In the midst of Tuesday’s East Lansing City Council work session items, one bullet point on this week’s agenda stuck out among the others: the discussion regarding submitting a proposal to the MSU Museum to lease the nearly century-old Crystal carousel within the city.
Since 1995, the city of East Lansing has been reaching out to residents, both permanent and student alike, through a survey to gauge their overall happiness with city government and services. While each year the question set tends to be similar, this year a question was added to the mix that has never appeared on the survey before: How satisfied are you with the transparency of the city government? “In general, (transparency ensures) that the procedure of government and the decision making (are) viewable for the public so the public can see the actions and activities that go on, so they can understand them,” assistant to the city manager Megan McFarland said.
In a chamber packed with residents, the East Lansing City Council fielded a multitude of concerns regarding DTN’s request to allow rezoning for their Garten Haus property, located at the intersection of Gunson and Beech streets, which was unanimously denied by council at Tuesday night’s lengthy council meeting.
Looking at the current Garten Haus development at the intersection of Gunson and Beech streets, East Lansing resident Sheila Miller sighed at the thought of changes made to the quaint, cottage-style homes that are there now.
East Lansing City Council members had the opportunity to discuss the possible Red Cedar Golf Course and Michigan Avenue redevelopment at their work session Tuesday night. The Capital Gateway Project, in its entirety, involves complete redevelopment of about 70 acres along the Michigan Avenue corridor to solve water pollution issues in the area, as well as offer housing and entertainment options for students.
When Don Power vacated his seat on council on Aug. 22, newly appointed East Lansing City councilmember Kathleen Boyle saw it as her opportunity to escalate her already-prominent involvement with the city of East Lansing.
The East Lansing City Council unanimously appointed Kathleen Corkin Boyle to fill the council’s vacant seat during its meeting Tuesday night at the Union. After former Councilmember Don Power left his position Aug. 22, the council had 30 days, as outlined in the city charter, to choose a fifth member to take his place.
Tall hedges and decades of time separate Robert Anderson from the unfamiliar neighbors next door. The other has discarded cigarette boxes and forgotten Solo cups. Except for the occasional nighttime noise complaint, the two parties do not interact.
The drama and controversy the St. Anne Lofts has experienced throughout its construction, which began last October, continued at Tuesday night’s East Lansing City Council meeting, when city officials debated whether the structure would be safe enough for residents to occupy.
The East Lansing City Council must select a replacement for departing council member Don Power by Sept. 21 following a unanimous vote at a council meeting Tuesday night.
Councilmember Don Power submitted a letter of resignation to the city of East Lansing yesterday afternoon, according to a report from the Lansing State Journal.
Some of the finishing touches are starting to be put on the residential portion of the St. Anne Luxury Lofts project in downtown East Lansing this week.
After two years of communication with the East Lansing City Council, FarmHouse Fraternity’s application for a special-use permit to expand its fraternity house, 151 Bogue St., was approved at Wednesday’s meeting.
East Lansing City Council has a loaded docket for its work session scheduled for 7 p.m. today at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road. Among a number of items, council will discuss moving forward with the now defunct City Center II project and possibly take action on a special use permit which would allow for the completion of a fifth floor on the St. Anne’s Loft projects.
A vote to approve a modified site plan for the St. Anne Lofts project was put off until July 24 by East Lansing City Council during its bi-weekly meeting at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road, Tuesday night. Council also unanimously approved a policy resolution which would allow food trucks to move into the downtown area with a concessionaires license.
Continuing a debate that has been ongoing for over a month, East Lansing City Council will discuss the unauthorized construction of a fifth floor at the St. Anne Lofts project during its scheduled meeting Tuesday night.
During its bi-weekly work session, East Lansing City Council discussed how to move forward in dealing with the unauthorized fifth floor being built as part of the St. Anne Lofts project. Infinity Companies, LLC originally was approved to build a four-floor mixed use building at 213 Ann St., but city officials recently noticed the developer had begun construction on a fifth floor without approval. When the discrepancy was brought to the developer’s attention, the city then received a request for approval of the fifth floor.
East Lansing City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night not to enter into a development agreement with Strathmore Development Co. concerning City Center II. Planning and Community Development Director Tim Dempsey presented the completed due diligence report to council during a special meeting, after which he recommended that the project was not economically feasible for the city to take on at this time.
Tuesday night will be a busy one for East Lansing City Council as members prepare to discuss the completed due-diligence report for the $105 million City Center II project during a special 5 p.m.
East Lansing City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve an amendment to City Attorney Tom Yeadon’s contract which extends his term to Sept. 30. The extension is not for a full term, as council determined there had not been an adequate amount of time to fully evaluate Yeadon’s performance as city attorney.