Mulliken council weighs foreclosure risk, approves lagoon fence path and leaf pickup plans

The Mulliken Village Council approved the September meeting minutes and accepted the treasurer’s report at its Oct. 7 meeting. One item in the treasurer’s report that drew explanation was a recent asphalt paving expense, described as road repair work. Officials also discussed a backup alarm plan connected to flooding concerns.

A major discussion centered on the John Hoover Park property, which officials said is tied up in foreclosure over unpaid property taxes. The council was told the first county sale is expected around mid-November, after a required notice period. Officials said the minimum bid was already over $100,000 and could rise, because it includes taxes and legal costs.

The financial concern for the village is what happens if the property does not sell at the first sale. Officials said Eaton County has already paid the village for delinquent real estate taxes, and if the property later sells for less than the required amount, the village could be responsible for making up the difference. Council members and residents discussed whether the village should be prepared to act if the first sale fails, but no final purchase decision was made in the transcript.

The possible future use of the property was also discussed. Officials said the current zoning was described as commercial, with some uncertainty about an agricultural-related stipulation, and that any new owner would need to comply with zoning and code requirements. Some in the room mentioned potential developer interest, possible residential uses, multifamily housing, brownfield funding, storage units, or even a fire station, but no project was approved.

The council also discussed fall leaf pickup. The village’s leaf equipment and trailer were described as nearly ready, though officials said they wanted to test the equipment before setting a firm pickup schedule. Once the equipment is tested, the village plans to post pickup dates through the village website, Facebook, notices at the hall and library, and other local channels.

Officials said a road grant decision had been delayed because the state budget had not been settled until recently. The village expects to hear more within the next week or two. The grant was described as a matching grant, with the village possibly contributing a significant local match if awarded, depending on the final terms.

The council formed or discussed membership for parks and roads committees. The parks committee had two volunteers, with room for another member. The roads committee had three people identified and discussed meeting for about 30 minutes before regular village meetings, with committee reports to follow.

Maintenance items focused heavily on the sewer lagoons. Officials said lagoon discharge was scheduled to begin the next morning and could take about 10 days under a two-week permit. The council also discussed required lagoon improvements, including moving or adding fencing inside the existing fence line so there is room to maintain both sides.

One bid for lagoon fencing came in at a little over $17,000. Council members discussed the need to post bid specifications and allow time for other bids or expressions of interest. A motion passed to move forward with the existing bid if no other bids or interest came in during the one-week window. Officials also discussed renting a skid steer with a clearing head, estimated at about $1,900 for a week, to clear overgrown areas for the fence and other work.

Additional lagoon work includes coating two concrete structures with epoxy, adding a grate to one structure, and ordering signs for the lagoon area, including no-trespassing and safety-related signage. The council also approved moving ahead with a weeklong skid steer rental, pending a more exact quote.

During public comment, residents raised concerns about junk vehicles around the village, saying some properties and blocks are being affected by vehicles that have sat for long periods. Officials discussed enforcement limits, including whether vehicles run, are disabled, or are unregistered. Residents also raised concerns about dirt bikes or ATVs being ridden on village and nearby property, and officials said they would talk with the neighboring property owner about possible posting.

The council also heard from a hunter who has permission to hunt near the lagoon area. He said hunting has been going well and asked about giving geese to the village or residents. Officials noted lagoon discharge and maintenance activity could affect the area temporarily. The meeting ended after public comment and discussion of zoning questions involving a nearby township property.

How this report was produced

This article was generated by an automated pipeline, and we think you should know exactly how. First, the audio of the meeting was converted into text by automatic speech recognition — software that infers words from sound, without a human listening along. That machine-made transcript was then read by Willbot, American2Day’s AI reporter, which condensed it into the report above. No human transcribed the meeting, and no human wrote this summary.