It was a short meeting for Lowell City Council last night. Mayor Mike DeVore was absent so Mayor Pro Tem Marty Chambers ran the meeting, which clocked in at 30 minutes. There were four relatively short pieces of business on the agenda, and after handling those, councilmembers heard updates on road projects and other matters from City Manager Mike Burns.
Citizen Comment: Concern About Speeding
During the citizen comment portion of the meeting, David Bonga rose to share his concern that the speed limits weren’t being enforced in town. The Riverside Drive resident said he walked his dog twice a day by Hudson Street and noticed that traffic was often traveling far in excess of the 25mph speed limit.
Bonga asked Police Chief Chris Hurst how many tickets were issued last month, and Hurst handed him a sheet of statistics. Hurst said police stopped 119 cars and issued 34 citations. Stops occurred in the following areas:
- Bowes Road: 40
- W. Main Street: 40
- N. Hudson Street: 14
- E. Main Street: 10
- S. Hudson Street: 6
- Alden Nash Avenue: 2
- S. Jackson Street: 1
- Riverside Drive: 1
At the end of the meeting, during council comments, Councilmember Jim Salzwedel expressed his concern about speeding in the city as well.
Tree Ordinance Amendment Passed
The Arbor Board has been working with city staff and representatives of Williams & Works to update the city’s tree ordinance. This revision was prompted by the removal of trees on Bowes Road that were growing into the power lines. At that time, it was realized that some aspects of the current ordinance were unclear.
Major changes to the ordinance include the following:
- More detailed description of the city’s tree fund, including how it is to be funded and used.
- Clarification of how existing trees are to be reviewed and who determines when the removal of trees from public property is warranted. Under the ordinance revision, the decision falls to the city manager although if more than five trees are to be removed, the Arbor Board would be consulted.
- More definition for where trees can be planted in public areas and which species are acceptable.
The revised ordinance was approved unanimously by Lowell City Council.
Design Work for Kent Street Project Approved
Lowell City Council also unanimously approved paying $34,300 to Williams & Works for design engineering for a future project on Kent Street. The road is slated for work during Fiscal Year 2024-2025.
In addition to repaving the road to Jackson Street, the project is expected to include adding a water main from Washington to Jackson and a sanitary sewer main from Jefferson to Jackson. Burns said he thought the city may be able to use USDA financing to pay for the water and sewer work. Repaving costs are estimated at $160,000.
Annual Meeting Delegate Appointments
For the next two agenda items, Lowell City Council elected delegates for the Michigan Municipal Leage Annual Conference and the MERS Annual Meeting.
Councilmember Leah Groves nominated DeVore as the MML conference delegate. Her motion was followed by Chambers nominating Groves. Salzwedel seconded that motion, and Lowell City Council voted 3-1 to appoint Groves as the conference delegate. Groves cast the no vote.
Next, councilmembers unanimously appointed Todd Phillips as the employee delegate for the MERS Annual Meeting. City of Lowell employees had previously selected Phillips as their choice for a representative.
City Manager Report: Road Work Updates
In his manager’s report, Burns noted that Rich LaBombard would be returning to Lowell as assistant city manager. He also provided updates on several road projects.
Work is expected to begin on Grindle and Shepherd on August 21, and city officials will have a community meeting with residents shortly.
The city has been approved for USDA funding for a major project on Washington Street. That financing comes with a 2.875% interest rate and a 40-year term. Burns noted that the interest rate was lower than expected, and he has asked the engineers and attorneys involved to have the project out for bid by Christmas.
Burns also said he had received a preliminary estimate for repaving a portion of Avery and Division Streets if a proposed development at the site of the former Rollaway Fun Center is approved. The cost is estimated at $331,000.
“If we do move forward with this, we may actually want to consider putting a water line down Avery,” Burns added.
To pay for the project, Burns suggested using the city’s fund balance. “We’re about $1.4 million sitting unassigned in the General Fund, and with the estimate of somewhere between $63,000 to $88,000 a year to the General Fund if that development were to come about, I would think the return would be relatively quick,” he said.
Developers have proposed that the city vacate Horatio Street so they can combine a lor on Horatio with the RollAway property. They would then build a mixed-used building on the new, approximately 1.5-acre lot. That building would house 44 residential units and 3,800 square feet of commercial space.
Neighboring residents have raised concerns about snow removal, pedestrian safety, low water pressure in the area and inadequate parking. The Planning Commission has said it plans to review the project’s site plan in September, but at its last meeting, Lowell City Council – citing concern that the developer may be losing money if there are delays – said it would ask the commission to bump up its review to August.
During his report, Burns also shared that the city had sent a notice to Lowell Charter Township asking them to respond within 60 days with what they would like to do about the city water system. The system is currently near capacity at peak times as a result of continued growth in the township.
Burns said the notice informed the township that the city is not interested in entering into an authority and is not interested in paying to dig additional wells. If additional wells are needed, they will need to be paid for by the township. Another option that could be explored is an upgrade to the current well pumps from ones that can pump 600 gallons of water a minute to those that can pump 1,200 gallons a minute. The current pumps will need to be replaced in the next few years, and using higher capacity pumps could help meet demand for water in the township. Burns added that if the township wasn’t interested in these options, the city would “release them from the current agreement.”
The meeting adjourned at 7:30pm, and the next regular meeting of Lowell City Council will take place on Monday, August 21, at 7pm in Lowell City Hall.
Note: This article was updated at 5:26pm on August 8 to correct an error in the interest rate for the USDA financing for Washington Street and to clarify the city’s position on making updates to the water system.
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