Even though our city is facing some challenges, I refuse to take my eyes off the prize. I will continue to fight for this city that I love until I see it be the amazing place to live that we all envision.
A few things on the City Council forefront are as follows:
Sale of the Michigan Avenue and Waverly Park – The Development & Planning Committee will be moving the resolution to sell the property out of committee this week. This would then go before the entire council for a vote. The city has been offered nearly $5.8 million for the park land by Livonia-based Schostak Brothers & Company, a real estate development firm. The firm stated that they would most likely do a mixed-used project, which is what they have done on most of their other properties. The mayor wants to use some of the money to invest in other parks and place some of the money in the “rainy day” fund. When this was first discussed, many of the council members--especially Tina Houghton--were opposed to selling the Michigan Avenue Park portion due to the high usage by residents for sledding.
Municipal Partnership Agreement between East Lansing and Lansing to Form an Authority for the Regulation of Taxicab Companies and Drivers- The joint agreement was set to be voted on at the last council meeting, but most of the council members wanted to have a public hearing regarding the agreement. I was the lone no vote. The agreement is being considered due to the fact that many taxicabs cross the city lines on a regular basis, and it is believed that it makes sense to have the joint agreement. There are many requirements that must be fulfilled for a taxicab company or ride-share companies to be licensed within the two cities. Holding off on the vote is not a major issue, but it would make sense to have this in place as soon as possible.
Eliminating Traffic Board and Transferring its Functions to the Public Service Board- This ordinance will place the Traffic Board responsibilities under the Public Service Board. The public hearing regarding this will be held at the council meeting on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
City Council Retreat – The City Council had a retreat of sorts a few weeks ago regarding strategic planning and vision. Faculty from MSU facilitated the meeting, and we were joined by members of the Financial Health Team, the mayor, our finance director, and Randy Hannan. It was encouraging to see all members of council, along with the administration, have a fruitful discussion and planning period. We have come up with a mission statement and are constructing plans on how to carry out the mission/vision within each of our committees.
Park Board Representative for 1st Ward - I am pleased to announce that Rita O’Brien has been appointed the 1st Ward representative for the Park Board. Rita will be joining us at our next 1st Contact meeting.
For now, this is all I have to share. I will be back on this blog in the very near future!
--Jody
