Lowell City Council met for 35 minutes last night to discuss six pieces of business, among them a public hearing on the 2025-2026 budget. All councilmembers were present for the meeting.
Before moving on the business items, though, the floor was opened for public comment. Craig Fonger, president of the non-profit Lowell Friends of the Flat, said that the first treatment of the Flat River occurred last week. The organization has been working since last year to raise funds to address invasive weeds that have been clogging the waterway.
“People who live along the river say it looks like it did 6-8 years ago (before the weeds),” Fonger shared. He thought there would be at least one more treatment this year, and then future treatments will occur as needed.
New Rules and Procedures Approved
At their last meeting, councilmembers considered a change to their rules and procedures which would, most notably, split the public comment time at meetings into two sections. It would allow public comments for agenda items at the start of each meeting and comments on other matters near the end of meetings.
Councilmembers decided to wait two weeks to receive public comment on the proposed changes before voting. City Manager Mike Burns said no comments had been received.
Resident Tyler Kent said he wasn’t opposed to the change but wondered what happened when an item was added to the agenda at the last minute. “Now, we’re trying to talk about it on the fly,” he said, suggesting that any change to the rules and procedure be approved on a trial basis.
“My only concern is that with efficiencies, there can be a loss of some goodwill,” resident Kimball Dlouhy said. He hoped that there would still be ample opportunity for residents to weigh in on hot topics, and councilmembers assured him there would.
Councilmembers voted unanimously to adopt the new rules and procedures, subject to an annual review.
Change in Roadwork
Also at the last meeting, Lowell City Council passed two resolutions for MDOT Category B grants for roadwork to be completed on James Street and Brooks Street. However, MDOT said both streets needed to be listed in one resolution so the matter required a new vote by councilmembers.
In the meantime, Burns learned that James Street was eligible for a different grant program. That program would cover 80% of the project cost, compared to 50% for the Category B grant. As a result, Burns recommended that council swap out James Street for Laurie Gail Drive in the Category B grant resolution.
Councilmembers agreed and voted unanimously to approve the resolution.
2025-2026 Budget Hearing
A public hearing was held on the fiscal year 2026 budget, but no public comments were received.
Councilmember Eric Bartkus said that he appreciated all the work that went into the budget. He added that there were two things he really liked about the budget and two things that he “wasn’t crazy about.”
In terms of what he liked, Bartkus appreciated that the Lowell Police Department only accounted for 27% of the city’s budget whereas other communities the size of Lowell were spending a third or more of their budget on their departments. He also appreciated the work that Burns had done to increase funding for the city’s outstanding pension liabilities.
On the other hand, “I don’t understand the RV stalls,” he said. This was a $25,000 expenditure from the Downtown Development Authority for Recreation Park. Bartkus said he heard from residents about roadwork and other needs and thought this money could be better spent elsewhere.
Bartkus also said that he was concerned about the nearly $42,000 budget for Lowell City Council and thought that “seems a little high.” He shared that the City of DeWitt budgets $33,000 for their council.
The requested amount for Lowell City Council includes the following:
- Salaries, Social Security and workers compensation: $16,560
- Office supplies: $150
- Team training from Lew Bender: $4,000
- Conferences and conventions: $10,500
- Community promotion: $2,500
- Misc expenses: $8,000
Other councilmembers defended the budgeted amount saying that it was money well spent for councilmembers to attend training and conferences.
“That’s just the nature of the beast,” said Councilmember Marty Chambers after noting that the recent MML conference was held in Bay City so there was no way for councilmembers to attend other than to stay onsite.
The 2025-2026 budget was passed unanimously as presented. It can be found online here.
Other Council Votes
For other action items, Lowell City Council approved all the following unanimously:
- Resolution to distribute the draft Master Plan for review. Councilmembers voted on this at their last meeting as well, but they did not have the necessary resolution in front of them at that time.
- Use of property along the Riverwalk and a safety plan for the River Trail Triathlon.
- Closure of Main Street for the annual Memorial Day Parade.
Councilmember Comments
To close out the meeting, many councilmembers commented on the recent MML conference.
Councilmember Mark Ritzema was selected to help moderate some classes, and he said he learned a lot. “It was a good weekend,” he said.
“I will reiterate how much fun it was in Bay City,” Mayor Mike DeVore said. He and Chambers heard a presenter talk about how groups can come together and work better. DeVore added that he would like to have the speaker come and do some additional training for Lowell councilmembers and perhaps other communities could be invited to share the cost.
The mayor also asked Chief Dennis Albert if the police could make contact with residents with overgrown lawns. “I’m not asking for enforcement; I’m asking for a friendly reminder,” DeVore said.
Bartkus said he was having second thoughts on a suggestion he made at the last meeting about traffic calming measures. At that time, he had suggested that residents be required to pay half the cost of any traffic calming measure implemented on their street. This is apparently the policy used by the City of Grand Rapids.
However, upon further consideration, Bartkus said that he thought such a system would favor higher-income residents and put renters at a disadvantage.
Councilmember Jim Salzwedel said he had heard from some people who have concerns about the proposed traffic calming policy, and he hoped they would come to a future meeting to share their thoughts.
Monday’s meeting adjourned at 7:35pm. The next regular meeting of Lowell City Council will take place on Monday, June 2, at 7pm in Lowell City Hall.
Leave a Reply