CASSOPOLIS — At its meeting Monday, the Cassopolis Village Council approved local police presence for a neighborhood Easter egg hunt being hosted from 5 to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 31, between Jefferson and Fulton. The council then turned its focus to plan its 2018-2019 draft budget, along with plans for construction on Parkshore Drive, near the viaduct.

City Manager Emilie Sarratore outlined the draft budget and its designated funds. Funding will be spread across eight divisions with a total of $917, 000 being put aside.

The Cassopolis police force is scheduled to receive $10,000 in order to outfit officers with body cameras and purchase any necessary technology. Road projects scheduled for North O’Keefe will receive $380,000 from the rural task force, along with funding from separate projects that will ultimately repair the entirety of the location.

Unnamed funds will be set aside per public works’ request for a new Kubota, truck and mini excavator, along with building speculation and designs for architectural outlining for a proposed move of village hall.

Master Facility and Parks will see an increase in its general fund, while maintenance and demolition will receive $50,000, and water projects will receive $30,000. A scheduled update for cemetery software will also be proposed, though funds may be found in grants from local and statewide historical societies.

With hopes of starting in late fall or early spring, plans were made official to repair the surface of Parkshore Drive along the viaduct, and to install a gutter panel with spillway into a new retention pond. Layout and plans on the location of the retention pond are still in the process of being finalized. Funds will come from a mixture of the local roads budget, major roads budget and general funds. If it is deemed to not be a critical route to school, the project may be pushed.

Based on the recommendations of the village’s finance committee, the council approved plans to change both the village’s investment and retirement policy.

The investment of village funds will be placed within two companies: short-term investments in Michigan Class and long-term in Leader Investment. Based on of previous research, each company is known for working with municipalities, and neither charge fees to withdraw funds if needed. A total of $2,000,000 will be invested in which an additional $20,000 will be gained from interest. The financial committee agreed that the decision would only yield positive results.

The city currently works with Nationwide Insurance for its retirement plan, but is proposing to change to MERS, with no cost to the city for this switch. The new plan would be comprised of less fees and a higher return rate, while also providing employees with an overall better retirement plan.

Currently, employees are required to contribute 3 percent of their salary to their fund, while the village contributes 5 percent, resulting in and 8 percent overall contribution, while the recommended contribution is 14 percent.

In changing to MERS, different plans based on each employee can be implemented. If the employee chooses to raise their contribution to 6 percent, the village can match at an increased 1 percent, making the total 6 percent. Should the employee choose 7 percent, then the village can match at and increased 2 percent. With union contracts up next year, the board will propose to make the change then.

Chief of Police Brian Lavalle confirmed the initiative to install laptops in squad cars. In installing the new technology, officers will be able to compile crash and police reports in a more efficient manner, saving the time it would take to share a single computer at the station. The project will cost a total of $56,000.

The next Village of Cassopolis Workshop meeting will be Monday, April 9 at the Village Hall.