband cruised the Mill Creek in an old, beat-up canoe.

“It’s not incorporated or in any way formalized. The Yacht Club just started on the creek one morning. We were just joking around and it grew from there,” said the Commodore.

The best explanation for talk about a yacht club can be found in Dr. Stanley Hedeen’s book, The Mill Creek: An Unnatural History of an Urban Stream, which described an 1865 proposal to put a marina on the lower end of the Mill Creek near the Ohio River.

There is no marina but since its maiden voyage in 1993, the Yacht Club has made 46 trips with more than 260 different people from all walks of life.

At the end of the trip, you receive the coveted Mill Creek Yacht Club T-shirt and a handshake from Commodore Koehler.

Fourteen people took the August 28th excursion, including five newcomers.

Crew Photo

Members of the August 2003 Yacht Club Crew (click to enlarge)

Councilman Crowley is 'Hands Dirty, Feet Wet' on the Mill Creek

Crew Photo

Story & photos by G. Ruffin-Moore.