City Council Agenda- Feb. 8Please find the agenda for this evening's regularly scheduled City Council meeting here. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers located at City Hall, 200 E. Flint Street. The public is encouraged to attend.
|  | Manager Musings- Feb. 8It's good to be back in the office after attending the annual city managers conference in Grand Rapids last week. Plenty of interesting ideas were shared and extensive discussions were held as to how to continue to address the problems facing our communities. The problems for each community are strikingly similar- only the scale varies.
At the recent Celebrity Server competition at Archie's last month, I became aware of a great opportunity to continue to support Outreach East in addition to Celebrity Server and typical donations. Outreach East has partnered with Kroger as part of Kroger's Community Rewards program. Through this program, Kroger will donate 5% of your total grocery bill to Outreach East. To participate, you need to take your Kroger Plus Shopping Card to Kroger and have the card linked (electronically) to the Community Rewards program. The card to link your Shopping Card to Outreach East is available at City Hall (and, I would assume, the Outreeach East offices). This support does not cost you any more, but the return to Outreach East is substantial.
Support Outreach East and your community by joining the Kroger Community Rewards program.
Departments - City Manager
| | Davison Chamber of Commerce Business Expo The Chamber's annual Business Expo is scheduled for Saturday, March 6, in the Hahn Intermediate School gymnasium, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Please take this opportunity to learn more about area businesses and services. Activities and entertainment will be available during the Expo. For an application for a booth at the Expo, please click here. For more information, please contact Ms. LaDawn Hastings, Chamber Executive Director, (810) 653-6266.
Departments - Community Development
| | Manager Musings- Feb. 1Well, January's gone and it sure seemed like an easy month: not a lot of snow and reasonable temperatures for our state. Every little bit of money that we can save by not having to plow or apply salt helps the City's budget.
We're well into preparing the budget for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1. The City's stable housing has somewhat insulated the City from plummeting revenues due to declining property assessments, but this year may be the year that we get caught up in the losses. In previous years, area property assessments, although declining, still remained higher than the taxable values. While that meant we did not increase our revenues, we also saw minimal losses due to the falling housing market. It is expected that this year, though, as assessed values continue to fall, taxable values will also decrease this year, resulting in a decline in revenues.
The City staff is working to minimize the impact of less revenue upon the residents. Several reductions in staffing have occurred (and more may still be explored) with little noticeable impact on the services provided by the City. At some point, though, the balance between staff and services will get out of balance. After so many reductions in both staff and other expenditures, services will likely be reviewed. For that reason, it is critical that you keep us informed as to the services that you most value.
We will do our best to engage and communicate with you to learn what you value. At the same time, we cannot stop looking toward a better tomorrow. If you have programs or services that you'd like to see us consider, please also share those with us. The most desired result is that the City staff continues to provide the level of services that you have come to expect. We look forward to continuing to serve you.
Departments - City Manager
| | Manager Musings- Jan. 29HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDREA! The City Clerk reaches one of the milestone years: 40. Andrea has been an exceptional colleague with whom to work. We each have a deep passion for the role that we play in this community. Often, early in the morning, it's just the two of us at City Hall and we share our joys, concerns, and thoughts with each other. Andrea's ties to this community are much deeper than my own, and she is truly committed to the community. Most people are unaware of the key leadership role that Andrea provides for the national and state water associations. Through her participation in those agencies, Davison has received recognition and funding for a variety of water-related projects.
Her husband, Eric, serves as a leading officer for the Davison-Richfield Fire Authority. Her two children, Kyle and Emily, are wonderfully pleasant to be around and occasionally help out at City Hall (although Emily likes to raid my chocolate stash).
Congratulations, Andrea. Enjoy the day and weekend with your family and friends.
Departments - City Manager
| | Manager Musings- Jan. 27It was a great time at Archie's last night as City staff competed with representatives from Davison and Richfield Townships to raise "tip" money for Outreach East. Plenty of area residents came out for good food and wonderful company to support an exceptional area charity. Over $900 was raised, and (sadly) Davison Township claimed the annual trophy for raising the most money. I'm sure they cheated somehow, but I haven't figured out how yet. They probably swiped tip money from our jar or pilfered money from guests. Township residents tell me that Township Treasurer Patrick Miller is notorious for getting into residents' pockets.
Congratulations to Davison Township and, even moreso, Outreach East. We'll get 'em next year!
Departments - City Manager
| | Manager Musings- Jan. 25OK, folks, as I indicated on the City's Facebook page, you're probably getting tired of boring city government (is it really boring, though?), so let's have some fun. Tomorrow night, City staff will be participating in Celebrity Server Night at Archie's Family Restaurant (625 N. State Street) in an effort to raise money for an outstanding local agency, Outreach East. Whichever local government raises the most tip money (which is then donated to Outreach East) wins the spirited competition and earns the traveling trophy until next year's event. Richfield Township officials gave us a run for the trophy, but came up short last year (but at least they showed up, right, Davison Township?). It's a great evening of community to support a great cause. Come in for a cup of coffee, dinner, or dessert, and leave a big tip. The fun goes from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m, Tuesday, January 26, at Archie's. See you there, and be sure to sit in our section!
Have a great Monday.
Departments - City Manager
| | City Council- Jan. 25Here is the agenda for the regularly-scheduled City Council meeting for January 25. The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. Please also note that the City will host a public meeting to receive comments on the draft Davison Area Recreation Plan at 6:30 p.m at City Hall, prior to the City Council meeting. For more information, please contact City Hall.
| | Manager Musings- Jan. 20The City Council met to discuss various goals and visions Monday evening. A few interested residents observed the meeting and offered their comments.
The discussion first centered upon the impending E. Flint Street re-surfacing project. As has been previously indicated, the preliminary design, in addition to re-surfacing the road, also reconfigures the road into a boulevard, which has raised some early and limited concerns related to traffic capacity and traffic flow. The cost of the project to the City was questioned, but apparently addressed when informed that the City's financial commitment is drawn from the Major Street Fund. The money in that fund (remember, government is fund-based accounting, which function as a series of buckets- money in one bucket can rarely be used for the purpose of another bucket) is provided to the City from the State through gasoline taxes and involves NO property taxes paid to the City by residents. The City's overall financial commitment to the project is approximately 20% of the cost, with the federal government assuming the remaining 80% of the cost.
Other topics discussed included sidewalk construct permit fees, reducing expenses (and the successful efforts of the staff to date to reduce costs with little impact on services to residents), street lighting, park projects, and promotion of the City and related events.
The meeting provided an opportunity for the City Council to offer goals and visions for the staff to consider and incorporate as we prepare the budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Another meeting will be scheduled within the next several weeks to review a preliminary budget. The public, as always, will be encouraged to attend that meeting, too.
Departments - City Manager
| | Manager Musings- Jan. 14Work has picked up on getting the community survey distributed to area residents. The City, Davison Township, and the Davison Community Schools will select 1000 total and random area residents (distributed proportionally across those governments) to receive the survey. The City has approximately 4100 registered voters and Davison Township about 13,000. Due to the fact that the Davison Community School District spills into Richfield Township, Richfield Township residents within the school district boundaries (approximately 5,000 registered voters) will also be statistically represented.
For selection purposes, a random number generator selected the required set of numbers, with the maximum value being equal to the number of registered voters. So, in the City, 200 numbers were randomly generated between 1 and 4140. Those numbers were then matched to a corresponding voter registration list (as of January 13). I will actually perform the same selection process for the Davison Community School District on the Richfield Township voter registration list. Davison Township will complete its own selection process following the same format.
The list of names (and addresses) will be sent to Oakland University for compilation and mailing. The survey is not lengthy, but it does ask a variety of questions related to area government and quality of life. Please take a few minutes to complete and return the survey. The results should be available in late March or early April, and will be made available through various communications.
Departments - City Manager
| | Intern Insights Jan.13Hello readers,
My name is Matt Mariconi and I'll be serving as an intern to Dale Martin for the next 15 weeks. I had my first day of work yesterday and was greeted by an office full of people. I was relieved to be working in a relaxed team environment. Everyone was friendly and I'm sure they will be a joy to work with. Throughout my internship I hope to gain valuable work experience and better myself. It will be nice to do some learning outside of the classroom and I'll be sure to put it to good use. Throughout this experience I'll be updating you all of the things I'm working on and their progress. Until then it's time for me to catch up on some homework.
Departments - City Manager
| | Manager Musings- Jan. 12Based upon some of the comments at last night's City Council meeting, it appears that many people are unaware of the intricacies of governmental accounting. Let me see if I can draw an example for how fund accounting works.
Rather than using the City, though, let me create a couple of businesses for illustrative purposes. First, we'll have Bob's Pizza. This is a small family operation and all they do is make pizza and send it out to whoever orders a pizza. Another business in town, Lucy's Flowers, is much more diversified, with staff associated with customer service, finance, and administration. The representatives from Bob's Pizza realize that they should get paid for their product, but they recognize that they do not have the staff or the knowledge to integrate an accounts receivable (or payable) program.
Bob's Pizza approaches Lucy's Flowers and proposes that, since Lucy's has the staff and programs in place, perhaps Bob can pay Lucy to print invoices, mail the invoices, collect the invoices, process his payroll, respond to customer comments and complaints, and handle investments and debt. Since Lucy also provides office space to her employees who will now also perform operations for Bob, she also charges Bob a portion of her rent and other office expenses. Would it make any business sense for Lucy to absorb the costs of Bob's operations that she is performing on his behalf? By charging Bob for a portion of her expenses, Lucy is able to reduce her own costs and utilize those savings for other projects and programs to improve her business.
Bob and Lucy's hypothetical relationship is the same as the actual relationship between the Water Fund (Bob) and the City's General Fund (Lucy). If no wages or other related costs for City Hall personnel are to be paid from the Water Fund, who will print the monthly bills, who will mail those bills to residents, who will collect payment, at which facility will residents submit payment, and who will process the employee payroll? The two employees solely employed at the water treatment plant (and paid solely through the Water Fund) are specialized technicians, not general administrative personnel as are the staff at City Hall. The staff at City Hall performs critical tasks associated with the City's water system, and based upon demonstrated and accepted government accounting principals, should receive a portion of their wages and benefits from the Water Fund. Other City funds function in the same manner: Sewer Fund, Major Street Fund, and Local Street Fund.
Bob's Pizza (and the Water Fund) have other costs in addition to labor: debt service (the bond costs for the construction of facilities) and operational costs (utilities, supplies, permits, testing, etc.). All of those costs have to be covered by revenues for the business to remain viable. Otherwise, the business will fail (but Bob- and the City- would still be liable for repaying any debt, without a revenue source).
If you have any questions, please contact me.
Departments - City Manager
| | Manager Musings- Jan. 11Happy snowy Monday! I actually like Mondays. Working for the City is a wonderfully consuming job: I spend more hours awake with the staff and residents than I do with my own family. Even though I do not live in Davison, I think "Davison" constantly. When I'm not here, I've got no one from Davison to bounce the ideas and concepts off of, and, to be successful, I need to do a lot of "bouncing." We are confronting a series of challenges (most notably, the budget), but at the same time, plenty of opportunities may be available. Those opportunities gain momentum and the weekend, in my mind, stalls that momentum. It's not all the time that the weekends are interruptive, but I believe that this year will be a good year for the Davison community and I want to keep things moving. My mind doesn't stop working when I leave work on Friday. Some of the staff and I continue to have conversations throughout the weekend as things cross our minds. I enjoy the creativity, and while at home, my mind races through community projects, big and small. I can't wait to get back to City Hall and get things moving again.
Have a great Monday- I know that I will. Drive safely in the snow.
Departments - City Manager
| | Davison Facebook Page The City has recently made an effort to stay connected with so many of the area (and elsewhere) residents with a new Facebook page. Although much of the same information is duplicated here, the Facebook page offers an opportunity to discuss and promote your hometown community. Come visit us (and the over 1000 fans already!) and join the discussion at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davison-MI/City-of-Davison-Michigan/163146353929?ref=mf
Departments - City Manager
| | U.S. Census As required by the U.S. Constitution, the federal government will conduct the census this year. Since our community's federal representation and financial assistance depends so heavily upon our population, it is critical that everyone respond to the census survey. Unlike the last census in 2000, this year's census does not have a 'long-form' and a 'short-form': the only form is a simple ten-question survey and should take a matter of minutes to complete. Only basic demographic data is asked- no questions on the census seek personal information such as Social Security numbers, education, occupation. The previous long-form has been replaced by a random monthly survey entitled the "American Commuity Survey" (which you may receive in addition to the census and at any time, but the two surveys are distinct from each other). For more information related to the census, please visit the Census home page at http://2010.census.gov/2010census/.
Applications to work in the Davison community as a census taker are available at City Hall. The Census works diligently to have local people work within each community to take advantage of their local knowledge.
The census forms will be mailed in March, 2010, with April 1, 2010, declared as Census Day. Complete and return your forms as soon as possible and encourage your neighbors to return their forms, too.
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