Bay City Times/MLive: U.S. Sen. Gary Peters makes first Bay City visit since taking office

Peters was greeted at the Doubletree by a slew of guests, from Bay County Executive Tom Hickner to Mike Kegley, president of the organization that curates the USS Edson Naval destroyer.

Bay County Commissioner Ernie Krygier, D-2nd District, said he hopes Peters left with a good understanding of need for increased beach access in Bay County. Attempts to build a boardwalk at the Bay City State Recreation Area have been mired in a bureaucratic waiting game for years, Krygier said.

"He certainly can help the Army Corps (of Engineers) know the importance of water in our region," Krygier said.

Following Peters' stop at the Doubletree, he walked south along the Saginaw River waterfront to Real Seafood Co., where he took a moment to tout the Waterfront Community Revitalization and Resiliency Act, which would make grants and loans more easily available to waterfront communities for a bevy of development plans.

"It helps communities put the kinds of plans in place to allow these kinds of developments to occur," Peters said of the bill, which he co-sponsored. "We need to step up and help local communities put in these kind of projects. It's certainly what I've seen here today. It's really phenomenal, what this community has done."