KIDS CREEK RESTORATION

ELEVENTH STREET CULVERT

At their July 21, 2025 meeting, the City Commission will consider accepting a grant subaward for the next phase of the Kids Creek Restoration Project. This grant is part of a $550,000 Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Nonpoint Source grant secured by The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay (TWC), with the City committing a $50,000 in-kind match for design services and approximately $150,000 toward construction.

The focus of this phase is the replacement of an undersized and misaligned culvert at the Eleventh Street crossing of Kids Creek. This critical improvement will restore natural stream flow and improve aquatic habitat, helping advance the ultimate goal of removing Kids Creek from Michigan’s Impaired Waters List.

About the Kids Creek Restoration Project

Since 2013, TWC has partnered with the City and other local organizations on implementing the Kids Creek Restoration Project to reduce stormwater impacts, restore stream function, and protect water quality in the Grand Traverse Bay watershed. Past accomplishments include:

• Replacing multiple undersized culverts on Kids Creek (including on Cedar Street, 6th Street, and with pedestrian bridges) to improve flow and habitat.
• Restoring floodplains and riparian buffers, daylighting segments of Kids Creek tributaries, and installing green infrastructure such as rain gardens, infiltration trenches, and pervious pavement to reduce stormwater runoff.
• Managing over $9 million in grant and private funding to install best management practices that have kept thousands of tons of sediment and nutrients out of local waterways.

These efforts have already made significant progress in stabilizing the stream, reducing flooding and erosion, and improving conditions for fish and macroinvertebrates.

Construction on this next phase is expected to begin in Spring/Summer 2026 following final design and permitting.

PUBLIC RESTROOMS OPEN FRIDAY

WEST END BEACH & VOLLEYBALL COURTS

The new restroom facilities at West End Beach and the Volleyball Courts are now open. Hours will be 7 am to 11 pm.

The new facilities are fabricated with high strength precast concrete to meet all local building codes with design options, meet A.D.A., and to withstand heavy snow, high wind and category E seismic loads. All concrete construction also makes the buildings easy to maintain and withstand the rigors of vandalism.

In 2022, the City was awarded a $200,500 Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant to replace the bathroom facility at West End Beach and construct a new facility at the RB Parking Lot adjacent to the volleyball courts. A 50% match of $200,500 was required from the City.

TELL US ABOUT PARKS: PART ONE

FIVE YEAR PARKS & RECREATION MASTER PLAN SURVEY

The City is preparing a ballot proposal for November 2025 that would allocate $3 million from the Brown Bridge Trust Fund to enhance portions of our 34 City parks. Your voice is essential to ensure this investment reflects the community’s highest priorities.

This new proposal follows previous voter-approved authorizations in 2014 and 2019 to use Brown Bridge Trust Fund dollars for park capital improvements and land acquisition. The dollars do not include maintenance, which is under general fund dollars for the parks. The most recent authorization expired on November 4, 2024.

To help shape the potential project list, we’re conducting two surveys:

Idea Generation Survey – Launches July 7 - 25, 2025

• This is a quick survey and should only take about 5 minutes to complete.
• Take the Survey

Prioritization Survey – Launches August 11 - 29, 2025

• Subscribe for a Survey Reminder

The surveys will focus on three key categories:

1. Access to Parks – Safe sidewalks, crossings, and connectivity
2. Park Improvements – Facilities, recreation spaces, and amenities
3. Land Acquisition – Facilities, recreation spaces, and amenities

This first survey gathers ideas from the public. It builds upon:

• Feedback from nearly 300 community members in Winter 2025
• Recommendations from the Parks and Recreation Commission
• Input from the Hickory Hills Advisory Committee
• City staff assessments

TELL US ABOUT PARKS: PART TWO

FIVE YEAR PARKS & RECREATION MASTER PLAN SURVEY

The City is updating its Parks and Recreation Master Plan. This plan will help guide the City as it develops and improves its parks and recreation system over the next five years.

The City’s current plan is set to expire at the end of 2025. In order to remain eligible for grant opportunities, an approved five-year plan must be submitted to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources by February 1, 2026.

Parks & Recreation Master Plan Survey

Input is being sought for parks and recreation priorities over the next five years. This survey will take about 15-20 minutes to complete.

Take the Parks & Recreation Master Plan Survey

UNION STREET ZONING AMENDMENT

Following a recommendation from the Planning Commission, and introduction at the July 7, 2025 City Commission meeting, an ordinance amendment will be considered for possible enactment by the City Commission at the July 21, 2025 meeting. The amendment proposed to rezone the 300 and 400 blocks of S. Union Street in the Old Towne District from C-2: Neighborhood Center District to C-4a: Regional Center District. This proposal was prompted by a rezoning application for the properties at 418 and 420 S. Union Street.

The key difference between the existing C-2 zoning and the proposed C-4a designation is the requirement for residential units in taller buildings. Under C-2 zoning, buildings can be constructed up to 45 feet, but any structure over 30 feet must include at least one story of residential housing. The C-4a zoning district removes this requirement, allowing taller buildings without a mandatory residential component.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OPEN HOUSE

Join the City and Jacobs Engineering for a public open house at the Traverse City Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Facility on Friday, August 1, 2025, from 10 am to 12:30 pm.  

Tour-goers will follow the path of wastewater as it travels through the treatment process to remove pollutants, and protect the waterway. Attendees will learn how and what microorganisms remove organic matter, the role membrane filtration plays, how biogas produced during digestion is recycled as an energy source, what happens to the solids during and after treatment, and more.

Plant tours will be provided on the half hour, with the last tour departing at 12:30 pm.

Tour Requirements

• Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult
• All participants must wear close-toed shoes
• Hard hats and safety glasses are required and will be provided
• For security purposes, photos are not permitted
• Tour may not be suitable for children under 6

LOT B

PAY-BY-PLATE

The public should be aware that Parking Lot B at Cass Street and Grandview Parkway is now pay-by-plate. Previously, a space number was required.

Learn About Parking

IMAGINE ROTARY SQUARE SURVEY

The DDA has launched their third survey for the “Imagine Rotary Square” initiative.

Take the Survey

ONLINE POLICE AUCTION

The TCPD will have their online auction for recovered/unclaimed bikes and other miscellaneous items beginning July 18, 2025. The auction will run for 10 days.

Access Auction

WATER SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT

WEEK OF JULY 21ST

Michigan's 2017 Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) designates galvanized water services as lead service lines if they "are or ever were" connected to a lead gooseneck, requiring utilities to pay for replacing private water services from the curb stop to the building. Lead goosenecks, installed before the mid-1940s, are 3-foot lead pipes used between the brass connection to the water main and a galvanized pipe.

The City has since installed copper services and has no known fully lead service lines. Not all private galvanized lines need replacement; those originally connected to City-owned copper services don't require replacement. The water service line replacement project started in May 2025 and is anticipated to be completed in fall 2025.

Week of July 21st Locations

The week of July 21st, the project will be conducted on the 100 and 200 blocks of S. Elmwood, the 600 and 800 blocks of W. Front, the 600 block of Randolph, and the 600 block of Second. The work will cause sidewalk and intermittent street closures. The work along W. Front Street will result in a lane closure and traffic shift.

PUBLIC BEACH

MONITORING & TESTING

The Environmental Health Division of the Grand Traverse County Health Department works closely with the City of Traverse City, Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, and the Traverse City State Park to ensure the health and safety of several public beaches in Grand Traverse County.

The Watershed Center administers grants from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to sample surface water from swim areas of the beaches. The water samples are analyzed for E. coli, a relatively harmless organism that may indicate the possible presence of harmful pathogenic microorganisms.

The Beach Monitoring Dashboard is updated weekly on Thursdays. If any beaches report a "Level 2" or higher, those specific beaches will then be resampled. Resample results will be available and published 24 hours later.

On Thursday, July 17, 2025, Sunset Park was reported at a Level 3, no body contact, and several additional beaches within the City were reported at a level 2, partial body contact. The beaches will be resampled with results issued on Friday, July 18, 2025.