R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Gary Vollmar, CEO of AMI Industries, Inc., speaks to the Gladstone City Commission about the Lewiston-based business’s plans to expand in the DelFab building on Gladstone’s North 12th Street.

GLADSTONE –AMI Industries is poised to bring its business to Gladstone and operate out of the DelFab building after Monday’s vote by the Gladstone City Commission approved the formation of a district to temporarily waive ad valorem taxes on the property while the building is refurbished to suit the needs of the soon-to-be inhabitants.

However, it was discovered after the meeting that the wrong sort of district was mistakenly applied. There are two types that allow a property to apply for an Industrial Facilities Exemption (IFE) certificate — one, the Industrial Development District (IDD), is for new builds, while the Plant Rehabilitation District (PRD) is for rehabilitation of existing facilities. The city approved the formation of the former when the latter is what applies to the situation.

AMI — short for Aggressive Manufacturing Innovations — is a manufacturer of automotive parts. In order to bring the site at 103 N. 12th St. up to their standards to allow for both precise production and a visually appealing exterior, they aim to thoroughly clean the building inside and out, reface, paint and more, said CEO Gary Vollmar. All amount to an estimated cost of about $650,000 worth of upgrades to the facility.

The Daily Press published an article on June 26 about the company’s desire to move to Gladstone, AMI’s request for a special district and the estimation of 40 to 55 new jobs. During this week’s Gladstone City Commission meeting of July 28, Vollmar spoke to more thoroughly explain what the company does and what they hope for in Gladstone.

AMI is in the process of purchasing the entire property from DelFab. Once the deal is finalized, the plan is for the building to be divided roughly into thirds. DelFab would be a tenant; AMI would utilize a second portion for the sort of production they are already doing down in Lewiston; and in the third they would begin a new arm of their business, to be called Gladstone Braze and Power Coat LLC.

Commissioner Steve O’Driscoll asked whether Vollmar thought there was great potential for success or if the future business was only forecasted.

“Some of it is a little bit ‘if-come,’ but most of it, we either do today or we have new orders,” Vollmar said, and mentioned that some of their existing customers are Volvo, Daimler Truck, and Ford Motor Company.

“The company… believes there is significant growth driven by tariffs, localization of production (and) NATO defense spending increases, to name a few,” read a report that was presented to the commission.

Vollmar said that he believes Gladstone, Escanaba and the surrounding areas may provide the workforce that AMI and Gladstone Braze and Power Coat will require; they have been having trouble securing labor in other small towns. AMI is based out of downstate Lewiston, which had a population of 996 in 2020, and also has facilities in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

There are geographic benefits to a Delta County location, too.

“The other thing we like here is some of our bigger customers — Oshkosh Defense, Mercury Marine, Polaris, you know — are in Wisconsin, Minnesota … so the access to the customer base excites us also,” Vollmar said.

The commissioners present (Judy Akkala was excused) voted unanimously to establish the IDD after a public hearing on the matter, during which Vollmar was the only speaker.

It wasn’t until Tuesday morning that the Press realized the error — that a PRD, which will require the city assessor to evaluate the property and determine that 50% is obsolete — is what the property needs for the tax exemption, not an IDD. The city is in communication with their attorney to see what needs to be done to correct the error.

Should the PRD be applied and IFE issued, it would then be up to the city commission to determine how long the property would be free from ad valorem taxes. It could be between one and 12 years. The city currently brings in about $27,000 from that address annually.

In other business at Monday’s meeting:

– The city adopted an ordinance to take out bonds of up to $8.2 million through the State’s Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF) for wastewater collection system improvements.

– Parker Grzybowski, co-ower of D&D Dog Dynamics, was appointed to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to complete a term that ends in May 2026. City staff was excited about his enthusiasm and his role with the Gladstone Berry Farm.

– The commission permitted the purchase of a Lemur 2 drone by the Public Safety department. After seeking donations, Officer Leif Sjoquist has already reportedly raised more than the amount needed. The $23,000 collected will cover the $17,000 drone, and the surplus will allow for maintenance costs for both the new drone and the department’s existing one.

– The city renewed an agreement with School Resource Officer Mallory Nelson.

– Steve O’Driscoll was selected to be Gladstone’s delegate to attend the Michigan Municipal League annual convention in Grand Rapids in September.

– Bills of $7.147 to Rural Electric Supply Cooperative and $14,956 to PE were approved for payment.