Mulliken council moves surplus funds toward CDs, hires help for state accounting overhaul

The Village of Mulliken council's November meeting centered on the village's finances, with trustees voting to move surplus money into certificates of deposit and to bring in outside help to meet a new state accounting requirement.

The treasurer's report showed the village collected about $57,000 in recovered fees and delinquent taxes tied to cleanup of a problem property. The council was cautioned that if that property is later resold at a tax sale for less than the county recovered, the village could end up owing some or all of that money back, as happened previously with another building torn down on Main Street. The report also noted about $3,829 from a scrap sale on the Hoover property and a roughly $4,600 bill for sewer treatment chemicals.

The state of Michigan is requiring the village to convert its books to a new Uniform Chart of Accounts, a numbering system unrelated to how the village currently tracks funds. The council approved bringing in an outside bookkeeper, described as a QuickBooks specialist with Countryside Accounting, at $95 an hour to help make the conversion. The work must be finished before the village can file required county and state revenue-sharing reports, which in turn affect the village's ongoing Act 51 road funding.

With that housekeeping addressed, the council approved the treasurer's report and separately voted to open a certificate of deposit with surplus sewer fund money, once outstanding infrastructure bills are paid and the major and local street funds repay the general fund for road paving work. The sewer fund currently holds about $288,000, and the major and local funds — which owe the general fund roughly $80,000 for paving — were described as being at unusually high balances as well. Trustees noted CD rates at area banks currently range roughly from 4 to 6 percent. A motion passed to pursue the CD, and officials said a matured CD would come after several outstanding bills for infrastructure work on Front Street, including a catch basin replacement, are paid.

The council discussed hiring an ordinance officer who could formally issue citations for violations such as tall grass, but tabled the matter to the next meeting because the candidate — a part-time Portland police officer who also serves on the fire department — could not attend. He does not live in the village and would only be called in as needed.

Trustees also reviewed how neighboring communities such as Potterville and Charlotte handle snow and ice removal from sidewalks, including time limits and fines, after being asked to look into a similar ordinance for Mulliken. The council does not currently have such a rule. The topic was tabled so members can review the sample ordinances before adopting anything; trustees recalled that the last time snow removal became a serious problem, the village hired residents with ATVs to help clear sidewalks.

On other public works items, leaf pickup was reported as ongoing, with equipment moving street by street; residents were told updates would be posted to the village Facebook page and website. A piece of leaf-collection equipment remains out for repair at a local shop, with hopes it will be back soon. The council also approved a roughly $107 quote for additional stop signs. The village's radar speed-feedback sign on Charlotte Highway had gone dark due to dead batteries; officials said the sheriff's department is handling its two-week charging cycle and will provide data on vehicle speeds once the sign is back in service.

A proposed gas station development was discussed briefly; village officials said they still need to confirm permitting requirements with the county and expect the developer will need to install a dike and obtain a special-use permit for parking, since the project would require a variance. Representatives for the project did not attend the meeting. Separately, a planned sidewalk replacement funded partly through a non-motorized walkway allocation remains pending; officials said the village has already committed $2,000 of the required $3,000 toward the project's plan.

During public comment, a resident on Ames Street reported a hole in the street near a catch basin where the surrounding masonry has deteriorated. The council agreed to fill it with a temporary patch for the winter and plan a permanent repair, including resetting the casting, next spring, noting similar repairs are needed elsewhere in the village, including on Main Street and Colfax.

Also during public comment, an occupational therapist representing the owner of a Main Street building near the clubhouse — a former bank later used as a library — raised concerns about the difficulty he has using the building's front steps and asked about adding a ramp or modifying the entrance, as well as possibly rezoning the property. Trustees noted any ramp on Main Street could obstruct the sidewalk and suggested exploring a rear or side entrance instead. Because the building shares a wall with an adjoining structure, the council said it would need to consult the village attorney on how rezoning only part of a building would work before proceeding.

The meeting closed with a motion to adjourn, which passed.

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.