The saga of a sunken barge beached along West Bay shoreline in Bingham Township continues.
Don Balcom of Traverse City was in 13th Circuit Court Monday to report on the status of the barge, one year after pleading guilty to a charge of water resources protection violations.
For the past several years, Balcom has moved the sunken barge to locations in West Bay. This is much to the chagrin of some property owners and some state agencies.
It currently rests along the bay shore in Bingham Township.
Balcom first faced charges from the Michigan Attorney General’s Office in June 2023 for failing the move the barge, in violation of the state Resources Protection Act, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and imposes a fine of not less than $2,500 and not $25,000.
He pleaded guilty a year ago in 13th Circuit Court to a charge of water resources protection violations. In May 2024, the court sentenced him to 12 months probation and ordered that, if Balcom got his barge moved during that 12-month period, the plea would be reduced to a misdemeanor violation.
Balcom explained sale of the watercraft is pending.
“We have a group of people from, I won’t say where, they want to buy the barge and they have two weeks to close the deal,” he said. “They’ve had money down on the barge, now they want to close the deal in two weeks.”
Balcom’s attorney, Thomas Seger, noted that if the vessel is sold, Balcom’s responsibility for moving it would change.
“Clearly if the vessel’s been sold, he doesn’t completely control that. But he does make a good faith representation that the vessel is likely to be moved by him through the letter that was provided to the court,” Seger said.
Balcom, 90, expressed his desire to move on from the ordeal.
“I’d like to have my life back. I have a beautiful wife and things that we want to do. This has been tearing us down,” he said. “I’m 90 years old and I have a bad shoulders, I have a bad hip and I have cancer and I’m ready to sell it, yes.”
