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Council approves summer events and multiple Harbor Island contracts; members press for clearer engagement costs
Summary
Council approved several event permits (Board of Light & Power anniversary, beach wrestling, Walk the Beat expansion) and authorized consultant task orders and a lab purchase tied to Harbor Island groundwater work, while some councilors pressed HDR staff on website and public-engagement costs.
On July 6 the Grand Haven City Council approved a slate of event permits and consultant agreements. Permits included a free community celebration by the Grand Haven Board of Light & Power at Lynn Sherwood Waterfront Stadium (Sept. 12), a beach wrestling tournament (Aug. 15) hosted by Westside Wave and an expanded Walk the Beat footprint (Aug. 8) to close the 1500 block of Franklin for safety.
On technical items tied to Harbor Island groundwater monitoring and remediation planning, council approved several budgeted task orders and a laboratory purchase. Derek Giedes, project management director, presented three items: a general coordination and community-engagement task order with HDR (not-to-exceed $158,944), a Trace Analytical Laboratories purchase order for CCR groundwater lab services (not-to-exceed $135,063.68) and a focused HDR public-engagement task order for the remedial alternative analysis (not-to-exceed $77,069). Giedes said many activities are reimbursable by outside partners and that task orders are structured "not to exceed" so the city pays only for delivered work.
Councilors raised questions about the scale of proposed website and engagement hours and asked for evidence of past not-to-exceed billing to reassure them that estimates are conservative. Several members said they support robust public outreach but want to ensure value and track record. Giedes and staff said they will provide a historical report on HDR invoices and confirmed many costs to date had been covered by outside grants or the Board of Light & Power.
The council also approved a task order that includes a legally required town hall-style meeting tied to BLP/CCR requirements and directed staff to use multiple outreach channels (bills, social, BLP communications) to broaden participation. Council members encouraged creative outreach to schools and families to increase representative input.
Votes on these items carried on roll call. Several council members praised staff and volunteers for recent July 4 and pier-lighting efforts during council reports.
