shiawasseecounty.net

My grandson and some other of the neighbor kids use the "park". I agree that some additions would be nice. I attended the Owosso City Council meeting Monday evening. I asked them (the council) if any money could/would be allocated for improvements at the park. The answer was ........"NO".

I suppose they will be expecting you to start a drive to raise some money for it.

"If you don't like it here, then move!"
That is typical response I get when I complain about something around this town.
Check this out anyway.

Grand Haven Tribune

Skate park work OK'd
BY MARK BROOKY
mbrooky@grandhaventribune.com

A concrete skate park along Harbor Drive narrowly got the go-ahead Monday night to be built this spring.

Grand Haven City Council voted 3-2 to award a $339,743 (Gary and Kevin, could you raise that much money?) construction contract to Apex Contractors of Dorr to build the new park on a sand dune directly east of the Tri-Cities Family YMCA. Work is expected to begin in early April and completed within 60 days, City Manager Pat McGinnis said.

The total cost of the project is estimated at nearly $500,000 when including engineering and inspection fees, and other expenses for the planned 13,700-square-foot skate park.

Council members Geri McCaleb and John Naser voted against the measure Monday. They oppose the overall cost, which has risen almost $150,000 from a preliminary estimate in January 2005 when the city won a state parks grant of up to $178,800 — then expected to pay for half of the project's total cost.

Since then, city officials have added fencing, a security system and special surface coating to hold up to rougher BMX stunt bike use.

"A half-million dollar price tag is way up and above anything we expected when we started this project," McCaleb said. "... This is a huge amount of money and there's just too many unanswered questions."

Naser asked to postpone awarding the contract until a clearer picture on financing the project was presented by city staff.

McGinnis said Monday that the city has $29,250 donated for the park, which includes a $15,000 grant from the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation's Youth Advisory Committee. Councilman Mike Fritz said two local businesses, Loose Spokes and Kowalski Design, are in the process of raising additional private donations to help cover the city's share of the costs.

The rest of the city's share will come out of its public improvement fund, McGinnis said.

Earlier in Monday's meeting, McCaleb and Naser unsuccessfully tried to get the contract resolution removed from the night's agenda, while councilmen Fritz and Ed Nieuwenhuis pushed to get it approved.

"I think it would be a great Christmas present to our young people," Nieuwenhuis said.

The new concrete facility was expected to be built this summer, but a zoning question stalled the project. The low bidder for the construction of the park, Apex Contractors, agreed to freeze its proposal for spring 2007 after bids were opened in August.

The new park will replace an asphalt skate park with wooden ramps, built at the Mulligan's Hollow Recreational Area in 1997.

WOW.......THAT IS IMPRESSIVE. A city in Michigan can do that.

Be nice to know where that $178,000 grant came from.

Anyone else see the potential problem with building a skate/bike park on a sand dune?
A house is a strong as its foundation, right?

sand dunes tend to stabilize when they get concrete poured over the top of them

so many building projects around here they haul in tons of sand and put down before they start putting a building on top of it - good drainage????

I dunno...but I doubt much of a problem, if any.

Major tornado direct hit might do some damage.

I came from the Grand Haven area and had never heard of a sump pump until I moved to Owosso. Every single house I ever looked at in Owosso has a sump pump! When I lived in the city our sump pump ran constantly in the Spring and we had two flooded basements in ten years in that house. One time the electricity was out and our family had a bucket brigade going all day. Sand is the best foundation. All you have to do is stop the wind erosion with sod or shrubbery. Another thing, when the snow melts you can walk across the yard without sinking into the mud up to your knees. Also in August the yard doesn't turn into concrete!

A lot of cities in Michigan have done this, Lansing, Charlotte, Dowigiac, Niles, Bay City, Midland, Portage and Mason just to name a few. And these parks are huge concrete skate parks. Its true that a lot of other cities have skate parks, but they have parks like Owosso, prefab obstacles that you can order from a catalog. The cement skate park is ideal, because they are usually an original design, last longer, and are the preferred terrain to ride on.

`Too bad ya can't get the city council off their behinds (and millions in reserve) and rub their noses in it.

See............It can be done and it is worth it.....

won't happen as long as 2 people run the city and MANipulate the council to rubber stamp their plan.

ah Kevin....ya gotta think outside the box

even this might get to breathe

I read somewhere that there are grants available for community projects that would be good for exercise and the kids.
I'll see if I can find it.
The kids around here need something to do.