July 10, 2023, 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

The meeting was not formally called to order.

Eric Haven said well everyone, it’s seven o’clock. Snuck up on us. Let’s say the pledge to the flag, shall we?

Agenda Item #2, Pledge of Allegiance (Video time mark 0:00:08):

Pledge said.

Agenda Item #3, Roll Call (Video time mark 0:00:22):

Haven welcomed everyone and asked if they would be seated. Haven asked Karen [DeLorge, city clerk] to take the roll call.

Sue Wylie, Amanda Forte, Laura Rodgers, Mark Lamphier, Gary Casey, and Eric Haven were present.

Bruce Fuller was absent.

City attorney Tom Ryan said that someone is here from Instacart (unintelligible) delivery service. A man in the audience said he was looking for Terry Cope(?). DeLorge said it is Instagram’s [Instacart’s?] fault. It’s incorrect. They send you to this address, and the person does not live here. The delivery person said oh, so this has happened before. City manager Jonathan Smith said yes. The delivery person said all right, thank you. DeLorge said she was so sorry. Haven said it’s the day in which we live. Wylie said is that (unintelligible) donuts.

Agenda Item #4, Approval of Agenda (Video time mark 0:01:16):

Haven said all right, they’ve taken the roll and they’ve said the pledge. Haven said he would entertain a motion to approve the agenda that they’ve been given in their packet.

Motion by Wylie; second Rodgers.

Haven asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

Motion to approve the agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.

Agenda Item #5, Public Comments (Video time mark 0:01:37):

[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 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, but this is a rule that they occasionally adhere to (or not). Mayor Eric Haven has also cut people 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), another rule that they occasionally adhere to (or not).

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 by the mayor, 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.]

Haven read the rules for public comment and asked if anyone wanted to make a public comment this evening.

Haven recognized a man in the audience who stepped up to the podium. Haven asked him to state his name.

The man said his name is David Silverman.

Haven thanked Silverman.

David Silverman:

Silverman said he is the head of adult services at the Clarkston Independence District Library. He said he was there tonight because the Friends of the Library have decided to sponsor programs for them from time to time. And one of the ones that they are looking at in September or October, depending on the weather, they’re reserving, they’re putting on a program with a band called Klezundheit, which is a Detroit klezmer group organized in 2014 to play traditional and modern klezmer music, which involves a blend of central and eastern European music, Romani, Israelis, Balkan, and just kind of general jazz music.

Silverman said the reason he’s there tonight is to ask for consideration for an in-kind partnership to waive the fee for reserving the gazebo in Depot Park for a reserved September 9th date that they’re going for, along with an inclement weather backup date of October 7^th.

Haven said OK, so basically, it’s a concert, right, that’s what you’re suggesting?  Silverman said yes.

Haven asked if it was being sponsored by the library. Silverman said by the Friends of the Library. Haven said for the Friends. Silverman said this would be a free, family-friendly community event that any and all are of course invited to.

Silverman said he has been witness to a few concerts, the Chamber’s Music in the Park series. As part of his role at the library, he’s a Chamber ambassador as well. So, he’s been to a few of those concerts, scooping ice cream, and seeing the great turnouts that Depot Park has the opportunity to provide.

Haven asked Silverman to spell klezmer, is that what he said? Silverman said the style is klezmer. That’s K-L-E-Z-M-E-R. Haven said it’s a style, not an instrument. Silverman said that was correct. Haven said like a dulcimer or something like that. Silverman said no, the instrumental style would be a little brass, some woodwinds, and some strings. Think clarinets and trumpets and things like that.

Wylie said and the band’s called Klezundheit? Silverman said Klezundheit, yes. Kleizuntite, yes. It’s a play on the Yiddish word, gezuntheit. Haven said that’s a word in Yiddish, huh? Silverman said yes. Haven said that’s what you say when someone sneezes. Silverman said correct. Wylie said God bless you. Silverman said exactly.

Haven said all right, so you’re making a request of us to waive the fee, which would be $200, is that right? Something like that for use of the gazebo for that evening, right? And the festivities that surround that. [Note: The fee for non-residents, is $250, not $200.] Haven said they do this periodically. They do it periodically for everyone, for 501(c)(3) organizations, for charitable organizations. They’ll typically waive it because they’re non-profit.

Haven said he didn’t know if the library is a 501(c)(3) and asked Silverman if he knew. Wylie said but they’re the Friends. It’s different. Silverman said so, the Friends, which is the 501(c)(3) arm – Haven asked if Silverman was sure. Is he sure they’re a 501(c)(3)? Haven said because he was part of the Friends for a while. He knows they’re the Friends. He knows that they’re involved in doing things for the (unintelligible). Haven said he wondered if they’re formally a 501(c)(3). Silverman said he believed so. Haven said Silverman better check. Silverman better check and see. He appreciates Silverman bringing it to them. He would refer Silverman to Smith, who they’ve talked with throughout the week and let’s figure out how they want to proceed with this.

Smith said he’d asked Silverman just to come to the meeting tonight to acclimate them to his request. Smith said they will bring a proposal forward at a subsequent meeting, or a motion, he should say. But yes, they’ll verify that it is a 501(c)(3). (Laughter.) Haven suggested that Silverman work with Smith. Haven said they’ll look at it.

Casey asked what hours did they anticipate? Silverman said so, they’re looking at an early afternoon concert. He thinks they had tentatively said like 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. It would be a Saturday afternoon concert on September 9^th, again, with a backup date of October 7th.

Forte said if we know they are 501(c)(3), why can’t they go forward with making a motion? Haven asked Forte if she wanted to make a motion. Forte said yeah, she would like to make a motion to approve that they can use the park.

[See Clarkston Sunshine comment below.]

Haven asked if there was a second. Wylie seconded the motion.

Haven asked if there was any discussion.

Rodgers said she was curious, what kind of music is it? Is it classical music? Is it – Silverman said the best way he could describe klezmer music, like eastern European folk, jazzy. There are some vocals with it, but it would overall be like folk jazz. Rodgers said got you.

Forte said it sounds great. More culture in Clarkston. Haven said another event in the park.

Casey asked Smith if he was comfortable going forward now. So, he’s comfortable going forward now. If the council was ready to vote on it, let’s go ahead and get it out of the way.

Haven told Silverman they have to hold the city harmless. Indemnification for the city on your insurance policy. Silverman said yes, their [CIDL] director, Julie Meredith, has already made contact with the insurance to just sort of confirm that. Haven said to add us to the policy.

Haven asked if there was any other discussion from council. Wylie said she was looking to see if they are a 501(c)(3) and she can’t find it. Rodgers pointed and said she [unidentified] was just showing it to them. Wylie said OK.

Haven asked if there was any other discussion.

No additional discussion.

Haven said OK, they had a motion and a second.

Ryan asked if the motion included the insurance, additional insured of the City of the Village [of Clarkston]?  Haven said that’s what he was referring to. Ryan said well, that should be part of the motion. He would say they may want to it to be family friendly and easy, but it’s difficult, he thinks, to have people walk in here and make a request without, he means, they can do whatever they want, but it’s going to get cold.

Rodgers asked if Silverman could make it a formal proposal and bring it to the next meeting and vote on it in two weeks? Would that give him still enough time? Silverman said oh, sure. Smith said right, that tells the town, and plus, they would have to change the agenda tonight, right? Ryan said well, it’s not even on the agenda. Smith said that’s what he means. Ryan said right. He wasn’t trying to over lawyer. Rodgers said just to make it all, like – Silverman said documented. Rodgers said yes. Silverman said absolutely. Rodgers said yes, let’s do that. Smith said he would bring a motion to the next meeting. He wants you to write a motion (unintelligible).

Smith said they already have a first and second. (To Ryan), Wylie said they need to do something to table it. Ryan said that’s what his suggestion would be.

Rodgers asked if they voted now, then can Silverman bring it back as a proposal in two weeks, like just because we want to have it in writing? Smith said right, but what he was saying to Ryan is they’re going to change the agenda to add a motion, and they have to vote on that first. Rodgers said oh, gotcha. Smith said then they can vote on this. Smith said they can do it tonight if that’s what the council wants.

Ryan said the motion to change the agenda has to be announced.

Casey said he thought they should table it. Rodgers said just until the next meeting. Wylie said yes. (Wylie made an unintelligible comment and pointed at Ryan.) Ryan said well, the motion to table it would be by somebody else and that takes precedence. Wylie said oh. Ryan said he means, if somebody wants to do that unless you don’t want to (unintelligible) but you don’t have to (unintelligible). Forte said she didn’t want to (unintelligible).

Haven said OK. So, they have a motion and a second. He asked Casey if he wanted to move to table. Haven asked Ryan if they have to vote on this before. Ryan said a motion to table takes precedence. Haven said takes precedence. Ryan said yes sir.

Haven asked Casey if he wanted to make a motion to table. Casey said he did. Wylie said she would second, but then she asked Ryan if she could do that since she seconded the other one. Ryan said sure. Wylie said OK.

Haven said all right. They have a motion to table.

Haven asked if there was any discussion about that.

Ryan said they aren’t supposed to discuss a motion to table.

Haven asked Ryan why that was. (Ryan made an unintelligible comment.) Haven said that’s interesting. Robert’s Rules.

Haven said all right. They can’t discuss the motion to table. So, they have to take vote on it. Ryan said yes, sir.

Haven said let’s just take the roll and be done with it. Haven asked DeLorge to take a roll call.

Rodgers said they’re voting on a motion to table. Haven said to table. Casey said until next – Rodgers said until next meeting. Haven said until next meeting.

Lamphier, Rodgers, Wylie, Casey, and Haven voted yes. Forte voted no.

DeLorge said so, the motion will be tabled.

Wylie said she thought Ryan said it had to be unanimous. Ryan said no, to amend the agenda. Wylie said OK, she misunderstood.

Haven thanked Silverman for coming and told him not to interpret this as a rejection. That’s not what they’re trying to convey. They certainly appreciate him, Meredith, and the entire library, and the Friends, but they want to think about it and work with him on it. Silverman thanked the council. Wylie thanked Silverman.

Haven said all right. During public comment. Anyone else want to make public comment during this opportunity to take three minutes to address council?

(Chet Pardee stepped up to the podium.)

Haven recognized Pardee. Haven asked him to state his name.

Chet Pardee:

Pardee identified himself and provided his address.

Pardee said the last time, he noted that his new best friend, they started down the Mill Pond path. That was several months ago, so David (?) is not his new best friend, but he supports what he’s doing.

Pardee said good evening. He thanked Smith for responding to his public comments in the last council meeting.

Pardee said he was wrong to assume that funds added to the budget for sidewalk repairs, now totaling $44,000, would reduce the city’s fund balance when the monies are coming from the parking fund, which is not part of the fund balance calculation. Neither are the $97,000 federal ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] funds and likely the “found funds” that Greg [Coté, treasurer] is discussing with the auditor.

Someday, Coté should discuss with council the significant number of financial accounts for city money, and the recently discovered “found” money, and how it can be used.

Several months ago, the mayor suggested Pardee make suggestions for solutions, rather than offer criticism in his public comments.

Last year, Pardee suggested a number of steps involving council and commission chairs that would make citizens aware of commission positions that would become open and permit citizens to express interest, and appointments be made as terms were expiring. That seemed to work for 2022. Not so well for 2023.

The city’s website indicates that two Planning Commission member terms have expired, and two Historic District Commission member terms have expired. Pardee is hopeful that this evening’s comments will result in citizens becoming aware and expressing interest in any expired terms.

Susan Bisio’s July 3rd Clarkston Secrets provided the explanation and court documents filed by the city that explain why he said what he did in the last meeting, that the city had an opportunity to avoid a FOIA lawsuit and chose otherwise.

Pardee asked the council if they had any questions.

No questions.

Haven thanked Pardee and asked if anyone else wanted to make a public comment.

No additional public comments.

Agenda Item #6, FYI (Video time mark 0:13:41):

Item 6a – Clarkston Garden Walk on July 19, 2023, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Video time mark 0:13:47; page 3/24 of the council packet):

Haven said hearing no additional public comments, they would move on to For Your Information, and that has to do with the Garden Walk, which they announced, he believes, last time as well, which will be conducted on Wednesday, July 19 at 11:00 a.m. at the Artisan Market. He doesn’t have that address. Here it is, it is down here,

6495 Clarkston Road. It begins on the grounds of the Clarkston Independence District Library, and then it’s a tour, and the tickets are $15 apiece. So, anyone interested, please avail yourself of this opportunity. It’s a wonderful opportunity every year, the Clarkston Garden Walk.

Haven said all right, that’s the only piece of information he had for For Your information. He asked if anyone else had any announcements they’d like to make.

Item 6b – Zoning Board of Appeals, Special Meeting and Public Hearing on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. (Video time mark 0:14:28; page 4/24 of the council packet)

Smith said that they do have, as a late insert, the Zoning Board of Appeals [ZBA]. The notice is to let people know that there is a public meeting (unintelligible) for the ZBA to discuss from the homeowners at 127 North Holcomb.

Haven said 127 North Holcomb. Smith said yes.

Haven asked when it was. Smith said the meeting will be on July 25th.

Haven said July 25^th here Smith said yes. Haven said ZBA, zoning board of appeals here, relative to property at 127 North Holcomb. Smith said yes.

Haven said OK, those are zoning hardship cases. That’s what the zoning board of appeals does. Smith said right.

Smith said just a brief introduction to what they’re requesting. There is a home with a detached garage, and detached garages can be three feet from the lot line. Their proposal is to attach the two buildings. An attached garage has to be 10 feet from the lot line, or 15. You can pick between 10 or 15 feet from the lot line. So now, when they attach the two structures, they create a non-compliance. Haven said OK, a non-compliance situation. Smith said so, they have to request the ZBA to allow this. Smith said that’s what this is about.

Haven asked if the ZBA was aware of this, Scott [Meyland] as the chairman? Smith said yes. Haven thanked Smith for that announcement. Smith said an announcement will be sent out. Haven said excellent. Smith said as well as to everybody within 300 feet of the home. That’s a requirement. Haven said OK.

Agenda Item #7, City Manager Report (Video time mark 0:16:13; page 5/24 of the council packet):

Haven said all right, then let’s move on to the city manager’s report, which they have in their packet, but you may not have sitting there in the audience. Haven said he couldn’t find his readily and asked Smith if he could just run through it quickly if he wanted. Smith said sure.

Smith said so, first off, talking about the status for the sidewalk repairs. He wants them to know that he’s working on these. He was just looking into the first of the new budget year. He is actively pursuing these two projects, the roads, Depot Road, in addition to repaving the other roads, they’ve been looking at doing crack fill and pop-up patching, but the repaving would be Depot Road. And the sidewalk slabs, he’s identified over 300 sidewalk slabs being replaced. So, he’s looking to put both of these out for bid, or better yet, piggyback on an Oakland County Road Commission or possibly an Independence Township project. Piggybacking on another project is very effective and you can get their volume pricing. And the price is very competitive, so that saves time there as well. So, Smith would like to piggyback on another project if he can, but he left that up to the city engineer to do that analysis. So that’s going on right now.

Smith said they are going to talk about in a separate agenda item, they’re going to talk about Depot Road parking status. So, he’ll skip over that.

The ban on open burning has been lifted. You probably read that in the paper.

Our new city hall sign will be installed soon. There was a little mix up on the location, but they’ve got that cleared up now, so that will be taking place soon. That’s the one that will direct people in off of Depot Road to identify that this is Depot Park, this is the Optimists Playground, and this is City Hall. All those directions. So, that hopefully will maybe clear up some of the driver issues they’ve had, like they had tonight. Smith and DeLorge struggle with that. They get a lot of people that are using Google maps or trying to find a house, get, what is it, Door Dash, is one of the worst offenders. They come in here, and they obviously get paid just to drop it off. It doesn’t have to be at the right location. Just as long as they drop it, they get paid. They’ve been dropping a lot of products on their doorstep, so they’re struggling with that, but that’s just a Google maps thing. They’re struggling with that. Anyway, enough of that sidebar.

Casey asked if they need time to eat? They eat free. Haven said just say thank you and take it. Smith said he doesn’t. What he’s seen delivered is not something he’d eat. DeLorge said that Smith donated the food that they received to Oakland County Animal Shelter. Smith said they did receive a big bag of dog food.

Smith said then just lastly, they have another NoHaz event coming up. They’re partnering with Oakland County on that. It’s going to be not this Saturday, but next Saturday, July 20th. This one will be in Orion Township.

Haven said he was curious about the first one on here, the excessive road and sidewalk repairs. And it’s the first he’s heard of 300 sidewalks slabs being replaced, basically, is that what Smith is saying. Smith said replaced, yes. Haven said so, that’s a significant improvement. What they did in ’19, he thinks they did – Smith said they did about 280-some. Haven said so, this is more than that. Smith said it’s more than that, yes. Haven said and we piggybacked that one too with Oakland County. Smith agreed. Haven said with Independence Township, right, when they came through. So, they ought to be looking pretty good, he would think. Haven asked if this encompasses the balance. Smith said it encompasses the balance of anything over about three-quarters of inches, what his criteria was, and anything cracked or heaved or in bad shape. Even some of the ones that are notoriously underwater because they’ve sunk below because the egress surrounding it is raised, even some of those he’s included in that. So, this will make quite an improvement to the city in addition to what was done previously. Haven said so, five years later, they’ll catch up on this.

Haven said a lot of these are precipitated by tree growth as well, right, the heaving and that sort of thing. Smith agreed. Haven asked if they have adjusted anything relative to the type of trees they’re planting, because he knows they’ve had some trees removed because they’re dying and so on. He asked Smith if we are replacing those. He knows it’s a minimal budget, a limited budget, for trees. Haven asked if Smith could kind of give them a little status on what he thinks about future. Smith said well, the tree committee is, they have not been planting these massive silver maples or even (unintelligible) so much on the (unintelligible). It’s been more a smaller, he’d call it the columnar trees that are not as big. They’re certainly colorful and beautiful but they’re not as large as the silver maple which grows to 180 feet or something like that. It’s just, those are the trees that are really causing the bulk of the slabs to be heaving. Haven said the roots grow out.

Forte said yeah, you can get tap roots or you can get roots that spread, so they try to think about that. Haven said he knows that they have thought about that and hopefully, we’re going in the right direction with this. Forte said yeah, there’s some details you can do on your sidewalks, and when you lay sidewalks, you put a certain material underneath the sidewalk that helps prevent the roots going in that direction. Michigan State does that a ton. So, if we’re ending up doing our sidewalks, it might be worth reaching out to them because they normally share those details, so, because they’re obviously in our arboretum. So, they have to deal with it a ton. Haven said OK, so there is a solution there. Forte said yeah, two solutions. Haven said both solutions. Forte said yeah, the trees and the sidewalk. Haven said so, they may be able to implement some of that new technology or something. Forte said yeah. Haven said moving forward, it would help us with our – Forte said she did want to bring up something that would help us with that. And she did want to bring up at some point, like when they do winter, if they redo downtown like with the sidewalks and aprons and stuff, getting drip around those trees, drip irrigation, because it’s just a hard environment for trees to survive. Haven said he’s sure; he doesn’t know how they do it anyway. Forte said yeah, and so they have a lot of trees that fail. It’s expensive to replace the trees over like five years just due to the city conditions. And most cities have drip irrigation around them. Forte said it wouldn’t be impossible to tap. Haven said yeah, city water, but again, as part of a program like Complete Streets or something, they’re going to have to think about that as a package deal. Forte said yeah, the engineers would just have to think about doing some sort of drip program. It would be a little bit extra but long term would save the trees.

Haven wanted to know if they’ve ever tried to tap our city water. He thinks about that relative to the urns up there too. Forte said yeah, she’s thought about that too. Haven said that the Garden Club does, and these people are (unintelligible). Forte said they could go up through the sidewalk – Haven said exactly – (continuing) Forte said so it’s not like all over the place. Haven said but again, that’s excavation to a point, you know, and tapping into the water system. Smith said it would be a challenge to retrofit the sidewalks as they stand now, but if you’re tearing up all the sidewalks, and that is one of the proposals he’s working on with the city engineer. Not for this sidewalk program. This would be for the big repair that would make all downtown ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant, all the aprons fixed, all that. That’s a big project. It won’t happen this summer. But if we’re going to do that, that would be the time to just at the very least put some pipes under the new sidewalks. Haven agreed. Forte said and there’s systems of like structures you could build around those root wells, but that’s even more expensive. So, it’s like, we need to have sidebar with this.

Haven said anyway, good. He didn’t mean to get off. Sorry about that. But he just always thinks about when we’re repairing sidewalks, they need to kind of repair the root cause of their deterioration as well. Smith said no comment on the root cause.

Haven recognized Lamphier for a comment.

Lamphier said he had a question on the, one of the posts in the Depot Road parking lot, is that just to notify people of the paid parking.  Smith said yes, so putting signs around the perimeter isn’t enough. This lot, unlike the Washington and Main lot, has head-to-head spots in it. So, they have to put some posts right in the middle. They put them right on the hash marks, and hopefully, you know, vehicles back into them. But it could happen, of course.

Haven said OK, any other thoughts or comments about the city manager report.

No comments.

Okay, hearing none, let’s – (interrupting Haven), Wylie pointed out that Pardee had a comment.

Haven recognized Pardee for a comment.

Pardee said they had talked a year or two ago about the idea of lifting sidewalks, would the city engineer consider lifting, and he thinks Smith mentioned lifting the way they did in Clarkston Village Place, and it was relatively inexpensive. Forte asked what Pardee meant by lifting. Pardee said so, drill a hole, probably two inches in diameter, and put pipe down, and then pump hydraulically material under the sidewalk to lift it. And the holes are drilled strategically, such that the right part of the sidewalks gets lifted. And with them, he guaranteed for three years. But you’re using the slab that’s there. You’re just trying to make that more than three quarters of an inch go away. Pardee asked Smith if Smith wanted Pardee to give him a call. Smith said he talked with the city engineer about this. He feels that the pump jacking is actually slightly more expensive than replacing it, believe it or not. And it has to be in conditions where the slab is in perfect shape. It’s just (unintelligible) heaved one way or the other. So, if a root is there that’s caused the slab, you know, they usually have to cut that root to get it out of the way. So, a pump jacking would raise up the other corner, something on the other side. It’s not as simple as it sounds. But Smith thinks in certain conditions, it is a good solution, but he decided not to split the project into two different paths and just stay one, just stay the course. Pardee thanked Smith.

Agenda Item #8 – Motion: Acceptance of the Consent Agenda as Presented (Video time mark 0:27:34):

• • 06-12-2023 Final Minutes (page 6/24 of the council packet)
  • 06-26-2023 Draft Minutes (page 9/24 of the council packet)
  • 07-10-2023 Treasurer’s Report (page 12/24 of the council packet)
  • 07-06-2023 Check Disbursement Report, 06-01-2023 – 06-30-2023 (page 13/24 of the council packet)

Haven said OK, all right, moving on to from the city manager’s report, Item #8 on their agenda, which is a motion to accept the consent agenda. The consent agenda is a consolidation of the draft minutes from 06-26-2023, final minutes from 06-12-2023, and then the treasurer’s report is 07-10-2023. So, that’s all here. Any of the council members could ask that something be removed from that consolidation, but it’s not, we vote on it as a whole. So, he will entertain a motion to accept the consent agenda as it’s been presented to them.

Motion by Wylie; second Forte.

Haven asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

Motion to accept the consent agenda as presented passed by unanimous voice vote.

Agenda Item #9, Old Business (Video time mark 0:28:34):

Haven said there was no old business, but there are three items under new business.

Agenda Item #10, New Business (Video time mark 0:28:36):

Item 10a – Discussion: Status of Depot Road Paid Parking Implementation (Video time mark 0:28:37):

Haven said a discussion, first of all, the status of the Depot Road paid parking implementation, which happened on July 5th, right? Smith agreed. Haven said he didn’t think they had anything in their packet relative to that. He thinks it’s a report or something.

Smith said right. So, the paid parking status is, he knows in the last meeting or a couple of weeks ago, they talked about the importance of getting it launched as quickly as possible. It took longer than desired to get the right signage, and Smith has expressed before the importance of having the right signage because he gets challenged all the time. People that have gotten a parking ticket coming into the office and if the signage isn’t absolutely bulletproof, they’re going to try to get their ticket waived. And they do waive tickets certainly, but it’s not something they like to do, especially if they’re warranted. But the signage had to be perfect. So, it took a long time. Smith knows Haven had suggested maybe some temporary signage and Smith did look into that, but he just didn’t feel in the end it was a good use of their funds.  So, Smith opted for the permanent signs. Those are here now. They’ve been installed. Jimi [Turner, DPW supervisor] is still putting up a few more of the poles in the center, as Lamphier was asking about a few minutes ago. And those still are going up, but the bulk of the signs are up, and it is open for paid parking so that people are paying.

Smith said you know what they talked about earlier on when they were considering even making this a paid parking lot is how much income could they potentially make from this parking lot. And it’s an unknown because this lot on a given night was full when you come down here, but what the truth of the matter was, was a lot of those are employees and there are, especially if they’re hourly employees making whatever $10 an hour plus tips or something, that’s enough of a bite into their paycheck that they’ll go elsewhere. We know that. So, what we don’t know is how many people will still stay and pay in that lot during the evening hours. So, Smith wouldn’t begin to try to estimate how much money we make off of that lot. But it is turned on. Everything is working fine. Everybody’s been relatively good natured about it. And Smith at least has some bugs to work through on the software particularly.

Smith said one improvement that they have made, which has been recommended by a couple organizations, the parking advisory committee recommended that, and the Main Street Oakland County group is also recommending, a way to stop overpayment. Stop the scenario where somebody wants to pay early. So, let’s say they are coming to town, they pull into the parking lot at 3:00 p.m. even though paid parking doesn’t start till 4:00 p.m., but they know they’re going to be gone for a couple three hours. They don’t want to come back down. Well, you can do that on the phone app. That’s easy enough to do, but not everybody likes to use the phone app. So, they say, well, I’ll just pay now while I’m here. It’s 3:00 and they pay for two hours. That only takes them until 5:00. Their request was, well, the paid parking doesn’t start till 4:00 p.m., so why don’t you just give me the first hour free and then start my two hours’ worth of payment, start it at 4:00 when paid parking starts. And they were first told that that’s not a feature that the system offers, but on further pushing it with the vendor, they determined that it is something they can do. So, they are implementing that as part of this launch. The online phone app already did it, but now their kiosk will also do it. So, if you come to town at 2:00 and pay for four hours, it’s not going to be from 2:00 to 6:00. It’ll be from 4:00 to 8:00 because your paid money doesn’t start until the paid parking hours begin, which is 4:00 p.m. during the week and 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays. So, that’s an improvement they’re making. They’re also, on Sundays, it was another complaint, they didn’t have a way to stop them. So, if somebody comes up on a Sunday and pays, the meter would take their money even though Sundays are free. They have found a way to stop that as well.

So, these are two improvements that are hopefully just some good PR, some good-natured improvements. A show of fairness on the part of the city that they’re trying to reduce overpayment. It’ll hit them in the pocketbook a little bit. Certainly it will. Because they were making some special money there. But it’s the fair thing to do. And so, they’re going ahead and implementing those two changes effective immediately, not only in the Depot lot but in the Washington and Main lot. Both of them. So, yeah, those improvements are going in place. And that’s kind of the status of the parking.

Smith asked if there were any questions.

Wylie asked if Smith had any idea where the people who used to park in the Depot Road lot are parking now? Because it’s empty tonight. Smith said it’s empty. You noticed that. Wylie said oh, yeah. Smith said it’s funny that the signs around the perimeter that Jimi has up, there’s no cars around the perimeter, but that center section – Wylie said there are some cars there. Smith said there are some signs aren’t up yet entirely, that’s packed with cars. So, people are obviously watching the signs. The bulk of them are parking in the angle parking lot that Smith wants to talk about in a minute in a couple items down in Item C, is they’re parking in the angle parking down here. That’s been full almost all day, every day since they turned on the paid parking. They’ve noticed that’s where they’re going first. After that, Smith isn’t sure if they are going out into the neighborhoods and parking in the neighborhoods.  Smith hasn’t done a lot of driving around to see if that’s the case, but that would be his suspicion.

Wylie said she was wondering and hoping that they were perhaps parking at Union Joints’ lot or the Clarkston United Methodist Church because she thinks those were the two organizations that offered to take employees. She understands why employees would not want to do that. Wylie wanted to park and walk in the door right in her start time. She didn’t want to go in ten minutes early.

Rodgers said one of the waiters or waitresses was talking to her husband the other night and he was eating down there. He said somehow the parking thing came up. He said, where do you park?  She said, well, she parked down in that lot now, but it’s going to be where they have to pay for it, so she wasn’t sure where she’s going to park. He said, you know, the church allows you to park there for free. She said, yes, and if she’s working during the day, she will park there, but she doesn’t like walking there at night. Wylie said she’s heard that before too. Rodgers said she was always a big proponent about, hey, it’s right there. It’s not that far, but it is unlit, a certain portion of that roadway is unlit, so she kind of gets it. She kind of understands what she’s talking about.

Haven said that’s an interesting consideration. They talk about lighting in town too. This is one of the things going forward, he’d like to do some things. Rodgers said if she were 18 years old, she might not want to walk that distance. (Haven made an unintelligible comment.)

Haven said he didn’t mean to put Smith on the spot relative to revenue from these two lots now. He remembers in the budget committee, Coté, their treasurer, said he was very conservatively, he felt, budgeting $30,000 for this lot this time. And Smith periodically gives them a report on Washington and Main. They haven’t seen one of those in a while. They’re halfway through the summer. They might have enough trajectory now to look at what they think might happen in the balance of the year. Again, it’s a conjecture. But Haven has in his mind been carrying around the number of $100,000 between the two. Maybe $70,000 over there [Main Street and Washington] and $30,000 here [Depot Road lot], something like that. So, Haven thinks it’s still really a viable, even with those lower estimates, trajectory for paving our roads and doing a few things, the sidewalks and so on, they really need to do here.

Haven said all right, that’s a great update.

Forte asked if they would get status updates. Smith said well, they can do that.  Yes. (Forte made an unintelligible comment.) Smith said he needs to give them an update on revenue. Haven said yeah, exactly.

Rodgers asked Smith if he had more to say about the diagonals parking. Smith said yes, he’ll get to it. Haven said he thought it was another item here. So, they’ll get to it.

DeLorge said just to clarify, when Smith said that they have to waive some of the citations, because this is a public meeting and some people come in and they want things waived, citations that are, they’re blatantly at fault. She means, she has pictures. They take it into heart what they have to offer. The ones they do waive are the ones where people put in their license plate incorrectly, and those are the ones that they get that they can waive. She can look at the picture and then she looks at the paid ticket and they don’t match. The license plate numbers don’t match by one letter or one number. So, like a B or an 8. So, they do waive those, just so she doesn’t want everyone coming in going, I want this waived. She just wanted to clarify that they don’t just waive anything, it has to be for a good reason. Haven said this office, he thinks, has been eminently fair over the years. They’re really close. They’re small and all that.

Haven said all right, so the second item here on the agenda is – Haven recognized Pardee for a comment.

Pardee said when the parking committee was here, he thinks there was a discussion about helping restaurant employees in a way that involved Roth/Adler/Washington Management. Restaurant subsidized, city subsidized. Is that discussion still going on? Smith said there are plans for that discussion to continue, yes. But no progress to report this time. They are still hopeful that there are some opportunities there for them to join forces, if you will, with the private landowner and try to give a solution (unintelligible).

Rodgers asked if she could ask one more question. Haven said sure.

Rodgers said the diagonal parking, is there a time limit on that parking? Or is it just, because one of the discussions when they talked about paid parking, was the concern over young families at the park. It sounds like those parking spaces are being sat in for the entire day or for long periods of time. Is that an accurate assessment, or during park hours when you most often see families there, are there places for them to park without paying? Smith said well, Monday through Friday the paid parking doesn’t start to 4:00 p.m. So, it’s after 4:00 p.m. and that is really full. He should have clarified that. Now it’s true on a Saturday when paid parking starts at 11:00 a.m., employees that are working there for the day could park down there. There are no time limits. It is something they could do if they felt that cars are just sitting there all day, they could put in a two-hour limit, much like they do on Main Street. Put a two-hour max on that. Rodgers said it might just be something to look at, you know, while they’re doing it, just to make sure that, you hate to have toddlers being dragged from – Smith said right. Rodgers said she hates to drag toddlers. So, you know, just something to look at. Smith said yes.

Item 10b – Discussion: Status Report from Ordinance Enforcement Officer (Video time mark 0:41:25):

• • The City of the Village of Clarkston Violations (page 21/24 of the council packet)

Haven said all right, the next item on their new business agenda is discussion of the status report from their ordinance enforcement officer. And they have in their packet sort of the history of that report starting in August of 2021 and going up through, not really, nothing in July, just the end of June basically here. Smith agreed. Haven said he has gone through this in detail. He appreciates Stacey [Kingsbury, Carlisle/Wortman, contract code enforcement officer], what she’s doing. Haven told Smith that he appreciates getting this report. There are some that he has some questions about, not that he needs to bring up here necessarily, but he appreciates having the report.

Haven asked if anyone else had any comments or thoughts about this report that they would like to make here in the meeting? It’s just for their information basically unless Smith wants to couch it in any other terms.

Smith said he doesn’t have much to add to this. Kingsbury was on vacation for a week and then she was out of town for a week on business. Smith has not seen her for a couple of weeks, but this is her report. He knows the two homes on Main Street that they’ve talked about; it’s a blight situation. She has issued letters. Smith thinks the next step would be if they were to go there is going to be some legal action. They’ve talked with the homeowners in both cases, and they are reluctant for reasons Smith doesn’t know, whether it’s financial or other reasons, they’re not making any corrections. So, 99% of the time when they send out these violation letters, they’re fixed within a week. Haven said yes, that was obvious on the report. Smith thinks Kingsbury’s presence is making a difference, but there are two homes in particular where they are just, again, for reasons Smith doesn’t understand, they are just not making any corrections. Haven said that’s been for two years in those two cases. Since 2021, so they need to think about it. Haven has asked for a more detailed report rather than just a line item. Smith said right. Haven asked what is the history of these two? They need to think about it.

Haven asked if there were any other thoughts or comments.

Pardee raised his hand and said he has a thought. Haven recognized him for a comment.

Pardee said the tall ladders are up against the blue house across the street. Smith said right. Irony. He needs ladders. Pardee said the blue house is one of them, and it’s got two thirty-foot ladders against the outside that have been there for a while. The guy with the gray house and the red, he really needs a tall ladder, and there are two of those. Haven thanked Pardee for the irony. That’s very helpful.

Smith said it’s not just the ladders though. It’s the fear of heights that is holding him back.

Pardee said he has a positive comment. He’s painting door trim right now.

Haven said really good. Smith said that’s good to hear.

Item 10c – Discussion: Proposal for Controlling Speed on Depot Road (Video time mark 0:44:38):

Haven said all right, let’s move on to the next item. Item number C here, discussion proposal for controlling speed on Depot Road. He sees a little figure out there or something.

Smith said so, the little figure that Haven is referring to at the crosswalk here in the alley. There is a crosswalk painted on the roadway because as you recall, back up a little bit, on the south side of Depot Road, they used to have a little pathway that you could go up Main Street next to the Real Estate One building. It was made out of pavers, not concrete. It was pavers because of the trees in that area were heaved, and it was a trip hazard. In fact, they had a trip and fall in those paver sections. To eliminate that risk, they decided for all the best reasons just to eliminate those pavers altogether. Even if you put in pristine sidewalk, it would be out of ADA compliance. You have trees whacking you in the head as you try to walk. They just took the pavers out and filled it in with mulch, which was already next to the pavers. So, they just extended the mulch out. So, now, to walk up to Main Street, you have to cross over Depot Road to the Kevin Harrison [KH Homes] side and go up the sidewalk that’s there. They’re seeing more people cross over the road. Smith said one of the neighbors, one of the residents, was very concerned about the possibility of somebody being hit there because people come around off of Main Street very quick sometimes and are shooting down, and if there’s somebody walking across, it could be a dangerous situation. So, they donated, at their expense, they donated one of these, you know, yield to pedestrian signs. It sits in the roadway. It’s a weighted thing, spring (unintelligible). So, they have that in the street now just trying to raise awareness.

Smith thinks they need to go beyond that. He thinks they need to, particularly as people come down and they’re still picking up speed as they head down the hill to the park area here. And with the angle, combination of the angle parking, plus he’s seen it many, many times, mom or dad with little kids unloading and they’re not watching. Little one number two, and little number one is still getting out of their car seat, little one number two is running around. It’s just a very dangerous situation. And these cars are just flying down there. It’s a 25-mile-an-hour speed limit and there are signs posted, but Smith’s sense is that people are going 35 or 40 down there and if some little kid runs out between two cars, it would be a tragic situation. So, Smith thinks they need to slow that traffic down. And not to mention the quantity of traffic is unbelievable. It’s just a cut through to get from M-15 to Dixie Highway. So, it carries a lot of traffic, which is not necessarily, that’s not his motive, his motive is to eliminate the possibility of an accident there, pedestrian accident. There have been some accidents where people were backing out, they have an older car that doesn’t have a backup camera on it, so they don’t see this guy coming at a very fast rate, so they just continue to back out. And especially if there’s a vehicle next to them blocking the view and they can’t see until they’re out in the lane. So, there have been some rear-end accidents, a couple that he can remember. But again, his larger concern is pedestrians.

Smith said there are two things that he’s proposing, actually three things.  And he didn’t put this in a motion form, he just wanted to get council’s feedback tonight. If they think it’s something he should come forward with, one or two or all three parts of it, he can do that. He’s happy to do that.

Number one is to potentially lower the speed limit on Depot Road. It’s their road, they have total control over it, they don’t need [Oakland County] Road Commission, they don’t need MDOT [Michigan Department of Transportation], they just make a decision, and they can change the speed limit of that road.  It’s 25. Smith would lower it at least to 20, if not even 15. But at the very least 20. So, that’s step number one.

Step number two, to enforce that, Smith thinks they need a Your Speed sign. On the side where, coming down at the base of the hill, to tell people, he doesn’t even know if they even realize how fast they’re going. So, he thinks they need that, it doesn’t need to be a massive one like they have up on Main Street, but it could be a smaller or subdued one. But he thinks they need something to tell people you’re speeding here.

The third opportunity would be, and Jimi doesn’t like this one, is a speed bump. Speed bumps are a pain for somebody plowing snow, but a speed bump, definitely, or speed hump, one or the other, they definitely have an impact and will slow traffic down.

Smith said they can do one, two, three, or all of the above, but he thinks they need to be thinking about the potential, and they need to take action. Doing this after the fact is not going to be something any one of them wants to do. He thinks they have to be proactive in this case and take some action.

Haven said Sergeant Ashley, he’s got some data, he generated a collection of data. Sergeant Ashley said they can put it out there again now that it’s a little bit later in the year, and they can leave it out there for a week if they want or whatever they want to do. Haven said anything more is good, and he appreciates Smith’s layman’s analysis though, he thinks it’s probably real.

Smith asked Sergeant Ashley if he’d received any feedback on this. They haven’t talked about this. Sergeant Ashley said no, they haven’t. They haven’t talked about the data yet either or anything like that. Like Haven said, they can gather more, you know, leave it out there for a week. Smith said yes. Sergeant Ashley said people tend to slow down because of the signs, that’s for sure. The signs they’re talking about, they don’t gather any data at all do they? Smith said no, they do. Sergeant Ashley said they do, OK. Smith said they gather data, and you can download it with the Bluetooth connection and capture all this. You can even get ones that have a little blue dot in the center that turns on and off that simulates a photograph, although they don’t really. That’s a much more expensive model that actually photographs plates, but at least it gives them a simulation that somebody’s watching you. But they do capture data. Sergeant Ashley said well, he can have it out there tomorrow.  Start putting it out there, go for a week, they can try it.

Rodgers asked what the data showed. Did it support what Smith was saying? Sergeant Ashley said he didn’t have it in front of him. He would have to go back and look at it for tomorrow. Haven said it was further down too. Sergeant Ashley said yeah, they can put it anywhere, but he would think down towards the bottom of the hill would be better because that’s what they said. If they’re gaining that much speed, and you know, he could come back with that data at the next meeting and present it. Haven said it’s kind of a San Francisco leap there (unintelligible).

Rodgers said she thinks the sign would be a great reminder because she thinks Smith is right. The majority of people, she doesn’t even know if they realize that they’re coming off of there so fast. Smith said they don’t realize, they’re thinking about something else, and he’d say it would just ruin their life if they hit a child that was running out between two cars because they just weren’t thinking. It’s just a way of in your face. He sees it coming north on White Lake Road. The Your Speed sign, really you see people tapping the brakes for sure. Haven agreed. Smith said there’s no question about it. It does capture their attention. Haven said that school systems go through the same thing over here at Clarkson Elementary. Kids are crossing. They have crossing guards. They have a highly pedestrian area like he’s saying, the children. So, Haven thinks they ought to at least post for kids. They were children with crossing guards.

Rodgers asked if Smith knows how much a speed bump costs. Smith said if they’re repaving the road it would be next to nothing to do that at the same time they repave the road. So that wouldn’t be a cost consideration.

Lamphier asked Sergeant Ashley if the data that he collects is the number of cars and also the speed of the cars? Sergeant Ashley said yeah, you can break it down by times a day. It goes by hours. But sometimes he talks to the officer that runs in the (unintelligible). He said you may get something that’s really high, but that could be a reflection of the sun too. Different variables. Somebody might not be going 70 miles an hour. It’s just there’s something with the machine also. But for the most part it is, but he’ll see, he’ll give them an example. He knows he’s put it in front of the school. They’ve also had some of their traffic officers sit over there. They have no problem writing tickets all day. It’s amazing when you’re sitting in one spot. He was in the school zones.

Ryan said he would just suggest not just anecdotal, but they need to get data, so that they have a case, they can make a case, even though it’s their road, they’ve got to make a case as to why it should be lowered as to maybe it should be 15. He doesn’t know. They’ll do that. It’s great. And they also have HRC [Hubell, Roth & Clark, the city’s contract engineers] and they also have the Michigan Municipal League. They start putting speed bumps out there, that could be an obstruction in the road which could affect the viability and the travelability of the road, and they, you know, they’ve just kind of need to make sure that they do that correctly. Ryan knows it’s done in some parts of the country, but not so much around here because of the snow plowing and whatnot. He thinks HRC, our city engineers, should weigh in on that. Lamphier said sure. Haven said that’s a good suggestion. Because we got ice. Ryan said you might cause a problem. A greater problem. Haven said exactly, with a bump you could, with ice and snow. Ryan said somebody loses control. Haven said exactly. That’s our fault. Sergeant Ashley said especially on hills. Ryan said yup. Add amen. Maybe you need two of them. He doesn’t know, but they’ve got to get an engineer to look at that, our city engineers to look at that, to make sure they’re not making something worse.

Rodgers asked Smith if he knew, she can’t remember when they, when the city decided to allow people to go right off of Depot onto Holcomb. It wasn’t always that way. You used to have to go left. There was no ability to go right. She just wonders if traffic has increased now that you can make that decision. Everybody had to go left for the longest time. Haven said he doesn’t remember that. Smith said he doesn’t remember.

Haven recognized Cara Catallo for a comment. She said she doesn’t remember that. Well, she means, she grew up here and she doesn’t remember that ever, not even a little bit. Catallo asked Casey. Casey said he doesn’t. He remembers it being two-way for one year. Haven said it’s a possibility. (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Lamphier said he thinks if you could only go straight though or to the left, you might back things up. Because, you know, it’s easy to go right. Rodgers said she just remembers (unintelligible crosstalk). Haven said left-hand turn circle. Rodgers said maybe she’s thinking wrong.

Haven said you know, it’s interesting. He thinks what Ryan is saying here gives them a qualification. If they have an engineering study of this thing, and they make a recommendation, that helps Smith. It’s not just a seat of the pants perception. And it can be coordinated with the Sheriff’s Department data, which is nice.

Sergeant Ashley said he would get that out there tomorrow. Haven said that may be a good, yeah. Sergeant Ashley they’ll at least start there. Haven said procedurally, but they would like to expedite the process if they can. Sergeant Ashley said sure.

Forte asked if they could talk about this at their planning meeting on Wednesday. Haven said sure. Forte said like, with the walkability study and everything. Haven said sure. Forte said just because they’d like all the pieces together. Haven said that Forte was talking about the Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday. Haven said yeah, sure.

Item 10d – Discussion: November 7, 2023, Election Updates (Video time mark 0:57:39):

• • November 7, 2023, Election (page 24/24 of the council packet)

Haven said OK. So, let’s move on then to the last item on their agenda and the election updates. And they have in their packet that in November, the next November election, they have elections every year here and rotate council people through this. And the three seats that are up for election are Casey, Bruce Fuller, who’s not here tonight, and Laura Rogers. And so, July 25^th, by 4:00 p.m., candidates file nominating petitions and affidavits. So, it’s this month. So, it’s upon us. You can see the clerk for nominating petitions and affidavits of identity forms. July 25th by 4:00 p.m. withdrawal deadline for nominating petitions and affidavits of identity elapses. Haven said maybe DeLorge ought to explain it better so he’s not butchering it.

DeLorge said OK. So, she needs everything by July 25^th, and she gave one to Laura Rogers already. DeLorge has them here. They’re the affidavit of identity and receipt for filing that she has to file at the state and county level. And then on July 25th at 4:00 p.m., that is the withdrawal deadline. So, if you did fill out a form and you changed your mind, you have until the 25th by 4:00.

And petitions to place proposals on the ballot with the county and local clerks, she has to turn in by July 31st.

August 15th is the ballot wording for the proposals to qualify, and they have to have everything. These are dates that she has to have at the county. So, the ballot wording for proposals qualify to appear on the ballots or advise the county and local clerks. That’s the August 15th date.

DeLorge said August 27th is the write-in. October, she’s sorry.

Haven said OK. So public notice thereof.

DeLorge said yes. She has this information on their website and on the Facebook page to clarify everything else. So, all the dates and everything are listed right on their website.

Haven said this speaks to some of what Pardee was referring to earlier. Pardee said as well as the – Haven said not elective. These are elected officials. Pardee said right, and so Rodger’s raising her hand. Pardee asked if Casey planned to rerun. (Casey made an unintelligible comment.) Pardee asked if they knew anything about Fuller. Haven said he doesn’t. Casey said he doesn’t.

Pardee asked if there is any indication that anybody is trying to put something on the ballot, proposal on the ballot? He didn’t know if any one of the people are still talking about it. Haven said who have not been notified. DeLorge said she has not been contacted, no.

Haven said OK.

Forte said for individuals, a few people have asked her if they want to be involved with like the HDC or something of that sort. And there’s openings.  How do they go about saying they’re interested or if it’s the best way? Haven said it’s a process online, right? For that. If they want to. Forte said just to apply online. Haven said they did that. They talked about this before. Smith said but he didn’t think they ever put an application out there. But if they’re interested in filing, they encourage them to contact Smith or DeLorge and they’ll – Haven said it’s easy enough to do. Pardee said (unintelligible) background. Smith said right. DeLorge said she’ll look into it and make it for Forte also. And also, this information is public. It’s in the paper and it is in the kiosk also. So, it’s on Facebook, web page, newspapers, and kiosk. That’s their own. Wylie said good.

Smith said he did want to go back to something Pardee was saying about the commissions and the boards. To the council, Smith said so are you, will you be making nominations there for those open positions or those that stay on – Haven said sure. He always does. He always interviews them. Forte asked if there was a date by which he wants them to apply by. Haven said he doesn’t know what that due date is. Smith is saying it’s immediate. Pardee said June 30th, four people, their terms have expired. Haven said he wasn’t aware. They will get it taken care of right away. He always interviews the people to see if they want to run. If they want to run again, he’ll probably nominate them for continuance because they’ve got the experience.

Smith said, yeah, usually they talk to people that are, their term is up and whether they want to continue or drop off. Haven said sure, and like Smith said, have them contact Haven and he’d be happy to talk with him as well.

Haven recognized Cara Catallo for a comment.

Catallo said said yeah, she thinks she remembers from a few years back, isn’t there a new, like a, she doesn’t know if ordinance is the right word, but isn’t there a procedure where anybody on council can nominate someone that doesn’t just have to be the mayor? So, she means, if that doesn’t sound familiar, maybe look into that, but it was to make sure that the mayor didn’t just sort of – Haven said it varies from committee to committee, doesn’t it?  Catallo said no, she thinks this is universal for that. Haven said he didn’t think so. He thinks it was different for – Wylie said Planning Commission has different state rules, she thinks. Wylie said the Planning Commission, about how they are nominated. Haven said the charter is kind of interesting. Smith said one of them is different than the other two, he’s not sure. Wylie said she did nominate Forte. Ryan said the Planning Commission. Wylie said there’s rules about it.

Catallo said well, she means, she knows that the historic district is supposed to be somebody with an earnest interest in serving, you know, and then understanding, a knowledge base, or is in the field. She knows that’s different. It was more a situation that they had several years back with a different mayor that, you know, kind of appointed people under the cover of darkness and then people woke up and it was like, hey, guess who’s on, actually, at that point it was the HDC [Historic District Commission].  So, she remembers that something went through to prevent that from happening again. She knows that there were council people that were concerned that they weren’t being able to nominate people. That was, that was what she thought.

Wylie said she would like to make a correction. Nobody was nominated and placed under the cover of darkness at night. It did come before council. Catallo said she doesn’t, actually, she disagrees with Wylie on that one. Wylie said they can agree to disagree. Catallo said she remembers, like, she remembers really clearly and it was, she believes it wasn’t on a Friday or so, it was at a peculiar time when it didn’t go before council because she knew people that were on council that were very upset that they had no understanding of the person being placed on the HDC. It was an interesting situation back then, she thought that there was something that came up that prevented that from happening again.

Haven said they also request a letter expressing their desires to serve and their transferable skills or whatever. Usually there’s not a big line up the door for these.

Agenda Item #13, Adjourn (Video time mark 1:04:45):

Haven said all right. That’s the last item on the agenda. He’ll entertain a motion to adjourn.

Motion by Forte; second Lamphier.

Haven said they’ve got a motion and second.

[Haven did not ask for discussion.]

Motion to adjourn passed by unanimous voice vote.

Haven said the motion carries. They’re adjourned.

Resources:

• • Click here to listen to the video recording of the meeting
  • 07-10-2023 City Council packet