CITY
OF SOUTH LYON
REGULAR
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
JULY
10, 2006
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
PRESENT: Mayor Pro Tem Dryer
Council Members: Kivell, Kopkowski, Morelli and Wedell
City Manager Cook
Attorney Lee
Department Heads: Martin and Renwick
Assistant Clerk/Treasurer Lynch
ABSENT: Mayor Doyle
City Clerk/Treasurer Zemke
City
Manager Cook stated he would like to remove #1 under new business, Mark Lewis
requested for it to be removed. Mayor
Pro Tem Dryer stated he would like to hold a generic discussion regarding the
South Lyon Access station and how it works.
Morelli stated he would like to switch item a and b around under old
business.
Motion
to approve the agenda as amended by changing New Business #1 to a general
discussion regarding the South Lyon Access station.
Motion by Kivell, supported by Morelli
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
APPROVAL OF
MINUTES:
Motion by Wedell, supported by Kopkowski
To approve minutes of June 26, 2006 as written
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
APPROVAL OF
MONTHLY BILLS:
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer had two questions regarding bills. Page #2, 3rd item down. Department Head Martin stated that is for the Consumer Confidence report that is mailed out to all residents and it is budgeted for each year. This year it was quite a bit less than what was originally budgeted for. It must be mailed to all residents before July 1st of each year. Mayor Pro Tem Dryer also questioned ck #43472, 6 ft light at pocket park. Department Head Renwick stated that was for the old lamp at pocket park because we were unable to get parts for it. Some discussion was held on what is being referred to as pocket park.
Councilman Morelli asked if the MDC/CLEMIS is billed quarterly, Chief Collins stated they do bill quarterly, but the county was not very efficient, and sent bills for 6 months at once along with some other items added along with that.
Councilman Kivell questioned on Page 2 ck#43459. City Manager Cook stated he would check into it. Councilman Kivell also asked about the check for the Wells Street parking lot addition and how long until that project will be closed out. City Manager Cook stated that project is in the process of being closed out.
Motion by Kivell, supported by Morelli
To approve the monthly bills as presented.
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
OLD BUSINESS:
1. First Reading- Ordinance to amend the Fire Code
City Manager Cook stated we are coming back for the second reading, but Attorney Lee changed and added a section on the appeals process, so we are actually going to go back and do a first reading again, with the incorporated language, that was received from the fire personal. Attorney Lee stated our concern was this code was drafted for cities much larger than ourselves, and the code provides for a fireboard and because we are a small City, we rarely have challenges, we wanted to streamline it through the ZBA. Attorney Lee stated the changes he suggested at the previous meeting are in the new language. With the changes we are ready to start over and do it right this time.
Fire Inspector Paul Trala of 7500 N Lyon Rd, Ann Arbor stated he has been a fire inspector here for about 3 months with 180 hours of training. The class one and class two liquids pertain to the temperature it takes for the fluid to reach before it ignites into flames. He stated it just pertains to the flashpoint of that particular liquid. Some discussion was held on the different classes and what type of business would be affected. Council Member Kopkowski asked how many people this affects in the City of South Lyon, Fire Inspector Trala stated a very small amount, mainly dental offices, and doctor offices.
Motion by Kivell, supported by Kopkowski
To approve the first reading of the amended fire code Section 46-34 and 46-35 (see attached amendment as part of these minutes)
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
2. Road Maintenance: Whipple
a. Warren to Hagadorn
City Manager Cook stated earlier in the year Council authorized us to move forward with two sections of Whipple Street, Lafayette to Warren and Warren to Hadadorn, with one being a major street and one being a local street. We received petitions from the residents requesting to meet with the engineers to go through the process of evaluating the kinds of needs they thought they might like down the road. Those meetings were held in April and June. We have information on the estimated costs as well as the traffic data from a traffic study that was completed. City Manger Cook stated he is bringing this to the table not necessarily for approval but to move forward because we have already authorized the segments as referenced in the summaries that any additional improvements may be dealt with through special assessments. Normally to form a special assessment district, the residents would have to petition for it. There has only been one special assessment that was ordered by Council, and that was on Nine Mile from Pontiac Trail to Dixboro, which was only 1600 feet, and the property on both sides of the street was owned by Calloway Construction Company. City Manager Cook further stated, the information is there; we need to move forward certainly with the major street portion. We have school coming and this probably will not be done until the end of September. If we move forward with the mill and overlay to the other half, which is Hagadorn to Warren, everything would be as proposed. City Manger Cook stated if the residents would like to establish a special assessment district and they petition Council to do so for improvement, we are not going to be moving forward with that portion of the project until 2007. City Manager Cook stated he doesn’t see any reason to change the scope of the project as originally submitted.
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer stated that according to the traffic report, the average speed was about 25mph, the 85th percentile was 30mph and that was not exactly what some of the complaints were, but that could be a perception issue. Mayor Pro Tem Dryer stated there was some suggestions about how to slow down traffic, one with the bump outs, that would cost $60,000 and also a suggestion of widening the road which would cost an additional $240,000. Mayor Pro Tem stated he would like to hear from the residents.
Phil Wiepert of 135 N Warren stated the cheapest of the proposals and the one that the residents like best, was for the narrowing down the ends of Whipple to make it more of a residential area. People are always going to use it as a cut through, and we can live with that, but we just want some calming features, and we want it be done right, if it is going to be done. Wiepert stated the residents met with the engineers and they said the right way to do it would be to dig up the street and do the sewers, because it has been stated that the sewers are very old, so they thought why overlay it when your are going to end up saw cutting it to fix the sewers later. Wiepert suggested we figure out what will work, and wait until next year to see if we can find some funding.
City Manager Cook stated this project would not qualify for any funding; this is a local maintenance overlay to improve the surface, and fix the potholes that are on the north side of the road. Some discussion was held regarding the drainage on Whipple. City Manager Cook stated there was never an intent to replace the sewer or storm sewer, the area drains reasonably well.
Aaron Clark of 421 Whipple stated that the drainage doesn’t work. He has standing water in front of this driveway as well as his neighbors. He said if you just mill it down, and you don’t change the storm drain, it isn’t going to fix the problem. Clark stated he doesn’t see where Council is seeing that the drains are working. He questioned if we are planning on putting in a new curb or just patching it. Councilman Kivell stated we would be replacing it. Clark stated they are not getting the proper drainage. He stated if he had to pay for this, he would be more apt to pay for it if it is done properly and he gets the result he is looking for which is no standing water in the street, and it will not have to be re done for many years, as well as fixing the speeding issues. Some discussion was held on the milling process.
Laura Evans of 403 Whipple stated her issue is the speeding. She stated most of the speeding comes from Pontiac Trail. She stated she lives five houses down and that is where they did the speed report. She doesn’t think they are at full speed when they are in front of her house, so she would debate the results. She stated that the percentage of cars that do speed works out to be approximately 75 cars a day and that is too much with the children. She would like it to be tabled until next year so it can be fixed right.
Rick Towns of 308 Whipple stated he understands that about 10% of the curbs are going to be replaced, and about every 10 feet there are cracks in the curbs, so if you just do the 10% this year, you’ll be back next year to do the parts you didn’t fix this year. He thinks all the curbs should be replaced all at the same time.
Pam Wiepert of 135 N Warren stated she is more concerned about the speeding and according to the traffic study, there is about 1000 cars that go down that road every day, and the traffic study shows that the 85th percentile of the actual speed is 30 mph, but that means there are still 150 cars going more than 30 mph, and that is a lot. She stated they know they can’t stop people from using that road as a cut through, but we can do something to make them travel at the proper speed. She would like this tabled until next year when something can be done about it.
Jennifer Lumber of 421 Whipple stated she wanted to go on record that she wants it tabled as well. The comment made earlier that the remilling would naturally fix the drainage problems is incorrect. The engineers they met with in April said that would not fix the problem. She stated we should do it and do it right, if we are going to spend City money, our money, do it right.
Bill Kaminski of 432 Whipple stated he has an issue with the drainage on Whipple, and he has had problems with the sewers for many years, and he has called and complained. About every 2 years, he has sewage in his basement.
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer suggested we handle the questions for the two issues of speeding and drainage separately. He asked Chief Collins how common the 85th percentile of 30mph is? Chief Colllins stated according to the traffic improvement association with the volume of vehicles on the roadway the 85th percentile is lower than what would be expected on a typical residential street. Some discussion was held on the different streets and the volume of traffic on different streets.
Councilman Kivell stated that speeding is a tough thing to analyze, when you are looking at numbers on paper and you have the distance from sitting on your front porch and watching someone speed by. It is easy to see this is an acceptable level, according to the authorities, and when your kid is playing in your font yard and a car goes speeding by, which is probably in the 10-12 mile over the speed limit range, it probably seems like 25 or 30 over the speed limit. He further stated he doesn’t know how to get over that perception problem, because the numbers are the numbers. He stated his own personal opinion is the primary way to address this problem is by enforcement.
Laura Evans of 403 Whipple stated her dog has already been hit, and what if it was her nephew? If someone is going 40mph how long is it going to take for them to stop, if they are going 25mph they might be able to stop sooner. She stated she feels very strongly that something needs to be done regarding the speed issue.
Council Member Kopkowski stated the reason she hasn’t spoken about this earlier is because she lives on Wells Street and she had the same traffic report done and she has more cars and quicker cars and she feels it is an enforcement issue. Some discussion was held on the speeding issue as well as the effectiveness of the bump outs. Aaron Clark of 421 Whipple stated he doesn’t know how to solve the problem, but he is suggesting we table this issue and take a look at solving the two problems, as opposed to just cosmetically fixing this road. Mayor Pro Tem Dryer stated that the one thing about the speed issue is there is a little concern about fixing this road, then having to do the next street, then the next street, there is only so much money to be had, and that is why having the residents paying for the additional speed reduction issues make sense, otherwise we would be going into debt. Safety is always the number one goal. Councilman Kivell stated he is sensitive to the notion of speeding. On Ten Mile you have 23,000 plus cars a day going by and when you sit on your porch, you get a clear understanding that you would like more enforcement or whatever it takes to actually slow the speeders. Councilman Kivell stated the thinks the issue is really enforcement.
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer asked Department Head Renwick about the age of the sewers. Department Head Renwick stated the drainage tiles are 6 inch. It has had a lot more building since the street was put in, however it is working and it is taking the water away. On other projects they have been able to wedge the streets to make the water flow to where they want it to. The wedging of the street is a possibility here. Regarding the sanitary issue, that has been looked into a number of times and it has been televised, part of his problem is there is a belly on his property between his house and the sidewalk, which retains water. We do have the City portion of it, but the majority of the problem is his and this has been televised and confirmed. Councilman Morelli explained how the water drains at his house. He asked if that was normal. Department Head Martin stated it is a function of your neighborhood; it depends on how far the water has to drain to its destination point. Trotters and Carriage Trace have nine retention ponds within the neighborhoods itself. In an older neighborhood, the water may have to travel further to the drain. More discussion was held on the drainage issue. Aaron Clark of 421 Whipple again suggested we table the issue. Council Member Kopkowski asked if it would be a bad thing to table it? She stated we made an offer for the residents to meet with the engineers, why don’t we keep that money and do some investigation, then decide what to do with it. City Manager Cooks stated it is not uncommon to mill and overlay a street, it is considered maintenance. He also stated you need 75% of the resident on the street to form a special assessment district. Some discussion was held on special assessment districts. City Manager Cook stated if the residents want anything beyond what is suggested, they will need to do petitions to see if their neighbors also want to do it. Councilman Wedell asked if there would be a down side to tabling the issue, City Manager Cook stated there is not.
The question was asked if there is a way to find out if there is a blockage in the sewer line such as tree roots. Department Head Martin stated that Steve works closely with companies like SOS that send movie cameras down sewer lines and we have done that in numerous places in the City. It even has ways to grind roots out of the system, but once the roots find their way in it keeps happening. Discussion was held regarding the maintenance done on City streets and what happens when there is a water main break and the street must be dug up. Councilman Morrelli suggested we find out if there needs to be some storm drain work done before the street is redone. If it is does, fix it so it will be done right and it will save money in the end. City Manager Cook stated we have a regular maintenance program and we have a jet that is put into the lines at different times in the city. Department Head Renwick stated that when there are storms there is a lot of water that goes through the lines, and it cleans them out, we do go in and clean out catch basins on a fairly regular basis, but the surge from the storm water generally cleans itself out. Councilman Kivell suggested to run the jet through the lines, and if it needs to be fixed, fix it. More discussion was held on the drainage issue. Councilman Wedell asked the question if we could delay this project. City Manager Cook stated, yes we can delay it, because it is routine maintenance. Councilman Kivell suggests that we have HRC investigate the notion of wedging the street and the ethics of doing a special assessment on the storm drains. He stated if the system is failing, we have the obligation to fix it without the special assessment. We have the responsibility to provide services to people that live in the community. Council Members agree that it needs to be investigated to find out if there is a problem with the sewer lines. City Manager Cook suggested we get answers to the Council’s questions and the important thing now is to get this going because the major street portion needs to be fixed, it is in bad shape. This would give the residents time to deal with the special assessment issue and the bidding will probably be out in August. The Council is in agreement that we need to gather more information and meet again on it. City Manager Cook stated that we need to move forward with the Lafayette to Warren. He stated that he would bring back more information at a later date. Council is in agreement to move forward with the Lafayette to Warren section
3. Porta-johns located near the volleyball park.
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer stated we had porta-johns for many years, and the Beatification Committee asked for regular flush toilets, and we do have them now. There was a request at the last meeting to put a porta john next to the volleyball courts. Councilman Wedell stated he walked down there to see for himself what the distance is and he was surprised as to how far it is, but it is convenient for the kids using the playscape. So one person’s inconvenience is another person’s convenience. Councilman Wedell paraphrased part of letter from the Parks and Recreation committee stating that they do not wish to have porta-johns back in Mchattie Park. Councilman Morelli stated he is happy with the flush toilets and he would not support bringing a porta-john back to the park. Council Member Kopkowski stated she is not in favor of bringing port-johns back into park, and asked who locks the flush toilets? Department Head Renwick stated they are on a time setting. Councilman Kivell asked if anyone has ever asked the Historical Depot if they ever thought of putting flush toilets to handle their side of the park. Some discussion was held on the port-johns and the problems that go along with them.
CM
7- 5 -06 – TO DENY THE REQUEST TO HAVE PORT-JOHNS LOCATED BY THE VOLLEYBALL
COURTS
Motion by Morelli, supported by Wedell
To deny the request to have Porta-johns located near the volleyball courts
VOTE: MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
4. Discussion on prohibiting skateboarding in specific areas of the City of South Lyon
City Manager Cook stated in the Council packet he has supplied information on the different Cities’ ordinances regarding the skateboarding issue. City Manager Cook stated according to Attorney Lee, we have to have an ordinance before the City Manager can post signs prohibiting skateboarding. Councilman Wedell stated he thought the Northville set of ordinances touched on some things he would like to see put into an ordinance, which mostly pertained to reckless use and yielding to pedestrians. Councilman Kivell stated that Northville and Plymouth ordinances mostly parallel and some of the language was identical. That is the language that made the most sense. He doesn’t want to get too controlling, with the skate boarders. Some discussion was held on the different ordinances of the different cities, and townships. Council Member Kopkowski stated that enforcement is a huge issue. There was an incident over the weekend in the Wells St parking, which she did call the police. She stated some of the ordinances we already have would cover some of the things she has seen in the parking lot, but she wants better enforcement. Discussion was held on the incident that happened over the weekend, and the response times of the Police Department. Councilman Morelli stated he liked the ordinances of Northville and Plymouth, they are similar and they allow the activity as long as they yield to pedestrians. He stated our ordinance should follow their pattern. It also gives the City Manager the power to put up signs prohibiting skateboarding. Some discussion was held on how to better enforce the ordinances we currently have. Attorney Lee stated he has a sense of what Council is interested in having put into an ordinance, he will put together some language and bring it back to Council to allow them to look it over and go from there. Councilman Kivell stated he wants the new ordinance to be actionable, not just another ordinance on the books.
Motion by Kopkowski, supported by Morelli
To direct Attorney Lee to draft language for a skateboard ordinance
VOTE: MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
NEW
BUSINESS:
1. General discussion on the south Lyon access channel.
City Manager Cook stated the channel was given to the City in the franchise agreement. We have an agreement with Roger Heiple for the use of that channel which has been since 1980 or 1981, then renewed in 1999, now on a year to year basis. It is up for renewal January 2007. The contract is for the use of providing various programming. City Manager Cook stated that we have the ability to put the contract out for bid. City Manager Cook stated the City does not own any of the hardware. Roger Heiple replaced the original hardware. Councilman Morelli stated he thinks it is a good idea to put this out for bid. Most people are not aware that it is possible to bid on the contract. Council Member Kopkowski stated that she agrees in putting this out for bid. Councilman Kivell stated it would be a good idea to have some competing interest on programming and that may be better than just worrying about the best tape playback machine. Council Member Kopkowski stated there are other things to cover other than football.
Tedd Wallace of 115 Elm Place gave some history regarding the SLCTV. He stated at one point we were the leading community in the nation for having ongoing cable productions. Wallace stated that SLCTV has been there since the beginning, and they put their own monies into keeping it going. He stated the Council can put it up for bid, but the market is not there to make it worth their while. SLCTV does it for the love of the community. He stated they have given up a lot of family time in the last 24 years. If Council thinks it is broke, go ahead and try to fix it, but they will be coming with their bid and he thinks the hometown folks should have an advantage.
Roger Colosimo of 216 Oakbrooke stated he concurred the love of SLCTV and for what it has brought to the community over the years. He stated he would like to bid on the station and put a package together with the programming. The cost to upgrade the equipment that is there is less than $5,000, it is minimal, the key is the programming. That is really where the cost of time and finances come into play. He has talked with the schools and recreation as well as some of the big business in the community and he wants to give it back to the community. A lot of what has been shown in the last couple of years has been football only and reruns of parades. We want to give it back to the community and show more local news and local programming such as advertising for our local businesses.
Some discussion was held on when this would be out for bid, what they would actually be bidding on.
Department Head Martin stated the Well Head Protection video was started the beginning of last school year with the high school, and it was worked on for about 9 months, by 10 or 15 really hard working people. It was completed, and SLCTV showed it for the first time. He can’t say how much good has been done because of cable in this community. The video was 28 minutes long.
Some discussion was held on the bidding process and adding this to the next agenda.
COUNCIL
COMMENTS:
Councilman Kivell stated he would like to congratulate Department Head Martin and the Water Department regarding a letter from Mr. Andrew Rinstra, it was a glowing letter about how well he was treated, how professional their service was and what a great assistance they were to him. He also asked City Manager Cook if he has spoken with Lyon Township regarding the new Speedway being built on Pontiac Trail because there is no sidewalk. City Manager Cook stated he believes that they decided not to require developers to install sidewalks, but he would check into it. Councilman Kivell stated it is unfortunate.
Councilman Kivell also wanted to add an executive session to the next Council meeting regarding land acquisition.
Councilman Morelli stated he wanted to bring attention to the water and sewer department as well. He further stated he spent some time with Steve Renwick and Craig Kaska, and he learned a lot about the equipment and how things operate. He wants to publicly thank them for their time.
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer asked a question regarding the mid decade census. City Manager Cook stated we would try to start in mid August, which will take us into September. We have about 8 or 9 interested people, and will need more people. Now is not the time to do the census with so many people being on vacation. Some discussion was held on the census and how it is done.
Mayor Pro Tem Dryer also asked about resurrecting the Beautification Committee and if the members need to be appointed. City Manager Cook stated they do not.
Motion by Morelli, supported by Kivell
To adjourn the meeting at 9:40 p.m.
VOTE: MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Respectfully submitted,
______________________________________ _________________________________
Ray Dryer Lisa Lynch
Mayor Pro Tem Assistant Clerk/Treasurer