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HARRISON TOWNSHIP — The Harrison Township Board of Trustees approved the township’s 2023-2027 recreation master plan on Jan. 23.
Passed to allow the township to be eligible for recreation-related grants, the plan outlines goals and objectives the township would like to accomplish within those five years for recreation as well as a roadmap for when it plans to have projects completed and potential funding sources for those projects.
Some planned park additions outlined in the plan include a multiuse trail bridge along Jefferson Avenue and the Clinton River Spillway, estimated to cost $2 million; the creation of new ballfields and pickleball courts at Tucker Park, estimated between $150,000 and $250,000; and the removal of the seawall with enhancements to the natural shoreline and creation of public access to Lake St. Clair at Waterfront Park, estimated to cost between $200,000 and $250,000.
While the plan showcases many possible changes to Harrison Township parks, not every plan will be pursued.
“We need to be realistic about what we are going to do,” Township Clerk Adam Wit said. “We are a community that does not have a general fund millage. We don’t have a dedicated parks and rec millage. We’re volunteer based. Absent a grant, we’re not going to do a major improvement in any of our parks.”
Township Supervisor Ken Verkest raised the idea that the board could add a parks and recreation millage to an upcoming election, though he said voters tended to vote against it — possibly due to the proximity of Lake St. Clair Metropark and its facilities — rather than support new facilities owned and operated by the township.
“It isn’t as if there aren’t opportunities (to add facilities), but the question is if we should have something that’s township-wide to fund that,” Verkest said. “But if the need should arise in the next five years, and the interest to apply for a grant to fund those were to come up, we want to try to make sure we’re talking about everything we need.”
Clinton Township fire chief joins planning commission
The board approved Tim Duncan, a Harrison Township resident of 10 years and the current chief of the Clinton Township Fire Department, to fill a vacant position on the township’s Planning Commission.
Along with his experience in municipal environments through this role at the Clinton Township Fire Department, Verkest said he believed Duncan’s experience with fire codes and having other resources at his disposal make Duncan a good addition to the commission.
“I think it was really interesting that … someone with other municipal experience wanted to do something like that,” Trustee Dean Olgiati said. “I think it will be an asset because it will give us a different way of looking at things on the Planning Commission that we haven’t really had an opportunity to do before.”
Duncan replaces Michael Blum on the Planning Commission.
