Government

Above: Artist’s rendering of the proposed project as seen looking east from Spartan Avenue

If two votes go as expected, tonight East Lansing’s City Council will set a pair of public hearings for April 12 to consider a site plan and tax increment financing (TIF) plan for a major new apartment complex near Hagadorn Road. If built as planned, the project, a six-story mixed-used development to be named White Oak Place, will sit on the corner of East Grand River and Spartan Avenues, just west of Brookfield Plaza.

Image: An East Lansing Department of Public Works team filling potholes last week

The Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority has granted the City of East Lansing its request for $99,000 to demolish the vacant, blighted “little bank building” at the corner of Abbot Road and Albert Street, shown above.

Image: The offices of the current City Attorney

Tomorrow at 4 p.m. marks the deadline for law firms to submit their proposals to become East Lansing’s latest legal representative. As ELi reported earlier, on February 2, absent public discussion of the matter, East Lansing’s City Council passed a resolution instructing the City Manager to issue a request for proposals.

Above: artist's rendition of a future BRT station

In East Lansing, CATA’s planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would reduce the number of stops along Grand River Avenue, provide raised platforms for faster and easier boarding, reduce the greenway median by one-quarter in acreage, and reduce the number of westbound car lanes downtown by one, according to the current plan. An update on the plan was presented to East Lansing’s City Council this week by City Planning staff Lori Mullins and CATA’s Assistant Executive Director Debbie Alexander.

The same Republican-led Michigan House of Representatives committee that has been looking into effectively ending Michigan’s historic districts and also taking away East Lansing’s ability to restrict rental property redevelopment is now seeking to take away all Michigan municipalities’ ability to locally restrict the carrying and discharge of firearms.

Above: City Manager George Lahanas and City Attorney Tom Yeadon, courtesy City of East Lansing

Michigan’s Department of State has determined that East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas violated the Michigan Campaign Finance Act (MCFA) when he used his column in the City’s Dialog newsletter to encourage voters to vote “yes” on a ballot initiative in the fall of 2014. In a letter dated March 2, 2016, a representative of the Bureau of Elections advised Lahanas, “you are not entitled to use public resources to solicit a favorable vote regarding a ballot question.”

Less than two weeks after the City Council created a Financial Health Team (FHT) and appointed its members, the 11-member group held its inaugural meeting yesterday, Monday, February 29. Ten members were present, with only vice-chair Jill Rhode being unable to attend. The team received presentations about the financial challenges faced by the City and made some decisions about how they will conduct their business.

Above: The "little bank building" at 303 Abbot Road.

Various blighted, vacant buildings near Peoples Church downtown are likely to soon be demolished following a series of recent actions by the City designed to bring about the demolition.

Photo credit: Greg Thompson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wikimedia Commons

East Lansing’s City Council is set tonight to continue discussion of a possible deer cull in two City parks. In response to questions from Council members, City staff has prepared answers to questions about deer sterilization, whether organized kills will really reduce local populations, and whether it is possible to put reflectors on deer to reduce deer-car accidents. Tonight’s meeting could see a vote on an ordinance that would allow the culls to occur.

Facing numerous financial challenges—including the funding of MSU emergency services and substantial employee-related costs—City of East Lansing staffers and City Council members convened Saturday morning for a special budget meeting. The meeting, held at Hannah Community Center, included an overview of the City’s budget, a review of the City’s General Fund five-year forecast and discussion of preliminary budget assumptions for fiscal year 2017.

Following the lead of other Michigan cities like Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, the City of East Lansing is gearing up to fight back to retain local control of its historic districts, even while some believe the districts impede productive redevelopment in East Lansing and elsewhere.