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July 2001 Status Report
It is my pleasure once again this month to submit my status report for your review and information. If you should have any questions about any of the items listed, please do not hesitate to contact me.
1. Brownfield Development Corporation
As you may recall, this corporation is owned by Dave McGuire, and he has three projects either under way or on the planning boards. The first is The Mill Apartments, and he tells me that all 13 units are rented and have been for several months. He has just recently completed his office in the exposed lower level of the second building. Bids for the environmental cap are due this month. The bids took longer than anticipated because they had to wait for DEQ approval of the cap specifications. Once the bids are received and approved, the blacktop and the west half of the dirt and grass cap will be installed.
The second project is Mill II, which is an additional eight residential units. He indicated that the blueprints for the project have been completed, and contract details are being worked out. He anticipates groundbreaking the latter part of this month. The east half of the environmental cap will be completed when the new building is completed, and construction on the Mill II project should be completed in December.
The third and biggest project, of course, is the Borden Building. According to Dave, the architect is working on the design phase of the building now. He also indicated that they have completed the first step towards the historic tax credits and are working on the second of the three steps. He is having a market study done and they are working on securing the remainder of their financing. Depending on the type of financing they use for the remaining $800,000, they anticipate getting their tax credits in the fall or next April. Dave still remains very confident that he will be able to do the project.
2. Concealed Weapons Policy
Commissioner Showalter stopped in the office the other day and inquired as to whether or not the City had a concealed weapons policy. I indicated at that time that we did not, but since that meeting I have met with Division Heads, and we are beginning the process of developing some sort of policy. As you may have read in the local newspaper, other communities are dealing with this issue at the current time. There are a number of legal issues we need to look at, so we will be working with Steve Martineau as well as with staff to develop a policy. We will keep you informed of our progress in this area.
3. Wastewater Treatment Plant
The plant is well under construction and there has been a considerable amount of work done on the oxidation towers. These towers are constructed of concrete on site and will be approximately 30 feet tall when completed. The project remains on schedule and, in fact, ahead of schedule from our earlier estimates of late 2002 completion. As you know, Duane Ellis prepares his own monthly status report, so he will cover the status of this project in more detail in his report.
4. Industrial Park-South
I have not discussed Industrial Park-South in some time in the status report. As you may recall, a few months ago we sold two of the three remaining lots, one to Bill's Custom Fab and the other to Jerel Konwinski. Both of these individuals have submitted their building plans to the Industrial Development Corporation Site Committee, which has approved their plans for the lots. They just recently received site plan approval, so construction should start some time this fall. This means we have one ten-acre parcel left, and George Dunn tells me he is in conversation right now with a potential purchaser for the property.
5. Building Authority
The Mt. Pleasant Building Authority met last week and approved the bid of Three Rivers Construction for the Public Safety Building. They also passed the necessary resolution to begin the bond sale process, and the bonds will be sold the second week in August.
6. Construction Projects
As is the case every summer, we have a number of construction projects underway. Probably one of the bigger road projects is the reconstruction of Preston Street from West Campus Drive to Crawford Road. Duane tells me the project is moving along very well, and they are pleased with the work of the contractor. It is anticipated that work on the project will continue for another month or so. The water line on Arnold has been installed and curb and gutter are under construction. Duane will report on these and other projects in his status report.
7. Charter Committee
The Charter Review Committee held its first meeting on Tuesday night. As soon as the minutes are completed we will send you a copy. The Committee has asked that I request that if you have any issues you would like the Committee to look at as part of their review of the Charter, please give either Mike Pittsley or Adam Miller a call within the next two weeks.
8. Lansing Legislative Action
As you may know, the Legislature is now in summer recess. Most of the legislative initiatives taken to date appear to deal with sewer back-up liability. I included in the last Commission packet information regarding action being considered in Lansing dealing with this matter. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a movement afoot to rush through legislation which would make cities totally responsible for sewer back-ups. It is my understanding that momentum has slowed, and they will wait for a report from a committee that has been formed to look at this issue in more detail. It is hopeful this committee will be able to develop legislation that will better protect cities and local units of government from strict liability for sewer back-ups.
At this point in time I have heard nothing further on the status of fire funding, so I don't know whether or not we will get any extra money or the Governor will veto the line item.
9. Mike Hofer
As you may recall, Mike was delinquent in his payments to the City. He has now caught up and all contracts are now in force.
10. Okaya Students
This year it is the community's turn to host students from Okaya. They will arrive next weekend, and will stay in the community about ten days. Unfortunately, only three students will be coming this year, plus their interpreter. There are a number of events planned for them, including a reception at City Hall. You will be receiving a formal invitation to that reception. As you know, this is a long-standing program with Okaya, and we are always quite pleased to have students come from Okaya and spend time with us.
11. Park Projects
a. Nelson Park: The road has been rebuilt in Nelson Park and the construction site re-seeded. The pathway has been graveled in, and final paving will probably occur some time toward the end of August when we do the total trail project through Island and Nelson Parks.
b. Island Park: The bridge has been set over the river and the inlet to the wetland. The rail crossing is also now done. The bridges and trails are not open to pedestrian traffic as yet since we need to install some railings and post signs. We would also like to wait for an opening until the end of August when the trail itself is actually paved. In addition to the bridges and pedestrian path, the wetland construction has also been completed, but according to Greg Baderschneider we won't see results of that work until next spring. As you also know, we have rebuilt the entrance drive into Island Park and installed a parking lot. Trees will be planted along the parking lot this coming spring when we do our normal tree-planting program.
I'm sure you are just as pleased as I am with the appearance of the two parks with the new road and parking lots in place.
c. Eastside Playground: It is my understanding that the grading has been completed, with the black dirt having been brought in. Greg is delaying the final grading of the black dirt until such time as the sprinkling system can be installed. Obviously with the hot, dry weather we have been experiencing it would be almost impossible to get a good growth of grass out there without some kind of irrigation system. Greg also tells me that they are developing and will go out for bid yet this summer for the construction of the playground area and the restroom facilities. I would assume that the park could be operational next summer.
12. Deer Problem
As you know, we have been discussing with the SWAN neighborhood group the problem of deer destroying residential landscaping in the southwest quadrant of the City. For the past few months I have been working with a representative of the DNR, as well as residents of the neighborhood, on this issue. At the request of the DNR, neighborhood residents have kept a log of deer sightings and deer damage over the past few months.
DNR staff visited the community a week or so ago and came to the conclusion that indeed we have a considerable amount of deer damage, and therefore would approve a deer harvest for this fall. I have started the process by drafting some proposed harvesting regulations and have written a letter to CMU asking to set up a meeting so I can seek their permission to hold the harvest in Veit's Woods where many of the deer are nesting. There are still a number of steps that we need to take, and I will continue to work on those.
13. Phone System
As you know, we have purchased a new phone system, and we are moving toward the installation sometime toward the end of August. The new system allows for direct dialing to all departments, bypassing the switchboard. Since customers will be learning new department phone numbers and, for some, a new area code, it was decided this was the best time to change to an easy-to-remember City Hall switchboard number, while encouraging them to dial departments directly whenever possible. For a period of time those who dial the old number will hear a message and be transferred to the new number, just like Verizon did with the institution of the new area code number.
We are in the process of developing a P.R. campaign that we will put in place some time in the near future to advise people of the changes. This will include such things as ads in the newspaper, an article in the upcoming newsletter, and hopefully newspaper articles. As we get closer to the changeover date I will let you know.
14. National Night Out
The fourth annual National Night Out will be held the evening of August 7th at Island Park. In addition to the usual law enforcement displays, Three Men and a Tenor will perform, and the "drive-in" movie will be "Chicken Run". I hope you will be able to attend this event.
15. EPA Permit
As you know, we submitted our application for an EPA permit for the WWTP last December. We have heard nothing from the EPA on our permit request, and have no ideas when we may expect to.
16. Skateboard Meeting
Chris Bundy will hold a meeting on July 31st at 6:30 p.m. with interested parties to talk about and finalize plans for the development of the skateboard park. The plan is to purchase pre-assembled jumps and ramps and place them on an asphalt base. There are two manufacturers of pre-assembled ramps, and right now they are quite busy, so installation probably won't be until next spring.