Blair Township officials hope to turn a long-time illegal dumping site into a beloved township gem through a major clean-up initiative in June.

Blair Township Supervisor Nicole Blonshine is spearheading a community campaign to remove ubiquitous piles of discarded furniture, tires, metal sheeting, and other trash scattered across state land in Hoosier Valley. Residents have used the property as an illegal dumping site “for years,” Blonshine says, eroding environmental conditions on the site and cultivating a seedy and unsafe reputation for the property that has scared away potential recreational users.

On a recent tour to evaluate township roads with the Grand Traverse County Road Commission, Blonsine says she was “utterly appalled” by the garbage piles she witnessed in Hoosier Valley (pictured). “When I started noticing all the dumping grounds and debris, I was absolutely floored,” she says. “Just the weekend before, we had our spring community clean-up day. Then I got into Hoosier Valley and saw all of this garbage still down there.”

Blonshine says that in the past, Blair Township hosted two annual township clean-up days when residents could come and dispose of unwanted major items like television sets and couches for free. The township additionally hosted a dedicated Hoosier Valley clean-up day each year. “Any items residents couldn’t afford to take to the dump, they could bring and drop off,” Blonshine says. “Then about nine or ten years ago, the township stopped offering those cleanup days, and people started dumping in Hoosier Valley again.”

While seeking her first term as township supervisor in 2016, Blonshine ran on the campaign promise she would revive the township clean-up days – an initiative she successfully implemented after winning office. Now Blonshine – with the full backing and support of the Blair Township board of trustees – is partnering with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to host a Hoosier Valley Clean-Up Day on Saturday, June 9 in an effort to remove the widespread trash on the property.

Blonshine and other township officials are encouraging as many community members as possible to meet at the corner of East Blair Townhall Road and Megan Lane at 9am on June 9. Through DNR Adopt-A-Forest grant funding, Blair Township has been able to obtain a 40-yard dumpster from American Waste to dispose of trash from the property. A township resident has donated an additional 10-yard dumpster for use at the site. Another 40-yard off-site dumpster can also be utilized to handle special items like shingles, tires, large limbs, and building lumber not able to be processed in the normal dumpsters, Blonshine says.

Blonshine and her husband plan to be on-hand with a tractor to assist with lifting heavy items, and she hopes other residents can bring trucks and other moving equipment to further help with cleaning up the trash piles. The goal is to completely clean Hoosier Valley in the full-day outing, the township supervisor says.

“I think it’ll be very effective…there should not be anything left behind,” Blonshine says. “My hope is also that this will be a great way for community members to meet each other who’ve never met otherwise. Hopefully it will increase the sense of pride and teamwork in the community, and to spread awareness of what’s happening in our valley so we can have more people policing other people and calling in if they see someone dumping.”

Blonshine says Hoosier Valley has become a popular dumping site because “there aren’t many residential homes down there, it’s isolated and secluded, and there were limited law enforcement patrols.” She adds: “I think that reputation has never gone anyway, and that’s what I’m trying to change.” Blonshine points out despite its foreboding aura, Hoosier Valley consists of “beautiful state land” ideal for hiking, turkey hunting, and mushrooming, among other activities. She hopes that a major joint community effort to clean the valley will encourage more recreational use of the property, as well as prompt residents to better protect the site.

“Having the two township clean-up days, there’s already been a huge improvement in visibility (for this effort), and the area is looking better,” she says. “When one neighbor cleans up, it can encourage the next neighbor to clean up. We can already see it’s working.”