 |
|
April 2004 Status Report
It is my pleasure to submit my status report for your review and information. If I failed to discuss an item that you would like additional information on, please do not hesitate to contact me. As you know, these items are not listed in any particular order.
1. Traffic Control Orders
The City has issued six temporary traffic control orders as follows:
#1-04: Install "No Parking - 8 A.M. To 3:00 P.M." sign on the south side of Crescent Drive between Meadow and Highland Streets.
#2-04: Change signage to allow parking on the east side of Glen Street.
#3-04: Install "No Parking Here To Corner" sign on northwest corner of Glen and Hopkins Streets.
#4-04: Install "No Parking Here To Drive" sign at the entrance to 1211 Glen Street.
#5-04: Install "No Parking 8:00 A.M. To 3:00 P.M." signs on the west side of Meadow Street in front of 1410 Meadow.
#6-04: Install "No Parking 8:00 A.M. To 3:00 P.M." signs on the west side of Glen Street.
All of these temporary traffic control orders are the result of parking problems that have occurred this past year from students attending Central Michigan University classes.
2. House Bill 4234
As you will recall, this bill was introduced in the House a number of weeks ago. It would exempt the first $10,000 of taxable value in personal property tax for each business. The bill stalled on the House floor before the Legislature recessed for spring break. Over the past few weeks many different versions of the bill have been discussed. Most of these versions lowered the amount of the exemption, but some of the last versions raised the exemption back to the original $10,000 level. There is now a new version which would exempt personal property tax only for businesses which have up to $7,500 taxable value in personal property. This bill would lessen the impact on some communities; however, the MML continues to oppose any version of the bill which eliminates any of our tax base. We will continue to fight to defeat this legislation.
3. State Budget Shortfall
There seems to be little public discussion about the Governor's proposal to balance the 2004-2005 State budget. I have heard bits and pieces of information which would seem to indicate that there is a lot of opposition to the proposed plan. The liquor industry is opposed to any increase in taxes on spirits, as are the tobacco companies regarding a proposed 75¢ increase in cigarette taxes. What little I have heard seems to indicate that it may be more difficult than anticipated to get the plan through both houses. We will obviously continue to monitor the situation in Lansing in order to try to protect revenue sharing funds.
4. Fire Funding
While at the Legislative Conference, Mayor Showalter and I attended a meeting of interested communities about this matter. It was felt that it was important that we all speak with a unified voice on this issue, and it was decided that we will begin an informational campaign on this matter. The City of East Lansing has prepared letters that we will send out to legislators discussing the issue with them and urging their support for full funding.
5. Family Recreation Center
As you know from previous reports, one of the final steps in the first phase was the completion of the survey of county residents. Two thousand surveys were mailed out and 408 were returned, which met the goal set by the Committee. The City-County Liaison Committee will meet on Tuesday the 27th to get the results. As you know, a joint meeting has been scheduled on May 6th to hear the recommendations from the consultant and the Task Force.
6. Rebuilding Of Mt. Pleasant Realty Building
I am sure you have read that Mr. Neyer plans to rebuild his office facility at his old location. That is obviously good news for the community and for the downtown. As I indicated in an earlier report, a few weeks ago I sent Mr. Neyer a letter indicating that the City stands willing to assist him in any way we can.
7. Mission Street Lighting Project
As you know, the State of Michigan is installing a computer-controlled traffic control system along Mission Street. A contractor is currently on site doing some of the preliminary work before the full changeover to the new system. This past week they installed cameras at the intersection of Mission and High Streets. Those cameras will control and monitor movement and turnings from Mission Street onto High Street. Previously I had indicated that the State would not monitor and control movements and lights from High Street onto Mission Street. Their plan is to monitor traffic and turning movements on Mission Street to see if they need to computerize the east-west High Street route. I have also attached for your information a memo that Duane Ellis prepared giving us an overview of the entire project, along with the planned schedule for changeover to the new system.
8. CART Grant Application
At the last meeting you authorized the submission of a grant application in the amount of approximately $2.7 million to fund construction of a wet lab at the CART building in the SmartZone/University Park. The grant application has been prepared and will be submitted to the EDA, and then it's a matter of waiting to see if the grant will be awarded to the University.
9. Okaya
As you know, three staff persons from the City of Okaya were in the community this past week. They were here to officially invite a delegation from Mt. Pleasant to travel to Okaya in August of 2005 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of our Sister City relationship. They have also offered to donate trees or flowering plants to be planted somewhere in the City as a commemoration of our Sister City relationship. They would also like a street named after the City of Okaya. We have focused our discussion on either Island Park or Nelson Park. It would also be possible to name the road in Nelson Park "Okaya Dori". Dori means street in Japanese. No decisions have been made yet, but if you have any thoughts or concerns about our discussions on this matter to date, please to not hesitate to contact me. As more information becomes available on the proposed delegation to Okaya I will keep you informed.
10. Electronic Voting
The County has decided that it will not implement the new electronic voting with the November election. It is my understanding that the State has not yet decided upon a system or vendor. I guess there are still some issues the State needs to resolve before they will get full reimbursement from the federal government.
11. Sewer Relining
You recently approved a contract with Insituform for relining of the Henry and Elizabeth Street sewers. We have also been experiencing trouble with the sewer manhole and line in Broadway Street at University Street. Insituform will televise the line this week to try to find the problem. It is likely we will have to rebuild the manhole.
12. Curb Cuts On Isabella Road At Industrial Park-South
Mayor Showalter and I met with the Road Commission about this issue two weeks ago. They indicated they would consider our request for the curb cuts. They first wanted to check with the Drain Commissioner to see if the curb cuts and driveways into the park would damage the existing large drain tube that runs adjacent to Isabella Road. They did not indicate when they would make a decision.