By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac City Council Tuesday awarded an $18,730 contract to Rich Ausra Excavating of Dowagiac to remove two railroad crossings and to restore at-grade crossings at E. Railroad and E. Telegraph streets.
Ausra submitted the low of five bids which ranged up to $37,850.
The project was estimated to cost $24,025.
The project involves removal of the spurs and repair of concrete and asphalt damaged as a result.
The state agreed to provide grant funding for estimated project costs of $9,330 for E. Telegraph and $14,695 for E. Railroad.
Council members approved contracts for Michigan Department of Transportation grant funding on March 24.
City Manager William H. Nelson Jr. recommended accepting the bid because "this company has performed well in other projects for the city," including the "nice job" at present on fortifying the Beckwith Park site and re-installing inscribed bricks which form a pathway around the Haggin-Wimberley bandstand.
Computer support
In other May 27 business, council awarded a $7,400 block time computer support contract to Priority Computer Services Inc. of South Bend, Ind.
The agreement includes an annual $1,200 retainer for service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and 100 hours of service at $62 an hour, or $6,200.
City hosts MML
Dowagiac on Wednesday hosted the Michigan Municipal League's Region II annual meeting in the Mathews Conference Center at Southwestern Michigan College.
Relay for Life
City employees raised $526 for this month's American Cancer Society Relay for Life.
Click It or Ticket
The Dowagiac Police Department is participating in the statewide "Click It or Ticket" seatbelt campaign.
During the first week of the two-week campaign officers issued 33 citations for seatbelt violations, made one drunk driving arrests and wrote two open container citations.
FEMA training
Five city department heads have been accepted to attend December's "All Hazards Preparedness and Response" course sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Jim Bradford, Sandy Gower, Don Hallowell, Dave Pilot and Rozanne Scherr will be traveling to Emmitsburg, Md., for the program previously completed by Mayor Don Lyons, Police Chief Tom Atkinson, Fire Chief Harold Munson and City Manager Bill Nelson attended last year.
All travel and training expenses, with the exception of a meal ticket, are reimbursed by FEMA.
City officials are planning a "tabletop" emergency management exercise for Friday, May 30.
Housing incentives
The Housing Incentive Commission recently awarded nine grants totaling $2,850.
Projects include complete home residing and painting, porch repair and re-roofing.
To date, $8,450 has been awarded to 30 Dowagiac properties from this fiscal year's $10,000 appropriation, leaving $1,550 to spend by Sept. 30.
Reel collectors welcomed
Council adopted a proclamation welcoming the national convention of the Old Reel Collector's Association in Dowagiac May 28-31.
The association's show will take place at Mayor Lyons' Heddon Museum in the bait manufacturer's former manufacturing site.
It emphasizes preservation, evaluation and collecting old fishing tackle, especially old reels.
Special assessments
Council adopted two resolutions pertaining to levying special assessments on a number of city properties, including four pages of assessments for mowing private lots that do not comply with the blight ordinance and a page of assessments for private properties which did not comply with the blight or boarded structures ordinance and were either cleaned up, boarded or demolished.
Council authorized Finance Director Dave Pilot to pay out $664,950.99, including bills totaling $429,324.11 and payroll of $235,626.88. Councilman Leon Laylin abstained from the vote on paying $1,163.90 due to Laylin Welding.