City Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you.

How are you doing? I'm alright. Oh no.

Hello, this is Commissioner Simmons. Can you hear me okay? It will not be easy.

Good evening. First of all, I want to check on access vision. Are we set? Access vision, are we okay? We should be good now? Okay, welcome to the city of Battle Creek, Michigan, and the Battle Creek City Commission meeting for September 15th, 2026. It is 7 o'clock p.m. We want to thank everyone for attending. We do have a very busy meeting tonight. And we're going to get going. So the first item on our agenda is our invocation. And we're going to do a moment of silence for our invocation. And then after we're finished with the invocation, we're going to do our Pledge of Allegiance. And I'll call upon Commissioner Jessica Lacoste to lead us in the pledge. At this time, if everyone could stand for a moment of silence. Mr. Jessica Klaus.

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.

Is the microphone system working? It is?

I don't hear you. I don't hear you either. Can you hear me? No.

Testing, testing. Testing. There.

No.

day and I'm not sure if maybe that affected the AV system we'll have to speak really loud all right first time on our agenda is our roll call madam clerk will you please

Commissioner Katarski-Smith. Here. Commissioner Lacoste. Here. Commissioner Lance. Here. Commissioner Morris. Here. Mayor Behnke.

Here.

Commissioner Reynolds. Present. Commissioner O'Donnell.

Here.

Commissioner Simmons.

Here. I won't be able to hear him. Yeah.

Okay. But he is on the call. He said he was here. Okay. Yes. Hello. Here. Thank you.

Pass the headphones around.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Next item on our agenda is the Proclamation Awards. We have several beautiful Battle Creek Awards for September. I'm going to call upon our city manager, Amanda. Thank you.

The first is NPC 11, Ward 4 nomination, Huntington National Bank. We have another NPC 11 Award nomination, Ward, I'm sorry, NPC 11, Ward 4 nomination, Stacey L. Gardner, 16 West Acacia Boulevard, Battle Creek. NPC 3 Ward 4 nomination Jeffrey A Cornwell and Mary F Cornwell 140 Grand Blvd Battle Creek. NPC 10 Ward 1 nomination rings ministry two or 2000 West Columbia Ave NPC 10 Ward 2 nomination James R Stearns and Leah R Stearns 351 Lakeshore Dr NPC 10 Ward 1 nomination Javier Alvarado Garcia and Maria del Carmen Calderon Garcia 46 North 22nd St Battle Creek. No.

Is there anyone else present from those addresses that wants to come up?

Okay.

Wow. Awesome. Really good job.

Sure.

Super safe. Yeah.

we are able to close off one lane of Colonial Avenue and really provide everybody with a few homes up and a lot of coordination with our local police department and monitoring awareness around the exam frames and also doing research around the community. Thank you very much.

Whereas, in 2023, Bucky would serve my nation as my forces with the SE's Network Communities Cancer Control Coalition to support the annual Walk the Walk for Breast Cancer, a community event that raises awareness and funds to support but all proceeds remain in the county. And whereas this year's Walk the Walk across cancer, it will be held on Saturday, September 26th, beginning at Weldon Christian, including at Wellnation, bringing together survivors, family, friends, and community members in a day of community celebration and growth.

Thank you very much, Commissioner. Do we have a picture of everyone? Two of them. coming on

Thank you.

So, we're having this experience and it's a non-profit, imaginary organization for youth. And we believe that all youth can reach their goal as long as they have the potential to live and have an imaginary life.

And this is actually our favorite town in Green Bay. So, we have lots of great things around town. You can see our photos, and there's a little bit of everywhere. It's just a strategy to raise awareness about our organization that we're here, and that we want to support our kids and have a need for our mentors.

So, I would encourage you to come to this event.

thank you very much

Can't hear? Can't hear? Can you hear me?

I'll make it louder. We're going to be tonight, too, just the big brothers and big sisters.

Anyways, here we go.

Big brothers and big sisters in southwest Michigan work in partnership with schools, families, and volunteer businesses. and community organizations to strengthen our city's connections, equality, and trust. And a lot of us at Humber recognize National Big Brothers and Big Sisters in line in time to honor the volunteer staff, the supporters, and the community partners who made this mission possible for everyone.

Thank you again.

I got through the river one time. Do we have anyone here from the City of Albury?

We're going to be garbage planting. If you haven't decided that yet, we'll be wanting to go out to your freshmen's t-shirts and backstops at the end. So come on out and participate and sign up. Please seek water at that door or give us a call and we'll be able to sign up.

I really enjoyed this event. Whereas the Battle Creek Area Clean Water Partnership has a goal to help and protect and restore the rivers in the lakes provided for recreational use and wildlife habits. What's common in the area and to protect the drinking water sources in the area are public education. Thank you very much, and we're going to close it.

Fire.

Tell us a little bit about the plan for your fire prevention.

Thank you very much.

fire prevention being charged into fire safety state charging is a superpower which aims to educate the public on the safe habits of chargeable devices

That is it.

Next item on our agenda is a presentation. I'm going to turn it over to our city manager, Amanda.

Thank you, Mayor. If you'll recall, last year or last fall, Patty Hoke Mellewish came to our city commission meeting to talk about the sustainability plan that the Sustainable BC committee had pulled together. And Patty is here to give an update and to discuss the emissions plan.

Thank you. So as Amanda said, this is a little bit of a repeat of what we did in October, but thanks for having me back. We can go to the next slide. So just as a refresher, the City of Battle Creek has a sustainability plan that was drafted in 2019 and it's for city operations. The Sustainable BC Committee drafted this plan. The committee consists of 11 community volunteers at this point. THREE CITY COMMISSIONERS, TWO CITY STAFF, AND THEY WORK TOWARDS MEETING THE GOALS THAT ARE ESTABLISHED IN THIS PLAN. SO AT OUR MEETINGS WE TALK ABOUT LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL INITIATIVES AND AGAIN WORK TOWARDS THE GOALS IN THE PLAN. NEXT. SO AS IT STATES, AS IT IS TODAY, THE PLAN CONSISTS OF SEVEN THEMES, CHAPTERS. ENERGY, WATER, TRANSPORTATION, WASTE, GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, LAND USE AND PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION. The plan is now seven years old, and so we are working on updating it. So we're meeting to, first of all, change some of the dates that are associated with those goals. It's seven years old. We've met some of the goals. We have not met some of the goals. We're also editing the goals to better align with current programs and initiatives and staffing. And we're going to be involving many different city staff members and departments because this is a citywide sustainability plan. So it's going to take take effort from all our departments. And then once the plan is revised, we will bring it back to commission for your feedback. So again, I was here in October, and we were talking mostly about the energy goal. And the reason that we need guidance on that is because many of our goals are based on reduction in energy use, so greenhouse gas emissions. So in 2024, we had our first greenhouse gas inventory conducted because we need a baseline from which to track progress. So we were able to do the baseline based on 2022 data because that in 2024, that's when we had the most complete data set to go forward. It was done by a firm called ICLEI because they do a lot of municipal plans and that allowed us to be comparable to other municipalities and they have a repeatable methodology. So when we track this in the future, we can repeat their methods. So I am no expert on greenhouse gases or any of this, but I'll tell you what I learned from the inventory. We did this as a community-wide inventory and not just city operations because if we're going to meet our goals and make an impact, we need to look at the community emissions. The city emissions are just a fraction of what we're seeing for the community. So in 2022, our baseline data was 1,453,131 metric tons of greenhouse gases emitted annually. Our biggest portion was commercial energy, followed by residential, transportation industry, solid waste, and then some smaller. Facets there next so this this graph is a little confusing But I'm gonna walk so what we were looking for from the Commission in our community is support for meeting a goal of zero net emissions by 2050 that aligns with the Paris agreement which which that goal is based on keeping the temperature and in 2050 at 1.5 degrees Celsius or below. So if you look at the graph on the far left hand side, that's our baseline 2022 emissions. And this is called a business as usual forecast. And if we were to continue doing what we're doing now, The predicted reduction in greenhouse gases in 2050 would already be 37%. And that's hard to wrap your head around, but that's based on estimated changes in fuel efficiency and energy grid. So that's based on government-based incentives, and it's highly vulnerable to political change. But we're assuming we're on that track. We're asking for support from the Commission and our community make a concerted effort to reduce another 63 percent by 2050. So the Sustainable BC Committee is recommending we adopt a net zero by 2050. It aligns us with other Michigan communities. Many communities have adopted this goal. And I just want to state it's not a regulated goal. It's not a financial penalty for not meeting it. It's just that we're showing support for reducing our energy use, basically. And along with that, we are protecting our air quality, water quality, reducing health impacts, air temperature reductions, and reduced flooding. So if we decide to support these goals, which I hope we do, I'm pulling things out of our current sustainability plan that we could do to meet these goals. So I'll go over it quickly. City-owned buildings, we're talking about using energy efficient appliances in our buildings, conducting energy audits, and then acting on the findings of those audits. City-owned lighting, upgrading to LED or energy efficient lighting, we are making great progress on that. We're really well on our way on that goal. Next. Explore locally available or regionally appropriate renewable energy sources for our energy use. We've talked to Consumers Energy about their renewable energy program. That's just one option. I'm sure there'll be more coming forward in the future. Industry, we have a lot of industry here in Battle Creek and a lot of them have great sustainability initiatives already. So working and partnering with our industry, perhaps having some challenges or incentives for local businesses and then integrating THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY INTO CITY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORK. FOR RESIDENTIAL EMISSIONS DECREASES, WE COULD HELP OUR RESIDENTS DETERMINE HOW TO GO ABOUT ENERGY EFFICIENCY UPGRADES, MAYBE HAVING SOME INCENTIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVING AS A RESOURCE FOR RESIDENTIAL ENERGY USE DECREASES. uh... transportation providing access to and promoting public transit opportunities access to car charging stations and then increased options for non-motorized um... transportation and then solid waste we're always looking at ways to increase recycling reducing our landfill LOADS AND WE JUST CURRENTLY, IT'S ABOUT WEEK THREE NOW, WE NOW HAVE A SCRAP FOOD COMPOSTING PILOT PROGRAM HERE IN THE CITY. YOU CAN SEE THOSE GRAIN BINS AND FOOD WASTE IS ABOUT 21% OF WHAT GOES INTO THE LANDFILL. And when organic material gets in the landfill, in that landfill environment, it emits a lot of greenhouse gases. So if we can keep food waste out of the landfill, that's a great step. And so what we're looking for is support from you to develop having some ambitious greenhouse gas goals and support our sustainability plan so we can have a more defined steps and plans of action going forward. Next.

So thank you for your time.

If you have questions now or in the future, let us know, let me know, and we'll try and get some answers for you. But thank you for your time.

Any questions of Patty right now? Patty, will this be on a future agenda or is it on tonight's agenda?

It is not on this evening's agenda. I'd say it will be presented to the commission at a later date.

Very good. Patty, thank you very much. Kathy, we're not ready for public comment yet, but you'll be the first in line.

And I also want to tell you, Andy Hemboldt's here in the audience. He's our sustainable VC.

Thanks, Commissioner. Thanks. All right. Next item on our agenda is public hearings. And Madam Clerk, when you're ready. Oh, excuse me. Chair, no need in added or deleted resolutions. Madam Clerk. Petitions, communications, and reports, Madam Clerk?

We did receive a communication from a David Elwood. He was expressing support of the special use permit resolution.

Okay, thank you. Next item on our agenda is public hearings. Madam Clerk, when you're ready.

This is a public hearing to receive comment on the consolidated annual performance and evaluation report or caper to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, showing the city's progress on meeting housing and development goals and how the city spent federal Community Development Block Grant or CDBG and home investment partnership funding in program year 2025, which started July 1, 2025 and ended June 30, 2026.

Okay. If you'd like to make a public comment on the subject with this public hearing, then please raise your hand and wait for us to acknowledge you and then come forward to the podium where you will have three minutes to make your comment. Please state your name and address before making your comment. I declare this public hearing open, and I'd be so kind to ask Tracy Bells and Julia Swallows to come forward. They're partnering on this public hearing and their presentation. Tracy, you can go first.

My name is Tracy Bells. I live at 614 Capital Ave, Battle Creek. Good evening, City Commission, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today. I believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to recover regardless of where they've been or how many times they've fallen. When communities invest in recovery housing, they're not just investing in buildings or programs. They are investing in people. They are investing in families, neighborhoods, public safety, and hope. So when I say recovery housing matters to me, what I mean to say is that people matter to me. The person who is struggling matters. The person who is trying again wakes up every morning determined to do better. That's what matters. Recovery housing can be the bridge between where someone has been and where they want to go. Sometimes all a person needs is someone to believe that the other side of that bridge is possible. Thank you for listening, and thank you for supporting people who are choosing recovery and choosing a better life.

Thank you very much, Tracy. And next I'm going to call upon Julia Swallows. Thank you, Julia, for being here.

Hi, I'm Julia Swallows. I live at 614 Capitol Avenue as well, Recovery Services Unlimited House. I really enjoy it. It's been a blessing to me and a really strong having of independence on my life. When I think about what recovery housing means to me, I think about something much bigger than a place to sleep. Recovery housing means a second chance. It means having a safe place to go when you're trying to rebuild your life and become the person you know you can be. For me, recovery is not just about putting down a substance. It's about learning how to live again. It's about accountability, responsibility, and learning to make healthy choices. one day at a time. And that's hard. And that's hard to do when you're surrounded by the same people, places and circumstances that may have contributed to where you were before. Recovery housing gives people something incredibly important. A safe environment, a community of people who understands. It gives you a place where you don't have to pretend that everything is okay. You can be honest about your struggles. You can celebrate your victories. You can learn from someone who has walked the road ahead of you while also becoming an example for someone coming behind you. Recovery housing also gives people the opportunity to become productive members of their communities. People can find jobs, repair relationships with their families, learn life skills, and begin contributing again. instead of simply surviving. They can start building a future. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much, both of you. I appreciate you being here. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Thank you.

Are there any other? Yes. Yes. Autumn Smith.

Good evening. I'm just bringing a technicality to your attention. The fact that the audio video feed is out, Commissioner Simmons can't legally vote because of that because he can't vote by proxy. And so if you continue to let this go on, then it could invalidate the board's decisions.

Thank you very much. Yes, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity, Michael, thank you very much for being here.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Mike King, Battle Creek Area Habitat for Humanity, 595 North Avenue. The home dollars that have come through the city of Battle Creek and were approved by the commission here helped us to build three affordable houses in the last two years. And tonight, I'd like to share a letter from one of those new homeowners at 273 West Spalding Avenue. in Battle Creek. This is from Stephanie. I want to take a moment to say a very heartfelt thank you to the City of Battle Creek and Habitat for Humanity for making my home possible. By giving me the opportunity to have a safe, beautiful place to call home means more to me than I could ever put into words. I know that opportunities like this don't happen without people and organizations who are willing to invest in their community and believe that everyone deserves a decent place to call home. I am incredibly grateful that the city of Battle Creek chose to invest in families like mine and that Habitat for Humanity helped turn that investment into something real. Every time I walk through my front door, I am reminded of how fortunate I am. I don't take this home for granted, not for one second. um she goes on with a little bit more but uh yeah we just like to thank the city commission for approving the funds uh commissioner katarski smith commissioner lacrosse for putting those funds into action as they help build actually they helped build the home beside this one but yeah we're just really grateful and for helen guzzo for really making it happen because these homes don't just happen there there is a need for funding and this funding through the home partnership was great for us and it really allowed us to build multiple homes instead of just one or two a year. So thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Mike. Are there any other individuals like to speak? Yes, Kathy Antea.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Kathy Antea, Park Ridge, Battle Creek. A couple of comments in regards to the CAPER. These are some of the most important programs administered by the city. I say that because I have personal knowledge of several families who have been... BENEFITED FROM THE FUNDS FROM THE HOME REHAB MONEY. LET ME TELL YOU JUST BRIEFLY ABOUT ONE FAMILY THAT I KNOW OF PERSONALLY. I'VE BEEN IN THEIR HOME MANY TIMES. SEVEN KIDS, TWO ADULTS. THE MAN WORKS FULL TIME. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, MOM WORKS PART TIME. THEY'VE GOT TWO KIDS IN KCC ENROLLED AND A WHOLE PILE OF THE REST OF THE KIDS IN THE BATTLE CREEK PUBLISH SCHOOL SYSTEM. Not a slacker family and they were desperate and they needed a new furnace and they got it thanks to this program. I can only imagine what they might have done. You know how people heat their homes when they don't got a furnace. And that just scares the heck out of me. And so I just wanted to make sure that everybody knew about that little story. I also wanted to mention that the lead abatement projects that they're working on are also vital for the health of children, especially developing children. I love the housing rehab and the housing projects that they've created, talking about the rehabbing of 614 North Capitol, the two habitat homes that the gentleman just spoke about. I also want to mention the assistance for rental on housing. I think that is a fabulous program as well. My big cry or my big complaint or my big suggestion would be let's just get more money into this fund, especially now when our economy is in such a tailspin and we're all so struggling for dollars. Any more money that we could get into this would be just wonderful. I'm very supportive of both of these programs that Helen is stewarding for us, for the city, and I just want to thank her and thank you for continuing to support the work that they do. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Kathy. Are there any other? Yes, sir.

I just wanted to bring up an issue that we have on the street that I live on. I know it's other streets too, but we have a real problem with speeders on the street. Okay. People go, you know, 20, 30, 40 miles an hour over the speed limit.

I'll call you up at the latter part of the meeting during public comment. This is a public hearing right now.

Okay.

So, um, as much as I'd like to take care of your speeders, I can't do that until the latter part of the meeting, but okay.

Thank you.

Thank you. Yes. Uh, David,

I was glad to see our money in Battle Creek. It's been for good use, helping people in their home and things like that. I'm always been for our money to be used for a good purpose. And I guess see some efforts being done. And another thing I'd like to add, it's awful hard to hear in here. Biome brought up a little bit.

The volumes turned up. We had a lightning strike in the building today. And consequently, our speaker system is not working properly.

Okay. We had a little hard time to hear back there.

I understand.

But I really enjoy the progress that this, where our money is going, and we know where it's going. I'm glad to hear about that. Thank you.

Thank you, David. Any other public comments during our public hearing? Yes, John.

John Kennefic, 204 South Avenue. When Joe Biden left office, every taxpaying citizen including this presentation on the black grant dollars, was $2,250,000. 20 months later, this money is phony money. It's just run off the printing press. Approximately 20 months later of President Trump's election or time period, You're now a quarter of a million deeper in debt. So even though this sounds all wonderful, the taxpayers, including the people in this room, have to shoulder that cost. Now let's go back many years in time. The code department came in front of you and said they wanted to do systematic code, which is part of this block around money way back in the day. It was $450,000 a year. They said they could do the entire city of Battle Creek by code in a two-year period. It was going to cost $900,000. After the two years receiving $900,000, they only did 8% of the targeted area. And you continue to dump money into them like you do today. They'd spent their time terrorizing low-income people, which those people eventually got fed up and left their buildings, which became abandoned buildings. If you want to spend money poorly, like on block grant dollars, why don't you eliminate the code department, use many grants of $5,000 or more to low-income people? It'd do a lot better than what you're paying for now. Furthermore, you spent $490,000, which you approved just recently in these block grant dollars, for the ministry, sports ministry over on West Michigan Avenue for after-school sports. And I spoke at that time period. Do other religious organizations get to raid the public treasury just like the ministry of sports, ministries? Huh? Does that open the door for them too? Up until this moment, I thought Habitat for Humanity spent only money from what they made at their stores. I am sadly mistaken. It comes from block grant dollars. And I would tell you how wonderful I am too if I received block grant dollars and how you should give me more. Thank you.

Are there any other public comments at this time? Yes, sir. Not yet. Thank you. Are there any other public comments? Seeing none, we're going to declare this public hearing closed. And next item on our agenda is public comment regarding any remaining agenda items. If you'd like to make public comment regarding any remaining agenda item, please raise your hand and we will acknowledge you to come forward to the podium. You'll have four minutes to make your comments. Please state your name and address before beginning your comment and indicate which agenda item you are speaking to. Yes, sir.

My name is David Elwood. I am my residence's 376 beach farm circle Highland, Michigan Mayor binky commissioners. I appreciate you letting me speak. We've also gone in front of the NCP twice over this matter and we've also gone in front of the Planning Commission twice and it was approved to come in front of uh... commissioners here so i'm here to speak on resolution four sixty four which is a approval for a special use this is the business that was formerly ran as stickies uh... on uh... three seventy six north avenue the building was a bridge only approved for that use Under the ordinance, it was built specifically for that. They closed their doors somewhere at the beginning of 2025, but committed to continuing to keep their approval process going. We have had three different parties trying to sell the building. They hired me to sell it, and I've had zero luck other than this new buyer. The new buyer wants to basically keep it as the use. All they are doing is continuing the same use that it's already built out for. It's just under another brand now. The brand that is buying it, the company that's buying it, has had zero regulation issues with the state. They've had zero fines. I know there's a stigma around this business, but I will also mention that the state collects taxes on it. The city basically gets 15%, the county gets 15%, and the remaining 70% of this 10% tax goes to the state for K-12 schools. Leaving it closed and not allowing the business, that's gone. Approximately $54,017 per use. goes to the city. There was 12 retail dispensaries in the city, which would have been, in 2025, payable 26, $648,500,000 going to the city. That's not including cultivation. That's not including transport, secure transport. And it's not also including processing, which those businesses are also in the city. So this company will support those businesses staying open as well. the ancillary support systems. Those also bring money to the city. So basically this business, when they open it, they're going to hire all local. The manager is going to be local. They're going to do a management train up program. It's again, it's a regulated business by the state. It's been sitting closed for almost a year and a half now. The building is becoming blighted. I was there the last time I went in front of zoning. I ran back by it. It's just not kept up like somebody that would be there. I think that was the only thing I really had that was left. Yeah, that's basically the only thing I wanted to say. So I'm requesting that you respectively approve their request for the special use permit, which basically is just transferring the company that's currently there into a new company and reopening the shop. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your comments. Are there any other? Yes, Autumn Smith.

Good evening. Autumn Smith, candidate Battle Creek City Commissioner at large. I'm speaking on resolution 460. I am standing before you tonight as an applicant of the Community Oversight Board, an entity specifically created to build public trust, foster transparency, and bridge the gap between our community and local leadership. Unfortunately, my experience during the application process has demonstrated a troubling lack of the very transparency this board is meant to embody. After I submitted my application and a decision was made, I raised 27 legitimate questions regarding the application process board evaluation criteria and how selections would be made. I was directly reassured by the Community Oversight Board that my questions would be answered. Instead of receiving those answers, I received a response from the city manager stating that the review committee is not subject to the Open Meetings Act and that if I wanted any further information, I would have to seek it through the Freedom of Information Act. I want to be clear about what transpired. First, telling a resident seeking to serve their community that their basic fair questions about an appointment process requires a FOIA request sent a clear message. We operate behind closed doors. And we will make it as difficult as possible for you to see how. Second, hiding behind legal technicalities regarding the Open Meetings Act to evade public accountability completely defeats the purpose of, quote, an oversight board. You cannot build community trust through secrecy. You cannot establish accountability in policing while running a secretive selection process of the body meant to oversee it. If a committee appointed to vet candidates for community board feels the need to conceal its criteria discussions and decision making behind the shield of non-open meeting act status and the integrity of the board itself is compromised before these members even take their seats. I did not submit 27 questions to be adversarial. I submitted them to ensure fair, standard, and equitable process for anyone stepping up to serve Battle Creek. Reassuring an applicant that their questions will be addressed only if you redirect them to a formal public records request is a typical bait and switch that undermines confidence in this commission and city administration. Tonight, I'm asking this commission to step in and address three things. Direct the city manager's office to publicly answered standard questions regarding the selection and evaluation process for board applicants. Commit to voluntary transparency. Even if a review committee claims exemptions from the Open Meetings Act, then the city should choose to operate openly when forming oversight bodies. Ensure that future selection processes are clear, standardized, and accessible without forcing residents to file FOIA requests just to understand their city functions. I want to make it very clear. I am not upset that I didn't make it. I'm upset because the process was not fair. I was told by the community oversight board chair and followed up by Kimberly Holly in an email that my application did not come across the oversight board. Now, it was explained to me that they don't make the final decision, but that oversight board got to see everybody else's application except mine. Coincidence? I don't know. I can't find out if it's coincidence or not because they're gatekeeping behind FOIA and they want to charge me, not only a candidate for the city commission, but also an applicant for the oversight board. I have to pay to find out what the process is, what the qualifications were. I want to know because I want to know, was I the most qualified? Was I the least qualified? Was there a board I was more qualified for that I should have applied to that I didn't? You should not have to raid your citizens pockets to be transparent. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Are there any other public comments at this time? We're, we're only talking about what's on the agenda right now. You want to raise something that's not on the agenda. I will call on you first when we get to there. Thank you. Are there any other public comments at this time? See none. Next item on our agenda is adoption of ordinance, ordinance 458, 17-2026. Madam Clerk.

This resolution would adopt ordinance 17-2026, amending section 26 of chapter 882, real estate taxation, to revise the existing payment in lieu of taxes or pilot provisions for the Liberty Commons apartment development. In 2025, the City Commission approved a pilot agreement to support the project, and the developer subsequently applied to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, or MSHDA, for low-income housing tax credits, LIHTC, funding through the October 1, 2025 funding round. HOWEVER, THE PROJECT WAS NOT AWARDED TAX CREDITS. AS ADOPTED, THE 2025 PILOT ORDINANCE REQUIRED REHABILITATION ACTIVITIES TO COMMENCE BY JUNE 30, 2027 AND BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 31, 2028. THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT WOULD EXTEND THESE DEADLINES BY ONE YEAR, ESTABLISHING NEW DEADLINES OF JUNE 30, 2028 FOR COMMENCEMENT OF REHABILITATION AND DECEMBER 31, 2029 FOR PROJECT COMPLETION. This extension will provide the developer with additional time to secure low-income housing tax credit funding and support the continued advancement of Liberty Commons Apartments Rehabilitation Project.

I move for the adoption of Ordinance 17-2026. Second.

Moved and supported to approve Ordinance 17-2026. Are there any comments by the Commission? Seeing none, would you please vote on the adoption of ordinance 17-2026? Resolution 458 for the adoption of ordinance 17-2026 has been approved. Thank you very much for your votes. Next item on our agenda is commission comment regarding meeting business. Are there any commission comments?

I move to approve the consent agenda. Second.

Been moved and supported to approve commission comments. All right. Next item on our agenda is consent agenda. Did you move for the approval of the consent agenda? Yes. Thank you. Sorry about that. Are we prepared to vote on the consent agenda, or we already do it? No, we didn't.

Nope, we did not.

I'm sorry.

It's okay. We have not done it.

Okay. Thank you.

Are you ready?

Are we prepared to vote on the consent agenda? Yes. Please vote on the consent agenda. Thank you. The consent agenda has been approved. Next item on our agenda is resolution 464. Madam Clerk, when you're ready.

This resolution, if approved, would grant a special use permit for an adult use marijuana retail facility in the existing building at 625 North Avenue.

Move to approve a resolution 464. Second.

So moved and supported to approve resolution 464. Are there any comments by the commission? Commissioner Morris.

I just wanted to let the commission know that I had a chance to speak with Pastor French, and she was and the MPC are in support of this business moving in. as it is, like he said, just something that already existed and is now sitting vacant. So they are in support of that. And they also did have a question about why this specific type of business had to come before the MPC, as that has never happened before. So they were looking for some clarity on that.

Commissioner Patrick O'Donnell.

Thank you. Thanks, Mayor. All it was was that at the planning commission, they just wanted to make sure that the MPC was heard and there wasn't enough notes in the record. So that's why they had to do it twice. They just wanted to make sure that the neighborhood planning commission was involved. And that's, that's why it was asked. It was at the planning commission level. So, so moving nothing to do with the, the, the business at all. They just wanted to make sure that everybody had gotten their notes in the, the packet.

Thank you. So moving forward, will other business owners be expected to go before the MPC? Because they're saying that this has never happened before. Like a business owner hasn't had to come before the MPC to give any type of clarification.

I'm going to turn it over to our city manager, and then she'll go from there.

Well, if Darcy Schmidt would like to come up.

All businesses that are asking for a special use permit, what this particular business did have a special use permit. Not all marijuana businesses have to get a special use permit because of this location, the zoning that it was in, it did. So anything with a rezoning or a special use permit would come to the NPCs. Thank you. Okay.

Are there any other comments?

It was just outside the timeline for them to actually not have to renew the permit, so there was just a few little things that were going on with the Planning Commission that they wanted to make sure everything was good to go. It took so long. Sorry about the delay in the matter.

Thank you, Commissioner. Any other Commission comments? Seeing none, would you please vote on Resolution 464? Resolution 464 has been approved. Next item on our agenda is resolution 465. Madam clerk, when you're ready.

If approved, this resolution would authorize the city manager to execute grant agreements with the Michigan department of health and human services for the 2027 Medicaid childhood health improvement program or chip, including $1,345,000 for lead hazard control activities, and 62,000 for lead health safety activities. The resolution would also authorize the execution of any necessary amendments to accept additional funding subject to approval by the city attorney and a subrecipient agreement with community action to assist in implementing the lead abatement program throughout Calhoun County. The City of Battle Creek successfully secured renewed funding through a competitive application process completed in 2025 and has maintained state funding for its Lead Safe program since 2018. The grant funding will support up to 21 lead risk assessments and the abatement of up to 21 homes. Under the program, the city will complete up to 11 lead abatement projects, while Community Action will complete up to 10 projects. Referrals for families with lead-poisoned children are provided through the Calhoun County Public Health Department. Additional grant funds have been requested and may be awarded as they become available. The grant period for both the lead hazard control and lead health safety programs will run from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

Move to approve Resolution 465. Second.

So moved and supported to approve Resolution 465. Are there any comments by the Commission? Commissioner Patrick O'Donnell.

Thank you, Mayor. I got to recently sit in a presentation from the lead abatement group that we use, and what a great program to help take care of these homes that were painted with poisonous paint to help with the young children in the area. If you're not in this program, please get a hold of somebody. If you've got young children, if your grandparents are watching young children, make sure you get your home checked out. On a personal note to myself, my children were staying at their grandparents' house, and they did have lead paint. We found it, and fortunately everything's okay with them. But it's just one of those things that it's very important to –

search for and remediate properly thank you thank you very much commissioner are there any other commission comments at this time so you know did you please vote on resolution 465.

Is Commissioner Simmons able to place a vote?

It didn't come up for me, but my vote is yes. It didn't come up, but his vote is yes.

Okay. Okay. Resolution 465 has been approved. Next item on our agenda is resolution 466. Madam Clerk, when you're ready.

This resolution seeks the affirmation of the partial grant and partial denial of Freedom of Information Act, request FOIA number 26-2142.

Move to approve Resolution 466. Second.

Moved and supported to approve Resolution 466. Are there any comments by the Commission? Commissioner Lacoste.

I was just curious what the situation with this is and why they felt there would have been some of these reports, because they did the FOIA, but then they appealed it. So I'm assuming that they must have really thought that there was something there.

To the extent that I would be having to speculate as to what was in the requester's mind, I honestly couldn't tell you why they thought that there was more. I will say that their request was fairly specific if you look at the request they made in the packet. The records that were provided were responsive to the request that was made. Sometimes people can think they're making a broader request than what they actually put in writing, but we can only go with the actual written request for defining the scope of the search.

Gotcha. Thank you for that.

Thank you, Commissioner. Any other Commission comments? Seeing none, would you please vote on Resolution 466? Resolution 466 has been approved. Next item on our agenda is general public comment. If you'd like to make general public comment regarding matters over which the City Commission has control, please raise your hand. and wait for us to acknowledge you to come forward to the podium. You'll have three minutes to make your comments. Please state your name and address prior to making your comment. Thank you, sir, for waiting.

Jim Shuey. Thank you for looking to speak here. Basically, we have a situation in an area around my neighborhood. On my street, I've been documenting. I've spoken to the police a couple times concerning the speeding. A couple weeks ago, well, actually about a month ago, they put brand new speed limit signs on both ends of the street I live in. I live on Fox Avenue. And it's posted at 25, but that means nothing. I mean, that's usually about the same dozen or so drivers every day, day and night. There's no pattern to it. I mean, anywhere from 20 to 25, 30 miles an hour above the speed limit. People, they get upset if I record them on my phone. I've had a couple of them actually give me the fingers they're driving by. And another woman stopped and basically accused me of being a police snitch and that I better watch my back and that the next day God was going to get me. That's what she told me. So, I mean, I've, I've spoken with some of the other neighbors and they put kind of just say, well, there's nothing we can do about it. I mean, you know, there's a guy a couple of doors down, he's got a ring camera and he records, you know, all the stuff going on and you go, yeah, I know this guy and this guy and this guy and this guy, you know, mostly guys. Um, I spoke to the police officers a couple times on that, including Officer Van Dyke, you know, and see about, you know, just having a car go out there and just, you know, monitor it. Maybe if they just see a police car, you know, on the street every once in a while, they'll slow down. So I know it works, though, like if I'm on 94 and there's a state police in the median, everybody slows down.

Sir, thank you very much. I'm going to ask our city manager to talk to you after the meeting and maybe get some more information.

Can we get the address again or the area? What area was that again?

Fox Avenue. Fox Avenue. I'm kind of by where Dudley STEM school is.

Okay.

Thank you very much, sir. Are there any other public comments? Yes. Mary. Mary.

Hi there. You didn't say my address. Mary Fields, 89 Lathrop. And I want to talk to you about our wonderful fire station. So I'm so excited. We're getting new fire stations, but I'm excited that we have old fire stations that can be reused. They're beautiful, beautiful buildings. And I talked to Darcy about them and she said, they're contaminated. That's not the end of the story. That's just the current state. They may be contaminated, But those buildings were used, they were built as fire stations, and they've been used as fire stations for the last 100 plus years. And they got contaminated under their lawful use with lawfully purchased products that were later found to contaminate these buildings. We can't leave this building contaminated when it's done being a fire station. It's in the middle of a neighborhood across from a food manufacturing facility. So I think that a really nice way to go forward is to have our wonderful fire chief and our city lawyer work together with planning to find out what have other cities done we're not the first city to have a contaminated fire station. that needs to be decontaminated. Somebody else has gone down this path. I always like using other people's ideas. It's really easier than coming up with your own. And let's work on a plan because we've got, what, five, six stations that we're going to have to address this issue. So if we figure it out with the one on Cliff Street, then we'll have a way for handling our other stations. So that's what I'd like to see, because I really think if we focus on decontaminating the building, that's not an unheard of thing. It's kind of a common thing. And then we can think about how to reuse it because it's such a nice building. It really is. They did a great job. I mean, I have to commend POST for building a really fabulous fire station. I've never seen such a nice one. And then the new one is going to be just as nice. So that's all I have to talk about. Have a great night, guys.

Thank you, Mary. Yes, David.

There's up here for comment on this.

Sound system up here.

I understand what you told me, but every week it seems like we come up here and we talk up here to you people up here. But people back here just have a hard time to hear. That's been quite a problem here. We need to maybe work on that or the next city commission to work on where we can hear better out here. I try to listen. It's just. Comicated and communicating for us to. It was all going on. I do watch this on TV. I do watch that. Couple of times a week, once or twice and. I wish you could somebody can do a little more. Sounding out here to the people I out here. Thank you.

Thank you, David. There any other public comments, Joe?

Joe Harris Battle Creek City of Battle Creek entered into a two year agreement with Fox Safety in 2024. That agreement contains an automatic renewal provision unless either party gives notice of non renewal at least 30 days before the end of the current term. The end of the current term is close. From the evidence I've been able to gather it appears that the city may quietly allow the agreement to automatically renew. If that's the city's decision, I believe it's time to stop and establish clear constitutional protections and accountability policies. The Fourth Amendment states, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. Three United Supreme Court's decisions are particularly important here. United States v. Jones, Supreme Court dealt with prolonged GPS monitoring of a person's movements. Carpenter v. United States dealt with people's expectation of privacy with their physical movements and obtaining extensive historical location information. Chautry v. United States, the Supreme Court held that police conduct a Fourth Amendment search when they obtain certain location information from a third-party technology company. I'm not saying the Supreme Court has declared flat cameras unconstitutional, because it has not as of yet. Flock creates a searchable record of vehicles, locations, and movements. Battle Creek's agreement provides access to location history and vehicle fingerprint searches, as well as access to other law enforcement networks. I believe Battle Creek should establish constitutional protections before the automatic renewal takes place. I'm asking the city to adopt a clear policy that all law enforcement must obtain a warrant before accessing Battle Creek's Flock information. Second, the city needs to know exactly who has access to Battle Creek's flock information, how that access is obtained, what agencies can search, and when those searches occur. Third, there must be severe consequences for misuse. These systems can be misused and abused. The question is whether we have put safeguards in place so as to ensure that misuse and abuse doesn't occur. Fourth, I believe Battle Creek should expressly prohibit purchasing or monetizing tracking information granted by flock cameras. Example is Sheboygan, Wisconsin. They recently had a flock representative offer to sell the city five years of traffic data. If Battle Creek decides to let the flock safety contract automatically renew, the constitutional protections, access controls, auditing, transparency, and severe penalties for misuse must come first. If the city cannot guarantee those protections, then I believe the responsible decision is to cover the cameras and terminate the contract. Yes, public safety matters, but more importantly, so does the Constitution, the foundation upon which this country was built. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Autumn Smith.

Good evening, Autumn Smith, candidate city commissioner at large, 66 Massachusetts. I'm standing here tonight because the city continues to operate under a predictable, expensive, and fiscally irresponsible playbook whenever high-ranking leadership fails the public. We've seen this pattern before. Look back to Jim Saylor. Under standard chain of command, when a chief steps down via retirement, resignation, illness, death, it's the deputy chief who is obligated to step up. Saylor refused to fulfill his job duties. Instead of doing what any business would do, terminating him immediately for cause, the city chose to handle it, quote, their way. What followed? A bloated internal investigation, messy lawsuits, federal court proceedings, and ultimately a massive taxpayer-funded settlement. I know those details because I sat in those federal court depositions, and when the city tried to lock out the public to cover up their mess, I sued the city and won. Now here we are again with Shannon Bagley watching history repeat itself on the taxpayer's dime. Rather than taking accountability and holding leadership to the standards of the law and properly terminating Chief Bagley for cause, this administration and commission are allowing him to quietly walk away into retirement fully backed by a taxpayer-funded pension. Let's talk about what he's walking away from. He's leaving behind documented CJIS violations, repeated misrepresentations to both this commission and the community, and a clear dereliction of duty, most glaringly during the Jeremiah Spearman incidents. Throughout critical moments of community need and department oversight, he has been virtually AWOL when real leadership was required both inside and outside the department. In any legitimate organization, a seditious violation and lying to government authorities ends in termination. It does not end in a comfortable, funded exit. When you allow an official who is derelict in his duties to slip out the side door into a taxpayer-backed retirement, you aren't just sweeping misconduct under the rug. You are forcing the residents of the city of Battle Creek to foot the bill for their leadership failure. This city manager and this commission have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers who fund your salaries and these pensions. Allowing quiet exits instead of enforcing termination for a cause rewards misconduct, undermines departmental integrity, and bleeds public trust. The public has receipts, federal records don't disappear, and the taxpayers of Battle Creek are tired of paying the financial fiscal price for City Hall's refusal to enforce its own rules. Thank you.

Are there any other public comments at this time? Yes, Reese?

Chris Adkins, 84 South 23rd Street. I'd just like to say one thing on that presentation that was done earlier today, a job well done. But there was a partial in that presentation where they were talking about consumer energy and the energy saving technology that they do have. I was involved through a charitable union where they sat in. and explained a little bit about their saving stuff and requested that somebody come out to see what my apartment, which is a dinky little one, what they could do to help. And I was informed because of the type of apartment complex it was, because it's a quadruple, it's an old... Barracks military barracks that they could not do it for just one of the apart one of the buildings That all four of them had to agree To allow them to come out which made no sense because these apartments have their own addresses there You know there's all the hours connected by the building. They're all separate so when we're doing this when we're looking at this I look to see if maybe with rental properties and properties that are multiple dwellings can have consumer energy come out and do an evaluation for this better environment with light bulbs and stuff like that so that we can benefit from the same thing that a regular resident participates in and is able to do to lower their electric bill. Thank you. Thank you, Reese.

Any other public comments at this time?

Kathy Antea and John Harper.

Thank you, Kathy Antea, Park Ridge, Battle Creek. I'm reasonably certain that every current commissioner that's running for re-election knows about this, but just to be sure and make sure all those folks on Access Vision and all the people in the room know as well, The NAACP, in collaboration with the Battle Creek Get Out the Vote, is hosting a local candidate forum on September 28. All y'all that are running for reelection should have received an invitation. And all the candidates that have also applied should have received an invitation. If not, they can certainly call the NAACP office or Sunita Virgil, who happens to be in the room today, and she would be happy to send them an invitation. This is for all city commission candidates and mayoral candidates. The event takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. September 28 at Maranatha Church on Waboskin Road. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Kathy. Appreciate that. John?

Episode 3. My name is John Harper. I live at 400 Orchard Avenue. Imagine you're in an auditorium thousands of miles from your home here in Battle Creek. Someone you know has just finished performing and the audience is going wild. Later in the lobby, people are lined up for photos and autographs. You are very proud of this person from your hometown and you can't wait to tell the people back home all about it. That was my experience in Jeju, South Korea this past August, is our band, the band that carries our city's name wherever it performs, electrified audiences of Koreans, young, old, and in between. People lined up in the lobby to meet band members after the performance. They wanted autographs from and to be in photos with the players they so admired. And I felt incredible pride witnessing the adulation of the crowd. I thought to myself, this is international recognition for Battle Creek. This is proof that our city has produced something people half a world away can admire and praise. The announcers at the end of the concert encouraged the audience to go to Battle Creek in December this year to enjoy the artistry and power of the band in its home environment. The message was clear. If you liked what you experienced here in Jeju, you're going to love the experience of the band in its hometown. I came home from Jeju asking myself what Koreans of that city would find if they did come to Battle Creek this December. Those visitors would probably expect to see a community that welcomed and feted its special band each time it returned to town. They would expect to see a community that draws on the greatness of the band's members to inspire its children and to fuel the aspirations of its citizens. They would expect all this because our band is not something ordinary. It is extraordinary musicians and educators from Canada, the United Kingdom, and from many different states in the United States. Like any great organization, our band has selected some of the very best to be its members. Koreans would expect our community to know how special our band is and to cherish its international reputation because it makes Battle Creek's reputation international too. It's not easy for a city to earn an international reputation. Battle Creek has been blessed. It has made that reputation for itself, first in health, then in food, and now in music. I believe we should all feel pride in how highly thought of our city is beyond our country's borders. Thank you.

Thank you, John. Are there any other public comments tonight? Any other public comments? John.

John Kennebec, 204 South Avenue. First, a housekeeping issue. I noticed that your speaker system for you is pointed right below you so you can hear what we're saying really good. But we're done by a speaker system up here. Can't always hear you back there or what they're saying up here. So we'd appreciate a speaker system that extends along the perimeter so people in this commission chamber can hear what's being said by you and the person speaking up here. Now what I'm here to speak about, your proclamation for Crazy for the Kalamazoo, or Crazy for Kazoo. Over 20 years ago, I was a member of people at the Kalamazoo River cleanup detail on Battle Creek River by Emmett Street. We cleaned up the brush over there. And one of my members of the group made an interesting observation. And the observation was, What we're doing here is we're doing the job of the government of Battle Creek at no charge. It's just a tax on our lives. I never went to the cleaning up of Kalamazoo ever again. I'm being taxed enough now and everyone else is being taxed enough too. This is also in regards to what was spoken up here has to do with saving money. You spent $100,000 for a propane tank so you could provide propane for the buses that run on propane because it's less expensive than the other buses running on diesel. How much money did you save? Do we get a tax reduction by the savings of the propane? Or do you just keep the money? Oh, I forgot it. You just keep the money. A number of years ago, you outsourced the assessor's department. You had nine employees that were city government employees at the assessor's office. Now there are five. A savings of four people's costs per hour. That was a cost savings to the government of Battle Creek. Did you pass that on to the citizens of Battle Creek because that's a cost savings? I don't think so. Every time you come up with any kind of routine that might save money, maybe you'll save light bulbs on a high energy efficient light bulb or something of that nature, you'll have a cost savings on the bill that wasn't there before. Did you pass that savings on the people that bought those bulbs, which was the taxpayers of Battle Creek? No, you won't. It's all about government. And when you realize that we are secondary people and we're not benefiting from these cost savings, then what's the point of having them in the first place? It only benefits the government. Thank you.

Are there any other public comments at this time? Seeing none, commission comments? Commissioner Patrick O'Donnell.

Thank you, Mayor. Sorry if it sounds like down the night. I'll speak up as loud as I can here. Um, just want to say that, um, first of all, the shirt that I'm wearing tonight, first of all, it represents a couple of things, um, big brothers, big sisters with the green. But then this weekend we have, um, ducks with diabetes, which I'm big, big, big for, uh, I myself have diabetes and I know others, It's a fundraiser to help people that cannot afford their supplies. If you can just make it down there, 12 o'clock till 4 o'clock, you get to watch people go in the river racing, and you get to see rubber ducks racing. So if you can sponsor that, there's going to be great entertainment down there. Also, it gives me an opportunity to wear a fun shirt. I've been asked once in a while, hey, why don't you wear one of your fun shirts to see me around town? Because I call myself the positive person around here. I'm very positive, and it's fun. Patrick's positively out there. And I want to say by the positive, we've talked to last couple of weeks about affordable housing, housing, things like that. Ran into an individual said, thank you for helping get some of these housing projects started. I'm employing local people in the area to do some of the plumbing, some of the electrical work on these big projects coming. And that's great because that puts us in a community that people can afford. to come live in our town, but also give jobs to families that are out there and get our local tradespeople working. So that's what I wanted to make sure that everybody realizes, that all these projects that we're funding with the grants, recovery housing, things like that, there's people involved behind there that are helping their own families and helping the community out by also doing fundraising events. And one thing that I do want to talk about, it's not really a positive thing, but People need to understand what they're saying sometimes, especially on Facebook calling. I feel bad that you were called a police snitch earlier, stuff like that. A lot of comments about things online with the housing. I don't mind them, but if you would actually say to the family that moved into one of these houses, exactly what you said to us on some of those comments, I would, I don't think you'd say that to these people, these young families, a woman that I know, um, out there at KCC becoming a first nursing student with two kids moving into a house like that and to say, how dare you, you know, put that in my neighborhood, that type of, they're trying to make things like everybody else. So please just, Let's be more positive and uplifting in our town, I mean, not just the neighborhoods. But we need to slow down, too. We need to know that this is all about us living together in a nice, wonderful city, and hopefully we can get your speeding thing taken care of. So thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. Any other Commission comments? Commissioner Milikos.

As John mentioned, we are lucky enough to have the Brass Band of Battle Creek here. Right now we have a fall fundraiser that's going to be coming up. Tickets just became available for that. It's hosted by the Battle Creek Country Club. It has world-class trumpeter Jens Lindemann, virtuoso jazz pianist Harry Lower, veteran bassist Ray Tini, and Doc Severinsen's favorite drummer Stockton Helbing. If you've never heard them, they are absolutely amazing. We are very blessed to have them. I know tickets for this also includes dinner and two drink tickets, and it will be at the Country Club on October 17th, I believe. Yes, October 17th. So you can get tickets now.

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