City Commission regular meeting - 11/10/2026

The City of Battle Creek regular City Commission meeting on November 10, 2026, included several procurement and capital-project approvals. The Commission approved the lowest bid from Platinum Mechanical, Inc. for Verona Pumping Station check-valve improvements, not to exceed $456,413, and from Phoenix Builds LLC for the Anybody’s Playground accessible restroom project, estimated at $599,900. The restroom project is funded by a $290,800 Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund grant and $309,100 in park millage funds. Commissioners also authorized a $592,195.60 purchase of a hydro excavator from Fredrickson Supply LLC through the Sourcewell cooperative purchasing program. They approved a correction to Watkins Development LLC’s applicant name for an existing obsolete-property rehabilitation exemption application covering approximately $500,000 in improvements. A $60 water shutoff service-processing fee was approved, effective March 2027; discussion covered payment plans, assistance options, and the city’s delinquent water balances. The vote was recorded as 5–3 after the Commission clarified the tally.

A public hearing was held on Geislinger Corp.’s request for a 12-year industrial facilities tax exemption to support a $3.2 million, 19,000-square-foot expansion and at least 10 new jobs; no decision on that request appears in the transcript. The Commission also heard a presentation on the city’s 10-camera Flock license-plate-reader program, including data retention, audits, public transparency, and reciprocal access with other agencies; commissioners raised concerns about oversight of external users, but no procurement action was taken. Other approvals included a downtown liquor-license application, with the applicant responsible for a $20,000 license fee, and introduction of an ordinance establishing an administrative hearings bureau for code-enforcement matters.