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April 2001 Status Report
It is my pleasure to once again submit my monthly status report for your review and information. If you should have any questions or if I failed to discuss an item in this report that you would like additional information about, please do not hesitate to contact me.
1. Wastewater Treatment Plant
Dave Goffnett tells me that they have begun the earth moving for the project. He anticipates that this will take approximately ten days to two weeks to complete before they begin construction. We will, of course, keep you informed of the status of this project.
2. Fire Funding
As you may recall from previous status reports, we are attempting once again to get additional money put in the State's fire reimbursement budget. The Senate included in its budget an additional $2 million statewide. The House is now considering the budget and it is hoped they will keep the $2 million in the budget. We are attempting to schedule another lobbying trip to Lansing next week. Locally, the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce recently passed a resolution in support of our efforts. Cindy Hales has also talked to other chamber directors to see if we could get a more broad-based lobbying effort underway. As you can see, we are aggressively moving forward on this issue.
3. SmartZone
As you know, we have now been officially designated as a SmartZone. There still remains a considerable amount of work that must be completed before the project is in place. This includes holding our first LDFA meeting, adoption of the LDFA Plan, and obtaining the $2 million loan from the Community Initiatives Grant. While we still have quite a bit of work to do, we are quite pleased that we have now received the official designation and can move forward with the project.
4. Continuation Of Goal-Setting
Just a reminder that we have scheduled May 9th for our continued discussion about neighborhood issues. The meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. and will be held at the Mt. Pleasant Country Club. As you will recall, this is to be just a half-day session, so we should be done by noon or shortly thereafter.
5. Liaison Meetings
Our most recent liaison meeting was with Central Michigan University. I have attached the minutes from that meeting for your information. Our next meeting with Chris Petras from the Tribe and the County is scheduled for the 24th. I will report the results of that meeting to you in my next status report.
6. Public Safety Building
As you know from a previous report to you, the bids for this project came in over budget. Both Bill Yeagley and the architect have been working with the bidders to see how we can reduce the cost of the project. It will probably be two or three weeks yet before we receive any final numbers for the project. We will keep you informed.
7. Project 2000 Tax Case
As you may recall from my previous status report, we have now been told that it will be fall before we have a hearing on this case. I also indicated that we will attempt to set up a meeting sometime this summer with the Attorney General handling this case to see if it can be resolved. Since it may be a few more months before there is any movement on this case, I will not report on it further until I have something new to report.
8. Project 2000
There is really not much new to report on Project 2000. We still have ten acres available for sale in Industrial Park-South. There has been one party who expressed an interest, and we continue discussions with that individual, but there is nothing to report at this point in time. Mr. Konwinski will start construction shortly on his new building in the park. Mr. Hofer is continuing to build homes in both the Welcome Homes and Plains Subdivisions. I am attempting to set up a meeting with the Property Committee next week to talk about the issue of deed restrictions.
9. Park Improvements
As you know, we have a very ambitious $1.5 million park improvement project underway, which includes repaving of Lincoln Street, reconstruction of the road in Nelson Park, and the bike/pedestrian path connecting all of our parks. Construction has now begun, both in Island Park and Nelson Park, and will continue throughout the summer. Construction will resume shortly on the East Side Playground.
10. Dam Grant
You authorized the submission of a new grant application for the removal of the dam on the river. We were able to submit the grant application before the deadline, and now all we can do is wait to hear whether or not our application will be successful.
11. Capital Improvement Projects
As you know, we have taken bids for some of our projects, and Duane Ellis will be reporting on the status of these projects in his Capital Projects Status Report.
12. City-CMU Student Liaison Committee
The Committee met on the 17th. It was the last meeting of this school year. When I have a little more time I will prepare a summary of the work of the Committee and its recommendations.
13. Council Of Governments
The most recent meeting was held on April 18th. The items of discussion were county library funding and the implementation of the new tax reversion system. Since this report was prepared prior to the meeting, I will not be able to discuss the specifics of the discussion until my next status report.