BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Friends of Depot Park asked the community for $50,000 in pledges to help them get a matching grant from the state.
The community came through with a total of $103,845.
“I’m amazed,” said Eric Haven, mayor and Friends of Depot Park committee member. “The community showed up so well. We’re in a very positive mode right now.”
The total includes pledges of cash donations as well as in-kind labor and materials. The Clarkston Area Optimists Club donated $25,000, and City Manager Jonathan Smith calculated the value of city DPW hours and equipment use to be $27,458.
“That was the city’s contribution to the project,” Haven said. “It’s not taking money out of the budget – (though) it depends on how you interpret that.”
At the March 25 meeting, City Council will consider a resolution to send an application to the state for a $50,000 grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. The grant-application deadline is April 1. The DNR will announce development project recommendations in December. The state legislature approves the budget, which includes the grants, in early spring 2020. Approved grant projects need to be completed by 2022, within two years of formal grant award.
“The process is, we complete the project and DNR reimburses us. It’s a $50,000 escrow, in a sense,” Haven said. “We’ll use the donations if we get the grant or not. It’s a win win.”
The plan includes a new, $40,000 playscape in the playground, water-permeable pathways compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and upgraded playground surfaces. Plans also include expanding the rain garden south of existing pathways to the bank of the Mill Race, and wrap-around ramp on the pavilion to allow wheelchair access to the deck. Water pipes and electrical and sound wires could also be installed throughout the park.
Pledged donations would not have to be made until Oct. 1. They could also be made contingent on successfully receiving the grant.
Friends of Depot Park and Clarkston Area Optimists Club worked together in 2018 to install musical play equipment, native plants along Mill Race to reduce erosion along the banks, started a “Go Fund Me” account to raise money for new playground equipment, and created a draft concept plan for future park development.
“Two years ago, we started thinking about this. Four weeks ago, we started a fund raising campaign, which continues,” Haven said. “It’s been a pedal-to-the-metal campaign.”
Donations from the community are still being sought, and can include cash, stocks, and bonds, IRA distributions, and legacy life insurance, real estate, endowments, and bequests. Volunteers can also donate “in-kind” professional services, labor, materials such as concrete and lumber, advertising, grant writing hours, fundraising phone solicitation time, and restaurant box lunches for volunteer workers. People can also write letters of support for the project.
Fundraising for Phase II could begin in summer 2019.
Clarkston’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan for 2018-2022, prepared by Carlisle/Wortman Associates and adopted on Feb. 12, 2018, makes Clarkston eligible to receive grant funding through three separate grant programs managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources – Recreation Passport; Land and Water Conservation Fund; and Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Email Haven at HavenEric@gmail.com, or call City Manager Jonathan Smith at 248-625-1559.