If you attended or read the press release on the Topinabee Development
Association’s (TDA) “ground-breaking” ceremony last July for the Topinabee
Lakeshore Park project, here is an up-date on some costs Mullett Taxpayers will
see and the features they won’t. TDA
members and the Park Committee were conspicuously absent as the bids came in
far over the projected cost. The awarded
low bid for construction of $410,331 plus the $40,900 design costs exceeds the
total approved budget of $400,000 by tens of thousands of dollars before construction
starts.
The ADA accessible viewing dock was lost early in the
process and bid solicitation moved 5 features: information kiosks, artesian
well water feature, small swing-set, steps to the play area, and shoreline riprap
restoration to an alternates list. All of these features are now gone. Also cut
are $39,500 worth of new benches, picnic tables and grilles and the promised
electric service to the pavilion. The Mullett Board now hopes to cut $20-25,000
off the of $75,000 price for the specified plastic playground equipment. All of
these cuts are an attempt to lower costs after TDA members, the Mullett Board
and the designers apparently spent untold hours specifying designs and materials
with no consideration of cost, budget, or actual need.
What’s left in the new park? Hundreds of feet of “decorative”
pre-cast concrete retaining walls, concrete walks, fences, expensive plastic
playground equipment, a larger sand area, new grass, flower beds, and a stormwater
drainage system that may or may not work. The ADA access will require the disabled
to trek hundreds of feet on the DNR Trail and then back the length of the park
to access the beach.
Our modest township park with swings and trees that served residents
and visitors alike for generations is gone forever.
Here is what was promised last year on the "official" Mullett Township blog.
December 7, 2011
Mullett Township announced today that it has been awarded a grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) for the reconstruction of its Lakeside Park located on Mullett Lake in Topinabee. The $280,000 grant will be used to completely rebuild the popular lakeside park which has served the needs of residents and visitors to the community for the better part of the past century. Total project cost is estimated at $400,000 with $120,000 in matching funds provided by the local Township.
Conveniently located between the North Central State Trail and Mullett Lake in the vicinity of the historic depot in Topinabee which now serves as the Township Library, the park has experienced a significant increase in usage since the North Central State Trail opened a few years ago. Because little has been done over the years to develop amenities within the park and address some long standing environmental and accessibility related issues, the Township decided a few years ago to seek a Trust Fund Grant to make improvements to better protect the environment and more adequately serve the needs of the community.
According to David Ogg, a member of the Mullett Township Park Committee and Topinabee Development Association (TDA) who worked closely with the Trust Fund to obtain the grant, “the plan will provide direct access from the trail into the lake for people with disabilities”. “Addressing Universal Accessibility needs of residents and visitors to the community”, he said, “was of paramount importance to the Township Board and Park Committee”. The plan will include the use of a handicap accessible Mobi-mat which will allow an individual in a wheel chair, who has been wheeled down the gently sloping path from the trail, to have direct access into the lake. According to Ogg, “this feature will be unique within the entire 42 mile long Inland Waterway”.
Township Supervisor Bill Morgan stated that “the plan also addresses the serious and long standing problem of erosion of the existing beach and adjacent trail due to the torrents of water which flow from the highway and adjacent parking areas during heavy summer downpours”. The plan, which will include a new retaining wall and drainage system along the trail, “will insure that this water gets captured and properly directed before it is allowed to run, unfiltered, directly into the lake”.
The plan which was developed by Fleis and Vandenbrink Engineering, includes a patio and seating area overlooking the lake, new pathways to the beach and boating dock, picnic areas, indigenous landscaping and foliage to protect the lake, a children’s playground and a new artesian well to replace one which used to be available to the public. The plan will also feature informational kiosks highlighting the Inland Waterway; the town’s namesake Chief Topinabee and the rich history of the railroad era and hotels which once existed in this popular northern Michigan resort community. Construction of the project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2012.
Here is what was promised last year on the "official" Mullett Township blog.
December 7, 2011
Mullett Township announced today that it has been awarded a grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) for the reconstruction of its Lakeside Park located on Mullett Lake in Topinabee. The $280,000 grant will be used to completely rebuild the popular lakeside park which has served the needs of residents and visitors to the community for the better part of the past century. Total project cost is estimated at $400,000 with $120,000 in matching funds provided by the local Township.
Conveniently located between the North Central State Trail and Mullett Lake in the vicinity of the historic depot in Topinabee which now serves as the Township Library, the park has experienced a significant increase in usage since the North Central State Trail opened a few years ago. Because little has been done over the years to develop amenities within the park and address some long standing environmental and accessibility related issues, the Township decided a few years ago to seek a Trust Fund Grant to make improvements to better protect the environment and more adequately serve the needs of the community.
According to David Ogg, a member of the Mullett Township Park Committee and Topinabee Development Association (TDA) who worked closely with the Trust Fund to obtain the grant, “the plan will provide direct access from the trail into the lake for people with disabilities”. “Addressing Universal Accessibility needs of residents and visitors to the community”, he said, “was of paramount importance to the Township Board and Park Committee”. The plan will include the use of a handicap accessible Mobi-mat which will allow an individual in a wheel chair, who has been wheeled down the gently sloping path from the trail, to have direct access into the lake. According to Ogg, “this feature will be unique within the entire 42 mile long Inland Waterway”.
Township Supervisor Bill Morgan stated that “the plan also addresses the serious and long standing problem of erosion of the existing beach and adjacent trail due to the torrents of water which flow from the highway and adjacent parking areas during heavy summer downpours”. The plan, which will include a new retaining wall and drainage system along the trail, “will insure that this water gets captured and properly directed before it is allowed to run, unfiltered, directly into the lake”.
The plan which was developed by Fleis and Vandenbrink Engineering, includes a patio and seating area overlooking the lake, new pathways to the beach and boating dock, picnic areas, indigenous landscaping and foliage to protect the lake, a children’s playground and a new artesian well to replace one which used to be available to the public. The plan will also feature informational kiosks highlighting the Inland Waterway; the town’s namesake Chief Topinabee and the rich history of the railroad era and hotels which once existed in this popular northern Michigan resort community. Construction of the project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2012.
