Following months of public meetings, surveys, open houses, and consultant work, Leelanau County is preparing to approve a new five-year plan outlining intended improvements for its three county-owned parks: Myles Kimmerly Park, Old Settlers’ Picnic Grounds, and Veronica Valley Park.

County commissioners reviewed the plan at a special meeting Tuesday and will officially vote to approve the document at their January 21 meeting. The plan will act as a “strategic guide” for Leelanau through 2024 as it works on upgrading its parks, says Parks and Recreation Commission Vice Chair Dave Barrons.

“The previous plan was pretty vague,” says Barrons. “It was mostly generalized statements, wishy-dreamy stuff. With the guidance of (consultant) Gosling Czubak, we’ve really tried to craft this plan to be more detailed and clear, especially when it comes to Veronica Valley.”

The 92-acre Veronica Valley Park, located at the corner of Maple Valley Road and County Road 641, has the “greatest need” in terms of upgrades, according to Barrons. On a scale of one to five on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) scale for accessible design, the park has a one – the lowest possible score, meaning none of the property elements meet accessibility standards. Plans for the park – which was formerly a golf course – include developing ADA trails around the front fishing ponds and improving safety and access in that section of the park, home to an annual Kids Fishing Day drawing hundreds of families each June. “That (event) is the biggest use of the park,” says Barrons.

Other proposed upgrades for Veronica Valley include adding new wayfinding and educational signage, installing a walking pathway circuit and wildlife viewing platforms, improving the parking lot and restroom facilities, adding picnic and playground areas, building a pavilion, and mitigating invasive species through the park, including in the ponds. The plan also envisions having a youth/adult educational center offering displays on fishing, bird-watching, and stream, pond, and wetland ecology, as well as encouraging more winter activities (such as cross-country skiing) and installing plantings to help nature “reclaim the property,” according to the draft document.

County leaders’ desire to make Veronica Valley accessible to more residents and to grow the property into a four-season passive recreation destination is what first prompted commissioners to update the parks plan. When county leaders tried to apply for state grant funding to help pay for improvements, they discovered their parks plan expired at the end of 2018 – not 2019, as was originally thought. Having a current five-year plan on file with the state is required for municipalities to receive grant funding, particularly from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

With commission approval of the new plan in January, Parks and Recreation can reapply this spring for grant funding for Veronica Valley – a request Barrons estimates will be for over $200,000. In the meantime, staff and commissioners will also be planning for improvements at the county’s two other parks. Myle Kimmerly Park, a 143-acre recreation area located on both sides of County Road 616 in Kasson Township, is Leelanau County’s most developed property, boasting soccer and baseball fields, tennis and basketball courts, a driving range, disc golf course, picnic areas, a playground, and more. It also has a 4-H livestock arena with aging paddocks, which have the opportunity to be redeveloped into new uses, the plan notes.

Though the park offers numerous amenities, many of those are aging or in need of repairs or replacement, says Barrons. Upgrades that could be tackled over the next several years include developing looped trails around the perimeters of the field areas, updating play equipment and surfacing, upgrading the baseball fields, adding pickleball courts, refurbishing the picnic shelters, creating a centralized information kiosk, refining the park’s wooded trail for all-season use, and working with Glen Lake Community Schools on a possible partnership to develop new tennis courts. The plan also includes accessibility improvements for Myles Kimmerly – rated a three on the ADA standards scale – including universally accessible bathrooms and crosswalks.

Old Settlers’ Picnic Ground, located on the southeastern shore of Glen Lake on County Road 675, is the smallest of the three parks at just 6.5 acres. The park dates back more than 100 years and was founded as an annual picnic site for the early settlers of the Burdickville logging community. Old Settlers’ has several amenities to accommodate that and related uses today, including a gazebo with seating, picnic areas, grills and barbecue stoves, commemorative benches, a playground, a lake overlook deck, and a non-motorized boat launch. While there are fewer needs at Old Settlers’ than other county parks, the plan lists several potential improvements and calls for obtaining cost estimates to begin planning for upgrades. Those could include universally accessible restroom facilities, refurbishment of the pavilion, upgraded signage and playground equipment, and a universally accessible kayak/canoe launch.

County commissioners this week noted that the timing of actually completing projects listed in the parks plan will be contingent on funding – such as successful grant applications – and other planning considerations. “If something goes wrong and we have to spend a bunch of money somewhere else…we might say we can’t afford all of this,” said Commissioner Tony Ansorge. “This is a plan. It’s not cast in stone.” Still, several commissioners praised the document – which outlines specific projects for the county to focus on each year between now and 2024 – as a good road map for managing Leelanau's parks going forward.

“Like any plan, we can continue to amend it and edit it,” said Commissioner Ty Wessell, who also sits on the Parks and Recreation commission. “But…we’ve had a lot of work on this, a lot of public input and a lot of meetings on this. I think it’s a good plan.”