By Sterling McGinn
Trees on Newberry Avenue in the three downtown blocks will be cut down on Sunday, April 28 pending permit approval from the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The item was discussed at the April meeting of the Newberry Village Council held on Tuesday, April 16. Removing the trees, which have damaged downtown sidewalks, has been long discussed at village council meetings.
Village Manager Allison Watkins said that the work will take place on Sunday because there’s less traffic on the road at that time.
Department of Public Works staff will mark off the areas on Friday to keep vehicles away from where Davis Tree Service will be operating.
In other news, Watkins reported that the village received the $350,000 payment from Pentland Township from litigation the morning after the council approved the agreement last month. Pentland also sent payment for the January and February monthly sewer bills.
The $350,000 was placed in a separate bank account and will be used for capital outlay and equipment for the wastewater treatment plant. The money received was Pentland’s final payment for wastewater treatment services and charges covering the years 2017-2023. Pentland will now pay a monthly rate of $6,600 ending December 31, 2026. The township is in the process of constructing a sewer lagoon system and plans to eventually disconnect from the Village of Newberry.
The council also discussed the process of how Pentland will disconnect from the sewer system following the completion of the sewer lagoon.
“Are there things that we need to do as a village to begin to plan for that?” asked trustee Jeff Puckett.
“We know that they will be paying us for the next three years, so you could choose in the future when we do the budget for next year, to leave that money out of the budget and just set it aside like we did the $350,000,” Watkins said. “So if we need that money in the future when they do come off our system, we will have it set aside.”
The village has not included revenue from Pentland for the last three years, and has operated as if the neighboring township was not a customer.
Pentland Township would be responsible for disconnecting their lines from the village and that they shouldn’t incur costs for disconnecting.
Also discussed that evening was the transfer of the Charles Road sewer line from the prison. The village will be taking over the sewer line on Charles Road from the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Watkins said that the prison had planned to construct a new line from the prison down Charles Road connecting to Victory Way.
“Four years ago, the State of Michigan Department of Corrections approached us to have a conversation because they were planning on running a brand-new sewer line,” Watkins said. “There is a current line there that they own, and they inherited it from the State Hospital—it was not part of McMillan’s lines, so the state actually is responsible for liability and maintenance.”
Some residential lines are also connected to this line. Last summer and fall, the state re-lined the Charles Rd. sewer line around the same time the village was doing their project. The project is done and the state requested that the line be transferred to the village.
In other business, the council voted to approve the purchase of a woodchipper at a cost of up to $24,000. Last fall, the village rented a chipper to assist in the alley brush cleanup. The unit will primarily be used by the DPW department for brush cleanup and when the alleys are cutback for the winter for snowplowing. Watkins said the Water and Light would use it for brush clearing as well.
