Mount Clemens, schools agree to new cable class

MOUNT CLEMENS — A month may not seem very long, but it’s a blistering turnaround time in the world of public policy, and it’s all the time that was needed to restore a program thought to be lost to the ages.

At the Aug. 19 Mount Clemens City Commission meeting, a new incarnation of the television production partnership between the city and Mount Clemens Community Schools was formed. The new program will see students produce programming for the city’s public, education and government cable channels and sees a new partner enter the equation: Hunch Free, a digital marketing agency based in Mount Clemens which currently provides its services for the city.

“Hunch Free and the school will be sharing a Hunch Free employee qualified to run the program both from an educational and functional standpoint,” Mount Clemens City Manager Gregg Shipman said. “The learning platform will mainly be based out of the school as before. A second satellite studio will be installed at Hunch Free Headquarters located on 25 N. Main Street in Mount Clemens. The studio will allow students the opportunity to learn in a real-world environment.”

Hunch Free’s employee will be shared between the agency and the school district with no contribution to the employee’s costs by the city. The city will pay for equipment out of its annual cable fee collection fund and retain ownership of any equipment it purchases. Programs produced through the partnership, including city commission meetings, will air on the city’s cable channels.

“I must say that this agreement seems much more clear, specific and less of a wavy-hands ‘all parties will work it out’ thing like our previous agreement, so I appreciate the clarity of this,” City Commissioner Erik Rick said.

The new agreement fills in a gap left by the dissolution of the Mount Clemens Cable Commission that oversaw the original agreement between the city and school district. Under the prior agreement, students produced content that was aired over the Macomb Cable Network channel and posted to the “Bath City Beat” YouTube account. The cable commission and original agreement were officially dissolved on June 30 at the school district’s request, citing budget constraints. Commissioners and Mount Clemens Community Schools Superintendent Julian Roper were hopeful at the time both parties could reunite to create a new, mutually beneficial program.

 

Two properties sold, one sale tabled
Commissioners decided to reconsider the sale of a city-owned lot, reducing the number of lots sold in a motion from three to two.

The three lots — 163 Court Street, 216 N. Walnut Street and Parcel No. 05-11-12-354-008, located next to 216 N. Walnut — were set to be sold to city resident Charles Thomas for $1,500 in total: $500 per lot. Mount Clemens Community Development Director Bryan Tingley said Thomas plans to build homes on the lots.

Commissioners were prepared to sell all the lots at the $500 price, but not before Commissioner Spencer Calhoun inquired about the costs the city has incurred over the Court Street property. The city bought the property in October 2023 for around $9,220 and demolished the home on the site. With the city taking on the costs of purchasing and demolishing the house, Calhoun and other commissioners were interested in seeing if the cost could be more completely recouped in the sale.

“I would like to see new houses there and some new taxable value, but I do think we put a lot of money into that lot and for $500, it just seems a little low,” Calhoun said.

All present commissioners — Rick, Calhoun, Theresa McGarity, Laura Fournier and Barb Dempsey — voted to table the sale of 163 Court Street while allowing the Walnut Street lots to be sold.