News

The City of Eaton Rapids is leading a regional effort to strengthen animal control services after county budget cuts reduced staffing to one officer. We recently met with Eaton County to discuss restoring services. Local police departments are increasingly handling aggressive dogs, strays, and bite reports, straining limited resources. We will share updates as discussions continue and remain hopeful about developing a plan that serves Eaton Rapids and neighboring communities.

As reported in the September newsletter, City Council approved ERM’s professional services for the Horner Mill demolition. Environmental testing, planning, and demolition preparation began the week of September 21st. If preparations remain on schedule, the Eaton County Land Bank plans to begin demolition in the spring. The $1 million in federal funding covers only part of the project, so the City and Land Bank will continue seeking additional revenue.

The City has also received three Community Development Block Grants totaling $723,500, with NO City match required. The grants will support capital improvement and asset management planning (which includes physical inspections of all city utilities, streets, and buildings), downtown flood mitigation, and a zoning ordinance rewrite. Together, these projects will help future councils, boards, and administrators maintain infrastructure, anticipate costs, reduce pressure on taxpayers, and plan proactively rather than reactively.

The Downtown Development Authority held a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, September 23rd to unveil the city’s new Social District. This was a business-driven initiative that started a few years ago, and a lot of research and planning went into the implementation. You can get all the details at Darb’s Patio, Craft Co, and the city’s website.

We will be celebrating Eaton Rapids Area District Library’s 150th anniversary on Saturday, September 26th starting at 10am. Be sure to stop in to help them celebrate a huge milestone!

As always, let me know if you have any questions regarding the city. I can be reached at
pcolestock@cityofeatonrapids.gov or my cell (517) 410-9472.

Enjoy the rest of September!
Mayor Pam Colestock

We are getting closer to completing several city infrastructure projects, and I know many of you will be glad to see them finished. Thank you for your continued patience throughout this process. While we hope construction projects will move forward without complications, that is not always possible, especially when working with aging infrastructure. Please know that we are doing everything we can to limit inconveniences for residents. Thank you for your understanding and for hanging in there with us!

At the August 10th City Council meeting, we approved several new initiatives and grant funding applications that, if awarded, will support continued improvements over the next several years. The City is applying for three federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG); Planning & Asset Management, Zoning ordinance updates, and a downtown floodplain mitigation study. The total funding request is more than $700,000, and there is NO required match from the city.

At that same meeting, Council approved a proposal from ERM (Environmental Resources Management) for professional services related to the site demolition of Horner Mill. The proposed services will support a phased approach, including environmental testing of building and ground materials, project planning, and demolition implementation. The goal is to use the $1 million in federal grant funds to begin meaningful progress at the site. ERM will also continue working to identify additional revenue sources that can help complete the project.

On August 13th, the City of Eaton Rapids hosted an Active Violence Incident simulation in partnership with Eaton County Central Dispatch, the Eaton County AVI Team, the Eaton Rapids Fire Department, the Eaton Rapids Police Department, and many others. Eaton Rapids Medical Center also participated to assess and strengthen its response capabilities related to mass casualty incidents. The purpose of the training was to identify vulnerabilities, improve skills and coordination, and enhance planning for a potential large-scale violence event. Many city staff members and City Council members were able to observe or actively participate. While we hope we never have to use the knowledge gained from this exercise, the training better equips and prepares us to respond if such an event were ever to occur. I want to thank all of the community partners who helped make this training possible, with a special note of appreciation to Lieutenant Paul Creger for leading this effort for the City of Eaton Rapids.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at pcolestock@cityofeatonrapids.gov or by cell at (517) 410-9472. You are also welcome to attend any of our City Council meetings. We meet on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at both 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and we would love to see you there. 

Enjoy the rest of your summer, fall is right around the corner! 

Mayor Pam Colestock