Grand Valley Metropolitan Council (GVMC) is an alliance of governmental
units in the Grand Rapids, Michigan metropolitan area that are appointed
to plan for the growth and development, improve the quality of the communities
life, and coordinate governmental services.
Latest Developments
The April GVMC Board Meeting date has been changed to Monday, April 9, 10:30 a.m. at the Prince Center.
Report on the GVMC Division Avenue Transit Corridor Brownfield Project * * GVMC is presently managing a $400,000 EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant awarded in September 2009.The purpose of the grant is to prepare for and facilitate redevelopment along the Division Avenue Bus Rapid Transit route.
The GVMC Brownfield grant work is drawing to a close. With our partner - NTH Consultants - we have met our goals and have succeeded more than we had imagined possible. Our primary goal was to prepare land for redevelopment along the BRT corridor and we did. We had promised to carry out Phase I environmental site assessments (ESA’s) for 60 parcels and Phase II ESA’s for 40 parcels. In fact we assessed 72 parcels using only 29 Phase I ESA’s and 26 Phase II ESA’s – an extremely efficient effort. We moved beyond that to do 13 Baseline Environmental Assessments (BEA) and 7 Due Care Plans (which were not included in our original work plan!) Development was about to begin on many of the sites and BEA’s Due Care plans were needed in order to proceed. We heeded our objectives and asked EPA to expand our scope of work. For more information click here
GVMC Board Members Learn that the County-Wide Emergency Response System Operates Effectively, But Could Be Improved
The county-wide emergency medical response system in Kent County is a good system that is operating efficiently, but it could be improved for very little cost to taxpayers. That’s the message that Board members of the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council heard on Thursday December 1, 2011 from Mic Gunderson, president of Florida-based Integral Performance Solutions, LLC (IPS), who presented the results his company’s recent analysis of the entire emergency response system that serves residents of all communities in Kent County.
The IPS study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the design, performance and cost of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system in Kent County. The study extends from the 9-1–1 communications and ambulance dispatch centers through medical first response, ambulance transport, and into the hospital emergency department and acute specialty care centers for heart attacks, strokes and trauma. It examines the overall systems of care that transcend individual EMS providers and hospitals. The IPS analysis highlights specific issues and offers recommendations for changes in system governance, standards, accountability and enforcement. It calls for a re-examination of ambulance service designation issues as well as the types of calls that Medical First Responder (MFR) units are, and are not, sent on.
Because of the sweeping nature of the IPS analysis, and the fact everyone who lives, works and plays in Kent County is impacted by the speedy and efficient delivery emergency medical services, Metro Council invited officials from all Kent County communities – including non-Metro Council members – to participate in the briefing.
The entire 76-page study report on the county-wide emergency medical response system in Kent County is available for viewing and downloads by clicking here
The PowerPoint presentation that was presented to the GVMC Board by IPS President Mic Gunderson can be viewed and downloaded by clicking here.
The Grand Rapids Press story on Mr. Gunderson’s presentation can be accessed by clicking here.
The Grand Valley Metro Council, together with other local officials from communities throughout Kent County, listens as Mic Gunderson, President of IPS, LLC unveils the results of a comprehensive study of emergency medical response services available to residents of all communities in Kent County.
Mic Gunderson, who was recently appointed Executive Director of Kent County Emergency Medical Services, Inc., tells GVMC Board members and guests that the county-wide system governing emergency medical response activities operates efficiently, but could be improved at little to no cost to taxpayers.
The GVMC Quarterly Luncheon is scheduled
for Monday, October 10, 2011, 12:00 Noon at the Prince
Conference Center of Calvin College located at 800 East Beltline,
SE. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Featured speaker will be Phil
Power of the Center for Michigan. Cost is $22 and reservations
can be made at mccrathg@gvmc.org.
Clean
Air Action Survey to be Conducted in West Michigan
The Center for Applied Research and Rural Studies (CARRS) at Central
Michigan University is working with Grand Valley Metro Council
staff and the West Michigan Clean Air Coalition to conduct a scientific
survey of residents’ views about air pollution and related
issues in Kent, Ottawa, and Muskegon Counties. It will also assess
citizens’ awareness and compliance with Clean Air Action
Days.
Starting on Monday, September 12, CARRS will be contacting randomly
selected households within Kent, Ottawa, and Muskegon Counties
in order to conduct a short telephone interview with residents
aged 18 and older. A hard copy of the survey will also be mailed
to randomly selected households that do not have landline phone
numbers available. This survey will be used only for the purposes
of gathering information about the residents’ views and
experiences. Answers will be kept strictly confidential. Final
results of the survey will be available on wmcac.org
in the late fall.
For more information about this survey, please contact Andrea
Faber.
The final FY2012 Unified Planning Work
Program is available for review. Click here
to view.
GVMC
Helps Create Jobs With US EPA Brownfield Grant
In 2010, GVMC received a $400,000 Brownfield Assessment Grant
from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The purpose
of the Grant is to inventory, assess, and promote the redevelopment
of Brownfield properties along and near South Division Avenue,
from downtown Grand Rapids to 68th street. This corridor contains
the proposed Silver Line bus rapid transit route.
The EPA Brownfield Grant program is a mature, proven program that
assists communities, property owners, businesses, and developers
to acquire, redevelop, and safely re-use Brownfield properties.
We are conducting the studies more efficiently by grouping properties.
As of January, 2011 our consultant, NTH Consultants, Ltd has conducted
Phase I and Phase II studies on approximately 50 sites. That work
has facilitated redevelopment projects that are in progress.
This program complements the Brownfield programs of Wyoming, Kentwood
and Wyoming. The work is guided by an advisory committee comprised
of staff from Wyoming, Kentwood, Grand Rapids, Gaines, the Rapid,
the Right Place, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Grand
Rapids Foundation.
The project will also create a gis layer on the REGIS public web
site to aid development efforts. Click
here for more...
METRO
COUNCIL HOSTS A VERY SUCCESSFUL BREAKFAST MEETING WITH WEST MICHIGAN
LEGISLATORS – A special meeting of the GVMC Legislative
Committee on Monday January 24, 2011 enabled county and local
officials in the Metro Council region to engage in frank and productive
conversations with nine West Michigan lawmakers Click
here to continue reading
GVMC
2011 Transportation Asset Program Pavement Condition Report
- Continued under investment in the core transportation infrastructure
combined with the loss of buying power for local municipalities
has resulted in the worst pavement conditions in the Grand Rapids
metropolitan area since the Grand Valley Metro Council (GVMC),
the transportation metropolitan planning organization for the
Grand Rapids metro area, started doing pavement management surveys
15 years ago. That is the conclusion of a detailed report
on pavement conditions prepared by the staff of the GVMC, which
also found that If this region continues down the path we are
currently on the transportation infrastructure throughout Metro
Grand Raids will suffer dire consequences. Click
here for the executive summary and Click
here (9.4 MB) for the full report.
Transportation
Rally at the State Capital - Jamming the Three Levels
of the State Capitol Rotunda in Lansing on Tuesday May 4, 2010,
more than 400 transportation funding advocates called for legislative
action on a package of bills that would increase motor fuels
taxes to fund improvements to roads, bridges and public transportation
systems across the state. The groups – representing
a who’s who of transportation system users across Michigan
-- announced that over the last three months, they have
collected 5,000 signatures on a petition that urges lawmakers
to increase taxes gasoline and diesel fuel in order to restore
road, bridge and public transportation funding.
Advocates of increasing the gasoline tax had hoped to get legislation
(HB 5768, HB 5769 and HB 5770)out of the Michigan House before
spring this year, but the package has been stalled by the press
of other business and election year politics. That package would
raise the gasoline tax from 19 cents per gallon to 23 cents
with the tax then rising to 27 cents in 2013.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said after
the rally that a gas tax hike vote is "not on our timeline"
before the election. That means transportation funding advocates,
including the Grand Valley Metro Council, must wait for a legislative
vote on a funding package until after the election in the post-November
Lame Duck legislative session.
Michigan is not raising enough transportation money from its
19-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to meet a federal match requirement
in Fiscal Year 2011. The state is about $80 million short of
meeting the federal match requirement, and without it, Michigan
will lose $500 million in federal transportation improvement
funding next fiscal year and $2 billion over the next five.
House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Pam Byrnes (D-Chelsea)
and Rep. Dick Ball (R-Laingsburg) have proposed legislation
increasing the gas tax four cents in 2010 and four more cents
in 2013. The 15-cent-a-gallon diesel tax would rise six cents
in 2010 and another six cents in 2013 under the package.
GVMC Creates New, Regional Watershed Organization to Serve West Michigan - By unanimous vote, the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council has created the Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds (LGROW), a region-wide, collaborative association of counties, municipalities, businesses, educational institutions, philanthropic organizations and individuals dedicated to restoring, enhancing and protecting water quality in the Lower Grand River and its tributaries. more...
The Grand Valley Metropolitan Council has adopted, by unanimous vote, a major policy statement on State Budget and Taxation issues and has urged West Michigan to carefully consider the views of GVMC-member counties and communities as they work to solve the state's structural budget and economic problems. more...
Grand Valley Metropolitan Council
678 Front St NW, Suite 200
• Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504
Phone: (616) 77-METRO (776-3876)• Fax: (616) 774-9292
GVMC Board Meetings can be seen on GRTV Charter Communications Channel
24 the second Tuesday and Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. Plus, starting
November 17th on Rogueview Community TV (RCTV) Charter Communications Channel
22 on Mondays at 11:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Transportation
Rally at the State Capital - Jamming the Three Levels
of the State Capitol Rotunda in Lansing on Tuesday May 4, 2010,
more than 400 transportation funding advocates called for legislative
action on a package of bills that would increase motor fuels
taxes to fund improvements to roads, bridges and public transportation
systems across the state. The groups – representing
a who’s who of transportation system users across Michigan
-- announced that over the last three months, they have
collected 5,000 signatures on a petition that urges lawmakers
to increase taxes gasoline and diesel fuel in order to restore
road, bridge and public transportation funding.