By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp. — During the regular Monday night meeting, the Brandon Township Board of Trustees voted 5-2 to spend an additional $200,000 for the concession stand at the Brandon Township Community Park, 1414 N. Hadley Road. Trustee Kathy Thurman and treasurer Scott Broughton voted against the motion.
“The parks and recreation subcommittee met in November,” said supervisor Jayson Rumball. “The grants that we had approved previously, we’re finally to the point where we’re ready to send that out for bid, and unfortunately those bids are significantly more, which tends to be the case with all the grants that we do.”
The funds are part of a matching grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was awarded in 2019. Since that time, construction costs have gone up for the project. The original grant that was approved was for $240,000, with $120,000 coming from the LWCF and $120,000 coming from Brandon Township. With the addition, the township would now pay $320,000, with the project costing a total of around $440,000.
“The parks and rec subcommittee is unanimously recommending that we spend additional funds to complete this project,” said Rumball.
The source of the funds was brought into question, as the motion asked for the $200,000 to come from the township carry forward budget instead of a designated fund.
“Why are we using carry forward instead of the designated fund for park development?” said Thurman. “That’s why that fund is set up, for park development. That’s what we should use.”
Rumball said the decision came from the park subcommittee, the township auditor, and the township accountant. Broughton echoed Thurman’s concerns about the funding source.
“Why not spend out of designated first before we spend out of carry forward?” said Broughton. “I just think it’s wise to spend money down that’s been designated versus just general carry forward that can be used for anything.”
The grant will be used to build a concession stand and restrooms at the park.