Parks board elects Foster chair, names Ava vice chair during routine meeting

The Big Rapids Parks Board elected Foster as its chair and named Ava vice chair during its regular meeting. The board conducted a voice vote after a short nomination discussion and recorded verbal ayes with no opposition announced.

The change in leadership followed a discussion of the board charter and customary timing for officer selection. One board member read the charter provision that "no member shall serve as chairperson for more than 3 consecutive years," prompting members to note the need to follow the charter's timing for officer elections. Speaker 2 said the intent was to follow the charter and noted, "I will only serve as chair until September, at which point we can readdress it." (Speaker identification is per the meeting record; several participants spoke without a full name provided in the transcript.)

Minutes from the prior meeting were corrected after a member pointed out they were listed as absent despite attending; the board approved the minutes with a motion (mover and seconder recorded in the minutes) and verbal assent. Board members also discussed how officer terms have been handled previously and agreed to revisit the schedule at the next regular cycle.

The board asked members to indicate committee preferences so staff can assemble four-person committees to avoid creating quorum problems under the Open Meetings Act. Staff said it would circulate committee descriptions and requested members prioritize which committees they wish to serve on.

The meeting adjourned after routine business. The board did not release detailed vote tallies in the transcript; where vote counts were not stated, the record shows voice votes and verbal ayes only.