Local meeting primer: Sturgis City Commission

The Sturgis City Commission will meet Wednesday, September 9, at 6 p.m. Commissioners will work through a light agenda with three new business items. They will consider three tree maintenance and forestry contracts, a $60,000 marketing contract for the Sturges-Young Center for the Arts, and an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate for Summit Polymers’ facility expansion.

The meeting will be live-streamed on the city’s YouTube.

Tree removal services

Commissioners will consider an amended right-of-way management contract with Plant Growth Management Systems, or PGMS, including rate increases for the forestry field manager. The hourly rate would increase 5% from $75.81 to $79.60 in 2027, 4% to $82.78 in 2028, and 3% to $85.27 in 2029. City staff says PGMS has worked on the city’s right-of-way program for the past seven years, including planning line clearing and maintenance of city trees. 

In addition, commissioners will decide whether to renew a three-year line clearance contract with Treecore LLC for 2027-29. City staff says Treecore has the personnel and equipment needed for the work, has experience with Sturgis’ right-of-way line clearance program, and has demonstrated an ability to respond to extensive storm damage.  Treecore’s first-year rates include $134.50 to trim a tree, $133 to remove a tree, and $150 per hour for a two-person crew with a truck and chipper. Rates would increase over the following two years. 

Commissioners will also consider renewing a three-year public tree maintenance contract with Asplundh Tree Experts LLC for 2027-29. First year rates include $144.09 per hour for a two person crew with a truck and chipper and $195.48 per hour for a three-person crew. According to the agenda packet, time-and-material rates would increase 2.5%, while the stump-grinding rate would remain unchanged at $15.50 per diameter inch. City staff recommends approval of all three contracts.

Summit Polymers public hearing

Commissioners will hold a public hearing on an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate application from Summit Polymers. The company, a plastic injection molder for the automotive industry, has expanded its facility at 1211 Progress St. with a 71,000-square-foot addition and has applied for an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate, or IFEC. The total investment is valued at $15.6 million, with the real property portion of the project valued at $6.6 million, according to the agenda packet. 

If the IFEC is approved, the parcel owner would receive an approximately 50% reduction in property tax liability for the new addition, according to the city. The IFEC would apply only to the real property and, if approved, would save Summit Polymers approximately $110,000 annually in property taxes, according to the agenda packet. The proposed exemption would last 12 years.

SYCA Marketing Contract

Commissioners will also consider renewing the Sturges-Young Center for the Arts’ marketing and branding contract with FocalPoint. The contract would run from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. The contract would total $60,000, with a $5,000 monthly retainer. The expense was previously approved as part of the city’s fiscal year 2026-27 budget, according to the agenda packet.

Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.