Plymouth City Engineer Rick Gaul informed the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety members this week that several street projects will be contracted out this fall.
“Essentially what we’re looking at doing is having a fall contract,” said Gaul. “I guess most of this list are community crossings projects that we need to get done. What we’re looking at doing is starting as soon as we can this fall. We’ll have 30-some projects.”
Teachers at the John Glenn School Corporation who have been in the education profession for 20 years or longer will receive an appreciation gift. Gift cards will be purchased from the Swan Lake Resort.
Superintendent Richard Reese asked the school board for permission to purchase seven gift cards in the amount of $190 for non-certified and certified teachers who have been dedicated to education for at least two decades. Continue reading
Angela Osterman Meyer, Ph.D., an astronomy instructor at the Culver Academies, will present a solar eclipse program on Saturday, Aug. 19 at 10:30 a.m. and noon ET at the Culver-Union Township Public Library. The library staff will also distribute solar eclipse glasses during her presentations.
Three members of the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission approved a mountain of paperwork Tuesday night to prepare for the renovations of the city building and chamber of commerce building.
The bonds sold for the project on Tuesday and will be closed today. 1st Source Bank will be the bond trustee until the project is done and payments are needed.
The lowest project bid came from Michiana Contracting, Inc. in the amount of $2,198,700. The commission members approved that bid.
Marshall County Coroner John Grolich approached the Marshall County Council Monday morning with additional appropriation requests totaling $28,000 for his department.
Grolich explained that there has been an increase in autopsies performed this year than what is normally budgeted. He added that it’s difficult to predict how many will be done in a year in order to properly budget money. He said many young people have perished in a number of different circumstances and autopsies are commonly ordered in most cases to determine manner and cause of death. Continue reading
The Walkerton-Lincoln Township Public Library Board awarded a bid for the construction of a new library at the corner of U.S. 6 and Washington Street.
The winning bid came from Brown and Brown out of Elkhart in the amount of $1,210,600. Library Director Traci Stewart said the bid was higher than what was budgeted, so the board plans to scale back the project. They plan to do that at their Sept. 12 meeting.
Bids for an ambulance service were opened during Monday’s Bremen Town Council meeting.
Director of Operations Trend Weldy told MAX 98.3 FM News that three service bids were received including one from the current provider. The town asked for three separate bids. One bid was for one ambulance full-time, another was for one-and-a-half and the other for two ambulances full-time. One company only bid on two of the services while the other two companies bid on all three.
Building administrators and Superintendent Richard Reese gave a positive report on the first day of school to the John Glenn Community School Board Tuesday night. Tuesday was the first full day for students.
Reese said the unofficial student count is 1,922 which shows an increase of 21 students from last year. He noted that the number of kindergarten students entering school is less than last year’s outgoing senior class. The state’s official student count day will occur this fall. Real-time attendance is taken every Wednesday.
The Plymouth City Council held two public hearings Monday night.
The Weir family requested the annexation of a portion of their property on Lake Ave. near the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center. The company, Weir Enterprises, is developing a daycare on the south and west end of the property and they would like to separate the parcels so the house would be separate entity.
Why do you choose Culver? Your answer can be featured in a video set for taped interviews this Saturday at the Culver Beach Lodge.
Fans of Culver of all ages are welcome to participate. You can sit in front of the camera and explain why you choose Culver. The time limit is 30 seconds. If you don’t want to speak but would like to include a sign of why you choose Culver, it will be featured in a photo montage.
The Plymouth City Council discussed implementing a wheel tax and excise surtax during their meeting Monday night.
A public hearing was held where Clerk-Treasurer Jeanine Xaver clarified that the wheel tax money can be used for the construction and rehabilitation of roads and streets. It was suggested that implementing a wheel tax could take some relief off of other line items in the budget to help with other General Fund needs. She provided a list of roads that she traveled that could use a facelift. Continue reading
The Marshall County Council considered an additional appropriation request in the amount of $50,000 to take care of LED lighting upgrade and other repairs at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department.
According to Gary Masterson from the county maintenance department, all of the lighting has been updated outside of the jail in the parking lot, and more lights are being switched out inside the facility as soon as one goes bad. Additional money is requested in case more issues arise at the jail.
Another firefighter left the Culver-Union Township Fire Department and the fire chief is attempting to hire more to keep a healthy roster.
Fire Chief Terry Wakefield told the Culver Town Council last week that one other firefighter submitted his resignation recently which leaves the department at 14 firefighters. This makes four firefighters who have left the department since March.
The John Glenn School Board will meet tonight. School starts for students today so the board members will get an update on the start of school from all of the school administrators and review the number of transfer students. The number of transfer students at last count was at nearly 400.
Superintendent Richard Reese will also have a report for the board members on a few corporation discussion items.
The Plymouth City Council members will hold a public hearing tonight on a proposed ordinance for a municipal motor vehicle license excise surtax and a municipal wheel tax.
In order to close a significant funding gap within the budget, the city council is considering implementing a wheel tax. At the previous city council meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Jeanine Xaver said the maximum amount that can be charged would bring in approximately $400,000. If the council wishes to adopt a wheel tax, it needs to be approved by Aug. 31. Continue reading
Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter appeared before the Marshall County Commissioners last week to request the renaming of a bridge in Plymouth.
Even though the Michigan Street bridge is in the city it is under the county jurisdiction. He asked that the bridge be renamed the Thomas Chamberlin Memorial Bridge. Chamberlin served the community with honor as the county sheriff for many years and a leader in other respects. He passed away Friday, Aug. 28, 2015 after a battle with cancer.
Graphic Designer Shelley Schrimsher from Unlocked Creativity presented a new logo for the Town of Culver during the Culver Town Council meeting last week. You can get more info here on the best graphic design ideas.
Schrimsher said she has worked on getting the right logo for the past few years and did extensive research on how to go about creating something just right for the Town of Culver. She said words like history, memories, home, lake, and Mayberry were among the few she came up with when talking with residents young and old. A committee was also formed to provide input into what to include in the logo.
The Marshall County Council members will meet today with several items on the agenda.
EMA Director Clyde Avery will present two grant requests while Sheriff Matt Hassel will have a commissary report. The personnel committee members have several changes to different county positions to bring before the council. Marshall County Prosecutor Nelson Chipman and a representative from the community corrections department will separately request waivers for probationary pay for an employee in their offices. The council is also expected to discuss a salary ordinance amendment for the chief probation officer and a position within community corrections.
Renovation plans have started at the Rees Theater in downtown Plymouth and the committee will have an update for the community this week.
The last committee meeting was held in April and some exterior work has taken place. The Rees Project Committee members are overwhelmed by the community’s continued support and interest in this project.
Marshall County Attorney Jim Clevenger presented the commissioners this week with a ticket format for fines and fine amounts for ordinance violations.
Sheriff Matt Hassel and Clerk Deb Vandemark asked that the commissioners set more definitive fines for ordinance offenses such as curfew violation, junk vehicles, open burning, and animals running at large.
