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Board approves honorary sign and annual breast-cancer walk; several road-closure and sign requests tabled pending clarifications
Summary
The board granted an honorary street sign for evangelist Brenda Patrick at Bethel AME Church and approved the Minority Health Partners' breast-cancer awareness walk; multiple road-closure and sign-installation requests were tabled for corrected certificates of insurance or more detailed pedestrian-detour plans.
The Michigan City Board of Public Works and Safety handled multiple permit and event items July 20, approving some and tabling others pending additional documentation.
Honorary sign: The board approved a request from Camelia Dillard Sims to place an honorary street sign naming a corner at Bethel AME Church after the late evangelist Brenda Patrick. Supporters spoke in favor; one resident raised concerns about cumulative honorary signage and associated costs. "I certainly have nothing against anything in particular about this request ... confusion, clutter," public commenter Scott Mellon said.
Events: The Minority Health Partners' annual breast-cancer awareness walk for Sept. 19, 2026, was approved after staff noted the route is sidewalk-based and emergency services raised no objections. Organizers of the Mac & Cheese Festival (Dig the Dunes and Zorn Brewery) described their longstanding event; staff identified deficiencies in the submitted certificate of insurance and the board approved the festival conditionally, pending receipt of a corrected COI.
Closures and installations tabled: Multiple lane- and sidewalk-closure requests — including a sidewalk/parking/alley closure proposed by Hunter's Precision Construction and a sign-installation lane closure proposed by Legacy Sign Group — were tabled so applicants can provide clearer pedestrian-detour plans and corrected certificates of insurance. A separate request to use city property to stage concrete deliveries for a five-lot subdivision was tabled so the city and applicant can finalize a limited license agreement and confirm insurance.
Why it matters: The approvals allow recurring community events to proceed while the tablings ensure public-safety measures (detours, alley access for refuse pickup) and insurance coverage are in place before granting temporary use of public ways.
