City of Eaton Rapids

Happy Spring Eaton Rapids! 

Some of you may have seen a recent article in the Lansing State Journal regarding the Horner Mill property. The City has been working with the owners of this property to bring it into compliance. As you know, the buildings are in severe disrepair. Recently, we started working with Eaton County Treasurer Bob Robinson and the county land bank to apply for a State grant that by working with the owners and the city, would provide funding to start demolition and clean up of this property. If awarded, this will be the start of bringing this property not only into property maintenance compliance, but the start of finally removing this eyesore and start working on possible redevelopment. While the grant funding will not provide for removal of all buildings at once, it will be a start and after 20 plus years of nothing happening, I for one am very excited to see this blight removed from our city. 

Something I mentioned in the State of the City address was the restarting of a Citizens Academy. Several years ago, the City held an academy for residents to learn more about the city government, how our city departments work, including our Department of Public Works, Public Safety and City Administration. I would like to know if there is an interest from our residents to do this again. If you would be interested in being a part of this academy, please let me know. If there is an interest, we can start working to put this program into action. You can reach me at my email pcolestock@cityofeatonrapids.com. This would be for City of Eaton Rapids residents only. 

The Downtown Development Authority has announced this year’s façade grant opportunity for the downtown business/building owners. This grant can help with exterior repairs and upgrades of up to $5,000. Applications can be picked up at City Hall and are due by 4pm on April 28th. 

Enjoy your March! 

Mayor Pam Colestock 

 I don’t normally like to start off writing about sad news, but I would be remiss to not mention how hard of a week this has been for so many. After I got home from last week’s council meeting, there was breaking news of the active shooter at MSU. I watched as many of you did in utter disbelief. I received a call from our Police Chief stating he was sending officers to assist. Several deputies, officers, firefighters and EMT units throughout the county went to assist where they could. It’s not surprising, whenever there is a crisis, people jump in to help without flinching. People from all over sent resources to assist those directly affected. This is proof that evil does not win. It might touch our lives and cause a great deal of pain, but it does not win. We stand with everyone at MSU! 

City Council is working on the new Recycling Center. It’s turning out to be a longer process than I had hoped, but we have momentum with a few grant-funding opportunities that could assist us in building the new center and that is very exciting. We should learn more by summer if we will be awarded funding, and once we know, we can start putting the actual plans into place. We are looking to build a facility in the south industrial park on city-owned property. This is a collaborative effort between the City, Eaton Rapids Township and Hamlin Township, and we appreciate their engagement in this effort. More details to come! 

One thing I mentioned at last week’s State of the City address is in 2022 City Council appointed 27 new/re-appointed citizens to our various boards. That is a huge accomplishment, and I appreciate all of our board members, and City Council for approving these appointments. We can accomplish so much when we have full participation in our boards. We still have a few spots remaining on our Zoning Board of Appeals and Local Officers Compensation Committee, so if you’d like more information, please let me know. We are also looking for volunteers to help serve on our events committees. If you’d like to help, please reach out to Corey Cagle, at ccagle@cityofeatonrapids.com. 

As of this writing we are just 32 days away from spring! 

Mayor Pam Colestock