A rail spur for Mennel Milling is not a dead issue, Mayor Don Lyons and City Manager Kevin Anderson said, despite “hitting a number of issues.”

“Mennel Milling is important for the long haul of providing jobs for the community,” Anderson said. “We have worked very closely with Mennel in the past and we’ve got some things going right now to see if we can get together a meeting of all interested parties to see if we can break the log jam. It’s a good project from a number of aspects. Amtrak has needs, and so does Mennel.”

Lyons added, “It would be pure speculation to say what might be done, but I think it’s fair to say there are some things that can be done to move that process along — sooner rather than later. It’s important.”

Electric ordinance given first reading

Last November the city lowered its electric rate structure for all customers.

At that time, the city also developed and implemented a graduated rate for large industrial users that, essentially, allowed for a volume discount.

Goal of this discount was to make sure Dowagiac’s rates for large users were more competitive in the marketplace as well as making sure that the city maintained necessary operating margins within its utilities.

“We have found that those goals are being met,” Anderson said. “This rate ordinance amendment extends the graduated scale to even larger users. The purpose of this is to encourage further investment in tooling and equipment within the city; maintain very competitive rates with other utilities for large users and enhance the operating margins of the utilities.”

When Premier restarts ICG, Anderson said, “It is going to be a very large electric customer that will increase our electric utility 18 to 20 percent. This adds several more steps based on volume. It’s been an interesting project to work through. The Brownfield Authority has been heavily involved in the redevelopment project to date, mainly because they are the environmental clean-up part of the city. This project has certain environmental issues. EPA came in in February and additional portions need to be taken care of now. To that end,” the resolution the council approved “calls for the city to provide the initial cash flow so that these projects can be completed. Adoption of this resolution will provide the funds to pay the initial bills, of which all will be reimbursed. Grant reimbursement typically takes about 60 days from the time of expenditure and the escrow draw-down should take approximately 15 days from the time of expenditure.”

The Brownfield Redevelopment Authority negotiated terms with the Michigan Department of Environ mental Quality for environmental cleanup grants of approximately $661,000 and escrowed funds with Premier Tool and Die for additional building improvements up to $150,000.

“This is a loan from the city to the Brownfield Authority,” Mayor Lyons explained.

In other business, Anderson wrote an explanation of four bills:

• AvFuel, $13,895.31 This purchase restocks fuel tanks at the airport. “We typically make one to two purchases of fuel during the course of the year, which are dependent upon actual use by pilots.

• McDonald Underground, $2,560; Vylonis Contracting, $4,380. These are for improvements to the ball fields at Rotary Park, which have been funded through a grant.

• Northern Construction Service Corp., $129,139.50. These are costs incurred on the Wolf Street utility and road reconstruction project. “Most of these funds will be reimbursed through the ICE grant program. We will soon see costs for the Solomon Street project come through in a similar manner.”

• Village of Cassopolis, $9,178.01. This amount represents the outstanding Penn Township utility bills for which the village is entitled under its contract with the Cass County Water System (CCWS). “Pursuant to our contract with the CCWS, we will collect all of these funds through the regular utility billing system via customer payments or by Penn Township special assessments at the end of the year. In the end, the City of Dowagiac will be made whole for the entire cost of this utility billing reconciliation.”

Council directed Anderson and City Treasurer Robin Coffey to pay out $441,358.85, including $228,097.09 for b ills and $213,261.76 for payroll.