Newsletter to Outline City Improvements – August 2023

Introduction

In short, this document was developed to outline some of the City of Lake City’s recent efforts and specific programmatic achievements. I am proud to report that our collective stakeholders including staff, elected/appointed personnel, and part time and/or seasonal staff have really come together and made measurable progress in many program areas during the delineated period. I am confident we would not have been so successful if we did not have support from the collective team, so I am hopeful our staff, personnel, and all area stakeholders are happy with the observed progress this summer, especially since we have continually operated within the fiscally prudent confines of a lean structure.

 In this Newsletter

• To ALL Staff/Personnel/Stakeholders—- THANK YOU!!!
• List of OUR Collective Achievements during the period
• Closing

First, we can’t say it enough but…. To ALL Staff/Personnel/Stakeholders—-THANK YOU!!!

I am sharing some of your recent achievements because I want to publicly thank all of you for your hard work. I believe we ALL should be justifiably proud of our progress.  As always, the ensuing document will not capture all your achievements during the period, but I want to take a moment to outline our progress.

List of OUR Achievements

• Prior staff member, Robyn was able to step in and support office operations, and she has proven to be an exceptional employee so I am hopeful we can retain her.
• Worked through several Utility Billing concerns and concurrently started to develop written procedures.
• Reorganized the physical office space to ensure staff always has adequate space, functionality, and support.
• Worked with our trash vendor to address multiple complaints and requests for service changes.

• We are looking at contracts, and further opportunities to leverage the State of Michigan’s MiDeal program, including the contract that GFL posted.  
• We took initial steps to get our Utility Billing data into a new BS&A software platform.
  • The utility billing data will now be in the metaphorical ‘cloud’, just like the city’s tax and assessing data.

• By transitioning to a new software provider, we will have the ability for our staff to have access to meaningful information/ data, and further the ability to provide a higher level of service.
  • Of equal significance, we are evaluating information related to sewer, rubbish, and water fees to ensure the program ‘inputs’ are accurate when it’s time to calculate the related usage data.
• This summer we took a progressive approach to recruit and retain new personnel by working with a local external recruiter.
  • We have recruited multiple seasonal workers.
  • We are also looking to fill a couple of vacant positions sometime soon.
  • Longer term, we are looking towards the potential/feasibility of retaining these workers.
• The CLC and area stakeholders are taking a holistic look at Parks and Recreation, and a potential focus group is being formed to seek input from the community.
• We worked with our auditor to complete required/related audit activities and all banking will reside with Forrest Area Credit Union
• Our ordinance officer continues to work on several projects including the rental registration process.
• We received council approval to proceed with a citywide roadway project to address several streets in the CLC.
• Helen Keeler was appointed to the Board of Review, and we are looking to fill another vacant seat.
• Brandon LaGrow was hired to fill a vacant DPW position, and we are looking for other staff members to join the team.
• Staff have researched and met with vendors in anticipation of water meter replacement.

Documents recently posted on the city’s website include:

• City Assessor procedures were developed, and posted on the website at the ensuing link,  CITY ASSESSOR – City of Lake City.
• Zoning Board of Appeals: Rules, Planning Commission Procedural Bylaws, and Documents were developed , and posted on the website at the ensuing link, Zoning Procedures – City of Lake City.
• Special Land Use Permit Documents and a written procedure was developed Special Land Use Permit Documents – City of Lake City.
• QR Code Handbook, https://cityoflakecity.com/documents/city-of-lake-city-clcwebsite-qr-code-handbook/,  was developed to ease staff’s burden when responding to various requests, and to provide staff and citizens alike, a tool which should encourage greater use of the city’s website.

Closing

In closing, we will continually work with the collective City Council to drive the city’s projects and effectively support our team members in all operations. As always, the goal is to develop confidence, professionalism, and abilities within our team, so we are ready to take on any project or challenge as we strive to provide the highest level of service possible for our citizens and in support of the greater community. I/we will continue to keep you apprised of our progress, please check back often for updates.