“It’s very troubling to me in terms of how that happened, and I think we need to have a real serious understanding of how (it did),” Councilmember Don Power said. “For the future, let’s think before we shoot.”

East Lansing resident Alice Dreger spoke in opposition of the fifth floor, expressing displeasure with the building process despite the project’s potential for positive impact in the downtown area.

“We need development downtown,” Dreger said. “We need development of a sustainable variety and this looks like development of a sustainable variety. It looks like the kind of thing we need downtown. But we have to admit this has gone all wrong.”

City Manager George Lahanas said the city currently is seeking authorization from the city attorney’s office to issue citations to the parties involved in the improper construction. He also addressed council’s concern that the building was not structurally sound, an issue brought to light when a portion of the fourth floor collapsed under the weight of construction materials on June 18.

Lahanas said after the collapse, the city has taken considerable steps to ensure the building’s construction to make sure it’s being constructed in a safe manner. As part of that process the city requested the building owner ask their engineers to provide a full review of the project, outlining potential hazards in construction. A second report received by the city Tuesday indicated those hazards had been addressed.

Those reports were reviewed by the city’s internal building inspector, along with a site visit Tuesday afternoon. Lahanas added city staff will engage an independent firm to do a full structural review of the building to satisfy that the building is safe.

“With all those steps, we believe we have addressed council and the public’s lingering concerns that the building is safe,” he said.

Power moved to table any vote on the matter until July 24, which passed with a 3-0 vote. Councilmember Vic Loomis was not in attendance during the meeting and Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett abstained from voting.

Power said after the meeting that delaying the decision would punish the developer, Kris Elliot, but it was still possible the building could be completed for tenants to begin moving in for the fall.

Council also unanimously approved a policy resolution which would allow food trucks to move into the downtown area with a concessionaires license.

Under the resolution, two food trucks may operate in the downtown area along Albert Avenue between Division and Charles Streets, a location chosen by the Downtown Development Authority, or DDA, due to its distance from the entryways of local restaurants. The resolution is one that will be reevaluated each year, something Triplett approved of when he cast his vote.

“For all intents and purposes, what’s proposed here is a pilot project,” Triplett said. “It’s required to be reviewed on an annual basis, and even if council were to allow it to continue forward into the future, each individual application has to be reviewed on an annual basis. So we’re not only given an opportunity to look at the proposal, but also at each vendor, so if there is an issue with an individual, it can be taken care of.”

The issue of food trucks in East Lansing is one that has been visited many times in the past, and as part of the reviewing process the city reached out to a number of businesses in the downtown area to gauge their response. That response was mostly negative, but Community and Economic Development Administrator Lori Mullins said the DDA felt the potential benefits outweighed the negatives.

One concern local restaurants had was the cost food trucks would pay to park in the downtown area. Vendors will have to pay an $1,800 fee to obtain a concessionaires license, which some restaurants felt was extremely low when compared to property taxes paid by brick and mortar establishments.

However, the cost of a license was estimated to be more than five times what a restaurant would pay in taxes for the same 40 square foot location.

“I think we have an equitable permit fee process that takes into account some of the complaints that have been aired and I think our downtown restaurants will continue to compete with these mobile vendors,” Councilmember Kevin Beard said.