View the PDF version Google Docs PDF Viewer
AGENDA
LEGISLATIVE POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021
5:30 P.M.
VIA ZOOM
I. Call to Order
II. Approval of Minutes for January 27, 2021
III. Old Business
IV. New Business
1) Review of 2019 Goals – Mayor Gawron
2) Establishment of 2021 Goals – Mayor Gawron
V. Adjourn
City of Muskegon, 933 Terrace Street, P.O. Box 536, Muskegon, MI 49443-0536
http://www.shorelinecity.com
CITY OF MUSKEGON
LEGISLATIVE POLICY COMMITTEE
Minutes
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
5:30 pm
Via Zoom
Present: Commissioners Hood (arrived 6:57 pm), Rinsema-Sybenga, Emory, Ramsey,
Johnson, German, and Gawron.
Absent: None.
Approval of Minutes
Commissioner Johnson moved, Commissioner Rinsema-Sybenga seconded, to approve
the minutes of September 23, 2020.
MOTION CARRIED.
Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance – Marihuana
Staff-initiated request to amend the zoning ordinance to allow for Microbusinesses,
Designated Consumption Establishments, Class A Recreational Grows (Up to 100 plants),
Class B Recreational Grows (Up to 500 plants), Class A Medical Grows (Up to 500 plants)
and temporary marihuana events as a special use permitted in I-1, I-2, MC, B-2, and B-4
zoning districts.
At the Planning Commission in November, a motion that the request to amend the zoning
ordinance to allow the above be approved by the City Commission with the following
amendments: Any adult-use marihuana business shall not be located within a 500-foot radius
of any property occupied by: (1) a public playground, (2) a public park, (3) public housing,
(4) a religious institution, (5) a public or private, vocational school, college, junior college, or
university, (6) a state-licensed child care center or pre-school, (7) any public swimming pool,
public or private youth activity facility, public outdoor recreation area (except trails), or
public recreation facility, (8) a youth center, (9) a juvenile or adult halfway house, (10)
correctional facility or rehab center; and that microbusinesses and designated consumption
establishments may only operate from 11:00 pm, not 12:00 am, was adopted by the Planning
Commission.
The Commission discussed how the marihuana ordinance should have the same type of
conditions associated with businesses in the overlay district.
Discussion took place to:
Allow microbusinesses and designated consumption establishments open from 8 am – 12 am.
Mandate that a waste disposal plan must be submitted and approved for the disposal of waste,
chemicals, and unused plant material.
Security presence being in place on the property at all times, either by licensed security
guard(s) and/or security cameras and a detailed floor plan with security details will be
required.
This item will be placed on the February 9, 2021 agenda for consideration by the City
Commission.
Public Hearing Process
Staff is seeking approval to modify the process for holding public hearings at City
Commission meetings.
Staff would like to be able to address comments received from the public so that
Commissioners have a full picture of the topic before voting. The proposal is to modify the
process as follows:
Clerk reads brief summary of agenda item.
Staff presents details on the item.
Public hearing is opened and comments are received from the public.
Staff addresses questions/comments received during the public hearing.
Commissioners close the public hearing and deliberate.
Commissioners vote on the agenda item.
Commissioners discussed the proposal and were in agreement with the recommendation.
This item will be placed on the February 9, 2021 agenda for consideration by the City
Commission.
Adjournment
Motion by Commissioner Ramsey, seconded by Commissioner Rinsema-Sybenga to
adjourn the meeting at 7:13pm.
MOTION CARRIED.
______________________________
Ann Marie Meisch, MMC
City Clerk
CITY COMMISSION
2019 ACTION ITEM REVIEW
AS APPROVED BY THE
MUSKEGON CITY COMMISSION
UPDATED MARCH 2021
THE VISION
In January 2016, the City Commission convened with staff to discuss a five-year vision for the
City. This update focuses on our City’s progress on the action items added in 2019 in an effort
to further refine steps toward reaching our collective vision.
At that time in 2016, the 2021 visionary items identified by City Commissioners included many
community and economic development items. Many Commissioners expected to see the
ownership transition at the former Sappi Paper Mill completed, as well as the current housing
developments at Terrace Point Landing and Midtown Square completed. Commissioners also
expected to see redevelopment underway at the Edison Landing (Smartzone) property.
Commissioners envisioned Downtown Muskegon functioning as a destination for cultural and
retail activity (with specialty stores and a grocery or co-op store), as well as a home to a
specialty high school, college students, a new convention center, and a cruise ship port; many
of the vacant lots currently on Western Avenue would now house mixed use buildings.
Commissioners expected to see the former Farmers Market site on Yuba Street cleaned and
under development with new opportunities, as well. There was a further desire to see the
City’s festivals grow and include a defined pedestrian route from the core downtown to
Heritage Landing. From a blight standpoint, Commissioners expected to see far less blight
throughout our community, with an additional emphasis focused on cleaning up our city’s
gateways and entry points. Commissioners expected to see a healthier Muskegon Lake, with
more visitors and better environmental conditions. Commissioners generally expected to see
more housing opportunities – single family houses, condos, and apartments – throughout the
entire city.
This represents a vision for Muskegon that will take continued coordinated efforts by elected
officials, staff, residents, and the members of the business community. Well-defined goals
are vital in working toward this vision. The Commission originally agreed in 2016 to work to
obtain this vision by establishing four goal areas: Housing, Image, Quality of Life, and
Revitalizing Revenue.
In subsequent goal setting sessions in March 2017, October 2018, and March 2019, the City
Commission reconvened with staff to discuss measurable goals and objectives for the coming
fiscal year(s). The commitment to the long-term vision set forth in 2016 remains unchanged,
and certain short-term goals have been identified to help reach that ultimate vision. A great
emphasis on improving quality of life was identified in 2019 as the best way to meet this
established vision.
This document reviews progress on the action items established in 2019 to meet our
collective vision for Muskegon in 2021. A strong emphasis was placed on incrementally
improving quality of life indicators with an expected outcome to be substantial improvement
in all four of the original goal areas established in 2016. Please note that a 2017 effort to rank
the tenants of Quality of Life resulted in a clear emphasis by both commissioners and staff on
Economic/Physical Environment with commissioners choosing Governance as a second
choice and staff choosing Living Conditions.
1
2021 COMMISSION GOALS
2021 GOAL 1: HOUSING
Create an environment that effectively attracts new residents to Muskegon by filling existing
employment gaps, attracting new businesses to the city, and expanding access to high-quality
housing in Muskegon.
Key Focus Areas
Attracting new businesses to the city
Expanding access to high-quality housing
Filling existing employment gaps
2021 GOAL 2: IMAGE
Create an environment where blight fight efforts can be highly successful in improving the
attractiveness of our community’s neighborhoods – to both current residents and future
potential residents.
Key Focus Areas
Blight Fight
Improving attractiveness of our community
GOAL 3: QUALITY OF LIFE
Create an environment that puts an emphasis on improving amenities and investing in the
traits that positively affect residents’ quality of life, including a continued focus on improving
community safety.
Key Focus Areas
Improving Amenities
Investing in Quality of Life
Improving Community Safety
GOAL 4: REVITALIZE REVENUES
Create an environment that naturally affects the city’s revenues in a positive manner, with a
focus on reclaiming the investments at Midtown Square, nurturing startup projects proposed
throughout the city, and exploring staff recommendations related to new revenues.
Key Focus Areas
Reclaim Investments in Midtown Square
Nurture Start Up Projects
Explore Staff Recommendations Related to New Revenues
2
PROGRESS TOWARD 2021:
QUALITY OF LIFE
Create an environment that puts an emphasis on improving amenities and investing in the
traits that positively affect residents’ quality of life, including a continued focus on improving
community safety.
Approved 2019 Commission Action Items:
2019 Action Items.
In 2019, The City Commission met and directed staff to focus on quality of life tenants
that received less impactful progress in the years since the goals were established.
Additional emphasis was placed on the following areas:
Action Item 2019-1 Continue focusing on quality of life tenants.
• Education. Many staff members and elected officials either volunteered for,
donated to, or otherwise supported the Muskegon Public Schools 30-year bond
campaign in early 2020. Both proposals were successful, and now staff has started
working directly with school officials to ensure the new schools and district-wide
improvements are designed in a way that is mutually beneficial to the students and
the surrounding neighborhoods.
• Living Conditions. For many years, much of Muskegon’s aging housing market was
depressed – resulting in areas of our city that boasted very affordable purchase
prices and rents. These depressed values also deterred significant ownership
investments into our existing housing stock (remodels, additions, routine
maintenance, capital maintenance, etc.), and the result was an abundance of
affordable, but unkempt and ill-maintained housing throughout parts of the city.
For years, many of the city’s houses were treated almost as disposable – used by
landlords and homeowners until they were too ill-maintained to occupy, and then
abandoned and demolished by the city’s public safety department. The
corresponding depressed existing housing values made reconstruction unviable,
and the result has been hundreds of publicly-owned vacant residential lots across
the city.
3
Many areas throughout West Michigan have experienced significant growth in
housing costs over the past 5 years. There are many factors contributing to the
increased costs, including economic prosperity, increased building costs, and
increased demand. Muskegon has not been shielded from these increases, as our
property values have increased at comparable
(and higher) rates over that time. The graph to
the right was generated by www.zillow.com,
and demonstrates property value growth in
Muskegon and Muskegon Township.
2020 marked our city’s fifth consecutive year of increased housing values. The
result has been an increase in home renovations and property maintenance as
home values are more able to support the owners’ investments. The city has
played an important role in this process – both as a market-driver and as a
compliment to the natural market improvements. Our goal, however, remains the
same: to improve the living conditions in Muskegon – in terms of housing quality,
quantity, diversity, desirability, and affordability. Staff has worked to meet this
goal using four distinct methods: new construction, renovation of existing
homes/buildings, assistance to homeowners, and neighborhood empowerment.
The impact on homeowners has been great from a value standpoint. This seems
to be true across many sectors of the market. We have approximately 14,000
residences – 49.9% of them are owner occupied. That’s low compared to the
national average of 63.8%. In Muskegon, 46.2% of owner-occupied houses are
owned by minorities. That’s compared to 39.1% nationally. 37.6% of our
homeowners are identified on the US Census as Black or multi-racial – that is
compared to 16.2% nationally. We talk a lot about how we can help create
generational wealth in our minority communities. Based on our property value
growth alone in the past five years, we believe our community is experiencing
approximately $128 Million in new real estate related wealth in the minority
community – approximately $105 Million of which comes from Black or multi-racial
owner-occupied homes.
2019 marked the official ground-breaking for the second phase of the Midtown
Square housing project. The second phase consists of 16 units. Additionally, the
city participated in the development of one new affordable single-family home and
one new four-unit affordable rental property (both in the Nelson Neighborhood
and built by Community EnCompass), and has worked along-side developers to
build dozens of homes and apartments, including single-family detached, duplexes,
townhouses, and mixed-use apartment buildings at various downtown sites. Other
4
major residential projects have been approved in the Bluffton and Nims
neighborhoods, which would add hundreds of new housing opportunities over the
next 3-5 years, and the City is gaining state-wide recognition for its overall infill
housing efforts.
Since 2019, the City invested in three income-restricted affordable housing
renovations (one each in the Nelson, Angel, and Jackson Hill neighborhoods).
These units were completed as part of the City’s HOME program. Additionally,
staff undertook four semi-affordable housing renovation projects in 2019/20 (one
in the Nims Neighborhood, three in the Nelson Neighborhood, and one in the
Angell Neighborhood.
2019 marked the completion of the City’s 5th year participating in the
homeownership incentive program. This program helps homebuyers in the city
with up to $5,000 in down payment assistance. 68 homes were purchased by
income-qualified buyers as part of this program; the average purchase price was
$62,085 – very affordable. In total, through 2019, $276,197.58 has been granted
to homeowners, representing 6.5% of the average purchase price. 70% of all
assistance went to female borrowers. All neighborhoods benefited from sales,
with Sheldon Park and Nims accounting for 31% of the assistance.
Staff executed a number of programs that focused on existing homeowners.
Program investments included homeowner lead abatement, furnace
repair/replacement, roof replacement, siding/façade grants, and other need-
based home improvements. Programs were provided via the City’s CDBG program
for residents at or below 80% of the area median income, as well as via three large
grants (Lead Abatement Grant, Senior Home Repair Grant, and DTE), which helped
other members of the community.
In 2019, staff completed a housing study that examined rental housing types
throughout the city. The study reviewed rental rates, vacancy rates, unit size, and
population served. The study has been useful in attracting interest in developing
all housing types, with a particular new focus on investment in income-restricted
workforce housing. This information is helping to inform many of these quality of
life projects.
5
• Productive Activities. In 2019, the City added three staff people to the Economic
Development Department. The staff expansion was a direct result of the
management’s ambition to improve relations with employers, excel in competitive
employer retention and recruitment activities, and expand our physical offerings
for industrial development by providing more places for companies to
grow/expand into Muskegon. The expanded team had a number of major
accomplishments in 2019 and laid the ground-work for many additional
opportunities in the coming year(s).
In early 2019, the City closed on the purchase of the vacant Westshore Correctional
Facility. The vision for the 60-acre site was to a create space for a densely-
developed industrial park. The city eventually received a $4 Million State
Enhancement Grant to cover the cost associated with the purchase, related
demolition, and site preparation. As of December 2019, the demolition activities
have been completed, and economic development staff is working with various
industrial end-users to buildout the site in a manner that creates jobs in the
community. Approximately $1 Million of the enhancement grant receipts have
been spent reconstructing the portions of Sheridan Drive and Olthoff Drive
adjacent to the property.
The City’s economic development team also attended more than 100 business
retention meetings – a number of which resulted in assistance with
business/contract expansion. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, most employers
reported that the tight labor market made finding employees difficult. Most
residents that were able to work and able to consistently attend/perform seemed
to be able to find work.
• Environment. 2019 marked another year in the long process of diversifying the
local economy to focus greater attention on the tourist and travel industry. In
partnership with Muskegon County and Parkland Properties, the City broke ground
on a $21 Million convention center aimed at increasing year-round activity in the
downtown. 2019 also marked the completion of an $8+ Million of investment in
the former Holiday Inn’s upgrade to Delta by Marriott brand. A number of projects
are in varying phases of planning or completion along the lakeshore – which will
help finalize the transformation of our lake from industry-focused to community
and recreation focused. The Imagine Muskegon Lake Plan incorporated much
citizen, staff, and corporate input into reimagining our shoreline, and the plan was
incorporated into the City’s Master Land Use Plan.
6
• Health. Staff spent considerable time developing a parks
improvement/investment plan that sought to identify all of the capital needs in our
parks/recreation system. Once fully-implemented, residents will have significant
opportunity to recreate and exercise in each of our neighborhoods. Additionally,
2019 marked the expansion of the summer recreation and evening recreation
programs to include many new opportunities for youth. The programming for
2020 was greatly diminished due to COVID-19, but staff is hopeful to rebuild the
programming for 2021. Health is one area where local government has limited
direct impact – especially on service provision – but staff has made it a priority to
work with medical professionals in a manner that encourages their investment and
reinvestment in the core city.
• Leisure Activities. We are lucky to have access to so many major cultural and
recreational amenities in Muskegon. The City leads the way in providing and/or
supporting these activities.
In 2019, The City of Muskegon made a major investment in summer youth activities
by funding the Summer Recreation Program and the Summer Revenue Recreation
Program. The program was slightly expanded from the previous year to cover
more face-to-face days/times with youth. The program also added more special
activities including kayaking, boating, and skating. 2021 programming is expected
to expand further – adding Fridays to the programming for the first time; youth will
have activities six days per week throughout the summer.
Also in 2019: Major investments were made at the downtown sports arena;
construction commenced on the new downtown
convention center; expanded restrooms and
playground opened at Pere Marquette Park; a
new recreational hockey team was created in
partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of the
Lakeshore; a partnership was formed with Sport
and Social Club from Grand Rapids to provide
adult recreational sporting leagues; partnerships with the city’s professional
hockey, football, and soccer teams were continued in an effort to provide
affordable access for local youth; the City partnered with the USS Silversides
Submarine Museum to expand offerings to children.
For 2021, staff will be recommending the expansion of many cultural and
recreational investments, including youth recreation, museums, and public park
improvements.
7
• Governance. For 2019, staff began broadcasting City Commission meetings on
Facebook Live. This has been well-received, but does present some of the typical
problems that social media has interjected into other portions of everyday
activities. Our typical meetings receive dozens of viewers, and many participate in
conversations during the viewing period. Staff looks forward to implementing our
new information portal and increasing options for community engagement.
Action Item 2019-2 Devote staff time to the areas that we did not in 2017:
The areas identified were community safety, education activities, street funding plan,
Muskegon Lake Area of Concern designation, and parks/recreation improvements.
Staff continued to work on building strong relations between our community and our
public safety department. The relationship will be ever-evolving, but at a time of
significant social unrest, our community came together without the rioting that
occurred in other cities throughout Michigan and the United States. Going forward,
staff is working to set up meetings with key stakeholders from across the city to help
reimagine the relationship between the community at the public safety department.
Staff presented a plan to raise funds for both street and park infrastructure needs in
2019. Staff still believes that the plan presented in 2019 is a viable and worthwhile
effort. Both our park system and our street system have realized decades of under-
funding and deferred maintenance. The costs to begin to bring the facilities to a state
that reflects a high quality of life for our residents will be in excess of $25 Million.
There are approximately 2-3 project areas that need to be addressed prior to removing
Muskegon Lake as a recognized Area of Concern. One of the greatest areas is the
Amoco Tank Farm site. There is a project ongoing that will move us closer to adequate
remediation of that section of the shoreline, however, oil-based wastes persist on the
site – and likely will for generations. Staff previously proposed a marina-based
residential development that would result in the removal of much of the worst
contaminated soils. That project was met with resistance from the Department of
Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy because of the impact on perceived wetlands
that exist on the site during this period of high water. Staff will continue to work to
develop a mitigation plan for that site – preferably one that contains an economic
development program to help offset the costs.
8
Action Item 2019-3 Develop programs that improve neighborhood livability.
Items identified by City Commissioners were infill housing, park improvements, and
local street improvements
As this report demonstrates, staff has worked diligently to improve housing access. The
city’s new infill program will likely add hundreds of new houses into existing
neighborhoods over the next five years. A number of park improvements are also
underway – particularly Aamodt Park, Pere Marquette Park, and Campbell Field, which
will see major work to add parking, play equipment, and accessibility amenities.
A number of local streets were improved in 2019-20 as part of the City’s water and
sewer reconstruction projects. Many streets in the Nelson, Nims, and Campbell Field
Neighborhoods were positively impacted by the work.
Action Item 2019-4 Continue to make downtown a top priority
Commission consensus was that the Downtown must be considered the epicenter for
activity for all of Muskegon County. Long-term ideas included: Connectivity to the
lakeshore, Designated parking (structure), Mix of housing affordability levels, and
Events/walkability.
Again, staff’s efforts have been exceptionally positive related to Downtown Muskegon.
A plan has been developed to help improve accessibility to the lakeshore, and staff is
working with a developer to identify a path forward for a parking structure. We have
witnessed a number of housing projects move forward – with a mix of affordability and
type. Events for 2020 were down because of social distancing requirements, but staff
used outdoor space to create dozens of smaller events – road closures, moving
restaurants outside, social drinking districts, etc. Additionally, the 49440 zip code –
downtown’s zip code – was recently recognized as the second fastest growing zip code
in the state of Michigan in terms of wage growth.
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the downtown, staff acted swiftly to
implement a number of programs that would help the downtown. These included
buying gift cards from restaurants, brew pubs, and a handful of other retail
establishments. Staff worked to quickly assemble a significant number of picnic tables
for restaurants to use as they expanded their outdoor service areas. Staff worked to
create unique outdoor spaces, like the tiki bar beach behind Burl and Sprig, and the
outdoor social areas on Western Avenue. The official Downtown Social Drinking District
was also created in September to allow the consumption of alcohol throughout much
of the downtown. Lastly, staff implemented a small retail assistance grant program
funded with CDBG dollars.
9
Action Item 2019-5 Create an updated policy for development incentives.
This was completed in 2020. After being presented to the City Commission on a number
of occasions, staff received approval of the plan in summer 2020. Staff has very recently
received approval on a tax incentive plan specific to PILOT agreements (affordable
housing).
Action Item 2019-6 Implicit bias training for all employees
The direction was to focus on front line employees for the training, and to begin review
of existing policies for implicit bias, not only at city hall – throughout our city. By the
end of 2019, most city employees had the opportunity to attend a training session –
including management, frontline staff, police, and fire. Additionally, elected officials
and key staff are expected to undergo Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)
analysis with the Michigan Civil Service Commission.
Other Related Progress on Key Focus Areas:
Much of our activities since 2016 have focused on improving quality of life. In many ways,
quality of life has been positively impacted by direct city action. Residents are being
engaged within their neighborhoods; property values are rising as our neighborhoods
become more livable and safer; and the local economy continues to show promise despite
the impacts of Covid.
Community Safety Plan
Muskegon’s Public Safety Division continues to focus on safety for our community
utilizing the neighborhood policing philosophy. Example programs include Citizens
Police Academy, conversation with a cop, community mixer, and Social Justice
Commission. Additional efforts have been made to connect with youth to foster
positive relationships. Diversity remains a focus area and is reflected in revised
policies and procedures which have recently been accepted for state accreditation.
Communication with the community is opening and improving. In response to the
Eight Can’t Wait, service changes were made to allow the public to more easily file
complaints. Neighborhood officers assist with communication when investigating
crime and providing support for victims. The Police Community Coordinator position
has been somewhat unstable for a couple of years, and is now occupied by someone
who has a good foundation for continuing to improve communication and
collaboration with the public.
Neighborhood Associations
Neighborhoods continued to access the city’s Neighborhood Empowerment Program
to offer more opportunities to engage, and the number of eligible activities were
increased dramatically in 2017, furthering the avenues to outreach. The vast majority
of neighborhoods participate in the National Night Out which provides an opportunity
10
for neighbors to meet each other as well as individuals from our Police and Fire
Departments. The Adopt-a-lot program continues to encourage neighbors to care for
the entire neighborhood, not just their own properties. Often, work groups are
gathered to address the needs of the vacant lots, offering more opportunities for
neighbors to meet and connect with each other. Neighborhood associations use print
and electronic newsletters to reach neighbors on a regular basis.
AmeriCorps staff were used for further engagement activities through October 2020.
Staff has developed a job description for a Community Engagement Leader to assist
all departments in communication and outreach to our neighbors, and commissioners
approved the establishment of a new position in communications.
Equity Action Items
Implicit bias training is covered under action item 2019-6. Intercultural Development
Inventory training was planned for department heads and commissioners after the
2020 goal setting which was rescheduled numerous times. Staff has a proposal and
cost estimate from the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and would like to revisit
this topic with the current commission.
Staff continues to update tax incentive policies and has included scoring criteria
meant to encourage a more diverse workforce, however, the city cannot legally favor
any race or ethnicity over another when determining incentives. A work group is
developing an updated purchasing policy which does establish goals for hiring of
disadvantaged contractors. Staff is also reviewing other policies related to
disadvantaged businesses.
Two specific and targeted efforts to improve the city’s impact on diversity, equity, and
inclusion are being explored. The first is in collaboration with Ottawa County to join
the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, a national network of government
working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. Because many of
the structures and systems that established and repeat patterns of exclusion were
founded in government, change is needed within government to ensure positive
results are sustainable. The benefits of joining GARE include tools to set metrics and
implement processes through a racial equity lens, tools to develop action plans,
practices that advance racial equity in contracting and procurement, guides to assist
in operationalizing racial equity, and information on how to advance racial equity in
hiring practices.
The second initiative is the development of a Citizen’s Commission on Economic
Equity, specifically focused on reviewing developments in the city through an equity
lens. Members of this commission will include a diverse group of citizens and experts
in the Diversity Equity and Inclusion field, as well as minority/women owned business
leaders. The vision is for this commission to review economic development projects
and incentive packages and make recommendations to the City Commission, much
like the Planning Commission does on zoning and land use topics. Their scope would
include all commercial/industrial and infill housing development seeking incentives
from the City.
11
CITY COMMISSION GOALS
AN OUTLINE FOR FINALIZING GOALS
March 2021
Since housing impacts image, quality of life, and revenues and it was determined to be a key focus area
in the August session, staff suggests reducing the overall goals to these three: Image, Quality of Life,
Revitalize Revenues. Social Equity, Youth/Education, and Housing remain focus areas within each of the
goals, and particular action items were developed for each focus area based on discussions at the
January goal setting.
GOAL 1: IMAGE
Social Equity Focus Area
Action Item 2021-1 Develop a Diverse Workforce for All City Positions
Intentional early focus on Public Works and Public Safety
Housing Focus Area
Action Item 2021-2 Identify Developer for Froebel School Site for Redevelopment
Developer will determine the viability of saving the school building
Action Item 2021-3 Substantial Completion of Watermark Redevelopment Project
GOAL 2: QUALITY OF LIFE
Social Equity Focus Area
Action Item 2021-4 Collaborate on Workforce Development Programs
Youth/Education Focus Area
Action Item 2021-5 Partner with School Districts to Expose Students to Public Service Career
Options
Action Item 2021-6 Work with Youth and Education Stakeholders to Foster Connections
between Youth and Opportunities
Housing Focus Area
Action Item 2021-7 Expand Housing Options
Including type of house, price range, locations, rent or own, etc.
Action Item 2021-8 Balance Market Driven Options with Housing Options Attainable for Low
and Middle Income Earners
GOAL 3: REVITALIZE REVENUES
Social Equity Focus Area
Action Item 2021-9 Increase Minority Owned Businesses and Properties in Downtown
Action Item 2021-10 Increase Opportunities for Minorities to Partner in Economic
Development
Action Item 2021-11 Increase Minority Owned Businesses and Properties in Lakeside and
other Commercial Districts
Housing Focus Area
Action Item2021- 12 Increase Property Values in the Urban Core and Eastside Neighborhoods
Action Item 2021-13 Increase Number of Existing Homes being Rehabilitated by Private
Investors
Sign up for City of Muskegon Emails