Oak Park council approves tree-survey invoice, Tyler Park drainage change order and brownfield reimbursement agreement

Oak Park’s council signed off on several infrastructure and redevelopment items on April 6: a reimbursable street-tree inventory, a change order to address unforeseen drainage at Tyler Park, and a revised brownfield reimbursement agreement for the Barton Mallow redevelopment.

Director Kim Maroney said Davie Resource Group of Kent, Ohio completed a survey of about 12,000 street trees and that the project will provide species, size and condition data through a staff-accessible app. She said the survey is fully reimbursable by a Michigan state grant and that the city plans a short presentation to council when the maintenance plan is complete.

On parks work, staff said excavation at Tyler Park revealed the water-main elevation required changing the drainage approach; the council approved a leaching system (corrugated perforated pipe) recommended by Spalding de Decker and the city’s municipal-services staff. Staff said costs on the city side are less complex than the school-district side; a phased implementation with potential phase two pending additional funding was discussed.

On brownfields, Director Maroney summarized revisions to a reimbursement agreement for Barton Mallow: the updated draft incorporated statutory language requested by the developer’s attorneys, clarified that only eligible brownfield costs are reimbursable, and estimated the overall investment at about $28,000,000 with reimbursements potentially spread over approximately 26 years depending on incremental tax capture and eligible costs; council approved the revised agreement and a letter of support to EGLE.

What’s next: staff to complete the tree-inventory maintenance plan and presentation, finalize Tyler Park construction work under the approved change order, and implement the brownfield reimbursement agreement consistent with eligible brownfield costs and tax-increment revenue flows.