By Leslie Ballard
The City Council had a busy agenda for their Nov. 28 Study Session, which included an update on the potential Brady Street hotel, the possible relocation of county office from the City of Allegan, a proposal to repair the Riverfront boardwalk and a discussion of rate increases for election officials.
Brad VanMelle, representing 102 Brady LLC, provided Council members with a report on the status of the hotel project. After 14 months of interviewing developers and hoteliers, 102 Brady LLC decided to partner with Cobblestone Hotel and Suites, a Wisconsin-based company who owns and operates @170 hotels nationwide.
“Cobblestone fits everything Allegan needs, and everything fits on the lot,” said VanMelle. They have expertise in building and operating smaller hotels just outside of big markets, which VanMelle said was important to the success of the Allegan project.
The 55-room hotel at 101 Brady will be an upscale hotel “that has a downtown feel and will fit in architecturally,” he added. Cobblestone will brand, build and operate the hotel, which will initially employ 8-13 people and eventually 20-30.
Across the street at 102 Brady will be an event center. Because the size of the hotel is smaller than the original plans called for, fewer parking spaces will be needed. The parking plan will be presented to the Council in December.
The Council expressed support for this amended direction, and they will be asked to approve this formally at the December 12 meeting.
County Offices
County Administrator Rob Sarro summarized the county’s plan to relocate some of the county’s offices from the city to the 122nd Ave. campus.
Sarro stated that Allegan is the fourth largest growing county in the state, and its judicial needs have expanded accordingly with another court possibly being added in the near future. He said the guiding question as they review the facilities plan is “how do we accommodate the needs of the judicial while expanding services to the public?”
The current mental health building will soon be empty as OnPoint (formerly Allegan County Mental Health) moves into the former Shopko location. This will leave “22,000 square feet of existing space that taxpayers paid for so that we do not need to build.”
He stated that the county is looking at a hybrid model whereby a satellite office would remain downtown while the rest of the employees would move to the county complex.
The Council had many questions, including which offices would be moved. Sarro responded that the treasurer, registrar and vital records offices are those being considered for the move. There would still be access within the courthouse to these services. “It would be a smaller footprint than now but there would still be access,” he added. He also noted that the county has increased online access for the public, such as the ability to make payments online.
In response to Mayor Pro-Tem Roger Bird’s question, Sarro did not believe that there would be a significant economic impact on downtown as an added court would mean additional employees that would offset the loss of employees being moved.
Delora Andrus’ principal concern was that constitutionally, some principal offices are supposed to be located in the county seat, which falls within the City of Allegan. She also noted that “broadband is a huge problem in the county so the online options might not work well for people.” She suggested that rather than making more room in the courthouse by moving offices, the county could move some of the courts (such as family court), which do not have to be located in the county seat, to 122nd Ave.
Sarro thinks that the hybrid model of keeping small offices in the courthouse would answer the county seat issue.
Allegan County Treasurer Sally Brooks and Allegan Drain Commissioner Denise Medemar both spoke against the move, pointing out that splitting their small staffs would compromise the quality of service they provide. Jason Watts stated that the solution to the space issue lies within the city limits.
Boardwalk
The City Council reviewed the proposal from Abonmarche Engineering regarding the Riverfront boardwalk based on previous discussions about the August inspection of the boardwalk connecting Hanson Park to the Veterans Memorial. The total of the proposal for design and bid the repairs amounts to $ 20,000.00, but Council members will be asked to approve only the first task, Structural Construction Documents, for $ 12,000.00 at their next meeting.
As Bird pointed out, “given the popularity of the boardwalk, we have to do the work,” and Peter Hanse agreed but requested a line-item report for the Council to review as a way to monitor potential cost increases.
Election officials
The Council also discussed a rate increase for the City of Allegan’s election inspectors and chairpersons to make Allegan more competitive with Allegan Township and other cities in the county. Michaela Kleehammer, City Clerk, recommended increasing the hourly rate to $14 per hour for inspectors and $16 per hour for election chairpersons from $10 an hour for each.
Compensating inspectors and chairpersons a flat rate for attending training was also discussed as was the possibility of closing City Hall on election days so that employees could work as inspectors and chairpersons, thus eliminating a shortage of election workers.
For the time being, the Council decided to act only on the rate increase at a future meeting.
Powerhouse
During the regular meeting, the Council was apprised of the request from Deb and Joe Leverance to enter into a 6-month development agreement with the City to do studies to determine whether developing the powerhouse is feasible.
The city currently is conducting weekly inspections of the structure, which engineers said is in such bad shape it might collapse if heavy snows materialize. Joe Leverance answered questions from the Council and said that he would personally make the repairs to the roof in order to lessen the chances of the building collapsing.
“We like historical preservation and that building has a lot of history. We believe it can be saved although we might not be able to save the smaller building because it’s in bad shape,” he said.
The Leverances have experience in preservation as they saved the building that is now Baker Allegan Studio, converting it into a fiber art studio and a successful retail enterprise in the Mill District.
Leverance and City Manager Joel Dye will meet to work out the legal details for Leverance to repair the roof. If the couple does purchase the powerhouse, this would save the city approximately $2 million dollars for the removal of the dam and buildings.
The agreement, which will go before the Council for approval in December, would allow the Leverances to have feasibility and environmental studies conducted before making an offer to purchase the powerhouse and the adjacent land.
Financial
The Council approved accounts payable in the amount of $129,251.11 and payroll in the amount of $158,539.56 for a total disbursement of $287,790.67.
They also approved the 2023 City of Allegan financial contribution to the Allegan Fire District in the amount of $231,280 and a general fund balance budget transfer in the amount of $24,000 to cover this cost.
To help determine the funding amounts from both units of local government, the Fire District uses an agreed upon formula that considers the population, taxable value, and five-year average of man hours in providing fire services. The City of Allegan will be responsible for 49% ($231,280) of the contribution and Allegan Township will be responsible for 51% ($240,720) of the contribution.
The Council accepted a report on the emergency purchase of repairs to the Eastern Avenue Lift Station in the amount of $19,7741.41 and the transfer of money from the Sewer Fund Balance to pay this invoice.
They also approved three purchase orders the Department of Public Works requested. The first is to CHOP Tree Services of Grand Rapids for tree and stump removals in the amount of $16,925.00. The eight trees and stumps at various location within the city were selected for removal based on being dead, dying, or posing a potential safety issue.
The second was to Prein & Newhof Engineering, Inc. of Holland for construction engineering for the tree and stump removal and clearing program at Padgham Field Airport in the estimated amount of $5,000.00.
The third purchase order also related to obstruction clearing and tree removals at the airport, this time to Treetech, Inc. of Hamilton for tree and stump removals and clearing for a total of $90,256.25. Funding in the amount of $100,000.00 is in the current budget for this work.
Resolutions
The Council adopted Resolution 22.47 to approve a tasting room to be located at 132 Hubbard Street, which Ben and Katelyn Ramsay, who own Heronmark, are in the process of rehabbing. They plan to open a winery and brewery that focuses on farm-to-glass winemaking and brewing and highlight local producers and farmers.
They also approved a lot line adjustment of 5 feet for the Oakwood Cemetery parcel the City sold to the Diocese of Kalamazoo for expanding the Blessed Sacrament Cemetery.
Andrus reminded the Council that the Ugly Sweater Race will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3 pm with registration beginning at the Riverfront at 1 pm. “This is a wonderful event,” she added, and the funds raised go to local organizations.
Parker Johnson, Downtown Manager & Assistant to the City Manager, talked of the enthusiastic response to Festive Fridays, which begin Dec. 2.