The Whitehall City Council unanimously approved another sizable road repair project at its regular meeting Tuesday, continuing a recent focus on improving the city's roads.
Tuesday's approval authorized up to $4.228 million to do a large-scale improvement to Muskegon Avenue and Livingston Street that, in addition to road repair, will also include the replacement of a water main, the removal and replacement of lead water service lines, the installation of storm drainage and an update to the sewer system.
The low bid, $3.844 million, came from Jackson-Merkey Contractors, a Muskegon-based company that Whitehall Department of Public Works Director Don Bond said the city has worked with before and produced good results. An additional 10% of that low bid was added to the approval as a contingency in case of cost overruns.
"This project represents exactly what we've been working toward - addressing aging infrastructure in a coordinated matter instead of repeatedly tearing up the same streets," City Manager Dan Tavernier said prior to the approval, adding that while the cost is high, doing so much work at once on the roads represents a "long-term investment."
Some of the project - 1,300 feet of Livingston - may be deferred to the 2027-28 fiscal year if the city does not get enough grant funding to complete the project all at once, but Tavernier is optimistic it will all be paid for this fiscal year.
The council also unanimously approved a quote of $120,295 from Mid-States Construction, based in Pataskala, Ohio, for the delivery and installation of a large set of playground equipment at Gee Park. The city has a goal to improve one public park per year, and after surveying city residents for ideas to improve the park, the decision was made to go forward with the new playground.
The third expenditure approved Tuesday was $31,969 to purchase a 2027 Chevrolet Equinox from Wyatt Chevrolet in Whitehall as a new police admin car. The city found a need to replace the car, and the bid came in just over $3,000 under budget. The police department will reuse the materials that outfitted the car the Equinox is replacing, so the city will not have to spend any additional money to make the car road-ready.
The council fielded an update from Jim "The Shark" Dreyer on the combat veterans memorial he raised awareness for by completing a memorable 22-mile swim into White Lake in August. Dreyer selected Whitehall over other coastal municipalities in Michigan for the memorial and said the greeting he received when he swam into the Whitehall marina during the Maritime Festival reinforced that decision.
"For both myself and the team, the greeting I received when I swam into Whitehall pulling those cannonballs is something we will never forget," Dreyer said.
The 250 cannonballs Dreyer towed on that marathon swim are being stored in Whitehall while funds are raised for the memorial. He said the White Lake VFW is acting as fiduciary for the project and is working this week to open a bank account to store the money. Once open, Dreyer said a website is ready to launch and begin collecting donations.
The final design and scope of the memorial has not yet been finalized, though he did receive a quote from a sculptor named Ken Thompson, a Michigan-based sculptor who was recommended to him by people at Grand Valley State University when its art department was involved in this project in its early stages. Dreyer's original concept was for a pyramid-shaped sculpture, but he said he has since gravitated to another idea - the construction of a berm with a spiral clockwise walkway going to the top of a structure, perhaps 10 feet high, with the cannonballs placed along the walkway. A plaque with a QR code so visitors could learn more about the combat veteran for which each cannonball was donated could be part of the design.
While Dreyer said a design will obviously have to be finalized soon enough, he said his focus for now is on fundraising and he, along with the city council, will determine the final design once funds are on hand.
"I'd rather do it right than do it fast," Dreyer said.
Dreyer added that ideally he would love the memorial to be ready for a groundbreaking early next spring, though obviously a lot of boxes have to be checked first. Mayor Tom Ziemer and council member Bryan Mahan praised Dreyer's work on the project and the event that was his arrival at the end of his 22-mile swim.
Also during the meeting, the council approved a transition to the West Michigan Health Insurance Pool, a public employer pooled plan that provides self-funded health insurance coverage. Treasurer Crystal Budde brought the idea over from the Village of Shelby, where she previously worked, and found that making the switch, which will take effect Jan. 1, would maintain competitive health insurance coverage for city employees while saving the city over $52,000 annually.
The council also approved minor adjustments to the city's compensation plan, putting sick and paid time off (PTO) days into a single PTO bank, which is permissible under state law if the resulting PTO bank is no less generous than it was before.
