The organizational meeting at 6 p.m. featured the swearing-in of Commissioner Whitney Maloney, who comes to the commission for the first time as a replacement for Robert Pontius, and returning Commissioners Steve O’Driscoll and Joe Thompson. Their four-year terms expire in November 2029. The three will serve alongside seated Commissioners Judy Akkala and Brad Mantela.

In unanimous decisions, Joe Thompson was again appointed as mayor, and Brad Mantela earned the role of mayor pro-tem. However, Mantela was not present Monday, having been excused, so he will be sworn in at the next meeting.

During the regular meeting that followed, the commission heard about the DDA’s intention to apply for a grant through America250MI, a program established in 2020 by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to “encourage, advance, and foster the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution’s role in Michigan’s history, and the impact these, and other historic events had on the people of Michigan’s past, present, and future.”

There’s a small plot of land — 56 by 140 feet — at the corner of Delta Avenue and Seventh Street, next to the former DeHooghe & Viau Plumbing and Heating, that the city would like to transform.

From left, Whitney Maloney, Steve O'Driscoll and Joe Thompson are sworn in to begin four-year terms on Gladstone City Commission. Seated are Commissioner Judy Akkala and City Manager Eric Buckman, who is retiring from the position at the end of the year. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

“The DDA for a while has been looking at that little pocket park at 701 Delta Avenue, and just trying to think through ways that we might be able to invest in that block a little bit more,” DDA Director Patricia West said.

Since Gladstone’s history is tied to the Soo Line Railroad, the DDA thought a railroad-themed park could be a nice homage to the city’s origins. Items to include in the plan would be a pavilion, picnic tables, hook-ups for food trucks, a fence and a play area.

“We thought about making the pavilion look more like a (train) depot, and then including a locomotive playground set down there, too,” West said.

The DDA plans to pursue the highest tier of the grant, which could provide $25,001 to $50,000 through America250MI and would require at least a 30% match from the city, which would be $7,500 to $15,000.

But even if the Gladstone DDA is not awarded the grant, the DDA still aims to pursue this project — it would just take longer, West explained.

The commission approved the grant application. The city will find out whether it is approved in the first half of March.

This is the second round of grants through America250MI; the first awarded just short of $1 million to 54 organizations in the state.

In other business, the commission Monday:

– Approved buying granular activated carbon for the water treatment plant. The material has been used in the filters since 2016 and requires periodic exchange. The city will pay Calgon Carbon $110,700 for both virgin and custom municipal reactivated carbon. The price includes the delivery and exchange services.

– Authorized buying a new check valve assembly and actuators for the drinking water treatment plant from Dorner Company out of Sussex, Wis., for not more than $23,496. An old actuator on the north filter influent piping no longer works and is operated manually; several parts of the north valve assembly will be replaced. In October, the south filter influent valve actuator failed. Dorner will replace the electric valve actuator and check valve assembly on the north filter effluent piping and the actuator on the south filter influent valve. While they also provided a price for purchasing said valve from them, Dorner recommended hiring Northern Machine to remove and replace the south filter influent valve.

– Learned $142,124 will have to be expended on non-motorized transport over the next three years to make up for non-compliance of funding attribution. According to Public Act 51 of 1951, municipalities that receive money from the Michigan Transportation Fund must spend an average of 1% on non-motorized pathways. The recent project to redo Ninth Street was tracked in the capital projects fund, which therefore prevented it from being recorded as non-motorized in the street funds. The state caught the issue, but as long as the city spends the required funding in the next few years there will be no penalty.

– Adopted Gladstone City Commission meeting dates for 2026. There are two regular meetings each month, at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at City Hall, 1100 Delta Ave. They are open to the public.

This was the commission’s final meeting of 2025, as the Dec. 22 session was cancelled due to its proximity to Christmas.

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R. R. Branstrom can be reached at 906-786-2021, ext. 140, or rbranstrom@dailypress.net.