Changes Coming to DIGS
Following the success of their backyard DIGS City Beach, DIGS Washington Street pub is bringing the beach vibe inside.
According to Pat Digneit, they’ll be fashioning an interior update while still being open for business. In other words… a work in progress. Once the weather permits, they’ll open up the City Beach out back, enabling them to put the final touches on the inside, for the full beach experience, year ‘round.
Leave it to the Digneit crew (represented above) to come up with a new menu and a fresh new look, without waiting for the place to need it. That’s not just keeping up… that’s staying ahead of the game.
e-Bike Recommendations
Though the thermometer says we’re in the dead of winter, it’s never too early to start thinking about the seasons that follow. Soon enough, our multi-use trails will again be bustling with walkers, joggers, and bikers, all jostling for space, regardless of their mode of transportation.
If you recall, the city established a task force last fall assigned to study the issue of our trails, and specifically, how to safely include e-bikes in the mix.
At a work session this past Monday the ad hoc committee, chaired by city commissioner Cary Gottlieb, presented their recommendations in a thorough and well-researched proposal.
Though it looks like a finished piece of work, it may just be a first draft. According to City Manager Karen Kovacs, the full document won’t be released to the public, “until staff evaluates the proposed recommendations for feasibility, legal review, and cost.”
Exclusive Preview
I do know this… The committee is recommending that Class 1, 2, and 3 e-bikes be allowed on the Multi-Use Pathways. Currently only Class 1 e-bikes are allowed, so this amounts to a substantial change. One which will open the trails to bikes both more plentiful, and powerful.
Before you get too excited, either for or against, know that these recommendations are just that… recommendations, and have yet to be approved by the city commission. There will be opportunity for commission input as well as that from the public.
However, before we go too far down the public comment rabbit hole, we should recognize the significance of the document created by the task force. They spent many hours evaluating everything from the width of the trails to the horsepower of the e-bikes in question. They heard from users with different interests, as well as a number of organizational stakeholders. They looked at what other communities are doing, and how we might find value in their experience.
In Good Hands
I saw the group in action and was impressed with their commitment to due diligence. Even before giving it a good look, my first inclination would be to support whatever their report recommends.
Regardless of any new rules and regulations they come up with, safeguarding user-friendly paths will still come down to behavior. Just be considerate, right? It shouldn’t be that hard.
A Push for a Pause
At the regular city commission meeting which followed the work session, commissioners voted unanimously to support a couple of new state bills designed to amend other state bills previously passed in Lansing. The bills being challenged are what we’d call green energy bills, popular among environmentalists. Nothing wrong with going green, except these bills would force our Board of Light and Power to switch to renewable energy sources, well before our current natural gas generators are paid for, or obsolete.
So, not so simply put, the state wants us to turn to things like wind and solar to replace the more efficient gas generators we put in when they wanted us to replace our outdated coal plants… not that long ago. Certainly, we should be looking at renewables as the next step, but geez, let us get our money’s worth out of our current generators. They haven’t even lost that ‘new car’ smell yet.
When All Else Fails
If the effort to put the brakes on the new state mandate fails, it might be time for some good old-fashioned civil disobedience. I’m not sure what that would look like, but I am sure what our BLP power bills will look like if we have to pay for a new system while the one we’re still paying for sits idle. They would not look good.
If you’re so inclined, reach out to elected officials and let them know you’d prefer to pay for just one power plant at a time. I’m not sure how often it comes up on the capitol floor, but the first question with any new plan should be, “How you gonna pay for it?”
Renewable energy is a great idea, and I’m sure Marquette’s BLP will continue to move in that direction. But there are economic factors just as important as the environmental ones. Giving us a more workable timeline seems to be the right thing to do.
Correction: There was an error in last week’s column about the MAPS upcoming facilities improvement bond issue. I indicated, if the proposal passed, the total of the school district’s 3 millages would be 4.5 mills. That figure should have been 2.86 mills. 4.5 mills is the state average.