City Forest end of season report: I will provide the annual end of season report for the City Forest s winter operations.

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Jesse Chase
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Parks and Recreation 4811 North Saginaw Road Midland, Michigan 48640 989.837.6930 989.835.5651 Fax www.cityofmidlandmi.

1 Parks and Recreation 4811 North Saginaw Road Midland, Michigan Fax May 31, 2018 TO: FROM: Parks and Recreation Commission Karen Murphy, Public Services Director SUBJECT: Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting of June 5, 2018 The regular meeting of the Midland Parks and Recreation Commission has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 5, The meeting will be held in Council Chambers of Midland City Hall at 333 W. Ellsworth and will begin at 7:00 p.m. The agenda for the meeting is as follows: 1) Call to Order 2) Pledge of Allegiance 3) Roll Call 4) Minutes of meeting of March 6, ) Call to Audience 6) Pickle Ball grant update 7) City Forest end of season report 8) National Softball Association Outstanding Park award 9) Recreation update 10) Project Reports a. Arbor Day b. Tridge rededication event c. Upper Emerson Park project 11) Old Business 12) New Business 13) Adjourn

2 Parks and Recreation 4811 North Saginaw Road Midland, Michigan Fax May 31, 2018 TO: FROM: Parks and Recreation Commission Karen Murphy, Director of Public Services SUBJECT: Notes for Meeting of June 5, 2018 Pickle Ball grant update: I will share an update on the grants that the City has received to date toward the future pickle ball court installation at Central Park. I will ask for Commission support to present the grants to date to the City Council for their acceptance. City Forest end of season report: I will provide the annual end of season report for the City Forest s winter operations. National Softball Association Outstanding Park award: The City s ball field maintenance crew was recently recognized at a national conference for their achievements by the National Softball Association. I will share details of this award at the meeting. Recreation update: I will provide a report on past and upcoming recreation events. I will review the Pitch, Hit and Run event held at Dow Diamond and the Make Midland Beautiful poster contest awarded in May. I will provide an update on Plymouth Pool, including opening dates, swim lessons and scheduled Teen nights at the pool. I will also share the Tunes by the Tridge summer concert series line up and give location details for the July 4 th celebration. Project Reports: a. Arbor Day I will review the events that the City s forestry division participated in to recognize Arbor Day this year. b. Tridge rededication event - The City partnered with the Midland Area Community Foundation to host a rededication event to recognize the Rollin M. Gerstacker s support of the recent Tridge renovation. I will give a review of the event. c. Upper Emerson Park project I will give an update on this project. Unfortunately, the plan development process has fallen behind schedule so I will share details and potential impacts of this at the meeting. Respectfully, Karen Murphy

3 MIDLAND PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 6, 2018 MIDLAND CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 7:00 P.M. PROPOSED MINUTES 1) Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairperson Neil Rankin. 2) Pledge of Allegiance 3) Roll Call: a. MEMBERS PRESENT: Billotti, Carlson, Carney, Foster, Johns, Rankin, Rice, Steidemann, Varela (arrived after agenda item #4) b. MEMBERS ABSENT: c. OTHERS PRESENT: Marcie Post, Recreation Manager, Bart Heil, Park Supervisor 4) Minutes of February 6, 2018: Steidemann motioned, Foster seconded to receive minutes of the meeting of February 6, Motion passed ) Call to Audience: None 6) Momentum Midland Bike Share update: Nicole Wilson, program manager for Momentum Midland, spoke about the City s bike share program. She shared the following statistics for the 2017 season: 991 rides from June 14 November users with 47 annual users. 108,959 minutes ridden during this time frame. Carney asked about the bike locations and Wilson shared that the locations are all on public property as decided by the pilot program group. The membership money goes back into the bike program, hoping to make this a sustainable program. Wilson shared this will be year 2 of a 3 years contract, and the annual pass is $30 if purchased as early bird or $35 if purchased later. Wilson stated that they are hoping to increase usage at the Library location and are planning to move the Dublin Road station closer to the trail. The stations will stay where they are for this season. 7) Discussion on E-bike usage on City trails: Heil reviewed the new State law that allows for Class 1 e-bikes to operate on road right-of-ways and on lineal trails with improved surfaces. She discussed the City s initial concerns with e-bikes being operated on the City s portion of the Rail Trail as it is considered to be a non-motorized trail. Heil then shared public input received on the issue, and discussed research conducted by the Parks & Recreation staff, which included a ride by three staff members on e-bikes along the Rail Trail. He discussed the mechanism of the Class 1 e-bike in terms of speed and how the motor assist works. Heil also shared that Midland County Parks will be allowing Class 1 e-bikes on their section of trail and that the board members for Friends of the Pere Marquette Rail Trail are supportive of the use of Class 1 bikes on the trail as well. Heil closed by sharing the new staff recommendation that the City allow the State law as written, which will allow Class 1 e-bikes on lineal trails with improved surfaces. He stated the City would monitor trail usage and if problems arise with e-bikes, staff would bring the matter back to the Commission for further discussion. The public hearing was opened following Heil s presentation. Eleven people spoke in favor of allowing e-bikes on City trails, with interest in allowing Class 2 as well as Class 1 e-bikes.

4 Foster motioned to accept the State law as written which will allow Class 1 e-bikes on the Rail Trail and other improved surface trails in the City. Varela seconded the motion and the motion passed ) Grant application to Land and Water Conservation Fund for Pickle ball and Tennis Court project in Central Park: Post reviewed the proposed project to relocate and construct a new outdoor pickle ball and tennis court complex in Central Park. The project will rely on receiving grant funding with a project cost of $230,000. Post shared a plan to apply for a Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant for $115,000 with a 50% local match to come from various sources. To date, $40,000 has been secured from the Midland Area Community Foundation and a project fund has been set up to capture donations from the pickle ball user community. In order to apply for the LWCF grant, the Parks & Recreation Commission must offer a motion of support, and a public hearing must be held at the City Council level, resulting in a formal resolution of support from the Council. Council will hear the matter at their March 26 meeting. Post requested a motion of support from the Parks & Recreation Commission to move forward with this grant application. Varela motioned to support the grant application for the pickle ball and tennis court project. Johns seconded the motion and the motion passed 9-0. John Muste, 4900 Oakridge Ct., spoke in support of the project as a pickle ball player. 9) Grant application to Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund for phase II of the Upper Emerson Park riverfront renovation project: Heil reviewed the Upper Emerson Park riverfront renovation. He gave an overview of the current phase funded by a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant received in 2017, which includes converting the pump house to an overlook, adding an accessible fishing dock and a boardwalk along the riverfront, putting in a floating dock for access from the river and connecting the site to the Rail Trail. Heil then reviewed the proposed phase II of the project that includes installation of a new hand rail along the seawall, removal of the remaining vehicle road and the vehicle bridge at the confluence of Sturgeon Creek and the Tittabawassee River, installation of fishing areas, a second connection to the Rail Trail and addition of seating and picnic areas throughout the green space. Heil stated the estimated cost is $330,000 but the design is still under review so this cost could change. Staff s plan is to apply for a second Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) grant for 75% of the project cost with the 25% match coming from the City s Local Street fund and the Parks Capital budget. In order to apply for the MNRTF grant, the Parks & Recreation Commission must offer a motion of support, and a public hearing must be held at the City Council level, resulting in a formal resolution of support from the Council. Council will hear the matter at their March 26 meeting. Heil requested a motion of support from the Parks & Recreation Commission to move forward with this grant application. Steidemann motioned to support the grant application for phase II of the Upper Emerson Park riverfront renovation project. Carney seconded the motion and the motion passed ) Project Reports: a. M20 Bridge project Post reported that the bridge project is underway, and traffic movements are restricted to one lane in each direction over the bridge. Left turns onto

5 and off of Jerome are also restricted. The Rail Trail detour is in place, leading pedestrian and bicycle traffic from the trail head up Ashman to Main Street and east to the Currie Parkway Bridge where trail users can get back on the Rail Trail. Post shared that there were concerns brought up by City staff about the public having safe access into Chippewassee Park off of Golfside Drive. After onsite evaluation, the decision was made to close public access into/out of Chippewassee Park from Golfside Drive. All park users are encouraged to access the park from the Tridge as the features in the park are still available for use. Post stated that a press release was issued to alert park users about the closure of Golfside at the entrance to Chippewassee Park and the message has gone out on social media as well. b. Michigan Recreation and Park Association Innovation Award for City Forest mountain bike bridges Post shared the award that the City s Parks staff received at the February Michigan Recreation and Park Association s annual conference. The award is the Innovative Park Resources Award and was received for the creative use of repurposed materials to build two replacement bridges for the mountain bike trails at City Forest following the June flood. 11) Old Business : NONE 12) New Business: NONE 13) Adjourn: Motioned by Billotti, seconded by Rice to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed 9 0. Meeting adjourned at 8:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marcie Post Recreation Manager

Wisconsin DNR Administered Programs. Aids For The Acquisition And Development Of Local Parks (ADLP)

Wisconsin DNR Administered Programs Community Service Specialist Rhinelander Service Center 107 Sutliff Ave Rhinelander WI 54501 Acquisition Of Development Rights Grants (ADR) Helps to buy development