The System Works - Three Examples Including My New Perspective on Tax Abatements

I constantly encourage people to attend City Council meetings (1st & 3rd Mondays at 7 pm at Lowell City Hall) and/or the monthly Coffee With Council (1st Saturday of the month from 8-10am at the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce building on the Riverwalk).
As a City Council member I not only want to hear from you, but I need to hear from you. If you think expressing yourself to me and the rest of the City Council is a waste of time - let me give you some examples of why it is NOT a waste of time or energy.
A few weeks ago we had some gentlemen attend a meeting. They are interested in setting up a grow facility for adult use marijuana. The City of Lowell is working to get regulations in place to accommodate such facilities in response to the overwhelming support demonstrated by Lowell voters last year. (Prop 1 passed by a 60/40 majority). I read all the proposed rules, but somehow a portion that dealt with restricting the type of lighting that could be used to grow pot escaped my comprehension. These guys came to a meeting and pointed out the section in our proposed regulations that prohibited the type of lighting used in almost ALL indoor grow facilities.
Whoops!
Our City Manager looked into their concern. Turns out that language was used in some communities in CA and CO that had trouble meeting the demand for power. Lowell Light & Power has no such trouble, so at the next meeting Mike Burns explained the situation and we eliminated the language from our regulations. Because adult use marijuana is uncharted territory in MI, our legal advisers were using language borrowed from a number of states that were ahead of MI in legalization rather than re-invent the wheel.
None of us on the council are experienced with the indoor growing of any type of plants on a massive scale. We all read the regulations, but did not catch this. Once it was brought to our attention, it was dealt with and corrected.
One of my goals is to see a camp ground in Lowell to compliment our family friendly community and to take full advantage of our two rivers and expanding trail system. I believe a campground can be a good source of revenue for Lowell, but I kept wondering how we could afford to staff a campground when our City budget is strained as it is.
My friend John Wenger solved that problem in an instant. John is an avid camper who has camped all over Michigan and other states. He explained that we could start the campground by having it be self-service. John told me of several examples of campgrounds that use the honor system - campers simply pay their fees in an envelope put into a box on the campground. Great way to get things started with almost no overhead. Bingo!
My last example is a change in my attitude towards granting a tax abatement. The practice of granting a tax abatement to a new enterprise or an existing business that is expanding is fairly commonplace. We recently granted an abatement to King Milling on a big expansion.
Foremost in my mind when I voted on this abatement was all of the ways King Milling has supported Lowell. I was a bit disappointed that the expansion did not result in new jobs, but voted "yes" because I was dwelling on all the benefits to Lowell I have seen come from King Milling.
The response from the people of Lowell has gotten me to reconsider the subject. My initial reaction was to defend my position by listing everything KM has done, but after mulling the subject over in my mind over the last couple of weeks, I have a much greater appreciation of the concerns expressed by people on the subject. I totally understand and respect the emotions of people who are being asked to pay more in taxes by the same governing body who granted an abatement.
Does this mean an automatic "no" vote from me on any future proposed abatement? Not necessarily. There might be a certain set of circumstances that would garner my support. However, any support from me on a tax abatement in the future is going to have to won over by a preponderance of evidence that would give me solid reasons that would hold up to scrutiny from Lowell tax payers and voters. Another exception might be if the City were flush. (I can dream, right?)
Lowell voters - please keep talking and I will do my best to keep my ears and mind open.

January 13th Edit - one more example if I may. Jake Davenport attends most if not all of the meetings. After the failure of the income tax, he came to the next meetings with some suggestions about how to improve and clarify communications with citizens and voters. All of us listened to what he said and responded with positive comments. My biggest take a way was his suggestion to break down a complex issue like a City Income Tax into small, bite size pieces of information rather than attempt to address all the issues at one time. Good stuff, Jake - thank you.