St. Louis City Council
The St. Louis City Council meets at City Hall, 300 N. Mill St. The city posts a packet (PDF) for each meeting on its council page, and our reports on the council come from those packets and the city's own documents.
- When it meets
- Regular meetings are the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 300 N. Mill St. Stated on the official page, re-read by our software Nov. 2, 2026.
- Our reports
- 5 since Sept. 18, 2026. Latest: What Federal Records Show About the St. Louis Hydro Plant’s Output (Oct. 2, 2026).
- Official pages
What our reports have found
The City of St. Louis owns a hydroelectric dam on the Pine River. What Federal Records Show About the St. Louis Hydro Plant’s Output sets out what federal records show about its output: 1,040 megawatt-hours in 2018 and 22 in 2024, and a federal letter saying one unit is down for repairs.
Council packets we have reported on include a $32,570 planning fee to seek a USDA loan for a north sewer lift station (St. Louis Asks Council for $32,570 to Seek a USDA Loan for a North Sewer Lift Station), a cemetery design fee that rose to $26,000 (St. Louis Cemetery Design Fee Rises to $26,000 After Survey Differs From 1999 Plan) and a proposed $1,000 fee for two bulk data exports (St. Louis Packet Proposes $1,000 Fees for Two Bulk Data Exports).
Meetings
Read from the official calendar on Nov. 2, 2026. Dates can change; call the office if unsure. Agendas link to the official document, not to our summary.
Coming up
- Tue. Nov. 3, 2026, 6:00 p.m. · City Hall Council Chambers, 300 N. Mill St., St. Louis
Agenda posted. Details on our meetings page · Official agenda
How to speak
You may attend any meeting; Michigan's Open Meetings Act requires meetings of a public body to be open. The St. Louis City Council's agenda says each person may speak for up to five minutes, which the mayor may cut to three if many people want to speak. See also how to speak at any meeting we list.
Our latest reports
- What Federal Records Show About the St. Louis Hydro Plant’s OutputFederal data list the dam’s yearly hydro generation from 2002 to 2024. A 2001 license order gave an engineering estimate, and two recent documents describe the current status.
- St. Louis Cemetery Design Fee Rises to $26,000 After Survey Differs From 1999 PlanA survey found the unbuilt cemetery land does not match the 1999 layout. On Tuesday the council is asked to raise two engineering fees and to petition the county to abandon part of an old drain.
- St. Louis Asks Council for $32,570 to Seek a USDA Loan for a North Sewer Lift StationTuesday’s council packet pairs a small planning fee with engineer estimates of $3.75 million for a new lift station and $3.275 million for rebuilding North Union Street.
- Update Oct. 3: the Oct. 1 bid deadline has passedSt. Louis Takes Bids to Demolish a House on S. East Street; Contractors Told to Assume AsbestosThe city says the building at 117 S. East St. is too deteriorated to survey safely. Bids are due 3 p.m. Oct. 1; a separate Oct. 6 hearing concerns a tax exemption at 137 N. Mill St.
- Update Oct. 3: the council adopted both resolutionsSt. Louis Packet Proposes $1,000 Fees for Two Bulk Data ExportsA proposed policy would set prices for complete assessment and cemetery-data exports while leaving ordinary individual-record requests under existing public-record laws.
Requests for comment and records involving this body
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Chicago Regional Office, sent Oct. 2, 2026: No reply yet. Asked the status of the Hydro #5 and #6 units at the City of St.
- Michigan Public Power Agency, sent Oct. 2, 2026: No reply yet. Asked whether the St.
- City of St. Louis, sent Oct. 2, 2026: No reply yet. Asked three added questions on whether electric rates include hydro or dam costs, whether customers are credited for hydro output, and who supplies the city’s purchased power.
- City of St. Louis, sent Oct. 2, 2026: No reply yet. Asked current status and cost of the hydroelectric units and dam, the basis for the city’s “seven percent” statement, what the 1958 and 2001 electric bonds paid for, who paid for the 1977–79 rebuild, and when the city acquired the dam.
Every request, reply and outcome is on the Requests for comment log.
Terms you will hear
- Closed session
A public body may meet in closed session only for purposes the law lists. Entering one generally takes a 2/3 roll call vote, with exceptions for some purposes. The roll call vote and the purpose are entered into the minutes.
Source: Michigan Open Meetings Act, MCL 15.267(1); MCL 15.268
- Packet
In the Gratiot County Board's rules, the meeting packet includes at least the agenda, the previous meeting's minutes, correspondence to be received, written committee reports and other documents to be presented or acted on.
Source: Gratiot County Board of Commissioners Rules of Organization (as amended Apr. 21, 2026), Section 5.3
- Public comment
Michigan's Open Meetings Act says a person must be permitted to address a meeting of a public body under rules the body establishes and records.
Source: Michigan Open Meetings Act, MCL 15.263(5)
- Public record, exemption
Under FOIA, a public record is a writing prepared, owned, used, possessed or retained by a public body in performing an official function. Section 15.243 lists information a body may exempt from disclosure.
Source: Freedom of Information Act, MCL 15.232; MCL 15.243
- Special assessment
Under Michigan's township improvements law, a township board may decide that all or part of an improvement's cost is paid by special assessments against the property especially benefited.
Source: Michigan Compiled Laws, township improvements, MCL 41.721