At Monday’s City Council meeting, two items may be of special interest to citizens.
The main one involves a report from Tom Miller Jr., Saginaw Future vice-president, on what has become known as the “Medical Diamond” project for some sort of mystery public health building. There also will be a food access update.
Among unanswered Medical Diamond questions:
- Cost estimates have ranged from $15 million to $50 million. What’s the number? The City Council and County Board have contributed $5 million apiece in federal ARPA funds, and the state has pledged $30.3 million. Democrats are entrenched locally but now are at risk of losing the state House, which could make the fate of the $30.3 million at risk down the road.
- Labels have included “behavior health” and “mental health,” but the overall purpose has not been clearly defined. Local hospitals, the Shaheen family and the Central Michigan University College of Medicine all are on board.
- Stories are circulating that the building would replace the existing county public health center on North Michigan, across from Covenant and Bliss Park. Could this be addressed publicly?
- For that matter, the planned location at the old farmer’s market site at South Washington and Millard, while common knowledge among insiders, still has not been officially confirmed.
From the start, Saginaw Daily has taken a lead in seeking clarity. For a report from Feb. 1, same day as the news site launched, including Dr. Shaheen’s explanation of non-disclosure agreements, click here.
Similar concerns on lack of information have been expressed on the record by Mayor Brenda Moore, Bishop Hurley J. Coleman Jr. of the ARPA advisory council and Joyce Seals, who not only is past mayor and current school board trustee, but who chairs the countywide Health Equity Council.
And when the state funds were announced last summer, including another $10 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, TV12’s Terry Camp on June 29 reported, “Officials did not release specific details about the Medical Diamond project, including what it entails or what programs will be offered.”
Food access in spotlight
Also Monday, City Council members are scheduled to finalize a first step toward tackling “food desert” concerns in the city, where no major food chain exists. Even on the more prosperous outer West Side, shoppers have seen their Kroger flee to the suburbs.
Previous votes have reserved $2 million of the record-setting $52 million ARPA windfall.
Monday’s agenda includes a contract with the new Saginaw Food Community Club and Kitchen, grantee for the first $1 million, to lease the city-owned former Big Brothers property at 1910 Fordney, across from the YMCA, to serve as a “nonprofit membership model,” which is parlance for a co-op. The Food Club would demolish the old offices and build a new facility.
Results of a community survey for how to spend the remaining $1 million will be reviewed and discussed during the council’s annual planning session in January.
The Food Club outline from City Manager Tim Morales and from Cassi Zimmerman, planning and economic development director, states, “The use of the property will ultimately serve the important purpose for the City by addressing and impacting food equity through increased access to healthy foods and nutritional resources.”
Food Club will pay a nominal $1 lease for paperwork processing purposes and will be responsible for all insurances and property upkeep.
Through the Food Club guidelines, for example, a family of four with annual income up to around $50,000 will pay in the $15 range for $100 in credits. Half of households will qualify for at least some sort of aid, while others without subsidies could benefit from suburban-type prices at an in-town location.
Organizers represent agencies that aim to uplift families in financial and social need, including a number of the existing shelters, soup kitchens and food pantries. Planning began in 2018, prior to the pandemic and ARPA, the American Rescue Plan Act. A Food Club goal is to seek an alternative to the long lines on drive-through distribution days at locations that range from Saginaw County CAC to Old Town Christian Outreach to East Side Soup Kitchen/Hidden Harvest to The Salvation Army.
In total, Saginaw’s fledgling Food Club, based on a Grand Rapids model, has raised $3.75 million toward a $5 million goal.
An Oct. 17 forum with neighborhood leaders took place to help kick off the survey for the remaining $1 million, and some participants asked whether the first priority for any sort of new grocery facility — Food Club or other — should be to make use of one of the still-solid vacant structures that dot the city’s neighborhoods, especially school buildings that remain.
In March, we reported that developer Anthony Denha had received city zoning approval to convert the former Walgreens at East Genesee and Hess into a mid-level grocery with fresh produce. In September, he said he would have an update before Thanksgiving. We have not been able to reach him since then. For the original report, click here.
