CITY
OF SOUTH LYON
REGULAR
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
February
12, 2007
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, Maida, Morelli and Wedell
City Manager Cook
Attorney
Lee
City
Clerk/Treasurer Zemke
Department
Heads: Collins, Martin & Renwick
ABSENT:
Mayor Doyle
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES:
Councilman
Morelli requested that on page 5 in the 6th paragraph that it be
revised to read “we will not be seeing any new business coming
in”.
CM
2-1-07 – APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 22, 2007
Motion by Kivell, supported by Morelli
To approve the minutes of the regularly scheduled meeting of January 22,
2007 as amended
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
APPROVAL
OF MONTHLY BILLS:
Councilman
Kivell stated that there is a payment to Michigan State University for
overpayment of taxes and inquired as to what property the University owns in
town. City
Clerk/Treasurer Zemke stated that she would have to check into it.
Councilman
Kivell questioned the payment to TIA for membership.
He stated that he thought we paid as services were needed.
City Manager Cook stated that there has always been a membership fee and
it is based on our community size.
There are no other fees for their service.
Council
Member Kopkowski questioned the payment to Liberty Flag for downtown banners.
She stated that she does not recall the Beautification Committee
approving anything.
City Manager Cook stated that those were purchased at the request of
Randy Clark some time ago.
Councilman
Wedell questioned the reimbursement of a parking fine.
Chief Collins stated that a gentleman had written a letter complaining
about the snow ordinance parking ticket and raised a very good point.
When the work was done for the shopping center at Big Boy, the
construction company had taken down the City sign that indicates no parking on
streets between 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.
That sign never got replaced.
Because the gentleman raised a valid point, the right thing to do was to
reimburse the fine.
Mr. Renwick has ordered several signs for various locations throughout
the City to ensure that this excuse is not valid in the future.
Attorney Lee stated that if there is no signage we have no right to
ticket. If
you post the sign as you enter the City, it is notification to the entire City.
Chief Collins stated that this particular gentleman was from out of State
and entered the City from that direction, and that is where the sign was missing
and his point was valid.
Our local residents who drive all around town either know the ordinance
or have ample opportunity to see the other signs that were in place.
Council
Member Maida made observation as to the large amount that we pay to DTE Energy.
Council
Member Wedell questioned the expenditure report and the percentage of
expenditure over 50%.
He stated that this is the 2nd quarter report and asked if
these divisions are over budget.
City Manager Cook stated that they are not.
There are some one-time payments that may throw the budget off slightly
for that particular time and as we move further into the fiscal year, it will
catch up. City
Manager Cook stated that we do have some issues that have been approved that
will require a budget amendment.
It was further stated that this is actually for 7 months.
CM
2-2-07- APPROVAL OF MONTHLY BILLS
Motion by Kivell, supported by Wedell
To approve the monthly bills as presented
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
APPROVAL
OF AGENDA
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer stated that since Mayor Doyle is absent due to illness, Old
Business #2 should be removed from the agenda.
CM
2-3-07 – APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion by Wedell, supported by Morelli
To approve the agenda as amended by removing Old Business #2
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
CITIZENS
SUGGESTIONS:
None
OLD
BUSINESS:
1.
Fringe Benefit Adjustment for all non-union administrative personnel
a.
Longevity
Schedule
b.
Health
Coverage at retirement BC/BS $400 per mo. to $500
City
Manager Cook stated that we have a request to amend the longevity for
administration personnel to bring them in line with the Clerical Union contract
that was approved last July.
The second issue deals with the health care issue.
Every employee union group has coverage at retirement of $500 per month.
There is no immediate impact on this, but this would bring them up to the
same level per month as every other employee.
The
question was asked who the longevity increase would affect.
City Manager Cook stated that these are non-union and Department Heads as
well as himself; City Clerk, Bookkeeper, two Building Inspectors, Kristen
Cunningham, Bob Martin, Steve Renwick and himself.
He stated that we just did not adjust it when the Clerical Contract was
approved in July.
We are asking that this be retroactive to July 1, 2006.
Councilman
Morelli stated that when we went through the City Manager’s review, he thought
that the City Manager was not part of this group.
City Manager Cook stated that for longevity, he is included. He is not
part of the health care coverage request, he has something different.
Motion by Wedell, supported by Maida
To approve the increase in Longevity payments for all non-union employees
and
department heads as follows:
Years
of City Employment
Amount of Longevity
Five (5) years
$500.00
Ten (10) years
800.00
Fifteen (15) years
900.00
20 years
1,000.00
and that this be retroactive to July 1, 2007
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
CM
2-5-07 – APPROVAL OF INCREASED HEALTH ISURANCE AT RETIREMENT
Motion by Kivell, supported by Morelli
To approve the increase in payment of health insurance coverage at
retirement from
$400 per month to $500 per month for all non-union employees and
department heads
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Discussion
was held on this item being placed under Old Business versus New Business.
2.
Appointments Mayor Doyle – REMOVED FROM THE AGENDA
a.
Housing
Commission
b.
South Lyon
Area Recreation Authority
3.
Engineering Proposal- extending Pedestrian Trail/Bicycle Trail
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer stated that this is the engineering proposal for the trail that
will lead down to the Salem-South Lyon District Library.
City Manager Cook stated that we have a $230,000 Transportation
Enhancement Grant for this project.
We can move forward now.
All we need to deal with at this time is preliminary and design as well
as wetland issues.
If we want to move forward, we need to approve the engineering of
$50,500. There
is a good chance that we could complete this project by the end of the
construction season.
The goal is to complete both of our Transportation Enhancement activities
then we can go ask for more money.
There is money to be had for improvements along Pontiac Trail within the
DDA and any trail extensions we may want to get involved with.
We are, however coming to a close as far as the trail issues.
Once we finish this, you can get on the trail at the Library and go all
the way to the City of Wixom.
There is not enough activity in Washtenaw County.
Councilman
Kivell stated that he hopes that some time in the future, someone will realize
the importance of getting from Ann Arbor to here.
The Pontiac Trail corridor is ideal for that.
That will take some time.
Councilman
Kivell questioned the $900 per day for the resident engineer.
CM
2-6-07 – APPROVAL OF Engineering
Proposal- extending Trail
Motion by Kivell,
supported by Maida
To approve the engineering proposal from HRC for the extension of the
pedestrian/Bicycle Trail in the
amount of $107,900
City
Manager Cook stated that we only need to approve the $50,500 for preliminary and
design, not the construction at this time.
Councilman
Kivell questioned whether we have made headway with the property owners on
southeast corner of 8 Mile for easement.
City Manager Cook stated that there are specific requirements and forms
that are required.
The engineers will make contact.
He further stated that we have found who owns it, but no contact has been
made at this point.
We will probably end up turning it over to the Washtenaw County Road
Commission as we do not want the liability of having that 12-foot easement.
Council
Member Kopkowski stated that some of their fees seem high.
She asked if we can get this broken down any further.
She stated that we are looking at design services for $26,300.
City Manager Cook stated that you need to remember that we are going
through the Michigan Department of Transportation and there are a number of
extra things that they require.
That is why these projects can cost a little more because there is more
time involved.
Council Member Kopkowski asked what the difference is between preliminary
engineering and the topographical survey.
City Manager Cook stated that they did some survey work already to get
the estimate to see if we would qualify for the grant.
They have not done any design work.
Again all he is asking for approval now is the preliminary engineering,
topographical survey, design services and wetland issues.
We will be back with a proposal for the balance of the engineering.
This is an estimate, but we will have more detail after the preliminary
is complete. We
will budget the balance of this in the upcoming budget.
CM
2-7-07 – AMENDMENT TO PREVIOUS MOTION – APPROVAL OF ENGINEERING
Motion by Kivell, supported by Maida
To amend the previous motion to reflect $50,500 for the engineering
proposal for preliminary,
topographic survey, design services and wetland permit and regulations
from HRC for the extension of
the pedestrian/Bicycle Trail
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer asked about the difference between resident representative versus
quality controller.
City Manager Cook stated that there is testing that has to be done such
as asphalt, etc. that is quality control.
You do not want sub-grade asphalt put down, so they do test it and
measure it. Further
discussion was held on paying two individuals on site.
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
4.
Joint City Council/Planning Commission Meeting- March 8, 2007
City
Manager Cook stated that the Planning Commission’s first meeting of the month
of March is March 8th.
The Planning Consultant will be there.
Kristen Cunningham is now back from leave. He stated that Councilman
Kivell indicated that he wanted Council to be able to relate some their thoughts
and what they feel is important as it relates to the Master Plan.
This is not a full re-written plan, but rather a review based on the
current Statute that requires that it be looked at every five years.
Councilman
Kivell stated that his concern was the ethical question about Council being the
ones that can dismiss individuals from their appointment.
If the Planning Commission attends a Council meeting then that goes away.
If Council imposes on a Planning Commission, there is question.
He further stated that the Michigan Municipal League has addressed this
issue. Attorney
Lee stated that Council does need to approve the joint meeting.
He further stated that it is improper for an individual Council Member to
attend a Planning Commission and suggest what they should do.
Council as a group may suggest to them what your feelings and directions
are; a collective view as to what the Council views is important. If there is a
specific thing you want them to do, Council would have to vote on it and as a
body give them direction.
What becomes a problem is if an individual went to their meeting and made
suggestion as though one was representing the entire Council, when you are
actually representing yourself.
City
Manager Cook stated that when the Master Plan is adopted, it is adopted by the
Planning Commission; not by Council. Attorney Lee stated that Council could
reject every re-zoning that comes forward based on a Master Plan that they
disagree with.
That is why you want to have these meetings.
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer asked how this meeting should be conducted.
Attorney Lee stated that you would start with an overview from the
Planner as to what direction they are going and where the Planning Commission
thinks they would like to go.
Then it would open for Council comment.
As a Council, if you see a direction that you do not agree with, that
would be the opportunity for Council to give a sense of Council resolution as to
what direction they would like to see.
They could still go in the direction that they choose.
Council
Member Kopkowski asked if Council should have a general discussion at the next
meeting. Attorney
Lee stated that if Council Members have specific areas of planning that you are
concerned with and wish to have a policy statement, each member of Council could
raise what ever issues you wish to raise to the extent that you have a majority
support, you can agree that these are the things you will present at that joint
meeting. Further
discussion was held on having a discussion at the next City Council meeting
prior to the joint meeting.
Councilman
Morelli stated that when you are on the Planning Commission, things come up and
you wonder how Council thinks.
He stated that he served on the Planning Commission since 1990 before
being appointed to Council, and to his recollection, the two bodies only met
once. He
stated that he feels that they should meet a lot more often.
CM
2-8-07 – APPOVAL OF JOINT MEETING WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION – 3/8/07
Motion by Kivell, supported by Kopkowski
To schedule a special City Council meeting/joint meeting with the
Planning Commission for
March 8, 2007 at 7 p.m.
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
5.
Report on using credit cards for paying property taxes
City
Clerk/Treasurer Zemke stated that per Council’s request she did do some
investigation on the use of credit cards.
There are three options.
She stated that she would recommend that we accept credit cards for tax
payments only through Oakland County’s website Paylocaltaxes.com.
Many communities use that successfully and there is no charge to the City
for that service.
In the future they will also be looking at accepting payments by phone in
addition to the online option.
All costs are incurred by the user.
Councilman
Wedell stated that he did have opportunity to serve on a couple committees where
they have approved some of these transactions.
He would suggest that this is one of the best controlled vehicles used
for the payment of taxes.
Additionally, according to the Governor’s State of the State speech,
they are going to make future revenue sharing increases based on cooperation.
This City and this County already have a number of cooperative ventures
and have had, but this would be just one more layer of intergovernmental
cooperation. He
would recommend very strongly that Option #3 be the direction we take.
City
Clerk/Treasurer Zemke stated that this option would cause the least amount of
additional work for the Treasurer’s Office and Bookkeeper.
Because we are already tied into the County’s tax system, it would
automatically post to the taxpayer’s account.
It has also been indicated that once the County’s system is paid for,
they will be looking at a portion of their fees being shared with the
communities that participate.
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer reviewed all three options.
He stated that Option #1 would cost the City a lot of money because the
City would have to pay all costs.
There are some legal issues you get into.
Option #2 is an on-line payment, but we get into problems with partial
payments, duplicate payments, etc.
The fees are higher than option #3.
Option #3 would be on-line payment of taxes, but does not cover utility
bills. It
was stated that in time we can look at other options.
Councilman
Kivell asked how the County can defer these costs to the resident, but the City
cannot. Attorney
Lee stated that they have a specific piece of legislation passed just for them,
Public Act 462 of 1996.
Councilman Kivell stated that it would seem that the next logical step
would then be for cities to be able to do the same.
Further
discussion was held on cooperation between cities and counties.
Attorney Lee stated that the Governor is proposing that the State Shared
Revenues stay the same for next year.
She is planning on increases in the following year and she has a formula
for who will get those increase.
One of the major factors in determining that increases is the degree of
cooperation between other municipal of government. Councilman Kivell stated that
he agrees with the intergovernmental cooperation aspect, but at the same time,
the further away from home you get with any kind of service, the less likely you
will have the service be what the residents are looking for.
Attorney Lee stated that if a resident has a problem with a tax bill,
they come in here to solve it.
They pay it online, but before they pay it, they come here.
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer stated that with this option, the user would have to pay a small
fee plus approximately 2.75% of what they are paying.
Councilman
Morelli stated that at first, he questioned why we have to do this.
Businesses accept credit cards to lures customers to them. But
municipalities do not; you have to pay your taxes, water bill, etc.
He stated that he likes Option #3.
It does not cost us anything.
The fees are astronomical.
You are not going to use it for airline miles because it would cost you
more in fees. People
are going to be doing it because they do not have the money to pay it so they
are going to use their card.
The City does not need to be a part of that.
He asked if there has been any thought about dog licenses, water bills,
etc. Attorney
Lee stated that it would be cost prohibitive to accept credit cards on the
smaller things.
Discussion was held on water bills.
Attorney Lee stated that we would have to raise the rates to cover the
cost of any fees. Everyone would have to pay for the privilege of a few.
Attorney
Lee stated that if on the due date of taxes, you do not have the funds to pay
the bill, the penalty of not paying on time would be greater than the fee to put
it on a credit card.
We would be offering a financing option that they would not otherwise
have.
Council
Member Maida agreed that Option #3 is the best.
The economy is hard right now and people may not have the cash to pay
their bill. This
is helping them out.
She stated that this is a great start and would like to look at moving
forward with the other items in the future.
Discussion
was held on how to proceed.
City Clerk/Treasurer Zemke stated that now that we know what direction
Council wishes to take, we will come back with the proper resolution and
contracts.
NEW
BUSINESS:
Suggestions
for road maintenance projects, FY 07-08
City
Manager Cook stated that there were a number of areas that we have talked about.
He has provided a cost estimate for those items.
If you have some other suggestions we can look at them and try and get an
estimate of cost.
The Center Ridge and South Ridge areas we have agreed to stay away from
this year due to the amount of construction that has already taken place there.
Discussion
was held on the Norchester Drive area.
City Manager Cook stated that Norchester is concrete so we would be
looking at mill, repair and overlay with asphalt.
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer asked how much we typically spend for road maintenance.
City Manager Cook stated that this would be out of Capitol Improvement.
As you know we get funded through gas and weight tax for both major and
local streets.
That revenue for local is approximately $165,000.
You cannot do any of these with that amount otherwise we do not have
anything for operation.
Mayor Pro-tem Dryer asked how much are we going to be spending based on
the grants that we will be receiving.
City Manager Cook stated that the total of the two grants is
approximately $1,200,000, but we have to make up the difference.
We may not be able to do everything suggested.
As we get closer, we will take a better look and put these numbers in the
budget. If
there are alternate roads Council wants to look at then please suggest them.
We cannot do them all.
Council
Member Maida stated that we had talked about Wellington.
City Manager Cook stated that is what we looked at.
A lot of the pavement is very good on Wellington, it is just the joints
that are bad. You
could not remove all of the concrete and do it at what we are talking about
here. It
would be a $600-700,000 project.
Further discussion was held on the problems with dealing with concrete
roads.
Discussion
was held on Ada Street.
Councilman Morelli stated that the trucks that drive that road are fairly
large and asked if they are just going to tear it up.
City Manager Cook stated that we would fill it in and overlay.
We are not getting into full development of the road, just maintenance.
It will look better when we are done and the shoulder work will be
improved as well as drainage.
Discussion
was held on Princeton Drive.
City Manager Cook stated that there are a couple base areas that will
need to be repaired.
It is a fairly long section and it is in fairly bad shape.
Council
Member Kopkowski stated that she received an email from a resident on Wellington
with complaints about the road and asked if we will be addressing that area.
City Manager Cook stated that if she is within the area that we have been
talking about.
There are some areas on Wellington that is starting to deteriorate.
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer stated that he would like to consider Detroit Street.
It is one of the main access roads for the City’s parking lot.
It would be a nice extension of downtown.
City Manager Cook stated that we may be able to do some crack sealing and
such that would help there.
Councilman
Kivell stated that he would like to see the corner of 10 Mile and Washington
repaired where it is “jacked up” by the sidewalk.
City
Manager Cook stated that some of these may go depending on where we are with how
much we want to spend.
COUNCIL
COMMENTS:
Councilman
Wedell stated that they received their packets on Friday and in those packets
they received an invitation to the grand opening of Big Boy, which was the prior
Monday and there was an invitation to the County Executive’s State of the
County address, which occurred two days earlier.
He is somewhat embarrassed that no Council Members were present at that
grand opening.
City Manager Cook stated that some times they send them directly, and we
have no way of knowing how they send them out.
Councilman Wedell stated that we did not snub the grand opening, but it
certainly appears that way.
Mayor Pro-tem Dryer stated that apologies to Big Boy because a lot of
them would have been there.
Councilman Wedell stated that someone needs to keep an eye on the mailbox
especially if there is a long period of time between meetings.
He does not mind coming in to pick it up or having someone do it for him.
City Manager Cook stated that from time to time, Council can come in and
look in the mailbox to see if there is anything that is relevant, but we will
keep an eye on it.
Council Member Maida stated that she was surprised as well even though it
had been in the paper.
Council
Member Maida stated that in the last packet there was information relating to
the re-appointment of Rod Cook to the Community and Home Improvement Advisory
Council. City
Manager Cook stated that the County makes those appointments.
Council Member Maida congratulated him on that re-appointment.
Councilman
Morelli thanked the City Manager for the information relevant to the Big Boy
tap-in fees. He
stated that he was approached by two individuals, one who was interested in
opening a business in town and heard that Big Boy received a break on their tap
fee, the other a resident.
He stated that he is still unclear.
If they use the two rooms after the six week grace period is over, does
that mean they owe us additional funds.
City Manager Cook stated that the rooms are not for normal seating, and
if they use it that way then they will have to pay us the balance of the tap
fee. We
had negotiations with their attorney who disagreed with the interpretation of
our unit factor.
He does have 6-7 other Big Boys where they have similar situations.
These rooms will be arranged by request, not for normal seating.
He has paid his tap fee of $17,000, but he has conditions and we will
monitor that. The
owner has indicated that if he is that busy, he will come in and pay the
remainder of the tap fee and use it for everyday seating.
Attorney
Lee stated that he did not receive a break.
We had two different classifications, one for a restaurant with seating
and another for a banquet facility.
A banquet facility has a substantially less unit factor than a
restaurant. If
we accepted the argument that these two rooms were strictly for banquet, he
would have paid about $15,000 less than he did.
These rooms will be used only on a reservation basis by groups.
If we find that those doors are being opened for brunch on Sunday
morning, he will pay the balance of the tap-in fee.
If he adheres to the agreement, and uses those rooms for special
banquets, business meetings, etc. he has met the agreement and will not pay any
additional tap fees.
Further discussion was held on the negotiations. Attorney Lee further
stated that we pride ourselves on treating everyone the same.
Councilman
Kivell questioned the rationale behind leaving the net standards in the ice rink
this year. Superintendent
Renwick stated that we could not get them out without pulling the whole base
out. He
further stated that this area is full of muck.
To get a good base in there to keep those poles straight is difficult.
Councilman Kivell stated that he would like to see if there is another
way to handle these.
Discussion
was held on who would be attending the MML Conference.
Mayor
Pro-tem Dryer stated that with budget time approaching, he would like to see us
look at completing the sidewalk along the south side of 9 Mile, one very small
section. The
other sidewalk would be the south side of 11 Mile.
We have talked about this before and the owners are supposed to complete
that, but that will take a long time.
Councilman Kivell asked if we could talk to them about completing it.
City Manager Cook stated that we have a 50/50 program, which is typically
for repair, but we could talk with them.
Discussion was held on the sidewalk in front of King Plaza and the
agreement that the property owner would complete the sidewalk at the time their
leach field fails.
CM
2-9-07 – ADJOURNMENT
Motion by Wedell, supported by Kopkowski
To adjourn the meeting at 8:55 p.m.
VOTE:
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Respectfully
Submitted,
______________________________
_______________________________
John
Doyle, Jr.
Julie C. Zemke
Mayor
City Clerk/Treasurer