It’s been almost five years since Lake Orion hired a company to create a Recreation Master Plan.
It’s time to do another say members of the village’s parks and recreation committee. Village council members agreed and on Oct. 11 hired Wade Trim to do the work.
Committee members recommended hiring Wade Trim at a cost of $27,000.
Plans need to be upgraded every five years if the village intends to apply for any grant monies.
Council member Ken Van Portfliet was leery of doing another master plan when he heard no grants were applied for in the five years.
‘The plan is just a general plan,? he said. ‘If we’re not going to write for grants, why don’t we use that money ($27,000) to improve the parks.?
According to Kevin Leighter, a member of the parks and recreation committee, the committee feels it needs professional help to write grants.
We need someone to guide us. Everyone on the committee is a volunteer, not a professional,? he said.
‘Up until now we haven’t had anyone with enough expertise to write grants. Now we can.?
Wade Trim has a reputation as successfully obtaining recreation grants for communities it works for.
According to Lake Orion Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel, in the past five years the committee did seek permission from the council to apply for grant monies to buy Pelton’s Point. She said the council turned the request down.
Councilman Douglas Dendel wasn’t happy the village was going to be paying more than the Downtown Development Authority. The plan is for the village to pay $19,600 from its general fund and the Downtown Development Authority will pay $12,600.
‘I’m worried about the economics, the budget. If you don’t have a budget, you’re not going to have a village,? he said.
Dendel believes the DDA should pay more money for the plan than the village because most of the village’s parks are in the DDA district.