City employees honored at New Buffalo City Council meeting

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New Buffalo Times

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CITY OF NEW BUFFALO JOHN HUMPHREY, MAYOR CITY COUNCIL LOU O’DONNELL, IV. MARK ROBERTSON, JOHN HUMPHREY, ROGER LIJESKI, BRIAN FLANIGAN City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 6:30PM CITY OF NEW BUFFALO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS to be determined NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP BOARD PETE RAHM, MICHELLE HEIT, JUDY H. ZABICKI, PATTY IAZZETTO, JACK ROGERS Board meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 7PM NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM

NEW BUFFALO AREA SCHOOLS BOARD CHUCK HEIT, PRESIDENT HEATHER BLACK, VICE PRESIDENT JOHN HASKINS, TREASURER LISA WERNER, SECRETARY JOYCE LANTZ, TRUSTEE FRANK MARGRO, TRUSTEE PATRICIA NEWSTON, TRUSTEE CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP BOARD DAVID BUNTE, PAULA DUDIAK, LIZ RETTIG, RICHARD SULLIVAN, BILL MARSKE Chikaming Board meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:30PM CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 6:30PM THREE OAKS THREE OAKS TOWNSHIP BOARD Meets on the 2nd Monday of each month at 7PM VILLAGE OF THREE OAKS BOARD Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7PM GRAND BEACH VILLAGE OF GRAND BEACH COUNCIL Meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7PM MICHIANA VILLAGE OF MICHIANA COUNCIL Meets on the 2nd Friday of each month at 1PM

City employees honored at New Buffalo City Council meeting

CITY ACCEPTS GRANT FOR DUNE WALK RESTORATION

BY THERESE DONNELLY

Two city employees received recognition for their service during the New Buffalo City Council meeting Monday, Aug. 23.

Sgt. Russell Tillery received a plaque for his recent show of bravery in rescuing a resident from a fire in Chikaming Township. Police Chief Rich Killips told the Council that Tillery was on duty June 30 when Berrien County dispatch received a report of a house fire. Tillery and Berrien County Deputy Brittany Garza entered the engulfed building and pulled out the resident, who suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation but survived.

Killips said the officers went “above and beyond” and put their own safety second to the resident’s safety to save the resident.

Bob Kerns also received recognition for his work. Parks Supervisor Kristen D’Amico said Kerns has worked for 10 years at the city marina and always has a smile for everyone.

Kerns, a Korean War veteran, has served the city in several roles, including the auxiliary police department.

The City Council meeting was held after the regularly scheduled Aug. 16 meeting had to be cancelled. Mayor John Humphrey explained a city staff member had been exposed to Covid off-site and as a precaution, City Hall was closed for cleaning.

The Council approved final payments of $19,232.8 to City Heating and Plumbing and $17,412.75 to McGuire’s Professional Construction for repairs to the municipal marina building. D’Amico said work was completed in July.

New Buffalo has received a $440,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Land and Water Conservation Fund for the dune walk restoration project. Watson said the city’s portion of the grant is $220,000 and half of that will come from the Pokagon Fund.

The Council approved a resolution to join the Redevelopment Ready Communities, which city manager Darwin Watson said is a no-cost, non-committed program from the Michigan Economic Development

Corporation that allows municipalities to prepare for development.

At Watson’s recommendation, the Council approved reconditioning work to the ballfields at Oselka Park. D’Amico said Hostetler Lawn and Landscaping will edge the fields, build up pitching mounds and address minor drainage issues. Watson said the $16,560 costs have been budgeted into the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Two city representatives are needed for the newly-formed New Buffalo Area Recreational Authority. After discussion, the Council agreed to table the matter until their September meeting in order to advertise the volunteer positions. New Buffalo Township and New Buffalo Area Schools have already named two members each to the Authority. Once all three entities have their representatives, a seventh member-at-large will be named.

At the request of the New Buffalo Business Association, the Council approved an extension for the weekly downtown farmers’ market. The Council originally approved the market to run on Thursdays through Sept. 2, but the new request will extend the market to Sept. 16.

As part of the work to mitigate shoreline erosion, the Council approved engineering services by Abonmarche Engineering, which will include topographic surveying and the study of a possible broadside dock.

Back to the Bricks, a classic car event, contacted the city regarding its state-wide tour scheduled for June 2022. The tour is expected to include 300 to 350 cars spending one day in various communities throughout the state. Humphrey said it would be a “wonderful” event to have in September, but would not be logistically possible in the downtown during June. The rest of the Council agreed to decline participating, with councilmember Mark Robertson noting the event’s needs would be better suited to a larger community.

Prior to the meeting adjournment, Watson informed the Council of an emergency expenditure to repair a water main leak on Whittaker Street. He said the urgency of the issue meant purchases had to be approved sooner than the Council could meet to approve them.