Council hears public questions on city status
Manchester–village or city?
During the regular “Special Session on City Status” last Monday night, the Manchester Village Council received some feedback from the public.
To start the discussion, Village President Pat Vailliencourt shared with Council that, “We are still waiting for an update from the State Boundary Commission, in response to their questions regarding consistent documentation of a couple boundaries of the village limits.”
Vailliencourt also announced that a committee has been formed, consisting of herself, Village Manager Jeff Wallace, and Council trustee Cindy Dresch, along with Manchester Township Supervisor Gene DeRossett and Township trustees Ron Milkey and Lisa Moutinho, to sit down at table to discuss mutual concerns regarding cityhood. She reported that the subcommittee had “committed to move forward.”
She added, “I’ve heard statements made that this is the ‘wrong time’ to start the process of becoming a city, because we currently don’t have either a grocery store or a pharmacy in the village. But approximately 9,000 stores have closed across the US in 2019–some of them big-box stores like CVS and Walgreens, dollar stores, grocery stores, and many others. It is our own buying habits, not our governmental units, that have caused these closures.
“The fact that we don’t have a grocery store or pharmacy has nothing to do with what kind of governmental structure is,” she continued. “As consumers, we have choices. And we need to make conscious choices to support the businesses we have in this community currently, as well as those that come to Manchester in the future.”
Vailliencourt then referred to statements made at the previous meeting, as well as at the January meeting of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), by business owner Jeff Fahey. Fahey had cited his opinion that a lack of local banking support in recent years had kept some business ventures from getting off the ground in Manchester. Vailliencourt said that she had spoken to the managers at the local Old National Bank and Comerica Bank offices, and both “vehemently denied” that there had been any businesses applying and being turned down for business loans over the past two years. She also stated that both Tammy Melcher of Old National Bank and Cindy Clark at Comerica, have been very active in the Chamber of Commerce and offered assistance to those interested in business loans at multiple Chamber events. Vailliencourt challenged Fahey to retract or modify his statement at a future public event.
During the public participation section that followed, Chamber member Linda Stevens indicated that she often hears people talking about the drawbacks of becoming a city, but added that “they just don’t know” what it means. “I have encouraged people to attend these meetings so they can become informed with the facts,” she said. “I didn’t understand what it meant at first, either; but since I have been coming to Council meetings I have learned a lot.”
Resident Matt Lucas asked whether the Village had a “10-year plan” for how infrastructure and other improvements could change if Manchester becomes a city. Vailliencourt responded, “We will have the same goals that we have now, whether we remain a village or if we decide to incorporate as a city. The only difference will be that we will have more control over our tax dollars and the decision-making process.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login