Commission Minutes:August 10, 2017
Members Present: President Joe Krapohl, Vice President Washington , Commissioners:Gloria Nealy, Joe Madore, Bryant Nolden,Mike Keeler, Bryant Nolden (arrived at 10:19 am)
Members Absent:Secretary Mike Lynch, David Martin, Cloyce Dickerson, Jeff Wright
Staff Present:Amy McMillan, Director; Barry June, Deputy Director;Kevin Shanlian, Chief Park Ranger;Leisa Gagne, Finance Officer; Nancy Edwards, Recreation Program and Grants; Deborah Wilkes, Administrative Secretary; Janet Van De Winkle, Project Sustainability Director; Danielle Fulcher, Marketing Specialist;
Others Present: Tom Kehoe, 4305 E. Stanley Road, Genesee;Faith Finholm
1)Call to Order. President Krapohlpresided and called the meeting to order at 10:06a.m.
2) Opportunity for members of the public to address the commission. Anyone wishing to address the commission must state their name and address and they have three minutes to speak.
The following comments were made during public address to the commission:
Dam Maintenance (pictures provided to Commission), leachate at E. A. Cummings,
railroad crosswalk, proof of building inspections, trespassing signs
3) Consent Agenda.President Krapohlasked commissioners if there are any items they wish to remove from the consent agenda for discussion. No items were removed from the consent agenda.
Action Taken:
Motion by Commissioner Dickerson
Supported by Commissioner Washington
Motion and support for approval of consent agenda items A throughD, as listed.
Roll Call
Ayes: Dickerson, Keeler, Krapohl,Madore, Nealy, Washington
Nays: None
Absent: Lynch, Martin, Nolden, Wright
MOTION CARRIED 6-0
4) Director’s Report The Director requested to move the order of the agenda around until we know if Commissioner Wright will be attending to make a presentation.
- Revolving Loan Fund Ms. McMillan introduced Faith Finholm to explain the revolving loan fund.
McMillan: As you know, the County Parks will be utilizing a grant from the State of MI MNRTF to acquire Chevy Commons. One of the major issues on our list to resolve before the acquisition takes place has been to put the funding in place to complete the cap of Chevy Commons. The Land Bank, working with the City of Flint in the last couple years has worked impressively with the EPA to cap some of the area. The DEQ has committed funds to the project as well. This loan of $700,000 will help complete the cap within the next 1 ½ years. A grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation will cover this $700,000.00 that the Parks have committed.
Faith Finholm: The Land Bank received a RLF grant from the EPQA in 2005 in the amount of 2 million dollars. That was to go to local units of government and organizations looking to clean up brownfields. Through a loan process the EPA allowed the County to sub-grant almost 1.6 million of that 2 million to the City of Flint to work on Chevy Commons. With that seed money, which did not have to be paid back, we have been able to mobilize about 12.5 million to complete about 40 or more acres of cap on Chevy Commons. Amy mentioned that with funds from the DEQ it will complete a contiguous portion to connect all the trails, rail trail,The city is working on the greenway trail that will connect to Atherton Road.
This last portion of funds requires a payment and that is where the $700,000.00 will come from the Parks.
Madore: Does the cement down there, will it be recovered or will it stay in place.
Finholm: No, that cement stays in place. We cap from 2, to up to 8 feet beyond the cement.
Keeler: Will this complete it all the past Stevenson? Is the parking lot going to be capped as well?
Finholm: Yes. There will be a small portion west of Chevrolet on Glenwood/Stevenson that we will be working on and the DEQ will start on the section on the other side of the train tracks.
The parking lot will be capped. There will be parking off Glenwood and Chevrolet.
Krapohl: When all these pieces are completed will that complete the revitalization of the old Chevy in the Hole?
Finholm: There is one section to the west of Chevrolet, but that has been remediated in a fashion, there have been trees planted on there, but there are no plans to cap that portion.
McMillan: We can’t say enough about the extraordinary work the Land Bank has done managing the project over a period of several years. They worked directly with the City to resolve ownership issues on some of the parcels and to oversee the site. Matt Didier from the EPA has really made this project, part of his life’s work at the EPA. There are many organizations, agencies and individuals that have made this project move forward.
There is the greening and capping of Chevy Commons, but a lot of what Chevy Commons is doing with this remediation is dealing with storm water runoff. Not only does it make the site healthier, it makes the river healthier. IT is interagency and intergovernmental operations turning a liability in our community into an asset. We thank Michelle and Christine and all of the group at the Land Bank for the work they have done.
Krapohl: Thank you on behalf of the commission. It will be a good project as it moves forward.
Keeler: It is amazing what it looks like compared to what it used to be.
Madore: IT will be deeded in the County Parks name? After it is completed it will become Parks property?
McMillan: Not after this vote. It will become the County’s property, administered by the Parks.
Nolden: He will be chairing Public Works on Monday.
Action Taken:
Motion by Commissioner Madore
Supported by Commissioner Dickerson
Motion and support for approval of the Brownfield Clean Up Revolving Fund Loan Agreement and the Agreement with the City of Flint and forward for final approval by the Board of Commissioners
Roll Call
Yeas: Washington, Madore, Nealy, Keeler, Dickerson, Krapohl, Nolden
Nays: None
Absent: Wright, Martin, Lynch
MOTION CARRIED 7-0
B. Remove from agenda the Drain Commissions request for right of way
Commissioner is not here today to make this presentation, it is not something out of the ordinary and there is plenty of time to take care of this.
- Project Agreement Terms for TF-16-0208 Chevy Commons Iron Belle Trail Connector
This grant from MNRTF will fund part of the Connector Trail. There are additional grant from the Road Commission for TAP money that the Planning Commission has secured for us and more MDOT money coming through the Planning Commission for a non-motorized bridge to connect Chevy Commons to the other side near Atwood. This particular grant is specific to the Chevy Commons Trail and the matching funds for this grant are coming from a commitment from the C. S. Mott Foundation that is part of the overall Flint Riverfront Restoration Project.
Madore: Timeline wise- the capping is that where the trail will go or can the trail move forward without the completion of the capping?
The trail starts at the area that has already been capped and continues through the area yet to be capped. Even though it goes through Chevy Commons it was not part of the property that is known as Chevy Commons. It was owned by the CN Railroad; Kettering acquired it and deeded it to the County for the purposes of developing this trail.
The capping does not need to be completed because it is its own section, it has its own subsurface and we’ve done as separate Phase I and BEA of the project. We’ve already had the grade inspection for the trail. It will likely be under construction almost simultaneously with the additional capping that will go on next year.
This will now go to the Public Works and Board of Commission for final approval.
Action Taken:
Motion by Commissioner Dickerson
Supported by Commissioner Nolden
Motion and support for approval of Resolution 021-017, the DNR Grant for the Iron Belle Connector Trail
Yeas: Nealy, Washington, Krapohl, Madore, Dickerson, Keeler, Nolden
Nays: None
Absent: Wright, Martin, Lynch
MOTION CARRIED 7-0
- Response to Public Comment. We always appreciate the input of the public at our meetings. We appreciate when people bring things to our attention that may or may not have been known to us. But on behalf of our staff, who are extraordinarily talented, hardworking and committed, that the work that is done in the parks on a daily basis is because of that talent, that commitment to the parks. It is not because an individual or group of individuals complains. We always have a laundry-list of work that we are working toward completing. Again, while we appreciate public input, be clear that we are very organized in the way we address our maintenance in the park. We do not have all the resources to do everything, at every minute of every day, but we have a commitment to get those things done.
We believe the commission understands that when people come to the parks commission they are stating their beliefs in good faith, but sometimes beliefs do not match directly with facts. We run the parks commission based on facts and that is how we attempt to move ourselves forward every day.
Krapohl: We also have a letter from the Food Bank of Eastern MI thanking the Parks for donating over 100 pounds of fresh produce. This is produce that comes from the ForMar hoop house garden. What we grow does go to a very vital need in our community. They have over 417 partner agencies distributing food to clients. In 2016 the Food Bank distributed over 54 million pounds of food and water, 11 million of fresh produce which impacted 331,000 people in our community. We are a little piece of that puzzle.
McMillan: In additional to providing that food to the Food Bank we also have classes about gardening, so as we grow the food, people are learning how to grow their own gardens and generate their own produce for consumption too.
5) New BusinessThere is no new business.
6)Opportunity for the public to address the commission
Expensive SUVs, safety equipment at beach at Mott Lake, tree near Stanley Road the stump is still there, No Trespassing signs, park rules do not supersede federal or state laws, Preservers attendance at meeting.
7) Opportunity for Commissioners to address the Commission.
Nealy – Saw the off-leash area, staff gave her a ride around the park to see the area. Flushing Park looked nice and clean, it was a good tour.
Nolden – Sorry he was late, he was in another meeting.
Madore - Sale of Mt Morris property?
McMillan- The closing is Friday.
Washington – SYI had their Volunteer session at Bluebell Beach. We had well over 300 young people and staff attending. They had great weather and are looking to have it at Bluebell Beach on a regular basis. The staff at the Chamber loved it. The parks staff and park rangers were tremendous, they were very attentive and professional. We didn’t have to ask anybody to do anything twice. Rheta, the Flint/Genesee Chamber and he thank the staff and Amy.
He really appreciates the Genesee County Parks Staff, they are very professional, they are customer focused, customer centered, and when there are issues that need to be dealt with, there is a list that has been generated according to priority. He goes back to the surveys we conducted a couple years ago and he goes back to that to look at where we are at as far as what has been completed. He can say that to this point, we have marched according to what the percentages and what the public has indicated. Thank you for that and again he echoes the sentiments of the Director: we deal with facts, facts as they are not facts based on opinions, or emotions. That is one of the things he appreciates about the Genesee County Parks’ and each one of you as part of this commission’.
Madore: The motor to the paddleboat?
McMillan: It is on order. Our boat is a little over 20 years old and it is difficult to get parts and particularly to get them at a price we consider to be a good faith offer to us. Staff is ready to install them when it comes in. The best case scenario is that it will be on the water by Halloween.
Krapohl: He had a chance to go to the off-leash area and had a chance to talk to about six of the users and they absolutely loved it. One lady said she lives in Flushing but was driving to Owosso to be able to have a nice area for her dogs to use. They could not say enough good things about that area and what the staff and employees did to make it nice for their off-leash dogs to have some time to play and interact with other dogs. He wanted to pass that along to staff, they did a wonderful job installing that and it looks nice and it is big, lots of places for dogs to hide.
8) Adjournment. Hearing no objections to adjournment, the meeting was adjourned at 10:38 a.m.
Recordedand transcribed by D. Wilkes p:commission/2017/Agenda and minutes/8-10-17
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