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November 2000 Status Report
I am pleased once again to submit my monthly status report for your review. If you should have any questions about any of the items listed, please do not hesitate to contact me.
1. Project 2000 Tax Case
In my last status report I indicated to you that a judge had issued a judgment against the State's request for a summary disposition in this case. This meant the case would proceed to a hearing. At that time, we were led to believe that the case would not be heard until sometime in February or March. Within the last week or so we have received notification from the State that the case has been placed on the December schedule. Then just a few days ago the Attorney General's office requested a delay since he is involved in another case. The case will probably be delayed again. Regardless of the date, our attorney will be down the last week in November to prepare for the hearing with staff.
2. Youth Violence Task Force
As you may recall, a task force was appointed a number of months ago to look at youth violence in communities that have unfortunately experienced that horrible event. I wanted to take this opportunity to bring you up to date on their work. The committee has completed site visits to Pearl, Mississippi; Paducah, Kentucky; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Port Huron, Michigan; and Littleton, Colorado. Prior to those site visits, the committee met several times to gather information on the resources available within our own county. Since their visits they have had an additional three work sessions to combine the information gathered in their small work groups, along with the information gathered from their site visits.
A meeting was held on November 1st with the entire committee. At the meeting they took all of the recommendations gathered and began to compile it into one uniform recommendation list. This list was then reviewed by Sergeant LaLone, the YSU supervisor, and Walt Lesiak, who served as the Chair of this committee. Once their review is complete and final report prepared, they will begin to make presentations to the community. It is anticipated that these meetings will take place in December or January.
3. Presentations To Rating Agencies On Wastewater Treatment Plant Bonds
Nancy Ridley, Duane Ellis, Mike Gormley, Roger Swets and I traveled to New York on November 14th and 15th to make our presentations to the rating agencies. As you will recall, we make these presentations to assist the rating agencies in determining the proper rating on our bonds. I felt the presentations went very well. We were able to present to them a large amount of information in a very short time period.
Within just the last day or two we have received the ratings from the agencies. Standard & Poor's rating was an "A-", which is higher than the rating they gave us for the Water Plant. Moody's gave us a rating of "A3", which is the same as they gave us for the Water Plant. It is my understanding that our presentations convinced Standard & Poor's to increase their rating. Since these ratings are not the highest possible we still intend to buy insurance for the bonds to ensure we get the best interest rate possible.
4. Income Tax Study
The consultant was in Mt. Pleasant last week and made a presentation to Nancy Ridley and Mary Ann Kornexl regarding the status of the study. It is anticipated that the work will be completed by the first or second week in December. Because of the holiday schedule, it is most likely we will not actually present the study to the full Commission until some time in January.
5. Smart Zone/University Park
The application for designation of University Park as a Smart Zone has been submitted to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. City and CMU officials attended a meeting in Lansing with staff of the MEDC. At that time we explained our proposal in more detail and answered a number of questions staff had regarding the application and the project. We are requesting $3 million from the state, preferably in a grant, to operate the Institute for the Development of Entrepreneurial Activities to run the program. The state indicated they would probably not make an outright grant, but could possibly become an equity partner in the project through a loan and very favorable repayment terms. We got the distinct indication from the meeting that the park stood a very good chance of being designated as a Smart Zone. There are a number of issues and technical details that need to be worked out before anything is finalized. Doug Rothwell from the MEDC will be at the University on Monday to talk about the program and tour the park. Mary Ann Kornexl and I will then travel to Lansing for a December 11th meeting with MEDC staff to determine how best to integrate the current TIFA with the proposed LDFA.
At the December 11th meeting the Commission will be asked to adopt the proposed LDFA designation for University Park. I have asked George Dunn to be present at that meeting to spend a few minutes giving you an overview of the project.
6. Status Of Park Projects
a. Eastside Park: The contractor is still working at the Eastside Park site and, according to Greg Baderscheider, is making good progress on the project. In fact, the curb and gutter has now been installed. As I was dictating this report, I was wondering whether or not we want to consider officially naming this park or just continue to call it the Eastside Playground. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated.
b. Riverwalk Trail Project: The contractor has not yet been in to construct the crossings at the railroad track, but has guaranteed Greg that the work will be done by the end of December.
7. MHT Housing
Construction has progressed nicely on the new 40-unit addition to Chase Run apartments. As I think I have indicated in the past, I would anticipate the project being finished sometime in 2001.
8. Quarterly Meeting With Tribal Staff
The City and County held our first quarterly meeting with Chris Petras and Kim Sawmick, the two legislative coordinators for the Tribe. At the meeting a representative of the Ziibiwing Cultural Center spent a few minutes explaining the cultural underpinning of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe. It was so informative we decided it would be beneficial to have a more in-depth program for elected officials in the county. We will try to schedule such a program in the next few months.
Our next meetings are scheduled for January, April, July, and October. At the April and October meetings we will explain our prioritization of two percent requests to be awarded in May and November. It was also decided that at our January meeting we will hear a presentation from Tribal Planning Director Bill Mrdeza on their proposed master plan for the reservation. We also decided that Duane Ellis would make a presentation on the proposed ring road plan. I think our first meeting was productive, and I look forward to future meetings.
9. Post Office
As you can see, very good progress is being made on the Post Office project. A lot of earth has been moved and the foundation has been poured.
10. Building Activity
As part of our presentation to the rating agencies, I prepared a synopsis of building permit activity for the last five and a half years. As you can see from the attached report, there has been a considerable amount of construction in the community.
11. Public Safety Building
In my last status report I indicated to you that most of the design and engineering work for the building had been completed. Their next step was to give a copy of the plans to a contractor so that he could cost the project. They would then take this information and compare it to their own cost estimates to see if we are within budget with their proposed plans. It is my understanding that they have received those numbers, but I have not spoken to the architect at this point to see just how close they came to their cost estimates. As soon as their work is completed, we will make a presentation to the City Commission.
As you know, the Proposed 2001 Budget calls for the expenditure of the funds for the project, including $500,000 in Tribal funds and $500,000 from the fund balance. Assuming approval of the project, we anticipate selling the bonds some time in April, with the start of construction at essentially that same time.
12. Leaf Pickup
In spite of the snow, City crews have finished leaf pickup for this year.