City Council Recap: PFAS on Ware Road, Reversal on Horatio Street

Lowell City Council met for nearly two hours on Monday to discuss all the business that had been tabled from their last meeting plus new items. There was also a last-minute addition to the agenda to discuss the presence of PFAS chemicals at the Ware Road landfill. All councilmembers were present.

PFAS at Ware Road Landfill

The City of Lowell owns a landfill on Ware Road in Ionia County. While brush is apparently still dumped there, it stopped being used for other waste in 1983. Three years later, in 1986, monitoring wells at the site detected elevated levels of tetrachloroethylene, dichloroethane and carbon tetrachloride. However, it wasn’t until four years ago that the city began its clean-up efforts.

In July 2023, water from the monitoring wells were tested for PFAS, and elevated levels of PFOS and PFOA were detected. Those levels were 18 parts per trillion and 26 ppt, respectively, and the acceptable levels in Michigan are set at 16ppt and 8ppt, respectively.

On Nov. 30, the site was identified by the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team on their website. This is a part of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

City Manager Mike Burns said during Monday’s meeting that he did not know about the elevated readings until he was contacted that day by a local news station. He added that he was disappointed that BDLI, the engineering firm hired to oversee the site clean-up, had not proactively contacted the city about the matter.

According to Burns, the contamination was found in wells at a depth of 60 feet. However, drinking wells in the area are 160-200 feet in depth. He said that the state is not recommending residents boil water or switch to bottled water at this time. However, the next step will be sampling resident wells.

One Ware Road resident in attendance was disappointed with the lack of communication from the city throughout the clean-up process. “The city has never contacted me, not one time,” he said. The resident added that he spoke to Councilmember Cliff Yankovich once and was told that the contamination was moving north and not to worry about it.

A representative of Deerhaven Homeowners Association was also present and asked when the sampling had been done and whether Boston Township was involved in the clean-up. Burns replied that the township was not involved.

Councilmembers voted unanimously to approve water sampling from resident wells. The cost is estimated to be $56,000-$79,000, and the city had previously set aside $100,000 for expenses related to Ware Road.

Changes to Office Hours, Federal Holiday Schedule

Earlier this year, the City of Lowell switched to a 4/10 schedule for city hall staff. Rather than a traditional 5-day workweek, staff have been working four days from 7:30am to 5:30pm.

At Monday’s meeting, councilmembers agreed to make that change permanent. Burns said he had only received one negative complaint from a citizen about being closed on Friday and had heard from several others who were happy that city hall was still open past 5pm. City employees were also very happy with the change.

Later in the meeting, Lowell Light & Power General Manager Charlie West shared that the utility would be changing its public office hours as well. Starting January 2024, the new LLP office hours will be as follows:

• M-Thurs: 10am-4:30pm
• Fri: 9am-12pm

West said this change was made after collecting data for six months about when people normally stop by the office. Limiting office hours is hoped to minimize disruptions and allow employees to work more efficiently. Appointments can be made by those who need to stop by the utility at other times.

In a separate agenda item, Lowell City Council discussed how best to observe federal holidays, particularly Veterans Day and Juneteenth which fall on different days of the week each year. Councilmember Leah Groves brought the issue to the attention of Burns after noticing that the council did not meet on Presidents’ Day but did meet on Juneteenth.

“I think we should follow all the national holidays or none of them,” she said,

Councilmember Marty Chambers said that if council was taking a day off then city staff should take the day off as well. Groves felt that was a decision for Burns to make.

Lowell City Council voted unanimously not to meet on any federal holidays. When a federal holiday falls on the Monday of a regular meeting, that meeting will be moved to Tuesday.

Council Reverses Decision on Horatio Street

In September, Lowell City Council voted to file a legal objection to an attempt to vacate Horatio Street.

That was in response to a lawsuit filed by CopperRock Construction. The company sued the city and surrounding neighbors to vacate the street and pave the way for a mixed-use development that will encompass 112 Horatio Street, Horatio Street and the entire north 800 block of E. Main Street, which is the location of the former RollAway Fun Center. (Note: The author of this article owns property in the 700 block of E. Main Street.)

At their Monday meeting, councilmembers reversed course and voted 3-2 to withdraw their objection to the vacation. A specific reason was not given why.

The catalyst for the change appeared to be a legal opinion provided by City Attorney Jessica Wood. In the council packet, a memo noted that the City Council had sought a legal opinion about the vacation of the road. It is unclear when that request was made since it was not mentioned when councilmembers voted to object to the street vacation nor is there any reference to it in the minutes from that meeting.

The cost of legal action seemed to be one consideration for councilmembers with both Chambers and Groves mentioning the upcoming cost of the Ware Road well testing in their comments. Yankovich also said that he didn’t think the city should spend more money on the vacation since neighbors are also fighting it in court. Mayor Mike DeVore, on the other hand, didn’t think cost should be a factor and pointed out that the city spent a significant amount of money fighting the biodigester on behalf of residents.

Wood’s legal opinion was presumably shared in a closed session, and no details of that opinion were provided to the public. At one point, Wood did say that withdrawing the objection would bring city action “in line with [the] rezoning and development approval that has already occurred.”

“I think the chance of stopping the vacation of half a block is pretty slim,” Yankovich said.

Residents who spoke during the meeting disagreed, though. “It’s a platted street,” said Pam Rowley, who lives on E. Main Street across from the former RollAway building. “I see cars and bikes and people and dogs go back and forth all day long.”

“We feel this case is much stronger if the city is with us,” said Bob Rowley. He felt the Planning Commission had ignored serious concerns with the project, including the size of the building in relation to neighboring houses and narrow access on Avery Street. He also felt the commission disregarded provisions of the Master Plan dictating maximum density for multi-family dwellings. “This street is your way to correct the failure of the Planning Commission,” he told councilmembers.

Perry Beachum and Beryl Bartkus, residents who live elsewhere in the city, also stated that they felt the council should maintain their objection. “It sorta looks like a flip flop,” Bartkus said. “Do the residents a favor and say yes, you’re going to follow it because that’s your job.”

Two unidentified representatives of CopperRock Construction spoke to take issue with councilmember comments about their professionalism. “To be accused and painted as the bad guy is a bit confusing to be honest,” one said. He noted that the company had worked with the city and planning consultant Andy Moore for months to iron out the details of the development.

Lowell’s First Look has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to better understand the genesis and timeline of the project. The city says gathering the requested emails will cost $1,315, and Lowell’s First Look has filed an appeal to that response.

At the end of the conversation, Lowell City Council voted 3-2 to withdraw their objection to the vacation of Horatio Street. Yankovich, Chambers and Groves voted yes. DeVore and Councilmember Jim Salzwedel voted no.

Other Meeting Items

Other votes and news from the meeting included the following:

• West shared that Lowell Light & Power was one of only two public utilities to receive a gold designation in a recent customer satisfaction survey.
• Councilmembers voted unanimously to designate council chambers as the polling location for early voting.
• Councilmembers voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with Grindline Skateparks to design and build a new skate park. Bob Rogers from Impact Church is spearheading this project and raised the $120,000 needed to make it a reality. No tax dollars are being used. Salzwedel asked about maintenance, and Rogers said park maintenance in the past has been done by Impact Church as part of its Love Our City Week.
• Councilmembers voted 3-1-1 to require sidewalks to be placed at 709 Lafayette Street where a home is being rebuilt after a fire. The owner had requested a waiver of the city ordinance, citing an absence of sidewalks on other nearby properties. Yankovich, Chambers and Groves voted to keep the sidewalk requirement, Salzwedel voted no and DeVore abstained. DeVore did not give a reason for his abstention.

Final Meeting for Councilmember Cliff Yankovich

In a final piece of business, councilmembers decided to cancel their Dec. 18 session. As a result, the Monday meeting was the final one for Yankovich, whose term expires at the end of the year. He opted not to run for reelection.

In making final comments, he thanked everyone on the council and city staff. He also said he appreciated that the council worked in a nonpartisan manner, before adding with a laugh: “[I’ve] upset people on the left and the right so my work is done.”

Burns and other councilmembers were effusive in their praise for Yankovich although there was some good-natured ribbing involved in their comments as well. DeVore ended the evening by presenting Yankovich with a plaque, and he received a standing ovation from those in attendance.

The meeting adjourned at 8:50pm. The next regular meeting of Lowell City Council will be on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, at 7pm in Lowell City Hall.