Lansing City Council approves setting public hearing dates regarding water improvement loans, pair of Park & Recreation items among various matters
by Joshua Sharpe
The Lansing City Council met in regular session Monday, March 17. Several resolutions were brought before the council, including a pair regarding setting a date for public hearings for loan agreements helping to finance the water and sewer infrastructure portion of the North, Platt and 4th Streets improvement project, with all those resolutions being approved. The dates of those public hearings will be formally announced in the near future.
A citizen concern was raised regarding a levee lot north of the City Marina that has filled in with silt. City Clerk Teresa Severson explained, “So this one I already pretty much have my answers. He didn’t know how he was going to put his boat in. It’s filled in, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
The first of the series of resolutions regarded a public hearing for a general obligation water improvement loan in the amount not exceed $365,000. “This is for the drinking water portion of the street project,” Lansing Mayor Mike Verdon explained. “This is a general obligation bond that we have to secure in order to get our 59% loan forgiveness from the SRF (State Revolving Fund). We have to apply for it, we have to pay for it with the general obligation bond money and then submit that claim to the State and the State will forgive that money, send it back to us. In consideration of this one and the next resolution, if all goes well and it stays on budget, the total obligation for the city at the end of the project should be something in the neighborhood of ... about $300,000 of a $1.1 million project.”
Similarly, Resolution 1044 was in regard to a public hearing for a general obligation water improvement loan not to exceed $537,000. “This is the resolution fixing the date for public hearing for the sewer portion of the project,” Mayor Verdon shared. “The sewer portion of the project is the larger of the two, and this general obligation bond application would be for $537,000. Again, 59% of it is paid for through the SRF, and 41% is paid for by the block grant that Upper Explorerland helped us with.”
Resolution 1045 was a transfer of funds “out of the main account to the streetlight account,” according to Mayor Verdon. Lansing City Clerk Teresa Severson further clarified that the transferred funds were the Alliant Energy franchise fee received by the city, noting that such a transfer is done quarterly.
A fourth and final resolution addressed by the council involved renewal of an agreement with Mediacom. Mayor Verdon introduced the subject by stating, “This is the one we had some discussion about as to its origins and the historical background of it at our last meeting.” City Clerk Severson provided financial specifics related to the agreement, noting, “So we actually get $150 a month from them... In fiscal year 2024 we got a total of $12,814.98.” After some discussion regarding dates listed in the agreement, the resolution was approved.
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