Antrim County
Parks and Recreation Commission

 

December 22, 2005

Minutes

Members Present:

 

Stan Moore, Jerry Basch, Jerry Dobrzelewski, Mike Meriwether, Russ Blasdell, Mark Stone, Linda Gallagher and Mike Crawford

Members Absent:

 

Al Pecar

Staff Present:

 

Joe Meyers and Eileen Wallick

Others:

 

None.

I.          Call to Order

 

Stan Moore called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m.

II.        Approval of November 14, 2005 Minutes

 

Motion by Jerome Dobrzelewski, supported by Jerry Basch, to approve the minutes from the November 14, 2005 meeting.  Motion carried - unanimous.

III.       Parks and Rec Database Update

 

Stan Moore recommended that Valerie Craft put together another list of locations on the database that do not currently have a picture.  Mr. Moore inquired the need for two drop down menus on the page and felt that one would be sufficient. 

 

Linda Gallagher noted that we need to find another way to portray location because tourists do not know townships.    

 

Mark Stone noted that we should have an index page along with a search engine because some people do not feel comfortable using a search engine.  Mr. Stone further inquired about how many visitors the database gets a year. 

 

Ms. Gallagher explained to the Commission that we need to do more tests on the website. 

 

Mr. Moore requested that Ms. Craft attend next meeting for some layout discussion and other website questions.

   

IV.       Elk Rapids Day Park

 

 Joe Meyers informed the Commission that the Parks Committee tasked them to look into the feasibility of transferring Elk Rapids Day Park in control of the Village.  Mr. Meyers explained to the Commission that this has been discussed before but has been at a standstill for the past two years. 

 

Ms. Gallagher explained that she would have no problems with transferring the day park over to the village if there are no restrictions on the property. 

 

Mr. Stone was tasked with contacting the Village President to see if there was still a desire to have the park in the control of the Village.  Mr. Meyers was tasked with contacting Teresa Kent, County Abstracter, about the restrictions on the property.

      

V.         Parks Brochure Update

 

Mr. Meyers informed the Commission that he had been contacted by Harbor House publishers about possibly putting something about parks and recreation in the Elk Rapids Chamber of Commerce yearly publication. 

 

Mr. Stone noted that he publishes a map that Harbor House has been trying to put in the publication.  He thought that maybe they could put that map in the publication with the write-ups on parks and recreation information surrounding the map.  Mr. Stone will contact Terri Crandall-Kimble from the Elk Rapids Chamber of Commerce about the layout.

 

Motion by Jerry Basch, supported by Linda Gallagher to contact Terri Crandall-Kimble about a two page spread within the visitors guide.  Motion carried – unanimous.

 

VI.       Boat Launch on Lake Michigan

 

Stan Moore informed the Commission that he, Mr. Meyers and Mike Crawford met Sue Bright from the Army Corps of Engineers and David Gentoft from the Department of Environmental Quality about the potential boat launch sites.  Mr. Moore gave a report on each individual site, as follows: 

 

v      Antrim Creek Natural Area

Mr. Moore noted that this was traditionally a boat launch but Ms. Bright noted that there was no room for expansion due to the wetlands that were surrounding the “boat launch”.  Ms. Bright also noted that there were historical artifacts found on one side of the area.

 

v      Torch Bay Nature Preserve

Mr. Moore informed the Commission that this site has the right grade for a boat launch but the wetland on the right side of the site makes it challenging for expansion.  Mr. Moore further noted that the Army Corps and DEQ saw potential problems with the lack of ownership and the deed restrictions of the property.  Ms. Bright further noted that Torch Lake Township had taken out a permit basically “un-improving” the site. 

 

v      Barnes Park

Mr. Moore noted that this was, in the Army Corps and the DEQ mind, the better site because of the ownership and no restrictions.  They informed Mr. Moore that they did not have any jurisdiction over that site and it would fall into the jurisdiction of the Soil Erosion Control Officer. 

 

Ms. Bright noted that any of the sites would need to have yearly dredging done through a multi-year dredging permit.

 

VII.    Barnes Park Timber Cut

 

Mr. Meriwether, County Forester, informed the Commission that the Parks Committee had asked this Commission to look into the forestry and park “issue” at Barnes Park.  Mr. Meriwether noted that at the park there are 80 acres that are deeded for forestry purposes and 67 acres that have no restrictions placed on them.  Mr. Meriwether presented a map of where a potential paved trail and a dirt trail could go (attached).  Mr. Meriwether further noted that he felt that the forest needed to be thinned out. 

 

Eileen Wallick, Parks Manager, expressed concern of the loss of lot 11 in the park due to the trail.  Mr. Meriwether informed the Commission that we would work with Ms. Wallick to minimally impact any lot as a result of the trails.  Ms. Wallick further noted that she would not like a trail to the entrance of the park for security reasons. 

 

 

Motion by Mark Stone, supported by Jerome Dobrzelewski, to recommend the Parks Committee move forward with the County Forester plan to selectively harvest timber from Barnes Park and proceed with his ideas of the trail system that he is planning.  Motion carried – unanimous.

VIII.    Petoskey Stone Festival

 

Linda Gallagher reported on the events that have taken place regarding the Petoskey Stone Festival.  Ms. Gallagher noted that some of the local politicians are planning to attend.  Ms. Gallagher further noted that she has at least five vendors with many more possibly attending. 

 

Ms. Gallagher noted that she will be attending a meeting on January 17, 2006 to promote the Petoskey Stone Festival.  Ms. Gallagher further noted that things are moving along very fast and this festival could potentially be a lot larger than we had initially expected. 

 

Joe Meyers presented a copy of the website that Al Pecar has been working on with the information that Ms. Gallagher provided (attached). 

 

 

Ms. Gallagher informed the Commission that she has been in contact with some of the local Chamber of Commerce branches and wanted the Commissions opinion on if they wanted to let the Chamber’s have there own areas.  Discussion ensued about vendors at the festival and the Commission decided that we should contact Pat DuBois from the Bellaire Chamber of Commerce about possibly setting up one stand for all of the chambers in the area.

 

IX.       Regional Non-motorized Transportation and Recreation Plan

 

Mr. Meyers informed the Commission that the Council of Governments requested a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission represent Antrim County in the creation of the regional plan.  The Commission inquired about the times and places of the meetings.  Mr. Meyers did not have that information so they decided to appoint Mr. Meyers for the first meeting and report back to the Committee.

 

Motion by Mike Crawford, supported by Mark Stone to appoint Joe Meyers to the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments Regional Non-Motorized Transportation and Recreation Plan Committee.  Motion carried – unanimous.  

 

X.        Public/Member Comment

 

Jerry Basch spoke to the Commission about how much of a pleasure it was to be on the Commission and how important and necessary the Commission actually is.

 

Meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

The next meeting will be

Thursday, January 26, 2006 at 1:00 p.m.