MML Review Magazine Fall 2026

SPARK TO PARK

And so, the County agreed to sell the site to the City to develop a nature park and walking trail, courtesy of what would eventually be a $983,500 Spark Grant. EGLE’s delineation of the site took about four months in the spring of 2025, carefully guiding the plans for a mile-long loop of paved walking paths through elevated areas that didn’t encroach upon any marshes. “A walking trail is a little less invasive,” says Mason. “It’s a lot less impactful on the area. So, I think they were all in favor of the idea.” Plans were completed in November, and when things finally dried up in the spring, construction began. “The crux of this grant is [the DNR] wanted the community involved,” says Mason. “They wanted the community’s thoughts and desires to be reflected in what we did.” City staff wrote up surveys, mailing and emailing them out to every mailing list they had. For his part, Mason brought a few dozen donuts to a Saturday morning basketball activity at one of the local schools, where his grandchildren were playing. “I set up a table, and I had my surveys there, and I just sat there as parents were coming in with their kids for basketball,” he says. “I told them we were looking at building a park and wondered what kind of things they might like to see in it.”

One of the most requested amenities for the upcoming park was a sledding hill for the winter months—something flat, farmland-heavy Standish lacked. Mason and Mayor Kevin King decided to concentrate all the dirt that had been moved to build the walking trails into a 20-foot-high pile just off the south side of the walking loop. In the winter, snow that’s been removed from the walking trails will be packed on top of it for kids and families to use. The excavation worker in charge of it, from Beaverton-based Wilcox Contracting, collaborated with a friend who runs the ski hill Snow Snake to properly build and level the hill. The City and EGLE erected educational signage along the walking trails discussing the ecology of wetlands, invasive species, and the different birds of prey that might be spotted circling above. Diane Morley of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe was heavily involved in promoting the park. “They want to do some more signage, some more stuff for the native plants, native species and stuff like that,” says Mason. “[Morley is] very, very involved in our community, fundraising—you name it, Diane’s involved in it.” “They’re unbelievably supportive of our area—the Chippewa tribe,” he adds. “They really are fantastic.”

Standish Nature Trail and Park ribbon-cutting ceremony. Pictured left to right are Justin Fleszar, council member; Dennis Whitney, president of the Chamber of Commerce; Brad Mason, city manager; Kevin King, mayor; Melody Lincoln, city council member; and Jeff Link, mayor pro tem.

28 |

| Fall 2026