Escanaba is a great little rugged eco-forest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The potential of this town is amazing and not fully developed. The City Hall meeting offers a great opportunity for citizens to keep up-to-date on local events and see democracy in action. Its possible to work toward the creation of a thriving tourist destination that attracts start-ups, small batch manufacturing, distribution and other key actors when city, state, federal and investor interests align. People that like the outdoors may also want to start a business downtown (I would recommend tourism micro production, design/engineering firms, digital workers, government, and a few other emerging options) that can draw in new talent, jobs and wealth.
Sorry...I remise into the possibilities. This is where you want to turn off Netflix or Hulu and turn on your local "Game of Thrones". You can watch the action below......
A Few Key Notes/Points:
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| The Fountain in Ludington Park I used to throw fish in there and then take the quarters when I was a kid for chips Gust Asp. It was a good deal! The fountain was a great customer of my fresh fish from the harbor. |
It is probably easier to read the Agenda February 3, 2022
-Opps not a big issue on an incorrect appointment. Things happen in the shuffle. As long as everyone good with it there are no worries.
-Ad hoc Committee: Ad hoc Committee on jail site. I'm curious about what this committee will do and what is going on with the previous sale of County Jail property and the hotel interest. 4 proposals.
-Chief Executive Officer and City Manager confusion. Who fits the role? DDA discussion on appointed versus elected.
-Bonding for $10.5 million for drinking water projects of which would likely cost be around $4 million. Michigan Finance Authority’s (“MFA”) Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program (DWSRF).-
-There are some differences in opinion on the philosophical approach to democracy and public voting on big projects.
- Purchase a 2021 John Deere 304L Four Wheel Drive Loader from McCoy Construction Forestry of Escanaba, MI, at a cost not to exceed $96,500.00
-I'm very curious about this jail project because of some open questions I, and likely others, have about it and why the project didn't turn out as planned. Not yet saying there is anything wrong but sometimes that little radar goes up and it makes you sort of ponder the grey areas. 🤔 Lots of promotion among key people (nothing wrong with that inherently either) but a few other issues/concepts/data seem to not connect well together. I once asked someone who worked at the old jail site why a new jail versus refurbishing was preferred (I actually might agree that the site is prime real estate and would catch a good price on the market if it was sold and used properly to enhance the downtown.)? The answer I got sounded more like a rehearsed/repeated sales pitch without other possible options versus an actual discussion (I just noted the matter of fact nature of the discussion in my head with no specific meaning when it was first being discussed. Some of that seems to have more meaning now as the context forms.) It may have been better to build a new jail but it just seemed to skip over some important points. Without actually looking into the transactions (behaviors, interests, history, monies, etc...), there would seem to be some puffy smoke that should be cleared. Highly enthusiastic or something more? No idea!🤷
-Survey Monkey. Its a pretty good service (for the price) and lots of researchers use it. In Survey Monkey you can do all types of different statistics that can come to some beneficial conclusions (i.e. Descriptive Stats T-Test). The problem is that you don't want too much information in the demographic section unless it is relevant to the actual project. However, enough to run these sort of issues makes sense. You can actually include a pdf of the proposals, let people vote on them (even different aspects of them), and then put in public comments. Qualtrics is another good option. The biggest thing I would say is that the wording of questions can have an impact on outcomes. (Also make sure you click the option that doesn't allow people to take the survey multiple times. Some people with opinions on public topics sometimes get all excited and like to go back and fill it out 20 or 30 times. ) Because of other issues with the jail project the city may want to include someone from outside the area on the ad hoc recommendation committee to give an impartial perspective on the topic . 😳
-Solar Panels. Where you can, when it makes sense, and improves on the bottom line, cities should implement green initiatives such as renewable energy. As solar and battery technology advances there will be increased savings, cost and functionality. Escanaba experience something like $290K savings in energy costs! $67K transmission costs! Oh Yaaa! 🥳
-Notice that the Internet use is on the rise and that is a good sign with some of the tech investments in broadband in the area. Sometimes it is helpful for business investors to get into markets before they move to a larger upswing. There are risks involved but when hedged with other investments can lead to a stronger investment portfolio.
Grab your locally grown organic sustainable practice popcorn before you start watching! Better than a Packer Game!
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