Commission approves 2025 CDBG sidewalk contract and confirms several routine consent items

The Bay City City Commission approved a contract for the 2025 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) sidewalk replacement project and carried several routine consent items on March 17.

Clerk reading listed the contract as with "Customer Concrete and Excavating LLC, Fayetteville, Michigan," for an amount not to exceed $220,000. City staff explained that the CDBG allocation for sidewalks was previously set aside in the capital program and that street-funding projects were funded separately (staff cited $500,000 from CDBG toward local-street work). Commissioners approved the contract by roll-call vote; the meeting record shows the motion carried.

Also on the consent agenda the commission voted to receive planning commission and zoning board of appeals minutes from 2024 and to receive the planning-and-zoning annual report. The body approved mayoral appointments of Garrett Whaley and Jeffrey Dodick to the Midland Street Management Board for terms through June 30, 2027.

Commission discussion included requests for clarity on how sidewalk and street work are prioritized and for ward-level lists of past and planned street projects. City engineering staff said sidewalk needs were inventoried in 2021 and that the department uses a heat-map of trip hazards and condition to prioritize work; staff said the list is being refined in GIS and that the department would provide commissioners with more detailed project lists by ward on request.

The contract vote was taken during the regular-agenda portion after some consent items were pulled for discussion; the commission approved the action with no amendments recorded.

What this means: The contract approval moves planned CDBG-funded sidewalk replacements into the construction phase pending contractor scheduling and usual pre-construction coordination. The planning minutes and report were received for the record; appointments were confirmed by commission vote.