Petoskey - Takashima
History of Relationship
Originally, the City of Petoskey established a Sister City Agreement with the City of Makino, Shiga Prefecture, Japan in 1976, and in July, 2005, the City of Makino was merged with five other cities and villages to form the City of Takashima as a result of the governmental reorganization encouraged by Shiga Prefecture. Petoskey and Takashima have continued the Sister City Agreement with Petoskey citizens spearheading Sister City Exchanges and Association activities. Former community leaders were Samuel Milstein, Agnes Shaw, and Roger Srigley. Meredith Richter currently leads Sister City activities for Petoskey and has committed more than nine years to this important exchange of cultures and currently serves as an executive board member to the State of Michigan Sister City Association.
Exchanges
Goodwill Mission exchanges of educators, government officials, and students have taken place over the many years since the signing of our Sister City Agreement. A Takashima delegation generally visits Petoskey during even numbered years and a Petoskey delegation visits Takashima during odd numbered years. Many gifts of interest have been presented to the City of Petoskey and are currently displayed at the Petoskey City Hall and the Petoskey Public Library. Takashima and Petoskey residents open their hearts and their homes to our Goodwill Mission visitors during their stays. Many lasting friendships have been developed because of these important goodwill mission visits.
Cultural Sites of Interest
Because both of our cities have resort tourism as its major industry that include similar lakeshores (Little Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan, in Petoskey, and Lake Biwa in Takashima), as well as winter ski activities, our Takashima visitors always enjoy a trip to the historic Petoskey downtown shopping area, Bayfront Park along Lake Michigan's Little Traverse Bay, and neighboring Mackinac Island. Our visitors also tour area schools, government facilities, and regional medical facilities.
City of Petoskey
Petoskey's corporate limits encompass a jurisdictional territory of 6.2 square miles, or about 4,000 acres, along eight miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, including the Bay Harbor development site, which was transferred to the City from the Township of Resort in 1994 through an intergovernmental agreement. The City contains 3,487 residential, 584 commercial, and ten industrial classified properties with a total assessed value - that is, 50% of estimated market value - of $638,019,800, and a taxable value of $538,225,953. Approximately one-quarter of the City's territory is tax-exempt. Its population by the 2000 Federal census was 6,080, and currently there are 4,762 registered voters in the City. Petoskey serves as the county seat for Emmet County.
The City employs 71 persons full time and more than 40 persons part time within about 30 job titles. Excluding approximately 32 miles of street rights-of-way, the City owns about 1,350 acres of property, of which some 90 acres are non-parkland; the City owns 38 buildings, seven gazebos, and six bridges, two of which were designed only for pedestrians, and a tunnel. The City operates 85 motor vehicles. On a typical day, the City receives 18 calls for police, fire, or medical assistance; produces 1,670,000 gallons of drinking water; treats 1,560,000 gallons of wastewater; distributes 279,000 kilowatts of electricity; and loans out 440 books, with some of these various services provided to persons outside the City.
When the Petoskey community began to grow in the 1870s, its residents decided to establish a municipal government. They incorporated the Village of Petoskey in 1879, as was then permitted by State law. Village voters later changed their local government structure by reincorporating it as the City of Petoskey in 1895. Today, all cities in Michigan are considered "home rule" units of local government - that is, their voters are permitted to decide upon provisions and details of their own unique State-approved charters. City charters serve as these local governments' constitutions. Michigan cities also act under provisions of the State's Constitution and various State statutes and regulations.
Since authorizing its incorporation as a City more than 110 years ago, Petoskey voters have approved several versions of a City Charter. The City's current Charter was adopted on August 7, 1984, became effective at January 1, 1985, and has been amended only once, in 1988. This latest City Charter reaffirmed the City's "council-manager" government structure. Petoskey has operated under the council-manager plan since 1916, making it one of the first communities in both Michigan and the nation to choose this type of local government - a form that separates policy-making roles from administrative functions and that generally was modeled after structures and operations of corporations in the private sector.
City of Petoskey website: www.ci.petoskey.mi.us
City of Takashima Website: http://www.city.takashima.shiga.jp/english/enindex.htm
