September 26, 2022, City Council Meeting

Introduction:

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

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

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

Agenda Item #1, Call to Order (Video time mark 0:00:06):

The meeting was called to order by Sue Wylie.

Agenda Item #2, Pledge of Allegiance (Video time mark 0:00:10):

Pledge said.

Agenda Item #3, Roll Call (Video time mark 0:00:29):

Al Avery, Gary Casey, Bruce Fuller, Joe Luginski, Laura Rodgers, and Sue Wylie were present.

Eric Haven was absent.

Agenda Item #4, Motion: Approval of Agenda (Video time mark 0:00:44):

Wylie asked for a motion to approve the agenda.

Motion to approve the agenda by Rodgers; second Fuller.

Wylie asked for discussion.

No discussion.

Motion adopted by unanimous voice vote.

Agenda Item #5, Public Comments (Video time mark 0:01:06):

Wylie read the rules for public comment.

Chet Pardee:

Good evening:The mayor did respond to my public comments in the last meeting, but with nothing to explain why city officials have not acted to repair the streets and sidewalks. The mayor prefers to not run for re-election on a ballot with a city millage proposal.

For several months I have offered criticism and suggestions on ways to improve the city’s financial situation providing my public comments six hours prior to council meetings in order to provide an opportunity for officials to consider a response. I was wrong to believe that city officials would understand and act. Why city officials could do neither is unclear. City hall and Depot Park expenses have been favored over sidewalk repairs.

Without the financial capability to repair the city’s streets and sidewalks, residents may wonder whether Clarkston can continue as a city.

The Roads Assessment (RAMP report) [Road Assessment Management Plan] done in 2017 and the several updates of the capital improvement plan have provided the data to show the city’s financial requirements: Spend $100,000 to repair roads annually and plan to do more than a million dollars over five years for capital projects. City officials have not understood or reacted.

Each succeeding budget proposal has showed reducing amounts of money for capital projects. The fund balance is at its minimum. The next year’s capital project money is proposed because it was unspent in the previous budget year. I will be surprised if the seven Main Street paver aprons are repaired in this budget year so those monies will likely be available in the next budget year.

I am hopeful that after the November’s election Amanda Wakefield and Scott Meyland will join with Sue Wylie and other council members with positive influence to benefit the City of the Village of Clarkston.

Wylie thanked Pardee and asked if there were any other public comments.

No other public comments.

Public comments were closed.

Agenda Item #6, FYI (Video time mark 0:03:39):

    • “Join Clarkston’s Biophilic Committee” (page 3/59 of the council packet)

Wylie said that they have a document that says (reading from the document) “join Clarkston’s biophilic committee, working to improve Clarkston’s water quality, provide pollinator habitat, educate on the benefits of native species, eradicate invasives, promote community engagement and stewardship. We meet the first Tuesday of the month from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at City of Clarkston Hall, 375 Depot Park Road. If you would like to join us or learn more about the group, please contact Jim Brueck” and his email is mdbrueck@gmail.com and his phone number is 248/736-3014.

Wylie asked if anyone else had anything for FYI.

No additional comments.

Agenda Item #7, Discussion: Parking Fees & Tickets August 2022 (Video time mark 0:04:26):

    • 2022 Parking Fees & Parking Tickets (page 4/59 of the council packet)

Wylie said the next item is a discussion on parking fees and tickets for August 2022. We have a document and an officer here to discuss that, right? Wylie said sorry, this is for the city parking fees, and she double checked that there was a document in the packet.

Wylie asked if anyone had any comments or discussion or if Jonathan Smith [city manager] had anything to bring up about this. Smith said no.

No comments.

Agenda Item #8, Sheriff Report for August 2022 (Video time mark 0:05:10):

    • Oakland County Sheriff Department Monthly Report (page 5/59 of the council packet)

Wylie said here’s our Sheriff report for August, and we also have a document attached to this.

Wylie asked if there were any comments or questions on the Sheriff’s report.

No comments.

Wylie asked Lieutenant Richard Cummins if he had any comments.

Lieutenant Cummins said he thinks it mirrors Smith’s report pretty much. The tickets are approximately the same (unintelligible).

Wylie and Lieutenant Cummins thanked each other.

Wylie asked if anyone on council had any comment.

No comment.

Agenda Item #9, City Manager Report (Video time mark 0:05:54):

    • City Manager Report, September 26, 2022 (page 6/59 of the council packet)

Wylie said that the city manager’s report is also included in the packet. Wylie asked Smith if he had anything to add on this. Smith said no. Wylie said she thought it was pretty self-explanatory.

Wylie asked if there were any questions for the city manager.

Rodgers asked Smith if they are still doing Clarkston Road paving on the weekend as far as he knows. Smith said yes, they did some preparatory work on Friday, but no, it’s still scheduled for Saturday or Sunday, probably still two weeks away. When Smith heard all the commotion out there on Friday, he thought maybe they were starting to do the work on Friday, but no, it was just some shoulder work. So, he called them, and he said it’s still probably two weeks away.

Fuller asked if there was anything else (unintelligible) sewer lines (unintelligible) because there’s pink paint in front of Fuller’s house across the road. Smith said yes, they have been identifying where all the various utilities are but don’t expect any excavation that would really be of risk to the community utilities.

Wylie asked if there were any other comments.

No additional comments.

Agenda Item #10 – Motion: Acceptance of the Consent Agenda as Presented (Video time mark 0:07:22):

    • 08-22-2022 Final Minutes (page 7/59 of the council packet)
    • 09-06-2022 Final Minutes, Special Meeting (page 9/59 of the council packet)
    • 09-12-2022 Draft Minutes (page 10/59 of the council packet)
    • 09-19-2022 Draft Minutes, Special Meeting (page 12/59 of the council packet)
    • 09-26-2022 Treasurer’s Report (page 13/59 of the council packet)
    • 09-21-2022 Revenue and Expenditures Report for the Period Ending 08-31-2022 (page 14/59 of the council packet)
    • Carlisle/Wortman, August invoices (page 24/59 of the council packet)

Wylie said she would accept a motion for the consent agenda as presented. It’s attached and included in the packet.

Motion by Luginski; second Casey.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion on the consent agenda.

No discussion.

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

Agenda Item #11, Old Business:

Item 11a – Discussion: Marihuana Ballot Proposal (Video time mark 0:07:54):

Wylie said that she doesn’t have anything included in this. She believes there was supposed to be a discussion on a statement from city council, but we’re not doing that tonight.

City Attorney Tom Ryan said that before the meeting he thanked the subcommittee for working on a fact sheet relative to the ballot proposal, and he also sent to Smith and Jen [Jennifer Speagle, clerk], hopefully you folks got it, the Michigan Municipal League Dos and Don’ts relative to what the city and the city council can do relative to the ballot language. So basically, as we’ve said before, the city can’t do anything other than educate. So, you can’t pass any resolution for or against this thing because the city can’t take a position either way, but we can provide neutral, factual information to the voters, and that’s what the subcommittee worked on, and he got it over the weekend. Haven isn’t here tonight so he called Wylie as the presiding officer to say that he appreciates the work and he’s working on it, and he’s going to go through it to make sure that whatever we have is going to be appropriate, OK? So, he does appreciate their work, but he needs a little bit more time to work on this.

Ryan said the other thing he wants to say was in case people, at least at the table here were feeling you had to sit on your hands and couldn’t say anything that you can take positions, you can’t speak for the city, but you’re entitled to speak as a council person or whatever on your opinion, if you have one, and (unintelligible). So, you don’t have to feel like you can’t say anything, that you have to muzzle yourself. It’s just that the city can’t take a position is all. All we can do is provide the facts.

So, Ryan hopes that the council will find this (holding up a document) from the Municipal League helpful. We haven’t really had anything this contentious before, but he just wanted them to know that they don’t have to sit by quietly if they don’t want to. You can be involved relative to speaking your mind at this meeting or wherever. You just as city council members, the city as a whole can’t take a position for or against. Ryan said he would answer any questions and work on the good work product by the subcommittee and get it back so that Speagle will have it hopefully within a couple of days because absentee ballot pick up can be at the end of the week, he guesses. Ryan asked Speagle if that is correct, and she agreed.

Rodgers said she had a question on the Dos and Don’ts. She meant to bring hers with her and she didn’t. The very first paragraph, if Ryan has it – Ryan said he did and asked her if she would like it. Rodgers agreed. She said she was looking over it, and it kind of says, well it says that (reading from the document) local governments had demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their claim was unconstitutionally vague and thus void. U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara accepted an agreement between the Secretary of State’s Office and local governments and school groups permanently keeping the Secretary of State from enforcing a law that prevented local officials from providing factual information on local ballot proposals. Ryan agreed. Rodgers asked what that means. Ryan said that there was a Public Act, 57 he thinks, which said, passed by the Michigan Legislature, which said that a council or board of trustees couldn’t take a position, strike that, they couldn’t provide information to the electorate and use public funds to do that. And there was a lawsuit, and this judge enjoined that portion of the statute saying no, a city and a legislative body can provide factual information to the electorate relative to a proposal. Rodgers said OK, because when she read that, it sounded like you couldn’t, but you can. Ryan agreed.

Rodgers said that the other question that she had was in that whole six or seven page document, she thinks it was 4(f), where they talked a lot about the time constraint that if this got passed you would have ten days – Ryan agreed – (continuing), Rodgers said to choose – Ryan said an application – (continuing), Rodgers said an application, and then once that was done, you had thirty days to change like the rules associated with it. Ryan said the city did. Rodgers repeated that the city did. Ryan agreed. Rodgers said that if they didn’t, all applicants would be able to – Ryan said get a provisional license, right. Rodgers said yes, so what does that mean, does that mean that if this passes that they could have more than two licenses? Ryan said, no, honestly he doesn’t, well, when you look at it, when you really read it, it really, all somebody has to do is get a state license, and they’re going to get a license. They’ve got this so-called system of, award system, about how many points they award or whatever, but it doesn’t really make any sense because of the speed in which this will have to occur if it passes, and really, all people are going to need is a state license and to apply here. It’s not going to be a Clarkston license. It’s going to be a state license.

Rodgers said they speak a lot in there about an agency, that the agency picks, reviews, who is the agency? Ryan said it’s supposed to be the clerk relative to the criteria, but that’s a little vague because really, the license is going to come from the state.

Rodgers said that the other question that she had was when it talks to the point system, which she didn’t really, couldn’t really get a grasp as to what points were allowed, but there was a section that talked about that you got more points for having a larger facility, and so does that kind of compound the fear that this could be in homes, because there are, you know, 4,000 square foot homes – Ryan agreed – (continuing), Rodgers said that they could – Ryan said that as he said a couple meetings ago, he doesn’t think, and his interpretation is, that he’s read the Medical Marihuana Facilities Act a couple meetings ago, that medical marijuana, a provisioning center for medical marijuana is recognized as a commercial use. So, as a commercial use, Ryan doesn’t believe they can overrule our zoning ordinance. Ryan’s point when he talked to Eric [Haven?] and whomever he talked to that he thinks the point is that our neighborhoods are right on top of our business area so whether it’s in the neighborhood, it’s going to be at least adjacent to the neighborhood because our neighborhoods are so close to the business center. So, Ryan is still looking into it, but he doesn’t believe a commercial use can go in a residential zone. And it is a commercial use by definition in the state law. But that’s not to say because it’s such a small business district, if it’s on one end or the other, it’s going to be literally in a neighborhood anyway, right?

Wylie said Rodgers could finish if she had other questions. Rodgers said no.

An unidentified woman in the audience said that this kind of piggybacks on the zoning question that we touched on, the schools in proximity to the provisioning centers last meeting, what constitutes as a school. She’s just putting it out there for them to chew on because she’s wondering if the Clarkston Conservatory of Music constitutes as a school, and arguably, what would it be if it doesn’t? Because that is operating right in town – Ryan agreed – (continuing), the woman said how about the churches in the CVC [City of the Village of Clarkston] that operate preschools and do those count as schools as well. She was curious to know if those are also included in that thousand feet of protection for our community. Ryan said sure. The woman thanked Ryan.

Wylie asked if anyone else on council had questions or comments to make.

Luginski said that Ryan said that he would get this back to them in a couple of days and the clarification that we can send something out, factual, not an opinion, but factually about this. Luginski said he couldn’t remember, maybe Speagle or council remembers, because absentee ballots are going out, we want to get this out as quickly as we can for people who are going to be voting from an absentee standpoint, so they understand the facts. We’re going to mail this out, right? We’re going to send this out. Are we going to do a mailing? Are we going to mail it to all the residents? What’s the plan to get this information out? Does council remember? Avery said he didn’t think we made a plan. Luginski said he thinks we need to, right? Avery agreed. Luginski said because if ballots are going out Friday, right Jennifer [Speagle]? Speagle said this week (unintelligible). Luginski said so in the next four days, we’re going to have information back from Ryan with something approved within the next couple of days, we need to get this out, roughly, we don’t want to send the ballots, the absentee ballots out on Friday and then send something out two weeks from now because at that point, it’s too late, right? So, Luginski said they need to make a decision on how are we going to get this information out. We can put it on our website, that’s all great, but how many people are going to, you know, look at that, right? Some will, but not many. So, if we’re going to send this out and we can, because it’s approved and legal to, our costs, the city’s cost to do postage, he thinks we need to make a decision when we’re going to do that. Otherwise, we don’t meet for another two weeks. Avery said correct, he would agree. Avery said that there are people out there handing out information. Luginski said he understands, but that’s a separate group and that’s great. Avery agreed and said we are getting some coverage. Luginski said some coverage, but he thinks it would be nice for us as a city to have something out there as well for people to know. Avery said that we can’t mail them with the absentees. That would be improper. (Unintelligible crosstalk.)

Luginski said that he thinks that at this point we probably have to amend the agenda for tonight. He thinks that they needed to have a resolution added to tonight’s meeting that says we will mail these out to every resident, every home in the city, as soon as we hear back from Ryan. Avery said ballpark on the costs. Smith said if it’s just a letter, it’s $.50, $.55. Speagle said 318. Avery said he thinks Ryan (unintelligible), but he thinks that it won’t be more than – Ryan said it won’t be more than 453, what is it? Smith said 455. Speagle agreed. Ryan said it won’t be more than two pages. Speagle said so they are looking at – Luginski asked how many addresses do we have to mail it to? Smith said Speagle is sending to the registered voters, right, 300-some? Speagle asked for absentees? Luginski said no, to everybody. Speagle said every address, not just voters. Luginski agreed; every address in the city. Smith said that they are looking at $200, $250.

Wylie asked why we need to send it to everybody if we only need to send it to voters. Wylie asked if people could register and vote on the same day. (Multiple people said that you can.) (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Speagle said yes, you would be mailing it just to them. Luginski said you have 400 houses, so you said $250? Speagle said not each voter. Luginski said (unintelligible), he’s just throwing that in there.

Wylie said we as council have to vote that we want to send this. She hasn’t read it but you guys (gesturing) have. It’s not our product. Rodgers said yes, we haven’t even read it. Luginski said if Ryan approves it as a factual statement from the city, you have it in front of you now. (Wylie made an unintelligible comment.) Luginski said if we don’t do something tonight, we’re screwed. If we do not, unless we have a special meeting, that’s fact. Speaking of facts, factual, that’s a fact, if we don’t make a decision tonight to mail this out, it will not go out in time for the absentee ballots, and that’s huge. This election is probably going to be determined by absentee ballots, right? There’s 350 absentee ballots. We aren’t going to get more than 500 people to come to vote in this election. So, these people need to understand the facts as we present them (looking towards Ryan) and approve, and if we don’t get them out on time, they’re going to start mailing their ballots back, and if we don’t meet for two weeks, and then we do it, and then we mail it out, it’s going to be too late. Wylie said that’s not the argument. The argument is that Wylie doesn’t think that we can vote to send something out that we haven’t read and approved. That’s what you’re saying. Luginski said he didn’t think it’s a problem. He thinks that this is, it’s all facts, it’s not opinion, it’s simply facts. Wylie said well, again – (interrupting Wylie), Avery said he would have to disagree. He’s only read it briefly, but he thinks Ryan is going to have to do a little bit of work on it. Avery said he doesn’t want to expose, and he’s against the proposal so that everybody knows, but he doesn’t want to expose the city to some kind of lawsuit if we put something out there that isn’t going to pass muster with a judge because we hurried it out and then, if they lose, they’re going to come for us and then we’re going to have to spend a lot of money to – (interrupting Avery), Luginski said fair enough, but who better to trust than our city attorney. If Ryan puts something together, are we really going to change what he says we should put out in two weeks? Avery said you could make the same argument about the city treasurer. We still have to approve stuff that he does. We do. Avery said he understands.

Luginski said then we have to have a special meeting. Avery said then call a special meeting. Luginski said we’re going to have to have a special meeting this week. He didn’t see any way around it. We can’t wait for two weeks, and if the ballots are going out this week, you know, the longer you wait, those ballots are coming in, that’s going to be the issue. So, we either do a special meeting this week, and he’s fine with it, he’ll show up, he has no problem coming here again for the fourth time in two weeks at 7:00 (laughter), but then that’s what we need to do. Avery said right. Luginski said that’s fair, he’s OK with that, as long as we don’t wait two weeks. Avery said he understood that and he’s not suggesting that either. Wylie said she got that, and she wasn’t suggesting that either. Avery said it’s a process argument. (Luginski said something unintelligible to Ryan.)

Ryan asked Speagle when she was going to send out the absentee ballots. Speagle said she was starting to get them ready tomorrow. Ryan said getting ready, but when are they going to go in the mail? Speagle said if she starts on them tomorrow, they are going to start going out on Wednesday. Ryan said Wednesday, and Speagle said yes. Wylie asked if Speagle could hang onto them until Friday. Speagle said that she’s not really supposed to. Wylie said that’s right, she forgot that Speagle doesn’t work on Friday. Speagle agreed and said she’s not really supposed to either. Avery suggested Wednesday, and Wylie asked everyone to look at their calendars. Avery said it’s one day after the ballots go out. That’s not bad. Speagle said she doesn’t know if it matters, but she won’t be able to be there on Wednesday. Speagle asked Ryan if the meeting can still run. Ryan said yes, Smith could fill in. He asked Speagle if she is here on Thursday. Speagle said yes, she’s here all week. (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Luginski said he can’t be there on Wednesday. He has a CIO [Chief Information Officer?] meeting at the DAC [Detroit Athletic Club?] on Wednesday night, so he is not available. Not that, you know what his vote is going to be, it’s not like it’s going to be a problem, but he’s just saying, he personally can’t. Avery said definitely everybody knows how the council feels, but he – (interrupting Avery), Lugniski said they don’t have to wait for him. Avery said that he thinks they have to follow the process in every way. Wylie asked if Ryan was going to have this ready by Wednesday. Ryan said yes, but he was looking at Thursday, but if we need to do it Wednesday, we’ll do it Wednesday.

Wylie asked for a straw poll of who can come on Wednesday. Rodgers asked what time. Wylie said let’s try 6:00. Rodgers said yes, 6:00. Wylie said she thought she could do 6:00. Luginski said he can’t come Wednesday at any time because he’s downtown. Wylie asked if Fuller could come at all. She said that she may have to shift something around, but she thinks she can do it. Fuller said he probably could do it. Wylie asked about 6:00 or 7:00. Fuller said 6:00, 7:00, if he can make 6:00, he can make 7:00. Wylie said that Casey said he could do it; Casey nodded. Wylie said Avery said that he could do it; Avery nodded. (Luginski said something unintelligible.) Wylie said OK, should we try to do it at 6:00 on Wednesday? She asked Ryan if they have to change the agenda to schedule the meeting. Ryan said no.

Wylie said all right, can we do it by motion? Ryan said sure.

Wylie said that she would make a motion that we schedule a special meeting on Wednesday, September 28th at 6:00 p.m. to vote on the statement on the marijuana proposal; second Avery.

Wylie asked Speagle if she got that, and Speagle said yes. Wylie said OK.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion. (Pardee raised his hand.) Wylie said council first. Does anyone on council have any discussion on that?

No discussion from council.

Wylie recognized Pardee. Pardee said he was wondering if we make this information available to the Clarkston News so they could distribute this information. Wylie said this is a meeting, they do put things (unintelligible). Rodgers asked if he meant buy a page (and others repeated Rodgers’ comment). Avery said he would prefer (unintelligible). Wylie said it’s news, they may put it as news. She’s talking about Matt the reporter. Pardee asked if it was around $250 for a quarter page, does anybody remember? Avery said they wouldn’t get this on a quarter of a page. Pardee said he was thinking that it was $1,000 to do four 8-1/2 x 11. He’s just trying to figure out how we get it to a broad place. (Rodgers made an unintelligible comment.) Avery said why don’t we have Smith check that out, and then when we have the special meeting on Wednesday, we’ll – (interrupting Avery), Luginski said yes, because there’s going to have to be a resolution on Wednesday for the cost of doing it anyway. Avery agreed. Luginski said we can have a better idea of postage and maybe an ad or a thing in the paper.

Pardee said he’s perplexed on how it is that we get the citizens to understand what is in that fine print. Luginski said that is what the fact sheet is supposed to help try and help with, and as Avery said right now, it’s four pages long because it gets pretty detailed about what’s in it because this fine print, if you printed that in normal font on paper, that’s probably a six-page document. There’s some pretty interesting, you know, details of what it means and so we are trying to consolidate that as best as possible and say here’s what this means, you know. Ryan said actually Jim Meloche did it, and it’s twelve pages. Luginski said twelve? Ryan said yes. Luginski said so the amendment is a twelve-page change to our charter. Twelve pages.

Fuller asked if they were going to discuss the content of this when they meet on Wednesday. Wylie said that’s what she wants to do. Fuller said so this is filled out to clarify what some of this means. Ryan said yes. Hopefully, there won’t be much because he’s going to go through this and he’s going to tell them what he thinks they can and can’t do. (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Fuller said OK. Luginski said that Ryan just got it last night or today. Ryan said he got it over the weekend. Luginski agreed and said that Ryan needs a chance to review it. Fuller said OK. Luginski said Ryan will have the document to us Wednesday that will be what he feels is an edited version of what we can do. Fuller said OK.

Wylie said to Pardee’s question, the Clarkston News sent her, because she’s running for council, they sent her the prices, and they say $245 for a quarter page, $420 for half page, $804 for a full page, hitting 14,000 homes every Wednesday. At least that’s what they’re giving for candidates. Pardee said OK. Luginski said that will be discussed, and Wylie agreed. Luginski said he wanted to make sure that they had the motion for the meeting.

Wylie asked for a voice vote. The vote was unanimous. The motion for a special meeting carried.

Wylie asked if anybody else on council has anything to say about this marijuana ballot proposal.

No discussion from council.

Wylie asked if anybody else in the audience had anything else to say about the marijuana ballot proposal.

Pardee raised his hand and Wylie recognized him.

Pardee asked Ryan what other communities are dealing with this organization. Ryan said there are a number of, they try to, well there’s two. There’s a couple of MRTMA [Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act], which is the recreational marijuana, which is not this group, that were proposed in Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, the City of Farmington, Huntington Woods, and maybe one other that he can’t remember. But this type of ballot proposal, we’re the only one he thinks in Oakland County. There are a couple other counties, smaller communities that were facing something like this, but we’re the only one in Oakland County that are facing this type of proposal. Pardee said that he read in the Oakland Press that there’s something on the ballot in Brandon in November. Ryan said oh yes, that’s right. Pardee asked if it was the same group. Ryan said he didn’t know if it was the same group, but it’s medical marijuana. They had more lead time than we did.

Wylie asked if anybody else had any comments or questions.

Pardee raised his hand and Wylie recognized him again. Pardee asked if council has seen Sue Bisio’s write ups. Fuller said some of them are in the paper, some of them have been sent directly to us. Some of them have been in the paper. Pardee said Avery has not. Pardee asked if anybody else would maybe like (unintelligible). Pardee said he should have attached them to his public comments. He thinks she’s done a yeoman’s job to try to understand what the risk is. Rodgers agreed. Fuller said that Mr. Bisio has also done some research. Wylie agreed. Fuller repeated for Pardee that Mr. Bisio has also done some research and shared it with the mayor who shared it with us and his response. They’ve dug deeper into this, certainly. Pardee agreed and said thank you.

Wylie said OK, we will move on then.

Agenda Item #12, New Business

Item 12a – Resolution: Oakland County Interlocal IT Service Agreement (Video time mark 0:31:08):

    • Agreement for I.T. Service Between Oakland County and City of Clarkston (page 26/59)

Wylie said she assumed this is Smith’s area.

Smith said this is the annual agreement. It’s pretty straightforward. It’s something that we need. We’ve done it in the past with (unintelligible) council. Smith said he did not send it to Ryan because it’s just exactly a duplicate of the previous contract or agreement.

Smith said that there are certain things that the city uses Oakland County for, most importantly, our credit card system. We use Oakland County IT [Information Technology] to process all of our credit cards. But there are other times that we use Oakland County’s IT services for. It’s at no charge to us, and this is just basically setting up an agreement. Smith said that on the credit card, there is a charge, they do take a percentage, but generally, there are no charges for IT services. So, this is just kind of a blanket agreement that shows that we are accepting of their services. It’s pretty much consistent with previous agreements.

Avery asked if this is a resolution or a motion. Wylie said it’s a resolution. Avery asked if we are spending any money. Smith said no, just because he thinks of the depth. Ryan said it’s an agreement with another governmental body.

Avery said that he would resolve that they give the authority to Smith to sign this IT agreement with Oakland County. Wylie thanked Avery and asked if there was a second. Second Rodgers.

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

Fuller said so the credit card which comes with a fee and the IT services which don’t are linked together. Speagle said no, the credit card automatically charges the consumer fee. Fuller said the consumer fee? Speagle said it’s not (unintelligible crosstalk). Speagle said (unintelligible crosstalk) your taxes. Smith said it doesn’t charge the city. Speagle said no, it doesn’t charge us, it charges the consumer. So, sewer, dog tags, tax payments, building permits, we get a lot of calls that, you know, companies want to pay over the phone with a credit card. We also use their Oakland County Animal Control to do, their website, to do dog licenses. Their tax BS & A database, because we don’t have in-house assessing, all that’s there, Register of Deeds, we use all that through the county. Fuller said OK, thank you.

Wylie asked if anyone else on council had comments or questions on the resolution.

No council comments.

Wylie asked if the public had comments or questions.

No public comments.

Wylie asked Speagle to take the roll call please.

Casey, Avery, Wylie, Rodgers, Fuller, and Luginski voted yes. Wylie said it passes unanimously.

Agenda Item #13, Adjourn (Video time mark 0:34:26):

Wylie asked if there was any other business.

No comments.

Wylie said she would take a motion to adjourn.

Motion by adjourn by Luginski; second Rodgers.

Wylie asked if there was any discussion.

No discussion.

Motion to adjourn by unanimous voice vote.

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One Reply to “September 26, 2022, City Council Meeting”

  1. If this initiative passes, the city will need competent legal counsel to guide its implementation and to handle any challenge the city may make. The city attorney has shown that he is not that person (even setting aside the fact that he led the city into years of litigation under the Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act by giving the city bad legal advice under those laws). When council member Rodgers asked who is the “agency” referred to in the proposed charter amendment, the city attorney wasn’t clear on who that was. It is the Cannabis Regulatory Agency, the state agency that regulates marijuana sales. The city attorney also opined that the two new medical marijuana stores can’t be located in a residential area because they are a commercial use. That doesn’t address the provision in the proposed charter amendment that would force the council to enact ordinances to facilitate operation of the stores. That could be read as requiring rezoning to allow stores in what is now a residential area if there is no location available in the commercial district. The city attorney doesn’t exhibit a good knowledge of what the state law is or what this initiative might require. If the initiative is approved, the city needs to get counsel that is knowledgeable, experienced, and competent.

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