RC City Council urges support for economic survey

The Rogers City council is urging residents to participate in a telephone survey that will be conducted in the coming weeks under the auspices of the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments (NEMCOG). City Manager John Bruning stressed that the information being collected is strictly confidential. ?We need to have a statistical profile of the economic state of our community in order to be eligible for certain governmental grants and other assistance programs,? Bruning said. He emphasized that the information will not be linked to individual households but rather it will be used to create a description of the local economy, including household income and employment data.

Mayor Beach Hall reported that the Liberty Torch statue that has been donated to the city by Tom Moran, president of Moran Iron Works of Onaway, is now placed on its pedestal in Lakeside Park. The installation included lighting for the statue. He noted that the landscaping and finish work would be completed in the spring. The mayor also commented that the recent planning commission meeting was very well attended with many local residents taking part in the discussion about the city Master Plan. ?It was a large crowd with lots of participation. I feel very good about that and hope it continues through the completion of the Master Plan.

THE COUNCIL accepted, with regret, the resignation of Deb Artrip from the community development authority (CDA). The council will consider a new appointee at the next meeting. The ad hoc sn

owmobile group that was proposed to follow up on the feasibility of a snowmobile trail route through the city is not yet ready to be named. Hall said he was waiting for one more appointment to be made. The council approved signing of a quitclaim deed giving title of the ambulance building to Allied EMS. Councilmember Karl Heidemann said this was an anticipated action and he didn?t want anyone to think it was a giveaway. The company has been making the payments to the city and the city has been paying the mortgage on the building with the understanding that the company would pay off the remaining loan amount directly.

The city will be upgrading and expanding the automatic meter reading system used to determine water usage for billing purposes in the near future. The basic cost of the project will be $25,500. The cost of additional meter units will be determined and will be purchased for about $80 each.