KINGSFORD — The Kingsford City Council has approved an agreement not to exceed $12,000 with GEI Consultants of Iron Mountain for preliminary engineering services to submit a FY2026 State Revolving Fund Project Plan for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

GEI will work with the city to review a preliminary list of potential improvements and complete a cost and feasibility analysis to determine the most cost-effective plan.

They will work with the city to prioritize these improvements, and develop the proposed project plan to ensure the city receives the maximum amount of application points for the potential fourth water and sewer project. The cost would be included in the project if it comes to fruition.

According to City Manager Mike Stelmaszek, if the city doesn’t submit a plan they will not be able to receive state funding. With the plan, they will know how much funding they might receive.

“We have to keep going in replacing (lead) access lines. We might have to do it at a small pace. Even if we just get the loan portion, we can do a smaller portion without raising rates,” he said.

In other business, the council last week:

— Agreed to allow Stelmaszek to reapply to have Evergreen Court and Maroni Drive reclassified under Act 51 as a Major Street. A previous request was denied. Road striping will be completed this spring and he also had the public safety department conduct a traffic study during busy times, such as before and after school. He hopes that with this new information, reclassification will be approved the by state. He is also requesting that a portion of Edison Street be declassified as a Local Street. Edison stops at Harding Avenue but the Act 51 street classification shows the street going an extra 120 feet to the alley east of Harding Avenue.

— Approved two training requests from city treasurer Holly Palmer. The first is eight virtual Michigan Municipal Treasurers Association Treasurer to Treasurer sessions held throughout 2025. The cost is $99 for all the trainings. The second is for training through MMTA Advanced Institute May 14-16 in Mount Pleasant, Mich. The cost is $379 for the training plus three nights accommodations at a cost of $96 to $120 per night. The training will give her 10 credits toward her certificates. A third request to enroll in Certified Public Finance Officer program was tabled until more information can be provided.