At Tuesday’s Albion City Council meeting, Maurice Barry gave a presentation on the annual Point-in-Time count. The project is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. Albion participates in this annual count of the unhoused to help get the proper amount of funding for housing initiatives.
“We gather volunteers and people of the community to try to talk with transient, unsheltered and homeless people that are living in our parks or sleeping in our cubbyholes downtown and have them counted to help direct funding to our community,” said Barry. “We are looking for volunteers and people to get involved. We’re going to have volunteers from the high school. I have some kids that I work with that are willing to go out and check the parks and local areas and try to find out if anybody is living in our parks.”
The initiative starts on Jan. 29 with volunteers getting out in the community and trying to locate people in need of housing services. They are then invited to a free dinner where the actual count will take place. This year’s PIT count dinner will be held Jan. 30 from 5-8 p.m. at the Community That Cares Center, 500 Austin Ave.
“Federal funding is involved in this one,” council member Vivian Davis added. “You have 24 hours to coordinate all of the efforts. We are at a disadvantage (in Albion) because we don’t have a homeless shelter. The cities that have a homeless shelter automatically have those people there and they are accounted for. By not having a homeless shelter we have to go and try to seek people in zero degree weather.”
Anyone wishing to volunteer can meet at the Community That Cares Center at noon on Jan. 29. Another way to help is to contact Barry or the center with the whereabouts of unhoused individuals, including those who are “couch surfing” so they can be encouraged to come to the dinner and be included in the count to help get funding for housing initiatives.
After a brief closed session council discussed and unanimously approved several agenda items:
-Approved Bridge Load Ratings Proposal. MDOT has required updated load rating analyses be completed by Oct. 31, 2025. Council approved a proposal by Wightman and Associates for professional engineering services related to completion of bridge load ratings for the City of Albion.
-Approved Professional Construction Engineering Services preventative maintenance of seven bridges within the city.
“There is a Federal law called the critical bridge inspection program. It is associated with the critical bridge replacement program,” said City Manager, Doug Terry. “It’s a mandate that insists that any of our local bridges that cross any type of waterway have to be inspected as to its worthiness or long term stability or preventing collapse which could injure the public…we have several bridges that cross over the Kalamazoo River, Wightman and Associates, which is our resident engineer, has submitted a proposal to not only inspect our bridges but also help guide in the maintenance of those bridge repairs.”
-Approved upgrade/purchase of mobile data terminals in Patrol Vehicles/OIC Computer. This upgrade includes the purchase of new military grade computers for patrol vehicles along with heavier duty stands and mounts for each vehicle and new, more powerful internet connections.
-Approved the purchase of portable traffic barriers. These barriers are made of heavy plastic that can be filled with water or sand for use at festivals and other events or construction zones within the city. “This gives us the ability to actually build a perimeter on all of our streets” said ADPS Assistant Chief Jason Kern. “Every single year we have someone plow through the barricades at least once.” The water can be drained out and each unit will be placed back in storage until needed again.
-Approved Purchase of Trench Box for DPW. A trench box is a device that is placed in the ground to keep the surrounding soil from caving in on workers, causing injury or death. A trench box is required by OSHA whenever a hole over 5 feet deep is dug for the purpose of repairing sewer or water lines, or other utilities located beneath the ground.
-Approved the reappointment Juanita Solis-Kidder to the Arts Commission and the initial appointments of Katherine Gigliotti, to the DDA and Tamara Lane to the Recreation Advisory Commission.
-Approved Community Engagement Plan for the City of Albion. This is part of MEDC’s requirements for redevelopment ready communities program. “What it does is it outlines the expectation of how we’re going to communicate with our citizens. This is a good way for us to be transparent and a way for us to move forward,” said Terry.
The plan describes what methods the city will use as part of public outreach, such as public forums, person to person communications, public service announcements, website postings, newspaper postings, surveys and public outreach, social media, monthly mewsletter – Naturally Connected, City Commission meetings and City Board/Committee meetings.
During a discussion on what is happening with Stoffer plaza, council members agreed on the importance of seeking input from the community before a redesign plan is adopted. In the immediate future, the plan is to plant grass and wait to see if there are any more issues with underground wells and springs before looking to a more permanent design.
“I would strongly encourage us to say to the public that we are putting the grass down because it’s cost effective, because it’s wise,” said Council member Jim Stuart, who is also a member of the DDA. “At the DDA we said we were going to let that land sit so that we could see how Mother Nature handles it over the coming period.”
“So, two things,” Stuart continued, “I’d like to see us not get down the path and find that we have to tear it up because we hurried. And second of all I’d like to see us wait, giving preference to our public before we say this is what we’re doing.”
Council will be seeking community input as to what kinds of things they would like to see in Stoffer Plaza.
Council approved a contract for Great Lakes Water Operations LLC, to continue as operator-in-charge of the City’s wastewater treatment plant and assume the same role over the water treatment plant after the retirement of Jay Loomis, its current OIC. They also approved a Request for Proposal to seek a qualified organization to provide and enhance the City’s Recreation Programming. An update on the Transportation Authority of Calhoun County was given by council member Davis. The TAC is working to provide county wide access to public transportation.
The next council meeting will be held Monday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 112 W. Cass St., Albion.
