City Commission - Regular Meeting

when you're like I'll use my an Olympics. Yes. But like 6 o'clock. I'm going to call this meeting to order. Everyone can please stand and join us in saying the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right. First on this the agenda is the approval of tonight's agenda. Do we have anything to add or take away from this evening's agenda? Hearing none, we will move on to public comment. Is there anyone here joining us this evening that would like to make public comment to something that is not on this evening's agenda? Now is the time to do so. Public comment to something that is not on our current agenda. Dr. Patterson, welcome. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. Thank you for your time. Nancy Patterson, 21104 Gorm Drive Southeast. I like to read. At age 71, I've read a lot about a lot of different things. I would venture to say my time in the Navy in medicine for 40 years, having begun and run two successful businesses, having been the director of student health services at the University of Memphis and medical director of student health services at Eastern Michigan University has provided me with a wealth of experiences and lots of reading material. I don't believe you knew this about me. Do you know the credentials and experiences of any of the citizens who have gr who come before you and bring concerns about the PUD? At your age, I was repeatedly blindsided by unexpected events. I learned from them and new unexpected events arose. I learned from them. There were more more of these events than you could possibly imagine. So, I learned more and more. I don't mean to be dismissive here, but I have to wonder if you think you know it all.

I've been there. Many of us have been there. We had to learn the hard way. I look at your young faces and see me 30 to 40 years ago. I'm concerned you may not be able to see what the PUB what it is or what it might become. I'm concerned that you don't know what you don't know. What is the PUD? What could it become? My gut tells me. And in case you didn't know it, your gut is considered your second brain and reacts to what you've learned through experiences. My gut tells me that the high price suits in the development company see you see us as an easy mark and we're being played. That brings me back to reading. Is this on? So my my current read is about private equity firms and this uh book plunder provided a whole bunch of information about economics that I had a whole different world I hadn't learned about. And this pertains to this development because Mr. Weirda sold Brentton Village to WS Development in Massachusetts and that company has private equity real estate firms partnerships that went really badly. I will strongly urge y'all to hire suits to combat their suits and anticipate what could possibly happen so that we don't get blindsided as a community and possibly have unfathomable burdens in the future. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to make public comment to something that's not on this evening's agenda?

Welcome. Hi.

Good evening, mayor, commissioners. My name is Kayla. I live in Ward 2, precinct 3, and I'm here today to urge you all to vote in favor of resolution 20 2026-1, which establishes policies to protect the safety of our community and the dignity and welfare of residents, neighbors, and visitors. I believe ICE is coming to Grand East Grand Rapids, and it's only a matter of time. They're already actively in Grand Rapids and according to a wired article released a few weeks ago, they are expanding their office presence at Waters Center to further their operation and take of taking whomever they wish without due process to be placed in detention centers as their immigration status is investigated. ICE is not going after criminals. No matter how many talking points DHS espouses, the data speaks for itself. According to an internal Department of Homeland Security document, as of February 2026, less than 14% of the almost 400,000 people violently detained by ICE have charges or convictions of violent criminal offenses. They're meeting quotas. They're not making our streets safer. So, let's continue to keep East Grand Rapids and Michigan safe. That's what this resolution proposes to do by simply asking that our city not contribute to the fear, panic, and lawlessness that ICE brings to every city they go to. That our city resources not go towards the unlawful separation of families or house brutal detention centers or provide sensitive data and information on EGR residents to federal authorities for them to use in whichever way they see fit. Not passing this resolution makes our city less safe. It makes our neighbors less safe and it makes our community less safe. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Would anyone else care to make public comment at this time to something not on the agenda? Please come forward. Thank you. Welcome.

Hi. Thank you. Just pull up my notes. Um, I'm Mandy Sharp Eisinger, 1643 Whitfield Road Southeast. And great to see you all. Um, good evening, mayor, commissioners, and city staff. Um, I'm also here to ask for the EGR resolution to be put on the formal agenda. I want to thank um Commissioner Grath Blazic for hosting the town hall that led to some really important conversation but also some um language that is a bit outdated and even inhumane. So I just want to start by first saying on language um no human being is illegal and I think that's a narrative that we need to challenge um in the vernacular here and no human person is an alien um and immigration status does not make someone more likely to be a criminal. So, we do live in a bubble in East Grand Rapids. And when we speak of our neighbors and community members who may not be US citizens, we often forget that they are uh legal and lawful pathways and protections for refugees, for asyles, for visa holders like international students and those that have temporary legal protection under US law. They are invited, authorized, and often legally here seeking safety. And some are from the regions of the world that our own country has exploited. So with ICE, um, when ICE enforcement ignores that reality, the trust in public institutions erode. I'll say that again. When ICE enforcement ignores that reality, the trust in public institutions erodess. And um still families, businesses, social fabrics, and safety are

shattered. And that's why the EGR resolution is so important. It begins with asking public safety, who I absolutely respect, but it's asking public safety to not be an accomplice in ISIS's harmful practices. And that public safety would set a clear tone that human rights must be respected in our community. businesses, restaurants, hospitals, schools, faith communities are already speaking up and taking action in this way, in a meaningful way because aggressive enforcement harms all of us. So, the resolution is necessary in a step forward for accountability and a safer community for every person who lives or works in East Grand Rapids and for all who are watching. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, please. Welcome. Thank you. My name is Martha Adams and I have no idea what precinct or ward I live in, but I live on Burwick Street.

So, I'm just interested in some clarity. Will this topic of ICE be voted on at some point? Um are you going to have any meetings that are solely addressing ICE? Is this it is the next meeting in March where you will or will not pass some resolution which I have not seen. So the clarity is that um it was voted at our last meeting to discuss it at a future meeting to be no later than March 2nd. It is not on tonight's meeting. Um still we're taking public comment for it, but it's not on the agenda this evening. So if you address or if you discuss it on March 2nd, will there be some kind of vote at that time?

I believe that the vote will be to whether or not to adopt the resolution that Commissioner Hunter and Gruff Blazak are putting forward. Okay. And ultimately, if the commissioners decide that they like something passed and the police department does not agree with what you're doing, ultimately who makes that decision? So, so if I may, you know, I may um and this is always difficult for public comment. It's not meant to be a question and answer standpoint. I just need some clarity. No, we appreciate that and feel free to ask the question. We'll we'll take note of it. Okay. So, you can answer that right now. You just again public comment is intended just provide comments.

Yeah, I was just giving you some clarity on the process. So, that's where we are on the process. But yet, manager Charles is correct. Usually this is not a question back and forth, but you asked for some clarity, so I offered get some clarity. I guess I'm still confused. It'll be on the next agenda, the March second. Second. Correct. All right. Thank you. Of course. Thank you.

Next, please. Hi, my name is Emily Savage. I do not know what ward I live in either, but I am on Hall Street 1861. Um I would just like so also urge to um pass this resolution as well. Thank you. Thank you.

Would anyone else care? Okay, thank you. Welcome. Thank you. Tina Marua, 1031 Lakeside Drive Southeast. I'm in I'm in the third word.

Third word. Um I can't say any better what the two or three now speakers have said uh in um in support of this resolution. And I also would urge the commissioners to vote in favor of it. I I think it's very important for our community and um it's it's important for the community members who maybe feel like they don't have as much of a voice right now. Thanks. Thank you.

Welcome.

Hi. Thank you. Um, uh, my name is Liz Aldridge. Uh, not sure what word I'm in, but I live on Oakwood. Um, and I'm here to ask that, uh, the commissioners vote in support of resolution 2026-1. Um, I think it's important that we define how EGR public safety will interact with any potential DHS or ICE presence in our community. should that happen. Um, and it, you know, in thinking about it, um, I'm a I'm a therapist and so I'm oftentimes thinking about both sides of things. Um, and I think it's important, it it seems important to me that our positive relationship with public safety that I really value as a resident um is preserved and that um that the departments know what their role is, that it's defined, that it's limited for both their protection should ICE have a presence in our community at any point, in addition to um safety for all residents in East Grand Rapids. So, I don't know if there's an opportunity at any point to hear more from public safety officers, but I would be curious to know if there are concerns that the department has about this possible resolution um preventing them from doing anything that they would um lawfully need to do um ethically need to do because I think, you know, I I don't want it I I would prefer that this relationship gets preserved. well, versus becoming like a duality thing between law enforcement and residents because the last thing that we need at this stage of the game is more division within communities. So,

uh, thank you for your time. Thank you.

Welcome.

Hello. Uh Glenn Anderson, 2444 Burwick Street. Um I would just like to say this resolution should be not should be voted down. I I'd like the the uh fair-minded, considerate, uh and the people with the feelings for our fellow man to understand that we have laws on the books in this country. Police departments carry out the laws of our country locally and the federal government does the same thing. There are laws on the books that control immigration in this country. And while there are well-minded people, uh, well-intended people that think their feelings are to stop what's going on in this country. But we have been flooded with some very good immigrants and they are not being go they're not going after those people. They're going after criminals. And let us not forget all of the women and children that have been raped and murdered by some of these illegal people.

Let's let everyone have their time. Please be respectful of everyone's time. I I wish you could be because if you if you're not watching the right news station, people don't know how many people have been maimed and killed in this country and young girls raped and murdered. And I just want to say that's the the emotional part that I have. We have laws on the books and please don't tamper with those laws and interfere with our police departments. They've got a big enough job as it is in this country and in this insulated I feels insulated community. We don't have a lot of problems here. That's why I live here. San sanctuary cities invited those criminals into their society. They welcomed all of that crime into their community. And if you turn a blind eye to that, then I can't I can't understand why people don't understand that. So, please don't put handcuffs on our police department and vote that me that policy down. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else care to make public comment at this time?

Welcome.

Hi, my name is Mark Armstead live at 2202wood. Um I thank you for the opportunity to speak for you today um as always. But, uh, I also, uh, would like to vote the, uh, the, um, proposal down. And, uh, just remind everybody, you know, that, um, our our law enforcement officers, you know, whether they be federal, state, or local, they do have a job to do, and there's a lot of really good things that they that they do. There's a lot of services they perform. Uh, there's a lot of protections they provide us. Um, anything from drugs or human trafficking. Um I mean just there's there there's a lot of lot of different uh things. So whether it be at the border or whether it be you know in in interior if that if those uh things do happen interior um there's a lot of people who are actually have been convicted in the past. Um and uh sometimes those uh those convictions have been uh pled down to a to a a nonviolent crime. So sometimes even though at the present time they may be going after somebody um it may be a nonviolent crime but nonviolent crimes don't necessarily mean that they're victimless um you know there's uh and our public safety can probably speak to that a lot better than I can but uh there there are quite a few and I I don't want to get into all the details of of what those might be. Um I mean some of them a simple one is fraud that I I I think everybody can agree on. There's a lot of that that are controversial but uh but still there they are laws. Uh so anyways um again um law enforcement does a lot to protect the United States. Uh cyber security is another another big one. Uh so there there are a lot of things I I don't feel it's um of value to um to

create um an environment where there isn't cooperation. uh you know so often in sports I mean that's one of our main things is cooperation and I think through cooperation actually uh the community is a lot safer um I think that uh you know if we don't interfere with law enforcement because the other thing too is law enforcement if something is done that wasn't supposed to be if there's a civil infraction or or a violation there are means for for people to uh to to address those and I think we should, you know, I think we should let let that play out the the way it's intended to so that there isn't disruption. But, uh, but to, uh, to handcuff our our police officers or our our I I I just don't see any benefit. The other thing, too, is we're we're not independent as as a community. I think we reply we we rely a lot on the Kant County Sheriff as well as state police uh as well as uh I mean East Grand Rapids and other neighboring communities. Um so you know again cooperation is going to get us a whole lot further. And um the other thing if we're promoting programs like fishing with the popo why would we create something that creates doubt and discord in our public safety or or or in law enforcement? Yeah. I mean I think the idea is is to create an environment where people learn to interact with the police in in in appropriate manners. So thank you.

Thank you.

Welcome. Uh Eric Williams, Albert Drive. Uh just voicing support for 2026-1. Thank you. Thank you. Hello. Hello.

I'm Chris Hoffman. I live on uh Oakwood and I also wanted to voice support for the resolution. Um I'm a veteran. I'm a lawyer. Absolutely respect the law and law enforcement. And I just want to say that uh I don't think our tax dollars which support public safety should go to assisting a federal agency that's sowing chaos and unlawfulness across the country. ISIS is trembling the Constitution, killing people, breaking people's windows, abducting them off the street, and I don't think that our tax dollars should support that type of lawlessness and chaos. Thank you. Thank you.

Anyone else? Hi, Chip Mccclimmans. I live on Burwick. Um, it's a hot topic obviously. Uh, I want to know what the upside is. What's the benefit for the community? Uh, last thing I think we all want to see is Gaslight Village being burned down like Minnesota or Minneapolis. Uh, there police departments obviously been told not to cooperate with ICE. That's not an upside. We could go back and forth with the legality. We can go back and forth with what feels good on terminology. Doesn't really matter. It was interesting that over in Munich, Hillary Clinton mentioned that her husband and Obac Barack Obama deported more people than anybody else. And Tom Holman was the borders are for them, too. And if you recall, he got a medal from President Obama for the job he did. So what's different? What's changed? Nobody's got the answer for that. I am not in favor of this resolution. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Hi,

welcome. My name is Bethany Chavez. I'm on um Boston. Um I don't know what word I meant either. I'm sorry. Um

you don't need to. It's okay. I don't know where that started, but you don't have to say your word before. Um, I am just speaking in favor of the resolution as well and I'm grateful for the people who um have brought it forth and um are making an effort to listen to those in the community who have concerns um and try to um continue and to preserve the relationship that we have with our public safety officers who our kids see on the playground um our kids see in school. Um, I am grateful for what they have done for our little community. Um, which I am able to say as um, a white person in East Grand Rapids. Um, the people I love the most in this world are second and third generation um, Mexican-Americans who um, while they are legal, they are worried about um, their safety for the first time um, in this country, even in our little corner of the world. Um, so I'm grateful for any efforts towards um, making our immigrant community feel safe and cared for. Um, and um, yeah, I just appreciate everybody who's speaking up. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, hearing none, I will close public comment and bring it back up here to the report of mayor and city commissioners, including committee liaison reports. I will start with Commissioner Skaggs. Do you have anything for us this evening? Sure. Um, thanks everybody for for your input tonight. Really appreciate it. I wanted to change topics a little bit and I'll be brief. I had dental surgery yesterday, so I don't really feel like talking very much. Um

but um it's really important to me to address a different issue that we're hearing about since this body last met, which is statements from the federal level uh suggesting that future elections in the country be more centralized um alongside yearslong efforts to seow distrust in our elections project or our elections in America. Um, so I feel it's really important to thank all of our election workers for their work to keep our elections free, fair, secure, um, and to make sure every vote is counted. Our elections in Michigan are purposely divi designed to be decentralized to increase trust. Uh, because the more people and more stops there are along the way, the more you can trust the result that nobody has interfered. Um, and our confidence in our elections are strengthened when we rely on facts and on the rule of law and on established procedure. So, I hope we will continue to all be very strong supporters of that. And I just want to personally thank election volunteers, our city clerk, our county clerk, our secretary of state, and everybody who underos such diligence to uphold our democratic ideals and promote the foundation of self-government by administering our elections, which is hard, hard work. So, thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Berdick.

Here, here. That was very well said. Um, I'm going to veer back towards um and address some of the comments from the public today. Just want to thank everybody for your comments. Um, it's great to have you come out here and participate in the process. Uh, and it's important to note that while this resolution is new, many of the practices it describes are not. I believe that any discussion about changing policy should start with a complete understanding of the policy that we have today. That way we all know exactly what we would be changing and what would be staying the same. Um, with that, um, if he'd be willing to, I'd like to give the chief of police a moment to speak about where our current department policies are regarding the cooperation with federal agencies.

If you don't mind. Sure.

Uh, I just want to recognize thank you everybody for your comments. I I definitely hear them. I think everybody hears and understands that there's that there's a few different sides. I've been working on a FAQ page to help people understand some of our uh current policies and practices. And I think once you hear some of them points, I think both sides will will tend to agree that there's more common ground than than maybe you realize. Uh, first off, East Grand Rapids public safety officers do not have inherent authority to enforce civil immigration unless specifically authorized under a 287g agreement. We do not have such an agreement in place here. If we did, the city commission would have to approve and vote on that. So, there's there uh 287g agreement does not exist. Secondly, East Grand Rapids public public safety officers have the authority to make arrest, custodial or otherwise, for violations of Michigan law or violations of our current city ordinance. And that's it. The East Grand Rapids Department of Public Safety has not, does not, and will not work in conjunction with ICE or Border Patrol to actively look for violators of civil immigration violations. In order to do that, we must have a signed 287g agreement in place. Again, we simply cannot do that without one. The 287g agreement that I've mentioned gives local law enforcement training, certification, as well as the authority to enforce civil immigration law. I again state we do not have a 287g agreement in place. The East Grand Rapids Department of Public Safety will not investigate civil immigration or work with federal immigration authorities during calls for service, traffic stops, or other routine police activity

unless a valid authorized warrant or court order exists. Again, we simply cannot we do not have the authority or the training or the certification. And the only way to get that is with a signed 287g agreement. However, all I've stated this far does not limit our authority or responsibility to enforce crime, including violent crime. That will continue. Our commitment to public safety, maintaining peace, and enforcing state and local laws remain steadfast. As I've stated here before, our department has really good policies and procedures in place. And one thing that I can state is our officers follow those policies. If you've looked at our quarterly reports, our annual reports, it's well established our officers follow our good policies and procedures that we have in place. The current and existing policies and procedures that we have in place provide our officers clear and lawful guidance. These policies currently exist and they have existed and continue to make the city of East Grand Rapids a safe place to live, work, and visit for all people. That's part of the FAQ agreement or uh draft that I have working. Um, like I said, it's a work in progress, but hopefully that clears up a I hear a lot of comments that this probably answers um on both sides and and really I think if you look at it and think about it, there's way more common ground than both sides think. So hopefully that provides some clarity.

That helps. And thank you, Chief. Um, as I've said to you in the past, I do truly appreciate um your the way that you and your department represent the community as a whole. And I think some of the comments tonight actually brought into the fact that we have a lot of children that are looking up to you and those relationships with our kids um that you guys have fostered for so long um I think is truly an example for many communities and that's not to dismiss that the national politics and the national stories haven't been horrifying and and we can all easily put ourselves in this position where we're like what if that happened here? Um, so at least speaking for myself, I just want to thank you and the department and uh we put our trust in you and to protect us, to represent us, and I just want to thank you for for how you have uh how you how you've always been there and have done that. So, thank you very much.

I appreciate that. And I also want to reiterate that if if anybody uh speaking here tonight or listening wants more clarification or wants to sit down and speak on the on these issues, I'd be more than happy to do so. So, at any time. Thank you. Did you have any of the anything else to add, Commissioner Berdick? Uh, yeah, real quick. We had parks and recck meeting. It was great. Thank you for that followup. Commissioner Wesley, do you have anything?

I mean, that was great and I do appreciate everyone coming out tonight, too, and and voicing their opinion. And I think the, you know, what's happening in the nation, the thing, you heard me speak before, it's always been about protecting the bubble that we have. um keeping the poison of of what's happening on the national level out of out of our community and you know in one way or another sometimes it does find its way in uh I think the as we start to search and try to understand you know what and I think this is really insightful having director Buchma come up here and explain um because what I understood is that there's a lot of things we have already in place that uh that that that is that that's already been ongoing that's been um identified in that resolution. So I think the big thing is to find out you know what are we doing what what are we what are we doing as a city but ultimately the question that I have is is to know you know what if such on the federal level these agents uh infringe upon constitutional rights um break the law what what is the what's the ramification there what what is what's the next move there and I think the biggest the ultimate goal here for me anyway is to do everything in my power to make sure that I keep everyone in this both who reside here as well as visiting here safe and feeling safe. So that's my commitment to you. I don't have the answers for you tonight. Uh and I will be working really hard to try to come up with um some set plans if if it requires refinement of some of the things that we have in place already or if we do find that you know we do have these things in place, we will then articulate that to everyone. But uh again just want to make sure that everyone understands that you know you're not your voice is not um falling on deaf ears. We we hear you loud and clear and uh we appreciate you do coming out and um and and we'll do our best for you. Thanks.

Thanks, Commissioner. Do you have anything?

Nothing other than a word of thanks to everybody who came out tonight either to listen or step to the podium and voice your public comment. Um take part in the uh civic civic duty we all have to uh be part of the dialogue. So, thank you. Yeah, I'll just echo thanks to the community members for showing up um and sharing your thoughts with us as well as those that that attended the town hall meeting on the topic of uh this proposed resolution to limit cooperation with ICE uh two Fridays ago. Um and I'm looking forward to our conversation um up here uh at our next meeting on March 2nd. hard to say anything that uh hasn't been said before, but thank you, Director Buma, for sharing all that information. Um, I agree with you. I think there's a lot more that we share and comment on this than hopefully people realize. Thank you to everybody coming tonight and in emails who have shared some very respectful thoughts um for and against um the resolution. And I just I really appreciate the engagement and dialogue. And I I think everybody has the the best interests of our neighbors and residents at heart and that is um a very nice thing to observe and engage in. Um so I'll I'll leave it at that.

Great. Thank you. Um I just had a quick question. Uh Director Buma, when you mentioned the FAQ, when do you think that'll be completed? I would imagine sometime at the end of this week is what I'm aiming for. Great. Thank you.

Thanks a lot. Um, and so I'm going to completely shift gears and I have I just want to um tell everyone it is my honor and privilege to thank Commander Charles for his five years of service to the Sound of Peace Grand Rapids. Here you are. A letter signed by you. Thank you for the last 5 years. It's never been a dull moment. I know that you have been working very hard. You hit the ground running and here's to the next 15, 20 years, right?

So, no, it's been an absolute pleasure uh to serve this community. It's just um great dialogue amongst our residents. Very thoughtful and um it's been a busy five years, so um looking forward uh to several more. I'll leave it at that. Well, thank you and that's all I have to talk to you. That's all I had. So, um nothing additional for me this evening. So, wonderful. Thank you. Okay. So, now we'll move on to regular agenda items. First on the agenda is the financial reports for the three-month period ending December 31st, 2025. Introduction by Finance Director Seath. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh so these um have been reviewed by finance committee and um approved or passed forward. Um so that there's no approval, sorry. Um so the city as of 1231 had collected 99% of their tax rules. Um and the taxes were due yesterday. Uh so and the winter levy is much smaller. So which is really great. We always do really well to hit that 99%. Um so that means we are at 77% of our revenue for the year. Uh we did find out recently that state revenue sharing um the calculations that they estimate for this year will drop about $100,000. So we'll be losing a little bit of that revenue. I'll talk a little bit more about that um within the budget adjustments. Um so and then uh expenditures right in line about 40 about 50% um of expenses uh through the year um it would be around about 47% if we didn't pay all of our pension payment for the 684 upfront but otherwise the departments are spending just where they need to spend in in regards to the general fund. Nothing big to report on the street funds. They're all well in line with um we've got an act 51 revenue uh from the state just as planned and expenditures uh that Doug has budgeted are state are well within line. Uh the only other thing to note is the water sewer fund uh has received an additional $177,000 in reimbursement this year for the grant that was approved. So, so far the city has received $319,000 for that reimbursement grant for the um lead service line discovery. And so they are that grant has been completed. Um

all discovery has been completed and so we're just getting down to the few lead service lines that we have left. Any questions on the financials? Any questions for Director Se? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Well, I'm staying up here. Yes. We'll go right into the next agenda item to consider approval of the resolution amending the fiscal year 2025 2026 budget.

Okay. So, I like to highlight the main um the funds that the general fund first. Um like I spoke before uh we I reflected the $100,000 estimate that uh the state has for um decreasing the state revenue sharing. Um they uh there the 205 had an incident. Um but we have it's there's an expenditure and a a reimbursement and an expenditure for um $10,000. So we were reimbursed fully by our insurance. Um and that car was um repaired. I did bump up revenue share uh excuse me interest to 600,000 from 350,000. So that really helps um kind of offset that $100,000 loss that we have. Um so we as of the end of January we are at 468. Uh I don't want to go where I'm thinking we will be um around 720. So I I gently budgeted it up to 600. Uh we sold the old airboat for about $33,000. So that was a nice little revenue. Uh we did adjust health insurance costs. We've had some large claims in the last year. Last year was really hard. And so we want to make sure that that fund is still um secure and has a little budget room. Um the high claims that we get, if you don't know this, we have what's called a stop-loss. So if you have a household that has over $50,000 in claims a year, our stop-loss coverage kicks in. Uh that being said, our stop-loss carrier also did increase their expenses for this year because our stop-loss, we had so many stop-loss cases last year. So we pay the first 50,000 and then the stop-loss carrier covers it after that and we get reimbursed. Um so there is a little lag between when we actually pay the expenses and when we get reimbursed. Uh

but we did see a substantial I think it was 46% increase in our stop-loss expenses because of the amount of claims and because we're so small.

Um so compared to larger bigger companies that could see multiple stop-loss. So I did bump that in the um general fund budget for $200,000 change in expenditures. Um, and then I did bump the budget down for the uh we decided that the we were only going to pay the required pension payment this year because we had some really good years um of interest and so it we had budgeted originally at 1.1 u because that was what our actuarial said. Well, the one came back in July 1st and it was only required of 684. So we did um decrease that and we did uh we also removed the um budget of transfer to MURF for the Vector truck. Um so in in all um all of these budget adjustments we were really uh before we were um as at the end of the first quarter we were using 795,000. Um we are down to 571,000 which is much closer to the 549 which was the original budget. The only other uh two or only other funds we did do a health insurance adjustment to 202 and 203 which is local streets and and um major streets um but those were very minimal 6,300 for um major streets and 6,500 for local. No budget adjustments to the municipal. And then uh 408 had some notable changes uh cuz we were rolling over park projects that have been actually expensed this year but were approved in 2023 24 25. So that's and then we also uh noted the money that the school reimbured us for the main um turf project. No, that we are paying the school for the mini sorry we are paying the school for the miniature project but that is actually um comes out of the fund balance that is in that that is in that fund.

Any questions? Thank you. Any questions for director C? Just just a quick question. Where where does this put our this payment here of 684 uh our pension in terms of a target on the actuarial basis? I mean an estimate 13 years I believe or we 11 years now. No, we're down to 11 years. So um our

our target for paying um funding the unfunded liability is um was 15 years 5 years ago. Uh we're now at year 11 um for that. So we're well on track. Um I was actually looking at our monthly statement and we're quite a bit ahead of where we thought. Um, as we've discussed a little bit in finance, there is going to be a a tipping point here. The system is 70 73% funded now as of last year.

As of last year, which is the highest it's been in 25 years. So, we're um well on our way. As we get closer to the 100% mark, there's going to be this balancing of how much do we actually want in there to meet our obligations and how quickly um people age out of the system is the phrase that we use. Um so, and so that we hit a glide path that there's just enough there for our last retirey and when it's all done, there's not lots of lots of funds sitting out there that we're trying to figure out how to recover. We're not trying to over overfund the system. Correct. And uh

70 some odd percent is a comfortable amount given given the trajectory we get we get to we get we hit the 80% is kind of has traditionally been for municipal systems the the um the point where you start to go on watch lists. Um so when we get that 80% I think we'll really start to engage the commission on how do we want to handle this and and as well as our um financial team our actuarials and our um investment advisors on on the system. Very good. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. All right. May I please have a motion and a second on this agenda item? So moved. Second. Second.

Wonderful. We can go to a vote. All those in favor say yes. Any opposed? Right. Motion carries. Next, we have to consider approval of water main rehabilitation replacement and improvements as noted and authorize the deputy city manager, director of public works to award and implement noted projects. And that is introduction by deputy city manager Mr. Lefay.

Good evening, madame mayor and city commissioners. Uh we have before you our 2026 construction season uh water main utility projects. Um the the memorandum that you have uh from staff uh gets into a lot of detail. I'll try to cover things at a at a high level but welcome any any uh questions or or additional input. Um we we rate our water utility system on a asset management scale one to five scale one being brand new serviceable to five which is unserviceable or beyond its useful life. Uh additionally a component of that is business risk uh uh for us too. So basically what's the consequence the consequence of failure is something that we we can't accept for the system to provide the the service for the community. Um each one of the projects that are noted this evening uh in the map and also in the text of the memorandum are in that level service five category. are also projects that we've uh integrated into uh other capital projects that we're planning for or that the the school system is planning for too so that we don't have competing projects happening um for one or the other. Uh specifically, um I I'll cover these just in order. Uh the Barnard's Street easement between Shopping Center Road and and Love it Avenue, uh that's uh about 180 ft of 6-in cast iron from 1913. Uh that's this orange section right here that cuts through uh between a few homes and an easement. A lot of times um it's not intuitive to understand that utilities don't follow necessarily a roadway and sometimes they're between homes, etc. Uh we did do some lead service line replacements in that particular area. Um and just given the the age and the material and the proximity to adjacent homes, we want to reset that that risk level um uh for another 80 80 years plus hopefully um uh in that particular area. Uh the next the next project would be

and that would be cured in place pipe as I noted. Um uh we also have c a combination of cured in place pipe and also uh directional drilling uh for HDPE which is a plastic type of of water mane um for Boston Street from Breton to Laurel Avenue and then we would directional drill to um to basically loop uh what would be a dead end. So we would be uh placing access pits along this route here in Boston to about Amberly Court. Um and then from there we would be directional drilling new main uh to Laurel and tying that in at Heather. Um right now that uh that main which was installed um let's see here n most was 1920s. Yeah 1929. So it's coming up on a century here. Um that is a dead end for us. So if we do have maintenance issues or breaks there which we that we have seen increases on that that particular segment we can't get water to to loop. So typically we do projects, we like to tie it in from multiple locations so that we can open valves so that residents, they may see something happening on the street, but we're trying to avoid any disruption to them. So our goal is to try to minimize disruption. So uh our team's doing their jobs and uh we're not having disruption to the the community. So that's that particular project. Uh that will be an upcoming uh street resurfacing project in the future, too. So again, we want to get in and fix that that infrastructure underground before we replace at the surface level. Uh the next item would be Elorado Drive/inurban trail and again that's an easement area there uh between um Lakeside Drive to Pinerest. So on the map that's this particular orange line here. Um we do have a uh trail project with some federal funds uh in the queue for uh 2027 construction. And again this is an area where we've seen saw an increase in breaks. um etc. And we want to again uh replace or

rehabilitate that main uh for that reason. We did have a recent uh water leak there maybe a month agoish. And uh it was really interesting conversation with some of the residents in the area cuz they again they you just don't if you live and breathe it like we do, you don't understand where some of the stuff is. So between like their driveways there's just all this water coming up and um people tend to think that's always out the street which is it's not necessarily the case. So, uh, then the next project, um, would be Cambridge Boulevard from Martin Luther King Jr. Street, um, to Lake Drive. And this will be an open cut replacement. So, this will be the more invasive, uh, open cut. And that's, uh, noted right here and kind of that blue or teal here. Um, that main, um, is 1914, uh, vintage. And we do have uh DT highpressure gas main that's almost touching that. And so we we really can't survive a critical failure of that without greater consequences. So that's one of the uh one of the projects from from that as I mentioned that business risk model that we want to address to avoid a potential uh utility and safety issue for residents. So we'll be relocating that main to um out of the the kind of the center boulevard there if you're familiar with that stretch. and we'll be um relocating it um to the west uh travel uh lane and that's in that that stretch there. So that will be our most invasive uh construction project uh of the season. Um and then the last uh project area um is abandonment of large transmission main that we have. Um for those that are not aware uh until the 1960s the the the city's water system supply actually was was from Reeds Lake and our treatment plant was in parts of public safety and parks erect today. Um, and when the city switched to Grand Rapids water supply in the 1960s, bringing in treated water

into our system, um, that now comes in off of, uh, Martin Luther King Jr. Street and our our pump station from Grand Rapids is, uh, is located in, um, Martin Luther King Jr. Park, actually. So, if you're wondering what some of those buildings are, that's massive water infrastructure. Um, and actually under the field there is a giant reservoir where all that water is. So you're playing on top of millions and millions of gallons of of of portable water for the Grand Rapid system. So this this transmission main is 24 in basically from municipal complex here which ties through this easement where the new high school is going to go and then travels down Lake Drive and St. Louis to Plymouth Road. This will be an abandonment project so it will be less invasive. Uh similar to our cured in place lining projects, there'll be access points where um we'll be tying uh we'll be we'll be capping and rerouting some main and then uh we'll be capping and filling uh with with flowable fill. It's like a concrete uh application uh to these mains. Um it doesn't affect the hydraology of our system uh uh today and it's basically uh is is left from um the the the former way the system worked. But when we look at business risk to the community, um if any of you have seen what what large transmission made uh or main failures can do in a community, I know our partners neighbors in Grand Rapids, you've probably seen some of the news coverage for the the large transmission main on Philadelphia uh street that that blew a couple years ago um that they were just now settling um as well as other ones in other communities. And so from our perspective since it's not needed for the the hydrarology of our system and we have a business risk there. We also have a coordination with the project we want to uh take care of this particular project uh this year as well uh so that we don't face a day where we have a major disruption especially in the core of the community and around our schools. Um

then just a little additional information um how we track our systems in progress. Um um as I noted we do track our our ratings in our systems. So, we're looking at capital planning um and and reporting to the state. Uh what what these projects will do this year is increase uh the change in our system to the positive. So, from that five to the one ratings I was talking about earlier, it was 1 to five about uh 3.3%. Um and the the total uh capital cost is estimated from our engineering team at uh 1.28 uh million. We're asking for contingency of 10% uh to get us to about 1.4 million. We do feel confident we'll be in the bandwidth of our engineering estimates, but um when we're dealing with old infrastructure, sometimes there's some surprises for us when we get into it and uh we just want to make sure we can uh execute uh the mission. Um then I also provided uh just a sustainability link here too to to our contractor Furpaul and that that uh water main ling process. uh that is a goal of ours from our strategic plan and our climate action plan that we look through that lens as we're doing these types of infrastructure projects too to make sure that we're also looking at sustainability even in places where um and projects that maybe uh it's it's uh not obvious um to to residents. Then lastly, I just wanted to point out that the the cost perspective of what we're asking for authorization when we calculate the the cured in place pipe uh lining costs uh is $250 per lineal foot for our projects this year. And when you compare that to the more invasive open cut uh replacement like we're going to be doing on Cambridge, that's that's 531 lineal feet. So again, we're trying to use trenchulous technologies to lessen the impact on our residents uh and also to respect uh the uh the costs and investments that the the public is entrusting us to to to improve our infrastructure. Um with that, I'd be happy to answer any

questions anybody has about the our 2026 recommended water main projects. Any questions for Mr. Lefave? Uh Mr. Lefay, for the uh Cambridge project, is that going to be on both sides of the median within Cambridge and will the median be affected at all either during or after the construction?

The because because we're going to be tearing out most of that area, we will be putting a new curb. Uh the median actually will shrink a little bit. Um that whole median will be all new curb in there. Um new pavement. We'll be doing a lot of removals. Um the core of it is to get to that water mean, but we will be all the removals associated with that will be um pretty close to a reconstruct. in that area. So, uh once we once we have u authorization uh from the city commission, we will we will start to uh notify residents of upcoming changes, what to expect, those types of things um well in advance of of these projects uh officially being awarded. Um uh some of these we are working with Kent County Purchasing on their purchasing department to to bid them out similar to what we've done with street projects to have that collaboration.

Right. So, there's mains on both sides of the street both. No. Okay, just one and it's right down it's right on the center median right now right adjacent to that that DTE highpressure gas main. So they're right there. So what we're going to do is relocate ours into that westbound uh traveling which would be southbound. Gotcha. Thank you. Y any other questions for Mr. Lefave? I have a process question. Um, so typically we're asked to approve these after we've received bids and grant them to a specific bidder. Just curious about um the request tonight to pre-authorize the award of bids before we've received them.

Great. Um, we've done this uh with with some of these projects in the past. We did do them with street projects, too. And in fact, in the um the Friday update we send out, we'll be reporting to you um the the bid tabs for in in project awards for our street projects. What this does is it allows us the flexibility to um get these projects out as early as possible. When we're competing in the the Grand Rapids metro area, we are the smallest metro area community and when the book of work gets filled up, um it really makes scheduling challenging and and cost also goes up. So, um, we fully report to to you all, um, you know, what the the awards are. We we partner with Kent County. They actually will open the bids. So, we don't have we don't we don't control the we're opening the bids, too. So, they actually will report to us what they were. So, we have that separation there, too, uh, to ensure that public trust. Um but again our challenge for East Grand Rapids is with this type of quantity of work is um we may um not be able to get contractors who can condense in our schedule. We have a very very challenging schedule to meet for our community expectations. We typically try to get into it as soon as we can in the spring. Stay away from all all school campuses. Stay away from the business community. And then we try to get everything done by August. And um that's not something that in the general contracting world is is very normal. Um it is for us but u so so those are some of the competing challenges and and perhaps sharing uh how we do that um is helpful. Um but we will report those to um to the city commission as well directly from Kent County's um paperwork and stuff that they sent over to us.

Additionally, if we get um bids back that exceed our authorization, we will be back before the commission for that additional authorization. So these are in essence up two numbers. Um if we come in below then we're good. Thank you. Some sometimes when you get into as I noted some of the like valves and and parts and things sometimes you get into they're not inexpensive and sometimes you get into decisions that have to be made like right now. And so if we have an authorization amount and you know how we're spending it um we can make those decisions um uh real time with our teams uh so we can we can get things uh moving forward. So thanks. Yep. Any other questions for Mr. Lefay? Okay. Thank you. All right. So, may I have a motion and second on this agenda item?

So moved. Second. Okay. Any further conversation? Okay. And we can go to a vote. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Any opposed. All right. Motion carries and we'll go right into the next agenda item to consider awarding the Lake Drive and Hall Street traffic signal pro project in the amount of $290,52469 with a contingency of 10%.

Okay. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um I'll I'll place the memorandum up here a little bit too. Um what I'd like to present uh is is related to traffic signal improvements we've made. um given uh the the uh we're we're on our second phase of a of a streets and sidewalks millillage. And so um starting here at the top and moving down uh to this proposed project just illustrates some of the improvements we've been making each year. Also that uh the commission and the community can see that we're we're making improvements systemwide and different asset classes, not just putting them into pavement uh you know, pavement preservation or or pavement resurfacing, but also uh some some traffic safety related items. And this isn't inclusive of everything we do there either. Um what we're what we're what we've been trying to do is to upgrade our traffic signals to the highest level um that that we can over the last uh 10 plus years. And and so that kind of highlights this the project we had um worked with Grand Rapids mobility team. they their traffic safety and signals department um uh is our is our contract uh uh maintenance provider and we utilize their expertise that we don't have on our staff to uh help us to navigate which signal should be next and why and those types of things. So the next target for us in our CIP um is that uh Lake and Hall uh traffic signal. Um you may recall from from prior years we're moving them all to the fourbox span. It's safer for uh for employees and for um those who service these to not be in the middle of intersections. Um it also provides for more visibility for motorists and pedestrians to be able to see each leg uh for the traffic signals themselves. Um also the pedestrian uh walk or stop indicators. Um so it's it's modernizing to that higher level standard. Um the signal here at Lake and Hall will be very similar to uh prior years that we've recently done at Breton and Hall and

Breton and Boston. So almost the the same kind of uh feature there. Uh we will be installing um push button uh signal modification actuators to provide pedestrians at that location uh to to have the authority over changing that traffic pattern when needed. Um that we don't currently have there too. It'll also have audio that we've been updating um as well. um essentially the the tool the toolkit we can program into a new traffic signal upgrade to address um all mo all mobility users. Um um so uh with that um again you've seen kind of the as I described the kind of the change in the the signal box bands. I don't know if that's easy to see but what we have today is that outdated kind of diagonal pattern there pattern there and we'll be moving to that fourbox span that you see at those other intersections. um this type of work um um is is kind of intermittent and so it doesn't really have a huge impact other than you see stuff happening a little bit here, a little bit there. Um we did um get this out to bid um as a kind of a straightforward project um and we've received two bids. Uh the low bid qualified low bid is with strain electric rapids and that came in at 29500. Uh the next lowest bid was from Jrank Electric out of Mount Pleasant and that was at 366. Um like a lot of the construction uh industry, we're seeing a lot of consolidation in providers and when it comes to traffic signals, there's only a couple players out there.

Um so there's nothing there's no there's nothing wrong with the other bid either. That's just what it was going to take for them to to get that done here in East Grand Rapids. So with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Mr. Lefave? Thank you. You're welcome. Okay, commissioners. May I please have a motion and second in this agenda item? Move to consider awarding the Lake Drive and Hall Street traffic signal project in the amount of $290,524.69 with contingency of 10%.

Second. Well, any further conversation, comments? Okay. All those in favor say yes. Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. Madam Mayor, could I ask a process question just real quick? Um, I know that we approved the agenda earlier and a a change to the minutes for the regular meeting that's on the consent agenda occurred to me after that. Is it possible for us to move that and discuss briefly or is that something we need to do elsewhere? So, are you looking to amend the proposed the draft minutes? Yes. Um what's what's the requested change

just to attach the draft resolution? Um we heard in public comment that they didn't folks didn't know where to find it and so including it in the minutes could make that publicly available. We typically do that. They look at the clerk. Um I don't it's not published with the minutes. Typically we we publish adopted resolutions but not drafts. Correct.

I mean typically the the proposed resolutions will be in the packet when they go on the website. So it'll be there assuming we're talking about it at the next meeting that that the proposed resolution will be in the packet and if if something is adopted that type of resolution gets attached to the minute subsequently. Am I remember that correctly or I don't remember how we I haven't done it. Okay. Okay. No, that's fine. But the resolution so typically we don't attach or insert draft just to avoid confusion amongst the world. Okay. Is there some other way that we might be able to make that publicly available to folks just given interest? We'll figure something out.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. May I have a motion and a second to approve tonight's consent agenda items? So moved. Second. All right. All those in favor say yes. Yes. Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. Um so now we will be going into an executive session. Um to an executive session is requested for attorney client communication in accordance with section 8H of the open meetings act. May I please have a motion and a second to move into an executive session. So moved. Second. Okay. Roll call vote. Um Commissioner Berdick. Yes. Um, Commissioner Grace, yes. Um, Hunter Love, Commissioner Schwarz, yes. Commissioner Skaggs,

yes. Commissioner Wesley, yes. Mayor Vali, yes. Motion carries. Okay, nice. So, at this time, we will be going into an executive session. U, the meeting is adjourned. We won't be coming back. There's no vote taken this evening. Thank you for sticking it out with us. Thank you. Have a good night.