Parks and Recreation Minutes – March 18, 2014

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Minutes Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting – Alden Community Center Meeting date: March 18, 2014                                                                   approved 5-15-2014

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

  1. Community Input: None
  2. Minutes from 02/18/2014 -approved as presented & will be published on the HT website.
  3. Information from March Helena Twp. Mtg.: Township meeting was not discussed. See new business #10 below.

OLD BUSINESS:

  1. Protocols and procedures:  A grid for scoring projects that might come before the committee was presented by Ruth and Steve. The committee spent some time discussing ways to improve the grid. Jan Loveland has agreed to further work on the grid and bring it back to the board in April.
  2. Review our 5-year-plan – advanced to the April agenda. 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 has talked with Bob Logee who determined that this is a dedicated / platted road belonging to Helena Twn.  The committee approved a resolution to go before the HB recommending that they explore the possibility of opening a pedestrian walkway in Alley 1 between Smalley Rd and the Library (Community Center). 7. HT was not awarded a grant from the GT Band 2% funds.
  3. Prioritize “future agenda items” – advanced to the April agenda.
  4. 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 – in April

NEW BUSINESS: 10. Steve took the proposal of sending in a DNR Recreation Passport grant to the TB in March. They approved requesting DNR Passport grant funding  for tennis court repairs.  Steve is preparing the needed online grant application due April 1st.

Other Agenda Items: None

 

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. Actions completed: 
  4. Obtained a bulletin board & located it near the library for posting Pk. and Rec. materials

Minutes Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting – March 18 2014  Continued

Action Items needed: Jan: 1. Talk with Bob Robbins Re: questions concerning public input on the plan not being on the website.

  1. To work on further developing a scoring grid for projects presented to the Pk. & Rec. Committee for review

Ken:

  1. To walk the trails at Coy Mountain with Brad Gerlock to help asses issues of trail maintenance and possible trail development. 2.   Will look into the details and costs of the signs at Glacier Hills. Actions completed:
  1. Talked with Bob Logee who determined that Alley 1 going from Smalley to the Community center is a dedicated / platted road that belongs to the Township Ruth:   1.The approved February minutes are to be sent to Joyce Looman for publishing online.
  2.   2. The March minutes need to be prepared for review by the Committee and will be sent to Rick after feedback from committee members.   3. Work with Jan on further developing a scoring grid for projects presented to the Pk. & Rec. Committee for review. Actions completed: A. Sent Jan. minutes to Joyce Looman for publishing online. B. Prepared February minutes for committee review at March meeting. C. Helped Joyce Looman with the initial set up for HT to be able to go online to complete DNR Grant apps. Steve:
  3. Mike:     1. He will ask for abstracts for the HT Coy Mt. and Ball Park properties.
  1. Follow-up contact GT Band (Tyvin) concerning dates for summer camps.
  2. Send resolution to the HT board recommending that they explore the possibility of opening a pedestrian walkway in Alley 1 between Smalley Rd and the Library (Community Center).
  3. To complete the online DNR Passport grant application for help with tennis court repairs by April 1st.
  4. Will type up the scoring grid for projects presented to the Pk. & Rec. Committee for review as it is revised. Actions completed: A. Has contacted Tyvin – no response as of the March meeting.

 

 

Minutes Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting – March 18 2014  Continued

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. Discuss handicap parking in Helena Township. 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, April 15th, 2014 – 3 PM at the Helena Township Offices.

Respectfully submitted by Ruth Smith 03-19-2014