GLADSTONE — The Gladstone City Commission gave permission for the Public Works Department to apply for a $550,000 loan through the State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) to assist with work that is due to begin this spring for the replacement of sanitary sewer lines.

The project is required by the state. As part of an administrative consent order five years ago, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) ordered a survey to be done of the wastewater collection system, and firm C2AE carried out the survey and developed a plan after EGLE deemed the city’s old pipes “overburdened.”

Funding much of the work is made possible through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program that provides financing to communities for a wide range of water quality infrastructure projects. But not all of the associated work that needs to be completed technically falls within CWSRF coverage.

In Gladstone, part of the system to be replaced imminently lies underneath Minnesota and Michigan Avenues from Fifth Street to 11th Street.

“They’re going to dig up the south side to put new sanitary sewer in,” said Public Works Superintendent Barry Lund, who presented the request to City Commission on Monday. “The (CWSRF) loan that the wastewater plant got will pay for the replacement of the south side of the street; the north side, they won’t. So we have to come up with cost.”

In prior years, road work was funded in part by property owners on the street in question through public assessment taxes, but citizens removed the city’s ability to levy those assessments during the November 2024 election.

Ripping up and repaving only half the street isn’t really an option, so street funds will have to cover the cost of the portion EGLE deems unnecessary for the sewer replacement — the north side of Michigan and Minnesota Avenues.

Other parts of town that will be subject to the sanitary system improvements are on North 17th Street, Third Avenue North, West Superior Avenue, Delta Avenue and Minneapolis Avenue. The total cost of the project will be about $5.1 million.

Estimates for the cost of the work that will fall to the responsibility of Gladstone’s local and major street funds is $440,740. To be on the safe side in case it ends up costing more, Lund proposed asking SIB for $550,000.

Based on a 3% interest rate, repayment would be $64,500 annually over 10 years.

In other business at the Gladstone City Commission’s regular meeting of Monday, Jan. 26:

– City Commission rules of procedure were reviewed, as is common after an election. There were two points raised: one, Clerk Kim Berry wants to clean up the language around organizational business but s waiting for action by the State of Michigan to clarify; and two, Commissioner Whitney Maloney noted that the rules state the commissioners should elect the mayor by paper ballot, which has not been being done. The latter point will be checked against the city charter and with the city attorney if needed. This item was tabled and will again be reviewed at a later date.

– Howard Haulotte, Jason Lippens and Jody Pontius were all reappointed to the Gladstone Board of Review. Their two-year terms will expire in January 2028.

– The commission approved the extension of the work deadline for a facade grant recipient. The Downtown Development Authority-funded facade grant program, which incentivizes businesses to improve their visible exterior, requires that the work be done within a 12-month period in order to secure the money from the DDA. In this case, the contracted work at Gladstone Eye Care at 20 S. 10th St. is a little behind schedule, so a two-month extension was granted. The project now has a completion deadline of March 31.

– A grant application for the DDA and Parks & Recreation Department through the Michigan Arts and Culture Council was approved. They are requesting a maximum of $42,450, which would require a $10,613 match. The money would potentially be used for music programming — bands hired throughout the city for events like Downtown Day, the Fourth of July, and the farmers’ market — as well as for the train-themed park “The Depot” proposed for 701 Delta Ave.