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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

CHELSEA – The city of Chelsea is preparing to make an improvement to a popular commodity in the city following approval in a Chelsea City Council meeting.

In a special called City Council meeting on Wednesday, May 21, the council voted to approve a bid that will put additional parking at Melrose Park behind the Chelsea Community Center.

The city recently opened up the project for bids and found Mike Morgan Industrial LLC offered the lowest bid for the addition, which amounts to $344,134.70, making room for additional parking spaces at the complex.

Being a grandfather and someone who attends many events at both Melrose Park and the Chelsea Community Center, Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer expressed his excitement for the project and explained why it was needed in the city.

“That is a very exciting addition to Melrose Park. If you’ve been either a volleyball tournament or a basketball tournament at the community center, now that we have a second gym and our new program is rolling, parking is a real issue. This parking lot will be directly behind the new gym that is on the back of the community center.”

The base bid for the project was listed at $297,376.70, but two additional alternate bids for a sidewalk leading from the parking lot and lighting boosted the cost to the final price that the council accepted.

In addition to the approval for the parking, the council also approved to proposed resolutions that appointed Chelsea City Clerk Crystal Etheredge as the election manager and the absentee election manager for the upcoming municipal election on Aug. 26.

In relation to the appointments, the City Council also approved ordinances that established a new voting and polling center for all elections for the city of Chelsea, as well as established the use of electronic voting counters for municipal elections.

The new voting location will be at the Chelsea Community Center, and according to the members of the council, was changed for the easement of parking and easier access to the building itself.

The council also approved an ordinance regarding the educational sales tax in the city, which changed the verbiage of a previous ordinance to clarify that the extension of the tax is not a new or additional tax that residents of Chelsea have to pay.

Additionally, an ordinance was approved for an annexation request submitted by Patricia Hughes for the property located at 4116 Forest Lakes Road in Sterrett.