Council authorizes Huron Pines agreement to advance downtown green stormwater infrastructure

City Manager Rachel Smolinski told the Alpena City Council that the city has partnered with Huron Pines to plan and implement green stormwater infrastructure projects intended to improve water quality, protect Lake Huron, and enhance downtown public spaces.

Smolinski said the work builds on Alpena’s 2022 stormwater assessment and a green infrastructure visioning process that identified priority locations. The two project areas singled out were the River Street parking lot (where replacement was already planned) and a Washington Avenue/Chisholm Street bump-out adjacent to the DDA building. Smolinski said the project is supported by grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and that the city will contribute in-kind services toward the grant match.

Mayor Pro Tem moved to approve an independent contractor agreement between the City of Alpena and Huron Pines for advancing the green stormwater infrastructure project and to authorize the city manager to execute the agreement. The motion was seconded and passed on recorded ayes.

The council’s approval authorizes the agreement and execution authority; it does not itself replace construction bidding, commit additional city funds beyond the grant and in-kind match, or preclude required DDA or permitting reviews for specific site work. The city manager indicated staff will proceed to finalize the contract and next steps under the grant agreement.

Next steps: City staff to finalize and execute the Huron Pines agreement and proceed with design and grant-compliant implementation steps; construction and allocation of any additional city funds would follow separate approvals.