At a special Weesaw Township board meeting on Dec. 6 the local Parks and Recreation Committee presented their latest improvement plan for their local park. This was to purchase a new playground structure designed for consisting of eight play options and capable of handling 26 youngsters from ages 2 to 12.  The process for this improvement began over a year ago when the board denied the committee plans to clean and rehab the existing playground. The comments from that meeting as stated by Wanda Green and supported by Jack Jones were, “We’d rather purchase a new playground than fix up what we have.” This sentiment was agreed to by the rest of the board.

With this in mind the committee spent considerable time and their own money investigating various playground options and working to get the best playground with a minimal budget for the past year.

When the presentation was made Wanda Green, Jack Jones and Jane Tackett decided they did not want to purchase the playground. Their concern was a letter received in October by some disgruntled residents who stated the park was purchased “illegally.” Since that time it has been stated that the purchase was done legally by the township attorney who was involved with the purchase, as well as the Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources who provided a grant and oversaw the project, nonetheless three of the five board members voted against the playground and the latest effort of the committee to improve the township park.

This is especially discouraging to the committee who is attempting to build a park for the community. The township has a Parks and Recreation Plan that was approved by the board and MDNR and yet today the board will not allow improvements to the park for the public to use. For the past several years the board has approved an improvement budget of $10,000 each year. The committee has used less than 10 percent of this budget each year due to the fact the board has turned down other requested improvements to the park.

It has been proven that a well-maintained and usable park contributes greatly to the quality of life to a community. Weesaw has a great opportunity to develop this 8.5-acre acre park but currently the township board wants to do nothing more than mow the grass and that is done under protest. The committee recognizes and appreciates the support of Irene Oman (Supervisor) and Melodie Culverhouse (clerk) as board members who support and realize the value of the park. It’s too bad that the other three board members, Jane Tackett, treasurer, along with Trustees Wanda Green and Jack Jones, fail to see the importance of improving the community they are supposed to serve.

The committee will continue to work for the betterment of the community. We will continue to volunteer our time and talents with the hope that the township board will eventually support and develop the community and its parks.

Currently the township has a 5-Year Park & Recreation Plan on file and they are to follow this plan in regards to development and improvement of the parks system. We meet at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, please join us for the betterment of your community.

Paul J. Pantaleo, Chair

Cheryl Bates, Member

Weesaw Township Parks & Recreation Committee