The East Lansing City Council began their meeting on May 21, 2019 with communications from Councilmembers and East Lansing Director of Planning, Building and Development Tim Dempsey, who is currently serving as Acting City Manager. East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows praised the 56th Annual East Lansing Art Festival, which took place over the weekend. "Saturday was just a great art festival day with the streets downtown packed with people, and I walked down on Sunday and I was very surprised that, given the rainy weather, there were still a ton of people," said Mayor Meadows. "It continues to be a very exciting and attractive event for the City of East Lansing."
Dempsey's report included information about the month of May being Safe Building Month in East Lansing. Dempsey noted that residents can go to buildingsafetymonth.org to learn about what they can do to ensure their home is safe, including replacing smoke detectors every 10 years and batteries when needed, preparing for natural disasters, etc. Dempsey also congratulated East Lansing Building and Code Administrator Scott Weaver for two gubernatorial appointments. Weaver is now chair person on the Electrical Administrative Board and is a member of the Construction Code Commission for the State of Michigan. "I think that is a really nice accolade for him to be recognized for his valuable expertise, not just here in East Lansing, but serving the State of Michigan," said Dempsey.
Capital Improvements Program 2020-2025
At last night’s meeting, City Council unanimously approved the Capital Improvements Program 2020-2025. Acting City Manager Tim Dempsey explained that the Capital Improvements Program is a requirement of the Michigan Planning Enabling Act and had historically been done by the East Lansing Planning Commission, but the City made the decision to integrate the program into the overall budgeting process last year. Dempsey noted that Council had discussed the Capital Improvements Program extensively during its budget work sessions and staff recommended its approval. View the staff memo here.
The Capital Improvements Program 2020-2025 will guide the development and maintenance of the City’s facilities and public infrastructure within a framework of sound planning and responsible fiscal management. View a table of the Capital Improvement Program 2020-2025 items here.
Safe Routes to Schools Program
Council unanimously approved a resolution of support for the submittal of a grant application for the East Lansing Safe Routes to School (EL SRTS) program. East Lansing Engineering Administrator Nicole McPherson explained to Council that the infrastructure grant will fund up to $400,000 for the Marble Elementary School and MacDonald Middle School projects. The projects include installing three traffic islands along Burcham Drive and installing sidewalks along portions of Snyder Road.
Council had previously discussed the EL SRTS program during last week's discussion-only Council meeting, at which EL SRTS program team member Karen Pfeiffer explained to Council that the program encourages children to walk and bike to school by implementing projects that make bicycling and walking to school safer and more appealing transportation alternatives.
With Council's support and approval, the grant application will be submitted at the end of June 2019 and the grant funding decision will likely take place in October 2019. If funding is approved, construction would tentatively begin in spring 2022. McPherson also noted that letters have been sent out to affected property owners and the EL SRTS team is working on the non-infrastructure components of the grant, including education, encouragement and enforcement. View the staff memo here.
Fiscal Year 2020 Budget and Tax Rate
Council unanimously approved the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget, Tax Rate and Fee Schedule resolution. East Lansing Finance Director Jill Feldpausch provided an overview of the budget process, explaining that staff began working on the budget in December 2018 and presented it in April. Council reviewed and discussed the preliminary budget over the course of four budget work sessions and a public hearing during the May 7 Council meeting.
Feldpausch explained changes to the preliminary budget amounts, including $7,000 from the general fund being budgeted to support services provided by Haven House and an additional $7,000 from the general fund being transferred to the Public Art Fund. She also reported that the City will receive $22,794 more than originally budgeted in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, bringing the total CDBG budget to $488,344. The additional funds will go towards the repayment of the Section 108 Loan, which the City took out to facilitate the redevelopment of the Avondale Square neighborhood.
Additionally, Feldpausch presented that the FY 2020 millage rate will be 16.3552 mills, with 12.5362 mills for operating, 1.825 mills for solid waste and 1.994 mills for the library. Feldpausch noted that this is a reduction of 5.7715 mills from the 2019 tax rate, with a 5 mill reduction in property taxes (as a result of the income tax) and the remainder of the reduction coming from the debt service millage. She also noted that the Downtown Development Authority special millage will continue at 1.7007 mills. View the staff memo here.
Council praised Feldpausch, Budget and Accounting Administrator Audrey Kincade, Budget Analyst Justin Guigar and the Finance Department for their hard work on the budget. "The budget document is just a remarkable document. It's thorough, it's professional, it's precise and you can look at that and figure out what's going on in the City," said Mayor Pro Tem Erik Altmann."It's a really important process and important result."
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