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WEST MICHIGAN REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
September 19, 2008
9:30 a.m.
Roll Call:
Terry Burns – Allegan County
Ken Graff – Allegan County
Thomas Hogenson – City of Big Rapids
Mark Gifford – City of Big Rapids
Joseph Harper – City of Big Rapids
Pat Capek – City of Cedar Springs
Paul Bullock – Mecosta County
Charles McCafferty – Mecosta County
Marcia Walker – Montcalm County
John Johansen – Montcalm County
Edward Berghorst, Treasurer – Ottawa County
Tim Cochran – City of Wyoming
Lillian Vanderveen – City of Wyoming
Joanne Voorhees – City of Wyoming
L. Charles Mulholland, Chair – At large
Howard Hansen – At large
Tom Jessup – Allegan County (alternate)
Linda Howard – Mecosta County (alternate)
Staff:
David Bee – Director
Brandon Bartoszek – Planner
Nancy Murphy – Administrative Assistant
2. Approval of Minutes
A MOTION WAS MADE BY L. Vanderveen to approve the minutes for the June 20, 2008, Board meeting as presented. SUPPORTED BY K. Graff.
H. Hansen made a correction to the statement attributed to him on page 8 of the minutes. He said that the Muskegon development referred to has not yet been built and is expected to be completed next year.
THE AMENDED MINUTES WERE APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
3. Public Comments
None.
4. Guest Speaker – None
D. Bee said that he had tried to schedule a speaker for the meeting, but the people he contacted all had scheduling conflicts. Two people he asked were a representative from the Kent County Airport and the Dean of the Michigan State University Medical School. Although they could not attend this meeting, they might be available for future meetings.
5. Administrative Matters
Financial Statement
The Financial Statement was included in the meeting packet and covers the Fiscal Year 2008 through July 2008. D. Bee said we getting near the end of the Fiscal Year. The Status of Grant Programs shows that our MDOT planning grant, which ends in September, is over 100 percent. At the Fiscal Year end, we make adjustments to the accounts and make sure that we spend the funds that have been allocated. We have not experienced any issues with payments from the State. Member projects are also current on payments. Soon we will close out the books for the 2008 Fiscal Year and have our annual financial audit.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY K. Graff to accept and place on file the Financial Statement for the period of October 1, 2007 through July 31, 2008. SUPPORTED BY H. Hansen. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
FY 2009 Budget
D. Bee said that since the time we mailed the FY2009 Budget with the Board agenda, there have been new issues which have affected that budget. He distributed copies of a revised proposed budget (copy attached) and explained the changes.
D. Bee said that the previous Wednesday, Ed Berghorst called and told him that Ottawa County was considering dropping its membership with the WMPRC due to financial issues. The County was looking at its long-term financial well-being and didn’t know if it could afford to continue its membership. Later, Mark Knudsen (Director of Ottawa County Planning and Grants) called D. Bee to discuss the situation.
D. Bee said that he had always been concerned about the membership of both Ottawa County and the City of Grand Rapids. Both of those members have paid higher dues, and a larger proportion of our dues, because dues are based on a community’s population. Also, because Ottawa and Grand Rapids are larger entities, they both have planning staffs, unlike most of our other members. Therefore, they don’t need the services of the Region as much as others do. Earlier this year we had also heard from Grand Rapids that they were having budget issues and might not be able to continue their membership with the WMRPC.
D. Bee proposed that the WMRPC initiate a cap of $5,000 on dues for all members. Ottawa has been paying over $12,000 in annual dues, and Grand Rapids’ dues have been over $9,000. Allegan County is the only other member that has been paying over $5,000 (at $5,410). We primarily use our dues revenues as matching funds for grants, particularly for our annual EDA grant.
D. Bee said that the most important thing is to retain all of our members. Also, it is better to have the $5,000 from each member than no revenues from any members that might drop their membership. It looks likely that the City of Walker will become a new member, so that will give us a little additional revenue.
E. Berghorst talked about Ottawa County’s budget process. He said the County was faced with a shortfall in revenues and had to determine the best way to deal with it. The County Commission developed a rating scale of 1 through 9 to assign to programs that the County funds. Not many Commissioners are familiar with the Region. They are more familiar with the Grand Valley Metro Council (GVMC), which they gave a high rating. The County was not eligible for EDA funds until recently when the economy declined.
D. Bee said that Ottawa County is now eligible for EDA funding. Communities become eligible when their unemployment is one percent above the national average for two years. Eligibility is also based on the community’s per capita income. And additional special factors are also considered, like if large employers have closed local plants. In June and July, D. Bee visited 13 communities within Ottawa County to tell them about EDA funding opportunities and to review potential local projects. EDA has limited funds available each year. Last year, they had $34 million to fund projects within a six state area; of that amount, communities within Region 8 received $3 million for local projects.
E. Berghorst said that Ottawa County had to cut a few million dollars from their spending, including $400,000 for the Health Department. D. Bee said he attended the County Commission meeting and there was a lot of support for his proposed reduction in dues to $5,000.
K. Graff asked how they feel, are we comfortable that they will stay? D. Bee said that yes, they said they would continue for another year.
D. Bee said that another issue we have to consider is the impact on weighted voting. Although there have not been any weighted votes since he’s been here, reducing the dues for some members could affect that equation. Another factor is the effect on possible membership by Kent County. If Kent County membership would cost just $5,000, that would be less than the combined dues for the current members of Grand Rapids, Wyoming, and Cedar Springs.
T. Burns asked what benefits Ottawa County receives for its membership with the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council (MACC). He said there were not a lot of benefits from that membership, and the cost of their dues is more than the WMRPC. D. Bee said that our dues are the lowest of all the 14 Regions in Michigan. E. Berghorst said that he is on the MACC Board and they have a maximum per member.
D. Bee reviewed the new revised budget, compared to the version that was mailed with the Board agenda. The Dues revenue shown reflects $5,000 each for Ottawa County and Grand Rapids, plus $1,000 from Walker. Expenses were reduced in the categories of Office Supplies, Office Machines, Equipment/Furniture, Printing, and Miscellaneous. The “Other/Contingencies” category was cut by over $7,000. Other categories like Salaries and Wages and Fringe Benefits do not reach the maximum during the year.
T. Burns asked about the revenues shown for Coastal Management. D. Bee said that we have applied for a grant to do a study in Allegan and Ottawa Counties. The project would involve wind energy tied to farmland preservation. He had submitted a similar proposal four or five years ago and funding was denied at that time. Now, however, wind energy is more popular, so the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality contacted us and requested that we submit a new proposal for their consideration.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY J. Johansen to approve the WMRPC Budget for Fiscal Year 2008-2009. The motion includes a provision to place a dues ceiling of $5,000 per member, as long as we can continue to meet our EDA match requirements. SUPPORTED BY E. Berghorst. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Supplemental Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)
D. Bee said that the CEDS Committee approved the Supplemental report at its last meeting. The CEDS is now a three year program. Since we can’t predict all projects for the upcoming three years, we need to update EDA on what is going on. This new report supplements the 2007-09 CEDS, which is still in place. A lot of the new document was taken from the original report.
New goals are shown on page 7. D. Bee read the three supplemental goals. The first goal is the result of a meeting we had with EDA in August; both Board and CEDS Committee members attended that meeting. EDA asked us to revise our project criteria and develop a more reasonable approach to projects. The second new goal will involve more participation by the CEDS Committee in project selection. The third new goal will expand the involvement of the private sector. That private sector involvement is something that we have been working on for the past few years. We are more successful with these efforts than the other 13 Regions in Michigan.
Pages 14 through 21 show the Mid-Point Progress Report that was sent to EDA covering the first 18 months of the three-year period. Pages 22-23 report the activity since the Mid-Point report. Current Employment Information is shown on page 24 of the report. Supplemental Projects are listed starting on page 25.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY H. Hansen to approve the “2008 Supplemental Report to the 2007-09 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy”. SUPPORTED BY T. Hogenson. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
C. Mulholland said that he had attended the August meeting with EDA. He said that EDA is really putting a lot of responsibility on regions. He said that thanks to Dave Bee and our excellent working relationship with EDA, our future prospects are good.
Nominating Committee for 2009 WMRPC Officers
D. Bee said that he had talked to a few people to determine interest in serving on the Nominating Committee for 2009 WMRPC Officers. Terry Burns agreed to serve as the Committee Chair. The other two Nominating Committee members will be John Johansen and Howard Hansen.
D. Bee said that the Nominating Committee is tasked with presenting a list of potential officers to the Board. The proposed slate of officers is usually presented at the December Board meeting, with voting taking place at the January Board meeting.
West Michigan Transit Linkages Study
D. Bee said that we had a request from Ottawa County to work with them on the West Michigan Transit Linkages Study. D. Bee has been involved in selecting the consultants who will perform the study. The County has several transit providers and is looking at options for countywide public transit. D. Bee read the resolution requested by Ottawa County.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY E. Berghorst to approve support of the West Michigan Transit Linkages Study by the WMRPC. SUPPORTED BY T. Cochran. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
C. Mulholland asked what are the boundaries for the transit study. D. Bee said the study area is within Ottawa County. C. McCafferty asked who the consultants are. D. Bee said that they had interviewed a number of consultants and were down to two firms. C. McCafferty said that the study will be worth watching. As gas prices have gone up, there has been increased interest in and use of public transit. However, it is difficult to provide transit in areas that do not have a more dense population. Often the people who need the service the most are the last served due to funding allocations.
Procurement Policy
D. Bee said that every three years we renew our Procurement Policy. A copy of the Policy is always included in the Board orientation packet that is given to all members in January of every year. The Procurement Policy was last renewed September 17, 2004. At its last meeting, the Executive Committee decided that at its first meeting every year, the Committee will look at all of our policies (Bylaws, Personnel, etc.) to see if any need to be revised or updated.
D. Bee read the Procurement Policy to members in attendance.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY E. Berghorst to approve the renewal of the WMRPC Procurement Policy, through September 2012. SUPPORTED BY J. Johansen. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
6. Round Table / Regional Issues
T. Cochran – City of Wyoming. The City of Wyoming is partnering with Kentwood, GVMC, The Rapid, and Gaines Township to develop a plan for Division Avenue that will include bus rapid transit along the corridor from Wyoming to 60th Street; there would also be a park-and-ride lot at 54th Street. The transit route would be a high speed direct route using buses. They expect the project to have great potential benefit and for the new transit route to be a catalyst for future development along the corridor, and especially attract residents and businesses that are not auto-dependent. Cities that include Kansas City and Eugene, Oregon, have similar projects that have been successful and have generated additional development.
There will be a kick-off meeting next Wednesday, attended by members of local Planning Commissions and City Councils. They have a grant to fund the planning process and to hire a top notch team to work with businesses and residents. The planning process will include a week-long charrette to determine the best way to redevelop the land along the Division corridor, concentrating on the land south of 50th, which includes considerable vacant land. They expect a valuable product from the charette process. The new development along the corridor will have a more metropolitan flavor.
P. Bullock – Mecosta County. The County’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (BRA) has two assessment grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The grants will be used to generate development that would not otherwise happen. The County is also working on cleaning up a site with 1.5 million old tires.
E. Berghorst – Ottawa County. The County has been working on its budget. He talked to the Townships that he represents. Larger employers in the County are downsizing.
T. Burns – Allegan County. He said that he attended high school in Grand Rapids, so is familiar with Division Avenue. Allegan County has a full-time benefits coordinator, located at the County Services Building. The County’s Mental Health Director retired after 23 years, so they will have to fill that position. The Commission on Aging added a full-time staff person to assist the Director. The County has problems with emergency access to I-196. Fire Department and other emergency vehicles often cannot get to the scene of accidents on the highway as quickly as they should. They would like to have an access point to the freeway that would be available only for emergency vehicles.
L. Vanderveen – City of Wyoming. Wyoming’s downtown district is 28th Street, along which 40–48,000 cars travel every day. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has been trying for the past eight years to create a more viable downtown area for the community. They have added trees, green areas, and pedestrian lights. The challenge is to get drivers to stop and shop and help the local merchants. They are experiencing a money crunch just like everywhere. While some new businesses move into the area, other businesses leave, so it is a constant struggle. Klingman’s Furniture took over the former site of Roger’s Department Store and redeveloped the building and the property. The new facility is very attractive and expected to be a catalyst for further development in the downtown corridor.
K. Graff – Allegan County. Casco Township has a park funded with a $2 million grant. The park has 16 acres and the landowners next to the park are offering land to expand the park project. The Township is also working on Miami Park, which is a small park overlooking Lake Michigan.
T. Jessup – Allegan County. The County is having a strategic discussion about the jail. The County Services Complex moved away from the City of Allegan. It might be better to have the jail away from town and County Administration back downtown. But would it be O.K. to have the Sheriff not located at the County Seat? It is not a jail issue, but an administration issue. The County is also working on their budget process.
P. Capek – City of Cedar Springs. Their downtown DDA is busily implementing the façade improvement grant. That program encourages businesses to improve the front part of their property. Four businesses did improve their façades and Main Street is looking better. One of the grant applicants is a small business owner who purchased an older (at least 1883) building and renovated it for use as a copying business, and he won an award for an historic building that has been rehabilitated. Several major road projects have been completed and now they are working on South Main Street; the whole street will be torn up, and include water upgrades. Meijer is in the final stages for its new store; the company could not reach an agreement with Solon Township, so Meijer will put in their own water. An explosion of development is expected after the new Meijer store opens. Cedar Springs will have their Red Flannel Days October 4th. The annual festivities start the previous Saturday and include a Kids Day, a huge sale, and a bed race through town.
M. Walker – Montcalm County. The County recently published its first ever tourism magazine. The magazine was published by Pioneer Group in Big Rapids. They were not able to include everything in this edition, but it is a great start and an excellent publication.
J. Johansen – Montcalm County. Northland-Marvel, a high-end refrigerator manufacturer, will close a plant in Indiana and expand its business in Greenville; the walls are already up on the new plant. The Greater Greenville Transportation Committee has been meeting to discuss transportation primarily along the M-57 corridor; local people want a four-lane road, but MDOT won’t do that; Dave Bee has been instrumental in the Committee’s efforts. The Committee was successful in working with Wal-Mart to limit one exit to right turns because left turns were creating hazardous situations. The BRA is applying for two assessment grants. The County-owned 4-H fairgrounds will be moving to a 68-acre site north of Greenville; they expect the site plan to be approved in October; the project is important to the agricultural community and will be a substantial addition to needed facilities.
J. Voorhees – City of Wyoming. She attended the West Michigan Regional Policy Conference. George Will was the dinner speaker. Mr. Will, who has a strong conservative background, said that government is bigger today and that’s not a good omen for the future, but in the long term, the country will be O.K. as a people and local government is O.K. also. Wyoming’s motto is “City of Vision and Progress”, but there are different interpretations of “progress”. Bob Israels brought Klingman’s to 28th Street. The former Roger’s Department Store at that location had been successful at one time, but declined due to competition from shopping malls. Traffic along 28th Street just goes by, but local businesses need for people to stop and shop there. She receives e-mails from people who see “progress” as more congestion. So there are different versions of what is good for the community.
H. Hansen – At large. He works for a developer that is a successful company because they do proper planning. While they have had some very successful projects, they are still taking a cautious route in today’s economic climate. Our current hard economic times are reminiscent of the 1980’s when problems resulted from too much greed; we let the same thing happen again and now we are paying the consequences. Local communities are eager for new development, but not all developers have good plans and do good work, so communities should be ever vigilant. The housing market will probably take two to three years to come back to its former level. People have made credit mistakes, and now everyone is paying the price.
T. Hogenson – City of Big Rapids. Their wastewater treatment plant needs to be improved and could cost $9.5–12 million. They might be eligible for revolving loan funds. They have to go ahead with the work because they might be in violation. The City could sell treatment capacity to Green and Big Rapids Townships. The Roben-Hood Airport is a big success story. They decommissioned the airport to more limited use, with a fixed base operator, selling jet fuel to Aero Med helicopters. The airport had been a “white elephant”, but now the way is clear for more improvements.
M. Gifford – City of Big Rapids. The wastewater treatment plant is a huge project. The City is poised to initiate a lot of new projects. The City has had $3 million in investment in downtown, including streetscape enhancements. The Riverwalk project is in Phase 3; the project has been funded by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The City purchased a 50-acre park site on the west edge of town.
C. McCafferty – Mecosta County. He is a member of the Mecosta County Planning Commission. His company works with mid-range technology – half of their projects are old technology, like pole barns, while the other half is new technology like cell towers. They finished a report on an historical structure in Big Rapids: a 110-year old structure at the train station. They submitted the report to MDOT and will move ahead with the fund-raising phase. The biggest development he is involved with is Tullymore, which is high-end residential and a world-class golf course. The clubhouse was just opened. It is a very impressive development, with a $30 million investment, and will have a big impact on the whole county. Sales of the residential units are moving along well considering the tough housing market.
He lives in Canadian Lakes, which is a private community. The development has been working for the past four or five years on its master plan. A new board took office in January and terminated all the old committees. The board wants to make all the decisions for the community and has caused a lot of residents to be upset. The strategic planning committee had been working on a plan to manage expenditures. Residents are petitioning the Board to change its policy.
C. Mulholland – At large. He said that the EDA focus on the private sector has resulted in new perspectives on the Board, which is valuable and appreciated.
7. 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.
8. Other Business
The December Board meeting will take place at the Loon’s Nest in Montcalm County. That location is a golf club off of U.S.-131, north of Kent County. The January Board meeting will be held at the Fair Housing Center in Grand Rapids, located at Division and Hall.
9. Adjournment
A MOTION WAS MADE BY E. Berghorst to adjourn. SUPPORTED BY J. Johansen. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting was adjourned at 11:25 a.m.
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