Shaping the general election ballot

Friday, Aug. 19— The Lansing City Council is scheduled to vote on three proposals Monday thatcould end up on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot.

Notably, twoadministration-backed proposals ask voters permission to sell dedicatedparkland at the former Red Cedar and Waverly golf courses. Those tworesolutions will first have to be voted out of the Council’s Committee of theWhole, which is scheduled to meet an hour before the Council at 6 p.m. Monday.

Theadministration is asking Council a second time to support its idea of askingvoters permission to sell 12.68 acres of the former Red Cedar Golf Course onMichigan Avenue for redevelopment purposes. The other 48 acres of the formergolf course would be reused as a public park after Ingham County DrainCommissioner Pat Lindemann repurposes the land to act as a major drainagesystem to prevent storm water runoff into the nearby Red Cedar River.

If votersapprove selling the 12.68 acres in November, which is worth $5 million, thatwill set off a public Request for Proposals for development through the LansingEconomic Development Corp. Its president, Bob Trezise, told the Council on Thursday that there’s potential for $300million worth of investment at the site. The resolution stipulates “any netproceeds from the sale of the Parcel would be exclusively dedicated to capitalimprovements within the remainder of the Park.”

On the first go-around,the Committee of the Whole voted down the Red Cedar proposal 4-3 at its May 23meeting. At-Large Council members Brian Jeffries, Derrick Quinney and CarolWood voted against it. 1^st Ward Councilman Eric Hewitt was absent.This time, however, Quinney is supporting, which should give the proposal thesupport it needs to be placed on the ballot.

A secondproposal to be reconsidered Monday night asks voter permission to sell theformer Waverly Golf Course and adjacent Michigan Avenue Park in Lansing Township,totaling 120.48 acres. That resolution also failed in May along the same votinglines. The Waverly idea is not tied to redevelopment plans.

In other ballotproposal business, the Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution that asksvoters Nov. 8 for a “general revision” of the City Charter. The charter, whichwas adopted in 1978, requires a vote by the people every 12 years after 1987 todetermine if it should be generally revised. The stipulation is similar to thestatewide constitutional convention that requires a vote every 10 years, whichwas voted down last November.

If Lansingvoters say yes to a general charter revision, they then would vote in membersof a Charter Commission in the next scheduled election.