Note: links to the video recording and the council packet can be found at the bottom of this post. Please note any errors or omissions in the comments. Anything noted between brackets was inserted by Clarkston Sunshine.
Agenda item #1, Call to Order:
There was no formal call to order on the video recording.
Agenda item #2, Pledge of Allegiance (Video time mark 0:00:01):
Pledge said.
Agenda item #3, Roll Call (Video time mark 0:00:20):
Eric Haven said he was glad that Jennifer [Speagle, clerk] was back and could take the roll, and he asked her to do so.
Eric Haven, Al Avery, Gary Casey, Bruce Fuller, Laura Rodgers, and Sue Wylie were present. Joe Luginski was absent.
Agenda item #4, Motion: Approval of Agenda (Video time mark 0:00:39):
Motion to approve the agenda as presented by Wylie; second Rodgers.
No discussion.
Motion to approve the agenda passed unanimously by voice vote.
Agenda Item #5, Public Comments (Video time mark 0:01:05):
Haven read the rules for public comments and asked if anyone, in the room or online, had any public comments.
Chet Pardee:
There has not been negative feedback from my suggestions made in the January 24th council meeting. Nor have the suggestions for February been implemented.
Not being deterred, I suggest that city officials implement virtual meeting participation and video recording of Historic District Commission and Planning Commission meetings. This will further demonstrate the city’s commitment to transparency and respond to increased interest in current commission topics including 42 West Washington and Waldon and South Main development. I am sure that Independence Television will provide video recordings of these meetings as they do for Independence Township.
Julie Meredith, Director of Clarkston Independence District Library, has provided workshop facilitation for city officials in the past. The workshop process provides an opportunity for officials to have open discussion without violating open meeting requirements. Julie has confirmed she is willing to provide facilitation to current city officials. This would provide an opportunity for both new and experienced officials to discuss topics including priorities for city spending, the current financial status which appears to limit city maintenance and repair of city streets and sidewalks, and alternatives for providing necessary funds. I suggest the city utilize Julie’s willingness to help.
The mayor has suggested I “acknowledge those corrective actions when you see responses taking place, again, over time. One example is the implementation of the CIP [Capital Improvement Plan].” The activities resulting in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan were started 25 years after the city was established – although all cities in Michigan are required to have a six-year Capital Improvement Plan by Michigan law.
A citizen (me) raised the question regarding planning for future capital expenses in the October 2017 Planning Commission meeting within the context of the Master Plan revision process which was beginning, as noted in the draft minutes of the meeting. Ironically, the approved minutes of the subsequent November 2017 meeting include “Motion by Little, second by Haven to approve the draft minutes of the October 12, 2017, meeting while striking from record the Public Comments made by Mr. Chet Pardee due to a violation of the Principles of Parliamentary Law. The Motion was carried unanimously.”
What was intended to be removed from the official record was “Mr. Chet Pardee requested that Carlisle/Wortman incorporate in the new Master Plan any infrastructure plans and expenses and where the revenue would come from to fund these expenses. Schoebel informed Mr. Pardee that in developing a new Master Plan many Public Hearings will be held and he would have ample opportunity to express his opinions.”
I have asked in the past “what Principles…” with no response. And the Planning Commission minutes of October 12, 2017, remain as “Draft” on the city’s website after four and a half years.
Sally Elmiger of Carlisle/Wortman provided a letter to the Planning Commission in December 2017 which included the State of Michigan requirement for a six-year Capital Improvement Plan. And now the City has one, but with no plan to provide the required funds.
Pardee thanked the council.
Haven asked if anyone else had any public comments.
No other public comments.
Public comments were closed.
Agenda Item #6, FYI (Video time mark 0:05:44):
Haven said he had no items and asked if anyone else had any items.
No response from the council or the audience.
Agenda Item #7, City Manager Report (Video time mark 0:05:54; page 3/13 of the council packet):
Haven noted that the city manager’s report was in the packet, and he asked if anyone had any questions or comments for Jonathan [Smith, city manager] regarding the city manager’s report.
There were no questions or comments. Haven said that Smith did a good job.
Smith said that Haven had asked about the CDBG [Community Development Block Grant] earlier in the day. Smith said that they would defer the CDBG decision until the next meeting when Mike Pucher from Oakland County will be here. He’s the expert on CDBG, so if they have questions regarding what the city can and cannot use CDBG funds for, what is the mission of the CDBG, Pucher will be the expert and will be at the next meeting to answer any questions that council may have. Hopefully, the council can make an informed decision on where best to use the funds.
Haven said it seems to be growing. Back in the day, it was $5,000. He heard that it was $7,000 this year, and then he heard $8,000. Smith said that it fluctuates year to year, and he’s not sure what the basis of it is. It was $8,000 a couple of years ago, then it was $7,000, and now it’s back to $8,000. Haven said that it was certainly worth considering.
Haven asked if there was anything else that anyone wanted to ask of Smith.
No additional comments.
Agenda Item #8, Motion: Acceptance of the Consent Agenda as Presented (Video time mark 0:07:25):
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- 01-24-2022 Final Minutes, page 4/13 of the council packet
- 02-14-2022 Draft Minutes, page 6/13 of the council packet
- 02-28-2022 Treasurer’s Report, page 7/13 of the council packet
- 02-23-2022 Revenue and Expenditure Report, Period Ending 01/31/2022
Haven said that he would entertain a motion to accept the consent agenda. He said that for those who might not know what that is, it is a consolidation. They do this every meeting to make the meeting more efficient. It’s a consolidation of draft minutes, final minutes, and the Treasurer’s report.
Motion to accept the consent agenda as presented by Wylie; second Avery.
Wylie said that she had a question directed toward Smith. She said that it was on page 9 of the packet, the Revenue and Expenditure Report for the City of the Village of Clarkston, about half-way down the page, and it’s under DPW [Department of Public Works] wages for Art in the Village, department level 1, 441-711.007. It was originally budgeted at $200. This is the first time that she’s seen this. It looks like we spent $2,000, which was over 1000% over the budget. Smith agreed. Smith said that what they discovered was that there were some funds that were actually spent on Taste of Clarkston and Concerts in the Park. There were a few things that got lumped into Art in the Village. Smith said he talked with Greg [Coté, treasurer] and said that they needed to make a journal entry about that. Wylie asked if Smith was talking about this budget year. Smith said yes, this fiscal year, and for example, if you look at the line item above it for Concerts in the Park, the expense is zero, and that’s not the case. Since the July 1st budget began, we’ve had two concerts and there were some expenses in there. There’s a lot of hours for Taste of Clarkston, and that should be more than $1,100. Smith said that he needs to work with Coté to get a journal entry posted to correct that overcharge against Art in the Village. Wylie said OK.
Wylie said on the same page, but up higher, DPW Village Grounds, overtime, park labor. It looks we were almost $976 over. Do we need to budget more? Did something happen? Smith said yes, and he will have to talk with Jimi [Turner, DPW Supervisor] about that to find out what (unintelligible) it was. It was over budget. So, either our budget was off, which is something we’d like to know as we enter into this time of year, as we enter into our new budget, or was it a coding mistake. If you code it into the wrong account, then it overruns that budget. Smith said he would look into it. Wylie said OK. Smith said that he thought this one was just a question for Turner and the other one was just a journal entry with Coté. Wylie said OK.
Wylie said the rest of it was mostly a surprise with the equipment, and Smith has been keeping them up to date on the problems with all of that. Wylie had no more questions.
Haven asked if anyone else had any questions.
Fuller said he knows that they will discuss the CDBG on the 14th and what are allowable expenditures on that. He asked when it will be put on the agenda for the council to make proposals and vote on it, will that be at a date later than March 14th? Smith said he was hoping they could actually make a decision at the next meeting, so if there are groups that want to request the funds, they should have already submitted them by now. They are actually a little late in getting this done. Smith said he thought that they had all the requests that they are going to get unless there’s a new applicant that has not received funds in the past.
Fuller noted that they have spent all but $1,000 from a past allocation. Smith said that it should have been the entire allocation. Fuller said that it shows an available expenditure under that line item is $1,000 available. Fuller wanted to know if the funds could be carried over from year to year, four years, five years, until they accumulate enough to have a huge impact, or a bigger impact. Smith said that they do want them spent every year, so no, they do not want them carried over. Their purpose is to get them out into the community as soon as possible. Fuller said OK. Smith said that they are not supposed to be carried over, and he will have to investigate why there is $1,000 left over. Fuller asked that, when they entertain the proposals in two weeks, they should intend to expend that money in 2022. Smith said that was correct. Smith said Mike Pucher will tell them the timeframe, that what they are approving tonight gets spent within this timeframe. It always throws Smith off because it always seems to be six months behind, but Pucher will explain all that when he’s there next time. Fuller thanked Smith.
Haven said we (unintelligible) the money in our account ever do we; it’s just a matter of council deciding the direction for it to go and the County awards, is that right? Smith said the money does come into our account, but it comes in after we’ve paid it out. We have to actually pay it out without having the money in our pocket. Then we can submit a request for reimbursement. Haven said OK.
Haven asked if there were any other questions about the consent agenda.
No additional questions.
Motion to accept the consent agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.
[See Clarkston Sunshine Comment #1]
Agenda Item #9, Old Business
Item 9a – Discussion: Election Update (Video time mark 0:14:58):
Haven said that the election was coming fast and asked if this was Speagle’s line item.
Speagle said that the election is tomorrow, and she just wanted to let them know with this election, they have 791 registered voters. She sent out 170 absentee ballot applications. 145 applications were received back, and ballots were sent out. As of today, she has only received 87 of those 145 ballots back. Haven said this is sneaking up on everyone; it came quick. Speagle agreed. Speagle said that it’s a special primary, special election, and typically those don’t bring out a good percentage of voters. She wanted to give them an idea of where we are with that.
Casey asked if this was a single-issue election. Haven and Speagle said yes, it’s a replacement for Andrea Schroeder.
Speagle said that the primary is tomorrow, and the special election is May 3rd.
Haven asked if there were any other comments or questions for Speagle.
No further questions or comments.
Agenda Item #10, New Business
Item 10a – Discussion: Clarkston Community Awards (Video time mark 0:16:24):
Haven asked if this was Wylie’s item, and she said it was.
Wylie said that she talked about it at the last meeting, but she actually wanted it on the agenda to talk about it because she wanted it to be online and on TV to get people to know about it.
Wylie said that this is the 37th Annual Clarkston Community Awards Breakfast. It will take place Wednesday, May 11, 2022, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at the Clarkston Community Church on Clarkston Road right at the bend, almost opposite of where you turn in to go to Clarkston High School. Wylie said she didn’t know if she mentioned the price, but it is going up this year, it’s $20.00 per person. Like everything else, the price of things has gone up.
Wylie said that the people who win this award are nominated by people within the community. Sometimes, some of these categories do not find a lot of people nominated, so if you know somebody who you think should even be considered, please nominate them. The categories are Citizen of the Year; Lifetime Achievement; Youth of the Year; Businessperson of the Year; Adult Youth Volunteer, that’s one category, an adult who works with youths; Community Beautification; Community Enhancement; and Community Collaboration. The forms to nominate are available at the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce website, that’s www.clarkston.org. They’ve actually expanded the deadline and it will now be May [March] 11th. It was supposed to be this week, and it’s May [March] 11th right now. Please go online and nominate somebody. It’s a relatively short form. This is for the whole Clarkston area, the whole community, but a lot of people in Clarkston have won this award in the past, or people who’ve done work with Clarkston in the past. Wylie wrote down the names of people who have won this award – Kenneth Ermer, for doing work on Depot Park; Jim Breuck for work on Depot Park; Kevin Harrison; Curt Catallo; Sharron Catallo; Steve Percival; and Richard Little. So, it’s nice to see local people, people within the village, who are nominated and win this award. Anyone can go to the breakfast. They’ve been streaming it lately, and she didn’t know if Independence Television was involved this year. (Unidentified videographer said he believed that they are streaming it.) Wylie said that’s all she had to say about it.
Haven asked if this is the first year that it’s an in-person event. Wylie said yes, they’ve had two years not in-person and this year they are back in-person again. It’s a very worthwhile event. Haven said it was, and it’s nice to recognize people who are doing things for sure. Wylie agreed. Haven thanked Wylie for keeping that in front of them, and he was glad that the deadline was extended to May [March] 11th. Wylie thought they extended it every year.
Speagle asked about the deadline, because it said that the breakfast is May 11th. Wylie said that the nomination deadline is March 11th. Haven thanked her for that clarification.
Haven asked if there were any questions or comments for Wylie on the community awards.
No additional questions or comments.
Item 10b – Discussion: Clarkston Movie Proposal (Video time mark 0:19:54):
Haven said that there was a nice light, short agenda tonight. He said that he was kind of excited about this agenda item. Haven said that he wanted to introduce everyone to a gentleman by the name of Rockson Arnold and asked him to come up. Haven said that he met him a few months ago. His name was mentioned by one of the Clark family, Margie Clark Duncan, someone Haven has known for several years. She said that someone wanted to do a movie with Clarkston in it, and Haven thought that was exciting. Haven talked to Arnold, he explained what his dream was, and Haven wanted everyone to meet him and to think about this with him. He’s coming in as a courtesy to the city. He’s familiar with the town, it plays into the story line that he wants to portray, and just in case he wants to close a street or something like that for a shoot, Haven wanted everyone to be aware of it. And indemnification for the city is important too. Haven asked Arnold to tell them about his project.
Rockson Arnold:
Arnold introduced himself and thanked the council for having him there. Arnold said that he was originally from Ghana but grew up in Michigan and moved to Los Angeles and Virginia at some point during his college years. He’s been in Los Angeles for the last seven-eight years (unintelligible). He was visiting in September 2020 and the following month he met a friend who (unintelligible) the Geist family. It turns out that Gordon Geist was the spouse of the late Laura Geist, whose maiden name was Clark. Laura was actually part of the Clark lineage here in the Clarkston community. Gordy told Arnold the story about Laura’s life and Arnold thought it was quite interesting. He shared a lot about her, and Arnold thought that this definitely sounded like a screenplay story here. He took it to a (unintelligible) as a student and it turned out that Laura Clark Geist actually is the third or fourth great granddaughter of Jeremiah Clark II. Arnold thought it would be great to actually tie the story as it was and is with the City of Clarkston as well. Arnold has learned that Clarkston’s 30th anniversary as a city is this year as well as the 190th post-establishment anniversary. In honor of Laura’s life and her story, that can go to the commemoration of the anniversary of Clarkston also and involve Clarkston.
The story is not about Clarkston. Clarkston is more of a background and would have elements of the scenery there in honor of Laura and also the founder of the city.
Arnold had a mono, a short, one-page story about Laura. The name of the project is the Mayor of Beaumont, and it is a Michigan story. Everything settles in cycles around here in Michigan. The Mayor of Beaumont is a short story about a Michigan native who, through faith, hope, and courage, won the hearts of men and woman across America while journeying through a nine-year battle with cancer.
Laura Clark Geist was born in the City of Detroit on Groundhog’s Day, February 2, 1962, to the Clark family, Art and Laura (unintelligible), and three sisters. She is the (unintelligible) descendant of the founder of the City of Clarkston, Jeremiah Clark from 1831.
Art grew up in Clarkston and was a navy veteran who later after his military career went on to become one of four (unintelligible) programmers of the supercomputer in the early 1960s. Laura Mai Clark was a teacher in Detroit Public Schools. They met in the Detroit-Metro area and got married in 1948 and started a family thereafter in the City of Detroit.
Laura Geist grew up the youngest of four children. Because she came ten years after her youngest sibling, she was considered the (unintelligible) child in the family. She was very loud and spoke (unintelligible). Although Laura’s dad and her three sisters went to Central Michigan, she broke the trend and became the first University of Michigan graduate. She went on to study her Master’s at Northwestern University’s School of Journalism. Postgraduation, Laura worked as a journalist for the Automotive News and specialized in the advertising marketing.
Laura’s cancer journey began after her prognosis [diagnosis?] at Beaumont Hospital in 2003, and for the next nine years, she would go through varying seasonal turbulence, resilience, fear, courage, relief, acceptance from remission, and perseverance through reoccurrence, though transient. In 2006, she coauthored the book, Praying Through Cancer, with her friend, Susan Sorensen. The book would go on to become a most impactful book of devotionals for women going through cancer across America. As of 2018, the book has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese and spread across several Spanish-speaking countries.
The fighting nature of Laura’s true character earned her the title of the Mayor of Beaumont, and this title was given to her by Dr. Jaiyesimi, a Nigerian doctor who served as the head of oncology within the Beaumont Cancer Center in Royal Oak.
Laura’s life as a person, in and out of hospitals, before and after cancer, and her passing, all encompassing, was the testament of what true greatness, kindness, hope, and endurance coupled with faith can make up a person in the journey of life, even in (unintelligible) undesired expectations and outcomes.
Arnold said that the goal is basically to tie Laura’s story to the City of Clarkston, given (unintelligible), and that’s what brought Arnold there today to request council’s direction and permission perhaps in the process of that.
Haven thanked Arnold for that description. Haven thought it was interesting to hear. There are so many people who played a big role, with Wylie’s work recognizing people for their actions in Clarkston. This one goes back a ways. She had her ten-year battle with cancer. Haven asked when she died, and Arnold said in 2012. Haven said that it’s a current story in some respects, but this whole story must have grabbed Arnold’s heart.
Haven asked Arnold if his role was that of a partial screenwriter. Arnold said yes, he would be writing the story and working with the screenplay writers (unintelligible) for the full screen. Arnold said that he would producing it as well, too. Arnold said that the role of a producer spans across many different directions, but (unintelligible) story developments, coordination with city officials, and possibly in the area of equipment acquisition as well.
Arnold said that he wrote the story because of his faith. He’s a Christian, and he was very drawn to the story because of the faith aspect of it. Working in entertainment, working in L.A., with what we see out there in the industry, Arnold thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to introduce these kinds of movies, starting from Michigan and pushing it into the outer market. They do plan to film a short, and possibly a feature, here in the City of Clarkston as well too. The short is the first (unintelligible) to proceed, hopefully within two to four months they are hoping to complete it and send it into post-production and possibly screen within Clarkston, one specifically for the Clarkston community and then the rest outside of Clarkston.
Haven asked Arnold to describe what a short is. Arnold said that we have feature films and short films. Feature films are usually above forty-five minutes. Shorts are considered less than forty-five minutes. So, the short version of this story here is not to tell the entire story. They are going to choose certain aspects of the story that fits between a twenty to twenty-minute narrative, then tell that portion of the story, and then leave a cliffhanger good enough to whet the masses’ appetite for the feature film.
Haven said that what he’s saying is that it’s a local showing. Arnold said yes, it would be a local showing for the City of Clarkston, but it’s going to go beyond the borders of Clarkston, that’s for sure. The goal of this, if you are going to work with major studios to produce feature films, you want to have something to show them, and the short will actually be one of the pieces that they will be using in addition to the (unintelligible) that they will use to get them interested in a sponsorship.
Haven said that Arnold had confidence in this. Arnold agreed. Haven said that he was really surprised at Arnold’s confidence level. Arnold said that he’s been working on it for over a year now. He’s invested quite a lot into it, and if he didn’t see it going anywhere, he would not put that much effort, time, and investment into it.
Haven said that Arnold mentioned that cancer was certainly a powerful outlet. Arnold agreed. Haven said as well as the faith factor, and then the local Beaumont. Haven asked Arnold to tell him about her work a little bit, her work was within the hospital, wasn’t it, and that’s where the doctor became involved? Arnold said Laura worked in the automotive industry as a journalist, but during the cancer phase, who she was as a person, her courage, the degree of encouragement, and her charisma overall is why the head of oncology at Beaumont gave her the title the Mayor of Beaumont. Everybody loved her. When she was in the hospital, people from physicians’ assistants, to CNAs, the nurses, the doctors, they would all mentally pause what they were doing and come and say hello to Laura and chat with her.
Haven asked if anyone had any questions or comments. It’s kind of an interesting opportunity for Clarkston. Arnold said he wasn’t sure if they’d heard of it, and it surfaced in the news recently, about shooting a movie out here, Hotel Holly. Haven said that Speagle told him about it and asked if Hallmark was doing it. Speagle said it was Hallmark from what she understands, it’s going to air through Hallmark or some other channel that’s kind of like Hallmark that has a bunch of those type of (unintelligible). Haven mentioned the Holly Hotel. (Speagle’s comments were unintelligible). Haven said that these small-town romantic kind of movies are very interesting, aren’t they. They’re close to America’s heart. Haven thought that was very interesting.
Rodgers said that she’d never been a part of anything like this. What is the impact to the city? If/when we do this, what do we expect to see? Arnold said he took a tour of the city recently to map out certain areas of Clarkston, certain landmarks that will be known to the Clarkston citizen that lives in New Jersey (unintelligible). When they watch it, they can see certain elements of Clarkston in there that (unintelligible), that would be shot in Clarkston. So, there are elements of Clarkston that Arnold is hoping to incorporate into the movie not only to shed some light on the city, which is great, but also to bring some attention, and he was sure that we had enough attention, a small city with a big impact when it comes to restaurants and attractions and all of that. This would definitely bring some more light on the city. And also community engagement, something fun, very different for the city. Arnold has planned, the goal is to get this on the big screen in a few years with major studios. So, having the small city of Clarkston on the big screen will definitely bring a sense of pride for the citizens here. And also the screening for the short, Arnold is anticipating connecting with Clarkston High School to host the show for the Clarkston community only.
Haven asked Arnold if he needed any extras. Arnold said yes. Looking toward Wylie, Haven said that this would be an opportunity for her. Wylie said she thought Haven was pointing at Avery. (Laughter.)
Avery said that he had a couple of quick questions. Obviously, they are not voting on anything tonight, and he thinks that’s fine. He thought they went over the hold harmless agreement; he can’t resist. Haven told Arnold that Avery is an attorney. Avery said that what he can gather, this covers the short, and he’s happy about that, rather than giving a blanket hold harmless when we don’t know exactly what’s coming with the second part of it, if there’s a second part. The only other thing that Avery would request is a breakdown of what Arnold expects to do within the city limits before they give an approval to allow Arnold to do that. They’re going to have to close down Church Street, or a camera needs to be here three weeks, or use this house or that house, kind of give them a breakdown so that they kind of know what Arnold is saying. Arnold said sure. Avery said then he would be more comfortable with it.
[See Clarkston Sunshine Comment #2]
Arnold said that when it comes to filming a movie, whether it be a short or a feature, one of the things he would like to address is road closures. This is a short. The goal right now, according to the writer, is to get this done in one week. The filming will be in the city. It’s not that big of a burden on the city as compared to a feature. Road closures might be one of the things that Arnold would need, but as of now, Arnold thinks they are going to be OK without closing roads. Sidewalks, house interior, exterior, backyards, parking lot areas, and parks – these are areas that he would like to shoot and have this in the background. If they were filming a scene at Depot Park, there’s certain elements that they would include there. Say it’s a Saturday afternoon and there are families out here. They may ask the families to be extras in the background. What they want is a permit, some sort of authorization that shows that the City of the Village of Clarkston has issued them to do what they are doing there. The production company will give their insurance to take all liability, so nothing will be with the city at all, it will all be (unintelligible).
Wylie said that Arnold had said that he worked a little bit with the film industry in Los Angeles, and she asked him to talk about his experience in movies. Arnold said that he’s done several large shorts. He’s produced them, starred in some of them, and he’s been in a couple of feature films. One is out, “The Neighbor,” and he was a police officer in there. The other one has not been released yet. Currently, there are three that are in the works. He hopes to play a role in this project, the Nigerian doctor who gave the title the Mayor of Beaumont to Laura. There’s a question whether he could (unintelligible) to play that character, but that’s where makeup comes in. He could possibly play that role and add that to his portfolio (unintelligible).
Haven said that Arnold has a link to look at some of his work. Arnold said yes, there are links to his personal website, his IMDb page, and his production company page as well. That will give a lot of insight into what he’s done so far, various companies, and commercial stuff that he’s worked on.
Wylie asked if there are any thoughts about entering it into any film festivals, like the (unintelligible), which is a documentary. Arnold said yes, he should have mentioned that he will be submitting this to a lot of film festivals – Venice, Cannes, Santa Barbara, L.A. Film Festival – there’s a ton of them that they will be submitting to. Whether or not it’s going to make it into the festival depends on the category selection at the time of submission, but he plans to submit to at least 12-15 film festivals.
Haven said so no council meetings or anything like that. (Laughter.) Haven said it doesn’t have the draw. (Laughter.) Arnold said that he would like to offer, if any of them are up for it, a background role, an extra in there, they are absolutely welcome. They will find something for them. Haven said that Fuller could be the doctor in the background. Arnold said or a man walking his dog in the neighborhood, or anything. Haven said they have some dogwalkers there.
Arnold held up a sheaf of papers and said that the packet actually does give an elaborate storyline development as to how this whole thing actually came about, how the storyline came about, and who is involved in the story specifically, and their background. A good example would be Susan Sorensen. Arnold found out (unintelligible) it turns out that Susan Sorensen actually worked with President Reagan to amend the National Day of Prayer, and this was 30-40 years ago that it was made official. Wylie said that she is a co-author. Arnold said that she’s a co-author of Praying Through Cancer, but she also went through cancer, and she survived. Unfortunately, Laura didn’t.
Haven thanked Arnold for bringing that to them. Haven said Avery wanted a description of what Arnold would want to do and what would be involved. Arnold agreed. Haven thought that Smith would be the contact, and Smith would check with Tom [Ryan, city attorney], the insurance would write a line in holding us harmless and so on. Arnold agreed.
Arnold said that pre- and post-release, there will be a lot of press presence in the area. He wouldn’t say brace for it (unintelligible), they’ll get more attention. Arnold said that there is a sheet in there that actually states what he’s hoping to accomplish for the city, including the various media outlets, newspapers, television, local TV stations, state television stations that would be publicizing the area on their platforms, so there may be some (unintelligible) if they request it, if they’re up to it, to actually say something about the project or the movie on camera, at a press conference or to a local television station, through Zoom, or they can invite them in in-person, share their thoughts, how cool they think the project is, and the light that it’s bringing to the City of Clarkston.
Reading from a document, Wylie asked Arnold to explain a note that said that the documentary was originally produced as the Valley of Bacca. Arnold said that the Valley of Baca was the last title of the last devotion that Laura wrote in the book, Praying Through Cancer. The Valley of Baca is in the Book of Psalms. King David pouring his heart out to God, the valley seasons that he went through, the (unintelligible) moments that he experienced when his enemies were after him. Laura, at some point in her life, felt very relatable to that Psalm, and she wrote her last chapter in relation to that chapter in the Book of Psalms. So, when they produced the documentary version, and the documentary version is about twenty minutes, there is something called a working title in entertainment. When you are making a movie, you don’t put the actual name of the movie out in the prints, or the making of a title. You call it a working title, you give it a name that’s not necessarily the actual name of the movie, so when you’re done with it, you have the real name of the movie, what will actually be what’s going to the publications. The Valley of Baca was the title for the documentary version that they made as a primer to tell the narrative in a documentary format. (Referring to his packet), Arnold said that if they look toward the end, he believed that there is a link in there that shows where to watch the twenty-minute version of it.
Wylie said she was confused, is this a documentary that has already been produced? Arnold said yes, in collaboration with another production company, Arnold developed a twenty-minute documentary. Out of the twenty minutes, there are only four minutes available for viewing because they don’t want to give all of it away.
Wylie asked if this was also going to be a documentary. Arnold said no, this is a movie. Arnold said if you watch the documentary, it will definitely give you an idea of who Laura was, her background, her ties to Michigan, her family cottage up north, what her mom did with the Detroit Public Schools, her dad, it will give you all of that in there, and it’s about four minutes long.
Haven asked if there were any other comments or questions.
Ryan said that this is really more of a hold harmless agreement he wants from the city. He wants to use public spaces, public roads, and that sort of thing. Ryan asked if Rock Pictures LLC was Arnold’s company, and Arnold said that’s his production company. Ryan asked if Arnold was the managing member of the company, and Arnold said yes, he’s the owner and creative producer. Ryan asked if all the people that are going to be here, the camera people, gaffers, and whatever they are, are they all employees of Arnold’s company, are they independent contractors, who are the actual people on the ground who are going to be making this movie, are they directly Arnold’s employees, are they independent contractors from the area that are going to come? Arnold said that they would be independent contractors that he (unintelligible). Ryan asked if the city is going to have to have agreements with them or is Arnold going to have a master agreement with them that they will be under his care, custody, and control, and Arnold said they would be under his custody. Ryan asked if Arnold was then going to give a specific, like we’re going to use X three in the park on a such and such a date so that everybody can plan on that and know what’s going on. Arnold said yes. Ryan said the city would need agreement that says that Arnold is going to add the city as a named insured, additional party insured, and what those rates are, what the value is, what the limits are, and he is going to have worker’s comp. insurance in the State of Michigan, and if there’s auto involved, they’ll all have automobile insurance. Arnold said yes, all of that will be stated in there. The hold harmless agreement was what the insurance policy would offer. The insurance policy will come attached to it. Ryan said that they will need to have that incorporated into the agreement, respectfully. Arnold agreed and said that comes in after they have figured out exactly (unintelligible). Ryan said that he’s just seeing this for the first time tonight and they just have to protect the city obviously (unintelligible). Ryan said that Arnold has worked with cities before, so he knows what’s going on. Arnold agreed. Ryan thanked Arnold.
(Haven made an unintelligible comment.) Arnold said that if they have questions, feel free, his email, phone number, contact, everything is in the back of the folder and they can call him, text him, email directly, and he will be sure to respond to that. Arnold thanked the council. Haven thanked Arnold.
Arnold asked if he could get a group photo. Haven asked if he wanted a selfie. Arnold said that they could do that too. Arnold thanked them again.
Pardee asked whether the Beaumont oncologist that’s featured is still on staff. Rodgers said he is, and she knows Dr. Jaiyesimi. He’s her physician as well. He’s a good guy.
Agenda Item #11, Adjourn (Video time mark 0:48:27):
Motion by adjourn by Fuller; second Avery.
No discussion.
Motion to adjourn by unanimous voice vote.
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