Midland City Council approved payments Monday night for Concept Five sewer system designs during its first regular meeting of the year.
The council met on Monday to vote on the sanitation plan, along with hearing first readings of the proposed suite limits and entertainment fees for 2022. The last two lists will be read again and voted on during the next council meeting.
Five designs concept
The city is working with consultants Moore + Bruggink to design the fifth concept, the city’s sewage and flood mitigation plan. It includes the Foot Drain Separation Program (FDDP), which aims to reduce back-up wastewater into people’s homes during flood events. The FDDP will be applied to about 370 homes for the pilot program in the city’s Whitewood and Moreland areas.
Two resolutions have been voted on by the Board and are open to the public for comment. Resolution 1 amended the Wastewater Projects Fund’s 2021-2022 budget to increase expenditures by $295,000 for sewer improvement engineering costs. This was necessary to cover the shortfall in the project’s budget, said Jared Driscoll, the Midland Wastewater Services Manager.
Resolution Two agreed to pay Moore + Bruggink $1,031,000 for the remainder of the designs needed for the Concept Five plan. These project elements include piping enlargement, optimization of FDDP designs, and design of a sewage lining program. Funding and construction will take place from 2022 until 2027.
Council member Diane Brown-Wilhelm requested that the design include plans for when residents will be charged, and address any trees that might be in the way of pipework as well as any expectations of separating the home’s base drain before it is sold.
Midland resident John Elsen said he was glad the council was working on the plan, although he said it should have been done years ago and that he is not addressing the wild floods. He also said the plan should include a risk assessment.
Both resolutions were approved by 5 votes to 0.
Possible new wing frontier
Using the results of the 2020 census, it’s time for the city to draw new boundaries for wards and counties. Wings are the areas represented by City Council members, of which there are five in the City of Midland.
Midland City writer Erica Armstrong said the boundaries have been changed to be more equal in population for each of the five wards. Each ward will have about 8,500 residents if the borders are approved.
Suggested limits can be found in the meeting agenda.
The redistribution will be voted on during the board meeting on January 24th.
Possible new entertainment fee
Midland Public Services Director Karen Murphy has introduced the proposed changes to the fee for recreational activities. One of these changes will affect City Forest by increasing the skate rental from $8 an hour to $10 an hour, along with increasing all Winter City Forest packages by $25.
Recreational sports will be affected as well, with softball fees increased by $2 per player (for both adult and youth leagues), beach volleyball changing from a per-player fee to a per-team fee, the elimination of the rugby club fee because it is no longer in use, and the change of unused ball deposit Redeemable for tournaments up to $75 or the full fee, whichever is lower.
For Plymouth Pool, a large group fee is suggested for groups of 25 or more people. A full list of proposed fee changes can be found in the meeting agenda.
Fee changes will be voted on during the Board meeting on January 24.
Other Council Business
- The council approved zoning changes to properties surrounding the Greater Midland Community Center in a 5-0 vote. The zoning requests changed these properties from a residential division for one person and two families to a community division for the planned expansion of the center. Council member Steve Arnosky said the council hears a lot about the need for middle-income housing and that these properties would be good places for it.
- An application for repartitioning of property was approved at 409 and 415 E. Buttles St. and 411 and 415 Cronkright Street. , next to Ieuter Insurance Group, in a 4-1 vote, with Arnosky’s dissenting vote. Re-zoning will change the property from using office service to zoning downtown. Arnosky said he thought the property was more suitable for an office subdivision than a downtown subdivision.
- City Manager Brad Kay summarized Saturday’s council planning session on council budget targets for the 2022-23 fiscal year. This included funding for the Fire Department, city hall security issues, flood response and mitigation, landfills, and balancing funds.