We are a diverse and unique community of forward-thinking people who believe in the equal opportunity of all our citizens to enjoy our special quality of life. It therefore is the mission of the Niles City Council to promote this equality, this diversity, and this uniqueness through its policies and leadership.
There are 7 city departments. Each department is overseen by a department manager. Managers coordinate their activities with the city administrator, who is responsible for the overall daily operations of the city. Each department has specific functions. You'll see that under each department name some of the functions that are completed by that department are listed. The number of divisions within a department is based upon the areas of responsibility that each department manager oversees. All departments work together to provide residential and business services.
Niles is known as "The City of Four Flags" because four nations have controlled the area at different points in its 300-year history. This history is evident not only in the City's pride in being the oldest community in Michigan, but also in the neighborhoods, museums, downtown, and antique shops.
The City of Niles is working with partners to restore the Dowagiac River to a free-flowing river by removing the Pucker Street Dam. The Potawatomi Resource Conservation & Development Council and several partner organizations completed the St. Joseph River Watershed Fish Migration Barrier Inventory in 2011 funded by USFWS which ranks the Pucker Street Dam as the highest priority dam in the entire watershed for removal. Pucker Street Dam is located only about 3 miles from the confluence with the St. Joseph River and is responsible for closing off almost the entire Dowagiac River Watershed and all of its tributaries (159 miles) to the St. Joseph River. Coldwater streams with a high gradient are rare in southern Michigan. Removal of the Pucker Street Dam will restore approximately 2 miles of this high gradient habitat immediately upstream of the dam. The Pucker Street Dam currently blocks the upstream migrations of fish species such as steelhead, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, brown trout, white suckers, and walleye to more than 159 miles of main stem and tributary habitat in the Dowagiac. The Dowagiac River is an incredible asset for southwest Michigan with even more potential once the river is restored to a free-flowing condition.
