Traverse City commissioners will consider approving up to $28,000 in additional expenses for the West Front Street reconstruction project and review an encroachment request from the Old Town Playhouse at 7pm tonight (Monday) at the Governmental Center.

City Engineer Tim Lodge will present an update on the West Front Street project, including a timeline overview of construction delays and a change order request totaling nearly $28,000 for light pole bases. In a memo to commissioners, Lodge explained that 14 planned light pole base locations along the corridor were discovered to be in conflict with AT&T telecommunication lines running underneath West Front Street. Workers had to modify the pole base foundations to bridge over the utlity bank, resulting in the cost overruns. Pre-cast foundations that can no longer be used as part of the project will instead be used in the planned future replacement of the West Front Street bridge, according to Lodge.

Commissioners will also consider an encroachment request from the Old Town Playhouse that would allow the nonprofit theater on the corner of Eighth and Cass Streets to realign its exits. The organization is planning to relocate its existing exterior exit from the auditorium along Cass Street as well as add a new emergency exit from the stage, also along Cass. The improvements would encroach on city right-of-way, requiring commission approval. "These changes are the result of the deterioration of the existing (exit) stair, new auditorium seating, a desire to make the emergency exit more apparent to patrons, and the need to provide an exit for the backstage area," Lodge wrote in a memo to commissioners. The requested encroachment has the support of the city engineering department as well as the Traverse City Fire Department.

Also on tonight's commission agenda: a potential ballot proposal to protect three acres of parkland at Grand Traverse Commons; consideration of approving a new logo for Hickory Hills and appointing a new member to the city's Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA); and a possible closed session to discuss the recent 13th Circuit Court decision overturning a Boardman Lake zoning variance granted by the BZA.