Better late than never was the watchword for the Wayland City Council meeting Monday night.
The City Council honored former Mayor Tim Bala by placing his photo on the wall of fame in council chambers. Though Bala stepped down last year, his picture wasn’t taken care of until Monday night.
Bala served for
Tim Bala served 14 .5 years (seven terms) as Mayor. Sworn in May 2008. In 2012, a change in the City election date from May to November. Hence the 1/2 year extension to his term. as mayor and now his photo has been placed next to Phillip Reno, Marshall Towne, Donald Shafer, Linden Anderson, Mike DeWeerd, David Miller and Burrell Stein.
All but one of the living former mayors were on hand for the ceremony, including current Mayor Jennifer Antel. Miller is confined to his bed at home as he battles multiple sclerosis.
In other business Monday evening, the City Council:
- Heard a plea from Jan Goodwin of Leighton Township to have political signs containing profanity taken down. She singled out one on Locust Street in the city and recalled another that has been removed in Leighton Township. “Please let me know how to proceed,” she asked of the council, whether it’s through petition, police action or ordinance.
- Learned from City Clerk Leanne Clausen that sponsorships for the annual Concerts in the Park every August have reached $4,000, securing the events to occur yet again.
- Was told by Antel about an “Ax the Tax” campaign in Michigan that she insisted “would be devastating to our community, school and public services.” City Manager John Eggleston added that if implemented it would also curtail local services such as leaf pickup, street repairs and street sweeping.
- Approved the expenditure of up to $60,000 for a new street sweeper truck, which Eggleston said would actually save the city money in the long run. He noted the current cost for outsourcing is $3,000 to $4,000 per time used. “The hope is that we end up with a 10+ year lifespan piece of equipment for what would be the cost of 4-5 years of contracting it out.”
- Was told by Eggleston that he very close to making an offer to a new city finance director, but declined to disclose her identity yet. The new city treasurer will succeed Cheri Parrish, who was fired last winter.
- Learned that a city-owned tree fell on the roof of a house on Maple Street last week. Eggleston said representatives from the city’s insurance company and that of the homeowners have been meeting to discuss the absorption of costs.
- Was told by Eggleston that the estimated cost for painting the water tower will come in about $15,000 lower than anticipated.
Was the reason for firing Ms. Parrish ever disclosed? If not, why not… she was a public employee.
Wayland is considering buying a street sweeper for $60,000 while while outsourcing the duties cost $3000 to $4,000 per year? Is the city manager considering financing and maintenence costs and paying an operator?? This seems like a no-brainer and renting would be much cheaper overall… what is the case here? Doesn’t make fiscal sense.
Townbroadcast (me) incorrectly reported $3,000 per year. It is estimated at $3,000 per time used. Apologies.
No you’re right David it is only about once a year that I ever seen them cleaning the streets, so $3,000 x 12 years $36,000 and I wonder if they shop around for the lowest price? What they need to do is on a weekly basis clean off the storm drains that are covered with debris all the time, I’m sure if the DPW employees have plenty of time driving around from one end of town to the other they can stop and complete this task.
I pose this question to the City Manager… how many times per year is the outsourced street sweeper used? How is it determined purchasing a streetsweeper machine will save money overall – provide a typical purchase vs. outsourcing cost analysis that any purchasing decision is determined justified.
Simple math and logic.