By Barb Pert Templeton
At each Algonac City Council meeting, City Manager Artie Bryson has a spot on the agenda to report information to officials about grants, projects and other items of interest. These are some of the things he shared at the Aug. 4 meeting.
Concerns for condition of the boardwalk
A citizen addressed the council during public comments and relayed that her son had been injured while recently walking on the boardwalk. His foot was cut open after he stepped on a nail near the boat launch. In response to her concerns, Bryson said the budget has $50,000 in it for the boardwalk repair project and he’s waiting on one more quote for the work.
The city manager said they will start it at the boat ramp launch because that’s the worst section and at one point it was even underwater for two or three years. “It is the worst part of the whole boardwalk,” Bryson said. He anticipates some structural work being needed underneath.
The city manager added that the city is aware of the problem, it is a concern and they are hopefully going to start working on it within weeks. Mayor Pro Tem Dawn Davey said what happened to the idea of having someone from the DPW walk the boardwalk once a week to check on things. In response to that Bryson said he hired a part-time casual labor guy and part of his job duties will be to police all the parks, pull the garbage out, do surveillance and check the boardwalk.
Ordinance review committee to meet
Bryson told council members that the Ordinance Review Committee would be meeting on Thursday, Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. He said they will be looking at updating the city’s special events ordinance, a golf cart ordinance and a parks and recreation ordinance.
Algonac City Manager Artie Bryson was wearing a black t-shirt with a huge Algonac logo and was asked to standup and show it off at the city council’s Aug. 4 meeting. The words on the front were “Our park, our kids, our future” and words printed on the back related to supporting the Algonac State Park.
“I thought they already reviewed that and they (the ordinances) were with (Algonac City Attorney) Mr. (James) Downey?” Councilman Michael Bembas asked. Bryson said that was true but the committee had more questions and the attorney will get back to them before they meet on Aug. 6.
Research on riding rules continues
The rules for operating E-bikes, E-Scooters and Go-Carts in the city continues to be researched by the city manager. In his memo to officials Bryson said not matter what things are very difficult to enforce but they are trying.
“I’m trying to get with the local communities in the area to make sure we’re all the same so it’s not too confusing, you can do this here but not there,” Bryson said.
Clock repair work scheduled
The work to get the clock at the city park repaired has been set for Sept. 2. When contacted after the council meeting to ask if this was the Dodge Clock at the local park that has appeared on the agenda numerous times this year Mayor Rocky Gillis confirmed, yes, that’s the clock and it will finally be repaired. “Same clock after an extended wait the clock company had to have a custom acrylic cover for the face made. The one that they brought was the incorrect size,” Gillis shared via email. City Manager Artie Bryson also offered a comment via email on Aug. 5 stating – “The company is out of Tennessee, and they schedule clock repair around the whole country. We had an issue with the repairs that the face plate did not fit. We had to ship it back to the company where they had a special face plate fabricated. Now we have to wait when there are back into the Midwest for the repairs.”
Security cameras & pool funding
Security cameras are up and running at the city pool and they also cover the rest of the nearby park area. The city’s completing all the paperwork to close the DNR Trust Fund grant for the pool. “Let me tell you it’s so much work it’s amazing, I just got three more reports I have to do to finish this,” Bryson said. He noted that the city will be receiving $30,000 to $35,000.
WIFI at Riverfront Park
The city manager told officials that there’s a program via Comcast where the city can have cameras and WIFI incorporated through street lights. Bryson said it’s a pilot program and it may be a good way to put those items at Riverfront Park. “I was going to get a quote and see if it qualifies for the pilot program,” Bryson said.
Getting agenda packets earlier
Councilwoman Wendy Meldrum told the city manager that if it’s possible, she’d like to get the agenda packets on a Wednesday rather than Thursdays. She said her request was simply because there’s no one in the office to answer questions on a Friday as the offices are closed. Bryson said the challenge is getting everything back from the department heads on time. Meldrum said she totally understood that but it’s called “hard deadlines” and they get the items by this time or it doesn’t hit the agenda. Bryson said he understood.
