DDA Board Minutes

Cascade Charter Township

Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors

Regular Meeting

May 21, 2002

DDA Members Present: Biermacher, Clark, Julien, Johnson, Kingsland and Wallace

DDA Members Absent: Clay (with notice) and James (with notice)

Others Present: Michelle Bottrall Parks Committee member, Jay Cravens, Township Manager, David Keyser Parks Committee member, Steve Peterson, Planning Director and Tom Zelinski Parks Committee member.

ARTICLE 1. Call the Meeting to Order

Chairman Wallace called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

ARTICLE 2. Approval of the Agenda

Member Clark made a motion to approve the agenda submitted by staff. Member Julien seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

ARTICLE 3. Approval of the Minutes of March 19, 2002

Member Clark made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 19, 2002 meeting, as submitted by staff. Member Biermacher seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

ARTICLE 4. Discussion of with the Cascade Charter Township Parks Committee Regarding Proposed Rules for Tassell Riverfront Park

Manager Cravens explained the reasoning for having a combined meeting with the DDA Board of Directors and the Parks Committee was to have input from both advisory boards on proposed rules for Tassell Park. The park is in the DDA district and the newest park under the care of the Parks Committee. Manager Cravens then introduced Planning Director Steve Peterson who is the primary author of the proposed rules.

Planning Director Peterson reviewed the proposed ordinance with the DDA and Parks Committee. Steve highlighted specific details of the proposed ordinance including hours the park would be open and closed the number of events that could be reserved at the park in a month and other rules of conduct at the park.

Parks committee Member Bottrall had a concern about animal waste at the park. There was a suggestion that waste receptacles similar to the receptacles on the pathway.

There was a general discussion on the proposed reservation policy that would limit the number of guests in a reservation to 30 people. There was concern about the number of reservations allowed in a month. Manager Cravens asked if the number of reservations was for events for the entire month or just reservations allowed for weekends in the month. Supervisor Julien suggested that the size limitation be raised to 50 persons and the number of reservations per month be limited to two per month.

Chairman Wallace asked about the activities allowed at the park. He was concerned about the appropriate location for fishing. Chairman Wallace suggested there should be designated areas that would permit fishing. Member Clark stated that the language already proposed by Staff allows the Township to designate areas for uses.

There was a general discussion about the appropriate time to close the parking lots at the park. It was the consensus to close the park at 11:00 p.m. during the summer months.

ARTICLE 5. Any Other Business

Member Johnson asked for a status report on the DDA Board vacancy. Supervisor Julien said he was having difficulty filling the vacancy and would welcome suggestions from the DDA Board of Directors.

ARTICLE 6. Adjournment