Mount Clemens City Commission eyes $22 million bond

MOUNT CLEMENS — Commissioners made their plans clear regarding funding the city’s next major projects, approving the release of a notice of intent to raise $22 million through capital improvement bonds at the Oct. 6 meeting.

According to the text of the notice, the bond funds would be used for several infrastructure projects around the city. Projects related to the city’s water system were first to be mentioned in the notice with “stormwater system improvements, repairing and replacing water and sewer mains, replacing two sewer lift stations and constructing a bio-solids drying process” coming in as the projects mentioned by name. Major changes to 20 South Main — the new City Hall and fire station — made up the second leg of the projects, with the use of funds ranging from “furnishing, equipping (and) renovating” the facility to paying for the construction of an addition to the building and all subsequent improvements and demolitions needed to complete the project.

Though the notice itself does not mention the breakdown of funds between the projects, City Manager Gregg Shipman mentioned during the meeting that $7 million would be for the water and sewer improvements and that a $1.5 million “cushion” brought the total bond amount up to $22 million. The City Hall project, therefore, will be covered by at least $13.5 million of the full bond amount.

“You’d hate for your costs to increase and then have to pay for the publication of another notice to add that amount,” said Jeffrey Aronoff, a managing director at law firm Miller Canfield. “This (added $1.5 million) is just cushion.”

While commissioners unanimously backed the bond’s notice of intent, there is no obligation to pursue the bond any further at this moment. The notice of the bond gives city residents a referendum right; an election regarding the bond may be held if a petition is filed with the city clerk within 45 days of the official notice’s publication. If no petition is filed, the city may pursue the bond as it pleases.

 

Downtown maintenance assessment
City commissioners were split on approving the fiscal year 2025-26 special assessment for the downtown maintenance program. Commissioners Jill Yore and Barbara Dempsey voted against the assessment, which came with a 5-2 approval.

Yore and Dempsey argued on behalf of businesses within the assessment area, which had doubts about continuing the program in its current form due to increased overall costs, construction-related revenue decreases and questions about the bid frequency of the services contract.

“What I hear is that they are not sure what services they’re getting, and they don’t feel the services are of value. I’m just uncomfortable that we’ve really made the effort to hear from the businesses that this service is of value to them, and I’m uncomfortable voting to put this assessment in place and take money out of their pocket when there’s many things that have been rough for them this year” Yore said.

Shipman said the maintenance contract the assessment pays for has been awarded on three-year bids; the contract is currently in its third year, and the contractor is able to extend its current pricing into the extension year. Yore and Dempsey argued in favor of sending the contract out to bid in the attempt to get a lower price, which Shipman cautioned against since “if we go out to bid, then that extension price goes out the window most times.”

Commissioner Spencer Calhoun argued in favor of taking the extension year and using the time until the next assessment to look further into the research and come up with a plan for what to do with the assessment and services. Other changes discussed for the coming year included splitting the payment of the assessment from one bill to two bills and reducing the number of sweeping days in the downtown area. The contract would likely go out to bid in summer 2026.