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Parks and Recreation Minutes – October 21, 2014

Helena Township, Antrim County Michigan Posted on by

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting – Alden Community Center
Meeting date: October 21, 2014                                                                 approved 1-20-15

In attendance:  Mike Crawford, Jim Gurr, Steve Dell, Dave Peterson, & Ruth Smith.
Absent: Jan Loveland, & Ken Masck.

  1. Community  Input:  Michelle Zeeman was in attendance. She had some questions about possible future use of the bank’s property adjacent to Franklin Street Rd. Access. P&R does mention this property in the Five Yr. plan as land that would be an asset to Helena Twn. but no action concerning this is anticipated at this time.
  2. Minutes from 09/16/2014 meeting -approved as presented and will be published on the HT website.
  3. Information from the September Helena Twp. Mtg.:  Dave mentioned that the pursuit of the survey at Coy Mt. was discussed. He feels the survey may be done fairly soon.
    OLD BUSINESS:
  4. Report on our 5-year plan progress for each park – no reports at this time.  We may want to consider reassigning the Community Bldg. to another committee member.
  5. Application for Recreational Passport Grant.  Steve reported that we were notified by the DNR of areas where we could possibly score more points on our Passport Grant Application. He provided additional information to the DNR for each area:
    A. publicizing the resurfaced courts and their universal access, B. environmentally friendly features such as recycling & LED lights as needed. C. proof that we will work with knowledgeable resources to provide a universally accessible site.
    6. . Walking path request from the Friends of the District library group. The committee reviewed this request using the newly updated evaluation forms. The need for further changes in the process were identified. Steve & Ruth will work on further upgrading the evaluation forms.  The Library group will be informed of further information needed to determine what recommendation P&R will send to the HT Board.
    7. Helena Community Fund Group. This item is going to be moved to future agenda items. In April a contact will be made with the CTA to check on their plans to help obtain court resurfacing and maintenance funds.
  6. Offer from Brad Gerlock to help with Coy Mt. Still waiting to see the survey results.  Also needed is a review of the deeds in case there are any restrictions and a contact with DNR to determine if there are any restrictions concerning the grant obtained from the DNR for the purchase of the land.
    9. Discussion of possible improvements in the design, content and verbiage on Twp. Signs – Not discussed.
  7. DNR plaques. The Twn. Board approved purchase of the needed plaques. Ruth will work with Joyce Looman, deputy clerk, to help with the ordering process.

NEW BUSINESS:

  1. There was discussion on Helena Twp. Assessing park fees in parks where DNR grants were used. The DNR has stated that the township is allowed to charge fees but these fee schedules need to be reviewed by the DNR. Possible ways to set up the fee scale were discussed. Dave will put together a proposed fee scale for Depot Park and bring it to the November meeting.  Dave stated that the HT Board does not want to have scheduling of the pavilion at Tennis Court Park.  With no scheduling a fee scale is not needed.

 

October 21st, 2014 Minutes of Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting Continued

 

  1. The parking lot and adjoining property at Coy Mtn. has a “for Sale’ sign on it. Not discussed.
  2. Carolyn Nowfel’s resignation was accepted by the PK&R Committee. Carolyn has agreed to be a consultant on issues where her knowledge of the area and people might be helpful. She has also agreed to let the PK &R Committee know of any Pk & R related articles she comes across. Carolyn’s contribution to the work of the Pk & R Committee is greatly appreciated.
    14. Prioritize “future agenda items” – advanced to the October agenda

Other Agenda Items: None
Action Items needed / Individual Assignments to be completed:

Dave:

  1. Will talk with Heidi Shaffer about meeting with us to look over HT properties and discuss water access. He has talked with Heidi but no date has been set yet.
  2. To work on action steps for the Ball Park to move toward the goals and objectives stated in the Five Yr. plan.
  3. To contact Bert Thompson, Antrim Co. Rd. Comm. re: proper protocol and costs for placement of signs at the access sites / Parks (?)
  4. To work with Ruth on listing what signage we have / need at public access sites / parks(?)
  5. To prepare a fee schedule to be used for renting out Depot Park.Jan:
  6. Actions completed:  progress on 1, 3, & 4 were not discussed
  1. 1.  To work on action steps for the Depot Park to move toward the goals and objectives stated in the Five Yr. plan.
  2. Ken:
  1. To work on action steps for Coy Mountain to move toward the goals and objectives stated in the Five Yr. plan.
  2. After the survey is completed – work with Brad Gerlock to help assess issues of trail maintenance and possible trail development at Coy Mountain.Ruth:
      1.The approved Sept. minutes are to be sent to Joyce Looman for publishing online.
    2. The October minutes are to be prepared for review by the Committee.
  3. Mike:
    1.     has asked for abstracts for the HT Coy Mt. and Ball Park properties and will share them with the Comm.
  4. To work with Steve on action steps for Tennis Court Park to move toward the goals and objectives stated in the Five Yr. plan.
  5. To work with Dave on listing what signage we have / need at public access sites / parks(?)
  6. To send a memo to HT Board asking that they have Mike Crawford determine if the cement and re-rod around the Safe Harbor is as safe as possible. At this time potentially harmful re-rod is sticking out.
  7. To send a memo to HT Board notifying them that Carolyn Nowfel has resigned from the Pk & R committee.
  8. Work with Steve to try to further update the project evaluation paperwork.
  9. Work with Steve on letter to send to District Library – follow-up on review of their request.
  10. Actions completed:
    a. Sent August minutes to Joyce Looman for publishing online.
    b. Prepared September minutes for committee review at October meeting.
  11.  

October 21st, 2014 Minutes of Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting Continued

 

Action Items needed / Individual Assignments to be completed continued:

Steve:

  1.    To work with Ruth on action steps for Tennis Court Park to move toward the goals and objectives stated in the Five Yr. plan.
  2. Work with Ruth to try to further update the project evaluation paperwork.
  3. Work with Ruth on letter to send to District Library – follow-up on review of their request.
  5. Actions completed:
  1. Worked on improving the project evaluation paperwork.
  2. Prepared and input information to DNR to try to increase our DNR Passport grant application score.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
These items will continue to be carried forward until they are discussed by the Committee
1. Discuss handicap parking in Helena Township.
2.Maps we use for Pks & Rec. Five Yr. Plan + are correct? – keep contact with Dan Roketenetz on this. Be sure the signs at the Lake St. and other sites give the public a clear idea of what is public and what is private land.

  1. Work to update the Parks and Recreation pages of the Helena Township web site.
  2. Mike mentioned the AAU Sports / Recreation Complex – Morey Complex- and suggested that they may be looking to locate a similar complex in Northern Michigan.
  3. Look into the possibility of Flo McCormick (or current grant writer for MI Assoc. of Counties) helping with writing any Pks. And Rec.
    grants. (Mike Crawford). Determine a grant writing resource and consider a grant recommendation review committee (P&R Committee – ?) that would review grants and give input to the Township Board (Rick)
    7. Consider Keith Charters as a resource for Pk. & Rec. projects.
    8. Riparian rights / possible review by township attorney (Dave)
    9. Any new equipment (picnic tables, benches, etc.)should not be made of wood (Rick) – see Rick’s page
    10. Further discuss Alden Safe Harbor and its park status / ownership – memo to Board?
  4. Research rules and laws governing road ending lake access sites (Steve, Ruth)
  5. Deed restrictions for Helena Twp. Parks are to be reviewed. (Bring copies of deeds -Steve)
  6. Check responsibilities of the Parks & Rec. Committee outlined in the current HT Master Plan.
  7. Talk about a possible future request for a low % millage to help fund our Parks.
  8. April 2015 – Contact the Helena ‘Community Tennis Association’ to see how they are doing with fund raising for tennis court resurfacing and maintenance.
  9. Discuss doing a memo to the Twp. Board about placing signs at all parks to clarify that the township owns them and who to contact if there are questions or concerns about the site. This is to be discussed after the committee has a chance to visit all the Parks and Road Access sites this Spring/Summer. Add to the discussion on signs on November agenda??

 

The next monthly meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 18th, 2014 – 3 PM at the Helena Township Offices.

 

Respectfully submitted by Ruth Smith
10-26-2014

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