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Council authorizes using MEDC remediation grant for Water Street work; directs ad hoc committee to draft community-benefits guidance
Summary
Council authorized staff to use remaining MEDC funds on Water Street remediation and approved staff's approach to form an ad hoc community committee to develop community-benefit priorities; detailed committee process and sequencing were tabled for later revision.
Council members authorized city staff Oct. 21 to expend remaining Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) grant funds on the Water Street remediation project and approved a staff plan to use an ad hoc citizens committee to help draft community-benefit priorities for a forthcoming request for qualifications (RFQ).
City staff reported the remediation program has removed 189 truckloads of soil — 91 truckloads classified as hazardous and 98 as nonhazardous — and discovered additional contaminated soil and buried building footings that increased cost and schedule uncertainty. City staff said the work is progressing but that the project budget may require additional MEDC amendments or extensions.
"We may have to extend it six months, but we're working on it," said a staff presenter, summarizing progress and the need to keep remediation moving while funding and procurement are completed.
Council also discussed an ad hoc committee process staff proposed to translate public outreach into community-benefit language to appear in a Water Street RFQ. The council heard an overview of previous outreach (multiple ward meetings, visioning sessions and a real-estate panel) and economists’ and developers’ advice that an RFQ should show developers what the city expects before the city asks for proposals.
Councilors debated sequencing and whether a stand‑alone community‑benefits process (the Community Benefits Ordinance process) should run before or be integrated with the RFQ and subsequent developer negotiations. Several members urged a hybrid approach: complete foundational community engagement now so the RFQ communicates the city’s priorities, then have the same ad hoc committee continue to negotiate with developers during later design and approval stages.
After discussion the council tabled a final vote on the ad hoc committee timetable and asked staff to return with a clarified, hybrid timeline and a proposed schedule for council review. The council did, however, approve the staff request to use the MEDC remediation funds for the current excavation work.
