,
DECEMBER 2 • 1
HIGAN CITIZEN AGE 15
z
,
,
Commissioners bemoan
I
By ernlce Bro
Benton Harbor
Corre potuhnl
The Benton Harbor City
Commission approved an
Enterprize Zone spendin
plan y a 7-] vot at th ir
Monda y, ovember 26. Ben­
ton Harbor Ci ty Commission
me ting, but not withou loud
complaints about th lac of
jobs being creat d for city
re idents by the plan.
According to the re olu­
tion only 90 percent of the
taxes billed will be collected
dunng the fi ca year
1990/91 leaving a spcndin
plan for 651,00 in pnrnary
\! penditurc and $265.( In
contingency expenditure .
The pi n al 0 provides
$97,500 for r volving joan
Iunds. whic wen to Chad­
'IC' &. Cunningham LTr-.
$60.000; PC (DeBoer)
12,500; and J Barber.
Beauty Salon, S2 .000.
M ny of the cornmis­
loners were up ct about the
amount in the pl n to be � ed
Or job creation, ($97, ).
Th y. aid they didn't think
city re ident 'wer getting
th ir fair h re of joh. from
th cornp r-ics that are CUing
ta break' and rcvo.vin
lo? fund ..
THERE WA." MORE
cnuci m about the Rivcrvic
Drive Proje t nd the I cal
-T
The Downtown De clop­
ment Authority (DDA) and
he Tax I ncrement Fin nee
Authority (TIFA) Board held
their regul r m nthly meeting
Tue day, ovcmbcr 20.
Durin th DD,A porti n of
the meetin • Director A ron
Anthony In ormed the board
member that 1 th Street
P vine \ . complete and the
Rivcrvrc Drive pf1 jcct wa:
lmost cornplet and the
streets ere open for travel.
M or olf brought to the
boards attention that Mr. WiJ­
Jiarr. Booker. 0 ncr of the 0(­
fie Lounge came to th city
king if they would pav tbe
it .. '-0 ncd parking I next to
hi. business. The. Hoard
gre d t 100 into th matter.
Chri topher Brooks, Chair­
man cf h 'Board informed
the boar members th t the
City had passed on to them in­
voice for engineerin that
street repair project, whe no
ci y re idents 60t a job either.
Commissioner George
Wysinger said there are men
waiting for construction wor
that belong to the construction
union in Benton Harbor,
while out of town contractors
come in and get all the Job .
"LocaJ people, th y don't
hav no type of chance to to
improve their standard of
iving because they can't even
get a job where they Jive a "
said Wysinger.
CITY MA A Ek Steve
Manning stated th I the
project on Riverview Drive
wa bid by .the Michigan
Department of Transportation.
"The job did h v affirrnativ
ction requrr ments, hu: it
w not specific !O re rdents
of Benton ar r."
. "We ar doin a poor JOD
of job creation for local resi­
dents," aid Commi sioner
Charle Yarbrou h, "a dame
poor job. Th tom line i
th t we've done a orry Job of
job creation for our rc idents
that Jive in the city."
Commi sioner Ralph Cren­
. aw said he agreed with th
other commis ioner that
they have don d "mi crable
j bt in job performance.
"F r busine to create
minimum wage jo it i. not
oin to do u any good, b -
cau e tho e type of jo will
A
ee
\ a� done in conjuncu n with
the Heath Company Sanit ry
ewer project that initially
CO'1 $2. 1.000.
Brook. ld the Iinanc
department reviewed the in­
voic s and :nform d their
Director and th ci ty engi cer
to meet \ i th th other en-
inccrs and have them com­
plete the plan to the point
where DDA could put hem
out for bid.
Th city i a king D A to
pay 60 .. 70 percent of the bili.
In other busine , item
brought to the board for ac­
tion ere:
- . An invoice in th
amount of $540.00 to the Joh ,
Devries A cnc lnc., for the
renewal of insur nc or he
Busine Growth Center nd
it content,
- Appro ed payin an. n
oi in the amount of .781. L
to Klett Construction Com­
pany for th paving of 12th
Street.
- Approved an invoice in
the amount of $1,317.30 to
only help the busines but
not the city residents," Cren-
shaw said. "We've got to cre­
ate meaningful job for the
p ople who want to support a
family in the city."
. "Th re 1 nothing more im­
portant in the City of Benton
Harbor for Economic
Development - job creation-
and ta �rea " id Mayor
William Wolf.
"Every project that you ee
come into this city ince I've
been mayor bas created one of
tho two things," aid.
olf said tne problem
won't be solved in Benton
Harbor until t ciuzens hav
an opportunity to go to wor .
He al 0 stated that there a
no 70 new businesses in t
city which were not there in
the previous administration.
"Get the busines e in
town get the right incentives
in place and our citizens that
want to go to wor will go to
work," Wolf said.
Yarbrough said if they
cbec ib payroll of the e
companie lh y will ee how
many city residents are
employed a their busin
Ro n E. Curti .• of Coloma
for painung and tripin f
city tree .
DURlNt; TIlE U�A por­
tion of th mcetin lh board
di cussed ways to attract new
tenant ,fresh tarting u i­
ne es to locate in the City
Bu inc Growth ntcr, 2
Fa Paw Street.
According to Anthony the
Bu ine Growth Center i al­
m . t full, but h bout 3 000
uare feet till av llablc for
leasing.
Members of the board said
would be a good idea if •
Y adverti d the pace for
e.
In other b ine the TI A
Board approved th followi ng
bill for payment:
- An invoi to the Jo
De Vrie Agency. lnc., in t
amount of $809.00, for the
renew I of insurance for the
Business Gro th Center and
their con ents. The DDA and
TIFA Board ch paid a por­
tion of the bill which totalled
$1,349.00.
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end me I
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Michigan itizen I
am
I ��s___.. ___.. _
I
I City --.;..'_ST __ ZIP __
I
I
I
I [] BILL
: n PAY NT
I ENCLOSED
I [] $15 ONE YEAR
I (] $9 • SIX MONTHS
I [ J $25 • TWO YEARS
L o
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MAlt TODAY TO:
PO BOX03560
HIGHLAND PK, I 48203