The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Township focuses on parks
Scio will apply for state parkland grant
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 10, 2008
Township officials were almost unanimously in favor of pursuing a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant at a recent board meeting.
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The MNRTF has been in place since 1976. It provides financial assistance to local governments and the Department of Natural Resources to purchase land or rights in land for public recreation or protection of land because of its environmental importance or its scenic beauty. It also assists in the appropriate development of land for public outdoor recreation.
The date to shoot for having the application in to the state is April 1 - the preferred deadline as stated in the motion -, although if work on the application takes more time, there is an Aug. 1 "secondary application deadline for land acquisition projects only" deadline.
April 1 is the deadline for development projects and land acquisitions, while August would leave development projects off the table until 2009.
As of January 2006, over $600 million in MNRTF appropriations have been made for more than 1,200 state and local recreation projects. Scio would have to provide 25 percent of the projects funding as a local match.
The township's land consultant, Barry Lonik, of Treemore Ecology and Land Services, is already in the process of reviewing and analyzing parcels within the township's borders for applicable park projects, according to township trustee Chuck Ream.
"I'm really enthusiastic that Scio is moving towards parks and the votes are there for each of the things that we do," said Ream, who made the motion."We're moving forward quickly and I am happy about that. I'm hoping we could get all or part of that text that I turned in published. I searched really hard to find low cost park activities. We don't want to provide activities unless they're the ones that people want to do."
In the coming weeks, Lonik will be providing more information to the board on potential parcels that have been recently selected as potential sites for large parks in the township, according to the wording of the motion.
The motion also stipulates that the parcel information will be collected by the middle of this month, roughly 30 days after Ream's motion passed. The information requested of Mr. Lonik is a short description of each parcel, specifying potential parks and recreational uses for each, as well as financial information on cost and comparable parcels in the area. This information will be publicly present at a future board meeting.
The resolution also says that the township will hire a parks and recreation consultant at an hourly rate not to exceed Lonik's fee.
The application must include a submittal of a community recreation plan, a grant application, evaluation by DNR staff, recommendation by the MNRTF board and appropriation of project funds by the state legislature.
The money in large part is there thanks to Proposal J, which was passed to support parks, open space and farmland preservation, according to Ream.
Proposal J was passed in 2004 by 75 percent of township residents. The proposal levies one half of a mill or $.50 per $1,000 of taxable value of each residence for land preservation.
In its first year the bond raised about $575,000 and will continue to be there for land preserve projects until 2014, at which time LPC members say they will go to voters again for a renewal.
According to Ream, any shortfalls in funding can be found from other sources without going to taxpayers for additional revenue.
"The money can be found to start out on a very minimal scale and the leagues and the coaches and the parents, especially of the Dexter soccer and little league," he said. "Interested people who will use the land will take care of themselves. We just need to get the ground."
Ream also said that he has spoken to coaches, some of which are in leagues that pay Dexter Community Schools $16,000 per year for ground rent and would like an alternative.
Township Clerk Kathy Knol, who has stood by the LPC, said that she disagreed with the process that was used in this case.
“The LPC should have been consulted and had an opportunity to review the resolution before it was placed on the township board agenda as an action item,” she said. “Many of the LPC members are supportive of the concept of parkland recreation. They are just concerned about the ongoing maintenance costs associated with such parks.”
Last October, the township board voted to shift focus slightly in favor of active parkland initiatives. Formerly the priority was farmland with 85 percent of the fund earmarked for land acquisitions along those lines and the remainder left for parkland expansion. Now parklands will get 25 percent of the money.
LPC officials Bruce Manny and Irwin Martin describe their process as one characterizing a reactive advisory body, although Ream feels that their stance is too passive.
According to Manny and Irwin, the LPC is doing just fine in regard to active parklands and they say they are doing so in a way that will not incur additional property taxes outside of the small amount of money that comes out of that revenue source into Proposal J.
According to Ream, the MNRTF is just one of many grants that the township will pursue to grow parks and recreation in the township without turning to the taxpayers, at least until the township's public safety concerns are handled.
"Eventually we might seek a tiny .3 mill down the road," Ream said. "Just enough to pay some guy with a lawnmower and maybe some liability insurance."
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