Trails in the News - Press Clipping Files

02/16/2007

Harbor Springs Comes Together on Trails, Rec Plan

Harbor area comes together on trails, rec plans

By Kirsten Fredrickson News-Reveiw Staff Writer
Petoskey News-Review

HARBOR SPRINGS - In the air there's a feeling of cooperation.

It was two years ago that, in response to an effort by the Harbor Area Regional Board of Resources, Inc., that a Recreation and Open Space Initiative was established. From there, a multi-jurisdictional effort to create the Harbor Area Recreation, Trails and Open Space Plan was pursued.

To create this plan seven separate units of government, and the community members they represent, would have to come together in a cooperative effort that some say is unparalleled throughout the state.

Comprising what basically makes up the Harbor Springs Public School District, members of the city of Harbor Springs and the townships of Little Traverse, West Traverse, Pleasantview, Friendship, Readmond and Cross Village came together in 2005 to form the Recreation Working Committee.

“Part of the objective of HARBOR, Inc. is to create cooperation to achieve common goals. We look at this as one way of defining what cooperation can achieve,” said HARBOR, Inc. executive director Danna Widmar. “It's one area that there is potential for doing what we believe in.”

That is “to bring together the greater Harbor Springs community by providing a platform for cooperation and communication; by encouraging participation through education and discussion; by facilitating the understanding and implementation of multiple plans and proposals; and by promoting, protecting and maintaining the common vision for the greater Harbor Springs community.”

What came out of this collaborative effort was a 90-page plan that sets forth a coordinated system to tackle the protection and enhancement of recreation, trails and open space.

“This is not HARBOR, Inc.'s plan,” Widmar said. “This is the community's plan.”


Working together
The vision was there: create a recreation, trails and open space plan that covered the area containing the city and townships. But for Widmar, the first hurdle to jump would be getting people from seven separate governmental territories to work together.

It turned out to be fairly easy.

“I think it's a great project that is a good start on getting everybody to work together. Everyone's been highly in favor of it, working together,” said Bill Wiechmann, Pleasantview Township supervisor.

Harbor Springs city manager Fred Geuder said he often works with neighboring governmental bodies. Yet usually there is just a few sitting at the table. This is the largest effort made to incorporate this many jurisdictions, he said.

“It's just been a good chance for the area to sit together on an issue. I think there's various things we partner on anyway, but this is a little bit different group, because it goes all the way to Cross Village,” Geuder said. “It's some different faces sitting down that you don't always see.”

For Friendship Township supervisor Dale Scott, who has been involved with HARBOR, Inc. since it first began some seven years ago, this type of work simply makes sense to him. He sees it as the best way to get things done.

“I think it's so cool to have these different entities working together. Any time that opportunity happens I jump on it,” exclaimed Scott. “By doing something like this it creates an exchange of ideas from supervisors and others. The more people actually cooperate with other communities ... as long as they participate ... then things are going to get done.”

But it has to be more than just the township supervisors and those who sit on their township board or recreation committee. Creating an areawide plan also takes getting the community involved. To do this, several public meetings were held to gather public opinion on what issues were most important, what people felt should be tackled on a multi-jurisdictional basis.

“It's been thorough, deliberate and inclusive. There's been a lot of asking questions and listening,” said Dave Larson, superintendent of Harbor Springs Public Schools. “We have a lot of governmental lines. When you talk about an initiative that involves all seven jurisdictions you need a lot of space to allow for a lot of questions and answers.”

Carolyn Sandford, a West Traverse Township resident who attended most of the public meetings, said “no one's been excluded from participating.”

“(Danna) understands that each person is coming from a different climate ... recognizing that and still being able to find common areas of interests,” Sandford continued. “I think she's definitely picked out the major things that have been emphasized and where there's need.”


Planned focus
Again and again, meeting after meeting, three things rang loud and clear: trails, open space and recreational opportunities. Along with these expressed interests came words like protect and enhance.

“It's one of those things where the vision people have for the community is no surprise,” said Tom Bailey, executive director of the Little Traverse Conservancy. “Open space is my profession here and my focus. Obviously I'm very attuned to that aspect. It didn't come as any surprise that there was a concern about open space.”

So what better place to start. What better focus to set as goals.

“All of the natural resources contribute to the local economy in ways you can't even quantify,” Widmar said. “What exists here today will probably serve the community for the next 15 years. We didn't feel like it was possible or appropriate to replace the current, existing resources.”

The Harbor Area Recreation, Trails and Open Space Plan - which does include an extensive inventory of current recreational facilities - therefore sets out to fill the gaps of what doesn't already exist, enhancing upon what's already available.

Its three goals:
- Trails, to create an easement program, trail routes program and safe routes to school program to provide non-motorized trails that would create a greater connectiveness and access to communities and other resources.

- Open space, to focus on potential greenway corridors and large parcels to maintain the integrity of existing open space, while working to create new waterfront open space and view sites.

- Umbrella system, to develop a simple, flexible way of bringing together recreation opportunities and needs, providing coordination of activities and addressing funding and location needs.

Widmar said it's important to have specific goals laid out, giving communities a focus, something to work toward.

“We are a resort area. We do have a lot of great facilities now but as the population grows, if we don't work to build that or protect what we have it will be gone,” said Doug Fuller, a West Traverse Township resident and HARBOR, Inc. board member. And it's much more effective to focus on these goals as a large group “than to have each township and the city to do it on their own.

“Hopefully it can serve as a really good road map for the future,” Fuller said of the completed plan.

Sandford, who recently joined the Recreation Working Committee, said while she doesn't take credit for the work going into creating the plan, she is pleased with the result.

“I think (Widmar) definitely picked out the major things that have been emphasized and where there's need,” she said. It aims to serve the broader community. “The more people you can show that you're serving, the bigger number of points they're going to award you when going for funding.”

Larson said the school district definitely could benefit from both safe trails, providing better, safer access to the school facilities, and an umbrella system.

“We are the host, either sponsoring them or hosting them ourselves, of numerous activities within the community. A lot of them occur within our facilities,” he said. “Any initiative to better coordinate those activities by centralizing the organization and the scheduling enhances the overall recreational offerings for our families and kids.”

But is it too much?

Most say no.

“We're doing what realistically the people who talked about it felt could be done right now,” Geuder said. “Maybe there's more stuff in the future, but you've got to start where you start and maybe that'll lead to something.”

The trick, of course, is to make this vision a reality.

“It's a fine project, a fine product,” said Joe VanderMeulen, chief executive officer of the Land Information Access Association, which helped develop the plan. “The proof will be in the pudding when you start asking for support to make it happen. We're all crossing our fingers.”


Next step
A completed plan in her hand, HARBOR, Inc.'s Widmar knows the work has only just begun.

“I would imagine, depending on the outcome of this, (this plan) will be the exception in the state. This will be a very unusual case,” she said. “That emphasizes the importance of step one. We do need their feedback.”

By that Widmar means the feedback of the seven specific communities who have been involved with its creation. Each jurisdiction is now being asked to pass a resolution of support for the Harbor Area Recreation, Trails and Open Space Plan.

Widmar is hoping for support from all seven.

“If it was four of the seven I think there would be serious considerations of moving on. If there was three of the seven, I don't know. If there was only two, then I think there would be serious consideration not to move on,” she said.

With strong support, the first step in order to implement goals established with the plan - creating a community-wide trail system being the top goal - is the formation of the Harbor Area Recreation, Trails and Open Space Authority. This would be done under Public Act 321 of 2000, the Recreation Authorities Act.

“Only the local jurisdictions can do that,” Widmar explained.

It is through the Harbor Area Recreation, Trails and Open Space Authority that state and federal grants could be derived. It is not being recommended that a tax levy be implemented, but that the authority work to provide alternate funding.

“From my perspective HARBOR, Inc. wants to ensure the success of this organization,” Widmar said. “HARBOR, Inc. would want to provide staff assistance ... consulting; all the things that are necessary to make it successful.”

Sandford said she feel “it's the way to be working in terms of the cooperative efforts.”

“The way it's set up it wouldn't force any township to do something they didn't want to do,” she continued. “I think this is an excellent way to go. I'll be interested in the discussions and the presentations and see which way the township wants to go.”

With the formation of the authority ... then it would be on to creating a new system of trails.

“That's where we believe there can be some good successes in the short term. If you can identify some successes while you work on goals two and three, then you have a much greater likelihood of success on two or three,” Widmar said. “If there is good work being done, and community support for the good work that is being done, then there should be no problems with the organization and no problems with it falling apart. It really does depend on focus, focus on the task.”

---