by Elizabeth Wehman, editor
A NEW NAME was given to this designated drive in Owosso which will soon be the street to the new Cargill plant. City of Owosso council members had many ideas on how or what to name the road but soon unianimously decided at the Tuesday, Jan. 3 council meeting. (Independent Photo/Karen Mead-Elford)
Soon the City of Owosso will present a street update to city residents on the fifth Monday of the month through a special meeting held in city chambers. “We have the responsibility to inform residents. We owe the people,” insisted Owosso Council member Burton Fox. Plans are currently being ‘set in motion’ for six street resurfacing special assessment projects. Projects include Stewart Street to South Street, Chipman Street from Oliver Street to King Street, Chipman Street from Willow Springs Drive to Harding Avenue, Center Street from King Street to North Street, and Oliver Street from Chipman Street to the Great Lakes Central Railroad.
According to City Manager Don Crawford, “Basic engineering and cost estimates will soon be brought to council for approval. This just gets the ball rolling.”
Fox also asked to investigate a section of Mason Street between N. Washington and N. Ball streets. Fox thinks the street may be settling. “It needs to be either added to street program or find out what’s wrong with it,” Fox added. Street work will be underway in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
The fifth Monday informative meeting, to be held on Monday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. will discuss the recent Medical Marijuana Ordinance changes to state law with regard to the medical marijuana act. City staff will be presenting Council with a list of options to update their ordinance accordingly. One of those options will be to make changes to the ordinance to bring it in line with the new state laws. Also, staff members will present a five year street reconstruction proposal. As the voters passed the bond in the November election to issue $10 million of debt for the rebuilding of vital infrastructure, the Council is looking toward a five year plan for street reconstruction.
Crawford also announced a $45,000 grant has been awarded for the Curwood Castle Park renovation. An application was given to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Passport grant to make improvements to the park, including parking, sidewalks, lighting, and landscaping. He also talked about the recent audit which was completed for the fiscal year 2015-16 and submitted to the state of Michigan on Dec. 31. Also on the agenda for the special community meeting on Monday, Jan. 30, council will present the framework of protections and regulations for medical marijuana businesses handed down from Gov. Rick Snyder.
Also, council members named the new drive that will serve the Sunoco, Cargill, Detroit Abrasives, and Coldiron properties. By unanimous vote of council, the new drive was named after Phil Hathaway for all his work in getting the project underway and will be named Hathaway Drive.
The next city council meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 17 due to the Martin Luther King holiday.
