The plan will look at potential future projects, a private company will be hired to help
EAST JORDAN, MI -- Leaders in East Jordan are launching a plan to make their community a destination location.
They say right now, most people head to neighboring Charlevoix or Boyne City, leaving their community often passed by.
They want that to change.
City leaders want to create a Recreational Master Plan, which means defining several projects that will make East Jordan more attractive to tourists and families looking to move to the area.
This is a process they go through every five years and this time, they're stepping things up.
They've hired a private firm and want community help.
"I’m old enough, old enough to be a senior citizen," laughed Bruce Woodcock.
Bruce Woodcock is the veteran barber of East Jordan. He’s still cutting hair at the established age of 86. He says he's an East Jordanian at heart, but there's always been something missing.
“We were always looked at as the town that doesn't do anything, that's not advancing," he said.
Bob Anderson took the reigns as the new East Jordan City Administrator just last year. He says when he moved to the area, he noticed all of the great recreational potential.
"If we can develop our resources and make them attractive, I think for economic purposes, it's a really good idea," Anderson said.
And that's why he's focusing on this Recreation Master Plan alongside Parks Director Tom Cannon.
“We would like to have our community heavily involved in the process," said Cannon.
Cannon says the current plan is coming to an end.
“The DNR requires what they call a five year community recreation plan, and that plan has to be on file at the DNR offices," Cannon explained.
The work has begun for the new plan. The hope is to create a better blue-print of the future of recreation in East Jordan. For example, one thing the city would like to do is drudge out the sediment and reopen the small-craft marina that has been shut down. But this time, they want residents to be more involved, and that's why they've hired a private firm to help.
“We're going to spend some money here, we're going to plan well, and hopefully in the future, that will work for us economically," said Anderson.
The city plans to spend $6,000 to $11,000 to hire a firm to take all ideas into consideration and draft a more defined plan. The firm will also work to find grants and funding for potential projects. All of this done to help develop East Jordan.
“It's going to improve, all for the better, it's going to take a little work, you know," said Woodcock.
The plan is important because if the city plans to seek recreational funding in the next five years, it has to be detailed in this report.
The city says with the economy, the Recreation Master Plan will focus on practical projects.
But since it is a five year plan and there could be more funding available in the next few years, it will also include the larger projects.
The city plan to hire the firm in the next few weeks.
