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Local vendor fair features COVID-19-friendly services

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Source: Aubrey Rademacher/ Shoppers peruse Winter Vendor Market at Meridian Mall. Meridian Mall hosted the Winter Vendor Market, which is an opportunity for local, small businesses to promote their companies and to spread awareness of how their business has changed in response to the pandemic. Products on display included baked goods, mental health tools, nail polish, accessories and more. 6 different vendors exhibited at the market, and the turnout was much higher than years prior due to COVID-19 restrictions. Nail companies

Anne Oswald, an independent stylist  for the company Color Street, is selling a product that is a dry nail polish strip – it’s 100% nail polish that has zero dry time.

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MT salon moves, sees uptick in business

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Roughly a month after moving to a new location, the staff at one of Meridian Township’s most popular salons is officially acclimated to their fresh space and seeing an unexpected increase in new clients.

Fluid Salon, a staple of the community since it opened in January of 2015, made the move from 2755 E. Grand River Ave. to 5030 Northwind Dr. over the course of nine days, from January 30 to February 7.

Since its reopening on February 8, owner Kimmi Chubb has already noticed a change in business, despite the new location only being a few blocks from the previous one.

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Okemos Public Schools to announce new mascot logo

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After years of deliberation, Okemos Public Schools officially has a new mascot, the Wolves, necessitating a an updated logo.

In determining its new logo, the school district is also responsible for replacing the current one across the district.

Superintendent John Hood said the district asked the community to submit new logo designs. The final design will be released at the March 14 board meeting, and it will feature aspects of multiple design concepts.

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Detours implemented as construction begins on historic Okemos Road bridges

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Those who take Okemos Road southbound on their commute to work or school will have to use a new route starting February 14, courtesy of a full-scale replacement and expansion of the Okemos Road bridges.

Southbound traffic will detour until November, while the northbound lane of will be unchanged throughout the new construction project, according to a notice from the Ingham County Road Department.

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Senior Center sees high turnout for Valentine’s Day party

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The Williamston Area Senior Center is no stranger to holiday events; from national pizza day to Australia Day, the staff keep members busy with festivities. The Valentine’s Day party on Monday was no exception, with a packed agenda of activities. “The turnout was the biggest one we’ve had since COVID,” said senior Barbara Upleger. “Pretty soon we’ll need a new senior center.” 

The pandemic created challenges for the senior center, having shut down completely in 2020. To stay connected with their community, administrative assistant Dawn Harris said they prepared and delivered outreach baskets to the seniors, eventually transitioning to outdoor events as restrictions were lifted.

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Year 3 of 10-year MT construction plan set to begin

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In May, the third year of the 10-year local road bond program approved by Meridian Township voters in 2019 will start, said Dan Opsommer, the assistant township manager and director of public works and engineering. “We really need to take advantage of every decent month that we have,” said Opsommer. “We’ve canceled projects in the past in the fall because it’s not good to put down asphalt when the temperature drops and so we want to make sure the work that we’re doing is lasting and impactful.”

The goal of the 10-year-project is to obtain a Pavement Surface Elevation and Rating score of 8 out of 10, which would be an improvement from the score of 4.48 when voters approved the millage a few years ago. 

“Today, after two years of the program we are at a 5.68, and we also have a forecast scheduled, so we’re looking at each year in the 10-year-program,” said Opsommer. “What do we want our average PASER rating to be and right now we’re eclipsing those goals by about 5.5 PASER rating. MT already issued the first bond three years ago and will secure bonds at the end of this year for the second set, said Miriam Mattison, the finance director of MT.  As they collect that, it pays off that bond debt, so they will collect the millage from the residents and then it will pay down the bond.