The Mecosta County Parks Commission is looking forward to the new year. The Commission held it's final meeting of 2016 on Tuesday and noted progress on a number of initiatives.

Plans to begin improvements on the boat launch at Brower Park were approved and installations of the new septic system at School Section Lake Veterans Park, installation of WIFI at Brower Park, and a new web site among other projects and improvements are on track.

Park Superintendent Jeff Able says Mecosta County's parks are getting a reputation.

“Coming off two great years in a row. We had a very good 2015, a lot of people in the parks and that equates to a lot of revenue that we're able to turn back in and we're having an even better 2016 than we had 2015.”

And, he says, the future looks bright.

“The reservations as far as seasonals that we have on the books for 2017 are very promising that we're going to continue the trend of getting busier and busier and hopefully the improvements we're making are part of the return of the clientele that we're seeing.”

Abel notes that revenues this year compared to the same time last year are up $104,000 and last year was a record breaking year.