By Gari Voss
The Allegan City Council addressed a variety of issues during their Monday, March 10, 2025, meeting. The Village Market and Juan Linn Restaurant moved officially to the C-2 General Commercial District Zone. The adjustments to Ordinance 528 would have a second reading and a Public Meeting at the March 24, 2025, meeting. And much time was spent on the possible improvements to the Sports Complex and the sale of city parcels that have no governmental purpose.
Amending Ordinance 528
The amending of Ordinance 528, Chapter 7, Article II Rental Inspection Program of the code of ordinances was quickly reviewed. The scheduling of a second reading and public hearing for Ordinance 528 was set for March 24, 2025. Several aspects of Ordinance 528 required clarification in regard to wording identifying who would pay the inspection fees. City Manager Joel Dye and the city staff worked with PCI, the inspection group, and with the City Attorney to review the current ordinance. The decision was made to replace the current ordinance with a new one.
Approving Ordinance 527
The second reading of Ordinance 527 was held with a public hearing scheduled. The Council adopted the ordinance for the rezoning of Village Market at 100 Monroe Street, and Juan Ling Restaurant at 565 Water Street.
The approval was made to align these parcels with the city’s Master Plan. The properties have truly been operating as businesses in a General Business District. With this official change, the businesses have some different guidelines. One is that the property owners will have the ability to change signage that C-1 zoning did not allow.
Finance Department
The request to approve accounts payable in the amount of $938,556.26 and payroll in the amount of $127,752.30 for a total disbursement of $1,066,308.56 passed.
Review of the FY2026 Fee Schedule and Approved Vendor List.
Finance Director Tracy Stull requested that the council review the department vendors and fees. The pre-approved vendor list assists the departments when making purchases that are within their budgets. There was no approval during this meeting because these will be approved during the budgeting process in May. City Manager Dye requested that Council Members review the list and bring any questions to the city staff. Some fees are attached to the ordinances and will require more attention if a change is necessary. The request is that council members come in and share any questions if there seems to be a problem.
Public Works
The discussion regarding potential improvements to the youth baseball and softball fields at the Sports Complex addressed the current uses of the fields and changes requested by the youth baseball group. To inform the new Council members, City Manager Dye reviewed that the Sports Complex is not within the city limits but was deeded to the city and is the city’s responsibility.
The Sports Complex offers fields for youth baseball plus adult and youth softball along with soccer fields that are used by youth in the greater Allegan area and townships. Though the fields do not seem to be within the city limits, they are owned and maintained by the city.
The ball fields are different sizes for younger to older players. The current thought is to work with Allegan Youth Baseball and create a girls’ softball field. In addition, Allegan Youth Baseball received a quote to change all fields to dirt infields. The original quote of $20,000 for all four fields but did not cut down the 8 inches that would ensure that grass did not grow back. If all four fields were transitioned into dirt infields, that would be $80,000 that the city had not budgeted and was not willing to pay.
The feeling was expressed that those who use the complex should find ways to change the fields. A question to answer: What would the Council like the Sports Complex to be?
The City does not have a Recreation Authority that could create a millage to run sports activities. Though the Council had no real nays to the idea of improving the Complex, there was consensus to finding alternative funding. It would be important to get the surrounding townships involved. Though there are some fees collected from ASO soccer and Allegan Youth Baseball, they would not cover changing the infields of all four ball fields. The discussion will continue.
City Manager & City Clerk
Contract with Carter Consulting. City Manager Dye requested that the Council authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with Carter Consulting regarding future reporting on the MEDC Grant for 109 Locust Street.
The MEDC Grants are to physically improve buildings in the downtown area and have specific requirements.109 Locust Street (Something Sweet) was awarded a MEDC grant to create 2 upstairs apartments with one being for low income residents. The city manager would like to continue partnering with Carter Consulting to complete the annual inspection of the leases, income verification of tenants, and report to MEDC.
Discussion regarding selling city-owned property. The City of Allegan owns several properties that are not used for governmental purposes. In the past, these properties were sold at a variety of prices depending upon the viable use of the parcel. Most recently a request was made to purchase a 2-acre parcel for $1. In another instance, the new owner of the old bowling alley is requesting some special adjustments to adjoining city-owned property. City Manager Dye reminded the Council that sometimes, the city has needed to be creative when addressing the purchase of city property, but the decisions were always within the requirements of city ordinances.
The bowling alley request would require vacating a city owned parcel so it can be split between the new owner and city. In the past, the 2-acre parcel had been sold for $1, but when it was found that the soil was contaminated and the cost for cleanup was fiscally prohibitive, the new owner turned it back to the city.
The discussion wrestled with how best to determine the price of a parcel of city property. Dye shared that businesses come to City Hall to determine how to improve or grow. One thought is that the city should encourage businesses to grow and bring more business and/or jobs to the community.
Discussion delved into how much the 2-acre property is worth. Can it be helpful to the city by bringing jobs?
After a lengthy discussion, Dye stated that there are different ways to determine value of a parcel – professional appraiser or assessor. The 2-acre parcel was last assessed for $15,900 by just looking at square footage and not taking into consideration the contaminated soil.
In the end a motion was made and approved to have the city staff determine what the property is worth knowing that it is contaminated and would require remediation, how the new owner would improve the area job market, and the amount of tax money that would be realized. All these points would affect the fair market value.
Public Restrooms Update. City Manager Dye reported that after reopening the public restroom from 7am to 11pm and assigning city police to patrol these areas on a regular basis, the last couple months have seen a marked improvement. There have been no problems at City Hall, and only 2 sleepers at the Riverfront restrooms.
Kzoo Folklife Arts Festival. The arts festival – music, visual and performing arts, and crafters will take over Allegan High School on Saturday, March 29, 2025. The organizers were given permission to hang a banner on the fence near the skateboard area at Jaycee Park.
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
Several Council members gave kudos to the Cabin Fever Reliever New Orleans Jazz concert at the Griswold and are looking forward to the April 13th concert.
Council member Zeter asked for an update on the work at the Allegan City Dam. Dye shared that Milbocker is waiting for some approvals so they can begin demolition. In response to what would happen to the equipment like the generators, Dye directed the inquiry to Kyle Ellis of Milbocker.
CLOSED SESSION
The Council ended the evening by going into closed session pursuant to MCL 15.268(h) to consider material exempt from discussion or disclosure by state or federal statute.
