Introduction:
Links to the video recording and the council packet are at the bottom of this post. Please note any errors or omissions in the comments. Anything noted in brackets was inserted by Clarkston Sunshine.
Agenda Item #1, Call to Order (Video time mark 0:00:00):
Sue Wylie said it’s 7:00 and she’s calling the meeting to order at 7:00.
Agenda Item #2, Pledge of Allegiance (Video time mark 0:00:04):
Wylie said they are going to rise and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Pledge said.
Agenda Item #3, Roll Call (Video time mark 0:00:26):
Wylie said that brings them to Item #3, which is the roll call, and she asked Clerk Karen DeLorge to please take the roll call.
Peg Roth, Laura Rodgers, Ted Quisenberry, Amanda Forte, and Sue Wylie were present.
DeLorge said Gary Casey and Mark Lamphier were (excused) absent.
Wylie said OK, thank you.
Agenda Item #4, Approval of Agenda (Video time mark 0:01:00):
Wylie said Item #4 is approval of the agenda as submitted, and she can take a motion and a second to approve the agenda. Then, if there’s any discussion after that, they can take care of that.
Motion by Rodgers; second Roth.
Wylie asked if there was any discussion.
No discussion.
The motion to approve the agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.
Wylie said that’s approved.
Agenda Item #5, Public Comments (Video time mark 0:01:27):
[Though public comments can sometimes irritate the city council, there is value to both the council and the public in hearing them. While they can’t eliminate public comments entirely without violating the Open Meetings Act, your city council has occasionally decided not to acknowledge public comments during a city council meeting unless the person submitting the comments also appears at the meeting (in-person or electronically) to personally read them. In the past, members of the public have been cut off for exceeding the city council’s arbitrary three-minute time limit (it’s arbitrary because no time limits are required by the Open Meetings Act).
If your public comments were submitted to the council but not read, or if you tried to make public comments but your comments were cut short, please email them to clarkstonsunshine@gmail.com and I will include them in my informal meeting summaries either under public comments or under the specific agenda item that you want to speak to.]
Wylie said Item #5 is public comments.
(Wylie read the rules for public comments.)
Wylie said they do have a public portion tonight that’s on their agenda about the park, so if you do have something to talk about the park, that would be during that portion. So, if anybody else has any other public comments now would be the time.
Wylie noted she did have one sent in and asked if anyone present wanted to make a public comment.
No comments.
Wylie said they did have one emailed public comment, 3-11-24, from Chet Pardee.
Chet Pardee (as read by Wylie):
Good evening, the fifty-three minutes council spent on the pure water agenda item was interesting. He thinks it is a con by water interests for the city involves PFAS [Polyfluoroalkyl Substances] and MS4 [Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems]. The State of Michigan identified ten PFAS sites in Independence Township. Pardee suggests the city council invite Independence Township to a regular council meeting to share their knowledge of PFAS, their grant, and the ten sites in Independence Township with PFAS risk. There is quite a bit of PFAS info[rmation] on the Independence Township website, but Pardee recalls no communication from Independence Township to the public or the city about PFAS.
[Referring to the presentation from International Pure Water at the last council meeting], Pardee said the pure water filter’s effectiveness being lowest with PFAS, a new definition of partnership from Pure Water’s presentation, a city revenue opportunity from selling ice cube trays for Pure Water beverage users, a significant difference in Pure Water’s assumption of four persons per household and the city’s recent census data, the irony of the former mayor providing the linkage for Pure Water, and that includes the need for additional taxpayer financial support. Pardee wonders how the discussion with Independence Township will go if the city communicates its need for additional filtration of their water.
MS4, Michigan Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, is a set of periodic measurements done by Hubble, Roth, & Clark [HRC, the city’s contract engineering firm] and submitted to the state for the city. The last report Pardee saw included measurements of four of the thirteen identified sites. Parde only sees MS4 as a line item when the city pays the bill to HRC, never any discussion. Pardee suggests that the city ask for the last five years of reports to understand what it is, why it’s done, and what are the results, and why and what does that mean.
Wylie said that looks like that’s it for other public comments.
Agenda Item #6, FYI (Video time mark 0:04:26):
Wylie said oh, also under Item #5a they have, oh, she doesn’t have it here, actually. Oh yeah. Under Item #6, they have FYI, For Your Information.
Wylie said she has something; she doesn’t know if anybody else had something for that. Wylie said she’s involved also with the Clarkson Community Awards, which is a group which nominates groups and individuals for special honor recognition within the community, and there’s seven different categories where people are nominated every year. The deadline is a week from today. It’s March 18th. You can, she understands there is a link at the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce website. She has to admit she’s looked, and she hasn’t seen it. She knows the library has one. It’s, she’ll read it, on their city website, DeLorge put it on today. Our city website has it and you can link to it from there, but it’s Clarkston, she’s sorry, it’s cidlibrary.org\cca. That’s another place where you can get the link for the nominations and the awards breakfast will be, she believes it’s May 8th. It’s usually like 7:30-8:00 in the morning and it’s a very worthy event because it really honors a lot of hard work from a lot of individuals and groups.
Wylie asked if anybody else had a For Your Information.
No additional comments.
Agenda Item #7, City Manager Report for 03-11-2024 (Video time mark 0:05:42):
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- City Manager Report (page 3/28 of the council packet)
Wylie said OK, they’ll move on to Item #7, which is the city manager’s report, and that is included in their packet.
Wylie asked Jonathan [Smith, city manager] if he had anything he wanted to say or add on to this.
Smith said he didn’t think so.
Wylie said it’s pretty self-explanatory.
Wylie asked if anybody on council had anything that they would like to say about this.
No comments.
Wylie asked if there were any questions from the public.
No comments.
Wylie said OK, and by, yeah, she sees people are, there’s agendas she believes in the back and she’ll point something else out. They have a brochure that’s available. She doesn’t, is it in the back of the room? Smith said yes. Wylie said it says “council meeting procedures.” If this is your first time at a city council meeting or if you haven’t been here for a while, it outlines some of the basic procedures about what happens, welcome to the city, just some general information, when they meet, a typical agenda, how they run things. And usually, the way they handle agenda items, usually they say what the agenda item is, sometimes there’s an additional description, council, somebody on council makes a motion, somebody has to second it, and after that, they have discussion among the council members, and it’s after that, they ask if there’s any input from anybody else who’s not on council. So, if you see they’re all talking here and you’re trying to get something in, they talk first and then they’ll open up to other people. And then after that, they have a vote. It also has some rules about how to handle public comments.
Agenda Item #8 – Motion: Acceptance of the Consent Agenda as Presented (Video time mark 0:07:16):
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- 02-12-2024 Final Minutes (page 4/28 of the council packet)
- 02-26-2024 Draft Minutes (page 7/28 of the council packet)
- 03-11-2024 Treasurer’s Report (page 10/28 of the council packet)
- Check Disbursement Report, 02-01-2024 – 02-29-2024 (page 11/28 of the council packet)
- Thomas J. Ryan, P.C., February 2024 invoices (page 21/28 of the council packet)
Wylie said OK, moving on then to Item #8. They have a motion, Acceptance of the Consent Agenda as Presented on March 11th, 2024. This is a kind of a packet that includes a number of different things. This week it includes the final minutes from February 12th, the draft minutes from February 26th, Treasurer’s report from March 11th, and these documents are included, and they approve of them in bulk unless there’s somebody on council wants to discuss something or remove something and have it not approved immediately.
Wylie asked if anyone on council would make a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented.
Motion by Forte; second Quisenberry.
Wylie asked if there was any discussion on council.
No discussion.
Wylie asked if there was anything from the public present.
No comments.
Wylie said they will take a vote.
The motion to approve the consent agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.
Wylie said and then it’s approved.
Agenda Item #9, Old Business (Video time mark 0:08:23):
Item 9a – Motion: Appointment to Finance (Budget) Committee to Replace Mark Lamphier (Video time mark 0:08:37):
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- Motion – Finance Committee Appointment (page 24/28 of the council packet)
Wylie said moving on to Item #9. They are on Old Business. Old Business is things they’ve handled before and if it has to be brought back again.
They have a Motion for an Appointment to the Finance (Budget) Committee to replace Mark Lamphier and give her a moment while she gets to that page.
Wylie said OK, so they’ve had a budget meeting, their budget committee has met two times, but one of the members had to drop out. So, because they’re required, she thinks by the Charter, to have three members, they need to have a replacement.
(Wylie read the motion.)
Wylie said so, she needs a motion and a second to appoint a third council member to this committee to replace Lamphier.
Wylie asked if anybody present would like to be appointed to that. Wylie said they could shake their head.
Roth said well, that sort of leaves one of us, doesn’t it. Quisenberry said Forte says no. Wylie said they meet in the daytime hours, so that does present a little bit of, people who still have some outside employment.
Roth said she would do it. Wylie said so, Roth would like to do that.
Wylie said she needed a motion to appoint Roth.
Motion by Forte; second Wylie.
Wylie asked if they needed to do a roll call.
City attorney Tom Ryan said not on a motion.
Motion to appoint Roth as the third member of the finance committee passed by unanimous voice vote.
Wylie said Roth is on. She didn’t know if it’s condolences or congratulations.
Roth said thanks, we’ll see.
(Unintelligible crosstalk between Quisenberry and Roth.)
Agenda Item #10, New Business (Video time mark 0:11:00):
Item 10a – Public Hearing to Gauge Public Interest in Depot Park Additions or Changes (Video time mark 0:11:03)
Wylie said they are on Item #10, New Business. They’ve got a public hearing to Gauge Public Interest in Depot Park Additions or Changes and Wylie doesn’t think, right, they don’t have anything else here, so you have three minutes to make a statement. This is one time they’re not speaking; you can speak. Wylie would prefer they come up to the podium unless they’re just physically unable. It’s easier for them to see. It just makes it all a little bit easier and more orderly if you come up, if you want to just come up one at a time, you can line up. You can make it any way you want. And who would like to be the first.
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- Open Public Hearing (Video time mark 0:11:47):
Wylie said she sorry. She’s opening the public, what’s it called, public hearing at 7:12 p.m. Thank you.
Roth said depending on what the other Optimist members have, she may want to add on. Wylie said OK, and she has two letters to read. She can save those towards the end, and she doesn’t know if anybody else on council has any letters.
Wylie recognized Smith for a comment.
Smith asked if Wylie wanted any kind of introductory for those who might not be familiar with what has been discussed as a possibility.
Quisenberry said that’s a good idea.
Wylie said that’s a good idea. So, the Optimists Club has donated money to, in the past, to make improvements to the playground, and they have continued to offer money, they continue to possibly offer money to make further improvements. There has been a plan to put things in, and things like one pavilion for sure, and she believes, she’s looking at Tom Lowrie [member of the Friends of Depot Park and the Clarkston Area Optimist Club], she’s waiting for corrections, or Ken Ermer. She knows you guys know the details a little bit more. Perhaps several other pavilions. There’s been a plan to put a boardwalk in, some lighting, and sound systems. Wylie asked Lowrie what she’s missing. Lowrie said a band shell. Wylie said oh, it was a band shell still? (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Wylie said entrance arch, right.
Lowrie said all these ideas were just preliminary ideas, and they wanted to try it, and he guesses, bring it to the public head, and unfortunately, they don’t have these brochures or plans that were done. It was just all preliminary, but he thinks the frustration they had was, you know, they had $45,000 that they pledged for a pavilion with two picnic tables, and that got turned down, so that’s why they’re here tonight. Wylie said she doesn’t believe it ever, did it ever get actually turned, to be voted, did they turn that down. Lowrie said it went to the planning commission, and they wouldn’t vote for it, so that’s why they went ahead and got the money back. So, that’s why they’re here tonight, he thinks, to see what the public may want to see down in the park, so then they can start up again. And he’ll tell you what, he’s assuming a lot of people are interested in this park. If there’s anybody interested in joining the Friends of Depot Park, they’d be more than happy to have them, and they would have the meetings at their convenience. You know, typically, they’ve been having them in the morning, but some people have to work or whatever. So, they’ll get to that later. Right now, they want to know what the public wants to have done in the park, maybe nothing, but at the same time, if there are improvements, you know.
Wylie said she did introduce this saying the Optimist Club, but really, the city group, there’s a Friends of Depot Park Committee who have been coming up with these plans, who’ve actually done a lot of the work, the actual manual labor, along with the city DPW [Department of Public Works], putting these, the improvements that have gone in, like the playground has been a terrific improvement. Lowrie thanked Wylie.
Roth said she thinks two, maybe it needs to be pointed out is that the Friends of Depot Park have zero dollars in their account. The money that was initially being considered to be used in Depot Park is the money from the Optimists. Lowrie said correct.
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- Receive Public Comments (Video time mark 0:15:02):
Wylie said if nobody wants – Wylie recognized Donna Papatheodoropoulos for a comment. An unidentified person said that’s why she sat in the front row.
Donna Papatheodoropoulos:
Papatheodoropoulos said she’s familiar with – (interrupting Papatheodoropoulos), Wylie said you do not have to say your name, it’s entirely optional. Open meetings, access. You can give your name and your address if you choose to, but it’s not a requirement.
Papatheodoropoulos said she knows almost everybody in the room. Papatheodoropoulos said she was under the impression that they were here today to determine whether there was going to be a larger and a more inclusive opportunity for people to talk about how they feel about the park and improvements being planned. She thought that that was something they were going to decide on, but there might be something, well, other – (interrupting Papatheodoropoulos), Wylie said that would, could possibly be the next step. Papatheodoropoulos said OK. All right. Then she’ll keep her comments brief.
Papatheodoropoulos said we’re a beautiful little town. Everybody who comes here says so. Everybody seems to want to live out here. And we have a beautiful little park. And her feeling is that we should keep it that way. Independence Oaks is two miles from here and has every facility available to the public. To have large pavilions, a band shell, all of those types of things, she’s feeling that as the resident here with our minimal tax dollars, she really does not want to put her neck out on the line for the responsibility of those large facilities and the people that they draw. Are we going to charge people to be able to utilize the big pavilion with the picnics? Do we want that responsibility legally? And do we want the tax burden of trying to keep it up, those types of facilities? She thinks, there’s interest in having disabled facilities for kids, other play equipment that could be used by a larger group of people, but she would like to see the park stay small, intimate, and (unintelligible).
Wylie thanked Papatheodoropoulos.
Wylie recognized Ken Ermer for a comment.
Wylie said she will say personally, she probably won’t say anything in response to what anybody speaks about, just thanks for speaking. If she has a question, maybe other people on council will do the same thing. They probably won’t be giving you much feedback on what you say because they’re here to listen and learn. Wylie told Ermer to go ahead.
Ken Ermer:
Ermer identified himself and said of course, he’s (unintelligible) of the Friends of Depot Park, and he’s taking tonight’s meeting as saying, he just wants to make a couple suggestions that the village ought to think about. He has a picture because pictures are worth a thousand words. (Ermer passed something out to the council members.)
Ermer said this is a generation swing that would satisfy the requirements for – (council members talking among themselves about passing the papers around) – (continuing), Ermer said satisfy the requirements for kids with disabilities. First of all, he understands that the playground, as far as he knows, the playground is landlocked. So, you’d have to put this up on a swing that is already there or replace the swing that’s there.
Ermer said the second thing, again, this would be, it’s called a glider. And a glider, again this glider particularly takes into account for kids with disability, because if you look at it, you can get a wheelchair on that thing, and it will glide back and forth. But again, as he said to them before, the problem is the playground, as far as he knows, it’s the landlock, something would have to come out to put that one in the swing. Might be a possibility. So, he just wanted to take the opportunity tonight to just to suggest a couple things very quickly; thanks.
Wylie thanked Ermer, and she will put in a little plug for Ermer. Emer has been one of the people that has really done a lot of work with the Optimist Club and the Friends of Depot Park and getting that playground, he’s been doing it for years.
Wylie said OK, would anybody else – Wylie mentioned Quisenberry for a comment.
Quisenberry said Ermer mentioned twice that the playground is landlocked and Quisenberry said he knows the area that it’s already in, inside where those sidewalks are, certainly, there isn’t a lot of room to add anything, but they talked about on the other side. Ermer said well, yeah. OK, so he has to understand the reason he’s saying it’s landlocked, because there are requirements of space between each piece of equipment that’s in there. You have to have a fall space where if somebody falls off, they can’t fall into another. And of course, his problem is with, if any of those two suggestions, you put that on the other side of the sidewalk, he’s suggesting Ermer is going to separate the kids with disability from the regular kids. He doesn’t think Quisenberry wants to get near that. Quisenberry said not necessarily the swing one. Ermer said that’s right. The swing one. You could put that on the swing set that’s on the frame that’s already there. Or you could take that one down and put up new. That’s a possibility. The glider is the real problem. But again, tonight was just, here’s a suggestion.
Quisenberry told Ermer it was a great suggestion and the beautiful thing about this is yes, it is handicap accessible, but it’s also accessible for children that are not handicapped – (interrupting Quisenberry), Ermer said oh yeah, anybody can get on that – (continuing), Quisenberry said so, it’s not as if he’s just setting this aside for a handicapped area. It’s a device, it’s apparatus, that any child can use. Ermer said yeah, anybody can get on there, adults, whatever.
Wylie thanked Ermer for bringing the pictures. They’ve talked, and she knows this has come up in meetings a little bit before.
Wylie asked if anybody else had comments on Ermer’s, would anybody else like to speak.
Tom Lowrie asked to be recognized for a comment.
Tom Lowrie:
Lowrie said he’d like to speak because there might be some people in the audience not familiar with the pavilion they had proposed. He forgets the dimensions of it, but it was for two picnic tables underneath and they’re proposing it on the far side of the playground. And again, it was a kit. And they were going to get some of the kids to help put it together, and that’s what cost $45,000. Regardless, he means, he would be interested to know if anybody would be interested in having a pavilion like that, because it does offer some shade. It offers something for rain. It’s something that could possibly be revenue-generating as well if you rent it out just like the gazebo. And if they don’t get support, so be it. The other thing he feels is very important is the maintenance of the park as it is. He knows that they checked out getting rubber mulch for the playground, which is great because it doesn’t decompose, but my gosh, it’s about $80,000 for the rubber mulch and that didn’t necessarily even include the labor. But it’s been about three years, he thinks, since the wood mulch has been, and of course, it’s now down to dirt and it makes the kids get not only dirty, but now it doesn’t have that safety factor too. So, he doesn’t know when, you know, again if they were talking about new things, well, shucks, what about that stuff that they have now? Is it being taken care of? So, that should be something in, you know, to discuss as well, he guesses put in the budget or whatever, and he knows they’re waiting on a third bid for the blocks that are crumbling because of the salt. He’s got two of them. He’s waiting for a third.
Smith said irrigation. Lowrie said oh, irrigation. Smith said that’s another thing. Lowrie said that’s a big one. Smtih and Lowrie agreed. Lowrie said so, he means, again, if they want to keep their investment up. They don’t necessarily want to maybe get band shells. He concurs with you on that. This park is awfully small to put in a band shell. It’s too bad. He’d like to see that gazebo lowered a little bit. Once you do that, then you gotta get ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] stuff and we open up a can of worms there. But in any event, they have a huge park here. He didn’t know if anybody’s aware of it. This part the kids play in is probably 20%, if that. The rest of it’s all the wetland, and that’s why they had talked about one time getting boardwalks and things going through there, but that’s millions and millions of dollars. So, he’s OK with you taking that and saying let’s concentrate on what’s there right now.
Lowrie said he would welcome anybody’s input on what they envisioned for their kids or grandkids or the future.
Wylie asked Lowrie if he said $45,000 for the pavilion. She thought it was $25,000. Lowrie said they [the Optimists] gave $25,000 with another $20,000 coming in February. Wylie said for that one pavilion. She thought it was a $25,000 kit. Roth said she did too.
Ermer said he would clarify that. They were looking at mini pavilions, OK? The small, two picnic table, OK? They can put that in there for $25,000. Lowrie is talking about a bigger one because people want a bigger one. Two tables is pretty small, and Wylie is right, the Optimists at one time said $25,000 in 2023, and $20,000 in 2024, which would have given us $45,000. And then we could have talked about the bigger one, but they only talked about the smaller one because that’s the cash they had. Wylie said OK, right.
Wylie thanked Lowrie.
Wylie said there were a few other people bobbing up with two gentlemen.
Wylie recognized Sam Moraco [local contractor and Independence Township board of trustees member] for a comment.
Sam Moraco:
Moraco said he doesn’t live in the village, but he does go to Depot Park. He just wanted to chime in on Lowrie’s comments. So, he’s involved in the summer show and the Christmas show so, when you’re talking about infrastructure, he thinks that what this park is lacking to have those types of events is the electrical infrastructure. It’s a huge problem for the vendors, for the DPW staff. They had power outages and breakers going off, and it was at nighttime in the middle of winter. So, when they did the Christmas show, some of the tents, so just maintaining the park and if you’re, he thinks those events are awesome in this town. But you know, a little investment in the electrical infrastructure. Spreading it out through the park would, you know, really help everybody out and certainly take some pressure off the DPW to put on those shows. So, it would be more accessible for everybody.
Rodgers said to piggyback on to that, she knows they’ve talked about lighting before and people have various opinions about that, but just the ability to have lighting if you needed it would be really nice because like Moraco said, in the middle of the Christmas market, would you know, she doesn’t know how many people were there, but it was pretty packed. A whole string of lights with the electricity where the vendors were kind of went out. And she’s not sure what the reasoning was for that. It might have been somebody tripped over the cord and part of that is because there’s only one place that all the cords have to go to, so in order to give them one light, which is all they’re allowed to have, they have to stream electrical cords to the place. So just to have the ability to plug more, more spaces to plug things into. The ability to have lighting if you need it would be a super nice thing to have. Wylie said OK and thanked Rodgers.
Wylie recognized Jim Brueck for a comment.
Jim Brueck:
Brueck said hi and provided his street name. He also has been on the Friends of Depot Park Committee for a number of years. Personally, a couple things he looks for in in the park being managed and one is from an environmental standpoint and that’s the invasive species that (unintelligible) like buckthorn, phragmites (unintelligible). We started some programs, and he just wants to make sure we continue with those programs to eradicate and then replace them as necessary or possible with more native species. So that’s kind of an environmental perspective, and in so doing, the advantage is also to help purify the water to drink. That wetland area there does feed the aquifer, and the aquifer is sucked up through the pumps and into your faucet that you drink every day. So, you have some personal investment in it (unintelligible). As far as the developed part of the park goes, he doesn’t want a Coney Island. He doesn’t see one picnic pavilion as an overreach. He was thinking the other day, and he’s been in many parks and you have too, he couldn’t think of one park that didn’t have a picnic pavilion, you know, some have multiple, so not necessarily pushing a bunch, but the idea of having one pretty close to the playground just kind of seems to make sense if you get caught in inclement weather, you know, kind of shelter that’s close by and 12 x 16 or something like that. It’s not intrusive, you know. As far as some of the other things like the, you know, sound and irrigation, he’s willing to step back and, you know, take those things on slow. He knows we don’t have a lot of money and we don’t, some of it’s really may be nice to do, but certainly not required. So, he would look forward to continuing on the Friends of Depot Park to maybe help sort through some of those issues and come back to the council with some recommendations, some findings, etcetera. So, good luck. Wylie thanked Brueck.
Wylie asked if somebody else would like to speak.
An unidentified man walked up to the podium.
Unidentified man:
The unidentified man said he came here six years ago with his wife, dropped her off at Honcho, couldn’t find parking. Drove down this street and he goes, what a nice-looking park. Went upstairs (unintelligible), they finished dinner, and he said there’s a cute little park down there. He wouldn’t mind living here. She said you say that all the time. They went across the street to (unintelligible), started looking at houses, and they moved here because he likes to walk to the park. He doesn’t want to drive to any park in Independence Township. He loves this little park. So, his only feedback is that boardwalk. Boy, he heard someone say take your grandkids, could walk around it. But he was walking down this way (gesturing), and (unintelligible) hey, is this going around somewhere or just end right here and he’s like, yeah, it just ends right here. He wishes he would have told you circle around. He would love to see that boardwalk with this, that’s his top priority feedback, and lights. He took his dog for a walk, going toward south (unintelligible). He talked to his wife. If he was a woman, and he hit that one point, it was so dark down there he would not walk down there until you hit Main Street. Just a few lights would be more attractive at night to walk the dog. But he loves the park. That’s why he moved here. Wylie thanked the unidentified man.
A woman walked up to the podium and said her name is Olivia Steele.
Olivia Steele:
Steel said she grew up in Clarkston and (to man in the audience), Steele said dad, don’t say that. She’ll be coming here. So here she is. Dream come true. But she was abroad for six years and when she and her husband first moved back, they lived with her parents out on Pine Knob Road, and she was just telling Papatheodoropoulos when she sat down. Date night, they’d gotten away from her parents, gotten some food at Rudy’s and came into Depot and she said if they could live right here, she would (unintelligible). And so, here she is. Here they are, spending like eight years. And now she’s got two little girls, and they spend a lot of time at Depot. They’re five and seven now. And earlier on when her dad was asking about Depot, what do we want (unintelligible). A mom with two little kids, bathrooms. And she’s so happy that they now have the best bathroom facility for potty training. All the moms with young kids. Diaper changing. You have to go to the bathroom. You can’t, she means, what would you do as a mom? You’ve got your two little kids and there’s a little porta potty and you can’t take your kids in there with you, so that has really, really benefited everybody that comes to the park in a lot of ways. And also, they love the pavement paths that go around because not everybody has the luxury of living in a neighborhood with sidewalks, or even a really nice flat paved road in the Clarkston area, so just the little, and for some reason the loop, like the fact that it’s the loop, kids love riding their bike and scooter on that. So, that’s, they love that, and thinking ahead a little bit now, she loves the new structures that they’ve played, that they put in in recent years because it’s allowed for kids a little bit older to access the park. It wasn’t just for, like big toddlers. There was more equipment, but she thinks she can see with her kids and some kids who are a little bit older kind of outgrowing that, that they’re too big to be moving around and playing tag and going down the slide on that one main structure, because there are a lot of things there, but really that one main piece is, she doesn’t know the most exciting thing for the kids to play on, so just maybe taking a look at different kinds of equipment. She loves the idea of the inclusive equipment because when they go to other parks, like all kids access that, can access that and it’s fun for everybody and inclusive. And she thinks either a swing and she has to share her daughter’s plan, to contribute their ideas. One has a lot of big dreams. She doesn’t think you’re gonna be happy about these, but a water park, zip line, pool, snack bar, hot tub, and art center. So, she told her she’d share. Roth said Cedar Point. Steele said Cedar Point, right. (Holding up a piece of paper), Steele said and this is a slide, and her five year old wants a taller slide for big kids, next to a little slide with, for little kids, with the stairs that, you know, can access that slide directly. But what was she going to say about that? The bigger kid stuff, just like more climbing things. Maybe just for bigger kids to access. Wylie said she wanted to tell Steele something. Three minutes goes by really fast. Steele said oh, is it time, OK. Wylie thanked Steele. Steele thanked Wylie.
Wylie asked if there was anybody else.
Roth said she does want to say one thing, OK, she agrees with Papatheodoropoulos, but she thinks part of the problem, she likes the idea of having room for kids to run around. So, when Ermer was talking about there has to be so much room between equipment – Ermer said right – (continuing), Roth said you can’t just pack stuff in or there just isn’t room for kids to run around, but she thinks a big confusion with the offer of the Optimists with the pavilion that was lost in Eric Haven’s great plan, and including herself, she thought all of this was part and parcel of one thing, and she never even saw the picture of the pavilion until Ermer showed it to her at an Optimist meeting. Kelly Lafontaine built a beautiful music stadium out in Milford, she means, they’re everywhere. We don’t need one here, but she appreciates the fact that the Optimists were willing to do that. Unfortunately, Roth is really sorry that it ended up being like it did because it was a confusion with this big promise. And that’s what she thinks a lot of the residents thought was coming. The big, you know his, he kept calling it his Central Park, and Roth thinks it just got lost in the shuffle, unfortunately. And that’s where it is. Wylie thanked Roth.
Wylie asked if anybody else had a comment. Wylie recognized someone named Nicki (spelling?) Wyckoff for a comment.
Nicki Wyckoff:
Wyckoff provided her full name and street and said she was a little nervous. Wylie said she’s fine. Wyckoff said first, she’d just like to say how much she appreciates the work and the desire of the Friends of Depot Park and the Optimist Club and everything they’ve done. They raised their kids coming to the park. They bring the grandkids here. She does have to agree with Moraco as far as the lighting at some of the events, particularly the holiday event. But as far as permanent lighting, she does have concerns about that. She also has concerns about the extended plan for the boardwalk, and she appreciates the unidentified man’s perspective and having such a wonderful place to walk. But as somebody that backs up to the wetlands, they’re so important and she just feels that a boardwalk like that would not only disrupt the wildlife, but the lighting that would be necessary to make sure it was safe. She feels like places like that invite vandalism trouble. The lighting that would be necessary for that, the monitoring of it, the maintenance of it is a concern to her as well as just the overall lighting in the dark sky. She feels like, similar to some of the others, that the quaintness is what makes it so unique and desirable and not like some of the bigger communities around. Wylie thanked Wyckoff and said of course, her family has also contributed to the park because there’s a rain garden there. (Wyckoff nodded her head.) Wyckoff said Steve’s [Wyckoff, Clarkston Community Schools] been, and the program has been – Wylie said oh, she wasn’t even thinking about Steve. Wyckoff said the Optimists (unintelligible), everything has been great. She really appreciates all of that. She does have concerns about the expansion, and she guesses she would really need to see the plan, the big one that came out, and she thinks there was a lot of confusion. It was a giant plan. Wylie thanked Wyckoff.
Wylie asked if anyone else would like to speak. An unidentified man stepped up to the podium.
Unidentified man:
The unidentified man provided his name (unintelligible) and said he lives next door to them (gesturing), and he would like to see improvements in the park, but one thing he doesn’t want them to forget about. A few years ago, they talked about parking. They still haven’t resolved parking. If they do some of these things that they want to do, they’re going to bring in a lot of traffic. He walks the streets. He almost gets hit at the light. People don’t stop at the light. They don’t stop at the stop signs. The traffic here stinks. And they’re going to make it worse if they do all of the things that they want to do. A pavilion with a couple of picnic tables, he thinks is a nice idea, certainly a more welcoming playground for kids that may have disabilities but, just remember, we’re going to have two new restaurants coming into town and it’s going to be more parking and it’s going to be parking where, try and cross the street from Harrison’s to here. People run down Depot Park [Road] like it’s a throughway. They don’t pay attention to this, you know, speed limit. You be careful what you create in making some of these additions. Wylie thanked the unidentified man.
Wylie recognized a woman named Bonnie who’d stepped up to the podium.
Bonnie:
Bonnie said she just lives around the corner and one thing she doesn’t want to see more traffic because it takes sometimes 6-7 minutes to get off onto Holcomb, but she’s worried about the liability. She means, who’s going to, one, make all the repairs all the time. Who’s going to be paying for the insurance? And then who’s going to get sued if somebody gets hurt on these things, these improvements She doesn’t see, she zips through there when she’s walking, and she doesn’t see that many people from the village taking advantage of what’s there. They come from Independence because they like this little intimacy. They like to bring their little kids there, and that’s fine. But when we put out, they have to keep the doors locked on the bathroom because they smashed the bathrooms. We put out new picnic tables and they painted them. She doesn’t want to invite more people to come in and create havoc when it’s such a sweet little park right now. Most of all, the liability and the insurance is what are we going to (unintelligible) for it? And honestly, she doesn’t see that we use it that much. It’s nice to have it and she’d love to have the things that go on there, but she doesn’t want to invite any more. Wylie thanked Bonnie.
Wylie asked if there was anybody else present who would like to speak.
No additional comments.
Wylie said she has two letters, she thinks. Wylie asked Roth if she wanted to read her letter.
Roth said she doesn’t have to read anything. Jim Evans [Clarkston Area Optimist Club] called her today. He has a blood infection from his surgery, and he was going to be here tonight, but obviously could not. He is the person who is in charge, she guesses, of the foundation, the money that comes through the Optimists, and he is very distraught about this on so many different levels. But one of the things he wanted was for the people to know the amount of time, she thinks it was, (to Ermer), they spread 176 yards of wood chips at the cost of the Optimists. She understands the eight days of volunteer work that, they did construction out there, or repairs, and he said the thing that bothers him the most is that while they were out, he guesses on some golf cart or something, looking at all these things they were going to do, Haven promised them that they would absolutely be able to hang a creed in the Optimist park, she’s sorry, Depot Park. And so, he’s very concerned that that has been reneged and he wants someone to change that or take care of that, that it was promised. And he feels like the Optimists at least are owed that.
Forte said she didn’t think he [Haven] had the right to make those promises. He’s not, like, he’s just a city council person, like, they would have to agree on that and – (interrupting Forte), Roth said she is just saying that this is just somebody who spent a lot. She’s talking to Jim Evans. Forte said she knows. Roth said Haven is the one who promised. She wasn’t there. She doesn’t know. This is just, he asked her to – (interrupting Roth), Forte said it’s a verbal contract. Roth agreed and said he feels very disappointed. Forte said which is fair. He felt like he was promised something.
Quisenberry said he doesn’t think it’s fair to come to that conclusion though. Ex-mayor Haven is not here to confirm or deny he said that, correct? Roth agreed. Quisenberry said and to make a statement that is uncontested, that he promised something and somebody’s upset about it is, Quisenberry thinks, unfair because it’s only one side. Roth said that’s true. She just thought she would relay the information.
Wylie said OK. She has two letters. The first one says:
Hi, Sue. This is Carola Huttenlocher, and on March 11th, residents are invited to voice their opinions on additions to Depot Park. Unfortunately, Rick and I can’t be there, but would like to share our thoughts. We love our little park and walk through it every day. We would hate to see it built up with structures, examples, picnic pavilions. It’s too small for that, and the natural look is so lovely. We are concerned about plans to build a boardwalk. As we deal with vandalism in the main park all the time, how are we going to control the comings and goings and activities in the middle of the swamp? The swamp area is home to a diverse and plentiful animal population that would be disturbed too.
Wylie said Huttenlocher just asked her to bring this forward.
Wylie said and the other was not directed to her personally, but it says:
In connection with Monday’s public hearing regarding the future of Depot Park, I write to express my objection to filling our beautiful park with lighting, piped in music, band shells, lots of picnic pavilions, signage, entrance gating, large fountains, etcetera. In other words, I object to the constantly expanding five-year plan proposed by former Mayor Eric Haven and the Friends of Depot Park. Our little park is special because it allows for occasional larger events, small picnics, quiet contemplation, and it’s a safe place to take younger children to play in the lovely Optimist playground. My own daughter spent many hours there when she was younger. There’s no need to fill every nook and cranny of the park in a misguided attempt to attract non-Clarkston residents. We will never be able to compete with larger parks in the area, nor should we try. In addition to destroying the ambience of the park as it now exists, each of the proposed amenities will require the additional expense of tax dollars to purchase, install, maintain, repair, and protect against vandalism. It is my sincere wish that the city council will respect the current beauty of this special gem by simply leaving it alone. Sincerely, Susan Bisio.
Wylie asked if anybody else wanted to speak.
No additional comments.
Wylie asked if anyone on the council wanted to speak.
No additional comments.
Close Public Hearing (Video time mark 0:46:16):
Wylie said OK, then she’s going to close the public hearing at 7:46. Wylie thanked everyone who came and spoke and said now they’re going to continue with the rest of their agenda.
Item 10b – Resolution: Funding for a Hawk Tool Pony Cycle In Depot Park (Video Time Mark 0:46:35):
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- Resolution – Proposed Installation of a Pony Cycle in the Depot Park Playground (page 25/28 of the council packet)
- Pony Cycle Information (page 26/28 of the council packet)
Wylie said they are still on Item #10, New Business. They are now going to #10b, Resolution – Funding for a Hawk Tool Pony Cycle in Depot Park. They have something in the packet. Wylie thought it was a discussion and then she must have misread it. She was thinking it was a discussion then a resolution.
(Wylie read the resolution.)
Wylie said so, to continue with this, that’s what this resolution is, she would need a motion to this resolution and a second and then they can have a discussion. Wylie asked if anyone would like to move that they pass this resolution.
No comment from council.
Wylie said she is going to make a motion to do it, so hopefully they can at least have a discussion on the matter. Wylie said she would move that they resolve to install the pony cycle at the cost of $3,500. Second Rodgers.
Wylie said OK, so now they can have a discussion on it.
Wylie said she’s sorry, Mr. Hawke is here, you’re Terry Hawke, right? And perhaps he’d like to get up and speak about this.
(A man stood up and slowly walked to the podium while he was speaking.)
The man said he’s Terry Hawke. He’s the son, grandson, nephew of Hawk Tool in Clarkston Mills and he used to hunt frogs down here on this property and they used to feed them to the blue racers that they’d catch. They’d get the crawfish out of the crick [creek]. So, when he was riding pony cycles around here, this was a swamp. This wasn’t what it is today. It’s beautiful. You know, it’s a beautiful little park.
The bike we have right there (pointing to the television monitor), he’s donating the bike and the people that he’s talked with are famous people, television, all over the world with their motorcycles. Ron Finch is one name that some people may know. Cary McClain. He rides the monocycle with lights inside the wheel. Jim Robbins. He’s a fabricator for, prior to computers, pictures of cars where you see the motion all in the background is all blurred. They actually made fixtures that would pull the power along, and along with the fixture they have the camera. So, as he’s pulling the car, it’s blurring all the background, so it looks like the car is in motion, and it also makes the car stand out, you know, so these are fabricators. These aren’t just backyard mechanics. Hawke may be a backyard mechanic, but these guys are professionals and that’s who’s helping us. Virginia Frazier. She does prototype work for General Motors interiors for, doing the, you know, headliners and seats and carpeting and all that. So, these are these are professional people. He’s talked with them; they’re going to donate time. They need money for just materials, basically. That bike, obviously, it’s a motor scooter. It needs reinforcement. It wouldn’t last, you know, the way it is for kids bouncing on it and kicking it and stuff.
Hawke brought some pictures. They go to shows and wherever he sets up the shows, the kids love these bikes. They just love climbing on them, you know. So, the idea that here, it was made right here locally he thinks is pretty neat, you know, and they’re going to work on it. That’s the way it is right now in his office set up, just as a prototype to get an idea of what they’re going to do. So, he appreciates that they have an opportunity to present this to the city.
Hawke asked if there were any questions. He’s glad to answer them, whatever they may have, you know, and hopefully they can get it done by the 4th of July, so after the parade, they can have a little something down here, dedication or something for it. So that’s what they’re, that would be their goal, if you will.
Smith said that Hawke was going to simplify the bike and make it safe. The hand bars would be locked in a position, maybe they have a little bit of half inch free play just to give a kid a feeling like he’s steering, she’s steering it. The bike would be cemented into the ground with footing, with bars, go down into footings. It would be made very safe. Obviously, there would be no engine involved in this. It would just be just something for kids to climb on and say vroom or whatever they do these days. Hawke said they’d like it to wiggle. Smith said wiggle a little bit.
Hawke said he came up with an idea, and right away, he talked to Cary McClain, and he says, well, why don’t we have springs on it, and Hawke is going, well, here we go, you know. What idea he may have, these guys are going to go from there. It would be nice to have a wiggle and have some of a little grinding noise or a motor type noise or some sort.
An unidentified woman in the audience [Papatheodoropoulos?] asked if it’s all metal. Hawke said yes, well, except the tires, yes. The unidentified woman asked if the tires will be on top of the ground. Hawke said well, he doesn’t think they’re going to want the tires to turn. He thinks they’re going to have it probably on the ground or wiggling around because kids could get spinning on the tires or something like that, he thinks. Or they would have them like on the little tractor out there. The steering wheel doesn’t turn, you know, they could weld it to where they don’t turn in one of the two, you know. And they’d have it to where they couldn’t climb in it.
Hawke said the first structure he came up with was that they made a couple different styles of the scooter, and this particular one has the enclosed housing. So, in the front there, this area in here (walking to the screen) where they would close, yes, that area right in here. So, you know kids can’t climb into here. This is where the motor would go. But the unique feature of the pony cycle is the brake pedal, which is right up here on the floorboard. And Hawke’s dad and grandpa saw somebody climb on a Cushman. They started it, and they were off the bike, and they started it, and Scott (no last name provided; Hawke pointed toward the podium), they started it, and it was in gear and took him and dragged him down the parking lot. So, this way, you’re sitting on a pony cycle, your foot’s on the brake, your throttle is here, and you pull start to start it, so you’re safe. And one of the advertisements says when you get on the bike and you start the bike, it’s safe as long as you can hold onto it or something like that. In other words, it was ready to go, you know, if you’re ready, it’s ready. So, you’re not off the bike kicking it, you know, like some of the Harleys, you got to get off the bike and kick. You’re ready to go. So, that was, well, that’s the whole idea. So, he’d like to have the brake pedal so at least it moves back and forth. They’d like to have it shake. They’ll have the steering so it just wiggles a little, you know, no pinch points. And in the seat, Virginia [Frazier], when he talked to her, she seems to think she has a material that would last. You know, Hawke thought it would be metal. And he talked to Frazier and said, oh, no, they do, you know, vinyl tops on cars and stuff. So, they’ll see what she comes up with.
Rodgers said she has a couple questions. So, this group would give $3,000 and then you need $3,500, so $6,500 to refurbish this then? Smith said no. $3,500 total. $3,000 to fabricate the bike and $500 for supplies to install it. Rodgers said all from our budget. Rodgers said gotcha. Hawke said he’s donating the bike. This group of people he has here, and it’s going to be funny to hear how they’re going to fight over what they want to do, because they all have their own ideas, but they’re going to donate a lot of their time and basically material. They have to put some reinforcement in there and do some.
Rodgers said so that’s where she has another question, is, and just concern – Hawke said fine, yeah – (continuing), Rodgers said from health professional’s standpoint like being that it’s all metal, worrying about sharp edges and it being hot, and it would be, it’s really difficult to, like, vote on it not knowing what all those materials are, you know what she means. Hawke said OK. Rodgers said like, it’s hard to say that, they got rid of, like, metal slides, and they got rid of metal everything in our parks because of the heat, the sharpness – (interrupting Rodgers), Hawke said they didn’t. Rodgers said there is some stuff, but we didn’t, we did get rid of metal slides.
Hawke said all the metal is going to be double powdered powder coated. That’s Jim Robbins. Rodgers said she thinks what she would like to know is what Hawke is going to actually do with this, like, what is the fabric that you’re going to use? Where is the powder coating that it’s going to use, like, to hand over, like, $3,500 and not know that is, she’s just thinking from a, you know, everybody here is talking about liability and where we’re going to put it. And it’s a really cool idea. Hawke said yeah. Rodgers said we’re a historical place. And so having some kind of history that means something in – (interrupting Rodgers), Hawke said he doesn’t want anything until it’s done – (interrupting Hawke), Rodgers said would be fantastic – (interrupting Rodgers), Hawke said and then it’ll pass your inspection, you know. Rodgers said she thinks that’s what is, that’s what – (interrupting Rodgers), Hawke said your picnic tables that are metal, they’re powder coated, and that’s what Jim Robbins does. He’s a powder coater and he double powder coats. Hawke had furniture done 25 years ago. It’s Woodard iron, if you’re familiar with wrought iron furniture, and it was powder coated 30 years ago and it sits outside all winter long. He doesn’t cover it and it’s durable, you know.
Hawke said so, the edges all be smooth, it’ll be powder coated. The tires will be, you know, out of rubber. Like they’ve talked about, either they won’t turn or they’ll be on the ground, and they’ll have standard bicycle handle grips, you know, for the rubber at the end of the, which would be on, it’s on all your bicycles, you know. So, he knows, he understands what Rodgers is saying about that, and he’s fine with that. If they agree to this, then he’ll agree to meeting their inspection. You know, that would be, and he doesn’t need any money ahead of time. It would be, it would be on your, you know. Rodgers said gotcha. Hawke said but the only thing he would need ahead of time before they can, they’ve got to have the foundation of the bike. And that’s what, Jim [Robbins] is going to do the foundation, and they give you the one to put in the cement, and then they’d be able to set the bike on there, and then there’d be a way they’d be able to detach the bike, to have it repainted or whatever might have to be after ten years, you know. Rodgers said thanks.
Hawke said so, the material is sheet metal material, probably 10/20, you know, roll stock pipe is pipe, whatever, you know, was used on the bikes and so, it would be, but these sides here are similar to your car. So, what they all agree with, they need to reinforce that, he means, you know, you think about putting a car out in the park and having kids around on it, you know, it’s going to get dinged up. So, they’re going to reinforce that so it’s not as liable to get kicked. Rodgers said yeah, it can’t be hot, because the little legs are gonna – (interrupting Rodgers), Hawke said well, yeah, they talked about that with the seat because at first, he talked about it being metal. And then the second thought was doing it like the expanded metal which has holes in it, you know. And then with Virginia [Frazier] talking about some material, you know, they were talking about that. She seems to think she might have an idea for that. So that would be, thank you for that.
Roth said well, there’s one at the library they can go look at. (Gesturing in Smith’s direction), Roth said you guys have one right there. Smith agreed. [Roth was referring to the exhibit in the Clarkston Independence District Library that is maintained by the Clarkston Community Historical Society (CCHS). City manager Smith is president and treasurer of the CCHS, and his wife is a paid CCHS director who maintains the CCHS displays as part of her job responsibilities.] Hawke said oh yes, this style of his is hooked up at your library. Roth said she figures that’s where this is coming from, from Smith. Hawke said thank you, yes, it’s up at the library right now. They’ve got it on loan.
Wylie recognized Quisenberry for a question.
Quisenberry said one thing about how long Hawke has been here. It’s a swampland, the crawdads and whatever. A question not related this, but he’s just curious, when was the swampland, the wetland turned into a park. Does Hawke remember what year? How long, when that park was, he was just wondering. Hawke said no, no, he pretty much went on his own in ‘72 and started his business in Walled Lake – (interrupting Hawke), Quisenberry said and it hadn’t been done then – (continuing), Hawke said and pretty much moved away from Hawk Tool. Quisenberry said he was just kind of wondering how long they’ve had – (interrupting Quisenberry), Hawke said in ’72, he thinks it was still swamp.
Wylie said Cara [Catallo] is nodding her head. ’76 or so? Catallo said yeah, she thinks that’s about right, and she thinks she can get that information for you. She thinks John Wilson was the person who would know that.
Quisenberry said just a curious question regarding this as he is not grasping this total thing. Hawke has some friends and fellow bikers that are going to accept or make up the cost of the $3,000. That’s how he’s reading this. Rodgers said that’s the part that she was confused about too. Hawke said he believes his budget of $3,000 is going to cover all the expense for the bike – Roth said it’s asking for $3,000 – (continuing) Hawke said minus the cement in rubber.
Quisenberry said it says Hawke has reached out to several of his friends and fellow bikers who are willing to fabricate and paint the playground at their cost. OK, so the way Quisenberry read that is they were going to pay for the cost. What Hawke is referring to is they’re doing all the prep work for their cost because Quisenberry saw this, and he thought they were going to pay this $3,000, and then the next line says that they’re asking the city to pay the $3,000. So, he’s just confused at these two paragraphs.
Smith said no, that was messed up. Smith wrote that, so Smith will chime in. That was meant to say that they will do it at cost. They’re not going to mark it up in a profit on top of their cost, just at their cost. And Hawke is estimating that their cost would be $3,000. Quisenberry said OK. Hawke said if it comes over that, then he’ll have to, he’ll cover it. He feels that’s a fair price, and he’s got these guys willing to help, for Hawke to tell them they’ve got to throw in the material and everything else, he doesn’t think he can do that. Quisenberry said he understands that; he was just confused at this and now he understands it then.
Wylie said her concern is they’ve had a big, long discussion tonight, mostly listening to citizens about Friends of Depot Park and the work that they do for our park, and yet in a way, it sounds like we’re talking about kind of going around them. She likes how they have a committee, Friends of Depot Park, who bring initiatives, who bring ideas to them for the park. They have a budget. They know how much money we can spend, and she honestly prefers that method of letting the Friends of Depot Park look at their budget, say this is what we suggest for the space we have for, we’ve heard a lot of discussion about irrigation, about safety, about lighting, and we prioritize this item over something else. So that’s, and most of her feeling is “no.”
Wylie told Cara Catallo to hang on and see if anybody else here on council have – Roth said she’s sorry, in Wylie’s opinion, is what? Wylie said her opinion is “no” on this. Roth’s opinion is definitely “no” on this for many reasons other than the $3,000.
Wylie said OK and asked if anyone else on the council wanted to make a remark on that. Quisenberry said maybe, but he’ll wait.
Wylie recognized Catallo for a comment.
Catallo said yeah, she just wanted to clarify one thing, and because Peg had mentioned that she thinks this started with the exhibit at the museum and by the time, like, they were speaking with Hawke, he had already had this plan in motion from Eric Haven, who was on the Friends of Depot Park, so she thinks it did start with Depot Park, that committee, it definitely wasn’t with the museum and so, she just wanted to clarify that, but she, you know, she recognizes some of the names that Mister Hawke has mentioned and they’re very formidable and like, really tough. They’re being people in the business and in the field. So, she feels like it would be worth investigating and to see if it could come around and, you know, she has a 22-year-old, so she’s not worried about safety, or she just don’t understand safety, she doesn’t know, if you could go to confirm that something is safe, but she thinks that it’s worth at least consideration and maybe sending it to ask planning or the Friends of Depot Park, but she just wanted to clarify that it wasn’t the museum that sort of, you know, got this going because she thinks Hawke had already spoken with Eric Haven by the time they were speaking with Hawke about it.
Hawke said there was an idea and then this, he means, it wasn’t even my idea until he heard about it, and he thought, well, this is pretty cool, he means, you know, you can go online and buy a playground bike, you know, for probably $3,000, $2,000, and plant it out there. But it’s just the, like, you know, this has got history to it, you know, this is an actual bike. This is not a, he means, this is the real deal.
Roth said she’d like to answer what she said.
(Interrupting Roth), Catallo said she had one more thing that we haven’t manufactured all that much in our very small community. So, the fact that the, this is something that we manufactured here is something we should crow about. It is an exciting and historic aspect in my opinion.
Wylie recognized Bonnie (no last name provided) for a comment.
Bonnie wanted to know how many people on the Friends of Depot Park are residents of the city of the village. Wylie said she would say probably all but one. Wylie asked Lowrie if he had any idea. Catallo said Lowrie would have a better idea, but she knows Emily [Dunthinh] is also not. An unidentified man said he thought Dunthinh lived in the park. Does she not live in the park. Someone said they didn’t know where she lives. Wylie said she comes, she doesn’t know where she lives, but she is an expert on, when Wylie has been to meetings, she’s, when she speaks, she’s speaking as an expert in her area. Quisenberry said but she does or does not live here. Wylie said she does not.
Bonnie asked if they would have people on that committee make the decision. Wylie said no, but they bring things to them. Bonnie asked then who makes the decision. Wylie said they do. The council makes all finance, they vote on it, yes. Bonnie asked what about the citizens. Do they get to vote? Wylie said you voted for them. You vote for some things, like you voted whether or not to continue police protection, you know, the city police force. If they were to raise taxes above a certain amount, you would vote on that, but yeah, for an item like this, no, that comes from city council. Bonnie said well, not on an item like this, but some of the other items.
Roth asked Bonnie if her concern is because Ermer is not, does not – (interrupting Roth), Bonnie said no, she’s not concerned about this. No, she thinks that’s a great idea. Roth said she means, the guy has been working, Catallo has mentioned a couple of times that Ermer doesn’t live in the village, but he, every time there’s a project going on at Depot Park, he’s here. Wylie said he’s been a wonderful addition to it. Ermer has been a wonderful person who, for everything he’s done on the park. Bonnie said she knows. She’s not, they’re volunteers. Wylie said they’re volunteers, yes. Bonnie said but they don’t pay, well, she guesses they do, they provide – (interrupting Bonnie), Wylie said well, the reason that she says that, her concern is, they have a lot of things that people would like to see in the park, and there are a lot of things brought up today. Rather than looking at each item piecemeal, she would like to have a big picture of saying these are our requirements. This has to be done because this wall is falling apart, it needs to be replaced. We need irrigation because we don’t have irrigation. We need to expand the playground area. We need mulch with better safety. We need to have a pavilion so people can get out of the water so, and then they can look at, and make a proposal and say we want this, this, and this, and this, and maybe a pony bike. Is that what it’s called? Pony Cycle would be included in that, but she doesn’t like them having to pick out one thing, and she understands there’s some historical significance, and perhaps they’re citizens who would like it, she’s just one person. She’s just one vote. But maybe there are citizens who would like to say, OK, we’ll come up with a $3,000 to make sure that this this takes place. Or $3,500.
Hawke said he doesn’t know where the $500 came from though. Smith said the installation cost. Wylie said she thinks that the installation cost of the pad. Hawke said oh, for the cement, OK.
Wylie asked if anybody else would like to make a comment or anybody back on council?
Wylie asked Smith so, how much is he asking from council. Smith said $3,500. Rodgers said $3,500. So, the $3,000 that they’re doing – (interrupting Rodgers), Wylie said it goes to them. (Continuing), Rodgers said is that they’re, that they say that they can fund a cost is in addition to that. Wylie said the cost is their time. Hawke said $3,000 is the equipment. Period. Rodgers said the actual bike. Hawke said the actual bike. Rodgers said OK. Hawke said ready to go in the concrete. Rodgers said gotcha, gotcha, all fixed and everything. Hawke said the apparatus that they’re going to have – (interrupting Hawke), Rodgers said so they’re just paying for installation. $3,500 is what it will take to install it. Hawke said total amount. Rodgers said to install it. OK.
Wylie recognized Quisenberry.
Quisenberry said he really liked what Catallo said back there. He’s been a proponent of playground enhancements for the kids that use that for as long as he’s been coming to the meetings here. And he thinks this fits perfectly into it. He thinks it’s a great historical piece that we have. It’s far better than going to Acme Playground and picking out a toy horse and putting it there that doesn’t mean anything, and he thinks the cost is very reasonable. There’s more than double that and well, not quite, when you added in the $500, but double that in our budget that we set aside to do this, and he doesn’t think that this flies in the face of what we just had with the public hearing where they were talking about concerns they had and things that we wanted to. Quisenberry thinks they can still handle and consider all the concerns that they heard in the public hearing and still go ahead and allocate funds that they set aside for playground enhancements in a manner of an apparatus that has some historical significance to this area, and it’s another piece out there for the kids. Wylie thanked Quisenberry.
Wylie recognized Forte for a comment.
Forte said yeah, she just wants to say thank you for, like, putting this all together and, like, being willing to donate and, like, getting people who are very qualified to work on this. She agrees with Quisenberry. She thinks it would be a lovely symbolic thing in their park to, like, a testament to, like, the movers and shakers of the past and inspiration to kids, like, you can build something and make something and produce something in Clarkston. Hawke said right here. Put a Model T out there. He’s all for that, too. You know, Henry Ford was here. Forte said yeah, they’ll handle that.
Hawke said Clarkston Mills will come up with something then. They can, they’ve got a business that was here. Well, they had between 75 and 100 employees, was the largest employer within the village, and it was pretty neat as a kid growing up here. He’d be, he’d like to see it for that, but these bikes go all over the country, and you’ll see at the 4th of July, you’re going to have a number of them here, and he’s not going to go wrong with this bike. He’ll get more selling it running than he will putting it in the park, you know. But he just happened to have extra bikes, and this is one he put together and he put it out in the yard and the first picture he took of it, he went back in the office and he went, he really likes this, he doesn’t know if he want to, he doesn’t want just the bike. Let’s go take a look and see what other bike he’s got. Well, he likes this particular one for this project, so you know.
Forte said yeah, and she thinks, like, a lot of Michigan is, like, we’ve got a lot of automotive history that’s very significant to all of us. And she just thinks it’s a great thing to celebrate, and Clarkson’s obviously its own gem. And like Hawke said, the park is involved, and she thinks they have a lot of passionate people, which isn’t a bad thing, and there’s no right answer for any of this, but they’ll all figure it out together. Hawke agreed.
Forte said but, all that being said, she just wants to say thank you for putting this all together, because she knows it’s not a small task to get people rolling in the same direction and getting people to volunteer at the time is a big deal. Hawke said well, if and when you say go, he would like to have it by the 4th of July and then he would be putting pressure on all, you know, these, you know, plus he’s got other bikes he’s putting together, but this is one that, yeah, it would be really cool to have it for the 4th of July, for the parade, you know, the bikes are coming in. They’ve already got people coming in. Forte agreed.
Wylie asked Smith if he had a special location for the installation if this happens? Just because we’re kind of crowded in the playground area. Smith said as Ermer was referring to earlier, there has to be a fall zone around each of the equipment, so they would go to the National Playground Standards that define how far that we do, how tall the item is, how big it is, and that determines the radius around it. They have to figure that out and see if they can find this spot.
Hawke said they’re going to give them the fixture to put into the cement that the bike will sit on. So, the same fixture that’s made to go on the bike will be mated to the one in the ground, and then you’ll have the one to put in the ground. Then when they bring the bike over, they can put that on there, and in his production business, he drilled and tapped the lock nuts for wheels, so he happens to have flat ones that they can put on stuff so it doesn’t disappear, you know.
Quisenberry said he thinks they’ll just need to get the specs from the whatever government unit says that and know what the footprint is, and he thinks that once they find out what the footprint is based on the size of the bike itself, there are half a dozen places in there that it could be placed within that footprint. Smith agreed.
Forte said she was going to say that due to the historic significance, it doesn’t have to go right in the footprint of the little playground if they’re struggling for space because you could eventually, and she’s speaking out of turn, but, like, you could put a historic sign next to it to explain the story and that could be, like, there’s a music piece in the park down the – (interrupting Forte), Hawke said he would hope a sign, you know, would go either on the bike or on the ground, you know, like you have a dog that has a little sign. And he made up a little thing that would recognize, you know, his grandpa and dad and uncle and aunt, and also, you know, to recognize that these guys, he told they would be recognized, you know, because, he means, Ron Finch, his motorcycles have been all over the world and museums that have never had a motorcycle in it, in an Art Museum, he means, he’s got rolling art, and he’s going to be here 4th of July.
Roth asked if Hawke paid this time. Roth hopes Hawke will pay to be in the parade this time. Hawke said, oh, Roth doesn’t like him not paying. Roth said she’s on the parade committee. Hawke said he’s out of business. Roth said she knows what happened when Hawke signed up there. Hawke said yeah. He’s not in business. This is personal. Roth said she knows. Hawke said OK. Ah, yeah. You know what? He’s found it’s always best to have a short memory. Roth said yeah.
Hawke thanked the council and said he just hopes that – (interrupting Hawke), Wylie said somebody’s got a question.
Wylie recognized Brueck for a question.
Brueck said just a comment (unintelligible). It looks like Hawke is asking to vote on something that partially exists and partially building. When you start putting things in a playground with kids, there’s some rules and regulations on the shape and material and the radiuses that aren’t very well defined (unintelligible). So, conceptually, nice idea, but it just seemed awfully premature to, you know, kind vote on something he’s not quite sure what’s in there. Nice idea, but what am I really buying? So that’s his only caution, not that they didn’t come through the Friends of Depot Park. He understands there’s (unintelligible). The first time he saw it was sitting next to Ermer and (unintelligible) show. That’s the first time, it was tonight, so, he doesn’t know why that happened, why it didn’t get vetted out and discussed, he thinks it should have been, you know, and that was a couple of years ago. So now, like a lot of things, you know, kind of let (unintelligible). So anyway.
Wylie recognized Forte for a remark or comment.
Forte said maybe Hawke can come back with, like, the specifications, like, Quisenberry said and what Rodgers is saying, and then maybe you guys can review more in depth where you would like to put it in the park as well as the current standards that, like, playground equipment has to be held to, and just, like, go through those, and at least list out what you guys are abiding by or anything that they should be worried about. Rodgers said the prototype. Forte said yeah, that would be so helpful. Maybe they could table it until that prototype is, if that’s OK.
Wylie said her suggestion, and she knows Roth may have a remark, her suggestion is that may be the way to go tonight because they are five members, and they have to pass by four, and right now, that may not happen. So, she would say if Hawke wants to come back with more information, like Forte said, the specs, that there is some concern that Rodgers brought up about the safety for kids and – (interrupting Wylie), Rodgers said she thinks it’s a great idea. It’s a really cool kind of thing. It’s just hard to invest that amount of money when they don’t really know what they’re investing in.
Hawke said well, they’re not investing in it until they’ve passed your inspection. He means, he’ll cover the cost, but for him to go and have these guys work on the bike to find out it’s not going to go, he’ll leave it the way it is, and he can get it running and he’ll get more than double that. He’ll get more than, you know, $5,000 out of it, the way, you know, getting it running. But that’s not the idea.
Wylie said she thinks they’re looking for information, more information, what his plan is to make it safe for children. As Smith said, he’s going to look up some standards for what area of the playground it would have to take up.
Wylie recognized Roth for a comment.
Roth said yeah, he also brought up the sign issue. He’s going to put a sign by it. So, then they come back into the signs being put down. He’s going to put a sign about a pony – (interrupting Roth), Hawke said just to recognize – (continuing), Roth said and then they have the Rotary, and so still pending is the Optimists. So, she thinks that bring that back up to the forefront too.
Wylie said so her suggestion is that they do table it tonight. Rodgers said maybe like a month. Wylie asked how do they handle a table, somebody to make a motion to table. Hawke said a month? Could it be that long, they think, a month? Wylie asked how long it would take Hawke to come back with – (interrupting Wylie), Rodgers said the material. Wylie said maybe examples of the material. Hawke said he didn’t know how much more he can come back with, he means, they’re going to be, the edges are going to be round. It’s going to be fabricated, he means, all these guys that are working on this know, he means, they’re not the amateurs at this, he means.
Quisenberry said he thinks that all they really need to do is if they choose to table it, which he would just assume not, but if it is tabled, the only real information they need is the footprint on the size, and in between them, they can kind of walk around and say based on that, it can go here, and while they’re looking up the specification for what the footprint is, they can look at the language of what type of apparatuses are allowed, and it’s an apparatus made of prefab or what was powder-coated steel and this and this. Unless there’s something saying you can’t use that, then you can.
Wylie said there is another reason to table. She doesn’t know that it will pass tonight, and if it doesn’t pass, it’s difficult to bring it back.
Wylie recognized Ryan for a comment.
Ryan said they probably should have the city engineer look, he means, get, have they been, has HRC looked at this at all? They, he means, they’re just kind of shooting in the dark here. It’s a great idea (unintelligible), but you need to vet this some more like, it needs to be addressed by the city engineer.
Hawke said they’ve all driven around and seen yard (unintelligible), so if it doesn’t pass your inspection, you know, come down Decker Road in Walled Lake and you’ll probably see it right in his front yard. Right around his wife’s garden, you know, some flowers or something.
Wylie said but they’re talking about putting it in a playground for hundreds of children to be on all the time, and they want to make sure they are putting out the best product for them. Hawke said no, he follows, that’s cool, that’s cool, it’s just the timeline would be something he would like. Wylie said she thinks two weeks. She doesn’t know why they couldn’t do it in two weeks. Hawke said two weeks would be fine, yeah, but for him to come back in a month and then talk about it again, it’s like now they’re cutting into, and a lot of these guys have got a few extra hours right now before the season starts, you know.
Wylie asked Smith if that would give him enough time to come up with this. Smith said yes.
Wylie recognized Papatheodoropoulos for a comment.
Papatheodoropoulos asked if it has to sit in the park where the kids are. They’re saying these are safe for kids to be on, could it sit in front of the Mills and have a sign like that all around the village has, she means, to put something into a children’s playground, it has to pass certain criteria. You’ve got to have a specialist look at it and say yes, this is going to be able to be utilized with children or they’re putting ourselves in a bad spot. It doesn’t have to be in the park. Wylie said interesting point. Papatheodoropoulos said then if some kids climbs on it, well. Ryan said they want children to play on it though.
Wylie said if it’s in the park, they’re inviting people to play on it. Hawke said he hopes they do play on it. Wylie said so, Papatheodoropoulos is saying if it’s, for instance, in front of the building, it’s not necessarily an invitation to play, but nobody’s stopping them either. Papatheodoropoulos said right. Hawke said he thinks half of the people in here would enjoy sitting on it and just feeling how it was, you know, he means, scooters in the 50s were a whole lot different than we got today. Anyway, thank you. And yeah, they should just let him know, he means, it’s cool, you know.
Wylie recognized Ermer for a comment.
Ermer said just to give you a history lesson, that equipment that’s in that playground, other than the stuff that was in there, was purchased from a vendor that made playground equipment. When they put in that green structure, they hired the foreman from the company that made that structure to direct them on how to assemble that with the volunteers. There’s a piece of paper in his, in the office, that says if somebody gets injured or killed on that thing, of course, they’re going to sue the village and the next thing is going to be is you’re going to pop up with that piece of paper that says that the equipment was constructed correctly, and you’re going to have a piece of paper with a signature from the foreman and he said it was installed correctly. Wylie said OK. Ermer said just a history to let you know. Wylie thanked Ermer.
Wylie told Hawke to hang on, she thinks they’re going to have a vote. Wylie asked if anybody would like to make a motion to table.
Motion by Rodgers; second Forte.
Wylie asked if there was any discussion about tabling. And they have to do a roll call on that tabling. Ryan said they might as well.
Wylie said they will do a roll call and asked DeLorge if she would mind taking a roll call for their table, where this is a motion to table the resolution for the proposed installation of a pony cycle in the Depot Park playground.
Roth, Rodgers, Quisenberry, Forte and Wylie voted yes.
Wylie said so, they are tabled until the next meeting. Wylie asked Hawke if he could come back to the next meeting, which is March 25th, and hopefully by then, Smith can have his information and anything else that would help with that. Hawke thanked Wylie.
Wylie recognized Papatheodoropoulos for a question.
Papatheodoropoulos said many of them came here to determine what is the direction of the park, and will the residents have some way to know what the direction of the park is going, so her question is how will residents know what the council is giving their OK to? Wylie said well, it’s not going to be tonight. Papatheodoropoulos said she understands that, but it is. Wylie said watch for their agendas, because it will be on the agenda of a future meeting. They’ll have discussion, but she doesn’t think, even if it’s on the agenda for the next meeting, she doesn’t, there’s still probably will not be any, just more, more like there will be a discussion than anything further. She knows they’ve also talked about if this discussion tonight looked like it was heading towards people, it wasn’t. Let her back up a little. Tonight’s black and white. Yes, they’re doing things, no, they’re not doing things. There was a lot of discussion. They want to do some things, but they want it at this level. So that might mean they take it to the library, which is what she had mentioned. Having a bigger discussion with perhaps Julie Meredith [Director, Clarkston Independence District Library], mediating or what you call it, mediating that kind of discussion, something like that, where they look for some concrete steps. She knows it’s happened before but maybe would happen again, and from her point of view, it still goes to Friends of Depot Park, though there’s a lot of them here tonight and they’re listening.
Papatheodoropoulos said so, they would generate things, bring it to you, and then the residents would be each week checking the agenda to see what things are on it. Wylie said right. And also, council can give, would give, direction to the Friends of Depot Park – they would like to see you investigating or looking at this and they would not like to see you looking at that. Wylie asked Papatheodoropoulos if that makes sense. Papatheodoropoulos said yeah, she just doesn’t want the residents to be out of the loop. Wylie said OK. Papatheodoropoulos said that’s her fear, because she feels that that’s what’s happened up until now, and the hope was that she would walk out of here saying, OK, I’m going to know what’s being proposed.
Wylie asked Papatheodoropoulos if she gets Smith’s weekly e-mail because he’s really good at putting down what’s happened at their meeting and what’s being proposed to come up at the next.
Rodgers asked Papatheodoropoulos if she had any other ideas as to how she would like to be informed, that they could (sentence trailed off). Papatheodoropoulos said she would think if they’re making expenditures and they’re going to commit to structures that they are going to be responsible for and maintaining, then she thinks that that is, they should be notified of that. She means, she’s been reading – (interrupting Papatheodoropoulos and talking over the remainder of her comment, rendering it unintelligible), Rodgers said like, through, like, she’s truly trying to figure out, like, through the news, through, like, something that goes out to every resident, like a mailing, or like, how do you, other than having, you know, looking at the agenda, coming to the meetings, how can they get that word out to you, so that you, you and everybody else, knows that this is what they’re talking about, and this is what’s important to you. You know, it’s easy for them to say well come to the meetings then, right? That’s easy. But that’s not always possible. And mailing they, you know, they had talked about mailing out a survey to see, to every resident to see, what they thought about, and Rodgers thinks there was some question about cost there. So, how would, like, think about how they can reach you short of agendas, or short of putting it in the Clarkston News like this was, you know, for a public hearing. How can they do that? Like what?
Rodgers said Papatheodoropoulos doesn’t have to tell them tonight. Like, if she thinks of something, like, e-mail one of them, and like, this, she really thinks this would work, or talk with the people that are really interested in it as Papatheodoropoulos is that couldn’t make it here tonight. How can they do that? Because they hear that a lot like, you know, we don’t, we didn’t know anything about it. Rodgers heard that with the Christmas Market, didn’t know anything about it. They, you know, there was written in social media, a couple of people were like, you know, they wished they had known about it. Well, Rodgers couldn’t think of anything else to do, you know, like it was in the newspaper. It was in Clarkston Living. Like they talked about it in the meetings, but there is a, you know, is there some way that they can reach the people that are most important to Papatheodoropoulos and to anybody else that is super interested that they’re not thinking of?
Wylie said she thinks communication with the residents is an issue and interestingly, she’s not going to pop anybody’s bubble, but she did have a meeting today with somebody who is looking into ways to make sure people are better informed. (Gesturing to Roth), Wylie said they’ve talked about it. The three of them talked about it when they were on that podcast, and hopefully, if anybody has good ways to further communication, let them know, and if you’re not signed up for Smith’s emails, which come out Thursday night, Friday morning, it’s a great way to be informed as he really does a nice job, and it’s very concise little headlines and a short paragraph about what’s going on.
Papatheodoropoulos said she does have one recommendation and that worked in the past that those (unintelligible) and that is the library. They did it at the fire station. They had community availability. Just sit and listen to what’s being proposed. Friends of Depot Park, if they’re coming up with, OK, here’s the, look, here’s what we’re after. Then she thinks that the community as a whole needs to be invited, and you would notify them through their little, what’s that little thing they get on Wednesdays? What’s the name, Penny Pincher or something like that? Smith’s way of doing it and maybe there are more. Rodgers said yeah.
Roth said the Friends of Depot Park have regular meetings. Papatheodoropoulos agreed. Roth said so, and that’s published in, so that would be something you can, she doesn’t know if they have an agenda though, there’s not an agenda published probably. Wylie said yeah, the agenda and minutes come out. Ermer usually does that, but maybe that’s something, you want to go to their meetings, and maybe you want to volunteer for their committee.
Papatheodoropoulos said she has been part of this group, and she thinks that it’s really important what’s being discussed and where they’re going to go with this and protecting our watershed, all of it. But they have a jewel here. Wylie agreed.
Wylie said she thinks Papatheodoropoulos can see, they’ve been listening to things, and that’s part of why they’re here tonight. They kind of wanted to step back.
Quisenberry thinks they get an “A” in transparency because they’ve had this discussion amongst themselves and with other residents many times on what can they do to try to bring, make sure that the people are engaged. You have to remember that’s a commitment from the people as well as them trying to feel how to do it. They’ve looked at twelve ways from heaven to try to make sure that they stay engaged with you. Everything with, nothing is done secretively or anything along those lines. Open meetings is what they follow and if there are people out there that don’t know, then he thinks the blame is on the people, not necessarily on them because they’re doing everything they can to try to make sure things are presented in a way and not behind the scenes. People know. Papatheodoropoulos said the promise was made to her that they were going to have a public forum if there was enough information, if enough of them wanted it. She doesn’t hear any talk that that’s actually going to happen, but she thinks that it should. If there are going to be decisions made about the park, and that may take a year, two years before we’re at that level.
Wylie said decisions though take place at council meetings. We’re at that level. A public forum like Papatheodoropoulos is talking about is a forum. It’s for people to talk. It is not where a decision is made. So, for the decision, it would again take place at the city council meetings, OK. Papatheodoropoulos said yes, but the residents would know what’s being proposed. Wylie said right, as it happens in every meeting. As Quisenberry said, people do have some responsibility to look things up. They’re not going to hand-deliver invitations all the time to everybody about what’s going on. They try to do the best we can. And there’s, there’s not, communication is not what it used to be. They don’t have a big newspaper that has a lot of information, there’s no reporter here tonight as far as she knows. So, things are different. She guesses that’s all she can say.
Roth said the Clarkson News used to send a reporter that would sit down. Don Rush. Yeah, that’s, she means, the paper is pretty much not centered here anymore, obviously. So, they’ve lost that. So, it is hard to figure out how do you get in touch with people.
Papatheodoropoulos said well, every Wednesday would get the little newspaper that they get – Roth said it’s little – (continuing), Papatheodoropoulos said and things that are important to the community can be posted.
Wylie said this has been. Smith said it was for this meeting. It was in the Clarkston News and the Oakland Press and on their website and on his email and the bulletin board. They tried to get as many people here as they could. Quisenberry said exactly. Smith said just to again, not to make a decision tonight, but to gauge public interest. Is it 10% that want pavilions or 90% that want pavilions, they just didn’t have a sense, so the idea was let’s gauge public interest.
Smith said Papatheodoropoulos was raising a good point. They need to kind of decide what’s next, but Smith thinks the council needs some time to think about this and maybe they have a discussion in the next meeting. If they want to do that, they can put that on the agenda just as a discussion to say where do they go next? Wylie said she thinks they should. (Continuing), Smith said is that a public input question? Is this a planning commission assignment? Is it a Friends of Depot Park assignment? There are a few different ways they could go.
Wylie said she thinks it should be a discussion at our next meeting and she asked if the rest of council agreed. (Affirmative sounds from council.) Quisenberry said he won’t be there. Wylie said he can still agree. Quisenberry said he agreed.
Agenda Item #11, Adjourn (Video time mark 1:35:18):
Wylie said all right. Does anybody have anything else for tonight before they adjourn?
No comments.
Wylie said OK, Item #11, she needs a motion to adjourn.
Motion by Forte; second Rodgers.
[No discussion requested on the motion.]
Motion to adjourn passed by unanimous voice vote.
Wylie said they are adjourned at 8:35.
Wylie thanked everybody for coming. They appreciate the turnout.
Resources:
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- Link to video recording here
- 03-11-2024 – City Council packet
Could Ted Quisenberry possibly be more arrogant? Not only does he want to force you to buy him an expensive water filter for the rest of his natural life, and force you to pay for a silly Pony Cycle monument to the Hawke family, he can tell you from all his totally extensive experience (that he’s gained since last November when he ran for an uncontested seat on the council) that the city gets an “A” in transparency. Apparently, Quisenberry is unaware the city has been sued three times on transparency issues (twice under the Freedom of Information Act and once under the Open Meetings Act), lost all those lawsuits, paid thousands of tax dollars because of that, and received a warning from the Oakland County prosecutor about its illegal actions under the Open Meetings Act.
An “A” in transparency? When the council routinely approves minutes that say nothing about what was discussed or why the council voted as it did, and why making a summary such as this necessary for people who want to know what went on at council meetings? Really?
And he said this while looking into the face of a citizen who was begging for more ways to get information from the city that her tax dollars fund. And this was during a discussion where the Clarkston News was criticized for not covering city council meetings, but no one thought to suggest that the city can have an informational insert in the Clarkston News, just like Independence Township’s monthly multi-page Independence Times, delivered to every Clarkston resident at no cost to them.
Oh, and now it’s obvious that he takes his marching orders from Cara Catallo, waiting to hear what nuggets of wisdom she deigns to give us before he makes a comment agreeing with her. 🙄
What a flaming jack wagon.
Remember in November. Unfortunately, it won’t be until November 2025 when it comes to Quisenberry.
I really regret voting for him. He clearly isn’t the pragmatic, tax dollar conscious public servant I thought he was. I won’t make that mistake again, and I hope you don’t either.