April 2005 Status Report

It is my pleasure to submit my monthly status report for your review and information. Because of the time involved in preparing for and hosting the Okaya delegation, I have not had a lot of time preparing this report, so I probably have not covered all of the issues or projects we are dealing with at the current time. Therefore, if you should have any questions about an item that I missed, please do not hesitate to contact me.

1. Okaya Visit

I think it is appropriate that I address this matter first as we are approximately half-way through their visit as I prepare this report. I believe they have really been enjoying themselves, and I think the formal celebration and commemoration ceremony held on Monday went very well. As I prepare this report, they are spending the day with the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, and on Wednesday they will tour CMU facilities. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, I think they really enjoyed their visit to the High School. They were able to meet with some of the students who traveled to Okaya, and Mayor Hayashi seemed to really enjoy seeing them again.

I want to take this opportunity to thank a number of people for all of the hard work they have put into this visit, starting with Jana Ervin, who has put in a large number of hours and dedication to making sure this visit, and particularly the festivities on Monday, went smoothly. Obviously from the results she did a wonderful job. My thanks to Greg Baderschneider for handling the acquisition and planting of the trees as well as preparation of the signs and plaque. My thanks to the City Commission for continuing to support the exchanges between our two communities. The IRC also deserves a special thank-you for their continued work in promoting and arranging for high school exchanges between our two cities, as well as their work preparing for this visit. I think this is really the best part of our Sister City relationship when these young people get an opportunity to learn about other cultures. I would also like to thank the Mt. Pleasant High School Jazz Band under the direction of Matthew Taton for agreeing to play not only our national anthems but other jazz tunes as well. I think that added a lot to the festivities. Obviously a special thank-you to Mayor Hayashi and his staff for their generous gift of 40 trees to the City, and all of the hard work they put into preparing for the delegation’s visit. I am sure I have forgotten many other people who should be recognized, and I apologize if I missed them as this whole visit has been a team effort.

2. Traffic Control Orders

We have issued some temporary traffic control orders as follows. Final approval of these traffic control orders will be placed on the May 9th agenda for your consideration.

#1-05: Install “One Way” signs to designate the east divided section of Glen from Preston to Hopkins as a one-way street northbound.

#2-05: Install “No Parking Here To Corner” signs on both the north and south sides of Illinois at Brown Street.

#3-05: Install “No Parking 8:00 AM To 3:00 PM” on both sides of Glen Street from Hopkins to Vernon.

#4-05: Install “No Parking 8:00 AM To 3:00 PM” on both sides of Hopkins Street from Glen to Highland.

#5-05: Install “School Zone” signs on Crapo, Bellows and Preston Streets that surround the High School.

3. Federal EPA Permit

As you probably know, four years ago we submitted an application for a wastewater discharge permit from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA took the position that the plant was on Tribal land and therefore fell under the jurisdiction of the EPA. We disputed that position for a number of months, but finally came to the conclusion that we could be subject to some serious daily fines if we did not submit the application. After four years of waiting we finally received information that they were in the process of reviewing our application. They indicated that they were proposing some modifications to the language they proposed four years ago. According to Duane Ellis these modifications should not cause us any problems with our current plant. There are still some steps that the EPA must take prior to issuing their permit. The good news from all of this is that they have indicated that the permit period will be for about five years. This means that when you take into consideration the length of time since we initially submitted the permit requirement and the time that this new permit will end, we will have nearly ten years under the current operating permits. This means we should not have to worry about any further modifications to the plant for another five years.

4. Project 2000 Tax Case

As you know, our initial hearing before the Court of Appeals was scheduled for the first week of April. The Assistant Attorney General handling this case asked for a continuance since he would be on vacation that week. I have received an e-mail from our attorney indicating that we could have this case heard either toward the end of May or some time around the first of June. I hope that is the case so that we can finally get this matter decided one way or the other.

5. Airport

As I am sure you read, the Tribe is in the process of constructing an outdoor entertainment venue for larger concerts. A few weeks ago they approached John Benzinger, our Airport Manager, and inquired as to whether or not our airport could handle increased traffic. John assured them that we had the facilities out there and we should have no problem handling the largest of the business jets. John did indicate to them, however, that because of pending budget problems we would not have sufficient operational monies to ensure that we had folks at the airport when needed for services and fueling. They suggested that we submit a two percent request for operational money over the next two to three years. They also indicated that we needed to get that request in as soon as possible to be considered for this allocation cycle. Therefore, after consultation with the Mayor, I authorized Duane to submit such a request in the amount of $90,000.

6. Borden Building

We recently had a meeting with the developers and their financial consultant, and are moving forward with our review of their project. I have requested a meeting of the Property Committee on May 3rd to review this project with them, and hopefully we will be able to present this to the Commission some time within the next two or three weeks. As soon as the Property Committee meets I will let you know what our next course of action will be.

7. Capital Improvements

With the good weather we have begun some of our capital improvement projects. The water main contractor for the University Street project has already completed the first couple of blocks starting at Michigan running south. Since Duane prepares his own status report, I will not go into any further detail at this point on our projects for 2005.

8. City Parks

With this great weather we have been having the past couple of weeks we have noticed a lot of activities in the parks, and particularly at Island Park. According to Greg we got a little later start than normal with our routine spring clean-up and other projects, but our folks are catching up and obviously this weather has been of great help.

9. City-County Liaison Committee Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for May 19th. With the tentative decision by the County not to proceed with the Family Recreation Center in its current configuration, we have decided to go back to our every-other-month meetings. Obviously I will keep you informed and provide you with copies of the minutes of the meeting.

10. City-CMU Liaison Committee Meeting

A meeting is scheduled for May 12th. At this time we have not set an agenda for the meeting, but normally we just try to bring each other up to date as to what’s happening within our respective organizations. Again, I will keep you informed of the items that were discussed at the meeting.

11. Car-Pedestrian Crashes

You may recall that former commissioner Ron Roby was at a previous meeting where the issue of sidewalk construction was discussed. At that time he asked for information regarding the number of car-pedestrian accidents over the last few years. Rob Flynn worked with our insurance company to get a compilation of those accidents, and it covers the period from 1997 through 2004. I have attached a copy of that report for your information.

12. Downtown Landscape And Parking Consultant Report

We have received the parking consultant’s report and should be receiving the final draft of the landscape report within the next week or so. Our plans are to submit those reports to the Downtown Development Board and then hold a work session with you some time within the next few weeks.