Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sorry for the Late Post

Things have been a little busy around the Village offices this week (hence my late post). Diane and I are working with the Village auditors to finish up our annual audit. This year the audit has taken a little longer than normal. Thanks to Worldcom, Enron, and other financial meltdowns, new standards are added every year that require additional costs and make the process longer and longer. The final audit report should be available sometime in the next two weeks.

I just finished the quarterly newsletter (I attempt to make it quarterly, but am not always successful), which will be distributed in the next water bills. It will also be posted on the Village web site later today.

Another item that we have recently completed is the development of our Industrial Treatmtent Program. This program is required by the EPA and Michigan DEQ and is aimed at reducing the level of pollutants that certain industries may discharge to the sanitary sewer system. the development of this program has taken over four years (I swear I had more hair when we started) and has involved hundreds of hours of work from Village staff and our consultants. The tough part of the process is finding a level that is acceptable to all parties. Fortunately, the DEQ has notified us that they have accepted our program. I expect implementation to begin later this fall. At this time, the only customer affected by this program is Speedrack Products Group.

My next blog will discuss the 2009 US-12 reconstruction project.

Monday, September 22, 2008

New Office Hours

Starting October 6, the Village Office will be open from 7:30 AM-6:00 PM Monday-Thursday. The office will no longer be closed for lunch as part of the new hours. This change affects the administration and utility staff. The Streets Dept will stay on 5 8 hour days with the onset of winter.

This move was made in an effort increase productivity, decrease absenteeism, provide extended hours to our customers, and to save on operational costs.

The Council approved the change for a six month trial period,with a review at the December Council meeting. Council asked the staff to track the number of people using the extended hours and to present it along with public comments at the December meeting. Please forward any comment to eric.zuzga@quincy-mi.org.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Chamber President resigns and will be greatly missed

Quincy Chamber of Commerce President, Michele Streets, has notified the board that she has to step down from the board by the end of the year. Michele is leaving the Quincy branch of National City to take over as Branch Manager in Coldwater. The Chamber Board has appointed Cindy Longstreeet, Longstreet Floors & More/The Beach House, to succeed Michele as President.

Michele's tenure at the Chamber was one of great success for the Chamber. Under her leadership, the Chamber completed the payment for the Skatepark equipment, expanded the calendar of events, doubled the membership in the chamber, developed a partnership with the Branch County Area Chamber of Commerce, brought back fireworks to Quincy, and helped to coordinate a successful Sesquicentennial celebration. These events have helped the Chamber to a solid financial footing, which it had not been in many years.

We wish Michele much success in her new position in Coldwater and look forward to working with the Cindy and the rest of the board in continuing our efforts to promote Quincy and its business community.

New Blog

Welcome to the Quincy Village Manager's blog. Along with our website, newsletters, and broadcast e-mails, this blog will attempt to provide information on activities and issues and issues facing the Village of Quincy. I will try and post every Wednesday at a minimum. Please check back often and feel free to comment as desired.