Month: January 2025

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December 9, 2024 City Council Meeting

Introduction:

Links to the video recording and the council packet are at the bottom of this post. Please note any errors or omissions in the comments. Anything noted in brackets was inserted by Clarkston Sunshine.

Agenda Item #1, Call to Order (Video time mark 0:00:00):

Sue Wylie said so, I’m going to call the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Agenda Item #2, Pledge of Allegiance (Video time mark 0:00:04):

Wylie said and if everybody would please rise and say the Pledge of Allegiance.

(Pledge said.)

Wylie said thank you everybody.

Agenda Item #3, Roll Call (Video time mark 0:00:30):

Wylie said and okay, call to order. Pledge of Allegiance. And Jonathan [Smith, city manager], I guess you’re still doing roll call. Smith said yes.

Sue Wylie, Laura Rodgers, Al Avery, Gary Casey, Amanda Forte, and Ted Quisenberry were present. Erica Jones was absent.

Wylie said okay, thank you.

Agenda Item #4, Approval of Agenda – Motion (Video time mark 0:00:48):

Wylie said Item #4 on the agenda is approval of the agenda. And so, I need somebody to make a motion to approve of the agenda as presented.

Motion by Casey; second Rodgers.

Wylie said and any discussion on this agenda.

No discussion.

Motion to approve the agenda was adopted by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said the agenda is approved.

Agenda Item #5, Public Comments (Video time mark 0:01:12):

[Though public comments can sometimes irritate the city council, there is value to both the council and the public in hearing them. While they can’t eliminate public comments entirely without violating the Open Meetings Act, your city council has occasionally decided not to acknowledge public comments during a city council meeting unless the person submitting the comments also appears at the meeting (in-person or electronically) to personally read them. In the past, members of the public have been cut off for exceeding the city council’s arbitrary three-minute time limit (it’s arbitrary because no time limits are required by the Open Meetings Act).

If your public comments were submitted to the council but not read, or if you tried to make public comments but your comments were cut short, please email them to clarkstonsunshine@gmail.com and I will include them in my informal meeting summaries either under public comments or under the specific agenda item that you want to speak to.]

Wylie said Item #5 if public comments.

(Wylie read the rules for public comments.)

Wylie said would anybody like to make a public comment.

No comments.

Wylie said okay, we’ll move on. I see Mr. Ryan [Tom Ryan, city attorney] is online.

Agenda Item #6 – FYI: (Video time mark 0:01:46):

Wylie said Item #6 is FYI.

Lake Improvement Board Meeting, December 11th (Video time mark 0:1:50):

    • Notice of Meeting of the Lake Improvement Board, page 3/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said and we’ve got a few items on FYI. One is Lake Improvement Board meeting is December 11th. It’s for the Clarkston Mill Ponds. Wednesday, December 11th, 2024, at 6:45 p.m. at the Clarkston Independence District Library in the community meeting room. That’s 6495 Clarkston Road. And I understand there’s going to be a presentation there from, I don’t know how to say his name. Smith said Ryan Porkowski [spelling?]. Okay. Smith said yes. Wylie said and I think you can even get to the information or something later on, something else. Oh, I think it’s under the city manager report. Under the city manager report. Okay.

Clarkston Holiday Lights Parade, December 14th (Video time mark 0:02:35):

    • Clarkston Holiday Lights Parada flyer (page 4/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said also in FYI is the Clarkston Holiday Lights Parade, is December 14th. I don’t know what time it starts. Rodgers said I think it’s 6:00. Wylie said 6:00 it starts. Okay, 6:00. And I’m assuming Innovate and Illuminate is the theme. And I’m assuming it started down at the Renaissance. I call it the Renaissance Building. Rodgers said yeah, it starts over by the Renaissance Church or something like that. Wylie said it’s going to be – Quisenberry said it starts. Wylie said it used to be – Casey said high school. Wylie said high school. Avery said Renaissance. Rodgers said and it ends at the Trinity Lutheran Church. Wylie said okay. And it goes down – Rodgers said to Calvary. Smith said Church. (Unintelligible crosstalk.)

Clarkston Christmas Market, December 14th (Video time mark 0:03:22):

    • Clarkston Christmas Market flyer (page 5/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said and the next FYI is Clarkston Christmas Market, which is December 14th. Saturday, December 14th, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Depot, Clarkston, Michigan. Santa Claus is coming to town. And the market features pop-up shops and food trucks, free activities for the kids, pony rides, s’mores, games, and a visit with Santa, photos, with Santa available for purchase from Amy Peterson Photography. We have a good number of sponsors, which is wonderful to take a couple of expenses. Rodgers said we have 14 sponsors. So, this year we kind of started to get people calling us asking if they could sponsor it. So that was (unintelligible). Wylie said it sure is. Rodgers said yeah, pray for nice weather and everything else as we get along. Wylie said and this market is brought to you by the City of the Village of Clarkston and Friends of the Community.

Wylie said any comments on anything in FYI or questions.

No comments or questions.

Agenda Item #7 – City Manager’s Report (Video time mark 0:04:17):

    • City Manager’s Report, December 9, 2024 (page 6/40 of the council packet)
    • 12-03-2024 Letter to Clarkston Mill Ponds Residents (page 7/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said moving on, we have Item #7, which is the City Manager’s Report. Wylie asked Smith if he had anything to say. Smith said a couple.

Smith said so, the first item was a follow-up to the last meeting. We asked, have these meeting rules and procedures been approved? And the answer is yes. They were approved on June 13th, 2022. So those are official meeting rules and procedures. They’re not in this packet. They were in the previous packet. And those are guidelines for us to follow.

Smith said (unintelligible) you mentioned the date. There is a meeting at the library. I encourage anybody interested in learning what’s going on with the Mill Pond Dam to go to that event. There will be an opportunity to hear from Ryan Porkowski [spelling?] from the Water Resource Commission. He’ll talk about the lake level study results. And also, they’re going to dive into some of the costs that are being proposed as a recommendation for how to move forward here with the replacement control, water control mechanism. So that will be discussed on the 11th.

Smith said salary study, as you see, it continues to be ongoing. We don’t have any results yet, but that is something that’s ongoing.

And then the park rental fee study was also something that the council, we talked to the council about doing. And so that’s underway, and we’ll have to have some recommendations for park fees in the January 13th meeting.

Smith said two other items that are not on the list. One is I have received today for each one of the newly elected or re-elected council members, a form from Oakland County Clerk. And we have to fill this out. This is to, an affidavit for campaign finance compliance. So, any of you that were elected or re-elected will need to fill this out. You can do that after the meeting. I also have your certificates showing you, and they’ll go on the wall with the others, showing that you are officially have been elected.

Smith said the other comment that I want to make is the staff has been working on a proposal. This is just a – I should have brought it up. Maybe while I’m doing this, my assistants can help. So, we’ve been looking into the possibility of purchasing iPads for the council. So instead of having all this paper in front of you, you have an iPad. And you could – thank you. So, I’ll pass this along. You can enlarge it. You can scroll through it. We can get you a little stand so you can just have it on an angle in front of you. It’s a proposal that’s – you might say, well, why do we need all that? Well, we can get these through Walmart for as little as $60 apiece. Very good price. It’s got a ton of memory on it. It would be used – the recommendation would be only used for city council work. So, you can connect right here. We’re connected to the WiFi here in the office. At your home, you could do the same thing. You could bring up emails. You could bring up the agenda packet, which is the primary thought here, is let’s eliminate all this paper and go to this iPad that will allow you to view it just electronically. It’s just kind of moving us into the 21st century. I think a lot of other municipalities that I visit and talk to, they’ve already gone to this long ago. If not an iPad, then some even have personal computers that they give to the council. They have to be returned if they don’t win the election. But they would be the property of the city but used by our council members. So, I did not bring a proposal tonight. I’m just bringing the idea to you tonight, and we’ll bring a proposal to you in January. So just something to think about.

Wylie said anybody have any questions or comments for Smith.

Quisenberry said has to do with FOIA. What implications will this have as far as anybody FOIA-ing? Are the iPads, and this may just have, ideally, just city business, but is that going to complicate either somebody that is requesting it or even us if they have some, I’m trying to figure out, just using that and then now knowing that anything that you do or put on it is now going to be subject to a FOIA to be given.

Smith said that is true, but it’s true for whatever device you use, to whether you access, however you do e-mails, for example. That’s where FOIA comes into play is your e-mail. So, whether you use your phone, an iPad, a laptop, a computer, whatever you use is going to be subject to a FOIA request. But that’s why we give all of you a city e-mail account. We encourage you to do all of your business on that city e-mail account because if you do something on your personal e-mail account, potentially other documents could then become exposed in a FOIA request. So, we encourage you to use the city e-mail account where that should be only city business. So, if a FOIA request were to come in, it would all be housed in that one spot. Again, I don’t think the iPad changes that. It’s just how you get to your e-mail account, and whether that’s an iPad or a phone or whatever, it’s going to be subject to FOIA. Avery said right, and if you use it for personal use or whatever, the city’s going to be able to get access to it. Quisenberry said right.

Quisenberry said the other question I have on it is on here, I’ll write notes about somebody that said something, or who did public comment or whatever. Is there going to be a capability on that to put entry information in, type in something that will then be able to scroll down so you can see notes on anything that you took? Smith said well, that’s a good question. So, the thought was it’s just a read-only document, and you couldn’t modify it. But could there be a way that you could take notes, so you don’t have to have a pad of paper with you, I think is your question. Quisenberry said yes, exactly. Smith said so, that’s something we’d have to look into, to see whether that’s a possibility. There are applications you can put on your iPad or phone or whatever for note-taking called Notes. And we could get you something like that, but I think where you’re going with this, you’d like to see the notes with the corresponding packet. I’d have to see if there’s a way to do that. Quisenberry said sure. Smith said right on the document.

Wylie said anybody else.

Smith said keep in mind, just a quick side-on, that any notes that you take are subject to FOIA. Quisenberry said sure. Smith said even if they’re just on your paper copy, they would be potentially subject to FOIA. If I send out a request to you saying, I received a FOIA request today from Bob Jones or whoever, and he’s asking for all of your notes relative to the discussion on Topic X back in the December meeting. I would need to get a copy of all of this. Quisenberry said and that would be no problem, because anything that’s written down here is known that it’s FOIA-able, as long as it’s a matter of, what you just said, keeping in one place rather than having (unintelligible).

Wylie said anybody else have questions or comments on the whole city manager report.

Wylie recognized Cara Catallo for a comment.

Catallo said I was just curious, since we were bringing up FOIA, the last meeting I suggested potentially keeping the community informed that there’s been fresh FOIAs since the last meeting. And my follow-up related question would be, if you’ve made any progress on finally charging the FOIA-ers for the time that they cost our community.

Smith said yes and no, kind of. I have made some progress in working with our FOIA attorney, Mr. Carlito Young, relative to that, and how do we do this? How do we charge for FOIAs? So, I was all excited last week when I turned over a request to him with a FOIA cost worksheet attached to it. And it was a relatively small request, so it was only $52.50 in cost. And I was proposing that this be passed along to the requestor. Carlito said, you know, it’s too close to the $50. Our threshold in the city guidance under the FOIA heading, if you look for it, you’ll see that the city does not charge for costs that are $50 or less. What we don’t charge is less than $50. So, my calculation, just as luck would have it, came out to $52. It’s just, I wouldn’t try to do that in this case because it could result in some challenging, or even lawsuits. So, for $2.50 over the minimum, I wouldn’t try it. So, for this one FOIA that I’ve received since we enacted this agreement, we’re going to start charging for every FOIA, which we are. In this particular case, the first case, I was a little discouraged. He said, no, let’s not charge for this one. So, we’re not charging.

(To Catallo), Smith said but the other question you’re asking is yes. I am putting together a spreadsheet, and it’s not in my city manager report tonight, but it will be. I’m going to start. I said in the last meeting I’ve got a vision of what this tracking spreadsheet will look like, and that will be in the city manager report, just as the point of information for council. So, you know that I spent, or the staff, spent X amount of hours on this FOIA, asking about trees in Depot Park or whatever, you know. So that’s what we’re going to start doing. That’s still a plan. It’s just not in tonight’s meeting.

Wylie sked if Quisenberry had something. You’re just stretching.

Wylie said where did this $50 minimum come from? Is that something that’s – (interrupting Wylie), Smith said it’s been on, or since according to the date on the document, since April 2018. Wylie said 18. Smith said 18. Forte said on what? Our ordinance? Smith said yes. It’s under FOIA ordinance, FOIA documents on our website that FOIA costs less than $50 will not be passed along to the requester. (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Smith said could we alter that? Absolutely. Absolutely. Casey said we should be charging for everything. Forte said yeah, I agree.

Smith said okay. So, I’ll bring that to a future council meeting, and we can dissect that and if there’s agreement, if that’s what council would like to do, which I absolutely will for Ryan, to get that change made. Forte said because then it’s not subjective to like, okay, we’re $2, but we’re $50, and it’s such a small budget, it makes a difference. Rodgers said yeah, and is that like cumulative, or like if you ask for something, and I’m going to actually ask for something else? Smith said yeah. Yeah, by a thousand paper cuts. Well, no. Casey said each one stands on its own. Smith said right. Right. Casey said to answer your question, you can charge for anything you want. Smith said right. Rodgers said or, as we are right now, none of them. They’re clearly less than $50. Avery said right. Right. We’re not Independence Township. We’re not 40,000 residents. We’re kind of small. I think it’s probably a good idea to charge. That way there’s no discretion in this.

Wylie said anybody. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Anybody else? All right. (To Smith), thank you.

Agenda Item #8 – Sheriff’s Report (Video time mark 0:17:44):

    • Oakland County Sheriff Department, Independence Substation, cumulative report through October 2024 (page 8/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said moving on Item #8 is the Sheriff’s report, which is included, and I don’t see any representatives here. So, I guess if you have any questions or comments, maybe tell Smith, and he can pass them on, or we’ll wait until next time. I don’t know. (To Smith), are they still coming? Smith said so, John [Sergeant John Ashley], I think I caught him by surprise, I asked that they send us the November report. What I have online here is not the November report, but what’s in the packet, I believe, does have a column for November. I asked Sergeant Ashley and his assistant, in light of the fact that we may not have a second meeting in December, can she give me the November results earlier? So, she did that, but I neglected to get the packet updated, the online packet. Wylie said oh, okay.

Smith said so, for those of you that don’t have it, remember that November came in at 66 calls for service overall versus 80 in October versus 62 in September. So that’s kind of back down a little bit, more towards our kind of normal cycle. But if council has any questions, I’m happy to pass them along to Sergeant Ashley and get an answer back to you.

Wylie said anybody have questions or comments on the Sheriff’s report or anything for Smith to pass on. Smith said or either October or November, because both of those are (unintelligible) to me.

No comments.

Agenda Item #9 – Consent Agenda (Video time mark 0:19:23):

    • 11-12-2024 Final Minutes (page 9/40 of the council packet)
    • 11-25-2024 Draft Minutes (page 12/40 of the council packet)
    • 12-09-2024 Treasurer’s Report (page 14/40 of the council packet)
    • 12-04-2024 Check Disbursement Report, 11-01-2024-11-30-2024 (page 15/40 of the council packet)
    • Thomas J. Ryan, P.C., November Invoice (page 23/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said okay, let’s move on to Item #9, which is the consent agenda, which includes the final minutes of the November 12, 2024, regular meeting, draft minutes of the November 25 regular meeting, treasurer’s report for December 9, 2024. And I need a motion and then a second to accept the consent agenda.

Motion by Quisenberry; second Avery.

Wylie said is there any comments or questions or discussion from council.

No comments.

Wylie said anybody in the public.

No comments.

Motion to approve the consent agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said then the consent agenda is approved.

Agenda Item #10, Unfinished Business (Video time mark 0:20:07):

Item 10a – Motion: Historic District Commission, Appointment of M. Luginski Replacement (Video time mark 0:20:09; page /40 of the council packet)

    • Motion – Historic District Commission Appointment (page 26/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said Item #10 is unfinished business. We have a motion, Historic District Commission appointment, Melissa Luginski replacement. I got a text message this afternoon from Annette, who said that, Zemon-Parker, who apologizes, she’s not able to attend tonight, she’s can’t because she’s sick, but she’s still interested. And she, we got her resume, and she spoke to us at the last meeting. And it looks like, you know, let me go back and just open this up.

(Wylie read the motion.)

Wylie said so, we’ll need a motion and a second to appoint an individual to fill this open HDC [Historic District Commission] position. And as I did last time, I’d like once again to motion to appoint Annette Zemon-Parker. Second Rodgers.

Wylie said okay. And any discussion from anybody on council?

No discussion.

Wylie said any discussion or comments from anybody in the public.

Wylie recognized Cara Catallo for a comment.

Catallo said one was, I can’t recall that anybody asked if she had an interest in preservation, and that’s one thing that’s critical with that particular post, that you’re supposed to at least have that interest. And I’ll say, I have nothing against her. I spoke with her at the meeting, and I think that she probably would do a great job. And then the other thing that sort of irks me that I thought about afterwards, that two of you made a statement that like, you know, have to show up and you should be here if you’re interested. And it just sort of was difficult because we kept open, like we didn’t have a mayor for more than 50 days. So, it didn’t seem very empathetic towards others who might be considering this position. And there was somebody else who was considering, but decided not to, in large part because our community is so sort of viciously attacked by cyberbullies. So, that’s something that I hope that this council will at some point sort of, I know there’s nothing we can do to stop the cyberbullies, but it’s a drag to lose somebody who wants to serve for free in a very difficult position because they just don’t want to deal with somebody tearing them apart online. But there’s a side effect.

Wylie said thank you.

Wylie said anybody else in the public have questions or comments on this.

No comments.

Wylie said let’s see, we have a motion. So, we’ve got a first and a second to appoint Zemon-Parker.

Motion to appoint Zemon-Parker to the HDC passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said so, she’s appointed. That’s Annette Zemon-Parker. Motion is adopted.

Agenda Item #11, New Business (Video time mark 0:23:45):

Wylie said on to Item #11 on the agenda, New Business.

Item 11a – Motion: Request to Hold the Annual Angel’s Place Race in Clarkston May 10, 2023 (Video time mark 0:23:49):

    • Motion – May 10, 2025 Angels’ Place Race (page 27/40 of the council packet)
    • Angels’ Place Race – 10K Course (page 28/40 of the council packet)
    • Angels’ Place Race – 5K Course (page 29/40 of the council packet)
    • Angels’ Place Race – One Mile Fun Run/Walk Course (page 30/40 of the council packet)
    • Certificate of Liability Insurance (page 31/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said we’ve got a motion. Request to hold the annual Angels Place Race in Clarkston, May 10th, 2025. And we’ve got Paul Maxwell. Can you speak on that? And looks like you have (unintelligible) again tonight. I know I’ve seen you.

Maxwell said thank you. I want to introduce Rick Clark. He’s the race day operations lead. And Ann Clifton is the co-registration lead. Basically, thank you to the council for the last 17 years for your great support of the race. We bring in, with runners and volunteers and spectators, 5-600. This past year, very special. We had a number of people lining the streets. The residents were high fiving the deputies. So, it was very good.

Maxwell said our 18th race is scheduled for May 10th, 2025. No changes to the route. Sergeant Ashley, Captain Dan White with the Independence Fire Department, and I work with Smith very closely on this race with the Oakland County Sheriff and Independence Fire. We have a safety meeting in March to go over the route and make sure that there isn’t any issues safety-wise. Rick can answer more specific questions about the race if any folks have those questions. I can answer general questions about Angel’s Place, the organization, if you do.

Maxwell said this is the annual program that is given out, dinner program, the bigger fundraiser. This is smaller in comparison to this, that describes the race, pictures. I gave Wylie a copy. I have a couple more if anyone is interested. So, I will put some of that here (unintelligible). And I’ll bring up, I do have a sign for the race that you can only post up there to advertise. But it’s a good thing. It’s bringing in folks to Clarkston that normally may not come to Clarkston. And over the 17 years, we get some repeat folks, but we get some new ones too. So, it’s the ambiance of Clarkston. It’s a real positive thing on many factors. So, with that, are there any questions?

Wylie said before we do that, let me read the motion because maybe some of the questions will be answered in the motion. Maxwell said OK.

(Wylie read the motion.)

Wylie said eventually, we’ll need to vote on the motion in a second to approve the plan for the Angel’s Place Race. But before we do that, does anybody have any questions for Maxwell or for Clark or Clifton?

Wylie recognized Forte for a question.

Forte said is this your primary fundraising. Maxwel said no, no, no. This dinner program that I was showing you, they have, like, 900 people that come here, and it’s down in Dearborn, and they raise quite a bit of money. We raise a minimal amount compared to what they raise, but it’s the awareness and, you know, just making them aware of Angel’s Place and the developmentally disabled adults. My mom was one of the founders of Angel’s Place. Five women, by themselves, at a kitchen table, started it in 1992. It’s grown from one home to 22 homes, and my sister’s at one of the homes, too. So, it’s a win-win.

Clifton said we do raise, I mean, I don’t think it’s small potatoes. Maxwell said well, compared to what they raise at the dinner, yeah. We gross anywhere in the 38, low 40s, you know. But then we have additional expenses. The sheriff. But we got to have those.

Forte said and where is it based down there? Maxwell said Southfield, yeah. So, I live, you know, a mile away from here, and we work with the township, and it crosses both the village and the township. So, it’s a multi-jurisdictional effort.

Wylie said I always thought it was the Clarkston and Waterford area. When you mentioned Dearborn and now Southfield, I thought it was local, but I didn’t realize how big it was. Maxwell said yeah, right.

Wylie said anybody else have questions or comments?

(To Maxwell), Smith said I had a question. Maxwell said yes, sir. Smith said so, I had written down from last year that the road closure of Main Street, which is essentially the topic here, right, that it was from 9:15 to 10:00. Is that a fair window? Clark said oh, yes. Smith said it would be done by 10:00. Clark said yes. Clifton said it would be well done by 10:00. Yeah, well done by 10:00. Maxwell said well, done by 10:00. Smith said all right.

Quisenberry said as far as closure is looking at, because it’s southbound, the road isn’t totally closed, if I’m understanding right. You’re going to have officers at each end doing the stop-start sign and all that. Clark said correct. Maxwell said and we have, you know, the orange signs placed on White Lake, or Holcomb, White Lake Road near the Deer Lake, and then one on North M-15 to kind of alert the folks. Clark said so, all the critical intersections to your point. We have a sheriff, one or two, along with one of our marshals also going to help assist you.

Maxwell said we have a vast array of volunteers, race day volunteers. These folks here are great. We have a total of 14 volunteers that are in the planning, and this is a 10-month planning. And without them, we would not have a race, so, and the race day volunteers. We overemphasize safety and everyone having a safe, good time. Clifton said and I will say in regards to the closure of M-15, that is a highlight of the race for many of us that run it, is being able to run down the middle of M-15. It really is. Avery said yeah, no, you guys have been doing it for years now. It’s never been a problem. You run a tight ship and do a good job. Clark said thank you.

Wylie said any of those questions or comments from the council.

No comments or questions.

Wylie said anybody in the public. Questions about the Angel’s Place race before we vote on this?

No comments or questions.

Wylie said no. Okay, so we have a—oh, no, we don’t have a motion yet. So, I need a motion and a second to approve the plans for the May 10, 2025, Angel’s Place race through the Village of Clarkston.

Motion by Avery; second Forte.

Wylie said and we’ve already had our discussion.

Motion to approve the Angel’s Place Race adopted by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said the motion is adopted. Thank you very much.

Maxwell said one quick question, and Smith has been great. In the past, you’ve been able to help us with the Chamber of Commerce, and we’ve had that for this year, too. Smith said sure. Maxwell said a little publicizing. Smith said absolutely. Maxwell said okay. Thank you all. (Wylie made an unintelligible comment.) Maxwell said I’ll leave some on the back here.

Wylie said okay. Thank you very much. Clark thanked Wylie.

Item 11b – Motion: 2025 City Council Meeting Schedule (Video time mark 0:32:40):

    • Motion – 2025 City Council Meeting Schedule (page 32/40 of the council packet)
    • 2025 City Council Meeting Dates (page 33/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said and we are on Item #11b, Motion – 2025 City Council Meeting Schedule. And we have a motion to propose 2025 City Council Meeting Schedule as attached following the normal 2nd and 4th Monday cadence as closely as possible. And I need a motion and a second to approve this city council meeting schedule.

Motion by Rodgers; second Casey.

Wylie said is there any discussion from council.

No discussion.

Wylie said any discussion from the public.

No discussion.

Motion to adopt the 2025 city council meeting agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said the motion is adopted.

Item 11c – Motion: Cancellation of the December 23rd City Council Meeting (Video time mark 0:33:40):

    • Motion – Cancel the December 23, 2024 City Council Meeting (page 34/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said next, we have Item #11C, a motion, Cancellation of the December 23rd City Council Meeting as done in previous years.

(Wylie read the motion.)

Wylie said and I need a motion and a second to cancel the meeting.

Motion by Wylie; second Rodgers.

Wylie said any discussion.

No discussion. Wylie said okay.

Motion to cancel the December 23, 2024, city council meeting passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said that motion is adopted.

Item 11d – Resolution – Extension of the Contractual Clerk Agreement (Video time mark 0:34:24):

    • Resolution – Contractual Clerk Agreement (page 35/40 of the council packet)
    • Agreement to Hire Contractual Clerk Assistant Through February 28, 2025 (page 36/40 of the council packet)

Wylie said Item #11d is Resolution, Extension of a Contractual Clerk Agreement.

(Wylie read the resolution.)

Wylie said and I’ll need a, well, this is a resolution. So, I’ll need someone to resolve and then a second on that.

Resolution by Rodgers; second Quisenberry.

Wylie said and now we have discussion.

Wylie said anybody on council, anything they want to question or discuss.

Wylie said I do. I actually do about the pay. The contract reads is that Angie [Guillen, contract clerk assistant] would be, I got to find it on here. I think it’s called a contract clerk. Contractor service page 2 of 5. It’s looking for the title of her job. Contractor service. There’s something else. Smith said well, the heading is contractual clerk. Wylie said okay. I guess that’s what I saw, the contractual clerk assistant. And it looks like we’re paying more clerk salary. And I just want to know what clerk, because you’re still operating as a clerk. We’re still paying Evelyn [Bihl] as a deputy clerk. And I just want to kind of have things, I guess, explained better.

Smith said okay. So first of all, me is acting as acting clerk. My salary did not change. I understand that. No additional salary coming my way as being the appointed temporary clerk. Bihl, yes, is working. She’s been as the deputy clerk. She continues on. She’s back now that the election is over. She’s back to normal cadence two days a week, about 20 hours a week. Greg [Coté, treasurer] said that’s right. Smith said so, that will fall back down to a normal level. So, Guillen’s pay will largely be coming from the clerk pay line on the budget. We have a contractual services line. And during the election, I believe, I’d have to check with Coté, I believe we’re using that during the election period. But now that that’s over, the plan would be to use the clerk’s salary, which is just sitting there and not being used, to basically pay Guillen. So that’s where the money’s going to be coming from. Yes, as you know, my plan is to hire Guillen as a permanent clerk, and then she would, her wages would be coming out of the budget. But right now, technically they could come from either the contractual services line or the salary budget. I think they should be coming from the salary budget. They’ll just be a little bit larger or not for a larger period of time than what I’ve been bringing forward to you.

Smith said so, this is the third extension. Wylie said right. Smith said well, there’s the original one and two extensions. Coté said yes. Smith said so, the first couple were in the $7,500 range because they were for about six weeks. This one is $10,200 because it’s for a full two months. The $40 an hour rate works out to a higher number than what we currently are paying our clerk, or were paying our clerk. So, I am sensitive to that too. You need to watch that. But I want to keep Guillen on at least until we’ve made a decision. I’m hoping it’s a permanent position for her. But at least until we know what the finance committee is going to recommend after seeing the salary study. Again, my hope is that the finance committee will look at this and say, well, we want to keep Guillen, so we’re going to have to step up to the salary increase and keep Guillen. But I, just the fact that I haven’t heard back yet from a consultant makes me think that this is going to take a little bit more time, and the finance committee hasn’t even had one meeting yet to discuss this. So, I’m just thinking it’s going to at least take the month of January. It might even go into the month of February by the time we take a recommendation back to council.

Rodgers said did they give you any indication as to when this will be done. And does the finance committee have a date in mind that they’re going to meet on this? Smith said I’ve been waiting to schedule that meeting with the finance committee. I’m waiting to hear back from them. They told me it would be done by year end. And it says ideally, it’d be even by mid-December. Well, we’ll get a little closer to mid-December. I haven’t heard anything from them. I’ve been talking to them, answering some questions they’ve asked, but no firm timing. I’m probably going to hear like December 23rd. Okay, here’s your results. Too late at that point to schedule a meeting. So, I’m just kind of waiting to have something in hand before I schedule a meeting.

Wylie said and my question is nothing personal. (Guillen shook her head no.) Wylie said I don’t, I can’t at this point evaluate your work, but I know Smith’s happy, and everyone’s been happy, and I assume Coté’s been happy with what’s going on. My concern is we’re paying a lot of money. We’re paying more money. We’re paying a lot of money for the contract work, and I don’t know that she’s doing the clerk’s work. And we’ve been, so Bihl’s hours may have shifted now, but we’re still, I think, paying for the extra money to be the deputy clerk, and I don’t know that she is doing deputy clerk work anymore. I mean, it was a big, it was all a big deal when we were facing an election. Smith said right. Wylie said and having Guillen in, stepping in, showing up at our doorstop was just, it was a miracle. So, but we’ve kind of gotten through that. So, I’m just a little concerned about still paying a lot of money that the finance committee hasn’t agreed to. We don’t, you say it’s because the money is coming from the clerk’s pay, but the clerk, we never budgeted that much money.

Smith said you’re right. Now, it just emphasizes the need for urgency. As soon as I have the salary study in hand, we need to meet as soon as we can. I’m not likely to be having a meeting the holiday week, but if there’s time before the holiday week, I’d like to get something scheduled here on books. So as soon as I see those results, I will reach out to the finance committee, which is again Wylie, Quisenberry, Avery, myself, and Coté. I’ll get that group together, and we can talk about how to address what’s in the recommendation. Wylie said okay.

Quisenberry said this first meeting, it’s the 13th. So, it’s possible you would individually contact the members of the finance committee and set up a meeting outside or bring someone here. Because if we wanted to do that, we’d probably want to set the date now or sometime after the 13th or something. But I have no problem. If you want to just wait and say, hey, if you guys aren’t doing anything on New Year’s Day, we want to come in, and come on in. Wylie said just the two of you. (Unintelligible council crosstalk.) Wylie said anyway. Smith said I figured as soon as I saw that, I would send out an email to the three of you and see who should come up with a common date.

Quisenberry said so, I thought I had it, but I was confused a little bit. I was confused with Wylie, with your question. You said we’re spending money out of a line item for contractor services, correct? But we’re not spending money out of a line item for the clerk’s salary, correct? Smith said well, to get the answer, I’ll have to ask Coté what, like, the original agreement with Guillen for election assistance I know came out of the contractual services line. The subsequent one to now shift into a clerk, and what this one is also, these two agreements, I’ll have to find out exactly where they’re being pulled from. Quisenberry said we have not taken, say, a budget adjustment and moved money from the clerk’s salary into contracted employees’ salary to offset what we weren’t anticipating in the contract. Smith said right. So, you’re asking good questions and ones that we need to answer and show you exactly where the monies are coming from so far and where they will come from through February 28th, if this is approved. So, yes, we can get you a schedule to show you exactly where the monies are coming from. It’s a valid concern that you have and you’re expressing a fiduciary responsibility, right, to make sure that we’re spending money in an appropriate way.

Quisenberry said I would think that since September, no money would have come out of the clerk’s line item. Smith said right. Avery said they did it with council approval. Forte said it’s on page 2 of the agreement. Smith said right. Quisenberry said okay. Forte said it’s under Fund 101, if I’m looking at your agreement. Page 2. Quisenberry said oh. Forte said under the paper. No, not that one.

Casey said I think we ought to let Smith (unintelligible). Rodgers said okay. Wylie said yeah, we’re not going to answer this right now. I did want to bring that up because it is a concern because even if we’re not pulling directly from (unintelligible) the clerk right now, we are paying more money than we anticipated for clerks. Quisenberry said right.

Wylie said anybody else have questions or comments on council.

No questions or comments.

Wylie said anybody in the public.

Bihl said I do, and Wylie recognized her for a comment.

Bihl said since I was appointed deputy clerk a year prior to that, our office is very small, and we cross-train in a lot of areas. We really have to because if somebody’s out for an emergency or whatever, or like the clerk left, we can kind of scoop up what we know to keep things flowing. So as Guillen and I are working right now, we’re doing the same thing. We are cross-training. We’re learning each other’s jobs because we are small, and that’s kind of where we’re going forward. If I’m out, she can help. If she’s out, I can help answer somebody. So, I don’t know if our jobs are defined narrow in a cylinder anymore. We have to broaden them out so that we can conduct business (unintelligible). Wylie said it’s a good point because we were, lost a clerk. Bihl said that’s right. Wylie said fortunately, we had you available to step in, and I guess it’s probably something I’ll just keep in mind when you back up. Bihl said yes. So as Guillen starts now, we just finished a few things, and she’ll talk about that, but I’m going to show her some things that I do. She takes in sewer bills and things. We’re going to start working on BS&A [municipal software program] together. So, if I’m out, she can do it, just like Karen [DeLorge, former city clerk] and I did. So, we have to do that. We can’t work in cylinders anymore.

Wylie said anybody else.

Guillen said let’s just also remind council that I receive no benefits, no holiday pay. So anytime we’re closed, Veteran’s Day, Christmas, those days I will not be paid for as well, nor do I get mileage for my commute. So, none of that is in my contract. So, I just wanted to mention that. Insurance is still expensive as well. Wylie said when you say insurance, are you talking about health insurance? Guillen said so, I get no health care. I get no benefits at all. So, I just wanted to mention that. Yes, I do receive a higher wage, but I get no benefits. Wylie said I understand. I just thought maybe there was some kind of clerk insurance that you had. Guillen said I wish.

Wylie said okay, so I closed the page. So, we have read the resolution, and Rodgers made the resolution, Quisenberry seconded, and if there’s no more discussion, we’ll do a roll call. Smith said okay.

Avery, Casey, Forte, Quisenberry, Rodgers, and Wylie voted yes.

Wylie said and the resolution is adopted. Thank you.

Agenda Item #12, Adjourn Meeting (Video time mark 0:48:26):

Wylie said and last item. Yeah, last item on the agenda is adjourn meeting. I’ll take a motion to adjourn the meeting. Smith said before we do that, I know that Guillen had a message she wanted to pass along to council that we just learned about today.

Guillen said so, we just got clarification today from the Oakland County Board of Canvassers that we had a clean election. We had no discrepancies in our paperwork or processes for the state general election. So, I’m pleased to announce that. And then also we’re waiting to see when and if we’ll be included in the state audit. They’re waiting on, like recounts and things like that if there’s any kind of lawsuit. So, we’re just kind of in a holding pattern for that audit until then.

Forte said that’s great. (Other council members expressed thanks.)

Wylie said and before we do adjourn, a reminder, those of you who were just elected, you have to see Smith at the end to (unintelligible) election stuff.

Wylie said okay. We need a motion to adjourn the meeting.

Motion by Rodgers, second Forte.

Wylie said and any discussion.

No discussion.

Motion to adjourn the meeting passed by unanimous voice vote.

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