Village of Spring Lake

Village Council Work Session
July 20, 2004

Barber School Community Building
102 W. Exchange Street
Spring Lake, Michigan
7:00 P.M.

Work Session Discussion Items

Agenda Review
This is the opportunity to discuss any changes to the Agenda, which follows tonight, or to remove items from the Consent Agenda for discussion.

Report from the Lake Board of Spring Lake

John Nash, President of the Board, will attend tonight's work session to provide an overview of the alum applications and future plans.

Request from Richard Fletemeyer Pertaining to Option Extension for Purchase of 901, 903 and 917 West Savidge Street

An option to purchase these properties for comprehensive redevelopment was first entered into by the Village and the Chamber, dba Northwest Ottawa County Economic Development Corporation (NWOEDC), in March, 2000. This option was extended on April 1, 2001 for three years.

Although the Waterfront Redevelopment Grant was approved for the old Fireside Design building in March, 2002 and it was purchased in July, 2002, the larger CDBG grant for public infrastructure was not ultimately approved by the HUD Detroit office in April, 2003.

On March 24, 2004, the Council acknowledged a letter sent to Mr. Fletemyer to allow the option to lapse, due to other priorities and the reduction in availability of State redevelopment resources.

The MEDC "Downtown Property Acquisition/Loan" program remains the only possible funding source; it comes with plan amendments and strings attached, however.

The root of the problem is an optioned price that exceeds the market value. Mr. Fletemeyer provided the attached real estate taxable value and sales information that he believes is more indicative of value than the attached appraisal.

In June, Mr. Fletemeyer requested the Chamber to continue the option, in lieu of the Village's interest. His desire is to not have to relocate the industrial property being occupied by Graflex back to West Savidge. The Chamber agreed with this request until the August 1, 2004. Mr. Fletemeyer requests an additional six-month extension beyond this point. The Chamber is agreeable if the Village concurs. See attached correspondence.

The options are to:

1)Allow the option to lapse and take a private sector market approach to these three properties' future land use while investing Village time and resources into other redevelopment opportunities. This has the risk that the property on 150^th may not sell for $650,000 and the Village's TIF fund would need to cover the difference up to $100,000; or

2)Agee to an extension to enable Mr. Fletemeyer more time to develop financing so he can buy out the Chamber's loan. There is no downside to this option, except the staff time that this matter continues to occupy while it simmers and would be needed to draw up an extension.

Village Council discussion is needed to determine whether you would like to ask the Chamber to continue the option. The Chamber's role in this project has been to facilitate the Village's interests. If so, an additional agenda item is needed for the Council meeting to follow.

Discussion on the Village of Spring Lake's Position on the Question of Ottawa County Becoming an Urban County for CDBG Entitlement Grant Designation Purposes.

This was the subject of the Tri-City Manager's Lunch in early July. The County Administrator and the Chamber President came also.

The bottom line is some communities prefer everything to stay the same and not have Ottawa County accept the potential of receiving an "urban county" designation from the CDBG program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (The reason is they would become ineligible for industrial grants once the County becomes eligible as a whole for a different granting pool.)

The average total of the industrial grants and housing grants under the current program has been $1.2 million per year. The total estimated to be received under this new designation could be $1.2 to 1.6 million of which about 65%, or $780,000, would be distributed to local communities for general public facilities, senior centers, street improvements, parking lots, sidewalks, neighborhood facilities, transportation services, removal of architectural barriers, or planning.

Spring Lake's actual potential share is unknown. For estimating purposes, our share would likely be 1% of the total. If prorated precisely, the total might amount to $7,800 annually. (The actual total might be less depending on how many communities opt out; Holland is already an entitlement community, for example.)

The County and "developed communities" are generally in favor of becoming an "urban county" because the County gets administration grant money that supports their planning department and the developed communities automatically get a small grant each year (perhaps $8,000 or so to the Village) as a form of project revenue sharing.

"Partially developed" communities like Ferrysburg and Grand Haven opposed the urban county designation in early July. If a community wants grants to stimulate industrial development, than that community will want to keep everything as it is. If not, than the "urban county" program is better because it provides a new annual revenue stream.

Another variable is that the existing program allowed us to apply for the West End CDBG funds that HUD later pulled back. We would be ineligible to apply in the future if the County became an "urban county".

A final variable is which one of these programs fuels urban sprawl the most? The answer is the existing CDBG program pays for infrastructure for new industrial locations that get tied into by new housing that leads to sprawl. The new entitlement program would be intended to rehabilitate the existing housing stock rather than build new.

The County wants to hear back from us. Attached is additional information.

For a community like Spring Lake Village, I suggest going with the new program of annual revenue sharing. The reason is we are not recruiting any new industry, and the industrial that is here will likely be purchased and redeveloped in its own time without the aid of infrastructure grants. Such infrastructure grants do not pay for demolition, which is the key need.

I shared this information with the Chamber to invite their input as well. An alternative opinion will be forthcoming for your information.

Discussion of Exchange Street On-Street Parking on the North Side from Buchanan to Jackson.

The Downtown Master Plan calls for on street parking on the north side. The residents favor the traffic calming that this would provide.

The Council requested a trial period that lasted from June 21 to June 28. A number of complaints were received and one accident occurred.

A copy of the Uniform Criteria for Major Streets was previously delivered which signify that the street is too narrow. The Council discussed that an appeal could be initiated. This discussion occurred before deciding to extend the trial period, however.

The last few days of the period were the most telling. Attached are the comments received.

Interestingly, Council member Fischer's idea of a four way stop at Jackson received a favorable comment from an engineer I consulted. Moore and Bruggink will attend the meeting at around 8:00 PM to answer any questions.

The options are to:

1) Keep no parking and proceed with an appeal. Moore and Bruggink provided the attached quote of $2,400. The upside is the Village might win; the downside is no north side parking could occur until next construction season at the earliest.

2) Request, as part of the above appeal, or separate, whether a short section of "major street" can be deleted without affecting funding on the remainder and determine the financial impact. (I estimate $10,000 to $15,000 could be lost each year.)

3) Design an expansion to the bare minimum width needed. The cost is $1,600 to redesign it and get a cost estimate. The option of "roll curb" can be evaluated at the same time. Questions regarding preserving trees, landscaping, crosswalks, four way stops and other related matters could be addressed then as well. I believe this may be our best option.

4) Proceed with both the appeal (#1) and the fall back position of a re-design (#4).

All of the above costs would be paid from a total of $15,000 budgeted last year for this purpose, but not yet spent in the TIF fund.

In addition to the above, place a four way stop at Jackson and Exchange to calm traffic, and reduce the potential for accidents in this congested area.

Once the above variables are known, the outcome we seek can be repeated for the remainder of the blocks west of Jackson in front of the Post Office and west to Cutler.

Community Services Director Hansen provided the attached information on the existing widths.

Discussion on Change of Lockers in the Expanded Joint Police Department.

The installed lockers are wider, but not as deep, as the old lockers. This causes problems with placement of the officer's gear bags and hanging of their uniforms.

The alternatives are to:

1) Replace the 19 lockers with the same welded construction-style and make deeper: $10,994; or

2) Replace just the seven full-time officer's lockers for approximately: $6,000; or

3) Replace all 19 lockers with riveted construction, but right size, for approx.: $7,010. (This option is preferable.)

An allowance of $7,500 is being carried in the Village Hall Construction Cost report presented later in this agenda. The labor would be mostly done in-house.

In any event, the removed lockers are needed at the Municipal Services Garage. Whichever ones are not reused, will be stored and marketed by the original manufacturer when the right end user is located at some point in the future.

Discussion on Hosting a Candidates Forum for the Village Pertaining to Upcoming Election Questions on August 3, 2004

The Spring Lake Village is often referred to as a precinct of Spring Lake Township. The suggestion was made recently that the Village should host a candidate's forum to inform the Village voters on the issues and candidates. The intent would be to let the candidates know that the Village residents are concerned about how the Spring Lake Township's board decisions affect them.

A possible date is Monday, July 26, 2004. The Barber School is available that night. Development of questions will take Council or community input. Relatedly, July 27^th is a "Meet the Candidates" night hosted by the Grand Haven Area Chamber at Grand Haven High School.

Conclusion on the Urban Smart Growth Project.

The Ottawa County Planning Department offered to partner with an urban community that wants to update their Master Plan and Zoning Code.

The most ideal community from Ottawa County's standpoint is one that is interested in applying innovative planning techniques. The selection process is competitive. The local cost would be $25,000 out of a total of $100,000 project cost.

Although I feel the Village is ideally suited for this demonstration project, I am concerned about having to duplicate the process we are just now completing on the Downtown and spend more money. Unless Council would like to apply, I feel we could pass on it now and learn from whatever is eventually produced elsewhere.

The result of this recommendation will be staff doing the bulk of the overall remaining Master Plan work for the rest of the community in-house with some professional assistance along the way to review the zoning code drafts we come up with. The estimated cost would be about $10,000 spread over two years.

This discussion is intended to see if Council wants to proceed. If so, I will send a letter of application.

Miscellaneous Announcements or Status Reports
o Village Hall Construction Financial Report (See attached)
o Exchange Street Angle Parking near Williams
o Grand River Water Quality and Lakeside Beach
o Grand River Greenway and Grant Status
o North Bank Community Center/Arts Center

Upcoming Agenda Items (Tentative)

August 2
Amateur Radio Use of Police Department EOC or Interview Room
Village of Spring Lake/City of Ferrysburg Police Department Quarterly Report
Parking Ordinance Fines
Appointment to North Bank Communities Fund
Appointment as MML Voting Designee
Salt Quotes

August 16
Review of Downtown Master Plan Draft
Wayfinding Signage Design Review
Policy on Public Use of EOC Room

September 8
Acceptance of Conveyance of Property at School and Savidge Streets from David Emerson
Plan for Permanent Display of Village Leaders' Pictures
Public Dumpsters Behind Village Hall serving the former Rich's redevelopment and businesses on Savidge (permission to use Village property and build them)
Plan for Trolley Tour