Wakefield votes to apply for campground expansion grant

WAKEFIELD — Members of the Wakefield City Council voted on Monday evening to submit an application for state grant funding that would help finance an expansion of the Eddy Park Campground.

City Manager Robert Brown shared the news by phone on Tuesday and also explained some of the council’s modifications to the expansion plan.

The application due on April 1 will be submitted to the Trust Fund of the state Department of Natural Resources.

If successful, the grant would provide $300,000 toward the project that is estimated to cost nearly $2.5 million.

The resolution also notes that the city would be responsible for $90,000 in matching funds. The money would be allotted from the city’s 2024-2025 fiscal year budget.

Beckett & Raeder, a landscape architectural firm with several Michigan offices, had provided a schematic of the 7-acre proposed site to the city’s Planning Commission on March 14.

The location for the expansion is north of the existing campground, across Eddy Park Road.

The firm’s plan shows how the campground would grow from its existing 71 slots to an additional 21 slots, some of which would facilitate larger, pull-through vehicles.

However, Brown explained that council members have modified the original plan by trading eight campsites for five 14 x 20-foot cabins. According to the city manager, none of the traded sites would include pull-through slots.

“They are rustic, which means they’ll have power only,” said Brown of the proposed cabins. “People will have to bring in their own bedding and mattress if they want one.”

He said that cabin users may be “extreme hikers and bikers” who travel with lightweight, rolled mattresses and who normally use lesser accommodations such as a tent but may opt for a cabin during cold, rainy or windy weather.

Other remaining elements of the expansion plan include large RV pads to accommodate bigger campers; gravel or paved camp pads; picnic tables and fire pits; scattered trees; a road system to facilitate access to the sites; storm water improvements to facilitate the expansion; and connections for sewer, water and electrical use.

The scheme also includes a proposed parking lot, directly east of the campground expansion and across the road from Eddy Park, and south of the baseball field.

As Brown explained in the council’s agenda report, the plan also includes accessible, paved trails “that allow easy access from the parking lot to the baseball field, campground and Eddy Park.”

“Submission of the application only obligates the city to accept the funds if additional revenue sources are located,” stated the city manager in his report. “The city can amend the project scope (within reason) or withdraw the application at any time.”

He added, “Depending on additional funding and the final project scope, there may be an increase or decrease in the city’s matching obligation.”

The grant application also is supported by the city’s 5-year Parks and Recreation Plan.

As for additional project funding, Brown said the city will apply for a Department of Natural Resources Spark grant, worth up to $1 million.

“The groundwork is done,” he said regarding that application, which is expected to be submitted this spring. “They haven’t opened it yet for submission,” he said of the state.

The Spark application then can be resubmitted in the fall if desired.

If funding for the project works out, Brown said that he does not anticipate construction to begin until at least 2025 or 2026.

In other news, Brown reported that the council voted to hire Liquid Engineering Corporation in Billings, Montana, to inspect and clean the city’s Mount Joy water tank, which was built in 1919 and can store more than 500,000 gallons of drinking water.

“The tank’s life expectancy can exceed 100 years with a proactive maintenance program,” stated Brown in an agenda report.

He explained that the Montana company submitted a quote for $5,430 to complete interior and exterior inspections, video documentation of the interior underwater status, and removal of sediment and debris.

“Deliverables include an on-site report, a summary of recommendations, and a copy on any video,” stated Brown.

The same company did an in-service cleaning and inspection of the city’s Plymouth Water Tank in 2022

According to Brown, the council also:

—Learned that the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will check the status of a site under the old City Hall, where a fuel tank once existed. “I think it was removed back in the ‘90s,” said Brown, who noted that EGLE will verify whether any fuel leaked onto the site. If so, he said the city can apply to EGLE for remediation.

—Learned that an updated water meter installed about two months ago has been showing an increase of 15-20 percent in city water usage. “We knew the old water meter was bad and we weren’t getting accurate readings,” said Brown.

—Learned that the city manager attended a March 23 meeting in Wakefield, in which participants from local governments learned of needed changes in materials management planning, which involves refuse collection. Brown explained that, if the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners does not designate the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region to undergo the update for the county at large, then the county would have to do it. If the county refuses, then the responsibility would fall upon each municipality. If those entities refuse, then Brown said the state will step in to make the changes.

—Learned that a Wednesday session was expected, wherein the city’s electric department planned to work with the Wakefield Volunteer Fire Department regarding safety measures regarding fallen power lines.