Youth and Rec committee releases allocations and projects list for 2023

ALPENA -- The Alpena Plaza Pool and the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan are slated to receive the largest chunk of the 2023 Alpena County Youth and Recreation funding in 2023.

Overall, the Alpena County Youth and Recreation Committee allocated $564,800 toward 29 projects. In all, there were $657,862 in funding requests.

The money for the projects comes from a four-year, 0.5-mill tax in Alpena County. The allocation for next year is the first since the millage renewal was approved by voters in August.

A list of the allocations and projects was released by Youth and Rec Chairman Tony Suszek on Thursday.

The Alpena County Board of Commissioners still needs to approve the grant funding recommendation from the committee before the money is forwarded to the recipients.

The largest check to be cut is for $90,000 to the Plaza Pool for operations. The pool has struggled financially for years and the local tax has helped keep the doors open.

The museum is slated to receive $75,000 toward a large-scale improvement project to upgrade exhibits and make them more interactive, especially for children. The total cost of the project will be around $1.5 million and could take two years to complete.

Museum Executive Director Christine Witulski said on Thursday that more details about the project will be released soon.

Suszek said it has been about 50 years since there were major improvements to the museum and that the committee believes investing in it is worthwhile and exciting.

"The exhibits will be reworked and allow for people to interact with them," Suszek said. "This type of thing is only done once every 50 years and we wanted to be a partner in that, because the museum is very important to families and especially kids."

Some of the other large allocations include $45,000 to the Girls Scouts of MI Shore to Shore for renovations at Camp Woodlands on Indian Reserve Road. The committee approved the funding that the facility would be shared with other residents in the county.

"They assured us that if others wanted to use it, they could," Suzek said.

The Wolf Creek Park Commission, Alpena Huron Shore Little League, and Michigan State Extension are all slated to receive grants of $40,000 next year.

The money for the park is for improvements, while the baseball league will update fences at Reynolds Field. MSU will use the funding for youth programming.

Over the last decade, the youth and recreation committee has voted to allocate substantial amounts of money to improve the three county owned campgrounds -- Long Lake Park, Sunken Lake Campgrounds, and Beaver Lake Campground.

Now, Suszek said the committee wants to make investments into the day-use areas in the parks, which are open to residents whether they are camping or not.

For this round of allocations, Long Lake Park will receive $10,000 for upgrades to the day-use area.

"We have invested a lot into the campground sides of the parks, so doing the same for the day-use area is important too because everyone has the right to use them," Suszek said. "We have told the park managers that they will not get another dime until they address those day use areas and improve them."

The City of Alpena is also in line to receive a grant.

It is slated to receive $15,000 to use to help cover the cost of the playground equipment at Mich-e-ki-wis Park. The city asked for $35,000.

Unlike years past, Alpena Public Schools has asked for little funding to help support local athletics. Susek said the school system is in a stronger financial position than the last handful of years, which led to it taking more of the financial responsibility.

During talks with APS, Superintendent Dave Rabbideau told Suszek and the committee the school is better positioned to invest more into its extracurricular activities.

"It's great because it shows the school system is better off than what it was," Suzek said. "We worked with the superintendent and he said the school system is able to take over some of the things youth and rec. has helped fund."

The tax was initially approved in 2010 and has invested many millions of dollars into local art, recreation, and athletic programs and facilities.

Some of those, like the pool and Michigan State Extension, likely wouldn't exist any longer if not for the financial assistance the millage provides. Suszek said other counties have taken notice of the improvements made possible from the generosity of the voters, and have inquired for more details so they can attempt to do the same in their communities.

"Cheboygan and several other counties have reached out to me and they look very favorably at what Alpena County has been able to do," he said. "They are asking for all of the details, like, how do we give out the money and about the decision making process. They want to set it up like we have."

The property tax costs the owner of a $100,000 house about $25 a year and would raise about $493,000 a year to support grants administered through the Youth and Rec Committee for a variety of programs and organizations serving young people and the public.

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