City Manager Contact Us

Matthew Schooley, City Manager. Phone (989) 463-9501

Message from the City Manager

For close to 30 years I have had the pleasure of serving the City of Alma residents as a Police Officer, Transit Director, and now City Manager. It's been a great place to work and raise a family. This is a tough, resilient community that has been through some difficult times. I am a firm believer that
Alma is on the cusp of great things. I look forward to guiding this community as we reinvent Alma and make it the type of community we are all proud to be a part of. Great things have started. Be a part of the the movement.

COVID Update April 13, 2020

April 13, 2020

Alma Community, In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the City of Alma continues to follow recommendations of federal, state and county health officials while still providing vital City services. The best way to fight this virus as a community is to distance ourselves from others as best we can. Be mindful of social distancing and wash your hands frequently. Remember, our goal is to flatten the curve of the virus trajectory. If we all do our part, we have a better chance of reducing the potential harm to this community. Therefore, through April 30, the City is following Governor Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order 2020-42, and is continuing its level of building closure and only providing critical services at this time. This includes: police, fire, water, wastewater and limited public works services. Many of our employees are currently working remotely from home. There may be a delay in their response. We appreciate your patience as staff will be monitoring emails and phone calls and will attempt to answer urgent inquiries.

Other City Departments and Responsibilities:

City Parks

The city parks and trail systems remain open to the public at this time. It is important for our citizens to have the opportunity to get outside to exercise or relieve some stress. However, the park bathrooms will not be open at this time as it is impossible to ensure they are sanitized and cleaned. To that point, all city park playground equipment and pavilions are closed to the public.

Trash/Recycling/Large Item Pick Up

City trash pick-up is still taking place on normal days of the week through our solid waste contractor Republic Services. Recycling service has been suspended due to the Mt. Pleasant Recycling Center being shut down. Please bag all recycling along with your garbage until the recycling center comes back online. To be clear, all materials picked up at the curb during this time will be sent to the landfill. Republic has also temporarily suspended pick up service for large (bulk) items such as mattresses, large pieces of furniture and appliances.

Yard Waste Collection

The State of Michigan has stated that Solid waste, curbside trash and recycling are held to be essential service. Yard waste is not included (Michigan Municipal League, 3/25/2020). The City has suspended yard waste recycling pickup until April 30th .

Public Meetings

The City of Alma will host its public meetings virtually as allowed by the Governor’s Stay at Home Executive Order. Citizens may watch these meetings live on the City of Alma’s You Tube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe94s6ZfrttTvG-kivGJneg/featured or via the Zoom application utilizing the telephone at 929-205-6099. When prompted please use the meeting #620756766 (When attending via phone, you can alert the meeting host if you would like to speak by pressing *9). Citizens desiring to make a public comment may also email their comments utilizing the City Contact page at https://myalma.org/contact-us.php Those comments will be read at the appropriate time of the meeting.

Alma Transit Center

The Alma Transit Center is currently providing non-emergency medical transportation that has been scheduled by dialysis, a physician’s office, or the hospital. Normal service has been suspended. Transit is available to pick up your groceries, prescriptions, or take out food. Call dispatch at 989-463-6016.

Utility Payments

The City intends to continue providing critical services of water and wastewater. Importantly, The City will suspend service disconnections during the State of Emergency and waive new late payment charges through May 1, 2020.
City Hall is closed to the public however, we are requesting that you use one of the following options to make a payment:
• Use the drop box located on the West side of City Hall
• Go to myalma.org and look for the link Pay online at https://myalma.org/bill-pay-online.php (Note: During the State of Emergency the City of Alma has waived all credit card fees)
• Call the automated 800 number 1-844-940-2039
• U.S. Postal Service COVID-19 Resources

The City will continue to monitor this situation and be guided by information provided by the
Mid-Michigan District Health Department https://www.mmdhd.org/
State of Michigan https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus,
Center for Disease Control & Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

Letter to Community - COVID Crisis march 29, 2020

Good Afternoon,
As we continue navigating the impact the COVID-19 crisis is having on all of us everyday, I wanted to take a moment to update the community on what the City of Alma operations look like at the moment. The City of Alma is making attempts on a daily basis to analyze available information and make adjustments as directives and recommendations are received. I want to ensure you that every decision made that impacts this community or our employees is taken seriously and properly vetted. There is no play book for this crisis. We are all learning as we go and managing to the best of our abilities. With that in mind I would like to update you on a number of the changes to City services that have occurred or are being planned.

Municipal Building: At this time the building is closed to the public. We have limited the number of employees in the administrative building to no more than 5. This allows us to control the environment and to maintain social spacing. The majority of the administrative staff, including assessing, finance, human resources, city clerk, and engineering will be working from home. I will be working from the office everyday along with the Assistant City Manager (planning and zoning) and the Public Services Director. There will be times others need access to their offices and we will plan that internally.
- Staff will be utilizing voicemail, email and call forwarding to continue service. Please utilize the city directory on our website: https://myalma.org/staff-directory.php Due to the changes in workspaces and responsibilities the response from staff may be delayed.
Department of Public Services: Currently staff in water, wastewater, and public works are staggering shifts as best they can to limit exposures. Water and wastewater will continue their operations with only slight modifications. Employees will not be doubled up riding in the same vehicle. Provisions have been made to have employees drive in separate vehicles should the need arise.
- Public Works: High Priority Tasks that will be continued during the next two week operational period (March 30- April 10):
  - Yard Waste: Collection of yard waste will begin on April 6th as normal
  - Street Sweeping: Necessary to keep leaves and other debris out of the roadway to prevent road surface flooding and storm sewer backups.
  - Sanitary Sewer Flushing and Cleaning
  - Sanitary and storm sewer break repair
  - Cemetery Burials
  - Road Cold Patching
- Public Works: Tasks that will be discontinued or delayed over the next two week operations period (March 30 – April 10):
  - Parks and cemetery mowing
  - Airport maintenance that is non-emergency
  - City owned building maintenance that is non-emergency
  - Tree maintenance
  - String Trimming
- Residential Solid Waste and Recycling: A reminder that Republic Services, our solid waste provider has made changes to their services:
  - The Isabella County Recycling Center has shut down. All recycling is to be contained in garbage bags or containers. The items will be picked up with trash and taken to the land fill at this time.
  - Due to the increase in the volume of residential waste, Republic must temporarily suspend large bulk item disposal. This includes disposal of mattresses, furniture, carpets and appliances. Bagged items and trash containers only.
Police and Fire: 24 hour operations continue as normal. Police will make an attempt to handle more complaints and issues by phone when applicable. The clerk is not working from the office at this time. Delays in non-emergency response should be expected.
- Should you have questions about whether or not a business is considered essential or not, please do not call 911. The Gratiot County Emergency Operations Center has set the following protocol: Contact Gratiot Central Dispatch at the non-emergency number 875-7505 – Information will be forwarded to Gratiot County Emergency Management who will then forward to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Library: The Alma Public Library is closed to the public. The library staff is working hard to continue to offer virtual programming online. We understand there are a lot of families at home and we will continue to be creative and look for new ways to bring services to the community. Please follow the library on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/AlmaPublicLibraryMI to get up to date information.
Transit: The Alma Transportation Center has currently reduced their service to only non-emergency medical rides that have been scheduled through dialysis, the hospital, or directly from a physician’s office. Transit is offering grocery, prescription, and take out pick up. Please call their dispatch at 463-6016 for further information.
City Parks and Trails: The city parks and trail system remain open to the public. As per the governor’s order, we believe it is important for our citizens to have the opportunity to get outside and get some exercise or relieve some stress. We remind you of the importance of social distancing: Remember to limit your contact to at least 6 feet from others. The parks bathrooms will not be open during this crisis. It would be impossible for us to ensure they are sanitized and cleaned. To that point, we also recommend that parents do not allow their young children to play on the equipment at the various parks during this time. The park equipment is not sanitized. Gathering in pavilions is also prohibited.
Emergency Management Operations: The City Emergency Operations Plan has been in use since March 4th. The City of Alma is a part of the Gratiot County Emergency Operations Center and many of the decisions and communications must go through the Gratiot EOC. Be advised we have a fantastic relationship with the EOC and look forward to their guidance and direction during this time.

These are unprecedented times and we are all sailing in unchartered waters. We can get through this as a community if we continue to follow the instructions to stay safe and stay home. The employees of the City of Alma are here to provide you with the best possible service we can during this very difficult time. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we sort through new directives and regulations on a daily basis. Information will be shared on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CityofAlma/ or our website https://myalma.org/index.php on a regular basis. Just a reminder that we generally do not have the staffing resource to respond on facebook. Emails are still he best way to make contact with staff.

Very Truly Yours,

Matt Schooley