Government

With a new report confirming that East Lansing is facing a very large retiree-related debt, the Financial Health Team is suggesting the City consider new tax levies on people who live and work in East Lansing. These may include an income tax as well as special property taxes levied for emergency services.

Finding a simple answer to this question has been remarkably difficult. ELi's Alice Dreger explains.

Above: sign at Coral Gables Plaza along the planned BRT route

The Meridian Township Board has passed a resolution in opposition to CATA’s planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Passed last night, the Board’s resolution has no formal impact on the plan, because the roads involved (Michigan and Grand River Avenues) are owned by the City of Lansing and the State of Michigan. But the move could affect CATA’s chances of obtaining federal funding for the project.

Recently, an ELi reader asked what the state of marijuana law was in East Lansing, and whether or not it really was legal to possess small amounts of the substance. ELi's Managing Editor, Ann Nichols, J.D., worked on finding out.

Above: Judge Clinton Canady looks at the trees in the backyard of Conni Crittenden, foreground. Immediately behind Canady is the mature disputed maple, which has multiple trunks. BWL wants to remove the entire trunk shown on the left (to the right of Canady) in this photo. What would remain is the trunk shown directly behind Canady in this photo.

Image: An artist’s rendering of a station for CATA’s proposed BRT route

Above: Tree-trimming trucks out in the Glencairn neighborhood today, following Friday’s storm

With electrical provider BWL and East Lansing resident Richard Crittenden still unable to agree on the right way to trim a mature silver maple in Crittenden’s yard, Ingham County Judge Clinton Canady will soon be going out to look at the tree himself.

This week’s meeting of East Lansing’s City Council was a summer classic: short in length, with a driving rain pounding on the roof, and with the minimum number of Councilmembers needed for a quorum in attendance (three). Mayor Mark Meadows and Councilmember Susan Woods are away on vacation, so Mayor Pro Tem Ruth Beier led the meeting. She stumbled a bit with the procedures for voting on items, but was provided friendly help by Councilmembers Shanna Draheim and Erik Altmann.

East Lansing’s Department of Public Works will continue for at least another week to pick-up trees and tree limbs downed by Friday’s storm according to City Manager George Lahanas. Speaking at City Council’s meeting last night, Lahanas praised City employees and residents for coming together to deal with the aftermath of the storm. He asked residents to continue to get downed vegetation to the curb.

Above: ELPD Officer Adam Park and K9 Max, left, out in the community, and ELPD Chief Jeff Murphy, right, courtesy City of East Lansing

The Black Lives Matter movement has brought significant attention to the killing of African-Americans by police officers. Last week, social media circulated suggestions about what citizens should be asking their local police forces about anti-bias training, techniques used to de-escalate tense encounters, the use of non-lethal force in policing, and the like.

Above: Fiesta Charra restaurant, behind which Costco plans to build a store

Following the reaching of an agreement between the City of East Lansing and Meridian Township, Costco is likely to soon be building a new store in East Lansing along Saginaw Highway just east of Park Lake Road on land adjacent to the Fiesta Charra restaurant.

At the East Lansing City Council meeting held on May 17, 2016, East Lansing Police Chief Jeff Murphy and Supervisor Eldon Evans of Parking and Code Enforcement (PACE) took questions from Council about the writing of tickets by PACE. Some members of Council suggested that PACE should be giving more warnings and fewer tickets, but when I contacted ELPD to follow-up, it appears the rate of ticket-writing is unlikely to slow.

When East Lansing’s City Council voted unanimously to offer a much less lucrative tax abatement than the developer of a local solar project asked, some were worried that the Council’s decision would kill the project. But asked by ELi about whether the project proposed by Inovateus Solar is going forward, the City Manager’s office confirmed this morning that it is.

Due to dry conditions,the City of East Lansing’s Fire Department has imposed a ban on open burning until further notice. 

According to a press release issued by ELFD, “it is currently not safe for recreational/open burning due to the extremely dry weather. The Department of Natural Resources has issued a Very High Fire Danger for Lansing and surrounding areas."

Do you have an interest in technology? Have you ever wanted to join a panel that will directly help the City? The City of East Lansing is creating a Citizen Innovation and Technology Panel, and they are looking for eager community members to help them out.