By Barb Pert Templeton
The first meeting of the new year for the Algonac City Council took place on Tuesday, Jan. 7 and the 43-minute gathering included the following highlights.
City Manager’s report to council
At each bi-monthly council meeting Algonac City Manager Denice Gerstenberg gives a report to the council about projects underway in the city.
She said the city is still awaiting funding from the State of Michigan so it can begin taking bids for a new roof at the former Algonac Elementary School which will be the city’s new community center.
Regarding the work on the new city pool at Lions Field, the sanitary sewer tap is now in place and the state of Michigan gave the city its pool permit, on Christmas Eve.
Members of the Algonac City Council hosted their first meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m.
The county will be working on the Swale and Cartwright drains this winter and if residents have questions they should contact the county drain office. The Cartwright Drain is off Fruit Street in the city and the Swale drain is located in Clay Township.
Skarbek’s spontaneous golf cart parade on Dec. 22 was a big success for a first-time event. Gerstenberg said there were 54 participants traveling the city roads offering holiday cheer and comments about the event on social media were positive and plentiful.
“It was cool I was watching it go up Market Street and it just kept going and going,” Mayor Pro Tem Dawn Davey said.
The Downriver Goodfellows (DGF), in a partnership with Woodside Bible Church, did a food giveaway and helped out 255 families. The DGF also provided holiday help to 77 families that included 247 adults and 154 children. Gerstenberg also noted that the Algonac Lions Club hosted a bowling fundraiser in early December to benefit the DGF but the amount of those funds and the distribution of them hadn’t been completed yet.
Purchases of curb boxes
Algonac’s DPW Foreman Joe Vernier presented an invoice to the city council seeking payment for 40 stop boxes and 40 stainless rods used for water repairs. In a memo to officials Vernier stated that he actually ordered the parts in September but it took months to have the order filled so he ordered enough parts so that some will be on hand as needed. An invoice in the amount of $2,480 to the company, Core and Main, in St. Louis was unanimously approved by the council.
Payment #3 for pool project
An invoice in the amount of $192,358 for the third payment to Robert Clancy Contracting, Inc.
for the city pool project at Lions Field was approved by the city council. The council approved a contract with Clancy in the amount of $2,924,201 for the project back in September and the current invoice was for work from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. Robert Clancy Contracting, Inc. is located in Casco.
Debut of holiday parade a success
During his council comments Councilman Jake Skarbek said even though his idea for a golf cart parade in the city on Dec. 22 was a last-minute plan, things went well. “I’m not going to say it was a sh** show at the beginning, but we figured it out and the next show will be a lot better, we’ll be more organized,” Skarbek laughed. He said next year he hopes to start the event at the Lions Field, bring a stage in and make an evening out of it, including the parade. Mayor Rocky Gillis said the parade was amazing and he thanked Skarbek for putting it on. Gillis added that his mom cried watching the event as it meant so much to her.
