30 March. 2006 | The Belleville View

Master plan is help to parks: Update to several parks possible with grant money

By Gerald LaVaute, Special Writer

The Van Buren Township Recreation Committee looked forward, and the Environmental Commission looked back, as they filed separate reports at a recent Board of Trustees meeting.

The Recreation Committee proposed a Parks and Recreation Master Plan that would guide the development of local parks from 2006 through 2010.

But as Bruce Ross, VBT Director of Recreation and Facilities noted, the advantage of a master plan represents more than a useful guide for development; a master plan makes VBT eligible for grant funding from state and county governments.

With a master plan, according to Ross, the township was able to receive a $2 million grant from Wayne County Parks, and a $200,000 grant from the State of Michigan DNR as part of a Clean Michigan Initiative.

Heather McPhail, a representative of McKenna Associates, presented the updated Master Plan to township officials on March 7.

The Master Plan includes potential changes that affect several area parks, including new play equipment, improvements to comply with requirements associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and picnic tables.

Potential improvements to Van Buren Park, located on the I-94 South Service Drive east of Rawsonville Road, include beach improvements, floating docks for swimming, and a splash park.

New restrooms for the French Landing Park and Van Buren Park are in the Master Plan. Also included were new greenways trails for the Riggs Heritage Park, and Lower Huron Metropark along East and West Huron River Drive.

Referring specifically to the greenways trails, Township Supervisor Cindy King noted the plan was a guide, and that funding for some of the proposals, if implemented, would need to be provided for in future budgets. In particular, she said, construction of the greenways trails would cost $3 million.

In other business, township officials received and filed the Environmental Commission's annual report for 2005. It is available for review by the public.

Supervisor King listed the accomplishments of the commission for 2005, including:

Watershed-based initiatives, including township participation in the Rouge Watershed community and the Huron River Watershed.

A report by the Open Space Committee, including a survey of township residents that suggested the township needs to do more to preserve open space.

Local Water Quality Management initiatives, including a workshop on how lakefront property owners may take better care of Belleville Lake.

Ensuring that local waste management activities like the Woodland Meadows landfill, and the Wayne Disposal and Michigan Disposal facilities, are operating to standard.

Environmental Commission initiatives planned for this year include ordinance updates for storm water management and open space preservation, and the impact of pesticides and fertilizer on storm water pollution.

The VBT Environmental Department operates with an annual budget of $134,000. Dan Swallow is its director.

David Brownlee chairs the Environmental Commission. Anthony Tomaino is the Vice Chairman. Other members include Norman DeBuck, Anthony Gibson, Stephen Weatherholt and Marnie Grant.

Trustee Jeff Jahr is the VBT Board Representative to the commission. The commission also includes Swallow and Recording Secretary Jennifer Parker.

The commission meets the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Denton Room at township hall.