The city is welcoming comments, input and ideas from residents at a series of meetings this winter.
Already two of four weekly meetings have been held to discuss issues related to handling street and sidewalk infrastructure as well as whether the Brown Bridge Trust should be capped and the oil royalties used for City capital projects. Last Thursday evening's meeting at Glenn Loomis Elementary School drew about 40 citizens, city staff, city commissioners and the mayor.
Led by city manager Richard Lewis, additional meetings will be held on Thursday, February 22, at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center and on Wednesday, February 28, at Willow Hill Elementary School. These community meetings run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public.
Lewis noted that the city is reaching out to citizens to help direct future city plans in key areas. The fundamental questions the city hopes to get answers for are: should a plan for expanding sidewalks and bike paths be voted on by citizens and, if so, are citizens willing to advocate for it? Lewis related ideas being considered by the city and asked both for feedback and additional ideas.
"After these meeting, then there will be a study session with the city commission, then they may pass a resolution to place [a plan] on the ballot,” he said of the February meetings' goal. "You'll make the ultimate decision whether or not to do it.”
Opinions varied on whether the city should spend the trust fund money for the required infrastructure improvements, including curbs, gutters and areas with unsafe or missing sidewalks. Attendees also discussed whether expanding sidewalks and bike paths to help make the city a walkable community merited a millage. Lewis also discussed the future of the Boardman River dams — two of which the city owns, Brown Bridge and the Union Street dam — and the impact any changes might have on the city.
Traffic calming, sidewalks as an investment for homeowners, land use, paying for infrastructure changes without tapping trust fund money and sharing road costs with townships were other topics raised during the two-hour meeting.
"I would like to see some of the Brown Bridge money go to enrich the community instead of to repair the streets and sidewalks,” noted one attendee alluding to how the city launched the now-closed Clinch Park Zoo decades ago.
The city will also host five meetings in March to gather input for the city plan rewrite, acknowledging that without citizen support changes may not come to fruition. These meetings will be held on:
• March 1, Central Elementary School
• March 14, Willow Hill Elementary School
• March 15, Grand Traverse County Civic Center
• March 20, City Opera House
• March 22, Eastern Elementary School
City planning director Russ Soyring gave attendees a taste of what will be covered during the March meetings, including parking and storage regulations, parking on the street and accessory dwelling units. With the rewrite process, the city is moving toward planning and designing by neighborhood type and welcomes input from residents in each section of town.
"We're looking at use by intensity, a new approach,” said Soyring. "They will be interactive type of meetings, not lecture.”
For more information on upcoming meetings, times and locations as well as background information, see the city's Web site at www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us.