City Council approves employees? contract

The Rogers City Council approved the general employees union contract for the Department of Public Works unit on Tuesday. The three-year contract calls for salary increases of 2.5 percent in 2004 (retroactive to July 1) and 2 percent for each of the next two years. The employees’ contribution to the health plan will be reduced from the current 6 percent of gross pay to 5 percent in 2004, 4 percent in 2005 and 3 percent in 2006. The benefits and coverage of the plan will remain the same.

The AFSCME contract covers 12 workers in the DPW. Administrative employees of the city currently do not work under a contract. Mayor Beach Hall commended City Manager John Bruning on the successful negotiation stating that, “Having bargained a hundred-plus union agreements I can tell you it’s always a relief when they get approved.” The council agreed to proceed with plans for a mayor’s exchange between Rogers City and the City of Manistee in 2005.

THE COOL CITIES initiative was discussed at the meeting and members expressed concern that it has not progressed in nearly five months. “We need to be ready to hit the ground running with a project in the pipe, ready to go when the next round of funding opens up,” said Bruning. Councilmember Gary Nowak asked, “Do we have a comprehensive plan for our roads and streets on what maintenance or improvement we plan to do over the next five years?”

Bruning responded that there is currently no complete plan but work was underway to document the roadwork required over the next five to ten years. He noted that a number of streets were showing wear and tear with an “alligator hide” appearance along the edges. Bruning went on to say, “If you’re going to put (major) effort into reconstructing a street, there may be sanitary or water supply issues below the street that should be taken care of at the same time. “This can increase the expense of the project immensely but it’s definitely needed in the cases where we’ve got 50-year-old galvanized pipes that are deteriorating.”

MAYOR HALL commented that a group of about 20 persons recently came to Rogers City as part of a meeting of assisted living coordinators and administrators. “It’s the first time the group has ever met north of Lansing. It was one of those things where, if we had more of that going on, we would have a lot more business in town,” he said. The council reviewed the disabled vehicle ordinance with a view toward enforcement. Chief of Police Matt Quaine was present to answer qu

estions and give advice. “Under the current ordinance that was adopted in December of 2002, there is a specific section in there about a period of 90 days in those commercially zoned areas where they run garages and as the ordinance is (written) I don’t see a violation,” Chief Quaine stated. Nowak replied, “Maybe we have to change the ordinance.” Another enforcement issue was discussed concerning the presence of dogs in Lakeside Park. “I observed one night, there was a policeman standing there and let two dogs walk right by him and he didn’t do anything,” Nowak said.

Mayor Hall added, “I had a couple complaints from visitors this summer who said, in effect, ‘I can’t walk my dog in the park, I can’t walk my dog on the boardwalk and I get out in the street and I am worried about getting run over.'”