City Commission - Regular Meeting

Go ahead, I'll tell you. It's a funny story.

Good evening and welcome to the city of Battle Creek, Michigan in the Battle Creek City Commission meeting for August 11th, 2026. It is 7 PM. We'd like to start our meeting off with a moment of silence and then we're going to have the Pledge of Allegiance. And I'll call upon our Vice Mayor to lead us in the pledge. If you're able to stand for a moment of silence, please stand. And then we'll have our pledge led by the Vice Mayor. Vice Mayor Sophia.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Next item on our agenda is roll call.

Commissioner Katarski-Smith? Here. Commissioner Lacoste? Here. Commissioner Lance? Here. Commissioner Morris.

Incorporated was the sole bidder. The company committed to an anticipated installation timeline of approximately three to four weeks. Significantly shorter than the six months or more initially anticipated. So I got just three questions. Question one, are we gonna hold them to that timeline? That's the first question. Question two, are there safeguards in place so that if that timeline is unattainable, that no further costs are going to be incurred at the taxpayer's expense. For example, I don't want them coming in and saying, hey, we can't meet this timeline, so it's going to cost you extra in labor, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I don't want that. So I just want to make sure there's a safeguard there. And the third one. Uh, with the timeline being much shorter than anticipated as stated, uh, is there a guarantee for quality of work? Um, I don't want a system that's put into place that's gonna fail because of a hastier, uh, poor work so as to meet a much shorter timeline. Battle Creek has a number of water problems. We just need a guarantee for quality of work so that we can avoid further problems in the future. So those are the questions I have. I hope they've been answered or will be answered. So thank you for your time.

Are there any other comments at this time? Any other public comments? Seeing none, we'll move on. Commission comment regarding meeting business.

Move for the approval for the consent agenda. Support.

The move is supported to approve the consent agenda. Is there any item that a commissioner would like to remove? Question or comments? Seeing none, would you please vote on the consent agenda?

Commissioner Katarski-Smith? Yes. Thank you.

The consent agenda is approved. Next item on our agenda is resolution number 442. Madam Clerk, when you're ready.

This resolution, if approved, would accept the lowest responsible bid for sodium permanganate system improvements for Shoal Dice Industrial Manufacturing. The project involves upgrading the Verona pumping station's chemical feed infrastructure by replacing the former potassium permanganate system with a new sodium permanganate feed system, including associated mechanical, electrical, and control improvements. The invitation for bids was issued on July 6, 2026, and widely advertised through the city's vendor network, plan houses, and public notices. Following a July 20 request from Eagle to accelerate the project, an addendum was issued moving the bid deadline from August 6 to July 31st, and contractors were required to submit project schedules with their bids. A pre-bid meeting was held on July 22nd, and a subsequent addendum addressed contractor questions and updated project drawings.

Move for the resolution of 442. Yeah, 442. Support.

Been moved and supported to approve resolution 442. Are there any comments, questions, or concerns by the commission? Seeing none, would you please vote on resolution 442?

Commissioner Simmons, is the vote coming up for you?

No, ma'am, but my vote is yes.

Thank you.

Resolution 442 has been approved. Next item on our agenda is Resolution 443. Madam Clerk, when you're ready.

This resolution, if approved, would authorize the city manager to execute a contract with BSNA Software LLC to implement a cloud-based service. Since implementing the BSNA.net platform in 2010, the city has relied on the system to support key operations. However, BSNA has announced the retirement of the .NET platform and is transitioning customers to a cloud-based solution. In response, staff evaluated multiple software alternatives based on cost, functionality, accessibility, and compatibility with existing systems. Following a comprehensive review, staff determined that the BSNA cloud system platform provides the best overall value for the city, allowing for ease of integration among the assessing income tax and building departments while also supporting future expansion opportunities.

Move to approve resolution 443. Support.

The move is supported to approve resolution 443. Are there any comments by the commission? Seeing none, would you please vote on Resolution 443? Resolution 443 has been approved. Next item on agenda is general public comment. If you'd like to make general public comment regarding matters over which the City Commission has a control, please raise your hand and wait for us to acknowledge you to come forward to the podium. You will have three minutes to make your comment. Please state your name and address prior to beginning your comment. Mr. Miller? Mr. Smith, I'm sorry. Sorry.

James Smith, Battle Creek. What happened to Jeremiah Spearman and Derek Young was tragic. But what's even more tragic is why it happened. And that why... is racial profiling. Racial profiling is not unique to the Battle Creek Police Department because it's an American tragedy. Ever since the first police department was established in 1838 in Boston, Massachusetts, policing in America has been different for black people and white people. For white people, policing has meant to protect and serve, protect white lives and property, and to service the white community at large. For black people, it has meant to control and contain. For if you can contain the masses in designated areas, you can control them. For example, here in Battle Creek, those areas would be the west side and the north. In Kalamazoo, it's the north side. In Grand Rapids, it's the southeast side. I myself have been a victim of racial profiling. And in those cards on your desk that you see with the American flag is a book that I wrote that goes into detail regarding that. And in that, I and another young man, at the time I was 17, That was in 1968 and we were riding through Lakeview and we were pulled over by a white police officer who asked us what we'll be doing here. Because during that time, Lakeview was perceived as the white area of Battle Creek. So the thing that we were guilty of, it was not speeding, it was not broken taillight, but we were black faces in perceived white spaces. So therefore, the officer, and I am going to quote, and excuse me for the profanity, but I'm going to quote what he said. He said, get your black asses out of here. Now, until we can have meaningful dialogue about race in this country, this type of thing is going to keep happening until we do. But we have to have honest conversation. And no matter how painful it is, no matter how you might be embarrassed about it or how much you may not even like it, but nothing gets done unless we can have meaningful dialogue and discuss it because like Dr Martin Luther King said, if we don't learn to live as brothers, we are going to perish as fools.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your comments. Are there any other public comments at this time? Any other public comments? Autumn and we'll go Reese and then we'll go Kathy.

Good evening, Autumn Smith. I'm here tonight about FOIA request number 1183, the signal chats, and a problem that should concern every person in this room. More than a year later, the city has still not complied with the FOIA appeal that I won. I appealed the city's denial of my FOIA request. The commission heard that appeal and reversed the denial. I won, yet I have still not received what I was entitled to receive. I have not been made whole, and I have not received the remedies available to me under the Michigan FOIA Act. What makes this even more concerning is that the city attorney told me to sue him in court. So I did, not because I believed that was the proper venue for enforcing a decision I had already won before this commission, but because I was essentially told that if I wanted the city to comply, I would have to take them to court. So let me ask you, why should a citizen have to sue the government to enforce a decision that the government's own governing body already made? This isn't about special treatment. This isn't about whether you like me, my journalism, or the questions I ask. This is about whether government follows its own decisions. So I have some very simple questions for this commission. What is the policy when the city attorney refuses to implement or comply with the directive of this commission? Does the city attorney have the authority to disregard a commission's decision and directive? And if he does, where does that authority come from? If he doesn't, then who is responsible for enforcing this commission's decision? Michigan's FOIA law provides remedies when a public body unlawfully refuses, delays disclosure, including attorney fees and costs, and additional damages and circumstances where a court finds arbitrary and capricious violation. I understand certain statutory damages are a matter for a court to determine, but the underlying issue here doesn't require a court to explain. This commission reversed the denial. That decision should mean something, because otherwise, what exactly is the point of having an administrative appeal process? If a citizen wins an appeal but the city could simply refuse to honor the result, then the appeal process is meaningless. I'm asking this commission to enforce the decision it's made. I'm not asking for special treatment. I'm asking for the same thing every citizen should be able to expect from their government. Follow the law, follow your policies, follow your own decisions. And if the city attorney has the authority to disregard this commission, I want that authority identified and put on the public record tonight. Because government accountability cannot mean telling citizens, if you don't like what we're doing, sue us. That's not accountability. That's government putting the burden of compliance on the citizen. And I will end with this. Because if a citizen can be held accountable for violating the law, so can the government. Thank you.

Reese.

Good evening, Reese Adkins, 84 South 23rd Street. I'm coming with a little bit of a concern. I filled out the paperwork for different committees. I did get a letter back from the manager's office that one of the committees I had applied for, there was positions open. I called the young lady yesterday to find out where the meeting was going to be held because it's being held today. It's for the oversight board. And she told me that the meeting was going to be virtual and any of us who were going to be discussed at that meeting could not be at that meeting. And my concern is if the oversight board or any one of these other boards are considering people to come aboard, They don't even know who these people are. How are they going to make a good decision on who's supposed to be up above those boards or up on the board? I think that needs to be looked at to see that us who are going for the board and going for the positions that are available are allowed to go to these meetings and speak on our own behalf And let people know, the committee know, why we want to be on these boards. Because right now they're going in basically on just an application that says, okay, this person applied for it. They don't know who that person is. They don't know what guidelines that person has or whether they've even been in a city commission meeting. Because none of that's put on the applications. So I would request that that be looked at and possibly some changes being made for that. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Kathy.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commissioners, Kathy Antea, Park Ridge, Battle Creek. Three things, please. The railroad crossing at Kendall and Dickman. Oh, my goodness. On April 22nd, a friend of mine crossed that. Her tire was penetrated by a bolt. I have a picture. It's amazing. And her car was disabled. That's not a good spot to be disabled at. Nonetheless, she was able to get the tire repaired, but since then, that crossing has not gotten any better. There is a ginormous hole there now, and it's really deadly. I've seen several people creeping and crawling over that railroad track, trying to make it through the light and get stuck on the tracks with the light. That is dangerous. I realize that the railroads are responsible for that particular crossing, but come on, for gosh sakes, I think our city really needs to encourage them to hurry it up and get it fixed. So that was my first thing. Second thing, the Battle Creek branch of the NAACP, that's the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is actively collaborating with a number of other nonpartisan groups in Battle Creek to get out the vote this November. If that's important to you, then I ask you to join us. We have a regular membership meeting is held the fourth Thursday of every month at 5.30. The location sometimes varies, but typically it's at the Urban League building here downtown. 530, the fourth Thursday of every month, is our regular membership meeting. Join us. Come hear about what we're doing and what we're acting on. It is a nonpartisan group, so we don't support candidates. We support issues and ideas and voter rights. We are also, the NAACP is also actively recruiting young folks ages 14 to 20 to join us, to join our youth chapter. This is a great resume building activity for kids that are going to college or looking to apply for scholarships, etc. Not their senior year, their last semester, but start now. Start them early. Get them involved. They learn leadership skills. And then finally, I also want to thank Mayor Behnke, Vice Mayor Sheri Sophia, Commissioner Lacoste, Commissioner Katarski-Smith, Helen Guzzo, Marcie Gillette, and Amanda Zimmerman, Zimmerlin, pardon me, for attending the Share Center's 35th birthday party last Thursday. It was really a lot of fun. People got tours. I was really pleased to see how many of y'all were able to make it there. I do understand there were some important meetings, and you might not have been able to get to ours, but the Share Center is an indispensable resource for our community, particularly now, and it's only gonna become more needed IN THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO. SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE SHARE CENTER. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU, KATHY. DAVID?

DAVID MOORE. WE HAD AN ISSUE A YEAR OR TWO AGO ABOUT A COMMISSIONER GOING FOR OVERSEAS DUTY. I don't know how a commissioner can do his job here and over there, too. We should... If he can't be here to half of the meetings and can't concentrate on his business here, I don't know how he can do it at two places. He should resign or just go to dropout because... How can he person be of service here and over there too? We have a commissioner now. It hasn't been here a good number of meetings. I don't know how he can fully do his job properly because he's not here. And over there, how could he do it at two places? So I was against that. Then I'm against it now, I think. If that commissioner can't for his duties. Being right here and going back and forth to two places, he shouldn't be there. Thank you.

Thank you Joe.

Joe Harris Battle Creek. We all know about the controversial police stops that have occurred over the last couple of months in Washington Heights. We know that one stop in particular went to the Community Oversight Board. Several recommendations were made by the COB and the city manager agreed to and implemented most of those recommendations. Time will tell if these initiated recommendations will have any type of effect. The one recommendation of reassigning the officers involved to a different district for a period of time was not implemented. I believe the chief or the city manager should give the community a reason as to why that item was not implemented. I did go to NBC2 last night, the meeting there in Washington Heights. I met and talked to a lot of nice people. However, there was no BCPD representation at this particular MPC meeting, and there were people there that had questions for the BCPD. Not sure as to why this occurred. My opinion, it was not a good look. Maybe there was a response to a call. I don't know. In addition, I picked up some implications of frustration that all of this controversy is going to be swept under the rug. A quote from the COB report states, this community needs to feel like they are respected as human beings and not judged based on where they live. In my opinion, this all starts with listening and talking with one another, working out our disagreements so as to produce positive solutions for everyone involved. Being that there are many in NPC2 who have concerns and questions for the BCPD, I am asking that Chief Bagley please attend the September NBC2 meeting so as to help open the doors for much needed discussion and diplomacy to occur. I'll end with this. 1961, President John F. Kennedy, he approved the CIA-initiated Bay of Pigs operation, an operation that failed greatly. And he could have blamed the whole failure on the CIA. Instead, he took responsibility, stating, I am the responsible officer of the government. Citizens responded positively to him about being open, honest, transparent, and admitting the responsibility. And what's this have to do with Battle Creek? Well, our leaders need to do the same. They need to be open, honest, transparent, and admit when they're wrong. Admitting that one is wrong and taking action to correct that wrong is not a sign of weakness. It is in all actuality a sign of strength and integrity. Can it be painful? Yes. Can there be consequences? Yes. Can there be healing? Yes. Can there be forgiveness? Yes. I say this because I've been there myself. Bottom line, no one on this earth is perfect. We all make mistakes and make bad decisions. It's what we do after those mistakes and bad decisions that define us as individuals. I thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments. Are there any other public comments at this time? Are there any other public comments? Yes.

My name is George Tyler, 99 East Avenue North. We have a problem with traffic speed on East Avenue North. I did call down to the police station and talk to the computer. The computer said, can you identify the vehicle? And I said any vehicle with four wheels. There's one traffic light and one stop sign in between Capitol and Morgan Road. And everybody uses it as a shortcut to get around that Emmett Street, Capitol Avenue business district going out into Penfield. And the speed is, I think, out of control. It's a busy road. I know in the past we had, I had asked about speed bumps. It's an emergency route. We can't use speed bumps, speed humps, anything like that. And I understand that. They put the bike lanes in, and we were told that that would slow traffic down. It really didn't. It didn't do anything at all. And I am concerned. This summer we have had one of the portable basketball hoops show up on East Avenue on the quieter neighborhood roads. I see where that could be beneficial for the community. youth in the area, but not on East Ave. I think there's too much traffic. It's too busy in the evenings when traffic does die down. We've got the old style little metal framed mini bikes racing up and down the street. There's been a couple of times where we've seen the low. I know old fashioned lawnmower engine go cards, you know, racing up and down the streets we had. One night, maybe a month or so ago, we did have about 12 or 15 of these little motorbikes cruising up and down the road through the neighborhoods. Now, when I talked to the the non emergency line and spoke with the computer. I did notice that they had increased patrols and presence in the area and I appreciate that, but I think we need to do something to try to slow people down. I had suggested to Steve maybe one of the traffic signs that flashes your speed like they have on territorial. But I don't know if that would work. He said people become accustomed to him as just not effective anymore. And I know that this would be a traffic. Distraction, but maybe if we could get a sign that when they go by and they're speeding their spy speed is displayed as over the speed limit or an excessive speed, maybe just have a flash. So they think they've got had their picture taken. But I know that's a traffic distraction. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments, Steve.

Steve Koch, 548 Washington Avenue, North Battle Creek, Michigan, Northside, up in the hood, as we call it. I've been bringing this to the attention of the City Works Department, the City Commission. Still, no sidewalk has been replaced. There's no sidewalk there at 63 Gooddale. A foot section of concrete is missing. They put a new road in, put new water lines in, or whatever they did, and never put the concrete back in. So there's no sidewalk there. Sidewalk goes that way, sidewalk goes that way. Lots of grass grow in there. I mean, there's grass that high in there. Nobody mows it, of course. Down the street, a neighbor complained that when they redid the sewer line or whatever, water line cleanup, whatever they did over there, he's got a nice piece of PVC pipe just up the street from his next to the sidewalk that he has to try to mow around now. That's one issue. Number two, we have a flock issue, which, of course, I've brought that up also. And that's a Fourth Amendment issue. That's some other issues. My concern about the flock is the information that is received by the flock. Not only is it a licensed place, description of vehicles, individuals in the vehicle, where it's going, when it's going, how it's going, how fast it's going, all that is being documented. And it's not staying here in Battle Creek. It's going nationwide. It's going to flock. It's going to the databases or wherever it's going. So anytime you go buy one, one way or another, it's got you. It knows where you're going, when you're going, and everything else. And if you wanted to do that with my cell phone to track me, You'd have to get a what? A warrant. But with Flock, they don't have to have a warrant. But why? Because they're an independent company that's been hired by cities or police departments to gather information for them so they can look at it without violating supposedly people's rights. So that's something that really needs to be addressed. It's just one more step. in the evolution of Big Brother watching us. I mean, it's going to get to the point where you won't be able to go out and mow your lawn, you won't be able to wash your car without maybe the city saying, oh, you're not supposed to wash your car, so here's your ticket. Where does it stop and when does it stop? So that's just a couple of issues. And then we have the issue, of course, the other gentleman, I digress, talked about speeding. I've had that problem on Washington Avenue in Gooddale area for 30 years now. I've asked for 30 years now to have an office or somebody sit down there near Hubert and catch the people going through there at 60, 80, 100 miles an hour going airborne over Gooddale and Washington. And yet that has still not happened. So thank you.

Thank you. Any other public comments at this time? John?

John Kenefic, 204 South Avenue. You passed a resolution called 438. It has to do with sending two people to the fire keepers local revenue sharing board. I could care less who you put over there. What I am concerned about is the revenue that is made at the casino that comes into the coffers of the city of Battle Creek. I'd like to know how much money is coming in from when it started to right now this day so we can see as taxpayers another income stream that you're not telling anybody out, and you're not offsetting it to lower our costs when you do that. Next, the railroad on Kendall Street. It came back to my information that the railroad is waiting for the city government of Battle Creek to make a determination to shut off that area so they can get in there and work. That may be false, it may be true, but it sounds like the ball may be in your court, not theirs. There is a man named John Hennick, and still is a man named John Hennick, that used to be on the Housing Board of Appeals. Prior to the Housing Board of Appeals meeting, he went out and looked at the buildings that were going to come in front of him the next day. He found out he came to one building that was just short of perfect. But what was wrong with it? Up in the southern corner, it had a little needing to be painted. So when the day comes, the next day comes on that Wednesday, a little old 80-year-old lady comes up here to defend herself on something that's literally almost insignificant. There's an argument between the code officer and the board saying, well, you know, you've got to comply. Well, this is so insignificant. Who are you to tell people what to do on their own property that's insignificant? So he did something very unusual. He made a motion that that woman would have a six-year extension. It was introduced, it was supported, and it carried. One of the code people or one of the people involved with the code ran up there and said to him, you can't do that. He said, we just did. He was removed from the Housing Board of Appeals. I like people that would defend the United States, excuse me, would defend the citizens of Battle Creek's rights over the government's infliction of will. Thank you.

Are there any other public comments? See none. Are there any commission comments? Commissioner Lacoste.

I'm sorry, real quick. For the railroad, we are trying to work on that. The best thing to do for everybody that's worried about this is to call Canadian National Railroad. The number is 1-800-465-9239. When you call them, you have to give the DOT number. It is 283-536-L. We have been told repeatedly that it has to do with the number of calls that are made, and once it gets to a certain number, that that's when they will do something. I am going to be speaking with someone later on tonight. I'm hoping to have an answer by the next meeting, but I would encourage people to still call on that. Also, I know people have issues with sidewalks. Some of you guys addressed, and there's some other ones that I've been speaking with. We do have that out on bid right now, so something should be happening with that pretty soon. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. Any other Commission comments?

Commissioner Patrick O'Donnell.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yes. Speeding is a big problem in this town. I really would hope that we can come up with some solution to protect our citizens and our pedestrians out there. I've seen it happen lots of times. But also the same thing with these little mini bikes going around town. Somebody needs to be a parent and step up and take these things from their children and make sure that they're not using them and being forced. And I've seen them come around too. My job puts me out there every day driving. I'm very cautious of what I looked at. I've seen little kids running right in front of me trying to get a ball, and I anticipate it because that's part of my job. I've been trained to do that. One day I did take a training once, a video training, and it practically scared me to death what the firefighters and ambulance drivers have to go through every day. I can just see untrained citizens with some of these little accidents, and it only takes one, and you remember it the rest of your life. So please, I just implore people out there, calm down when you drive. I don't know what it's going on out there with you. You're still going to make sure everybody makes it there. But the next comment I have is that I can't let this go undone. We have a commissioner right here that's serving our country. He's here right now in the air. We're not allowed to tell you where he's at. He's working hard for the citizens of Battle Creek, wherever he's at. State law allows him to keep his seat. He's the only one in Michigan that's allowed to keep his seat as commissioner, and I believe he's doing a fine job at that. To say that he's doing his work, he's doing the work for all of us. And that needs to go notice. He is part of the Air National Guard. He's on a six-month deployment to serve us as citizens. So please just understand the law when it comes to that. I just wanted to inform everybody. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. Any other Commission comments? Seeing none, we'll adjourn the meeting. Thank you for attending.