City Council - August 24, 2009

FERNDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Monday, August 24, 2009

A Regular Meeting of the Ferndale City Council was held Monday, August 24, 2009 at City Hall, 300 East Nine Mile Road, Ferndale. Mayor Covey called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2. ROLL CALL

Present: Mayor Covey, Council Members Baker, Galloway, Gumbleton

Absent: Council Member Lennon

309. Moved by Baker, seconded by Gumbleton, to excuse the absence of Council Member Lennon due to illness.

AYES: Council Members Baker, Galloway, Gumbleton, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

310. Moved by Gumbleton, seconded by Galloway, to approve the agenda as submitted.

AYES: Council Members Galloway, Gumbleton, Baker, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

4. PRESENTATIONS

A. Ferndale Fire Department – Citizen Awards

Fire Chief Schmidt presented Citizen Awards to Pleasant Ridge Police Officers Rob Ried and Glen Feam, Huntington Woods Police Officer Robert Vautaw and Dr. Ravi Srinivasa from Beaumont who assisted at a very serious vehicle accident, and to Joseph Bushman who saved his Great Aunt from choking

Mayor Covey recognized the Pleasant Ridge City Manager and Police Chief, who were in attendance.

B. Downtown Development Authority (DDA)

Chris Hughes, DDA Communications and Marketing Director, presented an update on the summer activities of the DDA.

C. City Manager’s report on West Troy Street parking issues

City Manager Bruner presented an update on the status of parking issues arising from the opening of Rosie O’Grady’s and outlined several options being investigated by both the City and the restaurant owner.

D. August Beautification Awards

Peggy Snow presented the following Beautification Awards for August 2009:

Commercial: Rosie O’Grady’s

279 W. Nine Mile

Rental: Jaye Spiro & Sue Ferrari

405-407 W. Breckenridge

Residential: Catherine & Mike Adams

619 W. Maplehurst

Gerry Price & Brian Durr

1512 Kenton

5. PUBLIC HEARINGS

A. Sidewalk Replacement Program

Mayor Covey opened the public hearing at 8:04 p.m.

Nine residents spoke requesting either the City pay for flags damaged by City trees in the right-of-way or remove the trees, and/or suggested their flags had been marked incorrectly.

There being no further comments, Mayor Covey closed the public hearing at 8:19 p.m.

Council and staff members addressed residents’ questions, with DPW Director Photiades stating his staff would visit each home of the nine residents who spoke. Mayor Covey announced that residents may still submit a hardship letter to the City Clerk’s Office.

311. Moved by Galloway, seconded by Gumbleton, to refer the 2009 Sidewalk Replacement Program back to the Highway Committee for a recommendation to Council.

AYES: Council Members Gumbleton, Baker, Galloway, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

6. CALL TO AUDIENCE

Melanie Piana praised the DDA and its volunteers for a successful Thursdays on the Nine and Gallery Walk and recognized volunteers Sharon Chess and Stacy Woods.

Greg Pawlica supported consolidating Ferndale School Board elections with regular November elections to save taxpayers the cost of separate elections.

Doug Raber, Ferndale Public Library Director, announced The Big Read program, outlined the many events that will be taking place, and encouraged residents to read "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett.

Chris Dragone and Alicia Gbur, residents on Withington, complained about the Housing Commission holding the bi-annual opening of the wait list for low income (Section 8) housing at Withington West because the large number of people in attendance caused traffic problems in the neighborhood. City Manager Bruner assured the residents that he has already been in discussions with the Housing Commission about an alternate site in 2011.

David Joseph requested fewer stoplights on side streets or better timing of the signals.

Carol Morency, member of the Housing Commission, apologized for the incident at Withington West, explaining that two years ago 1700 people came over a two-day period for applications, whereas this year 4000 came. She further explained that there are only 750 spaces available so people in dire need of housing showed up early to better their chances.

Thomas Gagné suggested the City meet with DTE Energy to address the City’s tree trimming needs in order to avoid future outages, and the associated expenses, caused by downed trees. Mayor Covey, noting that the recent outage was caused by a private resident’s tree, strongly encouraged home owners to care for their trees to avoid causing inconvenience and costs to the City and residents. City Manager Bruner reported DPW Director has spoken with DTE and succeeded in having the tree trimming program accelerated for Ferndale.

Muriel Bryant thanked the Police Department for their help with the crowd at Withington West and defended the people who were there trying to secure housing for their families. She explained the people were not there to cause problems but to find housing.

Mayor Covey left Council Chambers at 8:55 p.m.

7. CONSENT AGENDA

312. Moved by Councilwoman Baker, seconded by Councilwoman Gumbleton, to approve the Consent Agenda as submitted:

A. Approved the Minutes of the Regular Meeting held August 10, 2009 and the Special Joint Meeting with the Ferndale Public Schools Board of Trustees held August 17, 2009.

B. Approved contract for CHORE/yard services in the amount of $8,500 with OLHSA for Program Year 2009-10 and authorized the Mayor to sign the contract and directed the City Clerk to forward one copy of the signed contract to OLSHA with a copy to CDS.

C. Adopted Ordinance No. 1081, adding Section 18-9 to Chapter 18, Article I, Traffic and Motor Vehicle Code, to the Ferndale Code of Ordinances to allow traffic enforcement at the Ferndale Middle-High School Complex.

D. Approval of Parade Permit for the Ferndale High School Marching Band for the 2009 March-A-Thon to be held September 19, 2009 from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. from Ferndale High School to Geary Park, Roosevelt and Coolidge Schools, Ferndale Foods and Kulick Community Center before returning to Ferndale High School.

E. Approved purchase of 4 laptops and 5 towers for the CDS Department for a total amount of $10,051 to be charged to account #101-371-977.

F. Approved the bills and payrolls as certified by City Manager to be paid subject to review by the Council Finance Committee.

AYES: Council Members Baker, Galloway, Gumbleton

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

Mayor Covey returned to Council Chambers at 9:00 p.m.

8. REGULAR AGENDA

A. Appointments to Boards

1) Environmental Sustainability Commission – Trevor Johnson

313. Moved by Baker, seconded by Gumbleton, to confirm the appointment of Trevor Johnson to the Environmental Sustainability Commission for a term ending December 31, 2012.

AYES: Council Members Gumbleton, Baker, Galloway, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

ABSENT: Covey

MOTION CARRIED

Amendment to Agenda

314. Moved by Galloway, seconded by Gumbleton to amend the agenda to move Regular Agenda Item 8E forward.

AYES: All

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

E. Consideration of Division & Department Creation, Combination and Adjustment Ordinance

315. Moved by Galloway, seconded by Gumbleton, to adopt Ordinance No 1079, an ordinance to create new divisions and departments, and combine or adjust existing divisions and departments of City government.

AYES: Council Members Baker, Galloway, Gumbleton, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

Council Member Baker was excused from the Council meeting for illness at 9:03 p.m.

B. Consideration of negotiated agreement with Ferndale Laboratories Inc. relative to request for Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate (IFEC)

316. Moved by Galloway, seconded by Gumbleton, to adopt the Resolution disapproving the Industrial Facilities Tax Exemption Certificate application submitted by Ferndale Laboratories, Inc. based on the Assessor/Treasurer’s documentation that the applicant is currently involved in a legal action against the City in violation of Application Process Standard #6 of the City’s Policy for Granting Industrial Facilities Tax Exemption Certificates pursuant to Public Act 198 of 1974, as amended.

Mark Diekman, Ferndale Labs CFO, requested that Council wait to vote until all Council members were present.

AYES: Council Members Galloway, Gumbleton, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

C. Consideration of Appointment of Deputy City Clerk

317. Moved by Galloway, seconded by Gumbleton, to confirm the appointment of Marne McGrath Schmidt to the position of Deputy City Clerk, effective August 25, 2009, with a probationary period of one-year.

AYES: Council Members Gumbleton, Galloway, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

D. Consideration of Devon Square Municipal Services Agreement and PILOT Ordinance

318. Moved by Gumbleton, seconded by Galloway, to approve the Municipal Services Agreement and to adopt Ordinance No. 1082, amending Ordinance No. 731, to provide for a service charge in lieu of taxes for a proposed multiple family project for elderly persons and persons of low or moderate income to be financed or assisted pursuant to the provisions of the State Housing Development Authority Act of 1966 (1966 PA 346, as amended, MCL Section 125.1402 et seq., MSA Section 16.114 (1) et.seq.) and to authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to sign the Agreement.

AYES: Council Members Galloway, Gumbleton, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

F. Consideration to name the Coneflower as Ferndale’s Official City Flower

319. Moved by Gumbleton, seconded by Galloway, to approve the Beautification Commission’s recommendation that the coneflower be the City’s new official flower

AYES: Council Members Gumbleton, Galloway, Mayor Covey

NAYS: None

MOTION CARRIED

9. COUNCIL APPOINTEE REPORT – Fire Chief

Fire Chief Schmidt presented his goals and objective progress report.

10. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORTS

A. 8 Mile Blvd. Association (8MBA). Mayor Covey reported a deal is close to being signed for Meijer to locate a store at Eight Mile and Woodward.

C. South Oakland County Mayors Association (SOCMA). Mayor Covey announced Ferndale will be hosting the September meeting on September 9, at 6:30 p.m., at Rosie O’Gradys.

11. CALL TO COUNCIL

320. City Clerk Tallman announced that in keeping with Ferndale’s ongoing efforts to be more environmentally conscious, the new-to-us partitions and office furniture being installed in the Clerk’s office have been recycled from a downsizing area company, and reported that EMPCO, Inc. the largest municipal employment testing company in Michigan is granting an automatic Economic Relief Discount of 20% to Michigan clients through the end of the year.

321. Mayor Covey noted the Ferndale Area Democratic Club is hosting an open house on August 25 at 6:30 p.m. in Ferndale, and he thanked Council Members Gumbleton and Baker for attending the joint meeting with the Ferndale School Board of Directors on August 17.

12. CLOSED SESSION - for the purpose of consulting with our Attorney regarding trial or settlement strategy in connection with specific pending litigation because an open meeting would have a detrimental financial effect on the litigating or settlement position of the public body as permitted by Act 267 of 1976 Section 8(e).

There not being a sufficient number of Council Members present for the statutorily required 2/3 vote to adjourn to closed session, the closed session was postponed until September 14, 2009.

13. ADJOURNMENT

There being no objections, Mayor Covey adjourned the meeting at 9:33 p.m.

J. Cherilynn Tallman, City Clerk