By Joseph Schultz
Monday night was the last Wayland City Council meeting that Kate Balfoort attended as the city’s finance director.
Balfoort is stepping down from her position in Wayland to pursue a new opportunity with the City of Kentwood.
Council members thanked Balfoort for her work putting proper accounting practices in place, getting the city on a solid budget, and for helping to update the employee handbook.
Mayor Jennifer Antel echoed Councilman Justin Osbon’s sentiment that Balfoort was “leaving the city in a better place.”
In other business Monday night, the council:
• Approved contracting with Oetman Excavating LLC to handle a construction project on N. Locust and Lorene streets. The project will replace the aging water main and storm sewer, widen the roadway, install concrete curb and gutters, and put in a sidewalk on one side of each street, with ADA-compliant ramps.
The construction project will start this spring, and the goal is to make the streets open for traffic by Aug. 15. City Manager Erik Wilson told the council that all touch-up work will be completed by the end of August.
Wilson also stated that the lawns that would be disturbed by the construction project would be restored with clean-screened top soil and hydroseeding. Residents would be responsible for watering hydroseeded areas of their lawn.
The council also approved hiring Wightman & Associates to engineer the project. The total estimated budget cost of the project is $1.7 million.
• Received a request for a security gate at the Department of Public Works (DPW) building. The DPW stated that they wanted an automated system with remotes and PIN pads, to make the site more secure.
“Is it a concern?” Osbon asked, questioning the need for security fencing.
He was told that unauthorized individuals were getting past the cattle gate currently in place, and dumping trash on the property.
Osbon cast the only vote against the proposal.
• Was told that the Wayland Fire Department received a $5,000 grant from Apex Clean Energy’s Blazing Star Solar to purchase new training tables and chairs for the Public Safety Building. The grant will cover about 50% of the cost of modernizing the training space for the fire and police departments.
• Discussedpotential conflicts of interest involving city employees and vendors. The one disclosure that troubled some council members was that Frog Fire Training, which provides fire training for the city’s fire department, is owned by Fire Chief Jon Timmers. Timmers recently became a full-time employee of the city.
The council must consider these conflicts when deciding on purchases from the disclosed vendors.
• Was introduced to District Court judge candidate Tom Siver, who was the attorney who defended two men who were acquitted in the kidnapping plot of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. He stated that he intends to be a judge for the people.
Siver proposes implementing a GED or jail education program for jail inmates, giving them the option of completing their GED or skills training instead of serving time.The goal is to get convicts employed so they do not end up back in jail.
What happened to open bid process? Good ol boy network still at work.