Council approves new condominiums at Shadow Brooke

City council voted unanimously on Monday to approve special land use for single-family detached dwelling units at Shadow Brooke Condominiums off Burt Street. Steve Dalton, owner of Shadow Brooke Condominiums, requested a change from attached condominiums, which are composed of a single building with multiple units, to stand-alone detached condominiums. The Planning Commission approved the amended site plan on March 8. The plan calls for nine new single-family units, and because the site is located in a multiple family district, requires special land use approval by council.
“This project was originally designed for over 30 units, so they’re reducing it down to nine,” City Manager Dan Swallow said. “It’s really a reduction in density.”
City council also adopted the proposed Government Account-ing Standards Bureau (GASB) 68 Implementation Policy regarding the allocation of unfunded pension liability. This policy will document how the allocation of pension liability should occur between the general fund and enterprise funds. The objective of GASB 68 is to improve accounting and financial reporting by state and local government for pensions, and improves information about the adequacy of financial support for pensions. The pension fund covers all of the employee groups of the city.
“The auditors thought it would be best if we had a written policy on how we carry out that liability going forward, as well as noting what we’ve done in the past,” Swallow said. “The written policy will lay out how we’re going to record that pension liability as well as our GASB requirements.”
In other city council news:
• Council unanimously approved a request by the Tecumseh Kiwanis Club to change its hours of solicitation for the club’s flag program. The Kiwanis Club honors veterans each year by placing American flags in front of homes on Memorial Day weekend, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day weekend, 9/11, and Veterans Day. The program has generated thousands of dollars from area residents to supply scholarships to Tecumseh High School seniors, and funds other projects that help local children. Current city ordinances allow door-to-door solicitation Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Kiwanis Club requested that it be able to go door-to-door from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday from April 16 to May 21 in order to expand the number of area subscribers to the Flag Program.
“We’re not amending the ordinance,” Swallow said. “We’re suspending it on a temporary basis for the Kiwanis Club’s Flag Program.”
• City council resolved in a 6-0 vote to adopt the City of Tecumseh 401(a) Money Purchase Plan as a complete restatement of the Qualified Retirement Plan. This restatement is a prompt by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which required that all defined contribution plan documents be restated by April 30, 2016. Some of the information now required in the plan documents include automatic enrollment provisions, automatic enrollment opt out, funding notifications, investment advice rules, contribution limits, and qualified default investment arrangements.