“People will accept furlough days or other concessions no matter what department they work in because we’re all equally challenged,” East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said of the city’s financial situation.

All budgets in Tuesday’s presentation will endure at least a 5 percent cut, Sneathen said.

Sneathen proposed raising the sewage rate by 4.5 percent, which would add about $3.80 per quarter to East Lansing residents’ bills. The move would generate $100,000 for the city. The water rate, however, will remain the same.

He also said the major and local street funds will exercise more restraint to cut costs and that only essential projects and maintenance will occur. Sneathen said material costs have risen 40 percent in the past five years and gas and weight tax revenue — which is a large contributor to the major and local street funds — has declined regularly.

Sneathen said the city is assuming gas and weight tax revenue will remain the same and called it “not the best assumption” considering such revenues have declined about 3 percent each of the past several years.

Still, funding from outside sources could allow projects and maintenance to continue at a greater pace. The city sold $1.5 million in transportation bonds and it will perform road and sidewalk work in the Bailey Neighborhood through a community development block grant.

Avondale Square project could progress

Staton said the city might soon have a plan to acquire the final piece of the 30-home Avondale Square development located on the 600 block of Virginia Avenue.

The city issued a resolution of necessity in February to obtain a 20-foot alley that would create a two-way street connecting northbound Snyder Road to eastbound Virginia Avenue.

The resolution was the first step of the state condemnation process, which signifies the property is necessary for the public good. The city must then offer fair compensation for the property, which can be denied by the property owner and then head to litigation.

“I would hope in the next seven to 10 days we will be able to announce a plan to council that we will use to acquire the last property,” Staton said.

Methane gas extraction project discussed

City Council received a recommendation from the department of public works to use Golder Associates, which has a Lansing office, to install a methane gas extraction system at Burcham Park.

The project would involve 8,000 feet of underground piping and would include one or two 14-foot spark flares. The city allotted $500,000 for the project, but it would cost about $396,000 based on an estimate by Golder Associates.

Burcham Park, which was a city landfill in the 1950s and 1960s, experienced methane levels above state criteria resulting from the anaerobic decomposition of refuse, said city environmental specialist Dave Smith. Although the concentration levels are too low to sell