Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening ladies and gentlemen we like to call the city of Benton Harbor Commission meeting to order we begin with the Invocation by Commissioner Emma Kennard, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by our Deputy Director of Public Safety, Deputy Clark. All rise.

what to do for our community, Lord, and the best interest of them. In the name of Jesus, we just ask that you bring us together in the mindset of doing what needs to be done for our city and in its best interest.

In Jesus' name, we thank you and pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Commissioner Clark Griffin. Present. Commissioner Fields. Present. Commissioner Henderson. Present. Commissioner Henry. Present. Commissioner Asom. Present. Commissioner Kennard. Present. Commissioner Warren. Present. Mayor Pro Tem Turner.

Present.

Mayor Muhammad.

Present.

You have a quorum.

This brings us to the approval of minutes, regular minutes, June 1, 2026, with the addition of NUMBERS 2, 3, 5, AND 6 THAT WERE SEPARATED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR ON JUNE 1, 2026 AS INDIVIDUALLY APPROVED BY MAJORITY VOTES OF THE CITY COMMISSION ON MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2026. THERE WAS JUST A SMALL PROCEDURAL PART THAT WAS LEFT OUT, WHICH WAS A MOTION TO MOVE THE ITEMS FORWARD. Is there a motion for the approval? Make a motion for approval. Motion is made by Commissioner Eisenman to support it by the Mayor Pro Tem. Madam Clerk.

Commissioner Fields? Yes. Commissioner Henderson?

Yes.

Commissioner Henry? I'm sorry. I need a little clarity of what I'm voting on, please.

So at the June 1st meeting, the four items that were separated failed to have a motion and support. Although there was discussion and there was a roll call vote, the procedure is to take a motion and support that. So this is just to amend that so that there is a motion and support for the four items that were separated.

Yes. Commissioner Isom? Yes. Commissioner Kennard? Commissioner Warren?

Yes.

Commissioner Clark Griffin? Yes. Mayor Bertram Turner?

Yes.

Mayor Muhammad? Yes. Motion carried.

This brings us to approval of accounts payable listing. Is there a motion for the approval? Motion for approval. Motion is made by Commissioner-at-Large Eisenman and supported by Mayor Pro Tem Turner. Is there discussion? Chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Turner.

So in the email, I asked a question. I'd like to have before and after pictures of Jack Campbell cutting. Unfortunately, I did not get it. There have been concerns that the lawn cutters have to show before and after pictures to get in order to get paid. If they have to do it, so shall Jack Campbell have to do it. Not in the contract at all.

I yield to the city manager.

Not all of the contractors cutting grass had to get the pictures, the ones that we were having problems with. We had a couple of contractors bill us for cutting grass on what were empty paved parking lots and a couple of other things that were not appropriate. And we had them take before and after pictures. As far as any pictures that Mr. Campbell would have, we had not asked him for that before. And to my knowledge, I don't know if any exist.

Chair recognizes Commissioner-at-Large Kinnar.

I'd like to say that what goes for some should go for them all. And I went out there to visit my aunt's gravesite there, and it was terrible. And so my cousin's son, he goes out and tries to cut around hers, but it is not acceptable. And if you would check for yourself, you can see what I'm speaking of. So I think that it's only right that if others have to show pictures of theirs, and it's only right that they be checked behind those cameras. THAT ARE CUTTING, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE GETTING COMPLAINTS. Thank you.

Chair recognizes Fourth Ward Commissioner Clark Griffin.

I concur with Mayor Pro Tem Turner and Commissioner Knott. What goes for one should go for all, regardless of what the excuse and reason might be. City Manager, I need clarity because you said some of them was cutting on empty parking lot. Now, if I'm correct, parking lot don't have grass. Did you mean city lots?

Mr. Manager?

No, I meant the billing showed addresses that when after each contractor finishes mowing, they submit to us a listing and indicating the addresses that they have cut. When the code enforcement people went behind them to verify that the work was done and done properly, in several instances they were paved blacktop parking lots. and other situations as some where they had just not cut it at all or hadn't done it properly.

Mr. Manager, in the future, if that's the request of the council, could we please provide pictures to the commission through email when we have accounts payable as it relates to grass on the agenda? Is that something you think we can do?

It'll be quite a challenge because we're doing like over 350 and then on abatement lots another 200.

Every commission meeting? Because it seems like we you know have we pay the contractors you know every so often so I'm just saying that and to avoid you know further debate and discussion if If we have four or five lots on accounts payable, can those lots be reflected in emails? Yes. Thank you. Chair recognizes Commissioner Henry.

Thank you, Mayor. I believe that CODING MADE THE DECISION TO TAKE A PICTURE BEFORE AND AFTER BECAUSE OF THE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT THAT CAN BE PLACED ON YOUR PROPERTY TAXES FOR CUTTING GRASS, AND THAT SOME PEOPLE REQUESTED SOME REVIEW ON IT BECAUSE THEY SAID THAT THE PEOPLE DIDN'T CUT THEIR GRASS IN THEIR LOT. SO THAT WAS SOME WAY TO PUT A SOLUTION TO IT. IF YOU CUT IT, IT LOOKED LIKE IT BEFORE, AND IT LOOKED LIKE AFTER. SO I DON'T KNOW IF... AND THAT WAS A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, AND I JUST THOUGHT THAT WE WERE STILL IN THAT PRACTICE.

I call for the question.

Commissioner Henderson? Yes. Commissioner Henry? Yes. Commissioner Asom?

Yes.

Commissioner Kennard? Yes. Commissioner Warren?

Yes.

Commissioner Clark Griffin? Yes. Commissioner Fields? Yes. Mayor Bertram Turner?

Yes.

Mayor Muhammad? Yes. Motion carried.

This brings us to our update from our Honorable Commissioner. of Berrien County, District 4, Commissioner Mamie L. Yarbrough.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor Marcus Muhammad. Good evening, Honorable Commissioners. and to our residents. All I can think to do is say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. The event on June 9th was just beautiful. We were concerned. We wanted to be on the plaza so that people would know what that 9-11 was about. Sure, many people looked at it, never went up to it, but certainly were not on it. And so we decided to just take a chance and put the chairs out there and facing the wall of the Mamie L. Yarbrough. City of Benton Harbor Public Library. And if I was not already a Christian, after what happened, I would have joined church that day. It rained on us. Nobody moved. We thought, take a chair and run inside. No one did that. It didn't rain over two or three minutes. And then the sun didn't come out, but it was a warmth that just came over the audience. And all the people that were on the program did magnificent jobs. And you all have a master of ceremonies in Commissioner Edward Isom. He told me, he said, I don't know why you chose me. I said, because you are a commissioner, city of Benton Harbor, and you are a member of the Mamie L. Yarbrough Benton Harbor Public Library. And I was working to get all of our, oops, to get all of our trustees a chance to be able to say something. And we consist of seven. There are seven of us on the library board, five from the city of Benton Harbor, two from the charter township of Benton Township. And all of those things are to the advantage of the residents as well as the advantage of the library. Because the two representatives that are from Benton Charter Township, we use their population to get the funds to run the library, and it's the penal fines. So when you see a police car, state police, that's pulled a truck over or pulled a car over, say thank you. Because when they get a ticket, that is divided up in the state of Michigan by the population and given to libraries. It made us sad when they closed down most of the way stations because that too, when trucks are overweight with their load and all that money goes to libraries. So there's so many different ways of the way things work. So it was just the most wonderful And I thank those that came, and I thank those that wanted to come. So many people had other obligations. It was a strange little time, but we didn't want to take up a lot of time. And we wanted people to come into the Mamie L. Yarbrough Benton Harbor Public Library and just see it. And they're often, oh, this is nice. We're nice. And many times I think about the library, it's children, little bitty children that are brought there. They don't come on their own, but we hope that they continue to want to come. And one thing that happened to us that was so marvelous is we were honored by the Carnegie Foundation, which is still working, still doing things, and Carnegie in the 1800s built libraries all over the United States. If you look at the one in St. Joe, it's the one that's just been made into a hotel, a boutique hotel. It can't be any more than, I don't know, six or eight rooms in that hotel, and the name of it is the library. So it's still there, but it's not a library because we are still a library, a public library. The Carnegie Foundation sent us $10,000 to do with whatever we would want to do with it. We have a list this long because we're in a 1968 building with 1968 standards, which were very, very high. When we got our Wi-Fi, Bowdoin Electric, they broke drill bits, kept breaking because they couldn't get into the wall to put the wires in the walls for the Wi-Fi, and they figured it out. So we will be needing and figuring out a way to make this money more and more so that we can fix the elevators and all the things, the doors and all the sides that they need to be. So pray for us with that. I want to take a few minutes. I'm here as your Berrien County Commissioner, and I want you to know that the tax sale, the final day, will be August 6th from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., And they told me an easy way to get onto the site is to put in, and it can be small letters, tax, T-A-X dash, the high dash, not the low one, sale.info. And it comes up as the tax auction. It has all 83 of Michigan counties. You click on Marion if that's what you're interested in and it shows you the pictures of the places with structures and then the ones that are just land and you can drive. It tells you the address or whatever but they're all kind of phone numbers and things and it's here on my computer and it's moving. It's working. When I opened it up I was glad about that. But please look at it. You see all the new streets, all the new sewer lines. They're preparing. I do hope some of you will look into that and buy some of this Benton Harbor land and Berrien County land.

This brings us to our next agenda item, which is citizens' comments or public participation. There is a three-minute maximum per speaker. Please sign in with the clerk, and she will call you based upon the sign-in sheet. Madam Clerk.

Minnie Sims.

Good evening, commissioners.

Good evening.

The Honorable Marcus Mohammed, my commissioner, Sharon Henderson, And Edward Eisen. These are the three that I want to address today. This is really nice. I come behind Commissioner Yarbrough, and I, too, want to say thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Commissioner Henderson. And thank you, Commissioner Eisen. These are the three people that I see out in our community. Commissioner Henderson, there's nothing that go on that you do not let us know. Good, bad, big, or small, you keep us advised. And for that, I say thank you. Mayor, a couple things. Number one, stand strong. Last year, people were complaining that the streets were messed up, there were holes. Excuse me, I can't sit down and I talk better when I stand. It just flows better when I stand. However, we were worried about all the holes in the streets. You went and you secured the money. to make this happen. Then people started complaining. We have to, all these detours, you know. Then you got them fixed and they still complain. I say stand strong. You did a magnificent job. And when people start complaining, do like I do. Over my head. Not going to let that bother me. Because you know what you're doing. You know you're doing a good job. And I appreciate that. I appreciate you. And I know you're not my commissioner. But every community event that I'm involved in, That shows your commitment to the city of Benton Harbor. I'm a resident here. I was gone for almost 27 years, but this is my heart. And I came back to make a difference, and I hope I've done that. I'm not one to talk the talk. I walk the walk. I've been working with our young people for over 40 years and every day since I've been back in the city of Benton Harbor. Public safety director. Get the paddy wagon. I'm tired of all these kids hanging all around, especially on Main Street, selling drugs. Nobody's doing anything. I know you say these are our young people. We need to take care of them. You need to take care of them. You're not going to take care of them when they're over in the county jail, are you? Get them while we can. And I may be old school, but that's okay. I like being old school. Old school is what's got us here. Do what you need to do to get these kids off the street. And I know some of your parents don't like that, but I don't care. Because either between the city of Bent Harbor and if you keep the kids at home, no kids should be out at 1 o'clock in the morning that are 14 years old. And then when they get in trouble, you want to come to the commission and ask them to do something. That's your job, to do something.

And if you can't do it, somebody else is going to do it for you. And it won't be nice.

I know my three minutes. Will somebody yield me one more minute, please? Thank you. City Manager, you're doing a good job. Don't get discouraged. Keep going. And for you new commissioners, let me give you just a little bit of wisdom that I do have. Wisdom, not age, wisdom. Listen to your senior commissioners. They know. And stop complaining because the mayor is going on trips. How do you think that things are going to get done? Do you think they'll come down to the city and ask you? If you don't go out and network and make partnerships, you're going to be in the same place we were 20 years, 30 years ago, and we're not too far from that now. So I ask you, commissioners, do your research. You can't have all your research. You haven't been here for six months. Do your research. Find out what you're doing. Look into it. Friendship is one thing. Business is another. You've got to be able to separate the two. When it's business and when it's talking about saving the city of Benton Harbor money, pushing us forward, then go for it. And stop arguing in public. Don't do that. Take your argument and all your disagreements behind closed doors. Don't do that. What do you think that does for our community? I didn't mean to fuss, but I had to say what I had to say. I thank you very much and I appreciate all of you. Thank you.

Jacqueline Elliott.

Well, that's going to be hard to follow. Good evening. My name is Jacqueline Elliott. I am a resident of Edgewater Dunes and a member of the Gene Clock Neighborhood Coalition formed after the May 18th shooting to help ensure that Gene Clock Park remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for all. I am addressing the city attorney, Sarah Seneca, directly right now. I want to be transparent. I've already reached out to her by email on June 10th.

Could you speak to the chair, please?

Sure. Thank you. I've not yet received a response, and I believe this matter is urgent enough to raise publicly. I attended the Public Safety and Public Works Committee meeting on June 10th, specifically expecting to hear the legal analysis regarding the Jean Clark Park gate closure. And that discussion did not happen. And I left without answers, and so did the residents who came with me. Our coalition has done our homework. We've reviewed the clock deed, the consent judgment, the Drake litigation materials, and city communications regarding the gate. We are not here to obstruct the city's authority. We fully support the city's right to set the rules for Jean Clark Park. What we are asking for is the legal reasoning behind the current position of the gate closure. Specifically, we need to understand what is the legal basis for the city's conclusion that it cannot restrict vehicle access to Jean Clark Park after 10 o'clock p.m., while still maintaining pedestrian access. Those are two different things, vehicle access and pedestrian access, and we believe that distinction matters enormously for public safety. A gate that closes to cars at night does not have to close to people. We would like to understand whether the city's legal analysis addresses that distinction or whether it conflates the two. We are also asking for clarity on the broader legal framework surrounding other public safety measures currently under discussion at the park, including the enforcement of Chapter 28, the role of harbor shores in park governance, and the city's liability exposure when ordinances are outdated, signage is inconsistent, and enforcement is applied unevenly. The residents of this community deserve to understand the legal reasoning that shapes decisions about their park. Transparency builds trust, and right now, trust is what this situation needs most. I'm renewing my request for a meeting with Sarah Seneca to discuss the gate closure, the public access framework, and the city's liability considerations. The coalition is ready to engage constructively, and we hope that the city is as well. Thank you.

Susan Hertog.

Good evening and thank you all for your service. My name is Susan Hertog. I am a resident of Benton Harbor and the Grand Boulevard and the member of the Jean Clark Neighborhood Coalition formed after May 18th during the shooting to help ensure Jean Clark Park remains safe, welcoming, and accessible to all. I'm here tonight to address the city manager, Alex Little, directly about how one of the most straightforward public safety improvements the city could make right now securing the vehicle entrance to Jean Clark Park on Grand Boulevard. The road spikes at the entrance are damaged and non-functional. Vehicles are using that access point at all hours of the night. Residents on Grand Boulevard have been documenting reckless driving, late night gatherings, and dangerous behavior in and around that entrance for years and reporting to the city. The infrastructure to address it is already there, it just needs to be fixed or replaced. Mr. Little, at prior meetings, you indicated you had not had the opportunity to look at the damaged spikes. However, we did take a look at these. We researched the system, identified it as a Cobra Road Spike Unit, and hand-delivered a copy of the Cobra Road Spike Identification Guide to your office at City Hall to help move the process forward. Grand Boulevard residents have also continued their own research following meetings with you on May 20th and June 3rd. We estimate that replacing the existing spike system would cost approximately $4,000. A gate may be a better solution, and it also may be a cheaper one. A gate that restricts the access while keeping the park open to pedestrians would be more visible, more enforceable, and potentially less expensive to install and maintain than a spike system. It is also the option for yourself raised at the June 10th Public Safety Committee meeting and residents were encouraged to hear it. We are asking the city to evaluate both options seriously and move forward. Every week that entrance remains unsecure is another week of preventable risk. The May 18th shooting happened inside this park. I witnessed the vehicles on our Grand Boulevard going into the park that night and exiting rapidly after the shooting. I personally witnessed that. Controlling vehicle access after dark is one of the most direct, immediate steps the city can take to reduce the risk going forward. The coalition is ready to assist with research, vendor contacts, and whatever else to help. We are not here to create obstacles. We are here because securing that road seems to be the best public safety measure, and we want to see it done. Mr. Little, we are asking for a decision on the timeline. The community is watching, and we are ready to support you. Thank you from the coalition.

Melanie Taylor.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you everyone for your time. Respectively, I'm here. My name is Melanie Taylor, and I'm a resident of the old Edgewater area. I was born in Benton Harbor. 50 years ago, I was lifeguarding down at Gene Clock. I know, I don't look that old, but I was. Back then, nobody went down there, but it's a beautiful beach, and I'm part of the coalition, and our concern is just safety, and I think everybody here tonight keeps coming back to that quarter. We all want to feel safe, and one of the issues that... I think need to be clarified. It's relatively easy and I address this to Commissioner Sharon Henderson It's just a signage in the park for the dogs and the animals and there's just a lot of different signs and What we looked at was chapter 28 apparently is the actual legislation and that's older than that's 54 years old so It would be prudent, I think, for everyone's best interest, especially for the city from a liability point of view, and for the people that need to enforce the rules now to clarify what the rules are. So it's more than just the dogs. It's the golf carts. There's confusion there, too. And then it just pushes back on the people that are working there, and it's not fair to them. So I don't think we need to start from scratch. There's some county parks that we took a look at, and we kind of highlighted some of the updates. I mean, 54 years ago, we weren't legally smoking pot, people, and we are now. The world's changed tenfold. So I would ask that we take a look and propose some changes and update Chapter 28 for the next legislature meeting, respectively submitted and requested.

Thank you. Under three minutes, too.

AND I HAVE SOME JUST HIGHLIGHTS OF JUST THE OBVIOUS ONES THAT COULD BE AVAILABLE.

ROCHELLE CURIADA?

Good evening. My name is Rochelle Curiad and I'm a resident of Harbor Shores and a new member of the Jean Clark Neighborhood Coalition that was formed after the May 18 shooting. I only learned about this coalition yesterday and I'm standing here tonight because of something that happened to me yesterday evening. My husband and I walk our dog through Jean Clark Park every single day, and last night while we were walking, a man in a silver unmarked vehicle drove up to us and began yelling aggressively at us that we could not be at the beach with our dog. We told him we were not on the beach, and he continued to harass us so aggressively that I had 911 on my phone in case things escalated more. I genuinely did not know if this man was a stranger or if he was someone with authority because he did not identify himself as someone that was working for the park until after the confrontation was already over. My husband and I are not trying to break any rules. We want to follow them. We just do not know what they are. And based on what I have read from this coalition, it seems like that confusion is not our fault. The rules themselves are unclear. So I reached out to the coalition last night and I learned that this exact type of incident was discussed in a meeting today between the coalition and Deputy Director Michael Clark and Deputy Director of Public Safety, Brian Kaczmczak. They advised that based on the description, an unmarked vehicle, no identification given, this individual may not have been a city employee at all, which is alarming. If I cannot tell whether the person yelling at me works for the city, that is a problem. And if it turns out that he does work for the city, the lack of professionalism and the failure to identify himself first is also a problem. What I'm asking for is simple. Tell us the rules. Tell us clearly in writing with signs that say the same thing so that residents and visitors can actually follow them. And if someone is going to enforce those rules, they should be in a marked vehicle, they should identify themselves, and they should approach people with the professionalism we expect from anyone representing this city. I am grateful for the work the Jean Clark Neighborhood Coalition is doing, and I am grateful that the deputy directors are engaging with these concerns. And I hope this commission will take the next step, updating Chapter 28 so that everyone, residents and enforcement personnel alike, are working together for the same clear set of rules.

Thank you. Diana Green.

I have some exhibits. Can I give them to you? These are exhibits around... Good evening. My name is Diana Green. I am a resident of Benton Harbor, Grand Boulevard, and a member of the Jean Glock Neighborhood Coalition, formed after the May 18th shooting to help ensure Jean Glock remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for all. Tonight, I want to begin with something that we don't always do at a public meeting, say thank you. Earlier today, the Jean Glock Neighborhood Coalition had an opportunity to meet with Deputy Director Michael Clark and Deputy Director of Public Safety Brian Kazmierski. We are grateful for their time, their willingness to engage, and their constructive conversation we were able to have regarding the ordinances and the incongruencies that my fellow members have already talked about at Jean Clark Park. This is exactly the kind of dialogue our coalition has been asking for. We came to that meeting not to point fingers, but to work through real on the ground confusion that exists around Chapter 28, the ordinance governing the park, and how it is currently being interpreted and enforced. We were asked questions about where the park rules apply, how dogs and golf carts are regulated, what the sign should say, and how enforcement priorities are set. Deputy Director Clark and Deputy Director Kaczmirski engaged in those questions seriously and we left the meeting with a better understanding of the challenges involved. We want this Commission to know that the Coalition's approach has always been to be collaborative and not divisive. We are not adversaries of the city or of public safety. We are neighbors, residents of Benton Harbor. We care deeply about the park and we care about the safety of the park. With that said, today's meeting was also reinforced for us how urgently Chapter 28 needs to be updated. The ordinance has not been meaningfully revised since 1972. The confusion, as we discussed and as the pictures show, have different signages. There's different dates of signages. There's different wording on the signages. Harbor Shorts says dogs are allowed on leashes. Then there's other signs that say dogs are not allowed on the beach but in the park. It is very confusing. This is why we are continuing to ask this commission to take up a formal review of Chapter 28 through the Legislative Committee. Today's meeting was a proactive step, but a step is not a solution. A solution is updated ordinances that give everyone, residents, visitors, and enforcement professionals a clear and consistent set of rules. We want to thank, again, Deputy Director Clark and Deputy Director Kaczminski, again, for their engagement, and we look forward to the continuing partnership as we move forward.

CHRISTIE PETERSON.

GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS CHRISTIE PETERSON, AND I AM A MEMBER OF THE JEAN CLOCK NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION REPRESENTING THE HIGMAN PARK NEIGHBORHOOD. As you know, we all have come together, formed after the May 18th shooting, to help ensure that Gene Clark Park remains safe, welcoming, and accessible to all. But I want to be clear about something. The May 18th shooting did not come out of nowhere. Residents of this community were raising safety concerns at Gene Clark Park. long before that day for years, in fact, and those concerns were documented email to the city leadership and largely met with silence. I'm here to put that record before this commission. On October 27th, 2025, nearly seven months before the May 18th shooting, a resident sent a detailed email to Director McGinnis, City Manager Little, Mayor Muhammad Mayor Pro Tem Seitz, and Commissioner Clark Griffin. That email included security camera coverage of a white BMW driving recklessly through the Grand Boulevard and Jean Clark Park area. The residents described vehicles cruising the park almost nightly, doing power spins, burning rubber, and then speeding through the surrounding neighborhood. She asked for contact to be made with the vehicle's owner and for officers to begin regular patrols starting around 5.30 p.m. when these gatherings typically began. There was no record that the city responded. Four days later, on October 31st, 2025, the same resident emailed the same city officials again, this time to report that a resident had called 911 on a man recording himself holding what appeared to be a rifle while sitting in his car at the North Circle of Jean Clark Park wearing a mask. Police responded to the 911 call The city did not respond to the email. That weapon was later confirmed by law enforcement to be a real semi-automatic firearm, and I presented those pictures to the city clerk. These were not vague complaints. They were specific, documented, time-stamped reports with photos and videos sent directly to the people responsible for the safety of this park, and they were ignored. We are not here to assign blame. We're here because pattern matters. When residents raise safety concerns and receive no response, it does not make the park safer. It makes the city more exposed, legally and morally. The Jean Clark Neighborhood Coalition is asking this commission to take A DIFFERENT APPROACH GOING FORWARD. ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRIOR OUTREACH. ESTABLISH A CLEAR POINT OF CONTACT FOR RESIDENT SAFETY CONCERNS. AND COMMIT TO A RESPONSE, NOT JUST A PATROL THAT RESIDENTS NEVER SEE, BUT A DOCUMENTED ACCOUNTABLE RESPONSE WHEN COMMUNITY MEMBERS FLY SERIOUS THREATS. AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR LISTENING. APPRECIATE IT.

GLENDA WISNAT.

I'd like to thank each and every one of the commissioners here and the mayor. I'd also like to bring up a point that I brought up before. The commissioners work for the residents. The city manager is responsible to the commissioners. There's a lot of things that's been overlooked, I think, and I wasn't going to address the Jane Clark Park matter, but I think that we have a concern about shootings everywhere, not just Jane Clark Park. It's throughout the city. The police department has reduced crime by 25%. Commissioner Fields brought up the fact that the public safety meeting, that we're not fully staffed. And I'm not sure why, because Lansing said Benton Harbor can get anything they can't want. So the monies are there, the funds are there. We need a grant writer for Bend Harbor. We use organizations, but Bend Harbor should be fully staffed. Another point that was brought up was that the water bill, that people shouldn't be given grace on late fees. Don't know why they shouldn't if they're not getting a bill until the cutoff notice there I got a cutoff notice to $14 and that was because I paid the bill without bringing the bill with me I paid my bills and The city manager you made a statement that if we if you take away the late fee penalty that people won't pay their bills I don't think that's true according to Commissioner Fields the citizens have paid 1.7 million dollars into the system and with what has gone on with our water system and I think the late fee is the least amount that the city should be giving the citizens. I think we do need a fully staffed police department because we do have crime. Our kids do need things to do. I know Ms. Sims growing up because my brother-in-law was in a band with her brother called Down in the Basement of Jamaica. We know what it is to have a city that's run like a city government. We need a fully staffed city hall. We need a mayor-run government. I keep saying that. I'm not just saying that because Mayor Marcus Muhammad is mayor. I'm saying that because whoever is mayor is not going to poop in their own backyard. He's elected. He's not appointed. He's not hired. We have given grants where there was no permits taken out. Those are HUD grants. When that falls back on the city, it's not going to fall on the city manager. It will fall on the city of Ben Harbor, the penalties. Because that's a violation of HUD. That's a federal violation. That's something that should be taken care of. And I know when I come up here, I don't mean the fuss. I ask questions. I know you're not going to answer my question in this meeting. You talked about the water bills. I believe the water bills are high because the system that was put in is inadequate. And I have pictures. I didn't know I could bring pictures and present to them. We turn the water on in one of my rental properties and the water flows. So therefore, your water bill will increase. And if you don't know there's a leak, yes, it's going to be a higher bill. When the bill goes from $150,000 to $300,000 and you use the same amount of water or less, there's a problem. Thank you. And the Green Clark Park thing, you know, and I do know that the Commissioner Clark mentioned that he asked the resident not to have their dogs, and they looked at him like he had a stamp on his head. You know, we got to do wholesale to wholesale and retail to retail. If there's a law, it all has to be enforced, whether it's a dog or whether it's public safety or closing the gate. It all has to be dealt with.

Gwen Johnson, Swanigan.

Hello, everybody. I'm just here today to say I have a few things to talk about. First of all, the streetlights have been out in my neighborhood for over a month now. So I don't know who has to address that, but the streetlights is like pitch dark from like Jennings, cross all the way down cross to Probably superior and it's been out like that for a while And it's just pitch dark So if someone can address that whoever has to address it, please do I appreciate it? also with the water bills, it's It's only right to waive those fees Because it's not It's not right to charge the residents for something they have no control over. The city manager was saying that we're going to in 30 days do this and do that and try to find out what's going on. Water bills are going like this, up and down. Sometimes they're set amounts. Sometimes they fluctuate. We don't know. And then the water bills, you know, some people are not getting water bills, and then they get a shutoff notice. It's just not fair. So whatever the problem is, we need to fix it. But while we're fixing it, give the people some relief with the late fees. That's all we're asking is give them some relief with the late fees. And I know people that's come to me and said they haven't been at their home. for a month and got $200 water bill. I mean, that makes no sense. So we need to find out what's going on in the midst of that. Please waive these fees for the residents. Also, I want to address the Citizens Review Board. We have, the full commission passed a resolution back in 2020 for the Citizens Review Board. It has not been in operation since. I want to know what is the path forward for this review board. I sent you all, everybody on the commission, a proposed timeline for the review board. It has come up numerous times in the public safety meeting with the city manager, and his response has been, not priority on his list or we don't have the money we don't need the money because it's a voluntary board and then we've had extensive conversations in the meetings and he doesn't remember but everybody else does so I am urging and encouraging the city full body and the mayor to give some directive on getting the Citizens Review Board in operation and implementing. Thank you.

James Duncan. Thank you. No more comments.

I'd like to thank everyone on tonight with the citizens' comments, public participation. This brings us to our consent calendar. Is there a motion to approve the consent calendar, or are there items that should be separated? Motion to approve. Item number nine. Is there a motion to approve the consent calendar? Motion.

I would like to separate three. Yep.

Chair recognizes third ward, Commissioner Henry.

I'd like to have a discussion on number seven.

There's a motion for the approval of the consent calendar.

Motion for approval.

Support. Motion is made by Commissioner at Large. I submit it is supported by Commissioner at Large. Fields. Madam Clerk.

Commissioner Henry. Commissioner Isom? Yes. Commissioner Kennard? Yes. Commissioner Warren? Yes. Commissioner Clark Griffin? Yes. Commissioner Fields? Yes. Commissioner Henderson? Yes. Mayor Potem Turner? Yes. Mayor Muhammad? Yes. Motion carried.

This brings us to the first separated item, which is a resolution to approve transfer of property for Bus Avenue Apartments to the Benton Harbor Housing Commission. Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Motion is made by First Ward Commissioner Henderson. It is supported by Mayor Pro Tem Turner. Is there discussion?

Yes. For a point of clarity, can we explain what that means to the residents?

So the city of Benton Harbor owns a very small interest in the bus service. or the Benton Harbor Housing Commission bus property, which was built with federal money in the 60s, and as we all know that it has declined and has depreciated and has It's in a horrific condition as it stands. So the riot program is a program that was formed with the federal government which gives housing commissions, public housing, an opportunity to partner with private developers. And the private developer works with banks along with the housing commission, the federal government, to procure funding in order to have mass improvements to government housing. So this particular development, I believe, is $32 million total that will go into the improvements of bus projects. and in order to satisfy the requirements of the federal government under this particular rad program the city has to transfer their interests uh to the benton harbor housing commission which essentially is partnering with the private uh developer not necessarily the city of benton harbor But the Bent Harbor Housing Commission, which is a separate entity that is created or is given life through the city, but they have a separate board, which is appointed by us. They have an executive director and they operate autonomously on their own. However, again, our small interests in order to effectuate this particular agreement, the city would have to release our interests. And what happens is after 15 years the Benton Harbor Housing Commission has the first right of refusal on whether or not to retain that property or then the private developer, if the Benton Harbor Housing Commission does not exercise that right, then the private developer can move forward with developing the property, improving the property, or coming back to the city to extend the pilot which is already passed um in the consent calendar but the pilot allows for the city to collect fifty thousand dollars per year with inflation which over 15 years will be of course will be over at the minimum 750 000 So what happens is the city is given revenue and bus projects is given a total facelift and the quality of life of residents is improved. And the same is in the process with Harbor Towers. Commissioner Fields.

Okay, so in layman's terms, what does that mean? So what is a small portion? What does that mean? Just so, because residents are asking, right, are we giving away, are we giving away for a dollar, you know, just on and so forth. This is just to get, and that was great insight. So that's really, EXCELLENT TO KNOW THAT WE'RE GETTING FUNDS BACK IN RETURN AND THAT IT'S A SEPARATE ENTITY IN THAT REGARD AND WE TAKE PART IN, YOU KNOW, FORMING THAT. BUT AGAIN, WHAT IS A SMALL PORTION? SO DO WE OWN, LIKE, THE FRONT OF BUS, THE SIDE OF BUS, THE GATE?

SO I CAN'T SAY THE SQUARE INCH OF WHAT SMALL PORTION WE OWN. MR. MANAGER, DO YOU KNOW THE CUBIC FEET? So it's a very small, I don't know the cubic feet or the square inches, but be it as it may, say if we don't approve, then what happens is the $32 million to improve bus, it doesn't happen. and the city does not get the $50,000 in inflation and revenue over the next 50 years. And the residents lose out because now they're basically continuing to live in squalor, and the city is still looking for revenue. So I feel like it's a win-win, and it's really, when I went to Congressman Huizenga, And I asked him to tour Harbor Towers. And when he came to see it, when he walked out, he was holding his face. He didn't see Bus, but I can't see his reaction being differently. And he said to me, Mayor, I'm going to go back to Washington and do all I can to help change this condition. That he did. So now we're in a position to, the ball is in our court. The money is secure. Secretary Turner over HUD publicly said the money is there. Now it's on the commission to move it forward. COMMISSIONER FIELDS?

I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I FEEL THAT IT'S A GOOD THING. I KNOW, AND ME AND THE CITY MANAGER HAVE ACTUALLY ATTENDED THE HOUSING COMMISSION MEETING SEVERAL OF THEM TOGETHER, AND HE BROUGHT UP GREAT POINTS IN REGARDS TO GETTING CLARITY ON REGARDS TO WHETHER THEY'RE DOING A SUPERFICIAL REPAIR, WHETHER IT WAS a total gut job and things like that, and so he has actually even played a role in regards to accountability so that our residents would get adequate housing. I do want to reference, though, that I remember because I did a whole live process in Harbor Tower, and I remember him coming down. I can never say his last name, but he came down as a result of just the great exposure of the condition of Harbor Tower, which has been an ongoing issue. And for point of clarity, I did not in the beginning know there was a separation between the Bent Harbor City and the Housing Commission and that we were different entities, but we are. And so this is or this serves as steps for us to advocate for our residents. And so I believe it to be very beneficial with it being a requirement per RAD.

And I would just add, this has been a long time coming. It's been multiple voices. Congressman Huizinga is just in a position to make things happen on a federal level. But the voices in the wilderness have been Commissioner Kennard has talked about it. Commissioner Henry, for sure, before I even got on the council. Our public safety department, in fact, The deputy, Casimir, he wrote, he said, honorable mayor, in reference to Harbor Towers bus projects, they have satisfied all fire and cold requests and have passed plan review. We have no concerns with this project. Please let me know if you require further. And this comes from the office of the manager who, you know, I'm saying, Mr. Manager, when are we going to get it done? He would let me just look at one more thing. Well, you know, I got to go back and let me check with the attorney, you know, and he sweated every detail. You know, but if that's what it takes for us to make sure that every penny, every nickel, every dime, and I know the pro temp has been, as Commissioner Fields, at the Housing Commission meetings. You know, but it's going to take all of us, you know, no credit for one, because at the end of the day, it takes our votes to move it forward. So I just want to thank everybody involved. And if it does pass, I'll be calling the congressman, let him know the action that took place tonight.

I'm about to have a fit. Juanita about to have a fit. I live at 945 bus apartment number two with my daughter and then I have a son. We lived there eight years. It was a marvelous place, one of the best places that I lived.

ALL FOR THE QUESTION.

COMMISSIONER ISOM?

YES.

COMMISSIONER CANARD? COMMISSIONER WARREN? YES. COMMISSIONER CLARK-GRIFFIN? YES. COMMISSIONER FIELDS? YES. COMMISSIONER HENDERSON? YES. COMMISSIONER HENRY? YES. MAYOR POTEMP-TURNER? YES. MAYOR MOHAMMED? YES. MOTION CARRIED.

I BELIEVE THAT NUMBER SIX, MADAM CLARK? SEVEN.

SEVEN.

THANK YOU, POTEM. NUMBER SEVEN, APPROVING 75-year ground lease to Peninsula Fiber Network, a.k.a. PFN. Is there a motion for the approval? Motion to approve. Motion is made by Mayor Pro Tem Turner. Support. It is supported by Commissioner Isom. Is there discussion? Commissioner Henry is recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. Okay. There was a couple of small questions that I had about this. Something just, I mean, it all sounds good, but I keep looking at a carrot on a stick, and it bothers me. I need some more clarity as to... I understand that the seven years, and it's going to be $320,000 worth of value. How much do we pay for... THE SAME SERVICE RIGHT NOW FOR THESE FACILITIES. WE KNOW THAT BUBBA RAZIL DON'T HAVE IT. WE'RE NOT PAYING FOR BUBBA RAZIL YET. SO THAT WAS MY QUESTION IS, WELL, HOW MUCH ARE WE GOING TO SAVE IN THESE SEVEN YEARS? AND AFTER THAT, WE HAVE A QUESTIONABLE AMOUNT THAT WE MIGHT GET CHARGED AFTER THAT. That's the carrot on the stick that I'm looking at. So how much are we paying for it now? And that'll kind of let me crunch the numbers if $320,000 is the current value of this company is going to make billions, billions. And when they leave here, they're going straight up. FLINT IF THAT TELL YOU ANYTHING SO I'M HAVING ANXIETIES ABOUT IT AND I NEED MORE ANSWERS AND I REALLY CAN SEE A CARROT ON A STICK THANK YOU TO RECOGNIZE THE CITY MANAGER LITTLE

And if I might, we want to pull back the legal description. We have to get a corrected legal description on it. But in answer to the question, the agreement with them is that they will provide First off, the answer to your question, we're paying about $1,200, I believe, a month for a one-gig line that comes into the city right now, and that's only the city. What you're getting out of this... Yes. And police and City Hall operate on that. What we're getting as a part of this is that we'll get a one gig line coming into City Hall, to the library, to Bobo Brazil Center, to the water plant, where we're paying $400 and something a month, I believe, for a POTS line that Runs from the water plant to the water tower right now and I think we're also paying internet to for the water plant. So we will get those services to these public buildings for seven years free. The $320,000 is the cost of running those lines on the underground from where they are coming in out at this building to the various public buildings. In addition, they will be paying taxes annually on the building that will be structured there over the life of the whole thing. In addition, they will also provide a line into Bobo Brazil that will be available to us if we should at some point later decide we want to try and provide high-speed internet service to clients and residents here in the city.

That answered several questions, but when we first started talking about this project, I always wanted to know about the service to the people. And so now we know that there's going to be some kind of AGREEMENT THAT WE'RE GOING TO MAKE AND THEY'RE GOING TO GIVE US SOME KIND OF DISCOUNT OR SOMETHING FOR THE RESIDENTS WHEN AFTER THESE SEVEN YEARS. SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS WHAT I'M HEARING. Because that's more important right now to me to get Wi-Fi and everything in everybody's home than it is right now for us to save $12,000 a month. That's a lot. I just want to know how much taxes they'll be paying. That's a small area. And if that lift station is operating.

The only person that could answer the taxes question would be the assessor, and that's once the building and equipment and so forth is all put in there, to make sure your understanding is correct about the line they're bringing in where it pertains to citizens. They're not providing services to residents. They're providing a line in there that the city can use to purchase wholesale at their most favorite discount rate if the city wants to provide that service the way we do water.

favorable discount rate, and it caused me to ask the question, what is a favorable discount rate for Benton Harbor residents to have Wi-Fi? Are they talking that they're going to give us some kind of tax break, or exactly how did that favorable discount come about?

That was a language that we agreed to in terms of our ability to purchase wholesale the high-speed service for a resale if we decide we want to provide that service. And we can set that price at whatever price. We want to set it at once we acquire and go into it, but if we do that, of course, we've got to make sure that we structure it properly to where we're covering all of our costs and that type of thing.

Commissioner Isom. Thank you, Dr. Mayor. I just wanted to get some clarity on who the 75-year ground lease is. That's a long time. So why 75 years? Could it have been 25 years or 30 or 10 or what?

Well, we had started at a lesser period when we were talking about five years of free service. And in the negotiations, we got the raise to seven years. And for all of those public buildings that we listed, and in exchange, it got 75 years.

So if I can just weigh in. So this money came from the Biden administration. It's a roughly $72 million project, and Benton Harbor was selected. It could have stopped in Gary, but it ran underneath Lake Michigan all the way to Jean Clark Park, and as Commissioner Henry said, it's going to Flint. So the amount and the magnitude of the project for 25 years, it doesn't make sense. you know, $75 million investing that's going to impact this area in a way that we've never seen. To just do 25 years, that's not even, that's barely a generation. But this particular project will affect generations. When I was in Ghana, we were at the Penske Hotel, and we learned that from some of the economic development persons that we met were there, that France is running the same line from France underneath the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the shores of Ghana because Ghana's strategic location to have that fiber optic line and offer the Internet to that area will go all the way across West Africa. And the same with Benton Harbor is our strategic location where we sit right here at Southwest Michigan, straight line from Chicago. This will go all the way across the West of Michigan, all the way up to Southeast Michigan. So it's really a big, big deal. Mayor Johnson in Chicago, $75 million project is much bigger to us than to them. But the other part of it is Chicago has the largest internet feed in the whole world. So for Benton Harbor to be able to tap directly into the largest feed in the world is huge for our area. But that's a great question, Mr. Manager.

If I could just add on that, it's actually a lot more than that. It's about a half a billion. But this is some of the highest speed internet in the United States that's coming out of that south side of Chicago through here and then going up to Byron Center up near Grand Rapids and across. And because of that, Well, the reason they're doing that is because all of the existing internet up to now in Michigan comes underground around the lake up through East Chicago, Indiana, Gary, and on up. And the problem they've constantly had is every time there's some major construction and they're digging in the ground, somebody cuts the line. affects Internet all up and down the entire side of the state. So that's why this is being put in. And the fact that it comes on land in Michigan here at Benton Harbor will have major implications for many, many years to come. And I would suspect that it's going to have an immediate impact in a shorter term our city in terms of businesses of certain nature that will be trying to get close to where this comes in at. So it could have a great impact for us. As I said we need to pull that legal description that's being redone and we'll and that'll so we just need to say the legal description as amended.

So if we could just get a motion to amend that we're pending the updated legal description.

Make a motion that we approve pending the legal description being amended.

Second.

The legal description for the property is being updated.

I call for the question. Commissioner Henry.

There's no legal description in here. Now, are you speaking of just the... City Attorney, could you please...

So right now you should have Exhibit A attached, and that is the legal description of the property. What we looked at, and the engineer has looked this over also, we wanted it to be, obviously on our side we wanted it to be as small as it needed to be to fit the building, but no larger than that, because we want to control that area because it belongs to the city. So we're actually, the parties have actually agreed that this is going to be a smaller legal description, to be more in conjunction with the size of the building. Then, of course, that gets looked at by the assessor. A building permit will be issued at some point, and that's how the taxes get assessed based on the legal description. But what is attached right now is just a little bit larger than the engineer was comfortable with. So we're redoing that legal description. But if you look at the very last page, it's actually the photograph. exhibit A, you'll see how small the proposed hut is on that parcel. It's a very, very small area. So we're trying to make the legal description fit that hut.

And you think it's okay for us to vote on something that we don't know about?

So everything you vote on is subject to legal review and engineering review. And I will tell you, I'm not an engineer. That's above my pay grade. But we look at every single legal description when documents are signed to make sure they're as small as we need them to be. We don't want to give away too much. So we are making sure that it just fits the property they need, and we're not giving them anything more than they need.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

COMMISSIONER FIELDS.

SO IS THIS SERVING AS COMPETITION FOR THE CURRENT INTERNET PROVIDERS THAT WE HAVE? SO MY VERIZON BILL, I CAN SWITCH?

I DON'T KNOW IF WE WANT TO GO IN AND LOOK AT IT AS COMPETITION, BUT WHAT IT DOES IS IT GIVES BEN HARBOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET INTO THE area where we can provide internet at a reduced cost.

Madam Clerk.

Commissioner Kennard.

Yes.

Commissioner Warren.

Yes.

Commissioner Clark-Griffin.

Yes.

Commissioner Fields.

Commissioner Henry had her hand up.

You have something to add, Commissioner Henry?

Well, I just wanted to know about the additional rent. We talked to her. IT TALKS OF ADDITIONAL RENT, AND I NEED TO HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING. THIS DOCUMENT IS YOUR DOCUMENT AND IN YOUR RIM, SO I NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT ADDITIONAL RENT IS.

So the additional rent is going to be the taxes. So if they don't pay taxes, it's as if they're not paying rent under the lease. There's multiple ways to go after them for that if they don't pay taxes. It's through the tax system, which we know takes a while if you don't pay. But we could also go after them for not paying rent since we're considering the tax payments as rent. So it's a quicker resolution if it's considered rent. So that's why that is in there.

THERE IS A VOTE COMMISSION.

I DIDN'T SEE A MOUNT. IT WAS A BLANK DOCUMENT. AND THAT SCARES ME WHEN I SEE BLANK DOCUMENTS.

I don't like blanks either. They make me nervous and keep me up at night, but I can tell you why that blank is in there, and I think City Manager Little referred to it earlier. We don't have a building permit from them yet, so the process is they will submit a building permit for the hut. It'll have a value to it. I don't know exactly what that value will be, and I don't think any of us do yet, but it will have a value. It will go to the building department, and then it'll go to the assessor, and she will give it a fair market value assessment, and that's what that THE TAXES WILL BE BASED ON.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR.

THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER FIELDS? YES. COMMISSIONER HENDERSON?

YES.

COMMISSIONER HENRY? YES. COMMISSIONER ISOM? YES. MAYOR PORTEMP-TURNER? YES. MAYOR MOHAMMED? YES.

THIS BRINGS US TO RESOLUTION NUMBER NINE, RESOLUTION TO TEMPORARILY WAIVE CURRENT WATER UTILITY LATE FEES. IS THERE A MOTION FOR THE APPROVAL? MOTION TO APPROVE. SUPPORT. MOTION IS MADE BY MAYOR PROTEM TURNER. IS IT SUPPORTED?

SUPPORT.

IS IT SUPPORTED BY COMMISSIONER FIELDS? IS THERE DISCUSSION? CHAIR RECOGNIZES COMMISSIONER HENDERSON.

Thank you, Honorable Mayor and Commission. I was just listening to all of the comments in regards to waiving the late fees. I know we've had a lot of issues, especially with the water plant being redone, putting in the water lines. I spoke to someone who had issues with the bill, not getting the bill and having an exorbitant amount of water. But my only concern is Business-wise, we have signed an agreement with the Treasury to collect money. Fees are meant to be prohibitive, which means they're designed to make sure that people, and most people in our city, most people do pay their bills, whether it's the electric bill, cable bill, they're meant to be preventative. And I think because we are trying to keep our water plant, there's lot of history to things that are that is happening even with us signing this money to support the water company the water plant is costing the city lots of money lots of money we talked about the the the treasurer the water And so I just think it's not a really good business decision to eliminate any revenue that's coming into the city, whether it's 30 days, 20 days, whatever that time be, because it's still not going to change the fact that there's something going on that needs to be addressed. fixed or addressed, whether that's systems, processes, we need to address that. I get a regular cable bill, and sometimes I think I check the button with my electric bill, so right now it's electronic, and I forgot about that, and I was like, where is my bill? It came to me electronically, but it also shows me on that bill what I use on a monthly basis and actually a yearly basis so I can see the months that it's up, the months that it's down. So I think there are other ways for us to help residents by putting on our bill possibly, you know, what the usages are because summertime is happening. People are taking more baths, using more water. So there will be an up and down flow with water. So I think we need to just reconsider and look at that. I will not be supporting this because I don't agree with that. We gave residents a $700 payment of ARPA funding to help pay bills. and what we don't want to give people an opportunity to misunderstand what this means and say, oh, they said that we're eliminating something for 30 days. People stopped, literally stopped paying their water bills. We had people stop paying. We have to continue running that water plant. It is a business, and we need to make sure that it functions. Fees may not amount to much. I think there was a question about how much the fees were. That's not the key to get money out of people. It's to prevent people from paying late. And I think with any service, that's the goal. Because if we're going to ask Benton Harbor, who you know, struggling. We need to ask AEP. A resident just said that lights have been out on the street, but I'm sure But electricity is still, they're still being billed for something. Not sure what that is, if it's coming on and off. And so, and AP ain't quick to not, to waive anything if you ask them. Same thing with mortgages. They might do it one or two times, but if you consistently pay late, they're going to get their fees. And I think we just need to think really strategically and carefully about this. The city is not a charity. It is a business. And I understand the concern that we have, but we still have to run this like a business.

Chair recognizes Mayor Tim Turner. Thank you. With all due respect to Commissioner Henderson, I do understand where she's coming from. Back in February, I emailed the city manager. When I first heard of the concern, he did not respond to my email. He did not take it as serious. Months have passed by. Commissioner Clark Griffin seconded my motion in the email. Back in April, Commissioner Henry said it again. When are we going to do it? Months passed by again. On Facebook, the whole trend. My water bill's high. My water bill's high. The city hall responded, none. This is how Benahata went into a legal lawsuit with the water situation then. So to prevent that, this is why this is before the committee today. was because of the same issue. The city manager said he had an investigation done by July 8th at 5.30 p.m., which is the next public safety and public works committee. Right now, we're seeing residents saying, hey, I got a water bill. One month is less. Another one is high. Then again, served a shut-up notice. That's unfair. On February 8th, I gave the city manager a four-page list of suggestions how to eliminate and save Benton Harbor $1.8 million. All of that was ignored. I guess because I'm new. I don't know why. All of that was ignored. Later on, Commissioner Henry is having an email trend. Wonderful. That's how I learned how Ben Harbor is moving the water payment system in-house. That's now going to save Ben Harbor over $400,000 plus. So I'm happy to see that. But right now, what's before us is that we're having an issue that can lead to another lawsuit and we're trying to prevent this here. We're not telling the residents don't pay a water bill. We're saying you still have water usage, as the city manager said. We're saying waive the late fees until this is served correctly. So that way on July 8th, we can go back to the negotiation when the city manager said he'd have everything done right in front of all of us, and we'll uplift it then.

Well, just caution, you know, in terms of, you know, making a second or in an email. because that could be viewed as a violation of the Open Meetings Act. Our seconds must be made on the floor at open meetings, and our motions must be made on the floor at open meetings. Could you please, Mayor Pro Tem, just clarify how the city is exposed to legal harm in this case?

So let's go back to when y'all was notified of the water situation. Y'all was notified how the water was getting contaminated and the levels increased, but the city failed to respond. That's what led to your lawsuit. So here we are. We are already in litigation right now. So if we continue to have the same water situation, you're adding more problems on you. And I'll make sure my name will be clear. We see it. We are addressing the resident's concern to the city manager per section 3.9, 3.10. I have done that from February until now. I'm ignored. So therefore, we did it through our committee. He was there. He was present. He gave us a short answer. That's not what the residents need right now. So if we can continue to ignore an issue, it leads into another rabbit hole of litigation. So do we want to go to another lawsuit that we have no money for? Because if y'all do, let me know, and I'll make sure I'm free and clear. Because I don't think the attorney won't be in courtroom more longer than she has to be.

Senator Turner, can you substantiate, or can you speak to that, please?

So what I'm gathering from what Mayor Pro Tem Turner is saying is he's concerned about a lawsuit because bills have gone out late and that would be the harm that you're alleging here is that people didn't get bills and so they didn't pay them and then those late fees then accrued and they didn't know that they had a bill. It happens. It's happened to me where I haven't gotten a bill and I just, the months go by so fast. I think it's prudent to look at what the cost would be. I don't think you know yet how much that cost is. I also think it would be prudent that once you find out what that time period is, when I'm reading the resolution, it looks like you're alluding to three different departments looking at when the bills were late and what the fees would be. My recommendation would be that you analyze what those fees are and before you vote to just approve those tonight, that you approve the process first, that they look at that, they come up with the fees, and then that vote would be, it sounds like after the information is given to you, it would be July 8th, did you say?

So from February, let me clarify, from February of this year until today, city manager per section 3.9, 3.10, again, I can cite it back in my head, sleep, work, all that. He has had time to look at this here. So there is no more if, ands, or buts about this here. All the emails, all commissioners, the city clerk, you have been tagged into it. I am sick and tired of the residents tagging me on Facebook, why is my water bill high? Again, this is not what we keep on playing games with the residents. They want to know why are they water bill high. He said he'll give us an explanation in the next committee. That's 30 days. But I know how he operates. He won't do that because that's me. I'm being me. So I have to put it on documents so the residents understand your concern has been addressed. And unfortunately, I have to do what I got to do because he don't respond to my e-mails. I'm being transparent.

And who authored the resolution?

WENT THROUGH COMMITTEE TO ADD THE TOPIC TOWARDS DISCUSSION.

BUT MY QUESTION IS WHO AUTHORED THE RESOLUTION? WE KNOW IT CAME TO COMMITTEE, BUT WHO AUTHORED THE RESOLUTION? MY RESIDENTS. SO, I MEAN, I SUPPORT THE IDEA OF... WE JUST SAID 30 DAYS. POINT ORDER, PRO-TIM. I SUPPORT THE IDEA OF GIVING RESIDENTS, IF THERE WAS AN ISSUE OF A LATE BILL AND RESIDENTS WERE HARMED AS A RESULT, THEN THERE SHOULD BE A PROCESS TO WHERE, YOU KNOW, IF THE LATE FEE IS $5 OR $6 FOR A MONTH then the bill can be credited, whatever that late fee amount is. But I think that we need to have some kind of system where the Water Department has some directive administratively because we can pass a resolution, which is the powers of the commission, but administration... is the powers of the manager. And the manager works with the water department staff in order to execute. So if the manager is not involved in crafting the resolution that the water department has to execute, then that's where the problem comes. So I think that if we can find a way to work together and work with the manager, which I'm sure he would be willing to help in the situation, but I don't think that an individual commissioner can just write a resolution, throw it on the committee, and tell the manager and the staff, you got to follow that. That's not the right process, nor is it the powers of the council, because we don't have administrative power. We have power to approve, but we don't have administrative power to write administrative resolutions for staff and police and fire and people to follow. Madam Attorney, can you speak to that?

Yeah, so this is normally something that would be looked at. I think in the resolution it does identify the proper parties. The city manager, the water payment administrator, and the finance director were supposed to look. It didn't give a specific time frame. It just said that they would look at this and then they would make the decision as to when the bills went out late and they would determine what that was. I guess my thought is it probably makes sense to have them do that and quantify what is the number because we don't know what that number is. We don't know if it's $5 times 100 people or if it's $50 times 100 people, and I think it makes a big difference. We just don't know. I don't know enough about the system and how late the bills were. If all the bills were late, if some of them were late, but the water system administrator and the manager should know that. So there might need to be some more investigating, but I'm open. I don't know how that side of the billing works.

Commissioner Fields and Commissioner Kennard and Mayor Pro Tem Turner in that order.

Okay. So, I'll refer back to Commissioner Henderson. And in a perfect system, I would totally agree with that. But as Mayor Pro Tem has referenced and how everyone ought to be aware among the commission because the email chain has occurred. THE PROBLEM IS AND WHERE WE NEED TO START IS WITH THE CITY MANAGER, RIGHT? WE'VE ASKED FOR THIS TO BE LOOKED INTO. AT ONE POINT, IT WAS THE POST OFFICE IS MELANIMOLE. THEN IT'S THE COMPANY WE'RE USING. WE DON'T HAVE THE CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE WITH THEM. YOU KNOW, AND THEN WHAT'S MOST PRESSING FOR ME IS IT WASN'T UNTIL WE... SO ALL ALONG, THIS CITY THAT HAS BEEN CARRYING US, RIGHT, THE $1.7 MILLION WITHIN A YEAR, is in a meeting being referenced as they're not paying their bill, this isn't a break. This is allowing for clarity. If you haven't received your bill, what are you going to pay? In the meeting, in the public works and public safety meeting, how is the bills even being decided upon? Well, some of them are estimates. RIGHT? SOME OF THEM ARE BEING READ BY A CLOWN TRUCK OR SOMETHING THAT WAS BEING REFERENCED. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE CLARITY BUT WANT TO BUILD OR BUILD WITH LAY FEES SOMEONE, SAY, EVEN TWO MONTHS. LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH I DON'T EVEN WANT TO BRING UP DIFFERENT PEOPLE, BUT And then we were told by the city manager, well, you can look online. Residents have said that are technical savvy. They have one online. It wasn't anything even there. So the problem is in existence because despite being asked since February, the city manager hasn't done what everybody is saying right now can be done. So we need to start there. BECAUSE I'M NOT FINISHED, BECAUSE WE NEED TO START THERE IN ALL DUE RESPECT. IT'S NOT GIVING A BREAK, WHICH I DON'T SEE HOW YOU CAN'T GIVE THE RESIDENTS A $15 BREAK, EVEN IF IT WAS ALL OF THEM. I MEAN, IT'S $1.7 MILLION. WE GOT TO GIVE THEM A BREAK WITH EMERGENCIES AND NEEDING MONIES WITHOUT EVEN HAVING LINE ITEMS. YOU KNOW, WE GET REAL TECHNICAL, AND THEN WE IGNORE THE ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM, AND THEN WE SEEM ANGRY. We're not angry. We're wanting accountability across the board, and we are here. Us all voting in are here for these same residents we're talking about, as if they're just not wanting to pay a bill. Tony Anderson came in here and said he hadn't got it for two months, and we know it shouldn't be dialogue. However, city manager told him, yes, you can come see me, just to tell him, no, he wasn't going to waive the lay fee. But then at that point, he still hadn't gave a deadline as to, okay, well, I'll have it figured out in 30 days. It wasn't until we talked about giving the residents, or actually, I didn't even know about it necessarily, but when I came to the meeting, the public works and public safety meeting, and then it was his reference to giving them a break, then the city manager set up, for lack of a better word, because, you know, sometimes he sits back. This isn't being petty. This is being honest. Everybody should be paying attention to this.

But the thing about it is the city manager himself cannot waive late fees.

Right. He can figure out what the problem is, which is all that was asked. But that's what I'm saying.

We can work with the manager.

He could have already did it, though. He could have already done it.

To point order, the debate and dialogue is on the council floor.

But I totally agree with that. But it's been slow coming, right? These residents have been getting these late fees since before we even came on. And then we brought it up and it wasn't addressed.

Well, I think this is a great time. I mean, we just passed the city budget, which was a major, major mammoth task for the manager a month early. And we just had to amend and approve because we did some things during approval that we didn't execute properly. So I think that when we talk about waiving late fees, There's a way to do that. I mean this council, the few that are left from the previous, we gave over 1.5 million dollars in credits to residents. We voted for that. So we, this group, we want to give residents relief. This would not be the first time where residents, I voted for, I, Commissioner Henderson, and Henry voted for residents to receive relief, and I believe Commissioner Warren, so And Clark Griffin, pardon me. So we want to do that. How you do that is where we have to work together and give the manager some directive, yes, but also he has to be the one to bring it back to us after working with the staff to say this is the late fee calculations and this is the amount that will be credited to the account and that's what we will vote on. So if we're moving to move the resolution forward to authorize the manager to calculate the late fees, I think that's great. And then he can bring it back to us and let us know what that is, and then we vote on it. Commissioner Kennard?

Okay. To the attorney, give a chain of order as to how this will go. It's first to who?

So the resolution indicates the city manager, the water payment administrator, and the finance director would meet and figure out what the cost is, what the late fees are, the time period, and all of those things. All of those details, and then my thought was, then you'll know. Because right now, I mean, I can't guess. I don't know if the city manager can guess what the late fees would be, but I think you need to know what those are.

And you've been asking. Yes.

And you've been asking.

I'm glad that you put it in that order, because I've said for years that we haven't had a finance director in here. You're against your charter already. So who do you follow through as the director of those finances? So this is one of the chains that is not in place to keep a check of every nickel, dime, and penny in here. So we don't have that in place. How do you fix the problem? And people are complaining now that they call TIME AND TIME AGAIN, THEY DON'T GET ANSWERS. WE WERE ELECTED. AND IF SOMEONE IS UPSET BECAUSE WE'RE DOING OUR JOB BY ASKING QUESTIONS, THIS IS OUR JOB. AND THEY GOT TO KNOW THAT WE'RE ASKING THE QUESTIONS THAT THEY COME TO US FOR BY HERE IN THIS MEETING ADDRESSING IT. SO WHEN SOMEONE SAYS, WELL, THEY'RE NOT GETTING ALONG, THEY'RE NOT HERE WHERE WE ARE. THEY'RE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS. And when we ask for answers, the city manager, he manages the city. That's where we put in the right order. So that's where the confusion. And you got to start at the top. He is supposed to direct the rest of it. But we ask for answers. And I'm going to ask for them. So anybody that wants to can come in here, say what they want to. But I'm looking for clear answers. A lot of this mess has been going on for years, even when others was here. So now that we're trying to work towards getting answers and getting clarity on it, don't get upset because this is what we are. We're in the hot spot. This has went along long enough. Thank you.

Commissioner Warren and Commissioner Clark Griffin to follow.

Thank you.

Commissioner Warren has not spoke all night. Commissioner Warren.

Thank you. So when it comes to a utility, we know they're not free. If I use my water, even if I don't get a bill, I know that it's not free. And everybody in here knows that. But I will agree that the bill is a reminder because we're all human. And even for me, I forget to pay my water bill sometimes to all get a late fee. The late fees are fairly low, so in my opinion, I would be in favor of some kind of help. However, I don't feel like five months would be accurate. If I'm hearing correctly, the proposal was starting in February. I do recall residents saying there was an issue receiving their bill. I don't believe I've heard a resident saying they didn't get a bill for five full months. So I think it's more like a two-month issue. Our late fees are extremely low. So if a person has a high, low, high bill, I really don't see how a late fee is going to make their bill significantly higher because we have extremely low late fees in our city. So just to reiterate, we all know our utilities are not free. So if your bill is not there, you know you're using the utility and you know you owe for it. But it does serve as a reminder. I do agree. So I do think that there should be some kind of relief. I don't believe that a five-month period is a fair relief. I think it may have been more like one or two months where the majority of the city had an issue receiving their bill. Thank you.

Chair recognizes Commissioner Clyde Griffin.

First of all, let me just say there has not been motions made in email or no seconds in email. We're very aware of the law. Secondly, I just want to say residents were home. The mayor said no residents are home. The resident order the mayor did not say that I did not say that you did say you if residents are not home So I'm saying they are being cuz when they water bill get high you get you haven't got bills in months and and then you get a bill and a shutoff notice, that's harm. And then you get a shutoff notice, and then you're so much behind, that goes on your taxes.

But every resident was not harmed.

Point of order. Also, when your water is turned off, your home is considered condemned. So that is harmful. Also, I believe there was a resolution. The city manager said it would become in-house, and he was working with another department, I believe, that's going to do the bill also at Wednesday's meeting. And then... They say the mayor, I mean, the city manager should know and the water department should, you know, look at it first and all that. They should already know this. So this has been going on for months and months and months. And also getting a bill like a mortgage or internet is different from water because water bills is from your uses, what you use. And yeah, if you should know you have a water bill, but if you're not getting bills two and three months, how do you know how much your water is? You got to estimate it. So there is. And also, we can vote on this. Why are they still, the city manager, water department, whoever needs to look and see what the late fees is. That does not stop us from voting tonight. And we are the lawmakers. We can make this law. It's no big deal. I mean, it seems like every time it comes to something to help the resident, something as little as late fees doesn't There's an issue with some up here, but then we can give away everything else. It doesn't make no sense. I waived the water fees. I think it's been kicked down long enough for months and months, and the city manager, like I said, and the water department and whoever involved should already know. They gave the late fees out, and the disconnect note is out, so they already know what the fees was. Thank you.

Chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Turner.

So here goes the timeline. So since nobody don't know when I sent the email out, February 9th, 2026. Here was another email, March 24th, 2026. February 8th, 2026. I'm sorry, here goes another one, April 10th, 2026.

He's out, and the disconnect note is out, so they already know what the fees was. Thank you.

Chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Turner.

So here goes the timeline. So since nobody don't know when I sent the email out, February 9th, 2026. He wrote another email March 24th, February 8th, April 10th, May 26th, June 2nd, and then we had June 10th, that's the timeline when I sent emails regarding some issues. So the city manager again, Per Section 3.9, 3.10, he had more than enough time to respond.

So, Mayor Pro Tem, I have a question. So, you're saying residents did not receive a bill for five months?

Correct. We have a few who did not receive water bills, and they have made it known. They have said they called the city manager's office. No answer.

So, that's why. That's why.

Again, they called Mr. Roland Rice, because in the email, they said, Mr. Turner, don't you send an email. You have them do it.

Right, but so that's why I said every resident was not harmed, and the residents who did not receive a bill for five months, then something should be mitigated to reduce any harm or issue. But that's not everybody. That's an exception to the rule, but it's not the rule, and that's why we need to have, as you put in your resolution, the staff involved. to work with the Water Payment Center to identify those homes that did not receive a bill, and the calculations should be done, brought back to this commission, and we vote on it.

We're at the Public Works and Public Safety Committee on July 8th, and he's going to give me a full detail of everybody who's behind and everything, because I told him 5.30 p.m. on July 8th. He's going to be the first speaker to speak.

TO ORGANIZE IS COMMISSIONER KANAR.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. I KNOW THAT THERE'S A PROBLEM, BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN STAYING CURRENT WITH MY BILL. I CAME IN AND PAID MY WATER BILL. I DON'T REMEMBER EVEN RECEIVING A BILL, BUT I CAME IN. and paid the water bill. Then that same month, less than a month, I sent my daughter, she is here visiting, in to pay the water bill. So you were not hired? That's twice. No, I wasn't hired, but let me tell you the thing. Then in a few days or so after that, I received a bill for $170-some dollars and a shutoff notice, same day.

And that can't happen, but there's a way to appeal.

And there's a way to engage. Okay. She got the floor.

Commissioner Kaniyia, you have the floor.

So I'm saying that if I'm paying my bill and I get a shutoff notice the same day that I'm receiving a bill, that doesn't make me happy because I'm trying to stay current with my bill. I went down to even before I became a commissioner some years ago. I was serving on the dollar ride there. I was told that I couldn't even serve there because I owed a bill. And it's not an elected position there. It's something that's not going on right. Now, one of the things that I did recognize that what they was doing, I asked them, Down there, I say, where am I laying on my bill? They say, your bill is carried. Says a lot of the commissioners got much bigger bills. Your bill stays carried. So now, what do you do there? So you see, that's a concern of mine, because it's not right, it's not fair. Taking care of business, when you're dealing with people's lives, that's their money. you should be more on point. And when this comes to make a mention of it, consider it. Thank you.

Again, you know, I think that, you know, we've all said that some relief for those who have been harmed should come. But the city manager and staff have to calculate that, bring it back to us, And we vote on giving relief to those who are harmed. I don't see what the continuous debate is. Because he won't do it. No, he will do it. We just have to give him directive and give him reasonable time to administrate. We're not the administrators. We're the legislators. HE ADMINISTRATES, WE LEGISLATE. I CALL FOR THE QUESTION. MADAM CLERK, COULD YOU READ THE RESOLUTION?

WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO READ THE MEMO OR THE RESOLUTION?

THE RESOLUTION.

RESOLUTION TO TEMPORARILY WAIVE CURRENT WATER UTILITY LATE FEES. Whereas the City of Benton Harbor operated a municipal water utility system and is responsible for billing and collection of water service charges. And whereas recent issues related to the City's water billing and distribution of customer bills have resulted in delays, inaccuracies, or disruptions affecting customer accounts. And whereas such disruptions have contributed to the assessment of late fees on water utility customers who may not have had a fair or reasonable opportunity to remit timely payment. And whereas, pursuant to the authority granted under the Michigan Home Rule City Act and applicable local ordinances, the City Commission has the authority to establish, modify, and waive fees associated with municipal services, including administrative charges such as late fees. And whereas the City Commission recognizes the importance of ensuring fairness, equity, and due process in the administration of utility billing practices. And whereas providing temporary relief from late fees while maintaining responsibility for base utility charges supports public trust and encourages continued compliance with utility payment obligations. And whereas the City Commission finds that it is in the best interest of the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents to provide limited and temporary relief to affected residents during the period of identified billing disruption. And now therefore be it resolved that the City of Benton Harbor City Commission hereby authorizes a temporary waiver of current late fees for water utility accounts impacted by billing and payment issues. and now therefore be it further resolved that this waiver shall apply only to late fees incurred on accounts affected during the identified period of billing disruption as determined by the City Manager, Water Payment Administrator, and Finance Director, and shall not forgive or reduce the underlying principal balance owed for water services or future late fees. And now, therefore, be it even further resolved that the waiver shall be applied to accounts affected during the identified period of billing disruption as determined by the City Manager, Water Payment Administrator, and Finance Department.

Thank you.

The motion was made by Madam Clerk.

Do we need support?

If there is no objection, then we do not need to vote. If there is, then we will need a second.

Second.

You made the motion.

I second it.

It's no objection.

You wouldn't even give us a pause.

She called for the question.

Motion to call for the question by Commissioner Clark Griffin and supported by Commissioner Fields.

Oh, you was going to say something? You was going to object?

Commissioner Warren. So unfortunately, I don't understand the period of billing or affected residents. So we're voting on something without the people. Okay, so no.

Commissioner Clark-Griffin? Yes. Commissioner Fields? Yes. Commissioner Henderson?

No.

Commissioner Henry? Yes. Commissioner Isom? No. Commissioner Kennard? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Turner?

Yes.

Mayor Muhammad?

Yes.

Motion carried.

This brings us to staff comment. Chair recognizes Public Safety Director, Deputy Clark.

Nothing this evening, sir.

The chair recognizes the city attorney, Attorney Seneca.

No report tonight, Honorable Mayor.

The chair recognizes the city manager, City Clerk Moore.

Thank you. I would like to give an update on the upcoming August 4th primary election because it will be here in no time. As you all know, the city is part of a countywide agreement with Berrien County for early voting for the nine days prior to the state and federal elections only. Is that when that takes place? Berrien County has moved their early voting location for 2026. They were not able to secure the previous locations that they had, so the early voting location now is at Lake Township Hall in Bridgman. For the August 4th primary, that takes place July 25th through August 2nd. I will report that the primary two years ago, the state primary, the city only had two residents vote in early voting for the state primary. So we are encouraging residents to come to City Hall. You can fill out a ballot here. The only difference is you cannot put it in the tabulator yourself like you can at early voting. But any resident can come to City Hall and obtain a ballot early. They do not have to wait until Election Day to vote. They have until 4 p.m. the day prior to the election to receive an absentee ballot. They can call us. We can send them an application if they're not on the ballot list. So there are ways for residents to vote early. You do not have to go to Bridgman to the early voting site. You can do it here in City Hall. And those ballots will be available at City Hall June 25th.

Thank you. Chair recognizes City Manager Little.

I would just like to correct something that was stated earlier incorrectly. The Mayor Pro Tem came on 2nd of January, and a month later, as he indicated, asked a question to me about finding out, and this was the question that was given to me, find out why some people are not getting their water bills. What was said to me is I thought something was happening in terms of our billing. We checked with the post office here locally. The post office here said we send out everything that comes to us from Grand Rapids. We checked with Grand Rapids and they said they didn't know what the problem was. Everybody knows that there have been mail problems everywhere, not just here. And I reported that back, that that was what was told to us. The question then was raised about the billing company. And we looked into that, found out that the billing company appeared to have mailed out everything that was given because when they mail them out, they send a list here for our leaser to go through to check and follow up on. We don't know exactly where in the mail system the problem was. It didn't have anything to do with anything that we were doing. As a matter of fact, if you had a box down there of envelopes that came back from the mail system to us. back to us. So the question continued to escalate over the time period and we continued to look at different things because then the question came about the differences in the bills and we started to look into that. But everybody didn't failed to get a bill. Some people did. It was not the same person every time. So that's, I just wanted to clarify that particular point.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Chair recognizes Commissioner Kinnar. Commission comments.

Thank you, Your Honorable Mayor. I'd like to say thanks, everyone, for coming out. Most of them has already left. But watch and see how well this will be addressed when we had almost that whole section there came in together and came in. spoke on the problem that they were having. We have the same problems and other matters going on in the heart of Benton Harbor. Even when I asked, even from cleaning the street, then they had to get another piece of equipment to clean the streets. If you go there right at Ogden and look, the streets have been fixed beautifully, but there's vegetation growing out of the out of the drains there already. And we cannot go and clean out those drains. I was told that we'd be ticketed. So now what do you do if you fix up your house and you let it just accumulate junk? You got the same problem again. We need action. And when we fix up things, to take care of it. going to make a lot of hoopla about what has been done. It's just a band-aid on the situation. We need to take actions and have a follow-up and take care of business of our city. So this is from the managing. I can't go and overstep my boundaries and tell you what to do, but you should know your job because you are managing the city. So the head persons are to take their positions and do it, and we won't have anything to complain about. Thank you all, and you all have a wonderful week.

Chair recognizes Commissioner Clark Griffin.

I'd like to thank everybody for coming out and everybody that's listening tonight. My heart is full. We had a wonderful ninth annual Juneteenth parade and celebration as we bigger and better every year. Some great things was happening, the performers, the awards, Pan, we parade participants. We had the Jeep that came. They came all the way from South Bend. All those nice Jeeps that you saw. The luxury Corvette, those was all the way from Detroit. One of my, I call her sis, that I went to school with, she got her and her husband. They be in all kinds of competition all over, and they win. So those were some... Very good night, Corvette. We made history for the first time. I'm going to give a special thanks to Mayor Pro Tem Turner, who served as sergeant at arm, getting them together. The alumni and also the current band, that was history in the making. Never happened before. It was wonderful. We had people when I was marching saying that they came from North Carolina. just all over for our parade and celebration. And I want to thank everybody who was there. I'm having them a women event called Women Celebrate Women, celebrating a whole meeting. So, self-care, self-compassion, empowerment, entrepreneur networking. Commissioner Fields will be doing the meditation. Commissioner Kanaan will be giving some words of encouragement. And I believe Commissioner Henry is going to be there also. We're going to have food activities, teachers, giveaways, comfort food, give back, the work. And I'm putting this all myself. No donations. So I'm doing this to show love to the community. Because women, we don't celebrate ourselves like we need to. We worry about everybody else. We try to make sure everybody else is okay. But we're going to just come. It's going to be purple and gold.

Purple for royalty.

Gold for luxury. So I'm just telling you that you might come and enjoy yourself. We're going to have activities. It's going to be all kinds of things going on just for me. And it wasn't cheap, you guys, but that's because I love you guys. Also, August 22nd is going to be my fifth annual 4-Quarter Alliance Resource Fair Community Giveaway Fall Cleanup. As you know, there are vendors. I have vendors giving away free resources, all kinds of resources that's available. Grill booths, backpacks filled with food supplies, houseware, shoes, clothes, personal hygiene, whatever you need. Firetrucks, yeah, giving out carbon monoxide detectors, smoke detectors. crowd is always there that's in everyone with activities for the kids we have all kinds of ready commissioner phil this is going to be her second time she's going to be there um with total wellness so um it's going to be a great time and that is open to the whole community and you've probably seen fibers all over the place young up in different So.

Thank you to recognize this commissioner at large fields.

THANK YOU, YEAH, FOR THOSE THAT CAME OUT, THOSE THAT ARE STILL HERE, THOSE WITH REPEATED COMMENTS AND MEANS OF ACCOUNTABILITY. AND WE ACTUALLY NEED TO TAKE NOTE, LIKE COMMISSIONER KANAR STATED THAT A COALITION WAS SET UP FOR A NEED, WHETHER WE AGREE OR FEEL AS THOUGH THEIRS IS MORE PREVALENT IT'S POWER IN NUMBERS, IT IS THE ORGANIZATION, IT IS BEING UNITED FOR A CAUSE, AND WHATEVER THAT CAUSE IS. AND SO ALONG THOSE LINES, IT MAKES ME THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT RESIDENTS HAVE DIFFERENT PLIGHTS, AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT AN INDIVIDUAL'S ISSUE IS IN LIFE AND HOW a circumstance may be affecting them. But when residents speak up and speak out and we don't respond, that's a problem. It's a disservice, whether you're a commissioner or whoever. And if you guys can recall, the reason I became involved is because of such situations where advocacy was DUE TO NOT BEING NECESSARILY IN A CERTAIN POSITION AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE, BUT THE QUESTIONS SHOULD HAPPEN AND THE ADVOCACY SHOULD HAPPEN, THE TRANSPARENCY AND ULTIMATELY ACCOUNTABILITY OF STAFF THAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SHOULD EXIST. THE ENERGY THAT WE SHOW IN REGARDS TO NOT GIVING, SAY, FOR EXAMPLE, A WATER RELIEF SHOULD BE MAGNIFIED WHEN WE ARE BEING ASKED FOR, AGAIN, WHAT, $1.7 MILLION. AND THEN WE CAN'T IGNORE THE FACT THAT PRIOR TO THE NEW INDIVIDUALS COMING IN, THE NEW COMMISSIONERS COMING IN, It had been passed. What was it? 420, 450 the first time. What was that? March, June, it was 800,000. And then the final one was either the 450 or 420. I mixed those two up. But what I'm stressing is that there was no items or billing or AP or whatnot as to what it would be spent on. HOW LONG WE DISCUSSED GIVING A $5 AND $2 DISCOUNT OR RELIEF FOR A WATER BILL SHOULD HAVE BEEN MAGNIFIED FOR ALL THE MONEY WE USED FROM THESE SAME RESIDENTS. AND AGAIN, I REMEMBER I WAS SITTING ON THE OTHER SIDE AND I REMEMBER COMMISSIONER HENDERSON SAID SHE DIDN'T WANT TO VOTE FOR IT, BUT YOU KNOW, NECESSARILY, BUT BILLS HAVE TO BE PAID. AND THAT'S ANOTHER GASLIGHTING THAT HAPPENS, LIKE, OH, IT HAS TO BE BILLS PAID. WE KNOW THIS LAST TIME, IT WAS ONLY NICK GUNN WAS THE ONLY EMPLOYEE ON IT. OTHER BILLS HAD ALREADY BEEN PAID. OTHER STAFF HAD BEEN PAID. BUT WE GET CAUGHT UP IN OURSELVES OR THE SYSTEM OR EXTRA PROCEDURES, AND I FEEL LIKE IT ENDS UP BEING A DISREGARD FOR RESIDENTS. SO, AGAIN, WE AS COMMISSIONERS WAS NOT A FULLY ENTERTAINING DISCUSSION ABOUT $1.7 MILLION, BUT WE JUST DIALOGUE FOR ABOUT, WHAT, 30 MINUTES OR SO ABOUT A WATER Just only the late fee. Not saying residents shouldn't be paying their bills, which ultimately falls on us. Now, us mismanaging money and needing to borrow money from income tax funds was not the residents' fault. Was not the residents' fault. And yet, we are not getting bills to them. We want them to pay on an estimated bill and what you think it might be, what the clown cars say. It's outlandish. And I yield my time before you... I yield my time

Your time is up.

Because you didn't jump up for nobody else that went over. We didn't let people from the audience speak.

I want to call on the next council person who has four minutes. I want to recognize Commissioner Henry.

give my time to commissioner fields you probably got murdered the chair declines that it's your it's your time to speak each commissioner has four minutes to report All right. Well, I'm just going to thank the citizens for coming down. Thank you. And watching us do what we did today. And I want to thank my colleagues for voting for the people. And good things are coming as long as we're voting for the people. The ones that voted against the people, the people saw it, and they'll recognize it when it's time to vote. So I know Benton Harbor residents really well. So, yeah, just recognize who's voting and who's not voting. Thank you.

Chair recognizes Mayor Pro Tem Turner.

Thank you. So first, I want to congratulate Ben Howard Department of Public Safety on their new pump truck that was delivered a couple days after we voted on it. The ladder truck went out today, so we no longer have our ladder truck, but congratulating to all the administrative staff and public safety. Mr. Little, I'm hoping to get that bob cap. We started doing our community cleanup. Commissioner Isom, I'm still waiting on the city manager's evaluation. I sent you three emails. No response. I also retreat. No response. A big congratulations to June 2 Parade. But I also want to stop for a second and thank Deputy Clark because he made sure his officers was out there on the road with us. He put four officers on the road, but he made sure we had three officers that was on the parade route. So thank you, Deputy Clark, for making sure that happened. He made sure that we had more patrol cars than normal. They also want me to tell the mayor, thank you for the proclamations, but it was a long night service.

I love church, but not that long.

So they want me to tell you, thank you for that. And then for all the new, I mean, not new, all the commissioners who have not received their cell phone, Deputy Clark is waiting for y'all so we can get our business cards. Y'all have us on hold. So he has been waiting almost two months. Y'all been slacking. Commissioner Isom. So thank you.

I want to recognize Commissioner Warren.

Thank you, Honorable Mayor. I would like to thank everyone for coming and for those who are watching. First comment will be about some wider opportunities that I mentioned. I think it was last meeting. We have our younger students, 10 and older, started their workforce development program today, and that is a paid program that I've done the last three or four summers where youth, most of them too young to get a real job, are able to learn different careers, and they are being paid. Shout out to Horizon Bank because they are matching the salaries this summer, so our youth will have a lot of school clothes money, so that's pretty exciting to get paid while you are learning. Second year is the admin March program. So last year wasn't that successful. A lot of the students who were selected did not show up. So we had massive absenteeism. So we have a different group of high school students this year. Most have an interest in engineering. So I'm hoping it'll be more successful. It is not easy filling these couple slots. So if anyone knows of any high school students that are interested in engineering, please let me know because I would love for them to do the program next summer. This is a program, again, that they will receive a stipend, and they are paired with different roles in Abenmark, from engineering to surveying. So hopefully some of the youth will major or study those fields, and we can see them out working in our community. Next up, just a reminder, I did mention it at our last meeting, I'll get flyers made. The community yard sale will be August 8th and 9th this year, and that is at Mayor Emma Hull's property on Pipestone. The street is fixed now, so we anticipated being very successful like it was our first year. Last year was a little tough with the construction, so I will get flyers made. It is a community event, but everyone is welcome throughout the city of Benton Harbor. You don't have to live in a second ward to participate. Next up regarding voting and the citizens looking at how we vote. Again, we are elected to do the right thing for the city and we are given information and we review that information as we see fit. So if a person didn't vote the way you want, logically you should want to know why and educate yourself to know why. One other thing I would say is I would love for the public to be educated on fixed fees on your water bill. Because even if you are not at home, you will still get a bill because there are some fixed fees on there. So it would be nice if there was some kind of way we could educate the public on water bills because I think that will alleviate some of the confusion. I think I actually am done early. I said this before and I'll say it again. I don't have an official second ward cleanup schedule just yet, but you can always clean up in your area. If we all do a little, a lot can be done. Thank you so much.

Chair recognizes Commissioner Isom.

Mayor, thank you everyone for coming out tonight. I want to thank the Edgewater Coalition for their concern and comments. I know they'll be back. I'd like to thank Ms. They're going to stay on it. Thank you, Ms. Reynolds. I know she left now with her kind comments and her concerns for the city, her love for the city. The Juneteenth event was great. Man, that was good. I I kind of eat too much when I go down there, though. There's some food, man. But you get to see the people and just being all the people and the Juneteenth colors and little babies running around. Commissioner Fields had a little. And just to see the children. But the people coming together, I seen Mayor Pro Temp running around. He shook, he hit my hand and he's busy, man, just running around doing stuff. But it was a great event, the parade and just the music. Great job, Commissioner, on what you do with your event coming up next week. I know it's for all women, but can I get a plate, you think? See, see that? The dedication to my president, Mamie L. Yarbrough, Benton Harbor Public Library. That was a great event. I've never done nothing like that before, but just to get in front of the people and speak, it was a great event. And she got a beautiful portrait. Everyone go over there and check it out. Done by Eric Radford. Great, beautiful portrait. She's a living legend. Just to see her... Look up and see the sign up there. I think it's on both sides, too, if I'm correct. But she is well-deserved, well-deserved. And, you know, we're just going to – you know, sometimes you vote yes, sometimes you vote no, but you vote your conscience. A couple years ago, the Personnel and Finance Committee recommended two – Two utility payment assistance. The first one was $356,000. The second one was $750,000. So I know I have this out of personnel finance committee. We have tried to help the people. Tried. That's all you can do. Sometimes you got to take care of yourself. But we try to stimulate the people to pay, you know, to pay. But we'll see the numbers Wednesday at the Personnel Finance Committee and see where we're at with the balance. the unpaid water bills we'll see if they're going down or up so i thank miss uh gwen swanigan for coming i did get your email about the board of review thank you i know you've been pushing that real hard and thank you thank you it's one thing you're just going to keep every time i get on the mic man i'm trying to get four minutes that's all i want to do I want Ms. Kinnar to get a finance director. I'm going to bless you. Finance director.

If we could respect people's time. It is a government meeting. You know, it's not shucking and jiving, so let's please keep the decor. Yes.

I'm Commissioner Edward Isom, and I thank everybody for coming tonight. And the Detroit Lions start their camp pretty soon, so be on the lookout for that. God bless you, and expect great things. Thank you.

Chair recognizes Commissioner Henderson.

Thank you, Honorable Mayor, and I'd just like to thank everyone who came out tonight, every resident who spoke about the issues that they had experienced. I appreciate hearing their concerns. Yeah, I'll start with the closure. After 10 p.m. to restrict access. When you move on a beach, that's probably one of the things that you probably should consider before moving on a beach, that you're going to have people out there at all times. The beach closes at 10 p.m., but people still drive through. I've driven through on the weekends. And I do it intentionally, actually go all the way around and around. And so I think living on the beach, that's part of it. I do understand the issue with people shooting. But as somebody stated, residents have been in shock from all of the shootings that happen on a regular basis. So it's almost like. experiencing what some of the residents are dealing with specifically because we do have a lack of presence because we have a lack of people going into law enforcement and our police force is stretched to the end. There may be resources but you have to have people who are willing to go through training for the six months or whatever the training is, and I think that's one of the issues, finding qualified people who can actually pass that test and actually go through that rigorous training. So if anybody knows of a young man or woman who wants to become a police officer, they should be directed to public safety because we do need that, but I think to... restrict our force to just one general area with all of the stuff happening in the city would be a travesty. And I hope when there's other things happening in the city, we see that same coalition show up to help voice their concerns about what's happening in the general area of Benton Harbor and not just one specific area. But I do understand because our residents are dealing with it all the time. heard gunshots the other night, we call the police. We don't have apathy towards it because it's important that we continue to call the police. So we hear it all the time. And it's people that's driving through there that don't even live in our community that's causing some of that havoc. So that's the other disheartening part. that we need to make sure that people know it's not necessarily Benton Harbor kids because I've been out there and they're drinking, smoking, they're having a good time in the parking lot of Jean Clark Park. It's not always people in residence, specifically young people from our area. Just just to address that and I agree those the languages in that ordinance Does need to be updated but we're going to do it because we've been updating ordinances and we're going to continue to move forward But we're not going to stop that progress of updating all of our ordinances as our wonderful public safety and the code Compliance has been doing and we're going to continue to do that and to move forward and In terms of the water bills and all of that, I'm one of those residents who's consistently paid a water bill. So I'm a part of that $1.7 million that got collected in the city of Benton Harbor. And I'll tell people, my husband and I, we chose to purchase our home here. We chose to buy here. We didn't have to buy in the city of Benton Harbor. We could have chose to live someplace else. But we know what the value of our city is, whether people do or not. I knew. I understand. I'm three minutes from the beach. I can ride my bike. I can get in my car. Three minutes from the beach. And so I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay in the city of Benton Harbor to help improve it, which is why I was elected. going to continue to do that and unity is a great thing in the city of Benton Harbor and for us to have. I just heard invitations go out to an event and I'm a sitting commissioner too and I didn't get one. I ain't offended about it, but we talk about unity in a small form, but it matters. Yeah, we talk about unity, and in this role, you have to have armor as a weapon, because people say and do all kinds of things, you've got to have armor. You can't be easily offended in this business, because people say all kinds of crazy stuff without having the... Facts or all the information but our job is to give people the facts behind the why of stuff my time is running out Congratulations on the dedication the Juneteenth parade was amazing I've had the opportunity to attend every year and it's amazing.

So, thank you Thank You Commissioner like to thank everyone for coming out Tonight we passed some amazing LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTIONS TO THE TUNE OF OVER $127 MILLION, $52 MILLION TOWARD THE RENOVATION OF BUS PROJECTS AND HOWARD TOWERS, WHICH IS A LONG TIME COMING. AND THIS GROUP, THIS CITY MANAGER, WERE THE ONES WHO DELIVERED on years of cries by residents. So I hope that that's not lost in the source of all the other things that have been talked about tonight. People will be, the least of our residents will be helped tonight because we voted to make it happen. 75 million, Benton Harbor is going into the digital age where we will be the capital of high-speed internet, which AI, what you're looking at today, will not be what you see tomorrow. I was just in Phoenix, and AI will not only change public safety, it's going to change education, it's going to change health, it's going to change real estate, it's going to change administration, it's going to change law, it's going to change everything. Well, hopefully it starts there. Because one thing AI is going to do is provide information and education And that's where the real change begins right here. We just have to stay ahead of it as a government and a community. So we did that tonight. You know, I've been in this business not as long as Commissioner Henry. Hopefully, I can survive as long as she has because this business is not easy to have what you call staying power. One of the things that I can say warmed my heart, I was in Lansing having some serious meetings on my way to the next one, and I saw two students from Benton Harbor. And I'm wondering, who are they with? Commissioner Santana Warren. And, you know, nobody knew. She didn't say, oh, look at what I'm doing.

but the smiles on those young people's face.

I said, man, that's why we're doing it, our future, our young people. Because if we can't get it right, hopefully we can pay it forward and they can straighten all of this out. As far as Gene Clark Park, that's owned by the people, not a coalition. Not a group. That's the people's property. That's public property. So we hear the concerns. May 18th, is that what's being thrown out there? That's one incident. And keep in mind that that group was pushed from Silver Beach and they came over to Jean Clark Park. So the ruckus was already taking place. It's unfortunate that that happened at our beach. But, you know, we're working to resolve and mediate. But the other thing is there's no legal framework to set the beach. And as far as I'm concerned, if you want to put a gate up, put it around your own house. But we're not putting up gates and shutting gates at Jean Clark Park. Now, I can't support it. Now, if I'm the only vote, or if it even comes to a vote, but I'm not supporting putting up gates and gating off, putting a wall up at Jean Clark Park. I can't do it. Is there a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn.

Support.

Commissioner Clark Griffin. Yes. Commissioner Fields? Yes. Commissioner Henderson? Yes. Commissioner Henry? Yes. Commissioner Isom?

Yes.

Commissioner Kennard? Yes. Commissioner Warren?