Parks and Recreation Minutes – February 18, 2014

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Minutes Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting – Alden Community Center Meeting date: February 18, 2014                                                                  approved 3-18-14

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

 

  1. Community Input: None
  2. Minutes from 01/21/2014 -approved as presented & will be published on the HT website.
  3. Information from February Helena Twp. Mtg.: Ken Masck was appointed to the Parks and Recreation meeting as was Jim Gurr as the representative from the Planning Commission.   RE: Walker property – confirmation that Pks. & Rec. will not be involved. I told the Board that I would work with Joyce Looman to get the Township set up to work on DNR grants.

OLD BUSINESS:

  1. Rick Teague, Helena Twn. supervisor, was in attendance and explained that the Board would like the Pks and Rec. Committee to offer a recommendation on community projects that would be appropriately reviewed by the Pks. and Rec. Committee. He offered suggested criteria to be considered. The Pk & Rec. committee will work on developing protocol and procedures to help in making decisions brought before the committee.
  2. Review our 5-year-plan – not addressed at this meeting. 6. Letter from District Library Board.  The path to be used to allow people to safely walk from the church to the community center was discussed. Ken Masck did talk with Bob Logee about this but will further pursue ownership of the land that would be used. 7. Steve shared the information that these grants are usually awarded around the end of February.
  3. Prioritize “future agenda items” – this was moved forward to the March agenda.
  4. Ruth did attend the Recreation Grant Workshop in Gaylord and brought grant application booklets back.
  5. Ability of township to assess rental fees for parks where DNR grants were used (Depot Park, Community Center & Coy Mt.). Dave has a call in to Christie Bayus our DNR advisor and will report back.

NEW BUSINESS: 11. Discuss developing a plan for a reservation system for all township parks. This was discussed and a decision made to move this item to the future agenda items list.

  1. The idea of sending a memo to the Twn. Board about placing signs at all parks to clarify ownership and who to contact with questions or problems has been moved to the future agenda items list.
  2. Jim Gurr, Pks & Rec. representative from the Planning Commission, was present. Welcome Jim.
  3. Ruth will work with Joyce Looman to get the Township set up for the online grant application process through the DNR. 15. Riparian rights. Rick Teague and Dave Peterson reported on information that they covered at the Township Association meeting. They will be suggesting a survey of the Townships riparian bottom lands. They will also be working with the DNR on placing swimming buoys at Township swimming sites this summer.

 

Minutes Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting – February 18 2014  Continued

Action Items needed: Carolyn:

  1. May contact colleges concerning the possibility of students taking on a project to work on a site plan for the Alden Ball Park.
  2. Dave:     1. To contact Christie Bayus concerning restrictions on charging fees at parks where a DNR grant was obtained.
  3. Obtain an estimate for spraying to eradicate the garlic mustard at Coy Mountain this year.
  4. Obtain a bulletin board to be located near the library for posting Pk. and Rec. materials
  5. Ken:
  1. To continue his conversation with Bob Logee to determine ownership concerning the two track that goes between the church and the Community Center. Ken will pursue information in county abstracts to determine if the property owners have easement on this road & clarify who has the right to make decisions concerning this ‘road’.
  2.  2.   To walk the trails at Coy Mountain with Brad Gerlock to help asses issues of trail maintenance and possible trail development.   3.   Will look into the details and costs of the signs at Glacier Hills. Actions completed:
  1. Talked with Bob Logee about ownership of the two track ‘road’ from church to C.C.
  2. Talked with Brad Gerlock who will walk the trails at Coy Mountain when the snow allows Mike:     1. Clarified that he will ask for abstracts for the Twn. Coy Mt. and Ball Park properties.  2. The February minutes need to be prepared for review by the Committee and will be sent to Rick after feedback from committee members.  3. Work with Joyce Looman to get the Township set up to prepare online applications for DNR grants. Actions completed: A. Sent Nov. minutes to Joyce Looman for publishing online. B. Prepared January minutes for committee review at Feb. meeting. C. Attended the DNR grants training in January and brought back some materials for the committee. D. Looked for hunting provisions at Coy Mt. but could not find anything.  Action Items needed: Steve: Actions completed: A. prepared memo to Rick – Ken Masck has been appointed to the Pk. & Rec. Committee
  3. B. Rick Teague attended the Jan. Meeting and discussed what the Twn. Bd. wants from the Pk. & Rec. committee concerning requests for projects in Township Parks. C. Found no mention concerning hunting in the Coy Mt. deed. D. Contacted Tyvin – no response as of the January meeting.
  4.    1. Follow-up contact GT Band (Tyvin) concerning dates for summer camps.
  5. Minutes Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting – Jan. 21, 2014   Center Continued
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  7.  
  8. Ruth:   1.The approved January minutes are to be sent to Joyce Looman for publishing online.
  9. Jan:  1. Talk with Bob Robbins Re: questions concerning public input on the plan not being on the website.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:       These items will continue to be carried forward until they are discussed by the Committee 1. Deed restrictions for Helena Twp. Parks are to be reviewed.  (Bring copies of deeds -Steve) 2. Riparian rights / possible review by township attorney (Dave) 3. Handicap parking in Helena Township (Discussion). 4. Research rules and laws governing road ending lake access sites (Steve, Ruth) 5. Further discuss Alden Safe Harbor and its park status / ownership – memo to Board? 6. Work to update the Parks and Recreation pages of the Helena Township web site.

  1. Mike mentioned the AAU Sports / Recreation Complex – Morey Complex- and suggested that they may be     looking to locate a similar complex in Northern Michigan.
  2. Look into the possibility of Flo McCormick (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) 9. Consider Keith Charters as a resource for Pk. & Rec. projects. 10. Check responsibilities of Parks & Rec. Comm. outlined in the current HT Master Plan 11. Any new equipment (picnic tables, benches, etc.) in our parks should not be made of wood (Rick) 12. Follow-up to see that the map we use for Pks & Rec. purposes 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.
  3. Discuss developing a plan for a reservation system for all township parks.
  4. 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.

 

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

Respectfully submitted by Ruth Smith 02-06-2014