By Aaron Mitchell
Otsego City Manger
The year 2025 was a great one for the City of Otsego!
We started with a few plans and ideas that we planned on tackling throughout the year, but as you could imagine, there were a few projects that were kind of thrust onto us that needed our immediate attention.
Overall, I am incredibly proud of how all City employees responded to complete project after project when called upon.
You as a taxpayer should feel like your tax dollars have been effectively and efficiently spent to provide quality governmental services.
Grants
We were incredibly fortunate with some of our grant applications in 2025.
Below is a list of the major grants that we received. Some of these grants will not be utilized for a couple of years yet, while some have already been completed.
Doing some quick math, those total $1.7 million.
EGLE Dam Safety – $300K
MDOT Bridge Repair – $650K
MDNRTF – $400K
EGLE Drinking Water – $350K
Projects
Master Plan and Park Plan
Throughout the early months of 2025, the City of Otsego completed an updated Master Plan project, which was two years in the making, and updated our five-year Park Plan, which is filed with the MDNR and renewed, you guessed it, every five years.
The City’s Master Plan is intended to be the driving force for all future aspects of the City. This includes everything from development and lifestyle issues like parks and recreation to traffic flows.
Updating a Master Plan is not an easy process, and the result is an up-to-date guide for the next five years.
We simultaneously approved our five-year Parks Plan to submit to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).
A Park Plan allows us to compile information on our existing parks, providing residents and visitors with all available information while also allowing us to plan for future improvements.
These plans are required to apply for MDNR grants, which we did in 2025. And we were awarded $400K.
Big plans for 2026.
M-89 Digital Sign
In recent years, throughout multiple public meetings, we were told that we do not make enough effort to inform our residents about happenings and general information about the City.
At one time, we were even told that we needed a publicist.
In a world where how people receive information continues to change and residents are as busy as ever, I would agree that having a publicist would definitely help in that department.
However, a town of our size, with the budgets that we have, cannot justify the creation of a publicist position.
What we did do was add a digital message board element to an entry sign we had been looking at installing.
We went out to bid and found the best vendor who understood exactly what we were looking to create.
Now we have a beautiful sign in a high-visibility location where residents can find all City updates and alerts.
It will be a staple for the City of Otsego for years to come.
Northside Park Arson
The morning after Labor Day, the entire City was shocked to see that Northside Park was set ablaze in the early morning hours.
Instantly, this damage pulled at the heartstrings of many long-time residents, especially those who used their own hands to help assemble the large playground structure back in the 1990s that was now partially in ashes.
Many took the attack personally.
Within a week, we were able to reopen the playground, and a few weeks later we arrested a suspect for arson, who pleaded to this among other crimes.
It was a great example of good work across many departments.
The playground is scheduled to be rebuilt to identical specifications in 2026.
Dam
EGLE completed its scheduled dam inspection on the City-owned dam in the spring.
They found a small crack in the northern spillway that could be a sign of a catastrophic situation.
The concern was that the foundation of the dam “could,” I repeat “could,” be eroding away, which could make the dam a liability from washing away.
Considering the dam is more than 150 years old and is scheduled to be removed by the EPA in the coming years, the costs just to assess the situation were too high for the City to endure.
Fortunately, there was an EGLE Dam Safety grant of $300K that we were awarded, making the project possible.
By the end of the year, the work was completed and repairs were made.
All concerns were removed when engineers reviewed the damaged spillway after the water was stopped.
The findings were as good as we could hope for.
No fear of failure or potential damage—whew!
Going forward, the dam is secured and should not be an issue until the EPA comes in within the next five to seven years to remove it.
Internet Fiber Projects
Since the beginning of 2025, we have had not one but two internet companies come through town to install fiber.
Fiber internet has long been a highly sought-after utility for our residents.
123.NET was awarded the county contract to bring fiber internet to the entire county, and their presence in Otsego was mostly to connect neighboring township properties.
Later in the year, Surf Internet came in to provide actual service to the majority of the City.
When Surf wraps up, there is no other scheduled work planned for the City.
For those affected, thank you for your patience in dealing with the dirt, trucks, and overall inconvenience.
Elks Club Demolition
As many of you know, we recently took ownership of the former Elks Club when the club went under, paying only the back taxes.
Considering the building was in disrepair and after multiple tours with potential developers, it was decided that it needed to be torn down.
The damage made redevelopment impossible.
After demolition, the property was completely transformed.
While we do not yet know what the future holds for this site, for now and the foreseeable future it will remain a public green space.
Sale of Heavy Rescue and Trailer Purchase
One of the biggest questions we have faced in recent years is what to do with our aging Otsego Fire Department trucks.
This year, we were able to update one of those aging trucks without spending much money.
The Heavy Rescue served OFD well for many years, but as it aged, maintenance costs became increasingly expensive.
OFD approached the situation with an open mind and landed on the idea of selling the Heavy Rescue and moving all vital tools and rescue equipment into two trailers that could be pulled behind existing trucks.
During the transition, it was quickly identified that much of the equipment—some nearly 30 years old—needed replacement.
We made the transition with updated equipment and were able to sell the truck for $95K.
OFD nearly broke even on the project.
Going forward, we have updated equipment and are no longer paying maintenance costs on a large aging truck.
This decision will save money for years to come.
While it does not solve all of our fleet issues, it certainly addresses one of them.
WWTP AMP, Water Reliability Study, and Rate Study
Within both the Water and Sewer departments, we have wanted to better understand the long-term plans for our existing infrastructure.
To do that, we must conduct thorough documentation completed by our contracted engineers.
Those studies were completed this year.
We are now able to take that valuable information and apply it to a Water and Sewer Rate Study to ensure we have the necessary revenue when improvements and replacements are needed.
This work allows us to better plan for projects and, hopefully, avoid bonding by paying for projects with cash.
The difficult part is the rate increases needed to fund the work, which will take place in 2026 and beyond.
More information will be shared as we move through budgeting workshops this spring.
Nonprofit Minute
If you attended a City Commission meeting in 2025, you may have noticed something new.
Each month, we invited local nonprofits serving our community to provide updates and share additional services residents should be aware of.
Everyone learned quite a bit.
Each month highlighted the appreciation we have for those who help build Otsego, whether by feeding the hungry or providing vital public transportation.
We are blessed to have caring individuals who step in where needed.
Otsego would not be Otsego without these vital services, many of which are volunteer-driven.
Planning Commission Review
During the second half of 2025, the Planning Commission took time at each meeting to review the Zoning Ordinance.
This allowed all topics to be open for discussion.
A good Zoning Ordinance is one that accurately represents the Planning Commission, and it is important to ensure guidelines remain up to date and reflective of its wishes.
The year 2025 came with challenges, but it is incredibly satisfying to look back and see all that we accomplished as a city.
The City of Otsego wishes everyone a happy holiday season and looks forward to seeing what 2026 will bring.
