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MADISON HEIGHTS — The mayor and mayor pro tem of Madison Heights want to know what kinds of programs and amenities are desired by residents — and they’re thinking outside the box about how to deliver them.
Feedback can be emailed to Mayor Roslyn Grafstein at roslyngrafstein@madison-heights.org, and to Mayor Pro Tem Mark Bliss at markbliss@madison-heights.org.
“It’s table stakes to have public safety and our roads covered, but where the taxpayers think the city is really delivering for them is in the little things, like being able to swim in a pool or rent out a room for a party,” Bliss said. “Those things seem intangible until the time you want to do them.”
Grafstein and Bliss have been talking with Melissa Marsh, the city manager, about ways to expand the city’s quality-of-life offerings in a cost-effective way. The city of Madison Heights does not have a dedicated community center, and building one would be very expensive. As such, they have turned their attention to others in the area that could deliver the same types of services.
For example, the Lamphere and Madison school districts each have pools, tracks and courts that would be suitable for partnership programs with the city. There are gyms in the area that could work with Madison Heights to provide deals for residents. There’s even the possibility of collaborating with community centers in neighboring cities such as Warren or Troy.
“I’m often asked why don’t we have a community center, and why don’t we have relations with other (entities) where we can do something to provide these sorts of things,’” Grafstein said. “It all comes down to the details. Some things sound great on paper, but when you try to actually put a plan into action, it gets more difficult.”
Bliss said that decades ago, a proposal for the construction of a community center went before Madison Heights voters, but the initiative was defeated at the ballot box.
“So we’ve been without (a community center) for the entirety of the city’s existence,” Bliss said. “And yet, it’s a very common request in the city, especially as access to things dwindle and prices get more expensive. So, in lieu of spending that astronomical sum to build a recreation center, the idea is what can we do through partnerships to provide those same services.”
Bliss said he was inspired, in part, by his own childhood growing up in the city, when the Lamphere Schools provided low-cost pool access to residents, supervised by a city-funded lifeguard.
“There was a small cost to get in and use (the pool), but it was super beneficial for the city to be able to offer swimming to our residents at a very affordable price,” Bliss said. “So the three of us — the mayor, city manager and myself — we’ve been talking about how to bring those kinds of things back to the community. Things like discounted gym memberships, or access to school facilities like tracks and tennis courts. The city and schools have the same taxpayers, after all.”
Added Grafstein: “It doesn’t make sense to invest money building new facilities when they are duplicates of what the schools and others already have in the community. We’re talking facilities that are perfectly good and do the same thing, but that may be underutilized. The idea is we can reduce duplication and maximize taxpayer dollars, saving on cost.”
Bliss said he’s eager to see feedback from residents.
“They might have ideas that we haven’t thought about but that are really awesome,” he said. “There’s no one clear path, but I’m confident that having so many clever and creative people working on it, we will get it done. And I think perspective-wise, we’re at a point as a city where we can solve things like this, because we have solved so many other big issues. The fact this can be one of the top items we discuss in strategic planning shows how much progress we’ve made in recent years.”
