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MOUNT CLEMENS — The Mount Clemens City Commission did not meet for long on May 1, but they did approve the extension of an engineering contract. Commissioners also paid their respects to a departed member of the Mount Clemens civic community.
Mount Clemens currently contracts with the firm Anderson, Eckstein & Westrick Inc. for its engineering services, working with city officials to obtain grants for projects over the past 10 years. The firm recently approached the city with a five-year contract extension that amends the hourly rates with a 3.7% increase; AEW has not raised hourly rates over the life of its contract with the city.
“I am a big fan of AEW,” City Commissioner Laura Fournier said. “They’re more like part of the staff. They’re an important part of the city.”
Despite liking AEW, Fournier expressed concerns over the 3.7% rate increase.
“There was a guaranteed increase for five years,” Fournier said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in five years. A lot of things can happen ... but I will just note that you can end this contract at-will with notice, so that was my comfort that we could do something if we needed to.”
Commissioners unanimously approved the extension and amendment to the AEW contract.
Remembering Dolores DiCurzio-Gosciniak
Commissioners and members of the public alike remembered the life of Dolores DiCurzio-Gosciniak, a frequent actor in the civic life of Mount Clemens who Mayor Laura Kropp dubbed “the Real Mayor” of the city.
“Besides her engaging personality, Dolores was well known in Mount Clemens as an active citizen, election worker and historian,” Kropp said, reading a proclamation in DiCurzio-Gosciniak’s honor. “Dolores was a founding member of the Kendrick Neighborhood Watch Group and was considered its liaison with the city, often reporting to the City Commission on what was happening with the group.”
Members of the commission expressed sorrow at the death of DiCurzio-Gosciniak, sharing stories about encounters they had with her. Others also reflected on DiCurzio-Gosciniak, with Thomas Barnes of TCB Youth Mentoring using his public comment time to reflect on his encounters with her. While his first encounter with DiCurzio-Gosciniak ended with him subjected to a humorous diatribe about shower repairs, his second meeting during one of Kropp’s Coffee Talk events ended with a new understanding of her.
“It was at that point that I realized that, of the 15,000 people I live around in Mount Clemens, not many are as civically engaged as this older, spunky lady from Mount Clemens,” Barnes said.
DiCurzio-Gosciniak was born on Sept. 15, 1936, in Detroit and died on April 24, 2023.
April 24 special meeting
A special meeting of the city commission was held on Monday, April 24, to vote on an infrastructure loan.
The commission voted to apply for a $6 million Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan from the state of Michigan to pay for upgrades to the city’s wastewater treatment plant and other parts of the system before joining the Great Lakes Water Authority.
