Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Council members look to move forward, while a staff recommendation advises rejecting four offers lower than the $425,000 asking price.
City of Farmington Economic and Community Development Director Kevin Christiansen brought four offers for the former 47th District Courthouse property on 10 Mile Road to city officials Monday and recommended rejecting all of them. Council members, however, appear reluctant to let at least one of those opportunities pass them by. The property has been vacant for almost 10 years. Christiansen said all four proposals came in much lower than the city's asking price of $425,000. The offers include using the land for: Officials seemed to favor the proposal for homes, which represented the lowest offer (about one-third of the asking price), because of the eventual property taxes it would generate. Christiansen recommended the property stay on …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Officials give organizers an exception to city's noise ordinance on Thursday nights after school year ends.
A popular Thursday night swing dance group will return to the Walter E. Sundquist Pavilion in downtown Farmington May 2, after dancing indoors all winter long. Alexander Steward, who organizes Swingfusion in Farmington, told city council members Monday that the group has been meeting at St. John Lutheran Church in Farmington Hills. He said dancers stay until 11:30 p.m. and would like to continue that schedule, requiring a waiver of the city's noise ordinance from the end of June through the end of August. "We've never really had any issues, and we'd love to stay out a little later," he said. The dances draw from 80 to 200 people, ages 15 to 30, on an average night; events open to the community bring out more people. Officials …
42.46361
-83.37343
Walter E. Sundquist Farmington Pavilion & Riley Park
Grand River Ave & Grove St, Farmington, MI
/articles/swinginfusion-brings-dance-back-to-downtown-farmington-may-2
1800270
/locations/9243095
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Public Safety Director Bob Schulz says nearly $20,000 has been raised to create the monument.
A Farmington monument that incorporates a beam from the World Trade Center could be completed in time for the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack that brought down the "twin towers". Farmington Public Safety Director Bob Schulz, who heads up a committee that has been working on the project, brought a "re-visioning" of the monument plans to Monday night's city council meeting. He asked for a "nod" from the city council to move forward with the project, in order to meet the Sept. 11 target. "Believe it or not, the granite could take up to four months to get in," he said. "It has to be ordered from India." Cost for that element alone is nearly $10,000. Designed by S3 Architects, the memorial will be set apart with …
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-83.37833
City of Farmington Municipal Offices
23600 Liberty St, Farmington, MI
/articles/farmington-9-11-memorial-committee-targets-installation-by-sept-11
706630
/locations/9151245
Monday, April 1, 2013
Kristen Kuiken announces Monday that her family will move to Colorado this summer.
Farmington city council member Kristin Kuiken said Monday that she will resign her post in May, because her family will be moving this summer. Kuiken said her husband, Jim, has been transferred to the Denver area. "I leave this position with a heavy heart," she said. "My family and I have loved living in this community for the past 11 years." The Kuikens have been active volunteers for many of those years. Jim served on the Farmington Downtown Development Authority board, and Kristin was a member of the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. "Farmington loses, but Denver gains," council member JoAnne McShane said. Kuiken was elected in 2011 to a 4-year term; her last meeting will be on May 20. City manager Vince Pastue …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The city-owned theater moves into the 21st century with new technology, and the price will be covered by revenues.
Farmington Civic Theater ticket prices will increase from $3.50 to $4.00 to help pay for a new digital projector, and one city council member doesn't think that's enough. Officials on Monday authorized City Manager Vince Pastue and Treasurer Chris Webber to solicit bids for digital movie projectors to equip both screens. Pastue the cost is expected to run somewhere between $150,000 and $180,000. "If we did not do this, we would quickly be showing movies that are out of date," Pastue said. "We think it's necessary to maintain the economic viability of the Civic." Tell us how much you're willing to pay to see a movie at the Farmington Civic Theater by taking our poll below. Council members voted unanimously on the measure; they have not …
42.46462
-83.375807
Farmington Civic Theater
33332 Grand River Ave, Farmington, MI
/articles/higher-ticket-price-coming-soon-as-farmington-civic-theater-goes-digital
1722562
/locations/9045154
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
City council members discuss alternatives Monday that include delaying a portion of the project and asking contractors to sharpen their pencils.
Farmington city manager Vince Pastue laid out several alternatives for several downtown Farmington construction projects, after bids came in about $150,000 higher than budgeted. The package combined streetscaping on Grove from Orchard Street to Grand River, and on Warner from Grand River to Oakland St., with improvements on Oakland Street from Warner west to Grand River. Pastue said the project budget was based on figures gathered when the first phase of the Grand River streetscape was done about five years ago. "I wanted to make sure we didn't put ourselves in a cash-strapped position," he said, noting dollars are coming out of several different funds. Pastue's preferred alternative is to "slice and dice" the projects, moving …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Those unable to attend the meeting at Farmington High School can still participate in the process.
Farmington Mayor Tom Buck thought maybe 30 or 40 people would turn out for Monday night first meeting for residents interested in helping create a vision for the city's future. Instead, more than 70 people filled tables in the Farmington High School cafeteria. After a brief introduction from consultants Aaron Domini of OHM Advisors and Charlie Fleetham of Project Innovations, the room buzzed with conversation as participants exchanged ideas on topics like public spaces, reputation, community services, housing and mobility. "I was excited by the turnout," Buck said. "It sounded like some interesting ideas came out that will help push us forward to be the best Farmington we can be." Domini said consultants turned their usual visioning …
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-83.362476
Farmington High School
32000 Shiawassee Rd, Farmington, MI
/articles/more-than-70-farmington-residents-turn-out-for-first-visioning-session
705169
/locations/8836552
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Farmington Hills city council member Richard Lerner says the program's new website offers tools to help residents have more birthdays.
Can Farmington and Farmington Hills residents lose a collective 500,000 pounds and notch 1 million miles worth of exercise over the next year? Organizers of F2H Fit, an initiative championed by Farmington Hills city council member Richard Lerner, believe it's possible to make the cities lighter by the equivalent of one Boeing 777 jet or a locomotive. Lerner talked with Farmington city council members Tuesday about the program, which centers around a website that allows participants to not only log their own progress, but to partner with like-minded neighbors and get expert advice on fitness and nutrition. "In September, Michigan was named the fifth most obese state in the country," Lerner said, "so it's a good time to have a fitness …
Thursday, January 10, 2013
City manager Vince Pastue says the law passed during the 'lame duck' legislative session won't have much impact, but another law that affects the city's liability could.
Only one of the City of Farmington's bargaining units is affected by Michigan's new "Right to Work" law, and city manager Vince Pastue doesn't anticipate the change to have an impact on upcoming contract negotiations. However, another new law that prohibits local governments from requiring contractors to defend or indemnify them from lawsuits could increase costs and liability, Pastue said during a council study session Monday. The Right to Work law prohibits requiring employees to pay union dues or join a union as a condition of employment. Pastue said that should not affect negotiations with Dept. of Public Works employees, which will begin this month. Public Safety and Command Officers unions are exempt from the new law. Pastue said …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The new state law eliminates the personal property tax for 90 percent of the city's businesses.
The City of Farmington will lose $56,000 from the general fund and $4,000 from the street fund in 2014, as a result of a new state law that creates the most "bizarre and complicated millage and special assessment formula" city manager Vince Pastue said he has ever seen. Pastue told city council members during a special meeting Monday that, while no one liked the state's personal property tax, which levied a tax on business furnishings and equipment, the new law is very complicated to understand. What's more, if Michigan voters fail to create a state-wide Metropolitan Authority in an August 2014 referendum, the personal property tax will be reinstated. The Authority would collect around 1 percent of the state's 6 percent Use Tax to …
americans2
3:45 pm on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
YOUR PUTTING THIS UP FOR SALE - AND POSTED IT - THOUGH YOU DID NOT POST THE SALE OF THE EAGLE SCHOOL SO OTHERS GOOD BID ON IT. SHAME OF THE BOARD. AND YOU SAID YOU DID IT RIGHT - BS!! more ›