Commission approves several park matters

Business related to parks and recreation accounted for a large portion of Tuesday’s St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners meeting.
In all, five separate matters were fielded and ultimately approved by the commission.
Most noteworthy was a proposal from Jones Petrie Rafinski for design services work at Covered Bridge Farm Park, the newest addition to the county’s parks inventory.
The $105,000 job will see company officials perform a variety of tasks related to the development of the park as a public reception area.
Commissioners also agreed to exercise a $2,500 option to purchase a two-acre property adjacent to the park land.
Next, funding for future development at Plumb Lake Park in Burr Oak Township was approved. Parks and Recreation director Jaymes MacDonald said the county was recently reimbursed more than $450,000 from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for its purchase of the 126-acre parcel.
An agreement with Southwest Michigan Mountain Biking Association was approved. The arrangement centers on what is expected to be a 10-mile mountain bike trail at Meyer Broadway Park in Fabius Township.
The final issue focused on Nottawa Park at Sand Lake. MacDonald said a septic system is now in place. With that, Morris Excavating of White Pigeon, which submitted a bid of $57,500, was approved to construct permanent bathrooms.