Newman Street project still dragging on
by John Morris

EAST TAWAS - The good news for city officials is that the first layer of blacktop has been laid on the entire Newman Street reconstruction project.

But the bad news for officials is East Tawas residents are still expressing dissatisfaction with how long the project is taking to reach completion.
"We have had many complaints about the length of time this project is taking, mainly because there have been many days that nothing was going on," said City Manager Ron Leslie.

Echoed Mayor Robert Elliott: "I can't go anywhere in town without someone talking about Newman Street or US-23. The quicker we get this done, the better."

Officials had hoped to have the $600,000 reconstruction project completed by late summer or early fall. But numerous delays have set back completion. And more trouble looms ahead: "We have more problems," Councilman Bruce Bolen said at Tuesday's city council meeting without elaborating.

Leslie said project cleanup has begun and the rest of the sidewalk work and curb radius will be started on Monday, Sept. 13.

On a lighter note, Leslie said he has talked with a representative of the Niland Company in Texas which specializes in duplicating older light fixtures. The city is adding decorative lighting along the Newman Street reconstruction project and officials want similar fixtures to what is at its Tawas Bay waterfront project.

Leslie said he also spoke with the Downtown Development Authority director in Canton Township, which is the only municipality in Michigan the company has worked with. The community is installing about 100 light fixtures along Ford Road that were manufactured by the Niland Company, Leslie said.

"In their case they had old fixtures that they wanted to duplicate and could not find a company in the state that had anything close to what they wanted," Leslie said.

Leslie said in the words of the DDA director, the company duplicated their fixture "perfectly."

And better yet, he said the company also would save the city about $7,000 in the cost of the decorative lighting. He also said the company, at no cost, would duplicate the city's lights and send the fixture up to East Tawas for inspection prior to being awarded a contract.

In other matters the city council at its meeting Tuesday, delayed from Monday due to the Labor Day holiday:

"In their case they had old fixtures that they wanted to duplicate and could not find a company in the state that had anything close to what they wanted," Leslie said.

Leslie said in the words of the DDA director, the company duplicated their fixture "perfectly."

And better yet, he said the company also would save the city about $7,000 in the cost of the decorative lighting. He also said the company, at no cost, would duplicate the city's lights and send the fixture up to East Tawas for inspection prior to being awarded a contract.

In other matters the city council at its meeting Tuesday, delayed from Monday due to the Labor Day holiday:

•Agreed to a statement of understanding to hire Wilcox and Associates as the design engineer for the proposed Oak/Pine streets loop project in Tawas City and East Tawas. The cost for engineering is about $48,960 of which East Tawas is responsible for about $5,800, which is 30 percent of the project.

The communities have received a Region 7 Rural Task Force grant of $190,000 for the project.

•received one proposal and are awaiting a second for design of a possible expansion of the East Tawas Library.

•will reform the city's bait shop committee over what city officials called dissatisfaction that the bait shop at the Newman Street waterfront was over the Labor Day weekend. The city owns the building and rents it out to the business.

•approved sending a letter to the state asking that it remove a covenant/right of reverter to a 40-acre parcel in the Lincoln/Janet streets area. The city acquired the parcel from the state but there was a covenant written into the deed that the property would revert to the state if the property ceases to be used for landfill purposes. There has been some title work done on some parcels adjacent to the city's 40-acre Lincoln Street parcel, officials said.

•approved an annual peddler's permit for organizers to sell T-shirts during the upcoming Bill Walsh Women's Softball Tournament.

•tabled a request by the owner of Kentucky Fried Chicken to use Nelson Street. The owner would like to blacktop this area as he is planning to make improvements to the business. The city a couple of years ago closed the crossing at nelson Street as well as about four others along Bay Street.

•had first reading of an amendment that better defines the impact area in the city's groundwater use ordinance as requested by the state Department of Environmental Quality.