Manchester Chamber hosts talk on new Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve

Jim O’Brien presenting to a packed room last Monday at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce’s monthly meeting.

On Monday, July 11, the Chamber of Commerce hosted its monthly meeting at the MAHS Kingsley-Jenter House, featuring a presentation on the new Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve being created west of Manchester. The public was invited resulting in the room packed with 39 participants, indicating strong community interest in this new park and the ongoing planning for it.

The presentation was led by James O’Brien, Park Manager with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, who had come directly from working on constructing on a small parking lot to alleviate the need for visitors to park on Arnold Road. He presented an overview of the park boundaries, geography and biology, and potential uses and activities to be available at the park. He was assisted by Coy Vaughn, Deputy Director of Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation, the DNR’s partner in this purchase, and Nikki VanBloem, Southern Regional Trails Director for the DNR.

The slide show presentation provided by O’Brien can be viewed here:Watkins Lake DNR-WCPARC Presentation to MACC – July 11 2016 There was considerable discussion on possible uses to be allowed in the park, the potential for developing the railbed within the park into a multi-use trail and connecting it with Manchester’s Shared-Use Trail (they are the same railbed), and the timing for park development. The potential positive commercial impact to Manchester businesses was also discussed. O’Brien talked about the Friends of the Park group currently forming and that he would be scheduling a workday and ribbon-cutting ceremony in the near future. If you are interested in having your name on the list for the friends group, email O’Brien at obrienj4@michigan.gov or call him at 517-467-7401.

The DNR and County are planning community input sessions beginning as early as this fall to seek and collect local residents’ opinions on potential uses. One such session will be scheduled at the MAHS Kingsley-Jenter House.

Stay tuned for further news and developments.

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by Ray Berg