MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Meridian Township has been able to successfully maintain and make improvements to 28 of the surrounding parks ever since the township was granted a one-third mill 30 years ago, in 1894.

With costs rising, grant money and millage funds are running low, forcing the township to propose a $6 million Park Millage project to update and maintain all of the existing parks in Meridian Township.

The Meridian Township Park System covers more than 900 acres of land on 28 different sites. A decent amount of land provides also for both bicycle and pedestrian pathways. The Park Millage is the system, which funds the maintenance and upkeep for these recreational parks.

Whether or not the Park Millage gets approved, is in the hands of the voters, who will be faced with this measure on the election ballot on August 5, 2014.

The township is asking for a two-thirds mill that will run for about 10 years, generating about one million dollars a year. If approved, this will result in an increase in taxpayer dollars from $33 a year, to $67 a year.

Since 1984, the park system has grown over three times the size it was, making it costly to maintain amenities within the parks such as bicycle trails, play structures, athletic fields, etc

The Park Millage will help to not only provide funding to maintain these parks, but potentially add-on to them, by responding to the wants and needs from the community and the Five-Year Master Plan.

Meridian Township Park Commission Vice Chair, Teri Banas, said due to the overwhelming amount of feedback from the community from neighborhood surveys, more than 70 percent of township residents said they would be willing to support an increased millage.

"We have a community that we hope will be growing in the future and we want our parks system to improve and be better available for everybody," Banas said.