WATERFORD, Michigan - A workshop for municipalities addressing the procurement process and related contract issues will be held in Waterford on August 12. The workshop will focus on best practices by municipalities in the procurement process for securing commercial contractors and will be particularly helpful for EECBG program grantees. A previous similar session took place July 29 and more than 30 attendees participate.  The Aug. 12 workshop is at Lookout Lodge, Waterford Oaks County Park in Waterford. Go here for details: http://www.warmtraining.org/gov/.

Read more about the EECBG program and the Michigan Municipal League's Center for 21st Century Communities initiative.

Matt Bach is director of communications for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317 or mbach@mml.org.

There’s a year-long sculpture exhibit taking place in downtown Hastings, Michigan, that sounds really exciting. The Opening Celebration is this Friday June 11th from 5-8 PM. This type of event speaks directly to a couple of the assets (such as walkability, community design and cultural economic development) that the Michigan Municipal League has identified as making for viable communities through our Center for 21^st Century Communities (21c3) initiative.

Here’s some background from a press release passed on to me from Hastings: The City of Hastings is creating quite a buzz around town with the installation of 16 Sculptures throughout the Downtown.  The sculptures are part of a continued local effort to provide culturally significant entertainment free of charge within the historic commercial district throughout the year. … The Sculptures have already provoked rave reviews. Although they have only recently arrived in the City in early May, they have been frequently visited by large groups of school children on an artistic field trip and by families, groups and individuals as they make their way around town shopping and dinning.

Matt Bach is director of communications for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317) or mbach@mml.org. For details about the Michigan Municipal League go to mml.org.

Yesterday was a “snow” day, with most schools closed and many people hunkered down in their homes, but for me and some of my colleagues, it was a day to put on the long underwear along with the hiking boots, and venture out to Lathrup Village.  As part of our Center for 21^st Century Communities program, Lathrup Village was chosen as one of our 5 pilot communities to focus on one of the 8 assets where they would like to see improvement.   They chose walkability and design.  Like too many communities, Lathrup Village finds that a major roadway is both a benefit and a challenge.  Southfield Road, a 5 lane thoroughfare, is viewed by many to split the community - an impediment to walkability.  Their vision is to create a Center City, and literally transform their town into a more vibrant, walkable community.   So we invited Dan Burden, a world-renown walkability expert, to visit Michigan this week.  (In addition to Lathrup Village, he also conducted a walkable audit in Linden on Monday and Lapeer on Tuesday.)  Dan, who never lets a little snow, wind and cold stand in his way, led a group of enthusiastic community stakeholders, including a representative from the County Road Commission and the city’s planning consultant, on a tour to assess what needs to be done to make it a more pedestrian friendly community that will create new businesses and allow for more connectivity among the residents.  We trekked up and down Southfield Road, while Dan measured sidewalks, risked his life standing in the middle of an intersection to illustrate a point, and highlighted the good, bad and the ugly.  After thawing out and a warm lunch, Dan integrated photos from the tour into a PowerPoint, presenting his thoughts and ideas on what would make the city’s vision become a reality.  Today, a more detailed follow-up session is taking place between Dan and the stakeholders.   Stay tuned for future updates as Lathrup Village makes the journey towards a 21^st century community!