Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

Council to recognize academy graduates

November 19, 2002

East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows, Councilmember Beverly Baten and 20 other East Lansing residents will be recognized today for spending 50 hours performing traffic stops, shooting firearms and driving police cars.

Graduates of the East Lansing Citizens' Police Academy will tell stories from the 11-week session at 7:30 p.m. during the city council meeting in City Hall, 410 Abbott Road.

Baten graduated from the academy Wednesday and said she's gained a better understanding of the issues police officers deal with.

"It's been so informative," she said. "It's a great thing we offer to the community."

The council will also discuss how to test the benefits of all-trades inspections on city housing. East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said a normal inspection sends in one general inspector to scrutinize an array of regulations such as electrical, plumbing and heating. All-trades inspections send many specialty inspectors to the same house.

The council discussed switching from all-trades to general inspections at previous meetings and tonight will consider evaluating the different inspections by paying for 25 all-trades inspections on houses that have recently undergone general inspections.

There is debate on what the appropriate number of testing sites would be, Staton said.

"They want to decide on a number that would make them comfortable," he said. "I still don't think they've come to an agreement."

Councilmember Vic Loomis recommended the 25-house sample size to obtain quick results.

"Let's get it started and take a look at what we have and then make a decision on if we need to expand it," he said. "Let's see what it tells us, and if we need to we can add 20, 40 or 60 more."

The council also will address issues in the Northern Tier, such as water and sewer rates as a result of a land-share agreement with Chandler Farms, and an amendment to allow hotels in conjunction with golf courses.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Council to recognize academy graduates” on social media.