The March 2 Chelsea City Council meeting began with a proclamation honoring new Eagle Scout Ethan Pfeiffer, who earned 21 merit badges and built eight benches for the Chelsea Rod and Gun Club archery trail.
The Eagle Scout project took 247 hours to complete.
Next up was a discussion of the use by the Chelsea Farmers Market of Palmer Commons for the season that runs each Saturday from May 2 through Oct. 31 from 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
During public comment two vendors – Duane Bordine and Suzanne Murray — expressed concern about the safety of folks crossing M-52/Main Street to attend the market and its various activities.
Bordine also expressed his concern about the parking and traffic flow on the Palmer Commons site. The egress and ingress from the site is dictated by MDOT requirements since Main Street is a state-owned road and Chelsea officials have requested changes but the state has denied those requests.
Murray said a committee of vendors has met monthly to look at ways to improve the configuration on the site and safety for customers has been an ongoing concern – especially for older folks who try to cross the busy road.
Market Manager Emily Griswold said the committee is in discussions to hire a crossing guard for the peak hours of the market that would cost about $1,000, and was looking for ways to reduce other costs to pay for safer crossing.
Chelsea City Council Member Charles Wisely then told Griswold that McKinley would sponsor the $1,000 cost to hire a crossing guard for the Saturday Farmers Market.
The City Council voted unanimously to allow the farmers market to use the Palmer Commons site at a cost of $35 per Saturday, which covers the costs of cleaning the bathroom.
In other business, Christine (Kate) Mehuron was unanimously appointed to the city’s Parks Commission for a term ending March 1, 2024.
Community Development Director Julia Upfal presented a draft of the city’s 2020 marketing strategy, which is another step in fulfilling the requirements of Redevelopment Ready Community. The marketing strategy will help the city “track the progress and implement actions to promote and enhance local assets through a variety of marketing initiatives.”
City Manager John Hanifan told the City Council that the city had received $80,000 in 2020 Small Urban Program funding to offset the costs of adding cross islands on Wilkinson Street and sidewalk installation on Freer Road.
The city received three bids and the lowest was $106,404 from JB Contractors.
He said all three bidders were MDOT pre-qualified contractors. And, if approved, the work was expected to begin in June after school finishes for the year and it should take about a month to complete.
The City Council unanimously approved the lowest bid of JB Contractors.
The City Council also adopted a resolution to approve the 2019-202 budget amendments presented by Amanda Garber. The amendments, she said in the agenda item summary, “are simply due to monies not used or shifting of money between line items to more accurately reflect actual monies spent.”
During staff comments, Hanifan reminded the City Council that the DDA would hold a work session on Thursday, March 5 at 8 a.m. to discuss the strategic plan and during council comments, Council Member Pete Feeney noted that WAVE is in the process of finalizing its job posting for a new executive director, which is expected to be released on March 12.
