City of Hudsonville - Newsletter

Charter Cable Franchise Agreement

The City of Hudsonville’s current franchise with Charter Cable is expiring. Charter is required by law to have a franchise and the city negotiated a new franchise jointly with fifty-eight other municipalities served by Charter. The franchise has detailed provisions to protect the City and its residents. Some of the major points in the franchise include the following:

The franchise authorizes Charter to provide cable service in the City until 2019.
The franchise is non-exclusive, so legally another company could get a franchise to provide cable service in the City.
Charter is required to provide cable service wherever there are 25 homes per mile (fewer homes per mile at Charter’s option). It cannot illegally discriminate on who it serves.
The City’s authority to regulate cable rates is preserved (although currently this is effectively preempted by Federal law). Charter is required to have a seasonal rate for customers who only want seasonal service.
Charter is required to provide backup power at key points on the cable system so as to reduce the number of outages.
The franchise has detailed customer service provisions including requirements for Charter to promptly answer the telephone.
The franchise sets forth detailed information on how the City can contact Charter if there are problems.

As described above, the agreement allows the City of Hudsonville to control the quality of service from Charter Cable. It is a non-exclusive agreement, allowing any other cable service to be available in Hudsonville.

Seasonal Rate:

A benefit of the new franchise agreement is that Charter must make available a seasonal service. This service will be available at a reduction, computed annually, from its standard rates. A subscriber desiring seasonal service must take service at the standard rate, as of the date that the agreement was signed, about $46 for basic and expanded basic service, at least 6 months per year, and then is eligible to receive service at the rate of $10/month for the period of time that the residential premises being served are not occupied.

For small business subscribers desiring seasonal service Charter Cable shall offer seasonal service at a reduction from its standard rates. This may be accomplished, at Charter’s option, either by:

not subjecting customers electing such service to disconnection or reconnection charges, or
by providing service year round but at a reduced rate (compared to standard rates) which is economically comparable to the preceding.

Hughes Park

The City is now taking reservations for Hughes Park for the 2005 season. The park offers rental of the shelter house and three outdoor rental areas. Each section is set up with picnic tables and grills. The sections are near the restrooms and playground equipment. Sections rent for $20 to residents and $30 to non-residents. The shelter house rents for $75 for all users. Rental is not available on Sundays or holidays. Other activities at Hughes Park include basketball, tennis, beach volleyball, horseshoes, frisbee golf and baseball. For more information or to make reservations, contact us at (616) 669-0200 ext. 412.

Effective with the January billings, Hudsonville’s rates for water commodity will be adjusted from $1.42 per 1,000 gallons to $1.52 per 1,000. This is a 7% increase in commodity charge. The City of Hudsonville has received a 17% increase from Wyoming and is only adding 7% on at this time. We will possibly have to look at another increase in our new budget starting July 1.
The Ready to Serve (RTS) portion of your water bill has not increased and will remain at $16.72 per quarter for a 5/8 inch water connection. The City is doing its best to try to keep these costs under control. However, there are more factors to increases than what is under the City of Hudsonville’s control. The City of Wyoming supplies us with water and we are wholesale customers. Therefore, the increases that come from them must factor in the rates that we charge our residents and businesses.
Over the past three years the Wyoming Water Plant has under gone some major upgrades needed to keep pace with the continued growth in demand and to increase system wide flexibility that allows more efficient operations and delivery of the water. These upgrades and expanded facilities cost in excess of $52 million.
The City of Hudsonville will continue to monitor this closely and do diligent adjusting of the costs if necessary.

With all of the ‘extra’ rain we seem to be getting these days, one may wonder where all of this water is going. When the storms come our way, we see the rain rush quickly from our rooftops, driveways, parking lots and streets to the closest street drain. These drains are appropriately termed storm drains. Many cities in the United States used combined sewers until the mid 1940’s. These systems were designed to collect wastewater and stormwater in the same system and transport it to a treatment plant. During times of heavy rain, these systems were designed to overflow to prevent damage to the pipes. The overflow would discharge into the nearest body of water.
Since then, in a nationwide effort, wastewater pipes are being separated from stormwater drainage systems. The result of separating these sewer systems has been fewer releases of untreated wastewater to lakes and streams. However, other pollutants found in stormwater are no longer treated at the wastewater treatment plant. These pollutants accumulate between periods of rainfall, and then are washed down the storm drains during a rain event. They include substances such as motor oil from our vehicles, pet and animal wastes, fertilizers, and grass clippings from mowing our lawns. Since stormwater pipes are now directly routed to lakes and streams, these contaminants can have a significant impact on those waters.

Today’s wastewater treatment plants are working hard to make our wastewater as clean as possible before it is discharged to the Grand River. In fact, the wastewater is now often cleaner than the Grand River itself. The primary cause of pollution today in the Grand River is not from wastewater plants or industry; it comes from the many smaller sources like the pollution from our storm sewers.
The Clean Water Act of 1972 set up the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The NPDES program has required some communities in Michigan to tackle the issue of stormwater pollution. A number of communities in Kent County and Ottawa County have formed a committee that is working on cleaning up storm water pollution. This cooperative effort is actively seeking approaches to help citizens become ‘stormwater savvy’. Your Kent/Ottawa Stormwater Education Committee would like to remind you to be storm water savvy and utilize the recycling programs, practice proper solid waste disposal and utilizing your free residential hazardous waste program. Never dump substances down your drain or storm drains! Instead call to dispose of hazardous waste items such as gas and paint thinner through your free county program and help prevent additional storm water pollution. Be sure to share your knowledge of these programs that are available to protect our precious resources! Please call the Ottawa County Environmental Health Department at (616) 393-5645 or visit www.co.ottawa.mi.us for more information on programs available for county residents.

Dragons, Dreams and Daring Deeds!

This year’s Summer Reading Club for children is entitled: Dragons, Dreams and Daring Deeds! We’re planning our exciting medieval reading program right now. But we need your help.
Come August, a Medieval Faire will be held in Olde Hughes Forest for all the young children of the village. All jesters, minstrels, dancers, seamstresses, bakers, and craftsmen are called upon to lend us their talents for the event! If you can juggle, tumble, sing, dance, puppeteer, sew a costume or banner, play a lute or flute, work a slingshot, make a catapult, do calligraphy, help with a heraldry craft, or manage a “joust”, we’d love to hear from you. Dancing bears, however, need not apply.
If you, or anyone you know is enchanted with the Medieval era and would like to be involved, please have them call Ellie or Melissa at 669-1255.

Library Alert!

Due to a reduction in state aid and penal fines and an increase in expenses, the library will be cutting five hours from its schedule as of January 1, 2005. The library will no longer be open on Monday evenings and will be closing on Saturdays at 1 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.

Here is the full schedule:

Monday, Wednesday & Friday:
10 am to 5 pm

Tuesday & Thursday:
10 am to 8 pm

Saturday:
10 am to 1 pm

Our fine rate will also change as of January 1, 2005. For over twenty years our overdue rate has stayed the same at 10 cents per day. Our cooperative has asked us to go up to 15 cents per day for most items with a $5 maximum. The fine rates for videos or dvd’s remains at $1 per day with a $10 maximum.

Library Used Book Sale

The Friends of the Library will be holding another Used Book Sale on March 10, 11 and 12 in the lower level of the library during regular library hours. Please bring in any donations you may have for them.

Prices at our sale will be as follows:

Adult Hardcovers 50 cents
Adult Paperbacks 25 cents
Juvenile Hardcovers 25 cents
Magazines 10 cents

Internet Safety - For Kids

Tell your parents immediately if you come across something that makes you feel uncomfortable.
Remember that people on the Internet may not be who they seem. Never give out identifying information such as your name, home address, school name, or telephone number in a public message such as in a chat room or on a bulletin board.
People who are dangerous may represent themselves on-line as a young boy or girl in order to entice you to a face-to-face meeting.
You should never arrange a face-to-face meeting without first asking a parent. If a parent agrees, you should meet in a public place with your parent accompanying you. Be careful when someone offers you something for nothing.
Be very careful about any offers that involve you coming to a meeting or have someone visit your home.
Always get to know your on-line friends just as you would get to know all of your friends.
Never send your picture without first asking a parent.
Never respond to messages or items that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, threatening, or make you feel uncomfortable.
Be sure that you are dealing with someone you and your parents know and trust before giving out any personal information about yourself.
Diligent parental supervision will help ensure your safety on the Internet.

Internet Safety - For Parents

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children advises that Internet-related complaints grew from 640 per year in 1993 to 188,000 in 1999. Of those complaints, more than 35% involved child pornography on the Internet.
Just a few years ago it was estimated that 10.5 million children were online and by 2005 it is estimated that more than 45 million will be online.
Millions of children surf the Internet for school and entertainment. The Internet is a constantly growing educational resource for children and can be a positive experience. Children also communicate through E-mails, chat rooms and public message boards. Unsupervised, the Internet can be dangerous, exposing our children to predators and inappropriate material.
We must educate our children and parents to become cyber-smart. Prevention and awareness is the key to deter cyber-predators and exposure to inappropriate material. Children are trusting, naïve, and curious. They must be supervised by parents who have a fundamental understanding of computer technology and the Internet.

Signs That Your Child May Be At Risk On-Line

Your child spends large amounts of time on-line, especially at night.
You find pornography or other "banned" material on your child’s computer.
Your child receives telephone calls from someone (particularly an adult) you don’t know, or is making telephone calls, sometimes long distance, to telephone numbers you don’t recognize.
Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don’t know.
Your child turns the computer off or quickly changes the screen when you come into the room.
Your child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else.
Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.

The Cyber-tip hotline is currently housed in the Computer Crimes Unit, Criminal Investigation Division of the Michigan Department of the State Police. On-line telephone tips that fall into the Internet Crimes Against Children criteria are documented and forwarded to state or local law enforcement agencies where the incident is believed to have occurred. Information received via this telephone tip line is also shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Customs Service, the United Postal Inspection Service, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, a law enforcement officer answers this Cyber-Tip Telephone Hotline. On weekends, holidays, and after 4 p.m. callers hear a detailed message, with the option to either leave a message, or if the tip is an emergency to immediately hang-up and dial 911.

If you use a private snow removal contractor, be sure the contractor is insured and is licensed with the City. The annual fee is $25 per vehicle. The licenses are available from the City Clerk’s office. Commercial (for hire) plow vehicles must have an oscillating or flashing yellow or amber light. Neither private property owners, nor private contractors may push driveway snow on property which he does not own, without permission. This includes the curb lawn area which is needed to store snow plowed from the street or the adjacent drive approach area only.
There is no parking on streets between the hours of 2 a.m.—6 a.m. from November 1st through April 1st.