December 11, 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 (Video time mark 0:00:00)

Sue Wylie called the meeting to order.

Agenda Item #2, Pledge of Allegiance

Item 2b – Pledge of Allegiance (Video time mark 0:00:02):

Wylie said if everybody rises, they’ll say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge said.

Item 2a – Oath of Office, Mayor (inserted into agenda during the meeting and referred to as Item 2a even though it was inserted after the Pledge of Allegiance) (Video time mark, 0:00:18):

Wylie said so, they’re going to change the agenda because they’re going to put her swearing in, she hasn’t been sworn in yet, so she has to put her swearing in.

Do they need to officially change it or are they just going to do it? (City attorney Tom Ryan made an unintelligible comment.)

Wylie said all right. All right, what do you want to do, Karen [DeLorge, city clerk].

City manager Jonathan Smith said DeLorge would do that right now. (Wylie stood up.) Smith said by the way, while they’re waiting, Gary Casey is in the hospital tonight. So, he will not be there tonight. (Unintelligible comments.) Smith said it’s nothing life threatening, but still concerning. Wylie said OK.

Delorge walked to the podium, said hello to Wylie, and wished her congratulations. Wylie said thank you. Delorge said Wylie needed to – Wylie said this way and put her hand over her heart – (continuing), Delorge asked Wylie to just repeat after her.

(Oath administered.)

DeLorge congratulated Wylie. Wylie thanked DeLorge. (Audience and council applause.)

Wylie apologized for keeping everybody waiting and said so that became Item 2a.

Agenda Item #3, Motion – City Council Appointment to Fill Open Position Until November 2024 (Video time mark 0:02:04):

• • Motion – City Council Appointment (page 3/89 of the council packet)
  • Scott Meyland Request for Appointment (page 4/89 of the council packet)
  • Carol Eberhardt Email Supporting Meyland Appointment (page 6/89 of the council packet)
  • Toni Smith Letter Supporting Meyland Appointment (page 19/89 of the council packet)
  • Peg Roth Request for Appointment (page 7/89 of the council packet)
  • Representative Mike Harris Letter Supporting Roth Appointment (page 10/89 of the council packet)
  • Kevin Harrison Letter Supporting Roth Appointment (page 12/89 of the council packet)
  • Emily Ford Letter Supporting Roth Appointment (page 13/89 of the council packet)
  • Thomas Stone Letter Supporting Roth Appointment (page 14/89 of the council packet)
  • Joel DeLong Letter Supporting Roth Appointment (page 15/89 of the council packet)
  • John Michalik Request for Appointment (page 17/89 of the council packet)
  • Blank Oath, City Council Appointment (page 18/89 and page 20/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said they will now move on to Item #3, the motion, city council appointment to fill the open position until November 24^th.

(Wylie read the motion.)

Wylie said so, what they’re going to do is they will take nominations, and hopefully all three of those people can be nominated. And then, once they have, and anybody else could also be nominated, once the nominations are in, she’ll close nominations, then they can take a motion one at a time for somebody to be elected as a replacement city council person, and the first person who wins four votes will be city council person. Wylie asked if that makes sense, did she explain it well enough.

Wylie said OK, so nominations are open. Would anybody like to nominate someone for this open position?

Amanda Forte said, yeah, she would like to nominate Scott Meyland. Wylie said OK.

Ryan said it did not need to be seconded.

Yeah. So, Amanda Forte is nominating Scott Meyland. Would anybody like to nominate someone else?

Ted Quisenberry said yes, he would like to nominate Peg Roth. Wylie said OK, so Quisenberry is nominating Roth and Forte nominated Meyland. Wylie asked if anybody would like to nominate somebody else.

Wylie said she’d like to nominate John Michalik.

Wylie asked if anybody else would like to make a nomination.

(No additional nominations.)

Wylie said she will close nominations.

Ryan said they vote in the order of people nominated, you take the first vote, so that would be for Meyland. Wylie said OK.

Wylie asked if they should we give them an opportunity though to speak if they’d like. Ryan said whatever she would like to do. Wylie said OK, she’d like to give the three of them an opportunity at least get up and introduce themselves and say something if they’d like.

Wylie asked if Meyland if he’d like to say something, and he can stand at his seat, or if he would like to come up to the podium, he could do that.

(Meyland walked up to the podium.)

Scott Meyland:

Meyland said yeah, he’s met most of them before and dealt with most of them before, he thinks.

His name is Scott Meyland. He’s been a resident of the city since ’92, since it became a city, and he served on the council for 8-1/2 years in the 2000 to 2008 timeframe. He has been chairperson and secretary of the Zoning Board of Appeals pretty much since 2008. So, but he just has enjoyed serving the community and, this is, you know, this is where he made his home and he likes being able to just get involved and stay involved and just kind of help contribute where he can, you know, where he can serve the community and serve the community’s best interests, and so, it’s important to him, and that’s what he’d like to continue to do, and he appreciates their consideration.

Wylie thanked Meyland and asked Roth if she would like to get up and say something. Roth said yes, she would.

(Roth walked to the podium.)

Peg Roth:

Roth said she would really like to serve with you guys. She sees such an incredible change over the council and, as they know, she was on it previously. Roth said her experience is not in public speaking. Her experience, she was a court reporter for seven years for Judge Brandt, so their docket was a lot of probate, a lot of child abuse, mental health, but in having served in that capacity, she sees a lot of, she looks at a lot of the lawsuits in this village, and sometimes she remembers in probate thinking, sometimes they went beyond what the merits of the case were and it became what personalities were, and it just seems like for a small community where we all know each other and we’re more interested in our kids, you know, what kind of dog they just got, or the grandkids, and it just should be more about, she thinks, where we can sit down and talk between each other. She would hope the new person with the HDC [Historic District Commission] would be the type of person that can talk with people and not have an attitude. If there is a personality clash, that becomes more what it’s about. Those are the things that she sees.

Roth said that she thinks that this council, you know, as she was just writing some things, she just thinks they have the opportunity to do some really good things in our community, and she hopes that they will. Whomever they wind up picking to serve with them, she would just like to see the council, the people that are, Smith, the city attorney, those people are accountable to you. And so, with things that are done in this village, this is a landing spot.

Roth said she looks forward to seeing how they can, you know, move this along in the future. So, she looks forward to working with them if that’s what they choose. If not, she looks forward to seeing what they do. Thank you.

Wylie thanked Roth and said she wanted to give Michalik the opportunity if he’d like to get up, introduce himself, and say something. Michalik said absolutely.

John Michalik:

Michalik said so, he’s probably the newest one here. So, he’s John Michalik and he provided his address. Michalik said he’s only been in Clarkston 3-1/2 years, so he’s relatively new. He’s spent the last 25 years in Orion Township, Lake Orion. So, he was on the, so he was the president of the association for a neighborhood that had 130-something homes in it, for eight years, and then the president of a different association that was 262 homes in it. That also involved a community pool, community playground, very much like Depot Park, tennis courts, things like that. So, he’s dealt with everything from an unfortunate thing, having to put liens on people’s homes because they’re not paying their dues, to doing community projects based on budgets and things like that, dealing with snow removal projects, everything you can imagine, complaining that people put the wrong roof on their house. You can’t imagine how many things go wrong in an association, but they do. So, he’s been heavily involved with the whole process. He’s just here to be part of the community and willing to help, so whatever it takes, he’d like to be considered. Thank you.

Wylie thanked Michalik.

Wylie said so, at this point, if anybody on council would like to make a motion, and making a motion, well, actually they’re going to do it in order, right? Ryan said right.

Wylie said they’re doing it in order of those who were nominated. Wylie said so, Forte made the first nomination for Meyland. So, Wylie will take a motion to have Meyland selected. OK. And they have to have, this one, they have to have a second.

Motion by Forte; second Rodgers.

Wylie said Forte with the first and Rodgers with the second.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

Ryan said they needed a roll call. Wylie said let’s do a roll call, OK. Wylie asked DeLorge to take a roll call. So, it would be yes for Meyland and no means not for Meyland. Ryan agreed.

Rodgers and Forte voted yes.

Lamphier, Quisenberry, and Wylie voted no.

DeLorge said Casey is absent.

Ryan said that’s 3-2. The motion fails. Wylie agreed.

Wylie said OK, they have Roth next.

Audience member Carol Eberhardt said point of order, are residents allowed to speak. Wylie said not at this point, sorry.

Wylie asked if anyone would like to nominate Roth, sorry, she will take a motion to select or choose Roth as city council person.

Motion by Quisenberry; second Lamphier.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion from people on council.

No discussion.

Wylie said since she neglected to open it up for discussion for Meyland, she asked Ryan if she could open discussion among the audience for Roth. Ryan said it’s at her discretion. Wylie said she thinks she’ll stay consistent.

Wylie asked for a roll call but then asked if there was anyone on council who wanted to say anything.

No discussion.

Wylie asked DeLorge to take a roll call please.

Lamphier, Quisenberry, Wylie, and Rodgers voted yes.

Forte voted no.

Wylie said so, the motion passes with four, four to one.

Wylie thanked Roth and told Michalik they didn’t get to him. Michalik said he understood.

Agenda Item #4, Oath of Office, Appointed Council Member (Video time mark 0:11:53):

Wylie told Roth she thinks she needs to come up there, take a seat, and she’s going to be sworn in. Wylie said she guesses Roth has to sit in Casey’s seat. They’ll have to add a new chair eventually.

Eberhardt said it was an absolute travesty and left the meeting.

(Unintelligible crosstalk.)

DeLorge stepped to the podium and asked Roth if she would like to stand up. Roth said she was. DeLorge said she did it this way, but Roth could do it whichever way she felt comfortable.

(DeLorge administered the oath of office to Roth.)

DeLorge said she would have Roth sign. Wylie said before they leave tonight, OK.

Agenda Item #5, Roll Call (Video time mark 0:13:36):

Wylie said OK, they’re back up to seven people. So now DeLorge has something else she has to do. They are on Item #5 with the roll call.

DeLorge said yes, and Casey is absent.

Forte, Lamphier, Rodgers, Roth, Quisenberry, and Wylie were present.

Agenda Item #6, Approval of Agenda (Video time mark 0:14:10):

Wylie said OK. So, next they have Item #6, which is the approval of the agenda, and she’ll take a motion to approve the agenda as it’s presented.

Motion by Forte; second Roth.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

Motion to approve the agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.

Agenda Item #7, Public Comments (Video time mark 0:14:32):

[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 for any reason, 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 now they have public comments. Individuals have the opportunity to address the city council on topics not on the agenda for three minutes. In order to hear all individuals’ comments at a reasonable hour, the city council requests that speakers respect the three-minute time limit. Note this is not a question answer session. However, it is an opportunity to voice your thoughts with council. Wylie asked if anybody was there for public comments?

Wylie recognized a man in the audience. She said choosing or introducing himself is optional, but he has a name tag on, so she just assumes he wants to introduce himself. She doesn’t know if anyone knows him.

Greg Brandt:

The man walked up to the podium, said he didn’t know if everybody knows him, and introduced himself as Greg Brandt, the Fire Marshall with the Independence Fire Department. So, he just kind of wanted to introduce himself and just kind of tell them that he wants to be more involved with the city and especially with the events that took place this last weekend with the Winter Festival, which was really nice and just kind of, you know, keep that line of communication open. Establish a good relationship with you guys. Improve on what they did in the past, and if there’s anything you guys need from him or the fire department, don’t hesitate to call.

Rodgers said she and Brandt had a lot of conversations this weekend because there were a lot of things that they didn’t know they didn’t know. Brandt said OK. Rodgers said and so in talking at the market, you know, Rodgers suggested he come and, you know, they could have John here from the Police Department [Sergeant John Ashley, Oakland County Sheriff]. Rodgers thinks their communication has greatly improved since he’s come to quarterly meetings, at least if not every meeting sometimes, and suggested that to Brandt as well so that he can get a feel for what they do.

Brandt said it makes sense, keeps them involved in what you guys are up to. They can establish this relationship. His goal is to make sure that everything is safe for you guys, and most of what he does is inside the township, so you guys kind of get overshadowed by that. So, he wants to just reestablish any lack of communication they’ve had in the past and just move forward with a good relationship.

Wylie asked Brandt if he could tell her his last name again because she didn’t catch it. Brandt said and spelled his name. Wylie thanked Brandt. Brandt thanked the council and congratulated the new members.

Wylie asked if anybody else wanted to speak for public comments?

No additional comments.

Wylie said OK, they do have a public comment that was sent in for Chet Pardee.

(Wylie read the comment from Chet Pardee.)

Chet Pardee:

Good evening. Public comments from the 11/27 city council meeting were not read, but Gary Casey seemed to suggest that anyone interested could make a FOIA request for Cory Johnston’s or Pardee’s comments. Pardee was surprised that no one offered to read them or ask Casey to read them. Pardee has included his 11/27 comments at the end of tonight’s comments, not intended to be read, but to provide to the three council members not present on 11/27.

In the last meeting, the auditor indicated the fund balance monies would need to be utilized in next year’s budget and that the city was in good hands. After tonight, Pardee is hopeful the city will be in better hands with Peg Roth aboard. The audit report indicated that the fund balance on 6/30/23 was $4,000 greater than projected when the budget of 2023-2024 was established. The current budget takes the fund balance to 18% versus 16.7% minimum. This would indicate if the current budget revenues and expenses occur that only $15,000 could be used from the fund balance for the 2024-25 budget, and the fund balance would be at its minimum.

The Capital Improvement Plan for 2024-2025 indicates $300,000 of important expenditures, including $120,000 for a DPW [Department of Public Works] truck, $92,000 for PASER [Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating]-driven road repair, and $40,000 for the Washington and Main parking lot repair. These three items total $252,000. If parking revenues cover the street and parking lot repairs, how will other expenses like a DPW truck and any salary increases be covered? No one has been willing to publicly ask Smith or Greg [Coté, city treasurer] if Pardee’s projections on insufficient revenue are accurate.

The city has a financial problem that no one is acknowledging or working to resolve. City tax millage has declined five mills due to GO [General Obligation] bond debt expiration. Seems like the city should increase mileage by half the decrease.

Who should be proposing a solution to the city’s revenue problem? The planning commission, city council, the finance committee, the city manager, and treasurer. Pardee is confident that the new city council members will be helpful.

Wylie said that is from Chet Pardee and asked if anyone else had public comments.

No additional comments.

Agenda Item #8, FYI (Video time mark 0:19:27):

Item 8 is FYI, but there’s nothing at this time unless somebody has any kind of for our information. Item 8 [9] is our sheriff’s report for November –

Rodgers interjected and said you know, before Wylie gets there, maybe she should comment on their – Wylie said oh, sure, yes – (continuing), Rodgers said on the market. She thinks it was a huge success.

Wylie said for those of you who don’t know, Rodgers was running, was in charge of the Christmas Market.

Roth said it was very well done.

Rodgers said it was super well attended. Mel’s Grill handed out just shy of 900 cups of free hot chocolate. Wylie said how nice.

Rodgers said the Historical Society [Clarkston Community Historical Society] donated 500 s’more kits for kids to make s’mores for free, and a little over 400 of those were utilized and the rest were donated to a church’s kitchen pantry. The pony rides had a line. Santa this year didn’t have about a five-minute reprieve during the parade. Last year, he had like maybe 25 minutes during the parade. Wylie asked if it was the same Santa. Rodgers said it was the same Santa, yeah. (Unintelligible crosstalk regarding Santa.) Rodgers said he is addicted. He goes to all the Cleveland Hospitals, Children’s Hospital, he’s a close friend of theirs. And he does it absolutely free of charge.

Rodgers said so many people in this community reached out and gave them money for everything. The Clarkston United Methodist Church provided a game with prizes. There were three different games the kids could play for free. Everything was basically free of charge except for the food trucks and the vendors, of course.

Rodgers said she got a lot of really good feedback. There’re a couple things that, you know, people want to change stuff. Namely more bathrooms next year. They had more bathrooms last year, but she thinks it was so cold last year that nobody used them. But this year there was a line.

Rodgers said so, anyhow, she just wants to thank everybody. Jimmy [Turner, DPW supervisor] and Carson [Danis, DPW laborer] from the DPW were, as always, just worked their tails off the week before, the day of, and they were there till 9:00 still cleaning up afterwards, so they deserve a huge shout out, and Smith and Coté have put up with her, and Evelyn [Bihl, administrative assistant] and DeLorge in the office nonstop for the last few weeks with a lot of things.

So, Rodgers just wants to thank the community for anybody that’s listening all the different places that donated just a great deal of money to make that thing go off, and she thinks it really made our city look and feel very good.

Roth said it was wonderful, and the Clarkston Farm gave out along the route packets of seeds with a candy cane taped to it. Rodgers said yeah, her grandkids got those. Roth said what a cute idea. Rodgers agreed.

Rodgers said and the parade went through at 6:00. You know, they’re kind of separate from them, but she thinks the two events really complement each other very well. It was a fun night.

Wylie said congratulations.

(Unintelligible crosstalk about the Christmas Market.)

Agenda Item #9, Sheriff Report for November 2023 (Video time mark 0:22:32):

• • November 2023 Monthly Report (page 21/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said OK, so now they do have Item #8 [#9], the Sheriff’s report for November 2023, and they have Sergeant John Ashley here who probably would like to speak on something. Wylie said she’s sorry; it’s Item #9. She needs to put her glasses on. It’s Item #9. Thank you.

Sergeant Ashley said well, it looks like we’re, for the month of November, we’re up a little bit for tickets as far as, clearly, concerning the last four months so, that was a little bit of improvement there, but everything else is just still going pretty good.

He knows we just had a crash down here at Clarkson Road. Somebody hit a telephone pole the other day. It took the pole out (unintelligible). That’s the only thing he knows about it. He knows the crews were working really hard. In fact, it was on Friday night. They were working through the night and Saturday to get it ready because of the parade but they got it all fixed and everything else so, but he doesn’t really have that much else to report which is a good thing.

Wylie asked if anybody had questions for Sergeant Ashley.

An unidentified man [Michalik?] asked about the two property crimes in November. Is that typical or is it just by chance? Sergeant Ashley said here, let me look at the – the unidentified man said it seems, well, there’s one way back at the beginning of the year. Sergeant Ashley said yeah. The unidentified man asked what falls under property crime, that is someone breaks into a car – Sergeant Ashley said yeah, it could be that, it could be stealing something off your lawn, you know, it could be anything like that. It could be a destruction of property. He doesn’t have the specifics on that. Yeah. The unidentified man said OK, yeah, he just wondered. He’s never had a problem, but he’s only been here 3-1/2 years, so he’s got time.

Sergeant Ashley recognized another unidentified man for a comment. The unidentified man said he was just informed today, earlier today, actually by (unintelligible) husband who used to be on the HDC that not only was the telephone pole taken out, but a historic fieldstone pillar was taken out at the same time. Sergeant Ashley said yes, somebody told him that just as he walked in the door. The unidentified man said so, that’s kind of an open issue then for us to make sure that that gets taken care of. He assured me that all of the materials are still there, but it will have to be reassembled at the expense of the culprit he would assume. Sergeant Ashley said he would assume so, or the insurance company for sure. The unidentified man agreed.

Wylie said when you say pillar, do you mean one of those stone pillars. The unidentified man said stone, yeah, field stone pillars. Wylie said OK. The unidentified man said there are several of them around the historic district. Wylie said right, OK.

Wylie asked if anybody else, council or audience, had questions for Sergeant Ashley?

No additional questions.

Agenda Item #10, City Manager’s Report (Video time mark 0:25:00):

• • Report Dated December 11, 2023 (page 22/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said they move on to Item #10, the city manager’s report, and Smith has attached, in their agenda packet, he has some things about storm drain repairs, Depot Park amenities, and GM [General Motors] on Main grant opportunity. Wylie said she assumed Smith has something he wants to say.

Smith said he does want to come in on the GM on Main grant opportunities, so if there’s no other questions about, the other two are pretty straightforward and you know, pretty much in there for you.

(Smith loaded up a slide presentation that was not included in the council packet.)

Smith said he wanted to talk to the council about placemaking. It’s probably a concept they’re well familiar with, but not something that they’ve talked about recently, and he’s looking for some feedback from council, not voting on anything tonight, just looking for feedback from council.

Smith said so, let’s talk about what is placemaking. There are many, many different definitions of placemaking and what he’s put in this slide is just some of the definitions. An approach to urban planning and design that focuses on people that use the space rather than the physical structures, creating places that are not just functional but beautiful and meaningful to the people who work there, and work and play. Communities capitalize on community assets, inspiration, and potential. Making public space a living space through the careful design of places will create enjoyable experiences. Possibly Smith’s favorite definition is turning a neighborhood, town, or city from a place that you can’t wait to get through to one you never want to leave. And then lastly, the creation of a built environment that creates community, stimulates interaction, encourages entrepreneurship, fosters innovation, and nurtures humanity.

Smith said so, let’s look at some examples of a placemaking setting in a downtown environment. This is one, just an artist rendering. This is another one showing you some people sitting in a, in a common area where they can just kind of enjoy their time. This is another downtown at night. This very much as an example of some of the downtown streets. If you’ve been downtown into some of the alleys in the downtown area, you see a lot of this, and it’s been very popular and very inviting, and people come and stay. And possibly Smith’s favorite example is this one. It’s very inviting, it’s warm, it shows people enjoying this space downtown. Smith said we’re talking about downtown here. We’re talking about placemaking. We’re not talking about Depot Park. This is downtown, where the businesses are. It’s very important to be close to the downtown area.

Smith said so, what is he proposing here. So, it [the computer mouse] is very sensitive. (Laughter.) OK, we’re here. So, why does Clarkston need placemaking? Places that are meaningful to, to patrons and our visitors will increase the likelihood that people will return. While our amazing restaurants offer great food choices and beautiful venues, other communities are offering these things too. Neighboring communities, he assures them, as friendly as they are, they are competing for our patrons. In tight economies, which we all kind of sense is coming, people will be more selective when in where they shop and dine and choosing the locations with the strong memories of place. An important one is (unintelligible) from the bottom is our social district. When they approved our social district a couple of years ago, they knew that the only common space for our social district were the downtown streets and sidewalks. That is the common area where people with drinks are expected to stand and not leave the downtown area, but there’s nowhere to sit, so a social district and a placemaking initiative could very well dovetail nicely together.

Smith said so, what he’s looking at is Mill Street, the space between The Fed and Rudy’s, and he thinks that 36 feet by 100 feet, it offers an excellent opportunity. So, Smith just wants to think, and this is just a brainstorm tonight.

Smith said and so, just to refresh their memories, so this is a Google Earth picture of Mill Street. He’s not talking about the alley behind, that’s very important. Right here. He’ll tell you; Mill Street is a very important, or the alley, he should say behind Mill Street, is a very important component of firefighting. It’s also where they get a lot of trucks, delivery trucks, going in and out of, trash trucks, it’s very heavily used, so they’re not going to change the alley whatsoever, but the thought was could they use Mill Street as a social district, as a placemaking venue. So, look at this and then look at this.

Roth asked Smith what happens to the dumpsters. Smith said the dumpster will, he’s sorry, this is so sensitive. Roth said they’re right there. Smith said the dumpster will stay where it is today. They are going to build a full enclosure around that, so it’s not just a fence, it’s going to be a cinder block enclosure, so it will be much, much sturdier, much more airtight if you will, animal tight, then the existing just open areas, so that’s an advantage that the Rudy’s redevelopment is going through this area.

Smith said so, he’s just asking, could that become this? It would need a lot. The asphalt would have to come out and put in some kind of paver surface like this concrete surface. They have to have some planters in there. They have to have some lighting but it’s a really great opportunity to bring some semblance of placemaking to downtown. Again, they could do things, all kinds of things in Depot Park, but that’s too far from downtown. Restaurant patrons are not going to walk down to Depot Park for, and they can’t, they can’t bring their drinks. The social district will not allow drinks in the park.

Smith said so, it’s too far away, and it’s separated for a few different reasons. They don’t have anything downtown. At one time they closed Church Street during COVID. They closed East Church Street, and that was met with quite a bit of criticism. In many ways it went just fine, but it was met with a lot of criticism. How could you close the city street. Smith doesn’t think they want to go back there. But Mill Street is really just used as a parking opportunity for The Fed and, most mostly for The Fed and for Rudy’s. Rudy’s used to, as you know, and they were selling milk and bread and they needed access to parking because they had people going in just buying a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk and Robert [Esshaki] would tell him, from Rudy’s, he needs that fifteen-minute parking. He needs that in and out quick or he’s not, he’s going to die. And even with that fifteen-minute parking limitation, he still struggled, and arguably that’s why we’re here with Rudy’s being developed. So, but as a restaurant, Rudy’s will not need fifteen-minute parking.

So, Smith thinks there’s a new opportunity here. He knows this was, it was mentioned years ago, even before he started, about the idea of using Mill Street as a little mini park, and Smith thinks it has merit.

So why is Smith bringing this up tonight? Let’s go on to a couple more pictures here and then let him go on. He’ll have a slide hopefully. GM on Main Street grant program. So right now, there is a grant program out there being offered by General Motors. This is only available to communities that have General Motors facilities nearby, and Clarkston would be one of those. So, we are approved to apply for this. But they’re only doing five of this nationwide. So, it’s for $50,000. No match is required. The grant applicants must demonstrate that their project is placemaking focused, innovative, inclusive, feasible, and it could be replicated in other communities. They want this to be a pattern for other communities. GM is trying to create places where people can socialize and this is, Smith thinks they’re sensing, his guess is they’re sensing this is becoming a lost art. People are talking on their phone. They’re not socializing anymore. They’re texting. They’re talking on their phone. They are not meeting person to person, so they’re looking to this to be seed money to spread throughout the United States. So, it’s an interesting concept and Smith applauds them for doing this.

Smith said but the timing is very tight. Applications must be received by Wednesday. Two days from now. So, it’s very, very tight. The five award winners would be announced in January, and the funds sent out in February, and all projects must be complete by the end of August, which would also be tight because, as they know, as the picture showed, Rudy’s is still very much under construction. But Smith is told they should be done with the outside facade by May, at which point we could take over and do our work in the parking lot.

Smith said so, if this GM grant doesn’t work out, and Smith would say our odds, the odds are against us, it’s just too many other applicants, but he thinks we need to start doing some of this. But if the GM offer doesn’t work out, Smith thinks we ought to pursue some others. And there are other ones out there.

Smith said believe him, when he goes to city manager meetings, when he goes to planner meetings, when he goes to MML [Michigan Municipal League] conferences, when he goes to economic development meetings, the number one topic in all these meetings is placemaking. They are all talking about placemaking. Look at Lake Orion, look at Oxford, look at Milford, they have all implemented, our competition, if you will. Smith loves them all. They’re great cities. But they are our competition. They’ve all developed placemaking initiatives. We have not. We have not done a thing on this, and Smith thinks we have a little bit of a risk on our hands here.

Smith said so, why he’s here is he’s looking for feedback from them, the city council. Placemaking is a key component of the city’s master plan, and it’s in the master plan. Derrek [Werner, planning commission chair] is here from the planning commission. It’s very much a large component of our master plan. There’s five pages dedicated to the placemaking initiative. Very important. But should it be even a higher priority? Should we be taking steps now, namely this GM on Main grant? Should Smith be applying for that? If we don’t win that one, should he be going after others? Would council, secondly, or would council consider closing Mill Street to become a permanent placemaking opportunity? Should we apply for the GM on Main grant program? That’s, as he said, the deadline is Wednesday, so he has to get on that very, very quickly. He’s got some things under development, but he didn’t want to push the button until he talked to them.

Roth asked Smith when he got this. Smith said he was made aware of this just last week. He’s told it was out there mid-November, but he just learned about it last minute. Roth said is that something that you would have asked the two business owners on both sides – Smith said he has – (continuing) Roth said just out of curiosity, what their opinion is. Smith said he has indeed talked with both of them and both of them first were like taken aback, because the city had previously said no to this. When it came up about five, you know, it’s more like seven years ago. Steve Percival at the time was interested in making this more of a green space than a placemaking space, but nonetheless a place where people could gather, and it failed. And both of them referenced that and said you think it will go? Smith said he doesn’t know. Smith thinks things have changed and he’d like to ask council again. Is this something we would consider? And, after having some discussion, both Esshaki and Sarah Schneider [The Fed owner] both endorsed changing Mill Street to a permanent, permanently closed seating area. There’d be bollards, front and back, so people couldn’t drive through there.

Smith said you’ll say, well, you’re going to lose seven parking spots, how are you going to make that up? Well, out on Main Street, where there’s a drive, we put a curb and we would gain 3, possibly four of the seven lost out there. So, it’s not a total net/net loss of seven. It’s more like a net loss of three. So, it’s not that bad of an impact on parking, but it would gain a lot of interest. Bring people to the city. Now, you might say right now, we don’t need more people. We’ve got plenty of people and in fact, at night, it’s tough to find a parking spot. That’s today. Tomorrow, the economy downturns, he thinks they need to, they need to plan for our city’s future. And Smith thinks placemaking is just something that has become so commonplace in a lot of communities, and he feels we’re behind the eight ball, we’re way behind other communities, and we’ll be left behind. And Smith would hate to see us with vacant storefronts. So, Smith is trying to get in front of that.

Smith says he brings all this, he’s throwing a lot of them tonight. As he said he’s not asking for a motion tonight, he was just interested in feedback from council and interested particularly if they think he should kind of get the pen the paper here real quick and get a grant application fired off by Wednesday at noon.

Wylie said so, before they get, council people go ahead and say something, and she knows people in the audience probably will also want to speak up, but she’d let council go first. And Quisenberry’s got his hands up.

Quisenberry asked who owns the property? Smith said the city does. Quisenberry said so, we own it. Smith said it’s a common misnomer, people think that Rudy’s owns it. Rudy’s owns the Clarkston News lot when they bought the Clarkston News building, but this, Mill Street, has always been a city-owned property.

Quisenberry said so, the cost of developing like we all saw in the pictures would all be covered by this $50,000. Smith said it’d be tight. They may have to go after some other donations, which the GM on Main program will allow other donations to come in. Smith thinks $50,000 is going to just be about what they need to do the concrete work, a nice stamped and colored concrete. They saw the benches; They saw the planters. The lighting is not terribly expensive, but they would have to probably find other sources to fund it.

Quisenberry said so, people go in there to use it and they sit down and have a drink. Who supplies the drink? Smith said one of the four social district approved restaurants, The Fed, the Union, the Wood Shop, and Honchos. Rudy’s, he assumes, is going to want to apply to be a fifth, but right now, it’s just those four. They have carryout capability.

Rodgers said that she has heard comments from various people that say like it’s kind of cool that we have a social district, but we have nowhere to be social with it like, so I’m going to go get this drink and I’m gonna go where with it? Like I don’t understand. Like you can’t go to the park? So where do we go? Wyle said at the time when it was set up, it was during COVID – (interrupting Wylie), Rodgers said right, and we had that big space. Wylie said yeah, so we were trying to find a place or something so people at least give the restaurant some business, get a drink, and in the summertime hopefully can walk around. Wylie said they talked about, and she was on the committee for that social district, and they talked about how awesome it would have been to use Mill Street. Wylie remembers Steve Percival talking about it too, but there were some, you know, the cost of it is one of the big issues and the other cost was, or the other issue, was the historic district was opposed to it.

Roth said she remembers there was some concern at one of the meetings that that parking area, someone from the HDC made a comment because she remembered Esshaki wanted to, Roth can’t remember her name, the woman’s name. Esshaki was talking about the parking. Roth just remembers that she objected to it, saying that, Roth doesn’t remember the specifics, she just remembers there was some discussion about their concern with that parking, anything being done with that. But if Missy [Melissa Luginski, Historic District Commission member] is here and she doesn’t, obviously she would have a better – (interrupting), a man in the audience raised his hand and asked if he might speak to that. He knows that – (interrupting the man), Wylie said can they just before, she knows they’ll get, they’ll get back. Wylie just wants to know, there’s a few people here that want to say, did Forte want to say something?

Forte said yeah, she’s seen this on a lot of similar size municipalities with phenomenal responses. It’s really, really popular up north, like along those little cities, and when you study it, and you study like the economic and the environmental and the social benefits, what we oftentimes see is like it makes the area safer because there is people being active in that area where there they weren’t previously, and it’s more well-lit, and it’s activating space that isn’t being used regardless. So, she’s all for this. If Smith puts a committee together, she would love to be a part of it. And she thinks go for it on the grant because why not try, like, she means, we’re one of many but who knows? We are really quaint, and really, she feels like this weekend even shows like, the placemaking, and like, programming that we already do and our little municipality like makes a big impact. So why wouldn’t we try to do more of it? And like, she could imagine food trucks parking in there during events like, the Winter Market. Like, there’s so much, like – (interrupting Forte), Smith said yeah, we’d have to talk about it, yeah. (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Forte said like, don’t worry, she has (unintelligible), but yeah, anyway, and it’s nice to see vision, which is great too so. Thank you for going above. Smith said OK and thanked Forte for her comments.

Wylie recognized Lamphier and asked if he wanted to say something. Lamphier said well, he liked the idea. He thinks it would be great. He thinks it is something that we are missing in downtown. He guesses one concern would be if we’re lucky enough to get the grant, he means, you know, would we be able to handle what comes with that? In other words, maybe it’s going to be $100,000 to, you know, to finish it. Forte said you just do one phase at a time. Lamphier said yeah, as long as you can get that one phase done. Forte said yeah. Smith said right, that would be the goal. Just get the concrete done, maybe that’s all. He means, GM, wants to see an end product, right? Lamphier said right. Smith said so, we would have to just be very careful on that, that we’re not violating the terms of the grant. Lamphier said right.

Wylie said Rodgers had something. Rodgers said right. She just, she thinks it’s a great idea and she would hope that we could somehow develop it so that it does have a historical kind of feel to it. You know, it just, we are lacking that extra space that people can mill around, and she means, maybe even stores would stay open later if people stayed here, you know, there’s nowhere for them, they eat and they go home. So, she understands why the businesses don’t want to be open because nobody’s going to the businesses. So, maybe if we had something like that where we could then also have more events and have more opportunities to have, or you could rent that space out for different functions, you know, to make money that way. Maybe even help the city make some money off of it.

Smith said the historic district or historical component of this. It’s interesting that in the placemaking information you look up on the website, on the various websites, it really emphasizes the importance of historic districts doing this, historic communities doing this, because it brings knowledge, it brings awareness, brings appreciation to the historic areas. On both sides of this, of Mill Street, are stone structures that are obviously historic and so, in this case, people would come, they’d be drinking their beer, whatever, eating their sandwich. Maybe not so much this time of year, but in the summer, they would be enjoying the space. We could put some of those tower propane heaters in there to extend the season a little bit, but people will really appreciate the space and therefore appreciate the history of Clarkson. So, they really emphasize that as a key component, not as a downside, but as an upside of bringing placemaking into your city.

Wylie said she thought Quisenberry wanted to add one more thing. Quisenberry said two. Quisenberry said so, he’s just trying to think conceptually, somebody to be able to go into one of the establishments or on the east side of M15, Main Street pick up two, say pitchers of beer, and five glasses – Wylie said no. No, there’s a lot, there’s very strict rules about social districts. You have to have it in a specific kind of glass each. So, for instance, if somebody goes into Honcho, they would get a cup, a disposable cup, that would say social district and Honcho, and they have to have the drink in that cup. Quisenberry said they can’t just walk over. Wylie said the rules are already in place.

Quisenberry said OK, and that being said, he would just like to reach out to the Sheriff’s Department and ask them if they have any concerns, because he’s noticed, he’s always been a little concerned about this, wondering about it, is if they had any liquor inspections in the city all year long. It’s like we just don’t do liquor inspections here. Having, now people have the capability of walking around in a public venue from one area to another with drinking and alcohol, is their agency going to be able to, he’s sure they’re going to because he knows the quality of their agency, but that’s an issue that’s going to have to come up and be addressed when it comes to liquor enforcement in the city, which it doesn’t look like there’s really that much going on with that.

Sergeant Ashley said yes, he can see. No, it doesn’t look like it at all, for sure. Wylie said it seems like in the past it’s always been once – Sergeant Ashley said once a year – Wylie said we always get it once a year on the that report. Quisenberry asked if it was on each establishment, of each LCC or link holder. Sergeant Ashley said yeah. In fact, they, it’s just funny, he was talking to the lieutenant a couple weeks ago about this and it was mentioned about the liquor inspections, so yeah, that was brought up. Yes, sir.

Quisenberry said knowing that if this happens, we hope there’s not going to be any sort of problem, but it is going to take a bit more oversight to make sure that everything stays as proper as they want it to be, if it comes to play. Sergeant Ashley said he totally agrees with Quisenberry. Yes.

Quisenberry said and the other thing was if Smith has two days to put in this application, in his application, does he just basically have to say hey, we’re interested and we’re in, or does he have to have a lot more nuts and bolts behind the application on what it is we’re going to do. Smith said they want the nuts and bolts, so he will have to put all that together. He’s got a lot of it, kind of all staged, but it has to be a full proposal. If, and remember, he’s competing against all these other applicants, so if they look at Smith’s and it says, well, you don’t have enough information, they’re going to just toss it to the side and move on to the next one. So, it needs to be nuts and bolts. The budget needs to be there, so very quickly, Smith is going have to put together an estimated budget of what things are going to cost. It’s concrete, seating, (unintelligible), and planters. So, four items, he puts the budget together on that. And they want to see how, if you get approved, how would you implement this. The concrete is not something Smith’s DPW staff would do. That that would be outsourced. The lighting is something the DPW staff would do. The installation of the benches – Quisenberry said bollards – (continuing), Smith said and the planters and bollards is even something Smith’s staff could do, but the concrete would have to be outsourced. And that’s the biggest step for this, is the concrete, ripping out the asphalt, which is no prized asphalt. It’s old and in bad shape anyway. So (unintelligible) that’s not a bad thing. But you can’t just have this on asphalt. It just doesn’t feel the same. And you have to have some kind of more substantial beautified surface to walk on.

Wylie recognized Ryan for a comment. Ryan said he had a practical question, so, he means how long is this application, how many pages is it. Is it like a term paper that’s due at the end of the semester. (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Rodgers said it doesn’t sound like they gave them a whole lot of time. Ryan said he’s not blaming Smith, he’s just saying – Quisenberry said the other guys don’t have that much time either. Rodgers said exactly. Wylie said they have big staffs to do it. Smith said it’s six pages. You can expand on it. You could make it twenty pages if you wanted to, but the actual questions are six pages. Ryan asked if Smith could, maybe planning could, fill in a little bit for us too. He means, if they just help you and not charge us, you know, just help you with that. Smith said yes. Carlisle/Wortman has experience in this. They do a lot of placemaking. They could help Smith with what are the key talking points. It’s like a resume. What are the keywords you want on your resume to be selected, and that’s those, that’s the kind of insight that Smith would hope to get. Ryan said he would be happy to look at it too if Smith gets it done. (Unintelligible crosstalk.)

Wylie asked if anybody else on the council had any questions or comments.

No comments.

Wylie said she’s going to open it up briefly to the audience because really Smith is only looking for feedback from council, so please, if they have a comment or something like to say, make it brief.

Wylie recognized Melissa Luginski [HDC member]. Luginski said just really quickly, she wanted to acknowledge there’s, this is a pretty new council, so they’ve got some institutional knowledge that’s maybe lacking here, and she just wanted to acknowledge that placemaking is a concept that they have been trained on in the HDC, and every HDC, it’s not just them, so if you think about it, placemaking is really the basis of everything they do. So, if you think about asking somebody in Lake Orion when they think of Clarkston as a place, what do they think of. Michalik said the restaurants. Luginski said yeah. The downtown. Michalik said yeah. Luginski said so, we have a sense of place here. She would say, she would argue, that we have a very strong identity in Oakland County. We have a very strong sense of place here and she would say that our property values are a result of that. So, she wants to acknowledge all the work that (gesturing to the council) they’re about to support our city, all the work that’s been done to support our city. So placemaking is part of everything that they do. With the lights, with the signage, the lack of the open flashing signs. The light strands that they’re doing, the renovation, the park, the restaurants, it’s all kind of part of that. So, she’s not commenting up or down on the initiative. What she is saying is that placemaking has been alive and well in Clarkston in a pretty intense way for the last twenty years. They’ve seen a huge improvement in the structures, everything – (Quisenberry made an unintelligible comment.) Luginski said everything. So, she just wants to acknowledge that that, that work has been done and will continue to be done of course, so. Wylie thanked Luginski.

Smith said he’s not taking anything away from – (interrupting Smith), Luginski said no, she knows he’s not. She knows he’s not. Smith said he just thinks there’s room for – (interrupting Smith), Lugniski said yeah, that term is the only thing she just wanted to kind of clarify.

Wylie asked if anybody else in the audience wanted to make a comment.

Wylie recognized Mike [Moon, HDC member], apologized for cutting him off before, and told him to go ahead. Moon said he would like to speak to Quisenberry’s comments previously. The concern he believes, and Luginski can correct him if he’s wrong, but he believes the concern before was with Mill Street, was Mill Street is one of the most historically relevant streets in town. That was the street that they took to go to the mill from Main, from the highway. And there was concern that before that Rudy’s might be building out into that, such that it wouldn’t be navigable as a street. And there was intent on keeping it, you know, historically true as a street. Now, as a pedestrian only street, he doesn’t know if that, how that would work with that (unintelligible).

Wylie thanked Moon for that perspective and recognized Jennifer [Radcliff, HDC member].

Radcliff said to just play off a little bit from what Moon just said, that street belongs to the public. They’ve paid for it, they’ve striped it, they’ve paved it, they’ve absorbed it into their history, not just of the mill, but of the buildings that built around the fact that there was a Mill Street and the mill. There’s a continuum of history here that can’t be easily dismissed by saying, well, it’s vacant now. It’s not vacant, it’s historic, and there is a reason why it was there. And those reasons now have to do with parking. But the fact that we have a place called the mall, the Mills Mall, is because that’s the identity that Luginski referred to. That’s not a casual thing. Clarkston’s sense of its own place goes back to its founding, and it’s really never wavered. Through World War I and World War II, there has always been a collection of activity, commercial activity around that street. And the fact that it opens up the whole hillside and the whole other side of town that you don’t get from the road. You just see a little cut if that’s all you’re doing. But those of us who live and work and play here know that that is the opening, the only opening really, to the mill and to its history, and to all of the history that is taking place now at the back of those buildings. They aren’t just, that alley, is not just for big delivery trucks. There are pedestrian entrances and display areas, that those patrons, those businesses, value every bit as much as those of us who have property that fronts on Main Street. That’s the collective that we have to protect, or we’ll lose our sense of place just like a lot of other places have and trading one for the other. It’s not that she doesn’t think it has a purpose or a use, and it certainly needs some attention. But to close it off and make it a place just for people who are socializing as opposed to people who live and work and get through there and go to the mill for other businesses. That can’t be ignored. Wylie thanked Radcliff.

Wylie recognized Forte.

Forte said she just wanted to go off of that. She thinks they bring a bunch of great points and like she would advocate for a design competition for this space, because then the best design would be remnant of all of those values and like, would pick up a lot of the things she’s saying, but also activate, getting the history and the stakeholder engagement ahead of time, like in doing the research to create a space that’s really emblematic of Clarkston. But they can talk about that. Smith asked if Forte was suggesting that he shouldn’t apply. Forte said no, apply, if they get the money, great, but like it can’t hurt to talk about it.

Wylie recognized Quisenberry.

Quisenberry said he thinks they both hit on a great concept and that’s for Smith in his application and to focus on that. The fact that Mill Street, what is such an integral part of the history here should be exercised, should be exhibited, by what we put in there. Bring that back. He was here in Clarkston in ’63, and in and out all the time. He never knew that history on it. But the fact that he needs it to drive from point A to point B to the other side to realize the significance was irrelevant. But if we close it for vehicle traffic and open it up and enhance, capitalize on that whole concept in it, that can be part of the whole placemaking plan, where we’re going to have plaques, we’re going to have statements indicating what this was and why it was and the historical significance of it. Quisenberry thinks that does exactly what you two were talking about, and at the same time, it gives our application maybe a little bit extra to consider that we’re building on something here.

Luginski said what she would add to that is that our significance, according to the National Register, the feds, is that we’re an 18th century mill village, Greek Revival mill village. That is our identity according to the National Park Service and she hopes Smith might want to include that. Wylie said fortunately, Smith is pretty well-versed in the history of Clarkston.

Wylie asked if anybody else wanted to make a comment that will help Smith. She assumes, based on the feedback, that Smith is going to go ahead and fill out the application. Wylie said she could help Smith if he needed it tomorrow. Smith said if it is the case, Nan [Nancy Moon] – Wylie said she doesn’t know what she can do. Smith said if something happens and he thinks it’s just not appropriate for us, they can always turn – Wylie said he could turn to other grants. Smith said General Motors doesn’t want that, they want people that are going to take the money and develop it but (unintelligible).

Wylie said good and thanked Smith. She asked if anybody else had any questions or anything else on the city manager’s report? They kind of rushed all that. It was pretty straightforward.

Quisenberry said he had one other comment for the city manager if he can. It has to do with the striping, and this is a question he wanted to ask while the sheriff was still here. The striping that was done when they were doing the roads, Depot, Holcomb and whatever, he noticed they neglected to put the crosswalk in right over here (gesturing), crossing Depot Street to the other side, and he’s wondering if that is going to, or can it be done, because he knows that a crosswalk allows the pedestrian some legality and right of way crossing it. Without it, you don’t really have it. It was there, and he thinks it’s important to let the pedestrians know one, this is where we want you to cross, and two, by doing it, so here you have the legal authority to do so, and traffic’s going to have to yield to you. Smith said it was always the plan to reinstate those crosswalks. There are also some stop bars that were not put down. And the reason why is Oakland County has established a standard of using the thermal plastic tape rather than paint. They found that the tape lasts longer, so this is the new standard that the paving contractor therefore has to use, and the thermoplastic tape has to be put down at 60° or higher temperature. So, they’ve promised Smith if there’s a new window of opportunity where we get to 60°, they will be out. Quisenberry said this past Saturday. (Laughter.) Smith said it has to be dry, a dry 60°, so that chance is diminishing every day. So, it’s not by design by any means, but it may be the reality that they just won’t get it done until spring. Wylie said OK.

Agenda Item #11 – Motion: Acceptance of the Consent Agenda as Presented (Video time mark 1:04:46):

• • 11-27-2023 Draft Minutes (page 23/89 of the council packet)
  • 11-13-2023 Final Minutes (page 26/89 of the council packet)
  • 12-11-2023 Treasurer’s Report (page 30/89 of the council packet)
  • 12-04-2023 Check Disbursement Report, 11-1-2023 – 11-30-2023 (page 31/89 of the council packet)
  • Thomas J. Ryan, P.C. November invoices (page 41/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said OK, they’ll move on to Item #11, motion for acceptance of consent agenda as presented on December 11, 2023. And what they do is they take these documents, the final minutes from November 13th, the draft minutes from November 27th, the treasurer’s report from December 11, 2023, they put them all together and the council either agrees with it or doesn’t agree with it, or else they could discuss something else more specifically as needed.

Wylie said she would like a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented.

Motion by Forte; second Rodgers.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

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

Wylie said OK, that passes.

Agenda Item #12, Old Business

Item 12a – Motion – Historic District Commission Appointment to Fill Open Position Until July 2024 (Video time mark 01:05:36):

• • Motion – Historic District Commission Appointment (page 44/89 of the council packet)
  • Lisa Patercsak Email Requesting Appointment (page 45/89 of the council packet)
  • Nancy Moon Email Requesting Appointment (page 46/89 of the council packet)
  • Cory Johnston Email Supporting Nancy Moon Appointment (page 16/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said on Item #12, they have old business, a motion, HDC appointment to fill open position until July 2024. Wylie asked them to excuse her a second while she goes to that page.

(Wylie read the motion.)

Wylie said so, she’s got to bring up one more thing. (To Michael Moon, HDC member), Wylie said just let her just say this and then he can say something else. In the city charter, we have a rule, it’s in the restrictions concerning officers, section 4.18, sixth paragraph, “unless the Council shall by an affirmative vote of five (5) members, which vote shall be recorded as part of the official proceedings, determine that the best interests of the City shall be served, the following relatives of any elected or appointed officer are disqualified from holding any appointed office or city employment during the term for which the officer was elected or appointed. . . .” This would be spouse, child, parent. It goes on and lists a bunch of relatives. So, the reason it’s there is because Nancy Moon has asked to be selected to be on the HDC and her husband, Michael Moon, is already on the HDC, so that’s why that is on there. And did you want to say something about that Dr. Moon?

Michael Moon said certainly. Nancy [Moon] was only offering her services in case there were no other applicants, such that the HDC could meet quorum for those meetings up until whenever someone could be appointed. So, she would definitely like to withdraw her name in favor of Lisa Paterscak.

Wylie said OK. (To the audience), Wylie said she assumed that person was Lisa [Paterscak]. Paterscak said she was. Wylie asked Paterscak to introduce herself and say anything. She could stand where she was or come to the podium.

(Paterscak walked to the podium.)

Lisa Paterscak:

Paterscak provided her name and said she’s been a resident of the city inside the historic district since 2018. She’s been a resident of the area and the community in Springfield Township on Dixie Lake since 2000, 1999. She has two kids that graduated from Clarkson High School, so she’s very familiar with the area.

Paterscak has always loved the downtown area. She was searching for a property within the historic district to purchase and have and she feels she was very lucky and fortunate that she did find one. So, having done renovations on that property and going through the process with the HDC to get her certificate, she talked to many, many people about going through that process and understanding what has to happen and why it’s in place, and she really does appreciate the fact that there is protection in this town of all of our historic properties and buildings. It’s something that she feels is very rare in our state and she’s seen the destruction of some really unfortunate, beautiful places that you know should or could have been saved. Paterscak said she does not have any building or architectural experience. However, she does have a great appreciation for the history that is here, and she would definitely be interested to continue working with that and having, you know, our village and our community uphold the integrity of this place, and the history of this place, so, and especially just listening to the proposal that was made about this placemaking and having the history of that be part of, you know, a new development is pretty exciting, and it would be great to honor that space. So anyway, she would be, she’s just very enthusiastic about it. So, she would be appreciative to be considered for the position.

Wylie thanked Paterscak and asked if anybody had any questions or comments, to ask anything of her.

Forte said Paterscak said she didn’t have any building experience, but she’s done a renovation to her house. Paterscak said yes. Forte said so that’s some sort of – Paterscak said there’s some sort of experience there.

Wylie said that Paterscak has been working with, Paterscak told Wylie that she’s been working with Meloche first and then with Melissa [Luginski] and Dr. Green. Paterscak said yeah. So, she talked with Meloche extensively, and Luginski, and they provided her with a lot of really useful information and some materials to study, so she’d be willing to take some of the classes that are available, you know, through the state and the federal program.

Wylie said they need a motion.

Motion by Forte. Wylie said Forte is making a motion to appoint Lisa Paterscak to fill the open HDC position effective immediately and ending June 30, 2024.

Wylie asked if there is a second. Second Roth.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

Wylie asked if they needed to do a roll call. Ryan said yes. Wylie asked DeLorge if she could please do a roll call.

Lamphier, Forte, Roth, Quisenberry, Rodgers, and Wylie voted yes.

DeLorge said the motion is adopted.

Wylie said thank you and asked if Paterscak needed to be sworn in, do they swear in HDC members? Luginski said they don’t. Michael Moon said Paterscak would come to the office here and do it. Wylie said OK, come to the office and do it. (Unintelligible crosstalk.)

Wylie said OK, congratulations. Paterscak thanked Wylie.

Agenda Item #13, New Business

Item 13a – Motion: 2024 City Council Schedule (Video time mark 1:11:53):

• • Motion – 2024 City Council Meeting Schedule (page 47/89 of the council packet)
  • City Council Meeting Dates for 2024 (page 48/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said OK, they are moving on to Item #13, New Business. First, they have a motion on the 2024 city council schedule, and they have it in their packet. All council meetings for 2024, they’re all on Mondays, she thinks. No, they have May 28^th, it’s a Tuesday. Wylie thinks the 27th is Memorial Day.

Wylie said she just needs a motion and a second to accept these as their council meeting dates.

Motion by Forte; second Rodgers.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

The motion to adopt the 2024 city council schedule passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said that passes.

Item 13b – Motion – Angels’ Place Race Planned for 5/11/2024 (Video time mark 1:12:33):

• • Motion – May 11, 2024 Angels’ Place Race (pager 49/89 of the council packet)
  • Map, Angels’ Place 10 K Course (page 50/89 of the council packet)
  • Map, Angels’ Place 5K Course (page 51/89 of the council packet)
  • Map, Angels’ Place One Mile Fun Run/Walk Course (page 52/89 of the council packet)
  • Map, Angels’ Place 5K and 10K Course Marshalls (page 53/89 of the council packet)
  • Angels’ Place 2023 Sponsors List (page 55/89 of the council packet)
  • Certificate of Liability Insurance (page 57/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said next, they have Mr. Paul Maxwell speaking on the Angels’ Place Race plan for May 11, 2024. (Maxwell stood up but did not step to the podium.) Wylie said Maxwell could talk from there.

Maxwell said first of all, he’d like to introduce Rick Clark. He is a volunteer and race operations leader. First of all, he would like to thank the Village of Clarkston for the last sixteen years for the great support of Angels’ Place Race. They work very closely with Smith and Jimi Turner [DPW supervisor], the Oakland County Sheriff, and Independence Fire to ensure a safe event. The description is for the new members. Angels’ Place is charity that is for the adult, developmentally disabled adults. There’s eighteen homes in Oakland County. Hopefully, one day in Clarkston sometime. The handout has all the routes and everything. So, their race is, it’s a run/walk on May 11^th, and Maxwell will open it up to Clark if he wants to add anything. (Wylie made an unintelligible comment.)

Clark said they haven’t changed the routes that they’ve been running the last multiple years. Wylie said it’s always been a well-run race.

Wylie said she’ll kind of reiterate what Maxwell said.

(Wylie read the motion.)

Wylie said well, she’ll take a motion first, and then if they have discussion.

(Interrupting Wylie), Michalik said sorry, he doesn’t mean to interrupt the vote, but he’s lived here for three years and didn’t know there was a run, and it looks like it ends in his driveway. (Laughter.) Wylie said Michalik only needed to provide snacks and drinks. (Laughter.) Michalik said he’s probably run more 10Ks than probably except for those two people and he didn’t even know it existed so there you go. Forte said it’s great. Wylie said it’s a well-run event. (Unintelligible crosstalk.)

Maxwell said (unintelligible) in front of St. Daniel’s. So, what they do is they come around, as they’re coming off (unintelligible), they come up the safety path and run along there, and then the finish line is really across the sidewalk across from St. Daniel’s. (Unintelligible crosstalk; unintelligible side conversation between Wylie and Quisenberry.)

Wylie said motion, yes.

Motion by Forte. Wylie said she is going for all the motions tonight.

Wylie asked if there was as second.

Second Roth.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

Roth said it is really a good event. It is always well run.

Wylie said they could do a motion, right? Wylie asked for a voice vote.

Motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said OK, it passes and thanked Maxwell. Maxwell thanked Wylie.

Maxwell said there’s some great posters (unintelligible) on this picture too, and he shared it with Smith. Really great video of the race with drone shots and Smith can share it with the council.

Roth asked if there was video of the businesses. Maxwell said yes. Roth said she would take a couple of them.

An unidentified woman [Evelyn Bihl, administrative assistant?] said if Maxwell had a lot of them, she would put them on the back table.

Wylie said she recalled Angels’ Place used to do a Mr. B’s fundraiser and asked if they were still doing that. (Maxwell nodded.) Wylie asked if that was usually in the winter. Maxwell said February. Wylie said February, OK. (Unintelligible crosstalk.)

Item 13c – Resolution: 2024 Calendar Year No-Haz Collection Program Agreement (Video time mark 1:16:58):

• • Resolution – 2024 NoHaz Program Participation and Interlocal Agreement (page 58/89 of the council packet)
  • 2023 NoHaz Year-End Report (page 59/89 of the council packet)
  • 2023 NoHaz Costs per Community (page 66/89 of the council packet)
  • 2023 NoHaz Statistics (page 67/89 of the council packet)
  • 2023 NoHaz Weights Collected by Material (page 69/89 of the council packet)
  • 2023 NoHaz Information for the City of the Village of Clarkston (page 70/89 of the council packet)
  • Resolution – The North Oakland Household Hazardous Waste Consortium (page 71/89 of the council packet)
  • North Oakland County Household Hazardous Waste Interlocal Agreement Between Oakland County and the City of the Village of Clarkston (page 72/89 of the council packet)
  • Exhibit A – 2024 Proposed NoHaz Budget (Cost Details) (page 86/89 of the council packet)
  • Exhibit B – 2024 Estimated Costs (page 87/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said all right, moving on to Item #13(3) [c], resolution for the 2024 CY [calendar year] NoHaz collection program agreement.

Wylie asked if she needed to read the whole thing and then said she thought she should.

(Wylie read the resolution.)

Wylie said so, before they move on, they would need to have a motion and second and then they can have any kind of discussion. Ryan said this is a resolution. Wylie said this is a resolution, yes. OK, so, she needs a motion to resolve this.

Motion by Forte; second Quisenberry.

Wylie said now she’ll have discussion from council.

Quisenberry said they have 35 residents that had two tons of hazardous waste. Wylie said yes. Quisenberry said that’s surprising. (Laughter.) Wylie said what they do is they get everybody to load up on, she means, she knows neighbors will get people to load up a car. Forte agreed. Wylie said she saw the cost, it was over $140, something like that per person is what it costs this program, but we get it.

Smith said it was $106 last year. Wylie said $106. Smith said and then we paid $91, something like that. The residents paid $15, we paid $91. We paid $91. Wylie said OK. Smith said this year it goes up to about $6, or 2024, it goes up about $6, but a lot of that weight is tires. Quisenberry said oh. Smith said those are things you can’t dispose of easily, and so that’s a lot of the weight.

Wylie said she thinks it’s an excellent program and anything that encourages the city residents to participate is a bonus for everybody. Forte agreed, especially because a lot of us get our water from wells. Wylie agreed. Forte said anything that is not going into the drinking water is good.

Smith said if you don’t make it easy, if we’re going to find another solution and say just you hate to see them putting oil in the ground, or worse yet in the water supply, it’s just that kind of thing we just don’t want.

Wylie asked if anybody else on council had any comments?

No comments.

Wylie asked if anybody else in the audience had comments.

No comments.

Wylie asked DeLorge to take a roll call. So, this is a resolution. So, what they’re doing is voting to participate in it again at this cost of $3,492.90. Smith said it’s an estimated cost. Wylie said an estimated cost if 33 people participate. They had 35 this year. So, they think that was the first year we rejoined. So, Smith thinks it’s going to actually go down a little bit. Wylie said OK. (To Ryan), Smtih said he wanted to reassure him that this agreement is identical. He knows Ryan didn’t have a chance to read through this one. Smith didn’t give it to him, but it’s identical to the previous one, just the year. Ryan said he did look at it and asked if this has been budgeted. Smith said yes. Ryan said so, budgeted (unintelligible). Smith said correct. Ryan thanked Smith. Smith apologized to Wylie.

Wylie said OK and asked DeLorge to proceed.

Forte, Rodgers, Wylie, Roth, and Lamphier voted yes.

Quisenberry didn’t vote.

Wylie said resolution passes, adopted, thank you.

DeLorge apologized for missing Quisenberry. Quisenberry also voted yes.

Wylie said oh, she didn’t get you? So, now it is adopted with everybody voting yes, even the TBD [to be determined] person. That’s Roth.

Item 13d – Motion Cancel the 12/25/23 City Council Meeting (Video time mark 1:22:14):

• • Motion – Cancel the December 25, 2023 City Council Meeting (page 89/89 of the council packet)

Wylie said OK, she will take a motion to adjourn.

An unidentified person said Wylie had to cancel the meeting. Wylie said why didn’t she see that on here, did she miss it?

Forte said she would make a motion to not be here on Christmas; second Rodgers.

Wylie said for those who don’t know, they have to vote on, because they, last year, they voted to have all these meetings, and by the charter, they’re supposed to have all these meetings, including on Christmas Day. They have to vote to not meet on Christmas Day.

So, Forte made a motion to not meet on Christmas Day. And did they get a second? Rodgers gave the second.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

Motion to cancel the December 25^th meeting passed by unanimous voice vote.

Agenda Item #12, Adjourn (Video time mark 1:22:37):

Wylie said OK.

Forte made a motion to adjourn; second Roth.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

Motion to adjourn passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said they are adjourned at 8:23.

Resources:

• • Link to video recording here
  • 12-11-2023 City Council packet