Mulliken council adopts new budget, approves Potter and French Street paving

The Mulliken village council approved its budget for the new fiscal year, running March 2024 through February 2025, covering the general, sewer, major street and local street funds. Treasurer Kelli Waldo walked the board through each fund before the budgets were approved on a vote.

In the general fund, the council carried forward a $200,000 fund balance out of an actual balance of about $352,000, with village property tax revenue budgeted at roughly $70,000 after this year's assessments rose sharply. Total general fund income was budgeted at about $331,750. Spending plans include roughly $55,000 for a maintenance position split across all four funds, about $45,000 toward newer equipment such as a truck, $8,500 for the annual audit, $10,000 for equipment maintenance, $7,000 for the village's library millage, and smaller amounts for tree service and other upkeep. The parks and recreation line remains at about $12,000, which trustees hope can help fund additional park equipment.

On the treasurer's report, the board approved the vendor list and the treasurer's report for February. The general fund's checking balance stood at $352,000 as of February 29. The treasurer raised the idea of moving roughly $150,000 of that excess into a certificate of deposit so the village doesn't exceed FDIC insurance limits, but no new CD motion was needed since the council already approved opening a CD last month at 4.75 percent or better for up to 18 months. The treasurer said she will continue researching CD options. A discussion also touched on removing a village employee's name from a hardware store account after that employee's departure.

The sewer fund's checking balance is about $265,737, with household billing of roughly $75 per household across 224 households budgeted to bring in $67,500, and total sewer income budgeted at $270,500. The council budgeted higher for sewer maintenance and repairs this year, citing an aging lagoon pump system that trustees said needs a new lift station. Officials estimated such upgrades could run from several hundred thousand dollars up to around a million dollars, and the village is working with an engineering firm to pursue matching grants; a $5,000 grant-writing line was added to the budget for that purpose.

For roads, the major street fund was budgeted at about $70,000 with a checking balance near $76,533, and the local street fund was budgeted at about $60,000, with major and local road repair spending split evenly for a combined $80,000 available for street work this year. The road sign budget was increased to $2,000, and the treasurer noted the village has already spent about $500 toward this year's roughly $2,500 salt and gravel budget after paying Eaton County $1,100 for a recent delivery.

Trustees approved a paving quote to mill and patch the worst spots on Potter Street for $6,500, which contractors estimated could extend the road's life by several years. For French Street, which trustees described as in far worse shape, a full quote to pulverize and regrade the entire street came to $118,395; the council opted to pave only the west half this year, at roughly $60,000, with the remainder planned for a future budget year. Council members said they also want to address a manhole while that section of French Street is open.

The council approved moving forward with a lagoon engineering contract with Infrastructure Alternatives, expected to cost under $45,000, to help train a village employee toward wastewater operator licensing and to assist with grant applications for lagoon and lift station improvements.

The council approved a 30-year extension of its Metro Act right-of-way agreement with AT&T, formerly Michigan Bell, running through June 30, 2028, allowing the company to maintain its existing lines in the village.

The council formally accepted the resignation of village employee Eric, correcting an oversight from last month's minutes. It also finalized a compliance agreement with ordinance officer John Baker, who will be paid $100 per compliance letter served, logged and followed up, plus $30 an hour with a two-hour minimum if any case goes to litigation. Baker reported he is following up on several open compliance complaints, including one property he needs to review with a neighbor, and said he will need contact information for a sheriff's deputy in case any citations proceed to court.

A trustee asked that someone clean up the village park, including any pet waste, ahead of the community's upcoming egg hunt. The council also received informational correspondence from Danby Township regarding a draft update to its master plan, available on the township's website, with no action required. Two candidates for the village's maintenance position were scheduled for interviews immediately after the meeting, and the council closed the meeting to conduct those interviews.

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.