The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Public gets chance to debate cityhood
By Sandi Kasha, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 15, 2007
Following months of careful research the Dexter City Study Committee is one step closer to providing the Village Council with their recommendation.
Advertisement
And they're inviting the public for their input Feb. 28 at Mill Creek Middle School from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Committee member Bart Wall said that the group will have a final meeting Mar. 7 to review their report and summarize public comments from the open house.
Wall added that the committee will present their recommendation at the Mar. 26 Village Council meeting.
The committee has had ten meetings since their introduction in August to weigh in on the advantages and disadvantages of becoming a city.
The group researched plenty of information from other city group studies, analyzed data on transition costs and tax implications.
Guest speakers were welcomed to the meetings to provide information about city transition.
The group welcomed representatives from Chelsea to discuss their experiences on converting to a city, past village presidents and elected officials for input, the village's treasurer for a current financial outlook and possible costs, and Scio and Webster township supervisors to discuss any possible effects their municipalities would have if Dexter does convert into a city.
The committee also invited representatives from the Michigan Municipal League as well as an attorney from Miller Canfield who specializes in city status transition.
The committee was selected by Village President Jim Seta June 22.
They were given 180 days, with a 60-day extension if needed, to complete their research and submit their recommendation to the Village Council.
Cityhood doesn't happen overnight. There are steps prescribed by the State of Michigan Dept. of Labor & Economic Growth that Dexter Village must follow before converting into a city. The following steps are for obtaining approval for incorporation.
Preparation Activities: task force comprised of residents, survey and public forums.
Prepare draft petition.
Pre-review of draft petition by the State Boundary Commission (optional).
Circulate petition for signatures.
File petition with the State Boundary Commission.
Boundary Commission legal sufficiency meeting.
Public hearing conducted by the Boundary Commission. (Approximately 45 days after legal sufficiency meeting).
Period to submit additional material to docket, which ends 30 days after the public hearing.
Rebuttal period. (Approximately 60 to 90 days after public hearing).
Boundary Commission Adjudication. (Approximately 30 days after rebuttal period).
Boundary Commission adopts findings. (Approximately 30 days after adjudication).
Director of Dept. of Labor & Economic Growth Issues Order. (Approximately two to four weeks).
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
TOP JOBS
