City Council - Regular Meeting

[clears throat] an observation. He may be the center of the [laughter] Everybody.

[clears throat]

Call the order of this meeting of the Eskanava City Council March 5th, 2026. Mr. Demain, please call role. Councilor Moore here. Councelor Boscha here. Council Dubour here. Certh here. Mayor Ann here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. At this time, seeking approval andor corrections to the minutes of the regular meeting of February 19th, 2026. So moved. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I.

Thank you. at this time seeking approval and or corrections to the minutes of the special meeting of February 24th, 2026. So moved. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I. Thank you. At this time, seeking approval and or adjustments to the current agenda as written. So moved. Second. Supported. All in favor? I. At this time, is there any conflict of interest needing to be declared by members of council pertaining to items on the agenda?

Hearing none. At this time, we will hear brief public comment pertaining to items on the agenda. If you wish to make public comment, please approach the podium, state your name, place of residence, and keep your comments to 3 minutes or less. Hearing none, we move on to public hearings. [clears throat] Item number one, close out public hearing community development block grant leverage edge chiropractic city manager.

So the representative uh with Northern Initiatives wasn't able to make it. She came down with something. Um so she uh provided me something just to read. Um we just have to hold the public hearing. We don't necessarily have to take any action. Um, but the purpose uh of this is to close out the hearing and to allow an opportunity for the public to submit additional comments and to provide a final report on the completion of Leverage Chiropractic uh PLLC CDBG grant with a project cost of $35,000. The extent of the report um the grant provided funding to purchase additional equipment and provide working capital to grow and expand the business and complete the job creation goal of hiring one low to moderate income employee. um which they fulfilled um has been verified by Northern Initiatives um and we're here to to close out um after the public hearing. [clears throat] This time we'll open the public hearing if anyone wishes to make comment on this item. Please approach the podium. We'll close the public hearing. Entertain a motion to close out the community development block.

So move second discussion. All in favor? I. Thank you. Mr. McNeel, is there anything else on that piece of paper? Any other requirements that we needed to say? Uh just signed minutes from the meeting. Okay. Um we'll fulfill it as long as they come. We currently have no unfinished business on the docket. Moving on to new business. Item number one, approval. Resolution 26-04, charitable gaming license, New Life Community Center. City manager.

New Life Community Center has requested city council approval of resolution 26-04 for charitable gaming license. The purpose of this request is to conduct large-scale fundraisers. Um, we've done this last several years for several different groups. Um, I do believe a representative is here if you have any questions of of what they have in mind too. Motion to approve resolution 26-04. Support discussion. Mr. De May, please call roll. Counc Dubour. Yes. Councelor Floth. Yes. Councelor Moore. Yes. Councelor Bchaw. Yes. Mayor Hamilton. Yes.

New business. Item number two, approval. [clears throat] Special event application. Ready results network block party. City Manager administration is seeking city council approval on behalf of Mindy Wills from RN Radio for the closing of the 100 block of South 11th Street for the annual RN block party. Alcohol will be sold and all local requirements and state liquor control requirements will be followed. The event date and time is July 24th, 2026 from 400 p.m. to 11 p.m. with setup beginning at 6 pm on July 23rd, 2026 and tear down to be completed by noon July 25th, 2026. Move approval support discussion. Mr.

Question, have we uh quit uh insisting on insurance for something like this? Um I believe they have it or it's not in here. Um, but yeah, that would be the requirement that they name the city additionally insured. $1 million policy, I think, is what

Yeah, I think the application may specify. Um, I I offhand don't know what it is. I guess the uh second question I have, I notice a lot of the things coming through lately don't actually have a signature on them. Do we ask that they sign something once council does approve it? Uh I believe they would come down to the clerk's office and sign the official before we put it away in the file. All right. Thank you. Further discussion on this item. All in favor? I

I [clears throat] new business item number three. Approval epoxy flooring public works.

The administration is seeking city council approval to air peel concrete to come back and redo the epoxy floors at public works in the amount of 7,940. Um, so this isn't entirely just a redo floors. Um, we had budgeted for a replacement of floors at the engineering side of public works. Um, so as we were going to do that, um, some of the epoxy floors that were done the last few years there um are are showing some signs and and they're out of warranty. Um so the company who happens to be Pemble um will come back and um if we provide the materials they will go apply it um to to reapply in those problem areas. Um Kent Dubard with public works is here if you have some specific questions. Um, but Pemble has been the the low quote. Um, and they've done work within the city for for quite a while, too.

Is this a known issue with Pemble products that these [snorts] flooring does not last? I mean, if it's only been a couple years, I mean, my thought is, do we stick with them or do we get somebody that does a better quality? Um, I'll see if Kent has any better answer, but um, from what I know, it's not necessarily a recurring Pemble issue. Um, I I think they've even done work for water wastewater quite some time ago. Um,

um, typically the city has either used ART or Pemble concrete. Um, and they've done work at both. As Jim has mentioned, uh, we went with Pemble originally because they were the lowest quote. even with approval here tonight, it would still be cheaper than what it would have been to hire the other contractor. Um it sounds like the smoothness throughout the floor, throughout all the areas that they did. Um there's just some discrepancy that we're seeing that's creating issues. Um where if they could come back through and just reset everything, um they're kind of giving us a heck of a deal compared to what we've already paid them and it's still less than the original. Um quote would have been to go with the other contractor. I think they both do great work. Um there's just some issues along the edges and the main walkways. And the issue that we're really seeing is we don't have a janitor. We're the only department that doesn't have a cleaning service. Our guys are doing it internally. So when we're plowing in the winter time, we're doing street work in the summertime. Um we're going a month before our floors are getting cleaned or more. Um so this would save us tremendously daytoday wise. Um because we just don't have the time to do it. uh it'd be a lot better because what's happening is where it's rough and not smooth throughout, there's so much dirt and traction picking up throughout the building that's carrying throughout the building and creating issues. So, it's kind of a do it now type of thing or don't do it at all. I talked to ART AR can't really touch it because um they're basically charging us for materials. And when AR originally came in to do all these areas, we were talking $26,000. It's $100 cheaper with this amount plus what we've already paid Pemble. um than what we would have paid AR originally to do all the work.

Thank you. So, was this under warranty or was not under warranty?

The floors had a one-year warranty. He did the break room and bathroom originally in 2023. He did the office and the hallways in 2024. Um so, neither one of them is currently under warranty anymore. Um, but my assistant, Robert Heath, he's way more intelligent than I am, and he kind of does this stuff on the side at times, and he's the one that kind of brought up, you know, there's some issues here, and this is why there's so much dirt and traction building up. Um, but he's only been with us for a year. Um, and that's kind of why we missed the year warranty. Um, in that 2-year window, I spent 6 months of that by myself, and there's so much stuff going on every day with 20 to 35 employees in the summertime. Um, not to make excuses, but it's one of those things. It's a floor. To me, it looks good. a guy that does it every day brings a lot more insight on why we think it needs to be done. Um, we've looked at other options of maybe purchasing a floor scrubber in the 2, three, $4,000 range. Um, but I think a $20 mop is perfectly suitable with just getting the floor smooth um, and just resetting itself.

Was it ever suggested that you get a longer warranty?

Um, that's something I can talk to him about. But I mean, any of the work that he's ever done, it's it just says the one-year warranty on the bottom of there, but I could definitely reach out to him tomorrow and see if that's something that he would be willing to extend to whatever you're looking to see. [snorts] And the other thing to consider, I mean, this is really other than Burgger and King coming in doing our plumbing, um, this is really the only thing that we've had to hire out. Our guys have redone all the lighting throughout the building, interior, exterior, fuel station, salt dome. They've redone all the bathrooms. We've remodeled three different bathrooms. We put in a shower. Um we did some different work uh remodeling with our different lockers and kind of situating the area. So, seasonals have a different area compared to where our full-time guys are at. Um we improved the bathroom, pulled our urinals off the floor, so it stopped with so many bills coming in with draining issues with the urinals. Um, so we've done a ton of work internally um to save the city a ton of money with our guys doing it in house. Um, but this is one of those things where it just made sense to hire out. Um, but between all the remodel work that we've done throughout the last couple years between remodeling, uh, between the break room, the bathroom, the salt dome, the fuel station, any of that work internally has still been under $50,000. We're at about $49,500. Um, so this purchase tonight would be huge because otherwise I'm not really sure what we do going forward if we look at Renttomade or some type of Infinity Clean or some type of option. Um, it's easy in the summertime to have seasonals clean our floor. Um, but it's hard for me at times when there's so much going on every single day um to have my guys sweeping and mopping the floor any more than we have to. And you know, it might be a once a week thing, but it's turning into a maybe a once or twice a month thing cuz there's so much stuff going on. So to smooth out the floor would be greatly appreciated from the group.

How many uh floor mats do you have out there? How many what floor mats, rugs when you come in the door?

We have runners consistently throughout um from the garage all the way up through the office area. Um the break room doesn't have a runner like in front of where they sit at lunchtime type of thing. Um in our office chairs underneath them don't have any runners, but everything that ties together, there's a runner consistently throughout. Um but it's the dirt build up on the sides of them. It's the dirt builds up as soon as you step off of them. Um and it's just the smoothness throughout isn't consistent enough where there's so much dirt picking up that it's building up throughout uh the building. I mean, I can have one of my seasonals or one of my full-time guys sweep mop the floor and within two hours it looks like nothing happened. Um, because there's so much buildup uh where consistently smoothly all that dirt's going to go down and you sweep the floor, it should remain clean at least for a couple days and not have the same repetitive. I mean, you could literally clean the floor a couple times a day.

I'll make a motion that we approve. It's important. Further discussion on this item. Mr. remain. Please call roll. Coun. Yes. Counc. Yes. Sir Moore? Yes. Sir Dubour? Yes. Marble? Yes. [clears throat] New business item number four, approval. Westside Playground Public Works.

Administration is seeking city council approval to purchase a playground from Game Time in the amount of $15,3186. Um, so the actual cost and approval would be 58,710. Um, and Mr. Dubard's done a good job of looking at ways to uh, you know, this playground's kind of been on our radar because of the condition and and age. Um, so we did get a donation um, from Oktoberfest. Um, I think that was 14,900. Um the difference um would be this M parks grant. Um so the the 15 that you see on the agenda is actually the the net city contribution to it. Um it looks like a requirement of the grant is that there there's certain elements, but this is kind of for ages two through five. uh talked a little bit about having a phase two of this park someday that could do some uh equipment for older kids. Um but I do believe the the swings stay and um can't can tell you um if uh any other there's a couple different individual pieces there that that may stay. [snorts] So, the expression swing that we put in last summer, um, and then the the wing structure that's right next to that expression swing will stay. The swings on the far end, um, will also stay. Basically, the only thing we're going to remove is the wooden structure that you can kind of climb up right now with the tire right there. It's rotted off at the ground, so it's safety issue anyway. Um, the slide, the big blue slide's going to stay for now, but I think in phase two, we'd eventually get rid of one set of the swings. We'd eventually get rid of the bigger slide. This would stay for now. Um because with the installation of the five playgrounds last year and the

community build with Sinclair coming in and giving us a hand um our crew obtained enough knowledge where with approval of the night, our crew would install this playground um ourselves um and this is more geared towards uh 2 to 5 year olds uh where the five playgrounds that we put in last summer were geared towards 5 to 12 year olds. Motion to approve the amount of $15,3186. support. Further discussion on this item. Mr. May, please call RO. Council Dubour. Yes. Council Floth. Yes. Council member Moore. Yes. Council Boscha. Yes. Yes.

New business item number five. First reading of ordinance number 1317, an ordinance to amend the uniform traffic code to provide for winter parking restrictions and exceptions to the same and setting the date of Thursday, March 19th, 2026 for the second reading, public hearing and adoption public works. So this ordinance um is an amendment we've been talking about internally for a while now. Um everybody would know it as our winter parking rules. Um the only change um is that it moves the hours from 2 to 7 to 2 to 8. Um [clears throat] Kent can tell you why that extra hour is important. Um when you go through some of our commercial areas, often you'll see where obviously the plow was went around vehicles and left snow. Um which during certain times of the year then freezes and and you kind of have a mess. Um, moving it to eight doesn't come without some potential issues, too. Um, some of these are are business districts that certain businesses, employees are showing up potentially before 8:00. Um, it may impact the schools a little bit. Um, so certainly there would have to either be, you know, an exception made or uh discretion used in enforcement of that. Um so it Ken can tell you what the extra hour really means um and how our sequence of plowing goes. Um but certainly there there are some things to think about. Um, and I assume if it was approved, um, we wouldn't be going out writing all sorts of tickets for people in between 7 and 8:00. There would be a an adjustment period to to let people acclimate a little bit.

Public safety's done a lot better job this summer or this winter with [clears throat] writing out more parking tickets and it's helped our guys out tremendously. And that hour difference um could help us in a variety of ways. One, we don't always go out at 2:30 in the morning to plow. There's a couple times this winter when we went out at 3:30 in the morning. Um so that extra hour going back is kind of in the area when we're going through local streets. Um but it would also help us tremendously even when we do go out at 2:30 in the morning if we have breakdowns, if there's any other issues, um where we're not getting through local streets, if we get a significant amount of snow. when we got 14 inches at the end of December um was where we saw the biggest issue with it is a lot of people get used to the routine of when you're picking up their garbage can when you're going through and plowing their street and the issues we're seeing is at 710 um if we haven't went through there yet they're pulling their car out and they're parking along the street or the car is still parked along the street um so that hour make a huge difference to us and I think public safety would be very understanding of kids going to school and parents parked along the street side and businesses open at 8:00 of having that discretion there not going to write tickets. The biggest thing is is areas that we haven't plowed before. It's not only affecting that homeowner, it's affecting the neighbor, it's affecting the people driving through there cuz eventually we're going to get the snow, but it could be the next night, it could be two nights later whenever the car moves, but that hour difference could make a huge difference to my crew to make sure the streets get cleared away because there's a lot of roads that still need to be repaved and redone. And the longer that the snow sits on them, um it's harder to get that ice on this time of year. There's a lot of potholes all over this town right now. Well, some of those areas correlate perfectly with where vehicles were parked throughout the winter where ice built up and now there's water in those holes. Now there's water along curb line with everything melting. Everything kind of plays a part into itself um one way or another. Water's got to have somewhere to go. If we can get it off of the roadway and onto the boulevard this hour would help us a lot and we can continue to write parking tickets and hopefully people can eventually get the hang of it and where they need to park.

Um, and through time hopefully we don't have to write parking tickets a day would come. Um, and everybody will be on the same page. I get it. There's a lot of areas in town that there's difficult to park. Um, but it's just something that we got to figure out where we can park because it's for the safety of my crew, but it's also for the safety of the residents um, and the surrounding neighbors. We had tons of calls this winter of people complaining about their neighbors parking and the effect that it has on them with their neighbor not moving their vehicle and making their driveway or in front of their um sidewalk icy um because we can't wrap um the corner as tight as they would like to see. But, you know, I I invite anybody to go for a ride at 2 o'clock in the morning with any of my guys any time and see what they're going through. Trying to go through around a vehicle at 2:00 in the morning or 3:00 in the morning. Um it's a heck of a lot more difficult than just plowing that curb blind straight and running and keep running. Um it save us a tremendous amount of time as well. [snorts]

How long have the uh current times been in place? The 2 to 7 what how long has the 2 to 7 a.m. parking restriction been in place? Since the 70s 60s. As far as I know, I don't think it's ever been changed. I think that's just how it's always been. And our winters were three times what they are now. You're telling us that uh your drivers have to go around cars at 3:00 a.m.

Well, there's a lot more people that drive now than in the 70s. We didn't have any wing trucks in the 70s. So, we've eliminated trucks on routes with wings on them to save us time and manpower. Um I don't know how many guys public works had in the 70s, but I'd be willing to bet we had at least 10 more guys than we got now. Um, so to me it's about time and manpower. Um, at the end of the day it's an hour. Um, I sat on this for over a year and figured if it would be too big of an issue then I'm not going to lose any more sleep over it. But if we can make it happen, then that's awesome. My guys would appreciate it.

I I guess I'm not understanding the logic. You have your trucks go out 2 2:30 in the morning. There's cars already parked on the street that shouldn't be, right? So, what's the benefit of extending an extra hour?

The benefit of extending the extra hour is one, there's a handful of businesses um along Lennington Street right now that between 6 7 8:00 in the morning as we're backing graders up plowing and doing snowall, they're driving down the roadway and then parking where we don't want them parked. Um, and then we're playing their timing game of whenever they can write them a ticket or not. And we're dealing with the issues all night long. And the other issue is, I mean, I talked to a couple of my guys about it today is people, like I said, routine-wise on garbage. If they see we're not come, we haven't come through there um through their alley or through their street by 7:00. They're literally pulling the car out of the garage or pulling the car out of wherever they have it parked for the night and parking along the street. because if they park along the street in front of their driveway, then we got to go around them and hopefully it doesn't fill in the driveway. But eventually when the car is gone, we're still going to fill their driveway in. So, it's not going to change the people that park overnight. It is what it is. But what it's going to change is the people that are moving um and parking between 7:00. The people that are coming back from work and parking on the street side hoping we don't fill in the driveway. I mean, it's inevitable. Everybody doesn't want to get the driveway filled in. I get it. It sucks. But eventually, your driver's going to get filled in. We live in a place where we get snow.

I think it's going to have a huge impact on our business owners. Bloodington Street, people do go to work earlier than 8:00. How are you going to prevent I'm just saying this is just it it's becoming more of a problem by doing this than not than just keeping it the way it is in my opinion because now we're looking at problems of people have business owners that go to work at 7 a.m. 7:30 and they're parking and how do you know they're not there for work? I mean, how do you know they're there for work or not there for work? And now you're going to say, you got your truck drivers going, "Dang it, there's a car parked here now. Call public safety. I need a plow right here. We got problems." Are we causing more problems? I don't think we're causing more problems because it doesn't necessarily work like that. I mean, I think it goes in waves of who's on shift on public safety and who's writing tickets when. Um, you know, my guys aren't going to radio over the radio, you got a car here, you got to um come and write a ticket. It's when public safety's out patrolling and seeing these cars. um and writing tickets and talking to my guys, talking to public safety. Um the business thing isn't going to be an issue at all. Just like I mentioned with the school thing, um there's got to be some discrepancy there. Um the biggest thing we're looking for is local street wise. The majors are going to be done first. That's our biggest priority. Then the locals are going to be done. But locals and alleys, that's where the timing crunch comes in of where people are parking. Um where are we going to be done by seven? Are we not? Is it going to be eight? Um, it depends on when we're coming in. I mean, you know, the thing of it is is like Gladstone, they go in at 4:00 no matter what happens and they get done whenever that time it is. But as far as Eskanaba, we could go in any time. We could start plowing at midnight. We could start plowing at 2. We could start plowing at 5. It's just a matter of what my guys decide for my five guys on Snowhall or myself decides on when we're coming in to plow. And that time can make a huge difference. um if we come in at 3:30 or if we come in at 4:30 um because we might just be getting through majors on the local

streets. So, it's not necessarily main street we're concerned about. We're concerned about the side streets because the other thing that you got to realize with the side streets is they never get salt. We only salt majors when we send the salter out. So, the side streets that aren't getting scraped when these cars are parked there, it's taking that much longer for the ice to melt off of those side streets because they're not getting the salt that major streets are seeing. So that's why you've seen, I'm sure, a lot in the last 3 weeks, these local streets that are filled with water and ice that's been melting takes a significant amount of time to get all the water and ice to melt off of them because if they don't get scraped routinely in the winter time because there's cars parked there when we are plowing, it's taking so much longer for the ice to melt and the water to get out of there. We've been able to patch the major streets, but like 19th Street still isn't patched the way I'd love to see. We're going to take a look at it again tomorrow, but there's so much water there. There's only so much you can do. We're Fifth Avenue. Every time we send a salt out, it's getting hit. It's getting salted. It's a lot easier to send a truck over there to patch. Um, but these local streets, it's not just a winter thing. It's a indefinitely year round thing and what we see on what the roads look like in the summertime. Um, and the deterioration and also potholes and everything that goes along with it. I mean, we've we've patched 30th Street, I bet you nine or 10 times in the last three weeks because it keeps coming out with traffic. Um 19th Street, we've only been able to touch twice because and we can't even get all the holes cuz there's so much water. Um so, it's just something to consider with the local streets because where people are parking, um it just make it so much easier for my guys to be able to pull the streets if the cars were off the boulevard or onto the boulevard, off the street for that extra hour.

Did I hear you correctly? when when there is some snow to plow, your staff doesn't come in till 4:30 or 5:30 in the morning. No, that's that's Gladstone's ritual. That's what they're coming in no matter what. Um, my crew is coming in based off of the storm. So, I got five guys on snowwatch. Um, between those five guys and myself, um, we make the call and when we're coming in where Gladstone public safety calls them and says, "Okay, time to come in." [snorts]

Um, so if you look at Streetwise in Gladstone right now, you look at Streetwise in Eskanaba right now or even take a look in the winter time when we get snow, you can see the differences, um, and just the safety for the citizens themselves um, at stop signs in the streets themselves um, and how they're scraped versus being backed down. Well, we're basing it off of when the snow um, when the storm's going to end. Typically, the goal is to come in at 2:30, but I'm just saying that's not [snorts] always going to be the case.

Ours is based on conditions and forecast. And I hear you also addressing or complaining to us about the water build up on the side streets. Well, my recommendation [snorts] would then get your crew to clear out the storm drains that are in the streets that are blocked or plugged because that would help drain all that water on the side streets that you don't plow or salt. Okay? Because they're the ones backing up because I know I've driven around where the melting is still there's no drain. there's no drainage because they're plugged or they're blocked around the corners of the streets on the avenues.

And that's something that we implemented last year. Um we added an extra layer to the GIS separate from the storm drains and marked off as we went through the town with 104. Um and we public works utilized the vac truck more than I I bet you any year in the history of public works. And we got through 85% of the town between storms drains and catch basins. Um, our plan is to finish up the next 15% here in the springtime and then bounce back through with a goal of trying to cover the whole city every year and whatever we don't get to, we come back through um the following year. But the other thing you got to consider is there's a lot of dry sumps you can't

Let me stop you there just for a moment. Um, we're we're veering off into extra projects. Um, and I'd like to try to resolve this if we can. So, let me just try to get a clear understanding about this. When we have a snow event, what streets are plowed first? All the major streets are going to get pl major streets. Okay. All the major streets. And once the major streets are done, then we move into the residential areas. Correct. Yeah. Do I understand that correctly or am I wrong? Yep.

Okay. So, we do the major streets first, then we do the residential. this request. This is something I assume you've spoken with your crew extensively. Is this is what everyone thinks would help the most? Yeah, if my crew wasn't 100% on board with it, I wouldn't brought it here tonight.

Okay, that's Thank you. Now, if this is what they think would help them the most and we are trying to focus this on the residential areas and the the leniency or the discrepancy for school and business areas will be allowed so that if there are people that need to park by their businesses, we understand that. Um, so the greatest amount of discrepancy will be given to those areas that would be vital to having cars parked there. Whereas what we're really trying to focus on is keeping the residential streets that are already difficult to maintain, make it a little easier. Is that correct? Yes.

So, our snow clearing crew is asking us if we're as a community willing to give them an extra hour to do the work that they're already doing that none of us do. I can give up an hour considering the amount of effort and long nights, incredibly early mornings that they've done. Personally, I'd rather see one to seven rather than two to eight. Agreed. I'm sure my guys would too because that's an extra hour overtime. [laughter]

You guys go for it. If you want to bump it back, if that works better, go for it. But if they'd like an hour, I'm I'm inclined to give them an hour. And I think the community in general would probably grumble at first because that's the first thing we do every time we change something is we grumble because we don't think about the people that are doing the work. I'm trying to focus on the people that are doing the work. If they need an extra hour, I think we could find a way to give it to them.

So, if your guys come in early and the first thing they do are the the um main streets, then Letington Street would be done basically first. So, then the business part of the inconvenience would be taken away because it' be done even before 7, right? So, so the so the the what you're saying then is we're extending it another hour just for the side streets. That's the main focus, right? Because by the time you have all the main streets done, it would be before 7. Am I wrong?

Depending on the storm. That's correct. And the other thing too, I mean, if the storm, if it's a never- ending storm, like when we got those 14 inches, there's already guys here doing the major sheets before my crew comes in at 2:30. So, a lot of that stuff is already done. So, timing wise, they're already ahead of the eightball. Um, we came in three times this winter at 1:30 and it's actually way more efficient because there's a lot less cars parked on the side of the road and there's a lot less you're making a lot more progress a lot faster um when most people are sleeping. Okay. Mr. Flo, do you have any comments to make on this item?

I just don't like the idea that we somebody's going to use discretion. We put a policy in place, an ordinance in place, and then you're here this week, somebody else is in your position next week. The discretion is different from what your discretion is. That's what I have trouble with.

Okay. Thank you. We do not have to decide anything tonight, but we [snorts] do need to schedule the hearing for the next available date at which point we can go through all of this again and then make a decision. And I would advise that we pause on this and if we have any research to do or fact finding or anything else, we bring those things back to the hearing once we schedule it. Or Phil, you can make some more coffee and order pizza and we can spend another 45 minutes meeting this. I can order some pizza

and we'll all come out looking like our poor ropes. [laughter] So I am seeking a motion to schedule the hearing support. I will support it. So that clearly there's a lot of things to be said about this and it's counterintuitive to not have a hearing where you can speak about it if you really want to speak about it. Discussion. Mr. Deay, please call ro. Uh, council member Moore. Yes. Mayor Ammer,

yes. Council member Borshaw, no. Council member Dubour, no. Council member Floth, no. New business item number six, discussion. Determine next steps of city manager interview process. Human resources.

I can read it. [laughter] We held our interviews. Yeah, we held interviews on Feb February 24th. It was [snorts] an open meeting. Um and we will now discuss because we held no discussion afterwards at the end of the interview session. We closed the meeting and decided to deliberate here. Who would like to open?

Mr. Dubard had ideas that I encouraged him to wait until this evening. So my biggest thing I'd ask, you know, fellow members of the council and maybe even Mr. McNeel's recommendation, do we want to continue additional interviews with additional candidates that we've maybe had a secondary option to make sure we're covering our basis and having a good choice [snorts] for everyone to decide on the best candidate. Um, that was my asking of what's our thoughts. Do we want to move? Do we feel like we want to add some more interviews of other candidates to make a r, you know, a rational decision or does council feel they're comfortable with the interviews of the two candidates that we had?

I'm comfortable because of all the applications that we got, um, there was quite a few that were that stood out to begin with. there were there were more than the three that we originally reached out to that we thought would be um would would have the qualifications, but then after um further investigation, you know, it was determined that the three were the the best. And considering how many we got, I think we're I think we're going to in a good spot. And um personal opinion, I was um very impressed with one of the candidates and um I did uh talk to some people that um have experience working with him and I encountered no negative um issues with him and uh he was very forthcoming. He was um he didn't answer he answered the questions not only um like a vague answer but he answered them with facts and experience in every one of the questions. So to me that is an impressive candidate that that is able to provide experience. He's got experience in things that we need for the city. Um he's worked in on waterfront areas. He's done um housing. Those are the issues that we're mostly concerned about here is housing. And then you of course our waterfront. So um I think that um I personally think that we should be in a position to um make him an offer.

I would agree with most of those comments. I do think uh one of the candidates that we interviewed uh did a fabulous job showed some in-depth knowledge on most of the uh topics. I think more in-depth than most of us or all of us here in many cases uh with regard to his housing knowledge um even finance and stuff like that. He was mentioning things that never occurred to me. Um, I'd hate to see see us lose either one of those candidates if if we were to uh pull back and interview others. I I guess I' uh I don't know if I'd be willing to make an offer at this point, but perhaps do a more thorough background check unless we start preparing an offer and and perform a background check uh in parallel. I was going to say make an offer contingent on a background check, further investigation.

I do think it would be worthwhile if because there will be a more thorough background check, psychological exam, uh, pre-employment, physical. Um but to make sure that uh candidates that you're interested in are in the same place generally with contractual terms, salary. Um if the expectations are the same certainly proceed with uh uh the the rest of the background. Um but if expectations maybe are different then um certainly that would stall that process quickly.

Mr. Bshaw, would you like to do a [clears throat] Zoom or telephone interview as the hiring committee with myself and a candidate? I'm available. Sure. If that's what council wants, will that help council? Is a step in the right direction in the forward moving direction? What's we need a process here. This is what we're deciding. So, do we want a second interview? How long do we want this to take? I don't think a second interview myself is needed. Okay. We do need some sort of, you know, contract terms. Do we want salary, vacation, correct?

Mr. McNeil to just reach out and say, "Hey, this is what we want."

Um, I'm happy to to do whatever. Um, I think it might make sense to um negotiating committee and and some city staff to um come up with a an initial template generally that we would be comfortable with and sit down with the candidate or candidates and um talk that through. Um, and then if there's seemingly some agreement, proceed with the rest of the background. Um, of course, nothing, no contract being approved until it finally comes back to city council. So, clearly we're not sending this out to more than one candidate. Is that correct? Did we all exhaust ourselves talking about the snow? This is a rather usually boisterous [clears throat] council and suddenly we're very silent. And this is

I just wanted to make sure we we're comfortable as council with the representation of the two candidates that we interviewed. If the majority of council is comfortable with one out of the two, that's council. I just want to make sure we're looking to replace a city manager, a very good city manager we've had to come in and take over. I hope that we can make the best decision. So my I was just asking council, are we comfortable as a council whole comfortable with the two candidates we interviewed? I'm looking at other options to say I would like to increase that interview option from two to maybe two more. So, we have a pile of four candidates potentially to choose from because we also have to go to negotiation next or contract agreement. [snorts] If they decide to not accept or agree to the contracts or terms, we now lost both of them or one of them. Now, we're back to square one.

I would think I'm sorry. rather than go back uh and select some more for interviews and lose that time. I guess I'd rather reach out to the one, whichever one council thinks out of the two was the best one and see if we can come to some sort of contract agreement before our next meeting. We may find out tomorrow or Monday that that candidate's no longer interested or doesn't like what we're proposing

as far as a contract and in which case then fall back on interviewing others or perhaps going with our second choice that was interviewed. Okay. I I totally agree with I totally agree with that. I know this candidate is looking for is interviewing other places and um if we feel he's good, we need to reel him in. Then I'll accept the majority of council's decision. Okay. So, we're going to go back to the beginning again.

You're looking for someone to name a name. If we would if we'd like to make a motion to make contact, that would be wonderful.

I'll make a motion to to um contact Mr. Zeke Carlson and No, that is both people. [laughter] That is Did I say that? Zeke Jackson, excuse me. Pardon me. And um um do we want Halford? Do we want this motion to go? So, we're going to contact him and we're going to say that we're interested in making him an offer and then we see where this goes and then who is going to um um put together the offer? How is that going to happen? That's Do we need to discuss that first? I personally think that we should tell him that we're interested in making him an offer. And

I would imagine he's probably watching at home on YouTube. Sure. [laughter] But yes, I would think HR should notify him that he's assuming council agrees that he's the uh candidate. Does that support? I will support that. Sure. Okay. Thank you. Do we have further discussion on this item? As far as the proposed contract terms, what u at least for an initial starting point,

I would recommend that yourself and myself as the personnel committee meet with HR and the current city manager and review what we currently have and use that as a starting point for negotiation. If council's good with that, I'm good. I'm good. Mr. McNeel, I believe you've been instructed to make contact. Is there anything else in this motion, Karen? I think we covered it. You got it, Phil. I was actually going to look for some clarification. [laughter] Yeah, clear as mud.

Clear as mud. I kind of have a um I have uh to contact Zeke Jackson and offer position pending contract terms and background check. Correct. Is that what my interpretation is correct? Okay. There's a city clerk doing city clerk things over there. [laughter] Please call a roll. [snorts] All right. Council member Moore. Yes. Council Bosch. Yes. Council Dubour. Yes. Council Floth. Yes.

Mayor Ram. Yes. Moving on to appointments, of which we currently have none. But we could if anyone had signed up for one vacancy on the board of library trustees, if anyone had signed up for a vacancy on the historic preservation commission, if anyone had signed up for one vacancy on the housing commission, or up to three people had signed up for the one vacancy and two alternate vacancies currently available on the zoning board of appeals. Moving on to board commission and committee reports. Mr. Bush, I have none.

The uh zoning board of appeals met on Tuesday of this week. [snorts] Um they had a resident on Lakeshore Drive with a very narrow lot 50 ft wide wanting to put a attached garage uh next to his house. It would encroach or come very close to the property line. um they felt that it was uh the variance was needed due to no fault of his own. So they uh they approved that. The electrical advisory committee met yesterday. Um the city's required to have uh energy agreements in place going out four years. Well, it's time for 2030 uh to be put in place. The city has quite a few different options. Um the electrical superintendent went over those options with the board and they decided to table the issue until their next meeting in uh April next month. Revisit it then.

Uh I had a solid waste authority board meeting um last week. Things are going well. Um just want to remind people please recycle. And if you're sure not sure what to do, go online and they'll tell you exactly what to do. [snorts] Thank you.

I have none. Neither do I. At this time, we will hear general public comment. If you wish to make comment, please approach the podium, state your name and place of residence. [snorts] [clears throat] Uh, good evening. [cough] John Anthony, resident of the Eskanaba and a member of this Eskanabi Yach Club. Uh, as the city council and manager aware, I've been participating in the lease discussions and negotiations on behalf of the club. Uh, my time here tonight is brief, but I'd like to begin by first thanking the council for your consideration and at least continuation and supporting the role that we play in the community. [snorts] Since 1948, the city council and administration has supported the lease arrangement. With that, the EYC's history goes back even further with our 92-year history in Eskanava. Without question, the [snorts] Eskanaba Yach Club plays a valuable role in the boating community, the marina, and clearly, as you see tonight, is important to its members. Uh, one thing I'd like to share, I've always been impressed by the council's recogni recognizing the importance of supporting organizations, activities, events, meeting the varying interest and res of the residents of our community and the city of Eskanaba. Examples, improving the social district concept, offering more events in our treasured downtown DDA, even the block party tonight. supporting the arts and music and history in our community. Improving the parks Letington Street appearance. Adding plants, flowers, and landscaping. Supporting outdoor activities including fishing, hunting, and biking. Building parks for our kids,

playgrounds, and ball fields. And with that, the UIC is seeking your continued support as it has for now almost 78 years for the permission and the mission to serve the membership in the boating community here in Eskanaba. With this year's lease discussion, it provides us with the opportunity to restate just a few uh key items. First off, the building was built by the members beginning in 1948 and is entirely maintained and supported by the club. Essentially, there is no cost to the city. In fact, the club pays approximately $1,000 per year in taxes and another $900 per year in utilities. Yes, we agree the lease is a token amount, which makes sense because the cost to the city is essentially nothing. And really, we only seek to bring benefit to the community. There is substantial use of the club by the public. is available for public rentals. Uh based on a reasonable estimate, in the last three years, approximately 1,500 to 2,000 people or more have enjoyed that facility for their events. In addition, for this year, we have 19 scheduled events that we hope to have this year, of which 13 or approximately 68% of those are open to public participation. All of the remaining events are certainly open for guests of members. The cost of the membership is intentionally modest. We don't believe cost should be a barrier to belong to the club. If anyone thinks it's a good deal, say great. Please join. I have applications here tonight. Volunteer and help. Help us get involved. Help help us be better. We've also seek to clarify that we are not a commercial operation. We don't own the marina. We don't run the marina. We

don't and can't buy the lease, sell liquor, or operate a bar. And we don't seek to be a restaurant to compete against other private businesses or clubs here in Eskanava, including on Main Street. At the February 5th meeting, there were some questions presented and asked by the council and frankly so I'd say some pointed challenges. To that, we say this. We hear you. The point was clearly made. We certainly understand that it's fair and your responsibility to ask any volunteer organization who's part of this community uh and has a lease arrangement like this to do their best. So tonight, I'd kind of like to wind down and just saying that the EYC is not asking the city for anything. We are simply asking for your continued support of something that's entrenched in our city's history. And yes, moving forward with the lease negotiations, we do intend to provide the city manager and council with goals looking towards the future and continue to answer questions that have been asked. We look forward to some constructive discussions and presenting you with for f further information. One item I have outstanding to send to you shortly is a number of members who also are seasonal slip holders here in Eskanaba. And looking ahead too, I'd like to say a few things. Um you may not be a boater. Many people here tonight are. Uh many people in the audience may not be. But nor am I a musician or a hunter or a gardener or a youth coach or an artist. But we do see the EYC as being a good thing and we simply ask for your encouragement that we continue to do so and to do our best and it's always fair to ask us to do more. So with that, we look forward to a bright future for the club in Eanaba as

we continue through this lease negotiation process and especially a bright future for the city of Eskanava. Thank you for your consideration and your time. Good evening. Um, most of you know me, Rachel Brandstrom, live in Eskanava. Uh, I'm also here to speak about the yacht club. And uh while it is very interesting and impressive to hear from these members, particularly uh when Jim Hansen spoke at the last meeting and talked about all the stuff that he and the club have done over the years, that was astounding. But um I have a very different story than all these generational sailors. Um some people might have uh the notion that a yacht club is a snoody exclusive organization uh for rich people, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. These folks have been some of the most welcoming people I've ever met and I've been a lot of places and the value that the EYC provides to Eskanaba and its visitors is immeasurable. There has been question about what benefits the club provides. So I will tell you how from a unique perspective. When I moved to this area in 2023 from another country, I knew no one and was broke. My parents had recently moved to Stonington a couple years prior, but I grew up on the east coast, so all of my friends were hundreds of miles away. The waterfront intrigued me. I had obviously no boat, didn't have enough money for even a membership and very little experience, but I had an interest in being in the water on the water. And those people at the yach club welcomed me with open arms. I've seen them do the same for others. People with simply a curiosity are invited to jump on and crew on boats if they happen to wander along on whenever somebody's out uh

working on their boat or during a Wednesday race night. I'm still learning how to sail, but began crewing regularly on Manitu. There was one night I showed up after work for a Wednesday evening race and there were two strangers on board already. These guys were in Eskanaba temporarily working on building the new pharmacy at Walmart had taken a stroll down the docks and Dave invited them to come along for the race. Now the EYC might not put lots of hard tangible cash into the city's hands, but it absolutely has value and is a benefit to the community in a way unlike any other organization or business does. If they are forced to try to earn more money by becoming some sort of venue or charging people to step in the door, it will cease to have the appeal that it does. We don't need another bar or music venue. We need friendly community which is already provided. I moved here a lonely outsider going through a hard time. And through the EYC, I've met some really cool people, surprisingly chill, not rich snobs. And I've heard some fascinating stories from people with a wealth of experience. and I be became closer with a number of people including the person who's now my partner. Um there was uh mention of uh you know that the club needs to be putting stuff in the paper uh to advertise things and I pulled up um from the past two years uh instances of the UIC being mentioned in the paper. There were 16 in the last two years. Um less than half of those were just race results. A lot of them were stories about uh things that have been provided at the club. Um there was uh the uh the when they got club and the city jointly hosted uh the Great Lakes Cruising Club which was made possible because a couple of the members um uh of the EYC were also involved with the Great Lakes Cruising Club brought all

those people here who spoke very highly of Esanama both working with Kim Peterson at the recck department and the club. Um there was uh another article talking about um an an event that was held for free for the public. Um rescue divers uh from the Delta County Search and Rescue Team hosted an event at the EYC clubhouse in collaboration with PEO, the philanthropic education organization. Um there's also been instances of uh sailors from the EYC being recognized for um you know activities that they've done elsewhere. There's also of course obituaries where um people have held positions in the EYC and uh are people who are decorated in you know the military and then end up moving to Eskanaba and they form connections with other people and it's it's intergenerational. you look at um you know some of the young people who would not have the experiences that they are exposed to if they didn't go through the UIC. I've gone through my three minutes but thank you.

Uh good evening. My name is Troy Drestead from Gladstone. I am the director of the sales school in Gladstone. After retiring from the military, my family and I chose to move to this area to raise our family. Five years ago, I was asked to restart a sale school. Um, it had been mothballled since the early 2000s. When we started that first summer, we had eight kids and five small dilapidated old sailboats from the 1960s. Uh, this past summer, we hosted multiple sailing classes. We had over 50 kids and over 15 adults attend those classes. Our program has grown to more than 25 boats ving with different capabilities which has been allowed us to host people with uh varying degrees of disability both cognitive and physical disabilities. Um, this fall we completed a new building to host classes to securely store our growing fleet of boats and to host upcoming classes. None of this growth would have been possible without the continued generous support of the Eskenabi Yacht Club. The EYC members have stepped up in so many ways. Helping us with fundraising efforts, assisting us with acquiring additional boats to meet our expanding numbers, volunteering their time to teach our students on the water, and welcoming our sales school students to compete in their races. Their partnership has been invaluable with building a stronger sailing community on Lil Bay. Even though our program is based in Gladstone, we draw students from Eskanaba all over Delta County and as far away as Monomony and Marquette. Proof that this opportunity that we provide resonates regionally. It's goes beyond just teaching kids sailing skills. The Gladstone Sales School instills essential life skills, problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, self-reliance. These lessons help young people and adults navigate

challenges on and off the water. Uh the Eskenabach [clears throat] Club's effort benefit not just their members but the entire boating community in Eskanava Gladstone and beyond. By supporting sailing and boating in the bay, the city of Eskanava helps sustain programs like ours to promote safety, fun, education, and most importantly a community connection. I respectfully urge the council to continue supporting the Ekenabi Yach Club's vital role in the shared waterfront. Your partnership ensures these opportunities keep growing for future generations. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Tyler Anthony. I live at 321 South 7th Street, Esanaba. and I appear before you again as a director on the Eskimabi Club's board. Several years ago, my family and I had a Fourth of July picnic at the clubhouse. Same as a few other member families, same as we do all almost every year. As the afternoon drifted along, a pair of cyclists pulled up to a park bench just west of the building. [snorts] They had bags slung over the handlebars, stride both wheels, hanging from the saddle, hanging inside the frame. and they were everywhere. After they arrested for a few minutes, curiosity got the best of us and we waved them over. It turned out that they were a father and daughter team who were riding some vast distance. I I don't remember their route, but I think they were headed from Minnesota to Pennsylvania or someplace. And so their journey had taken them to a beat after their ride from the west. Uh they plan to go back and make camp at the state fairgrounds and cook up some

dehydrated meals there. Well, we felt they'd earned more than that uh especially on the 4th of July. So, we asked them to stick around for our little barbecue and they agreed to stay for a little while. Well, we all ended up swapping stories and eating all the way up until the fireworks started to shoot off. They sat with us through the display and we shared our traditional post fireworks ice cream sundae bar with them. You should come down for that. It was a lot of fun. Uh stuffed with chicken, fruit salad, ice cream, and all the other trimmings. They could barely get back on their bikes. The this fatherdaughter team couldn't thank us enough for the hospitality, and they said it was by far the most welcome they'd felt since starting their trip. We were happy to have them along. And I don't want to minimize how much these moments mean to them, my family, or me, but this isn't the first time the yacht club has opened its squeaky screen door to those perfect strangers. We've welcomed in countless people over the years. Boers, sailors, cyclists, wanderers, curious locals. Everyone is always welcome at the Eskenabi Yacht Club. I'm sure most members have plenty of stories like mine. This club has always strived to be the absolute best ambassadors we can be for our community. Clearly, we are because if the club was better about or uh best ambassadors we can be for our community in every way we can muster. I think our only fault on this work is that we're too modest about it. Clearly, we are because if the club was better about communicating our good work, we wouldn't find ourselves having to work so hard at the negotiating table with you esteemed members of the city council. I guess we should I guess we show people how much we care better than we tell them. And if that's our biggest fault, I can live with that.

If you take anything away from my comments tonight, please let it be this. The yacht club's mission might be limited to furthering its members enjoyment of boating, [snorts] but the good effects of that mission reach far beyond our membership. We serve our community as good ambassadors of what it has to offer visitors, whether they come by water, land, or air. We serve as good Samaritans of what it has to offer visitors. Sorry, I'm skipping lines again. We serve as good Samaritans to those visitors who do find themselves near the clubhouse in need of shelter or a hot meal. We serve as good stewards of that clubhouse which has played host to weddings, life celebrations, and other cherished moments for nearly 80 years. And we serve as good examples of what makes Esenabins truly great. Thank you for your attention. Further public comment at this time. Announcements. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Oh, wait.

This Saturday is the 7th, which means that the Special Olympics will be at held at the high school. And if you never experienced that, get thee up there and witness true sportsmanship. You will leave smiling. Seeking a motion to adjourn. So move. Second. Have a good night.