The Lowell Charter Township Board of Trustees had its regular meeting on Monday, October 17. All board members were present, and there was a large group in attendance. Most were interested in the agenda item regarding repairs to the township’s pickleball courts.
First up during the meeting was a follow-up report about a clean-up initiative. On October 1st, a trail clean-up event went well. Volunteers worked for about three hours, and three truckloads of brush were cleared away.
KDL Community Report
After the minutes from the previous meeting were approved, the next item on the agenda was a report from Kent District Library.
Nicole Lintemuth, the new Lowell Township Board Representative for Kent District Library, started off the report. She joined the board in January and introduced Sandy Graham and Lance Werner.
In his comments, Werner mentioned that 2020 was a tough year for KDL, but there was a silver lining. “Our electronics circulation has been through the roof. We are the top 60 in the world on electronic circulation.” He also added, “We need to meet people where they are at.” During the summer, KDL kept their food programs going during the COVID crisis, he shared.
Graham also mentioned the pandemic did shut them down considerably but said that now “Our circulation is pretty much on track.” She also added, “Our visitors should well surpass last year.”
In Lowell, by September, the visitor count was 80% of what it was last year. A couple of the librarians have retired, and volunteers are always welcome. KDL members are also active members of service organizations in the community.
A highlight of the report was that the library is getting back into the schools and working with the local schools for summer reading programs. “Summer was a huge thing for us,” Graham said. The summer programs work on keeping the “summer slide” at bay.
The summer programs in Lowell had a 206% increase in attendance. The summer programs in Alto had a 272% increase in attendance. Next, they will be redesigning their children’s areas in both Alto and Lowell.
Lowell Township Trustee Carlton Blough asked why the Alto library branch only had three computers, which is fewer than other libraries. Graham mentioned that many people come in with their devices and connect to the Wi-fi. The computers are being used “less and less.”
Pickleball Court Repairs:
Board members also discussed problems with the pickleball courts at the North Grand River Riverfront Park. It’s been three years since the courts were put in, and cracks and fissures have appeared in the courts.
“It has gotten to a point where the players don’t want to play on them,” a representative of the players gather at the meeting stated.
The Township Board got an estimate to “…take the current surface off and paint the pickleball court on the concrete.” That estimate included $9,450 to take the surface off the court and $2,400 to paint the lines on the concrete.
A few residents were interested in knowing who was involved with putting in the courts and what plan for repairs was being used. The players are looking for different ways to repair the concrete and ensure that the courts can be played on again.
“This is a shame,” a member of the township noted. After just three years of being installed, the courts have cracks and water has seeped beneath the surface causing more damage. The board is looking into cost effective ways to make the court playable again. “We need to see what is underneath.”
The southwest corner is the worst corner of the court. The players noted that they can play on a portion of the court, but there is a part of the court that cannot be played on.
“Thank you for putting the courts in there,” another pickleball player noted. However, with some players feeling very passionate about the courts, the conversation became a bit heated.
A pickleball player asked if there was a warranty for the court, but the answer was no. There are neighboring courts that have the same problem, and they were replaced.
The issue will presumably be discussed again at a future meeting.
Discussion on International Standards Change for Fire Authority:
Fire Chief Shannon Witherell from the Lowell Are Fire Department was present to discuss ISO standards and fire prevention efforts. An audit is being performed to determine the score that the ISO assigns to Lowell.
“The lower the score, in theory, the lower the [insurance] rate,” Witherell said.
As part of the audit, the fire department is looking at updates related to the building safety code and fire code. “Essentially what we have is two different departments using two different codes for basically the same thing,” Witherell said.
“The building code is how you build it, and the fire code is how you inspect it,” noted Trustee Steve Vander Ziel.
In an email sent to the board, Witherell highlighted some of the codes that have been updated. A few members of the township board wondered exactly what was changed, to which Witherell implied that there are a lot of changes in the code books, and many of the changes come under the ISO recommendations.
Earlier in the meeting, Blough also noted the fire authority will be over budget. He added that the department currently has a full staff of fire fighters (roughly 28-30). A lot of the staff are new, so there is training involved for the new recruits.
Snow Avenue Paving
A group of citizens on Snow Avenue have contacted the board with concerns about the paving of a Snow Ave.
The Kent County Road Commission did a study, and plans were made to pave the road. However, the citizens of Snow Ave. don’t want it paved because of the traffic.
“Now, you have to travel slow” remarked Jerry, the representative of the citizens of Snow Ave. There is a concern that the road going through their neighborhood would likely be set at 50mph instead of the 25mph if paved.
The meeting ran for approximately two hours, and the next regular meeting of the Lowell Charter Township Board will be on Monday, Nov. 21, at 7pm.
Leave a Reply