Leah Ingram Eagle
Matt Lyons, owner of Cat-n-Bird Winery speaks to the mayor and council about construction on his property.
Cat-n-Bird Winery Owner Matt Lyons addressed the mayor and council during the May 18 meeting, and said he is very thankful not only to be in Chelsea but also to be working with them.
The economic development incentive for construction of a new facility that will promote economic and industrial development in the City of Chelsea 50 percent of the non-education designated city sales tax provided by Cat-n-Bird Winery for all construction materials delivered to and for the new facility until May 1, 2022 and $2,000 to assist with construction and development costs.
“We are in the process of expanding our grounds with a pavilion to seat 175+ people for weddings and other events,” Lyons said. “We are doing construction and it will ideally be completed by the middle of next month.”
Cat-n-Bird Winery has been operating in Chelsea for over four years and has seen a lot of growth. Lyons said by expanding, they can continue to give back to the community.
“We are doing this based on community demand,” he said. “As we get busier, we are pressed for space. We’ve had a lot of fun with it so far and look forward to many more years and are excited to see where this will take us.”
Cat-n-Bird Winery has already been hosting weddings, but they were limited to 100 people because the facility is weather dependent as events take place outdoors and that is the maximum number of people they fit in a covered area.
The facility booked 27 weddings last year despite COVID-19 and already have many planned for this year. With the new open air pavilion there will be room for more guests. Lyons said they are ramping up their wine production as well.
“We moved from a very small winery to a small winery,” he said. “We should produce about 2,000 cases of wines this year.”
Lyons said he did purchase property across the street from the winery to provide more parking for guests, and can currently park about 100 cars.
For the next phase at the Chelsea Sports Complex, the council also approved to accept the low bid from Specialty Turf Supply, Inc. for the ball fields project in the amount of $1,029,797.08 for labor and materials.
An authorization for the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program was also approved. The city of Chelsea will apply for and receive federal funding for the pedestrian and streetscape improvements along Chesser Drive from Atchison Drive to Chesser Plantation Lane. The city will commit to fund 20 percent of the project construction costs to qualify under the TASP.
During the community forum, Emily Sims from the library shared a video about the upcoming Summer Reading program. All of the information will be available on the library website.
Jane Ann Mueller, Programs Director at the Chelsea Community Center, spoke in regards to the new splash pad at Melrose Park. She said it has been a pleasure to work on the project
“It is going to open soon,” Mueller said. “The staff is in place and we will have lifeguard certification this saturday then do in house training. We have 19 enthusiastic people on our team. They're excited and we are excited.”
Mueller added that cheerleading is still open for sign up until the end of month and there will be fittings for uniforms Sunday, May 23 from 2-4 p.m. at the community center.
The community center will host beach volleyball and cornhole tournaments this summer. The events will take place on three Friday’s June 18, July 16 and August. 13 at 5:30 p.m. behind the community center.
“We want to encourage people to come out and do something fun,” Mueller said.
Dates to remember:
- May 24: Chelsea planning commission meeting. 6 p.m. City Hall
- May 31: City offices closed for Memorial Day (Republic trash services routes will be a day behind)
- June 1: City Council meeting. 6 p.m.
- June 15: City Council meeting. 6 p.m.
- June 26: Bulk trash pickup
- July 3: Big Kaboom/ ChelseaFest
- July 4: City hall closed for Independence Day.
- July 13: Coffee with the mayor. 8 a.m. Chelsea Community Center
- July 16-18: Back to school sales tax holiday
