Traverse City commissioners will vote tonight (Monday) to approve a list of park projects that will receive funding if voters approve a ballot proposal in November to spend up to $3 million from the Brown Bridge Trust Fund. Commissioners will also discuss several street-related issues, including a presentation from city staff on street painting and the possibility of bringing that annual work in house.

Parks Funding
After voting in May to approve putting two proposals related to the city’s Brown Bridge Trust Fund (BBTF) on the November 4 ballot, city commissioners tonight will consider approving a list of parks projects that could be funded through one of those proposals.

The BBTF hosts funds generated from oil, gas, and mineral rights on city-owned land, specifically the Brown Bridge Quiet Area (pictured). The principal of that fund can only be spent with voter approval. In May, a recent audit put the BBTF balance at over $11.6 million. Commissioners that month approved ballot language to ask for voter permission to spend up to $3 million of that funding in a five-year period – November 2025-November 2030 – for “projects that increase access to city parks and/or parkland acquisition.” A second ballot proposal would allow the city to use up to $5 million from the BBTF principal for interfund loans when recommended by the city treasurer and approved by the city commission.

An ad hoc committee of commissioners – including Tim Werner, Heather Shaw, and Mitch Treadwell – worked on the ballot proposals and tonight will present a list of recommended projects to receive funding. A “transparent, public driven process” was used to create the list, according to Werner, including three surveys, feedback from the Parks and Recreation commission and Hickory Hills Advisory Committee, and city staff input.

“Across all sources of input, a clear theme emerged: strong public support to invest in existing parks to benefit residents and improve access,” Werner wrote in a memo to commissioners. “While land acquisition for increasing neighborhood parkland is supported, it was not identified as a top priority. The committee recognizes that if unique opportunities arise in the future, similar to the recent addition to the Brown Bridge Quiet Area, land acquisition may warrant consideration.”

Proposed investments include the following categories, which Werner were said listed in random order and not necessarily order of priority: Lake Shore Stabilization (beach access, water quality, erosion); Brown Bridge Quiet Area (trail and trailhead development for recent land acquisition); Hickory Hills Mountain Bike Trail Design & Development; Park Essentials (waste receptacles, picnic tables, benches); Park Experiences (playground equipment, sport amenities, interactive features, pavilions, pedestrian scale lighting); Trees (increased canopy and shade in parks); and Pickleball & Tennis Court Reconstruction at Slabtown Corner.

The proposal also lists three categories of spending related to improving accessibility to parkland. Those include Boardman Lake Loop Trail Access, Bryant Park Access (improved pedestrian/bicycle access), and ADA Access Improvements. Werner notes that the city’s five-year Parks and Recreation master plan, which is currently undergoing a refresh, “will further inform the details of the proposed projects. As with prior projects that were supported through the Brown Bridge Trust Fund, the scale of investments may depend upon securing additional funding and/or partnerships.”

Streets
City Streets Superintendent Chris Weber will give an update to commissioners tonight on street painting work. According to presentation materials, the city works with a contractor each year to repaint all pavement markings throughout the city – including parking lines, crosswalks, handicap parking spaces/symbols, bicycle facilities, all city-owned parking lots, and legends (symbols/words painted on the roadway, such as turn arrows or words like SLOW).

The contractor typically begins in early June and “continues for several months to complete the markings before winter,” according to the presentation. This year, 1,001 of the city’s 1,048 legends have been updated – 95.5 percent. However, only 58.1 percent of lines have been completed, or 5,114 out of 8,805 in the city. That is because there are only four painting contractors in the state of Michigan, according to Weber. Other issues are also in play, including harsh winters that require more snow plowing – which causes extra wear on pavement markings – and the use of waterborne paints that often mean markings “last less than a year,” according to Weber.

The city is exploring alternatives, including more eco-friendly paint products and techniques like “recessing markings below pavement surface to reduce plow damage,” Weber says. Interim City Manager Benjamin Marentette says city staff are “analyzing the pros and cons of bringing this work in house, rather than being provided by contractors who are apparently stretched too thin to be able to do this work as quickly as might be preferred.” Staff are working to assess the equipment and staffing costs related to taking on street painting work internally and plan to give a report to commissioners at an upcoming meeting – likely the commission’s October 13 study session.

The city is also in the process of wrapping up several of its street reconstruction projects in the coming weeks. Final paving activities on Eleventh Street – which has been under construction for two months – will start today, with the street expected to be substantially complete by Friday. Intermittent closures are planned at Eleventh/Union and Eleventh/Cass this week. Repair work on Fourteenth Street is now planned to extend through September 25, with the corridor closed to eastbound traffic starting today from Maple Street to Veterans Drive.

Meanwhile, contractors will start the reconstruction of Griffin Street today between Pine and Union streets. The project, which is expected to last through October 31, will include asphalt, water main, and sanitary sewer work as well as the installation of shared-lane markings (sharrows) and a multi-use trail connection linking Locust to Union across a city-owned parcel north of Speedway. Griffin Street will be closed between Pine and Locust during work, with some sidewalk closures planned to complete water main connections.

Also related to streets and parking, city parking services has launched a new interactive GIS map – replacing a former Google-based map – to help users navigate parking. According to the city’s Bay Brief, “each parking space is now individually marked and includes information such as time limits, payment types, rates, and special features like ADA accessibility, EV charging, and fire lanes. The map is updated daily to reflect the most current parking configurations, ensuring users have the latest information at their fingertips.” The city is also drawing close to adopting a complete streets policy, with commissioners to vote tonight on extending an ad hoc committee that is working on that project so members can formalize a draft for commission consideration.