He said 640 feet of sand has built up on the north side of the breakwater that would have moved along the shoreline since the earlypart of the 20th century, and in the 1980s the sand that didn't move
south of the pier contributed to millions of dollars in destruction to portions of Lakeshore Road and Oval Beach in the city of Saugatuck.

"Taxpayers here have put out a lot of money in the past 30 years because of high water," Olendorf said.

So he appealed to U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, who organized a recent meeting between Saugatuck Township officials, the corps and Jerry Kooiman, an aide to Hoekstra. In that meeting, a deal was formed  to have the corps provide a feasibility study to determine whether the federally funded pier sped erosion on its south side.

"I think it's a good arrangement, I think it needs to be done," Olendorf  said. "As a child growing up here, things looked a lot different."

If the agency's study finds the piers responsible for the erosion, it will figure out how much sand was diverted and over a period of time replace the sand with dredging spoils and imported sand.

"By no means do we think this will bring back all the beautiful beach along the shoreline, but we do think it's only fair Saugatuck be given the same fair treatment as other parts along the shoreline," Olendorf said.

Also at Wednesday's board meeting, trustees voted to ask the village of Douglas and the city of Saugatuck to pass a resolution showing their support of the project.