MAYOR’S BIKE RIDE MAY 8, 2012 6:30 P.M. PLASTER CREEK TRAIL, 2500 S DIVISION AVENUE Join the fourth annual Mayor’s Bike Ride, Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 6:30 p.m. at the trailhead of Plaster Creek Trails, The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, 2500 South Division Avenue. The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, the Grand Rapids Griffins, Grand Rapids Parks & Recreation, and the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition join Grand Rapids Mayor George K. Heartwell as proud partners. This free family friendly event introduces the average bike rider to the Grand Rapids bike trail system. The event will start at the Kroc Center and then move to the trailhead of Plaster Creek Trails which is directly connected to the Kroc Center property. The ride distance options are 2 miles or 6 miles. All riders will receive a Buy-One-Get-One day pass admission to the Kroc Center, and kids who sign the Griffins’ “ Put a Lid on It” helmet pledge online (griffinshockey.com/ putalidonit) will get two free tickets to a 2012-2013 Griffins game. Mascots from the Griffins and the Kroc Center will be in attendance. All participants should wear a properly fitted helmet. Participants must be in reasonable physical condition to participate in this activity.

Please click the title to view our monthly newsletter with working links provided to you from the Office of Special Events. We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming events!

KidSpeak® is an annual youth forum created by Michigan’s Children and in Grand Rapids, Michigan facilitated by the Mayor’s Youth Council, a program of Our Community’s Children. This annual forum gives youth the opportunity to give testimony to help shape and influence public policy. Young people will speak on the issue staying above the influence of alcohol, drugs and other destructive decisions. Elected officials, community leaders and hundreds of county teens are expected to attend. KidSpeak® this year is partnering with the Kent County Prevention Coalition’s 2-day Live Out Loud Youth Town Hall Summit. For more information, visit www.grchildren.us.

The Fiscal Year 2013 Preliminary Fiscal Plan is now available for your review online by clicking the title above.

...“one of the best cities to raise a family” according to Forbes. Read the article here!

Election workers are need for the balance of 2012 elections -- May 8, August 7, and November 6. If you’re interested, please click on this link.

Mayor Heartwell has called on the community to start conversations about children. There are three simple questions you can discuss: 1. Do we value all children equally and are we prepared to prioritize their needs above all others? 2. What clear, identifiable needs do our community’s children have? 3. What can we – individually and collectively – do to meet those needs? For a reference, please visit the webpage for Our Community's Children, and click on the Youth Master Plan. To begin to record your conversation, click on the link at the right!

The City of Grand Rapids, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, and the City’s Urban Forestry Committee are partnering with ReLeaf Michigan for their 22nd Annual Spring Tree and Shrub Sale. Get amazing deals on native trees and shrubs while supporting a great cause and doing your part to help our community reach our urban forest canopy goal of 40%.

Last spring, the City partnered with Local First to implement the myGRcity points program, where residents who recycle earned points to redeem at local businesses. The City’s single-stream, smart-cart, curbside recycling program reports that the amount (in tons) of recyclables collected has increased by over 80% in the past ten months. As more residents participate in the recycling program, the amount of refuse collected throughout the City has dropped by 13%. Please click the title to read important information about the program which will begin July 2012.

An informational meeting will be held Tuesday, February 28, from 6pm to 7pm at Holy Spirit Parish Multi-Purpose Room (2230 Lake Michigan Drive NW) regarding the proposed changes to refuse collection in the City of Grand Rapids. Click on the title above to read the flyer for more information.

For the twenty-fourth consecutive year, the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has presented a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan for its annual budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011. Read more by clicking on the title of this article.

City of Grand Rapids’ Street System is nearly broken as the condition of city streets deteriorates at an accelerated pace due to deferred maintenance, diminishing funds and increasing repair costs. On Tuesday, February 7, the Grand Rapids City Commission appointed business, neighborhood and community leaders to the Sustainable Streets Task Force to identify solutions for the City’s street crisis.

Click the title to read the City Manager's update on the Transformation Investment Fund as presented to the City Commission on February 7, 2012.

Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell presents his annual State of the City address on Saturday morning, January 28, 2012. Click the title to read his address in its entirety.

Michigan’s lawmakers voted to require separate ballots for Republican candidates and for Democratic candidates for the upcoming presidential election, just as was done in January 2008. (Public Act 163 of 2011) Grand Rapids City Clerk Lauri Parks wants voters to know that when they request an absentee ballot or arrive at the polls and fill out their application to vote, they must indicate in which party’s primary they wish to vote (Republican or Democratic). They will then receive a ballot listing candidates for that party. There are some communities that have proposals on their ballots that will have a third ballot option to just vote on the proposal, but this does not apply to the City of Grand Rapids voters.

On Wednesday, January 11, at approximately 1:00 pm, Bethany DeBlaay was the 20,000th skater for the season at Rosa Parks Circle Ice Rink. In honor of this milestone, the Downtown Development Authority and the Downtown Alliance presented DeBlaay with an array of prizes including one free night at the Amway Grand Plaza, a one-year family membership to the Grand Rapids Art Museum, tickets to a future Griffins game and dinner at Big O’s. The photos provided show Bethany DeBlaay and her family, Jay Fowler from the Downtown Development Authority, James Hurt from Grand Rapids Public Services Department, Randy Van Antwerp from Grand Rapids Art Museum, and Mayor George Heartwell.

The City of Grand Rapids, in partnership with Chase Bank, is pleased to provide to our customers a convenient, lower cost online payment method for searching and paying their parking tickets, Refuse Cart billings, and other miscellaneous charges. With our partners at JPMorgan Chase, we have developed two additional interactive online payment systems that will make it easier and less expensive for citizens to make payments to the city. The parking ticket payment channel should save parking customers over $35,000 per year in payment expenses as compared to last year. The new payment system for Refuse Cart billings and other miscellaneous charges allows customers to pay with an e-check for free, warehouse bank and credit card data, and review payment history online. Click title to read more.

The City of Grand Rapids is pleased to announce that it has approved a new labor contract with the Grand Rapids Fire Fighters bargaining unit. The City is thankful for the leadership displayed by William Smith, President, as well as the support and commitment of bargaining unit members. The City considers the new contracts a key milestone in achieving a reduction in total compensation across all bargaining units. Read more by clicking on the title.

The City of Grand Rapids submitted a report to the Michigan Department of Treasury detailing current and future intergovernmental activities in the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Area. This report was a requirement to qualify for $1.5 million as part of the Governor’s Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP). This program replaced the State Shared Revenue program and requires that communities meet specified criteria to be eligible to receive dollars from EVIP. The total funding for EVIP within the State of Michigan’s Budget is approximately two thirds of what the City of Grand Rapids formerly received under the State Shared Revenue. Click the title above to read the report.

The City of Grand Rapids is pleased to announce that it has approved a new labor contract with the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association, the union that represents police officers and sergeants and with the Grand Rapids Police Command Officers Association, the union that represents police lieutenants and police captains. The City is thankful for the leadership displayed by Officer Greg Hillary and Captain Pete McWatters, as well as the support and commitment of bargaining unit members. The City considers the new contracts a key milestone in achieving a reduction in total compensation across all bargaining units.

Click the title above to view the entire packet of information provided to and discussed by City Commissioners at their mid-year update meeting of November 29, 2011.

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board has recommended funding in an amount of $300,000 to help transform an abandoned parking lot at 620 Madison Avenue S.E. (the corner of Pleasant Street and Madison Avenue) into a new neighborhood park. The proposed Pleasant Park would add substantial open space, numerous trees, a playground, and other amenities to a largely residential area of the city devoid of green and recreational space.

Click on the title to view the 2012 Winter Recreation Guide in the City. There are many offerings in new locations to enjoy our City this Winter season!

The City of Grand Rapids will end residential curbside yard waste collection for the season on Friday, December 9, 2011. Curbside service for yard waste collection will begin again on Monday, April 2, 2012. The cost of City Yard Waste tags is $1.50 each and City Yard Waste paper bags are $7.50 for a package of five. Yard waste will be collected on the same day as normal refuse collection for your area. All yard waste must be placed at your refuse collection point by 7:00 a.m.

The snow and ice season is upon us. The Public Services Department has several tips and information to help facilitate the clearing of snow and ice from the streets and sidewalks. First Attention routes are the main streets in the business and residential areas. These are the streets that provide access for emergency services throughout the area and are cleared first. Plow routes are plowed when there are three inches or more accumulation of snow and after the First Attention routes have been cleared. City plows clear business and residential streets, cul-de-sacs, and dead-ends. The City has a contractor who plows the alleys. It is important to remember that following a snowfall you are responsible for clearing your sidewalk, per city ordinance. This provides safer paths for school children and pedestrians. Please abide by the following rules for parking on your street if posted with odd/even parking signs: NO PARKING on the odd-numbered side of the street on even numbered days from 1 a.m. to 6 p.m. NO PARKING on the even-numbered side of the street on odd-numbered days from 1 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Odd/Even Parking Ordinance will be enforced from November 1 at 12:01 am to 11:59 pm on April 1. From 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., the next day parking is PERMITTED on both sides of the street unless there are signs restricting parking.

Construction professionals licensed or registered with the City of Grand Rapids may now renew online through the Inspection Services portal. Eighteen separate license types with unique requirements processed by the City’s Development Center are eligible for this service, including contractors, master electricians, residential builders, and others. More than 3,500 construction professionals are currently licensed or registered with the City. The system is designed for customer convenience. Online renewal forms are automatically populated with existing information from the City’s records, which can then be modified as needed by the applicant. Fees may be paid with a major credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or Discover). The City’s Inspection Services Portal is a collaborative effort of the Design & Development Services, Community Development, Fire, Engineering, Enterprise Services, and Public Services departments. The portal provides access to a wide range of searchable permit and code enforcement information regarding properties within Grand Rapids. Additional permit and complaint application types will be added to the system in the coming months. Detailed instructions on how to renew a construction professional license / registration online can be found by clicking the link at the top of this article. Contact: Louis Canfield, lcanfield@grcity.us

Tuesday morning, Donijo De Jonge, the City Comptroller, unveiled the Better Government Tip Line. This line is a hotline where employees, residents, contractors, and vendors can anonymously call and report tips of fraud, waste, and abuse as well as suggest efficiencies for departments. Comptroller Donijo De Jonge says “according to statistics, 46 percent of all fraud, waste, and abuse is detected through hotline tips. Therefore, a tip line is a necessity and in today’s environment of accountability and transparency, a tip line is a must!” DeJonge wants to know if you have witnessed any fraudulent or wasteful activities by employees, contractors, or vendors. If so, she encourages residents and employees to please use the anonymous tip line to report these tips. This tip line will operate in the following manner. Employees, contractors, and residents may call 616.301.3343 to provide an allegation of a misuse of City resources or suggest an efficiency improvement for a specific job. The caller will be asked to leave a much detail as possible. In addition, the caller will be instructed not to report his or her name or contact information. Because this tip line is anonymous, it is imperative that the tipsters leave as much information as possible; including but not limited to a description of the misuse, the date and time of the incident, the person or persons involved, the location of the misuse. Besides providing tips of misuse, residents and especially employees can provide efficiency suggestions to improve the work flow processes. The information will come to the City Comptroller only.

City Hall will be getting brighter as screens are removed and new, energy efficient windows and lighting improvements are installed. This is the largest renovation ever undertaken on a City owned building while still fully occupied and open for business. Renovation will include replacement of all of the building’s original single-pane windows with a more energy efficient double-pane glass, replacement of all of the lighting in the building with energy efficient bulbs, and installation of motion sensors throughout the building.

Everyone has great ideas on the ways that government can improve their lives. Now, the City of Grand Rapids is making it easier to share those ideas and vote on the ideas of others with GRand ideas. GRand ideas is an innovative, web-based crowdsourcing application that gives everyone a way to help improve the city where they live and play by sharing their ideas. Users also can vote on submitted ideas, with the top-voted ideas displayed in the website's "What's Hot" section. GRand Ideas also features a "Currents" section, where the City can ask users to submit ideas related to a certain topic area. City officials will use the GRand Ideas blog to let users know when they're reviewing top-rated ideas and when the City is implementing them.

Here are the latest on the Transformation Investment Plan that is a key part of the City Manager's recommended FY12 Fiscal Plan. Planning Director Suzanne Schulz and Deputy City Manager Eric DeLong explain the plan.

The City of Grand Rapids and Local First are excited to finally launch the mygrcitypoints.com program that rewards City residents for using their single-stream recycling bins. The program officially starts on April 19. This first-of-its-kind local rewards program allows participants to earn points simply by recycling. The points can be redeemed at Local First businesses for discounts on products and services. Residents simply need to go to www.mygrcitypoints.com to create their free account.

The new cart system will be a big and bold change for residents and for the City, but we are accustomed to being progressive in Grand Rapids. We were one of the first in the country to have a pay as you throw system. We are environmental leaders with our free curbside single-stream recycling program. Now, we are seeking to be progressive again, to lower the City's costs, to lower taxpayers' costs, to lower the property tax millage, to improve our customer service, to help our neighborhoods, and to improve the environment.

City of Grand Rapids Housing and Zoning Code violation complaints may now be submitted online through the City Inspection Services Portal. Click on the Enforcement tab, and then click the Report a Code Violation link. Online submissions will need the street address of where the complaint is located and a description of the complaint (e.g. roof in disrepair). Once the complaint has been submitted, it will be assigned a tracking number that can be used to follow the status of the complaint.

City of Grand Rapids customers may now apply for a Property Use Verification (PUV) online. A PUV is a legally binding document verifying the legal use of a property and often is requested in connection with a real estate transaction. Customers must create a free user account for the City's Inspection Services portal in order to access this service. Fees may be paid with a major credit card (Visa, MasterCard, and Discover) and documents to aid City staff in verifying a legal use (utility bills, photos, etc.) may be attached electronically as part of the application process. Customers may also indicate whether any special requirements pertain to their request.

The City of Grand Rapids is making good progress toward meeting the 39 outcomes included in its FY2011-FY2015 Sustainability Plan. The overall progress and success of the Sustainability Plan is monitored by the Office of Energy and Sustainability, based on quarterly reports provided by departmental staff on a dashboard, the City Scorecard.

At the request of the Grand Rapids City Commission and City Manager, a team of staff members have created an online guide to help entrepreneurs navigate the process of opening or expanding their business in Grand Rapids. View the Business Guide by clicking the link under "Need to Know" on the left of this page. The business guide encompasses major themes of interest to small business, including entrepreneurial assistance, location identification, incentives and financing assistance, licenses and permits, utilities, and taxes and fees. Web links to online resources and tools are incorporated throughout. A printable checklist is also available to help entrepreneurs track their progress through the guide.

The City of Grand Rapids, in partnership with Chase Bank, is pleased to provide to our customers a convenient, no-fee online payment method for searching and paying their water/sewer bills. Now customers will be able to view their balance owed and make payments in an interactive manner. This service is the first phase of the transformation of online payment options underway by the Treasury Department as we focus on providing more effective service delivery for our customers.

Click here to read the 2011 Assessment Roll report. The purpose of this report is to provide a synopsis of the City's FY2012 property tax base, to provide key economic indicators related to the real estate market, and to provide an overview of the City's various property tax incentive programs and property tax capture districts.

In an effort to become more sustainable, the City's Water System is focusing on efficiencies and new technologies to reduce expenses and reduce customers' bills. Last year, the department committed to reducing its budget by 10% over a two-year period while also lowering rates for customers. In response, they are finding ways to reduce the System's own water consumption as well as end users' and installing upgrades in technology to create efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve customer service. An article recently appeared in Energy Today detailing their work.

City of Grand Rapids customers may now apply for the following services online through the Citys Inspection Services Portal, including payment of fees by major credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or Discover): Sidewalk Point-of-Sale (POS) Requests, Electrical Permits (licensed contractors only), and Re-roofing and Re-siding Permits. When customers apply online, they can immediately print an application summary and receipt for their records. They also can track their application as it is processed by City staff.

In this blog posting, ICLEI highlights the City of Grand Rapids' efforts to incorporate climate adaptation in the recently amended version of the Sustainability Plan. This addition demonstrates the organization-wide commitment to reducing climate-related impacts and risks. Now the City's climate adaptation efforts will be measured and reported annually.

The International City/County Management Association's (ICMA) Center for Sustainable Communities recently completed a survey regarding sustainability initiatives that have been undertaken by local governments. Out of the 2,000 local governments who participated, "only three in ten have adopted a resolution stating policy goals and only one in five have adopted a plan with specific targets or benchmarks." The City of Grand Rapids has already accomplished both of these things. In addition to the survey results, the report highlights eight local governments that are leaders in sustainability initiatives. The City of Grand Rapids and the Community Sustainability Partnership were featured as one of these case studies on Page 19 of the report.