Parks advisory board asks public to weigh in on Ionia County recreation

IONIA COUNTY — Do Ionia County parks meet the needs of the community? Are there ways the parks — and opportunities for recreation in the county in general — could improve? The Ionia County Parks Advisory Board wants to hear from you.

The parks advisory board has scheduled a public meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, at Ionia County Central Dispatch to collect feedback from citizens as board members prepare to update the county’s five-year recreation plan.

The recreation plan not only guides parks improvements and maintenance. A current plan also is required to apply for state grants to fund those improvements. The last recreation plan covered 2014-2018.

“The recreation plan is not a new thing for the parks, and it helps us to hear from the public on things of interest to them on possible items of improvement,” said Ionia County Parks Advisory Board Chair Don Benjamin. “The recreation plan allows us to apply for grants for the parks. Please attend if you can.”

Ionia County’s two parks are the 186-acre Bertha Brock Park in Easton Township and the 4-acre Green View Point Park east of Lyons. The county also has a 200-acre parcel known as the Main Street Property south of Main Street on the west end of Ionia, which includes many miles of the rails-to-trails multi-use path.

Dave Bee from the West Michigan Regional Planning Commission worked with the then-Bertha Brock Park Advisory Board to create the 2014-2018 recreation plan. Bee will guide the process developing the 2018-2022 plan.

Once completed, the updated plan will be presented at a public hearing and submitted to the Ionia County Board of Commissioners for approval.

Ionia County Central Dispatch is located at 545 Apple Tree Drive off M-66, north of M-21.

For more information or with questions, contact Ionia County Administrator Stephanie Fox at 616-527-5300.

Media release sent on behalf on the Ionia County Parks Advisory Board.