Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the July 7th, 2026 planning commission meeting. Um, I'd like to, uh, introduce a few people that are with us tonight. Um, Robert Seaver, Township attorney, um, Jonathan Palin, uh, Township planner, Ava Miller with, uh, Giffords Webster and, and you all. So with that, let's, uh, please silence your phones. And let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

OK, I'd like to take roll call. Eric Heider. Here. Alton James. Here. Carl Leonard is here. Rick LaBelle. Here. Brian Carr. Here. Mark Renaud. Here. We have two members excused tonight. Kathy Vosberg will not be here. And Rich Brokart will not be here. I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes from the prior meeting.

Support.

Motion by Carl Leonard, supported by Rick LaBelle. Any questions or comments? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion to approve tonight's agenda as submitted. Motion by Carl Leonard, supported by Mark Renaud. Any questions or comments all in favor opposed Motion carries The public gets to have three minutes of anything you'd like to talk about Can be anything at all we're gonna have some presentations and I'm not sure if we're going to have questions after that, but if you have anything that you'd like to come up and say now, please do.

My name is Joe Kadich. I wonder, seeing that they've got a program tonight where the Parks and Rec and I guess Josh is going to present some projects. Is this the normal way that You're guided into what's going to happen or what you think should be prepared for as to what's going to happen in Chesterfield Is this a normal normal thing that you go through I'm not sure if we've had this type of meeting before but We're all in and glad to hear the more we hear and

the more we know, and so we're open.

I mean, is it usually by people like this, or is it Kirsten and his group sitting down?

Oh, no, no. They might talk about it at their meetings, but these are department heads that are coming out and sharing some things with us.

Uh... And referring to... A lot of this is going to come out as to what they want... Did anything change from the last year's plans, which I remember there was a sidewalk supposed to go all the way down Jefferson to Cotton, and then from there on, that seems to have changed. Yeah.

Sorry about that. We don't really hear the day to day stuff from the township. We get agendas and there's certain things that somebody might want to do.

All I'm saying is that the previous plan, five year plan showed the sidewalks, I think pretty much going down Jefferson. And Kirsten changed it to taking it off just south of Sutton, down through the woods behind the school.

Yeah, that never comes to us for approvals or anything else. We find out probably when you do.

Okay. That's one of my questions. When you had the meeting, Last I guess earlier this week a suggestion came up that You should think about developing the trash mound off a 26 mile 984 into some type of Use probably like this downhill run or something others toboggan run When you get into that, I don't know how much how far you get into those type of things, but you should be aware that Before that thing closed, there were a lot of cattle buried there that had PBB. When Michigan went through the PBB scare, a lot of people had a problem with it. That before it comes up, you should think about doing it because he didn't do that when he went through the, made the walking part at the Veterans Park.

I don't have any comments none of us probably have any comments on some of that Things are discussed and then eventually brought to us if it's something that they want to move forward But I haven't heard anything well you guys that you guys suggested at the last meeting, but yeah, but you know there's no decisions made and And we're, we feel we're pretty thorough. So I appreciate the, uh, the comment about what might be underground there. Uh, somebody in the township might be aware of it and if not appreciate the comment. Okay. Thank you for your time. Anyone else like to come up? Got three minutes. No one. Okay.

Mr chairman, I just, uh, expand on one of those questions. The, the trailways plan in the master plan and in the parks rec plan has not changed. That plan is still in place. Um, grant opportunities do come forward and projects do come forward that may not be exact, but that the plan is still in place and it's still the longterm goal and intention.

Thank you, Jonathan. Anybody that's heard me at some of the meetings from time to time, I'm a big proponent on sidewalks, and it's more involved than just suggestions. The coordination with the monies and some of the major roads are pretty expensive to do. There's a lot to do with them. and, uh, others are easier. So, uh, I'd love to see sidewalks here and I know a lot of people in the community would as well. So, uh, keep it on the table and eventually we'll, we'll see, uh, that, uh, come to be. Uh, so with that, uh, there's no public hearings and, uh, we have a presentations, reports and discussion. And we can start with that. And the first person to come up is gonna be Director of Parks and Recreation, Michelle Vanerson, will be presenting the Parks, Recreation Seniors Millage Proposal.

I'm going to jump in first, if you don't mind.

Not at all.

So after last week's board meeting with the joint session, I had an idea walking out of there. And I appreciate everybody coming in tonight, because originally this was going to be a canceled meeting. And in light of what was presented, I just didn't want to turn it away an opportunity. We're in the process of reviewing, and you guys are specifically, the master plan update. And along with that, as that conversation took place with the joint boards, there was a lot of information, I think, that, as you said, Chairman, you're not aware of or it's not on your radar yet. But day-to-day operations in the township is dealing with it, whether it be Jonathan and planning, Parks and Rec. As you can see, the parks and rec development, which is a parks and rec master plan that we have that's been updated and everything this August 4th ballot request is to address that longstanding parks and rec issue, along with development of pathways, walkways, and how we develop those plans moving forward day to day. As one of the speakers spoke a minute ago, he wants to know about sidewalks. Sidewalks are always a contentious issue when we prepare our budget. We spend about a half million dollars a year in budget for the budget for sidewalks throughout the township, whether it be new or whether it be gap or whether it be replacement. Again, there was a $30 million gap replacement sidewalk plan. that the engineers have created. It's been online, it's been available. We target those areas in a consistent manner across the year. And again, dedication of money and funds absolutely dictates what our pace is on that. The Jefferson pathway, again, or the Jefferson sidewalk that a speaker spoke about, That is a difficult area, Jefferson specifically. It's an old roadway. It is a county roadway. Some of the issues that we've dealt with while the county is trying to rehabilitate that roadway currently, which is on its agenda for next year, the board has already approved that, that rehabilitation from Hall Road all the way into New Baltimore. One of the discussions with that piece, as we are just a township, we don't have a big say in it, They did engage us, but it was about what can we do to improve walkability, whether it be pathways or sidewalks, and it was problematic. There are easements that need to be secured that are not secured. Again, a county issue, not a township issue, but the focus day to day with our group internally is to Have that discussion with the Department of Road, so we can improve the Jefferson walkway pathway and again I'm going to refer to Jonathan There is a difference between sidewalks and pathways and it depends on what it is how we can ask for Supplemental funding from the state so again you have to bifurcate the two But budgetarily we are always looking to improve pathways and sidewalks so as I'm trying to round everything in here Parks and Rec, you'll see a presentation here shortly from Michelle Anderson. That plan is developed and consistent with the township's long-serving master plan of parks and recreation. We didn't create Pollard Park. That was created long before anybody was here, but the rehabilitation of it and the expansion of it and improvement of it is something that we're charged with as members, elected officials. Real quickly... The conversation that popped up again, Mr. Lobel, I think you brought up the landfill at 25 Mile Road. We've been looking at that for the last five years. Actually, Dan Accovetti, the previous supervisor, began that discussion. We have a plan. We're engaged in it. And again, that's a piece of where we are moving forward under the master plan and then under the parks and rec plan. But as Jonathan did say, It is consistent and has been discussed with not only a township pathway project, but a countywide pathway project. And that portion of it has been discussed. Again, I'm going to defer to the next three speakers on a lot of projects. And again, my intent here, as was said, this isn't normal. This approach isn't normal. But based on the previous meeting and discussion, I felt that there's a lot of information that you guys need to have as you review the master plan. more so for projects that are happening now and targets and projects that we are focusing on for state, federal, and county monies. So with that being said, always available to any of you that have a question, whether it be tonight or during the day. Staff is available to you, department heads, as you review the master plan. And any information that you need from the supervisor's office we make available for you. So with that being said, I'll turn it over to Michelle Anderson for Parks and Rec.

Thank you. Thank you for coming out. You went over your three minutes, but that's okay.

Thank you. Hello, everyone. Thank you very much for having us tonight. It's always helpful to have... an avenue to share more information. Like you said, the more you know, the better you can do. So we're happy to help in that aspect. So I do want to go over, I always like to kind of start from the beginning and give an overview of our department. We are five full-time employees. That is what our staff is. We also have seasonal and part-time employees that work with us. Our department oversees three different commissions. The Parks and Recreation Commission, that one largely overviews the programming that we do and make sure that we are in line with what the community wants to see, what other communities are doing, and they also work as an advocacy piece for us, as I'm sure you would do with Chesterfield Township programming and planning, so you can share what we are doing on the inside and be that device to bring it outside as well. Our beautification commission is another seven member board. That one has goals for cleanup, for beautification. We always say beautification is not just flowers, not just trees, but all encompassing of what the presence of Chesterfield Township is for both residents and people who are outside of Chesterfield coming in. They do serve also as our tree board for Chesterfield Township. They are the advisory board for that. Our senior advisory board makes up the last group. This board was formed as a way to communicate directly with our senior citizens. What we had found is that there was a lot of communication gaps between what the seniors were hearing from their friends or those others who are at programs, but it was not exactly what we were sharing from our department. And so this created that five-member board, just an advisory panel of different areas from the senior group. of involved seniors and they're able to hear directly from us. So with all of that, I say these three groups are available to you at any point in your master planning process. I know you're just in the beginning of it, but they are helpful in where we want to go. They're a great resource for us and what the community has been telling them. We try to pick people who are in several different areas around the community. So they're very involved. A little overview of our facilities, eight established parks, five undeveloped parks, this includes Connie Bowles, and then five rentable park structures, those are all at Brandenburg, as well as the nine sports fields at Pollard Park. These ones are individual for us because they're contained to one park each. And then we also have our community center and the senior center as well, which is located at this building. Our programming is split largely between the community center and the senior center. and then throughout our park facilities as well. A little overview of our budget. The Parks and Recreation budget operates at a $1.4 million annual operating that takes that revenue and the expense with what is left over. And then heading into the millage specifically, this is what was originally recommended for the township board to approve. There was early comparison for what a half a mill would look like, what a quarter of a mill would look like. What the board settled on is that one mill. And so what that would bring in is an estimated 2.5 annually. I always like to pause anytime I have a public presentation to remind the community, one mill means $1 for every 1,000 for the taxable value of your home. So that's not what your home was sold for, but what the taxable value of it is. So you can go to our website, chesterfieldtwp.org, in order to find that. But a lot of confusion on that lately is what we've been finding, so I always like to clarify that. Currently, the winter taxes look like this. They are broken up. A lot of it is actually not coming into the township, which is where the need for the millage comes from. In order for us to grow and to expand, we are asking for that extra money to do so. Out of everything that you see in the taxes, the .7466 mill rate is the amount that comes actually into the general fund, which is where Parks and Recreation and Senior Services Department is funded out of. Again, just to look for what the ballot language would look like. Um, it is an operating millage one, uh, one mill for 10 years. And so this is an S expiration date at the end of that 10 years. But with that, we at least know the amount of money that is anticipated to come in. This obviously could change year to year with the assessing department's values. Um, but the estimated is, like I said, 2.5 million over 10 years, that brings us $30 million in. So for the future of what that village funding looks like, a couple of different areas that we are hoping to target into. The enhancement of the programming that we do, parks and recreation facilities specifically, and a large focus on the recreation center. What we have come to find in the couple of years that we have been the full owners, and even prior to that when we were leasing from Anchor Bay, it is a beacon of the parks and recreation and senior services department. Many people are using it. Many different groups are enjoying that it's there and available for their use within the community. And so we do want to keep that a main focus. One of the pieces is that while the building amount is great for us, we can certainly fill the space. The type of space is what needs to be changed. So the gymnasium is, for example, is something that could be rented twice over every day of the week and then some. And so to have more of that multi-purpose large space is what we're looking for. So a piece of that that we are looking for is the gymnasium adding a walking track, an indoor walking track, another piece that we heard from. And again, from this millage, community engagement is another area that we can expand. Partnership opportunities using that space, tailored programming to specific groups within the community, and then also funding exploration. So part of the millage dollars are able to be used as grant funding, so to be able to match for a grant. I know in your master plan process, I'm sure you think of other ways to fund and what could be as the possibility. We do the same thing. And grant funding helps us get there a lot quicker. Part of that could be possible. I'll pick out a couple different projects that we have for the millage. Connie Bowles Park is a really good example of something that is born from scratch. So it's kind of nice to have ownership of a park from the very beginning. Weber Paddle Park is a good example. Salt River Nature Preserve as past examples. But this Connie Bowles Park was designed with exactly what the community wanted to see and what everyone had in mind. So it's hard to see on this map, of course, but the dog park would be included, a playground, water feature, a pavilion, including outdoor bathrooms, and pickleball courts, as well as an outside exercise loop over by the fire station side. So a sledding hill is another piece that's something that the community was looking for, a multi-purpose use where In the winter it's sledding, in the summer it could be BMX riding, definitely a multipurpose piece. But this one is definitely an item that can be come from the millage. Another example is the community center. Like I said, a lot of our focus is on that because of such a large impact that it has to our community already. And it only has room to grow and expand on that. So again, small map for you, but basically taking that classroom side of the wing of the building, I guess you could call it, turning that into a gymnasium with that indoor walking track as well, as well as enhancing the parking. That's another piece and something that we hear often of users who come to our programs and utilize the space is that It's great, but I had to walk far to get here. And so the more ADA accessible, close parking that we can offer, I think the better. The last project I'll highlight here is Pollard Park. This one is a revitalization of the space. Like Supervisor Kirsten mentioned, it's something that needs a rehab. It's time for it. It's a park that was built. A lot of greatness was put into it. It was used. And then we kind of put it on the back burner for a little bit. So it's something that needs to maintain a forefront. It's something that's great for the community and could have a large potential to grow in both the programming and the outside rentals as well, and community rentals. So it's in need of a bit of focus, which is why it's one of the primary items of the millage. Overall, I'm keeping it a very high-level view for you here just so you're not getting into the weeds too far with the millage. But investment plan priorities for us, like I said, the community center in both that multi-use space and the renovation of the building itself to bring it to the best that it can be. Parks and pathways are another piece through our visioning sessions, which through the millage, we asked the community to share their feedback on what they wanted to see, what direction they think we should go with these individual items and what order we should, the order of operations that they suggest for us. We want to make sure that the community is getting exactly what they want. But Parks and Pathways were definitely a high on that list. Connectivity, certainly throughout the entire township, as well as connectivity to outside townships. So Chesterfield connecting to the surrounding communities as well. Another item in that list of the category of parks and pathways were dog parks. Connie Bowles Park does check that box in that part of the town, but certainly the overwhelming majority of feedback that we're getting is that dog parks are wanted and needed, and one would not be enough. So certainly an opportunity there for us. Like I said, if we have the facilities, we can enhance the programs, and the programs are what people want to see from us as a Parks, Recreation, and Senior Services Department. We've had an incredible following of people who come to our programs. Continuously they come back, they give us suggestions for what they want to see. We're following the trends of Parks and Recreation with our connectivity within the world of it. But definitely the space to do it and the right space to do it is the direction that we're going in our planning. So like I said, I know you are in the master planning part of your world where it's just starting. We do the same thing with our Parks and Recreation master plan. the parks and recreation commission is the one that spearheads that. Um, and then they kind of follow along with what your master plan does. So you're a bit starting the race for us and then we're able to pick and choose from there and guide it in the parks and recreation world. So happy with any, uh, collaboration that is possible during each process, each process, if I could say it right. Thank you for the time.

Um, Anybody from the board, do you have any questions?

Uh, Michelle, I do, um, a couple. So the, the county bulls park, I take it that was donated land or something that bake it currently.

Correct. Yep. It's currently just a field that we actually just recently put in, um, a bench and an entryway, a parking lot gravel. So it's just on the very starting P places, but I would still consider it an undeveloped land.

Okay. And then Pollard Park, so it looked like the layout was the same on your graphic. So I assume when you mean investments, you're kind of like redoing the fields, upgrading the turf or something. Is that what you're looking at, doing backstops and walkways?

Yep, those are the biggest things, the soccer fields themselves, the baseball fields and the facilities that are there, but also the drainage of the park. When it was set up, it was – I don't think laid out in the correct way to really utilize the land in the right space. So it's a lot of drainage issues that we're running into, which then turn into field issues, which then turn into unplayable days. So, um, it's kind of an overall on both sides.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's what I was more curious about. I wasn't familiar with the county bowls thing. I assume, I assume that was a greenfield site and then, and you know, with growing kids growing up and coaching all the years in Pollard park, I mean, we spent many years there. So, quite familiar with it so that'd be nice to get a facelift so now are those budgeted projects or those are projects you're trying to budget from the potential millage from the millage so those projects would happen with the passing of the millage on August 4th okay and I assume at two and a half million a year you have a spend plan of how you're going to spend that because you're not going to get everything in the first couple years so I assume you have a spend plan and I assume it's a 10 year spend plan based on that projected revenue?

Correct. Yep. It would be throughout the 10 years of the plan. We're looking at it as a first five and a last five. So within the first five years, these are the projects able to do. And within the last five years, if we were to wait with just the millage coming in, it would be the 2.5 annually, but nothing ahead of that unless we were to bond or something like that.

So right now your budget's about one and a half million to get out of general fund? Correct.

Yep.

And you want to increase that by 2.5, so your total spend would be $4 million a year if you get the millage? Including the projects, yes. Okay. So $4 million a year for 10 years. Right? Correct. Okay. I assume you have a lot more projects than those three.

Those are the three biggest ones. Um, the connectivity is a big piece and then other dog parks at different low areas. It's tough in the, in the way that we present it because those seem like, Oh, three projects, easy run, you know, at a park, no problem. The amount of money that it takes to do that will eat up a large chunk of it.

Um, so that really doesn't fall under parks and rec, does it?

It does. Yep. Parks and pathways. Okay.

So sidewalks and pathways falls under you as well.

sidewalks. Yes. Pathways definitely in the connectivity between the two in collaboration with what the planning does.

Okay. So with all that land that's currently at the community center, what's the, I just saw the big green rectangle with the two little fields, but obviously there's the football field, the old track and all that stuff. Is that all staying and all that?

I can head back to it. So right now the, the millage plans would just address the building itself rather than the land behind. So that strip of land actually goes all the way from sugarbush to Jefferson. It's the, it's the full strip that goes through. Um, but as of right now for the millage, it's just the building itself rather than the land that would be in our future planning.

Uh, but what development of lands, not even in that 10 year plan, it's not in the millage.

Correct.

Okay, interesting. All right, thank you.

Sure. Thank you, Mrs. Vanderson. Quick question. So you mentioned community rentals. How much of the operating budget does that account for or is that extra dollars on top? Like how are dollars from community rentals codified and utilized?

Sure. So that one falls within, and I can go back to the budget slide as well. Um, just so we have a visual here too, that one falls into our revenue that comes from the general fund and then from Brandenburg park as well. So we have rentals of the facilities, meaning the shoreline clubhouse or those open air pavilions of Brandenburg park. We also have Pollard Park sports field rentals. We also rent community center. So those individuals, so they're all coming through as revenue. It's different and it changes year to year, but we can have a pretty general idea of what it could be based on the number of rooms, the hours that we can rent and what we've rented in years past. So it does add into that anticipated revenue line item to the general fund.

Thank you. Anyone else? Nope. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Nice job. Thank you.

And, uh, I know number two is assistant township supervisor. Karen Kirby will be given a PowerPoint presentation covering several township projects.

Hello, I did want to touch on a couple of things that might help you guys too. So Ms. Vanderson was talking about all of the parks and recreation funds coming from general fund. Our general fund, just so you guys know, this year we had a substantial decrease from the state revenue sharing, about 300,000, and we're estimating probably another decrease So that general fund is trying to support everything within the township. So that's kind of the reasoning behind, you know, trying to go out for a parks and recreation millage. Also, all the surrounding communities that are putting forth all these, you know, nice facilities, they all have parks and recreation millages as well. So just kind of some background so you guys understand a little bit. But I am here just to go over some township overall projects. I apologize if I repeat anything. The first one I wanna go through is our Northeast Sanitary Sewer Project. So back in 2022, we began conversations about the Northeast Sanitary Sewer. This was part of our current master plan. was to get sanitary sewer out to that area. Why? Because we wanted to build more businesses. We wanted to get more tax revenue. We wanted to bring in, you know, new residents. So we bonded that. And that was, again, part of fulfilling the current master plan. So We did get a hospital out of that situation. So the hospital, St. John, formerly St. John's, now Henry Ford is out there. And So that was the first one. And then also, if you look at the current master plan, this picture will look familiar. This is our county line crossing. This is the concept of that area. So without that sewer, we couldn't fulfill this part of the master plan. So I just kind of wanted to bring that to your attention. And in the master plan, this area is supposed to be a camp like a walkable medical hub type campus. This is not just part of our master plan. This is part of Macomb County's master plan as well to have that area as a medical hub. We do have plans for a downtown area such as it's called Radiance Drive. We have not been able to get the easements for that plan yet, but that is something that we need to work towards in order to get those easements. I just wanted to bring that up to you guys as the planning commission because it's very important that if we do not get the easements for that radiance drive that will downtown area that is in the master plan is supposed to happen could not happen. This next slide is if all of this happens on 26 Mile, we're going to need to widen that area. So we've been participating with Macomb County at all of their Macomb County Federal Aid Committee meetings because we are not an Act 51 community. So the funding from the state for roads does not come to us. It goes directly from the state to the county. So we rely on the county for all of our road fixing, all of our road repairs, all of our widenings, everything that we need. So we've been working very hard with Macomb County attending all of those meetings to discuss how can we start getting those easements now before it gets built up? How can we have that on their master plan to widen the area? Because this area is very congested. already and the building hasn't even started. So just with the hospital being built there and then the Lenox Township side, it's become very congested. So I just wanted to put that on your radar that we are working with the county. We are trying to get on their regional transportation plan. This next one is Jefferson Avenue. I wanted to bring this to your attention because we did receive $2 million from Lisa McLean to replace some water main on Jefferson. We also, a few years back, again, began the conversations with Macomb County in getting Jefferson repaved. Originally, it was on their TIP program for 2029 to 2030. We recently did just get the news that it has been moved up to 2027. So we're very excited that Jefferson will be repaved in 2027. And along with the money that we received from Congresswoman Lisa McLean, now we will be able to use some of that money for part of the replacement for the water main plus getting repaved as well. This picture is of 23 mile and I-94 area. We've been diligently working on this area. We put a sidewalk in there. We wanted to, we created a new committee, which is the Street Sidewalk Pathways Committee. And that committee, we take, we meet on a monthly basis and we take into consideration what areas of the township we can focus on in providing and building on the sidewalk gaps. So we base it on, you know, how much walking we have in each area, can we get a grant for the area, can we, sorry, are there other funding sources for the sidewalks? And this area, we've been working really hard with, MDOT to get a crossing over I-94 at 23 mile. And this has been ongoing for about three years. We finally got MDOT to agree to put a crossing on 23 mile over I-94. Part of that agreement was that we had to supply that rest of the sidewalk that was heavily traveled. If you drove in that area, you saw the path where people were walking. It was a dirt path. So what we did is we worked with MDOT, we put that sidewalk in, And the goal of our committee is moving forward by 2028 that we will have 23 mile from the west side of Chesterfield to the east side of Chesterfield completely paved for sidewalk. And we've realized that that's something that everyone wants and it's a very walkable area. We've also partnered with Anchor Bay School District on a Safe Routes to School grant that hopefully will have some information very soon to let you guys know of maybe some sidewalk gaps that we can fill with that grant and maybe some safer crossings. We are currently working with MDOT to try and get funding for two other locations. One is at Washington over I-94, and the other is at Washington over the Salt River. Both locations need a bridge, so we are working on different ways to get funding for both of those. So I wanted to bring that to your attention as well. I know that that was discussed in the master plan visioning session. The next one is I wanted to bring up some lighting that we added. So we've recently added 60 lights on Gratiot from 23 mile to 25 mile where we've had a few different pedestrian deaths. We upgraded seven lights to LED and added 10 lights on Jefferson from Cotton to Sutton. Again, an area where we had some crash data, wanted to make it safer. We added a light on the corner of 23 Mile and Briarfield, pointing towards 21 Mile. 21 Mile and Gratiot is one of our highest accident intersections. So we thought that that would help. Added a new light at 24 and SAS. Again, an area that is rapidly developing with homes. Added 13 lights on Sugarbush between Cotton and 21 Mile. Added two lights on Sugarbush in front of the community center. And coming soon, on that pedestrian walking bridge on 23 Mile, you'll see 18 teardrop lights. And we are adding 22 lights installed on Donner between Cotton and 23 Mile. The Donner one was approved a while back. We are just waiting on DTE. We did add some crossings. We added one on Jefferson at Hooker. This, you can see on the left, is during the day and then at night it does light up the sidewalk. So you can press a button and then cross the street to try and make that area a little bit safer. We also added a crosswalk right outside here. for on Sugarbush at Green Elementary. And we are working on possibly adding another crosswalk area on Jefferson across from Brandenburg Park and at Donner Road across from the new Veterans Pathway. In 2023, we received a grant from Simcog to do a Salt River Greenway vision. And I wasn't sure if any of you have seen this vision, so I wanted to bring it to your attention. This vision would ultimately connect the Salt River, which is 17.9 miles of stream, through Lenox-New Haven and connect to the Macomb Orchard Trail. The Salt River Greenway in Tresser Field is approximately 5.5 miles. It would go through Pollard Park, the Salt River Nature Preserve, the Salt River Marsh State Wildlife Area, Weber Paddle Park, and Brandenburg Park. So this is why it's so important for us to get those pathways over those bridges at Washington and the salt river, because if we can connect this salt river to all of our parks, I feel like it would be a win for all of us. And with any grant funding, just so you know, you have to have projects that are shovel ready. So you can't just go out and ask for a grant without a plan. You have to have a plan in order to get the grant. This just takes you along the Washington property into the Pollard Park area. And then at the time, their estimate for clearing and tree removal was 850,000. Asphalt 10 foot wide was 3.5. A boardwalk was 3.3. Bridges were 6.2. Restoration signs and markings and other amenities were 1.5. So we would be looking just to put in the Salt River Greenway around $15.2 million, which is another reason why It's so important to try and get more grant funding and millage money that's actually going to come strictly to the township. I wanted to also bring to your attention that on June 11th, we met with Eagle at the Salt River, and we realized that there are multiple areas where the Salt River is blocked. We met with them to understand better how we can go about removing some of these dead trees and hazards and the Salt River. Eagle is very particular, and if you do not do it the correct way, you could get some sort of citation. So we wanted to make sure that we met with them on site and we kind of showed them exactly what we were dealing with. Our ultimate goal is to get kayaking through the entire township. so that they could stop at any of our township parks. Right now, we obviously have kayaking at Brandenburg Park and at the Weber Paddle Park. But the ultimate goal is to let families be able to stop at the ice cream parlor if they wanted or kayak up to Pollard Park or have different spots throughout the township to really utilize our park property. And my last slide, I just wanted to touch on some exciting information for you guys. We have been partnering with Senator Kevin Hertel. In last year's budget, he did earmark $500,000 for us in order to build a facilities building at Brandenburg Park on the north end of the park. This would house our public safety Marine One boat. And we just recently found out that we may be receiving the other 500,000 in order to put the launch and the boat dock out there as well. So this would help our public safety to get onto the water much quicker and have much lower response times. Any questions?

Anybody have any questions? I have a... Uh, one kind of clarity. I had, uh, heard the Jefferson because of the road construction on hall road for the, uh, extended runway next year that, uh, that Jefferson project might not happen. There would be too much going on at one time, but apparently what I heard.

So as of now, we have not heard that.

I'm not saying I'm right. I'm just saying. Yeah, yeah. Because both were going on.

Yep. As of right now, we have not heard anything different. And we just had the last meeting a couple weeks ago. So they haven't told us anything different. But we're more than happy to let you guys know as soon as we know anything. And we do try and post to Facebook and the website as much as possible, letting everyone know kind of what's going on ahead of time. So you will have quite a bit of construction this year and probably next year because we have made some significant strides in getting some road work done.

It's going to be fun. Anybody else have any questions?

Yeah, just a couple real quick. So the Jefferson, is that literally just a one-for-one? Like they're just going to mill and replace? Is that all that is? Same width, same, they're just going to regrade the shoulders?

Yeah, unfortunately right now there is no toxin getting any extra easements on Jefferson. And that's why we've been working with the county kind of on like the 26 mile. Once it's built, it's really hard to get those bigger easements after the fact.

Okay. Yeah, just, I mean, because obviously it would be nice to be able to expand a little bit. But, okay, so that's one for one. The other question I had was, I mean, that was the first time I saw the pathway through Salt, for the Salt River, which I thought was really awesome. I think that's probably the coolest thing that I saw on your presentation. My question is, I remember like a year or so ago, a private developer bought that, the old Salt River, you know, golf course. And I remember... Part of that site plan that we approved, they allowed for the kayaking launch, right? Because we want a kayaking launch, which again, I thought this was really interesting because I think this is the kind of stuff that our township does need. Mike, how does that work through that private development? I mean, have you guys approached that? Because I was surprised that it's not being built. I mean, he seemed pretty eager at the time, but how does that work in regards to getting that pathway?

Yeah. So that's a very good point. Um, when that developer first came, they were in years ago, they came, brought the project back again. Um, our initial discussions, we talked about a doing a plan unit development cause that's a good way to do flexible development with a developer. They provide something back to the community. they chose to go the conditional rezoning route so part of that conditional rezoning is they included the pathway and kayak launch within their development so that is a condition of developing that property so the pathway will go along salt river as planned the kayak launch will go in as far as funding on that goes you know it isn't that conditional rezoning agreement so it is the responsibility of the developer we have had conversations with the developer with the county about partnering to receive some grant funding. It's kind of a little dance because, you know, a developer's not going to get private grant funding, so they would partner with the township, with Macomb County, and we all collaborate together to make that happen. But that's the ultimate goal is to get grant funding to make both of those projects happen, the kayak launch and the pathway.

Yeah, I love it. I think that would be pretty awesome if that happens in my lifetime. I mean, because it's ambitious. I mean, the biggest thing, like you said, are the bridges. I mean, which those are always expensive infrastructure. But, I mean, even if you could start laying the pathway, I mean, even if – because I'm trying to think, is there a bridge that's required between Weber and that suburb? I don't think there is, right?

So right now, the current construction at Weber Paddle Park to the back of our – our community center is going on. So that pathway is getting expanded as we speak right now. So, um, and, and that's a great, so we did that again with another grant, um, with a tap grant. So, um, we will work, you know, all avenues possible to make that happen with the developer.

Yeah. Yeah, no, that's great. Thanks. I appreciate it. It was a good presentation. Thanks.

Of course. If you guys ever have any questions, concerns, please reach out and I will be more than happy to let you know.

Thank you. Thank you. Good job. Thank you. Appreciate it. And third speakers. Director of Facilities and Operations Josh Sonnenberg and the Facilities and Park Coordinator Stephanie Yenna will be presenting Township Initiatives, Vision Projects, and Plans. I assume you're Josh.

Yes, I am. Stephanie couldn't make it, so you're stuck with me, which is not exciting, and I apologize. I'm more of a construction guy, not a presenter, so you'll have to bear with me. Sometimes I talk a little fast because I get excited about these projects. But that's why I'm here. I took this job in the first place. I grew up in the neighborhood, and I am just so passionate to try to improve Chesterfield any way we can. So I'm going to go over and provide a little bit more details, not too long, but just touch on some of the things that Karen said, provide some more details, kind of show you some of the projects that we're currently working on, not to go through too many details. You'll see when we go through this presentation, our group is... kind of obsessed with details. We will go through projects over and over. In fact, the time we've been here, we haven't been over budgeting on one project from $5.5 million to $5,000. Every project we do is under budget. So we're super proud of that. So you'll see that in the details here. A lot of these are concepts, but we're going to go through these concepts one at a time, and feel free to ask any questions. First of all, going back to what Karen mentioned about the grant from the state for the half million dollars, We're gonna just discuss on kind of where we're at in that process. So you can see obviously this is Brandenburg Park. You'll see the shoreline project down below that we worked on. The two arrows, one to the right and one to the left. The grant that we have is for a maintenance and public safety shared use building. We have our old maintenance buildings to the left. We're currently in the process of analyzing what makes more sense, keeping those buildings to the left or putting new buildings to the right that would incorporate a shared use space, new bathrooms, a new rental space, kind of shared space. Instead of just building where the old buildings are in the parking lot, it might not make sense. We have to start developing that other side of the park. So you'll see I have a few slides to kind of talk you through that process. This next slide just kind of shows where we're at in the process. So you'll see those white boxes up top. It kind of is a dreamy scenario where if we had a maintenance barn and a few other buildings, rental spaces that are mixed use spaces. They have restrooms in them. We would eliminate Pavilion D up there and kind of scoot it against the building. So for those of you who have been in the Shoreline Club, it would be similar to that, but you'd have indoor, outdoor rental space. So what we're trying to do is put together a longer term plan. So we just don't build a building for the sake of building a building. We want it to tie together to other things. When I say other things, you can see the red and yellow and orange and blue lines. We recently put in three new playscapes. Those lines represent a pathway plan that we're working on right now. We've got a lot of feedback from residents where, you know, mom's out with a stroller and she's trying to get from one playground to another and riding through the park's not always easy. So we're in the process right now working with Spalding, our engineering partners, to design that pathway. This is an example of what we're considering that building to be out at Brandenburg, just so you can look at aesthetics. We want something that kind of fits, something that doesn't jump out at you, doesn't just look like a big barn, that's kind of used as a maintenance and rental space. Going back to those pathways, you can see where we're at in the process. So we have the yellowish line represents the pathway going around. And if you've been to Brandenburg, you'll notice it's pretty flat. So one of the things we brought in, we actually toured the Ralph C. Wilson Park. overall on the Riverwalk, which is absolutely stunning. And you'll notice they spend a lot of money and time on contours. Well, if we're moving dirt, we can use that dirt to create some hills and some mounds and some extra added area that kids like to play on. So it provides a benefit with low cost. So you'll see this is the step that we're at now in the process. We're going to methodically go through this, and we're going to engage some members of the public and get their feedback before we go out to bid. In this process, we're also talking about adding a pickleball slash event pad. For those of you that play pickleball, our pickleball courts have been a huge success. It's one of the things that we got done while we were here, and the pickleball courts are packed, so there's a lot of people talking about adding some additional pickleball courts. We're trying to do something that is an event pass slash pickleball court, so that kind of bumps up against the parking lots. One of the things we're working on now and is in the design phase. This slide I put in here to remind everybody, when we started here at Brandenburg, it was not bad, but it was pretty rough. We've done a lot of work, and we keep talking about Brandenburg, Brandenburg, Brandenburg. Brandenburg has a lot of potential. We're getting down to where we almost got everything where we want it. We've worked on the booth. You can see that picture at the top. That was the multipurpose room before we remodeled it for any of you who have been there. That was the old tennis courts when I started. There was huge cracks, the shoreline. That anchor landscape thing from fences to benches, we've fixed a lot of stuff. But now we're to the phase where we're looking at improving other things. And that brings us to this, the park signs. If you drove around the signs, you can see they weren't put in with maintenance in mind. They're Miami voice colors made out of wood, that teal color that's been long gone for a long time. So we're in the process now. We designed the sign. And actually, we went out and talked to a bunch of vendors and had them come up with a bunch of different ideas. And we came back to our sign that we designed. So we had them put some details. We're in the process of getting costs. We would like to just put together a package to put this sign so we have some universal branding. We're fortunate. Down Jefferson, when you drive down Jefferson, we have the opportunity to brand Chesterfield from Weber to Brandenburg at the community center down Sugarbush. At Pollard, we'd have the same sign, so we'd have the same sign in those locations. We're also looking at trailhead signs. Once again, this one's just a concept. We'd like to bring that same theme into our trailhead. So this would be like Salt River Nature Preserve. When you cross Brandenburg and you walk into Salt River Nature Preserve, this is some sign you might see. To expand on branding, this is a sign that we're considering if you're driving over 94 and you're coming across down 23 and you're across from Discount where Raleigh Place condos are. We have some vacant land there. We've had a lot of discussions about how we brand our community when you come into Chesterfield. This is a sign that we're considering putting there. So you'll hear us talking about this a little bit more in the future. It's a big sign. It's like 38 feet by 10 foot tall. So it's big. It's just something, like you said, we're going to bring it to the board and the community. Do you want it or not? It's our job, I think, in our position to bring things to get people to think about different ways and different things to do to make the community look a little bit more polished and professional. So earlier you touched on the different parts of the property, and I wanted to bring up this one because it was mentioned. This is a parcel of the old dump that was brought up earlier, and we have had some conversations about this. We had a group from Oakland County and Macomb County approaches about trying to put in some mountain bike trails, which I think is a good opportunity and a sled run in the winter. So we have looked at this parcel. It's the only parcel property that we have that has about a 55-foot elevation drop, and it's really underutilized. We don't have any plans at this time to do it tomorrow, but it is something we're looking at and talking to vendors, and obviously as we go through this process, we'll have all those conversations, what's on site, do some testing and go through all that like we always do. But the two opportunities we have for mountain bike courses are the dump that is on 25 against 94 and also at Pollard Park. We recently cut some trails at Pollard Park just to get people down by the Salt River. Pollard Park is an amazing piece of property. Unfortunately, all we use is around the baseball diamond. There's no pathway, there's no connectivity, so we're working on that as well. This next slide is just a small example. We have groups of park throughout the township. One of the things I'd like to see us do is when we talk about shovel ready projects, this is an example of a pocket park. DTE owns this property off Gratiot and we've kind of been bouncing back and forth. We want to be ready that if an opportunity presents itself to build a pocket park in a neighborhood outside of our bigger parks, we want to be ready to go. So we developed this concept just with the idea that if something comes up in a small group says, Hey, we'd like to donate a park. participate in funding a park we want to have something ready on a smaller scale it's just two pickleball courts and a half basketball court which were pretty flexible on but we have those plans ready and available if something comes along going back to this so there was discussion earlier about the community center property I believe you mentioned mr. Carr about how big that property is that property is big we got 28 acres and I When we were going through the design of this project for the community center, we went to every possible community center we could. We went to the real fancy ones and the not so fancy ones, just to look at how they did, how they renovated, what they built new, what they liked. We took away some things we liked, especially there was a community center in Dearborn where they had a really nice double gym with a second floor walking track. Our idea is if we can use those same exact plans, we know how much to spend, it'll save us money in the long run. So that's kind of what we drew up there. But when you put it on our property, it practically disappears. And when you look at our property, we're really fortunate to be so close to Lake St. Clair. It's such a big piece of property. So it is underutilized. We've got 28 acres of property. What are we going to do with it? This is where we're going to get dreamy. So this is all concepts. I just want to put this out there that this is a concept. While I was looking at the property on my own, I thought... Maybe. Why not? Let's talk about it. So this next slide is just going to talk you through, while you guys are in charge of looking at the master plan, determining where things will go or influencing projects, those part of things that we don't really touch. Just wanted to take this opportunity to just say, here's a concept, and I'll just say it's 100% concept is all it is, but it's just something to talk about. So our partial property, the community center, you can see that long, narrow piece. The blue dotted line that runs up through that property is the river. The property to the right is Anchor Bay High School, or Anchor Bay Middle School, I'm sorry. Used to be high school when I went there, I apologize. So Anchor Bay Middle School, you can see on that lower portion, they have the track. When we looked at this property, We thought, in a dream scenario, what could you do to try to develop a downtown in Chesterfield? So with the features the way they are, there's a canal that runs up by Patellar Basin that's deep enough and wide enough. It's just that it stops at the drain. So let's talk dream scenario. If in the future, if we had an option or an opportunity, and once again, without a plan or a dream, no one has any options. So I'm just presenting the concept to say, what if there was a way to develop a downtown or even a small walking district down in that area? So what you'll see is the picture I showed you to the left and on the right, we're going to zoom in a little bit, but it kind of shows how we widen that stream and we widen that going up to the community center. You'll still see there's a ton of real estate as we go up. So if we flip this to its side, you'll see where there's some points. If you look at that red arrow as a reference, we're still over by the baseball fields. We're still in the middle of our property. Now we're not talking dollars and cents here. We're just talking dreams. But from my experience being involved in anchor bay and living around this lake the whole life, if there was ever an opportunity to bring more people in and around the water, And we are one of the unique communities that present that opportunity. There is no better place. Every time we have a Bassmaster, every time people come to our community, the first thing they say is, this is amazing. I wish we could get down here all the time. Maybe there's a way to move downtown closer to that area. So if you look, what I did is I kind of developed a couple buildings along a shoreline with a canal going through. So I'm going to show you. This is a more detailed drawing. I went through, I guess, I guess I have nothing better to you, but I went through and I kind of designed building by building based on past experience, what would kind of look cool and kind of function and fit into the property. So this is kind of the view looking from, from the community center back towards the lake. The idea is just to have a conversation piece. Like it would be nice, Chesterfield lacks a downtown, a branding area. You know, everybody thinks New Baltimore. And it would be really ideal as if you could pull your boat or people could walk along the water and be downtown. So this, I took up my drawing and I made a rendering and this is what it looks like. So next, the second phase of that, if we really wanted to get big and broad, would be if we stretched out our property over to where the Anchor Bay track is and we built a mixed-use development where you had real estate or retail on the bottom and rentals on the top, it would look something like this. Now, once again, concept only, but when you're talking about a downtown Chesterfield, It gets people talking. So I just wanted to kind of touch on some projects real quick, what we're doing, and then also take the opportunity since it's my first time in front of the board and just throw out a couple of dream scenarios just to kind of get your ideas going about. There's so many options here. We're so fortunate to be on the water and in this community that it would be nice to just, I guess, entertain some unique ideas as we go through this process. And that's all I have. I don't have any fancy closeout slides like Michelle. I'm not that good at this yet. So any questions? Thank you. Any questions from the board?

Just a few. So I think first just starting with Brandenburg. And I know you're still working on you know, the two half million, you know, uh, grants we're getting or whatever the proper term is. Um, but my, just a couple of thoughts, you know, for you to maybe think about, I noticed you were looking at putting like this combined maintenance building slash multi purpose on the north end. Uh, I would maybe recommend maybe just looking at that because typically you want to separate vehicular and pedestrian. And, you know, that north end is really beautiful. It's vegetated. Like, you know, I think Brandenburg, to your point, we are very lucky to be on the water. Like, to me, Brandenburg would be a really great facility for, like, a beautiful, like, wedding venue, like a pavilion, something where people can rent and get married at. And, you know, because that's the big trend. It's been the trend for a long time is where, you know, a lot of, obviously, a lot of the younger people, I guess kids, you know, they want that combined ceremony, and, you know, both my kids are doing it in the next year, right? So where they get married at the same place, they have their reception. And, like, to me, Brandenburg would be a great place for that. But at the end, regardless of what's there, that's just an idea of something like that. But still, I would, if you're going to do a maintenance or anything with vehicular, I wouldn't be integrating that on the north end where you're trying to promote pedestrian play areas. Like you said, you've got playscapes, you've got all this stuff. You know, the south end where it's all, you know, just asphalt jungle, I mean, that's a great place to keep the vehicular traffic. And then on the north end, you know, continue to expand on walking paths and integrated areas with people. You know, that's just my thoughts. I mean, I like the idea of the concept, but just to me it's like it's – I would definitely separate, but that's just my thought I want to show. Branding, I thought, that is awesome. I mean, we definitely have to brand our community. I've done a lot of branding throughout my career, you know, when I was in industry. And I think branding would be really fantastic to do throughout Chesterfield. I know a few years ago we talked about doing something, I think the state denied us or something, over 94. well didn't they didn't we want to do something with the bridge at like the hall road like we were we were going to paint our logo on the bridge project but they got us involved so at the end so far along that we just couldn't get it done in time so yeah so but i think uh i love the signage and i love the the branding of the signage and um and yeah i think that that's uh fantastic uh um you know, again, I really liked that. Cause I know we've talked about the branding and the master planning and in the past. So, um, I also do really like the pocket parks, um, to, to Ken, you know, to continue to, uh, improve and expand as much green space as possible throughout the township. So I thought those, that's a really good idea. And then, uh, ending on the community center. I mean, I mean, even, you know, like you look at all the green and the melt and drain that comes through there and all that. I mean, mean even if you think about like George George right which everybody loves George George Park you know I mean that that can definitely you know there's so much potential to put in little pavilions and ponds and walking paths and you know that it could really be a beautiful piece of property, you know, so that's why I would, you know, like, you know, so yeah, so I thought you had some really great things and then I just wanted to share just some of that feedback maybe on Brandenburg as you're working through just kind of, you know, thinking through that and, because again, like I said, I don't think we really have a place in the township where, you know, for like, again, for like weddings or something like that.

No, you're exactly right.

You know, I mean, and I just think Brandenburg, I know, like, my son's getting married next year, and we just looked at his venue. He's getting married at a metro park, and they got this beautiful pavilion on a pond. I mean, you know, a pavilion on Lake St. Clair would be awesome, and then properly landscaped, and, I mean, would just be sweet. You know, so just some of my thoughts, you know. So thank you. You did a good job. Thank you.

Anyone else?

I just wanted to touch on that, but hey, good evening. a lot of the kids are doing these, uh, these barn weddings now. And I know that my daughter at one time was going to get married at one. They were talking about it and there was some complications that they couldn't have it there, but it was $6,000 just to rent the barn with the property. I'm not even sure. There might've been tables and chairs included, but everything else was a la carte. So I think there's some serious money in, That location at Brandenburg would be a lot nicer. We have many areas would be a lot nicer than just some old farm with an old barn that's been restored. So I think it's a good idea. Anybody else?

Thank you, Mr. Sonnenberg. So first of all, I love that you had that last part where you're just like, dream big and swing for the fences type of thing. I'm wondering if the township, and this is more, pardon my ignorance, I'm new and I'm trying to learn all these different nuances, but have we ever tried to do something like partner with like a Macomb Community College? They've got all these construction management and construction programs that they offer. I know that they have... maritime operations and things as part of their strategic plan, could we leverage like the community college to, you talked about having to do the bidding process, could we have a partner, a strategic partnership like that to do some of these projects?

It is a great point. And I can tell you during our park tours, I'll use the example in Rochester when we toured that park. If you've ever been to the Innovation Park, which is pretty amazing, when they did that park, they actually did a contest with different engineering firms, some kids, some, you know, full time. And, and that's what came out of it is everybody, they had all this collaboration. You can, and we will use some of these things as a teaching tool. For example, our shoreline project, it's an outdoor classroom. That's what we use it for. It's, it's a constant, which is awesome, but it is a really good point. We, um, we've done, when we did the Memorial wall, we had the Masonaries Mason's Institute come in a, it saved us money and B they used it as a teaching tool. So we can absolutely do that. It's just that is a conversation piece. Like that property there, because like you said, people look at it and they're like, what can we do? Well, let's talk about what can't we do? You know, we have all this property. Let's make it look, let's bring people down to visit somewhere, do something. Where do you go in Chesterville where you want to go where it's the hub? You know, that's what, if we're going to brand our community, and Supervisor Kersen over here is getting our, like he's the biggest proponent. He wants to see this community, like when you talk about Chesterfield, it's funny, when you get off 94, there is no Chesterfield exit. You know, I mean, think about it. He gets frustrated, we build new buildings and their address, they don't say Chesterfield. It gets to the point where we're doing all this work. We're trying to brand. We have people coming from Bassmaster like, oh, we're in New Baltimore. No, you're not. So we're working on that, but that's all part of this. And to go back to your original thought, yes, we absolutely would entertain that, and it makes sense because you're helping the kids that want to learn, and you're educating, and you get a lot of different perspective. The more people you can get, you're not paying for 30 different opinions, but you're getting them. So thank you. And a lot of savings.

Yes, yes, yes.

Thanks, Josh, for coming this evening. We definitely want to expand on your ideas. Part of the master plan process is, just as Brad has said in the past, is we need to make sure that as part of our master plan, we have the pathway over Salt River. We have the pathway over I-94. But it's a master plan. It's a dream. It's something we can do in the future. And those ideas are things that we're looking for. So we will be talking to you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Some closing comments real quick. Appreciate you guys allowing us to come in front of you and at least give the presentation of where we're at and what the staff does day-to-day here to your conversation about identity. We are currently working with the U.S. Postal Service to secure Chesterfield Township's own zip code. And we say that, we split it with New Baltimore. It is becoming problematic because when you pull data, it harms us because some of the residents still believe that they live in New Baltimore because they have that New Baltimore 48047 and they don't know the identifier. So we are actively working with the Postal Service to 48051 should be all and solely of Chesterfield, and we're working through that process now. It's going to take some time. Again, I appreciate it. As you see, whether it's real, whether it's day-to-day business, whether it's conceptual, Josh is thinking outside the box, Amanda's thinking out there, Michelle is thinking outside the box, Karen is constantly working with partner agencies, but it all comes back to the master plan. Where are we going with the master plan? What does the master plan look like? Twenty-six mile road is a core project right now, and as we mentioned the last time, downtown development authorities. We need to begin thinking of that. We are not going, our community is not going to shrink. I think everybody is going to realize that, and what it's going to look like in 20 years is what we are actually working day-to-day with. Whether it's a concept, whether it's an idea, whether it's going to happen this year, whether it's going to happen 20 years down the road, that's what the team is looking for and how it best improves the township. Now, I'm going to bring it all back to, it's all down to the almighty dollar. What can the township afford? What is real? What can be pushed off? What can we develop? Through our budget process and we work on that pretty seriously, too So again, I thank you for for allowing us to come in front of you I thought it was important that you see where we are at day to day and the department heads and again I'll open the door you our office is open come on and sit down have a discussion department heads are available to you water and sewer growth and development is a constant conversation and And obviously, you guys see, Jonathan sees the applications coming in, and we take those and look at it and say, okay, where do we got to go and what do we have to do again? So we're available to you anytime you need us. So, again, thank you very much for your time tonight.

Thank you. And I thought this was a very good follow-up from the last meeting. You know, I think this was important to have this. When the meeting was first canceled, it took me about 10 minutes to make some plans. So then the followup email said, no, cancel those plans. So that's okay.

I think this was a well worth, uh, everybody needs to know where we're at and what we're on. So I appreciate you guys, uh, attending tonight.

Thank you. Um, well, uh, planning commissioners, anybody got any final comments?

market also i usually don't but uh... yeah i just wanted uh... echo that i actually really did enjoy this uh... more than i thought i was going to i mean just cuz i didn't know what to expect but I thought it actually dovetails very well into the fact that we're in the middle of our master plan because there's a lot of ideas that I didn't even know that the township was even thinking about. And so I think it's actually really good for us to build on. You know, because, yeah, I saw a lot of great things in there that I never even, you know, knew that they were working on. So thanks. Rick? All set.

Eric? Eric? Yeah, no, I think the presentations, like Brian said, were fantastic, a lot more informative. And, yeah, we need to brand Chesterfield a lot better because, you know, since we don't have a downtown, which I think is important for the future, which is fantastic for what you proposed, Jess, would be a great idea for sure. And definitely expanding on Brandenburg Park on like a pavilion, Just like Dodge Park, downtown Rochester by Payne Creek, phenomenal parks, a lot of connectivity between all the pathways to hiking and the river and the park. And what they have down there is actually phenomenal. So to do something with a pavilion for multiple type of uses, it would be really expanding Brandenburg and Chesterfield. So yeah, thank you.

Thank you. Alton, any final words?

Nothing really, but just kind of piggybacking off of the comments I made, thinking about Macomb, I'm just wondering how many other community or county level partnerships we can have to kind of leverage maybe some of the grant dollars that they're receiving for certain projects and figuring out how we can leverage those to obviously increase our own branding and become a part of their plans as well. But I love the presentations today. Thank you all very much.

Thank you. And I'd like to thank the audience, everybody that showed up. I hope you enjoyed it. And thanks, everybody else. It's not yet. Sorry.

Mr. Chairman, can I make just one more comment before you turn the meeting? I just wanted to say that that's, you know, this is the exact reason why we do the review of the match plan every five years. A lot can change in five years. So when we did this, when we drafted this previously, you know, and there's small things too that turned into big things. So last time around we identified, you know gateways and signage in the township where they should go and at that time we were kind of right in the infant stages of rebranding changing our logo changing what the look was we had a new sign out front but that was brand new it kind of came all of a sudden and we used that as a concept well now with josh's team and their work they're doing on signage what supervisor curson has done in his vision for the township you know that's the perfect reason why you update that and signage isn't cheap, but there's grants out there for signs away finding. So when they see that we're actively working towards this, whether it be new signage, whether it be the mural at the fire station, all that stuff gets incorporated into our five year review and it just opens the door and there's, you know, Dozens of little things whether it be the sidewalks or the streets pathways and sidewalks committee all that stuff plays a role And that's exactly why we do it.

So again Glad they came in and everyone's up to speed on what's going on and we'll continue to keep the Commission updated Thank you I think the presenters again it was it was really good and with that I would like to adjourn the meeting and tonight at 819 have Motion by Carl Leonard supported by Mark Renaud to adjourn the meeting at 819 all in favor Opposed motion carries good night