Parks-related discussions dominate Clinton Township meeting

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — The Clinton Township Board of Trustees had parks and recreation on their minds at its Feb. 13 meeting. While not the only subject members of the board spoke about, discussions and votes related to parks and recreation kept popping up throughout the meeting.

The first such item on the agenda concerned amendments to the Department of Public Services’ parks capital outlay budget for 2022-2023. Amendments brought to the board were for the purpose of aligning the expenses for projects with the fiscal year they were accrued in. A total of $348,000 in expenses were added to the fiscal year 2022-2023 budget.

Next, the board approved a request from the Department of Public Services to apply for a Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Green Stormwater Infrastructure Grant to improve the parking lots at Joy Boulevard Park. Currently, the parking lot has potholes and cracking asphalt.

“This grant will provide funding related to the pavement reduction and stormwater improvements for the Joy Park parking lot improvements that will be budgeted for next year,” Township Clerk Kim Meltzer said. “The grant will provide funding that will supplement green infrastructure related features for the proposed parking lot improvements.”

The board then voted to award Detroit-based Decima LLC the contract to build an addition to the Neil Reid Park comfort station for $212,000, paid for with a combination of Community Development Block Grant funds and general fund money. The addition will include a handicap-accessible bathroom and storage space.

Finally, the board tabled a vote on a request to allow the new Quinn Road Tar Heels youth football team to use the fields at Prince Drewry Park for practice. Although the board was excited about this potential use, representatives from the Clinton Township Cowboys, a fellow and established youth sports program, spoke up about already using the field and that there is not enough space in the park for both teams to share.

The discussion was tabled to allow for representatives from both programs to speak with Township Supervisor Robert Cannon and other interested board members to find a solution that works.

“What a nice problem to have,” Cannon said. “Two groups of people who want to help our kids in athletics. Now we’ve got to find a spot for them.”

 

Heritage Estates policy changes
On Feb. 13, the Board of Trustees voted 6-1 to implement an updated rental rate and occupant preference policy for Heritage Estates Senior Apartments. The updates are the first major overhaul since 2010 and were crafted with factors like inflation in mind.

Changes include increasing the minimum age for residents to 62, allowing for newer residents to have higher rents than existing ones, adding annual cost of living increases with caps and setting an applicant preference that prioritizes existing township residents, former residents and then those who have not lived in Clinton Township.

Trustee Mike Keys provided the lone vote against the new policies.

“I do just have a concern about raising the rent on some of our most vulnerable residents during a time where we talk about inflation being so high, and then also setting it so that increase goes into effect automatically on their renewal,” Keys said. “That to me is a little troublesome.”

 

Kelly Road repair allocation
Trustees voted to amend the township’s Capital Improvement Revolving Fund to include $205,952 that will be used to cover the township’s cost responsibility for repairs to Kelly Road from 14 Mile Road to South Nunneley.

The township’s portion of the cost is 5% of the total cost, with Fraser picking up 5%, the Macomb County Department of Roads handling 10% and federal funding covering the remaining 80%.