MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION,

WHICH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2005, 7:00 P.M.,

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN

 

1.   Roll Call

PRESENT:  Baker, Eyre, Kanuch, Kozakiewicz, Mead, Senesac, Svenson and Wieland

ABSENT:     1 vacancy

OTHERS PRESENT:  Jon Lynch, Assistant City Manager; Daryl Poprave, City Planner; Cheri Standfest, Community Development Specialist; Brian McManus, City Engineer; Noel Bush, Utilities Director; Sally Sutton, Zoning Board of Appeals member and 1 other.

2.   Approval of Minutes

Regular Meeting of December 14, 2004.

It was moved by Mead and supported by Baker to approve the minutes of December 14th.  The minutes were unanimously approved. 

 

3.   Public Hearings

     

      None

     

4.   Public Comments (not related to agenda items)

 

      None

 

5.   Old Business

 

Discussion of Subdivision Ordinance Update Process.

 

The composition of the committee will consist of between seven to nine individuals.  They would look for a few Planning Commission Members to sit on that committee. Then they would look for some members of the public to also sit on this committee.  They would like a good bit of diversity on this committee, such as homebuilders, developers, surveyors, and others who would have to work within this ordinance.  Mr. Lynch sent a memo to the Planning Commission regarding the development of the committee.  According to the time line, the committee would meet at least six times and be ready to go to a public hearing in May. 

 

McKenna’s involvement was to prepare the draft and deliver it to us.  They have done this.  It is now up to us to review it and make any changes to the document.  During February, the committee would take a look at the plat procedures.  Design standards would be discussed during the latter part of February and the month of March.  In April, this document would come before the Planning Commission and be able to review the work of the committee.

 

During the beginning of the next fiscal year, we will begin updating our master plan.  The Subdivision Ordinance should be in place by this time.

 

The Planning Commission may wish to extend an invitation to a member of City Council.  They could observe the process, not vote with the committee, but observe in an ex-oficio capacity.  With the zoning ordinance, it took quite a bit of time to bring the City Council up to speed with the new zoning ordinance once the Planning Commission had recommended adoption.

 

Mr. Mead thought Mr. Senesac and Mr. Eyre would be good to serve on this committee.  He thinks they would be the logical ones to help.  Mr. Eyre has no problem with it.  Mr. Senesac states he has some conflicts but he hoped Mr. Kozakiewicz would volunteer to help.  There was consensus of the Planning Commission that the time line looks good and should move forward with this plan. 

 

Ray, Dan, & Jon will get together and select the remaining members of the committee.  If anyone in the audience is interested in serving, please contact the Planning Department.  They would like to have the committee in place by the first of February.

 

Dan and Bill are both willing to serve.  Carol Svenson would also be willing to serve.  They would like to extend an invitation to City Council if anyone would be willing to work with this committee.

 

 

6.  New Business

Presentation of Capital Improvements Plan.

 

One of the aspects of the capital improvement plan has to do with the installation of infrastructure.  The capital plan received this year is different from in years’ past.  This plan projects out approximately ten years.  The goal in developing a capital improvement plan is not to list all the projects to be done and we know that all these projects will be developed by these dates.  This time, we are proposing projects, based upon population projections, capacity of the water treatment plant, and other services to city residents.  The City Engineer will present projects projected regarding streets and public infrastructure.  The Director of Utilities will present projections regarding water and sewer lines.  At the conclusion of this, Mr. Lynch summarized this and tried to pull them all together so some recommendations can be made by the Planning Commission and forwarded to City Council.

 

Brian McManus presented capital improvement projects.  These are not regular maintenance projects.  Maintenance projects are funded by gas and weight taxes.  Capital improvement projects are paid from the county road mileage and possibly some funding from the state.  These would include interchanges and street widening.  We try to accumulate those dollars and spend them as the projects arise. 

 

The Airport Road extension will be built first.  It has already been funded.  Construction is set for next summer.  They want to connect the Stark Road interchange over to Airport Road.  If you are trying to get from the Fairgrounds over to Stark Road, it is presently awkward.  This will provide a through route to alleviate traffic congestion. 

 

The next project is the Sturgeon Avenue Center turn lane signalization.  This will need some lane widening and signals will be needed in the future.  There are a double set of four-way stops close together.  Left turn lanes also need to be added in this area.

 

The next project is Eastman Avenue widening.  There is a significant congestion at certain times in the mall area.  It usually flows quite well northbound, but it can easily get backed up southbound at certain times.  This area continues to pick up traffic every year.

 

Letts Road improvement – development is beginning to occur in this area.  Water and sewer lines have been added along Perrine Road.  The developer has begun paving portions of Letts Road.  This project went before the City Council this year, but the funds are not currently available.  This will be needed as development continues up Sturgeon and Perrine Roads.

 

Another project on the land use plan is the extension of West Sugnet Road between West Main Street and Dublin Avenue, and eventually, even further to the west, over to Stark Road.  This will provide a needed east/west route across town that is badly needed.

 

The widening of Jefferson Avenue is not on any master plan as of this time.  However, in the last ten years, the traffic has doubled from about 7500 vehicles to 15,000 vehicles per day.  Streets are usually built to 3 lanes and striped as two.  The next step is removing parking from the street and adding the third lane.  This moves traffic fairly well at the present time, but in the peak seasons it is backing up northbound as well.  Engineers expect in the future, we will need a signal at the corner of Chapel Lane and Jefferson.  This area is primarily residential, along with a few churches and an adult foster care.

 

The Stark Road extension – we anticipate in the future, it will be necessary to have another crossing of the river.  There is a crossing at Meridian Road and there really is no other crossing until you get to Main Street.  There are environmental problems to be dealt with and this means a very long bridge will be required and costs estimates have risen to about $14,000,000.  The need for this is still a few years out.

 

The last project is another Letts Road extension, between Commerce Drive and Jefferson Avenue.  This is a project that is funded.  It will most likely happen within a few years.  This will provide a very nice outlet to Jefferson Avenue and Commerce Drive.  This will alleviate some of the traffic on Joe Mann and Eastman Avenue. 

 

Noel Bush spoke regarding the water and sewer extensions.  The MUGA policy was discussed, regarding the availability of water and sewer to outlying areas.  You have to oversize the sewer lines to accommodate the additional flow from the wet seasons.  There will be some water and sewer lines that will run for several hundred feet due to wetlands and undeveloped areas in the city.  We have made significant improvements to the available capacity of our sewer lines. 

 

In the northwest, we have a capacity problem with the size of sewer lines that have been installed in this area.  They have created a model to determine the needs of this area.  The least expensive solution would start at Valley Drive, continue the 24” water main along the new Sugnet Road, and continue with 16” lines to the north end of town.  During the peak day at the peak time, it would deliver all the water they needed out there.  This does not need to be in place until approximately 2015.  This could change according to development in this area.  In the Sandow Road area, they have water but no sewer.  In the future, they will probably petition for sewer.  This would be paid for by special assessments.  The S4 leg of the sewer, on Main Street, is presently at capacity.  We also need additional capacity going out to the west. 

 

We also believe there will be sewer requests for Julie Ann Drive, El Rancho and Letts Road in this area. 

 

They installed a 24 inch pressure main.  This is the heart of the water pressure system out to northeast side of town.  They would like to fill the Plymouth tower from the pressure generated line.  This would prevent a decrease in pressure should the water plan lose power.  They are also looking at Diamond Drive to loop the water system in the mall area. 

 

S-12 and S-19 sanitary sewer areas are primarily capacity issues.  The Waldo sewer is poorer in condition.  It does not need to be replaced immediately but it is on the horizon for the future.

 

The southeast portion of the city, they are installing a new water and sewer system in the area of the new ice arena.  There has also been interest in new developments by the freeway.  There has been interest in both industrial and commercial development in this area, following annexation.

 

The S-1 sewer main is in the process of being installed now.  We are probably looking at some form of force main to go by gravity to the plant.

 

In a project, if properties can be assessed along the way, this helps to pay for the project.  The additional water main going up Waldo, along Wheeler will be at the city’s expense.  Once you get to the north of the freeway, there will be special assessments levied.

 

Mr. Lynch summarized these projects out to 2015.  This provides for planned growth of the city and we can see where the areas are that need to be improved. 

 

It was moved by Kozakiewicz and seconded by Svenson to forward this information on to City Council.

 

The vote proceeded as follows:

 

YEA:          Baker, Eyre, Kanuch, Kozakiewicz, Mead, Senesac, Svenson and Wieland
NAY:          None

ABSNET:   1 vacancy

 

Motion passes unanimously. 

 

The report will be presented to city council on Monday, January 17th. 

 

7.  Communications