Mayor's Corner

Happy July!

Once again, we enjoyed a fantastic 4^th of July celebration. The parade was one of the longest we’ve had in a long time. Thank you to all who participated! I also want to thank the Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring the Crafter show, it was very well attended. Another thanks to our neighboring townships, Hamlin, and Eaton Rapids Township for their support of our 4^th of July, and for participating in our parade.

Recently, the Eaton County Land Bank received $653,000 that will be used in the demolition and clean up of the former Horner Mill property. There are 3 structures identified as being the worst conditions and once those are removed, the owner of the property will be responsible for removing the remaining structures to bring the property into compliance. The City has been working with Eaton County Treasurer Bob Robinson, who will be the one managing this process with the State of Michigan.  We owe a huge thanks to Eaton County Treasurer Bob Robinson, without his vision this would not be possible.  Demolition is set to start sometime in August.

We continue to work with Hamlin and Eaton Rapids Township on a collaboration for the Eaton Rapids Recycling Center, which will be located in the south Industrial Park. We’ve applied for an infrastructure grant to EGLE (State of Michigan), and we have other grants we are applying for. While it seems like it is taking a long time, we are making sure we have all the information and plans in order to make this a top-notch facility for all of Eaton County. I personally never knew there was so much that went into recycling! We will continue to update our residents as this continues to develop.

Don’t forget, we have music in the park Wednesdays at G.A.R Island Park, from 6pm-8pm during the Cruise-In. The list of performers is on the city’s website and Facebook page. We hope you will check it out.

Have a great rest of your summer!

Mayor Pam Colestock

Welcome Summer! 

City Council has been working on the budget with city administration and held a public hearing on Monday, June 19th. This is required by law and is a great way to give residents an opportunity to ask questions. Council will consider adoption of the budget at its June 26th meeting, 7pm. The public is welcome. 

The DDA (Downtown Development Authority) recently voted to end participation in Michigan Main Street. We have been a part of Michigan Main Street since 2019. I know a lot of people worked very hard to bring this program to Eaton Rapids, but it was no longer financially viable to remain a participant. We learned a lot and feel we can continue to deliver many of the benefits Michigan Main Street provided, without having to financially support a director position. The DDA’s main source of revenue is through captured property taxes in the downtown districts. We believe putting these funds back into the downtown is the best way to promote the DDA. We provide grant funding for exterior façade improvements, sponsor the Farmer’s Market, participate in downtown beautification and will be working on a new incentive program for new business start-ups. 

Speaking of the Farmer’s Market, come visit the market on Saturdays from 9am-Noon, located on W. Hamlin Street. Lisa Barna, owner of Black Dog Coffee, is assisting the DDA on running the market this year and has done a fantastic job. There are baked goods, honey, fresh eggs, crafts, and once gardens start, fresh produce will be available. Come check it out! 

The 4th of July is right around the corner and as always, Eaton Rapids has planned a fun celebration. Please check the City’s Facebook page and website for more information and schedule. There will also be a Living History, presented by the G.A.R. Memorial Hall and Museum, Saturday, July 1st-4th at Howe Memorial Field. This is a great opportunity for kids and adults to learn how soldiers and civilians lived during the Civil War. 

Hope you are off to a great summer! 

Mayor Pam Colestock 

 Happy May! 

City Council is busy this month working with city administration on the 2023-2024 budget. There will be a public hearing on the budget in June. This is a requirement to get public input, or answer questions. Watch the city’s website for dates. 

At the May 8th City Council meeting, Council approved the Planning Commission’s recommendation for a lot-split in the south industrial park. This parcel of land was part of a larger parcel owned by the city and will be used for the future Eaton Rapids Recycling Center. This was the first step in moving forward with plans for the center. The next steps will be to develop site plans and apply for grants for the infrastructure. Stay tuned for more! 

Eaton Rapids Teen Space held a talent show to raise funds for a new building they will build across from the High School. Eaton Rapids has some very talented young people! If you’d like to get involved with this program, you can reach out to them at www.erteenspace.com. 

Memorial weekend is right around the corner. Many celebrate this holiday as the start of summer, however, it’s to pay tribute to the military heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we appreciate. The G.A.R Memorial Hall & Museum’s Memorial Day committee has planned several events starting at Rosehill Cemetery with flag placement on veteran’s graves, Saturday, May 27th at 9am. This is a volunteer effort so if you’d like to help, meet at the city maintenance building at the back of the cemetery. There will be a luminary display placed Sunday night, May 28th at Memorial Park on Main Street. There will be a luminary representing each Eaton Rapids veteran who died in battle. On Monday, May 29th the Memorial Day parade will start at 11am. We are looking for parade entries so if anyone is interested in being in the parade, please let me know. You can reach me at pcolestock@cityofeatonrapids.gov. Following the parade, there will be a brief ceremony at G.A.R Island Park. All are welcome! 

Have a safe and happy May! 

Mayor Pam Colestock 

 It’s starting to look like spring! 

The City just received 2 awards for the restoration of G.A.R Island Park, submitted by the City’s engineering company, c2ae. It’s exciting to be recognized for the work put into making this park a showpiece, however, the best part is hearing from residents and community members about how much they enjoy the park. We will have a lot of activity this summer with events and concerts in the park, so watch for more information and announcements. 

Spring has been busy for City Council and administration. We’ve applied for several grants including one that will help us make important upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. This plant has been in operation since 1954 and while it has received upgrades since then, it’s been several years since major upgrades were made. The cost is 9.5 million dollars to make the upgrades and grant funding will help keep costs to you, the taxpayers, to a minimum. We also received news that a program called NextCycle, which helps communities find funding for building recycling centers, has accepted Eaton Rapids into their program. We will work with NextCycle to apply for infrastructure funding which, when successful, will help us build a state-of-the-art recycling center for our entire Eaton Rapids community. 

We are also busy working on the next fiscal budget. Part of that process is working on capital expenditure projects not just for the next year, but for 5 years from now. As our infrastructure ages, we have to find ways to keep up with upgrades and replacements. This includes street pavement, sidewalk replacement, and utility upgrades. 

The Downtown Development Authority will be starting the Farmer’s Market starting June 3rd. It will be located next to Black Dog Coffee Shop on Hamlin Street, on Wednesdays, during the cruise-in, and Saturdays from 9am-Noon. Lisa Barna from Black Dog has graciously agreed to help run the market, so if you are interested in being a part of this, please reach out to Lisa at Black Dog coffee. 

Have a great rest of April! 

Mayor Pam Colestock 

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