Previous to this motion, the City had no procurement cards (credit cards) to purchase needed supplies. Issues frequently arose when something could be purchased online, and the vendor did not allow us to invoice them for purchase. I proposed to our City Administration that we obtain procurement cards so that we can more easily buy supplies, and also save time and money in the process. This motion allowed us to do so.
There are roughtly 100 miles of road in Eastpointe. A very large percentage of the roads are side streets. It is very expensive to reconstruct a road, and quite a bit cheaper to resurface a road. But, the best bet is to maintain them and have to do neither. City Council decided that we should put a lot of resources towards this endeavor to keep our streets up, save money in the long term, and build a better PASER rating.
This project was renewed and continued almost yearly after this point, at least through 2021.
Because our two cities were proposing a millage together, via the South Macomb Oakland Regional Services Authority, we held a joint City Council meeting to discuss any items that would apply to both cities. This meeting helped us stay on message together, and eventually pass the millage and save our cities.
The City's budget includes a Fiscal Management Plan, which provides a roadmap in the case the City falls into financial hardship again. As all other cities, the City of Eastpointe fell into financial hardship after the 2008 financial/housing crisis. SMORSA was officially on the ballot, but we did not know if it was going to pass or not. We updated the plan in the case that SMORSA did not pass. We wanted to be prepared for the worst case scenario.