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Belle Isle Advisory Committee
Speaker 1
Good morning all and welcome to the October 19 meeting of the Bell Howell Park Advisory Committee. We certainly appreciate having you all here. I would like to start the meeting on time out of respect for everybody else's time and call the meeting officially to order at such time that we're able to assure a quorum with so we will save all action items for that moment. With that said before actually starting the meeting, I know many of you are aware I will be departing the bell conservancy to assume the role of president and CEO with Habitat for Humanity Oakland next month, and I do plan to make a few comments regarding that at the end of the meeting, but because some of you may have questions regarding the governance of the LL Park Advisory Committee and my authority to chair the meeting, both today and going forward, I felt it important to at least address the mechanics of meeting management today. So to that end, just to clarify, because I was appointed to this role as an individual by both the governor at that time and the mayor at that time and not as a compulsory part of my duties with the Belisle Conservancy. I do have the authority to continue and will continue until such time a replacement is appointed so that we can continue the business of the Bella l Park Advisory Committee. That timeline is unclear at the moment but we hope to have clarity soon. So hopefully that clears things up. And with that, it would like to initiate the meeting. Per the Open Meetings Act we are required as committee members to introduce ourselves and in light of virtual meetings. Now we're also required to indicate where we are hailing from. We do have indications from Reverend peak and Mr. Actual Reverend peak won't be attending the meeting at all. Mr. Danker has indicated that He'll either be late or not in attendance due to a conflict. And so those are the two excused absences that we have. And with that, I will introduce myself more officially. Michelle Hodges Belisle Conservancy and chair of the parallel park Advisory Committee hailing to you today from what you can probably see is my car, and that's because I'm in Traverse City attending the Michigan Municipal League's conference and wanted to assure a good internet connection and this was the best way to do that. So forgive the informality of that, please. And with that, I will turn it over to my colleague Mr. Curse to introduce himself as well.
Speaker 2
Thanks, Michelle. And obviously I'm very sad but best of best of luck to you and your future. I'm calling in from Detroit, Michigan, sunny, wonderful, 90 degree Detroit, Michigan on the east side here. But welcome everybody to the meeting.
Speaker 1
Great to have you, Michael. I'll do my best to monitor attendance and as our other colleagues join us, give them the opportunity to do the same. One other comment before we dig into the business up today is regarding the Belisle, boathouse, and there's been a lot of discussion over the last few days regarding that. I did have an opportunity to speak with Ron Olson and the Department of Natural Resources and from that conversation, just want to make it clear that discussion continues with the rowing club. And before any in primarily that discussion is focused on how they can continue their operations by establishing temporary facilities for their storage needs and their operational needs demolition. Is not being discussed at this time. The DNR intends to further that decision making process through a robust public engagement process much like was conducted by them as it relates to the zoo and other sites. So there is the intention to continue with a thorough process and just want to make it clear that no decisions have been made and there are a number of options that could ultimately take halls but certainly not without doing that and consultation in partnership with the community. We'll take a little more deeper into that as that item arises on the agenda, but at least wanted to set the stage a little now. So that you have that table setting so to speak. So with that we will move into item three on our agenda, which is general updates. And I let's see here we'll have to say Parks and Recreation is the first update. Mr. Olson is scheduled to lead that for us and I am looking now to see if he's joining us feel free to take the floor if you're there, Ron if not, we will look to your team to step in.
Speaker 3
Yeah, thank you, Michelle. i Yeah, just emphasized for people that there's been a lot of media coverage etc. About the the boathouse and today simply the and that the discussion is surrounding that ongoing a combination of the Rhoyne Friends of the Detroit Rowan so that they can erect a temporary storage facility in the confines of the parking lot area near the boathouse to as many know the ceiling fell in on the boathouse on the West End, which which occurred up about a year ago and there's a lot of damage and things like that and the building has been declared unsafe to enter and therefore the the rowing clubs have been creative. We've been collaborating with them to find ways that they can continue to operate in and this temporary storage is something as a part of that. So at any rate, that's what's going on there. On the other side, I think people know that the in the last budget cycle we were We've mentioned this before, but there's was we had asked, there was a request for $43 million, in addition to already about $14 million of ARPA funds that go to bail out for a number of restorations of facilities, including the aquarium, the casino building, the flint pavilion, they, the fountain and the conservatory right now. We have over a $10 million restoration going on if the conservatory that it's been been months in the making we did restoration of the lower dome a couple of years ago. And then we do have $12 million. Just about that we're going to be working on to restore the heating and ventilating system for the aquarium and the conservatory as well as some accom accessible accessibility we have leaking in the basement there that have to be shored up. And right now it's difficult to even operate the toilet in there. So we've got there's and then there's $6 million carved out right now. Go towards the fountain in which we are trying to address many things to modernize some of the mechanical systems in there that have periodically failed and things like that. So there's a lot of and then the roof on that casino building and some other things that we've done, and I might remind people that we did reroutes to his the old police station that sits in the main area we did reroofed and spent a considerable amount of money on the athletic building right now. The police building has yet to have a tenant in there because there's still a couple of million dollars worth of internal work that has to be done there, as well as the athletic building. So the only reason why I mentioned this is there's a lot of stuff going on and Belisle and the last thing I'll mention is in the other thing I should mention is we're trying to pursue a way to modernize and update the beach house building which is a combination it's not necessarily a historic building, but it's it needs work in the bathrooms and getting those up to speed. So far since we've been on in the parks since 2014. When we started, we've been vested either operationally security or investments with federal grants, state grants and, and appropriations. Well over $110 million into Belisle and, and that has been everything from water systems to heating systems to all kinds of things and bathroom restorations, but there's still lots of things to do. And then building bikepath the iron bale trail and many other things and, you know, we have partnered with the Odell garden group. We're that self sustaining. There's an endowment for that. And so there's been some additions to the park, but and then we've worked on parking and the visitation of Belle Isle. Is is really boomeranged. And as people already know, and then MDOT has been out and done repaving of roads and spent millions on the MacArthur bridge to restore it and keep that up. I think they've probably invested six or maybe close to $10 million in that period of time to keep that bridge operating and, and functional and safe. And also, we've collaborated with DTE Energy and they've supplied new infrastructure. For the electric system and Belisle to. So there's a lot a lot of things that people may not realize in the bigger spectrum here and obviously this boathouses and is something that we have to work through and yeah the rowing club. We want to keep them going but but it and that's something we have to spend time on as Michelle did. But I wanted to kind of lay that out because sometimes people think that perhaps we're not sensitive to historic buildings and that's far from the truth by what I just said. And I think that that needs to be kept in context. So and we'll be publishing, by the way, if people are interested, we'll be posting on our website and some information about the Smith group study that was done probably three or four years ago. We collaborate with a rowing club to find that and then we had another engineering study after the roof fell in, in 22 that delineate in more detail. There's a lot of photographs. Many of you that are interested in this have probably never been in there since the ceiling fell and and while you remember part of it, and I've been in there many times, there's some of it that's you know, it's very nice spaces but the building is got a lot of problems and a lot of challenges which the study will delineate and, and notwithstanding the fact that the building is built on pillars over the water, and it's a pretty interesting dynamic, but it's it's in, it's in compromised shape. So at any rate, that that'll be available for people if they want to partake of that. But when we do have a public meeting, we will have some kind of a workshop where we can explain and have the architects present where they can explain some of the the the lit what led up to that and, and I just also want to set the record straight. There's been some people that have said, Oh, that somebody said it was $16 million. And then another study said 43. Well, the SmithGroup study was 43. But then when we had further study and we know we've been bidding up projects all over the state and cost of supply chain and also the labor situation is very volatile. And it's likely that an estimate of four years ago, is probably going to be probably five to $10 million more just as reality and and so that's something that we have to keep in mind. When people are talking about different studies and things like that. This isn't about trying to, you know, make it sound like we're asking for too much. This is reality of what we deal with. And
Speaker 3
so at any rate that's there so the new budget year started the good news is we have $23 million to work with. We've been trying to find ways to leverage that funds. We've been working on that part of it as well to try to get more funds to do the things we had hoped to do with all that and one thing I didn't mention was the the demolitions occurring that would occur at the zoo, because there's many derelict buildings left there. And one of the plans we want to do is remove some of that we did have a robust public input on that. And a lot of people said that they preferred that area to be naturalized and not formally developed. And that's something that was an outcome of over 3000 people that participated and that's something that that part of this 23 million will help us at least get, get some of the derelict buildings out of there that are that are in really bad shape and and then there's some other money to use for for asbestos removal, lead paint and other things like that. That exists scattered around in the, in the facility, so in the facilities. So that's all I have. I'm sorry to go on. But I wanted to just take a few minutes to explain kind of the bigger landscape here so that that people know that we that there's a deliberate process of becoming out and we welcome people's ideas, but also we're looking for outcomes and solutions to about what the future because sustaining uses of buildings is something that we already have a challenge on Belisle, like the police station and athletic building and places like that. And I know that conservancy spent a lot of money years some years ago to restore the horse barn and that made that look better, but we still have a lot of things to do in that area, as well, to determine what, how best to utilize that space to so. So anyway, that's all I have and maybe more than was expected. But I wanted to kind of kind of lays it landscape a little bit.
Speaker 1
Now thank you for that run. And do any my BiPAC colleagues have questions which would be Michael for Ron?
Speaker 2
No, I don't have any questions but run a great job and and again, I want to commend you and the whole DNR team for their work. Bill aisle. I know it's hard to to plug all the holes with the money that you have and you guys keep bringing money in and we appreciate that very much. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you, Mr. Curtis. All right, that'll take us to our next item which is Park updates from Mr. Bisset and, Mr. Floyd. It's probably a good segue given the first item there being the resolution.
Speaker 4
Thank you. I'll let Karis take the lead on the park. Updates and then we can get into the resolution.
Speaker 5
Okay, good morning, everyone. Just real quick for you. I want to announce that we have Hyde Park supervisor, Gail Fitch. He comes to us from Illinois. He actually worked for us in 2014 When we first came into the city, okay, past experience with Ark and we expect great things from him. As we move forward. And also put notice out that we will run the Scott fountain until the first week of November. And then we will start our winter operations for shutdown. And also with the restaurants we will announce on Facebook. So that the general public knows what buildings will be winterize because keep in mind, buildings are not heated. We have one heated facility for this winter, which is busstop seven at the casino is closed due to the construction that's taken place so I will have additional porta potties at the sunset point location and at the Woodside location, so that individuals will still have the ability when they're on those sides of the island to have a rest available. We just concluded our summer workers on October 14. We had a really good crew this year. These individuals that love working on the island had one man before he left he told me that out of all the jobs he's had in his career this has been the less stressful job and the most enjoyable job that he's ever held. So I was good to hear. So we're happy to bring him back. Also, you will see us work again this winter is one of our major projects will be to build more picnic tables for the park. As you notice we put out about 50 to 60 new tables last winter and we will continue that each each cycle. So until we get them all replaced. We also have hired a new seasonal janitor. We're very happy to have him on board. He has been working very hard and we are moving forward with hiring the full time janitor position. So we will keep you up to date when that position is filled. And that is all I have on my report.
Speaker 4
All 
right, thanks. So I'll jump in now with the resolution first and then we can talk a little bit about some of the ARPA updates. And I apologize because I'm on one screen this little widget disappears quite a bit. So just wanted to update everyone on why we have this resolution out there. And so the resolution is to to leverage or at least offer support to the rowing club to establish a temporary facility within their leased area in the parking lot. I don't want to go over too much in redundancy to what Ron talked about, but obviously they no longer have access to the boathouse to operate to store things that kind of stuff due to some of the damage that you can see in the photos here including, you know, ceiling collapses and balconies, obviously significant structural concerns when it comes to the sharing of the exterior stucco, some of the accesses into the building including the steps and stairs. So, just going back to what Mr. Platt at our last meeting talked about in foreign as far as their plans going forward. The area was fenced off and the building was closed to entry in August of 2022. Got a few more photos in here that shows some of the reasons that is obviously it's very dangerous to be near the building. It's it's even more dangerous to be inside it so they they can no longer operate within that building. They have temporary tents they've got uncovered equipment they've been holding, as he stated at the last meeting they're rowing classes at the athletic shelter. So they have a need to continue operation. The solution that they proposed at our last meeting was a temporary structure and that temporary structure would be again within their leased area. It is back in the parking lot and it would include indoor storage programming space. You can see some brief diagrams of how that would work where you might have you know, rowing machines perhaps and storage for the skulls. Maybe some some operating space or an office. So that is the resolution that was included in the agenda to determine if we can offer you know support for them to be able to establish that. So with that. Michelle, I'm not sure how you want to break that up if you want to discuss that first before I go on to the other ARPA investments.
+1
right, thanks. So I'll jump in now with the resolution first and then we can talk a little bit about some of the ARPA updates. And I apologize because I'm on one screen this little widget disappears quite a bit. So just wanted to update everyone on why we have this resolution out there. And so the resolution is to to leverage or at least offer support to the rowing club to establish a temporary facility within their leased area in the parking lot. I don't want to go over too much in redundancy to what Ron talked about, but obviously they no longer have access to the boathouse to operate to store things that kind of stuff due to some of the damage that you can see in the photos here including, you know, ceiling collapses and balconies, obviously significant structural concerns when it comes to the sharing of the exterior stucco, some of the accesses into the building including the steps and stairs. So, just going back to what Mr. Platt at our last meeting talked about in foreign as far as their plans going forward. The area was fenced off and the building was closed to entry in August of 2022. Got a few more photos in here that shows some of the reasons that is obviously it's very dangerous to be near the building. It's it's even more dangerous to be inside it so they they can no longer operate within that building. They have temporary tents they've got uncovered equipment they've been holding, as he stated at the last meeting they're rowing classes at the athletic shelter. So they have a need to continue operation. The solution that they proposed at our last meeting was a temporary structure and that temporary structure would be again within their leased area. It is back in the parking lot and it would include indoor storage programming space. You can see some brief diagrams of how that would work where you might have you know, rowing machines perhaps and storage for the skulls. Maybe some some operating space or an office. So that is the resolution that was included in the agenda to determine if we can offer you know support for them to be able to establish that. So with that. Michelle, I'm not sure how you want to break that up if you want to discuss that first before I go on to the other ARPA investments. Speaker 1
I think we probably should discuss it now. Tom, thank you for that background. I do want to note for the benefit of all that Mr. Denker. Our fellow Belle Isle Park advisory committee member has joined the meeting. Bud, thank you for taking the time. I know you've got a busy meeting this morning and you're excuse me busy morning and your commitment is always there. So thank you for that. Would you like to introduce yourself and indicate where you're hailing from so that we can remain in compliance with the OMA?
Speaker 6
Yeah, thanks. Michelle Updike are currently in Lansing, Michigan at all. I'll stay on as long as I can. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you very much. So with that and just so it's clear to the community. There will be future workshops and that as has been indicated, where we can be in more of a back and forth dialogue for the purpose of this meeting. However, the only opportunity for the public to speak is during public comment which is coming up later in the agenda. So we enthusiastically invite your commentary at that time. But for now, it would really be just dialogue between mdnr staff and BiPAC committee members. So with that, I will open up the opportunity for Mr. Curse or Mr. Denker to ask any questions or make any comments that they would like to
Speaker 6
know I think spot I think that we look at this opportunity or the issue. It's it's I look at what if we don't allow this sort of happen for the boat club, then what happens to the boat? That's been around, you know, 100 years? I believe it is. But I think there's a need to act here. I think there's a need to cooperate. You know, obviously the DNR has the core competency of to do this and where to do it or to position it so it doesn't obstruct our door issues, but I think the fact that it's within the least area. They talk about this now for a couple of years. I think we got to me, allowed them to me, it allowed them to continue to do what they've done for so many years to facilitate their book club which has provided benefit to so many young people and so many older people alike that we need to move forward on this and it can be debated for many more years to come but I'm I'm to the point now we need to move forward. Thank you,
Unknown Speaker
Mr. Careers.
Speaker 2
Yeah, I have to I have to agree with but I don't want to go through all the misinformation that's been spread out there in the media because a lot of it just is not true. Now I do have a question. Who would be paying for the temporary facility
Speaker 4
that would be on the rowing club to be able to provide the funds for that.
Speaker 2
If they proven proof of funds or a way to get those funds.
Speaker 4
I think they're they're obviously trying to raise funds for that. I don't know what their financial situation is and being able to move forward but they can't invest money developing those plans any further without at least knowing that we support that. That I mean, you know, we don't want them throwing good money after bad if we're not going to support that.
Speaker 2
And again, I think that there's kind of two issues here. One is the the ongoing support for the boat for the rowing club. And two is the ongoing support for the actual book club building. So we almost have to separate the two issues. But I agree with what Thank you.
Speaker 1
Yeah, so I think for clarification, you know, we are talking about two separate issues here the short term solutions for the rowing club and then the longer term solutions are prospects for the boathouse and the structure itself. So we need to be clear on that. And just to be clear to Tom, this is a recommendation coming from the DNR team, right? You feel that this solution is a good one. It's one your support. It's one that fits in the overall plan that you envision that you would have for the island. So you would recommend support for this resolution? That's correct. Now, recognizing that we don't have a quorum as of yet that means we would not be able to take action on this resolution. Would that preclude the plan from moving forward? Was the resolution considered more advisory to you, but they can proceed with or without that resolution?
Speaker 4
I think it's it's advisory in scope, I think we have a unique situation with the BiPAC right now where, you know, it being more difficult to get a quorum. Obviously, if we get to a situation where we're in person and we have a quorum, we can certainly raise a formal vote for that. But I think in the capacity that we've been operating in the last year and a half, I think, just hearing from from the members present that they support this would give us the ability to to let the rowing club know that that they can move forward with planning for that.
Speaker 1
Well, and I believe our bylaws only provide for us to be advisory and not a decision making body. So I think that's important to point out and the public needs to understand that is well, I think you are however hearing that support for the recommendation certainly I would like to make that as well. For a couple of reasons. One, it's important to preserve the rowing tradition on Belle Isle. It's a unique asset that I think we all believe in that we all want to see continue. It's part of our heritage. It's, it's part of what makes Belle Isle Belle Isle and it's certainly part of the community and the people fabric of Belisle to a lot of passionate and committed people that we have to be working in partnership with. They've been in place since 1839. So I certainly wouldn't want that to end under my watch and want to make certain that we do everything we can to preserve that tradition. And then even beyond that, the programming opportunities that it provides for our community, especially our youth, our youth in Detroit as well which can we must continue to grow that I don't think we want to see a gap there. Either. If the rowing club were not able to continue their programming, and what it also does, I think is it's testimony to how important the boathouse itself is in addition to the tradition, so it buys us time to go through a process that will hopefully result in solutions that allow us to protect that building and I know myself personally, demo would be a very tough pill to swallow. I also realize there are practical realities and don't want to be in conflict with that either. But any ultimate solution I think will be more acceptable to all if we know that we did go through a very solid evaluation process and gave not only our community an opportunity to submit feedback that helps inform the process but also experts and resources, who might be able to figure things out and put that puzzle together of how to maybe say, you know, save our boathouse and I just some of the feedback I've gotten are from those experts who and some of them are on this call right now who may have access to grant dollars or partnerships that suddenly make the dollar amount net so unachievable, but again, you know, we have to be we have to manage the island and there are many demands, the very limited resources that we have. So I guess this would be my rally cry, you know, for everybody to bring their best selves to the table to enter into most productive solution oriented discussion that helps us all feel good about whatever end result that might be and we know there are many options I think, Tom and Ron and team you know, you've indicated that one could be to mothball the structure. Another could be to restore a portion of the building to help facilitate at least the existing programmings needs that are there. One would be to refurbish the entire building and then of course, one would be to demolish. So those are all of the options that are on the table right now. And we're going to have to work hard as a team to make sure that the, the most viable one emerges. So I'd like to thank everybody for their passion and their care, and their concern for the tradition and the building. And I believe we all want the best outcome and I'm sorry, I won't be here to help shepherd that process through but hopefully I've set the stage for good decision making and know that I'll do my best as a resident and a stakeholder in that regard to to do what I can to get the best outcome. Anything else that let me check our attendance here to see if we have a quorum yet. While I do that, is there any other discussion or Belisle, Park advisory committee members would like to contribute or that staff would like to get on the table before we move on.
Speaker 4
So the only other thing I have is just a small update, you'll see the next bullet regarding the $23 million supplemental appropriation, so if we just have a couple of minutes to talk through that I know Ron mentioned some of that, but I'd like to at least show some some idea of the scope of that.
Speaker 1
Absolutely. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything specific to the resolution or that and I'm not seeing another party. So we will hold off a vote until we get that fourth person and we can establish a quorum. So hearing no other comment, I will go ahead and turn it back over to Tom to continue the discussion and your updates.
Speaker 4
Thank 
you. So the next update that I have is going to be very brief because Ron already kind of talked through it. A little bit. We did ask for $43 million in supplemental appropriation for Belisle. We were very lucky to receive $23 million for that. And so this kind of outlines some of the investments that Ron talked about First off, there is a allocation specifically to address the HVAC and ventilation for the aquarium and conservatory. As you may all know, as of right now those two systems are linked and the aquariums. HVAC has experienced several different issues, including it being very old. And then anybody that's visited the aquarium knows that if it's 90 degrees outside, it's very close to that on the inside. So that $10 million is specifically to address that. There's another approximately one and a quarter that is allocated to increasing ADA accessibility improvements, some building stabilization and some of the facility development planning at the aquarium conservatory complex as well. The second part of that allocation is, as Ron mentioned, going to address some several of the structural issues. We have approximately $1 million to remove the dilapidated structures and provide recreational green space at the old zoo site. As Ron mentioned, we already went through the robust public comment period for that. And that was the overwhelming request from the public is that we return it to recreational green space, approximately $2 million to address the future of the boathouse. Again, that is in the stage where we will soon begin public input and in public communication, as we did with the zoo. So that's to be determined. But just to be clear, about $2 million of vet 23 is present to address some of those concerns at the boathouse whatever that process dictates. Lastly, there $6 million to replace the concrete decking that supports the fountains main basin and I just threw some photos in here. appreciation to Amanda Treadwell. I stole this photo that shows very clearly how the bull sits with the fountain. This is the lower bowl, as you can imagine holds millions of gallons of water and they sit on these concrete piers. So there are several areas of concern and we certainly don't want that lower bowl to collapse into these areas. So the money would specifically address some of that stabilization of that. Ron mentioned some updates. We're already currently working on some updates as far as the chlorination system for the water. We're working through a different alarming system to alert us should there be any issues. As you know, this past summer we had a flooding issue. So we're trying to address some modernization in there and get some communication systems in place to allow us to monitor that remotely and make sure everything is good. And then we have the hazardous material removals, strategic, some strategic planning for some of the facilities, some mobility engineering services for some of those immediate recommendations that may come from the mobility study. Again, the mobility study is not complete, but they will present us with options for assisting with mobility around the island. And some of this money could be utilized to generate those immediate recommendations and you know, in reference to park wide hazardous material removals that we talked about. This is just a small example of some of the hazardous materials that the staff have to deal with when we're operating in the park. This is a picture of the stables I believe and you can see the asbestos pipe wrap on top of this pipe in the ceiling of this room. So you know staff is not allowed to get access into the building to be able to store our equipment. If you're at the headquarters. You'll see a lot of our equipment is stored outside from time to time, because we simply don't have that that ability to get into those spaces. So the remainder of that money would be to address these things. So I just wanted to run through that briefly. Again, as Ron mentioned, when we move forward with anything with the boathouse, we're moving forward with the understanding that one, we have approximate number of what we have allocated. And then we have to, you know, obviously get that message out to the public, which we're in part doing now. And get their recommendations as well. So that's all I have, and I appreciate the time.
+3
you. So the next update that I have is going to be very brief because Ron already kind of talked through it. A little bit. We did ask for $43 million in supplemental appropriation for Belisle. We were very lucky to receive $23 million for that. And so this kind of outlines some of the investments that Ron talked about First off, there is a allocation specifically to address the HVAC and ventilation for the aquarium and conservatory. As you may all know, as of right now those two systems are linked and the aquariums. HVAC has experienced several different issues, including it being very old. And then anybody that's visited the aquarium knows that if it's 90 degrees outside, it's very close to that on the inside. So that $10 million is specifically to address that. There's another approximately one and a quarter that is allocated to increasing ADA accessibility improvements, some building stabilization and some of the facility development planning at the aquarium conservatory complex as well. The second part of that allocation is, as Ron mentioned, going to address some several of the structural issues. We have approximately $1 million to remove the dilapidated structures and provide recreational green space at the old zoo site. As Ron mentioned, we already went through the robust public comment period for that. And that was the overwhelming request from the public is that we return it to recreational green space, approximately $2 million to address the future of the boathouse. Again, that is in the stage where we will soon begin public input and in public communication, as we did with the zoo. So that's to be determined. But just to be clear, about $2 million of vet 23 is present to address some of those concerns at the boathouse whatever that process dictates. Lastly, there $6 million to replace the concrete decking that supports the fountains main basin and I just threw some photos in here. appreciation to Amanda Treadwell. I stole this photo that shows very clearly how the bull sits with the fountain. This is the lower bowl, as you can imagine holds millions of gallons of water and they sit on these concrete piers. So there are several areas of concern and we certainly don't want that lower bowl to collapse into these areas. So the money would specifically address some of that stabilization of that. Ron mentioned some updates. We're already currently working on some updates as far as the chlorination system for the water. We're working through a different alarming system to alert us should there be any issues. As you know, this past summer we had a flooding issue. So we're trying to address some modernization in there and get some communication systems in place to allow us to monitor that remotely and make sure everything is good. And then we have the hazardous material removals, strategic, some strategic planning for some of the facilities, some mobility engineering services for some of those immediate recommendations that may come from the mobility study. Again, the mobility study is not complete, but they will present us with options for assisting with mobility around the island. And some of this money could be utilized to generate those immediate recommendations and you know, in reference to park wide hazardous material removals that we talked about. This is just a small example of some of the hazardous materials that the staff have to deal with when we're operating in the park. This is a picture of the stables I believe and you can see the asbestos pipe wrap on top of this pipe in the ceiling of this room. So you know staff is not allowed to get access into the building to be able to store our equipment. If you're at the headquarters. You'll see a lot of our equipment is stored outside from time to time, because we simply don't have that that ability to get into those spaces. So the remainder of that money would be to address these things. So I just wanted to run through that briefly. Again, as Ron mentioned, when we move forward with anything with the boathouse, we're moving forward with the understanding that one, we have approximate number of what we have allocated. And then we have to, you know, obviously get that message out to the public, which we're in part doing now. And get their recommendations as well. So that's all I have, and I appreciate the time. 
Unknown Speaker
Thank you very
Speaker 1
helpful, Michael, but anything that you would like to contribute or inquire about?
Speaker 2
Yeah, I'm sure I would. Thanks for the report. Great report. I think we all have to understand that you know, there's only so many dollars ago around and with greater than 5 million visitors a year we need to put those dollars were most effectively supports the visitors that come every year and and you know, sometimes that that means that certain areas get more money than other areas because they're more used, but you guys do a great job. Thanks very much.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you for that, Michael. And thank you for
Speaker 6
just I'll just add Mike. You know, first of all, congratulations. To the DNR team to get this money. It's it's not easy to get. And without your engagement $23 million would not be available without your expertise. So let's get competencies to get that so congrats. You know 23 doesn't get 23 Big this doesn't go very far does it especially when 10 million of it is for HVAC needs for the aquarium but be it as it may look over the post to the bodies being provided. It's to the Scott found then to the aquarium. Almost two thirds of the traffic varies annually on the islands. So I think the priorities where the money needs to go are right, especially now that the conservatories being restored and being funded as well on its own with other funding. So I think but the conservative sorry, you know, being completed the next year and the fact that a casino has money allocated to for a new group and all the working around it as well publicly will be improved now. We have money to approve and Scott found where it needs to be before it frankly collapses. And then money now getting him into the aquarium so that when you walk in there, you're not in a sauna. I think so, think about our four Keystone areas aquarium. Scott found the conservatory the casino which is used by so many people for weddings, whatever. I think we've got a lot of things to be proud of to be improved upon by the DNR just in the last year and a half. So well done one question I have though the DNR is this are these are ARPA funds are these used in illicit funds? Meaning is there a timetable that we have to have these initiatives completed and construction done? Or the money disappears? Or could this be something that could happen over the next course in the next two or three years?
Speaker 3
Yeah, good question button. That the money has to be out has to be a contracted bid and obligated by the end of the calendar year 24 And then has to be spent by the end of the calendar year 26. So that that timeframe and the money is that 23 million is came and is adopted and as already accounted for in the budget so we're ready to go but you're right it does have a time ticker to it and per the federal guidelines.
Speaker 6
All congrats obviously got a lot of work to do now to get the contractors lined up to get the work done. But the heavy lifting a lot of heavy lifting has been done by getting this money appropriated to the right places, so well done.
Speaker 1
Thank you, Mr. Denker. And yes, those dollars are appropriated in alignment with a management plan that is in place so we do have science and empirical data to inform those decisions, which I think is important to note as well. And what's also significant as it relates to the dollars going to the aquarium is that's an enabler that gets us closer to accreditation through the ACA. So it's important on multiple levels, certainly for the visitor experience and for staffing, they'll have more control but also managing the animals that are there in an accredited fashion. So just continuing to raise the bar on that which will lead to other dollars too. So all right if there's nothing further on that, we will move along in the agenda. Thank you everybody for that good discussion. Next, our infrastructure updates from Amanda Treadwell our urban fields Manor. Good morning Amanda and welcome. Hi good
Speaker 7
morning everyone. Got the act over infrastructure updates on pull up here
Unknown Speaker
okay all right.
Speaker 7
Is it showing them the screen now? Yes, yes. Okay. Thanks. I can't see the teams when it's up. Our right. Okay. Well, I figure out we're into the fiscal year 24. Now so I'll start out with the new fiscal year 24 funding that's been allocated for Belisle. We are fortunate once again to get the $1.25 million allocated from general funds for Belisle projects. And because we do have ARPA funding for some of the bigger projects that have been mentioned, like the conservatory and the casino, we're able to tackle a couple of smaller ones that have been at the top of the list for a while but pushing, pushing down because of other needs. So we will be able to find another $400,000 to address ADA accessibility at the casino This is to supplement money that was put towards this in fiscal 23. And the intent is to have this work done while the roof project is going on so that when the roof work, the elevator modernization and then the ADA access improvements can all be complete for reopening in 2020 for another project that's engineered now but we've been looking to complete the funding to bid this out is constructing new shelters for 19 and 20 that had to be removed several years ago and then making accessible improvements to the oxbow restroom. So this $450,000 will supplement and Michigan natural resource Trust Fund grant that we were awarded to address recreational improvements over in the north side of the park and then we're retaining some funds for additional needs as they come up next year which they do. So outside of the general funds, the DNR parks capital outlay has put $300,000 towards the lead and flooding shelter, heating improvements. So we're working with contractors now to assess the needs over there with the heating system and working on a plan to get that going and that building he did in the winter months. And then as well we received another $314,000 to match to finish the match for the land Water Conservation Fund grant that we have so DNR was awarded $1.85 million to go towards the Ralph Wilson trail phase two. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that there was so I'm sorry that that we someone was able to see the site slides. Are we not seeing them?
Speaker 1
There, Amanda? They're just Oh man. Oh, okay.
Speaker 7
Oh, 
thank you for letting me know. Okay. Well, just so this is a summary of the dollar amounts that I just reviewed that were awarded for fiscal 20 For the last one being this $314,000 that finished out the land water conservation grant, as well. We're working with the sales team on IBT funds. And we'll be meeting with private funders early November to round that out. Our goal will be to rebuild this in early January. And then kick off construction next spring. So now, for projects. Wrapping up this week we had our final walkthrough for the handball courts at the athletic complex. There were a lot of structural issues with this as we went through to make repairs and it was a long process determining that we had to remove the ceilings. The structure was not built just current code standards. There's a lot of deterioration of that roof. And so we had to add a lot of funding for this project to get us to this point which took multiple fiscal cycles. So because there's not money readily available to add that we'd have to wait till the next year. Anyways, very glad that this project 
is all complete. It looks great. The site looks clean. The DNR and the hype have been working to clean up the area around the shelter. And so I know I talked to a lady yesterday and they are benches and cleaning up the fence lines at the bottom and he plans to have this open once those once that work is complete and then some kind of opening next spring. So hopefully this will get well used and it's been a long time coming so we are glad to check get this one off the books. Other projects underway is the Belle Isle sawmill. So demo work has been completed they're going to be pouring concrete this week. We'll have a new ADA accessible entrance and site drainage around the sawmill. There'll be new custom barn doors built on the front. And that'll pretty much wrap up this phase. The next phase would be to address windows and doors. So DNR parks is partnering with the DNR forestry department and have We have worked together to fund the restoration of the sawmill. So we'll have more pictures for you next month. This should be wrapping up this year. As mentioned that casino roof replacement is underway. In part I have mentioned before part of this roof renovation was removing the equipment off the roof and putting that on grade so the footings and screening wall for new HVAC equipment that that's currently being constructed. We're reviewing new lights so new lights will be put under the soffits around the casino to downlight the walls we're also looking at new light fixtures and lotia and addressing the drains, drain connections from the roof through areas in the building down to the basement. So I highlighted some of that that month but we're still revealing how that's going to work through the boiler room. So lots to coordinate there with improving that drainage for the building. The clay tile is you know that'll be fabricated. That's with a little Ricci down in Florida. That will be delivered next year. I think this week they were exposing some of the clay tiles to put in new copper valleys that will be scanned bills digitally scan that and then send that to lead away to for the clay tile fabrication. So that is underway right now. To the aquarium has quite a bit 
going on there. We're working with Ally construction a new storm or excuse me new sewer line is being installed from the bathroom in the basement. That sewer line was abandoned a while back and some temporary thing had been put in pre DNR so we're putting in adequate size sewer line on that should address some of the flooding that is taking place in the basement there. So they're excavating this week they should be making those final connections next week on the interior. And wrapping that up then, as well. We've been working with WTA and fH Martin to address the sagging roof on the back of the aquarium. So masonry repairs to the chimney are done. Now the roof decking has been exposed and we're working with our structural engineer McMillan to inspect the rafters additional repairs will have to be made to supplement these roof beams. We're working with McMillan on that now. So here's what it looks like from the interior. You can see here I've highlighted this hip beam that's going to have to be shored up with some additional steel members running across the roof of the top there. So this was exposed 
yesterday. It's covered now. And then we'll start shoring up the roof and then finish up with the new shingles here hopefully in a couple of weeks. Here's the interior photo of what the work sewer work. Being done in the basement. This was the old drain line expose. Now that's been removed and preparing to make connection to the new drain line in inside the building and on the exterior. So that's been a long time coming glad to get that underway, as well. Now that it's starting to get a little cooler outside. The boiler has been turned on in the aquarium to heat that conservatory and aquarium. We walked through with contractor yesterday to look at least some of the radiators. Getting those working again and then addressing some leaks and the valves around the pipe system so you can see once I think that new HVAC for the aquarium has been mentioned a couple of times today this is this will all be replaced when that new system is put in. So we're looking forward to getting that new system in and just kind of working to make sure doing what we can to make sure 
that plants and the fish are staying warm till we get to that point. So in the conservatory, this project is moving along right on target. They have started putting the glass in there about halfway done they shouldn't be done before Thanksgiving. They're cutting on the glass for the cupola. This week. And then in addition to being able to address all the upper dome, we're also going to be replacing the glass from the gutters up on both the cactus and tropical low houses. So that work will start next spring but it'll be good they'd have all the top portions of the center of the conservatory replaced there. So here's you can see the new glass going in all this steel in this background. This has all been abated. It's all been cleaned. It's all been repainted and now they're able to go in and put in the glass and the new bar caps. Staff on the scaffolding, inspecting the new glass. You can see here it's all the glasses, hand pre cut and then they go around on the list and install it so a lot of progress there. The Pavilion window replacement work has started this week. We've got a new sub contractor on board that does a lot of historic window repair. So much of the window framing will have to be replaced and that'll probably start in a couple of weeks. As of now FH Martin has replaced a lot of the facia boards and put a new drain line here. The new would work around the roof will be repainted and then there'll be working on the window replacement through December. Obviously with the temperatures that won't be able to be painted until next spring, when that building should be wrapping up. A
+1
thank you for letting me know. Okay. Well, just so this is a summary of the dollar amounts that I just reviewed that were awarded for fiscal 20 For the last one being this $314,000 that finished out the land water conservation grant, as well. We're working with the sales team on IBT funds. And we'll be meeting with private funders early November to round that out. Our goal will be to rebuild this in early January. And then kick off construction next spring. So now, for projects. Wrapping up this week we had our final walkthrough for the handball courts at the athletic complex. There were a lot of structural issues with this as we went through to make repairs and it was a long process determining that we had to remove the ceilings. The structure was not built just current code standards. There's a lot of deterioration of that roof. And so we had to add a lot of funding for this project to get us to this point which took multiple fiscal cycles. So because there's not money readily available to add that we'd have to wait till the next year. Anyways, very glad that this project +1
is all complete. It looks great. The site looks clean. The DNR and the hype have been working to clean up the area around the shelter. And so I know I talked to a lady yesterday and they are benches and cleaning up the fence lines at the bottom and he plans to have this open once those once that work is complete and then some kind of opening next spring. So hopefully this will get well used and it's been a long time coming so we are glad to check get this one off the books. Other projects underway is the Belle Isle sawmill. So demo work has been completed they're going to be pouring concrete this week. We'll have a new ADA accessible entrance and site drainage around the sawmill. There'll be new custom barn doors built on the front. And that'll pretty much wrap up this phase. The next phase would be to address windows and doors. So DNR parks is partnering with the DNR forestry department and have We have worked together to fund the restoration of the sawmill. So we'll have more pictures for you next month. This should be wrapping up this year. As mentioned that casino roof replacement is underway. In part I have mentioned before part of this roof renovation was removing the equipment off the roof and putting that on grade so the footings and screening wall for new HVAC equipment that that's currently being constructed. We're reviewing new lights so new lights will be put under the soffits around the casino to downlight the walls we're also looking at new light fixtures and lotia and addressing the drains, drain connections from the roof through areas in the building down to the basement. So I highlighted some of that that month but we're still revealing how that's going to work through the boiler room. So lots to coordinate there with improving that drainage for the building. The clay tile is you know that'll be fabricated. That's with a little Ricci down in Florida. That will be delivered next year. I think this week they were exposing some of the clay tiles to put in new copper valleys that will be scanned bills digitally scan that and then send that to lead away to for the clay tile fabrication. So that is underway right now. To the aquarium has quite a bit +3
going on there. We're working with Ally construction a new storm or excuse me new sewer line is being installed from the bathroom in the basement. That sewer line was abandoned a while back and some temporary thing had been put in pre DNR so we're putting in adequate size sewer line on that should address some of the flooding that is taking place in the basement there. So they're excavating this week they should be making those final connections next week on the interior. And wrapping that up then, as well. We've been working with WTA and fH Martin to address the sagging roof on the back of the aquarium. So masonry repairs to the chimney are done. Now the roof decking has been exposed and we're working with our structural engineer McMillan to inspect the rafters additional repairs will have to be made to supplement these roof beams. We're working with McMillan on that now. So here's what it looks like from the interior. You can see here I've highlighted this hip beam that's going to have to be shored up with some additional steel members running across the roof of the top there. So this was exposed 
+2
yesterday. It's covered now. And then we'll start shoring up the roof and then finish up with the new shingles here hopefully in a couple of weeks. Here's the interior photo of what the work sewer work. Being done in the basement. This was the old drain line expose. Now that's been removed and preparing to make connection to the new drain line in inside the building and on the exterior. So that's been a long time coming glad to get that underway, as well. Now that it's starting to get a little cooler outside. The boiler has been turned on in the aquarium to heat that conservatory and aquarium. We walked through with contractor yesterday to look at least some of the radiators. Getting those working again and then addressing some leaks and the valves around the pipe system so you can see once I think that new HVAC for the aquarium has been mentioned a couple of times today this is this will all be replaced when that new system is put in. So we're looking forward to getting that new system in and just kind of working to make sure doing what we can to make sure +3
that plants and the fish are staying warm till we get to that point. So in the conservatory, this project is moving along right on target. They have started putting the glass in there about halfway done they shouldn't be done before Thanksgiving. They're cutting on the glass for the cupola. This week. And then in addition to being able to address all the upper dome, we're also going to be replacing the glass from the gutters up on both the cactus and tropical low houses. So that work will start next spring but it'll be good they'd have all the top portions of the center of the conservatory replaced there. So here's you can see the new glass going in all this steel in this background. This has all been abated. It's all been cleaned. It's all been repainted and now they're able to go in and put in the glass and the new bar caps. Staff on the scaffolding, inspecting the new glass. You can see here it's all the glasses, hand pre cut and then they go around on the list and install it so a lot of progress there. The Pavilion window replacement work has started this week. We've got a new sub contractor on board that does a lot of historic window repair. So much of the window framing will have to be replaced and that'll probably start in a couple of weeks. As of now FH Martin has replaced a lot of the facia boards and put a new drain line here. The new would work around the roof will be repainted and then there'll be working on the window replacement through December. Obviously with the temperatures that won't be able to be painted until next spring, when that building should be wrapping up. A 
Speaker 7
lot going on Belisle, the multi mobility study is moving ahead. So the project team was presented to PRD management an EMD up leadership alternatives for the one way conversion or see Yeah, the two way conversion so looking to maintain one way traffic around the perimeter of the park, which was largely supported by the public but maintaining the one way traffic and still looking to achieve the same goals that we have laid out for circulation improvement will require additional tools and I think I might have mentioned this last time to support traffic calming measures around the park so we met with MDOT regional planners in last couple of weeks and reviewed with them alternative traffic calming measures, which you might seen other places throughout the city like elevated crosswalks to slow folks down. So we're working with MDOT and her engineering team on how to move forward with that as well. The Corbin from Traverse City is working on wayfinding and we'll have a plan complete with this study. Because additional review for public input took a little extra time. The final deliverables for this project will be moved out to early next year. But the wayfinding plan will be done then and then we'll be looking to implement some of those most helpful wayfinding measures next year. Another Island wide project that we are working on finalizing now is the hazardous material and structural study that was done. We've been focusing on
Speaker 1
I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you have slides for your slides have not advanced since the conservatory should they have or?
Unknown Speaker
Oh okay yes, they are.
Speaker 1
That's all such good information. I think it helps for folks to be able to see it visually.
Speaker 7
I know it looks like it's advancing on the team's page. So I'm apologize I don't know.
Speaker 1
And maybe it is on others but for me I'm on the conservatory glass. Slide
Unknown Speaker
you're in advance for me. They're on their study master document slide for me. Yes. Okay, so it's just me then. Thank you Thanks. All right. Okay, well, I'll just carry on, you're doing great
Speaker 7
on here. I will say that the slideshows for this are always posted in the BiPAC web page with the minutes so if anyone wants to relock or having trouble seeing them, you can always refer back to that. So the so
Unknown Speaker
we've, with this report.
Speaker 7
We've addressed any critical structural concerns with buildings throughout the park and completed a comprehensive regulated material assessment of all buildings. So we the project team looked at 44 additional structures. We have a 3000 page report that I'm looking forward to digging into here. These are about two inch binders. And then this this information we're gonna pull out the most critical areas where public and staff are using buildings and we will be addressing with with that $2 million that was mentioned previously for the 23 million. We'll be adjusting that. So this work here is going to inform that project item so we're distributing the draft now I hope we should have a complete report by the end of the year. Okay. So I am and let's see and that is the the last project to review today. So thank you
Speaker 6
sorry, great stuff again, great work a lot going on which I appreciate it. Unfortunately though, this stuff is very sexy when you're working on infrastructure with 100 year old buildings right so it's all gotta be done. Well, the the casino be available for people to use this coming summer, or well, the getting these clay retrofit tiles and all of those, create this thing that's going to have to be closed in the course of the summer in the fall. So what are your What are your thoughts?
Speaker 7
Well, as of now, the schedule from the contractor has the casino being complete in June. So but that's not you know, that's an imperfect world. So that's what we're going with now. And we're working closely with Maria, our events coordinator, communicating that to the public. She's had a lot of requests for that building. And we'll do our best to stay on schedule.
Speaker 6
What about the conservatory all the work being done there? What's your expected completion for the structure?
Speaker 7
The Conservatory is that is expected net because we were able to add additional glass work onto this project in the low houses there. There was some glass breakage brooms, no fall last year and so we had to go back and replace that we were able to do more to do the whole sections. So we're going to take advantage of this opportunity to do that. Now while I have the contract in place and get that work. And so that will probably that might add some time for that to do that additional work on the low houses. So we're looking at probably end of June, the conservatory as well. So yeah, June is gonna be July is going to be a big month and fill out next year. Hopefully we'll have quite a few openings. Yeah, we
Speaker 6
may want to have a you know, think about it. Have a celebration for the reopening of those locations as well right there's something that draws attention to the conservatory which is going to be amazing open house or some kind of celebration dinner when it's when it's ready. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Yes, go ahead.
Speaker 2
Yeah, I'm sorry, Amanda. Thanks again. You know, say this every meeting but it's amazing how many projects are ongoing on the island at any one time. And it's it's so easy for us to overlook it but it's so important do you have and I'm sure it's all in your head. But do you have for instance a one, a three and a five year construction priority schedule on what what you hope to do whether it's maintenance or capital repairs or replacements for for some of these projects moving forward, I know for the first few years it was mostly reaction to damage instead of you know actually planning something to be to be done. We've been doing a lot of reacting but are we to the point now where we're you have a schedule moving forward?
Speaker 7
Well, we developed a schedule when we completed that strategic plan. And 2019 Mike, we've had a plan all along and then prioritizing projects as you know. So we have our master plan list. That's about $250 million worth of projects and that gets reprioritize I would say probably by annually. So things are shifting, because they are the structures are old. Sometimes priorities, move themselves ahead. That you know what they are currently, but there is a prioritized list. And as Ron mentioned earlier, these are projects all this money has to be spent by 2026. So for the next three years we pretty much has our have our work cut out for us in terms of funding, availability and capacity to manage projects.
Speaker 2
Maybe if we can get that list to us maybe every quarter just as an update just to take a look at it and make sure we're on the right agenda that would be great. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you Good discussion. And yes, without question. This portion of the meeting always shows the scale and scope of what is underway on Belisle and the transformation that has taken hold. So Amanda, thank you for your continued leadership and that regard, you really have a remarkable bevy of work to speak to and we all appreciate you and the rest of your team very much. Speaking of great teammates, let's move on to our law enforcement team Lieutenant Cisco I believe you have an update for us this morning.
Speaker 8
Good morning, everyone. Lieutenant tide Cisco Dean, our law enforcement division. We've switched into our Fall Winter staffing. We still have 24/7 coverage with our officers and then with MSP troopers. So if anybody has any issues out there, please contact 911 and we'll get to you as soon as we can. Um, that's been doing a lot of work and we appreciate that out there. And I know I've gotten calls from citizens that are sometimes confused, so bear with us. There's a lot of work and out to be done out there. As we all know we see the mobility study stuff going on so they've done a pretty good job putting the parking spaces back together in the bollards are going to help to separate you know, traffic and people movement. So there's more to come on the ad I know Tom and his team we've all been working well with them that training to get that done. So I just asked the public to bear with it. It's one of those projects that is probably going to continue for a while. As we all know as you travel across Michigan, the roadways are all kind of ripped up in one fashion or the other and Belisle is no different. It's it's on the project list and they're working through it. So just a reminder, again, the speed limit is 25 out there. We still do have issues with that. It's come down a little bit, there's been less traffic out there, but there are those that look at the open freeway on it, I guess and it's a reminder that it's 25. Other than that, we just finished up this past weekend with a Race for the Cure karma animals group that was a really big one of the bigger marathons that were hosted on Belisle. And you know, went really well. So thanks to Dr. Lisa and her team with PRD and, you know, working together with them to get that efficiently worked through so that was a good event. So hopefully they raised funds for what they needed, and it was good. So that's all I have for the law division report. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you, Lieutenant Mr. Denker. Mr. Curtis, any questions?
Speaker 2
That for me, just thanks very much, sir. We appreciate you.
Speaker 1
It's always good when your reports are short Lieutenant. That means things have been quiet I hope and you know, thank you for keeping our park safe and welcoming to all. Next up is the Belle Isle conservancy update. I would like to welcome my colleague IO Thomas to provide that report.
Speaker 9
Good morning, everyone can you hear me? Can you see me? Yes,
Speaker 1
we can hear you. I can't see your screen yet. But I would not use me as a judge because it sounds like others might be able to. We can see you.
Speaker 9
Okay, just give me one second of course I have to set my share my screen
Unknown Speaker
okay
Speaker 9
okay, 
can everyone see this full screen? Yes, yes. Yeah, okay. Perfect. So there's been quite a bit of activity and I'm so happy to share. This slide here gives an update to the fall in winter facility hours. What I want to point out, most notably is that the Dawson Great Lakes Museum has returned to their fall winter schedule, which means that they are open Friday and Saturday 10 to five and then Sunday's one to five. That is the most notable change here. The Detroit book club crew has some open learning to row courses so the junior racing team registration is currently open. It closes on November 16. And then middle school development. Registration closes on November 3. The PS for that are listed here. Any additional information, for instance, how to engage how to register all of that information can be found on the Detroit boat Boat Club web Boat Club crew website at Detroit Boat Club crew.com. also encouraging anyone who's interested in the Motown madness regatta to register currently information can be found on the same website and that event is February 11. I also want to excuse me highlight that not this weekend, 
but next weekend the Belle Isle Nature Center will be hosting bu at the nature center which is their annual Halloween celebration. One thing that I want to point out of course, costumes are encouraged for those who dress up. But I also want to just not point out that there will be no bags provided so if you're there to get treats then you will need to bring your own bag and reusable bags are encouraged. And that is from 11am to 4pm. Next Saturday and Sunday the 28th and 29th of October. You heard me mentioned the change of hours for the Dawson Great Lakes museum I also want to point out that November 10 Save the date for the 24th annual last mariners remembrance and as we move into the end of the year holiday season, just want to point out that the Dawson will be open for regular hours on Friday, November 24th. And so that means they'll be open from 10am to 5pm. And as as always, as we talk about sort of stewardship. Check out the microplastic exhibit. Here they're in everywhere which will be on display through April of 2024. garden again is 
a four seasons garden and it is open anytime the park is open with the exception of special events. I encourage you if you have not been to go check it out, is absolutely beautiful as the plants continue to grow and fill in the space. This one I'd also like to point out is for those who maybe are not on site but are interested in seeing what's happening around the garden. There is a section called now blooming where you can see all of the different plants that are currently blooming their flowers are on display. And so this photo here is called the Blue Steel Russian stage and it can be found in the A beds on the at the excuse me at the garden and so just want to encourage everyone again if you have not been to check it out it is a wonderful addition to the park as we move into the Belle Isle aquarium Belisle conservancy recap for the summer as well as the updates I just want to share the Aqua talks which is a short informational sort of mini session will be returning to Belle Isle aquarium weekly starting this Saturday 
and there'll be there Saturday mornings at 11:30am and you get to hear from our expert Aquarius and aquarium team about the different aquatic species and just all things that are related to the species stewardship and conservation. And so be on the lookout and if you're at the aquarium, please do join us want to celebrate that Detroit City Council has adopted a resolution unanimous, unanimous adoption to support Senate Bill number two to eight, which is a repeal of the ban on the ban of the repeal on the ban of plastic bags. And so this allows this bill would allow for individual jurisdictions to sort of regulate their own policies around the use of single use plastic containers. And so we through our stewardship efforts bill our Conservancy has had an opportunity to lend some expert feedback and input to this and so we are really, really excited to see that this bill is advancing. And so just want to celebrate that here. Also want to point out that if you're interested in volunteering at Bella, Clarion, some of the activities when the and Scripps Whitcomb conservatory reopens or supporting community programming, like you'll see in just a moment, visit Belle Isle conservancy to conservancies website excuse me to register for the upcoming Park volunteer orientation and you can find some of the benefits here. I think if you've been to the aquarium, you've seen our gift shop and you know how attractive that 20% off discount is. But just want to encourage everyone to consider being a volunteer and to join us for our upcoming orientation. Finally want to give a recap what you can see here this summer programming recap covers our community programming as well as keep Belisle beautiful is our primary stewardship programming. And so just want to bring some attention to that. I think what's most notable is that 1800 Just over 1800 volunteers this year, removed 8568 pounds of litter from the land and waterways of Belle Isle. And so when we think about that, single use plastic resolution and some of the other stewardship and sort of environmental awareness opportunities, this is a great moment to spotlight and celebrate. I also want to say thank you to our partners yoga in the parks with Detroit parks Coalition and the organic flow community funded with all of the partners there from Detroit parks coalition to bedrock to Cranbrook for the cyanotype workshops that fell out Art Fair just the list goes on and on want to just really say thank you to all who participated in that event. And then the community sound baths which is a partnership between Bella conservancy bloom Transformation Center and amplify outside. For those who are unaware a sound that is almost exactly what it sounds like. It is a meditative experience, where people the excuse me, facilitators will use gongs and sound bowls and other sound instruments to help people regulate their nervous systems and 
just the benefits have been infinite for those who attend and offer their reflections. And so, between those events, we saw almost 1000 visitors between the sessions and those partnerships and so we're really excited to see those flourish and continue to grow. And finally, I want to just share that a scary IAM is happening at Belle Isle aquarium on October 28 and 29th. And so if you are planning to be at the on on the Lyle, perhaps going to booth at the Belle Isle Nature Center you can also join us at the aquarium for treats and festivities. just highlighting this upcoming holiday. And finally encouraging anyone to join our digital community by following us on social media at Belle Isle aquarium and those QR codes will take you to the profiles if you want to sort of shortcut that process and that concludes my report.
+3
can everyone see this full screen? Yes, yes. Yeah, okay. Perfect. So there's been quite a bit of activity and I'm so happy to share. This slide here gives an update to the fall in winter facility hours. What I want to point out, most notably is that the Dawson Great Lakes Museum has returned to their fall winter schedule, which means that they are open Friday and Saturday 10 to five and then Sunday's one to five. That is the most notable change here. The Detroit book club crew has some open learning to row courses so the junior racing team registration is currently open. It closes on November 16. And then middle school development. Registration closes on November 3. The PS for that are listed here. Any additional information, for instance, how to engage how to register all of that information can be found on the Detroit boat Boat Club web Boat Club crew website at Detroit Boat Club crew.com. also encouraging anyone who's interested in the Motown madness regatta to register currently information can be found on the same website and that event is February 11. I also want to excuse me highlight that not this weekend, 
+1
but next weekend the Belle Isle Nature Center will be hosting bu at the nature center which is their annual Halloween celebration. One thing that I want to point out of course, costumes are encouraged for those who dress up. But I also want to just not point out that there will be no bags provided so if you're there to get treats then you will need to bring your own bag and reusable bags are encouraged. And that is from 11am to 4pm. Next Saturday and Sunday the 28th and 29th of October. You heard me mentioned the change of hours for the Dawson Great Lakes museum I also want to point out that November 10 Save the date for the 24th annual last mariners remembrance and as we move into the end of the year holiday season, just want to point out that the Dawson will be open for regular hours on Friday, November 24th. And so that means they'll be open from 10am to 5pm. And as as always, as we talk about sort of stewardship. Check out the microplastic exhibit. Here they're in everywhere which will be on display through April of 2024. garden again is +1
a four seasons garden and it is open anytime the park is open with the exception of special events. I encourage you if you have not been to go check it out, is absolutely beautiful as the plants continue to grow and fill in the space. This one I'd also like to point out is for those who maybe are not on site but are interested in seeing what's happening around the garden. There is a section called now blooming where you can see all of the different plants that are currently blooming their flowers are on display. And so this photo here is called the Blue Steel Russian stage and it can be found in the A beds on the at the excuse me at the garden and so just want to encourage everyone again if you have not been to check it out it is a wonderful addition to the park as we move into the Belle Isle aquarium Belisle conservancy recap for the summer as well as the updates I just want to share the Aqua talks which is a short informational sort of mini session will be returning to Belle Isle aquarium weekly starting this Saturday +1
and there'll be there Saturday mornings at 11:30am and you get to hear from our expert Aquarius and aquarium team about the different aquatic species and just all things that are related to the species stewardship and conservation. And so be on the lookout and if you're at the aquarium, please do join us want to celebrate that Detroit City Council has adopted a resolution unanimous, unanimous adoption to support Senate Bill number two to eight, which is a repeal of the ban on the ban of the repeal on the ban of plastic bags. And so this allows this bill would allow for individual jurisdictions to sort of regulate their own policies around the use of single use plastic containers. And so we through our stewardship efforts bill our Conservancy has had an opportunity to lend some expert feedback and input to this and so we are really, really excited to see that this bill is advancing. And so just want to celebrate that here. Also want to point out that if you're interested in volunteering at Bella, Clarion, some of the activities when the and Scripps Whitcomb conservatory reopens or supporting community programming, like you'll see in just a moment, visit Belle Isle conservancy to conservancies website excuse me to register for the upcoming Park volunteer orientation and you can find some of the benefits here. I think if you've been to the aquarium, you've seen our gift shop and you know how attractive that 20% off discount is. But just want to encourage everyone to consider being a volunteer and to join us for our upcoming orientation. Finally want to give a recap what you can see here this summer programming recap covers our community programming as well as keep Belisle beautiful is our primary stewardship programming. And so just want to bring some attention to that. I think what's most notable is that 1800 Just over 1800 volunteers this year, removed 8568 pounds of litter from the land and waterways of Belle Isle. And so when we think about that, single use plastic resolution and some of the other stewardship and sort of environmental awareness opportunities, this is a great moment to spotlight and celebrate. I also want to say thank you to our partners yoga in the parks with Detroit parks Coalition and the organic flow community funded with all of the partners there from Detroit parks coalition to bedrock to Cranbrook for the cyanotype workshops that fell out Art Fair just the list goes on and on want to just really say thank you to all who participated in that event. And then the community sound baths which is a partnership between Bella conservancy bloom Transformation Center and amplify outside. For those who are unaware a sound that is almost exactly what it sounds like. It is a meditative experience, where people the excuse me, facilitators will use gongs and sound bowls and other sound instruments to help people regulate their nervous systems and +1
just the benefits have been infinite for those who attend and offer their reflections. And so, between those events, we saw almost 1000 visitors between the sessions and those partnerships and so we're really excited to see those flourish and continue to grow. And finally, I want to just share that a scary IAM is happening at Belle Isle aquarium on October 28 and 29th. And so if you are planning to be at the on on the Lyle, perhaps going to booth at the Belle Isle Nature Center you can also join us at the aquarium for treats and festivities. just highlighting this upcoming holiday. And finally encouraging anyone to join our digital community by following us on social media at Belle Isle aquarium and those QR codes will take you to the profiles if you want to sort of shortcut that process and that concludes my report. Speaker 1
Thank you i Oh, any questions from BiPAC members for Miss Thomas.
Unknown Speaker
Oh, good. Thank you. Great job. Great job Ohio. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Well and to I oh just because it's such an important part of your role as well as being that connector between the park and the community correct. So maybe put your contact information in the chat so that if anybody has any questions or needs or wants you can certainly facilitate on their behalf also to make sure any input individuals may have, you know, sort of the DNR presenting its workshops or town halls or that that might occur as part of any of the issues and initiatives on Belle Isle you can certainly see IO as your go to as well to help facilitate in that regard both in the short and long term. So thank you IO for all that you do to make certain that the our community is connected to the park in every way. All right, next item on the agenda speaking of community is that important opportunity that we have to be in dialogue which incidentally I Oh perhaps you want to put that in the chat too, which is our regular input intake effort that we have underway just so that the community does know it can always reach out but certainly, this is another important part of our community engagement which is to provide this public comment portion of this meeting. It is not the opportunity for back and forth discussion. We will do our best to be customer service friendly however. So if there's discussion that can occur in the chat to help get folks what they need from staff and the like that would be great. But for the most part, it is your opportunity to be heard and for us to listen so I would ask that you make yourselves known by raising your hand you do have three minutes to speak and we please ask that you share your name as well as where you hail from and I will do my best to manage all of this. I don't see any hands raised yet. While you're preparing to do that we do have a written comment that I wanted to make certain to get on the record. So I will take that opportunity to do that. Now. I am seeing a hand raised misunder I will read this comment and then we'll get you'll be next up and then whoever else will be there after so this first comment comes from Mr. Patrick Livingston. He submitted an email on September 29 to myself as well as other members of the team in this case Amanda Treadwell, so hello Amanda I recently reviewed the results of the Belle Isle mobility study and found no mention of the proposed status or usage of the 10 acres of concrete that comprise the former Grand Prix paddock area. Over the past several years I've made a variety of suggestions for repurposing of that area via the public comment of the DNR Bell planning and advisory committee. Several of those suggestions were included in the meeting minutes. I also shared my suggestions via the mobility studies online survey. The only responses I received from Miss Hodges Mr. Floyd and yourself were vague assurances that the mobility study would address this issue as part of their planning process. While the mobility study states and intend to create a welcome bridge to the island. There's nothing in the report addressing how the paddock area will be used in that regard. I don't believe the paddock area was referenced at all in the study. I am concerned that this issue will not be addressed by this study. And that the paddock eyesore will remain in situ. As a result park visitors expecting a tranquil experience upon entering the park will instead be greeted by either a police and fire training ground or a 10 acre parking lot or both. Since I will be unable to attend the October meeting I am requesting Michelle Hodges to read this note into the meeting minutes and to request a response from yourself and DNR administrators responsible for Island maintenance and development. Thank you, Patrick Livingston, so I will assume Amanda that that follow up is occurring with him. So thank you for that and thank you to Mr. Livingston for his commitment to that effort. And with that, Miss Sumner you have the floor welcome. We look forward to hearing what you have on your mind.
Unknown Speaker
Is there difficulty you're
Unknown Speaker
muted? You're muted.
Speaker 10
Okay, I think I've solved this little problem. Thank you so much for being here to listen. Obviously when the public got wind of a resolution to demolish the Detroit boathouse building. It was really, really shocking. So you can imagine and that was on your agenda. So, you know, people started sharing, emailing, reaching out calling the governor's office not quite understanding how this could get on the agenda. And we literally everybody thought you were voting to you know, demolish this historic structure. I think that everybody, majority of people, Detroiters and Michiganders would look forward to Amanda Treadwell, one day, you know, having that historic building on her infrastructure, updating us and we would expect that the building may have to be renovated in phases. However, I think that something's missing here. I think that the state of Michigan DNR needs needs to reach out to more people in a statewide way to create a preservation Collaborative for such a historic building. This is something that you look at. I've been involved in many renovations of many historic structures in the city. of Detroit, and they have been absolutely successful multipurpose uses, where the rent that you can have rental revenue generated to support the sustainability of a renovated project. When people look at that building, well, it's not really super accessible, unless you're involved with the rowing and I know many people on the rowing that have been involved with the rowing club for some decades and one in particular, Diane Jones is a preservationist and knows about financing and I actually thought that they brought grant funding to do some improvements at that Detroit Boat Club building. So I think we have a lot of opportunities here. I'm so excited that Michelle, I feel is expressed, you know, a definite support in the preservation of such a structure. I believe that the DNR has a responsibility to protect, preserve and improve the Belisle Historic Park as well as its historic structures. So I'm really
Speaker 1
very happy to hear the alarm but it's like to finish your sentence. I was
Speaker 10
just looking forward to working with the DNR team and being given opportunity. And thank you for all of serving Mike and Bud and appreciate the DNR work but let's not be short sighted. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you very much. Okay, next up, Mr. Melba. If you could, please unmute yourself and welcome to the meeting. Hi, yeah,
Speaker 11
my name is Steven Alberth. And I'm currently calling from Madison, Wisconsin. Wow. I want to say I've been I've been a roller out of the Detroit boathouse in studying this building very heavily for over 10 years now, and worked on it as part of my architectural master's thesis at the University of Detroit Mercy pet last year. So really understand how this building was built, how it's been changed its uses that have changed over the years and how things have evolved renovations that have been made and issues that it has had. And I've also studied all of the surveys that have been done on the building, I've consulted with other professionals in the historic preservation field. And I've also on my own time, gone and visited over 40 boat houses across the United States through both historic and modern to really understand how these buildings can be used and how they can be better used. And I'd like to thank the DNR for all the work that has been done in Belisle. It is definitely a huge improvement over what it was 10 years ago, and it is definitely visible work that's been done. And that I want to do want to point out that the historic but many of the historic buildings that have been worked on like the police station, or the stables or the athletic shelter haven't really been used much over the last 10 plus years, but the boathouse has been continuously occupied seven days a week for over 120 years now, up until last year, and up until then all the lights were working all the plumbing was working the boiler was working. In this building was a used structure. By continuously quoting the $54 million SmithGroup number, it's kind of misleading but without explaining what that number actually covers, because it's not just covering the building. It's covering new sea walls. It's covering replacing the pools. It's covering landscaping. It's covering replacing Spanish tiles that are actually in good shape. It's covering a lot of stuff besides the building itself. And a lot of the work in it, just in regards to the interior stuff that friends of Detroit roofing is able to accomplish through a volunteer basis over the last 10 years or more. And the work that really needs to be done is sealing up the exterior envelope which according to the studies that were done last year would mean $4 million stabilize it the building is almost 100% occupiable again, usable when then $16 million to completely restore the exterior envelope the how it would have appeared in 1914. The these numbers are more accurate to what should be done, what could be accomplished. Still, they're still large numbers, but you know starting with $2 million is a huge stepping stone for what this building needs. And this boathouse has so much potential to serve as a public gateway to the Detroit River for non powered boating activities. And due to its location that's the most well protected location on the entire Detroit River for such activities for kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing, the site's been used by not only friends at Detroit rowing, but the Detroit community sailing center which provides sailing opportunities to Detroit youth. And they have stated that this area is the best site for their programs as well. And your mouth bluff I'm sorry, I hope you can hear the alarm. That's about the end of what I have to say. I just hope that more due diligence is definitely paid before any toxic demolition or take place.
Speaker 1
I'll certainly appreciate your comments. I know you've been in dialogue with our staff too. So it's it's we'll continue that dialogue as well. Thank you for being here today. Next up, I can't see the entire name it looks like Chris Eastham. I hope I have that correct. Welcome. You're up.
Speaker 12
All right. Thank you, Chris, East Ham and Mark Payne here in Midtown Detroit. I agree with Stephen. I think a lot more can be done with a lot less money with the boathouse. Demolition should not be considered I think there are other buildings and things are done. Like the trails they were talking about and the I know the H vac system needs to be done in the aquarium. However, the aquarium was not going to be falling down not having air conditioning installed right away. It just more can be done in stages. To save the boathouse. I think that'd be great. And I would like to thank the bail out Conservancy, the DNR, the state police and everyone involved in helping maintain Belisle for the last 10 years. Thank you all.
Speaker 1
Thank you very much. Next is Mr. Petzold Hello Michael.
Speaker 1
Are you there? I'm sorry, I'm trying to juggle Oh,
Speaker 13
well, here we are back at the park Advisory Committee meeting. I want to express the fact that if the DNR wants to demolish something on Belle Isle, they should start with paddock was the concrete paddock which there's no use for scepters used for police training once in a while. There's no need for it used to be a memorial grove of trees for slaying in Detroit. It would be nice to have something that that replaced that that was natural. It's also amazing that the state is talking about spending some money or maybe considering spending some money to demolish this historic structure when they can't even do anything about the fact that the pedestrian bike path has several gaps in it. Where you can't really ride the bike path all the way around because of the gaps. And there's also at least for the last month, there's been a small tree that was cut down and chopped into pieces. And that's still lying across the bike path. So you got to negotiate and get around that. So I guess I don't understand what the priorities are. I know in the past the priorities was were to serve the corporate interests of Roger Penske. I'm not sure if that's part of the equation here because there's no need for the paddock. Obviously, the ballclub needs some work, but it should be renovated, not the boss. There's no reason to take a stark structure like that and just get rid of it. It serves a purpose the rowing community, you know, depends on that. There's a lot of things that need to be done on bail while getting rid of the historic buildings. Should be the lowest priority. Done.
Speaker 1
Thank you Mr. Bechtold for being here today. I appreciate your comments. Um, I have next up Dennis voy de Bois and I can no longer see my screen. So if there are others, I will need your help. Please no, I'm not ignoring you. But with that Mr. Bodia do you well you have the floor.
Speaker 14
Thank you for pronouncing My name correct. I appreciate that. Oh well, I do want to end I'm I'm My name is Dennis Fidella. I am on the board of friends of Detroit rowing. I'm also responsible for rowing operations. And I want to thank this committee and all the DNR for everything you've done to help support us in this really critical time in our 185 year history. To maintain our designation with us rowing as the oldest continuous Rowing Club in America and I think it might even be in North and South America. But we are recognized as the oldest continuous club. My The point I want to make here is we had this summer we had a hellacious windstorm and we blew some tiles off that building. Now we are not operating out of that building. But we have 185 years of history still in there. The interior is Steve Melba mentioned is still pretty tight. We would like to either get those tiles replaced or have some kind of membrane put over so that we don't start destroying the interior of the building. And I know that's not the place to have the discussion of how we do that. But I would like to make that known and maybe set up some kind of meeting where we can discuss how we get that covered. It should not be a very expensive repair. And you know, we would like to move forward with that because we still have a lot of things, memorabilia and all kinds of equipment still in that building that needs to come out. So anyways, I would like to just throw that out there that like to meet and get this taken care of. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker 1
Boadilla. I do have my screen back. I can see that Ms. Savage would like to speak. Good morning, Rebecca.
Speaker 15
Morning, everyone. I'm Rebecca savage. I work at the city of Detroit historic designation advisory board. And I just wanted to let you know where we're following this issue with the boat club closely and we just wanted to express our concern and offer our assistance. So that's all just something very quick to let you know where we're happy to help. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you, Miss savage. I know you're one of the most respected historic preservationist in town. So thank you for your service, David Carlton.
Speaker 16
Good morning. Thank you. Thank you for this forum. And to the DNR. I certainly appreciate the evidence of the work you've done to date. You'll pardon my puppy.
Unknown Speaker
I began
Speaker 16
as Rebecca can testify, restoring historic properties in downtown Detroit in 1992. There was a gentleman at V sne at the time and Rumia, who said he wished he could tear down all the historic buildings because it would be easier than working through restoration processes. In 2011, my partners and I purchased the Grand Army of the Republic building in downtown Detroit. And as many of you recall for several years, the elite just thought that would be better suited as a parking lot for nine vehicles. There's certainly a lot of work to be done at the boat club, a lot of heavy lifting. I know that is a study right now as to what the feasibility is. But I would recommend in a city that is more on the upswing than not that we not go down as another this building not go down as another memory of the heritage of the legacy and Michelle you spoke to the heritage of Belisle yourself. This building is no part and no doubt a big part of it. To comically paraphrase, hell hath no fury like Detroit historic preservationist. A few years ago, there was a Canadian group that wished to tear down the state Savings Bank, and, as no doubt remembered the outcry was immense. The building was sold, and it's currently a very viable jewel in Detroit's fabric, if you will, thanks to someone like Dan Gilbert, and is is numerous efforts to keep the city of Detroit and alive and I think not that I think it will happen quite honestly, I think the demolition of this building would be a terrible injustice. It would be a terrible loss and I believe that DNR heads will prevail and finding grants, other opportunities for funding to keep this one up and running for for many reasons. So thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you, Mr. Carlton. Next, I have an M dot Potter.
Unknown Speaker
Hi. Hello.
Unknown Speaker
Hi, can you hear me?
Unknown Speaker
Yes, I can feel free to go forward. Thank you.
Speaker 17
My name is Michelle patter. I am a resident of Les village in Detroit and I am on the board of directors. of the West Village Association. I am calling in today, as many people before me have mentioned to go on record to about the boat house and
Unknown Speaker
wanting
Speaker 17
to preserve this and stop any demolition that would go forth. That would be a travesty. And you know there are tremendous intangible benefits to preservation. And appreciation of history. cultures different from one's own, and connections to places and environments. And all of those things increase the commonality and humanity and these things should be celebrated. So I would just want to say that, you know, restoring the boathouse to any sort of viable existence would be best for the city. Thank you for hearing me today.
Speaker 1
Thank you Miss Potter, and thank you for loving Belle Isle. I'm George Simms. I can't see your entire profile name, but hopefully that elites alerts you that you're up.
Speaker 18
Hi, this is Constance and thank you for holding this meeting and having a public forum. I'm calling in from Chicago, Illinois. I am a former rower and I know a couple of my former rower friends are on this call. It's quite shocking to see the headlines and I appreciate people taking the time to kind of right size what was publicized. I think overall, it sounds like there's a lot of passion on this call for retaining the building and there's a lot of emotional attachment for a lot of folks on the call for this building. But there's a lot of history there as well. And Detroit is a beautiful city that has the opportunity to do many things with this building. So I wrote down Rebecca and David's name. I don't know if you guys are willing to share your emails, but I feel like at this point, there's opportunity for more people to rally around and figure out I guess I don't understand that the DNR owns the building or the property overall. But how do we how do we establish this as a historic landmark so that it's protected? So maybe that's a question I do my own research on. But overall, I think there's a lot of people here that are saying the same thing. So thank you for your time.
Speaker 1
Thank you, Miss George. Sims appreciate your time as well. Dan Austin, please.
Speaker 19
Alright, there we go. Sorry. Thank you everyone. My name is Dan Austin. I am a past board member of preservation Detroit and have run historic detroit.org For a long time. 15 years. I'm just wanting to comment quickly. I just want to say that when the DNR took over running Belli it was my hope and I believe the hope of many other Detroiters that the park would finally get the love and stewardship that it had sorely been lacking. And I think that anyone on this call would be hard pressed to argue that those hopes have not been realized. The newsboys shelter was a disappointing loss, but it was an understandable one. The loss of this dark triad Boat Club, however, would not be there is no question that this building is in need of considerable investment and repair. However, recent attention being drawn to this $54 million figure, especially in the press seems rather disingenuous. No one is expecting the state to invest that kind of taxpayer dollars into one single building, especially given all of the other needs on the island across the state. But at the same time, nobody is expecting a train station level renovation or restoration of this building. There are plenty of cheaper options available to make this building safe and usable for future generations of the traders and Michiganders. I think that the $16 million figure that has been put forth by other studies is a more reasonable starting point for this discussion. That is still a lot of scratch, but there are tons of dedicated volunteers and to traders like myself, who have already fought to save this building who are eager to help raise funds for this building put in the volunteer hours. Many Detroiters many Michiganders are more than ready and willing to stand with the DNR to help preserve this treasure. Please let's continue to have conversations. Let's do some more studies and assessments and figure out what number we are really working with here. And what can be done cheaper than the 54 million. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you, Mr. Austin. I believe you were the last person who wanted to speak. Is there anybody else who would like to be heard this morning that I've missed? Okay, with that we will close the public comment portion of the meeting. As mentioned at the top of the meeting, I was hoping to address my departure with you my wonderful community. I will depart the Belle Isle conservancy at the end of the month to serve as the president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity. Oakland. I will say I never saw myself leaving Belisle because I've not before felt so connected to an organization, its mission or its people. And many of you have heard me speak of you all as family and I truly mean that we are a family who loves Belle Isle and Belle Isle is a living part of that family. You know, we call her a she because she is that and that passion I think comes through today. So I've left her with my entire self and she's certainly part of my identity and the DNA of our community. So almost 11 years ago, I had the honor of linking arms with our founders here early. And since that we brought more than 16 and a half million dollars of impact to the table, most significantly, being the $6 million invested in the Belisle aquarium to bring it back to life and to keep it free and open to the public. It's the place where I like to call a lot of I'll never forget you moments happen because I've watched with my own eyes as the eyes of our young people are opened by our STEM education and other programming because of the amazing efforts of our teachers and our team. And then I get to see those same children tell those educators I'll never forget to you. That's the kind of impact that this family has. And those things happen regularly. We've helped keep our ecosystem healthy. We've managed our volunteer talent, and I hope you all know how significant that talent and that impact is some examples being our sunrise Sunday group of tank Scapers, who come in every Sunday at dawn to work on the tanks, our fog group which is our four old guys who are marvelous parts of our team. In fact, it's one of my first memories of the conservancy was seeing one of those four old guys pulling out a commode from its base in the Belle Isle aquarium on a 95 degree day and doing it with a smile to repair it. So our volunteers are truly amazing. We also serve as the voice of the community which is so important. And it's essential because everyone must know that this is their park and we are home to all and none of that happens without a rockstar team. That's been a pleasure to serve with the conservancy staff the DNR, the city of Detroit, our elected officials or foundations or funders, our volunteers, our board, our island stakeholders, our BiPAC team and partners and anyone who loves Belisle has been an honor to serve with. So thank you for being that best team. And now we need to look ahead and we have a new strategic plan to serve as that rudder. We have a committed board of directors and staff and we have mod lion, a name probably known to many of you who's been appointed as interim and will serve until a replacement is found. I would have liked to have continued serving at least for another year to complete the process of figuring out how we replace funding and how we re achieved that long term sustainability that is so important if this work is to continue. But it's difficult to precisely map out one's professional life much like and I probably shouldn't say this but much like you can't always predict when you're going to be pregnant. You just have to take the opportunity when it comes. So the opportunity and the opportunity to touch people when they need it most with Habitat. In it being an outstanding organization in and of itself was really hard to ignore. But when it gets down to it change is good. And I have every confidence in this team and this community to ensure the next chapter of this organization is the most riveting the most successful and the most prosperous to date, because our community deserves nothing less and I look forward to being able to celebrate from afar all of the successes that await as this next chapter unfolds. So thank you for the honor the for the honor of serving with you all and on behalf of our beautiful Belisle and this wonderful community. So with that adjournment would be in order. We can't actually do a motion, because we don't have a quorum. But nonetheless,
Speaker 2
Michelle, I think I have a comment. I don't know if Doug blood does as well. But two things. First of all, I want to compliment the DNR in the state of Michigan because they have never once made us feel secondary to what they're doing. They've never made the BiPAC feel secondary. The Detroiters feel secondary, the park users feel secondary. They've done a great job keeping us all involved and it's really been a great partnership. But as far as you're concerned, your guidance has just been unequaled in and your star shines brighter than ever. We wish you the best of luck. Belisle loves you and we all love you. Thank you
Speaker 6
Thank you, Michael. Well, well said Mike Yeah, I'm gonna show you this is a tough, tough, tough role you've you've undertaken for so many years. So many different, obviously disparate opinions about what happens at a park. The priorities of a park. The priorities of who were used as the park obviously vary so much by person and the passion. But one thing you've never lacked is the passion for fill out the passion for what's right. And a very difficult role. That you've had that you've accomplished very well. And I just want to be the my applauds. Sorry to see you leave, but if you're happy where you're going, obviously in a new opportunity that I'm I'm happy for you as well and everybody else should be happy for you too. So well done. You should be proud and you're not going away too far away. You'll still be a rapid user of Bell out Park. And I just want to say I'm grateful for your partnership, your leadership and also your friendship. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thank you and likewise button Michael, an honor to serve with your both your perfect gentleman who love Detroit and love Bella. Thank you for that. All right, well, I think it's time at 1052 we did manage to get in under our two hour mark. So I think this has been great discussion and we have our marching orders and we know what we need to do going forward. So let's carry on take care of bye bye. Thank you