ESCANABA — After just over a year of working for the county, Delta County Parks Manager Steve Wery has announced his resignation. His last day will be June 13.

Wery previously managed the county’s parks as an employee of the Delta Conservation District, a role he held for roughly a decade. While he was technically hired by the county in 2023, his management of the parks for the county effectively began in January of 2024, following the end of a contract with the conservation district for parks management and the retirement of Former Delta County Conservation District CEO Rory Mattson.

Wery was present at Tuesday’s Delta County Board of Commissioners meeting but did not speak on his intent to resign beyond saying the “parks are in good shape.”

Multiple members of the board of commissioners and Delta County Clerk Nancy Przewrocki thanked Wery and spoke highly of his work, particularly his role in improving the parks during his time with the county and conservation district.

“We saw the very, very bad condition that the parks were in and the little use that they were getting because they were in such bad condition,” said Przewrocki, recalling a tour of the parks she took prior to the conservation district’s management. “And it was Steve Wery with a lot of work — and Rory, with a lot of work — that brought these parks back to what they are now — not even back. They brought them way better than they ever were.”

Commissioner Kelli van Ginhoven raised questions about whether or not there would be an overlapping period between Wery’s last day and the start of his yet-unknown replacement taking the reigns to allow for Wery to train the new hire. While the county board and County Administrator Ashleigh Young all expressed support for a training period, the issue must be sussed out by the finance and personnel committees.

“Finance is going to have to look at whether we can afford to overlap them or not,” said Commissioner Christine Williams.

The board approved issuing Wery a lump sump payout and a letter thanking him for his service.

Wery’s resignation announcement came exactly a month after the commissioners voted to delay a day use project at O.B. Fuller Park until after the county’s five-year recreation plan is completed. The day use has been something of a sore spot for the county for a number of years, as the county has grappled with how to reintroduce day use areas to the park in order to bring the park back in compliance with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund grant that was used to purchase the parkland in 1987.

In early February of 2024, Wery approached the county commissioners with a plan to build a pavilion, playground, parking area, and boardwalk at O.B. Fuller Park as a way of reintroducing permanent day-use facilities. The plan was met with public backlash, as the original location for the pavilion was to be constructed in an area known to be a wetland and was not near the beach.

After multiple discussions and a site visit from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), a new site was found Aug. 22, 2024, which would have moved the project to a wooded area adjacent to the southern side of a portion of the park’s northern loop, more than 100-feet the Lake Michigan shoreline according to the county’s official GIS mapping. The Trust Fund, however, has continued to push for the day use area to be relocated at the end of the loop drive, near the Bark River and the beach.

The decision to delay the project until after the five-year recreation plan is completed was made for two primary reasons. First, the lack of a five-year recreation plan meant the county was out of compliance with all trust fund projects. Second, the delay meant there would be more time for public input on the project.

The county is currently working on the recreation plan. It is expected to be completed by Feb. 5, 2026.