Tax Abatement Districts Resolutions at Next Meeting

By DIANNE ALWARD-BIERY

Cleaver Senior Staff Writer

HARRISON – The June 16 meeting of Harrison City Council was preceded by an interview session with Barry Wallace who is in line to replace Fire Chief Chris Damvelt. The sticking point is that, unlike Damvelt, Wallace is a business owner who would have limited time to run the department, thus his appointment would require an additional person to take up the office-running slack.

The regular Council meeting commenced at 6 p.m. After adoption of the June 2 Council meeting minutes and the day’s Council bills, Mayor Dan Sullivan once again extended his appreciation to City Hall staff for the work they do, some of which is above and beyond their regular hours and done on their own personal time.

Visiting the meeting was Shelly Browning of Weinlander Fitzhugh who presented the City of Harrison’s Fy 2024 audit results.

Under Old Business, Council considered how to proceed in light of Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment bids for the 115 S. First St. property, the lowest of which was $2,200. Discussion leaned toward waiting until the owner [who resides in Alaska] gets serious about a sale price, rather than take on the environmental assessment cost prior to knowing a sale to the city was credible. Council members also proffered no solid uses for that property if they were to own it.

Under Reports of Committees and Department Heads, Fire Chief Damvelt reported 212 runs year-to-date. He noted that Friday two weeks prior there had been a logging truck fire, and that on the most recent Friday there was a woods fire at the old Girl Scout camp started by incinerated shotgun shells.

“It tells  you how dry the woods are still,” Damvelt said, going on to describe the Girl Scout camp fire as being started by just one fired shotgun shell sparking dry wood.

DPW Superintendent Sam Russell thanked Mike Bennett of Bennett Concrete for placing the concrete pads at the “grassy knoll” and the donation of their labor and concrete to the City. He also noted that work on the pickleball courts had begun that day at Harrison City Park, which entailed a lot of demolition. Russell informed that a young man who had worked part time previously at the DPW while in school, had now begun work with the DPW through MichiganWorks! which pays his wage working 30 hours a week for the City.

Code Enforcement Officer Mike Freeman noted a court hearing was coming up the next week, and that letters were sent out and things were “getting taken care of.”

Finance Clerk Kathy Maharas provided her water department quip, as well as proudly reporting her completion of the second year of the three-year Michigan Municipal Treasurers Institute.

City Program Coordinator Anita Yager reported on the previous weekend’s Summer Sizzler at Harrison City Park, which she said was attended by about 300 people, including lots of kids who had a great time. She said that, despite not all vendors showing up, the event still realized $1,500 from vendors and sponsors for the band (Mr. Rooter, 4XAdventureland and Hometown Laundry). Of special note was Yager’s ability to have executed that event without using any of the money budgeted for it. Yager also spoke of progress toward Harrison Street Fair to include local business sponsorships in the amount of $18,000 to-date this year [as compared to $12,200 in 2024]. She said that, so far, 60 vendors have signed up for this year, and there are lots of spaces yet to fill.

Justin Cavanaugh, city manager/clerk, offered a report from absent Treasurer Tracy Wheeler-Clay, who advised “Your gifts are coming” – no doubt in reference to tax bills.

Cavanaugh also touched on the Summer Sizzler, adding his gratitude to Trinity Church who had a kids carnival at one of the pavilions which was very busy, including the painting of some 75 children’s faces. He noted that the band was “very good,” and added: “I think Anita’s doing a fantastic job, she’s just killing it with everything she does.”

He informed that the tax abatement districts creation resolutions would be on the next meeting’s agenda.

Another interesting bit of information provided by Cavanaugh dealt with a meeting he and Hayes Township Supervisor Brendan Powell had with some folks from MiMichigan Health [the Health Park south of Harrison], who said they’ve been hearing that they don’t accept walk-ins unless they are a patient of MiMichigan Health.

“They wanted everyone to know that’s not the case,” Cavanaugh said. “The main thing that distinguishes them from being an actual Urgent Care is that they don’t take X-rays. So if you slice your finger, you can go there even if you’re not a MiMichgan Health patient. They say they can take on a lot more capacity than they have.”

He said that patient-only status was the case originally, but not anymore, adding that they also don’t do drug testing/occupational health which still requires a trip to Clare.

“They were saying they’re working on getting an X-ray machine,” Cavanaugh said. “But just prepping the room alone to get the lead walls would take a half-million dollars, and that doesn’t include the machine.”

Under New Business, Council moved to:

-Adopt Resolution 2025-14 Trash Rate Increase to $16 monthly

-Approve Spark Grant Change Order 1, to add staking to the engineer’s scope of work, with the $11,000 cost to come from the grant funds.

Council meets next at 6 p.m. Monday, July 7 at Harrison City Hall, 2105 Sullivan Drive.