Port Huron asking for renewal of parks and rec tax to help continue wave of improvements
The orange covers strung across the entrances to Haynes Park last week meant the space was closed.
But inside, a brand new playscape — tall with hanging rope climbers and bright green slides — poked above the fencing, giving its passing drivers and nearby neighbors a preview of coming attractions.
Wood mulch safety surfacing was expected to go down next week, while other improvements for the park, located at 10th and Glenwood avenues, are set to come in the coming weeks, including new swing sets, benches and picnic tables, trees, and a resurfaced basketball half-court.
The play equipment itself is costing the city just under $190,000.
And according to Port Huron officials, it’s the sort of improvement they wouldn’t be able to bring to local residents without the help of a 1-mill parks and recreation tax.
“The play equipment was very old. It just wasn’t fun,” Ben Pionk, the city’s parks and forestry supervisor, said Wednesday, referring to a list of parks needing improvements. “This was toward the top because we knew the park wasn’t getting a lot of play value here. So, the downtown changing and developing the way it is, and we thought with it being so close to downtown, this would be a great one to do.”
Voters are being asked to renew the parks and rec millage in the May 2 election for another five years. It would take effect July 1 if approved, levying $632,576 in its first year.
Like the city’s simultaneous 3-mill request for public safety, it’s a tax that has, officials said, helped maintain parks and rec services over the last several years — an effort likely more visible to visitors and residents who frequent park amenities.
Most of that effort has meant leveraging city tax dollars to use as matching funds in the pursuit of grants for larger projects that City Manager James Freed pegged at “millions and millions of dollars” in total.
That includes things like the recently completed skatepark at Optimist Park, which cost over $800,000 with a majority grant help, or the variety of new features slated for the 16th Street Park, including a multi-sport field and bike adventure trail. At the latter, the city is using $50,000 to match a $500,000 Spark Grant announced earlier this year from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Nancy Winzer, the city’s parks and rec director, said it was about making Port Huron “a play destination.”
“I’m not just saying this, but I hear from my counterparts in Detroit about …. some of the projects we’re doing,” she said, pointing to the city’s waterfront parks — with Lighthouse Park already seeing a completed upgrade and Pine Grove Grove due for new amenities — as well as other features like the Palmer Park super slide.
“It’s a big deal to be somewhere people want to bring their kids,” Winzer said. “That’s our ultimate goal.”
Last Wednesday, Pionk reflected on their parks efforts, adding they’re also enjoyed by his own kids.
For Haynes Park, however, he said the improvements were more about bringing in both the neighborhood and passers-by. As part of the project this year, he said fencing would be replaced along the busy roadways nearby and removing fencing entirely on the east side to be more inviting.
“We want more accessibility from the neighborhoods in these parks,” Pionk said. “So, opening up the backside of this park, you can just access it and have fun.”
City looks to keep up its momentum in improvement projects
In another way, Winzer said the millage also helps maintain facilities that the city has prioritized for years predating its 2017 tax approval. McMorran Place and its massive plaza renovations, as unveiled last year, was a big example.
Six years ago, city officials also feared a closure of the city’s two public pools — something City Council members made access to free last year — without tax support.
“McMorran would be cut significantly. It’s always up to the City Council and city manager to decide what those cuts look like. But if we lose this millage, we’d see a huge decrease in programming,” Winzer said. “I would imagine the pools would be looked at. We’d have to look at the department overall and see what makes sense. But I think we’ve made so many strides, it’d be a shame to lose the momentum.”
Mayor Pauline Repp said she shared a similar concern should the parks and recreation department lose its millage.
And because the millage votes come two days before the City Council’s annual budget meeting, which is set for 5 p.m. on May 4, she said it’d mean a fast turnaround to rework the city’s funds for next year.
“Certainly, we were going to have to cut services and cut back. … This certainly helped us not only maintain our parks, our programs as they were, but it also helped to do enhancements,” Repp said. “And I think that everybody appreciates that.”
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Parks and rec tax back in front of Port Huron voters May 2
