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WEST MICHIGAN REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
March 19, 2010
9:30 a.m.
1. Call to Order. C. Mulholland, WMRPC Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m. Commission members and guests introduced themselves.
2. Roll Call:
Lynn Anderson – City of Big Rapids
Mark Gifford – City of Big Rapids
Merri Moore – City of Cedar Springs
Suzanne Schulz – City of Grand Rapids
Gregg Yeomans – Ionia County
Paul Bullock, Treasurer – Mecosta County
Ray Steinke – Mecosta County
Leslie Anne Wood – Montcalm County
John Johansen – Montcalm County
Tom Lindeman – Montcalm County
Dan Massy – Osceola County
Donald Disselkoen, Vice-Chair – Ottawa County
Chris Larson – Ottawa County
L. Charles Mulholland, Chair – At large
Howard Hansen – At large
Tom Jessup – Allegan County (alternate)
Staff:
David Bee – Director
Paul Leitelt – Planning Technician
Nancy Murphy – Administrative Assistant
Guests:
Dennis Kent – Michigan Department of Transportation
Mary Ayers – Inner City Christian Federation
Art Green – Michigan Department of Transportation
Tom Tellier – Michigan Department of Transportation
John Richard – Michigan Department of Transportation
3. Approval of Minutes
A MOTION WAS MADE BY J. Johansen to approve the minutes for the January 22, 2010, Commission meeting as presented. SUPPORTED BY G. Yeomans. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
4. Public Comments
None.
5. General Business
a. Guest Speakers: Dennis Kent, Art Green, Tom Tellier, and John Richard – Michigan Department of Transportation
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) speakers presented information about two projects that have been in the planning stage for a number of years and are now ready for work to begin: I-196 in Grand Rapids and US-31 Holland to Grand Haven.
I-196 is the largest job in the area since the construction of M-6 and the rehabilitation of the
S-curve on US-131. The $40 million project will reconstruct 1.75 miles of I-196 from the Grand River bridge to Fuller Avenue and will be done in two major stages. The highway work will include widening from two through-lanes in each direction to three lanes, and also construction of new weave/merge lanes in each direction between the Ottawa/Ionia and College interchanges, as well as between the College and Fuller interchanges. Bridge work will replace the Coit, Diamond, and Eastern Avenue bridges over I-196 and also replace the eastbound and westbound I-196 bridges over Lafayette Avenue. There will also be landscaping and aesthetic enhancements.
During the construction, electronic message boards will notify motorists of the road closures and available alternate routes. This information will include real time data related to actual travel times for each option.
Preliminary work started in October 2009. Stage 1 will start April 12, 2010 and continue until late July or early August. The exact timing of Stage 1 completion is dependent upon whether the contractors are able to meet the deadlines for early completion incentives; actual completion could be from July 29 through August 6. During Stage 1, no through traffic will be allowed on both sides of I-196 between College and Ottawa. Approaching these two streets from both the east and west, there will be a phased limited access leading up to the closed-to-traffic segment. Through traffic will be re-routed via M-6 or to I-96 to US-131 and back to I-196.
Stage 2 will happen August through November 2010, with Phase 2A through October and Phase 2B into November. Early incentives will be awarded if construction is completed by November 15. During this stage, two lanes of I-196 will be open to through traffic in both directions. Ramps and interchanges will be opened and closed in staged phases.
MDOT has embraced modern social media to help them get the word out to the public, including YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, along with the use of older marketing methods via public meetings and press releases. MDOT has a project website at www.michigan.gov/i196 and has posted videos on YouTube.
The other major MDOT project is related to US-31 from Holland to Grand Haven in Ottawa County; the project was started 17 years ago. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has approved the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for that project. The EIS has been published in the Federal Register and is available for public review and comment during a 30-day period; comments must be submitted by March 22, 2010. MDOT worked with Ottawa County and the townships in the area. A four-lane road would only be possible if funding becomes available in the future.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY D. Disselkoen to support the Preferred Alternative (F-1a) as presented in the US-31 Holland to Grand Haven FEIS. SUPPORTED BY L. Wood. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
b. Guest Speaker: Mary Ayers – Inner City Christian Federation
Ms. Ayers talked about the Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF) and its programs. ICCF has been a non-profit housing organization since 1974. During that time, they have built or rehabbed over 500 homes. ICCF is dedicated to providing low-income people with beautiful houses, which they believe will lead to stable neighborhoods. They also have rental units, including brownstones and duplexes. And they have a shelter where families can stay for up to 30 days.
ICCF also has a strong education program, which includes Introduction to Home Ownership, Financial Management classes, and a workshop series. The six-hour Home Ownership class includes information about mortgage and loan programs, budgeting, and discussion of the pros and cons of home purchase. The eight-class Financial Management series includes budgeting, credit and debt management, investment, and insurance. Other classes include the Healthy Families series where people can learn parenting skills. The workshop series teaches both soft and hard skills to prepare people for home ownership. The “soft” skills are related to neighborhoods. The “hard” skills teach people what they need to know about such areas as plumbing, electrical, paint and wall repair, and landscaping in order to take care of a house.
ICCF also provides house inspections. And they have several full-time staff people who work on foreclosure prevention. And they administer a Section 8 program that offers housing vouchers to low-income people to help keep their housing costs at or below 30 percent of their income. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program involves houses that have been foreclosed and then rehabilitated and made available for purchase.
c. Administrative Matters
● Financial Statement
The Financial Statement was included in the meeting packet and covers the Fiscal Year 2010 through January 31, 2010. D. Bee briefly reviewed the Financial Statement. He said that since the end of January, we have received payments for MDOT Planning and Asset Management for a total of over $34,000. Every member (except Ionia County) has paid their dues for 2010; dues payments received since January have been about $14,000. So revenues now exceed expenditures.
As for grant programs, we are early in the calendar year of our EDA grant. This is the first year of our second three-year grant with EDA; the total allocation is divided evenly among the three years. We have spent about half of our MDOT Planning funds for the Fiscal Year, and about a third of the Asset Management grant funds.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY D. Disselkoen to accept and place on file the Financial Statement for the period of October 1, 2009 through January 31, 2010. SUPPORTED BY R. Steinke. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
● Policy Review Process
The Executive Committee now reviews all policies at their February meeting each year. Since last year was the first year for this type of review, all policies were reviewed thoroughly at that time, so that the changes needed this year were minimal.
The Committee recommends the following changes to the Bylaws (a copy of the revised draft Bylaws was included with the meeting packet):
page 3 – The numbers of at-large members was adjusted from three to four, to allow for more representation from non-dues-paying-members.
page 4 – Last year we changed the order of business to match the Bylaws. This year the Committee thought it would be better to change the Bylaws to the following:
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Minutes
4. Public Comments
5. General Business
6. Unscheduled business
7. Adjournment
page 6 – Under Article
1: Financing, under Article XI – Financial Considerations, the Committee
recommends deleting the word “voting” from the sentence that reads:
“Responsibility for the annual amount of such financial obligations shall be
distributed among the governmental voting membership . . . ”
D. Disselkoen asked the reason for the change, since an earlier part of the Bylaws defines voting membership to members having at least 10,000 population. P. Bullock explained that the change was made because otherwise it could have been interpreted to say that non-voting members do not have to pay dues. C. Mulholland said that all members are allowed to vote, with their votes weighted in close votes; he said that in all the years he has been with the Commission, this has never become necessary.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY G. Yeomans to approve the changes to the Bylaws as recommended by the Executive Committee. SUPPORTED BY H. Hansen. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
d. Round Table / Regional Issues
D. Disselkoen – Ottawa County. A company called Energetics is proposing a wind-related manufacturing project in Holland. LG Chem/Compact Power chose the City of Holland for their $3.3 billion Chevy Volt batteries facility. $11.4 million in road improvements were approved by MDOT and MEDC. Huntington Bank added a third shift for their regional call center. Continental Dairy in Coopersville received an economic development grant. Request Foods will have a $25 million project in an Agricultural Development Renaissance Zone; the project will add over 250 employees; they have a $5 million grant for a wastewater treatment plant.
John Johansen – Montcalm County. Last night he and Tom Lindeman attended a Land Use Coalition meeting. At that meeting, Dave Ivan spoke about strategies for success in the new economy. We have a unique situation here in Michigan where for many years the automotive industry provided a good living wage to workers with just a high school education. MSU has programs related to the new economy, two programs for Township Supervisors and County Commissioners and a program for county economic development people. MSU’s focus is how to turn the economy around and involve young people.
Tom Lindeman – Montcalm County. Public buildings (City offices, schools) in Greenville will install solar panels, which are manufactured in Greenville. The City of Greenville might expand their recycling program.
Leslie Wood – Montcalm County. Montcalm Community College (MCC) had a strategic planning meeting with their new President. The President has also been going out into the community to determine their vision for the college. Where do you get the money for what you need to do? The college has three sources of funding: tuition, property taxes, and State appropriations. MSU and Michigan Works are developing tools to improve job retention and attraction in the state.
Dan Massy – Osceola County. There is a quilt trail in the county. It is a driving tour where people view the quilts hanging out on farms. Osceola is the third county in Michigan to have this type of program, which is a good boost to tourism; the program is funded by a grant. The Detroit Free Press did a story about the program.
Howard Hansen – Parkland Properties (his employer) has sold six condominiums within the last few months. In order to sell homes, they have to get creative. It is still difficult to get financing. Parkland owns the Shoreline Hotel in Muskegon; in addition to hotel rooms, there is a convention and conference center. Although there are beginning to be a few bright spots in the economy, investors are still very cautious.
Gregg Yeomans – Ionia County. The City of Portland is working on a new master plan. A local Township representative said that there might be a new restaurant near the airport. Funding for education is becoming more limited and the Ionia School District might have to shut down their vocational education program; that valuable training should be continued if possible.
Paul Bullock – Mecosta County. The County continues to face fiscal challenges. For the first time, taxable and assessed value are comparable. The County has received $220,000 less than budgeted in property taxes. While they are able to access their fund balance so far, they don’t know when revenues will go back up. H. Hansen said that it will be 2014–16 before there is real improvement in the economic situation.
Ray Steinke – Mecosta County. They met with their auditor yesterday and everything was okay. The County is participating in the Pure Michigan tourism campaign.
Tom Jessup – Allegan County. The County has decided upon the former Haworth facility for their new jail. They will be conducting a design charrette this week; it will be an intensive process, with a lot of different opinions expected. The proposed design will go to the Allegan County Board in two weeks, for a possible millage vote in August. When they started working towards a new jail, the projected costs were $34-40 million. They are now projecting about $20 million and possibly even less. Use of the old Haworth building is such a sound idea that the costs might be as low as $14 million. Green energy has come full circle in the county: wind generation had been considered a wonderful concept, but now there are concerns about 650 foot high wind towers and questions about just how much energy could be generated.
Merri Moore – City of Cedar Springs. Discussions continue about the value of business expansion compared to the potential for new business. They are concentrating on improvements to the portion of the White Pine Trail that extends through Cedar Springs.
Mark Gifford – City of Big Rapids. The City is continuing the process for the MDOT streetscape project, which came in 20 percent under their estimate. Work on the $1.2 million in improvements will start in April. They are working on community hangers at the airport. Phase 3 of the City’s Riverwalk project will be implemented this year.
Lynn Anderson – City of Big Rapids. The Riverwalk project is also under budget. There might be funds freed up for the local community library.
Suzanne Schulz – City of Grand Rapids. The City is working on a city zoning ordinance related to the State’s medical marijuana law.
Don Disselkoen said that Request Foods represents a significant employer in Holland Township and Ottawa County, with 530 employees. They do food processing and have a new contract with Campbell’s. The company is a locally owned, family, business with $230 million in business. There has been pressure for them to relocate out west.
Chris Larson mentioned large wind farms along Lake Michigan in Oceana County and northwest Ottawa County. Dan Massy said that companies are talking to landowners about putting wind towers on their property. MSU is trying to educate people about what would be involved in these ventures. Call the MSU Extension office for more information.
e. Staff Updates
D. Bee distributed a Staff Update (copy attached) The Update includes information in the categories of Economic Development, Transportation Planning, Member Projects/Initiatives, and Other. D. Bee briefly reviewed the bulleted items.
D. Bee said that we will have two good speakers at the March 31st CEDS Committee meeting and he encouraged Commission members to consider attending the meeting. One speaker will be the Manager at the local US Small Business Association office, which is the first district office in West Michigan. The other speaker is with Travel Michigan.
Ionia County is still not on board as a member. Their six-month period required to discontinue membership will end April 23. We sent letters to all of the communities within Ionia County to tell them about the County’s action and how it will affect them, and there has been some interest by a few communities. A local newspaper article described the County’s response to our letter about the six-month notice criterion, along with an invoice for dues for the partial year, in the amount of $920. The County Board discussed the notice and they were critical of the Bylaws, but the Bylaws represented them too as a member. We have not received any official notification from the County, but we will keep trying to include them and their communities.
6. Unscheduled Business
D. Disselkoen asked Dennis Kent from MDOT about the status of the bike bridge over I-196 in Holland – will it be working soon? He said that the project generates a lot of phone calls to radio stations; people wonder why the government is spending $1 million for a bike bridge when there are potholes that are more important to take care of. Mr. Kent responded that there are Federal funding categories that are mandated by law. The funds for the bike bridge were allocated to the Holland MPO and could not be spent on other projects like potholes; if the funds were not spent on the specified type of project, they would not have been available to the area at all.
D. Bee mentioned that he had a lunch meeting with an analyst with Kent County. Like many other people connected with the County, she was surprised that they are not a member of the Region. While it would be nicer if Kent County did participate, their membership would affect our relationship with our current members within the county – Grand Rapids, Wyoming, and Cedar Springs.
D. Disselkoen said that this year’s Asset Management Conference is May 6th in Mount Pleasant.
C. Mulholland talked about the Michigan Association of Regions (MAR). Over the past few months, MAR worked with MSU’s Land Policy Institute (LPI). Both MAR and LPI were seeking funds from EDA, but funds are not currently available. LPI is proposing the “Michigan Prosperity Initiative” and is providing training across Michigan related to the “New Economy”. MAR and LPI would like to expand the role of the CEDS in Michigan.
D. Bee said that he will attend a regional meeting in Saginaw next Friday. All the regions are supposed to hold a similar meeting to promote shared services in communities. Here at Region 8, we accomplish a lot of that coordination and communication work with all of the many interesting speakers at our Commission and CEDS Committee meetings.
7. Adjournment
A MOTION WAS MADE By D. Disselkoen to adjourn. SUPPORTED BY R. Steinke. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
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