City Commission gives out awards and discusses Green Tree success
The sun sets on City Hall in this 2019 file photo from downtown Mount Pleasant.
At its March 14 meeting, the Mount Pleasant City Commission awarded the 42nd annual community improvement awards, discussed street reconstruction and highlighted Green Tree Cooperative Market's Success.
The commission meeting began with the planning commission's presentation of its community improvement awards led by City Planner Jacob Kain.
“These awards have been given out by the planning commission since 1979,” Kain said. “They recognize projects, improvement and investment (for Mount Pleasant) and we are really excited about this year's winners.”
The award is designed as a way for the commission to acknowledge property owners and thank them for their investment in the Mount Pleasant community. The winners were given a portrait of their home or business.
The commercial category winner was Lume Cannabis Co. with locations on both East Broomfield and North Mission. Lume is one of the first recreational marijuana dispensaries in the area. Both of their locations were finished last year
For the residential category, Joanne Curtiss was deemed the winner for improvements to her home located on Oak Street.
The mixed-use category winner was local nonprofit, Michigan Community Capital located on West Broadway.
The commission then approved its consent calendar which included setting a public hearing for March 28, 2022 to obtain public input on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant application and considering a $20,000 budget amendment that would go toward the preliminary design and cost estimates for the Town Center civic space project.
Read the rest of the consent items on the commission's meeting agenda found on the city website.
The commission moved into public hearings after approving consent items. The first of which was about amending an ordinance to allow more freedom for businesses to display signs on all sides of their buildings rather than just the fronts.
However, nobody participated in this public hearing. The city then accepted the proposal to change the signage standards.
The next public hearing was Gree Tree Cooperative Market's success in bringing new jobs to the area.
After partaking in the Community Development Block Grant Program, designed to increase the living environment in cities, Green Tree had pledged to create 10 low to moderate-income jobs.
The commission announced the business had exceeded this amount after opening its new storefront on Broadway last year.
Mount Pleasant resident Ray Davies said he was proud of Green Tree’s accomplishments.
“(Green Tree) proved to be a wonderful asset for the community around the board and considering the job creation locally, local vendors and producers are brought into the co-op for sales, I just think it's an all-around wonderful thing,” Davies said.
Before the meeting went into a closed session, Commissioner Eke took a moment to speak on March being women's history month.
“It is important to think about and remember and honor the contributions of women to society,” Eke said. “Not just simply to honor the contributions of women but also to contribute to the ending of all forms of violence and discrimination against women.”
Other Business
Commissioner George Ronan asked to remove an agenda item that would consider a recommendation from the Planning Commission to reappoint Corey Friedrich as the representative of the Planning Commission to the Zoning Board of Appeals. He said that will be resolved by the next meeting.
The city awarded McGuirk Sand and Gravel the contract for the Illinois Street reconstruction project which equates to $846,365 plus additional expenses. McGuirk Sand and Gravel were the lowest bidders. The project includes repaving the street and additional pedestrian lighting.
The city also approved a contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation for the reconstruction of Brown Street. MDOT will contribute $375,000 for this in grant funds. The bidding and awarding will all be done by MDOT then the city will front the cost.
