Here are two really lovely and cute backyards that you can see from St. Clair Street. Thank you to the Yarch and Kelly families for making Rogers City look so wonderful!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Yarch and Kelly Yards
Here are two really lovely and cute backyards that you can see from St. Clair Street. Thank you to the Yarch and Kelly families for making Rogers City look so wonderful!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
More Great Flowers and Yards
This one is a amazing! Owned by Art and Beth Getzinger, not only do we see a wonderful yard with great flowers but also a unique house. Thanks Art and Beth!Michigan Main Street Training
The Michigan Main Street Center has released the new schedule of Associate Level training. As a Main Street Associate, Rogers City is allowed to attend these training session at no cost. Our goal is to revitalize our downtown and to become a "Selected Level" Main Street city by 2010. We need to attend this training to reach our goal.
The training is very high quality. Local people who have attended this training include: Judy McFalda, Beach Hall, Gary Rickard, and Bill Valentine. They all commented favorably on the value and usefulness of this training. It will help businesses improve their bottomline and teach volunteers how to improve our downtown. Chamber of Commerce Members are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Here is the schedule of taining:
Main Street Basic Training
+ October 15: Niles, Wonderland Theater
+ October 21: Manistee, City Hall
Organization/Promotion 101
+ November 13: Old Town, Perspective 2
+ November 19: Clare, Doherty Hotel
Economic Restructuring/Design 101
+ January 15: Grand Haven, Community Center
+ Janurary 21: Portland, City Hall
Main Street Practice
+ February 11: Howell, Cleary's Pub
+ February 25: Boyne City, Library
These training sessions last about 5-6 hours, and depending on location may require an overnight.
I will attempt to arrange or provide transportation for anyone from our area who wants to attend. You would be responsible for your own meals and lodging, and you can ask the Community Development Authority (CDA) Board to reimburse your expenses.
You do not need to be a member of our Main Street Associate Program or of the CDA Board to participate; however, we would like you to get involved in making Rogers City's downtown a better place! There is a place for everyone in our Main Street Associate Program.
The training is very high quality. Local people who have attended this training include: Judy McFalda, Beach Hall, Gary Rickard, and Bill Valentine. They all commented favorably on the value and usefulness of this training. It will help businesses improve their bottomline and teach volunteers how to improve our downtown. Chamber of Commerce Members are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Here is the schedule of taining:
Main Street Basic Training
+ October 15: Niles, Wonderland Theater
+ October 21: Manistee, City Hall
Organization/Promotion 101
+ November 13: Old Town, Perspective 2
+ November 19: Clare, Doherty Hotel
Economic Restructuring/Design 101
+ January 15: Grand Haven, Community Center
+ Janurary 21: Portland, City Hall
Main Street Practice
+ February 11: Howell, Cleary's Pub
+ February 25: Boyne City, Library
These training sessions last about 5-6 hours, and depending on location may require an overnight.
I will attempt to arrange or provide transportation for anyone from our area who wants to attend. You would be responsible for your own meals and lodging, and you can ask the Community Development Authority (CDA) Board to reimburse your expenses.
You do not need to be a member of our Main Street Associate Program or of the CDA Board to participate; however, we would like you to get involved in making Rogers City's downtown a better place! There is a place for everyone in our Main Street Associate Program.
"Bridging Challenges with Positive Solutions"
I attended the Michigan Local Government Management Association (MLGMA) Summer Workshop July 28-31, 2009 in Sault Ste. Marie. I was also part of the Summer Workshop Planning Committee that put this workshop together (with a lot of help from the Michigan Municipal League (MML)). As always, MLGMA and MML do a great job pulling together the resources needed to help move Michigan forward at the local government level.
It was a valuable experience, and I will be sharing more information from the workshop over the days ahead. Today, I want to share two related pieces of information: our state's financial situation and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG). These two pieces are related because the State of Michigan is in financial distress but energy efficiency may possibly help "bridge the challenge with positive solutions."
Every speaker at the workshop confirmed the financial distress at the State government level. The problem is a central focus for our elected officials in Lansing. I think they really want to solve the problem, but they have different views. Even with big cuts in spending, the State of Michigan has a large shortfall projected for this year and an even larger shortfall for next year. Unfortunately, this has a trickle down effect on every city and village in Michigan. We were told to expect a 10-20% reduction in "state revenue sharing." For Rogers City this could mean a loss of between $25,000 to $50,000 of revenue for this fiscal year, and more next year. If this happens, it will be very difficult for us to find cuts in expenses to off set this revenue cut. City staff will begin thinking about this problem at staff meeting on Wednesday.
One possible solution is to save money through energy efficiency and conservation. There may be grants available to help us save operational costs to heat and light the city. The grants are "no match," which means we could actually afford to do them. Because the City has a low fund balance now, we can not afford to do the traditional "dollar-for-dollar" grants. However, we may be able to do EECBGs if they, in fact, do not require a local "match." The application forms for these EECBGs have not been released yet, so we do not know for sure what they will require. However, EECBGs might help us save enough to off set some of the state cuts in revenue sharing.
Also, these EECBGs potentially could be used as examples of energy efficiency and conservation that could be used by commercial businesses and residential owners to save energy. The idea is to create an energy efficiency strategy that can be expanded to include the entire community. If you are interested in helping Rogers City become a "Green Community," please let me know.
It was a valuable experience, and I will be sharing more information from the workshop over the days ahead. Today, I want to share two related pieces of information: our state's financial situation and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG). These two pieces are related because the State of Michigan is in financial distress but energy efficiency may possibly help "bridge the challenge with positive solutions."
Every speaker at the workshop confirmed the financial distress at the State government level. The problem is a central focus for our elected officials in Lansing. I think they really want to solve the problem, but they have different views. Even with big cuts in spending, the State of Michigan has a large shortfall projected for this year and an even larger shortfall for next year. Unfortunately, this has a trickle down effect on every city and village in Michigan. We were told to expect a 10-20% reduction in "state revenue sharing." For Rogers City this could mean a loss of between $25,000 to $50,000 of revenue for this fiscal year, and more next year. If this happens, it will be very difficult for us to find cuts in expenses to off set this revenue cut. City staff will begin thinking about this problem at staff meeting on Wednesday.
One possible solution is to save money through energy efficiency and conservation. There may be grants available to help us save operational costs to heat and light the city. The grants are "no match," which means we could actually afford to do them. Because the City has a low fund balance now, we can not afford to do the traditional "dollar-for-dollar" grants. However, we may be able to do EECBGs if they, in fact, do not require a local "match." The application forms for these EECBGs have not been released yet, so we do not know for sure what they will require. However, EECBGs might help us save enough to off set some of the state cuts in revenue sharing.
Also, these EECBGs potentially could be used as examples of energy efficiency and conservation that could be used by commercial businesses and residential owners to save energy. The idea is to create an energy efficiency strategy that can be expanded to include the entire community. If you are interested in helping Rogers City become a "Green Community," please let me know.
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