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Council approves up to $10,000 to hire consultant for brownfield incentives and facilitation work
Summary
The Middleville Village Council voted to authorize a consultant contract not to exceed $10,000 to develop a brownfield/incentive policy and a short, action-oriented facilitation process intended to set priorities for future development and improve transparency for developers and residents.
The Middleville Village Council voted April 14 to authorize a consultant agreement, not to exceed $10,000, to help the village craft an incentives policy for brownfield redevelopment and to facilitate a concise, action-oriented planning process.
Travis Alden, an economic and redevelopment consultant whose firm works across West Michigan, framed the work as two linked pieces: a brownfield/incentive policy to set predictable, transparent ‘guard rails’ for developers using Michigan’s Act 381 tax-increment financing tools, and a short facilitation process that produces a two-page set of priorities and marching orders for village leaders. "Great communities don't happen by accident," Alden said, arguing predictability helps developers and gives residents clearer expectations.
Council members asked about local sites that might qualify and whether the policy would affect an active partner-property decision. Alden said the policy would not change decisions already underway but would apply to future projects, help the village market preferred sites, and allow the council to assign scoring bonuses to projects that meet community priorities (for example, infill or projects in disinvested corridors).
Council discussed cost and process. A council member moved to approve Alden's proposal and the motion carried on a roll-call vote. Staff noted the contract would include stakeholder outreach (options: council and staff only or a broader group including township, schools, the DDA and planning commission) and that the consultant’s fee was intended to cover both policy development and a facilitated workshop sequence.
Why it matters: The policy aims to speed and clarify how Middleville evaluates developer requests for incentives and tax-increment financing, so projects align with local goals and residents understand what incentives are available and under what conditions. The facilitation work is intended to produce short, prioritized actions rather than a voluminous plan that is not used.
Next steps: Staff will finalize the contract paperwork with the consultant and coordinate the stakeholder list and schedule for facilitated meetings; the council directed staff to return updates as the work proceeds.
