Mulliken council adopts resolution for $250,000 road grant, awards Dollar General sidewalk contract to SIS Contracting

The Mulliken village council approved a resolution committing the village to a Michigan Department of Transportation grant application seeking $250,000 to resurface Ames Street, Colfax Street, Ionia Street, French Street and Main Street. The resolution authorizes Village President Dennis Kepitis to act as the village's agent on the project and commits the village to putting up at least $259,330 toward construction costs, plus design, permitting and administrative expenses. Trustees present voted unanimously in favor, with none absent or opposed, and the clerk noted the completed grant application is due to MDOT on June 12.

In other business, the council awarded the contract for new sidewalks near the Dollar General store to SIS Contracting after reviewing two bids. Mendoza Concrete's bid came in lower, at roughly $33,187, but did not include the required ADA-compliant ramps. SIS Contracting's bid, at roughly $40,476, included ADA compliance and reflected familiarity with the MDOT permitting process governing the project. Trustees said the village had budgeted about $42,000 for the work and that going with a bid meeting ADA and traffic-control requirements was necessary to avoid liability. The council approved the SIS Contracting bid, and members and staff plan to walk the site before construction begins.

To close out this year's financial audit, the council adopted a formal purchasing policy governing use of the village credit card and a separate investment policy. The purchasing policy sets a $5,000 limit on the village credit card, restricts its use to legitimate village business, and requires anyone using it to sign an agreement barring purchases such as alcohol or tobacco. The investment policy bars the village manager from investing village funds without proper board-approved authority. Both measures passed by motion.

The treasurer's monthly report showed routine spending, including lagoon discharge costs, equipment rental, road-sign purchases and contractor payments, and the report was approved. The treasurer also said a consultant is helping the village pursue a matching grant of up to roughly half a million dollars for road repairs, with additional grants potentially available later for sidewalk and lift-station repairs.

Public works staff told the council that several valves in the village's three-pond lagoon system have failed, though fortunately in the open position, which has kept water able to flow between ponds for now. A contractor identified as IAI, which has done previous repair work for the village, is preparing repair bids expected as soon as the next meeting, at which point the council will vote on moving forward. Staff also flagged aging steel lagoon discharge pipe, roughly a mile and a half to two miles long, that will eventually need replacing, likely with plastic pipe; a camera inspection is planned to begin this fall, and officials said no further lagoon discharges are planned this year.

During public comment, a resident raised concerns about dangerous conditions at a village railroad crossing, saying a rail spike had come loose and punctured his truck tire, and that a motorcyclist was later killed at a crossing. He said he had been told the railroad could not confirm his authority to request an inspection and urged the council to press the issue, suggesting a contact at a state railroad association. Council members said they had previously requested a local inspection without receiving a response and agreed to follow up again.

On streetlights, trustees discussed reducing a planned installation along Eaton Highway from three poles to two because of conflicts with another utility line. Sherry Kempf confirmed the change would lower costs, citing a roughly $320 per-pole price. The council also discussed limiting the village's decorative flag displays to the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day rather than flying them year-round, and staff said additional flag brackets and flags are being ordered so displays can be up by the Fourth of July.

Maintenance staff reported plans to install new road and branding signs, mount new warning beacons, and repaint faded markings downtown and on a village building once the weather warms; a previously approved dump trailer purchase is being finalized. The council also learned the fire department's building floor is being redone for several days in June, during which the village's public works building will serve as a temporary fire station and equipment parking area.

The zoning administrator presented an updated variance application form bearing the village's name, and trustees discussed procedures for posting public notice ahead of votes on special land-use variances. Trustees also discussed ongoing concerns about tall grass and weeds on vacant lots near roadways, noting the village currently has no ordinance requiring such lots to be mowed. Correspondence noted an invitation for council members to attend a June 15 grand-opening event at a local meditation center; the meeting was adjourned by motion.

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.