The August 26 Hart City Council meeting was Nichole Kleiner’s first as the interim city manager, replacing Rob Splane, who put in his resignation earlier this summer. At the time of the meeting, she was performing the job part-time while she completed prior commitments, with plans to transition to full-time following Labor Day. While Kleiner described the past few weeks as “a whirlwind,” she facilitated a streamlined council meeting, which lasted less than 40 minutes.
Despite the speedy meeting, Kleiner’s city manager report was thorough. She first extended her thanks to the council for the opportunity and the support she has received. She described the greatest challenge she is currently facing and working to solve as the budget. “It makes sense to me… I see the money… [I am] just trying to backtrack and figure out what project commitments were attached to those budget items… I’m working on understanding that so I can be more proficient.”
Kleiner also updated the council on several ongoing projects. The Hart Plaza project is on track to break ground in 2026, and the city is in the design planning phase - “What kind of trees, what flowerpots, stamping and colors - so it’s getting into the fun stuff.”
In regard to the ongoing issue surrounding the ownership of the water tower property and leasing the water tower to AT&T for antenna usage, Kleiner is making the issue a top priority and will continue to update the council as she works on a resolution. “I’ll keep that on my list.” In early July, Splane discussed with the council the discovery that the property the water tower sits on is not actually owned by the city, but rather, was accidentally sold to JSJ Corp. in 2003.
Following up on the discussion of the Redevelopment Ready Community certification, which the city lost back in February, and the work towards fulfilling the requirements set by the State of Michigan, Kleiner identified five “outstanding items,” which will be updated in progress reports for subsequent council meetings. She did, however, tell council members that “this truly could take a little longer…it’s not that we’re not ready for it; we’ve just got to follow the procedures. So that’s going to be the hold-up.”
Kleiner also reported to the council an issue following the last TIFA meeting, where the TIFA board believed a bid for the Ceres Solutions Co-op Property on Main Street was met with a failed vote. This determination has been challenged by the bidder, which is now under legal review. Kleiner went on to say that “we don’t have a clear determination of what the outcome of that vote was,” and ascribes the initial confusion of the outcome to one board member abstaining and several others being absent. Council member Andrew Mullen said of the topic, “I don’t think the bid was understood by the general public” in regard to how the property was to be awarded based on the city’s vision for the property and not a general project bid. Council member Cat Burillo voiced that, once there is a resolution, she would like to see the property go back out for bids.
Finally, in the ongoing search for a permanent city manager, the recruitment package is in its final stages, with the city council deciding on a salary range for the position. Double Haul Solutions, the contracted recruitment firm, recommended a range of $110,000-$130,000 based on their area-wide salary survey. The Personnel and Finance Committee, after receiving Double Haul’s recommendations, proposed a range of $105,000-$115,000, based on candidate credentials. Mayor Amanda Klotz believed this range was a happy medium of the salary ranges of different West Michigan municipalities while also remaining “marketable.” This range was unanimously approved by the council. Double Haul Solutions said it hopes to provide a shortlist of candidates for the City of Hart by the end of September, with a permanent placement, ideally, by the end of October.
