Hamtramck_web

The Great LakesWater Authority strives to be the provider of choice for water and sewer services in Southeast Michigan. With the Great Lakes as our source water, GLWA is uniquely positioned to provide its member communities with water of unquestionable quality! Currently providing nearly 40% of Michigan’s population with water, and nearly 30% of the state with sewer services. Serving 127 member communities in seven Southeast Michigan counties. To find out more about The Great Lakes Water Authority or discover how we are helping to create healthy communities, please read our first Year in Review at www.glwater.org. For all your insurance and financial services needs. hgway.com Steve Fladger, Vice President 248-706-4842 n 248-931-3168 We would like to congratulate the City of Hamtramck for their recognition of having the best practices of cities and city management. HAMTRAMCK, MICHIGAN these various projects: “The cities in Michigan are allotted money from the state – it’s called the Act 51 Fund. Every year, the state divvies out money to every community based on a formu- la that was set in place back in 1951. There are two different accounts –you have major roads and local roads. So, you receive funding for each of those types. So, if we have to go in and replace sewers then we’re going to get that money from our water and sewer fund. If we have to replace the road that’s attached to the water and sewer fund, then we’ll use either a local road or a major road funding for the road. This year, we’re going to do a road resurfacing program for three of our streets; one will be the full width, the other two will be just the travel lane.We were able to come under budget, last year, for a lot of our construction costs, so we’re able to add more streets this year, than last year. “The alleys haven’t been touched in more than 30 years, and a lot of them are so bad that they’re pretty much gravel, at this point. At one point, they were maybe asphalt or concrete, but now you really can’t tell what they were. With the alleys, we’re not allowed to use any kind of additional funding from the state. So, that local road and major road money that we get, we can’t use for the alleys. So, we’re going to be dipping into our fund balance that we were able to accumulate over the last couple of years. If I wanted to do all of the alleys it would be about $12 million. “We’re 2.2 square miles, but we’ve got 37 miles of roadway. So, we’re going to use about $150,000, this budget year to start on the alleys, and then we’re going to use $250,000 for the next budget year.We’ll start with our business districts. Those are the most import- ant at this point, because everyone is racing with deliveries in their businesses, so we want to start with that group, first. And then, we’ll branch out from there, based on the study that was done to attack those other alleys that are the worst.” Another issue that Powell and the City have taken on is basement flooding: “These homes are on 30X60 lots, and there are zero lot lines; the setbacks for these homes are about a foot off the lot line. So, there’s a lot of concrete, here; there’s a lot of asphalt; there’s a lot of 2850 Stewart, Monroe, MI 48162 734-242-4359 n www.swsmichigan.com Our courteous and professional sewer cleaning specialists can clean and repair any sewer or drain line. Family-owned and operated with over 25 years of experience. n Emergency Sewer Cleaning n Drain Cleaning of All Kinds n Closed Circuit Televising Excavation n Sewer Hydro-jet Service n Sewer Repair and Replacement n Water Line Repair and Replacement n Sewer and Drain Maintenance n Grease Trap Cleaning and Maintenance