D meeting held at the
Harbor Public Ubrary,
ltedlJatlay, J 20, 10 W°I.SCU5S
'city- ide ho in trategy,"
seemed informative to the
res ho attended.
Ben on Harbor Mayor William
Wolf. ho conducted the
meeting. id the meeting
d iped to tal to the ci tze of
Benton Harbor bout the housing
CO ISSIO
APPROVES
BUDGET
n id he didn't feel it
a rear 'c bud t the city
hould think about contr cting
city rvices to money.
Commi ioner Wysi nger
complained that the city
emp yees re not doin a ·day
ork for a day' pay.. nd he
ref to YOte for the get.
The general fulkl r 1989-90
w $4.491,614 th revenues
$4.599.264.
The new bu ge t call for _
$ 176,327 for ity Man ger;
$29,200. Mayor/Commi ion;
$16,100, Clerk/Election;
$197,753 City A se or;
$136.970. city attorney; S12,271
city cler ; $323,375. finance;
$247.488, for building
main nee; SI,272,563, police;
$919,869, fire; $284,373.
inspection; $246.584, public
wor dmini tration; S9 ,134,
par ; $129,314. city engin er:
$300,000, rubbi h collection;'
$188,000, p rking lots, alley',
treet lights; S13<).�OO, eneral
dmini trati n: S4.W,_ ,aid to
govemmen ; and 122,943. debt
rviee.
Benton Harbor City Manager
Steve nning id the overall
pending increase in the new
bud t w necc ry.
In other bu ine the
commi ion voted to approve
three amended city ordinances.
They ppro ed: -.
-A b n on the playang of
loud music • rom r dios ,
phono r ph , mu ical
regi tration
i
-And requirement that
pplican for city employment
undel'lo phy ical ex m and be at
I t 18 years of e.
dr
problems in the city.
Of the 35-40 people ttending !
the meeting abo 50 percent of
them were Benton Harbor aty
residents.
Wolf said gradual chang
have been made in the city
administration.
"The key to the first two years
of the City of Benton IiaJbor, after
I became mayor - my priorities
ere to get the economic machine
of the city 0tking gain. Stan
getting new b i to move
into town. Get the jo created.
Get the taxbasecreatedoratle t
beg n t the proce of
expansion," said Wolf.
"Our tax ba e is no
expanding. If we don't have the
tax b e we aren't going to have
the money to pay for the ervice
to make the q Iity of life better
in th city," id Wolf.
Some of the que tions that
needed ans ering were:
- Should the city continue 10
promot homeownership rath r
than ell propertie to I ndlord ?
- Is the city right in
d iscour gi ng the s Ie of
city-owned propertie to
non-profit organizations
(churc , Slate, county, etc.)?
- Should th city try and
d vel p any dditional. scattered
-it ho " ?
- What about more large
public ho ing complexe .like
Ea t W hington, B ss, or Harbor
Towe ?
-Should sell m 1110 for
ho or allow the city to "thin
our" by only allowing
construction on larger or
combined lots?
-I" there a need in th City or
more apartment complexe
(privately developed)?'
- Is our increa cd Code
Entorccm ru working? Can you
ec any rc rults?
- Do we have enough par if
we fixed up what w have? What
ind?
- Do . the Edward Street
bridge need to be fixed?
-If we fixed your alley woUld
you like tone/gravel if that' all
we can afford, or would you rather
ait for phalt?
- � a resident, do you have
a problem if omeone built a
modular home (pre-fabricated
house) next to your ho ?
- Would you encoura your
fri nds and rclativ to move into
t City of Bcn on H rbor nght.
no ? If so, why'! -
yor Wolf id t city 10
d clop housing iraiegy, nd
over the p l21/2 years ince be'
been mayor, "the city has been
very consi lent in the policy that'
been applied when it comes
elling city properties or what the
priorities in the city
administration are .•
-I'll will be the first to admit
tbat e ve not been entirely
successful with everydai that
e put oUr to,·' Wolf.
but -I do thin we h ve been
direction lhat
e are headed." .
The housing strategy wa
never put do n on paper and was
not thought of in terms of the long
range -the five, ten, twenty year
outlet. said Wolf. He cd the
audience ·what ould they like to
see down the road."
I"
cout
book.
ting
And he aid to do t, the first
step w to get the citizens tual
input. what would they like to see
in their city?
The citizens focused mostly on
the problem of housing and home
ownership.
They said they would like to
e more scattered- ite housing
than public hou ing project.
They also aid the tenan in the
scattered- i ho hould have
the opportunity to pure t
homes, but they made it known
that the t 'scanered-site ho
built. looked very ch ap. Some
agreed that there w a need for
more high-ri e hou ing for
senio .
Don Wickh m, a non-city
re ident aid he believed that
high-rise housing for seniors i
must, because it i fer than with
them living alone.
Mary Defoe, President 0 the
Twin Citi local branch chapter
of the NAACP, aid home
owner hip i omething that
people would like to ve. S
id there are people th t have
been "locked into th city" for
great numberofye rs nd h v n't
been able to purcb e hom.
On th i ue of mo partes
throughout th city, Commi ion
George Wy inger id t re were
enough parks, in fact too many.
He id there hould onl y
p It: per ward with th J n
Klock P rk being th 5th one.
M yor Wolf id that h n
out over 500 leue informing
citizens of thi town meeting.
A READ· TO
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