PARKS & RECREATION

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PLAYGROUND REPLACEMENTS

As proposed in the Parks Improvement Millage approved by voters last November, the City is working with the EGR School District to replace the playground equipment at the three elementary schools. As part of this process, a community input session will be held at each elementary school to gather input from parents, caregivers, and other playground users. 

• Wealthy Elementary: Thursday, May 19, 6:30 p.m.
• Breton Elementary: Tuesday, May 24, 6:30 p.m.

Our playground consultant, MCSA Group, is also collecting input via an online survey. If you haven’t received a survey link from your school building yet, you can take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/egrplaygrounds (please take the survey only once).

The survey will be active through May 30, 2022. After that date, MCSA will use the feedback received from community members to design three concept plans for each elementary school playground. Additional sessions will be held in late summer to gather feedback on the preliminary designs.

MAY IS WATER SAFETY MONTH

May marks National Water Safety Month. The American Red Cross has excellent resources before you head out on the water this season.

EMMA COLE BOTANICAL INVENTORY

This summer, two faculty members and three students from Calvin University's Emma Cole Project will be performing botanical inventories in some of the parklands within the City. Emma Cole was a renowned botanist from West Michigan who published a 1901 volume entitled, Flora of Grand Rapids: A Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns Growing without Cultivation in the Grand Rapids Vicinity. For six years, Professors Garrett Crow and David Warners have been revisiting the sites that Cole described over 100 years ago to document which species have been lost, which remain, and which species are more recent arrivals. The team plans to conduct their inventory May-September.

The team will be writing up a formal report that will be submitted to the City for public viewing in the fall or winter. If you see the team while walking the trail at Hodenpyl Woods or along the shoreline of Reed's Lake, feel free to say hello and ask them about their study. Learn more about Emma Cole here and here.

CITY MANAGER & FINANCE DEPARTMENT

NEW VOTER IDENTIFICATION CARDS

The City will be mailing new voter registration cards to all registered voters in the next few weeks. This is required due to the renumbering of the legislative districts following the last Census redistricting. Voters don't need to take any action unless the information on the card is not correct. Call our office at 949-2110 with questions.

ASSESSOR'S OFFICE UPDATE

Deadline for filing a Homeowner’s Principal Residence Exemption Affidavit (PRE) is June 1, 2022. If you recently bought a home, you may qualify for this exemption. You can only claim the exemption on one home (in Michigan or any other state) and you must own and occupy by June 1. Most title companies have you complete this form at closing.

The initial request for Conditional Rescission of a Principal Residence Exemption form must be submitted to the assessor by June 1, 2022. This exemption enables a person who has purchased a home and reestablished their Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) to continue to have the reduced school operating millage on the home they are in the process of selling. An owner may receive a PRE on the previous principal residence for up to three years if that property is for sale, is not rented or leased and is not used for any business or commercial purpose.

Contact the assessor’s office at (616) 940-4818 or email shayes@eastgr.org for additional information.

PUBLIC WORKS

NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS WEEK

May 15-21 is recognized as National Public Works Week. The City's Public Works Department partnered with the EGR Kent District Library Branch on May 19 for a storytime event followed by touch-a-truck in the parking lot north of the library. Thank you to all of the community members who came out and supported the event.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Street and sidewalk projects are underway for the 2022 construction season. To learn more about street, sidewalk and utility projects and to receive frequent updates, visit the construction updates webpage.

DOG WASTE DISPOSAL

Please be respectful of your neighbors by picking up your pet's waste and properly disposing of it in your own trash receptacles. Do not place your pet's waste in your neighbor's bins while out on a walk. Additionally, do not place pet waste in yard waste bins.

TREES AND SHRUBS: TRIMMING REMINDER 

City code prohibits trees and shrubs from obstructing public ways and clear vision areas. With spring upon us, residents are asked to ensure their trees and shrubs are clear from impeding over sidewalks. The required height for clearance over sidewalk is 10 feet. Clear vision areas at street corners may not have plant height in excess of 30 inches in 20-foot by 20-foot triangle areas adjacent to street corners. Properly maintaining trees and shrubs adjacent to sidewalks and streets helps keep pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists safe. 

TALL GRASS

City code allows for a maximum height limit of grass at 5 inches.  

BOATS, TRAILERS AND RVs

Outdoor storage of boats, trailers and RVs is allowed for up to 72 hours on streets and driveways. Otherwise, they must be stored indoors or in a rear yard only. They also must be reasonably shielded from view. Not all properties are capable of accommodating such storage, so you may need offsite storage for your recreational unit.

MOBILITY/BIKE ACTION PLAN: DEMONSTRATION AND ENGAGEMENT PILOT

The Department of Public Works will be installing temporary bike route signs and pavement markings for two demonstration engagement pilot project areas on Alexander Road from the west City limit to Plymouth Road and York Drive/Lake Grove Avenue from Berwyck Road to Lake Drive in May-June. Read more about the Mobility Bike Action Plan here.

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