City Council - Regular Meeting

Hey, hey.

Hey. Hey. Good evening, Garden City. like to call to order regular city council meeting for Monday, April 6th, 2026 at 7 p.m.

Our first order of business is our o opening ceremony which consists of the national anthem followed by the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence for those service members who have given their lives for our country. If you'd please rise. Happy birthday. Heat. Heat. I aliance 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.

Mr. Smith, take role, please. Mayor Jacobs here. Mayor Prom Dole here. Council member Hughes here. Council member Whit here. Council member King here. Council member Do here. Council member Kerapotus here. You have a quorum of seven. Thank you. Okay. Item four is the approval of the agenda. Mayor, Council Member Wit like to make a motion to approve the Monday, April 6 council meeting agenda as presented. Support. Go ahead. Report from council member Hughes. Discussion from table from public. All in favor? I

opposed. Motion passes 70. Okay. First we we have a couple recognitions today. Uh, so first I'd like to call up uh fire chief Randy Keane, police chief Bob Arnowski, uh our home pantry director Pat Rybeck, Miss Pat Rybeck, and I don't see Mike Downey, but

just came in. and Mike Downey, our parks and rec director. So, if you remember, uh, we've been talking about the, uh, charity hockey game that we present that, uh, Mike Downey and the parks and wreck put on with the, uh, between the police and the fire came off as a great success. Uh, one of my favorite traditions each year is our charity hockey game where members of our police and fire departments come together on the ice for a great cause. And while there may be some friendly competition, the real winner every year is our community. And thanks to the hard work and generosity of our public safety teams, volunteers, sponsors, and everyone who attended, we are proud to share that this year's event raised $3,000 to support our home food pantry located right here at the Radcliffe Center. The home food the home food pantry plays an important role in helping local families in need, ensuring residents have access to essential food resources. This donation will help continue that mission and make a meaningful impact for many in our community. On behalf of the city, I would like to thank our police and fire departments for their continued commitment to serving others both on and off the job. and for helping make this event such a success. Thank you.

I just want to say I want to thank the fire and police department and Mike um for all they do for the pantry. We couldn't exist without the community support. Thank you. Thanks much. Also tonight we're recognizing uh police officer officer Joseph Stanley. Uh Mayor Prom and if officer Joe Stanley would come up please.

And of course Blue is partner. Come on up. Come on up. Hey, Blue Loves uh getting honored. Uh so, Officer Stanley, he has served the city of Garden City since 2017 as a patrol officer, K9 handler, and field training officer. He has received numerous awards and and commendations, including the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Outstanding Rookie Award in 2019 and the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Michigan Enforcement Award in 2025. His continued efforts to remove impaired drivers from the road help keep our community safe and reduce traffic crashes. The city of Garden City proudly recognizes patrol officer Joseph Stanley for his dedication, professionalism, and service to the community. Thank you, sir.

We got a couple plaques and awards here for you. If you want to say anything, I guess we'll let him get a picture. Did

you look at the camera? You want to speak? Anybody? Mayor,

does his family want to come out and get a photo? Okay. Um, and I don't see any state or county uh elected officials. So, we'll go on to a presentation and I'll call officer Stanley back up who's going to give us a presentation on uh the K9 program with blue. Sorry about that. Good evening and thank you for this opportunity to speak today. My my name is Officer Stanley and I serve as the K9 handler uh with the Garden City Police Department.

I'm here to provide a brief overview of our K9 program and explain the role it plays in supporting public safety and community engagement. Uh next slide. I was hired in November of 2017 and have spent the majority of my career working midnight shift. During that time, I have gained experience responding to a wide range of calls, including patrol operations, criminal investigations, and emergency situations. In 2021, I was selected to become the K9 handler. Next slide. Being a K9 handler is more than just a regular assignment. The responsibilities extend beyond scheduled shifts and include daily care, ongoing training, and maintaining a strong working relationship with Blue. It is truly a full-time commitment both on and off duty. Next slide. So, this is Kadine Blue. Uh, he is a German Shepherd. He was born in Europe on March 15th of 2020. He is trained and certified in both patrol and narcotics detection. and he plays a critical role in assisting with law enforcement operations as well as community engagement. Next slide. The initial training program lasts approximately 3 months uh when we get K9 Blue. Um the first two months consists of intensive Monday through Thursday training and the process begins with basic obedience and gradually progresses to a more advanced scenario-based skills. So like when we got K9 Blue he had no obedience training whatsoever. Um think after we certify uh the training doesn't stop. Uh we participate in weekly training every Wednesdays for

eight hours. uh the um along with daily reinforcement training. In addition, the K9 team uh K9 teams have to reertify every two years. Um this is to maintain operational standards uh for Blue. None of this is a job. It's all fun game for him. Uh next slide. Uh the K9 training is extensive and covers multiple areas. These include obedience, tracking, area searches, building searches, handler protection, and narcotic detection. Uh each of these skills is critical to ensuring the canine can safely and effectively assist in the field. Uh Blue is uh a full service canine uh through a nationally organized rec uh organization, which is the National Association of Professional K9 Handlers, as well as she's certified through K9 ATF. Uh these uh certifications ensure that we meet strict standards and for performance, reliability and safety in the field. Next slide. It blue is trained to detect the order of several controlled substances including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and ecstasy. This allows us to assist in drugrelated investigation and enforcement efforts. Next slide. The K9 team plays a vital role in public safety. We assist in locating suspects, apprehending individuals, and finding missing people and supporting officers in high-risisk situations. The presence of Blue alone can help deescalate situations and improve outcomes. In addition to enforcement, Blue is actively involved in community engagement. We participate in school visits, public demonstrations, and local

events, helping to build trust and strength and strengthen relationships within the community. These interactions allow residents to connect with law enforcement in a positive and approachable way. Next slide. Being a K9 handler is one of the most demanding assignments in the department. The responsibility continues well beyond the workday. It requires constant training, care, and attention, and is truly a 247 commitment. Next slide. Um, I have listed here just a couple of uh the community events that we participate in throughout the city. Next slide. The K9 program is a valuable asset to the department and enhances public safety, improves efficiency in law enforcement operations, and helps build strong relationships within the community. Next slide. Being a K9 handler is one of the most demanding one of the most demanding assignments in the department. The training never stops and the responsibility doesn't end when the shift is over. Despite these challenges, it is one of the most rewarding roles an officer can have. K9 Blue helps protect our community by locating suspects, locating missing people, and assisting officers in dangerous situations. At the same time, he helps build us connections with the community through various events. Um, Blue is more than a partner. He's part of my family. Next slide. Okay, any questions?

Council, do you have any questions? I just want to thank you. I I know the council uh echoes it. Uh we thank you and Blue for for all your work. We know it's a demanding job. Uh and actually Blue's done really good. Yeah. Thank you. But uh we thank you. Thank you. Y Garden City is really lucky and fortunate to uh to have officer Stanley and Blue. Okay. Uh we have no community events, uh no petitions, communications, no public hearings. Uh item 11 is our consent agenda. Mayor, council member Wit

like to make a motion to approve consent agenda items A1 and two as presented. Support for Mayor Prom Do. Uh discussion from table from table or from the public. All in favor? I I motion passes 70. On to action items. Uh first we have a resolution for the 2025 Wayne County hazard mitigation plan. Uh fire chief slash uh city manager.

Thank you, mayor council. What you have before you tonight is uh the 2025 Wayne County hazard mitigation plan. These are conducted every so often. The county come uh talks to the communities, finds out their needs, what capabilities they have, and then they along with 40 other 42 total communities in Wayne County, they developed this mitigation plan. They based on 10 of the top uh 41, I believe it was possible um incidents. So, those are listed in there. If anybody wants to see it, I know there's a a link there. The uh entire plan is 457 pages. So it's quite a read. Uh but the important part of this is by adopting this it makes us eligible to receive FEMA grants along those things if we do have any disasters. If you remember back when we had the flood in 2020, we were recipient of a a grant in 2021 that allowed uh help pay for some of those those costs. So that that would keep us along the lines be eligible for that. The last time this was adopted was the 2020 version. So, it's been about five years in between that they they reviewed this and and adapted it a little bit.

Thank you. Uh motion is in order. Mayor Mayor Prom Dol. I move to approve the attached resolution to adopt the 2025 Wayne County Herit discussion from table. Mayor, council member Hughes. Just a quick question. Does that there's any cost associated with this? That's correct. There is no cost for for us. Any other comments, questions from the table? Mayor, council member do. Um, can we get this put on our city website? Sure.

I mean, there there hyperlink. We can I'm sure we can add that. I'll talk to the communications to figure out where the appropriate place would be to put that on there. So, okay. Until then, if any of our residents do want to view it, it's at wayne countyhmp.com. It's pretty pretty easy. It is uh website to remember and I know you mentioned it, but we actually have to approve this in order to get FEMA to stay in running for FEMA funding. So, if we do not and it it's but it's a good thing. Correct. Further questions or comments from the table from the public? All in favor? I I

opposed. Motion passes 70. We have another resolution and this is a data center uh moratorum and call Mr. Ortega up Ortega up from uh plant uh from McKenna.

Yes. Good evening Mr. Mayor, council members. Um so basically the issue tonight is regarding to the fact that in 2024 uh the state passed two new laws which granted an exemption from Michigan's uh sales and use taxes for eligible data centers uh data center construction and equipment purchases. So this be take took effect in April of 2025 and since then the state has seen an increase in the number of uh businesses interested in establishing data centers. Uh modern data centers can vary in size greatly. Um some require a large quantity of energy, water and land in order to meet the demands of consumers uh for their cloud-based software, AI and other online computing services. So currently the current the city zoning ordinance uh does not have regulations regarding these hyper data centers these large scale versions. Um the characteristics of these land uses can have a substantial impact on adjacent land uses due to their noise they generate uh the size and energy demands uh and other characteristics which impact adjacent land uses. So the zoning ordinance does need to be revised to establish regulations that will ensure that these uses are in the appropriate location and to minimize uh any negative impact to the greatest extent possible. So before you tonight is a resolution to adopt a moratorum on all applications for data centers. Uh this will give the planning commission and council the opportunity to study the issue uh draft appropriate regulations and consider adoption of new regulations. Mayor

is in order and then we can have a discussion. May here. Council member Hughes. I'd like to make a motion to approve the attached resolution to establish moratorum on data data processing and storage center applications for six period for a six-month period to allow for the adoption and appropriate zoning regulations. Support from council member Kiraotus. Discussion from table. Mayor, council member do Mr. Ortega. Mhm. With everything else that the zoning board does and is 6 months going to be enough time to really review this and look at it or should we extend it to 9 months or a year even?

So, that's a good question. Um, state law and and president usually indicate that starting out with 6 months is the most legally defensible when it comes to moratoriums. Um because as long as the city shows uh making making uh uh impact, excuse me, making uh advances, considering as long as they're making progress, uh then uh that's the most important thing because then you could establish a second six-month moral, we can extend it. Okay? But it's important that uh you you start with a six-month uh time frame, then make progress, and then if we don't come to a resolution by that point, then yes, it can be extended. Thank you. Comments,

mayor, council member. So, you don't have to go into detail of other cities, but I know I've been seeing a lot scrolling through the internet. I guess of what McKenna represents, how many of the cities would you say is it like above 50% that are planning to put something like this in place? Because I've seen a lot of cities that have like reneged on their and are, you know, getting issues through all this process,

right? uh a vast majority of our uh clients are looking at and establishing regulations because they're they're all in a various state of um of uh completeness with regards to these issues. Sometimes they just uh are permitted by right already and so you have to make sure to uh put a put a pause to allow them opportunity to have the uh deal with these new ones. And so I've actually done quite an extensive amount of research already and have already drafted some draft regulations for various communities. And I think it's important to note that while in the in the media a lot of the larger ones that are causing issues are largecale, uh they are also looking to be established and already are established in urban communities. Um, so while their their impacts might not be as great, I think it's important to uh once again place a pause on this issue so we can make sure that there's enough of a setback basically between residential that that they're sized appropriately and that um if it needs to uh look at the the volumes of water and electricity and the cooling system in addition to other issues to make sure that uh if one was to be uh proposed it would uh go through the appropriate review and approval criteria.

Thank you, Mayor. Council member Kerapotus, are any of these other cities getting sued by the people that want to put in these data centers? To the best of my knowledge, none none of our clients have been sued as of yet. The the mo the most prominent one and the one currently under um construction right now in Selen Township that did go through a lawsuit. Um so uh I think the industry is understanding in general not only in Michigan but throughout the country that uh it's important to make sure that communities are prepared and have the proper regulations to discuss this. So they are um so to best of my knowledge at this point in time no moratorium has been challenged.

Thank you. Any other comments? I'll say um yeah, I was hoping for a 12-month mortorium, but after your explanation, six months should be good. Um and I know we hear about the really large ones that obviously Garden City couldn't handle, but I know they're also coming out with the smaller samplings that they probably could try to get into Garden City if they really really wanted to. So, uh I think it's a good good thing to get some more information. Uh further comments from the table. public. Yes, ma'am.

Please state your name for us. Hi, my name is Britney Smith. Stay on Barton here in Garden City. Um, I wanted to know will there be a public session where the findings of the investigation by the committee will be presented to the public and the public will be allowed to respond and if so um how we publicize um this uh public hearing.

Okay. Usually we don't go back and forth but I would say this that uh I'm sure as we get more information from Mr. Ortega, we'll we'll probably publicize it and and get some information out to everybody whether we put it post it on a a public hearing or we post it as a uh on our website would be my my guess right now. But mayor, our clerk,

I can touch a little bit on that. So for um if I'm hearing Mr. Artega correctly, um any zoning amendment would go through planning commission. And there'd have to be a public hearing for that. Um, public hearing notices are on the city of Garden City website, uh, www.gardenscitymi.org. If you go to government and go to the city clerk page, you'll see sections for city council planning and zoning board. So, we normally put that um, more than 15 days prior to the public hearing on the website. We also publish about two weeks in advance out in the free press and the news. And then we do also um when we call a public hearing for the planning commission or council uh planning commission, we actually post in the agenda center. So this is kind of my plug for if you're not signed up for email text alerts. If you sign up to get notified when there's a new agenda for planning or zoning or council, go ahead and do that. And as soon as we post it, you get text alert. There's a new agenda or a new public hearing notice posted on the website

and you can sign up for those text alerts. So just on the website when you go into the agenda center, you there's a little box that says um sign up for email or text alerts. Gotcha. Thank you. Y have another question. Council member do. So uh Mr. Ortega, you will be doing the research on this through McKenna or how are we going to get the additional data that we need to just like anything else when we change a zoning ordinance?

Uh, as I mentioned, we've already done extensive research with this. Um, both myself and all the planners in in McKenna have been well verssed. We've already done some sessions. we we um and gathering information. Also, uh we benefit from the fact that uh we've done the site plan reviews for the a data center proposed in Lion Township. Uh the data center that's being proposed in Van Beern. Uh and then uh through the work we've done in other communities uh that we have various uh approaches because um there are actually are some communities that are interested in them because of the perceived uh tax base issues. those are typically your larger uh rural townships that are that have already zoned something that's appropriate for that. So sometimes they're they're choosing that. Uh but we craft every ordinance for the for the desires and the needs of the of the client. So it would be appropriate for garden city uh based on our and we have like I said there's there is a lot of information out there. We're getting a lot. We're also learning from uh communication with assessors, communications with with the data centers themselves, and communications with uh well attempted communications with DTE.

Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Council member Kerotus,

as long as Mario's here, can you give us the short list of the pros and the cons other than taxes? So um in terms of any kind of pro uh some of these data centers are uh AI oriented and so they have a small uh jobs base. So while they might have a lot of construction jobs initially later on they actually are very small. However, there are certain data centers and actually the ones that typically go into the urban communities that actually have a higher level of employment uh because they are typically done utilized by banking uh entities or those type or financial entities that require uh staff on site to monitor and make sure all the data is secured and the and there's always operations. So there's never a downtime whenever you do your online banking. So the job creation can be more on an urban scale one. Um in terms of negatives, uh depending on the type of cooling system involved and the size and scale of a of a site, it can have a significant uh demand on the uh utility system. Uh so usually these comm these uh facilities look at uh proximity to uh transmission lines for electricity. They also look for uh proximity to uh water main lines, but also air uh handling is actually another option. Uh but basically that the problem with that is it's basically largecale air conditioners. So that's where you get a lot of impact with noise. Uh so the um so those characteristics that are going to impact the adjacent uses is what we're always concerned about because we want to make sure any new business that comes into the the city is going to be compatible with the our existing businesses. Uh so uh those negatives are really related to the characteristics of them. Um but then in terms of benefits I guess it's your own personal opinion on whether you feel the need for to establish and and maintain um computing

power within within the infrastructure local infrastructure or not. And so far no companies asked to come to anywhere in Garden City. Correct. No. No. If they did they'd probably check our water rates first. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Water main locations. They do their research. water main locations, locations to electric transmission lines, uh that sort of thing. Okay. But I do know that they are looking well there's at least one being proposed in the city of Detroit and that's obviously a very urban dense location. Um so they they're looking for all different size and scales. Okay. Thank you. Further comments from table from the public. All in favor? I

I motion passes 70. Thank you. Okay. Next uh next is a resolution to oppose uh state legislation preempting local zoning regulations. Mr. Ortega.

Yes. Another issue the legislature has decided to take up is uh concerning several bills regarding local regulation of housing. Uh these bills, if made law, would mandate dimensional regulations for housing, revise the requirements for protest petitions for resonings, and revise the development review process of of all local communities. Uh several of these new restrictions would be placed on how local communities uh make their housing decisions. Uh these include prohibiting local zoning ordinances from requiring a minimum lot size greater than500 square feet for a lot. Uh it would also prohibit a local municipality from having a minimum dwelling area any greater than 500 square feet. Uh it would prohibit a front yard setback greater than 15 feet uh and a side or rear yard setback greater than five feet. uh duplexes, mobile homes, and accessory dwelling units would be allowed in any residential district. Uh minimum parking requirements for multif family housing would be restricted to no more than one space per dwelling unit. Uh if these bills are approved, the city's zoning ordinance would have to be amended to comply with these dimensional standards. uh the Michigan, excuse me, Michigan Municipal League around along with other uh entities have suggested that uh any community uh that would be opposed to these uh it would be prudent to adopt a uh a resolution to voice their opposition. So before you tonight is uh a resolution that opposes these uh proposed bills that would preempt local zoning regulations uh regarding housing.

Thank you. Motion is in order. Mayor, Council Member King, I move to approve the attached resolution opposing the state house legislation package of House Bills 5529 to 5532 and House bills 5581 to 5585 that would preempt local zoning authority related to housing regulations. Support support for mayor prom. Discussion from table. I have a question. Go ahead, Council Member King.

Um, no, I'm I'm definitely in favor of this resolution. Um, just to point out, if the state was to go ahead with the these House bills, this resolution is only speaking that uh Garn's not in favor of these bills. However, the bills go through, we would be stuck changing our zoning rules to match. this if these bills get passed and if they get passed throughout the legislature and if they're signed into law by the governor or you know if they become law uh they would require that the zoning ordinance comply with those standards. So we would have to amend the zoning ordinance based on how it's written uh in their in these bills uh for these these requirements. So it's in my opinion the the real problem is whenever the state tries to do this they just do not think things through in terms of how they can be uh you know really uh implemented correctly. We we had the same issue with um medical marijuana. We had 10 10 years of problems with zoning regulations because it was not clear. And it wasn't until the Supreme Court uh granted a motion, the state supreme court grant uh made a decision that yes, local zoning is appropriate and it it supersedes those standards that we were able to things correctly. So yeah, if these were to come in, uh we'd have to look and see exactly what language gets adopted because right now they're bills the legislature could amend and tweak some of this language. Uh so it might uh we'll have to determine what approach to take to exercise what authority they they'll leave us but also comply with the state law if it's passed.

And just to throw some numbers towards that the 1500 square feet for the the lot size dimensions that'd be about 40 feet by 37 1/2 ft. It's a significally small lot. Exactly.

Um 500 square feet. this really could change the make of a of a city or community um if it was to be approved. This is one of those ones where I uh encourage all residents, you know, f reach out to the family because this is at state level to reach out to their state representatives and tell them that you you do not want them infringing on local um zoning rights. Um, they're probably going to mention there there is a home uh housing crisis in the state of Michigan. However, there's other ways to work through this opposed to doing this. That's all I have.

Thank you, Council Member Do. I think I had this at one time, but um I know the the mayor and myself uh went to a press conference down at SIMCOG. Yeah. um in Detroit and there's uh quite a protest against this. But do you know offh hand who the legislators were that introduced these bills? I forgive me I don't remember exactly who they were but I believe they were bipartisan.

So I do believe it's coming from both sides of the aisle. Um, I would say that, you know, this is definitely going to have an impact on the construction industry and the development industry. And I don't know what they're um I have no information who or what is supporting this, but it will definitely have those kind of uh influences with regards to um taking an issue that is a concern. It is valid and I might say that um the city has already looked at ways. We are currently going through a master plan amendment looking at ways that we we feel are appropriate for the housing choices in Gardener City but choosing them at the local level. We're doing this on our level to make sure that what fits here is not going to fit in the UP. It's not going to fit in the you know in Meno. So we want to make sure that um so we will be emphasizing too that we're making these effort we making these choices using the power of the given and that um yeah it's not appropriate to necessarily just dictate from above

mayor council member Kapotus in past how effective are these resolutions to actually make a difference when we're talking to our lawmakers I mean is like is every city making this resolution so they're going to hear from everybody

there are a lot I will say the organizations Michigan League, Michigan Township Association. All the other associations are making uh uh inroads into that. Uh I'm despite my role, I'm I don't get involved in the politics or any kind of lobbying or that sort of thing. It's just a matter of um you know, if whatever is on the books, I make sure that all our clients follow the rules to the best of um our ability. Okay. So, I'm not sure. It all depends on the lobbyist. It all depends on, as mentioned, who who makes phone calls to their state and uh senators and representatives.

If it does pass and it's state law instead of city law, um are people still able to come forward and ask for variance? I mean, just like they do now.

Uh yeah, in theory they could. Uh we would have to make sure though that we protect the city's um uh ability and uh and uh to when we issue variances to make the same kind of decisions. And so we have to make sure the decisions are based on practical difficulty and hardships. And actually without knowing the exact language, I guess I would, you know, the issue is they're saying the minimum lot sizes is 15500 square feet. It would be very easy for someone to have a 1500 square foot lot. There a lot there going to be a lot of let me just put it there. There gonna be a lot of different approaches that we can attack this when it comes to other requirements. So basically the way things are written now they're not taking all the tools away but it they're taking some big ones. Um but yes, someone could attempt to apply for variance, but we have to make sure that

we don't compromise our uh decision making uh to suddenly then let all variances, you know, be given out hand, you know, willy without var without having the same amount of uh data and uh substantiation as as any other one.

Okay. Thank you. Uh, I'll say like council member Dol said, her and I uh went down to that news conference basically protest uh um and there were probably hundred probably 100 communities that were represented and that was just a small fraction from down in this area. Uh it didn't include the up north and out west and all that. So there there's a lot of communities that are are trying to fight this. Whether our legislators listen to us or not, it's a whole another story, but a lot of pe a lot of communities are against it.

Council member Hughes. Um I I today I was in contact with our representative Wgalia and I expressed my opposition to this and he said at the moment he he too is is is opposed to this and I encourage everybody to reach out like I say to our um representatives to let him know further comments from the table from the public. All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 70. Thank you, Mr. Ortega. Thank you.

Okay. Item four is just to call for a public hearing and our general 2627 general appropriations and tax levy ordinance. Mayor, Council Member Do like a motion to introduce the fiscal year 2026 2027 general appropriations and tax levy ordinance and call for a public hearing to be held on Monday, May 4th, 2026 at 7 p.m. Support from Council Member Wit. Discussion from the table and this is only a discussion on calling of the public hearing. Discussion from the table. from the public.

All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 70. Okay. Next one is also to call for a public hearing on our 2026 2027 water and sewer rates. And again, this is just to call for a public hearing. Mayor, Council Member King, I move to introduce and call for a public hearing on the 2026 2027 water and sewer rate ordinance to be held on Monday, May 4th, 2026 at 7 p.m. support or from council member Dol. Discussion from table and again this is just on the calling of the public hearing.

Discussion from the table from public. All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 70. Okay. Uh we have no other bit no other business. Um I'll open it up for public comment. You'll have three minutes to speak. Um I will call up Miss Richards from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office to give us an update.

Hello. How are you all doing today? I just want to come and just bring some of our resource guides for your uh residents. So, I'll leave some here today because we often get a lot of questions about what exactly does the Wayne County Sheriff's Office do besides run the jail. So, this gives us uh give give you a little overview of kind of what we do. Also, we have another citizens academy coming up. Um the date will be determined soon. And once I do have that date in um set in stone, I'll reach out to you guys just to let you know if anyone you want to recommend or any citizen uh resident of Garden City is interested, please let me know. Um, also I just want to say congratulations to I think they were our home pantry. Think they will use those funds very well to support the community and congratulations to officer Stanley because that is no easy feat and um drunk driving is near and dear to my heart. I was a aunt of mine was killed due to drunk driver hit and run. Still never got any justice for that. So when I heard that I was just like great job to him. So, um, please relay that message to them in all of your public safety. Thank you for all what you do and not just in public safety, but also in the community as well. Um, people think that just, you know, if you hear community, that's all good and fun stuff, rewarding work because I love what I what I do as well. I'm community liaison, but it's definitely challenging as well. So, great job to you all.

That's it. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Any other public comment? I just like have to say I was glad to see all the my representatives sure especially the ones in motion to sell on a two and a half week vacation and I was so glad to see this audience spilled up with them. Thank you. You any other public comments? Okay. Uh, next is a report from our acting city manager. Uh, Mr. Keane. I have nothing tonight. Mayor you. Mr. Smith.

Uh, nothing this evening. Okay. Mayor Prom Dole. Um, yeah. I would just like to touch on what the sheriff had to say there. I am a graduate of your uh, citizen academy. I was quite impressed of the wide variety of things that you people do. I mean the horses, the dog unit, the uh drug unit, everything was very uh educational. And not only that, but you followed up with myself and my wife is also a graduate Christmas time shop with a sheriff. I was selected and I really really enjoyed that. I just want to thank you. That's all I have. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Hughes.

Thank you, Mayor. I only have one thing to say. Go blue. Okay. Council member, what? I was going to say we got about an hour, so yeah, go blue. That's it. Thank you, Council Member King. I just say, you know, congratulations to the recognition to patrol officer Joseph Stanley. And that's all I have tonight. Thank you, Council Member Dalt.

Just a couple of quick things. Um, thank you, Chief Keane, for uh, stepping in. And um I wanted to also congratulate Officer Stanley. And he's one of the many officers every year that help us out with Garden City Good Fellows and do shop with a hero. And uh unfortunately for him, just like his predecessor, the kids all like the dog, you know, they they want to see Blue. They don't they don't care about Officer Stanley, but he's an integral part of that. So I do want to congratulate him on that. Um, the other thing I was scrolling through Facebook today and um, someone had suggested because there's always this time of year we always get a lot of questions about the budget and someone suggested that maybe the city puts on a workshop to kind of explain to our residents how a municipal budget works. I think that's a fantastic idea. Um, I I think it'll cut down on a lot of the questions and the the the I don't want to call them rumors, but I have no other word for it at the moment that like to float around around budget time. So, I'd like to see that happen. And um, real quick, I wanted to also express condolences to the Kapotus family and also to the family of uh, biker Bob Cis. That's it. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Kerapotus.

Thank you. Um, I just have a couple things. We talked about it earlier about where the public hearings go and um, again, talking to residents, a lot of them want to know why we don't put it somewhere besides the news or the free press, like maybe in the marketplace. Westland uses the marketplace for all of their posts. So, um, just thinking that more people read the marketplace than they do the Detroit News right now. So, if that's something that we could talk about, I know we talked about it in the past.

Yeah, that's something we could look into. Um, my contention with the marketplace has always been, um, because it publishes monthly, the state statue on it, um, everything I've read, um, I know other communities have gone with marketplace type things like that. Um the state statute I've read indicates um the definition of a newspaper has a regular paid subscriber list um and publishes more than you know it looks for a weekly or bi-weekly publication. I'm not saying take I'm not saying stop the free press. We can still use that for the law, but but to add on the the marketplace, that's what Westland does and they have many more things than we do. And we could do that

just as an additional thing because I think it's hard for our residents to find out when things are happening. I think just most of them don't know. They should just go to the website, but they're reading things and a lot of times it's the marketplace. So just and we can look into that is we would have to also when we schedule our public hearings be cognizant of their run times and their publication dates when they would need it. So, that's kind of the nice thing about uh the online like our website if you sign up for those text alerts like we can get it up there, you know, like give me an afternoon, you know, and we can get it up there versus when would they need it from us to go to print to get in a timely fashion, but it's something we could look into.

Yeah, I'm just talking about as an additional thing. I I got a comment on that. I the only concern I would have if you if if I think the uh public hearing is 15 days and the ones you couldn't get into the marketplace would look like we purposely didn't put it in the marketplace to h you know hide something you know

I mean like I said still use it the news and the free press the city of Westland does it they're not getting complaints that they're they're not putting them out in a timely manner because they're they're where they're supposed to be on our on our website in the free press in the news but just to make people more aware where um the other thing that I had um as I'm going through the paid financials and I've mentioned this before maybe uh Mr. Keane can mention this to our city manager. I see us paying all these different places for different services and some of them are in California, some are here, some are, you know, other places in Michigan or or out of state. We need to concentrate more on on doing things here locally. I'm sure there's plenty of printers that can print just about everything we have that are in Garden City or Westland. And I'm not sure why we're using places in California or Northville. So, I think that's something we really need to look into. We need to support our own community and our own local businesses rather than taking it somewhere else. I can't believe it's that much cheaper in California than Garden City. Um, one thing I wanted to mention about the budget is, uh, we didn't bring it up yet, the lighting assessment. That's something we're supposed to vote on every year. If we don't vote on it, it just goes through like it happened before. So, that needs to be discussed at a meeting and voted on if that's going to be brought up to the um in the budget again. And then also, um we talked about the emergency plan for Wayne County, and you don't have to answer this today, but you can bring it back to me since the police chief and the fire chief are both here. Have we started any meetings about getting a emergency plan for Garden City? Like something happens like a bad power outage or another flood and people can't be in their house and we're using Rackcliffe as an emergency place and you're supposed to do something, the chief is supposed to do something. So, have we started any of those plans yet?

Um, individually, I know we have. I know the fire marshal along with I know there's a representative for the police department who are kind of overseeing that. Um, so there is some resources there. I think a lot of it too is just we need to get it down in in a place like we have some of the stuff already but we need to get it formalized and that's something I've been asking for for years. So I just think that with the way times are right now we just need some kind of plan. Agreed. And I think just so you guys are aware as well as a community um from the fire department side. I know we have we have a lot of resources available for some of these incidents through our western Wayne Mutual aid association. We have a hazmat team and we also have our urban search and rescue which will respond to some of these things. Yeah. And a place for our residents to go if there's an emergency.

Correct. So I know that we talked before about getting Radcliffe certified with the Red Cross so that they that's active right now. That's that's in progress. Perfect. Okay. That's reached out to Red Cross trying to get that that going and I also have through the contacts that I have. Okay. That's exactly for the answer I was looking for. Okay. That's all I got.

Oh yep. Okay. Thank you. Uh the only thing I have is for those of you that don't read the newspaper every day like uh I do, uh yesterday's Detroit Free Press had a article on Garden City. Uh full page, some pictures uh talking talking about Garden City. Um so if you can get a hold of it or I don't know, I think online you can pay a dollar and read it. But uh I want to thank Zack King for uh putting out a lot of information. and they reached out to uh myself and uh city manager Gibbons and uh Zach andstead of three of us answering we let Zach and I think he did a fantastic job of putting it out there and it's a good article and it uh um interesting and again it's a full page with some interesting facts about Garden City. So, if you can get a hold of yesterday's uh newspaper before it gets recycled, uh go ahead. I recommend it. Um other than that, with no further business, this meeting is adjourned.