By Lisa Allmendinger
The Chelsea City Council unanimously filled two open board positions at its Dec. 19 regular meeting.
George Merkel, a 27-year resident of the city, was appointed to the city’s parks commission and Mary Keaton, a 15-year resident, and wife of City Council Member Eric Keaton, was appointed to its Human Rights Commission.
The City Council also approved a traffic control order to add three no turn signs on M-52 that prohibit left turns onto Jackson Street. The signs will be placed 100 feet north of Jackson Street, 50 feet north of Jackson Street, and 15 feet south of Jackson Street.
They are being added because these turns are a safety issue and can cause back-ups onto the railroad tracks with trains coming through the intersection at very high rates of speed.
The City Council also recommended conditional approval of:
- The Timbertown Project pending the findings of the Community Center Work Group and at that time entering into partnership agreement discussion with HWPI and WCPARC, and;
- Formally designating Timbertown Park as a trailhead for the B2B Trail with trailhead naming to be determined by the city and then co-branded with the B2B Trail.
(See more information at the end of this story.)
With the announcement that City Attorney Peter Flintoft was retiring, a team consisting of the city manager, clerk, community development director and mayor reviewed the applications and interviewed the three firms that applied to the city’s request for proposals.
They chose Fink & Fink, which is a Washtenaw County-based law firm, to be the new city attorneys. The firm charges $275 per hour for partners and $225 per hour for associates. Labor and environmental services will continue to be outsourced to other law firms.
The city also:
- made a power purchase commitment with the Michigan Public Power Agency.
- approved the purchase of a new 50-yard roll off container to hold demolition and construction waste at the transfer station at a cost of $16,325 from Contract Welding. This was a budgeted item.
- approved a service request for tank pumping at the transfer station that is necessary every three years. The bid was awarded to US Ecology for about $12,000.
- approved the purchase of an additional patrol car for the police department – a 2023 Dodge Durango SUV patrol vehicle at a cost of about $53,800.
To listen to the full meeting, please go to the city website and go to the top right side and look for city meeting videos.
The next regular City Council meeting is planned for Monday, Jan. 9.
