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Donation Dollars Will Pay for Sidewalk, Park, Tree Work

Sehvilla Mann
/
WMUK

The city also plans to switch to single-stream recycling.

Streets and parks in the City of Kalamazoo will get an update thanks in part to a large private donation the city received last year. On Monday, city commissioners agreed to spend $1,470,000 from the Foundation for Excellence for the work.

Among other things,the city plans updates for three parks, Davis, Rockwell and Frays. It’ll also add a sidewalk along part of Woodward Avenue and catch up with tree trimming and removal on the North Side.

Public Services Director James Baker says it’s not an arbitrary starting point for improvements in the city. He says the staff began with feedback from residents.

“We then took that input and overlaid that with staff work order data that shows number of work orders in specific areas, or needs,” he told the commission.

Community Planning and Development Director Rebekah Kik says next year she wants to focus on bus stops. Kik says few of them comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The pavement often ends in grass or dirt before the curb.

“And trying to get a wheelchair or even a stroller up and over that in order to get to the bus, which can lower to the curb is very difficult especially in inclement weather,” she says.

Some money for this year’s work comes from a $70 million donation the city received last year. Kalamazoo has used portions of that money to fund a steep cut in property taxes, expand its summer youth programs and remove lead service lines. Commissioners expect to finalize the paperwork for a permanent endowment for Kalamazoo within the next few weeks.

Single-stream recycling

If you live in the City of Kalamazoo, you won’t have to sort your recycling much longer. On Monday the city commission approved a 10-year contract with Republic Services for so-called single-stream service.

That contract will cost the city about $4.6 million.

City leaders say it’s easier for residents to recycle when they don’t have to sort the items, though experts say that makes it more difficult to recover some materials. The city has scheduled the rollout of single-stream recycling for October.

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
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