By David Fleet
Editor
Atlas Twp.-A township official has stepped in as a leader of the Genesee County Parks.
Long time Genesee County Parks Director Amy McMillian stepped down on April 29 paving the way for Barry June, Genesee County Parks deputy director, township resident and trustee to step to run the day to day operations until the position is filled.
“Barry brings 10 years of experience to the table,” said Mark Young, Genesee County Commissioner District 5. “As the process goes through to find a permanent replacement for the director Barry will step in to do the job. Right now we do not have a process to fill the position in action. We just don’t want to jump too fast.”
Young did not provid a deadline to fill the position.
Genesee County Parks incorporates about 11,000 acres with an annual budget of about $9 million, employing 28 full time and 300 seasonal employees.
There are plenty of projects moving forward for the Genesee County Parks, said June.

“We have a lot of large projects going on providing the county some great outdoor activities,” he said.
June will now oversee the construction on two new, non-motorized county trails using three $300,000 grants: the Flint- Chevy Commons trail, extending from Chevrolet Avenue, to Grand Traverse Street and Factory One; and the Iron Belle Trail extension running along Mott Lake and the Flint River from Genesee Road to Vassar Road. In addition the demolition of the Hamilton Dam, one of the first phases in the Restoration Project’s Master Plan to naturalize the Flint River.
“We just opened the Atlas Township County Park too,” he said. “Many new aspects of the park system are moving forward.”
June was also key the Gale Road pathway opened last year in the township. There are currently trails pending along Perry Road and M-15 in the near future.
McMillian is now the director of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks consisting of 13 parks, covering over 25,000 acres throughout southeast Michigan, encompassing Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.