We recently brought this up during the discussion of the RE Old Transportation Museum, but they are announcing they are closed today to prepare for the inevitable flooding of the area. Potter Park Zoo is also closed, and quite a few roads.
It's just a reminder that while luckier than a lot of cities, Lansing still has quite a bit of property in the floodplain, and something we should remember when talking about possible developments in the floodplain.
In REOtown the river level is pretty close to our parking lot's level and is higher than I have seen it in the time I have been back here. I parked on higher ground. From the two Elm Street bridges you can see the water is very high. The north bank of the river trail near GM is under water. As is the road on the GM property there. All the streets near the Red Cedar are closed.
btw Townsend William and Walnut streets have re-opened after the BWL finished its project there.
I wrote with some of my ideas for tree trimming and road paving to the BWL, and they wrote back! It seems that they will put utilities underground if each customer along a line wants to pay for it. I was speaking about an overall plan of putting all lines underground, not just one street. All my ideas cost a lot of money, I had not really thought they would say "if our customers want to pay for it". They have these multi-million dollar projects going, why is something like burying the lines such an impossible dream? I wonder how much just one of those 65 [or higher] foot tall steal line poles that now fill the sky on the west side cost? Opposed to digging a trench and building a utility pipe/tunnel under the street and rebuilding the street? He again said that anything like permeable pavements or pollarding style tree trims would have to be requested and paid for by the customer. It's all paid for by customers already it seems to me, I thought we owned the BWL. The letter was polite and sort of a "we know best" but he said they would include my ideas in future discussions.
Funny, I was just going to post this after the city updates it's agenda section where they had minutes from the February 15th meeting concerning this:
Council Member Spadafore asked why the BWL does not bury their utility lines. Mr. Peffley stated they do consider them street by street but cannot do one household because everyone is effected by the feed of line in the street. They agree to consider it during the rehab of a street because they can bury them in the street.
Sounds like the best option, then, is for citizens to pressure a city ordinance with the city council and/or a rule change from the BWL board of commissioners that they bury the lines during street reconstructions at the very least.
I'm glad we finally know what the policy so that we can pressure to change it. It actually isn't a foreign idea. Sidewalks assessments are largely the same way with the big difference being that the city and BWL don't seem to have any formal mechanism for forcing this.
Just read an interesting story in the City Pulse on Riverview Estates on West Mt. Hope near Moores River Drive. I had no idea the mobile home park was in such disrepair. Apparently, they got a new owner in mid-December who right away is revamping the park.
The story also talks about how current Mayor Andy was responsible for a bill in 2015 that got mobile home parks under the control of municipalities, as apparently they'd been regulated by state codes giving cities very little oversight over them. The city has instituted an enforcement program but has been struggling to get it implemented under the new law. Fortunately, the new owner seems to be doing it even absent the legal requirements.
The park has 157 lots on 10 acres. The owners are demolishing 23 of the worst sites with plans to rehab the rest, though that last part could take some years. I always thought it was odd how you had such a park in such a wealthy area. Not odd in a bad way, but simply different. I'm glad to here they are doing something with the place and that it seems to have turned out better than the fight over Life O'Reilly on the southside which took years and was super acrimonious.
The park on W Mt Hope pre-dates almost all of the buildings there now.I knew some kids in college that lived there. It was not so bad back then but I would not say it was nice either. Way back it was kind of the edge of town in the middle of an area that had not yet been developed. The nicer subdivisions ended around Lewton Elementry School on the south side of Mt. Hope, and at the country club on the other side. There was also another old fashion trailer park off of S. Logan/MLK between Loa Street and what is now Southland Ave. They seem to be located in areas that were once "the edge of town" then the town kept growing around them.
I read where Lansing is the number one affordable {mid sized} city to live, in the whole country! That is pretty cool, that is one reason I live here. Maybe having the worst streets to drive on helps to keep home values "affordable".
Not necessarily a development, but Lansing-based Two Men and a Truck are hiring 200 people in the region. Love seeing a local company do so well nationally, but also never forget their home.
Comments
We recently brought this up during the discussion of the RE Old Transportation Museum, but they are announcing they are closed today to prepare for the inevitable flooding of the area. Potter Park Zoo is also closed, and quite a few roads.
It's just a reminder that while luckier than a lot of cities, Lansing still has quite a bit of property in the floodplain, and something we should remember when talking about possible developments in the floodplain.
From the city:
In REOtown the river level is pretty close to our parking lot's level and is higher than I have seen it in the time I have been back here. I parked on higher ground. From the two Elm Street bridges you can see the water is very high. The north bank of the river trail near GM is under water. As is the road on the GM property there. All the streets near the Red Cedar are closed.
btw Townsend William and Walnut streets have re-opened after the BWL finished its project there.
I wrote with some of my ideas for tree trimming and road paving to the BWL, and they wrote back! It seems that they will put utilities underground if each customer along a line wants to pay for it. I was speaking about an overall plan of putting all lines underground, not just one street. All my ideas cost a lot of money, I had not really thought they would say "if our customers want to pay for it". They have these multi-million dollar projects going, why is something like burying the lines such an impossible dream? I wonder how much just one of those 65 [or higher] foot tall steal line poles that now fill the sky on the west side cost? Opposed to digging a trench and building a utility pipe/tunnel under the street and rebuilding the street? He again said that anything like permeable pavements or pollarding style tree trims would have to be requested and paid for by the customer. It's all paid for by customers already it seems to me, I thought we owned the BWL. The letter was polite and sort of a "we know best" but he said they would include my ideas in future discussions.
Funny, I was just going to post this after the city updates it's agenda section where they had minutes from the February 15th meeting concerning this:
Sounds like the best option, then, is for citizens to pressure a city ordinance with the city council and/or a rule change from the BWL board of commissioners that they bury the lines during street reconstructions at the very least.
I'm glad we finally know what the policy so that we can pressure to change it. It actually isn't a foreign idea. Sidewalks assessments are largely the same way with the big difference being that the city and BWL don't seem to have any formal mechanism for forcing this.
Just read an interesting story in the City Pulse on Riverview Estates on West Mt. Hope near Moores River Drive. I had no idea the mobile home park was in such disrepair. Apparently, they got a new owner in mid-December who right away is revamping the park.
The story also talks about how current Mayor Andy was responsible for a bill in 2015 that got mobile home parks under the control of municipalities, as apparently they'd been regulated by state codes giving cities very little oversight over them. The city has instituted an enforcement program but has been struggling to get it implemented under the new law. Fortunately, the new owner seems to be doing it even absent the legal requirements.
The park has 157 lots on 10 acres. The owners are demolishing 23 of the worst sites with plans to rehab the rest, though that last part could take some years. I always thought it was odd how you had such a park in such a wealthy area. Not odd in a bad way, but simply different. I'm glad to here they are doing something with the place and that it seems to have turned out better than the fight over Life O'Reilly on the southside which took years and was super acrimonious.
The park on W Mt Hope pre-dates almost all of the buildings there now.I knew some kids in college that lived there. It was not so bad back then but I would not say it was nice either. Way back it was kind of the edge of town in the middle of an area that had not yet been developed. The nicer subdivisions ended around Lewton Elementry School on the south side of Mt. Hope, and at the country club on the other side. There was also another old fashion trailer park off of S. Logan/MLK between Loa Street and what is now Southland Ave. They seem to be located in areas that were once "the edge of town" then the town kept growing around them.
It is good to hear they are at least considering these things.
I read where Lansing is the number one affordable {mid sized} city to live, in the whole country! That is pretty cool, that is one reason I live here. Maybe having the worst streets to drive on helps to keep home values "affordable".
Lol, it seems many cities in Michigan are fighting for the distinction of worst roads
Not necessarily a development, but Lansing-based Two Men and a Truck are hiring 200 people in the region. Love seeing a local company do so well nationally, but also never forget their home.