City Commission

Mayor Tom Lowry and members of the Three Rivers City Commission have agreed to a tax-abatement request sought by Precision Wire Forms. The action was taken during Tuesday’s meeting, when Lowry and commissioners mulled the 12-year Industrial Facilities Tax-Exemption Certificate for the West Broadway Road business. Company officials indicated Precision Wire Forms is expected to make a $1.3 million investment …

A listing of candidates for the Constantine Village Council contains inaccurate information on the St. Joseph County website. Constantine Township Clerk Marti Brown said she has been in touch with County Clerk Pattie Bender regarding the erroneous information. Bender is currently at the state’s county clerk’s convention and indicated the information on the website would be corrected by Monday. In …

Constantine Village Council member Cindy LaFleur has withdrawn her candidacy for re-election and chosen instead to seek a position with the Constantine Township Board of Trustees. County Clerk Pattie Bender said LaFleur had submitted petitions for both posts but, by law, would be eligible to represent only one entity. Late Friday, LaFleur made arrangements through Bender’s office to drop her …

Officials from the city of Sturgis have closed the RV dumping station near the municipal airport due to several incidents of improper and illegal use of the site. Road construction on West Lafayette Street this summer forced the station to be closed temporarily. Numerous incidents of illegal use and misuse, however, prompted city officials to close the site for good. …

Members of the Sturgis City Commission have approved the municipality’s 2012-13 fiscal year budget. Featuring projected revenue of about $7.5 million and operating expenses close to $6.4 million, the budget represents an increase of about half a percent from 2011-12. During Wednesday’s commission meeting, city manager Mike Hughes said the city has taken every step it can to keep expenses …

Mayor Tom Lowry and members of the Three Rivers City Commission have agreed to name a new city street in memory of a community activist and long-time employee of Three Rivers Community Schools. During their regularly scheduled meeting earlier this week, Lowry and commissioners agreed to name a road in memory of Suzy Warner, who passed away in April. Warner …

Organizers of the fourth annual Burr Oak Heritage Festival said the three-day event, which concluded Sunday, was the village’s most successful community celebration yet. Barb Wittlock, village clerk and a member of the Heritage Festival Committee, said Friday’s old-fashioned baseball game between the Burr Oak Bandits and Sturgis Biscuits drew more than 200 spectators, Saturday’s parade featured 60-plus entries, the …

The St. Joseph County Commission on Aging (COA) has approved a new, five-year lease with the City of Three Rivers for the Three Rivers Community Center. The Community Center, located at 103 South Douglas Avenue, has been the headquarters for the COA in recent years and that will continue until at least 2017 with authorization given last week (July 18) …

The Three Rivers City Commission dealt with a variety of items during a relatively brief regular meeting last week (July 17) The session included three public hearings during which there were no citizen comments. In each case, the commission approved the issue at hand. Specifically, commissioners: • approved a Special Exception Use Permit for a Massage Establishment and Day Spa …

Members of the Three Rivers City Commission have authorized sanitary sewer repairs on West Street. During action on the matter earlier this month, Mayor Tom Lowry and commissioners agreed to a $10,500 allocation to Northern Construction Services Corporation for repairs to compromised sections of the sewer line. The work will occur as crews continue to replace a four-inch water main, …