Advertisement

City Administrator David Tait and EMS Director Jeff Dawson will meet at 7 p.m. Wed., Oct. 10, with representatives from Sanilac, Washington, Forester and Bridgehampton townships, and from Carsonville and Port Sanilac, in Washington Township Hall.

Tait recently learned that Fremont and Buel townships also would like to be included in the talks.

"We are moving forward smoothly and at the meeting we're going to discuss the various issues," Tait told the Croswell City Council Monday.

A meeting is yet to be arranged with the villages of Lexington and Applegate, and with Worth, Lexington and Speaker townships.

Croswell may consider next year asking voters to consider creating the ambulance authority, which would be only for communities who contract with Croswell EMS.

Creating the authority would require creation of a special millage to pay for ambulance service. The millage would not be a tax increase, but would ensure that a special fund would be set aside by each community to pay for ambulance service.

Each contracted district would appoint a representative and together would elect a director to help run the service.

The currentl millage for the Sanilac County Medical Authority does not help to fund Croswell EMS, Tait explained. The millage for Sanilac Medical Authority is up for renewal in 2008. If turned down by voters, it will be funded by county hospitals.

In other business, the Croswell Council appointed veterinarian John Geiger to fill the vacant seat of councilwoman Debra Hugdahl, who resigned in September because she is moving out of town.

Geiger was the only applicant for the vacant post, which was to expire in November.

Hugdahl's resignation occurred too late to take her name from the November ballot. If she wins the election, she will be declared ineligible.

The council also approved holding a special public hearing, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. prior to its regular Oct. 15 meeting, to approve a transfer of tax abatements from Jay & Kay Inc., to the company's new owners, Jay & Kay LLC (Limited Liability Corp.).

Jay & Kay Inc., located in the city's industrial park, has been purchased by an investment firm, which is applying for two new Industrial Facility Tax abatements. The abatements would reduce the assessed value of new equipment by 50 percent, Tait said.

Tait told council the company plans to start building a new facility in the northeast corner of the industrial park by 2010. Company facilities now are located in three buildings located throughout the city.

Tait said he would support transferring tax abatements from the company's previous owners to the new holding company.

"Outside of Michigan Sugar, they are our largest employer," he said.

Jay & Kay, which manufactures marine products, has 120 full-time employees, 90 of them in Croswell. The company also has facilities in Port Huron and Florida.

On another matter, Tait reported that current plans to temporarily shut the post office for 7 to 10 days include moving all post office operations Ð including sorting and window operations - to the community center.

Previous plans were to move window operations to a trailer outside of the post office.

The post office must be shut temporarily to remove flooring that contains asbestos.

Five contractors who are bidding the project will walk through the post office on Thursday, at which time logistics such as moving telephone lines will be discussed.

It is hoped the post office improvements will be completed by Thanksgiving, before heavy holiday mailings begin, Tait said.

In other business, the council:

* learned that the repaving of Ward Street has hit a few snags, due to the need to rebuild an old manhole. Supervisors also want to make sure the street is the same height as surrounding streets.

The goal is to complete the repaving project by Halloween, Tait said.

The contractors, Asztec Asphalt, will work on the paving of Claridge and Lancaster streets in the meantime, he said.

* learned that the carpet at the Croswell Community Center had to be cleaned at a cost of $95 following a recent weekend event.

Discussion followed as to how the city can better supervise those who rent the facility on the weekends, to provide greater accountability when damage occurs to the property.

"We need an adult in charge to make sure that it's clean when someone is done using it," said councilwoman Mary Willis.

This holds true specifically for weekend events, when city hall is closed.

"Right now, when damages occur, we don't know who is responsible," Willis said.

The city now charges a $100 deposit for cleaning, plus $100 for rental.

Mayor Gary Macklem suggested that police inspect the center after every event.

In a related issue, Willis said that Women's Life Group has received a $300 donation from the home office to be used for a community project. She suggested it could be spent making improvements to the community center.

Council also approved allowing Mary and Sue Foley to conduct ballet classes at the community center.

* Set Trick or Treat times as 6 to 8 p.m. Wed., Oct. 31.