Economic Cooperation (EVIP)

VILLAGE OF NORTH BRANCH

4018 Huron Street, PO BOX 704 North Branch, Michigan 48461

Phone: 810-688-2620 Fax: 810-688-4521

www.northbranchvillage.org

"This institution is an equal opportunity provider"

Village of North Branch Economic Cooperation Details

  It has been the ongoing philosophy of the Village of North Branch to create as much synergy as possible, as it applies to the use of taxpayers’ money. This takes a number of different forms, from State and Federal grant seeking, shared services, the foregoing of special millage capture by our Downtown Development Authority, and group purchasing through State/County contracts, and Insurance through the Michigan Municipal League.

 Although the following does not represent all cooperative efforts the Village has, or may enter into, it is intended to show the level at which we place a priority on the delivery of services, at the most economical expense possible. This effort is ongoing, and we continue to look for future opportunities to improve our fiscal efficiency.

 The Village of North Branch has a Downtown Development Authority. Although it has many targets and objectives, its simply defined goal is to encourage and support the health of our central business district, development of our industrial park, and assist in improving the quality of life of our businesses and residents. Its funding is derived from the "capture" of tax revenue from the real and personal property within its boundaries.

 Included within the allowed taxes that may be captured, are a number of special millages intended to support specific programs. It has been the decision of the DDA to support these special projects by NOT capturing that revenue. Those special taxes include the Fire, Senior, Library, Lapeer County Medical Care Facility,  911, and Veterans Millage.

In our 2012 fiscal year, that represented $15,567 passed through to support these important programs.

  When the State mandated that a new style of balloting equipment be used for elections, the Township of North Branch purchased that equipment. The Village shares this balloting equipment on all elections.

 To avoid an expensive duplication of critical services, the Village and Township share a modern and well-equipped fire department. We also share in the cost of a building inspection department by contracting with the Township for its services in that area.

 Ambulance services are provided within the Village through a cooperative alliance with Lapeer County EMS, saving our taxpayers untold amounts of money. Through this alliance, we are able to provide state-of-the-art service to our citizens at a fraction of the cost of a free-standing program.

The Township and Village shared in the cost of purchasing a modern tornado alert system within the Township, with the Village spending $14,750, or roughly one-third of the overall cost. The ongoing enterprise is operated as a part of the overall Lapeer County Emergency Management Program.

North Branch Area Schools and the Village have a long history of economic cooperation. In recent years our water supply system has gone through a series of updates, including new loops and spurs in its water main, with NBAS provided $l4,450 in funding toward those improvements.

Recently, the Village and NBAS entered into an agreement where the Village Police Department would provide security at sporting events, in return for the School providing busing within the Village. By not having to re-start a school guard crossing program, it is estimated that a $3,000-per-year savings will be realized by the Village. This plan has been implemented and is performing as expected.

The Village and School District also joined forces to create a "Safe Routes' foot path to the school campus, rather than create a new sidewalk along busy Jefferson Street. A route was created from the corner of Pleasant and Saginaw streets to the new Elementary School, saving the Village approximately $12,600.

The Village has also sought and received grants from the State and Federal government through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Utilizing Community Development Block Grants, we were able to obtain funding to assist in building a new sewage lift station on Brush Street, and to upgrade the storm water drainage system on West Street. Those two grants saved the Village $218,139. It is worth mentioning that the West Street project also helped remedy a problem with the Michigan Department of Transportation M-90 storm drain. The grant therefore also represents a savings to the State of Michigan.

During the Summer of 2011, the Village was able to secure a contractor to remove 7 dead trees in the State Highway right of way on M-90, at a total cost to the State of $1,100. Under normal State contracting procedures, it is likely the cost to State taxpayers could have been 3 or 4 times as much. 

During 2012, a substantial project was undertaken to replace damaged curb/gutter and sidewalks in the downtown area, and to install new sidewalks at the east end of town. The partners on this project were Michigan Dept. of Transportation,Village of North Branch, Co-Op Elevator, North Branch DDA,North Branch United Methodist Church and John VanSteenburg/North Branch Collision.

A total of 3,525 square feet of sidewalks were replaced along M-90 in the central business district, along with 500 feet of curb/gutter. New sidewalks were installed from Brush Street to Baldwin Lane on the north side of M-90. The total project cost was $70,117, with the following contributions from each:

A) Village                     $3,417
B) DDA                       $37,973
C) MDOT                    $18,610
D) Co-Op Elev.           $3,417
E)Methodist Church    $4,200
F) John VanSteenburg  $2,500

The project was completed on time and on budget. Work began on July 19, and was completed on Nov. 8, 2012. No barriers or difficulties were encountered during this project.

For the year 2013, the village has made application for a DIG grant from MEDC. The project would be for the reconstruction of an existing parking lot, alley, new surrounding sidewalk, and new parking lot construction. The area is in the heart of our downtown business district. Project cost is expected to be $261,000, with 20% (Not including the Villages $45,800 investment in the purchase of the east end of the target area, in Nov. 2012) coming from the Village Street Fund and DDA, the balance from the DIG Grant/MEDC. Our application package was submitted on Dec.. 1, 2012.  Selection of awards is expected to be announced in March or April, 2013. If selected, final engineering will begin immediately, bid requests will follow, and work will begin in late spring or early summer, with expected completion by the end of October, 2013. The only barrier that could prevent this project from happening, is the failure of MEDC to select our application for funding.

UPDATE Jan. 2014-  MEDC declined to fund our Grant request (for the second year in a row). We have requested, and are still waiting,  for MEDC to explain the shortcomings of our application.

Going forward, the Village hopes to create more economies of scale. Of particular interest is public safety. As it becomes more of an economic challenge to maintain police road patrols at both the county and state levels, we believe there may be more local interest in converting our Village Police Dept. into a Township Department. At present, the 1,033 residents of the Village support the $150,000 annual cost of its Police Department. If taxpayers of the Township would support a public safety millage, the patrol area could be expanded to include the entire Township. With the cost spread over 3 times as many residents, the per-citizen cost for this valuable protection would be reduced greatly. With the recent law change by our state, removing our rights to conduct our own local elections, it will be at least fall of 2014 before we can see if voters would approve such a bond initiative. During 2013, we will seek advice of our Village Attorney on ways to proceed with a ballot initiative to pose this question on the next general election ballot.

 UPDATE Jan. 2014.  By the end of April, 2014, the Village President and Police Chief will make a presentation to the Township Board requesting that a special millage be placed on the general election ballot in the fall, requesting a vote on whether or not the taxpayers of North Branch Township would favor and fund the creation of a Township Police Department, to replace the current Village department.

Rising health care costs for employees are a concern to everyone, If supporting increases in those costs becomes too great a burden, we may have another option to consider. North Branch Area Schools recently adopted a new municipal health care plan for their teachers and employees. There is a good possibility that Village employees could become members of that plan, if needed, and if there were an economic benefit.  During 2012, the school district had to switch back to the MESSA plan. This option for consolidations no longer exists.

Discussions began in 2012 about the possibility of the Village and North Branch Area Schools forming a joint recycling program. The school district has taken the lead on this initiative, and the program is up and running. Recycle bins have installed on school property between the bus garage and the administration building. All residents of the school district, including Village residents, are welcome to bring paper goods (such as junk mail, magazines, newspaper and cardboard products) for recycling, at no charge. This program will be publicized in the school district newsletter “School Talk.” This program continues to function properly as originally planned. No barriers or difficuties have been encountered through the end of February, 2014

At the November 2011 Council meeting, the Village Trustees approved entering into an inter-local agreement with The City of Lapeer, Imlay City, Almont, Lapeer Development Corp. and Lapeer County, to form a part of the "Next Michigan" initiative. Our goal is to join with other groups from St. Clair, Sanilac, Genesee and Shiawassee counties to create the  1-69 International Trade Corridor marketing group. We hope to market our manufacturing, shipping/handling, processing and intermodal shipping capabilities to the world. The end goal is to create more educational and job opportunities within our area by creating a more efficient marketing model. As of 2012, this project is underway, and continues to develop and implement its marketing plans. The Governor approved our application on Jan. 26th, and the first organizational meeting was held Feb. 16th. An application was also submitted to MEDC for funding toward marketing costs, and The Michigan Strategic Fund approved $100,000 on February 27, 2012.  No barriers have been encountered to date. This project continues to move forward in 2014 with an increased level of marketing, both web-based and through display advertising.  To date, no barriers or difficulties have been encountered.

 On December 2, 2013, the Village submitted an application to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality ( MDEQ) for a Sewr And Wastewater Grant (SAW grant). Our goal with this grant is to secure the funds needed to completely inspect, map and evaluate the condition of our storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems, in order to implement a new asset capital plan. In other words, we hope to figure out the condition of these important underground (primarily) assets, and calculate the short and long term investments needed to repair and maintain these systems

 The cost of such evaluation and asset planning is estimated at $425,000.  The cost breakdown is at least $382,500 from MDEQ, with a local investment from the Village (if needed), of $42,500.

  More requests were recieved than available funds can handle in 2014, so a lottery system will be used to award funds. Announcements are supposed to be made on awards on February 2, 2014.  Those projects not drawn and awarded this year will be drawn again in 2015, and 2016 if needed. We are hoping to be the "lucky ticket" this year, but only time will tell.

 Please rest assured that your Village Council will continue to seek better ways to provide services through cooperation with other levels of government. When we do, you'll hear about it in this posting.