By David Fleet
Editor
Another hill to climb will soon be on the table for the proposed Groveland Township ORV park.
At 1 p.m., Dec. 6, the Oakland County Parks Commission will meet at the Activities Center, Waterford Oaks County Park, 2800 Watkins Lake Road, Waterford.
The commission is expected to discuss the new Groveland Township ORV Park and opening negotiations with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources regarding an operating agreement.
In June the Michigan Department of Natural Resources purchased 113 acres of property from Steve Stolaruk of Star-Batt, Inc. and 122 acres from Katie Leoni of Holly Disposal. The 235 acres, now mined for gravel, but earmarked for a state park, comes after the DNR reported in December 2014 a grant for $2.9 million was approved from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.

In conjunction with the Oakland County Parks, the state property is intended to be used for a professionally designed off-road track state park. The concept will test the skills of drivers and abilities of machines at slow speeds, in a safe, legal environment on the south side of Mt. Holly where the noise will not be intrusive nor change the character of the community. The off-road track was opened to the public as a test in late 2014 and attracted several hundred spectators during the Dixie Gully Run.
So far the property is established for the state park, however, just how the property is going to managed is uncertain.
Dan Stencil, Oakland County Parks and Recreation executive officer said the next step will be to direct county staff to enter negotiations as to what the lease arraignment the MDNR will entail.
“We are hoping that some phase of the ORV park will be operation in 2018,” said Stencil. “All parts would not open at the same time since there are still some mining are on going. The majority of ORV licenses are issued to residents here in southeastern Michigan and the idea of the park is to make it so you don’t have to invest all weekend in driving somewhere to play. This ORV park as been a vision that is 40 years in the making. We sympathize with the users wanting to start and ask them to be patient.”
Bob DePalma, Groveland Township supervisor is eager to move forward on the project.
“We are anxious to see the project rolling,” said DePalma. “It’s been a long process and we support that Oakland County would manage the ORV park.”