ESCANABA — A new non-profit spearheaded by an Escanaba City Council member was granted city funding Thursday.

Council Member Karen Moore, who also serves as the president of the Delta County Master Gardener Association, stepped away from her seat at the council tables and took to the podium to explain how the new organization would continue to fill roles formerly filled by the Master Gardners.

“Our group is small with aging members and Michigan State has put too many restrictions on us. So, Enhance Escanaba was my idea to continue beautification efforts,” said Moore.

The Master Gardners have contributed to a variety of beautification projects in the city, including the hanging baskets on Ludington Street during the summer months and the garden on the Stephenson Avenue round about, which Moore designed.

“The city has supported us in the past by watering the hanging baskets. I asked for monetary support for this group, and it was graciously put in the current budget. I thank the city manger and the city council for supporting my efforts,” said Moore.

Under the agreement, the city will provide Enhance Escanaba with $5,000 during the current fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. In exchange, the group will initiate, design, promote and fund beautification projects in public, private, and historical places throughout the city. City Manager Patrick Jordan will approve projects before they begin, and Moore will provide an annual report to the council on how funds were spent.

In all projects, the city will be acknowledged as a participant.

“Our next project will be to replace the trees on Ludington with smaller, flowering varieties that flower at different times for continued interest. We will use the city grant partially for matching funds for three tree grants we will be applying for,” said Moore, who added the group also intended to address weeds on Ludington Street.

Future projects will be determined by the board of directors, which will consider public input in its decision-making process.

In other business the council:

— Held second readings, public hearings and adopted two ordinances. The first removed a maximum height for canopies on buildings, and the second modified the zoning for E-3 commercial, which only exists along portions of Ludington Street, to allow for new varieties of housing, such as townhouses, to be considered special land uses within the zoning area. Special land uses require planning commission approval and a permit.

The changes also renamed the zoning designation from “Central Commercial Retail District” to simply “Central Commercial District” and modified language related to permitted business types to be more broad.

A third ordinance was also introduced

Thursday, which, if approved, will eliminate the requirements for off-street parking in the E-3 district as well as for commercial businesses in other areas of the city.

— Approved a resolution to allow the city manager and city engineer to sign a contract between the city and the Michigan Department of Transportation for the North City Limits Non-Motorized Pathway. The council also approved awarding a bid to Payne & Dolan in the amount of $867,092.05 for paving of the pathway.

— Approved the purchase of three vehicles: a 2021 4-wheel drive Silverado for the water department, a 2021 Ram 5500 with a dump box for the water department, and a Ford F-250 for the electric department. Funds for the electric department truck were budgeted for the expense. The water department trucks were not budgeted items, but the water department has the funds to purchase the two trucks.

The water department Silverado will be purchased from Riverside Chevrolet Buick GMC of Escanaba at a cost not to exceed $30,000 and the Ram will be purchased from LaFontaine CDJR-Lansing of Lansing for a cost not to exceed $62,000. The electric department truck will come from Riverside Ford of Escanaba for a total cost of $32,788, which is under budget.

— Approved the hire and retention of Pearson Asbestos Abatement of Escanaba for removal of asbestos at the wastewater plant for an amount not to exceed $18,000.

— Approved hiring and retaining C2AE of Escanaba for the first phase engineering plans for a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund lead service line replacement project, for an amount not to exceed $129,100. Total engineering for the project, should the city accept the DWRF loan, would be approximately $754,400.

The city also approved hiring C2AE for phase one engineering for the water treatment plant improvement project at a cost not to exceed $196,000. The city is also seeking a DWRF loan for the project. If the city accepts the loan, the total engineering for the the project would cost approximately $735,200.

— Approved entering into a contract with Tantalus Systems for advanced metering infrastructure. The cost for the infrastructure, which would allow meters to be read remotely for both water and electric, would be split between the two departments. The city approved the electric department entering into the agreement for an amount not to exceed $800,000, and approved the water department making a previously-unbudgeted payment of $63,540.92 to cover half of the base infrastructure for the project.

— Heard a presentation from Alan Higgins of the State Historic Preservation Office on an ongoing historic survey fo the Ogden Triangle area. The results of the survey are expected to be presented in early winter of 2022.