Summary
The Suttons Bay Village General Services Committee met on November 5, 2024, primarily to review staff reports and discuss 2025 budget planning. Key topics included street maintenance projects, park improvements across four village parks, and preliminary budget discussions for General Services, Utility & Marina, and Administrative & Personnel departments. No formal votes were recorded in the document.
Parks and Recreation Matters
The DPW Director's report outlined 2025 improvement plans for four parks. At Sutton Park, Phase 1 of an ADA-compliant walkway will be completed, including a wider circle path, a water bottle filler station, and extended ADA access; wood pylons will also be installed in-house to delineate park edges and prevent vehicles from driving over the new sidewalk. At Waterwheel Park, the village hopes to fully reopen the park in 2025, with spring tree planting and continued stream bed rehabilitation; the stream engineering, permitting, and construction project totaled $110,000, several thousand dollars under the contracted cost. At Duester Park, improvements to the Fairgrounds Barn (new doors, staining, energy-efficient lighting, ramp replacement) are being priced, the ball field is being eliminated to make way for an additional soccer field, and roughly 200 feet of fencing will be added to protect fields from vehicle access. At Coal Dock Park, staff are planning a multi-park educational loop connecting to Marina Park, contingent on a new pedestrian bridge; a grant application for the bridge's purchase and installation is pending. Due to incidents of picnic tables being thrown into the Bay, tables will be permanently secured throughout the park.
Infrastructure Projects
The DPW report addressed 2025 street projects, emphasizing continued incremental, segment-based street improvements rather than full-street overhauls, a practice described as well-received by residents. A large Tar & Chip maintenance project is budgeted for 2025, pending responses from contracting companies; this method was recently used on S. Shore Drive south of the Village limit. Improvements to Elm Street (Major) are also budgeted, and the committee will begin discussions on a costly parking area repair along St. Mary's Street (Major). Separately, the agenda included a 2025 Marina Fee Schedule item and a 2025 Utility & Marina budget discussion, though no details or decisions from that discussion are recorded.
Other Business
The agenda included status updates from other committees, a 2025 General Service Budget discussion, and a 2025 Administrative & Personnel Budget discussion, but no specifics or outcomes from these items are documented.
Financial Summary
The only specific figure reported was the $110,000 total cost to engineer, permit, and construct the new Waterwheel Park stream, noted as several thousand dollars less than the contracted cost. Budget discussions were scheduled for 2025 General Services, Utility & Marina, and Administrative & Personnel, but no amounts, allocations, or approvals were detailed in the document.
Action Items
- Await responses from companies for the 2025 Tar & Chip street maintenance project.
- Begin discussions and direction on the St. Mary's Street parking area repair.
- Price out Fairgrounds Barn improvements at Duester Park to determine 2025 scope.
- Await results of a pending grant application for a new pedestrian bridge connecting Coal Dock Park to Marina Park.
- Install wood pylons at Sutton Park and secure picnic tables at Coal Dock Park.