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Park board recommends two volunteers for 2025 citizen recognition awards
Summary
The Park and Recreation Board recommended that the city commission recognize two volunteers — Beth Haye, who helped launch a competitive swim program, and a volunteer from the Muskegon River Watershed who worked on Clay Cliffs restoration — and voted to include both names in the minutes submitted to the city commission.
The Big Rapids Park and Recreation Board voted to recommend that the city commission recognize two volunteers for the 2025 citizen recognition awards.
Parks staff described the award as "an acknowledgement ... for their volunteer efforts" and named two nominees: Beth Haye, who launched a competitive swim program at the city pool last season, and Don, a volunteer who assisted the Muskegon River Watershed’s second-phase restoration and slope-stabilization work at Clay Cliffs. Staff said the Clay Cliffs work was completed and noted the watershed project had used grant funding; staff could not provide a precise hour count for each volunteer at the meeting.
Board members discussed precedent for naming multiple recipients and whether it made sense to wait another year if a nominee planned to continue expanding a program. Several members said past years have included two recipients and that recognizing both this year would yield two trees planted under the city’s long-standing Tree City USA program. After a voice vote the chair summarized the result as "four out of five" in favor of the chosen option.
A member moved that the board recommend both names to the city commission for the 2025 citizen-recognition award; another member seconded and the motion was approved by voice vote. Board members asked staff to include the recommendation in the minutes submitted to the city commission.
The board did not record a detailed roll-call tally in the transcript. Staff said they would confirm nomination details and include them in the official packet to the city commission.
