The Chelsea City Council will consider a request by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to issue a notice of intent for $995,000 in general obligation bonds for several downtown projects at is Monday, Jan. 6 meeting.
The DDA plans to make improvements to the Palmer parking lot for a permanent site for the farmers’ markets with covered parking for the vendors, and eventually a building with restrooms and a demo kitchen. The Palmer space would double as a festival, event and community gathering area for events such as concerts as well as sports. The first phase of a three-phase project is estimated to cost between $500,000-$600,000.
The DDA is also planning to enhance the Jackson Street/Longworth alley at an estimated cost of $250,000 and would also like to add streetscape and crosswalk improvements at about $50,000-$75,000.
If the resolution is approved by the City Council, the city would a notice of intent to issue the bonds. City voters would then have 45 days to collect signatures of at least 10 percent of the registered voters for a referendum to put the question on a ballot for a vote.
If no referendum is filed, the bonds would be issued and paid for by DDA, which collects tax increment financing from the residents and businesses in the DDA district.
The council will also discuss a renewal of its information technology contract with the City of Ann Arbor, which is reviewed annually. Ann Arbor hired Chelsea’s intern in 2011 and he has continued to provide service to Chelsea. The contract has a 1-year renewal clause and this year, staff is requesting that the contract be extended by 5 months to align the renewal with both city’s fiscal years.
“The extended contract amount is for $56,823 — a $1,209 increase over last year,” according to an agenda item summary from Kim Garland, administrative director.
However, she says, the contract cost hasn’t changed — it’s based on a per computer rate, and it was discovered that with the addition of the Police Department to the contract, one computer was missed in the previous contract.
The costs for the IT support are spread over six funds — 30 percent allocated to the general fund and the police department, 10 percent allocated to the wastewater and water departments, 15 percent to the electric department and 5 percent to the stormwater fund.
So, if approved, about $17,000 would be allocated to both the general fund and the police department, about $5,700 to wastewater and water, about $8,500 to the electric department and about $2,800 to the stormwater account.
Among the other items on the agenda is the approval of the dates for the city’s annual visioning session and general fund budget work session.
Also included is a $22,000 per year dispatch contract for fire services between the city and the Chelsea Area Fire Authority.
Mayor Jason Lindauer also has two DDA re-appointments on the agenda for Pat Cleary and Mark Heydlauff.
