A public hearing on a final assessment roll for a Special Assessment District (SAD) to pay for a sidewalk and bridge over a stream on West State Street in front of The Dollar Tree and Holiday Express Hotel was discussed by the Hastings City Council Monday, with no action taken.
City Manager Jeff Mansfield asked to the council to delay a decision to give him time to work with the Barry County Drain Commissioner, Rutland Township officials and others to lower the cost of the crossing of the stream by changing its basic design and possibly eliminating a clear span bridge required by the MDEQ.
When Mike Moyles, owner of the hotel, listed some concerns he had with the plan.
Mansfield assured him they are looking at several options that would change the original plan, including making the stream a county drain. There are no county drains in the city now, and they want to look at the ramifications and cost to other people that would be brought into a drain district. He said he will meet with Drain Commissioner Jim Dull Tuesday afternoon “to see what that entails.”
As it stands now, the Dollar Tree and Holiday Express Hotel are the only entities on the assessment roll, and each would pay half of the estimated cost of $54,000 for the 2,025 linear feet of sidewalk and $60,000 for the pedestrian bridge crossing the creek, for a total of $114,000.
Mansfield said if the two businesses want to develop their own plan for sidewalks and the shared steam crossing, the city is willing to work with them. The council referred the matter back to Mansfield for further study.
Also Monday, the council:
* named Norma Jean Acker to the Hastings Public Library Board for a partial term ending Dec. 31. She replaces Bob Becker who resigned.
* extended its audit contract with Rehmann Robson auditors for an additional three years. Because Jerry Czarnecki is relatively new as city clerk/treasurer, having Rehmann for the next few years would give him continunity working with the same auditors, he said. “After three years, we will seek bids from other companies.”
* set a public hearing for April 23 on the need for a Special Assessment District in the downtown area to pay for some maintenance costs for city parking lots. Mansfield said there would be some changes this year. The DDA, which has paid the cost increases in the assessments for the last five years, thinks the business owners should pay more, he said. A total of $3,000 increase in costs this year will be spread over all the business owners in the special assessment district.
*approved the low $45,700 bid from Pitsch Companies to demolish the former Moose building at 128 North Michigan Avenue. The Downtown Development Authority has agreed to pay up to $50,000 for the work, with the city paying them back for the demolition if the property is sold. There were six other bids for the work, ranging from $54,200 to $129,996.
*scheduled a workshop for 6 p.m. before the April 23 meeting to discuss the 2018-2019 budget.
