Alma approves parking-lot sealing, schedules Pine Avenue special-assessment hearing and hears large project close-out costs

City of Alma commissioners approved a slate of public‑works, procurement and financing items at their meeting.

The commission unanimously awarded the downtown and park parking‑lot seal-and‑stripe contract to Zenberg Asphalt for a total bid of $19,201 to cover multiple lots, including the lot behind the opera block, the former Brown Printing lot, the Woodworth/Mercantile lot and Scotland Yard Park’s lot. City staff recommended a second coat of sealer to extend the pavement life 5–8 years; commissioners asked questions about vendor familiarity and were told the project is under budget.

The commission also set a public hearing for Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 6 p.m. to consider establishing a final special‑assessment district (No. 1 of 2024) for construction of sanitary sewer leads on Pine Avenue. Staff clarified this hearing is to finalize assessments for leads where the city covered 50% of the cost for homeowner or business connections.

On transportation, the body approved the annual FY2026 operating formula grant agreement for rural-area transit funding to support Alma Transit and authorized the mayor and city clerk to execute the agreement; staff noted the agreement includes federal program conditions.

City staff said teams will appear before the commission with close-out change orders for the Moyer Avenue and Charles Avenue projects and reported aggregate change-order costs of $8,087,952.57 across funding centers (drinking water SRF, sewer, and roadway). Staff said detailed change orders will be presented for approval in upcoming meetings.

Commissioners also ratified four city investments (described in the packet as two CDs and two CDRs) and voted to receive several departmental reports.

No formal votes recording roll-call tallies were read into the record; the meeting used voice votes with commissioners answering "yes" when asked.