It took Lowell City Council about 35 minutes to run through the agenda during its first regular meeting of March, held on Monday at 7pm. All councilmembers were present. City Manager Mike Burns was absent, and Police Chief Steve Bukala filled in for him as acting city manager.
Old Business: Landfill, Trails and Police Accreditation
Lowell City Council had three pieces of old business on their agenda.
Councilmembers unanimously approved $13,800 for additional monitoring wells to be drilled at the site of the Ware Road landfill. The price also includes the disposal of soil cuttings and the removal of 26 drums that are currently onsite.
Then, they heard a brief presentation from Dave Austin on behalf of the Lowell Area Recreation Authority. After meeting railroad and MDOT representatives, the authority has revised the route of a planned trail connector through town. The new route will create a pedestrian bridge adjacent to the current South Hudson bridge over the Grand River. The trail will then head east where it will connect to the existing Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Rail Trail. A more formal presentation and public hearing on the plan will be held during the council’s March 16 meeting.
For the final piece of old business, Bukala asked councilmembers to authorize a $1,642.90 payment to purchase Power DMS software. The program will streamline the process of meeting some accreditation requirements for the Lowell Police Department, and councilmembers unanimously approved the expenditure.
New Business: LCTV Grants and Commercial/Industrial Districts Ordinance
Under new business, Lowell City Council unanimously approved the recommendations of the LCTV Endowment Fund Board for 2020 grant awards. Board Chair Dennis Kent noted there was approximately $109,000 available for grants from the fund, and that money will be distributed as follows:
- City of Lowell: $4,000 for LCTV Fund administration expenses
- City of Lowell: $30,000 for Ware Road landfill project
- Fallasburg Historical Society: $5,000 Misner House roof replacement
- Flat River Outreach Ministries: $5,000 for food pantry renovation
- Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association: $10,000 for observatory dome refurbishing
- LowellArts: $11,000 for office updates
- Lowell Area Historical Museum: $2,000 for youth summer camp
- The Barn for Equine Learning: $10,800 for therapeutic office space
- Vergenne Township: $7,000 for township community room
- Lowell YMCA: $25,000 for Energize Lowell initiative
The next piece of new business was actually an item that was originally discussed by Lowell City Council last month. The Planning Commission had recommended an update to the city’s zoning for commercial and industrial districts. One change was to allow residential units in the downtown C-2 district by right. As previously written, the zoning ordinance required a special use permit to convert any part of a building for residential use.
Lowell councilmembers expressed concern that this change could allow residences on the first floor of downtown buildings. Andy Moore, a consultant to the Planning Commission, was present and said that most special use permits for this purpose relate to the second floor of downtown buildings. He didn’t anticipate people would want to create first floor residences but said the council could make that stipulation if they wanted. However, the body chose to unanimously approve the ordinance changes as proposed by the Planning Commission and without amendment.
Manager’s Report: Farmer’s Market Moving, Amity Street Vying for Grant Money
In the manager’s report, Bukala noted the farmer’s market would be moving to a new location in 2020. It will be held at Impact Church instead of downtown.
The city has applied for a Community Development Block Grant to complete repairs on Amity Street. It was the highest scoring project submitted for the grant and while Bukala said that didn’t guarantee funding, it does look promising.
The next regular meeting of Lowell City Council will be Monday, March 16 at 7pm in Lowell City Hall.
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