Grant pays for Pitchford Park plants

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Officials in Macomb Township look to make the most of April’s showers to grow May flowers, as the Board of Trustees on April 11 accepted grant funds to plant a hummingbird garden at Pitchford Park.

Coming to the township as two grants — $1,600 from the county’s Green Macomb initiative and $4,900 from the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service — the township will plant 28 trees in the new park. The trees will be planted around a bridge that connects Pitchford Park to surrounding neighborhoods.

“Getting the grant is just half the project,” Macomb Township Treasurer Leon Drolet said. “Somebody has to design the garden, and we’re very fortunate in our township to have some great volunteers that have stepped forward to design not just this project, but to volunteer on other tree planting, garden projects in other areas like old town hall.”

Volunteers that have helped with the garden so far include Nethanya and Ramila Fonseka of Plant It Forward and Kathi Piepenbrock. The trees will be planted on Arbor Day, April 26.

 

Rec center voting
Trustees also approved expanding the township recreation center’s voting activity, adding it as a location where township residents can pick up and drop off absentee ballots.

“Ultimately, this allows the clerk’s office to carry out the same services that we provide in the clerk’s office during early voting over at the rec center so that I ultimately don’t have to staff two locations to carry out the same service,” Macomb Township Clerk Kristi Pozzi said. “We call it a satellite office and we will be able to handle all the election needs in one location versus two.”

Pozzi assured the board that using the rec center as a satellite office would not disrupt recreation operations during the early voting period. The rec center is the township’s designated early voting site and was last used during the 2024 presidential primaries.