Woods tables request to restore
Lake Front Park winter hours

What started two weeks ago as a cordial exchange about winter hours at Lake Front Park took a turn at this week’s Grosse Pointe Woods City Council meeting. 

Woods resident Chris Cassidy read a statement detailing his disappointment with the council and the results of the Citizens Recreation Commission meeting.

Cassidy stated that he had concerns about the park’s sudden change in closing time, from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m., and changed again to 9 p.m., as well as the reasons given for the change. Cassidy and others had been playing basketball in the evening at the activities building, and said the 8 p.m. closing was too early.

Cassidy said he had been initially told it was not a budget issue, and assumed the hours had been changed because of security concerns.

But at the commission meeting he was told by the same representative that it was indeed a budget issue, he added.

While addressing the council, Cassidy asked that they explain why they “have a premier park and are going to limit its access. That has no logic and if we cannot afford this Cadillac, then I believe the citizens deserve proof, facts and data.”

Mayor Robert Novitke said that the council may have acted prematurely and that in retrospect they should have had more input. Novitke put a motion on the floor for further study and discussion at the next committee-of-the-whole meeting and the council decided to keep the hours as they are until they go to committee.

Cassidy said that he was disappointed with the decision.

“Is it a budget issue, is it not a budget issue? Is it a security issue? Who’s going to run this study? If (the recreation commission) is going to run the study, I question it because they made all of the changes.”

“We thought it was a minor issue,” said Councilman Arthur Bryant, “but sometimes you have to change gears and suddenly realize that it means more to somebody-- you know, a small item than a big item.”

In other business, the council:

• thanked the Grosse Pointe Questers organization, which donated $2,400 to the Woods Historical Commission on behalf of its current school house preservation project;
• approved a resolution to authorize an issuance of bond anticipation notes; and
• made a motion was made to request that the mayor be authorized to sign an application on behalf of University Liggett School to allow the building department to complete work at the school.

• Login or register to post comments
• Printer-friendly version
• Send to friend