Mulliken council reviews new gas station plan, eyes January vote on canopy variance

The Mulliken council spent much of its December meeting on a detailed presentation for a proposed new gas station in the village, with a vote on a required setback variance expected as early as the January meeting.

A project manager representing Corrigan Oil walked the board through the design. Because nearby wells make it too costly to bury a fuel tank underground, the station would use an above-ground storage tank, the largest size allowed for a gas station at 12,000 gallons, feeding two dispensers offering regular, premium and diesel. The fuel company would handle long-term maintenance under roughly a 10-year arrangement.

The main issue before the board is how far the fuel canopy can sit from the property line. The applicant asked for about 29 feet, well under some communities' standards but more than others, since Mulliken's ordinance does not currently address canopy setbacks at all. Trustees raised concerns about traffic flow and the station's use of an adjoining business's parking lot, and asked the applicant to talk with that neighboring property owner before moving forward.

There is no permit fee for a variance request. Before a vote can be taken, the village must post notice at the site for 14 days and mail letters to surrounding property owners, with the council also considering an announcement in the county newspaper. Village officials additionally discussed installing their own small fuel tank on the property to fill municipal equipment.

On village finances, the treasurer reported that the village's accounting is now using account numbers uniform with the State of Michigan, with funds tracked separately under general, major, local and sewer accounts. The village collected its first tap fee of the year, $3,500. The board approved the treasurer's report, seconded by Trustee Bob McCausey.

The treasurer also raised the rising cost of mailing sewer bills, now nearly $150 each quarter, and suggested the village consider consolidating to less frequent mailings, possibly with payment coupons, as part of upcoming budget discussions.

On infrastructure, the village paid for a culvert and catch-basin repair on French and Sherlock streets, split between the major and local road funds, fixed a pipe on Eaton Highway after a cable company had run a line through it, and completed road repairs off McKinney Road along with paving on French Street.

The board approved a roughly $4,720 bid from Infrastructure Alternatives, Inc. of Grand Rapids to perform a sludge depth assessment on the village's sewage lagoon. Officials said the study, required periodically under state environmental rules, is also meant to help the village pursue grant funding for aging sewer infrastructure, including its lift station and forcemain.

The village's sweeper truck, purchased for about $7,000, needs an estimated $10,000 to $12,000 in engine repairs. After discussion of whether to rebuild the engine or replace it, and whether the truck's dual use for leaf pickup and street sweeping justifies the cost, the board voted to seek additional price quotes on both a rebuilt and a new engine before deciding, at Trustee Bob McCausey's suggestion.

In other business, leaf pickup on Green Acres has wrapped up and the fall lagoon discharge is underway; the sewer discharge permit, renewed every four years, is also being processed. The village's ordinance officer reported ongoing work with the county on a hazardous building and a complaint about vehicles accumulating at a neighboring property. A malfunctioning speed-limit sign remains unresolved. Eaton County reported a quiet month in the village, with about six calls including a verbal altercation, two civil complaints and a traffic violation.

During public comment, a trustee voiced frustration over delays and criticism surrounding a community project to relocate an old church building, saying they were considering stepping back from the effort. A resident asked about building a modular home on a newly purchased lot; officials pointed to village ordinance requirements of at least 900 square feet for a single-family home, or 750 square feet for a duplex, with a maximum lot coverage of 30 percent. A county commissioner also updated the board on countywide matters, including livestreamed county meetings, a new communications hire, and a grant-funded mobile command vehicle for the sheriff's department, while acknowledging concerns about low pay for county deputies.

Looking ahead, the board added a budget discussion to next month's agenda, and a vote on the gas station variance is expected at the January meeting.

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.