Latest news with #ParksandRecreationCommission
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Laketown considers options for new beach stairs, including EZ Steps from local inventor
Laketown Township is examining multiple options for replacing a set of stairs leading to Lake Michigan, which were closed and later removed earlier this year. The municipality's Parks and Recreation Commission, according to meeting minutes from Wednesday, May 21, instructed staff to seek cost estimates for either new wooden stairs or adjustable aluminum stairs called EZ Beach Steps. EZ Beach Steps are adjustable and adaptable steps made of aluminum and PVC coating. They can be easily moved or adjusted to respond to changes in water levels or erosion along the water. They were invented by Lisa Spaugh of West Olive, who was inspired after seeing the stairs and deck at her Lake Michigan home destroyed during a storm. In her efforts to regain access to the water, Spaugh wanted something that would last. More: West Olive woman nets award for erosion-friendly EZ Beach Steps The steps earned Spaugh the title of 2023 Lakeshore Innovator of the Year from Grand Valley State University's Muskegon Innovation Hub. The Parks and Recreation Commission also asked staff on Wednesday to install fencing to protect dune grass along the path to the beach, according to a post on the township website. A set of stairs leading from the parking lot at Laketown Beach to the top of the dune remain. Volunteers from EagleEye Performance Vision of Zeeland recently helped clear those stairs of sand on Community Impact Day, according to the township. Without the other set of stairs, beach access is still possible, but more difficult. The township recommends taking the stairs up from the parking lot, then following the marked path down the bowl — a steep drop with a flat bottom amid the dune — staying on the trail and off the edges to avoid disturbing the dune and dune grass. Once at the bottom of the bowl, go over the small hill and to the lake, heeding no trespassing signs. To get back to the parking lot, visitors must walk back up through the bowl. The township advises this is 'a difficult walk' in the soft sand and there is no handrail or other assistance. The Parks and Recreation Commission is next scheduled to meet Wednesday, June 18. — Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@ This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Laketown Township considers options for replacing removed beach stairs
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary likely to be renamed Wakan Tipi
St. Paul's Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary could soon sport a name both ancient and new — Wakan Tipi, which means 'dwelling place of the sacred' in the Dakota language. Indian Mounds Regional Park, the only known burial mounds within the urban Twin Cities, may soon be rechristened Wic̣aḣapi, or 'cemetery.' Both name changes have been recommended by the state's tribal historic preservation officers and have won the support of St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and the city's Parks and Recreation Commission. They'll be taken up by resolution of the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday, the penultimate step before landing on the mayor's desk to become official, though the mayor planned a 3 p.m. press conference Wednesday, shortly in advance of the council vote, to announce the dual re-namings. Located east of downtown, the 27-acre sanctuary is home to spring-fed wetlands, 450 million-year-old limestone and sandstone bluffs and other natural attractions. It's also home to the Wakan Tipi cave — known to generations of Dayton's Bluff residents as Carver's Cave — which holds a special place in Dakota lore as an ancient gathering place for native nations to negotiate peaceful alliances. The sanctuary is also soon to welcome the Wakan Tipi Center, a $14.3 million cultural and environmental center under construction in the area beneath the Kellogg Boulevard/Third Street bridge. The six burial mounds are located at 10 Mounds Boulevard, overlooking the Mississippi River from the blufftop, and hold historical significance to a number of native tribes, from the Upper Sioux Community to the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. On Wednesday afternoon, the city council is scheduled to discuss the possible renaming of both the mounds and the sanctuary, which takes its name from U.S. Rep. Bruce Vento, a teacher and East Sider who served in Congress from 1977 until his death in 2000. The nature sanctuary was named for him in 2005, when it opened. A reporter's call to Vento's family was not immediately returned Tuesday. The Parks and Rec Commission voted 8-0 in support of the dual re-namings on May 8. The council resolution is sponsored by Council Member Cheniqua Johnson, who represents Dayton's Bluff and a large section of the East Side. The renaming was recommended by the Minnesota Tribal Historic Preservation Officers 'and reflects nearly a decade of community engagement led by St. Paul Parks and Recreation's division of Design and Construction,' said the mayor's office, in a written statement. Carter planned to meet with media Wednesday to announce the renaming alongside Johnson, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Metropolitan Council member Toni Carter, Parks and Rec Director Andy Rodriguez and Maggie Lorenz, executive director of the nonprofit Waḳaƞ Ṭípi Awanyankapi, which has led the way around planning for the Wakan Tipi Center. Letters: Preventing landlords from screening tenants is a one-sided view of our housing problem Ben Shardlow: The soon-to-close recycling plant and environs are places we should love, or learn to St. Paul: At Highland Bridge, Weidner Homes, Ryan Cos. win concessions St. Paul: Breakaway Music Festival approved for gradual volume increase What's changing with St. Paul's new rent control policy and tenant protections
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Construction of town's first pickleball courts begins
SOUTHWICK — It's taken over a year and a half, but if all goes according to plan, the town's first pickleball courts will open at Town Hall in about two months. 'The asphalt was put down yesterday,' said the town's Building and Grounds Supervisor Daniel Fernandez while looking over the space directly behind the playground at Town Hall where the courts will be installed. While it appears the work to install the fixtures for the courts could start now, Fernandez said the company that put down the asphalt, Chicopee-based Ondrick Materials & Recycling, LLC, said the surface needs at least 45 days to cure. Once the curing is done, Fernandez said he, with the help of town employees, will install all the fixtures planned for the courts. He said he's yet to decide if the posts needed for the nets will be installed permanently or made to be removable. 'We're just not sure yet,' he said. The surface is the same size as the nearby basketball court, but the pickleball courts will only use about half of the area. In the additional space will used as a basketball and shuffleboard court, Fernandez said. The pickleball courts will be painted but he has yet to decide on the courts' color. Typically, pickleball courts are blue, but he is considering green because the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District's school colors are green and yellow. For now, a temporary fence has been installed around the courts to keep it from being damaged during the curing process. In December 2024, at a Special Town Meeting, residents approved two Community Preservation Committee requests to fund the construction of the two courts at Town Hall and four at Whalley Park, for $115,000 and $207,000, respectively However, when the town's Parks and Recreation Commission began planning for the courts' construction early last year, there was some concern that the amount allocated wouldn't be enough. That led to a proposal during a commission meeting in August 2024 to nix the two courts at Town Hall and instead build six at Whalley Park. That drew immediate pushback from the Council on Aging. 'We want the two here,' said COA Chair Paula LeBlanc at the board's meeting in early August after hearing the commission wanted all the courts at Whalley Park. 'We're the ones to started this, so we should have them here.' At that point, Russ Anderson, who was serving as the interim supervisor of the Building and Grounds Department, was asked to learn if the two courts could be built for $115,000. After checking he learned it could be done. 'I came to the realization that we could do something for what was budgeted,' Anderson said about the estimate to build the courts for $107,636, which would include lighting, already installed for the playground, and fencing. He also learned the four courts proposed at Whalley Park could be installed for less than $208,000. However, the Parks and Recreation Commission decided to pursue a new pickleball court project at Whalley Park. In January, it applied to the CPC for an allocation of $677,000 to build six courts at the park which will include lighting, fencing, and a pavilion for shade.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Statue of former Frederick mayor proposed for Carroll Creek park
A group is proposing to erect a statue of former Frederick Mayor Ron Young in Carroll Creek Linear Park, a park he helped create. The proposal is for a 7-foot bronze statue of the former mayor in the Carroll Creek Park amphitheater on top of a 1.5-foot pedestal. The proposal has been approved by the city's Historic Preservation Commission, Public Art Commission and Parks and Recreation Commission. All it lacks is approval by the City Council. Young was mayor from 1974 to 1990 and represented Maryland's 3rd District — made up mostly of the city of Frederick — in the Maryland state Senate from 2011 to 2023. "Without the vision that Ron had for Carroll Creek, the city would be very different," said former Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner, a member of the 13-member Committee for the Ron Young Sculptural Tribute. Ron Young Statue at Carroll Creek An artist's rendition of the proposed statue of Ron Young at the Carroll Creek Linear Park A 1976 flood damaged much of the downtown area during Young's first term as mayor, which prompted a flood mitigation project around Carroll Creek. Young oversaw the construction of the flood mitigation project, but he also envisioned the current park, Gardner said. Though the project to turn the area around the creek into a park was not done during Young's term as mayor, eventually, his efforts came to fruition, she said. Gardner in 2024 contacted sculptor Antonio Tobias "Toby" Mendez to create the statue and the committee has since commissioned him for the project. Mendez is known for sculpting statues of Baltimore Orioles legends Earl Weaver and Jim Palmer, the statue of John Hanson in front of the Frederick County Courthouse, a statue of Thurgood Marshall in front of the Maryland State House and many others. Mendez said he got involved in creating the statue to help people learn about the history of Carroll Creek Park, for which Young helped provide the vision. "So many people don't know how the Carroll Creek park started," he said. "They don't know how it basically went from being a disaster area to something that ended up being a great park." Young was also an advocate for public arts and his efforts helped with the creation of both The Delaplaine Arts Center and the Weinberg Center for the Arts, Mendez said. The project is not currently being funded by grants or other public money, Gardner said. Instead, it is being funded by private donations and sponsors like the Delaplaine Foundation, the Ausherman Family Foundation and more. Asked on Wednesday about the tribute, Young said, "I guess I'm flattered." Though he is not involved in the project, he has heard of it, he said. Ron Young Statue at Carroll Creek A photo of Ron Young taken during the late 1980s or early 1990s at Carroll Creek as the flood mitigation project was being constructed. Artist Antonio Tobias 'Toby' Mendez was commissioned to create a statue of Young to go in Carroll Creek Linear Park based on the image. Committee for the Ron Young Sculptural Tribute member Jan Gardner said the photo might have been published in Frederick Magazine. His idea for the creation of a park along Carroll Creek, along with other revitalization efforts across the city, was not just an effort on his part. "There were a lot of people that played a part and a lot of good aldermen that supported me," Young said. Young said his goal as mayor of Frederick was to see it prosper, as it had when he was growing up in the city. With the advent of shopping centers and new developments, Frederick's downtown area suffered, he said. "That's why I ran for mayor," Young said. "I loved Frederick and wanted to see it vibrant again." The statue The plan is for the statue to go up in October 2026 — 50 years after the historic 1976 flood. Mendez's design for the statue is based on a photo of Young from the late 1980s or early 1990s in which Young has his hands in his pockets and is standing near the in-development Carroll Creek flood mitigation project. Gardner said the photo apparently ran in Frederick Magazine. The image is very "humble," Mendez said. "My hope is that [the statue] will just blend into the crowd," Mendez said. The committee's website says the art will include "an interpretive wayside exhibit that will recount the Park's development, the downtown revitalization effort, and recognize the commitment of successive mayors who helped fulfill the vision." City Council The last step before the statue would be able to go up is approval from the City Council, Gardner said. City Council President Katie Nash said she has not heard much about the project and was only informed about it recently. She said she needs to know more about it before she can say if she would support it. She also said she wanted to make absolutely sure the city is using public art to honor those who have "done great things in our community." Council Members Kelly Russell, Donna Kuzemchak and Ben MacShane did not respond to requests for comment. Council Member Derek Shackelford said he could not comment until next week. Gardner said efforts to put up a statue of Young in the park have been in the works for years. One of the main proponents of the statue was Elizabeth "Bettie" Delaplaine, who died in 2014, Gardner said. Young said he has heard from many people over the years who have proposed the idea. "I'd just hope they do it while I am alive, so I could see it," said Young, 84.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Expansion of e-bike access on Oregon trails, beaches considered in proposed amendment
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Oregon parks regulators are hoping to amend the guidelines for electric bike use on state property. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission proposed several changes to policies involving e-bikes in late February. Washington school district's inclusion of trans athlete sparks federal investigation Individuals are currently allowed to ride e-bikes on state trails that exceed a width of eight feet and on beaches where motor vehicles are permitted. The commission believes these rules could be expanded. 'With the popularity of e-assisted bike recreation increasing, the agency is finding that current rules do not clearly accommodate growing need and cause confusion among all visitors,' OPRC wrote. In 2024, Oregon lawmakers approved a measure establishing three different classes of e-bikes — with the first two classes having a maximum speed of 20 mph and Class 3 having a maximum speed of 28 mph. House Bill 4103 went into effect this year, and legislators are now that would ban the full-throttle bikes from bike lanes, sidewalks and bike paths. Downtown Portland businesses report improvements in theft, vandalism in newest survey Meanwhile, the Parks and Recreation Commission wants to amend pre-existing regulations so that e-bikes are allowed on any trail that allows other bicycles — instead of solely those that are at least eight feet wide. The changes would also permit e-bikes on wet sand portions of recreation areas, among . 'In summary, this rulemaking seeks to better serve Oregonians and all park visitors by managing safe recreation. The proposed rules balance access to public lands for diverse recreation options while protecting the state's resources and existing recreation opportunities,' the commission said. PPB finds missing keg full of Breakside Brewery beer while making arrest According to , the potential changes are a result of a public survey in which residents weighed in on e-bike use statewide. The department also formed a 23-member Rules Advisory Committee that discussed policy updates throughout four different meetings. Officials will accept public comments on the possible amendments through April 1. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
