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Mount Clemens approves fiscal sponsorship with Advancing Macomb for Shadyside Park water feature
Summary
The commission approved a fiscal sponsorship allowing Advancing Macomb to receive and administer grant funds — including a $75,000 Kaboom Foundation award — to build an artistic water feature at Shadyside Park. The city will manage construction and the grant will cover early maintenance; final design, location and additional fundraising remain pending.
The Mount Clemens City Commission on March 1 approved a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the nonprofit Advancing Macomb to accept and manage grants for a proposed artistic water feature at Shadyside Park.
Diane Banks, executive director of Advancing Macomb, told the commission the group has been awarded $75,000 from the Kaboom Foundation and is pursuing additional funding to reach an estimated project cost of $215,000. Banks said the project is “not a traditional splash pad” but an artistically designed interactive water feature. She said the grant and fundraising plan include about $36,000 in maintenance funds for the first three years and that the city should not need to cover capital costs; the city would manage construction and the fiscal sponsor would retain a fee equal to 10% of grant funds.
“The Kaboom Foundation awarded us $75,000,” Banks said, adding that Advancing Macomb intends to raise the balance from donors, civic groups and corporate partners and to work with the city and community to finalize the location and design.
Commissioners asked for clarification about ongoing operating costs and site safety. One commissioner urged that the feature be sited farther from Gratiot Avenue — a three‑lane thoroughfare — to reduce risk to children who will run and play nearby. City staff responded that the exact location and final design will be determined after infrastructure feasibility studies and community input and that maintenance beyond the grant-supported first three years would be paid from a recreational budget the city plans to establish.
The motion to approve the fiscal sponsorship agreement was made by Commissioner Hammond and seconded by Commissioner Fournier; the roll call vote carried. After approval, Banks said Advancing Macomb plans to issue a request for proposals for construction once fundraising and site decisions are finalized and that the grant reporting deadline from Kaboom requires timely fundraising and deliverables.
Public comment in support of the project included long‑time resident Thomas Barnes, whose youth‑mentoring organization earlier received a separate $5,000 bank grant for field resurfacing at Shadyside Park. Residents also urged the commission to consider restroom facilities and ongoing maintenance as the project moves toward design.
Next steps: Banks said Advancing Macomb will continue fundraising with the intent to have funds available before construction begins this summer, subject to site feasibility, and will release grant funds to the city for construction and the agreed maintenance period.
