NILES CHARTER TOWNSHIP — This summer, the Berrien County Parks Department gathered public input as it developed its five-year action plan for its seven parks. Now, with a draft plan created, it is seeking public input again.

Among the parks affected in the plan is Madeline Bertrand County Park in Niles Charter Township, 3038 Adams Road. An estimated $567,000 in renovations and construction is outlined in the draft for the local park, with $375,000 in anticipated grant and millage funding.

The county parks department has placed its draft plan for viewing at Madeline Bertrand County Park, Love Creek County Park near Berrien Center, Historic Courthouse Square in Berrien Springs and at the department’s administration office in St. Joseph. It can also be found online at berriencounty.org/355/parks.

Comments on the plan are being accepted through mid-December by mail to Berrien County Parks — 701 Main St., St. Joseph, MI 49085 — or by email to parks@berriencounty.org.

“One of the benefits of public input is that increases ownership by the community members, the public, of a park,” said county parks director Brian Bailey. “Some of the users, they have great ideas of improvements, have great ideas for the facilities and for the parks themselves.”

If the draft is left as is and is approved by a board in mid-December, the more than 30-year-old Madeline Bertrand Park could receive updates meant to accommodate more people and offer more activities.

Each update outlined in the draft five-year plan is a proposal, meaning that not all would likely be implemented. Many, however, were previously sited as improvements to make in Madeline Bertrand Park’s 2014 master plan.

Bailey said two proposals in particular are likely candidates to be put into reality by 2024.

The first is a renovation of River Shelter, a facility in the woods were visitors can climb up its wooden stairs to second-story lookout over the St. Joseph River.

The shelter is showing signs of its age and is being hit by woodpeckers and termites, Bailey said. Landscaping renovations would improve that.

The parks department will find out this year if grant funding has been secured for it. If not, the parks department will likely use money meant to be that grant’s matching fund to provide as much of an update to the shelter as it can.

The other proposal likely to become reality are maintenance improvements and expansions to Madeline Bertrand Park’s groomed cross country ski courses, including new lighting.

Other proposals in the draft stem from public comments or the park’s master plan but are just as welcome, Bailey said.

A proposed new visitor center would include a multipurpose rental room, a kitchen, a skier’s room, a ski rental area, a meeting room, a lounge, a disc golf pro shop, staff offices, public restrooms and lockers, all in a larger and better-organized space.

Next to the center, the park’s 18-hole disc golf course could see a big change, as parks staff hope to expand the number of holes through the five-year plan.

Three other large proposed changes could change the park’s landscape, too.

First is a campground, which would feature primitive and electrical camping opportunities. It drew concern from some public input meeting attendees from the summer over fears of safety, erosion, noise and environmental impact.

Proposed camping would have “significant public input and review,” parks department staff said in their draft plan.

Another feature could be a fitness park, where workouts, walking and jogging could take place on hard-surfaced trails. A “spray-ground,” or interactive water feature would be added, too.

These two additions were generally supported by public commenters.

The public is able to comment on the proposals in the five-year plan for any of Berrien County’s seven parks. They are also able to provide new proposals, which parks staff said they would take into consideration.

Bailey said the draft plan is being constantly updated with new insights and fixes. If the plan is adopted, insights and fixes sent to the department will still be welcomed, even if a 2020-2024 plan could not be edited.

“Just because the public may come to us in 2023 with a great idea, and it may be a grant-eligible project we just didn’t realize at the time, the grant funders realize that,” he said. “This is a plan, not a detailed construction drawing plan. This is a broad swipe of what this future park system might look like.”