City manager announces ADA sidewalk audit, Hickory Hills mountain-bike MOU and parks master‑plan survey
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Summary
Interim City Manager Benjamin Marantette told the commission the city will conduct an ADA audit of downtown sidewalks and crosswalks, signed an MOU with the Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association to design mountain biking trails at Hickory Hills, and opened a five‑year parks and recreation master plan survey to support future grant funding.
Interim City Manager Benjamin Marantette used the Aug. 4 meeting to outline several staff initiatives and community partnerships.
ADA audit and sidewalks: Marantette said a recent personal experience pushing a resident in a wheelchair highlighted accessibility issues at a downtown intersection and that the city’s ADA coordinator, Deb Allen, will lead a downtown sidewalks and crosswalks audit to identify barriers and prioritize repairs. The audit, Marantette said, will be approached with “compassion and empathy.”
Hickory Hills mountain‑bike trail MOU: The city has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association for design and development of a mountain‑bike trail system at Hickory Hills, Marantette said. Parks staff have also begun a five‑year parks and recreation master plan process; the plan is required for certain state grant opportunities and a community survey is open on the city website under projects.
Crisis‑response coordination and virtual community resilience center: The interim manager said the city is coordinating with local, state and federal service providers, the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office and trauma‑care partners to develop crisis‑intervention services and a comprehensive resource webpage described as a virtual community resilience center; the communications director will promote the resource when it goes live.
Meeting cadence: Marantette said the commission likely will not meet on Aug. 11 or Aug. 25 and expects the next regular meeting to be Aug. 18; he also said there may be extra meetings in September tied to objectives and key results work.
Ending: The announcements set several short‑term workstreams — ADA audit, trail‑planning MOU and parks master plan — that staff said are intended to support grant applications and longer‑term infrastructure and recreational‑planning goals.