Berkley eNews - August 2017
City of Berkley, Michigan sent this bulletin at 08/01/2017 09:33 AM EDT
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Connect with the City Berkley Online Sign-up for eNews and Updates! In April, the city unveiled a new website. If you have not done so already, remember to sign up for our enews system to receive alerts related to water and construction, and all the up-to-date happenings in the city. Please note: If you previously were signed up for email alerts and wish to continue (before April, the launch of the new website), you must re-enter your email at the bottom of any page on our site and follow the instructions. If you were receiving our monthly eNewsletter, you will continue to receive them via email. If you are interested in signing up for the eNewsletter, click here. Upcoming City Council Meetings
Upcoming Planning Commission Meetings
City Council Meetings begin at 7 PM. Planning Commission meetings and ZBA Meetings begin at 7:30 PM. City Council and Planning Commission meetings are held at the Berkley City Hall. You can watch the meetings live on the city's website or on cable.(WOW-ch. 10, Xfinity-Ch. 17). A recorded version of the Council and Planning meetings are available on the city's YouTube channel 3-4 days after the meeting. Hours of Operation City Hall offices are open M-F from 8:30AM to 5PM; closed from 1-2PM The Department of Public Works office is open M-F from 7:30AM to 3:30PM. City Clerk's Office Important Upcoming Election Information
New election equipment will be rolled out for the General Election on November 7th! See the City Manager's Office note for more info. Public Works Monday, September 4 is a holiday for the City's refuse and recycling contractor. As a result, pickup that week will be delayed by one day (Tuesday moved to Wednesday and Friday moved to Saturday).
SOCRRA is making the transition from dual-stream recycling to mixed recycling this summer. This exciting change will make recycling easier for residents while increasing recycling rates. Sample recycling toters are available for viewing at several city facilities with distribution to Berkley residents in August. For more information, click here. The DPW is taking orders for  the Fall 2017 Tree Planting Program. Residents shall have their order placed and paid no later than August 18, 2017. For more information, click here.Free, bagged yard waste pickup ends on May 12. From May 16 through  September 29, residents will need to purchase yard waste stickers at $2 each. These stickers can be purchased at the DPW, City Hall or Library. Each sticker is good for one bag or can-one time use only and 50 lbs. limit each. Leaves and grass may not be raked into the street until October 1.Brush pickup is on-going with the route generally starting on Mondays. In order to safely feed the chipper, tree limbs must be 1"-4" in diameter and at least 4' long with cut ends facing one direction. Smaller branches shall be placed in yard waste bags. 90 gallon trash toters (cans) can be purchased from the DPW for $60 each. These are wheeled cans with attached lids that are dumped mechanically by city refuse hauler. Compost is available to residents. The
 stockpile is located just outside the DPW yard on Beverly between Bacon and Phillips.
Any questions on the above, please call the Berkley DPW at 248-658-3490.
We encourage all residents to sign up for Berkley email updates. In addition to receiving the monthly city newsletter, residents will be sent alerts related to water main breaks, road construction and snow removal. Homeowners can sign up online by clicking here. Berkley Historical Museum The one thing that everyone in Berkley agrees about is the Berkley Theater. Even people who have moved here after 1993 when it closed wish it was still operating. Want to take a trip down memory lane?The Berkley Historical Museum is now honoring the theater in new way! Stop by when the museum is open and check out the enhanced display, including the theater’s original doors, seats, a light fixture and a new display panel featuring pictures from closing night. The Berkley Historical Museum is located in Berkley's old Fire Hall at 3338 Coolidge Hwy. The Museum is open on Wednesdays from 10 AM - 1 PM and on Sundays from 2 PM - 4 PM. |
Message From the Mayor The sights and sounds of vintage cars have become a regular feature of August in our city and the region. Some people are charmed by its nostalgia while others seek refuge in their favorite “upstate” haunts. CruiseFest takes place on the evening of Friday, August 18, and is expected to attract 30,000 visitors to our downtown. The CruiseFest committee operates like a well-oiled muscle car to produce an enjoyable and safe event. The afterglow activities on 12 Mile features live music and fun for all ages. Berkley continues to receive positive reviews. Recently “The Awesome Mitten” selected Berkley as one of the “4 Metro Detroit Downtowns You Should Explore.” The Awesome Mitten is a publication that provides the most current information from across Michigan. This recognition once again is a tribute to the collaboration of City Hall, our Downtown Development Authority, and the Chamber of Commerce. Our Planning Director, Amy Vansen, resigned to take a prestigious job with the State Planning Organization. Her 19 years guiding the Planning Dept., as well as the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals, left an indelible mark on Berkley. At the July City Council meeting, residents, board members, and the council paid tribute to Ms. Vansen for her work in the city. We wish her well in her new role. Chalk art brought crowds to Coolidge to admire talented people display their skills. This event featured a professional chalk artist demonstrating amazing skill and educating the young and not so young in the craft. In conjunction with the chalk art, murals were painted on several buildings throughout the city. This creativity brings an even greater sense of vibrancy and energy to our downtown, and again we thank our DDA and Chamber for their artistic and engaging leadership. There is a growing concern across Michigan regarding the relentless power grab by Lansing in recent years. The effort is to reduce local control in so many areas and centralize it in Lansing. Bills that are currently going through the legislature would eliminate local zoning authority with respect to short-term rental properties. This legislation would allow any landlord to simply adjust the terms of a lease agreement to be a recurring 28-day lease to qualify as a short-term rental and, therefore, not have to adhere to a municipality’s existing rental requirements. City rental requirements exist to protect the health, safety and welfare of tenants in those rental dwellings. The filing deadline to run for Mayor and City Council has passed, and the following candidates seek re-election or election. For Mayor: Councilmember Dan Terbrack. For the three City Council seats: Mayor Pro Tem Steve Baker, Councilmember Jack Blanchard, Councilmember Colleen Graveline, Dennis Hennen, and Charles Tyrell. Even when everything is going well in a community, elections are important. Please take the opportunity to know the candidates and exercise your right to vote. Election Day is Tuesday, November 7, 2017. Toward the end of August, many of our young residents will be heading off to college. It is an exciting time for these students and their families. We are proud of their achievements thus far and we wish all of them great success at the next stage of their development.
City Manager's Office SaveMICity What could the City of Berkley have done with $5.6 Million in additional revenue over the last 15 years? It is not as hypothetical as it sounds. Berkley’s second largest source of “income” is the State Revenue Sharing program but, unfortunately, the Michigan Legislature has forgotten the definition of sharing. According to the US Census Bureau, from 2002-2012, revenues for the State of Michigan increased 29%, but revenues the state provided to local government for local services like police, fire, and recreation decreased by a whopping 56%!! This is not simply a Berkley issue. This (DIS)investment in all of our Michigan hometowns by the State is only a symptom of the illness that affects the way we fund local government. Our system is not just bad; it is the absolute worst in our entire nation. The State of Michigan ranks behind all others in local government investment. Thankfully, our advocates at the Michigan Municipal League have launched SaveMIcity.org to bring awareness to this unsustainable system and many communities are joining the fight as well. Together, city leaders from Berkley, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Oak Park, Hazel Park, and Ferndale are hosting three upcoming opportunities to join your neighbors, local elected leaders, and SaveMIcity.org experts, as we discuss how changes in state funding priorities can benefit communities through cost containment, revenue enhancement, and structure of government. • Wednesday, August 9 @ 7:00 pm - Ford Education Center at the Detroit Zoo • Thursday, August 10 @ 7:00 pm – Ford Education Center at the Detroit Zoo • Tuesday, August 15 @ 7:30 am – The Rustbelt Market in Ferndale These events are absolutely FREE!! Mark your calendars now to attend any of these incredibly interesting SaveMIcity presentations. Chat with Matt The next Chat with Matt is scheduled for Wednesday, October 4, 2017 at City Hall. Our featured guest will be City Clerk, Annette Boucher. Mrs. Boucher will be on hand to talk about the operations of the Clerk’s office and to unveil the city’s new election equipment. Hope to see you all there! Election Equipment Exciting news! Michigan’s new statewide voting system has arrived! The City of Berkley received their new voting equipment last week. The new equipment, which includes ballot tabulators, accessible devices for use by voters with disabilities and election-management and reporting software is ready to go. All Michigan cities and townships across the state will have the new equipment by the end of summer, 2018. Federal and State funding (approximately $40M) covers the majority of cost state wide. The new equipment replaces the aging equipment purchased by the state and voters used in 2016. The City of Berkley voters will begin using the new equipment at the November 7, 2017 election. The new voting equipment will be unveiled October 4 at the next Chat with Matt, when Annette Boucher, Berkley City Clerk will be our guest Director. On November 7, 2017 Berkley residents are asked to elect members to the Berkley City Council. This November ballot will contain races for the Mayor and three (3) Councilmembers. The newly elected Mayor will serve a two (2) year term and each elected Councilmember will serve a four (4) year term. The last day to register to vote for the November election is Tuesday, October 10, 2017. New residents and residents who have recently changed addresses may register to vote or update their registration by visiting any Secretary of State office or the Berkley City Clerk’s office during regular business hours. Online registration is also available by clicking here. Note: if you are registering to vote for the first time in Michigan, you must appear in person to vote in your first election. This requirement does not apply if you: 1) personally hand deliver a registration form to the county clerk or city clerk’s office instead of mailing or faxing, 2) are 60 years or older, 3) are disabled, or 4) are eligible to vote under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. If you have any questions on the upcoming election, or voter registration, please contact the Berkley City Clerk’s office at 248-658-3310. Murals You may have noticed some new cool outdoor paintings around town. Yes, the Berkley DDA has created the Berkley DDA Mural Program. Approved at the June 5 City Council meeting, the Berkley DDA Mural Program is administered by the Berkley DDA and its Public Art Committee. Applications for new outdoor murals are reviewed by the Public Art Committee composed of community stakeholders and artists. Any individual artist or organization wanting to create an outdoor mural in the DDA District can contact Vivian Carmody, Executive Director of the DDA at 248-658-3350. To check out the nine murals painted so far, visit these businesses: Nova Chiropractic, Elwin & Co., Chet’s Rent All, Berkley Eyewear/Peggendott Design, The Neighbor’s Shoppe, Patrick J’s, Sum Girls Boutique, George’s Shoe Repair, Armidillo’s. CruiseFest Start your engines! CruiseFest organizers are revving up for the Woodward Dream Cruise kickoff events. The City of Berkley CruiseFest Planning Committee, city officials and volunteers are working hard to finalize arrangements for the Classic Car Parade to be held on Friday, August 18, 2017 on 12 Mile Road between Coolidge and Greenfield. The parade begins at 6:30 pm. Watch the city website for a schedule of CruiseFest activities coming soon. |
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