Downtown projects highlighted in Pontiac
- Erich Murphy
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
Work on a downtown building and agreements with a couple of businesses were approved by the Pontiac City Council during its second meeting of June which took place Monday at City Hall.
Route 66 Roadhouse owner Brandon Dawson got his wish for a dining area in front of his restaurant at 201 N. Mill St. The city council approved an agreement with Dawson that will allow for the patio area in front of the restaurant to be used for dining. The agreement will also allow the city to use the patio area for downtown events when the restaurant is closed.
This is a revokable agreement, which means should Dawson close the restaurant or sell it, the agreement is ended and the new owner will need to make a new agreement with the city.
Also, Dawson will be able to use a grill in addition to his regular business. This has met the approval of the fire department and the health department.
The city entered a redevelopment agreement with Donna Comens and her downtown building. This agreement will allow the city to cover half the cost of a roof repair (city’s share is $8,150.50) and an overall total reimbursement not to exceed $50,000. The current projection is at least half that amount.
In a letter to the city, Comens wrote, “I’m so excited to see what Centennial Plaza is going to be when it’s done. I feel very lucky to be right there and see all the work being done and coming together. It’s going to be a fabulous and such a fun addition to the city.”
She said Centennial Plaza has been an inspiration for updating her building. Comens said she’s already done the front of her building. She is looking at redoing woodwork and repair steps in the back, among other things.
Another building on the Centennial Plaza block is in need of repair after the city tore down a building on West Howard Street recently. When the building at 116 W. Howard was razed, it exposed the back wall of Bill Bertram’s Law Office at 318 N. Mill St.
City Administrator Jim Woolford said TIF money will be able to cover the costs of restoration and repair to the building. Abraham Masonry’s bid of $8,985 was accepted.
A formal agreement with Bill Bertram to do the work was also approved by the council.
Mayor Kelly Eckhoff read a resolution recognizing Talon Erschen, who was a silver medalist at the national SkillsUSA competition recently.
LACC technology instructor Doug Masching told the council that Erschen won at the state level to earn a trip to the national competition. Masching said that Erschen was required to perform various tasks, including finding a problem and diagnosing it, troubleshooting a problem and fixing it, and design a public safety complex network with all the security that goes with such a project. Erschen then had to defend his design.
Erschen will be going the US Army there he will become a cyber operations specialist.
In other business, the council approved three items related to the MLSS Recycle Pump project. This is a project at the treatment plat that is expected to take as long as 18 months to complete.
In an unrelated matter, the city approved the appointments of Nancy Milhauser, Larry Krominga and Debbie Dowdy to the Pontiac Public Library Board.