Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome everybody to the Special City Council work session for July 6, 2026. Maria, would you call the roll?

Fritz?

Here.

Callio? Here. Lyon? Here. Dora?

Here.

Meneza?

Here. This evening we have a presentation by Larry Burns on the urban forestry updates and all the efforts we're doing for urban forest. Larry, would you like to introduce yourself briefly?

Lady Bruins, do I say 509 Waverly? What's that? 509 Waverly. OK, thank you. Resident for 30 years, originally from California. How far back do you want me to go? I was born on a, raised on a farm, drove five engines, large trucks. PEOPLE SAY HOW DO YOU GET FROM PEOPLE SAY HOW DO YOU GET FROM PSYCHOLOGY TO OUT IN THE WOODS. PSYCHOLOGY TO OUT IN THE WOODS. I WORKED IN THE VINEYARDS IN I WORKED IN THE VINEYARDS IN CALIFORNIA AS A KID. CALIFORNIA AS A KID. I KNOW MY WAY AROUND BIG TRUCKS I KNOW MY WAY AROUND BIG TRUCKS AND PLANTS FOR SURE. AND PLANTS FOR SURE. IN TERMS OF MY PRESENTATION, It's an honor to be here. I was chatting my head off with Ashley about the latest project that I'm working on. And she said, this is really interesting. And Erin saw the tail end of a presentation to Rotary with regard to the beach tree initiative. And so I'm going to be sharing that with you. That's the third part of this story this evening. I wanted to show you that picture, which I guess you can see there. That's Trillium in Mulligan's Hollow. Hasn't been seen there for more than 15 years. So there's hope. So that's where I start. Maybe.

And Larry, just so everybody understands, if anybody has a question, I'm encouraging everybody to ask a question as it comes to their head rather than wait till the end. So if you're okay with that, that's what we'll do.

So when we first met in 2022, I was reading the tea leaves and my estimations were between 60 to 90% of our canopy would be lost. It was a sort of all out effort to deal with HWA, hemlock woolly agilid, and Oakville. So it was very reactive. There's an epicenter in the cemetery. What are we going to do about it? But now, it's five years later for me. I have to say, this is my anniversary. It's the beginning of my fourth year with the city. Yeah, go. Congratulations. Thank you. And we are shifting gears from reactive to long-term strategy and stewardship. And that's part of the story I'll be sharing with you and why. So it's a big shift. I have five sort of bullet points, if you will, or sort of key points in the presentation. First is why, and why I love what I'm doing is the simplest way to put it. Understanding the forest, I've got some maps for you so you'll have a sense of if you're new to this conversation, where are the hemlock trees, where are the oak trees, what's the density? I have a brief breakdown of some of the threats that we're looking at, what we're doing as a city to take care of mitigating and managing those threats, and finally, a little bit of a postscript of where I think we're headed So this slide makes me feel really good because this has become a regional collaborative experience. We've got universities, University of Minnesota, Grand Valley. We have state and federal agencies that are working with us. We've got the USDA. We've got MDARD. conservation experts that have contributed to this story. And then we also have volunteers and donors as well. So it's become not just a municipal effort, but a regional effort at Urban Forestry. Okay, so I hope you're willing to indulge me, but one of the reasons that I love being here, you may have seen the 1930 plat. When I was scanning it, I would do some work with Wally Ewing, and we were chatting about this particular plat, and I said, hey, what's that? He said, what do you mean, what's that? I said, that says City Forest. And no one knows exactly why that language is used. It's not Bennett's Hollow. It's not Mulligan's Hollow. It's City Forest. And that made me feel so good. Because it said to me, we go back almost a century in dealing with our commitment to public forests. I'll go brief story. But in 1850, so this is just posted that New York City has Central Park. San Francisco has Golden Gate Park, the same architect for both parks. The speculation is that Grand Haven and a number of other municipalities at about that point in time had the same idea. We should have a public park or forest. What's interesting to me is that we didn't cut down all the trees and put in lawns. We actually preserved the forest. And so, ergo, city forest. So. I was going to say I had an epiphany and a deep insight in this preparation. This is my epiphany as a 30-year resident. But this particular slide is May of 1941. And what they are doing in this slide is they put the barges across the Grand Rivers. Some may know. I didn't know this until I was looking at this picture. All the residents came across on that barge bridge. They planted 53,000 tree saplings, mostly scotch pine and dune grass on Dewey Hill to stop the erosion. Now, Wally told me, oh, but in 1938, there was a big, huge hurricane. And the derecho winds knocked a bunch of sand around. And it was a real mess. So people were really worried about that. But this is the postscript to that sort of circumstance. So that made me feel really good for a variety of reasons. We were a tree city before we were a tree city. And people really care about trees and made me feel good. So I had to share the story.

Very cool picture.

All right. This is a stop and pause moment. Everybody, I think, intuitively knows this. Oh, look, 200 acres enclosed by the city, neighborhoods, people. But this isn't 200 acres as a part of a 30,000-acre ecosystem. And so when we see something like this that's enclosed, it's incumbent upon us to provide stewardship as a responsibility because it isn't part of a larger thing, and we do need to do canopy management and things like that. And so I wanted to really highlight that it's a beautiful... gift to us the city from our previous inhabitants for generations but it does require that you take care of it stewardship Some folks always ask, well, what's the numerical value of it? And so there are sources online which you can punch in in terms of the size and the distribution of trees in our 200 acres. It's estimated that we save 1,800 million, 18 million gallons of stormwater intercepted annually, 6 million pounds of carbon sequestration. It's roughly worth about 1.2 million. If we had to pay for the habitat for the cool of the woods and recreational values, it's obviously something that would be very expensive. So we have it. That's not the sole driver for me. This is actually the push for me. And that is where we walk. Now, I was taken to task because apparently this Potawatomi in Me Summer was a textbook for third graders in Grand Haven for a long time. And they said, you've never read the book? And it's like a wrinkle in time. It's about some kids in Duncan Park. So it's all about Grand Haven. And it's a kid's story. It's very popular. I have a copy at home. But I thought it's a perfect example of how we would spend our summer. It's a time travel kind of thing, and it's a magical sort of story, but playing in the woods, in Duncan Woods. Certainly dreaming. Those are different. I just took pictures from the woods of what people carved and thought about. And then finally, reflection. So I think those are my, this is my story, but it's the things that I cherish about what we have here. So in summary of the why and getting to the how, once we switched from mitigation and management to the requisite stewardship and long-term perspective on things, a whole bunch of things sort of came together relatively quickly. I will show you this slide in a different format in just a second. So if we've got HWA, or we've got Oakwild, we've got Elangite, Hemlock scale, you'll see it more legibly. But I just want you to have a sense of the motion and the number of things that are sort of at play right now in terms of urban forestry and stewardship. I have a couple of maps for you if you're new to this conversation. So you can just sort of visualize, where are the hemlock trees? Where are the oak trees? Where are the beech trees in our 200 acres? So that's what I have here, mapping the trees. And then we'll get into the threats and some thoughts about the future. So here are our eastern hemlock trees. You'll see them predominantly or highly dense. DBH, the diameter at breast height is about 4.5 feet off the ground. It's just the measurement of how wide the tree is. And so when you're seeing the larger circle, that's an older tree. It's a wider tree. So that's what this depicts for you, both the diameter at breast height and also the density of the stands in the different locations. It's a very touching picture for me because we have old growth forest in Duncan Woods, but also old growth forest, which means it hasn't been cut in more than 100 years in other locations in our 200 acres as well. The oaks are estimated at about 80% of our canopy in Mulligan's Hollow is oak trees. So you can see the distribution there in terms of oaks, but also in Duncan Woods, not quite so much in Lake Forest Cemetery. And finally, the third major focus this evening and our larger conversation is about the beech trees, so American beech. This slide shows the beech scale insect, whether they're present or absent, and where they sort of proliferate. Some observations suggest that they are more likely to be found in greater densities among the trails. I don't have data that refutes that, but I'm not sure that that's entirely the case. But that's what this suggests. OK. So just to bring you up to speed in terms of the larger conversation, kind of like, what are we up against? In 2022, the focus was predominantly on hemlock woolly agelid, which is an insect which sucks the sap out of the hemlock stylet or the branch needle. Since 1970, elongate hemlock scale, which is also an invasive species, has seemed to be on the increase. It's been my observation that we, and the confirmation from the lab, MSU Plant Pathology Lab, that elongate hemlock scale also kills trees. And what happens is that the hemlock When the Agilid attacks the hemlock tree, it's kind of like, forgive my simple metaphors, but it's kind of like a mosquito. When it bites you, it injects a little venom. It's just anticoagulant, so it sucks your blood easier. The speculation is that those Agilids also inject a little bit of toxin into the hemlock tree, so it's weakened. And so if it wasn't weak, then the hemlock, the elongate hemlock scale wouldn't be the problem that it is, but the tree is weakened, this thing comes up because they suggest maybe the climate change, increase in temperatures makes it more favorable for that particular insect. So we've got, and then the third on that list is the spruce spider mite. distinctly and definitely a problem in terms of killing some of our trees as well. We see it to be out of proportion with our predator mites are not as prevalent as we would have thought. So that trinity, Hemlock, Willey, Agilid, Elongate, Hemlock scale, and Spidermite are all sort of tagging our hemlock trees in a problematic way the treatment i'll show you in a second is effective but we're aware of them oak wilt we've talked about it before mitigation and management i have some updates in terms of we flew we flew the drone last friday so we're bringing some some footage we're not footage but some pictures of that um beach bark disease that's the sort of main piece of this evening's conversation to bring it up to speed because it's taken me really five years to gather enough insight. And then Ashley shared a paper I wrote about it. And the reason I submitted it was so that it would be reviewed by two independent experts, line reviews. They wouldn't know me, they wouldn't know the situation. It was viewed favorably and accepted for publication pending minor revision. So this model and what we'll talk about has support. Beach leaf disease is emerging, but I'm not gonna focus on that because it's not here yet. And then a final... We did deal with that last year. We had an outbreak in the city over on Washington Street. We instantly, thanks to Ashley and company, protected that tree with an insecticide. So it has three years between its treatment cycles. That tree, as it says, is a survivor tree evaluation and resistance testing. University of Minnesota had a call. And they were looking for people nationally to submit twigs from trees that had clear proof of survival of the Dutch elm disease in the 1930s and 1940s. So we have the one huge, the largest in Ottawa County, elm tree on Washington Avenue. And we also have another one that's about 20 years younger on Howard Avenue. So DPW collected the twigs and bunched them up and I sent them to the University of Minnesota. They've been successfully introduced to the lab and they're doing what we're doing here. About two years they'll test them for Dutch elm disease resistance and then we'll know whether we can plant those seeds and off we go. So that's what's going on. Okay. If you haven't heard this before, the medication, the insecticide that we're using to treat the hemlock trees is called dinotefuran. Dinotefuran has an active service life of between 2.3 and 2.7 years if you look at the literature. And so what I've done is divide our trees by three. And so it's on a three year cycle. This is the third year in that cycle. We're at 69% treated at Lake Forest Cemetery. We're at 51% at Mulligan's Hollow. So between the two, we will finish up our third year cycle this year with that last botch. And then we would be starting again with that first one third next year. So that's the cycle process. That's the rationale for why. I have my fingers crossed. It's a treatment, not a cure, but hopefully we'll have something. And in the meantime, that's the process we're using.

So is the progression slow enough that we can wait two years for a third of the trees?

Yes. Because when we basal bark application of this insecticide, it lives for 2.3 to 2.7 years in that tree. It's a stretch, but that's what the study out of from P.J. Hofmaster by Deb McCullough in 23 reported back that what they had observed was between 2.3 and 2.7 was the longest estimation of its of this active protection of the tree. And so I'm stretching it a little bit, but I think that's the best way it can get the most out of our investment. Does that answer your question? Yeah. OK. So sorry, it's hard to not walk to the slide. But if you're looking at the slide there, your first thought is, oh my gosh, what's the red thing? The red dot, actually, what we have is aggregations of trees that are treated. So when you get more than 20 trees, then it turns yellow. So inside each one of those little yellow dots is a number. That's the number of trees that are treated. And if you see a red dot, that's more than 100 trees. So if you clicked on the red dot in the In the right-hand slide to you, you would see that thing that I pulled up for you down below. That's all the trees that are inside that dot. Does that make sense? So when we click on the proposal and we say, well, what did partial do? What did they treat? That's the record of all of the trees that were treated. It's just summarized in the larger circle. So when you're asking, well, where do we stand? And I say, well, we've treated Lake Forest Cemetery is 69%. Mulligan's Hollow is 51%. You can see that a little bit to the north of the ridge remains to be treated. So that's where we are. And we are protecting one of the largest urban hemlock populations on the lake shores. This is a shout out to council. May 17, 2024, a number of city council members and staff gathered in Lake Forest Cemetery in front of the Duncan's grave. The two landmark trees are hemlock trees. That morning, I took a picture of the hemlock trees. What you see there, which looks so innocent, looks like spider webbing. That's the spruce spider mite webbing. It's speculated that the mite is building the web around itself to protect itself predators. But it also is damaging the tree. You see a little bit of yellowing in those needles in the upper left. That's the elongate scale probably showing up. So the tree is not healthy. You can tell by the color as well. I went out yesterday just out of curiosity because I was anticipating that people would say, well, have you seen any efficacy? And I thought, that tree is healthy. And so that's what's going on. And then someone asked, well, what would happen if you didn't do anything? So I went to a different location. The little tufts, cotton tufts, are hemlock woolly agilid everywhere. And then you see the tree starting to die. So that's the consequence of a lack of stewardship. OK. Any questions about hemlock trees in general? I'll move to Oakville. Am I moving too quickly?

No, I think you're fine. I appreciate the information.

Yeah, so oak wilt. This is an interesting map in a variety of different ways. If you don't remember or if you haven't encountered a conversation about oak wilt, it's 90% transmitted, the fungus transmits underground 90% of the time. So the trees are shaking hands underground. And so it goes from one tree to the next tree to the next tree. That's its most common mode of transfer. What this map is showing you, if you see in this sort of to the lower left, 2015, the first epicenter that I was aware of or was brought to my attention was 2015. That's number one. Number two, which we started treating last year, I have some pictures in just a second, is two-thirds on GHAP's property and one-third on Lake Forest Cemetery property. So we're working together with the school system to treat it, and they've been very collaborative in doing so. But what you're seeing there is a overland distribution. So it's highly possible that the infected tree in the cemetery, so the little sap beetle flies, touches the infected sap in this tree, and there's a broken branch on that tree. So it flies over and touches that and infects that tree. So this is a good example or a bad example, if you will, a horrible example of overland transmission from 2015 to 2025. So if you're wondering, how does it travel? What's its mode of action? So what we did last year with the tide for the largest oak wilt epicenters, this one had been slowly burning since 2017. I actually wasn't aware of it. I found it with a drone, which you'll see in just a second. I caught the tip of it at the far edge there. And I was like, hey, some trees are flagging. And there were about... I think eight or ten trees, which the leaves were dropping, and I was like, oh, this is bad. And so partial came in. We did two things, which were our standard of care. The orange lines are where we... What it says, there are 2,000 linear feet of trench installed. What we do is we take a vibratory plow, which shakes back and forth like this. It's five foot long. We drop it down into the sand, and we dry it like this. And it breaks that handshake between the two trees so that the fungus can't go from tree to tree. So we're basically creating a, we're doing everything we can to put sort of a back blaze in. Because to the right, what we did is we double-girded and herbicided the trees that were there so that we're protecting Duncan Woods. Directly north is Duncan Woods, and we're doing everything we can. The GHAPs are doing the same thing. They're going to do the herbiciding of the trees going to the east. They're going to continue that line so we can backblaze this infection. Unfortunately, last Friday when I was out, there are two trees in the 2025 I showed you in the center of the map. There are two more trees in that epicenter. So they're already working on it. I think Derek Lemke said they treated one of them or double girded it. And there's one more over in the 2017 epicenter next to the school and partials on that too. So we're trying to treat it within 10 days if you see it flagging. Because you want to prevent it from going down and or traveling to other trees. So that's what we're increasing our aggressiveness as a function of this. That's the drone. The city purchased it. We flew it. We're looking for other evidence of epicenters as we find it around. So thank you.

But once infected, the trees need to be isolated because basically you can't get the infection, the fungus out of them. Exactly. Now the white oaks can be treated more easily than the red oaks.

Yes. The white oaks, it depends on which forester you talk to. Some will argue you've never seen a white oak that gets sick because it compartmentalizes very effectively. Others say, I've seen one that died, so I'm not going to get into that fight. But white oaks seem to be more resistant to it than red oaks. Red oaks are definitely, it's a problem. It's lethal. And we don't have that many white oaks, so. Is that your question? Sure. OK. I just trying to be. All right. So the Beach Tree Initiative, 2026. It's taken me, like I said, five years of think, think, think, think, think, think, because with oak wilt, you can do a, we can use propiconazole and we can treat the trees around it with a fungicide and prevent it from traveling that way, or we can double gird it and kill the tree and prevent it from traveling. So a couple of different techniques for mitigation and management. With the hemlock trees, we can treat all the trees. Again, it's mitigation and management because we can treat them, and then we've got three years on our cycle. With ME to copromid, you had five years, which there were a host of other problems which were significant. So we don't use that insecticide any longer. So I'm going to try to explain it clearly what we're doing here. Before, though, I wanted to find proof of what's going on in the UP. I called out of the blue to speak to a ranger at Hiawatha because I was looking for some possible disease, beach bark resistant trees, and I spoke to a ranger named Jake, and Jake said, well, I'm having a hard time. And I said, well, why is that? And he said, well, because we've lost basically all of our beach trees to beach bark disease, and I spend a large proportion of my time hacking the zombie trees because the tangles are so aggressive. But I wonder, well, what are we up against? What's coming our way? And this is just one study, SatLab 2021. In that shaded area of the Pitcher Rocks National Lakeshore, 9,127 acres of canopy lost between 2005 and 2018. 72.8% other sources cite between 80% and 90% of our beech trees will die. They're not saying this might happen. It could happen. Maybe it won't. It's coming. And so that's my impetus. But I'm going to explain it in a way that's so Ann Arbor, the Glen Arbor sun, like a pile of dead elephants on the lots of our great beach trees to the right, a killing front. This is what worries me the most, because we have the advancing front. We have the killing front, and then we have the aftermath forest or front. So there's three stages. And we're in the middle stage. We're in the killing front, if you will. It's dispersed amongst the majority of our trees. They are not infected with beach bark disease yet. So beach bark disease is described as a complex. So the insects, the beech-scale insects attack the tree. They stick their little proboscis thing in, and they puncture the bark, which is a wound. Those wounds collect. And over time, the tree is weakened by the insects, and the wounds proliferate. And so then the natural nectria, which is the fungus which is out in the forest anyway, enters that wound, infects the tree, and kills it. It takes anywhere. between 10 and 30 years for the trees to die. So that makes treatment a bit more complicated than Oakville, 10 days, are the trees dead, right? So that's why it's taken so much time to think about what do you do with something like that? What we don't want to do is do nothing because if we do, the trees will fall. You'll end up with this aftermath forest where it's impenetrable. And the trees are growing in such a way that they're already infected and they're uncontrollable. If you remember nothing else from my show, certain family members thought, did Chad think that up? And I'm like, no, I think for myself. But the Jenga juggernaut. I pulled the two papers there.

The McNull paper and the Sapna paper are two really important pieces here.

Good work. This is not so easy, thin some trees, get a pickup truck and a couple of guys with a chainsaw and cut some trees down. A natural old-growth forest runs at about 1% canopy loss per year. And that's a natural sort of process. That dies, the light hits, the nitrogen escalates for a little while, the canopy comes in, closes it off, another one opens up. And so it moves like that, right? That's how it normally does. In our little enclosed forest, we have the responsibility of a particular sort of stewardship model and approach to canopy management that tries to mimic that as best we can. So once I had that, I was like, oh. So we know they're going to die. We can't prevent that. But this paper about the shade explains. There are three kinds of forests, simply put. There's hydric, which is bogs and swamps. There's mesic, which is what we have, sort of the sweet spot, moisture. And there's xeric, and that's dry. So certain parts of Michigan are dry. White pines and other trees will grow there. But we have that sweet spot of moisture, mesic, a mesic forest. In a mesic forest, The seeds, when they sprout, need a certain degree of shade and a certain degree of moisture. So if you have that aftermath forest and all the beech trees have collapsed, we have no shade. That's the Jenga juggernaut. If we wait too long and we don't do anything, we're going to get so much light so quickly that we won't see a replacement. So my thinking in that paper is all about selective thinning. So Leek, the Bartlett Experimental Forest, 2006 is 50 years ago, we removed about 20% of the beech trees. And now 50 years later, we have a bunch of them that are 10, inches or more in diameter, they survived and we selectively thinned. What I explained in my piece was that I think what Leek didn't know at the time that we know today is that 2% of the beech trees are disease resistant naturally. And then another portion are tolerant. So he was going back in every other year or so and taking some more sick ones. But what was he leaving? Probably the disease-resistant ones and the healthier ones. And so 50 years later, what has he done? He didn't have to lose 90% of the forest. Let's say he lost 60%, but then the ones that remained replaced. So that's the model behind this Jenga juggernaut is we need to remove enough of the sick ones with sufficient and steady approach so we don't have a collapse of the forest and we don't have to put fences up and keep people out. We also need to treat them in a very particular way. While it's still alive, we have to apply an herbicide which kills the tree so that it can't do that, the beech tree tangles, which prevent wildlife and they also prevent us from replacing that tree with other native trees. That's the balancing act. So Brett Kuypers, our registered forester, has responded and said, I'm up to the job. He will be writing a three-year management plan on how to manage the beech tree removal selectively and carefully, such that we're managing canopy aid to protect the seedlings as they sprout. Which leads me to my next piece. Anticipating that this would not be a really popular thing to see in our woods, because these trees don't look dead yet. They're sick, but come on, there's still some branches. And I thought, well, if we could, and so this is where. These are sugar maples. They're produced by the culture lab in Holland. So what you see in this picture to the right, or to your left, those are our trees. So the USDA forest geneticist out of Wisconsin sent me three different samples of beach bark disease resistant trees, because they've lost all the trees. So he said, I don't know where they are. I just have to go there, because that's the one that's still alive. So he sent us stock. So Della Fetzer is the founder of the Culture Lab in Holland, and she's taken those and snipped them, and she's propagating them as we speak. Her goal is to go from where they are now to what you see on the right, which is what you see in front of you. What I will do is take those, and they'll live for two months in that little vial like that. We plunk them into dirt, and then they'll root and they'll grow just like a regular tree. So that's the plan. So she's taking, we now have 80 beach bark disease-resistant propagans in Holland being grown. So when we cut down a tree, we will replace that tree with a beach bark disease-resistant tree. So it's not just take and leave it. And then we'll plant some others as we go where it is appropriate for the canopy. So that's the logic behind this more complicated third intervention for this particular invasive species. It takes a longer period of time.

you say there's like you said there's like 80 plants yes and how many should we have i mean it sounds like we need a nursery of these things going constantly

That's a really good question. I mean, I don't have the initial report from Brett the forester. Brett Kuypers will prepare it. And I just, because of budget, I just said, well, let's start with 20 trees per year. And so that's my math at 1,500 a tree to top it or drop it. and herbicide it, give or take. So that's, we're starting, but I didn't tell him, limit yourself. If we should take more based on what you see, let me know, but let's use that as a benchmark. And if we do that every year for a period of time, it would be 20 trees per year and maybe more. In the end, someone said, well, what's your plan? I said, Michigan and southern Canada. because I'm going to apply for a Rotary grant. But why not? Their trees, they're already gone in Hiawatha. And so Heidi, the land manager for the 36,000 acres of Michigan property said, where can I get some of those trees? Actually, what I don't want to spend too much time on, but it's a beach leaf disease is coming up from the southeast. So what we are actually doing is we're trying to get some of the beach leaf disease resistant trees and propagate them and then test them for beach bark disease and see because nobody has a dual tree yet. So that's my Pulitzer Prize, my gold medal. If we can do that, we're going to try. So.

So these trees are not beach leaf resistant?

No, those are sugar maples as an example of what we'll have in a couple of months.

Very cute.

So this is my shout out to my friend in Duncan Woods. So in case you're wondering, who's the friends we're trying to save? OK, another story, sorry. So the former president of the West Michigan Conservation Network, her name's Ginny Wanty. And she and her friend were visiting Grand Haven and invited them for brunch, but they had to go back to them. So she comes back about two months later. It's Sunday morning. She parks in the driveway. I make a nice, great brunch because I'm a good breakfast cooker person. And then I walked her out to the end and said, well, this is my tri-colored beach friend, and this is my blood red, and here are all my hemlock tree friends. I invited her to meet all my tree friends. And then two weeks later, we're at the Master Garden. She said, you're glad that I'm not introducing you today. I said, why? She goes, because when I parked in the driveway and there's no car, I was a little uncomfortable. She's friends of Grand Rapids Forest and friends of us. These are my tree friends. So those are the little tree friends. So just so you know. If I invite you to breakfast and to introduce you to my tree friends, they really are friends. I love those guys. You're supposed to talk to them, right? So someone said, so what's your ask for city council tonight? I said, I don't have an ask. I started a fundraiser six weeks ago when we raised $30,000 to save our beach trees.

Wow. Well done. Good job.

A lot of people love our forest. Yes, they do. So I was happy. I was thrilled. I was so overwhelmed with people's generosity when I explained and showed them the pictures and showed them the baby trees. And Rotary was the first one, $1,000. So just wanted to let you know our community really is a tree city USA. We're ahead of Grand Rapids. We're ahead of Swing Lake. 35 years.

We actually were Tree City USA before we were Coast Guard City USA. I'm not supposed to talk about that.

I don't know if your phones can catch the QR code. But if you were curious, did a beautiful job of a web page. So people walking in Mulligan's Hollow or in Lake Forest Cemetery will come across one of three signs. It lists the invasive species. That's a place for you to submit a picture. It comes to my email. And people say, I get pictures mostly about garlic, mustard, and invasive shrubs. But I'm always saying, there's only one of me, and there's a lot of people walking around. So we do have a community awareness program and a lovely. And Bill designed those. And a donor paid for the wood for the signposts. So in case you can't tell, I'm really fond of our community. All right, looking ahead, we did the MOU with Ottawa County Parks. They've met on a quarterly basis. This is just a draft. Kurt DeHart drew a potential pathway through the 100 acres. There are hemlock trees. They're supposed to be treated this year, so we're doing some management over there. It's slow to get underway, but it's part of looking ahead. I hope to continue to expand our regional partnerships. We've got the signs. We've got other efforts to do community outreach and connect people to nature where we can. City of Grand Haven, Division of Urban Forestry, I truly believe in science first, but stewardship and resilience, protecting our forests today and restoring tomorrow's as best we can. Questions?

questions well on our agenda tonight we have something where the smart tree inventory that we're voting on how does that come into play with the management program we already have and what we're working on and this and it feels like there's so many different moving parts and i thought we had something in place and then it just seems like there's more moving parts It's great to answer the question.

Yeah in my world I look at the 200 acres of that's my worry and then there's the city canopy and that's Derek Lemke and Earl Jorgensen's like that's we work together So like the they collected the twigs from the two trees for the Washington and the Howard Street trees for me They got the lift up so we work together But that budget and that responsibility, I might say that tree looks problematic. Or when we had the Dutch Elm, we worked together instantaneously. So it's not like we're at odds with each other. But it's like they say, what's going on in the woods? If I need some help at Elizabeth Avenue for some hazard trees, we're that way. But it's two different budgets and two different sort of areas of expertise and responsibility. That's how I understand it.

Yeah, and again, just trying to have a cohesive plan for our street tree program as well as our urban forest. To Dr. Burns' point, that way they all interface and are all being treated similarly in understanding our inventory.

I figure that's what we were looking at trying to do. I just wanted to see how they overlap.

The mechanical piece touched me in a couple of ways. It wasn't just our mesic forest, but the data suggests that we've seen an increase in temperature of 2.3 degrees since 1950, 1960, with estimates between 6 and 11 degrees between now and 2050. So for me, thinking ahead the way I do, every empty spot should have a tree in it. So that's an answer to my perspective in the interface between the urban forest and the city tree canopy. They're not separate. There may be more trees in the city by count than there are in the woods, but they're just two different, completely different domains of expertise overall.

And yet the rest of the urban forest also provides environmental service to the city. So I don't think that, because I've always been of the opinion that we should take a broad view of our urban canopy. Yes, we have the 200 acres Mulligan's Hollow. We have 145 acres on the north side that's contiguous with others. We have street trees around the city and along the river, but... It all kind of works together. And I'd like to see us continue to look at it that way, even though you have like a stronger community of trees where they're concentrated throughout the city, it's important.

I like to think, if I was thinking ahead, that we would have a division of forestry or division of urban forestry or something like that, which would set that off. Other cities like Cambridge, Massachusetts has an amazing division that does nothing but that. So if you want to dig a hole and it's in the city, someone has to come and say, yeah, you're going to kill that tree or not kill that tree, or how can we work with you to avoid killing that tree? So I think that your vision is correct. I just think that we're building this by bits and pieces as I see it. So I wouldn't disagree with you. I'd love to have that. Can I go ahead? I have a few extra things for you. Sure. Any questions at this point? I was out yesterday wandering down Sheldon. This photograph, my wife was thumbing through this. And she says, oh, are you aware of these pictures? I'm like, no. Let me take a look. This is Sheldon, June 1926. And so I was wandering around, not dressed as I am right now. And who should drive by but the good Dr. Alguire? fond of trees. And he said, what are you doing, Burns? Are you taking care of trees? And I'm like, well, sort of. And I had the picture in my hand. He said, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm looking for this house. But look at that picture in 1926. The first thing that my wife saw, I was like, hey, that sand dune. What's going on there? And so when we think of what we're doing here, the second thing she said is, I don't want those sand dunes coming back. So do what you're doing to protect those trees. Because when I said to Tom, hey, the tree said, and he said, they weren't always there. And I said, well, they've always only been there because that's how long I've been around. And he said, well. And then I was thinking, oh, I wonder what they did in July of 1926 to celebrate the 150 years. And they were celebrating the road getting paved. Did you see that? This road's going to get paved. And then prices will soar.

Roads getting paid is pretty exciting.

Yeah. So I was like having a moment and I was like, I just have to share this with you. And then I don't know if people are watching, but I've been instructed as a fundraiser person that we have successfully paid for the first phase, which is 30,000, but the next phase is the propagation phase. And so I'll get through the lab, we'll get the, that's another 30,000. So if there are people watching, Please. Oh, so the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation does have a special fund set aside. It's called Save Our Forests Grand Haven. And so people are donating. And then in the little box down below, there's writing Burns Beach. And so they'll know that that's money that's monitored by the city. But we've hit it. And then the other goal, if I understand, and I'm completely new to this, that we can use the $30,000 that we've raised as a matching grant-like money. So we can say, we raised this money. And so maybe we'll be able to approach the community foundation and ask,

for that grant as well.

That's part of the story. Hey, hi. Can you come in? That's my colleague. I didn't talk anything bad. So that's the story.

I've seen some of the old pictures, like 1880s, 1890s, showing all the elm trees in town.

and the city was lined with them yeah i got a handful last year we lost a couple more i love those photos someone said can we plant them and i said it's a little it's a it's a lot tricky because the way elms reproduce when they're creating a seed they can self replicate but they don't typically do that so you can't be certain that the offspring that's on the ground is from that tree only. So we'll have to test it. But we are at least in the process now of determining if that's disease resistant. There's a spot in Vermont where they are propagating disease resistant elms at a great clip. And so we'll be monitoring them. And I'll be working with them potentially and with the University of Minnesota. Because some folks have said, wouldn't it be lovely to have elm trees back down? I'm like, I'd love it if they were disease resistant. So yeah.

Larry, I feel a little overwhelmed with all the things you've presented, and I'm not quite sure how you're managing to keep track of all of them. But on the other hand, I feel blessed that we have an individual such as you with the passion you have that is directing this and working with other members of staff and stuff to coordinate all this. I'm glad that we can be a part of that and only ask that you keep us abreast and informed as you have tonight. of things that you need and things that we can help you with as you're moving along with this endeavor to keep our forests in the shape they are. So appreciate it very much and thank you.

My pleasure, I'm so grateful to you. We actually have a dedicated budget and there are some sophisticated things that Emily's done to make it even better for us this year, but it's amazing and I think I'm gonna be under budget.

Knock on wood.

Yep, there you go. You're right. Something like that.

Other comments for Larry?

Just thank you.

Larry. No, he was asking a question. Sorry.

Okay.

I just want to say thank you. I mean, to second what Mike just said, I think that it gives me a lot more peace of mind to know that we are working so hard on maintaining this because this is a long-term project. outlook. It's not something that's an overnight fix and it's not something that was caused overnight. So the science behind it and the fact that you are so well versed in it does give me a lot of peace of mind. Not to mention you not only brought a problem you brought a solution and the money and I think that's about as good as we can get for a presentation. So I appreciate that very much and your forethought in that also. So thank you.

My pleasure.

Yeah, I just want to say thank you, Larry. I've been with you for a long time here. I strongly believe in everything you do. And I tell you what, you've been doing a fantastic job. A good example is like my house. I have a sycamore tree. I have a Norwegian maple there and also have a bunch of other maples. My neighbor across the street doesn't have any trees. They go inside to their air conditioning. I sit outside and just relax in the cool air. And I tell you what, it is so nice in my house. I have people stop by and so that's how important trees really are for us. It keeps us cool and also gives us oxygen that we need. It's just a good thing to do and I'm glad you're on it and taking care of us. I appreciate it a lot.

It's an honor to serve. I love my job with the city. You're my city family.

I ECHO EVERYTHING ELSE HERE. I GET ASKED WHAT'S THE FUTURE OF THIS? WHERE IS THIS GOING? WE'RE SPENDING MONEY EVERY YEAR. WE FIND MORE DISEASES. WE FIND MORE EPICENTERS. SOMETIMES IT'S LIKE WHACK-A-MOLL TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH IT ALL. I THINK THE REAL KEY HERE IS We extend the lives of sick trees as much as we can. We stop the spread as best we can. But the real key is in the regeneration, the future trees that are to come. And if they can be disease resistant, that's going to be a plus. If we just could fill in the gaps as best we can by eliminating and removing the sick trees, there is a future here. It's not just a matter of saving individual trees. It's saving the forest.

Thank you. One of the reviewers wrote a very favorable comment about my paper, probably an arborist. And he said he hadn't thought of it that way. But when I get the question, well, wouldn't it be better to just do nothing because we could save money? And I said, this is one problem where it's going to cost us more to do nothing than to do something. And he said, I love this idea because once a tree dies, It becomes rickety, and if you're two years in, an arborist can't climb that tree and cut it down with it. You've got to get a heavy piece of equipment in there to lift it up to keep that person safe, right? So he said, I never thought of this before. If you're doing it while they're still alive, I can have a climber up there cut it down while it's still alive. It's least expensive as treatment. But if it's going to die and you know that's the case, then doing it systematically will save lives. the hazard risks to traffic through, but also save the city money in the long run. Melanie Mann was the director of Ottawa County Parks. She said, one of the worst things I see is municipalities always want to think they're going to kick the can down the road and will save money, but they don't realize that this is a situation where it will cost more later. So yeah, you're right. It is a whack-a-mole, sort of, but I think we're getting around that and starting to be more systematic, too.

Yeah, I think it feels that way to many people, but there is a longer vision than that. I think that's what we have to keep in mind.

Yeah, that's one of the hardest things for me. I went from one year to 10 years then on the 2022 to 100 years. And that's a long gap to try to. But when I read Leak's paper, and he's like, it's 50 years since I did this. And his colleagues worked with him for 36 years. And she reviewed the paper. And she said, don't get stuck in the numbers. You won't get 10.3 meters exactly between the trees. But this is a good idea. So thank you. My pleasure.

Anything else? Thank you, Larry.

It's truly a pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Lots of information, and I hope people are listening and paying attention. It's a big job, and it's for the long haul. So thanks. It is.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

All right.

This was the only item we had on our special work session this evening, so if there are no further comments on this, I'm going to close the work session. And we will reconvene at 7.30. So we're going to take a break.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

And I don't think that we are...

Okay.

All right, everybody.

We're ready to go again. Welcome, everybody, to this regular city council meeting for Monday, July 6th, 2026. Maria, would you call the roll?

Fritz?

Here.

Callio? Here. Lyon? Here. Dora? Here. Manetza?

Here. We don't have an invocation this evening, but will you please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? 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.

Thank you.

Our next item of business is reappointments to boards and commissions. Maria, would you read those?

Item A, reappoint Dale Hagenbuch to the Airport Board with a term ending June 30, 2031. Item B, reappoint R. Douglas Van Os to the Community Center Board, term ending June 30, 2031. And item C, reappoint Patrick Quad to the Historic Conservation District Commission with the term ending June 30, 2029.

Can I get a motion on this? So moved. Report. Motion by Fritz, second by Dora. Any questions or comments on any of these reappointments? Please call the roll.

Fritz?

Yes.

Dora? Yes. Calio? Yes. Lyon? Yes. Meneza?

Yes. And we have one new appointment. Would you please read that?

Item A, appoint Jeffrey Hoekstra to the Construction Board of Appeals with the term ending December 31st, 2026.

Can I get a motion on this?

So moved.

Second. Motion by Lyon, second by Calio. Are there any questions on this appointment? Would you please call the roll?

Lion? Yes. Callio? Yes. Dora? Yes. Fritz? Yes. Manetza? Yes.

All right. Brings us to the approval of the consent and regular agendas. Can I get a motion for approval? So moved.

And second.

Motion by Dora, second by Fritz. Are there any changes that we need to make that anyone would like to make to the agendas? If not, then will you please call the roll?

Dora?

Yes.

Fritz? Yes. Lyon? Yes. Calio? Yes. Meneza?

Yes. All right. We completed our work session, so we don't continue that. So this brings us to our first call to the audience. At this time, members of the audience may address council on any item, whether on the agenda or not. Those addressing council are asked to provide their name and address and will be limited to three minutes of speaking time. Council will hear all comments for future consideration, but will not have a response at this time. Those not physically present who would like to call in, may dial 616-935-3203. and I'd like to note that there are no public hearings this evening, so if you'd like to address Council on any item that's on the agenda, now would be the time and there will be a second call to the audience at the end of the meeting after we've completed our business. So who would like to address Council?

My name is Jeffrey Miller. I live at 1120 South Harbor Drive. I'd just like to applaud Professor Burns for all the work he's done. So this is really a follow up to his presentation during the work session that council just heard. What's being done is laudatory, but it's not easy and it costs money to do so. And I'm here tonight as one of those who are trying to help raise funds for his endeavor. So for those here in the audience and who are listening over the radio station or streaming, please consider going to the Grand Haven Community Foundation website. Forest page where donations can be made. As Larry pointed out, we were able to raise $30,000, which now makes us possibly eligible for other matching grants. But the fundraising never ends because the costs associated with this endeavor is very important and needs the public support. The amount of money that can be allocated by the city budget is limited on a year-to-year basis given your other large considerations, whether it's the pension fund or the restoration of Harbor Island. but our urban forest is another valuable asset that all of the citizens in Grand Haven and the visitors benefit from. So again, whether you can make a modest donation or a more substantial one, IN THE WEEKS OR MONTHS TO COME, WE'D APPRECIATE IT. SO AGAIN, PLEASE GO TO THE GRAND HAVEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION WEBSITE, LOOK AT THE SAVE OUR FOREST PAGE AND CONSIDER MAKING A CONTRIBUTION. THEY ARE ALL TAX DEDUCTIBLE, IF THAT'S A CONSIDERATION, AND NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL. SO THANK YOU AGAIN, LARRY, FOR ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS AND WHEN SO THANK YOU AGAIN, LARRY, FOR ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS AND WHEN WORKING WITH CITY STAFF AND FROM WORKING WITH CITY STAFF AND FROM THE SUPPORT OF COUNCIL.

THE SUPPORT OF COUNCIL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, JEFF.

THANK YOU, JEFF. WHO ELSE WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS WHO ELSE WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS COUNCIL? COUNCIL? I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE CITY'S USE OF FLOX SAFETY CITY'S USE OF FLOX SAFETY LICENSE PLATE READER CAMERAS. This technology is fundamentally incompatible with the Fourth Amendment. It records the movements of ordinary law-abiding people who are not suspected of any crime and allows the government to build a record of where people have traveled without individualized suspicion or a warrant. I don't believe that's the kind of society we should accept. I'm also concerned that this system collects and stores information about the movements of ordinary people without their knowledge or consent and entrusts this information to a private company rather than keeping it solely under the city's control. Public reporting and independent audits have raised questions about the company's security practices and whether its own internal policies were consistently followed. This should give every community pause before allowing a private company to maintain a database of residents' movements. What concerns me just as much is the lack of transparency. I've submitted a public records request seeking information about this program and have not received the information I requested. If the city believes this technology is appropriate, then residents deserve to know exactly how it is being used, what data is collected, and how long it is retained, who has access to it, and what oversights exist. I understand that everybody wants safe communities, and I definitely want that too, but constitutional rights of privacy should not be infringed on because the technology is convenient or effective. The government should investigate suspects, not collect information on everyone first and decide later. The government should not monitor and catalog the movement of innocent people simply because the technology makes it possible. When I checked in June, about 62 municipalities had reportedly canceled their flock contracts over concerns about privacy, transparency, and governance. Now it is 79. We live in the United States of America, not China. Privacy is a constitutional right that our founding fathers wanted for all generations. I respectfully ask this council to discontinue the use of flock safety cameras, and at a minimum, fully disclose the city's policies, agreements, and oversight so the public can have an informed discussion about whether this technology belongs in our community. I also ask that the Council hold a public hearing to give residents the opportunity to provide input before any decision is made about continuing or expanding the use of this technology. Thank you.

Thank you, Ryan. Who else would like to address Council at this time?

Good evening, Jim Hagan, 400 Lake. I'd like to just briefly comment on the Flatiron Brownfield agenda item. One thing I noted on this project was when I did an AI search of all the Planning Commission documents, I didn't find any hits to speak of on railroad rail tracks. I think we're all sort of familiar with that corner in the track. The track was put in in 1858. Originally, when you look at the Sanborn fire insurance maps, you'll see what was there up until 1920. It was a series of wooden buildings, mercantiles, small, those type of buildings. And in the 20s, it changed to the one-story brick that we have now. And what's proposed now is a mixed-use building, three stories, with retail, bottom, and in the upper floors, residential. I think we're all familiar with how extremely close that rail track is to the building. One thing that I didn't find either was any record that any kind of formal HAZOP was done on what are the potential hazards and outcomes of having people located and sleeping so close to the rail track. When I checked on the rail track, what I found was that It has about 500 trains a year, 250 each way. The other interesting thing is that on the hazmat tank cars, hazardous tank materials, which are chemicals, petroleum products, solvents, ethanol, there's estimated to be about 1,000 to 3,000 of them a year. This is a very large amount. My background as an engineer, I've worked in designs on refineries. I was an operations manager. assistant refinery manager for about four years at a refinery. So I've been the first person on a fire monitor. I know what fires on petroleum products are like. You absolutely do not want any type of hazardous situation involving tank cars and residents. So I would like you to postpone implementing that brownfield measure and go back and request that formal hazard analysis and reports are done and that they be publicly provided to the community so we know what we're being asked to incentivize and the hazards associated with it. Thank you.

Thank you, Jim. Who else would like to address council?

Amy Atkinson, I own a corn marketing at 128 column. I'm Wally David from my team attended the city council meeting last month, or earlier this month to discuss the Eagles use of the lot. The public lot next to our building and with a request for some additional spaces to be set aside for use for the teams in our building. I believe you mentioned that there are about 23 individuals that need to come to work each day during the festival and without adequate parking, it would make it difficult for us to do so. I know other folks such as Lucy's and the retailers on Washington are also in need of parking space. To date, we have not been successful in connecting with the Eagles to try to come up with a solution. I believe that the decision at the last meeting was that they would need to do so. And as of yet, we've not been able to get any sort of resolution or compromise to help us be able to have parking so our teams can come to work during those two weeks.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Who else would like to address council at this time?

I will. Joe Bach, I'm 204 Tribune Laws. I'm back. I was here at the last meeting. And it's been kind of spinning around in my head because I don't pay a lot of attention to government stuff. And so some of the stuff that's been spinning around is I wondered if the process was followed correctly, if deadlines were met for application and things like that. I also wonder, is it really one and done? And if it's one and done, maybe it could just be done and not one and done. And then the third thing I was, I'm kind of hearing things about, they're really not sure about where that stage is gonna be and which direction it's gonna be. And I haven't heard any updates from any of my neighbors about it. Again, you understand my concern because we do entertainment. We have a back patio. We feature artists quite a bit during the week. Live entertainment. We have live entertainment actually Monday through Sunday from 12 to 3. And then on the weekends we have a little more live entertainment. Usually it's just acoustic kind of things, and sometimes we get bigger bands, but people are enjoying our live entertainment, and they really like the atmosphere because it's actually kind of a quiet atmosphere. It's away from some of the noise that's on harbor, those cars and those motorcycles coming and going, so we're really enjoying that, and we really We just really appreciate what we've been able to do in the community. And the community seems to really like what we're doing. We're just hoping that we're being heard. I was kind of, I didn't even know about the thing. Usually if something kind of big like this, if somebody's gonna put a building, you know, eight-story building next to your property, you're going to get a notice, a bingo card in the mail. So didn't receive anything like that. Kind of heard it, you know, through word of mouth. And just, you know, doggone it, I wish I would have been more, you know, looking at those minutes and watching the YouTube of the council, you know. And, you know, because when I was here, I was hearing a lot of of the good that the Eagles do, and I do that, and I know at least one of you express that you're a member, and that was nice to be upfront about that, that we knew that was going on. You know, I don't I just. There's so many things we've tried to accomplish in the 23 years we've been here, and I think we've been a good community. Neighbor. You know I we typically at.

Thank you, OK, thank you. Anyone else would also like to address Council at this time?

Hi, I'm Becky Newman at 932 Pennoyer. I am here representing Walk the Beat as the president and the director of the Street Music Festival. I know you're going to consider our application tonight. What's different about it this year is we're asking for the 1500 block of Franklin to be closed to traffic. And I just wanted to provide a rationale for that. It's mainly for the safety of the public, since we do have two bands that perform close to the street in East Grand River Park, the whole length of that block. And it's also providing better access to those musical acts for the public. And that's why we're asking. And just so you probably already realize that Eastern is still open. So people that need to get to the dog park, you see my... the dog, the playground and the boat launch. So thank you for considering that.

Alright, thank you, Becky. Anyone else? He said there will be another opportunity to address Council at the end of the meeting, but there's no other opportunity during the meeting to speak. Alright, well then I'm going to close the call to the audience. We're going to move on. and move to the consent agenda. Marie, would you please read that?

Item A, approve the special work session and regular city council meeting minutes for June 15, 2026. Item B, approve the bill's memo in the amount of $2,875,519.87. Item C, approve the amended fiscal year 2026-27 millage rate for the 2015 infrastructure bond 2026 and ending June 30, 2027. Item D, approve fiscal year 2025-26 budget amendments for accounts relating to the partial redemption payment of the unlimited tax general obligation bond series 2015. Item E, approve a local governing body resolution for charitable gaming licenses for the Grand Haven Pickleball Club to conduct raffles at their Grand Haven Pickleball Tournament event on August 20, 2026. Item F, approve task order 006 with HDR of Ann Arbor, Michigan for fiscal year 2026 slash 2027 required annual CCR groundwater monitoring activities and the not to exceed amount of $360,440 to be reimbursed by the Board of Light and Power. And item G, award a contract to the Davey Resource Group for the smart tree inventory in the budget amount of $45,800.

Alright, I need a motion so moved. Second motion by Fritz, second by Dora. Any comment on any of these items? Please call the roll.

Fritz yes, Dora yes, Calio yes, Lion yes, Meneza yes.

Alright, new business now. First item please.

Item A, consideration by city council of resolution to approve and adopt the brownfield plan for the flat iron redevelopment project located at 7 North 7th Street, Grand Haven, Michigan, 49417 for a period of 19 years. EDC slash BRA recommends approval. Administration recommends approval.

All right, so before we begin and seek a motion, Sarah?

Yeah, I would like to recuse myself from this discussion and voting due to the fact that for a part of my day job, I help with marketing for capstone companies.

OK, well in that case I would need a motion. To recuse Sarah from this item. Motion by door, second by. Lion. To recuse you OK, would you please call the roll Dora?

Yes, Lion, yes, Fritz, yes, Manessa, yes.

Alright Sarah, if you would. Step away for a moment. Thank you.

All right, so now I need a motion to consider this item. Motion by Lyons, second by Dora. So we had a public hearing at our last meeting when we heard from the developers at that point in time, and we had a little bit of feedback from them. I guess at this point I'd ask Dana, would you like to speak up?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Since the public hearing, there has been no new information or changes to the request that you were considering. But for a reminder and for the public's reminder, the proposed project is located at the corner of 7th and Washington, where currently is located with several retail commercial businesses. The proposed redevelopment includes a complete redevelopment of the site. ground floor commercial and five residential condominium units. Those units would be market rate condos ranging from roughly 1,200 square feet to 1,400 square feet. And the project itself is really looking to both increase new residents into the center town area as well as jumpstart redevelopment within the center town area of the downtown development authority. The development team has submitted a Brownfield request, uh, for just over $687,000, uh, to be reimbursed for eligible activities over a 15 year timeframe with an additional four years of TIFF capture, um, which equates to roughly $258,000. Um, we did have a financial analysis, um, that was included in your packet. and available for review in advance. And as that analysis noted, we do anticipate that without the brownfield assistance, the project proceeds from the sale would likely be insufficient to support the project. We do have here this evening a member of the development team, David Tenkey, and then we also have Roman Wilson here from Fishback, which is the consultant firm on the project and prepared the brownfield plan.

All right. Would the applicants like to add anything to that? Roman or Dave? Okay. All right. Well, then I guess I will open up to discussion by council. We've all seen all the details of this now. We'd like to open the discussion.

I mean, I am, like I said before, really excited about what's coming for Center Town in this development and all the ones that are gonna be surrounding it. I think it's gonna be beautiful and wonderful. Obviously the train tracks are a concern, but I think we have found that we don't have a whole lot of control of what the train does and the rules they put in place for distance. I mean, for me, I think I would rather have seen these sold with short-term rental potential instead of going after the brownfield. I think we worked really hard to put the overlay over that area specifically for these projects that were coming down. And I mean, it was a big fight for this team. So if this does go through, I just want to make sure we're really explicit that the short-term rentals will not be provided in that area. Although I would think I would much rather have had them sold that way. That's all I have to say.

Okay.

Yeah, I appreciate the effort that they've put into coming up with this plan and the building. I think it looks great. I know John Steinbach is very enthused about it as well as the group at Capstone. There has been items that have been raised such as Jim has mentioned about the train that goes through, the hazardous chemicals that it does carry. I drove around town. a couple of weeks ago after some emails that went around and just took a look at all the residences that are within 100 yards of the train tracks. If we were to apply something to this that would not allow that to happen, half of the homes and certain blocks would have to be gone because they were allowed to be there. at the present moment. So I understand there are hazards. I'm very familiar with a lot of them that go through there. I think that that is something that we should look into at some point so we are aware of everything that goes through, not just for this facility, but for the other residences in the neighborhood as well. I did have some initial concerns with some of the items that were in the pro forma, but I've worked through those. One item I did have was we had adopted some lift requirements for folks who were going to use short-term rentals in that area. and to meet the parking demands. The lifts that are proposed for this particular facility do not meet those requirements, so if you are interested in at some time doing short-term rental down the road, you may want to check that section out in 40-513 of the city ordinances to make sure that you meet those requirements so that you would be able to do that at some point once the TIF expires. Other than that, I'm pretty much good to go. All right. Thanks, Mike.

I have a question. It's the same question I asked on the brownfield. I want to know what is the public benefit here? Because if you're asking for public money, I want to know what are we going to get in return to help here. So what is the public benefit?

Would any of you like to comment on that?

Roman Wilson with fish back. I think Really when we're talking about public benefit This is a small site Can't create a bunch of green space and that kind of thing. So I think really what we're focusing on here is looking at the plans that in the vision for center town and and bringing mixed use, bringing residents into that area, which helps stimulate the economy, helps improve the commercial businesses that are presently there, and then also finding a solution for having parking on site that doesn't burden existing parking that seems to always be a concern within the city limits. I think looking at what this project will also do to catalyze future development that may have the opportunity at a larger scale. I mean, this is a small development site, but adjoining properties and the transformation along that corridor is going to be significant community benefit that will be seen for a long time.

I have a hard time because it's public money that we're issuing out here. It's the whole city, not just that area that I like to see is some kind of public benefit that we have there. There's no bike racks. There's nothing out there, nothing for anybody for the public itself. And you're asking for public money. I have a very hard time with this trying to give money out to something that's not going to help benefit people.

I may have to defer to the developer if they want to speak further on that.

Dave Tenkate. I appreciate your concerns, Mike. What you have in Centertown, this new vision plan, there's all kinds of things that people have spent a lot of money investigating how Centertown is going to develop. As most of you probably remember, we have a plan approved for Steinbeck Crossings, the other corner. And The vision hasn't been caught by the public for center town living, quite frankly. And we decided we're going to try something smaller. We're going to step out, not require a bunch of pre-sales. But the public benefit is to see center town grow. We know we're not going to get a TIF for the project on the other corner. And we've seen some of the, I'll call them the massing concepts for this development of center town in general and that would be a benefit. But if nobody dares to start in center town, none of that's going to happen. And so I would argue that although the benefit might not be a bike rack on this site within the parameters, I would say that the development of the site itself is a public benefit because it will foster development. It will bring excitement to center town. You, I don't know if the retailers were here last time, but I think you're, you're shaking your head already. So I know I don't have you, but I think that's a significant public benefit. Just because somebody can't walk onto the site and park their bike there or sit on a bench there, I don't think that means that it can't be a public benefit.

I understand. You're trying to start something there. I lived down in that neighborhood almost my whole life down there. I lived at 28 North 6th Street, so I know exactly what Center Town is. I participated in it my whole lifetime here. But when it comes to public money, I have a hard time There's no public benefit. That's my opinion. But for you to start something down there, I agree. We need to do something to help move things along. But $750,000 homes for people to live in, that doesn't do anything for us. It doesn't do what? It doesn't do anything for me. Well, okay. It doesn't help anybody that has any kind of low income.

Well, we didn't ever promote this as a low-income housing project. I know you didn't. Okay. So, I'm sorry.

Okay. Well, I look at these projects, I try to take a long view. Not just what's good for us this year, next year, and the following year. What's good for us 20, 30 years from now. And I think that the idea of launching Center Town down a new road putting something exciting there that's not there now, getting rid of basically a dilapidated old brick building that's 100 years old that is really tired, replacing it with something that can afford to be built. And I've seen these numbers and I've seen enough of these projects to understand the gap that exists when you try to take down a project like this, put up something else on a small site that doesn't have the mass to create a lot of revenue to pay for itself. and that gap is sometimes only met by public participation such as this, the tax increment finance. I like the TIF programs in general because I think there's a lot of safeguards built in for the public. They don't generate any benefits for the developer until they actually generate value. They only receive money when there's a receipt to be paid, so things actually have to get done. If what you end up with is a new building that may contain some housing, that housing doesn't necessarily Relevant to the larger scale of housing and problems in the city when it's housing that somebody could live there But it also put something fresh and exciting on the site and rebuild some of the retail space which is going to be part of the environment of the Center town area. I think that's something else which is could use some revitalization I think the long vision for the community for center town. This is where the public benefit is and it's that I we can start something here which will grow and become exciting for the entire district. So I think that for those reasons, I think there is a benefit. It's just not real direction. It's not something you can point at a specific item. It's more like implementing a vision. So I think that that helps. And I think that just simply replacing an old building with something new that's gonna do more than the element did and the participation by the city is in terms of the increased value they bring to that site so it isn't it isn't the city's money except for the future income from the new value so if that's what we're giving up in order to get this i usually think that that's a pretty good deal i think that over a period of years that is well worth doing so i like those aspects of this development similar developments you know it's true that these five units will be part of this they were never built as low um restricted income Housing they're just what this is basically the amount of money you need to build something like this requires you get this kind of pricing and if we want to have If we want to have something built there other than what's there now, or other than something that wouldn't meet our vision, then I think that public participation in the process does matter. And if we don't want to participate and don't want to have a voice on this, and we'll just let the market by itself dictate what goes there, we may not be very happy with what we get. no investment or under investment or something that's not suitable for the vision that we have for the community. I do worry a little bit about what kind of precedence we set when we take this kind of a stance that if it's providing housing for lower income people, you have a strong case there. If it's for something that's really going to change the direction of the city. I think you have a stronger case. In this case, it's like the initial project, the initial step down the road to a revitalization of Center Town. And so does that mean every step requires incentives or deserves incentives? Not necessarily, but I think you start somewhere and you start with one of the most tired buildings in Center Town and do something with it. I think that's where this is and I think that's why this is worth doing. I mean you can always pick and choose among the eligible costs as to whether you think something makes a difference or doesn't make a difference but the bottom line is that The tax relief provides gap financing relief. It provides a way for the project to start making money and returning some of the investment return in the years immediately after construction. It gives an opportunity for the project to prove itself and become successful before they have to pay the full load of taxes. And eventually, 15 years from now, 19 years from now, if we do the LBRF, it's fully on the tax roll in the long run. It's a very healthy addition to our tax rules. Now some things such as, like Mr. Hagan's concern about proximity of the railroads to residential. I wasn't part of the discussions. I know this is a Planning Commission, that's a Planning Commission aspect, but I'm assuming that our Public Safety Department, our department heads had a preliminary review of the project and didn't really find that that to be a particular hazard or a hazard that would be disqualifying the project. So I'm making that assumption and kind of seeing a little bit of a nodding of head. But I don't know if the staff would care to comment on that at this point. But really, that's more in the planning process. And the issue before us is the incentive. And I kind of draw, kind of be careful that we stay in our lane there, that we're working on the incentive here and we're trusting that the Planning Commission did its job. And if that's not the case, I'd like to know it. But my feeling here is that. It's not enormously large project. It's something that's going to require. This is roughly a 19% of the project subsidy in terms of future value return. And I think it's I think it's pretty good trade off. So those are my thoughts on this. I'd welcome further thoughts or staff would like to have any response to anything. Anyone else? Are we ready to vote on this? Please call the roll.

Lyon?

No.

Dora?

Yes.

Fritz?

No.

Manetza? Yes. This motion fails.

Okay. All right, then. We will welcome Sarah back to the... Council, and we'll move on to our next item.

Item B, consideration by City Council of a resolution of intent to vacate the eastern portion of Woodlawn Avenue right-of-way from the end of the improved roadway to the intersection with Beech Tree. Administration recommends a denial.

Can I get a motion on this?

So moved. Second.

Motion by Lyons, second by Dora.

To clarify, is this a motion to approve or a motion to deny?

Deny.

I thought that's what we were voting on. Okay, I guess that wasn't clear. So is your, okay. Erin, this is your motion. Is that a motion to deny? Correct. Okay. Okay, motion to deny this resolution of intent.

And Mike, that was your understanding as well?

Yeah, that was my thoughts.

All right, so.

Dana, is this yours or is this Brian's?

It's Brian's. Brian. Yep. Good evening, Brian Urquhart, city planner. So the city received a request from Steven Musial to vacate the easternmost portion of Woodlawn Avenue right of way from the end of the improved roadway to the intersection with Beech Tree Street. It's about a distance of 400 feet. The reason for that is when a right of way is vacated, The property, it's about 66 feet and wide. The properties get divided halfway between the properties that are there, so they would gain 33 feet in distance, and that would allow, according to the applicant, ability to develop the property to what they have desire to build there. In discussions with especially our public works, it was very concluded that vacating a right-of-way is quite a permanent solution. In this situation it was realized that because of the ability to accommodate possible future water sanitary suitors stormwater electrical other Needs is that we would not even though it isn't an improved roadway we still would like to continue to have the ability to to have that right-of-way entirely instead of just granting an easement. Furthermore, staff was discussing this and said we would encourage the applicant, after really encouraging them to seek other options, exhaust all the remedies before coming before city council or the city requesting a vacation of the right-of-way. And so there was similar cases before where developments have been prompted by, assisted by vacation of rights of way, but that was in cases where either the roads didn't connect or they were just kind of cut off by a railroad. So there's cases before where it was done. In this case, a grid light pattern usually is the most ideal pattern for development. We don't know why this hasn't been approved, but it obviously wasn't ever intended, or at least intended for the city right now, to not continue that street connection. So although the applicant was made very aware that staff would recommend denial, they decided to pursue anyway. And the first step would be, if it was approved, it would be a resolution of intent, to be passed and then there's a public hearing at the Planning Commission level and also a public hearing at the City Council level. If there's no resolution of intent that's passed, the motion dies and then they have to go seek other options and that's what staff is encouraging them to do to develop that property within the property boundaries that are available to them.

Okay. Questions or comments?

No, my question was the reason behind it, so there we go.

Okay.

When you first look at what they're asking to be vacated, it doesn't look like there is a lot of place for additional housing to the south. I mean, the property comes almost right up to the road. So there's not really... a case where we're going to need it for additional housing to go into that spot. However, it is a case where we do need what's there for the infrastructure that we have running through it. I understand that they can move their proposed additions or live work units a little bit to the north and avoid the situation altogether. I would suggest that's what they do.

That's true, they could move the building or reduce the size of the building.

I'm in favor of keeping it. Chair?

Yeah, if there's an alternative, certainly, because I would hate for us to lose an important option for all the inner workings of our city. So, yeah.

Well, I'm not in favor of giving anything away, to be honest with you. We started over on the east end over there by Furconnel's when they put in the vote storage over there and they wanted to take the last part of the block and I said, no, I said, we want to do it. They can put their guard up there, but it still belongs to the city and it's still ours. And at any time the council wants to take that property back, we can just tell them, take your barricade down and we can still have access down there. So I'm not in favor of letting anything go anywhere anymore. I think this is best for us to hang on to this right away. to be honest with you, because for our infrastructure and everything else, it needs to go forward. If there's other opportunities for them to do it, go ahead.

Okay. Well, I guess my feeling the matter is that I'm very protective of the street grid. And I said that before, I think the street grid is resilient and robust and that it provides many options, but in this case, it doesn't connect, so I don't see the street grid there, and I doubt if I'll see that street continue through in my lifetime. I don't really see a lot of reason to do so, but I do respect the idea of a utility easement, being able to run utilities through there, make sure it's open for that. I guess my thought on this, because it's not a connected piece of the street grid, I wouldn't mind if the Planning Commission explored that and possibly defined a utility easement and preserve that. And if it's not realistic that we're ever going to actually extend that street or if that's just someday in the distant future it might happen, I wouldn't object to vacating an unimproved right-of-way provided we had utility opportunities. So for that reason, I would have agreed to send this to the Planning Commission. I understand and I sympathize with the ideas that when we have planted road rights-of-way, that when you give that up, you don't get it back, or it's very hard to get it back. But we have given up roads and road rights-of-way in the past where it's... Not likely that would ever be developed as streets. We've done it I can think of a two or three different places where we've literally vacated those those rights of way And sometimes it makes sense to do that I think that when there's an existing rule it needs a compelling reason when there's not an existing road that it's like What do we really need that for if it's for infrastructure? I think we could accommodate that even with a vacation Because we're vacated alleys and other streets, we require easements to be in place. So for those reasons, I would have said I'd be amenable to letting the Planning Commission discuss this. The way the ordinance works, the resolution of intent to vacate, it's kind of a misnomer. It doesn't mean we necessarily have that intent, but it's our instructions to the Planning Commission to hold a public hearing, gather information, come back with a report to council on the advisability of vacating it, and that's just the first step in the process. I'm not afraid of that process in this case. Where we've had other streets, like I said, where they've been part of the grid, I've not wanted to go that far. So like I said, I can see reasons to proceed with this. I can understand the intent of my fellow council members in not wanting to. I guess that's about as much as I can comment on that at this point. Anything else? Ready to vote?

And we're voting to deny. Okay, so the motion is to deny.

So a yes vote would deny and a no vote would be to not deny.

So no vote is to deny.

No, yes vote is to deny. Yes vote is to deny. Confuse everybody. It's not me you're confusing, it's the people on the other end of this radio.

So we're voting to deny.

So please call the roll.

Lyon.

Yes.

Dora.

Yes.

Calio. Yes. Fritz.

Yes.

Manetza.

No. So it's denied. Okay. Next item, please.

Consideration by City Council of a resolution to approve a new event request from Grand Haven Board of Light and Power to host a 130th anniversary celebration at Lynn Sherwood Waterfront Stadium on September 12, 2026. Administration recommends approval.

All right. Can I get a motion?

So moved.

Perfect second by Cali. Oh, and this is indeed a resolution to approve in case you're not sure Okay, so right

Good evening, City Council. Brian Droz, Waterfront Events Manager for the city. Before you tonight is a request from the Grand Haven Board of Light and Power to host a community celebration at Lynn Sherwood Waterfront Stadium on September 12th, 2026. The event commemorates the Board of Light and Power's 130 years of community ownership while also recognizing America's 250th. The celebration is planned as a free, family-friendly afternoon featuring children's activities, bounce houses, music, complimentary food, a touch truck experience, and utility equipment displays. The event is expected to provide an educational and interactive opportunity for residents to celebrate an important part of Grand Haven's history and the community-owned utility that has served the city for generations.

Okay, thank you.

Questions, comments? Sounds like it's going to be a good time.

Yeah. Can't wait to go. That's not like a good time there. I just want to like a couple clarifications in the application. They are using amplified sound because they're using speakers. Yes, OK, because that's not what it says in the application. And then will there or will there not be tense? Because it said yes in one spot and no in another and both in one spot. Said yes and no, and I was like, I think they just don't know. And maybe it's whether it's sunny or not or too hot.

I think some of that was prepping for September weather. You never really know. Yeah, that's what we do. And I'm fairly certain they all said they were going to be under a certain threshold of needing fire inspection and things like that.

Okay. It sounds like a great time. It really does.

That was my only note also about the amplified sound. So that was just a little question about that. But otherwise, I think it sounds really interesting and fun.

Okay. Does the Parks and Rec Board review this? It doesn't say on our agenda.

Yes. Yep, they passed it.

Okay, so they recommended also?

Yes.

Okay. All right, any other questions? Call the roll.

Fritz?

Yes.

Taglio? Yes. Lyon? Yes. Dora? Yes. Meneza?

Yes. Next item.

Item D, consideration by City Council of a resolution to approve a new event request from Westside Wave Beach Wrestling Club to host a beach wrestling tournament for area high schoolers at City Beach on August 15, 2026. Parks and Recreation Board recommends approval and administration recommends approval.

All right. Can I get a motion on this one?

So moved.

Second. Motion by Kelley, second by Dora. Brian.

The next item for you tonight is a request from the Westside wave wrestling club to host a new beach wrestling tournament at City Beach on August 15th 2026 the event will bring together local high school athletes and competitors from across Michigan for a sanctioned competition governed by USA Wrestling and Michigan USA Wrestling, the same organizations that oversee Olympic-style wrestling in Michigan and the United States. The event requires minimal setup consisting of three sand wrestling rings and judges' tents with no reserved parking or food service. This event offers unique opportunity for local athletes while showcasing Grand Haven as a destination for sporting events.

Questions? Comments?

I wish we had more weekends in the summer so this wasn't falling on sidewalk sales and Jeep Fest and everything else that's already happening in our city. I'm a little worried about what that means for transportation between the trolley and Harbor Transit, but I'm super excited. I just hope I can see some of it. My brother was a state wrestler. He won states multiple times while he was in high school. And so, I mean, this would be really fun to see.

I agree with you 100% as far as transportation-wise. And like Soccer in the Sand, I would recommend to have them put it on their website to use Harbor Transit for it. That would be very helpful for them. And have a location like they did for Soccer in the Sand if it's going to be a big event or whatever, that they can pick them up in one spot and drag them back and forth so they don't have to worry about parking and that. Make sure you make that note to them. It would be very helpful for them. Absolutely.

Yeah, they were set up over on Taylor there. Taylor's right by me.

So is Harbor Transit committed to running a shuttle that weekend?

I don't know if it's committed. I know they were looking into Harbor Transit as an opportunity to help get people there, but they're fully aware of the parking situation over there and how busy it can get. That's why they had no expectations of private parking or anything like that.

Okay, because it isn't automatic that there would be a shuttle unless it's been asked for. So we don't really know the status of that?

Not right now, no.

Okay, well, something to encourage. Any idea, maybe it was in the submittal, how many people they anticipate for this?

Hundreds. Hundreds? Every athlete has family that likes to show up and they said there should be plenty of public interest just from other local athletic groups and other high schools and such.

Okay. I think that somebody needs to follow up with Harbor Transit and make sure that they're on board.

Otherwise, it kind of falls apart on us.

It is, as Aaron says, every weekend is busy and we only have just so many of them.

They fill right up, don't they? They do.

Anything else? Still good to see you, though. Yeah, it's excellent. I'm not saying we shouldn't have. I'm just saying we got to make sure we covered all those details. Okay, call the roll.

Calio? Yes. Dora? Yes. Fritz? Yes. Lyon? Yes. Meneza?

Yes. All right. Next item, please.

Item E, consideration by City Council of a resolution to approve a request for Walk the Beat to add the 1500 block of Franklin Avenue to the closures for Walk the Beat on August 8, 2026. Administration recommends approval.

All right, I need a motion. So moved. Second, then. Okay, motion by Doris, second by Fritz.

Brian, you're still there. This is the last one, I promise.

Okay. There's more items. They're just not yours.

Before you tonight, there's a request from Walk the Beat to expand their event footprint by adding the 1,500 your street closure this additional closure will provide safer pedestrian access to East Grand River Park where live music is scheduled as the event continues to grow organizers anticipate more than 4,000 visitors this year and the expanded closure will improve pedestrian safety reduce conflicts with vehicular traffic and better accommodate the events activities without significantly impacting surrounding neighborhoods organizers have communicated with residents on 1500 block of Franklin and have received positive feedback and this is the only change to the event CORRECT.

CORRECT. OKAY. OKAY.

OKAY.

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS?

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? I THINK WALK THE BEAT IS I THINK WALK THE BEAT IS AMAZING.

But I think it's such a beautiful event for our city. I hope people actually know what the event is for, though, and it really is to raise money for the charity that Walk the Beat actually is. And they actually give away lessons and equipment to students that can't afford it in our community. So for those that think it's just a very cool music event, it is, but it serves a much better purpose than our community. I think that this is a great addition to this event. The only thing I would request for next, this coming year is a day like today, 70 and sunny and not 95 and sunny as it was last year. It was brutal out there last year, but no, I think this is a really great event and I'm excited to see it grow.

Yeah, we've attended every one since they first started having them some years ago, and it's done nothing but grown through the efforts of Becky and her group, and it's great. I know it's supported by lots of folks. It's a good time. Go. I recommend it to everybody, even if it is hot. Drink lots of water. And I'm glad to hear that the intersection at Eastern will be open so people can get through there as well. That was one of the questions I had, so thank you.

Anyone else?

Oh, I've been a full heart. You know me and music anyways. As today, at the meeting this afternoon, I couldn't hear you because my ears are still ringing from sitting next to the speakers. But any kind of music, I love it. I tell you, I've been a big supporter of Walk the Beat since it started. And since we closed the streets off completely, it was the best thing we ever did, I think. The next thing you might want to look at is maybe turn that into a social district out there at the east end. That's just something we might want to look at in the future.

But that's not in the works today?

That's not on tonight, but just a comment I'm making.

The MLCC requires a lot. That's another step or two.

It's something we can work on, I think.

Yeah, agreed. I think it's an amazing event for a great cause, and I'm assuming if public safety is okay with this and that it's a safe thing for our community, then... It sounds like it's actually a safer thing for the activity and the event. So I think it's great.

OK. The addition of this block to the event and other certain uncompensated costs that the city incurs in helping with this event. This won't increase the city's cost in any way. It's correct. OK, so I mean to me that's since we're just heading out to an existing event. That's kind of an important issue, but I think that's. Good to know that it's just more of the same, but making the event larger and safer and. It's an event that grows and is well received. I go there also. I hope I don't roast this year either. because it was awful hot last year. It was really hot. I mean, I'll put in my order for good weather, but I only have just so much influence.

It was still good, though. We can all do it. I think we should talk to the chamber in there, right? Okay. Oh, is that where it comes from? Yeah, the chamber.

All right, anything else? Did you call a roll?

Dora?

Yes.

Fritz? Yes. Calio? Yes. Lyon? Yes. Meneza? Yes.

Okay, next item, please.

Item F, consideration by City Council of a resolution to approve task order 30, task 43 with HDR of Ann Arbor, Michigan for fiscal year 2026, 2027, general coordinating and community engagement services in the budgeted not to exceed amount of $158,944. Administration recommends approval.

All right, I need a motion for this item. So moved.

Second.

Motion by Fritz, second by Callio.

Derek. Good evening, Your Honor. Derek Giedis, project management director for the city. Council, this is just our general cost for the project with HDR. We have website costs in there, general meeting notes or general meeting, biweekly meeting updates and any of the PFAS stuff that we deal with. So we split this cost a few years ago. This is just our portion. And yeah, we've just split it up into our fiscal year. I think it was last year was our first year to make sure we cap our fiscal year. So I know we just started. It was July 6th. This is for this year. It is down a little bit just because we moved some of it into the public engagement that you'll consider. I think it's the last one you'll consider later in the agenda. So down a little bit from last year. And I think HDR is doing a great job.

Okay. Questions?

I know that we're going to be talking about this soon, but the fact that these are two things very close together but separated by one item in the middle. In reading through this, so much of it seems like both of these things overlap a little bit. And I guess I'm trying to figure out where, like, the amount of website hours, like, for a website that's already built, I think it's an insane amount of website hours to be spending on updating things. And I can't imagine... eight full weeks updating this website, which is what the hours they're looking at are between these two things. So I'm just trying to figure out how do these two things go together and how are they actually separate and how does it seem like we're not paying for some things twice.

Sure. So the general stuff is, the general website updates, it's not to exceed. So if we don't spend it, if they don't work on it, we won't spend it. We haven't typically went and spent every dime of that. In this case, the 158. Every year, we're underneath that. So just the opportunity. We actually just completed, and it went live June 29, a huge website update that I guess just refreshing some things, but also a lot of people read on their phones. They call it like ADA access. So they refresh the website. I didn't get a newsletter out or any information, but they've been working on it for the last three months. But it is not to exceed. So if we don't use it, we're good. The other website stuff is actually to conduct some of the public interaction we're going to add to the website for the alternative analysis to engage. So not only are we going to have a public engagement in person, but we're also going to have some surveying and an online Let's say open house if you will so that's where it was one of those things where When I asked HDR six months ago, or you know nine months ago Hey, how else do we engage and they they suggested one of these online public open houses with it with an actual survey? So there's a lot of costs associated with developing that and integrating it. So they are two different ones We'll make sure that I appreciate the explanation.

Mm-hmm

I would like to second your concerns though on the website cost because I was shook. I think our entire budget for the new city website is 20 grand that we will be building. So I was very surprised by that number, particularly because it's an informative website. I mean, we're not doing any kind of online purchasing and things that would actually rack up a cost. I do know that there are criteria that you are held to based on how we're supposed to be informing the public. I do believe we don't need to complicate that. I would like to see kind of that be an informative website that does not cost this much money, because I think that's That was a shocking number to me too. And I had the same questions of the overlap on kind of who, I know that there's a portion for the BLP and I know all of these are being done this way so that we can separate in some budget, budgetary way that makes sense. Sure. It just that number seems really, really high to me, so that was my big concern on that also.

Well, we can use those very sparingly in this next year. We can come under under budget in that regards.

I mean, I believe we should have a competent forward facing presentation that. Is very clear as clear as we can be with the public. I don't think it needs to be. cost prohibitive to do that.

Is this a cost, Derek, that is being split between us and the BLP? This is not. This is not? We're covering all this one? Correct. It always amazes me when I look at this stuff at the cost that's associated with all of it. It's mind-blowing. I mean, the water, the sampling from Trace, I mean, everything is just It seems outrageous, but as Sarah stated, there's certain standards we have to be held to with this and what's presented and it's just, it's amazing, it really is. I appreciate the time you put into it. Well, thank you. To get us where we are.

You know, there are some federal and state requirements on our websites, but we can do those, I won't say bare minimums, but you know, make sure we cover those and keep those costs in check.

Well, and I just would add to the fact that there's a lot of costs that most people, we can't quantify. This is not one of them. So when the public sees this cost and does some deep diving into our city website, which arguably needs more marketing than this website does, then it's just... It's a issue for me.

It's a lot of money.

It's a lot of money.

That's all I got to say.

And you're correct. I think all of you are correct in your misgivings. I think when we started down this road, we took over this project from BLP and Golder and HDIR and started trying to manage this whole thing. at this level and through our consultants and our partners at BOP that we set ourselves on a very expensive road. And I find the numbers surprising as well. In fact, I've gotten to where I just almost expect them. That's probably not a good place to be. The fact that it's an estimate that we don't have to cover, spend all of this, the fact that we're spending a lot of it I just kind of shake my head. It's something that I think that was part of this process and that we're going to be seeing these numbers for some time. You know, the community engagement, maybe not so much, but the sampling and some of the other pieces. Once we start evaluating the remediation alternatives, there will be a lot more of this, and that's going to go on for months and years. So, you know, all the misgivings I might have about the amount of money, it's really just... About all I can do is just say, okay, this is what we got, and this is how we have to deal with it. And we hire consultants who are leading us down the road to ultimate remediation. Now, this one is community engagement and getting some advice from the community and getting our websites, everybody's well-informed. So it's all stuff that needs to be done.

Yeah, and I'd like to reiterate, this is not to exceed. So like under the deliverables of 43.4, it talked about up to 70 hours of graphic support. If we don't need that, then we won't be spending those dollars. Four press releases, two stakeholder meetings, all those things associated with that engagement. If we decide that we don't need that or the time isn't warranted or whatever, we won't be billed for those. But it's hard for me to come back and ask you, hey, let's go have a public meeting and give me a certain amount of money. So this is the annual cost we think that the maximum we would need for the year to cover what we believe you want to engage the public. And of course, just project management support.

So how have we done in the past on not to exceed? Have we generally been below?

I don't think we've been over on any of them, but I will give you a report on that. Actually, just thinking that's been in my mind. I know we're below almost every one of them.

I think there was only one task, not a task order that we went over.

The question wasn't, did we go over? The question was, have we ever been under by any substantial amount?

Yes, but I that's a great question. Now.

Let me get that kind of report to you See, I'm just kind of kind of save on the wounds here where you say well, it's not to exceed So you don't have to spend it all but what's their track record on that? So if you could give us some information that would probably make us a little bit Give us better consolation on this.

Sure If I could just also add this certainly is not intended to negate the point. It's well received and I do what we can to modify the scope so that we keep the cost down. But just for the benefit of the public as well, we have not, I think it's a fair statement to say we have not spent general fund dollars on any of these task orders to date. We've been very fortunate to receive outside assistance from the state and from the federal government and from other grant opportunities that have assisted us WITH THESE COMMUNICATION EFFORTS, THAT'S NOT TO DISMISS THE FACT THAT IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE AND COSTLY, AND WE CAN CERTAINLY LOOK TO REDUCE THE SCOPE IN A WAY THAT MAKES SENSE FOR THE PROJECT, BUT JUST THE HOPEFULLY ADDED COMFORT OF THE CITY'S BUDGET, THAT'S WHY IT'S A $20,000 EXPENSE BECAUSE THAT IS GENERAL FUND DOLLARS, BUT WE'VE BEEN VERY FORTUNATE AND SUCCESSFUL IN RECEIVING OUTSIDE FUNDING TO GO TOWARDS THIS AS WELL.

All right, and we'll need a lot more of that money. Correct. Because there's remediation that still has to be done. Yes.

If I could just add one thing, too. I happen to look at some of the code, and so you have Google Analytics attached to that, and so I would be very curious to see, too, what is the engagement on the website, how many people are coming, what is their stay on the page, and what's the return on investment of these dollars? Because if we're not getting a tremendous amount of... people going to it, we're probably needing to spend more money on the engagement and the reach out than we are the pages themselves.

Sure. Absolutely.

I know the last one that they had at Central Park Place downstairs was very well attended, I thought, when I went for it, and very informative as well with a lot of the stuff that they were pointing out. So it'd be good to know, though.

All right. Are we ready to grit our teeth and vote? Yep. Please call the roll.

Fritz?

Yes.

Calio? Yes. Lyon?

Yes.

Dora? Yes. Manetza?

Yes. Okay. Next item, please.

Item G, consideration by City Council of a resolution to approve a purchase order with Trace Analytical Laboratories of Muskegon, Michigan for fiscal year 2026-2027 CCR groundwater laboratory services for Harbor Island in the budgeted not to exceed amount of $135,063.68. Administration recommends approval.

All right, I need a motion for this one. So moved. Second. Motion by Fred, second by Lyon. Sure. Derek. Yes. You're up again.

I am. So as part of the groundwater monitoring, which you approved in the and the consent agenda, that's the BOP's cost. This is actually another cost to be completely reimbursed by them. This is actually the lab cost, and it has been historically part of HDR's proposal to us. But with things going up, the scope is getting obviously larger. We have more wells out there this year than we had last year. We took the opportunity this year to see how we could cut some costs, and this was one of those things where HDR was willing and, in fact, encouraged. It says, well, if you wanna cut costs, how about you pay directly to Trace Analytical, which I've worked with for about 25 years of my career. They're a great organization locally in Muskegon, and for us just to pay the bill and save 10%, it's 13.5, absolutely. So it was an easy no-brainer, obviously, but it's above, even just one quarter is above our authorization to spend money. So we lumped it in to an annual cost for a purchase order, and this is the cost of actually doing the labs.

Just the groundwater monitoring for just the CCR for the BLP Anyone yeah, I worked with them for over 30 years In previous life and great great people.

Yeah, they do a great job great work never had really any problems with them so

At least this is a agenda item where we have specific deliverables that we can point at.

That's true.

There's something to that. Anyone else? Let's call the roll.

Fritz?

Yes.

Lyon? Yes. Dora? Yes. Calio? Yes. Meneza? Yes.

Next item, please.

Item H, consideration by city council of a resolution to approve task order 35, task 45 with HDR of Ann Arbor, Michigan for public engagement services for the remedial alternative analysis and the budgeted not to exceed amount of $77,069. Administration recommends approval.

All right. Need a motion for this one.

So moved. Second.

Okay. Motion by Lyon. Second by Calio. Okay, Derek.

You again. I'm up again. The last one, I promise. Forever so with with the direction of City Council and the borderline power historically to Say over engage the public on the alternatives. We're getting there and you will see those very shortly And then we get to engage the public with that. There are some legal requirements to engage the public And we did some some fine-tuning with this task order after his first proposed added a task forty five point four the town hall, that is strictly the requirement for the BLP and the CCR requirements. And so that came out of the general engagement services, because we were going to have a town hall, or we plan on having at least one. So that came out and was put in here. It's really to satisfy those requirements. And then the rest of it, again, is talking about the survey online. Meeting and of course communications graphic support again not to exceed We can tailor this to tailor down if you want to if you'd like to spend less But this is what HDR has proposed and believe it's appropriate that that we do this as we get to that This I guess decision-making process for the public So this will start in July here and end up in January with Well, actually December with hopefully a resolution by council in a direction for the alternative.

So we're finally going to get there.

We are.

After all these years. Comments, questions?

I mean, really, it's just the same comments reiterated from earlier about like the hours spent, I guess. Is a survey required? It's not. OK. I'm just wondering how successful that is in our town. We have shown that very few people respond to surveys. And it ends up being a very small portion of the community that even pays attention to that and does that. Not that I think maybe that'll be some way to get people engaged in that website. I'm just wondering if that's really the best use of our time, effort, and energy when we've seen so little already in surveys before.

Yeah, it was one of those things where, again, I engaged HDR and said, where have you seen success in other communities? What other ways have you engaged the public? Because we had a great turnout last November, but I would have liked 10 times that many people there. I understand people are busy, and they can get information elsewhere. So this is one of those options. So an in-person engagement, an online simulated engagement, and then a survey up to 10 questions that obviously haven't been developed. And I don't know what Ashley's, what the experience with the city is on the overall survey success.

I mean, you're not incorrect, but again, as far as, historically we haven't had an overwhelming success with surveys, but I think especially with regard to the remediation alternatives that we're bringing forward and the long-term impact, I think we're going to have to probably do a lot of groundwork. with HDR to ensure we're trying to get some sort of representative response from the community, probably above and beyond what we're paying HDR to help facilitate. But yeah, your point is well taken.

Well, I'm just wondering, will the BLP be willing to put it on their website too for all the people that go to their website as well? Can we put it in multiple places so it's not just in one place? We can always filter out duplicates and all that whatnot. Just to make sure it maybe is in more than one spot too, but maybe that spot brings them back to the website, whatever that is. But to try to put that out there in more areas than one to see if we can get a bigger response.

Yeah, bill inserts, water bills, our social media blasting out there. I want to say that we did when we... the redevelopment charrette that we had, like 450 people responded to that on that survey, which doesn't seem a lot when we have a community of 11,000, but I don't know.

Well, you get people who are engaged. You get the people who take the interest to understand what the survey is, and a lot of people just don't. To me, that's been one of the big challenges ever since I've been in public life is, Get people engaged at a level where they're actually making good, informed responses that help you. And that's just tough. But it's always taking the view that you keep trying. You keep asking. Give people the opportunity to respond. Some of them will show up here. Some of them will just not show up at all and complain about it later. But if you keep asking, they have an opportunity to say something.

Yeah, I think we are under the false impression that we can bombard people with information. That's just not a possibility anymore with social media and newspaper. And I mean, the way that we connect with information now is so spread out that we really need to engage multiple, multiple times to do that. So again, I would go back to this price and err on the side of less graphics, more communication. And then just out of curiosity, can we make this an interesting thing? There's so much negativity around Harbor Island in the sense of the cleanup. And I understand that completely. But I love the idea of making it an imagination opportunity. And a lot of times if you engage, you can engage parents by engaging kids. So I'd even be curious if we sent A worksheet to the elementary schools and said what would you? What would your dream be for the kids to come up with something amazing and that tends to engage parents and young families and in our community because it really is a Grand Haven City. Structure, but it's our waterfront and a lot of people will. we'll see it. So I would love to have it be a really positive, imaginative experience for people to be able to kind of finally look forward with it. So that's my input.

Okay. I agree. We did do an engagement with Mary White School and had the kids come out and give us a presentation. Remember it, Bob? Yep. You were the mayor at the time. Yeah, that was fun. And it was very interesting to see what the kids came up with. Pretty interesting ideas. Some of them are pretty far-fetched, but you know what? That's great. That's a good imagination. They can see better out than what we do. We're looking at something that we're not really, but they can see things like way out there. So I agree, getting kids involved and the parents and everybody else. But the opportunity for us is surveying it. Yeah, we don't get a lot of turnouts, but it still gives the people opportunity. But you're right, open it up to a bunch of other. But not just a survey. Because sometimes the surveys, they're not a whole lot of them there. We had, what, 450 you said it the last time? Yeah, I think that rings a bell. But that's pretty good for our community, for as a survey goes. But if you had another engagement for us, you can put the two together and kind of put, you know, or three together, whatever, and see what we come up with. It probably gives them more opportunity to have their voice, their opinions, and what they want and see and everything else. Anything else?

Let's call the roll.

Lyon?

Yes.

Calio? Yes. Dora? Yes. Fritz? Yes. Manetza?

Yes. So that concludes our new business for the evening. And that brings us to report by city council.

Who would like to speak first? I would like to go first.

Go ahead. Why don't you let us know what you think, Mike.

All right. I would like to go first tonight because... EARLIER THIS SPRING, I WAS APPROACHED BY CITY MANAGER ASHLEY LATCH WITH A QUESTION, CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? WHOEVER SAYS NO.

I SAY NO.

YOU NEED TO KEEP THIS QUIET BECAUSE I HAVE SOMETHING I WANT TO DO, AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IT. SO SHE PITCHED THE IDEA TO ME OF SOME RED, WHITE, AND BLUE LIGHTS ON THE PIER TO CELEBRATE THE 250TH celebration year. So I thought it was wonderful. It looked great. I said, whatever you need, let me know. I'm happy to help. So one of the joys of being on council is getting the opportunity to go out there with staff, even though they wouldn't give me a fall protection harness and let me go up above. Still, I enjoyed being down below.

And it was like, OK, I'll be down here holding a rope in the bucket. And if anybody falls, like Emily or whatever, they're on their own.

But it went really good. It was volunteer time. you know, pitched in. I never thought we would get it done in the amount of time that was given, but we did. Between, you know, the mayor, myself, and city staff, and Ashley, and Dana, and everybody who was there, it was accomplished. All I have heard is great things about it, how wonderful it looked. So, with that in mind, there has been, with the Lighthouse Conservancy, they have come up with a t-shirt. that looks something like this.

Oh, that's great.

Very nice. It's beautiful. That is available out at the Lighthouse. They have 100 of them and ordered 100 more.

And who would that look good on? Yeah, I wonder who this would actually look really good on. Probably you.

Congratulations. Appreciate it very much. Great job. Yes, well-deserved.

wow i'll follow that up with a thank you for all that hard work that i couldn't participate in um it is beautiful and what a joy it's brought to so many already i've seen so many pictures shared on my facebook feed which rarely shows me things i want to see anymore so i appreciate seeing those they make me smile I want to also say thank you to the DPW and Public Safety for the number of hours they put in on Saturday to keep everybody safe. I have not seen our town that busy on a Fourth of July in a very long time. It made me smile, but I know it makes them probably not smile. But they did such a great job keeping everybody safe. Everybody just had a great time. It was a beautiful day. And just one more thing, I've seen a lot of comments lately online as projects are coming up and whether it's the chamber or the DDA or whatever sharing things about wanting public comment. And the first comment I think under every single one of those posts always is the city council doesn't want to hear our opinions. That is not true. We very much want to hear your opinion. You are the residents of this city. We work for you. We do want your opinions. We want your emails. We want your public comment here. Stop us on the street, which people do all the time. But please don't think we aren't listening because we are and we truly, truly care.

You're here, I full heartedly agree.

Thank you, I would like to. Yes, second and third, the light, The catwalk, the pier, all of it. It just looks amazing. I'm not always going to be the manual labor girl, but I appreciated it so much and how it looks. And so thank you so much for that project. I want to second about the DPW and the public safety on 4th of July. It was an amazing day. And it was so busy. And the fireworks were amazing. fantastic um i don't know how many of you are on tick tock um but there's a lot of not great um stories going out about the pier and the beach and um and the position that our public safety is put in year after year is concerning to me and i think that i would love to get some feedback on what other opportunities there are for the 4th of July in this town to kind of reset how we handle the 4th on our beach and pier. And I'm a big believer that when you have an area that's kind of rough, you plant flowers. So I would love to see what people can come up with of what events we can do or, I mean, I'm kind of like, let's flip the switch. Let's make it bluey day as fourth of July and make it like the place that no one besides families and things wants to go. So I do think that we can reset that because our town is an amazing place. Fourth of July is an amazing place in this town. And I want to make sure that we present that. And I want to take off some of the the burden on our public safety for that day. So, but thank you to everyone and yeah, it's a great day.

Very good. I tell you, I have to agree with everybody here, public safety, public works, all of them, staff, everybody, as far as our employees go, all our employees that work for the city. Thank you so very much for putting in a great extra effort for the 4th of July. I think it was fantastic. Our parks look beautiful. You go out there and see the flowers and that, I tell you, I'm a park guy. I've been pretty adamant about making sure they look nice, and I think it's really good. But we can't ask for better employees than what we have. I've seen them through the years. My uncles worked for them back in the 60s, and I've seen how it has evolved. We have a great crew here. We have staff, everybody that works for the city. is very invested in our town. They want to make our town what it is. And public safety, by shutting down the pier, I have to say, yes, that was a good thing. We had some bad things that happened out there, but you know, we're stretched thin, and sometimes people come up to you and they say, well, you guys got a lot of police for you. And I go, well, yeah, because they do double duty, and that's why we do it. But the thing is, we always have a good force on duty, which is good. It keeps our citizens safe. And the more you look at it, I just want to say thank you to everybody for that. What a great thing it was. And I want to go to Public Works also for getting the potholes filled. I'm telling you what, it's getting to be much better around town. As long as we don't have those guys drilling into our sewer systems and stuff, we got time to go out and patch up holes. Otherwise they're patching up infrastructure they don't need to do so. I want to say thank you to that. And what else did I write down here? I got all kinds of things. But anyways, I just want to say thank you to everybody, even the citizens of Grand Haven. If you see something or whatever, please report it. Let us know. We try to get things done. And also, like you were saying, communicate with us. We hear you if you tell us. Just keep it to yourselves. We can't read your mind. So please speak up and let us council members know. If you see something that you don't see, it's not working right, let us know. I mean, I see it all the time. I walk downtown and my wife and I are walking around and people always stop me. Go to Meyers, come on. My wife goes shopping and I end up talking for 20 or 30 minutes with one person. And back onto the lights on the pier. Mr. Pushaw and I was sitting there at one, probably about three months ago, we were sitting in Meyers talking. like I was saying and he says, you know what we should do? We should do a fundraiser to get like get Brad point to come out and had put in the lights in there that we could change the colors when we need to for whatever it is, you know, like they do on the Empire State Building or whatever else in that it would be something if we could get a group together. They want to do a fundraiser and see how much it's going to cost and see get a fundraiser and have our lights. That would be such a great asset for us to have. It's just an idea of so. Passing that on. And I was going to go to the Detroit Tigers, of course. They're starting to hit the ball. They're starting to play like baseball players again. So, hey, man, I tell you, it's good. We got three guys going to the All-Stars. So, rookie, come on. Last time from Detroit was Mark Fidrich, who was the last time he made it as a rookie to the All-Star. Hey, we're only seven games out, I think it is now. So still got an opportunity if they just keep swinging, but who knows? But it's Detroit Tigers.

All right. Red and green. Christmas.

Yeah. I just wanted to address a couple of things as well. I appreciate the comments around council. The structure of these meetings is such that we have two calls to the audience, and we do hear what people say. I make notes. Everybody makes notes. Staff makes notes. We hear what's been said. We understand it. We take it seriously. But the setup of the meeting is such that we hear that. That's the public's time to speak to us, and we don't have a response. We're not going to get into discussion about the merits of the comments, but we hear them, and If there's something we can address, we sometimes have follow-up, sometimes there's not. Sometimes we take it as the opinion of the public that we should be aware of. But that's why we don't engage with people who come and comment. It's just that this is a business meeting of the council, and we hear you, and... then we do what we can with that, but not in the course of the meeting and not on the fly, and we don't try to make decisions in the moment. So thank you for coming in. I appreciate when people come and talk, and I always make a point of inviting people to talk and tell us what you think, and I do want to hear that. It is taken seriously by us. I wanted to address a little bit about this past weekend. We had a fabulous weekend. It was a great fireworks show. We had great weather. We had lots of visitors, our beach draws. Tremendous numbers of people, especially on days when it's a holiday. Great show, downtown was busy, all that. And this is not uncommon for us, and public safety's gotten really good at this, that we anticipate. There's gonna be a few people who cause some trouble, and so we deal with that. We got pretty good at dealing with it, and not to get it blown out of proportion. It happens, we deal with it, everybody is safe, nobody's hurt. and we move on from there. We know that when you get that many people under those conditions, that you're likely to have something to deal with. As we just try to communicate with people, you know, be safe, be respectful, think about the people around you. And it's not just about you and your fund, but about everybody else's safety. So the message to the public is, hey, we're here to have We're here to have a good community, a good time, all those things, and please don't spoil it by doing something stupid. So what things that happened, like on the beach last Saturday, well, we kind of roll with that, we deal with it, and then we move on, and hopefully people learn their lessons. We did shut the pier down in advance, early, before anything happened, and that was a good move. You can't really do that with a state park beach, but you stay on top of it so it doesn't get out of hand, and we're pretty good at that. Our public safety folks are pretty good at anticipating the problem and not letting it get away from them so that nobody gets hurt. You might get a little bit of bad press, but I think we deserve good press for the way we handle it. So good for you guys. I just want to briefly comment on We did a resolution allowing a public parking lot to be used by the Eagles during Coast Guard Festival, and yes, it took away some of the parking that people desperately need for businesses around there, for employees, for customers and such. Is it a premium? Is it for this year? It's something that, because of the construction at the hotel, we anticipate it won't be that way next year. We'll have a year to make sure that we have a better plan in place instead of trying to deal with it kind of in a hurry and on the fly and just make sure that eagles have a place to do their thing and their fundraising and nobody else is completely without parking but yeah it does hurt and we understand that hurts and that there's going to be some sacrifice hopefully i heard the comment that nobody's been able to talk to the eagles i don't know if that's I don't know how hard that's been pursued and really I haven't been part of that conversation, but hopefully everybody can communicate and arrange something. They're obviously not going to tear down their entire setup for parking when they're not playing, but I'm sure that they can accommodate in some way. So it's just a matter of everybody has to work together. We're all in this together. Hopefully next year will be better than this. So I just encourage everybody to listen to each other and do what you can. And that's pretty much all I've got, so I'll turn it over to Ashley.

Okay, thank you. And I do appreciate you guys keeping that secret for several months because I think you did a far better job than I did. I got a little too excited, I think, telling people. But I think, again, case in point with all of the attention it's getting publicly, COLLABORATION WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS, YOU KNOW, WITH OAV WHO HELPED US MAKE THAT VISION A REALITY, WITH THE DDA, WITH THE VISITORS BUREAU, WITH THE LIGHTHOUSE CONSERVANCY, ALL THE PEOPLE WHO DID HAVE THE HEADS UP ON IT AND ASSISTED US IN COMING TOGETHER TO GET THAT ACCOMPLISHED. SO I DO APPRECIATE THAT. AND I DO ENVISION THAT AS A GOOD MORNING AMERICA THING. SO IF THERE'S ANY ASSISTANCE IN spamming Ginger Z with me. I would appreciate that as well. But that was fun. And I do appreciate your commentary about staff as well. Our public works department, our seasonal staff, our public safety put in an excessive amount of hours to facilitate events like the 4th of July. And I think, again, the positive outcomes are solely a reflection of that. So I do appreciate your comments on that front. And we do continue to, Mayor, to your point, to meet with the Eagles and discuss opportunities to maintain the most amount of parking throughout the event. So we'll look to update the neighboring businesses on that front as we go forward. And I believe that is all, as I hope the chair of our Human Relations Commission will stand up at public comment to highlight our town hall that's coming up.

All right.

And that is all I have.

Okay, well, coincidentally enough, that brings us to our last call to the audience. So, at this point... Please give us your name, address, and three minutes of speaking time, and we will not have a response at this time.

You hear me? Tracy Riley, 412 Slayton. I'm the executive director of the Coast Guard Festival. Yeah, thanks, Ashley. Ashley threw a challenge down to me today about the fireworks, so we're going to try to see what we can do, but thank you. The Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival, as most of you know, our mission is to honor and celebrate the men and the women of the United States Coast Guard. The festival brings in several hundred thousand people every year. FESTIVAL THROWS MANY EVENTS OURSELVES BUT IN ADDITION MANY OF OUR LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS THROW EVENTS BECAUSE IT'S A GREAT TIME TO DO THAT AND IT MAKES IT USUALLY THEIR BIGGEST FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR. AND WE APPRECIATE THAT BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THAT ALL COMES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY AS WELL. I do have concerns about the Eagles beer tent this year. Many of you may not know, toward the end of the week our official party comes in, our distinguished guests, commoner from headquarters, our senior officers, awardees that we have come in and honorees to include this year. We have the families of two fallen Coast Guard members that will be here for Coast Guard Festival. On Friday and Saturday evening, we have social events under our tent at the festival, which is right behind Lucy's. These are quiet, rather social events. One of them is right after fireworks where we gather everybody to hang out while the city clears out. And we have board presentations and we talk and have social time before we say goodbye to our guests. I am concerned about the volume. And the placement of the stage for the Eagles tent this year. I'm afraid that that's going to be overwhelming for us It's we find it to be noisy when it's on the other side. So I do have concerns about that and as Coast Guard City and the Coast Guard Festival, I think kind of that we need to remember that that's why everybody's in town and and just consider that in the placement of the stage and those things. I did not find out about this. Like my neighbors around that block, we heard about it kind of through the grapevine, and I wish I'd heard about it earlier. But it is concerning. The other concerns that my neighbors have are a little different than mine, but mine is really basically the volume that we're going to have while we're having these events on Friday and Saturday evening over at the festival. So thank you.

Thank you, Tracy.

Jeffrey Miller, 1120 South Harbor Drive. This is sort of a follow-up to my earlier statements with regard to Save the Forest. It's sort of directed really at Council. Council has sort of two jobs with the beginning of this new fiscal year. At a macro level, you need to keep your eyes open on the big prize, the long-term projects. And on a week-to-week basis and at your biweekly meetings, It's at a micro level and I applaud Council for going through a long docket and identifying challenges or issues that come up like with HDR and the number of hours associated with social media costs. So it's good to dissect small things to make day-by-day operations smoother. At the macro level, the city has really four challenges. Fortunately, one of them was addressed with the passage of the two millages last fall for public safety. So public safety seems to be in a pretty good position right now, thanks to the support of the voters of Grand Haven. We still have obviously Harbor Island which is a big problem and you're addressing it and looking at it and there's money set aside for it though it will be costly to the tunes of hundreds of thousands of dollars on a bi-weekly basis and millions of dollars long term. You also have the unfunded pension liability issue which isn't mentioned but needs to be part of the macro level Consideration that needs to be addressed by Council and I think you folks are aware of it and you're addressing it Even though it doesn't come up for discussion every time the fourth pillar that I would bring forth again is our urban forest and to staffs credit They were able to allocate some monies for that $30,000 goal that was reached that Larry Dr. Burns presented earlier at the work session. So it was a public private partnership. So there's public monies and there's some private monies. But long term, there are going to be additional costs. And while I think the private sector will be able to step up and we'll have fundraisers and we'll do as much outreach as possible, Even though your budget is tight, I would like you to, again, look to see through imagination or due diligence if there's additional monies that can be supported to help an outstanding advocate and agent of change, Dr. Burns, in his efforts. ALONG WITH ASHLEY AND THE FOLKS WITHIN FORESTRY TO SAVE OUR CANOPY IN A LONG-TERM BASIS. AND THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A ONE-DAY PROJECT, ONE MONTH, ONE YEAR. THIS IS GOING TO BE AS LONG A TERM INITIATIVE AS HARBOR ISLAND. SO DON'T FORGET ABOUT OUR TREES. THANK YOU.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. SO WAS LITA GOING TO COME UP?

Depending on it, so I quick typed a little thing because last time I was up here I forgot the date and the time. So I am Astraleeta Buzain. I'm the chair for the Human Relations Commission. We have an upcoming community listening event and it is in response to the incident that happened at Murthy's Emporium. As a commission, we did want to let public know that we have heard you and we are responding to the best of our ability and within our parameters as the commission. We have invited individuals from ethnically Lake shore Alliance, women of color who give Grand Haven area public school board and others to be a panel, um, and to. answer some general questions. Uh, questions would be similar to what strengthen our community as well as how has this event or future events similar to this one would impact our community as a whole. If you are interested in being a panelist, please email the human relations commission through the city website, and I will get in contact with you. We understand that this was short notice, but because of all the city events, as well as our own personal schedules, we. And make this a priority for our community. Our goal is to unite our community and be welcoming for everyone. The date for this event is Tuesday, July 14th at 6 30 to 8 30 PM at central park place. We hope you will join us in creating a loving and welcoming community. Thanks.

Thank you, Elena. Thank you for what you do. Thank you. Anyone else?

Hi. I'm Isaac Scamper of 12155 Johnson Street. I am a Boy Scout, and I am working on the communications merit badge. This meeting was a big help for one of my requirements. So thank you.

All right. Well, thank you for coming and for listening. You are our future. Anyone else? If there is no further business, then I will adjourn this meeting. Thank you for coming.

Oh, my God.

Thank you.