Benton Harbor City Commissioners have approved an agreement with Harbor Shores to repair some of the facilities at Jean Klock Park.
Commissioners were told Monday that under the arrangement, Harbor Shores will provide up to $40,000 in interest-free funding for a variety of repairs that the city can’t afford at this time. Mayor Marcus Muhammad said some of them will be to the boardwalk.
“It’s been severely damaged, which is causing really a hazard situation for pedestrians as well as people maybe on bikes or what have you,” Muhammad said. “Any motor vehicle, which it shouldn’t be there, but it’s hazardous. So that will be repaired. We have issues with the bathrooms.”
Work will also be done on some benches. lift stations, and the concessions area.
Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment’s Chris Cook was on hand for the meeting, and Commissioner Ethel Clark Griffin said based on past experience involving the park, she has no problem with what Harbor Shores has proposed.
“All that work that you’ve seen done, that’s just getting done over the years — those new grills, the boardwalk, the signs, the benches — that’s because I’ve been communicating with Chris,” Clark Griffin said.
Jean Klock Park is in Clark Griffin’s ward.
Under the arrangement approved Monday, the city agrees to pay the funds back to Harbor Shores by July of next year, either as a credit against what Harbor Shores pays yearly to the city, through cash, or through a combination of the two. Commissioner Juanita Henry voted against the agreement.
