Burling resigns as councilmember due to medical issues

Published 8:28 pm Monday, August 26, 2019

DOWAGIAC — After a reading of agenda items and before the conclusion of the Monday night Dowagiac City Council’s meeting, councilmember Charles Burling announced after peripheral consideration he had chosen to resign his office as a Dowagiac city councilmember of the third ward effective at the end of Monday night’s meeting.

Burling went on to explain his untimely resignation is due to medical issues, which he said would limit his ability to serve at 100 percent in the year to come.

Councilmembers and Mayor Donald Lyons went around the room to share their memories serving on the board with Burling.

After the news, Lyons announced that according to charter, the city council needed to appoint a replacement within the next 30 days. With an election coming up in November, the mayor said the city has one application from Randy Gross Sr. and no other competition.

Minutes later, the Mayor Pro-Tem, Leon Laylin, made a resolution to appoint Gross as Burling’s replacement with the approval of the council. The council unanimously approved the appointment of Gross to sit on the City Council and represent the third ward.

Gross accepted the appointment and said he was honored.

A resolution was also passed to name a new park at Cass Ave. and Dowagiac Creek, ‘Schuur Park,’ after councilmember Bob Schuur, who has served as a councilmember for the city for 34 years. Schuur has been the longest continuous serving councilmember in history for the city of Dowagiac.

Other items on the agenda were unanimously passed including the entering into an easement with Wolverine Pipeline, with no cost to the city, as the pipeline needs upgrades, Lyons said.

After the city had spent several months working on interviewing several site managers, the city council unanimously approved a proposal to update and redesign the city’s website.

The second reading of a new ordinance to adopt the International Property Maintenance Code for properties within the city of Dowagiac was also read aloud to the council for a second time at Monday night’s meeting.