HART - Tuesday, April 14, the Hart City Council heard from two residents during public comment, approved multiple resolutions and tabled two items.
Resolution 2026-09 (Revision 1) adopted a Deficit Elimination Plan for the John Gurney Park Fund and accepted the amended FY 2025-26 Park Fund Budget. City Manager Nichole Kleiner went back to the drawing board and reconfigured the budget because the prior resolution council approved was not approved by the state. While it is projected that the budget will leave only a $1,000 cushion at the end of the year, she feels confident the city will be able to meet it. Kleiner said they went so far as to figure out how many loads of laundry the campground should generate and how much income the store could bring in to help create the income needed.
Resolution 2026-14 adopted the Water Rate Increase Schedule that was a result of the water rate study dated Jan. 23, 2026. According to the study, approximately $21,109,400 in capital improvements will need to be undertaken in the next 10 years. In order to provide the funds needed, a multi-year rate adjustment schedule has been developed. In FY26-27, FY27-28 and FY28-29 rates will increase 25% year over year. For the average water customer, those increases amount to about $3.00 additionally each year. Beginning in FY29-30 through FY2031/32 water customers will pay a five percent increase annually.
Kleiner noted that even though rate changes may seem excessive to city residents, they are small, considering Hart has some of the lowest water rates in the entire state. With the rate adjustments, the city will be able to see significant gains over time and take care of necessary infrastructure updates in a more sustainable and efficient manner.
Council member Andrew Mullen said, “The city has industries that are reliant on the city’s infrastructure, and a lot of this legacy stuff has been kicked down the road. We can no longer kick it down the road.”
Resolution 2026-16 authorized five-year agreements with Hydrocorp for Cross-connection Control Program Services. Hydrocorp has been conducting cross-connection inspections at all commercial properties within the city for some time now. In 2025 they successfully completed cross-check inspection services for residential city water users. According to DPW Superintendent Brad Whitney, that was the first step. Going forward, the city must continue with EGLE’s (Energy, Great Lakes & Environment) requirements and continue to inspect 20 percent of the city’s water customers every year, ensuring every home and business is inspected once every five years.
“EGLE has had this law on the books since 1972. Now in the last year, they are enforcing it. Every community has to have a cross-connection program,” Whitney said.
With the approval, over the next five years, the city will pay $51,642 for its commercial program renewal and $51,307.78 for its new residential program.
Resolution 2026-18 accepted Hart TIFA’s (Tax-Increment Finance Authority) recommendation to identify “Lofts on Main” as the preferred developer for the 3 E. Main St. housing development project. Nearly four years in the making, city stakeholders said they are excited to finally have an official developer named.
Developer Jacob Eckholm shared a brief overview. The development will feature three buildings made up of one and two-bedroom units. Only one parking place is required per unit by law, however, their design is 1.1 parking spaces to every one unit. That said, he told council, as he did TIFA, his company plans to hold one to two community feedback sessions beginning this summer to hear from the community on some of the future development’s specifics.
During public comment, Hart resident and business owner Stacie Hegg addressed council expressing her excitement over the new housing development. However, she followed up by saying she was concerned about the parking situation. She reminded the council that parking is sorely needed, especially for larger events. She also reiterated that even though their business proposal several months ago to purchase the property for $30,000, demolish buildings, and install more parking, lighting, etc. at their own cost was denied, she hoped the city will require more parking of the developer, especially, “...if they are receiving the property for possibly no charge.”
Eckholm told the council they would plan to draw up an “option agreement” with the city, and once it was in place, surveys, inspections and financing would be sought. Assuming all approvals are received, Eckholm believes demolition of the property could commence by year end. Construction on the new development would follow in the spring of 2027, with leasing of the newly constructed units to begin the winter of 2028.
Resolution 2026-17 to Oppose House Bills 5529-5532 and 5581-5585 to impose statewide zoning mandates was tabled. The resolution would put the Hart City Council on record as being opposed to the proposed bills. Mandates being considered include smaller lot and dwelling sizes, no more than one parking space per dwelling, and mobile homes in any residential zone. After a somewhat lengthy discussion, the council wanted to gather more information and have the matter addressed at the planning commission level again.
Council member Catalina Burillo pointed out that in the past when these types of resolutions have come up, the council has not acted as a group but encouraged individual council members to act on their own. “I’m not trying to sway anyone’s opinion… I realize we have a completely different council now…I’m only saying this is how the council has handled this type of request in the past.”
“Even passing this changes nothing,” Mullen said. “It states an opinion and nothing more.”
Mullen was curious how the other 400-plus Michigan municipalities were dealing with the situation.
Council member Betty Root, who has been on the planning commission for 30 years, said, “By opposing it we send a message.” Referencing the idea of individuals reaching out on their own, “It would count for nothing.”
“It’s meant to streamline and help solve the housing crisis. Does the city want to make this statement? What does it mean if we do?” Mayor Amanda Klotz added.
“Maybe a good question to ask is, do you want to see these changes next door? Mandates do have impact,” Kleiner said.
Considering the council and city manager are in the process of working through the city’s FY26-27 budget, Resolution 2026-15, Hart Area Fire Department Funding Request for FY2026/27, was tabled until the council has a clearer picture of the budget for the next fiscal year.
Kleiner announced during her city manager’s report the planning commission would be holding public hearings on the following ordinance amendments in the coming weeks: moratorium on data centers, new landscaping ordinance language to comply with redevelopment-ready requirements and opting out of land division mandates.
The other public commenter at the meeting was Patty Kersjes, co-owner of Main Street Spa, located at 302 Hanson St. in Hart. For the past several years she and her husband Tim have been trying to work with the city to get dead trees and brush removed from their west property line. Frustrated by being promised assistance from the city, then having promises not kept or information change, Kersjes took it upon herself to clean up the brush encroaching on their property. She hired her own tree removal service and was in the process of splitting stumps when, unfortunately, she sustained a crushed fingertip that required partial amputation of the finger.
She closed her public comment by saying, “I’m tired of the lies.” She feels none of the past two years of back and forth, and her injury would have been avoided had the city taken the time to review the property lines with her and worked with their business to have the brush and dead trees removed.
Council gave no comment in response to Kersjes’ concern at the April 14 meeting.
