By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville- On Monday night the surveyed boundaries of the Ortonville Wildlife Preservation Park were discussed at the village council meeting.
The 47 acres, near Harvey Swanson Elementary school, was given the designation of wildlife preservation park on April 24, 2017. A village funded survey was completed by Clarkston based Thomas Smith recently establishing the property lines of the park which are now available to the public.
“The public can walk in the park now,” said Bill Sprague, village manager. “We will soon have signs to let people know where they can enter along Mill Street. The property is established as a park and many of the property markers were found by Smith. The park has a few deer runs, but it’s not developed and has no disginated trails. The deer blinds in the park were removed by the DPW so it’s pretty wild back there.”
The council is currently seeking signs much like state parks which state rules of what is or is not allowed in the area. The only entrance accessible from public property is off of Mill Street. Much of the park is surrounded by private property and is not accessible to the general public from another area.
“The residents near the park used the property as a buffer,” he said. “The good news is many of original monument markers were found.”
However, there are two small areas show up as part of the village park but not of the legal description, said Sprague.
The property had been the site of illegal activity in the protected land, such as cutting of trees and building structures, as well as having motorized vehicles in the woods, all of which are prohibited.