Eaton officials want community to dream big for new park
CHARLOTTE - The vacant piece of land tucked off M-50 on the south side of the city is a quiet haven.
On sunny days the clouds in the sky cast their reflection on the surface of the clear, fresh-water lake in the middle of its 432 acres. The grouping of trees deep into the property are covered with red, orange and yellow leaves that wave in the breeze.
Less than a decade ago the lake, now filled with fish, was dry as a bone — a working sand and gravel pit for Crandell Bros. Trucking of Charlotte.
Randy Crandell’s family owns it, although the property's sale to Eaton County should be finalized by the end of the year. The closing will culminate years of negotiations and disputes over different appraisals of the land's value that kept the land's development as the county's 10th and largest park at a six-year standstill.
The park's creation now stands to more than double the county’s existing park land.
A blank canvas
On Tuesday during a visit to the property Crandell pointed toward its lake, already Eaton County's largest body of water.
“That was a big hill right there,” Crandell said. "There was 20 million tons of gravel hauled out of there over 22 years. The hole there is because of the sand and gravel excavated out of the way."
Within five to seven years of excavation at the pit crews were digging below the water level. Crandell’s company started pumping up to 4,000 gallons of water a minute, 24 hours a day, lowering the water table for 15 years and keeping the pit completely dry.
Then in 2008 the Crandell family shut the pumps off and moved their operation off the property. By the next year the pit was a 160-acre lake, in some spots, up to 40-feet deep.
“The natural water from the ground just filled it,” Crandell said.
In time the property's lake could be a hot spot for fishing, boating and swimming. Nearly two miles of shoreline surround it. You can picture paved paths around the property, the perfect place to walk, run and bike. There's plenty of room for ball fields too.
The land is a blank canvas with endless potential, and the county's residents have high hopes for what the property can become. Over the next year officials charged with sharping that vision say they intend to listen to all their ideas.
Conversations between county officials and the Crandell family about the property didn’t start happening until 2009. In July the county Board of Commissioners moved ahead with plans to buy the $3.9 million property, but they won't have to spend county money to acquire it. A state grant will cover 75 percent of the cost. Crandell plans to donate the other 25 percent.
Still, developing the property into a regional attraction could get expensive.
Blake Mulder, chair of Eaton County's Board of Commissioners, said paved walking paths, ball fields, and other amenities could cost millions of dollars. But he believes the lion's share of any development can be paid for with federal and state grants. He said the county will aggressively pursue them, once they've settled on a vision for the property and the county will need to be prepared to pay for some of the work.
"Ultimately, there's going to be matches necessary for a lot of grants," Mulder said. "But our proximity to Lansing is an advantage for us. The people that write the checks and the people who work in the field of granting, they can drive out here and see it and I think there's something to be gained by that."
The park's development will likely happen in phases over several years. The first of which is a year-long visioning process. County officials have already begun setting a timetable for that.
It will start with the establishment early next year of a 10- to 12-member committee charged with constructing a vision for the park. The group will include residents from throughout the county, Mulder said.
“This is going to be a priority,” he said. “I want people who want to be involved in this and who are going to attend meetings and are going to take the time necessary. That takes a certain kind of person.”
And the county may hire a facilitator to “guide” the committee through that process, he said, although county officials don’t know how much they're willing to spend on the hire yet.
Over the next year the group will hold eight to 10 open forums throughout the county to collect input from residents about what they believe the new park should look like before submitting a tentative plan to county officials for their review. A draft time table drawn up by county staff shows the committee submitting that plan to the Eaton County Parks Commission by August of next year.
A regional draw
Clay Summers, the county's parks director, said the land's development could take years to finish, but he believes the project is worth the investment of time, money and effort. That's because the new park can elevate recreation in Eaton County to a "new level," he said.
The calls come in daily, Summers said, from residents who want to utilize the property now. The county is still up to two months away from the finalized purchase of the land.
Then there's potential to develop space within the park for camping and trails that could eventually connect with the ones that already exist about two miles away at Bennett Park in Charlotte, Summers said
“There’s nothing like this in the area,” he said. “We don’t have anything that’s got this much water, a fresh-water lake, this amount of property that’s available. Everything else that is available would be smaller in size. This has potential to be a regional draw, not just would you consider a city or county park. This could be more of an attraction-based piece of property.”
Mulder said the land's proximity is one of the things that makes it the perfect place for a county park. It’s two miles from Meijer on the edge of Charlotte, just down the street from Interstate 69, and less than 15 minutes from Eaton Rapids.
“It’s a park that people can access very quickly and very easily,” Mulder said. “You don’t have to drive an hour and a half to go to a lake. People will be able to ride their bikes out here.”
County officials said they'll will need collaboration within its communities to be successful.
"The beauty is you can start simply," Mulder said. "There’s nothing here. You can do what you need to with it. You can put things where you want them to be. You’re not confined to following something that’s already in existence. That’s why it’s so important to plan and take our time and not rush into anything. I envision next spring families out here sitting on blankets and having picnics, out here walking their dogs and enjoying it.”
Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.
How to get involved
Eaton County residents who have questions about the development of the Crandell Lake property or who are interested in getting involved in the visioning process for the park can email Clay Summers, county parks director, at ParksDept@eatoncounty.org .