Dexter City Manager Courtney Nicholls submitted her update to City Council at its August 24, 2020, meeting. Below are highlights of current projects. Ms. Nicholls’ entire report can be found in the meeting packet posted on the City’s website.
Dale Fisher Books
In November 2019, City Council approved an agreement with Dale Fisher for participation in his photography book on Washtenaw County. The City Office has received 50 copies of the book, which are now being stored in the Office. Staff is
looking for direction from Council on how they should be distributed. We have distributed two books to the Dexter District Library and will keep one as an office copy. The Dexter Area Historical Society already has several copies. Mr. Fisher is selling the book for $65; our plan is to sell them over the counter for $70 so as not to undercut his pricing. The proceeds will go in the restricted Arts, Culture & Heritage cash account, which we are planning to use for the purchase of a permanent sculpture.
Mill Creek Park Path
The City’s contractor, LJ began construction on the Mill Creek Park Trail Phase 2 project the week of May 11th. The project contractor anticipates that the base course of asphalt will be applied on Thursday, August 20th, and the wearing course
will be applied approximately two weeks after. Substantial completion of construction is anticipated to be completed shortly after Labor Day.
Crack Seal
This summer’s crack seal project is complete. Streets that were crack sealed include those in the Industrial Park, Huron View Court, Dover, Edison, Cushing Ct, Second, Inverness, the decorative crosswalks and the Community Park Path.
Relocation of Community Garden
Staff is working on the plans for relocating the community garden. OHM has staked the property line between the two parcels. The land to the west of the garden has been mowed and tree removals in the area of the future garden have been completed. We will now seek quotes for assistance with creating the new garden area. Avalon reached out for information on the buried
electrical line and well abandonment guidelines in preparation for their upcoming site work. The last day for the Community Garden is October 10th.
Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update
The Parks and Recreation Commission is working on an update to the City’s 5-Year Parks and Recreation Master Plan. To
accompany the survey that has been released, and in light of COVID-19, the Commission is looking to host an online public input meeting the evening of Tuesday, October 13, 2020.
Paint Dexter Plein Air Festival
As of the completion of this memo, the Paint Dexter Plein Air Festival is underway. 46 artists have checked-in and are out in the community painting. Artists will submit information on their completed works on Friday, August 21st, and the paintings will be posted for online sale the week of August 24th. The online sale will take place through the Arts Alliance’s Creative Washtenaw Marketplace platform.
November Election
For the August 2020 Election, staff distributed over 1500 absentee ballots. Most of the applications received for the August Election are also valid for the November Election, so voters only needed to submit one application for both of these elections, if they desired to vote absentee. On Tuesday, August 18th staff mailed approximately 120 absentee ballot application forms to voters on the permanent absentee voter list who had not yet submitted an application form for the November Election. Absentee ballots for the November Election are anticipated to be mailed out the week of September 21st.
DTE Land Swap
The removal of the equipment at the downtown substation has been completed. The last piece of due diligence the City needs to complete before taking ownership of the DTE property is a final environmental review and creation of a Baseline Environmental Assessment. This work will be reimbursed by a grant from the Washtenaw County Brownfield Authority. Staff met with a DTE consultant at 7651 Dan Hoey on June 11th as part of their work to complete a Phase 1 for the site. Staff also reached out to DTE to ask them to weed whip the area around the former substation. DTE received a finding of no further action from EGLE regarding the Broad Street site. The City Attorney has requested a closing timeline from DTE. ASTI will be performing a new Phase I evaluation of the site because it has been two years since the last report.
Grand/Hudson Reconstruction
The Grand/Hudson project is nearing completion. The contractor has completed the majority of the restoration. Next step is creation of a punch list.
Pedestrian Safety Project
Staff has been working with M-1 Studio on the production of a video that explains proper crossing techniques. ACH Student Rep Maggie Needham has offered to be a part of the video and get some fellow drama students to help. We will also be recruiting for additional crossing guards in our annual pedestrian safety newsletter. Payment is $12.50 to work in the morning and $12.50 to work in the afternoon.
