Jessica Lovay, Community Development & Grants

Northern Lakes Economic Alliance (NLEA) was successful in assisting the City of Cheboygan in obtaining a $249,000 grant from Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), formerly DEQ, for local City of Cheboygan car dealership Bishop GMC Cadillac.

The project will clean up a contaminated former gas station, demolish three dilapidated buildings allowing the dealership to build a new sales office, hire two new employees, and invest close to $200,000. NLEA will continue to support the project by providing grant administration services.

The site’s soil and groundwater were contaminated by gasoline from a leaking underground storage tank. The brownfield grant will be used to evaluate current soil and groundwater conditions on the property and remove contaminated soil. The EGLE grant will also pay for lead and asbestos abatement.

Demolition and clean up are expected to begin late 2019 early 2020. For more information on this and other grant opportunities, contact NLEA’s Community Development Team, Amanda Baker and Jessica Lovay at 231-582-6482.