Local meeting primer: Sturgis City Commission

The Sturgis City Commission will meet tonight, Wednesday, July 22 at 6 p.m. for a regular business meeting at City Hall. Commissioners will set a budget discussion public hearing, consider allowing the Sturgis Historical Society (SHS) to host cemetery tours, and consider a property transfer and an AEP pole line purchase.

Wednesday will also be City Manager Andrew Kuk’s final city commission meeting as his resignation goes into effect July 24.

Cemetery tours

Commissioners will consider a request from SHS to conduct tours at Oak Lawn Cemetery September 12 and 13 to highlight the lives of Sturgis veterans who are buried there. This year, however, SHS is requesting an additional after-dark tour at approximately 8 p.m. on September 12. According to the agenda packet, the nighttime event is not intended to be a ‘ghost tour.’

Costumed actors from the Sturgis Civic Players and the local community will portray the deceased, delivering accounts of their lives. 

The Cemetery Board recommended approval of the request during its July 6, 2026, meeting.

Property transfers

Commissioners will also consider two separate transfers; one from Sturgis Township and another from AEP. The Sturgis Township transfer involved property at 26846 State Line Road and is governed by the Fourth Amendment to the Agreement for Conditional Transfer of Property between the city and Sturgis Township. Under the amendment, the property may transfer to the city’s full jurisdiction at the owners request. The property is part of land purchased by the Sturgis Economic Development Corporation (Sturgis EDC) for development at the state line. As the owner of the property, Sturgis EDC has requested the transfer of the property into the city using Exhibit B.  

Commissioners will then consider approval of an Indiana Michigan Power (AEP) line transfer. On July 9, 2025, commissioners approved the “Bill of Sale” for this line and AEP has requested that the City add an additional document. The document allows their fiber to be attached to the poles for up to five years until it is relocated. The agreement also provides that  ownership of the fiber would transfer to the city after AEP abandons it, allowing the city to potentially use it.

Budget public hearing

Commissioners will set a public hearing for the city’s budget. The city must hold a public hearing before final adoption of its annual operating budget and the City Charter requires that the Commission adopt a budget on or before August 20. Commissioners will consider setting the public hearing for Wednesday, August 12, during their regularly scheduled meeting.

Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.