|
|
|
Macomb Orchard Trail News Published By: Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail Volume # 3 Issue #4 Winter 2002/2003
State of the Macomb Orchard Trail, January 2003 by Lee Sorensen A new year is here and a usable Macomb Orchard Trail is close to becoming a reality. It’s only been a few years since the Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail group formed to promote converting the abandoned railroad right-of-way in northern Macomb County into a rail-trail. Now our vision of a recreational corridor for non-motorized transportation is close to being a reality. The Macomb Orchard Trail will provide a scenic hiking/biking or horseback riding experience for people in Macomb County and elsewhere that want to use it. Paint Creek trail in Oakland County that’s 10 miles from Rochester to Lake Orion has been open for over 10 years and has been successful. The Macomb Orchard Trail is 23 miles from Richmond to Shelby Township where it crosses Dequindre Road south of 24 Mile Road/Parkdale and becomes the "Clinton River Trail". That will link to the Paint Creek Trail and to Bloomer Park, Stony Creek, and into Pontiac.
Probable DNR Grant for Trail On December 11 2002, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources recommended that Macomb County be granted $1.7 million to purchase the portion of the Macomb Orchard Trail from 29 Mile Road to Richmond. If the Michigan legislature approves, the DNR grant recommendation in 2003 then the money will be granted (Only once or twice have they failed to approve such recommendations). The Macomb Orchard Trail is 23.5 miles from Dequindre Road (south of 24 Mile Road/Parkdale) to Richmond. Macomb County got a loan to purchase the entire corridor last year from "Trust for Public Lands". The first section of trail from Dequindre Road in Shelby Township to 29 Mile road & Van Dyke in Washington Township was paid for last year. This latest grant will enable Macomb County to pay for the rest of the trail. Development of the first section is scheduled to start in the spring of 2003. Engineering studies have to be done first to determine what is needed to make the trail useable and meet safety standards, etc. Currently the trail is closed to use and it is trespassing to be on it. Romeo Observer December 18, 2002 page 1, http://www.romeoobserver.com
Volunteers needed Pending approval of the Trail Commission, but before the end of winter, volunteers from the Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail will be needed to do some clean up of the trail and trimming brush, etc. for surveyors etc. It will be good to actually start work on improving the trail. Currently the trail is a bit overgrown and rough in spots with gravel or soft spots. There are 9 trestles along the trail, some are ballast covered and 4 are open ties. The open ties trestles range from 14 foot to 150 foot long. Those will need wooden deck applied and side rails on all the trestles. We have offered to do much of this type of work. It’s just a matter of seeing how much they let us do. In order to contact you for work days, please provide your e-mail address when you renew your membership, and check our web site www.orchardtrail.org for the latest news. Our excellent webmaster, Neil Kocsis, updates the site with links to news articles about the trail, such as the one shown above, and posts the minutes of our monthly meetings.
Annual Membership meeting Time to renew membership in Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail The January 28, 2003 meeting of the Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail is at 20505 29 Mile Road at 7:00 PM. We will have the election of officers and club membership renewal. Please send in your Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail membership form with $10 as soon as possible or bring to meeting so that the membership list can be updated. Family memberships are same price of $10. See membership form at end of this newsletter. We are planning to remove non-members from the mailing list after the January meeting.
Friends of MOT Board member elections Volunteers needed The Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail elections will be on January 28th at the membership meeting at Camp Rotary 20505 29 Mile Road, 7:00 PM. The current board members, Christine Hamilton, Chuck Mabley, Rich Platz and Dave Rumohr, are running again since no other nominations where received. Members have received a mail-in ballot with this newsletter. Please mark your ballot, fold it with the return address showing, and mail it for receipt by January 28th, or bring it to the meeting. We need to get more people involved with the Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail now that the trail is being developed. Things move slowly in the process of acquiring and planning of rail trails, but now we are going ahead and there will be jobs for volunteers to help make the trail a safe and useable recreational corridor. We hope to see many more members of the Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail participating at monthly meetings in 2003 to discuss plans for development of the trail and how we can help. Future meetings will be at Camp Rotary, 20505 29 Mile Road, east of Wolcott Rd at 7:00 PM on the 4th Tuesday of month.
Bylaws change: The following proposed change to our bylaws will be voted on at the January meeting: Delete: "Section 5.02 B. Officers shall serve for no more than two (2) consecutive two (2) year terms in any single office." The reason for deleting this section is that it conflicts with Section 5.02a that states Board officers are elected annually. We welcome opportunities for rotation in office, since new people are needed to keep the Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail moving forward. We thank the incumbent board of directors who have done a fine job for past few years but they need a break and new volunteers to be on the board of directors.
Romeo village considering joining commission The village or Romeo is considering joining the Macomb Orchard Trail commission but is reluctant to spend the $25,000 initiation fee and $5000 per year maintenance fee. Current members of the commission include Shelby Township, Washington Township, Macomb County, Huron Clinton Metroparks Authority and city of Richmond. Village president Paul Reiz expresses support for the trail but thinks that since the residents of the village are either in Washington Township or Bruce Township that taxes paid to Romeo used for the trail will be in addition to taxes paid to their respective townships or "double taxation". The advantage of joining the Macomb Orchard Trail commission is a direct say in how the trail will be developed, etc. instead of just accepting what Washington Township and the other communities decide to do to improve the trail especially section in Romeo. But the trail has to be looked at as a whole not just one section at a time. When the trail is complete, it will be 23.5 miles of non-motorized scenic trail from Richmond to Dequindre Road in Shelby Township. The trail continues in Oakland County as the Clinton River Trail and has been graded up to Rochester but will extend towards Pontiac when completed. So it will be possible to follow the trail from Richmond, Armada, Romeo, Washington, Shelby Township, Stony Creek Park and to Rochester than get on the Paint Creek Trail to Lake Orion and connect to the Polly Ann Trail into Dryden and beyond.
Board of Directors Chairman: Lee Sorensen Vice-Chairman: Dennis Tipsword Secretary: Christine Hamilton Treasurer: Chuck Mabley Director: Rich Platz Director: John Tarantino Director: Dave Rumohr Newsletter Editor: Ted Gondert
Thanks to the Huron River Metropolitan Authority Thanks again to HCMA for providing the Camp Rotary Activities Building for our meetings at no cost. This has been our meeting place since the beginning and we are very grateful. HCMA is very supportive of trail development and has a seat on the Macomb Orchard Trail Commission as well as other trail organizations in the region. They also provided the very popular horse-drawn wagon for our Trail Preview
Richmond Winter and Ice Festival We have been invited by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce to set up our display for the Winter and Ice Festival, February 7-9. If you can help staff the table (indoors) on any of those days, please call our voicemail number, (586) 997-7271, to volunteer.
Membership form Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail membership expires after January. Please renew now if you haven’t done so since October 2002. One year membership $10 families included New member Renewal Name:________________________________________ Address:______________________________________ City: _________________________________ State____ Zip:__________ e-mail address:_________________________________ Other family members names and email address: _______________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Make check payable to and mail to: Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail, PO BOX 385, Richmond MI 48062-0385. Or bring to membership meeting.
Thank you to our supporters Armadillo Custom Printed Dry Goods- Discount priced T-shirts and sweat shirts O'Reilly Rancilio Nitz, et al: Incorporation and nonprofit filing Mail Boxes Etc.: prints this newsletter at discount Michigan Rails to Trails Conservancy Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority Charter members: Bill Remer, Chuck Mabley Hamilton Bicycles: in Richmond, MI The Letitians Iconix, Inc.: logo designers Clinton River Riders bicycle club: donated money and volunteers. Mary Klammer
|
Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail Inc. P. O. Box 385 Richmond, Michigan 48062-0385 www.orchardtrail.org |
