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June 2002 Status Report
It is my pleasure to once again submit my monthly status report for your information. If you should have any questions about any of the items listed, or if I fail to mention an item for which you would like additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
1. Project 2000 Tax Case
As I have mentioned in previous status reports, we are approaching a hearing date in August on this case. We have scheduled a meeting for July 9th in Mt. Pleasant with the Assistant Attorney General handling this case. At that meeting we will give him additional information he requested, as well as discuss the intent and scope of the project and tour the property. Hopefully this will provide him sufficient information to make an informed decision on how to proceed with this case. I will keep you informed.
2. Wastewater Treatment Plant
The project is winding down and should be completed by the end of July. The major focus now is on the installation of mechanical and electrical equipment in the main plant building. In addition to that work, they have also been renovating the building to provide new office space and other work areas for the staff. As I have mentioned before, Duane Ellis and Dave Goffnett have been pleased with the contractor on this project, and things have moved along smoothly.
3. Public Safety Building
As I am sure you know, the east side of the building has essentially been completed. The fire bays are operational and the equipment is now parked in those new bays. The Fire Department staff should be moving into the second floor shortly. With the movement of the equipment from the west to the east side of the building, they are now remodeling the old bays into office space. It is anticipated that the building will be completed late this fall.
4. 2003 Budget
We have started the 2003 budget process. Staff is now putting the finishing touches on 2003 requests, and Nancy Ridley and I will begin reviewing the budget with the division and department heads within the next few days. We will schedule a meeting of the Budget Committee once we have completed our initial review of the budget. I would ask that if you have any priorities or issues you would like addressed in the budget, please let us or members of the Budget Committee know as soon as you can.
5. Project 2000
Activity has been rather slow over the last few months. Mike Hofer, as you know, is in default of his agreements with the City and we are proceeding accordingly. He still has some time though to meet his obligations on the property before foreclosure becomes effective. There has been little or no interest in the last remaining ten-acre lot in Industrial Park-South. I think this is a result of the slower economy, and hopefully when things pick up we will see more interest in that site. Joe Olivieri has begun construction of his commercial building on the six-acre site he recently purchased along Broomfield Road.
6. Park Projects
As you know, one of the projects that will be undertaken this year is the removal of the dam for which a contract has been awarded. Greg Baderschneider tells me he is waiting for the appropriate permits from the DNR before they can start work. It seems with the recent early-out and retirement of existing staff members that this has really slowed down the issuance of permits. He advised me that hopefully those permits will be received by the end of this month and work will begin on the dam project right after the Fourth of July.
7. Skate Park
Chris Bundy and the planning committee continue to work on design and development of the skateboard park. Another supplier of modular jumps presented their equipment for review by the committee last week. The goal is to have the facility in place by late summer.
8. Phone System
Staff has met with Verizon, and we have been told they are ordering the appropriate equipment for the system and that a project manager has been assigned to us to oversee installation of the new system. The proposed time frame for installation is still early fall.
9. SmartZone/Incubator Building
Now that the name has been officially changed to the Center for Applied Research and Technology Park, I will need to start using that name in my status reports. A ribbon-cutting was held last week for the opening of the new incubator building. It was a well-attended event with representatives from all of the major partners involved in the ceremony. After the ribbon-cutting we had a chance to tour the new facility. Three of the five pods have already been leased to new companies. For those of you who could not attend the ribbon-cutting, if you would like a tour of the facility, let me know and we'll try to arrange something for you.
10. Jana's Part-Time Assistant
We have been in the process of interviewing candidates for the position, but at this point in time we have not been able to select someone who meets all of our needs and criteria. We will continue the search process.
11. Capital Improvement Projects
As you have been out and about I am sure you have noticed that we have a number of capital improvement projects underway. We are currently boring a new water line on West Broadway. Construction of Crawford Road between Pickard and River Roads is underway, as is the rebuilding of Broadway Street. We have also begun construction of a one-block section of Franklin Street in the Central Business District as well as other street projects. Sidewalk construction has begun, and currently they are focusing on sidewalk replacement and will build the new sidewalks along Crawford and Russell later on in the summer. As you know, Duane does his own status report, so I will not go into any more detail here.
12. City-County Meeting
The last meeting of the City-County Liaison Committee was held on June 13th, and at that time discussion was held regarding the walkaway problem at the Mt. Pleasant Center and the two percent allocation process.
13. State Shared Revenue/Fire Funding
As I reported to you a few days ago, there is considerable discussion in Lansing about cutting state shared revenue state-wide by $67 million and fire funding by 50 percent. I received an e-mail from the MML on Wednesday indicating that no decision had been made on these issues as yet. It seems there has been a considerable lobbying effort in opposition to both of these proposed cuts. I will keep you informed.