City raises water rates; agrees to annex complex

The Adrian Board of Alderman held their regular meeting on March 10. The board voted to add a $7.97 per month user charge to water bills. This is the second rate hike since December and will bring the minimum monthly bill for City water customers to $27.98.

After tabling the question of the annexation of the Adrian R-III athletic complex for several months, the measure was finally passed. An ordinance will be prepared to officially annex the land and the school property will have coverage from the Adrian Police Department. The vote was not unanimous. When it came up, Alderman Hank Stark moved to table it yet again. Alderman Mark Lovelace made his own motion to approve the annexation and it passed, 3-1. Stark, and to a lesser degree, the other aldermen, expressed concern about annexing land without securing the right to sell water to the property owner.

Settle’s Ford Gun Club president Don Tiller was at the meeting to request that the council renew the club’s lease. The City owns the land east of Adrian where the club maintains a shooting range. City Attorney Max Gordon recommended that the council not accept the lease as written, citing liability and environmental issues. Lead shot from the range could contaminate soil less than 1/4 mile from the the City’s water reservoir. The Board voted unanimously to renew the lease, despite Gordon’s objections.

Pictured: Vision 2007 committee members were recognized in a special ceremony before the regular Adrian City Council meeting on Monday, March 10. The Vision 2007 Main Street improvements were memorialized on a wall in Adrian’s City Hall.