Tuesday was a busy night for the East Lansing City Council.
City officials eliminated four positions in the police department, cut funding for buying library books and removed a managerial position from the finance department.
They also named the lead developer in the East Village overhaul project and passed the 2005-06 fiscal year budget.
The council approved the East Village Spartans LLC as the lead developer for the redevelopment.
The newly merged company consists of four construction entities - Ed Schaffran of Ann Arbor, Fred Gordon of Detroit, HDC Construction Co. of Novi and Owens Aimes Kimbel of Grand Rapids, according to Lori Mullins, senior project manager of the East Village project.
The East Village area, where several apartment complexes, rental homes and businesses in and around Cedar Village stand, could be torn down within a few years and replaced with new businesses, student housing, condominiums and parks.
But Councilmember Bill Sharp explained to residents and students during the meeting that naming the lead developer doesn't mean construction on the Cedar Village area will begin soon.
Mayor Mark Meadows said the developer is only able to explore ideas and create possible future plans for the area.
"There has to be some vitality for a property that size," he said. "We're just providing an opportunity for the developer to put together a plan."
Bob Jacobson of HDC Construction Co. said the group is a long way from beginning construction.
"All that has happened is that we were selected to work with the city and existing landlords to try and see if something can be done," he said. "We're going to take it one step at a time, and the first step is to simply introduce ourselves to the community and to listen to the community's desires."
The council also was expected to approve a resolution of understanding that the lead developer would have to abide by, but council members decided to deal with it at their next meeting.
The final item on the agenda was to approve the 2005-06 budget. Council members said they were pleased to do so, even though several cuts were made.
The police department will now be short two officers, a deputy police chief and a part-time jailer, and the finance department will have one less finance manager. The budget included a $50,000 cut from the library fund, but council members voted to lessen that by adding $33,200 to the library fund from other parts of the budget.
"We're trying to maintain basic services as best we can," said Finance Director Gary Murphy. "We tried to reduce services but not eliminate them."
Murphy said the city receives money from the state - called shared revenue - which is being reduced, and to help with the loss of state funds, the city has a reasonable amount of new construction in the northern part of the city.
"(It's) generating more property taxes, which is helping with the offset of the reductions in the state's revenue sharing," Murphy said.
But the council told those at the meeting that cuts will not result in city employee layoffs.
"This is a budget that reflects a shared sacrifice throughout the entire organization," said City Manager Ted Staton. "There were lots of cuts, but we still maintained the core of what services we provide for the citizens of East Lansing."
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for June 7.
