Wyoming council approves consent agenda: budget moves, grants, repairs, and multiple contracts

The Wyoming City Council on June 16 adopted a consent agenda that included budget amendments, revisions to the city’s Wyoming rehabilitation manual, criteria for a 2025–26 city manager incentive bonus, multiple service contracts funded through the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and a series of procurement and service agreements covering utilities, public safety and administrative needs.

Votes at a glance: The council approved each item by roll call during a single consent motion; individual roll calls for items are recorded in the meeting minutes.

Key approvals and details

- Budget amendments (Items 44–47): The council approved four budget amendments. Staff said changes reallocated payroll costs across departments, increased the street-lighting electric budget, recognized investment revenue on unspent bond funds and moved those interest earnings to the sewer construction fund for a blower project, and transferred funds from the water fund to the bond and interest fund to meet accounting requirements. No dollar totals for each amendment were given in the meeting record.

- Wyoming rehabilitation manual revisions (Resolution a): Council approved updates to underwriting standards and loan program provisions for housing renovation; staff said the changes were discussed at a recent work session.

- City manager incentive criteria (Resolution b): Council approved the city manager’s 2025–26 incentive bonus criteria after months of work on the criteria.

- Block grant subrecipient contracts (Resolutions a–f in awards section): The council authorized contracts with Legal Aid of Western Michigan, the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, Home Repair Services of Kent County, Heart of West Michigan United Way, the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan, and Family Promise of West Michigan to receive CDBG funds. Staff said the packet lists the services each subrecipient will provide.

- MDOT agreement (Resolution g): Authorized the MDOT resurfacing contract for Burlingame Avenue (covered in a separate article); staff said the total project estimate is about $2.4 million with the city’s share just under $700,000.

- Pump repair and 42-inch transmission main emergency repair (Resolutions h and i): Council accepted a proposal for pump repair and motor reconditioning (roughly $120,000) for one of six raw-water service pumps, and concurred with emergency repairs to a leak on a 42-inch transmission main. Staff said the leak was caused by a valve located in a difficult-to-access area near the McIntawa River requiring significant dewatering; the leak occurred in late April/early May. Staff said inspections and further diagnostics are budgeted in the coming fiscal year to assess the remainder of the transmission line.

- Laboratory supplies, railroad crossing maintenance, mitigation and claim facilitation (Resolutions j–l): The council approved purchase of laboratory testing supplies for the wastewater treatment plant, authorized payment to Grand Elk Railroad Inc. for annual maintenance of 10 railroad crossings (last year’s cost for the company’s work was just over $28,000), and renewed a contract with Paul Davis Restoration for water/sewer mitigation and claim facilitation (staff estimated about $150,000 per year, dependent on backup frequency). Staff clarified residents may choose a different contractor, and city involvement often includes reimbursing insurance deductibles when applicable.

- Employee assistance program (Resolution m): Renewed the city’s EAP contract with Pine Rest at no change in cost; staff said the city expects to spend about $8,500 per year.

- IT and public safety connectivity (Resolutions n–o): The council accepted quotes for Panorama (antennas), Cradlepoint routers to connect police and fire vehicles, and renewed Microsoft SQL server licenses supporting about 19 servers.

- Police break room renovation (Resolution q): Council accepted a low construction proposal from Vander Cody Construction (as listed in the packet) to renovate the police break room and authorized subsequent furniture purchases; police representatives described aging finishes and inadequate refrigeration space.

- Children’s Assessment Center agreement (Resolution r): Renewed the city’s agreement with the Children’s Advocacy Center of Kent County to continue partnering on investigations involving crimes against children.

- Environmental lab analysis, hydrants and chemicals (Resolution s and related awards): Council approved awards for outside environmental lab analysis (when needed), purchase of fire hydrants and accessories, and chemicals/liquid polymers used at the drinking water and wastewater plants.

What was not decided: No public hearings were held and there was no public comment on agenda items. Several items referenced further staff work (for example, additional inspection and diagnostic work on the transmission main) rather than final policy changes.

Next steps: City staff will execute contracts, administer subrecipient agreements under the CDBG program and proceed with planned inspections and repairs. Council also voted to go into closed session at the end of the meeting to discuss pending litigation.