CITY
OF SOUTH LYON
REGULAR
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
October
25, 2004
Mayor
Doyle called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m.
Mayor
Doyle led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
PRESENT:
Mayor Doyle
Council
Members: Crawford, Dryer, Schwarck and Wallace
City Manager
Cook
Attorney
Lee
City
Clerk/Treasurer Zemke
Department
Heads: Martin & Renwick
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES:
Councilman
Dryer stated that on page 3 of the minutes, the second reading of Chapter
102.85, there is no vote indicated. Further
he stated that during the discussion of the political sign ordinance, his main
point was that most everyone thought that there was a limit of one sign.
He stated that he would like that reflected in the minutes.
CM
10-1-04- APPROVAL OF MINUTES – OCTOBER 11, 2004
Motion by
Crawford, supported by Wallace
To approve
the minutes of the regular meeting of October 11, 2004 as amended
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
APPROVAL
OF MONTHLY BILLS:
None
APPROVAL
OF AGENDA
CM
10-2-04 – APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion by
Wallace, supported by Dryer
To approve
the agenda as presented
VOTE:
MOTION
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
CITIZENS
SUGGESTIONS
Mr.
Jeff Potter of 1099 Stable Lane and County Commissioner for District 8 stated
that he does not have any updates this evening, but would encourage any citizens
with questions to contact him at home or by email. He stated that the election, of course, is next Tuesday.
He has enjoyed serving as County Commissioner, and it has been an honor.
If re-elected, he would enjoy serving again.
Councilman
Dryer stated that in the packet was a letter regarding a homeland security
exercise with the South Lyon Community Schools. Chief Collins stated that the date has been agreed to, and
the Police Department and other city departments will be participating.
Councilman Dryer asked if this is going to paid for by the City.
Chief Collins stated that there is no cost to the City that he is aware
of.
Mayor
Doyle stated that many people have been asking about our Trick or Treat times.
Trick or Treat will be held 6:30-7:30 p.m. on October 31st.
Other communities are holding theirs on the 30th, we are not.
Councilman Wallace stated that years ago, we had a siren that sounded to
let everyone know the start time and again when it was done.
At one time, the Police cars would sound their sirens.
We might consider doing that again as the police cars are out in the
neighborhoods anyway.
OLD
BUSINESS:
Plante
& Moran – Audit Presentation for the period July 1, 2003 to June 30,
2004
Acceptance
of Audit
Mr.
Les Pulver, Audit Partner along with Brian Camillar, Audit Manager and Brian
Swanson, Auditor in charge on a day-to-day basis were present.
He stated that there is a new format this year.
They have provided the Auditor’s Opinion which is an unqualified
report. This the best report that
you can get from your auditors. If
this was a school, you would get an “A” on your report card.
This year is the first year of implementation of the new GASB 34
reporting that we have been talking about for the past several years.
There are two new things in the financial report.
The first several pages is a letter written by the City’s management,
not by the auditors. It does have
financial charts in it, but it is written in words rather than primarily
numbers. It is meant to provide an
overview of the financial results so that a non-financial person could
understand it. Following that
letter are some financial statements for the City as a whole where everything is
brought together including the capital assets of the City, vehicles, street
sidewalks, etc. along with the long-term debt to show a full accrual, similar to
how a business would do. In
addition, you still have all of your fund-based statements to provide an
accountability for each and every fund of the City in accordance with State law.
This is to provide more of a long-term view with fixed assets and
depreciation in addition to the short-term view.
If there are questions regarding this new format, they will visit the
City again to answer the questions you may have or provide the information to
the City Manager.
Mr.
Brian Swanson reviewed the General Fund revenues of the City including property
taxes, state and federal resources, locally raised funds and fines, fees
interest and other with the property taxes making up 62% of the budget.
He reviewed the trend in general fund revenues from 2000-2004.
He reviewed the general fund expenditures for the year ended June 30,
2004 with 52% of the total expenditures being for public safety.
The total expenditure for general fund was $4,376,000.
He further reviewed the trend of expenditures from 2000-2004 for general
government, public safety, community services and other.
Mr.
Brian Camiller discussed the trend in general fund balance since 1994.
Over the last ten years, we have seen a sharp increase with a peak in
2001-2002. Over the last couple of
years with the down-turn in the economy we have had to eat into our fund balance
a little bit, which was expected and budgeted.
In 2003, we did expect expenditures to exceed revenues by approximately
$302,000, and we came in at $318,000. We are estimating this to be approximately
$100,000 in the coming year. The
City of South Lyon is in great shape and the planning done over the last several
years has left us in a position that we can absorb the hits in the economy that
we have been seeing. He reviewed
the make-up in property tax collected by the City.
He stated that the homestead rate was 38.6539 mills and non-homestead at
56.6539. As you can see, of the
property taxes paid, a great deal of it does not go to the City, but the school,
library county, etc. The only
portion that goes to the City is the 13.75 mills or 36%.
He discussed the Water and Sewer fund activity over the last ten years.
Working capital is measured as current assets less current liabilities.
You will see that this year the working capital is a negative, which is
not a reflection of your ability to pay your bills, but this year it is a little
skewed because of the construction that is occurring at the Wastewater treatment
plant. There is approximately
$250,000 more than accounts payable this year due to construction costs and
another $750,000 of a retainage payable to the contractor working on the
project. In a normal year, that
would not be there. This year the
operating income is negative, but again is a result of the construction.
The restricted assets has grown over the last several years so that if
you need to make more improvements, the money is available.
He stated that so far we have only talked about general fund and water
and sewer, yet there are other funds that the City is responsible for. The final
graph shows the other funds including major and local streets, capital
improvements, etc. The City is a
$23 million enterprise, not just the $4 million in general fund.
He stated that Council should have received a management letter.
In most cities, they use the management letter to point out some things
found in the audit that need improvement or things that need to be worked on.
That is not the case in the City of South Lyon.
There is nothing to point out as there really are no problems.
They have pointed out some things that may be of interest.
The general fund had a deficit of a little over $300,000, which was not a
surprise and was budgeted for, and coming in right where you budgeted, that is
to be commended. Due to the City
receiving in excess of $500,000 in federal money, due in large part to the
wastewater treatment plant improvements through the State Revolving Fund, they
had to perform a single audit. That
showed that there were no problems, everything was being done exactly how it was
supposed to and the documentation was as it should be.
He discussed revenue sharing, which has been declining over the last
several years. The State has taken
some of that money out of our pocket, and at this point, we do not know what the
revenue sharing will be in the future. They
have not heard of any more cuts, but will keep the City informed as soon as they
know.
Les
Pulver discussed the state shared revenues and the City’s fund balance.
He stated that for many years the question was asked if we have too much
fund balance. It is a good thing
that the City has it, so that we can weather the storm.
A lot of cities, when the State cut the revenue sharing, they had to make
cuts. He stated that we looked hard and looked deep at your
controls. In years past, they have
had suggestions, and the City has implemented them, and that is one reason we do
not have recommendations year after year. Lori
Mosier has done a very good job in terms of record keeping, she calls throughout
the year with questions about things when they happen rather than waiting until
the end of the year, the City Manager will call with issues that arise or new
State rule, etc. He is on top of
things. The whole team does a very
good job from Rod to Julie to Lori, in helping them get ready for the audit.
Mayor
Doyle asked in non-accounting jargon, what kind of grade would the City receive.
Mr. Pulver stated that if they were to give the City’s financial report
a grade, they would get an “A”. The City’s records are complete, accurate,
and ready for them when they come to do the audit.
The lack of significant things in their letter of recommendation shows
that the City is doing a fine job. With
the new standards, they actually had to dig deeper with more inquiries and tests
looking for fraud, etc. All auditors have to do that, not just for cities.
Mayor
Doyle stated that due to the new rules, he has been asked questions he has never
had before as well as other employees. It
has cost us a more for the audit than it ever has before, but we are in good
shape. In terms of the state
funding, we do not know what will be coming forth. The good thing is, because of the City Manager and the
accounting practices, we are in good shape.
Councilman
Dryer stated that the date on the audit and letters is August 9th.
He asked when we received them. City Manager Cook stated that we received
them right before he left for vacation. Councilman
Dryer stated that he would like to get these a lot sooner.
He is not an accountant, and he had to have his wife, who has some
accounting background, explain many of things contained in the audit.
Mr. Pulver stated that the date of August 9th is the last date
that they did any substantial auditing work. There is always some wrapping up and after that the report is
reviewed and typed and a draft is given to the City Manager for review and then
put in final form. This is not the
date that they were given to the City. Councilman
Dryer stated that he would like to get these with more than a weekend to review
it. He stated that his wife noticed
that the management letter indicates that it is unusual that this comprehensive
audit does not result in some findings. The
City Manager, City Clerk and Bookkeeper should be commended for their fine work.
Councilman
Dryer stated that page 2 of the letter indicates that with all the new things
with GASB 34, it would be an understatement that this new reporting model has
had a significant impact on the City’s finance department.
He asked how much has this impacted with extra hours, etc. putting this
report together. City Manager Cook stated that as far as putting the audit
together, he does not think that the changes in what we are doing took
additional time, it was all done during the course of the work week.
Councilman
Dryer stated that Note #4 on page 25 of the report refers to our lease agreement
with the schools for this building. He
asked what happens in 2012 when our agreement ends.
City Manager Cook stated that we have 84 more years of quiet, peaceful
enjoyment of the building. That is
when the debt ends and it turns from the Building Authority to the schools when
the bond is paid off. We have a
99-year lease.
Councilman
Dryer stated that page 39 refers to our Pension schedule and the unfunded
actuarial accrued liability or funds that will be paid out in the future that we
do not have money for yet. This has
increased from $523,000 in 2001 to $1.3 million in 2003.
Is this something we need to be concerned about.
Mr. Pulver stated that it is not unusual to have unfunded accrued
liability. You get the annual
actuarial evaluation from the actuaries. Most
pension systems are not 100% funded. The
actuarial accrued liability is a moving target based on a number of assumptions
including the performance of the stock market, etc.
The last several years has been pretty poor, which is one thing that is
driving this unfounded liability. City
Manager Cook stated that we get billed annually by MERS as it relates to our
cost for retirement. In the late
80s and through 97-98, we were over funded.
They changed actuaries and they are gradually increasing our contribution
into the system, but we cannot expedite that any quicker than what they provide.
Attorney Lee stated that this is unlike any pension fund in private
industry. Our pension is funded
under a law called MERS. They
provide the actuarial number and they provide the percentage of payroll we pay
each year based on that figure. We
do not have the liability for the payment of those funds, the State of Michigan
does and they have a right to apply it over a number of years to pick up any
short-fall.
Councilman
Dryer stated that page 52 relates to the taxes levied and collected.
He stated that the total collected is 95.95 percent, but the Downtown
Development Authority is only 68.63 percent.
He asked what this means. City
Manager Cook stated that this is the tax increment financing captured and is a
small amount of money. The question
was asked if there was one large bill that was not paid.
City Clerk/Treasurer Zemke stated that there is not one large bill, it is
simply that the percentage of the downtown taxes paid is less than the City
itself. Attorney Lee stated that it
does not mean anything because the County buys our delinquent taxes and we get
the money anyway. He stated that a
lot of businesses find that this is a cheap way to borrow by not paying their
taxes. They can go three years and
pay them at the County rate, which is cheaper than they could borrow the money.
Councilman
Schwarck stated that the management letter indicates that the City should
consider purchasing additional software for the additional requirements.
Mr. Camiller stated that the City has acquired that software package.
Discussion was held on training. Ms.
Lori Mosier, Bookkeeper stated that this is a fixed assets program, and we have
been using the software and inputting the necessary data.
Mr.
Pulver stated that this year was a transition year.
It was almost like performing two audits. Next year’s audit costs will go down, and the investment in
time will go down. The day-to-day
recording keeping is the same as it always has been.
But, the catch-up because of GASB 34 was a big test for the accounting
department.
CM
10-3-04 – ACCEPTANCE OF AUDIT
Motion by
Schwarck, supported by Dryer
To accept
the audit report for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2004 as provided by Plante
Moran
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Community
Development Block grant Program – Discussion of Projects
Mayor
Doyle stated that this has been discussed at our last two meetings.
We are talking about a very small area, which is the northwest quadrant
of the City, which encompasses Colonial Acres and Trotter’s Pointe that are
both private.
Councilman
Schwarck stated that his feeling is that we should continue the sidewalks where
we have already allocated this year’s funds.
He asked if we would be seeing anything happen with the sidewalk yet this
fall. City Manager Cook stated that
we would not, this would be a spring project. The monies would not be released until late May or June.
Discussion was held on these funds not being available until a year after
they are allocated. Councilman Schwarck asked how many lineal feet will we be
able to accomplish with the allocated funds.
City Manager Cook stated that the cost of just doing Chester is going to
be approximately $80,000. The
question was asked if that is just one side.
City Manager Cook stated that it would be for both.
Discussion was held on just doing the one side of Hagadorn because of the
trees and encroachments. Discussion
was held on a homeowner along Chester with a fence close to the right-of-way. City Manager Cook stated that the homeowner will have to move
the fence because it is in the right-of-way.
Councilman Schwarck stated that he is for the use of these funds for
sidewalks. Mayor Doyle concurred.
He stated that it will enhance our walkable community and is a good use
of these funds.
Councilman
Dryer asked if we could put sidewalk along one side of the street to accomplish
more than if we put sidewalk on both sides of Chester.
City Manager Cook stated that typically you look at both sides of the
street, but Chester has a much cleaner right-of-way than Hagadorn, which would
have been much more costly if we did both sides.
Further discussion was held on providing sidewalk on more streets rather
than sidewalks on both sides of Chester. City
Manager Cook stated that no matter how you do it, we will have to put in
additional funds.
Councilman
Dryer asked about the suggestion of installing a sanitary sewer 8” sleeve.
City Manager Cook stated that this was a carry-over from last year.
It was stated that this is already taken care of with the development
taking place in the area and improvements to the system.
Councilman
Crawford also agreed that sidewalk project should be our selected project.
Mayor
Doyle stated that the public hearing will be held on November 22, 2004 at which
time the funds will be allocated.
Discussion
on Ballot Proposal to increase size of the City Council
Councilman
Wallace stated that he felt that we needed to educate the community from our
perspective. We have done some research after the original petitions were filed
and looked at the size of the boards and councils from various communities and
found that population had nothing to do with the size of the Council.
The petitioners were claiming that they felt that there should be more
representation. He stated that if
we had wards and needed representation from different precincts, that is
different. We do not do it that
way, we have at-large elections. He
had more people say to him that they signed the petition because they were led
to believe that we were having trouble getting quorum, and we have not failed to
get a quorum. We would be adding
40% more beauracy for our staff to deal with. As we have just seen from the audit presentation, we are a
stable, solvent community, we have a great administration, and everything has
been going very well. He would urge
everyone to vote “No” on all six questions if you feel the same as he does.
Councilman
Schwarck stated that he concurs with everything that Councilman Wallace has
said. He feels that adding more
people would be redundant. The City
is running well, we have street improvements, new sidewalks, recent improvements
to our downtown area, etc. A lot of
communities that have seven member boards wish they could down-size.
We are running efficiently with five members.
What he has seen in the past, we have had a problem getting good, well
qualified people to run for office to give people a choice, and adding two more
would make it that more difficult to fill the seats.
Mayor
Doyle stated that he is not in favor of the increase. He made a promise to let the electorate decide, and has
fulfilled that promise. He can look
at communities around us that have seven member bodies, and it seems as though
they have a lot more problems. We
have a good core group that he refers to as a team.
Next year three out of five seats will be up for election, and he would
encourage anyone interested to run for one of those seats.
He feels that by adding two more members, it would dilute the process.
He too would encourage our voters to vote against the addition of two
members of Council.
Councilman
Crawford stated that he agrees with what has been said.
He too was told by many residents that the basis for the petitions was
that we could not get a quorum, which is not true and would encourage residents
to vote no on these proposals.
Mr.
Ron Morelli of 179 Eagle Crest stated that there has been a lot of talk about
who started this and why. It had
nothing to do with people not getting elected.
In fact, these petitions were started four months before the last
election. He stated that on June14,
2003 the Council had a meeting where the Mayor and Councilman Schwarck were both
absent, which left three people to deal with an agenda of 11 items. He further discussed the items of importance on the agenda
and the approval of expenditures that were being considered.
He stated that he used this meeting as an example when he was collecting
the signatures. They had the
signatures in time and it should have been put on the ballot.
He would encourage everyone to vote yes on all six amendments because it
is the right thing to do. He stated
that he respects everyone who sits on the Council.
He stated that he is the Chairman of the Planning Commission, which has
nine members and Phil Weipert serves as the Chairman of the Zoning Board of
Appeals, which has seven members. They
all get along well and work well together.
He stated that another problem is that nobody can run unless they give up
their seat on the board that they are serving on.
He has not talked to anyone who thinks that this is a bad idea, they are
simply asking for two more members and would again urge everyone to vote yes.
Mayor
Doyle stated that he talks to our City Manager more than anyone because he
physically works in the City. He has served the City in some capacity for more
than ten years. In going back
searching, other than the meeting that is being pointed out as the reason for
the two members, how many times has something like this happened or not have a
quorum. He cannot think of a time
other than that one occasion that we did not have the majority of people there.
Mr.
Morelli stated that he reads in the paper what is happening in the Townships
going back and forth and personal attacks, he has never seen that here.
By adding two more people up there, he does not see that happening.
Everyone does not have to agree all of the time.
The more people that are sitting up there, the more ideas and input you
are going to have. Mayor Doyle
stated that we do not always agree, but we always respect each other.
Mr.
Morelli stated that he brings up this June 14th meeting because the
origin of this was questioned. It has been said that there was “sour
grapes”, etc. Mayor Doyle stated
that he believes 110% that this is being done because of “sour grapes”.
Mr. Morelli stated that the origin of it was this meeting after which
they started asking why the Planning Commission has nine members, ZBA has seven,
etc. and Council has five. Other
communities have seven members, some have nine.
This Council serves the community very well and are doing a fine job,
they just feel that it would do nothing but help to have two additional members.
Councilman
Dryer stated that by having two more councilmembers will cost, in salaries
$4,000, which is not an issue, and he does not feel that having two more members
is going to strap the City Manager to the point he cannot do his job.
There has not been anyone in our audience all summer long, and the
newspaper has just recently started to attend the meetings again.
It makes you wonder if there is anyone interested.
The newspaper made it sound that he was one of the original petitioners,
yet he was not. He does agree with
Mr. Morelli that it has nothing to do with “sour grapes”.
In talking with councilmembers from other communities at the recent MML
conference, he found that most of those communities had seven member boards, and
none of them had problems with having seven members.
We do have more people on every other board.
If there is anything that he would like to get across to the people
watching this meeting is that you should know what the six questions mean.
If you want to see the Council increase to seven members, vote yes on all
six. The question was asked to
Councilman Dryer, are you for it or against it. He stated that he is leaning toward yes, yet he does have
concerns.
Mayor
Doyle recapped that Councilmen Schwarck, Crawford, Wallace and himself as well
as the newspaper are all against it. He
stated that Mr. Morelli brought up some very good points.
The bottom line is that next Tuesday, everyone has the opportunity to
decide and vote.
NEW
BUSINESS:
Request
to re-name Witch’s Hat Depot from the Historic Commission
Mayor
Doyle stated that in the packet is a request from the Historic Commission to
rename the Witches Hat Depot. They
feel that a designation other than “Park” might be prudent because it
implies an area of play and the like and may be responsible, in part, for the
area being used by skateboards, rollerblades and BMX bikes causing damage.
They feel that if they could rename the area, south of the Yerkes drain
as a “Historic Village” with supportive signage, it may help eliminate the
damage being done.
City
Manager Cook stated that he indicated two suggestions, and in talking with Gail
Smolarz, she indicated that their preference would be South Lyon Historic
Village and Museum. They have funds
in their budget to adjust the signs.
Mayor
Doyle stated that it has always been the Witches Hat, and no matter what you
change the name to, it will remain the Witches Hat.
Councilman
Wallace stated that a sign indicating Historic Village is not going to stop the
skateboarders. His reaction is that
it will always be the Witches Hat. However,
he does not have a problem putting up a sign that says historical village, but
he does not want to see the name Witches Hat dropped.
He stated that police patrol, etc. is the only thing that is going to
change the behavior going on.
Councilman
Schwarck stated that he served on the Historic Commission for 10-12 years, and
we need to protect that area. He
agrees that the name change is not going to do that.
If this is what the commission wants, he is all for it.
But, we need to look at some other issues such as police patrols, etc.
This has been an on-going issue. It
is the skateboarders trying to find a place to skateboard. We just spent $40,000 on a new deck, and if you go over there
you can see chips and nicks already. He
discussed putting up a gate across that ramp area. And, in talking with the City Manager, there is an issue of
barrier free access, but if the museum is closed why could we not put a gate
across there and have it open when the museum is open.
And, maybe there are other ideas. General
destruction of that property comes up at almost every meeting.
City
Manager Cook stated that they use the steps and the railing as well as the ramp,
so the gate is not going to stop them. If
we catch them, we do confiscate their boards and call their parents.
Chief Collins stated that in the last six months he knows of a dozen
individuals at least warned and three individuals that were physically taken to
the Police Station, two of which were put into the system and one went to the
South Lyon Area Youth Assistance. This
also included confiscation of their skateboards.
The question was asked if any of those warned have repeated and has this
been effective. Chief Collins
stated that it has been very effective. They
have not had any repeat offenders, and if it were not for some extra mouthing
off to Police Officers, etc., the last two would have simply received a warning.
Discussion
was held on providing a place for these skateboarders.
Councilman Schwarck stated that a lot of communities are installing these
skate parks, yet how they are run and policed, he is not sure.
Councilman Wallace stated that you hear these kids say that there was one
and it was lost because of the actions of the people using, but it happened
before they were born, which is true. Mayor
Doyle stated that we did have one, and he is not inclined to go down that road
again.
It
was stated that the issue before Council tonight is the changing of the name.
It was stated that the underlying problem and the reason for the request
is the damage that is being done. It
was stated that if that is what they want, we do not want to stand in their way,
but it is not going to solve the problem.
CM
10-4-04 – ADDITION OF NAME – SOUTH LYON HISTORIC VILLAGE AND MUSEUM
Motion by
Schwarck, supported by Crawford
To add the
name South Lyon Historic Village and Museum to our park
Councilman
Dryer stated that one of the things he looks forward to in the packet is reading
the Historic Commission minutes. The
October 7th meeting indicates “Handrail was installed and lasted a
few days before being destroyed.” This
is something you notice in these minutes all the time.
He stated that he is not sure exactly what they are asking for.
They are asking to change the designation from park.
City Manager Cook stated that the whole area is McHattie Park, but they
are talking about the area south of the drain.
The jurisdiction has always been separated by the drain.
Attorney
Lee stated that one of the things you might consider is that State Statute makes
parents responsible for the damage caused by minors in their care.
You might want to consider investing in security cameras and go after the
parents of the child that causes the damage.
It may be that one or two of those suits might solve the problem.
Councilman
Dryer stated that he would like to have a discussion with the Historic
Commission. Mr. Phil Weipert of the
Historic Commission was present. He
stated that he does think that they do want to change the identity of that side
with the addition of the church, and they are hoping to get a house, the whole
focus has changed. The other side
of the park has the new playscape. They
are hoping to separate the two sides so that the fun side of the park is on one
side of the drain and the historical and education part is on the other side.
They are looking at changing the behavior through signage and thought
process.
City
Manager Cook stated that he does not see the harm in changing the name to
Historic Village and Museum. The Witches Hat is going to be there and people are
still going to refer to it as that, it is simply part of a larger facility.
Councilman
Dryer stated that there is not a lot of visibility of the park from Pontiac
Trail, and if you change the look and feel of the Historic Area, you are
interfering with the access to the park. It
was stated that a lot of people do not know that you can get to the park from
McHattie Street. Further discussion
was held on parking. City Manager Cook stated that given the proximity of the
ball diamond, volleyball courts, etc., people are going to park where they can
walk the least distance.
The
question was asked if there is a specific time of day that is worse with the
skateboarders. Chief Collins stated
that it would be from the time school gets out until dark, but it is very hard
to predict. The question was asked
if there is a fine for these kids who are put through the system.
Chief Collins stated that it would be more likely that they would have to
perform some kind of community service. The
question was asked if we could institute a fine.
Chief Collins stated that with juveniles, are choices are putting them
into the system and taking them to probate court in Pontiac or divert them to
Youth Assistance. The question was
asked if the patrols are helping. Mr.
Weipert stated that during their last meeting, they had to chase some kids away. City Manager Cook stated that he did receive a note from Gail
Smolarz indicating that the patrols were helping.
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED (1 OPPOSED)
Policy
Statement – Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act – Anti Discrimination
City
Manager Cook stated that we are
being required by the Michigan Department of Transportation to adopt an anti
discrimination policy. If we want
to continue to receive funds from the Transportation Department, then we must
have the policy. These are in every
contract that we approve, but now they want a written policy. This applies to everybody working on a federal project.
Mayor
Doyle stated that this seems somewhat redundant. Attorney Lee stated that the Federal Constitution, State
Constitution, Federal Civil Rights Act, Michigan Elliot Larson Act all prohibit
and forbid discrimination. We do
not discriminate. Why they want us
to adopt the policy, he does not know. Every
contract we sign has an anti-discrimination clause, but it is easier to go along
with their request.
CM
10-5-04 - The City of South Lyon - Title
VI - Policy Statement
Motion
by Wallace, supported by Schwarck
To
adopt the following policy:
The
City of South Lyon reaffirms its policy to provide all individuals the
opportunity to participate in federal financially assisted programs and services
and adopts the following provision:
Title
VI of 1964 Civil Rights Act provides that no person in the United States shall,
on the grounds of race, color, national origin, or sex be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to
discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal assistance (23
CFR 200.9 and 49 CFR 21).
Any
federal financial assistance provided to the City of South Lyon is conditioned
on providing assurances that services to be benefited by the funds will operate
without discrimination. Such an assurance is a contractual obligation through which
the City of South Lyon promises to comply with Title VI regulations and promises
that it will take immediate and continuing steps to effect this compliance. Such
assurances will also be part of all contracts extending federal financial
assistance through the City of South Lyon to its sub recipients.
VOTE:
MOTION
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
MML
Liability and Property Pool – Selection of Board of Directors
Mayor
Doyle stated that we have a slate of six candidates for the six seats on the
Board of Directors of the MML Liability and Property Pool.
CM
10-6-04 - SELECTION OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS – MML LIABILITY AND PROPERTY POOL
Motion by
Dryer, supported by Schwarck
To cast a
vote for the six nominees for the MML Liability and Property Pool Board of
Directors
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Mayor
Doyle stated that once again he would like to remind everyone to get out and
vote next Tuesday, November 2nd.
CM
10-7-04 – ADJOURNMENT
Motion by
Crawford, supported by Dryer
To adjourn
the meeting at 9:25 p.m.
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Respectfully
Submitted,
_______________________________
________________________________
John
Doyle, Jr., Mayor
Julie C. Zemke, City Clerk/Treasurer