City Council Recap: Reports, Requests and Zoning Updates

Lowell City Council met for about 90 minutes on Monday night before going into a closed session. Mayor Mike DeVore was absent so Mayor Pro Tem Marty Chambers led the meeting. All other councilmembers were present.

The night’s agenda included 10 items of business, which included a mix of presentations and action items. One person spoke during public comments.

Public Comment: Update on Affordable Housing

Wendie Preiss, executive director of Flat River Outreach Ministries, spoke during public comments to provide an update on the non-profit’s affordable housing project. It currently has a $326,000 gap to reach its goal, and FROM expects to being “moving dirt” in May.

While water from a neighboring property currently drains on the FROM site, Preiss said they would be installing roof drains to ensure that no runoff leaves their property. She also said FROM has a communication plan to keep in touch with neighbors throughout the project. She encouraged councilmembers to reach out to her if they heard any concerns from the community.

Master Plan and Zoning Amendments

There were two items from the Planning Commission on the agenda.

The first was a presentation of the draft Master Plan for distribution. The Planning Commission voted in February to recommend that Lowell City Council distribute the draft to local municipalities and stakeholders for their review. This step is required by law, and distributing the plan doesn’t prevent changes from being made to it.

However, councilmembers decided they would prefer to look over the plan themselves before approving it for distribution and no action was taken on Monday.

Also from the Planning Commission were zoning ordinance amendments that would increase the density allowed on some planned unit developments (PUDS) and make it easier for owners of non-conforming properties to rebuild or improve their homes. These amendments passed on a unanimous vote.

Lowell Area Historical Museum Annual Report

Lisa Plank, executive director of the Lowell Area Historical Museum, was present Monday to provide an annual report to Lowell City Council. Her report included the following numbers from last year:

• 41,003 people physically visited the museum
• 240,000 people were engaged online through emails, Facebook, YouTube and the museum website
• 31,000 volunteer hours were logged, with Plank noting that she felt the actual number was much higher
• 295 artifacts were donated to the museum

“For a museum our size, these are really significant numbers,” Plank said.

She also shared information about school programs, a planned update to the early history gallery, the Letters Home podcast and a strategic plan that is underway.

Kent District Library Annual Report

Representatives of the Kent District Library were also on-hand Monday to update the council on library activities in 2024.

Lowell resident Amanda Schrauben, who serves as the Region 4 trustee on the KDL board, starting off by introducing herself and then turning over the podium to executive director Lance Werner.

Werner spoke about the KDL system as a whole and noted that the library was one of five public libraries nationwide to receive the 2024 National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Service. Last year, KDL counted 7.8 million visits across all branches, up 7% from the year before. It also served 23,000 lunches to kids in the summer, and 20,000 people completed the summer reading program.

Councilmember Jim Salzwedel asked about the funding for the summer lunches, and Werner replied that the program was a partnership with Feeding America, which covered the cost.

Kurt Lardie, regional manager for the Englehardt and Alto branches, spoke next. He provided information from the Lowell library about its usage in 2024:

• 89,000 visits, up from 85,000 in 2023
• 8,900 program participants, up from 5,400 in 2023
• 1,300 lunches distributed, up from 1,084 in 2023
• 600 pints of blood donated during monthly blood drives
• 162,000 items checked out

Lardie explained that while books and media items are the most commonly checked out items, the library also has blood pressure monitors, radon detectors, metal detectors, free tickets to local attractions, free faxing, free printing and a host of other free services and items for community use.

Library staff has ramped up its programming, and the Englehardt branch hosted more story times, kid zone activities, homeschool hangouts and adult events to meet the needs of patrons last year. Lardie says he expects more of the same this year.

Arbor Board Report

Jim Reagan, chair of the city’s Arbor Board, also provided an annual report to Lowell City Council.

He first shared that the annual Arbor Day tree planting would take place on Friday, April 25, at 8:30am in Creekside Kingdom.

Reagan then covered other board activity from last year, which included the development of a new tree ordinance and a shortened vision statement. Assistant City Manager Rich LaBombard has been working on a plan to add trees along W. Main Street. There are also about 15 trees that will be removed and replaced in the historic downtown. Lowell City Council has previously discussed their concerns with the fruit produced by these trees and the fact that some of the larger trees are buckling the sidewalk.

“Some of those trees they are cutting down are very pretty,” Reagan said, adding that it might not be so pretty along Main Street until the new trees are in place and growing.

After council voted unanimously to accept the tree plan for the upcoming year, Chambers read a proclamation for Arbor Day and Week.

Action Items

There were four other items on the agenda that required a vote. Three passed unanimously:

• A lease with the Lowell Rotary Club for use of City Hall as a meeting spot. The lease will run until 2028 and includes a weekly rental fee of $75. However, no money is due for the first two years since the Rotary Club is updating the second floor kitchenette on their dime and that work will be considered an in-kind payment.
• The closure of three parking spaces in the lot between Riverside Drive and N. Broadway Street to accommodate the Creative Cube mobile art studio, which is being brought to town by Lowell Arts.
• An easement to allow Lowell Light & Power to run electrical lines to Phase 6 of the Stony Bluff residential development in Lowell Charter Township.

The final item was approved on a split vote. It was a request from the Lowell Showboat VI to allow the Caledonia Class of 2026 to utilize part of Riverwalk Plaza until 1:30am for their all-night party next year. The Parks and Recreation Committee previously reviewed the request and recommended that Lowell City Council approve it.

“I’m a little concerned about this personally,” said Councilmember Eric Bartkus. He cited concerns with food getting on the carpet and dancing planned for the upper deck. He also asked about police presence and the cost of the rental.

Salzwedel, who sits on the non-profit board that oversees the Showboat, said the railing on the upper deck was to code, and Chambers added that the Showboat is run as a separate non-profit entity and not controlled by the city.

Liz Baker, who was there on behalf of Lowell Showboat VI, said she didn’t remember the rental price off the top of her head and that the non-profit didn’t need approval to rent out the boat. Instead, they needed city approval to use the Riverwalk as an overflow area.

The motion passed on 2-1-1 vote with Chambers and Councilmember Mark Ritzema voting yes, Bartkus voting no and Salzwedel abstaining because he sits on the Showboat board.

At 8:25pm, Lowell City Council went into closed session “to consider material exempt from discussion or disclosure by state or federal statute” and presumably to speak to City Attorney Jessica Wood who was at the meeting but did not comment during any open session agenda items.

The next regular meeting of Lowell City Council will take place on Monday, May 5, at 7pm in Lowell City Hall. Prior to their regular meeting, councilmembers will meet from 1-6pm to review the upcoming year’s budget.