By Aimee Bingham Osinski
anbingham@gmail.com
The meeting minutes were approved with minor changes. There was no prearranged participation. The agenda was approved. Zach Michels noted that he has a conflict under consent agenda.
There was a public hearing Consideration of: Amendment to General Code of Ordinances for Small Cell Wireless Infrastructure Regulation. There was no participation. The hearing closed.
Michelle Aniol, stated that Mr. Weber informed Michelle that he has worked with telecad. He has provided transparency to the city and members of the community. Michelle’s opinion that his responsibility is to the city. He has not worked for anything for telecad in Michigan. The ordinance is not specific to the project. The ordinance has some tweaking to title and purpose and additional definitions were added. The effort is to maintain continuity with the existing poles. The ordinance tightens the discretion of the city and aesthetics. Jamie Griffin provided help with editing. The editing was minor grammatical errors. The changes did not alter the meaning of the code. The ordinance was approved.
There was no non-arranged participation.
Communications: Jamie noted that city council settings are listed at 7pm but they are currently at 6pm.
Letter and NFPA 1500 Report from Dexter Area Fire Department Chief Robert Smith: Jamie thanked Chief Smith for the letter. She wanted to know what are the most concerning issues. She asked the Chief and he responded. Jamie is going to follow up and it will be discussed at the next meeting. Paul asked if we are under contract regarding the fire station. Justin defined the responsibilities and obligations of the city. Jamie would like to see the lease as she has not seen it yet.
Marie Sherry gave her report. She noted that a Veterans exemption was added on the day of the meeting. Marie explained the process of the tax assessments. Marie was going for Michigan Master assessor certification. She withdrew from the program, but after learning a lot and being very frustrated. Marie is a Certified public finance administrator and qualified as an advanced Certified Public Finance Administrator.
Public Services Superintendent Dan Schlaff does not have a lot of updates so he opened up for questions. The Twisted Fish is back up but is not spinning due to the vandalism. A new fish sculpture can be purchased from the artist for $5,000. The City can make a claim against insurance but there is a $1,000 deductible. Council seems in favor of making a claim. Dan looked into the Border to Border mowing. He is working through any options he can find to bring back to council. The tall yellow flowers are invasive and can be combated.
Community Development Manager Michelle Aniol, wanted to be certain that council is satisfied that Mr. Weber can be used as a consultant. Jamie would prefer that he does not comment on Telecad. Telecad is not the applicant, just the engineer. Mr. Weber does work with Telecad in other parts of the country. He has demonstrated to staff that he is trustworthy and that his first priority is to the city, not to Telecad. Michelle offered to add it to the next agenda. Michelle asked if putting stencils down noting that bikes, skateboards, and rollerblades, skates, and scooters are not allowed on sidewalks downtown. The trails are different. This is specific to downtown. This does not include residential areas. Specific to just downtown. There was discussion about the open meetings act. The reasons a person can attend remotely because of military duty, or a medical condition to participate remotely. The city is required to provide a means for a council member to participate remotely. Paul is concerned for his safety in a room not knowing who is vaccinated and who is not vaccinated. The Council can establish its own procedures, masks, 6ft apart can be the expectation during the meetings.
The zoning ordinance update: It’s time for another joint meeting with the planning commission, either the 30th of August or in September. Michelle is looking for feedback from the council. The Council thinks it should be completed sooner and not wait to be in person.
City Manager Report: Justin Breyer, A lot of updates were in other reports. Justin was contacted by the Dexter Daze committee. They are looking to do a motorized train for kids along phase one boardwalk. It was not identified in the permit. Justin wanted to see how the council felt about it. The trails are non motorized. It sounds like the council would prefer a different path be used. They are also looking to do some small putt putt courses. It does not include digging holes in the grass. There would be white fence used to close it , that way kids won’t be darting out into open roads. Paul would like to know all the areas considered. 3515 Broad phase 2 results are back. They did not find the items they were initially looking for. but they did find TCE on the border of the western property boundary. Higher levels of arsenic and mercury It will likely require additional sampling. Sub Slab sampling is recommended over the course of six months or a year. ASTI stated the items appear to be low risk. Still required to do additional sampling to verify safety.
Mayor Report Shawn Keough included his report in the packet and did not have anything to add.
Consent Agenda: The consent agenda carried.
Old Business: Consideration and Discussion of: Consideration of: City Manager Contract. There is a motion on the floor from the last meeting. The motion is still on the floor. The motion was amended to add the pieces from the current packet. The motion carried 6-1. Congratulations to Justin who is now officially the City Manager.
Discussion of Conflict of Interest Ordinance. The Council needs to determine a single option to move forward with a public hearing. Jamie prefers the ordinance from the city of Rochester. She wants to extend it into more of an ethics ordinance. WA noted that it was already looked at when she was the chair. She does not want to keep delaying. Zach also likes the one from Rochester. Sanam likes the one that went to the boards and commissions. August 9th a public hearing action item will be on the agenda.
New Business: Consideration and Discussion of: Discussion of: Second Street Water Main and Sidewalk Project Update. OHM came up with a preliminary design. Patrick Droze was at the meeting to give a presentation. It’s time to get feedback from the public. 2nd street was identified because the main was old and it was starting to experience breaks. The road was in pretty good shape and wanted to make sure everything was done with the future in mind. Zach does not support this design for a few reasons. He noted the road is wide and encourages people to drive fast. He noted there are not enough crossings for pedestrians. The public will give feedback. Design information is in the meeting packet.
Discussion of Traffic Control Order Policy: A draft of a TCO policy was developed in 2019. The mayor wants to rework the wording to state why the city needs a policy. The policy will be back for consideration at the next meeting in August.
Consideration of Proposal from Partners in Architecture for Architectural/Engineering Services for 3515 Broad Street for an Amount not to Exceed $60,000. The motion passed.
Council Comments: Eren enjoyed the meeting and is excited for the next year. Alex had no comment. Paul had no comment. Wa wanted to clarify conflict of interest comments. She feels that some conversations have a tone that makes her feel concerned that innocent things will be misconstrued. It’s making her feel uncomfortable. Wa does not like the idea that the lack of trust in government is trickling down to local government. She believes in community and being neighbors. She hopes council members will treat each other with compassion. Zach is passionate about the roads because our environment shapes us and will be around for fifty years. His phone does not work. He has no contacts. Jamie stated congrats to Justin. Sanam said congrats to Justin and she looks forward to working with him. Donna stated that the council did not bicker like this before and when council walks into and out of the meeting it needs to remember that.
The meeting adjourned.
