It’s all systems go for Watson Township’s dedication of its first-ever recreation park at 1 p.m. Saturday on M-222 near 20th Street.
Local, county. Martin schools and Gun Lake Tribe officials are expected to be on hand for the ceremony. The Seven Generations Park, made possible financially by a $150,000 state grant and $50,000 in township matching funds, also may be the site of Martin schools’ cross-country course.
The park also includes a veterans memorial funded by a $15,000 grant from Consumers Energy and a network of trails that could serve as part of a cross-country course if Martin school officials are interested.
The Watson Township Board Thursday evening adopted a resolution giving shoutouts to all who helped make the park possible, including the Gun Lake Tribe and volunteers.
The latest development was Watson hiring the services of Justin Cooper to clean up the trails from trash and debris for a stipend of $250 a year, which Supervisor Kevin Travis declared as “A darn good deal.”
In other business at Thursday night’s meeting, the Watson Board:
• Hired Bob Holeshoe as cemetery sexton, succeeding Mark Simpson, who has to step down under doctor’s orders.
- Decided to hire Scott Langlois again for snow removal services. The board indicated it received no bids, so it agreed to rehire Langlois because he did a good job over the past several years.
- Agreed to hire McMillan Media to take videos and photographs of the dedication ceremony Saturday for $750.
- Was told by Treasurer Tera Davis that there still is $1,047.98 in an escrow account to handle the settlement with North Star Aggregates gravel removal suit.
- Learned from County Commissioner Gale Dugan that Allegan County now is the third fast growing population in Michigan. He also noted that Lakeshore Advantage is replacing the Allegan County Economic Development Commission.
- Agreed to set aside $2,000 for removal of a rotten tree that threatens to damage Randy Plaunt’s garage at the old dump site.
- Was told that the Allegan County Historical Society will make a presentation at the JC Wheeler Library in Martin Monday evening, Nov. 17.
- Learned from Dugan that the county officially has disbanded the committee that oversaw installation of rural high-speed Internet services now that the project has been completed.
