City receiving $5,452 more for Dial-a-Ride
Published 9:47 am Tuesday, April 13, 2010
By JOHN EBY
Dowagiac Daily News
A resolution on Monday’s Dowagiac City Council agenda approved a project authorization under the 2007-2011 master agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) relating to the fiscal year 2010 operating grant for Dial-A-Ride (DART).
The project authorization is for additional Section 5311 operating funding of 2.5 percent of eligible expenses, according to Assistant City Manager Rozanne Scherr.
This additional one-time funding is made available through provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Under terms of this project authorization, federal operating assistance funds for fiscal year 2010 will be increased by $5,452.
Council members authorize Scherr to enter into and execute on behalf of the city future project authorizations related to passenger transportation.
Light up the depot
Station master Ron Leatz announced that the Dowagiac depot will be participating in National Train Day May 8 with an open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
It starts an hour earlier than other participants because “we have three trains that come in the morning between 10 and 11.”
“This is about having people in Dowagiac come to their train station,” Leatz said.
Dowagiac is officially seeking donations to “Light Up the Depot” for the holidays.
A thousand contribution envelopes have been printed courtesy of Wolverine Mutual Insurance Co. that can be dropped off at City Hall, deposited in the city box in Zarry’s Alley between Huntington Bank and Dowagiac District Library or mailed to P.O. Box 430, Dowagiac, MI 49047-0430.
“Niles did it, but there was a movie filmed at their train station,” Leatz said. “That production company put the lights on the station. Niles has no maintenance and about 50 percent of them are burned out. It’s not intended for businesses. The economy’s not great. We don’t need to hit up businesses with another, ‘We need some money,’ ” but individual contributions.
“The sculpture that will be dedicated at the hospital (Tuck Langland’s third, On with Life, the city’s 12th) is right in front of the emergency door,” said Third Ward Councilman Dr. Charles Burling, who is sponsoring it in memory of his Aunt Millie.
To accommodate a meal after the dedication on the opening day of the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, the enclosure will be set up in adjacent Farr Park.
“If you congregate out there,” the dentist explained, “you’re in the way of traffic going in. And it would be pretty tough to hold a luncheon if a helicopter came in. The suggestion was to use the corner of the park toward the hospital. Not only the visitors would be safe, but also patients coming into or leaving the hospital.”
Burling chairs the hospital board.
Cheetahs back on the run today
Department of Public Services Director Christopher Bolt told City Council last night that, weather permitting, Rosetta’s three Cheetahs on the Run will be returned to their knoll along the railroad tracks today after being fortified in Colorado and spending the rest of the winter in local storage.
“It will be a glorious day,” Bolt said. “Our crews will be getting those three friends back in place.”
“They’ve been greatly missed,” offered Mayor Pro Tem Leon Laylin. “A number of comments have been made, such as, ‘Did we really send them to Africa for the winter?’ All kinds of statements have been made, so I’m sure an awful lot of people are looking forward to having them back.”
Lions Club White Cane April 29-May 1
The council approved Dowagiac Lions Club’s annual request to observe White Cane Week April 29-30 and May 1 with a fund drive for vision projects.