Council - Regular Meeting

Regular council meeting of Monday, June 8, 2026. If we could start with the Pledge of Allegiance, please.

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. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Angelina gave us notice she has personal matters she's got to take care of today. Back to the agenda. So we had

A couple adjustments before I hear anyone else's comments. Under new business 10, item B is being removed from the agenda. That's not ready to be brought forward for consideration. And item E is also being removed. And then before I take anyone else's comments, I'm going to go ahead and add one item We received a communication from the county regarding our desire to continue participation in the CDBG program. That has to be returned by June 18th, so we don't have time to wait till our next meeting. So I'm gonna add consideration of continuing the CDBG program to new business 10B. And then we'll move F and G up. Anybody else have any comments or requested changes?

I do. I'd like to request that we, on item nine presentations, that we flip flop the agenda items, mostly because we've got some guests.

Yeah, that's a good idea. Thank you. So we'll flip flop A and B in item nine presentations. Anybody else? I can get a motion to approve the agenda as amended. Motion to approve the agenda as amended. Second. Motion by Solleys, second by Ferris. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We had minutes from two different meetings. The first was a regular council meeting of May 11th, 2026. Anybody have any comments? Anybody? I can get a motion to approve.

So moved. Second.

Motion by Hanson, second by Gates. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Special Village Council meeting minutes of May 26th, 2026. Does anybody have any comments? Hearing none, if we can get a motion please.

Motion to approve. Second.

Motion by King, second by Gates to approve the Special Village Council minutes. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. All right, next on the agenda is public requests and comments. Anybody that has something to address that is not on the agenda today? Here's your time. Please try and win your comments in three minutes.

Aye. I'm speaking on behalf of the FCA today, and I just want to share some really good news that we have a lot of stuff going on. Our free Saturday Qigong classes have begun. They're similar to Tai Chi, and they're taught by Robert Simon, who is Franklin's local doctor of Chinese medicine and acupuncture. The first class was phenomenal. We had about 30 people participate, and classes are held at the park each Saturday in June from 10 to 11, no experience needed. The FCA also had our first Pickleball Social this year. We had a mixture of brand new players and experienced players, one court for each group, and it was really fun. The Pickleball Socials are held the first Thursday evening of each month with the next one on July 2nd at 6 p.m. For kids, the FCA will be running our second annual Franklin Family Campout at the park on June 27th and 28th. Barbecue dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday will be sponsored by Novak Real Estate Partners. Enjoy a campfire, s'mores, a sing-along run by Willoway's Bruce Fisher, and a glow softball game sponsored by the Franklin Baseball League. There will also be fun group games for kids and lots of glow-in-the-dark giveaways. Last year we had 80 people sign up. So to sign up for this year and to get more information, see our website, fcamichigan.org. On July 18th, the FCA will be hosting our first ever 5K Fun Run or Walk. Participants will receive a free t-shirt and a pancake breakfast along with a beautiful route through Franklin. There will be music, food trucks, inflatables, and games in the park to entice basically even the non-runners to come out and support. We are actively seeking sponsors and all proceeds will go towards our tennis court renovation. Speaking of our tennis court renovation, we are getting closer with better quotes and now with an experienced villager, John Bornstein, who has volunteered to oversee the project. Our plan is to completely redo both tennis courts, add two pickleball courts and install new fencing. While we intend to get most of our fundraising from donations, we would greatly appreciate the village's help to help keep us informed of any potential grant opportunities. As for our gazebo, we know that it needs some work and we've received quotes and we'll be repairing and repainting it soon. Lastly, as you may remember, the FCA experienced a criminal misappropriation of FCA funds by our volunteer treasurer. In September of 2025, Rich Parada was convicted of felony embezzlement and the court ordered him to repay the stolen amount. As of this month, we are pleased to share that we have received back 95% of what was taken and we expect the remainder to be paid back by this September.

Congratulations. Thank you.

Kathy, thank you. That's a wonderful report. And thank you, as always, to the FCA, not only for the programs that we are regularly used to, but a lot of new creative things to get people involved. So this is a full summer of activities. Thank you.

No, it's fine. Is there a map of the 5K online?

Do we have one? Yes. We just haven't put it out yet.

OK, thank you.

Hello, I'm John Simon of 30320 King Cardin. And since last March, I've been attempting to identify qualified residents who might be willing to run for the four open council positions on this coming November ballot. I have personally spoken with over 60 people. And sadly, not one person has agreed to run. The predominant reason for declining with a reluctance to become part of an, I'm sorry. Sadly, no one person agreed to run. The predominant reason for declining was a reluctance to become part of an inexperienced and often contentious council environment dominated by a husband and wife team leading a faction that shows little willingness to compromise. Even the two villagers who volunteered TO FILL AN EARLIER COUNCIL OPENING, BOTH DECIDED NOT TO RUN IN THIS NOVEMBER'S ELECTION. THEIR REASON FOR BEING DISAPPOINTED IN HOW THE COUNCIL CHOSE THE COMPARATIVELY LEAST EXPERIENCED PERSON TO FILL THAT VACANCY. SEVERAL OTHER VILLAGERS EXPRESSED EMBARRASSMENT IN THE WAY THIS VILLAGE COUNCIL FUNCTIONS AND IN THE COUNCIL'S LACK OF PROCESS. Villages listening to this need to know that unless they and two other residents are willing to step up and get involved in changing the character of this council, this village will likely be left with an even less experienced and less effective council than we already have. For those villagers who are considering running for council, this coming November. Please know that in order to have your name placed on the ballot, you must register your intent at the Southfield Township office by July 21st. Finally, I strongly recommend that concerned villagers watch the May 26th special council meeting on the budget. This meeting showed an embarrassing lack of process for finalizing the budget and showed the insensitivity of Trustee Sulaka as she insulted and devalued those on the village administrative staff who are up for raises. She acquainted the staff to teenagers asking their parents for a Lamborghini when a small SUV is all they are really worth. Our treasurer rebuked Sulaka explaining that this administrative staff's pay scale is clearly below that of many surrounding communities. and that the requested raise would simply bring them up to the parity with those other communities. Thank you.

The spectacle of Mr. Ferris' appointment took three nights. It was painful to watch as Trustees Gates, Sali, Salaka, determined to get their man appointed at any cost, regardless of those more qualified and experienced amongst the alternatives. Ludwick, Novak, Chama, Chris King, Hankey, Rosenberg, Macbeth. You chose another lawyer who has rarely opined on counsel while he spoke freely and was animated during his interview. Mr. Jeff King's qualifications were sitting in the audience for three council meetings, works at Google Ads sales, lived here two years, has a vision, interested and curious. That's it. No other qualifications, expertise, credentials, knowledge, or serving in the community. The alternative candidates were Stuart Wooters, PhD, Bashir Chama, Dr. Sign, MD, Sandy Harris, These gentlemen's CVs shined like bright stars, offering an abundance of talent, expertise, service to the community, credentials and knowledge so needed on this council. You threw these four highly qualified candidates to the curb for your unqualified guy. This is not governing. It's stacking the deck with people who will do your bidding, follow your directions and group think. This is what happens when trustees inexperienced in governance collide with power and do not know how to manage it. Cabals on council are destructive, non-productive. It is hubristic thinking to believe trustees unqualified in governance can learn as they go. Too much is at stake here. Would you accept this from any other vital service such as your surgeon, dentist, electrician. This job is close to a full-time job commitment. Many of you cannot meet this due to your children, family, jobs, businesses, and it shows. Currently, there are five neophytes on council and a whole lot of chaos where work should have occurred. Res ipsa loquita. There's a husband and wife with different surnames on council. Oh, what could possibly go wrong? Both the lawyers and the appeal to law fallacy was invoked in debate as a lifeline to normalise this mess. This is not normal, ethical or moral. Main Street sent a letter to the President refusing to have Trustee Salaka attend any more meetings and describing her aberrant, disruptive, manipulative behaviour in detail. Prior to Main Street, a letter of 2020 was sent to the FCA board. The sudden resignation of our village administrator and all staff. Documents citing the husband and wife and some members from this ring of five for creating the environment for these mass resignations. No one has ever accepted accountability, responsibility and I never will. The residents were left to file four years. The special meeting of May 26, where Trustee Sulaka repeated her overreach, micromanagement, attempts to control the administrative staff, and a Lamborghini insult. I was amazed we didn't have another mass resignation on the spot. Mr. President, I ask leave the assembly for another 10 seconds. In all this chaos, the theft of close to a million dollars, is anyone really surprised? Trust has fled this council building. There's a quiet rebellion in this village with highly qualified, respectable people unwilling to serve with you. Let that sink in. And alternative forms of government being proposed. Pardon?

A little more than 10 seconds.

Oh, OK. One sentence. This does not bode well for our solvency, property values, and services. We have entered a race to the bottom. Thank you, Mr. President.

At the risk of repeating things that have been heard, I've come to talk to you today about transparency and diversity. Let's talk about diversity because you guys love to preach about it. You love to specify certain months of the year and make all these claims about diversity. Where's the diversity on this council? This is the most inexperienced council we've ever had. You guys are responsible for so much chaos. It's absolutely unimaginable. And so there's no way that this is diversity, and it certainly isn't transparent. We should not have a husband and wife on the council operating with two separate names. We should not have four attorneys on the council. That's not diversity. We need some business people, and most importantly, we need experience. You cannot operate on training wheels. You cannot operate a government as learn and go. You're like a PTA group. And that's for social events. That's for the FCA, where most of us came from. It's not for government. I hope a couple of you will consider resigning because you're in way over your heads. The things that have been said in these council meetings are so insensitive to the staff and to this community. We lost an entire staff of people last summer over this council. And now, the last budget meeting, there was discussion about a personnel committee reviewing all of the salary increases. The personnel committee is made up of three of the most inexperienced members of this council. So it's insulting to the people who work here. And they felt it. If you think that went over well with our new administrator and our new treasurer, if you think that went over well with our chief of police, who could retire at any moment and go to Florida where his kids are? You're wrong, and you're completely out of your league. As evidence of the current status of this council, not one of you attended the annual Memorial Day Veterans Tribute at the cemetery. Not one. and lastly a man of great distinction in this village who lived his entire life in this community and gave uh enormously passed away just recently not one of you attended his funeral or memorial service that's because you don't know who he is not one of the inexperienced new members pam forgive me i know you were there david i know you were there i'm sorry None of you were in the attendance because you don't even know who Gary Roberts is. And that's what this is really about. It's lack of knowledge, experience, and attention to the community that you appear to be serving. We need people who can lead with experience here. We need people who have been here. There are people in this room and I'm hoping they will consider running. There are people that I know are paying attention. There are too many people on this council that simply don't know what they're doing. You can applaud their volunteerism and I do. But volunteerism is for other kinds of commitments and committees. Two more minutes. One more minute. Not even.

30 seconds.

It's not for governing. I hope people will pay attention to this, and I hope people will consider running because there are four seats coming up in November.

You're over your time, Mike. Respect our president.

I do respect our president. Abby, I got it. I'm gone. Thank you. You guys all got extra time. Let's go. Anybody else? All right, we'll go ahead and close public comments. Ports and Village Officers, Chief.

Good evening. All of you have the report for this month and included in that report is our quarter review from our co-responder who's actually here tonight. I'd also like to direct your attention to the last page of the report where it says, this is new data that we're collecting, residential business and school checks every month. And I'll direct your attention to how many residential checks our officers did in the last month, 252. Business checks, 28. School checks, 494. I don't think there's too many departments that are doing that. And hats off to our police officers for doing that. That's fantastic. And I would now like to introduce our newest officer, Katie Robinson. She has a few words to say.

Definitely appreciate the applause So I just kind of will give you guys a little introduction like on myself and Who I am so you guys can get to know a little bit about me So my name is Katie Robinson the Katie doesn't change It's just Katie. I'm 27 years old. I'm live in Chesterfield, Michigan I'm born and raised there. So I've went to Anchor Bay School Districts my whole life and After that, I did go to Oakland University where I had my bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a specialization in homeland security and a minor in sociology. Being a police officer has definitely always been a dream of mine and it's something I worked very hard to get and grateful for this opportunity that obviously the chief has given me and this village and all the coworkers. So I'm very grateful and honored to be meeting and just be a part of their team i did graduate in 2021 where i did have a little bit of experience as well i had worked actually at west bloomfield under deputy chief lawson at the time and i was a psa and then a dispatcher there after that i did go to the academy and i did work at waterford pd as a police officer as well other than obviously my education things i do have three brothers

A loving dog named Teddy.

And then in my spare time, I do love spending time with family. I'm mostly on the golf course pretty much all summer and just hanging around friends. Obviously, being so close to Lake St. Clair, I am definitely a boater. But other than that, like I said, I'm just very grateful for this opportunity and to be a part of this meeting today and to meet all of you guys on the road, off the road. And if you ever do run into me, do not be afraid to say hi, stop me, have a conversation. And I will definitely try and do the same as well because making those public relations is a very big thing to me. And I just look forward to getting to know more about you guys and for you to get to know more about me. So thank you.

That's it. Chief Tony.

Good evening.

Thank you.

No awards?

I'm sorry? No awards? That's next.

Okay. Good evening. Sorry for my tardiness. You've also received our written report. The only thing I'd like to add is that with Evan sending me The DocuSign Village event list, we look forward to supporting everything going on in the village this summer, as well as what we've had in Bingham Farms. There are a lot of activities. And also, thanks to Evan, you have got the penmanship in me going with the weekly newsletter. So if you haven't signed up for the newsletter, please do. And if there are any requests for articles or information that would be beneficial to the community in terms of fire safety, please feel free and let me know. I'd be more than happy to include that as we round out the schedule for the remainder of the summer. Depending on your questions, that'll conclude my report.

I don't have a question, it's a comment, but it seems like there's been more Franklin Fire Department newsletters lately. Have you amped up your?

Yes.

That's what I thought.

And I will blame Evan for that.

Well, I think Evan's an okay guy.

No, I don't blame Evan. It actually works out very well because we have started looking at a different contribution to the newsletter each week. yeah and so we're trying to get involved in not only fire safety topics but fire department topics so i think they're interesting and i'm glad to i'm glad i'm getting them so thank you oh you're welcome absolutely excellent thank you thanks chief thank you jody do you have anything other than what's on the agenda

Just the report. For now.

No, that's great. We've never had that before. Thank you. Appreciate that. Do you have anything? Sorry. I got lost for a second.

KIND OF HIDING IN THE BACK THERE. SO JUST A QUICK REPORT FOR THE PLANNING COMMISSION FROM LAST MONTH. ON MAY 20TH, WE DISCUSSED A PROPOSAL TO SOME AMENDMENTS OF CHAPTERS 678, 648, AND 1268 TO OUR ORDINANCES WITH REGARDS TO NUISANCE DEBATEMENT. FOR THE VILLAGE, WE HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING A WEEK FROM THIS WEDNESDAY, SO ON JUNE 17TH. WELCOME PUBLIC TO READ OVER THE PROPOSALS TO THE AMENDMENTS AND PLEASE COME, THEY HAVE TO DO WITH REVISIONS TO ADDRESS STORAGE OF BUILDING MATERIALS, LITTER AND RUBBISH ENFORCEMENT AND PARKING OR STORAGE OF VEHICLES AND CONTAINERS ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. So please come with ideas and thoughts of how the wording is and what we've talked about. We welcome the public for those discussions. It's very critical to have that input prior to making a recommendation to council. In addition, we considered making an amendment or change to the existing sign ordinance that was passed by the council in 2022. And after reviewing and discussing, four of us actually were part of that original ORDINANCE UPDATE. IT TOOK US 13 WEEKS THE FIRST TIME AROUND TO ACTUALLY GO THROUGH AND DO THAT ORDINANCE MODIFICATION. AND IN KEEPING WITH THE CURRENT BLIGHT AND NUISANCE ORDINANCE, I WAS LOOKING BACK AT THE PURPOSE OF THE SIGNED ORDINANCE IN GENERAL. I'm sorry, 1474.01 purpose B, it says that signs should enhance the aesthetic appeal of the village, including the preservation of its historic and cultural resources, scenic areas and view sheds, and the dark sky night. Thus, the regulations are intended to regulate oversized signs that are out of scale with surrounding buildings and structures and prevent an excessive accumulation of signs that cause visual clutter. And so due to the existing ordinances and the purpose and the scope of what we had currently on the books, we didn't see that there was a material change required to actually update the ordinance, mostly because we've had a presidential election and several midterm elections since the ordinance was changed. And this is the first time we've had a request to change it due to the number of signs being insufficient. And also in reflection of the fact that the corner lots have different prescribed number of signs versus someone that's landlocked between two houses, there's lots of exceptions for corner lots versus the landlocked. For example, I HAVE TWO EASEMENTS ON MY PROPERTY THAT I HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHEN I GO TO BUILD OR MAKE ANY MODIFICATION ON MY PROPERTY. I WOULD LOVE TO ONLY HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE FRONTAGE OF ONE SIDE RATHER THAN HAVE TO BE SUBJECTED TO AN ORDINANCE THAT LIMITS MY OWN LAND AND PROPERTY AS WELL. SO UNFORTUNATELY, THERE'S PROVISIONS THAT REQUIRES BASED UPON THE FRONTAGE OF THE PROPERTY THAT REQUIRES TO HAVE DIFFERENT ORDINANCE AND WE WERE ACCOMMODATING THAT WITH HAVING A SECOND SIGN FOR SOMEONE THAT LIVES EITHER A FRONT TO BACK LOT FRONTAGE OR CORNER LOT. SO OUR RECOMMENDATION IS NOT TO MAKE ANY CHANGES. OUR PLAN IS NOT TO MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THAT ORDINANCE. That's my report.

Thank you. So from a policy perspective, I guess my main, regardless of clutter, I mean, frankly, I could care less if it's four or three, because I think somebody who takes issue with three will take issue with four. Somebody who takes issue with four will take issue with three. Yep. To me, it's the policy standpoint of oftentimes signs are used as a form of expression. And so affording somebody the opportunity of advocating for three topics compared to four based off of the situation of the property, to me, I would love to see more equity within that than to just say, well, there's differences. If you have an easement, then you have different requirements based off of that. Sure, but that's not talking about the availability for one to express himself.

So good question, good point. And we looked at that and considered that. The difference, though, is, for example, if it's a real estate sign, you would, and you were only allowed to have one sign on one frontage of your property versus having another, or you'd have four, you'd have the ability. But you also could be doing landscaping and they want to put their sign in for your property for they're doing landscaping while you're selling your house. There's lots of motivations and reasons to have more than one sign and just having a separate frontage is just giving the opportunity that you could put it on that frontage. IN ADDITION TO. IT IS THREE ON ONE AND ONE ON THE OTHER. SO YOU'RE ONLY MATURALLY HAVING ONE SIGN DIFFERENCE. THAT WAS THE MOTIVATION. WE SPENT 13 MONTHS WORKING ON THIS AND THAT WAS THE CONCLUSION WE WENT TO. WE ORIGINALLY HAD THREE AND THREE WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT OR MORE BUT THEN WE REDUCED IT DOWN TO ONE ADDITIONAL BECAUSE WE DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THEY NEEDED THAT MUCH OF A BENEFIT. It's not necessarily a benefit to be on two frontages. There's different tax implications.

Sure, but that's different though, right? Like we're talking about tax implication compared to expression.

True, but the point being that you have a different property. Your property is different. So you have different capabilities, different things that are requirements to your property. That's all that's highlighting is the fact that we're allowing that to happen because you have A DIFFERENT PROPERTY STRUCTURE. YOUR PROPERTY IS DIFFERENT THAN OTHER PROPERTIES MATERIALLY. THAT'S REALLY THE REASON. OTHERWISE, THE RECOMMENDATION FROM PLANNING WOULD BE TO WORK ON IT TO REDUCE IT TO THREE.

THAT'S MY POINT. I COULD CARE LESS IF IT'S THREE OR FOUR. TO ME, IT COMES DOWN TO THAT POLICY STANDPOINT.

WE WENT BACK AND FORTH. PRESIDENT GOLDBERG WAS ON PLANNING DURING THE TIME OF THAT DISCUSSION. WE DID GO BACK AND FORTH ALSO WHETHER OR NOT WE SHOULD JUST KEEP THE NUMBERS THE SAME. UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE 13 MONTHS OF DISCUSSION THAT GOT CONDENSED INTO WHAT'S THE FINAL ORDINANCE. SO IT DOESN'T ENCAMPSULATE THE HISTORY AND EVERYTHING WE DISCUSSED AND RELEVANT ORDINANCES IN OTHER VILLAGES. WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH AND DO A WHOLE MUCH LARGER DISCUSSION TO TALK ABOUT WHY WE DID WHAT WE DID MOTIVATION WISE. BUT THAT'S OUR RECOMMENDATION IS NOT TO REALLY MAKE A CHANGE. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?

ANYBODY ELSE?

OKAY. ALL RIGHT. PLEASE COME TO OUR MEETINGS. EVERY TIME WE HAVE A PLANNING MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING, I GET HOPEFUL WHEN THE PARKING LOT IS FULL BUT THEY'RE HERE FOR BASEBALL.

We can't have that many of us there at any given time.

Okay, thanks Stuart. Next is our consent agenda. Got four items on the consent agenda. The check run, a demolition permit for 26075 Woodlore, and then consideration of a municipal credit and community credit contract for The fiscal year 2425 for smart contract with next and then the one for 2526. So these these never get done in the past.

They did. They did not previously get done.

All right, so we have those four items. Anybody want to have any of these removed for discussion?

I don't want any of them removed from the discussion. Just one of the things that I think would be helpful for the Kelly firm to look into is we're still receiving bills on the AMLA, and this predates all of you. So AMLA was like this. They essentially were going to run all of our ordinances through AI to figure out the difference between it was a low set cost that was supposed to run everything through and basically say, this is a conflict with state law. You should update it and make recommendations upon updates. Well, what it's, it has continued because it's, I don't even know if I was on council when it was initially approved or it was early on when I was, so we're coming up on four years. I think the initial set amount was like $10,000 and we're still getting billed 1500 in this most recent one. And I guess my question is, What is being done? When do we make a determination on just saying enough's enough? Yeah, I agree.

So that's an amazing point. I'm surprised. I think we need to get in contact with Dan and Rachel, who neither were here at the time that began. That was done with Roger and Peter. And let's find out, at a minimum, those are deliverable.

Yeah.

Perfect.

Yeah, thank you for reminding us. Yeah.

All right, so we have four items. Anything else? Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? Motion to approve the consent agenda.

I'll second.

Motion by Solly, second by Hanson. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. Next, we have two presentations. The first is really on a sad note. On May 16th of 2026, the village lost one of our longest and dearest friends and volunteers, Gary Roberts, who, as you'll find out in a second, had an amazing impact on the village of Franklin since his childhood where he was born and raised here through his passing on May 16th. The council has prepared a resolution that I'm gonna read into the record and that we're gonna present to the Roberts family. In addition, the council is all chipped in and we purchased a plaque for Gary that we want to present to the Roberts family tonight and have a place somewhere in the Village Hall to have posted on his behalf. Gary was an amazing human being, an amazing professional, a gentleman, and somebody that we will terribly miss. And on that note, I'm going to go ahead and read a proposed resolution for Mr. Gary Roberts. This is a resolution for Gary Roberts in appreciation of his service to the village of Franklin. Whereas Gary Roberts served Franklin in many ways from serving as Franklin's building official for several years to most recently as chairman of the Franklin Historic District Commission. And whereas in 2016 Gary Roberts was a member of the team that expanded the exterior and interior of the Franklin Library to modernize and improve the functionality of the building while holding true to the traditional elements, style, and charm of the original structure. The addition to the south side of the library enables the library to accommodate its growing number of library patrons, as well as the need for additional public programming space. And whereas Gary Roberts provided expertise from 2019 to 2021, advising the village council on streetscape decisions and guiding the design team adherence to state historic preservation guidelines and materials and construction. His involvement enabled the Historic District Commission to make informed approval decisions, whereas Gary Roberts was instrumental in completing a complex multi-commission approval process in three months for the new Franklin Grill Pavilion located behind the restaurant, enabling the restaurant owners to remain open when they were no longer able to serve meals indoors during COVID. And whereas Gary Roberts provided leadership to the 2018 Historic District Commission Study Committee that identified, evaluated, and recommended properties for inclusion in the updated local historic district. The updated historic district benefits the village by preserving Franklin's historic character through protecting historic structures and spaces, enhancing the value of the district, and protecting potential threatened resources. And whereas Gary Roberts supported the Franklin Historical Society, where in 2008 he helped relocate the 1840s Krieger homestead to its current location behind the village offices and oversaw the placement of the buildings, renovation, and landscaping. And whereas Gary Roberts was a Franklin volunteer firefighter from 1973 through 1983, he once helped revive a drowning victim along with his father and former deputy chief, Mr. David Roberts. For the past five years, Gary was also instrumental with fundraising and refurbishment coordination of the department's original 1929 Mack fire engine. In words, Gary Roberts gave more than 40 years to the Boy Scouts of America, earning the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor a local council can bestow. In his many roles serving Franklin, his guiding principles were simple. operate with integrity, invest in relationships, and never stop seeking opportunities to the better. He was a leader in Boy Scout Troop 1699, working on Pancake Breakfast to help fund the Krieger Farmhouse, participating in Franklin Labor Day parades and Memorial Day activities honoring veterans. And whereas Gary Roberts spent his early career at DiMatteo Group in Plymouth, Michigan, rising from technical staff, architectural roles, to president and chief executive officer. In 2013, he founded G.D. Roberts LLC, an architecture, planning, and real estate consulting firm, whereas extending his reach across Southeast Michigan. Franklin benefited from his expertise and his love for historic preservation. He believed in volunteerism and the power of a good team. His favorite quote from Thoreau was the one he lived by, goodness is the only investment that never fails. And whereas Gary Roberts was the son of Dr. David and Jane Roberts and the brother of former police chief Dan Roberts. He was married to Debbie and two children, Ben and Tara. On May 16th, 2026, Gary passed away surrounded by the people he loved most. His warmth, generosity and kindness will be remembered. Now therefore be it resolved on this eighth of day of June, 2026, the village council and historic district commission of the village of Franklin desire to express their appreciation of Gary Roberts. to thank him for years of dedicated service and commitment to the village of Franklin. Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution and expression of civic appreciation be presented to the family of Gary Roberts on behalf of the undersigned. That's it. So first of all, before Dan, I'm gonna, first of all, let's officially take action on this. So I'm gonna go ahead and make a motion that we adopt the resolution for Gary Roberts that was just presented. I can get a second. I'll second that. Motion by Goldberg, second by Hanson. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. I'm gonna pass this around here for everybody to sign. Before we get to one more item that we want to present to the Roberts family, so on behalf of the Village Council and the Historic District Commission and Franklin residents as a whole, in honor and appreciation of Gary David Roberts, Historic District Commission 2001 to 2026. who balanced pragmatism with a deep love for Franklin, historic preservation, and the lasting character of the village. Presented on behalf of the Franklin Village Council, the Historic District Commission, and that people of Franklin.

Thank you, Council. My brother, and I'll let Debbie, his wife, speak more than me, of course, but my brother loved this village more than anybody, I think. My parents moved here in 1965. They built their home. My mother still lives in it at 90-plus years old, and he basically never moved out. He loved this village. He loved everything that it stood for And he would do anything for it and it was funny when we were sitting and talking with the minister before his funeral he was talking to the family of Debbie and I and Ben and Tara about the first words that come to mind when you when you think about my brother and The first word that came out out of my mouth was professionalism He was always professional that no matter what the topic was no matter who he was dealing with he never raised his voice He may have disagreed with you, but he was never going to argue with you and it was always settled professionally And so I'll let Debbie speak for it, but thank you council for doing this This was a very nice tribute, and I'm sure Gary would have appreciated, but Debbie.

It's all yours Thank you very much for the resolution I hope he understood when he was here how appreciative everybody was of what he did. Many times he would tell me about what project he's doing. It all sounded very frustrating to me. But he just plodded along and did what needed to be done and thoroughly enjoyed it, regardless of the way path there. So thank you again for the opportunity. The nice recommendation, appreciate it.

Yes, we will truly miss Carrie. Next on our agenda, we have A PRESENTATION REGARDING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S NEW SPECIAL NEEDS AUTISM PROGRAM. AND I SEE WE HAVE SARAH.

HI, SARAH.

HI. WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD AND START US OFF.

YEAH. DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU WHEN WE'RE MOVING ON? OKAY. Good evening. Thank you all for being here. My name is Sarah Greslick. I am a Franklin resident and planning commissioner, and I am a parent of a child with autism. This initiative began with a simple question many parents ask themselves. What happens if my child needs help and I'm not there? When I brought that question to Chief Lawson, I found a partner who immediately saw the value in creating something proactive for our community. Together with our co-responder, Kimberly, we combined lived experience, public safety expertise, and clinical knowledge to develop the Autism Emergency Response Support Program. At its core, this initiative is about improving communication, reducing misunderstandings, and supporting safer interactions for everyone involved.

Before discussing the program itself, it's important to understand a few things about autism. Autism is a neurological and developmental difference that affects communication, sensory processing, social interactions, and responses to stress. It's called a spectrum because every autistic person experiences it differently. Many autistic individuals work, drive, go to college, raise families, and live independently, while others may require significant additional supports. What is consistent is that stressful situations can affect communication and information processing differently, which sometimes leads to misunderstanding during emergencies or public safety interactions. Emergency situations are stressful for everyone, but for autistic individuals, they can be especially overwhelming. Flashing lights, sirens, multiple people talking, loud voices, rapid instructions can make it difficult to process information and respond quickly. As a result, responders may encounter delayed answers, limited eye contact, repetitive movements, shutdowns, and attempts to leave the situation. These behaviors are often stress responses, but they're not intentional noncompliance, but could be viewed as such by our officers. These behaviors are often. I'm sorry, understanding that distinction also allows our responders to adjust their interactions, their communication with them, and often leads to our better outcomes for everyone involved.

This initiative is obviously deeply personal to me. Like many parents, I spend a lot of time thinking about my son's future. He's 13, ooh, and will be starting driver's education before long. While I want him to have the same opportunities for independence as everyone else his age, I know that independence requires trust. Autism can create barriers, not within itself. Our family has navigated educational systems, searched environments for a son where he could thrive, and spent years advocating, explaining, and seeking understanding. What people don't see is how those experiences accumulate. By the time your child is learning to drive and becoming more independent, you've already spent years navigating systems that weren't designed with them in mind. That's why this initiative means so much to me. It tells families that understanding isn't something that they have to fight for in this community. It's being built in proactively. And the need is already there. Nearly one in seven students in Birmingham public schools currently receive special education services. And Oakland County is home to tens of thousands of autistic children and adults who may interact with first responders as residents, drivers, passengers, students, employees, patients, and neighbors. This initiative is a simple but meaningful way to help ensure those interactions begin from a place of understanding. Now I'm going to turn it over to Chief.

So one of the most important components of this initiative is our autism communication support card, which is down on the bottom here. The card provides a simple way for individuals to communicate important information during what could be potentially a stressful interaction with law enforcement. From our officer's perspective, the card immediately provides context. It helps officers understand that communication and information processing may differ and the card provides us with guidance that can support calmer, more effective interactions. This card remains with the individual. Participation is totally voluntary and the individual can decide whether or not he or she wants to share this information with us. We think it's very important to note that this card is not about labeling people. It's about creating an understanding. This program doesn't require officers to change how they do their job. Many of the strategies that are highlighted are already consistent with what our officers do every day on the street and how we train them. De-escalation practices, speaking calmly to individuals, explaining our actions, and when reasonable, answering their questions. This card provides our officers with another tool to make informed decisions and deliver the best possible service to our residents.

The communication support card helps in that immediate need with our officers' interaction, but we also have a form in addition to the card that will help our department. This is, again, completely voluntary and a confidential form that allows the individuals and families to share information that may assist our first responders during medical emergencies, wellness checks, wandering incidences, or safety-related situations. Families can choose what information they would like to provide, including emergency contacts, communication preferences, medical information, sensory considerations, or safety concerns. The goal is simple, provide responders with information that can help make informed decisions. So for example, on their sensory need, if our individuals have sensory to flashing lights and you're getting pulled over, that can instantly shut that person down. So with that on their card and not only on their form, the officers will know, okay, this individual has that sensory issue. Let's go ahead and turn those lights off. They can notify our dispatch. So that way we're already creating a different environment to help them engage with our officers. Another thing that's especially important that we've seen on the news lately is our wandering kiddos. A lot of time, kiddos with autism, they're especially drawn to water. With that being on our form, our officers will know that that child has a tendency to go to that exact pond or lake. Our dispatch would have this as well.

So programs like this are not only a great way to help people within our community, but this program also builds relationships. The communication support card and the form that Kimberly just spoke of are tools, but the larger goal is to continue to build our relationship with the community, to continue to build trust, allow our residents to be more comfortable interacting with their police department. This program will continue to grow through our community feedback and partnership. We are committed to listening, learning, and improving as we move forward.

I'd like to close by thanking Chief Lawson, our officers, and our co-responder Kimberly. When I first approached them with the idea, I expected a conversation. What I didn't expect was the warmth, enthusiasm, and genuine desire to collaborate that followed. As a parent and advocate, I've spent years navigating systems and advocating for understanding. In fact, I went back to school for it. What I found here was completely different. Rather than asking whether this could be done, Chief Lawson and Kimberly immediately began asking how we could make it work. Together we brought lived experience, public safety, expertise, clinical knowledge to the table and built something we believe can make a meaningful difference for our community. This program sends a simple message. You belong here, you are valued here and your community wants to work with you, not against you. Thank you very much.

So our program is officially begun. People can pick up forms and the cards at the police department, or they can contact us, contact me. We can drop them off, help them get started. We certainly can answer any questions that they have. We're going to be showcasing this new program throughout the community all summer at different events. We're also going to be in studio in WDIV on June 16th and some other appearances around town to promote this. So right now, if you have any questions, we'd be glad to answer them.

Just one question. Are there any other surrounding communities that are also trading information? I could see how that could be beneficial in terms of they're not always going to be in Franklin.

Sure. So that's why we kind of came up with the card. Other communities, they have stickers that they might put on the vehicle. We kind of had a discussion, um, of not wanting people to target them by seeing that sticker on the card, knowing that that's already a vulnerable person, like in a parking lot. So the card we kind of came up with because it can be useful in other settings. So it's something that they can travel with even outside of a car. So if they're going to secretary of state, um, they can hand that card over to them so that, their whole questioning if they're trying to get an id or a passport their questioning also shifts there so it serves in multiple areas not just with our law enforcement our public safety so ours is different in that aspect that you can take the card wherever you're going and are we communicating that to other municipalities or just like watch out for the card and this is what it means etc Yes, so with me being a co-responder in surrounding communities, once we kind of kick off this, I'll be, I don't know if you want to say transferring, but shifting it over to other departments as well.

Thank you.

Especially there is a high interest in it, I will say, because it is different than a car sticker where it's just on the car. This is something that they can use.

Love to see innovation.

Yeah.

Thank you.

All right. Well, so, Sarah, thank you for the initiative. I, too, have an autistic son. He's 27 now. Kim and Kurt, thank you for bringing it to fruition. In addition to the card, there was a form that you filled out. I'm assuming that's a form that you would want individuals to bring back to the police department so that you have that on file and the card is for an individual to carry around with them.

Correct.

Awesome. Excellent, thank you for this, great idea.

One real quick question slash, I've seen it in other communities and it may be worthwhile, maybe not, is finding a place either within our village office or for the police or the library for like sensory bags. So for community events you can just go check it out from wherever and then it'll have like headphones or something for, so that person can participate within the community event but still have kind of some mitigating Materials with them.

I love that thought. I also serve on the main street Franklin board and we are really I Have brought the inclusivity lens to how we view things and at all of our events going forward We will have a sensory space to be able to do that. And we also recognize that going to some of these events could also be, it's a lot. I know my son could not sit in this room. It's very chaotic for him. He would be overwhelmed. So for me, I'm always looking at every space I walk into, how do we make this not just for autism, but for everyone more inclusive. So that's why at some point soon, coming soon, we're waiting for calendar meets up. So we're going to have some time at the police department to just Have people come in to fill out the forms with their child And that way they can build automatically a great relationship in a small space and get to see someone in a uniform and get to experience it in a positive way and build on that. Because I think that goes a long way once you experience something and it goes really well, that memory sticks with you, especially for children. So we're trying to be very diligent in how we address things going forward. And I also am a grant writer and I know that that also gives a huge point for the village in terms of rent-ready potential, anything that we can do to be more inclusive, it opens us up to way more possibilities. But I truly appreciate that thought.

Thank you for everything you've done.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.

Okay. We are on to new business. FIRST ITEM IS CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF THE FUND BALANCE POLICY. SO RACHEL OR JODY, WHICHEVER ONE OF YOU IS TAKING A LEAD ON THIS ONE.

SO THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS OF TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET AND GOING THROUGH THOSE, I HAVE BROUGHT UP A FEW TIMES ABOUT FUND BALANCE POLICY AND THAT I FELT THAT IT'S SOMETHING REALLY LACKING HERE. IT'S A PRETTY STANDARD THING. IT IS RECOMMENDED FOR MULTIPLE PLACES. INCLUDING THROUGH THE STATE, AND TYPICALLY IT'S RECOMMENDED FOR THE FUND BALANCE TO BE 20 OR 25%. WITH OUR SITUATION, I THOUGHT 20% WOULD BE THE BEST STARTING POINT, AND THAT IS WHERE I PUT IT. IT'S A STRATEGY AND PLAN JUST TO SHOW THAT HERE'S THE POLICY. IT SHOWS THAT AT THE MINIMUM LEVEL OF THE GENERAL FUND BALANCE, IF IT'S AT AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO 20%, THEN THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WITH THAT. OPPOSED SIDE OF THAT IS WHEN THERE IS A MAXIMUM ON IT, TOO, BECAUSE IT IS NOT NECESSARILY A SAVINGS ACCOUNT. IT IS FUNDS TO BE USED FOR THE TAXPAYERS. SO TO HAVE A MAXIMUM ON THERE, TOO, WITH A STRATEGY IN PLACE FOR EXCESSIVE THINGS TO DO WITH THAT.

Okay and the goal is you're saying to start out at a 20 percent minimum?

Correct.

Yeah okay that's fine for a starting point but hopefully we maintain far better than that.

So, sorry, just a couple of questions. So when we do the 20%, is that 20% of our net for the fiscal year? So like whatever we're putting towards appropriations, 20 should essentially be to build up a reserve or is it 20% is what the reserve should be?

NO. 20% IS WHAT THE RESERVE SHOULD BE. CURRENTLY, WITH THE APPROPRIATIONS OF WHAT IS ON THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE RECOMMENDED BUDGET, 20% WOULD BE $446,000. 40% WOULD BE $893,000.

Okay.

I have a question. Sure. I'm truly curious about this. Why haven't we had one of these?

I don't have the answer.

I know you don't. Anybody who's been here, Mike, David?

I'm sorry, I stepped out. I missed the question.

Yeah, I mean, it's a good practice.

This is part of what having a treasurer has for the village, and one of the things we asked of our treasurer when we hired her was that Do things like this, which is tell us where we can be better based on her experiences. And I think this is 1 of the 1st.

Byproducts of that, I appreciate this because I, and I, I read through it. I particularly like that. You described. How initiatives need to be prioritized. so that it's very clear how we should respond it's it's so thank you for doing this i i am curious about it because and i'm asking only because i um we've had some pretty high end financial people on this council that were dogging about the budget and it just never came up. So thank you and maybe that question just isn't gonna be answered, I don't know.

Yeah, it's a recommended practice for sure through any of the organizations. If you're through GASB and through the state and through MGFOA, any of those type of organizations, it is a recommended thing. It's something that... MOST COMMUNITIES THAT I'M FAMILIAR WITH ALL HAVE THIS IN PLACE. SOME SET THIS AND THEN THEY INCREASE THEIR MINIMUM OVER TIME. IT'S REALLY A LONGEVITY THING TO HAVE AN ACTUAL, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN TALKS OF WHAT THESE FOUR SEATS MAY BE REPLACED AND IF IT'S A WHOLE NEW THING. THIS IS LIKE THE BACKBONE. THIS IS THE STRUCTURE, THE STARTING POINT OF BUILDING THAT FISCAL HEALTH.

And as I ask the question, I'm also thinking about many conversations that have occurred on the council before I was on it and while, but we've never actually been challenged in the way we are right now, number one. And number two, there have been arguments about what that percentage currently is, but it's never really manifested as a policy. So once again, thanks.

Yes, I do think that 20% is low, but I'm the finance person. But I think that it's definitely a great starting point.

Agreed.

The only question that I had related to it, my last question asked, was that in the last portion where it's essentially what do we do once we start to approach the maximum, one of the things that wasn't included in there, and I was just wondering if it was intentional, was not drawing down the full mill amount, right? Like we go through the process during the budgetary period about how much of the mills we want to draw down. And so I didn't know if we wanted to bake that in to the policy itself around like one of the ways to mitigate how much we're putting towards that fund balance would just be not drawing down as many mills.

I AGREE WITH THAT. I CAN ALSO SEE WHY I DIDN'T CONSIDER IT AT THIS POINT. I THINK WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO TO GET TO WHERE THAT WOULD BE A THING. IT FOR SURE WOULD BE AN IDEAL NUMBER FOUR.

IT WOULD MAKE SENSE TO REVIEW THIS POLICY ANNUALLY. AS A FORMAL PROCESS WHILE WE ARE CONFIRMING OUR BUDGET FOR THE COMING YEAR.

I WOULDN'T NECESSARILY LOOK AT THIS AS SOMETHING YOU WOULD WANT TO CHANGE ANNUALLY. WHEN YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT, IF YOU HAVE A POLICY TO HAVE CONSTRAINTS ON THE FISCAL HEALTH, YOU DON'T WANT TO JUST HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO THEN CHANGE IT AND NOT YOU, BUT TO CHANGE IT TO BE SOMETHING MORE FIT HOW YOU WOULD WANT TO DO IT.

MAYBE I COULD REFRASE IT. YOU HAVE TALKED ABOUT 20% IS OKAY FOR RIGHT NOW, THEN THE QUESTION MAYBE IS, THEN HOW AND WHEN DO WE MOVE IT TO A NUMBER THAT WE LIKE BETTER?

Yes, and I get that.

Policy calls for it to be done annually. Correct. It says it right in there. Maximum and minimum range will be determined each year and used as a guide by administration during the budget development.

Yes, and that is where it would be, here's what your 20% is, here's what your 40% is. Now, when those numbers, when it gets to a point where those numbers are, you know, like this isn't really... I THINK WE SHOULD INCREASE OR DECREASE THIS OR DO THAT ON RECOMMENDATIONS AS A QUESTION OF IS THIS BEST AT THIS POINT IN TIME. I THINK THESE NUMBERS WILL GET THROUGH FOR A CONSIDERABLE PERIOD.

THANK YOU. You just don't want it to end up being like a political process where you're going, here's the priority this year and you're changing those six items every year and then it becomes, well then.

Yeah, it's no longer a foundation if you build it to the year, but it also, yes.

The only other question that I had is maybe some, I don't know if this is necessary, but if not already get full funding that language, I don't, I guess I'm not sure what that means. Does that mean like we're 100% funded? or is it like, hey, we're making progress in a manner that we feel accelerates our timeline in a fiscally responsible manner, and there might be, I guess between one and two, I could see trade-offs in both of those numbers, and I wanted your opinion on that.

Yeah, so there's a difference between what is full funding and what is considered full funding. And if we're at a percentage, not necessarily even to be 100%, but to, and I think as we got closer, that would be a great thing to have a target number of, where that percentage of what we would consider to be funded because there's you know, it's it's an annual valuation and when in there's Money is invested. There's large. There are very large fluctuations in it So 80% one year could be a hundred percent the next year and vice versa things change so so there's

There's a point where you would say fully funded and at this point I didn't think it was necessary to identify what that number is because it's a long ways off Thank you Comment in the last Paragraph when fund balance approaches its maximum threshold of following measures and priority order shall be used to reduce the fund balance with long-term strategic planning in mind and I'm wondering if we might consider amending that slightly to reflect what I think is your intention, which is not to necessarily bind the council in the future from only considering these three things and only considering them in that order. But the use of the word shall could imply that we have to do it that way. And so I was thinking of revising it slightly to add language shall be considered in the discretion of the council.

Yes, I understand that.

OK. Take a comment. Anyone else? You got that change. So many right now. Someone right, we got that down. Yeah, OK, beautiful. Anybody else? Okay. Anybody wants to make a motion to adopt the fund balance policy as amended?

I'll make a motion to adopt the fund balance policy as amended. I'll second.

Okay. Motion by Solly, second by King. Further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. Excellent. Thanks, Jody.

No applause?

Not just the others?

No, I was laughing at the previous ones where everyone was like, oh, I wonder if they're going to clap for me too. But thank you.

Noted. Next is the added item, consider continuing CDBG program. So we received a communication from the county, simple one sentence letter that says the Village of Franklin is interested in continuing to participate in the Oakland County Urban County Development Development Block Grant Program for the years 27, 28, and 29. So let's start if everybody wants to entertain a motion to approve this.

A motion to approve. What would the motion be?

So this is a motion to approve continuing the CDBG program for 27, 28, and 29.

Motion to approve the continuation of the Oakland County CDBG for 27, 28, 29 fiscal years.

And I'll support.

Motion by Sally, second by Hanson. Further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, we'll take care of that. Next is a review and discussion of the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget amendments, year end budget amendments. Joe, do you want to go ahead?

Yeah, so these are the budget amendments. As you know, I haven't been here long. This may have been a past practice, but not a standard procedure. Typically you'll see these not a whole lump sum at the end of the year It should be throughout the year as things come up as accounts deplete as things change as emergencies come up where a Budget amendment for a line that is needed at that point in time is when it would come before council this however is just to wrap up the end of this fiscal year being the last meeting and amend the accounts that HAD BEEN OVER EXPENDED ALREADY. THERE'S A LOT OF ACCOUNTS THAT YOU'LL SEE DUPLICATED IN THE DIFFERENT FUNDS THAT ARE UP THERE, AND THEN SOME THAT ARE INDIVIDUALIZED FOR THE GROUP THAT IT'S IN. SO, FROM THAT, I DO NOT THINK THAT WE NEED TO READ THROUGH ALL OF THEM. IF THERE'S ANY THAT YOU HAVE PARTICULAR QUESTIONS ON, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER.

So every one of these is an increase. None of these are decreases. How does that?

Well, you don't have to decrease. If you haven't expended the entire appropriation and in a line or in a department per se, then it's, you just didn't. However, when the you shouldn't overexpend. I mean, can't is really a better word, not shouldn't.

And this accounts for previous adjustments inside the accounts for areas where funds were not all used up?

THESE ARE THE LINE ITEMS THAT WERE LARGER THAN WHAT WAS BUDGETED.

TYPICALLY WE WOULD MAKE A BUDGET AMENDMENT PREVIOUS TO TODAY TO BE LIKE, HEY, SALT WAS MORE EXPENSIVE.

YES, WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF MONEY. WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO FOR WINTER AND WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO NEED TO AMEND THIS LINE, THOSE TYPES OF CONVERSATIONS.

TREES AND TRUBS, WE KNOW THERE WAS A STORM MORE COMMON THAN

Yes, we actually had a recent storm that had some amounts and also It is an annual thing the in certain areas where they do go through and trim Stuff too and I do know that that is there is still more left to be done that's going to be like the the targeted area and cost for the month of June and so that one is a little bit higher that one's not an actual that this is how much it's going to be but it has enough to finish the year as well.

I guess I was just curious about this and maybe it's not relevant but the state forfeiture expense I'm just curious. It's just like a new thing. Is that something we expect to happen every year, or is that just a one-off?

No, that actually is something that will happen each year. There's something here, too, that you're going to see in your budget for this, and that is any time that you have forfeiture funds, state or federal, they each have to be itemized in their own fund as the policy rules for those programs. Just like that. Okay. SO WHEN WE GET TO THE BUDGET, IT WAS PREVIOUSLY IN HERE AS A LINE ITEM, BUT THEY DID HAVE THEIR OWN SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNT. SO WE KNEW HOW MUCH OF THE FUND BALANCE BELONGED TO THAT AND HOW MUCH THEIRS WERE BASED ON THEIR BANK ACCOUNT INFORMATION. SO THOSE WERE MOVED INTO A NEW FUND AND THE TRANSFERS WERE MADE OVER TO THEM SO THEY ALIGN WITHIN THEMSELVES NOW. having its own fund, they now, we can pool the accounts. There's not a policy or a restriction for us to have to have separate bank accounts for them. It's just more bank fees. And as you see, a lot of our line items are over on bank fees. But we're going to consolidate some in the transition as well.

Thank you.

Anybody else have questions? All right, so our packet came with a proposed resolution.

It's a regular meeting, right?

All right, so can we get, I mean, if we can get someone to make a if we're so inclined, which I think we need to do, a motion and a second to adopt the budget amendment resolution. Then we can go ahead and read it into the record.

I guess it's not super important, but this will be our break. We'll say it.

It is important.

Okay. At a regular meeting. Yes.

Yes. I'm not a resolution writer very well. Yeah.

So at the beginning, it should read at a regular meeting of the village council. So we'll make that correction. Present and excused, Evan will complete that. But if someone wants to make the motion.

I'll make a motion to adopt the budget resolution.

Budget amendment resolution. I'll go ahead and second that. We have a motion and a second to adopt the budget resolution. Further discussion? All right. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right. So whereas a budget was adopted on June 9th, 2025 to govern the receipts and expenditures of various village funds for the next fiscal year of the city, excuse me, for the village. Whereas a result of unanticipated costs, it's necessary to modify the aforesaid budget and now be it resolved. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the aforesaid budget be modified as follows. So we'll go ahead and attach that sheet. That's it.

Do we have to do roll call for this?

I don't think so.

Okay. All right. Good job, guys. I got you.

I told you I had you on now. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, everyone. Step one now is... CONSIDERATION FOR THE APPROVAL OF OUR 2627 BUDGET. SO, AGAIN, JODY, YOU WANT TO LEAD ON ANYTHING THAT'S REALLY CHANGED SINCE THE WORKSHOP?

YES. SO, BESIDES THERE ARE THE TWO NEW FUNDS ADDED FROM THE WORKSHOP, THAT IS THE IS CONSIDERED THE PUBLISHED PROPOSED BUDGET THAT IS WHAT IS LINKED ONTO OUR WEBSITE FOR RESIDENTS TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS. AND TO MAKE IT EASY AND SOMEBODY NOT HAVE TO GO LINE BY LINE THROUGH THE EXPENDITURES AND SUCH, THERE IS A SPREADSHEET ALONG WITH IT THAT JUST HIGHLIGHTS THE CHANGES FOR THE LINE ITEMS THAT HAVE BEEN UPDATED.

All right, so we had a workshop on the budget two weeks ago. And first off, does anybody have specific comments on any line items that we want to bring out into the discussion? Jody, just if you don't mind, give us the bottom line of the difference between our anticipated revenues and our anticipated expenditures and where that falls.

Are you looking for in the general fund or overall?

Yeah, no, not each of the specific funds, the general fund, which is our operating fund.

IN THE GENERAL FUND, THE TOTAL OF THE RECOMMENDED APPROPRIATIONS IS $2,233,740, AND THE TOTAL REVENUES FOR THAT ARE $2,491,790. LEAVING THE DIFFERENCE IN THE POSITIVE. Yes, as of right now, our estimated beginning fund balance is 368,870 and our ending fund balance being 626,920. Okay. Thank you.

Anybody have comments, discussions? Are we good where we're at right now? Dan?

I'm confused about where we stand with the staff salaries that we discussed last time, because I know that was going to be a separate agenda item that you removed from the agenda.

So, I mean, the budgeted amounts are what was proposed, but no appropriation has taken place yet. So... We took it off the agenda for this month. I think it's something that wanted to go, I think the personnel committee wanted to be able to review the topic, so we took the concept off the table, but have allocated, I think, a little bit of room if they were to be in the future as budgeted line items. Am I speaking correctly? So we're not taking an action to approve any salary changes. We have just provided in the budget, the room for it and then we'll proceed with our normal policies and there's some other considerations that I think you want to bring forward in the July meeting after you guys get a chance to meet with the HR committee, personnel committee, that group, correct? Thank you. Yep.

I have a question, mostly because it's really hard to sort of read across and figure out, because it seems, what do we do, what is the maintenance of our grounds, the work that Jerry Johnson currently does, which is trees, street maintenance, summer maintenance, I think the money is paid from several different funds and I've had a little trouble like adding them up. And I don't have a good picture of is it the same, is it less, is it more proposed in this coming year than it's been? I'm curious about that. Do you have any insight for me?

Not necessarily. What I do have is like just conversations and plan strategies, first getting a handle and feel kind of as to the process and how it works and what all he does and what. THOSE TYPES OF THINGS ARE AND THEN MEETINGS AND LOTS OF CONVERSATIONS WITH RACHEL AND I OF CREATING STRATEGIES, PLANS, TALKING TO JERRY AND HOW THAT'S GOING FORWARD AND WHAT THINGS ARE PER SE ANNUAL THINGS THAT WE DO AND HAVING MORE OF A STRUCTURE AND PLAN FOR THOSE ANNUALLY AND THEN HAVING THE THINGS THAT ARE CALLS OF ISSUES AND PROBLEMS AND COMING UP AND WORK ORDER TYPE SYSTEMS AND STUFF GOING FORWARD. SO IT'S A LITTLE BIT BIGGER OF A PROJECT THAN WHAT WAS ABLE TO GO INTO IN HERE TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. I'M NOT SURE. I have looked through all of the different things and the invoices and there isn't anything that has appeared crazy to me that has stood out on that. It's one company, not necessarily one person. Okay. So it is, you know, to say it's him, it's not necessarily always, you know, him. It does, because at first, and I only say that because at first I was like, what? This person is doing all of these things? Like, this Jerry Johnson guy, like what? But it's, you know, just the company that's contracted with basically all WE ARE CONTRACTING WITH A COMPANY TO BE OUR DPW THE SAME AS WE ARE CONTRACTING WITH SOMEONE TO BE OUR FIRE AND SUCH.

I ASSUME A LOT OF THIS IS IN THAT STREETS FUND.

I HAVE BEEN WORKING A LOT WITH JERRY ON THAT OF BEING ABLE TO IDENTIFY THOSE A LITTLE BIT BETTER AND KNOWING WHAT IS THE MAJOR AND LOCAL STREETS BECAUSE THEY ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT TO IDENTIFY. IT GOES THROUGH FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ACT 51. OF IDENTIFYING WHAT IS THE MAJOR AND LOCAL AND SOME OF THE STREETS HERE WOULD BE LIKE SCENIC IS A MAJOR STREET. THERE ARE SOME MAJORS THAT YOU MAY NOT THINK OF AS MAJOR STREETS. SO TO HELP HIM IDENTIFY AND INVOICE ON THOSE A LITTLE BIT MORE OBVIOUSLY WITHOUT US HAVING TO CHASE HIM BACK DOWN AFTER WE GET INVOICES THAT LIKE SPECIFICALLY WHERE WAS THIS, WHERE WAS THIS. But even around here, when you're doing any work around here, you know, if it's the police fund, the general fund, you know, a specific line for the... Help. Krieger House. I kept wanting to say Broughton. I was like, that's where I'm at. So yeah, it's individualizing those and ensuring that the costs associated are going to the correlating fund.

OK. Thank you. You're welcome. I have another question if anybody else. No, that was yours. So my other question is on the second page, the Main Street expense. Main Street expense, 101-728-88. Zero. It's under community programs, sorry, Department 728. There have been several discussions about this $20,000 general fund line item for Main Street, and I'm wondering what your plan is for that. Or if I'm missing it, where is it? And if it's not here, what are your plans?

It is there, and it's something that is allowable, and so I've kind of just left it there. Where is it? It's the Department 728. Yeah, but that's the $2,500 line, I know. The one that's the one that's 20,000 in that group In the contracted services so Main Street, there's a there would be a difference between Main Street expense and the contracted service. I see. Okay, and because if we if we allocate funding for main street to spend, that's more of a contracted service as the others where if we do something or have cost additions that are part of that, then that is where our costs would associate, if that makes sense. If we were doing it versus having them do it, are we giving them money to do the work or are we doing the work? So if we're doing the work, then it's...

Contracted service, that's what you... Maybe label it correctly then.

Yes. Okay. Okay. I'm good. Okay.

Thank you. I see it. I see it. And I know there's some work to be done. So I'm good.

Okay.

Is there a form again? I think there's a resolution. Yeah.

Is this it?

What's that right there?

Yes, that's it.

That's it? Yes. That's the first page. Gotcha. All right, so let's start out with a motion to adopt the proposed general appropriations for 26-27 and our annual budget as presented.

I'll make a motion to approve the proposed general appropriations for fiscal year 2026-27. I'll second that.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussions? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Well done ladies and gentlemen. went this year maybe for you so maybe you made it easier for us but thank you for the hard work and appreciate it getting us into a positive fun balance at the end of the season I know that makes mr. Sally happy And none of none of that was alone.

Rachel was a huge help with all of it.

We yeah. Absolutely so. That's good to have that one out of the way. So yes, that's that's excellent. New business item. F. Consideration of health insurance changes. Rachel, you want to give us just a quick background on what we're doing?

Yes, so we have reviewed our current health insurance policy and we have requested a proposal from Corporate Benefit Solutions who was able to provide us with the same policy benefits at a lower cost. A lot of the reason this needs to be done is because the insurance policy that was originally presented to the police department during their contract negotiations was later changed. And that change was never run back through the department. So what we've been able to do with corporate benefits solutions is create a plan that The police department is willing to accept, even though it's not exactly what it was originally. But it is a better situation than what we are all in right now. Plus, there's a cost savings of $13,656.85 to the village. Okay.

And this has been vetted with the police department? Yes.

We had corporate benefit solutions come out and do a presentation, and everybody was happy with the offering.

Okay. Any questions, Abby? Any thoughts?

No, I've seen the plans. You've seen it? You're good?

Yep, I'm good. Okay. Excellent. So we need a motion to approve the new health insurance changes and the transfer to the, what's the name of the new company?

Corporate Benefit Solutions.

Corporate Benefit Solutions.

Will this be at the calendar year? Are they becoming our agent of record ahead of time?

All right. Kurt was pointing out that the police department still needs to formally approve the acceptance of this plan, but I will need it approved by you before I can take it to them. Okay. I'm sorry. Your question was what is the calendar year for this?

Is our plan near the calendar year or do we restart at the fiscal?

What we intend to do is bring it forward this July and implement it and not wait until January. And Corporate Benefit Solutions has already stated that because we're going from Blue Cross to Blue Cross, Blue Cross will honor the current deductibles that people have already paid.

So there will be no deductible reset for any services, any appointments, any medical appointments? That was my question.

Okay, good. Thank you, Abby. And then the timing, this is probably non-standard, right? To not, to do this in, I guess my question is, we are usually doing this in the middle of the year, correct? Correct. And you don't anticipate having to change again in January?

No.

Okay.

Question? All right. Do we, we don't have a motion on the table, do we?

WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN JANUARY. INCREASES ARE IN JANUARY FOR RENEWALS. WE WOULDN'T LOCK IN THE PLAN RATES?

CORRECT. IT'S NOT LOCKED IN AS A FULL RATE FOR THE FULL YEAR. THE RATE IS WHAT IT IS NOW. IN JANUARY, THE RATE INCREASES. THAT'S GOING TO BE STANDARD ACROSS WHATEVER COMPANY THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT. IT'S A POTENTIAL FOR A RATE INCREASE, BUT WE WERE WITH BLUE CROSS AND ARE STILL GOING TO BE WITH BLUE CROSS, SO THE RATE INCREASE WOULD BE EXACTLY THE SAME REGARDLESS OF THAT SITUATION. SO IT WASN'T RELEVANT. IT'S JUST KIND OF A GUESS OF, YOU KNOW, ABOUT 10% THAT'S TYPICALLY FACTORED INTO A BUDGET FOR A RATE INCREASE.

SO OUR PLAN YEAR WILL STILL BE THE CALENDAR YEAR. THEY'RE ACCEPTING THE, THERE WILL BE NO DEDUCTIBLE RESETS. but we will still be affected by rate increases at the calendar year. So our plan year is not changing, and that's why we've got some cost sensitivity going into the end of the year because the plan year will effectively still stay the same. Okay, got it. So what's the basis for the 13K savings then? If nothing has changed about our, so is this, are those cost savings until the end of this year or proposed annual?

THE COST SAVINGS COMES FROM A DUAL PART OF THE COST SAVINGS WAS TO INCREASE THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND KIND OF REFORMULATE THE CONTRIBUTIONS. AND IT'S WITHIN THE CONTRACTUAL AMOUNTS TO BE 12%. So that is that first page. I think the spreadsheets are on it. OK. So the first one, first Simply Blue, the 2526, it shows the net cost there of $184,000. And when you go to the next one, the FY2627, Simply Blue, that initial cost savings there is just THE DIFFERENCE OF CONTRIBUTION AMOUNTS. THAT IS ONE PART OF IT, IF EVERYONE WERE TO STAY ON THIS PLAN. HOWEVER, THIS PLAN HAS A LARGER DEDUCTIBLE AND A COINSURANCE WITH IT. BECAUSE OF THAT, AND IT BEING COSTING MORE, THAT WAS THE IDEAL OF SETTING UP A SECOND PLAN THAT WOULD BE MORE BENEFICIAL IF EMPLOYEES ARE PAYING OUT MORE MONEY TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT BETTER SOLUTION OR OPTION, A SECONDARY OPTION FOR IT. SO THEY WILL HAVE THE OPTION TO REMAIN ON THE SAME PLAN. AND THEN THE SECOND ONE IS THE NEW PROPOSED PLAN, AND THE NEW PROPOSED PLAN IS WHERE IT TAKES THE ANNUAL COST DOWN TO 170 INSTEAD WITH THE COST SAVINGS. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO PLANS WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEM, UNLESS SOMEBODY, IF SOMEBODY HAD A DOCTOR THAT WAS ONLY IN THE SIMPLY BLUE PLAN AND NOT IN THE BLUE ELECT, that they were like staying would be the only reason I would see anybody staying with that plan financially. Having that in with the built-in HSA, the other one is a way better deal for us and the staff.

Yes, adoption is always the trickiest part of this, right? So it's, you know, if you see as an employee that What you know is what you're comfortable with, but making a change may present other considerations, cost considerations, deductibles, coverage considerations. So this broker, what's their plan for employee education? How much before the renewal date will they be coming to? Will they come to the offices? Will they give presentations? I would really iron out their education plan so you'd know. based on scenarios, if you are a healthy 25 year olds, uh, what your plan savings or opportunities may be in both plans stacked against one another or scenarios based on if you're planning to, uh, have a child this year, or if you've got chronic conditions that you manage. So just, uh, stay on top of them. Not every broker will be as, um, as attentive to things like employee education. So just, uh, maybe nudge them.

So they have been here and met with all of the police staff, but they will come back and meet. There's only a couple of us, Evan and Genevieve, that haven't met with them yet. So they've already gone through all of that. They also have a very comprehensive website where all of this information can be found, and they share their direct phone lines, so you can just call them and ask whatever question you'd like. Thank you.

Just I guess procedural question is at the end of the year if we had a remaining balance and we said let's put it towards, you know, you have the 13,000 and we say let's put it towards pension liability, right, whenever we have something go to lease there, are we able to make, that would just be an amendment, right, if we went above what we had allocated for projections? Okay. Perfect.

But it would first go to the general fund balance.

Sorry.

Oh. The $13,000. I got you. Yeah, that's actually, okay. I get what you're saying.

Any savings up until 40% now go to the general fund balance. Yeah. Right. When we eclipse that.

For our policy.

We have a policy in place.

Yeah. Yep. That makes sense. Right?

Right. Thank you, Jenny.

Thank you. Anyone else? Yeah. I took it out. This is it. Right. Yeah. all right so we have a proposed resolution in our packet if i can get a motion to approve the resolution as presented for the approving the village's health insurance provider and authorizing the village administrator to execute related documents so moved second motion by fair second by sollie further discussion we won't have to do uh

THERE IS NO INTENTION OF MAKING CHANGES IN JANUARY. NO, WE DO NOT WANT TO. IN JANUARY, WE WOULD ONLY BE LOOKING AT RATES.

IS THERE ANY CONCERN IF NOT EVERYONE ADOPTS CHANGE?

NO. THERE IS NOT A CONCERN.

I guess what I'm saying is you saying, does it take savings based on assumptions? Well, I'd like to make sure I'm clear. I want to be, you guys, it will go to the police and they will, they would be satisfied with the option because it would be like basic saying, we'll approve this option and they can choose to stay on the current plan or move. And that would be satisfactory to all parties. That's all I just want to make sure.

Yes. And actually I did, when I did do the budget, um, I, uh, FORGOT THAT PART OF IT WHEN YOU ASKED, BUT IT IS FACTORED AT THE HIGHER PLAN RATE BECAUSE AT THIS POINT WE DON'T KNOW OR HAVE ANY GUARANTEES OR ASSURANCES THAT EVERYONE WILL MOVE TO THE OTHER PLAN, AND SO IT IS BUDGETED AT WHAT IT COULD POTENTIALLY COST, AND THEN ONCE WE KNOW WHERE PEOPLE GO, THEN WE'LL HAVE A BETTER IDEA FOR THE FUTURE.

Okay, so we have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right, good job finding that and working everything out with the police department to bring that to closure. Well, hopefully, assuming they approve it. Last, so we have openings on three of our boards, the HDC, the ZBA, and the Planning Commission. To date, we have not been getting enough applicants to even fill the planning commission and ZBA seats. So if there are applicants or anybody in the village that is interested, I know there's been people in the past that have been interested. If you're out there and you have the time, we are welcoming new people on each of those boards. We did have enough to fill three of four openings on the HTC, and that is what we are considering today. Two of the seats are with individuals who have Their term's expiring. Alex Kokoska and Alex, I'm sorry. Stikine. Stikine. Sorry about that, Alex. So Alec and Alex are both asking to come back and have submitted applications. Unfortunately, we have to fill the seat of our beloved friend, Gary Roberts, so that is the third opening that is available. And a fourth member of the ZBA whose term is not expiring now, but expires a year from now, Mike Brasfield, also needs to resign due to some personal issues of his. So right now, we are looking to fill Gary's spot and we have had one applicant come forward in addition to again, Alec and Alex staying on. Randy Brakeman, dear friend of Mr. Roberts, who is also on our ZBA has asked to step up and be involved in the HTC. He's in the back of the room, Randy's in the back of the room today if anybody has any questions of him. But right now we have three proposed applicants to fill three of the four seats. And unless anybody has any questions, I'd entertain a motion to add Randy Brakeman and then Alex to continue on for another three years. so randy's position would be filling gary's role so that would be to complete brandy i'm sorry to complete gary's term and then we still could use another person um when if anyone else to fill mike's to fill mike's spot i just have one question for for randy um but you may already know the answer is your intent to remain on zba as well

Okay, perfect.

Okay, any other questions or discussion? All right, so if we can get a motion to approve the three new members or the three members to the HDC. So moved.

I'll second.

Motion by Sally, second by Hanson for their discussion. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Excellent. Randy, thank you for stepping up. Thank you. We're glad to have your long experience here in the village added to the HTC and filling some tremendously large shoes. That is it for our new business.

Before you move on, I have a question about what you said.

Sarah Greslick, South Cromwell. So my seat on planning commission is up in July. I applied. the correct way on the correct time line i was never informed of anything of when this is going to happen or have heard from anyone I reached out to Evan directly on Friday after I saw the agenda was posted of hey planning's not on here of course it was the weekend so I didn't hear back from him until today of hey President Goldberg will explain something about the process, about how this goes now, because there's not enough people to fill vacancies. as someone who's very involved and likes to think she knows the process I have no idea what the process is nor has it been communicated to me in any possible way and in fact I actually at our last meeting confirmed the process before like applying and making sure we were doing it the right way so I just either in the future I would love to know when I do apply that hey this is just like we're not going to do it next month that would just be great like i just it was very confusing to me like waiting to see if this came up or not i love my time on planning commission i would love to be back but it was just like my time i think i would really appreciate the respect of just letting me know what's going on so i think you were the last of our least of our concerns

So you've been an amazing planning commissioner and to the extent any of the commissioners or any of these, the board members want to return, it's pretty much so been policy of ours that that be the case short of really the only limitation being if you've just been really, really bad as far as attendance. So the problem was, and I apologize, nobody reached out to you. The problem is we don't have enough to fill the other spots right now.

Well, it just is confusing because what I just watched was you have four open spots on historic. So then to me, it's just confusing on numbers. Yeah.

No, no, totally. So we discussed it at the legal committee. So I'll add some clarity to it. When we met as the legal committee, we had the same number of applicants as we did for the open positions. Since that time, we had an additional person say that they weren't going to continue. So it opened up. or sorry, was going to resign. So they stepped down or intend to step down, which is why I was on because we're like, we have enough applicants. The reason that we didn't for ZVA and for planning is because the way that our ordinance is written is that people continue to serve until the spots are filled. We didn't have enough applicants. So the way we would have essentially had to have taken a vote was to say this person from planning commission, you're out, you're being replaced by this person and kind of go through the list that way. So rather than going through it that way, we said let's extend it out a month, wait for as many applicants as we have, minimally as many applicants as we have, spots open, and then we'll fill them. But to your point, yes. Again, similar to what President Goldberg shared, sorry that that wasn't communicated.

Yeah, I just I the point of why I guess I'm a little frustrated is that like if you Aren't worried about me. I guess the the nice thing to say would be like hey Sarah We appreciate all the work you've done We don't want you to worry about this like you're clearly involved in our village and we appreciate the work you do instead of making me Second-guess it and like have to email Evan at the last minute. It just felt kind of gross so I just wanted to let you guys know because I thought I have a great relationship with a lot of you, and not hearing from anyone with your application out is very weird, normally, how it's gone. So not hearing from anyone, I spent the last week being like, is something going on that I don't know about? Because I didn't hear from anyone, and I didn't know not to hear from anyone. So I think it comes back to one of those policy things of just like, having a clear standard and procedure would be great and just letting people know. So I appreciate you. Just wanted to check that out.

I appreciate the feedback.

Just to follow up on that, we're supposed to have elections of officers for planning coming up. And so this is delaying, potentially delaying that activity. Or can we elect change officers when we don't know if they're going to be reappointed to do planning? So that's.

Can you do as you guys control your own board?

OK. So I'll make this commitment. I think this should be our solution. I will bring last meeting, we talked about me bringing the appointment process back. I will commit to doing that next month in response to that. But equally true, I think a process improvement for the future, because again, this perspective is really important, is I think what we could do is when we don't have enough applicants, but we have people who have submitted an application who's currently serving, we can consider them. That way we're not leaving them in limbo, and we can just keep that process moving, and then it's consciously, yes, we still need to fill two spots, but it gives you the clarity to continue to proceed with those type of dialogues.

That's great. Yeah, because I know that when I was pointed to planning, the vacancy was, I think, what, 11 months or something like that for the position that I held. They were still able to move on and do things, and I just happened to step in at a time where we didn't have a lot of applicants like we have right now. Right. That makes sense. Thank you. Both.

So, David, great suggestion. Sarah, I apologize for... making you feel that way, but we were not worried about whether or not we were considering bringing you back. All right, so that's everything on the agenda. I just have a question. So we have this opinion that we received from the Kelly firm, and between now and our next meeting is sort of the, when people would be getting their applications in to be to run for a trustee spot. So we had asked our village attorneys to give us an opinion on how to handle the vacancy on council. And there were three questions that were posed. And in answer to those questions, the first was, does an appointee to the Village Council serve the remainder of the original four-year term? I think we all knew this answer already, but they clarified that an appointee does not serve the remainder of the four-year term. According to Chapter 3, Section 26, any person appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective office holds that position only until the next regular municipal election occurs more than 40 days after the vacancy was created. So at the specific election, the votes elect a successor to serve the unexpired term of the original officeholder. So in this instance, the opening would be for the remainder of former trustee Seltzer's seat in the seat that Jeff King currently sits in. Dan sits in my seat that happened after the midpoint, and if he chooses to run, would be running for the opening of a new term. The person that is running to fill former trustee Seltzer's term and the seat that Jeff King is currently sitting in would be running for a two-year term. Which it leads to the next question which is, When is the next regular municipal election held? Our next regular election would be in the November 2026 election. So on that ballot, there will be four seats available. One would be specifically designated to be a two-year term to complete former Trustee Seltzer's term and current Trustee King's term. and then the other three would be for full four-year terms. The ballot will be marked accordingly. The question that we asked at the last meeting was can a candidate run for two open village council chairs at the same time, meaning can you run for the four-year term and the two-year term? And the answer that we received was no. Under Michigan election law, specifically MCL 168.5585, a candidate is strictly prohibited for running for more than one local office if the terms of those offices run concurrently or if the offices are incompatible. If the candidate files nominating petitions or an affidavit of identity for multiple open seats on the village council simultaneously, the candidate must select the one office to which their candidacy will be restricted. This selection must be made by filing a written withdrawal no later than the third day following the last day. If someone does apply for both, they do have to remove themselves for one. The candidate fails to officially withdraw from the extra seat by the strict statutory three day deadline. He or she is disqualified with respect to each office which petitions were filed. So if someone does choose to apply for both with the idea of rescinding one, you need to make sure you do that three days before.

Within three days of the 21st of July. Correct.

So you can't put your name in for both. Steve Wells is running and then take yourself off.

And if you don't, you're out for both. That answers those questions. Excellent meeting, guys. Way to move through this. All right, if I can get a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Can I make a quick note first? Oh, please.

I just wanted to thank everyone affiliated.

Oh, hold on, hold on.

Time out, time out. I forgot.

Yeah, sorry. I'm going to give you a second. Go first. I completely skipped council reports. Yeah, yeah. So we're not adjourning. Duh. I was so excited about getting everything done, I was ready to go home.

Mine was only going to be one minute. So I'm going to give you a second.

I only have one. At the last meeting, Chief had told us about that truck event that we had for the kids at Bingham Farms. I went by, another amazing success. Chief said he thought a thousand parents and children passed through and they were definitely more than just fire trucks and police trucks. excavators and DTE trucks and cement trucks, so super, super great. It's great to see it evolving and growing, and thank you, Chief, for being part of organizing that. Council reports, and we'll start with you, Dan.

Yes.

Well, I too would like to thank Chief and everyone involved in the Touch a Truck event. I was there with my two girls. I loved it. And yeah, they absolutely loved it, especially the SWAT vehicles. That was particularly neat to see those up close. And also wanted to give a thank you to everyone involved in the library for hosting the wonderful event for kids on Saturday. I was there at that one with my two little ones as well. We had art projects, we had snacks, and we also had the bubble lady. So that was especially magical for my almost two-year-old.

Is there summer reading coming up or is that last week?

There is summer reading coming up and they're doing a neat thing too where you can get a little page to take home and then the kids can check off how many minutes they're reading each day and then work towards earning a prize. So we're doing that one as well. and then while i'm talking i wanted to just give a quick update about next as well as the liaison there and um one thing that's a neat aspect of the new location which is the current wide building that next is going to be moving into is that it's right adjacent to a park and the city of birmingham is working on renovating the park and they have unveiled a couple of schematics of what the new park can look like. And of course, um, next is looking to make the park be something that's more accessible, more friendly for seniors. And, um, so that's something that next is going to be advocating for and something to stay in touch about for anyone concerned with next.

Wow. So that parking lot based off of this stuff or a part of that property. That's great. That's really good news. Yeah. Excellent, thank you. Anybody else?

I just have one. Is there anything on the deer that we needed to talk about?

No. I've had dialogue, one dialogue with Brian Farmer, but we played tag. Hopefully we'll bring something forward in July for a next step of discussion.

Okay, thank you.

Nothing's happening until 27 right now, so we have plenty of time. Yeah, I mean, they're urging us to jump on board, but I told them that we're not quite ready to make a decision yet.

Real quick, unfortunately, Trustee Salak is not here, but wanted to congratulate her on being selected for Oakland County's 40 under 40. Also, happy Pride Month. be who you are, love who you love. And again, I think our community is absolutely wonderful in welcoming all different walks of life and different perspectives within our community. And it's something that we should continuously strive for is open criticism and perspective when maybe we have ignorance to it. And I think in a different vein that was demonstrated, Sarah, so thank you again. It's ignorance on our part where I know I can speak to myself David, I think you shared a similar sentiment where we just had the perspective of, of course, Sarah, right? But that's not fair and that's not through your lens. And so appreciate you coming and sharing that with us. And it affords us an opportunity for process improvement. So thank you.

Awesome. Thank you for that. I concur. Rachel, anything to add?

I just want to point out that I sent an email

email to you this afternoon regarding the next contract so when you get a chance just take a look at it but please don't reply all okay next you said yes okay any committee liaisons no uh stuart did a great job representing stuff out of the last planning committee um i'll be there this week or the next planning commission meeting and provide any reports back

This last month, Rachel and I attended a meeting with a subcommittee created by Bingham Farms for the fire department as well as representatives of fire department and dialogue is moving forward for a five year strategic plan along with the beginnings to revisit the contract that is up in another year. Oh, ice cream truck's here. Time to adjourn. Time to adjourn.

Anybody else have a lead? Anybody else?

Someone needs to talk about the ice cream truck not being here at 8 p.m. Every parent wants to murder that person right now.

That's passing ordinance right now.

Yeah, exactly. Not literally.

I don't mean literally. I guess at the last infrastructure committee, we did kind of draft a purpose statement. Rachel, I think you have that from our.

Yes.

We don't need to read it, but if you want to distribute that or have any comments. If you would send that to us to look at, that'd be great.

Yeah, we have one for personnel committee.

We just have a few little back and forths, and then we'll share it with Rachel and then share it back to you all.

Great.

Yeah.

But that is being worked on, and I know we said at the last meeting we would do that.

Yeah, that goes in place. That'd be great. Yeah. Okay. Anyone else? All right. I don't know. We always say, I don't think we need to move. I adjourn the meeting. I don't remember. I was always unsure. Do we have to, I've always been back and forth. Do we have to vote? Do we have to vote to adjourn the meeting? Yeah. You do normally do motion and second? All right. Can I get a motion to adjourn? So moved.

Second.

All right. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Great meeting everybody. Good job.