One of Green Bay’s Cat Islands, which are currently undergoing an $18 million 20-year restoration project, may be renamed for a former county harbor commissioner.
The Brown County Board will decide Wednesday whether or not to rename one of the islands after Neil McKloskey, who recently retired from the Brown County Harbor Commission.
In the meantime, Dean Haen, the Brown County port director, said that the restoration project — which includes the construction of a wave barrier that allows recreational boaters a close-up view of the island — is moving along. He said that clean dredgings from the bay’s shipping channel are being used to build the islands back up.
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“That will take a number of years before there’s, so to speak, ‘land’ behind this wave barrier,” said Haen.
Haen said wildlife habitat is a priority.
“It’s going to take some time to put material there,” he said. “We’re going to learn more about what we can do recreationally with humans, but that will be determined.”
The islands were almost completely eroded when the project began in 2012. The restoration is funded by a Natural Resources Damage Assessment associated with the Fox River PCB clean up.
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