Mayor's Corner

 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 

 For this month’s article, I would like to reflect on a few things that City Council accomplished in 2022. We had some challenges, but were able to keep our focus on what was best for the City, which is our top priority. We worked through the hiring of a City Manager, and while we had to part ways with one, we welcomed another one mid-year and that has been a very positive experience. We changed the Quality-of-Life department back to Parks, Recreation and Events and with that, promoted Parks Coordinator Corey Cagle to Director of Parks, Recreation and Events. We are excited about having more events this year! 

Council made the tough decision to close the recycling center located at the DPW; however, we created a committee in conjunction with our township partners, to develop a new location and facility for recycling for the community. We are really excited about the plans for this, so please be watching for more information coming soon! 

The Planning Commission started reviewing the revised Zoning Ordinance. Once that is completed, their recommendation will come to City Council for review and final adoption. We are shooting for them to wrap up their review in April, then Council will start their review. There will be public hearings on this so I will keep you updated as we get closer to that time. 

The Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA) changed their meeting times from every other month to monthly, so they could work on pressing issues in a timelier manner. They most recently approved new signage that will be installed this spring at both the north and south industrial parks. 

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) started the new year with a new Main Street Director but is ending the year with the director leaving. The DDA is starting the new year with a fresh focus on how to best move forward with the Michigan Main Street program but will be working alongside the Eaton Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, and other entities to collaborate for future projects. 

I will be giving our annual State of the City address at the February 13th City Council meeting. This will highlight accomplishments of the past year, but will also lay out some goals and objectives for this new year. You are welcome to attend, both in person and virtually. 

Have a great January! 

Mayor Pam Colestock 

Happy December!

If you’re like me, you have been wondering “where did this year go”? It seems like it was July 4th and now it’s Christmas and the New Year is upon us. December is a busy month, but I try to take the time to reflect on the year and especially to be thankful for all the blessings I have.

I would like to thank the residents for entrusting me to lead this great city. It has been an honor and privilege serving you. I’ve met many incredible people this year and I hope that I have lived up to your expectations. I want to thank all of the individuals, committees, boards, city departments and especially my fellow City Council members, that did the work for the City of Eaton Rapids. Keeping your focus and commitment on making Eaton Rapids the best place to live is not always an easy task but we find ways to make it happen because we know how important it is. Thank You!

A tradition of mine during this season is to watch a few of my favorite Christmas movies; It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. Those movies remind me of not just the Christmas spirit, but the human spirit. What is important is giving, not of presents purchased at a store, but giving of ourselves, our time, our resources, our talents, our kindness, and our thoughtfulness. So often people get lost in the commercial aspect of the holidays. We all have so much more to give that doesn’t cost money. Our community is rich in so many ways because of the caring people that live and work here. Let’s remember that giving spirt all year long!

Next month, I will recap all of the positive work that happened this year and what lies ahead in our annual State of the City address. We’ve all worked very hard for you, but we have a lot more to do that we are excited to share.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, ideas or would like more information about serving our city, please reach out to me at pcolestock@cityofeatonrapids.com or call me at 517- 410-9472.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Mayor Pam Colestock