City of Alma E-Newsletter

News That's Important for You!

February 2014

Don Ayers Appointed to

City Commission

At the Organizational meeting on January 14th, the City Commission appointed Don Ayers to fill a vacant position. Don previously served on the Commission for 10 years, but did not seek reelection this past November. We welcome Don and appreciate all that he brings to the City Commission.

Pending Ordinances

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The City Commission has introduced the following ordinances:

Ordinance No. 759: An ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of Alma to define donation boxes and to regulate their placement.

Ordinance No. 760: An ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of Alma to define banners, flags and feather flags and to regulate their use and maintenance.

Comments and questions are welcomed. Action on these ordinances is expected at one of the meetings in February.

Eligible Personal Property Information

Attention Business Owners:

In December 2012, Governor Snyder signed into law Public Acts 153 & 154 of 2013. The "Eligible Personal Property" exemption takes effect for the 2014 assessment year and exempts the commercial personal property and industrial personal property which a business owns if the business and related entities own, lease and/or possess personal property having a true cash value of less than $80,000 in the City of Alma. Public Act 154, the "Eligible Manufacturing Personal Property" exemptions, one for new "Eligible Manufacturing Personal Property" and the other for previously existing "Eligible Manufacturing Personal Property" will take effect for the 2016 assessment year.

Qualification for the exemption has little or nothing to do with the amount of the taxpayer's past assessments in the City of Alma, or even the amount that the taxpayer's assessment would be for 2013. Instead entitlement to the exemption is determined by adding together the true cash value of the personal property which the taxpayer, or a related entity: Owns, Leases; or Possesses in the entire assessment unit (City of Alma). In other words, the exemption is granted to taxpayers who own or use a small amount of personal property in the City of Alma, not to taxpayers who have small assessments because they are leasing or borrowing part of the personal property that they use to conduct their business.

The legislation provides that an affidavit claiming the exemption for eligible personal property must be filed by February 10th. The taxpayer must file the Affidavit every year to continue to receive the exemption. For more information, please follow this link or contact the Assessing Department at 463-8356 for more information.

PAL Indoor Soccer Information

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PAL Indoor Soccer Registration and Clinic

February 15th @ Alma Middle School

$40 due at registration for all non PAL Members

No cost to PAL Members

All Practices and Games will be held on Saturdays through March 22nd

Rosters and Game Schedules will be posted on our website by Tuesday 2/18

5 & 6 Year Old

Registration: 8:45am-9:15am

Clinic 9:15am-10:00am

7 & 8 Year Old

Registration: 10:00am-10:30am

Clinic: 10:30am-11:15am

9 & 10 Year Old

Registration: 11:15am-11:45am

Clinic: 11:45am-12:30pm

11-14 Year Old

Registration: 12:30pm-1:00pm

Clinic: 1:00pm-1:45pm

Winter Street Conditions

This winter street conditions have been less than ideal for drivers during a relatively large part of the winter months thus far. Intersections in particular have been treacherous at times with packed snow being buffed into ice by routine traffic. Roads and intersection have not received the routine treatment of salt that is typically applied because the temperatures have been consistently lower this year than in recent winters. Salt's effectiveness as a deicing agent is influenced by a number of factors, the greatest of which is temperature. When the pavement temperature drops below 15�F the effectiveness of salt is decreased significantly. The minimum practical application range for salt is a pavement temperature of 15-20�F and above.

The ability of deicing agent to melt snow and ice depends on the temperature of the roadway and not the air temperature. During the fall the pavement is often kept warmer than the surrounding air because of the warm soil. During the spring the reverse may be true. The pavement temperatures can be colder than the air because the soil is still frozen from the low winter temperatures. The sun also has a strong influence on the pavement temperatures. Exposure to the sun explains why some areas of streets become clear of ice and snow and others that are in shadows of trees or buildings much of the time become icy.

The principle goal of winter maintenance is to achieve "passable roadways" within the limitations imposed by weather conditions, and the availability of resources. A "passable roadway" is defined as a roadway surface that is free from drifts, snow ridges, and as much ice and snow pack as is practical and can be traveled safely at reasonable speeds. A passable roadway should not be confused with a "dry pavement " or "bare pavement", which is essentially free of all ice, snow, and any free moisture from shoulder to shoulder. This "dry/bare pavement" condition may not exist until the weather conditions improve to the point where this pavement condition can be provided. The definition of "reasonable speed" is considered a speed that a vehicle can travel without losing traction. During and immediately after a winter storm event, a reasonable speed will most likely be lower than the posted speed limit. Motorists can expect some inconvenience and should modify their driving practices to suit road conditions.

Small Business Administration
Offers Online Courses

(Download full brochure here)

Taxes Due February 14th

Property owners are reminded that property taxes are due by 5:00 p.m. February 14, 2014. Taxes paid after February 14th will be subject to a 3% penalty.

Red Cross Blood Drives

The American Red Cross asks eligible blood donors to give something that means something this winter. Give a gift that can help save a life--a blood donation.

Monday, February 10: 8:30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.

Ithaca High School

Tuesday, February 18: 1:00 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.

Alma First Presbyterian Church

Friday, February 21: 10:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.

Ashley High School

Tuesday, March 4: noon - 5:45 p.m.

Vestaburg High School

To schedule your appointment, you may call 1-800-Red-Cross, 989-463-3209 or visit www.redcrossblood.org.

Remember to Shovel Your Sidewalks and

Clear Snow and Ice from Fire Hydrants

OK, winter is definitely planning on sticking around for a while and so we remind everyone to keep your sidewalks free and clear of snow and ice. Also, if you have a fire hydrant on your property, please keep it clear of snow and ice so that it is easily accessible in case of an emergency. If you have questions, call463-8356

We Accept Credit/Debit Cards

The City of Alma accepts your credit/debit cards for payment of your water bills, taxes, invoices, park reservations, parking tickets, police reports, DART tickets, library transactions and other services. Also remember we still have bank drafting for your water bills.

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Issue: 58