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Reading City Council unanimously renews two Green Tree Relief marihuana licenses, waives brief winter-tax penalties and approves employee gifts; MELS project to
Summary
At its Nov. 12 meeting, the Reading City Council unanimously approved two license renewals for JABBS LLC d/b/a Green Tree Relief, a temporary window waiving late interest and penalties on 2024 winter tax bills, and a monetary holiday gift for city employees; staff reported the MELS infrastructure loan closed and an MDOT grant payment of $250,000 was confirmed.
Mayor Matthews called the Reading City Council to order at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 12, 2024. Councilmembers George, Matz, VanCamp and Penney were present along with City Manager/Clerk/Treasurer Kimberly Blythe and Chief Stolberg.
The council approved the meeting agenda and a consent agenda that included the Oct. 8 minutes, the September Treasurer’s Report and payment of October operating bills totaling $70,254.45.
In a substantive project update, Blythe reported that the MELS (Michigan/East/Lynn/Strong) water-infrastructure project closed its USDA loan on Nov. 6, 2024, and completed a required pre-construction meeting with MEAD Brothers Construction, MT Engineering (Matt Taylor) and representatives from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She said the agencies emphasized compliance matters — including Davis-Bacon prevailing-wage reporting, strict change-order approvals and pay-request procedures — and that most construction activity is likely to be deferred until spring. Staff also said SIGMA notified the city that an MDOT grant payment of $250,000 for the project would be deposited on Nov. 12, 2024. Blythe added that staff will contact residents in the project area to sign service-line replacement agreements and a memorandum of understanding for sidewalk replacement.
On personnel and school-related items, the council approved a lease agreement with Reading Community Schools for use of the city softball field, with final amendments to be incorporated. Council members were also briefed that the city has hired an individual to begin SRO-related duties the week of Nov. 17 while the SRO Memorandum of Agreement is finalized and training is scheduled; the city attorney is drafting the MOA.
Business licensing was a central voting item. The council unanimously approved renewal of JABBS LLC d/b/a Green Tree Relief’s adult-use marihuana retailer (MRTMA) license and separately approved renewal of its Adult Use Class B grow license. Both renewals are effective Jan. 9, 2025, through Jan. 9, 2026.
The council also voted to waive interest and penalties on 2024 winter tax bills for the narrow window from Feb. 15 through Feb. 28, 2025. Separately, members approved a one-time monetary Christmas gift of $216.57 for each of 14 city employees, a line-item total of $3,031.98.
During public comment, unnamed residents raised concerns about theft of campaign signs and questioned the council’s integrity; those comments were recorded without individual names. The meeting adjourned at 6:48 p.m.
Votes at a glance: all recorded motions (agenda approval, consent agenda, softball-field lease, both JABBS license renewals, the tax penalty waiver, the employee gifts and adjournment) passed on roll call with unanimous recorded tallies: George — yes; Matz — yes; VanCamp — yes; Penney — yes; Matthews — yes.
What’s next: Staff will proceed with resident outreach and paperwork for the MELS service-line and sidewalk work, finalize the SRO MOA and training schedule, and include the Region II correspondence in the December packet.
