Following a regular meeting of the Three Rivers City Commission Tuesday night, representatives of several city boards and staffs held a joint meeting and presentation on current planning and development activities in the city. The meeting is required going forward as part of something called the Redevelopment Ready Communities process (RRC), which is a program of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The RRC process is designed to help municipalities around the state improve their processes, laws, and planning documents to better facilitate and manage development.

At an annual organizational meeting Monday evening, members of the Three Rivers City Commission heard about a year’s worth of work and progress from the city’s various department heads, ranging from the fire and police chiefs to the mapmaker and the grant writer. Commissioners also passed a series of measures to set various procedures for the coming year. City Manager Joe Bippus said the city has gotten “a lot of things accomplished” in the past year, and has been “very resourceful,” delivering “quality services” to the public through diligent frugality and with “very little waste” of money or other resources.

During closing comments at a regular Three Rivers City Commission meeting Monday, City Manager Joe Bippus said the Three Rivers Woman’s Club (TRWC) is seeking alternatives to its current space in the Carnegie Building, which it shares with the Carnegie Center for the Arts (CCA). The City currently owns the building but leases it to TRWC, which subleases it to the CCA. Earlier this year, the CCA and the city entered into a Buy-Sell Agreement that set initial terms for the CCA to buy the building. That agreement stipulated that the CCA and TRWC agree to a new lease, but the parties have been at an impasse for several months over questions of building access.

At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Three Rivers City Commission passed a resolution in favor of outdoor, café-style sidewalk seating for the Riviera Theatre Bar. The resolution will help the bar obtain a permit from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), which oversees and regulates street and sidewalk obstructions on North Main Street. Outdoor seating will allow the bar to reopen after pandemic restrictions forced it to shut down last week.