Pickleball Courts and Upgrades Coming At Myles Kimmerly Park; Trail Loop on Hold Pending Septic Field Resolution

Leelanau County continues its plan to enhance its three county-owned parks, including Myles Kimmerly Park in Kasson Township, where preliminary plans include pickleball courts and a dog park. A trail loop is also planned, though the county continues to work through a dispute over a nearby septic field.

Located on both sides of W. Burdickville Road, Myles Kimmerly spans 143 acres of field and woodlands. The park’s current amenities include a three-quarter mile hiking trail, a playground, picnic shelters, ball diamonds, basketball and tennis courts, a 4-H arena, and a popular disc golf course.

The upgrades are part of a broader effort by the Leelanau County Parks and Recreation Commission to update park features, add new ones, and improve accessibility and ADA compliance, with ongoing developments also underway at both Old Settlers Park and the expansive 92-acre Veronica Valley County Park.

The county had considered selling acreage just north of Myles Kimmerly to the Cleveland and Kasson Township Fire Departments for a new fire station. However, after multiple public comments opposing the sale of parkland, the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended to county commissioners in September that all county parks, including Myles Kimmerly, continue to be protected as parkland “in perpetuity.”

Meanwhile, according to the park’s final conceptual site master plan, one of the goals is to replace the "pit toilets" either with portable toilets or restroom pavilions featuring modern facilities with running water and flush toilets. The plan also proposes a dog park. Leelanau Parks and Recreation May meeting minutes also indicate the committee’s top priorities include adding on a pickleball court, as well as construction of a new paved loop trail to run along the perimeter of the park.

The development of the loop trail is on hold though, pending the resolution of an issue with a nearby septic field. One of the areas where the proposed trail is set to cross over is currently in use as a septic field by Maple Valley Nursing Home, a skilled nursing and rehab facility adjacent to Myles Kimmerly.

Maple Valley Nursing Home purchased their property from the county, but the septic field was not included in that sale, and has instead remained on a 15-year “good faith” lease from the county since April of 2008. Per the county, the conditions of the lease state that during that 15-year term, the facility would have “the right to maintain, operate, repair, substitute, remove, enlarge, inspect, and replace sanitary sewer lines and drain field, together with all facilities and appurtenances, incidental to the sewage treatment system currently located on the property.” That lease expired in April. County officials have been in communication with Maple Valley Nursing Home owner John Kasben as they continue work on the park’s master plan. According to the county, the agreement aimed to provide the facility time to devise a plan to relocate the existing septic field to its own private property before the end of the lease, something that hasn’t been done yet.

Laurel Evans, executive assistant to the county administrator told the Myles Kimmerly Park Committee in February she contacted Benzie-Leelanau Environmental Services about what the proper removal of the septic system would entail and was advised that it will need to be “pumped out, crushed, and the soil smoothed over to prepare for the new trail.”

In more recent communications with the commission, Maple Valley representatives said they had planned to add a new septic system on their own property but that the COVID-19 pandemic hampered their plan.

In April, the Leelanau County Parks and Recreation Commission passed a motion to propose the revocation of the facility’s lease license no later than October 1.Later that month, that proposal was brought before the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners, who decided instead to provide the nursing home 90 days to present bids and an approved construction plan. The county says they anticipate they’ll hear the full plan at next month’s Executive Board session.

In a statement, Maple Valley Nursing Home’s Kasben says, “We are thankful for the continued support Leelanau County has provided our business over the years and continues to offer as we move forward with a solution that preserves our residents' quality of life and supports the Parks & Recreation Commission's mission to maintain and provide quality recreational experiences.”