THE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BUCHANAN in compliance with Michigan’s Open Meetings Act, as amended, B2103192 of 2021, hereby gives notice of a regular meeting of the Buchanan City Commission to be held electronically in order to protect the health and safety of our community due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Meeting ID: 243 593 1819
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* All members of the public will be muted by the moderator, except for during the public comment portions of the agenda. To minimize background noise and/or feedback, we ask that participants manually mute their phone or computer microphone during this portion of the agenda if not speaking. Anyone who speaks during the meeting must provide their full name to the Clerk for recording in the official minutes.
* Requests to be added to the agenda as a “Scheduled Matter from the Floor” should be submitted in writing to the City Clerk at least 5 business days prior to the scheduled meeting during which the speaker wishes to appear, and the approval of such requests remain within the discretion of the Mayor. If denied, the speaker may nonetheless speak during the “non-agenda items only” public comments section of the agenda.
* Those who are unable to appear during a meeting but who still wish to share public comment may submit such comments in written form to the City Clerk at least 4 hours in advance of the meeting.
* Individuals with disabilities may request necessary reasonable accommodations by submitting requests to the City Clerk, preferably at least 24 hours in advance.
* Written requests and comments may be submitted to the City Clerk either in person or via mail to Buchanan City Hall, 302 N. Redbud Trail, Buchanan, MI 49107, or via email to bpitcher@cityofbuchanan.com.
The City is opening new credit cards through Honor Credit Union, as part of the previously approved transition to a new financial institution. We recently learned that Honor wants minutes approving the names of the individuals listed on the new credit cards. (Detailed list is attached).
Republic and Michiana have both submitted bids for five-year contracts for waste & recycle services for the City of Buchanan. Detailed pricing from each bid is attached, and each bid the same level of service as we currently have in place, with only relatively minor differences, including the type of recycle bin/bag used (with details on the differences also attached). With our current services through Republic only guaranteed through the end of June, we need a decision today from the Commission on this issue to ensure no disruption in services.
Mr. Baker will address the Commission regarding his thoughts on the proposal for a new DPW building.
Manager Grace highly recommends obtaining a project consultant to assist her with the design for a new DPW building, as well as the bidding out of the project, the vetting of vendors, and oversight of the project. With so many other important projects currently on her plate, Grace is having significant trouble getting this project off the ground and worries that without guidance from someone in the industry, that the City could end up facing an unsuccessful project. Consequently, professional guidance is highly recommended. Proposals are attached.
Manager Grace has been serving on a newly formed impromptu committee to help develop a more robust concert series for Buchanan on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, in addition to our traditional Buchanan Thursdays Local Concert Series. The committee has secured significant funding from various donors, as well as foundational support from the Michigan Gateway Foundation, with Gateway head Michael Rowland serving as the Chair of the committee. The Committee has a proposed concert calendar they would like to seek approval of, in addition to submitting a request for financial assistance towards the concert series. Manager Grace has proposed budgeting $15,000 to support the Concert series this year, to get it off the ground and running and also to make up for other events that have been lost over the past year + due to Covid. The Concerts proposed have been developed with the aim of providing quality entertainment for Buchanan residents while also attracting visitors from outside Buchanan to help increase tourism in the area and promote shopping and dining downtown, especially in conjunction with the recently approved Social District. The proposed calendar and other details are attached.
A PowerPoint presentation will be shared during the meeting.
Manager Grace will share a PowerPoint presentation during the meeting and lead additional general budget discussions to help build consensus on high-level budgeting issues so that the Finance Department can input numbers into an updated spreadsheet that will go out with the packets for the June 14, 2021 meeting. Once those numbers are reviewed during the June 14th meeting, they will be noticed in the newspaper and official final adoption of the budget will occur during the June 28th City Commission meeting.