Chesaning water rate study underway; school-route work set for 2027

Chesaning is taking a look at what it charges for water. The full minutes of the village council's Aug. 4 meeting, now posted, show the infrastructure committee met with engineering firm OHM and reported it is "working on the Water Master Plan and a rate study analysis." A rate study is the analysis a municipality uses to set water and sewer charges, so it is the step that comes before any change on a resident's bill. The minutes give no figures, no consultant fee and no timeline.

The same committee report put a date on the village's Safe Routes to School work: construction is set to begin in June 2027. Safe Routes to School is a state-administered program that pays for sidewalks, crossings and related work around schools. The minutes do not say which streets are involved or what the project costs.

The more immediate street work was chip and seal, which the administrator told the council would start the next morning, Aug. 5. The administrator also reported the village audit was "almost completed" and would be presented at the next meeting, and that the TMF grant was almost complete.

The Current reported on Aug. 13 that all seven council members were present Aug. 4, cleared $135,493.98 in accounts payable on the consent agenda and approved closing M-57 through downtown for the Candle Walk. The full minutes name the requester: Alyssa Rahmann, for the Candle Walk Committee, asked for the highway to be shut to traffic Friday, Nov. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 28 from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The motion came from Chludil, supported by Navarre, and carried.

The minutes also record the planning stage of the Vietnam Memorial Wall visit that opened Sept. 4. Dave Pappenheimer told the council insurance for the helicopters and the VFW would be finalized that week, that two billboards and flags were up in town, and that the foundation to hold the wall was being donated. He listed three tents, three portable toilets and food trucks, a police escort bringing the wall into town from Shields, and a guest speaker the minutes identify as Medal of Honor recipient Terry Richardson of Cass City. Opening ceremonies were set for 9 a.m. Sept. 4. The minutes do not record what the event ended up costing the village or how many people attended.

Elsewhere in the committee reports: the planning commission approved a parking waiver; the finance and administration committee discussed the audit; the fire board logged 12 runs since its previous meeting and 121 for the year, with trucks repaired. The public safety committee, DDA, chamber board, airport and parks committee all reported no meeting. President Hoover opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. and adjourned it at 7:50 p.m.

What happens next: The council meets next at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, in Council Chambers at the village offices, 218 N. Front St. That agenda, as The Current reported, carries $157,901.69 in bills, a resolution setting a public hearing on abandoning part of Railroad Street, a $933.13 site plan fee refund for 709 W. Broad St., and a parks and recreation proposal from OHM listed as a discussion item with no terms disclosed. The desk has asked the village for the water rate study scope and the Safe Routes to School project limits.