Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good morning and happy August we will call the committee on appointments to order at 8 a.m Okay, we have a light agenda this morning starting with a resolution recognizing Commissioner Belchak's appointment of Zachary Baker to the storm white storm water Oversight Commission Support moved and supported Good morning Any comments on the appointment of Zachary Baker to the Stormwater Oversight Commission?

May I? Yes, please. I just want to say I'm really happy to be able to bring Zachary in to the Stormwater Commission Oversight. He's very interested in this field, has an environmental background. And if you recall, he was one of our first ward appointee candidates and interviewed for us during the first 10 years.

Awesome, thank you, Commissioner. Any further comments? Okay, seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. That brings us to our second resolution, approving the City Commission's appointment of Ethan Walker to the Historic Preservation Commission. So moved. Moved and supported. Comments on this appointment, colleagues? Seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Our third resolution confirming Mayor LeGrand's appointment of Anthony Parker to the Mobile GR Commission.

So moved.

Support. Moved and supported. Comments on this appointment, colleagues?

Yes, Commissioner.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know this was one of the bodies where we talked at a variety of length about wards and maybe different perspectives. So could we do an overview of this body before we call the vote?

Yes. Ms. Bosker, please.

Sure. I can bring up the demographic composition. I will note that the mayor met with the mobile GR director and this appointment fills a parking perspective need on that body. And so while it may not satisfy some of the geographic needs, representation I know that it does they do also have parallel to the demographic makeup they've got a list of needs that they like to satisfy in the community and parking is one of those and that is one thing that this appointee fills yeah thank you so much Miss Bosker and then this is this is this is zero vacancies okay correct just want to make sure because I know sometimes then somebody else and I didn't know if we I didn't I didn't

recall the any resignation so thank you for highlighting that I think that's just important as the other you know obviously the racial and ethnic and ward perspectives but I think this one is as we have there's Max in the back we're going to hear from MobileGR we've had them on the agenda a lot I think this body is one where certainly a lot of you know questions and a lot of policy that I mean all the boards are but this one in particular and you know, just looking at the demographic makeups, even just in gender is a little concerning to me. Thank you, Commissioner. I know this is something that we've discussed certainly in the past and then under your leadership as well. So I just want to point it out for the record. Thank you.

Yeah, that is a challenge here. Yeah, maybe we could table this one. Would you all be comfortable tabling?

I'm fine with moving forward to vote. I just think, you know, in the continued discussions, both for the liaison, for the mayor, for anybody who might be, and I can't remember how long these terms are, Ms. Bosker. I think that's always a question, too. Look it.

They're three-year terms.

They're three-year terms.

And there's a couple that will be up for consideration at the end of this year. Okay. Great. Thank you.

So happy to answer any specific questions. For this one in particular, just to highlight the assistant city clerk, the need from my perspective and staff's perspective for some help with some parking. For my entire time here, other than the last few years, we've had a representative from the community's parking perspective. So really seeking that out as we enter into a time when not only are we looking at a lot of venues that are added to downtown that are putting some new kind of focuses on how we manage the parking system, but also as we look out into the neighborhood. So just putting that perspective into why for this specific appointment we're looking for a little more insight from this board on that aspect.

Thank you. Yeah, I think expertise is important, so I hear that. And then, Ms. Bosker, how many are we looking at where we could possibly get some both ward diversity? I'm really happy Commissioner Isasi brought this up. So Ward 2 has six times the amount of folks for my ward. For Commissioner Belchax, they have twice the number of folks. So there certainly needs to be more balance here in terms of our perspective, in terms of many things of just location and where they live in the city, in gender. And all of these things have had folks sort of give us some feedback on that. They feel as though the race and ethnic background and gender is too simple. But what that speaks to is our experience, right? That speaks to things and nuance that you may not see on a resume. So that is why I'm very happy we're having this conversation. And so, Ms. Basker, if you could let us know when we may also be able to add some of that diversity of background and thought soon to this board.

Just glancing at the information here, it looks like there's three who have terms ending the beginning of 2027.

And then if you, I mean, we don't have to do it right now, but if, Mr. Chair, if we could follow up and see where those wards are, because I agree. You know, I think even though I am proud to support the second ward on this body, we try to take that collective point of view. And so I really trust Max's perspective, I think. You know, we heard the blueprint and... the need for that, what does that community engagement look like? And I think hopefully even that community engagement that you all do will help us drive probably some perspective candidates as well, because we're going to dive a little bit more. And I think the staff will be, I don't want to say more engaged like you weren't engaged, taking a different perspective to kind of go and see that work. So I'm hopeful that, you know, the investments that we have, like in a mobility blueprint can also drive who else is interested in talking about mobility, maybe it's not, oh, my gosh, I'm the mobility expert, but I'm caring about these other things. And then they come to your point, they come to being somebody who's really interested in wanting to be on mobile GR. So If you could follow up, Ms. Bosker, if I could, Mr. Chair, what those wards look like for those three that are terming off. And then I think, Max, if you could also share this with the body, that this is something that this board has asked so that there's no surprises when we get to that. Obviously, the people serve at the pleasure of the mayor. This is the mayor's appointment, but I feel like the mayor would be open to that discussion as well. But I feel perfectly fine approving this one today. Yes. Thank you.

Looks like all three are second ward members.

Okay, there you are. Wow, real-time help.

Wonderful. Well, thank you all so much for this robust conversation on mobile GR. I also feel comfortable since they are bringing expertise that staff needs in terms of support. So any further comment on this appointment? Seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. And last, that brings us to further discussion on our current board and commission vacancy list from Ms. Bosker.

Yes, and I think that conversation kind of nicely segues into our end of year appointment talk, which is coming up when we're in a little bit of a lull between elections. I'm going to go hard on communicating with the liaisons and getting information to you all appointing authorities on the end of year makeup and what reappointments or new appointments you all are interested in making. So that will be happening in the next couple weeks. And then as far as current vacancies go, the local officers compensation commission is on the top of my list. They meet in odd years, so they'll be meeting next year, but there's one current vacancy and then another coming up in the end of September, so I'll bring that up to the mayor. There's a couple of CIAs that have openings, and there's always, or often, a pool of applicants, and so we'll bring that back to the mayor as well now that everyone's getting back to having schedules aligning and being here at the same time. And there are a couple of vacancies. There's one new vacancy for the Community Relations Commission and then a new vacancy for Michigan Street Corridor Improvement Authority that will be on the list later.

Wonderful. Thank you, Ms. Bosker. Any further comments, colleagues? Okay, seeing none. And then thank you so much, Ms. Bosker and City Clerk, for your work on our elections. It's an exciting year for midterms. Awesome turnout, it seems, throughout our state and throughout our city. So I'm so happy to see folks getting even more civically engaged. All right, well, that's a long meeting for the Committee on Appointments, but I'm happy we had great discussions. Thank you all so much, and we will adjourn the Committee on Appointments at 8.09 a.m. Have a good day.

¶¶ Thanks for watching! Thank you. Thank you.

Good morning, everyone. It is now time to call our fiscal committee to order. Colleagues, before we get started, I'd like to just take a moment because Ms. Claren does not have a report at the end, and I don't want to forget. But Ms. Claren, you all have hired a new deputy for the office, so I want to turn over to her for an introduction, a few moments.

Yes, I already lost him. Oh, there he is. Okay. Ross McGinn. Ross McGinn is our new deputy chief financial officer. He'll be, he joins us from Melbourne, Florida. So, and he's Australia. Yeah. Yeah. He, yeah, he, he, he had the comment last week that, gosh, it's so cool. Like. You know, the weather up here compared to Florida right now obviously is a little different. It's vastly better here. So this is just really enjoyable weather while the rest of us are like, oh my gosh. But happy to have Ross with us. He'll be filling in for me on the dais if I'm ever out. And he'll be overseeing, well, helping me with my directory departments as well as directly oversight of fiscal services. So happy to have him on board. Welcome.

And yeah, we'll look forward to either being on the dais or in the hallway. So thanks so much. And I hope you live in the second ward. Okay, let's go to our first item. First is a resolution recognizing Fulton Street Farmers Market as a local civic organization.

So moved. Support. Moved and supported. Ms. Hartman? Good morning. This is a routine item. Our office has confirmed the Fulton Street Farmers Market as its status with the state of Michigan and that they meet the statutory requirements for a local civic organization. If anyone from Fulton Street Farmers Market is present and would like to speak on its behalf, seeing none,

Yeah, I think we're all set. This is a pretty, as you said, a fairly routine item, a well-known organization in our community. So I'll call the question. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you. Next item is a resolution approving an amendment to the interlocal agreement between Grand Valley State University and the City of Grand Rapids for extending dispatch services for an additional three years for an amount not to exceed $6,080. Do I have a motion? So moved. Support? Moved and supported. Mr. Weibel?

Good morning, commissioners. This is one item where I get to come to you not to ask for money, but to ask for permission to bill. Our dispatch emergency communications center performs this service for Grand Valley's downtown campus. They have their own sworn officers, but we pitch in with dispatch. It's not a huge lift on our dispatchers. We did 95 calls last year, 46 to date this year where we have an officer go out. Obviously, if their officers, GVSU officers are not around, GRPD will respond. But this agreement has been in place since 2018, renewed every three years, just codifies the interlocal agreement.

Great. Thank you. Questions, colleagues, on this item? Hearing and seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item carries. Thanks, Matt. Item number three is a resolution authorizing execution of a $75,650 donated funds agreement with the Michigan Department of Human Services, MDHHS, for a dedicated eligibility specialist for the eviction prevention program.

So moved. Support.

Moved and supported. Mr. Tucker?

Good morning, Fiscal Committee. This item deals with $76,650 of funds to continue our partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Salvation Army. It is an eviction prevention program position that we're supporting. And this partnership was started back in 2018 with the support of the Steelcase Foundation. as well as the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. This position helps to provide services to folks who have a pending eviction notice. It sends them the resources to help them get whatever is at issue resolved. And once those resolutions are resolved, the landlord receives a court judgment and agrees to drop the eviction case upon receipt of the payment. from any of the services that are provided to the person with the pending eviction.

Thank you. Questions, colleagues? Hearing none, I'll just add, you know, I used to work with an organization, work closely with MDHS, and know that this program is really valuable. It helps to understand where the breaks in the system and to both the landlord and to those that are experiencing that process, so. I'll call the question. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you. Item number four is a resolution accepting a grant in the amount of approximately $5 million from the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, and authorizing execution of agreements for implementation of the fiscal year 27 compliance plan as required by that MIDC Act.

Do we have a motion? So moved. Support. Moved and support.

Ms. Bohach? Good morning. Switch spots.

Yes, we did switch spots. Good morning. So this is the award for implementation of our annual compliance plan for indigent defense services in the 61st District Court. There are nine mandated standards that are regulated by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission through LARA and we're in compliance and have been since 2017 with all of those standards. These resources, it is a funded mandate and so that we have the an exact amount, but yet an approximate amount, because we really won't know the final amount until we close out our existing grant, which is later this year, because it's an October 1 start date for this program. And then there's always opportunity, because it's a funded mandate, if we were to spend more than what is anticipated, they do have to provide those resources to us. So this gives us some flexibility in terms of how much we receive.

Thank you so much for the explanation and history. Questions, colleagues, on this item? Hearing and seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you. Number five is a resolution authorizing the write-off of uncollectible water and sewer utility account balances for the fiscal year 2026. Do I have a motion? So moved. Support. Moved and supported. Well, Mr. Dermrick's coming up, but this is... He's coming down the main pathway.

I'll see if I can beat him before I get there. This is basically an annual write-off of outstanding accounts. We talk about this every year. I think in the 12 years I've been here, this is one of the lowest I've seen it. When I first got here, it was up over 100,000, so... So the utility business office does a great job sculling down those receivables. Maureen, if you want to add anything?

Yeah, most of these are under the threshold of $10. So that's where a significant portion is. There are two that were, I think, foreclosures that are in there that made up pretty much 95% of the amount that's there.

Thank you. Thanks for highlighting. Yeah, we're getting like a history lesson in all these, you know, ones, so. I'm gonna call the question unless there's a I'm sorry sure.

Thank you so much here. Can we know the The actual number of what we're writing off Is there is there a total number available?

The total number is in there. I want to say it's a little over $1,000.

Yeah 1194 I was missing a zero for a second. No. No, that's why it's it's yeah immaterial. It's yeah Yeah

I just think this is wonderful. I think especially in these times where we can provide grace is wonderful. I know through our legislative committee, I've been pushing for the city to support water legislation at the state level to help folks on the east side. I know this is quite a significant challenge in some of our communities throughout the state. So, yeah, I think this is great, and I'm happy to support it and happy it's also a very low number as well. Yes, thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you. All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Item carries. And then this next one is you too, Wayne. Next is a resolution authorizing a budget substitution in the amount of $3 million for the SCADA modernization. Do I have a motion?

So moved. Support.

Moved and supported.

So the SCADA is the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition programs and systems that operate both our water pumping distribution treatment as well as our wastewater. our WRF site in terms of the sewage collection and treatment as well. This $3 million request should be the last chunk of money that we need to totally overhaul our SCADA system. And as you've probably read in the news, there's been a lot of scrutiny on various systems. I don't want to get into details, but a lot of those systems are where they have devices that are internet facing, which is completely different from what we have. So this is modernization of equipment programming. and best practices across both systems.

Thank you so much. Did you have another question, Commissioner? Yes. Please, Commissioner.

Can you just highlight for us, this has been, we've had, like you said, several substitutions and or additions. Can you just tell us what the total amount for this project is and is this a change in funding structure that we're authorizing exactly today or just additional dollars?

This is additional dollars and part of it has to do with the actual cost of infrastructure is going up in terms of as we've gone along with this. Total amount invested is going to be between $11 and $12 million total, but that is split between water and environmental services. In terms of how we manage it, it's really a shared resource to both of us.

And I do realize how very, very important it is to make sure that we continue to have these kinds of systems up to date for clean water, and drinking water is important for all of us, so thanks.

Yeah, and one thing I will point out, just to add on with what, you know, oh my gosh, the cost and things like that, you'll see If you ever spend time looking at the appropriation page, it's drawing from funds in the IIP account. So when a project is completed and we close it down, we take that extra budget that we already appropriated, put it into these IIP accounts. So it's kind of like holding account, to put towards the next, you know, like Wayne said, I need more money towards a SCADA project. We have money that's already on hand that we had planned to spend. I think, you know, as a body, you guys, you might want to look at, okay, this is coming from IIP. We had already planned on that going out the door, but we were able to utilize it towards this other project instead of something that's pulled from fund balance. That affects the bottom line of the you know, the utility or, you know, we do that from general funds sometimes. I wanted to point that out.

Yeah, just to further that, anytime you have CD items that come through, you will see, and even fiscal items, you'll see a portion of the funding amount is... contingency amount. So if there were to be an unexpected cost within a project there is always a 10-12% extra that is in those approved amounts. A lot of times that never gets spent. That money ends up going back into the IIP as Molly talked about and that's where this money is coming from. Where we've built that up through the years with projects that we didn't expend the full amount.

Thank you. See that's why you stayed up here. No, but in all reality, I think, you know, we're talking about just continued transparency, awareness, everything that I think we're all as individuals, or my colleague talked about it for individuals, but the city, anything that we're purchasing or investing in, it's probably gone up, but thank you for highlighting. All those pieces, Wayne. So I'm going to call the question. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you. Next is a resolution, number seven, authorizing a budget substitution of $7,892.21 for reconstruction of Crescent Street Alley from Grand Avenue to Eastern Avenue. Do you have a motion? So moved. Support. Moved and supported. Mr. McCall, nice to see you.

Good morning, commissioners. Yeah, filling in for City Engineer Irving, who's on vacation this week. She's back tomorrow, actually. This is a project that was a special assessment district requested by the property owners. The project is done, and this is a request to just supplement the project budget from previously approved funds in the amount of $7,892.21. Thank you. Questions, colleagues?

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you. Item number eight is a bid list resolution for August 11th, 2026. Do you have a motion?

So moved.

Support.

Moved and supported.

Ms. Claren, anything you'd like to highlight?

Sure. I'll direct you to number four. We selected Barry Dunn as to handle the staffing level overtime utilization study for our fire and police department. We talked about that during our budget sessions with Commission, just trying to get a handle on staffing utilization and just seeing the growing amount we spend on overtime for both of those departments. So this is an effort to get our hands around that more, see if there are best practices or anything else that we could be applying. So that work will get underway and hopefully inform our next fiscal year 28 budget.

Thank you. Questions, colleagues? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item carries. And that's all of our items today, so we're going to turn to number nine, which is our Comptroller's Warrant Report for the period of July 11, 2026 through July 27, 2026, in the amount of $95,166,325.92 in a monthly travel report.

Good morning, commissioners. For the period reference, the cash payments were released totaling approximately $95.1 million, which includes just under $6.6 million for employee payroll expenses and approximately $417,000 for income tax warrants. In terms of quantity, 1,630 income tax refunds were issued and 2,461 checks and electronic payments were issued. These funds were issued for payment by individuals not in the city comptroller's office and not in accordance with the terms of the city charter. And I want to add that it's Title VI, Section 90 of the Grand Rapids City Charter that requires that all payments of money be issued by the city comptroller. And the Fiscal Services Department does not have authorization to issue payments in the charter or to sign and place my signature on checks without my permission. The second report that I have here is the monthly travel report, and that is for the June full year period. And that is showing that approximately $2.2 million has been spent, or about 94% of the overall budget for the year.

Thank you. Next, we're going to turn to that report as received and filed. We're going to turn over to our city treasurer for his report.

Good morning, commissioners. With our report today, I just want to point out that the Fed rate of 3.5 to 3.75 percent interest is holding right now. However, there have been... really some signals that we might be seeing that rate go up. There are no dissenting opinions right now to lower the rate. There are three opinions on the Fed board that are asking to raise rates. We are looking right now to today's, or not today's, but this week's important information because CPI is coming out this week. That's going to further push, I think, us in a direction to potentially raise rates. It all depends on how it comes in. Right now there's lots of still mixed messages in the market. We did see a jobs report that was negative, which that was another surprise. That was over 100,000 jobs surprise. We're expecting like a 90 to 95,000 increase and we actually reduced jobs by 27,000 jobs last week. That was another report that came out that is making some very big challenges for the Fed. Our new Fed chair, Fed Chair Warsh, is basically stating he's not afraid to raise rates. So don't be surprised if we see a rate being raised in the near future. It's being 50, greater than 50% probability that a rate will be increased. What that does is that means that on the investment side, we'll be able to earn more money on the funds we have, but it is going to present challenges when new debt issuance come out because that's going to make it a higher rate that we're going to be borrowing at. But the city of Grand Rapids has really got an incredible track record with the debt issuance and having low percentage rates because of the Michigan market and how Michigan municipal bonds are really treated in the investment community. So I see us still getting good rates whenever we're issuing bonds. I don't think it's going to be a major hiccup that we're going to see. It's just a normal course of business. For us, it means that we should be able to keep these shorter-term funds earning a higher rate if we see an interest rate bump because we'll be able to get other investments that can give us a better return on our money. With our portfolio today, we're looking at $674 million. I do want to point out there's another line that we added for fiduciary tax money. Those are the tax monies we're collecting for the local taxing authorities through property taxes. And that will impact the Comptroller's Report next session because we just sent out $157 million worth of tax money to the schools, Kent County, and the various other taxing authorities that we do business with. So the flow of money is really going very well We're turning it over getting it out to those parties that need it for their upcoming school years and for their operating budgets Which then will start a lot of them start in October schools start earlier, but Really everything is going as planned our key though is really looking at where the inflation rate is coming in because again Fed Chair Warsh is still focusing on getting that down to 2%. Well, there's only a couple things he can do to get it down to 2% inflation. And so there's going to be some challenges, I think, coming up. Really, for us, it's a wait and see. We know that all of our money is in stable, good investments with our municipal bond investments as well as U.S. Treasuries and other accounts that we have. So we're in a very good, safe, stable position. The question now is what are all the external forces going to be and how we react to those.

Thank you, Mr. Treasurer. I appreciate that report. That report is received and filed. But before we get done, I want to add one comment, colleagues. I think I have a few minutes. It's not until 9.15. I want to respond to our comptroller's comments. Many of you know we currently have a disagreement between our comptroller, as he just stated, and the city as it relates to the interpretation of our city charter. That disagreement is currently being addressed by the courts, which I think is the appropriate place to resolve that disagreement. So I'm disappointed that we are up here, and my apologies that these comments keep coming in this body. I think the court is the appropriate venue. So I want to say that to all of you, as well as you, Mr. Comptroller. I think these... We are working every single day to make sure the public has the trust in the city of Grand Rapids. And I think that hopefully you see after this meeting, whether you heard Mr. Jernberg talk about our water system and Ms. Claren adding to those pieces, whether it's hearing from our community development managing director to talk about how do we take in these dollars, what do we review, that different bodies trust us with both You know our residents that trust us with their public dollars their tax dollars But also other entities who place their trust as you have heard in numerous meetings different grants that were received. Those grants aren't just free money that come to us. They come, and I'm looking at so many leaders who vie for those grants, who spend time writing those grants. I think comments like today erode, whether intentional or not, public trust in this body. And so I just want to say that, and I want to say thank you. And with that, we're adjourned at 8.51.

Thank you. Thank you. you Piano music Bye. Thank you.

Good morning, everyone. Time is now 915. We are going to get the community development meeting started. Our first item this morning is a resolution approving a fireworks discharge to GLC Live at 20 Monroe for special effects at 20 Monroe in connection with Associated Builders and Contractors event on September 17, 2026. So move. Support.

Moved and supported.

Good morning. Good morning.

Good morning. For you guys that don't know me, I'm Molly McIntyre, a fire inspector with the fire department. So yeah, on September 17th, they're just gonna have some cold sparks, so we'll be there to watch the demo and make sure everything goes well. That's pretty much all they have, so.

Ms. McIntyre, any questions? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item number two this morning is a resolution scheduling a... Turn on your mic and make sure it's on. Item number two this morning is a resolution scheduling a September 22nd, 2026 public hearing to consider past performance detailed in the federal fiscal year 2025 consolidated annual performance and evaluation report and future needs of housing and community development programs. Is there a motion? So moved. Support. Moved and supported. Mr. Tucker, good morning.

Good morning, Community Development Committee. This item deals with our, as Commissioner Perdue stated, our consolidated annual performance and evaluation report. This is required by the Housing and Urban Development, our federal partners. with respect to our performance and fiscal performance of our CDBG home funds and ESG emergency solutions grant. We also include our justice assistance grant as well as our affordable housing fund and opioid dollars. We invite residents to participate in this public comment which is scheduled between September 8th and September 23. The public hearing itself is scheduled for September 22nd.

Perfect. Any questions, colleagues? Great. Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item number three this morning is a resolution scheduling a public hearing for August 25, 2026 to consider establishing an industrial development district for City Built Brewing Company at 1560 Taylor Avenue North.

Support. Good morning, I'm Rachel Gray. I'm the Assistant Director of Economic Development filling in for Sarah Ranero today. So this is a public hearing item and the next item go together. City Built Brewing is a Grand Rapids based craft brewery, taproom and restaurant. The company conducts full-scale brewing and beverage packaging operations distributing products throughout Michigan. City Built currently operates at 820 Monroe and they are proposing this Taylor Avenue project to support their expanded beverage production and continued growth. So the property here was previously occupied, it is now vacant and the existing buildings have largely remained vacant and been used for storage. The site includes approximately a 7,000 square foot Quonset style building, approximately 2,000 square feet of office space and two approximately 1,600 square foot suites and a 2,500-square-foot two-story storage building and a 5,000-square-foot enclosed lot. City-built, they proposed to rehab the property and use it for beverage production, a taproom, and a complimentary commercial operation. Destination, excuse me, and the proposed project represents a total investment of approximately $1.6 million, including $1 million in real property improvements associated with the industrial brewing manufacturing portion of the project. Approximately 600K in commercial and retail improvements are not included in this IFT request.

Thank you. Colleagues, any questions? Comments?

No, just happy to see this happening over in that area and something finally coming out of that space. It allows hopefully our community to be able to envision what the south end or north end of the city can look like in our River North Business District and the Crested Neighborhood Association.

Thank you. Seeing nothing else, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item number four is a companion item. It's a resolution scheduling a public hearing for August 25, 2026 to consider an application for an industrial facilities exemption certificate filed by a city-built brewing company for a project located at 1560 Taylor Avenue North.

Is there a motion? Support. Motion supported.

So, you know, additional questions, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We are on item number five, which is a resolution requesting the revocation of an existing industrial facilities exemption certificate under PA 198 Saugatuck Brewing Company, Inc., doing business as Creston Brewery. Support? Just supported. Ms. Gray?

So, this business is no longer operating on property, so therefore they are no longer eligible for the abatement.

Any questions, colleagues? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item six. Oh, wait, no, these are different than that. Okay, I got it. I jumped ahead, it looks like. I think that was item number six. Yes. So we're going back to item number five. Thanks, clerk. So item number five today is a resolution approving the sale of city-owned property located at 150 Lexington Avenue Southwest to Grand Valley State University for consideration of $90,500 and accepting a public utility and sidewalk easement. So moved. Support. Supported. That's great.

In the last year and a half, GVSU approached the city to facilitate the future expansion of their downtown campus. Adjacent owners are a priority under the disposition policy and they have first right of refusal. So the city acquired this property back in 2011 to facilitate the city's improvement at the northeast corner of Lexington and Butterworth Street. The City Commission resolution allows the mayor to sign the purchase agreement for this and city departments have reviewed the proposed sale and there are no objections provided that the public utility and sidewalk easements are retained over the property.

Thank you, and I think I saw in the memo that this property isn't necessarily buildable either, but really is just in service to those adjacent properties.

Correct. It's a very small triangle of property.

Alright, any other questions or comments colleagues?

Thank you. Yeah, just because this is near my house and in my neighborhood, I do approve of this. I think that this is a good use of this land. However, Grand Valley is going to end up using it to expand their facilities.

This is a great one since we have such a robust downtown campus now.

Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? motion carries. Thank you. Okay, we are back on track with item number seven, which is a resolution approving an agreement between the City of Grand Rapids and the Michigan Department of Transportation and authorizing an expenditure of $49,900 in connection with the fiscal year 26 Metropolitan Traffic Signal Optimization Project. So moved. Support. Who doesn't support it?

Oops, hello. I guess it's Assistant Director Day, so Brianna Jeske for MobileGR, sitting in for Jessica Smith, who is under the weather, but This is kind of a yearly program that we do where we work with our regional partners in Kent County and a little bit of Ottawa County to work on signal timing optimization which is something that can help reduce delay, which helps air quality and kind of other traffic things. So this is basically kind of a grant that gets routed through us. We have a small portion of it, but it is a project that we do every year around the region.

Commissioner Belsak. Do you know what streets will be incorporated at this time or is that to be determined?

Yes, there is an agenda. There's an appendix to the agenda.

I appreciate that. Could you just state it for the public record?

It's a list of probably about 30 different locations.

That's fine. My computer wasn't logging in, right? But yeah, I appreciate it because there has been people coming to commission asking about single timing. And so the Pearl Street corridor around Amway Grand has been a conversation point. And then I'm sure wherever we have like 28th Street, Division, you can think of all the major corridors. But also, how does that impact other side streets like Kalamazoo Avenue or Oakley or things like that? So just want to bring that to our awareness.

Yeah, this is part of our periodic review that we do. Thank you.

And I'll also point out that this is not specific to city streets. This is really on behalf of the aerial metro region. And so you'll see many of those locations are actually not within city limits.

Any other questions or comments?

Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item number eight is a resolution approving an increase of the unit prices for as-needed general construction services at various locations with no change in previously authorized expenditures of $2 million. So moved.

Support.

Thank you. Good morning, Commissioners. Jeff McCall, Assistant City Engineer, filling in for Cindy, who's concluding her vacation today. This item is kind of correcting an item that the body previously approved on June 2nd. In error, we had requested that the contractors had agreed to maintain their unit prices when, in fact, on the original bid form, the six contractors had quoted between 3% and 4% increases. So this item just, I guess... approves those three to four percent increases for each of the contractors on this term contract.

Any questions, colleagues? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item number nine is a similar item, a resolution approving an increase to unit prices for ProTech Environmental Inc. and Demolition Contractors Inc., doing business as pitched wrecking company, pitched companies for as needed hazardous materials abatement and demolition services. at various facilities with no change in previously authorized expenditures of $1,500,000. So moved. Support. How do you say that? Pitch? Pitch. Pitch, okay.

Yeah, they do a lot of the demolition of houses and commercial properties. This contract's mainly used for asbestos abatement in buildings when it's discovered. Yeah, it's a 3% and 5% increase for each of the contractors.

Thank you. Seeing nothing, all in favor? Aye. Motion carries. Item number 10 is a resolution approving a construction agreement and accepting a public utilities easement for Standale-Meyer Outlots. Support. Support. Mr. McCall.

Yes, this is a construction agreement in the customer community city of Walker. Two new outlots are being developed and this will extend sanitary sewer. The sewer will be inspected by Prana Newhoff on behalf of the city of Walker. The city will accept the sewer once it's ready for service.

Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 11 is a resolution approving consent to assignment of agreement to... Okay, now you have to help me with this one. Abenmarsh Consultants, Inc. for Professional Architectural Services. So moved. Support? Moved and supported.

Yes, Bison Associates was recently acquired by Abenmarsh. And this just kind of reassigns that contract to Abb and Marsh. They currently do not have any work under the term agreement with the city. But this will be in effect for the remainder of the term through February of 28.

Thank you. Seeing nothing from the desks, any questions, comments? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item 11 carries. Then finally, item number 12 this morning is a resolution confirming 2026, or fiscal year 2027, downtown improvement district special assessment roll 8806. So moved. Support. Support. Moved and supported.

Good morning, committee. Tony George, assistant city assessor. At the request of the downtown improvement district board, the assessor's office has prepared A special assessment roll number 8806, in accordance with the district's plan, adopted May 12, 2026. This is the first year of a three-year plan. Property owners were sent notices on May 28, 2026, and notified of the assessment amount and appeal process. Special assessment roll has been open for public inspection for at least two weeks, starting on June 15th through the 29th. The city commission held a public hearing on July 21st to hear all appeals on the special assessment. The assessor's office received no appeals. Today, I'm requesting confirmation of the special assessment role. If confirmed, this assessment will be invoiced on September 1st and due by October 1st. Thank you.

Thank you. Questions, comments? Seeing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries. 928, we are adjourned.

. . Thank you. so so do you Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you.

Morning. Nice to hear all the happy patter in the audience. I'm calling this meeting of the Committee Hall to order, and our first item of business is a resolution authorizing a sister city agreement with Dnipro, Ukraine, and Mr. Canfield's coming up. I think he has a video to show us, among other things.

Yes, good morning, Mayor and Commissioners, and you are correct. We will show you a video in just a couple minutes, but first we want to make some introductory remarks and welcome our guests. So I'm pleased to introduce the resolution before you this morning to establish a formal sister city. relationship between Grand Rapids and Dnipro, Ukraine. Grand Rapids has participated in the sister cities movement for approximately 40 years and at their best these relationships are an expression of citizen diplomacy. Those relationships create connections between people and institutions across national borders through cultural and educational exchange economic and civic cooperation, and ultimately friendship. That mission feels particularly meaningful in the case of Dnipro. Our formal relationship began in 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. When Grand Rapids sought a tangible way to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, Dnipro subsequently became Grand Rapids' first friendship city. And over the years since Grand Rapids Sister Cities International, its NEPRO committee, city officials, and our counterparts in NEPRO have continued building this relationship, which has brought us to the action before you today. The resolution would formally establish NEPRO as a sister city of the city of Grand Rapids and authorize Mayor Legrand to execute an agreement on behalf of the city. Assuming your approval today, we will work with our counterparts in Dnipro and Grand Rapids Sister Cities International over the coming weeks to finalize the agreement. We are planning for Mayor Legrand and Dnipro Mayor Filatov to sign it during a ceremony this fall. And of course the signing is not the end of the process, it's really the beginning of the relationship which over time we hope will create many opportunities for exchange connection sharing of experience and expertise and other forms of cooperation and you'll hear more about what we hope for in a moment we hope in particular this will demonstrate that the people of Grand Rapids value the friendship of the people of Nipro and stand with them in their commitment to freedom, self-government, and a peaceful future. So you'll hear more about the relationship in a moment. And it will be from two individuals. First, Emily Smith, who is the board secretary of Grand Rapids Sister Cities International, our nonprofit partner. She'll be followed by Anna Kovalenko, chair of Grand Rapids Sister Cities International's NEPRO committee. And we'll also have the privilege of hearing directly from NEPRO through a recorded message from Mayor Boris Filatov. So I want to thank Ms. Smith and Ms. Kovalenko and all of GRSCI and many volunteers who have invested their time and energy to get us to this point today. So with that, I will turn the podium over to Ms. Smith.

Good morning, Mayor Legrand, City Manager Washington, and City Commissioners. Good morning, and thank you all for being here today and listening to our excellent news and hopeful wishes for our friends in NEPRO. My name is Emily Smith. I have the honor to serve as the Secretary of Grand Rapids Sister Cities International, GRSCI. Thank you again for your time today as we take this important next step towards formalizing our sister city relationship. with Dnipro Ukraine. This is a special day for our cities and the advancement of citizen diplomacy and people to people global peacemaking and peacekeeping. It's my pleasure to introduce Anna Kovalenko who is the co-chair of our Dnipro committee and also is the executive director of the Ukrainian Society of Michigan. So thank you so much and welcome Anna.

Good morning, Mayor Legrand, City Manager and City Commissioners. It's a pleasure to be here today. Thank you for having me. My remarks will be short because I think we're all eager to see the video. This is a meaningful moment for Grand Rapids and Dnipro, made possible by the commitment and persistence of many people over many years. And I would especially like to recognize today the commitment and the assistance of Grand Rapids Sister Cities International Executive Committee, Luke Canfield, present and past city leadership, and all community members who have helped us along the way. A sister city relationship is ultimately about the friendship and the friendship between people. That has a particular meaning here in Grand Rapids, which has also welcomed so many Ukrainian families displaced by the Russian war in Ukraine. This partnership gives us an opportunity to deepen this connection and and this connection that already exists between our communities, and to build new connections through cultural, economic, educational, and civic exchange. And today, we hope it will not simply be a completion of the process, but the beginning of the new chapter for the cities of Grand Rapids and Dnipro. And now it is my great honor to introduce a message from the mayor of Dnipro, Boris Filatov.

Dear friends, Mayor Lagrand, esteemed colleagues and residents of Grand Rapids, I would like to begin this video by expressing my gratitude to your community and to the American people for supporting Ukraine during this terrible war. This kindness will live forever in our hearts. Thank you. Still, it can be difficult to fully convey. The atmosphere of Dnipro is a single video, a large city near the front lines in eastern Ukraine with a unique history. A city that was once the heart of world-class sporting events. A city of vibrant festivals and ambitious urban projects. And it will be that way again. A city of many nationalities and religions. There everyone finds mutual understanding. A city that has shaken off the Soviet yoke and returned its history. from paying tribute to Alexander Paul, the father-founder of modern Dnipro, who held Liberian views more than a century ago, to the realization that the Ukrainian nation has never been identical to the Russian one. Dnipro's journey is this regard is unique. After all, back in the 1970s, then Grand Rapids was launching one of its most famous festivals. And when you were defending your vision for the city of the wake of the furniture crisis, Dnipro was close to the world, hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Freedom was something that couldn't even be imagined. And now our city is Ukraine outpost so that this curtain doesn't absorb up again. But we can find a lot of in common between our cities. They are united by a love of art and both the hubs of student and youth life. They were also both the birthplaces of presidents. I remember when the sister city relationship between our cities was announced three years ago and how in that time it became a ray of hope for our people who even now continue to live under their Russian attacks. I said it then. And I'll say it now in this war, our strongest armor of gods, blessing and the true friends. I won't recount to you all the horrors of the enemy shelling that Dnipro is forcing. I'm sure you saw it on the news. But as mayor, I can say that our cities can be of great benefit to one another. We are ready to share our difficult but unique experience. In medicine and rehabilitation, where our doctors do the impossible almost every day. In crisis management of public utilities. For many years, our utility workers are facing catastrophic scenarios, blackouts and destruction of critical infrastructure. In educational initiatives and much more. Because we want our friendship to last for years, we look forward to seeing you here in our Dnipro, wounded but remaining strong and beautiful. May God bless you. Thanks, Lou. Dear friends.

We're happy to answer any questions or hear comments you may have.

Thanks. First of all, I actually need a motion. Thanks. Yeah, I guess it's worth, I mean, that was a very powerful video. I think that this happens to be the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, and what I said at the last Pulaski Day, I'll essentially say again today, and that is The United States, at its founding, had significant help from people in Europe who saw the challenges and the opportunities of liberty in the United States. And I used to live on Lafayette Street, which is named after General Lafayette, who was a French general who was really instrumental in the American Revolution, and the French help there was significant. This country's got Lafayette streets all over, and they're named after that general. In Grand Rapids, every year we have a Pulaski Day, and we have that because General Pulaski was, I think is referred to as the founder of the American cavalry, as a matter of fact. And Grand Rapids has a significant history of immigrant influx, of course, and it's been defined whether it's by the great migration from the south in the 50s or whether it's Polish immigration or Dutch immigration. A number of disparate communities have come to Grand Rapids. The reason I mention Poland is because obviously Poland is very close to what's going on in Ukraine right now. And if you look at the example of Poland that spent much of the last century shaking off incursions of two separate empires, Ukraine's in exactly the same situation right now. Our history of having had help from Europe in preserving liberty and freedom is something that we have actually reciprocated as a country in World War I and World War II, and I think that it's pivotal now that we stand in solidarity with Ukraine, and I think that this is a opportunity not simply to have a sister city that fits ticks all of our normal boxes but a sister city that frankly you know I think that this is an opportunity for us to level up the significance of our sister city relationships I think that this is something that you know potentially sort of has national and international implications in the way that you know a relationship with the town and Japan doesn't. And so I think this is really significant. I think that it's important. I could not be more happy to be doing this. It's daunting to think about the challenges of that city. And I think this is something that we can... help focus and especially as the united states as a country thinks about how and on what level we're going to get engaged here i'm very clear that ukraine is facing an invasion by a country that has no real interest in democracy had no uh warrant for the invasion and that it's a fundamental challenge to liberty on the planet and so standing in solidarity with Ukraine means standing in solidarity with cities in Ukraine that are on the front lines. I'm very glad that we can have this resolution in front of us, and I'm certainly supportive of it. That was a long statement, but anyone else want to say anything? Otherwise, Commissioner?

Yes. In addition to all of that, I just want to say this is a unique opportunity. Just literally a block from my house, we have a Ukrainian Orthodox Christian church. And it has been a site in the neighborhood since the beginning of the war several years ago. And so I think that this is a recognition that we also have folks here who are from that lineage and from that language and still care very deeply. So As we continue to build peace and uniformity, that's not the word I want, but unity, unity in our world, I think that this continues to be a conversation we need to have. So thank you for doing this. Thank you for bringing your stories here today.

Seeing no further discussion. All in favor of the resolution, say aye. Aye. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Canfield. That brings us to more workaday projects. The first is a resolution establishing an industrial development district for profile films at 701 and Northwest. Can I have a motion?

Support.

Yes, this is a resolution establishing an industrial development district for Profile Films at 701N. It's a nine acre property and the next item that is approving the exemption for the certificate kind of goes into more detail on the project.

Well, if you want to go into more detail now, I think we can discuss both of them together and then have resolutions that follow each other sequentially.

Oh, sounds good. Yeah, so this project is to expand operations of the current location and open a new facility. This is a 97,000 square foot production facility with an estimated eligible cost of... for IFT eligible expenses at $26.2 million, with a 12-year industrial facilities exemption valued at $2.6 million.

And we've seen this before, but for the public's sake, profile films does not mean Spider-Man, it means plastic bags. So we had the owners in front of us briefing us on this earlier, so this is the next step in the process. Any discussions or questions, colleagues? Um, thanks. Uh, then I'll, uh, all in favor of the first motion, uh, resolution, say aye. Aye. Aye. Uh, all opposed? Motion carries. That brings us to our second resolution, which is, uh, related, as I said, for the facilities exemption. I can have a motion. So moved. Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. That brings us to the Brownfield Plan Amendment for, oh, same thing. So this is the Brownfield Plan Amendment for 701N. Can I have a motion? So moved.

Support.

All in favor, say aye. Aye. That brings us to our next resolution, which is a brownfield plan for somewhere else. So next is a brownfield plan amendment for 111 Barnett Street, Northeast, 434th, and 838 Butterworth. So this is, again, for the public, something we call, this is a scatter site. So these are three different properties that we're consolidating for this brownfield plan. But go ahead.

Yes, thank you. Good morning. I'm Audrey Tappenden with the Economic Development Office, standing in for Director Raniero, who couldn't make it in this week. And yes, this is a scattered site redevelopment. It is a unique project for that reason. Across three separate parcels, we'll be creating 20 units. that provide anywhere from two and five bedroom units across those, so interesting mix of units, interesting mix of property, and this is also being proposed by one of our emerging developer grant recipients, and so we are thrilled to see another project being converted, potentially converted and supported by our programming. So today you have the opportunity to act on the final stage which is the approval of the brownfield plan for this project and if approved we then take the work plan in the development reimbursement agreement back to the brownfield redevelopment authority and before packaging the full submission for the state's consideration. So this is around $5.5 million in total project costs for these units and just over $1.25 million of eligible activities that would be reimbursed over 15 years to the developer. So this is your third time seeing the project. Happy to take questions and go into more detail if you'd like. Otherwise, I will leave you to it.

First, I need a motion. Support. Great. Any discussion? Okay, thank you. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. That ends our business and brings us to a couple briefings. The first is a micromobility. Pardon? Yeah, okay, right. We are going to be moving into closed session after this if approved. So I'd like a motion to move into closed session following this to discuss ongoing litigation.

So moved.

Commissioner Kilgore? Yes. Commissioner Knight?

Yes.

Commissioner Sasse? Yes. Commissioner Perdue? Yes. Commissioner Belcheck? Yes. Mayor Legrand? Yes.

I'll start this off. Thank you, Mayor and Commissioners, for your work today. Before Max comes forward, I just wanted to put in context the reason for our discussion today. What you'll hear is an overview of some of the work from the staff that has occurred around ensuring that we have the best micro mobility solution to offer here in Grand Rapids. As you recall, some of you may recall, I remember putting in the first solution back in 2020 when we had a couple of vendors and then subsequently we changed our strategy and went to a sole vendor in 2022. And today, after going through a competitive process, staff first wants to get your, make you aware of some of the efforts and the pending recommended firm that we want to contract with. I think the next step is also to also share this with the Mobile GR Commission. And at our next meeting, there will be an item on the agenda for your approval. But today, no decision is required. We want to make sure that you're updated on what has transpired and what the next steps are. So with that, Max, take over.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager, sir. Good morning, everyone. So my name is Max Gillis. I'm the Strategic Initiatives Manager for the Mobile GR Department. And yes, as mentioned, here to talk about our shared micromobility program and kind of a new proposal that we have from a vendor. So just quickly a background on the program. This was a pilot program in 2020 and sorry to add a little bit more transparency. So shared micro mobility is more commonly known as our e-scooters and our e-bikes. It's a for rental program that we have here in the city of Grand Rapids for folks to be able to access this level of transportation. So we launched a pilot in 2020, and that was a product of our bicycle action plan, and it allowed, again, focusing on affordable mobility options for folks here in the city of Grand Rapids. At the pilot stage, we had two operators, Lime and Spin. And it was renewed as a long-term program. It came before city commission was approved. We selected Lime as a sole operator. We had a 50-50 split of e-bikes and e-scooters. And there was a wide variety of affordability options looped into that. Since then, since the program's becoming a full-fledged program instead of a pilot, we've had more than 4,000 unique riders in the city of Grand Rapids and more than 1.8 million trips. So really want to highlight the amount, the impact that this has had on our community. So a question we often get is, why do we use a single operator? This is something that's not completely unique to the city of Grand Rapids, but pretty rare across the country, as many of you may have traveled across and seen that a lot of them have multiple operators. It was something we discussed and considered during the pilot when we had two operators. And there was a few primary benefits that we saw from this, and we've continued to see throughout. So device clutter is something that we see in a lot of other cities when multiple vendors are competing for locations, competing for making people select their services. So this allows us to limit that and have something that we call a designated parking zone program so that they are only allowed to be picked up and dropped off in certain locations. If folks do not follow that, there are fees associated with it. It allows for a single app and a little bit more consistent data collection and accountability from our perspective, instead of having to figure out which vendor was involved in some incidents. For instance, if they're not complying with the designated parking zone program or other restrictions we've put in place, this helps it easier from staff's perspective. But one of the biggest reasons is it allowed us to have quite a bit of leverage when negotiating to allow for pricing and affordability commitments through our RFP process. So why a request for proposals now? So the 2022 contract reaches its end of term in this calendar year. So we began a competitive search for the next operator in anticipation of that contract expiration. This is supported by city purchasing policies and guidelines. This process was discussed with MobileJar Commission, who gave us guidance on timing and content, but it was also discussed at City Commission back in 2022 about how this process would work. We want to make sure that we are getting the best services for our community, so we want to test this on the market for price, safety, affordability, technology. and really make sure that Grand Rapidians are getting the best micro mobility service they can. I do want to be very clear, it was very important for us to maintain all current service elements and improve upon them. So not finding things that we could kind of give or take, but really just make sure that we're improving on the service and we're happy that this proposal achieves that. All current service elements are carried forward and there are a number of new things in the proposal that we're really excited to talk about. Just a little more transparency on that RFP process. So it was released in March of 2026 of this year. Our focus is, and this was based on community feedback as well as listening to commissioner feedback both at the city commission level and the mobile GR commission level, to focus primarily on safety and affordability. So those were heavily weighted in the scoring elements. We received two proposals, LIME and VEO, and city staff reviewed the written proposals from Mobile GR Department, GRPD, and our Office of Communications, as well as we did in-person interviews and vehicle testing, and we asked for MobileJar commissioners to elect some representatives for that process as well. Those two proposals and the interview demos are scored separately. VIO scored highest on both written and the interview scores. So just a brief background on VIO. They're a shared micromobility provider that was founded in 2017. They currently operate in a number of U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, and then many other small and mid-sized cities as well as large college campuses. One kind of unique thing I want to highlight is they do in-house design for their vehicles, which is really relevant for some of the things that we'll talk about in just a moment related to technology and accessibility. So now we're just gonna do a high level of their proposal and then in the next few slides go into depth, especially around safety technology and affordability pricing. But again, this is a continuation of all current Grand Rapids Shared Micromobility Program elements. So everything that we have had with Lime, is moving forward here. I will also say Lime has been a great partner. We've really had a great experience with them. And the services they provided, as I mentioned, 1.8 million trips have been very impactful for Grand Rapidians. Many of those trips, more than 50% are used to go to school. work or to get groceries or food. So this is a significant way for people to get around and we wanted to make sure we maintain that and those elements of the service but we were looking to make improvements. One of them was in safety. VEO offers some industry-leading safety technologies that I again will get into in more detail in a moment. They also have some very from my perspective, impactful, affordable options that we're very excited about and was one of the leading reasons that this proposal was chosen. They do 100% in-house W-2 staff, they have local operations staff here in Grand Rapids, and they have new vehicle types that were not included in our current program that allow for more accessible options for folks who have those needs. So just to get a little more in depth on the safety technology that we're really excited about. So Veo has what they call front-facing radar technology. This scans about 20 feet in front of the device. It's very similar to the technology that you'll find in many newer car vehicles that allow for detection that can lead to cutting the power from the vehicle or triggering an audible warning or slowing speeds. This significantly, as you can imagine, helps minimize crashes. It can also be used to detect and deter sidewalk riding. So this radar can kind of tell the difference, especially after some rides and some trips to predict what our sidewalks look like radar-wise than the street. So it can tell the difference between those two. It detects objects only, so it's not a camera that captures or stores images. And this is something that it won't be on every vehicle right away in this proposal, but they'll ramp up to 50% of the vehicles by the end of the first year, and then as we continue trying to get them on all vehicles. But it's something that is, again, it's industry leading and something that we're really excited about. We were able to see the demo. We've talked to other cities like the city of Denver. Colorado about the impactfulness of this and it seems like a very exciting way to address some of the concerns we've heard from community and commission around sidewalk riding as well as just dangerous riding in general. Geofencing is something that exists in our current micro mobility program however there are limitations to it as you can imagine using satellites to tell where folks are on their devices cannot be as precise as we sometimes need it to be especially when we're talking about the difference between a sidewalk and a bike lane, which can be very close to each other. So what's cool here is that this geofencing technology that they're proposing acknowledges that and uses the technology on the device to try to help make that decision. So by using that radar, it can say, OK, you're close to a sidewalk. and you have these other indicators, that means the geofence should go into action. So again, one of the reasons that we're so excited for a single operator option is to have these sort of requirements for the providers to do things that are very specific around speeds. If you're coming downtown and you're using a division that's a street and a bike lane, you want to go a little faster, of course. But then once you get downtown and you're around a lot of pedestrians, you need to go slower. So the more technology we have, and that allows our team to work with their team to make sure that everyone is as safe as possible. There are some other pretty exciting technology options that VIO has available that we will be potentially proposing in the future, but just excited about these first two especially. So user pricing here, there's a few changes. There's one increase, and that's at the bottom, and I'll talk about that. But the standard rate currently is $1 for unlock and $0.36 per minute. Veo has proposed a $1 unlock and $0.33 per minute, so a slight decrease there. The university rate also has a slight decrease from $0.01 per minute from $0.23 to $0.22, but also a decrease in their unlock cost. Access rate and I have a whole slide for this because how excited I am for this one. So this is this is enormous we in 2024 did a pilot program where we had lime access be completely free for anyone who is using it for a period of time and I cannot tell you to this day I go to community meetings and people tell me how impactful that was. I mean And just a month ago, we were at a neighborhood meeting, and a woman explained to me that it opened up her world because she was able to not think about the cost when going to free public events, going to parks, going to community events. She was like, I could just go and not worry about the cost when I rely on the micromobility program, and that would be a $20 cost. So that going away was enormous. And it's something we've been exploring on how to get back. VO, or the current access system, so if you qualify for it, and she did and gets that 50% discount, is a 50% discount on that standard rate that's above. What VO is proposing is for $5 per month, you get 30 free minute... you get 30 minutes for free each day and 50 percent riding beyond that. So potentially for $1.25 you can have two 15-minute trips to get you to and from where you need to go for $1.25 a week. So significantly increasing the savings that are here. That on average costs about $40 with the discount program. So we're talking about per week saving people about $39 or $38.75. So that's impactful, and I think will change the way a lot of people use our transportation system. So that's a really big highlight I want to mention here. They also have a commuter membership. That's something that currently is not offered. This is a version of that that doesn't require any sort of qualifications for state assistance programs, but folks can pay $14.99 a week and get the two free 20-minute rides each day. Their seven-day pass is a little bit more expensive. What this is is basically saying, hey, I'm going to be using X amount of minutes per, for seven days, and if I pay this ahead of time, I'll get a discount over that period. So I went a little too in detail in the last one, but here's some more details here. So again, you get the 30 free minutes of riding per day and 50% discount, which is what is currently offered beyond that. So there are additional reductions for trips starting and ending in our neighborhoods of focus. The eligibility for this is really broad, so I can't list all the programs here, but just know that the goal here is to make sure that folks who are eligible do qualify. any participation in programs like SNAP or Medicaid, Section 8, or most eligible local, state, and federal assistance programs, or if you are under 200% of the federal poverty level, then you qualify for this program. Students on financial aid, veterans, and active military also qualify, and we are going to be really intentional about making sure that we enroll as many people as possible. So this is at no cost to the City of Grand Rapids. This is something that VO is providing to, or proposing to provide if they operate here. So we want to make sure we have as much people as possible sign up, of course. And then additional affordability features, I mentioned that commuter membership. There's also a program they have where if you can show that you rode a bus that day, you get a dollar off your trip. And we also always want to make sure we have options for these sort of kind of tech services for folks who don't have bank accounts or smartphones so we've asked for that to be an option and they've provided a way to do that as well as as I mentioned we have not only discounts in our neighborhood of focus that's a current service that's offered they're going to maintain but we also prioritize vehicle deployment there as well So the vehicles, so one thing that we're really excited about, and this is something we've tried to work to achieve since the pilot, is getting some seated e-scooters. So you can see there's a mixture of a fleet here that they're offering. And there's two main reasons for the seated e-scooter. One, it's certainly more accessible and allows for a lot more accessibility options for folks who need it. But it also allows for more cargo. attachments for people who are making those like I mentioned we have a lot of people who are going to work to school to grocery trips and so having options for them to carry any materials they would need it's one of the main reasons when we talk about folks about the need for cars is that that that cargo space so spreading that fleet out is really helpful another benefit to that is they are at least the data shows they are safer a lot of our standing crashes and collisions or injuries come from a lack of balance and folks who hit a bump or have some balance and you gain more balance on this. I will be clear all of these devices will have the same speed reduction so it's not like because they're seated they're going to be going faster than the standing scooters. Those would be maintained. So just really excited to have a wider variety of fleet and it's a pretty standard trend across the country of lessening the standing e-scooters and approaching more for e-bikes and seated e-scooters. So our proposed timeline, we are, some of this is in the past, so we conducted the RFP process, scored proposals, did vendor interviewers, and that's when VO scored the highest. We are looking for a vote on this in the future after discussion today here from city commission. and we'll provide on Wednesday some more mobile GR updates on this as well and then we would do press release and finalize contract if approved and then the proposed timeline is pretty soon and I can speak to that a little bit but this is a seasonal you know service relatively there's still winter activity but it's understandably much more commonly used in the summer and the warmer months so we wanted to do that transition in as soon as we could. So VEO is willing to launch and scale up their fleet throughout the month of September and that's when Lime would scale down their fleet. Lime would cease operations in Grand Rapids in October and VEO would take over as the sole operator. Then they would winterize their fleet, allow them to build up in anticipation for 27. This timeline is what staff feels and speaking with both operators feels would have the least impact in terms of any sort of loss of service for our community. We feel like there would be none with this proposed timeline. And then just a really high level, and I won't go through all these bullet points, but a high level just kind of customer expectation for our residents, visitors, and commuters. The things that will stay the same, where the fleet will be available, where the fleet can be used, the speeds, the rules for riding, eligibility for those discounted and income qualified pricing, all that stuff will stay the same. The changes will be there's going to be a new app. So folks will have to take a new app and do that one-time account setup. There's going to be the expanded vehicle options, lower standard pricing, more affordability options, and the front-facing radar on select devices. Our staff is committed to working with both vendors to help with this transition. So we'll help with the phasing out of Lime and the upscaling of Veo throughout the month of September. And we'll work on communications, of course, throughout that time. It's really important for communications and to make sure folks are aware about this change. We're going to try to work with VO on in-person support for that and either going to events or high-use trip start and end locations to talk people through that transition. And most importantly, at least from my perspective, is to work with all the folks who are qualified for that LIME access, switching over to VO access so there's no impact to them in terms of... from an affordability standpoint. So that is all I have. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Colleagues? Commissioner?

We were seeing who was faster. Family feud. Okay, we're on the same team. Thanks so much for the presentation. Thanks for answering, I think, a lot of the questions as clear. You are very attentive to the questions that have been on this body. Thank you to MobileGR as well for being engaged in this work and those that tried out these things. As somebody who's very proudly in the middle of my life, the seated scooter makes me feel like I could maybe do that. But I had a couple of questions. My first one is, can you remind me or highlight, was Veo one of the options back in 2020? I can't remember. I mean, they sound like they're a fairly new company of 2017, so I just wondered that. I can ask all these and then. Okay. Because I think some of them might overlap, Max. So that was one. The next was how are, especially with the changes to the dash, like the placement of the parking zones and where can people pick them up at? How is that connected to either the Rapids locations and dash routes? Obviously, I'm sure that's something you all are thinking about. The other question is, you mentioned the pilot, the free pilot, which I remember. Do we know how many people transition from using it free to the affordability rate? Was there a good transition rate on that? And then, this is more of a general question, but that affordability features, you know, kind of those different thresholds. Does that match up to other programs we have? Like I'm looking back at Wayne, like for like support for our water, you know, water support. So just trying to match up affordability. I think that's something you've talked about, Commissioner. Does that mean the same thing in every different thing that they might access in the city or how do we, if not, how do we get that to be across the board? And then, My last question is how do we do this now and then how would VO respond? Because it seems like they have a pretty focus on safety. When there is an injury that's reported or something like that happens, how do they respond to that? Do they look and say, hey, we believe this was user error? Do we believe we've had sometimes people say there was an obstruction in the street? Was it... something, I don't know, failed on it. I just wondered what's their post-mortem, so to speak, on after an injury.

Yeah, absolutely. And I may ask for some help on remembering some of them.

I'm sorry. I'll do my best.

No worries at all. So the first one is VO is not part of the pilot program. Yes, they were a newer technology. They also were just some local considerations for SPIN, who is a more local provider, who weren't able to bid on this. But yes, they were not part of that. The second is for the locations. That is something that we are very, you know, cognizant of when determining those. However, we are going to, with the new vendor, work with them to do an audit of all locations. But when determining designated parking zones, transit access is a huge element of that. So first mile, last mile is a huge reason that we brought this forward. And it's a part of not just our strategic planning, but part of the RAPids as well. So we're working with them to make sure folks who have that half a mile, quarter of a mile distance between their transit stop and their home or their destination can help fill that so that's a huge part of that but I do want to say we are doing an audit this winter in anticipation of the spring to see where we can reposition those based on changes not just to to our transit system but also to developments throughout the city housing developments you know event venues restaurants all that all that sort of stuff heavy employee centers So in terms of the affordability, I feel like I missed one. So the affordability, maybe it's not the best to speak to that, but generally it seems very aligned to me in the way we approach that. But sorry, maybe you can re-ask that one for me.

Oops, sorry. That was looking at when we did the pilot, what was the transition from those that were utilizing the free service to what's called the affordability category? Just looking to see, was it, hey, I did it because it was free because I wanted to try it, or...

Yeah, so we did get a lot more people who signed up than had originally done. So it did the job of giving the word out about that 50% discount program that had always existed. So we saw a lot of people sign up. And I guess if you sign up for the pre-program, you remained enrolled. So it's not like we saw people leave. We did see a drop in usage. And again, anecdotally, talking with community, a lot of that came down to it's still, if you use it twice a day to go somewhere, it's still that $40 a week. as opposed to free. So that is where it turned. A lot of folks kind of maintained that, but instead of doing another $40 a week to go to birthday parties and wedding and other things like that, that's where they kind of were able to have to make cuts. So our data showed that the enrollment stayed the same. No one really dropped out. We increased enrollment throughout, but the usage of it did drop pretty significantly. And then for the safety question and you know happy the the fire department and GRPD of course are heavily involved in the reporting aspect from their perspective but from our perspective and the vendors is yes there for any sort of serious injury fatality or even just an incident that doesn't meet those two thresholds we look at all factors involved whether they're driving under the influence whether it was on the sidewalk whether there was you know, it was in the road, whether it was a misbalance. So all of that goes into the study of each report. They each have an individual incident report that's done. Again, police and fire have theirs and then so does the vendor that reports back to us and we take it into consideration when thinking about things like which zone should be geofenced, what should the speeds be for the devices in certain areas, if there are ways we can do education in certain areas and with certain user groups, as well as how we look for and improve technologies going forward. So from my perspective, at least it's a very comprehensive reporting system for every incident.

Okay. The one in the middle was, does the affordability I'll say requirements or how people meet the qualifications, the affordability qualifications, do those match up across all other assistance support of things that we control in the city? And I was thinking just about water.

Yeah, certainly at MobileGR. I can't speak for their departments, but yes.

Let us get back with you on that, Commissioner. Thank you. Thanks so much for the thorough report.

Thank you. Commissioner Wright?

My partner over there asked the majority of the questions that I was thinking about. Oh, no, no, you're fine. We're a team. One of the things I was thinking about when you were talking about how they were offering the free option, so two questions in that. Could there be the opportunity to think about maybe an offering like that, like maybe once a month or once a quarter or something like that, specifically for when you're thinking about people who are in lower economic positions spaces like that when you talk about them going to the park and utilizing those spaces how would that look if it were free if they were using some of these public assets to get people out in the community more and then thinking about the dash routes that have been cut back where do they do their placement so maybe people can utilize that that were normally in that dash route but that aren't in it right now because I know specifically even where I live there are no scooter placements close by. So I would still end up walking probably three, four blocks just to get to a bus stop, right? And so I know there are a lot of people that are away from that. And I would assume that they're putting their placements where they see more business access in those areas. But what about those that are just pushed out just a little bit more? How do they make sure that people are able to access that in those spaces?

Great question. So for the first one, we are always exploring different ways we can build on the success of that program. So that program was funded by the City of Grand Rapids. Everything else you see here is done by the vendor. So it would be something we'd have to look at from that perspective. But again, highly impactful and something that we're always looking for ways to help build off that success. And again, one of the reasons we're so excited about this because while not free, $5 a month is of course significantly more affordable than what we've seen in the past for this sort of service. But happy to keep looking into it. And then for the proximity to transit stops, I think the dash is a great example of how that first mile, last mile works. So we've seen a significant increase in And the rapid routes that came from the area where the dash was removed, specifically around Leonard. But one of the reasons for the dash then was that cross connector over the river because there's not a rapid route that does that. So we have put DPZs on either side of that and seen an increase in usage in that locations. But using some more messaging and other things to help draw those connections, I think we can work on And then specifically to where you live and I live in a similar location, and that is one of the few excluded areas of our city. So we are exploring with Mobile JR Commission very early and talking with the vendor about potential expansion and what that looks like. That was part of the original pilot back was to eventually reach more of the city. But just want to, of course, talk that through with Mobile JR Commission and community before we move forward.

Yeah, thank you. Mayor, just to clarify, though, what we're proposing to MobileGR and what will ultimately come back for vote is discounted services without the free option. For us to offer that, we'd have to have funding appropriated by this body, which is not in the budget at this point, but certainly something we can look at as we move forward.

Yeah, and frankly, the advantage of that free program, I mean, you know as well as I do, I've seen it at MobileGR, the advantage of getting people to try it, you'll like it, is really, really powerful. The example I've been using recently is my wife was insanely resistant to the idea of an e-bike and she just wanted to get a real bike and so I took her off to Freewheeler and she tried two non-e-bikes and I was like, can you just try an e-bike? And she got on one and she's like, yeah, that's what I want to buy. So I had a staff member say the same thing. She's like, I've finally understand why you've been talking about e-bikes for a year and a half. This is amazing. So getting people on them, getting people to see the possibility of, like, getting around the world without cars, you can explain it to people all day long. But the leap to actually using it, and if your barrier is, I don't want to be bothered figuring out who I got to pay and what account to set up and all that kind of stuff, like, removing barriers to people experiencing it for themselves, I think probably the single most important thing we can do for getting people to actually understand other mobility options. So that's great. But that's, yes, that's not the purview of what you're talking about today. Commissioner Cougar.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. I'm, one, very excited to see this. I love the idea of being more accessible for differently abled folks within our community. My question is, and I remember, I feel like Lime was a very affordable contract for the city. I just wanted to get more information on that. comparison of the price of contracts and from you know what I've experienced from my background is anytime you switch over to a new CRM or anything like that there still is some cost even if the cost is the employee hours so what is going to be the cost for residents in terms of switching to a new system are we assessing that or is there any feedback on that

Yeah, certainly. So, yeah, for most requests for proposals, the city is going to pay someone, right? So that's an element of there from that cost. Since this is a cost-free, at least from that perspective point of view, we did... consider a few things related to that. One, we assessed the staff time that went into our current work with Lime and the staff time it took to launch a new program and switch from SPIN to Lime originally. So we had SPIN predominantly, we brought Lime in later in the pilot, then we switched to Lime fully. So throughout the purchasing process and the weighting of those scores, that was considered. and acknowledge. So not just staff time, but resources, adjusting the website, printing materials, going to community events. So while cost-free, there is a cost associated with that, but that is something that we took into consideration when making this selection. And still, relatively to the service it provides our community, just my personal opinion, I think the cost is worth it, especially when we look at the access programs and other some of the changes. But yeah, I do appreciate that. And that is something we take into consideration. It's cost free, but staff time.

Exactly. Yeah. And so is there a direct price that you all assess that you can share with us as commissioners by chance for that?

It might be better for the purchasing department. I'm not sure how they do those reportings out, but that was something that was taken into consideration. I do not know like the...

Just to make sure, I think what you're asking for, there's direct costs, and what we're saying is we don't have any direct budgeted costs, and you're asking what the indirect cost is in terms of the amount of time the staff spent to transition, which is budgeted, but we certainly can give a report on the amount of time in your timeline that you shared with us earlier that you think the staff will need to commit out of their normal operating hours. We can get back with you on that.

Perfect. Thank you.

Mayor, I do want to thank the staff again, mobile GR commissioners for their work. One of the things I am really excited about, oftentimes we use the phrase, it's just like riding a bike. You never forget what you once knew. Well, that's not always the case with some people riding. And the fact that we have the three-wheel vehicle that will help to center balance, I think will I'm looking forward to see what that experience will be.

And actually, if I can jump in here, Max, while we're on that conversation. I know Commissioner Perdue has expressed concerns about safety before and helmet wearing. And I will just, you know, a little bit of history here. In 2007, I proposed that we actually have a requirement for people to wear helmets in the city, and every libertarian on planet Earth came out and told me that, said that they didn't want to get told what to do with their body, despite the fact that the hospitals said, oh my gosh, we have so many closed-head injuries from people that would be preventable if people would just wear helmets. And if I had a, if I had, you know, an if I had a thousand dollars for every person I've seen wearing a scooter with a helmet on them, I wouldn't be any richer than I am right now. I just don't see people on scooters wearing helmets and that is very concerning. One of the huge differences between a scooter, I always explain like it's basic physics. There's a reason pickup trucks are incredibly dangerous. It's because they have a high center of gravity, so they're vulnerable to rollovers. They are also so big that you can't see things in front of them, which is why they're so dangerous for pedestrians. Similarly, scooters have a physics problem. They have little wheels. If you throw a little wheel through a small flaw in the road, It may be the end of that scooter's ride. If you have a big wheel, you can survive an encounter with a two- or three-inch pothole. So bikes are just inherently a lot safer. So that's a framing for saying I would like us to longer term. This is all great. All of this contract stuff is great. But I would love to have us longer term keep an eye on whether we want to actually have differential pricing to encourage people to do safer things. In other words, if bikes were cheaper than scooters, or faster than scooters, if we made bikes more desirable because we know they're safer, that might be something for us to consider, just to incentivize people to choose safer options. As far as the trike goes, I will again, full disclosure, say every winter comes around. I fantasize about getting one of those myself because I'm not riding a two-wheeled vehicle in the snow. So I stop riding my bike to work in the snow. how are people going to know where those things are available? Because we're not going to have 5,000 of them around. Do you know how many of those three-wheeled things we're going to have and how people are going to know, like, oh, there's one at the corner of Madison and Hall? If they don't know where they are, it's going to be tough for people who really need that option to use it. And then the other question would be, can we lean into those heavier in the winter? Because they're safer for everybody in the winter.

yeah so first question I'm really glad you brought this up Commissioner Perdue your comments around helmets was a big part of our proposal and our requests and I apologize for omitting it in this presentation I should have we have commitment from them that they will provide helmets to anyone who asks for it for free and they will be at events handing out helmets that's part of their helmet giveaway program one that Lime had committed to as well recently and we've been ramping up they're gonna stay with that They also have a few technologies that they have in their toolbox that can address that as well, similar to discounting rides for folks who use helmets, but those are things that we'd like to run through some other bodies just to make sure they adhere to all of our policies here at the city. In terms of the device locations within the app, if you're looking for them, they're highlighted as a unique device on the app so you can see the different types. However, there is an accessibility feature through Vio's app that says if you have accessible needs, then the devices are highlighted for you and often you can reserve them ahead of time as opposed to other devices where you're not able to do that. That's a good point about pricing. I can speak with them about that. Again, we're in the contract phase, so we can talk about that for that. And then, similarly, we've had commitment from them, and this is very standard, again, for communities that have this sort of vehicle split to heavily reduce standing scooters in the winter and improve the more stable devices. So that's part of their plans already. Overall, fleet distribution, locations, it's an art, not a science. It's something where we go into community and talk to them about their needs and we look at certain areas and we've been doing it with Lime, but with this new vendor and these new vehicle options, we'll of course have to take that into consideration.

Thanks. Someday, I dream of asking you a question that you don't have a complete answer for. So, Max, you're a rock star. Thank you. You're so good at all this stuff. Any other questions, colleagues? Commissioner Belichick.

Well, yeah, I'm very excited about this proposal, and I really appreciate the work that you and your team have done to put this together, and I want to thank the city manager for leading this discussion and GR Mobile Commission, too, because... as we've discussed, safety's been an issue. I know like downtown in certain areas, we do have still questions about ridership on sidewalks and pedestrians and people who, especially as we have more density and multi-story buildings that people are living in, they're coming out of their buildings and these vehicles are going by or we have events here at DeVos Place or the Van Andel or wherever. So my question, it's more of a comment, but my I want to say thank you because I think that this vendor looks really, really appealing, and I can see why they would have scored very highly. Happy to hear about the safety feature with the helmets. And so I guess I would like to just give you the opportunity to remind us all where you can use scooters and these micromobility and where you can't.

Yeah, so we have a walk your wheels ordinance in the downtown development district, or sorry, the downtown improvement district, which is an ordinance that does not allow you to ride your motorized vehicles like an e-scooter and e-bike on certain sidewalks in the downtown area. There is no state guidance along this, so that ordinance, that local ordinance, is the only thing that prohibits sidewalk riding, if you will, in the city of Grand Rapids. So everywhere else it is permitted. We do not recommend that you ride on the sidewalk, but of course understand communities sometimes feel that's the safest place. Ideally from a behavioral standpoint riding on the sidewalk would be okay if you slow down near conflict points like driveways or doors or when you see pedestrians which is why this radar technology is so exciting because what that can do is take like you from eight to nine miles per hour down to three which is again ideally if you're riding on the sidewalk and you should acknowledge that if I near a pedestrian or a conflict zone I should slow down but that sometimes doesn't happen. So yeah, so just to answer your question specifically, the only thing prohibiting people from riding on the sidewalk is our local ordinance that is specific to certain downtown streets. And otherwise, it's a communication thing where we talk with folks. Often the safest place is to be in the street in a bike line even though it may not feel that way because a lot of the injuries and fatalities we see are from conflict points from driveways or from intersections. If you're going fast on an intersection on the sidewalk and a car can't see you when making a right turn because they're expecting people at pedestrian speeds, that's where a lot of the injuries can occur, especially nationally as we look at data. But again, excited about this because then if someone's like, I feel safer on the sidewalk, but then the radar detects, hey, there's a vehicle here, it can detect very quickly and stop that device. So, yeah.

Thank you for that, and I would just like to ask that as we continue to think about micromobility and e-bike policy in general, that we revisit some of this ordinance stuff, because Wes Leonard is having issues with e-bikes going too fast on the sidewalk.

Great. So we've got one more briefing to do, but Commissioner Perdue, I may have stolen your thunder, but you're the only person who hasn't spoken, so if you want to weigh in here or say anything, I don't want to cut you off, but we do have one more briefing to get to, so...

Thank you. Just really quickly, thank you so much, Max. I'm really excited about or really appreciative of all the hard work to take in all the feedback that you've received over the years. And this seems like a huge upgrade in terms of options, amenities, safeties. And thank you so much for connecting the helmet piece because that is something that we've talked about for years. So excited that you all took that seriously, but also that VO, is it VO or VO? VO. VO is willing to do that. So thank you. Thank you for pointing that out, Mayor. Thank you, Max. Thanks.

Great, exciting briefing. Okay, and that brings us to our last briefing, which is also exciting, and that is the additional progress on our Third Ward cultural tour, which is something that's been years in the making, so great to have an update, and then we're going to be moving to closed session after that. So I see we have Asante coming up, but who else? Yeah.

I knew Max was going to be presenting, so I had to bring in the big guns here. You can have fireworks?

You have to get a permit if you want fireworks.

Yes, sir. Thank you, city commission, city manager. Today I'm going to give an update on the Third Ward cultural tour and additionally an update on the Third Ward mural. over probably a little bit longer than a year ago, this city embarked this journey to help the Third Ward for economic development reasons, but also to bring more cultural celebration to that community. So about a year and a half ago, we set out to make this mural, make this cultural tour. And we're doing that because the Third Ward has a story to tell. It's historically rich. We wanna make a tour that offers an immersive experience, a world-class experience. We want something that's gonna be scalable in its progress, and we wanna innovate. These are some of the persons that are known in Grand Rapids. For historical reasons, we're going to be working with the Grand Rapids African American Museum to find and discover more people. But they've already set out, we're going to have 50 tour stops eventually. That's our current contract. We have 25 right now, but I'm still in the thunder away from the museum and MUSE. So I'll pause right there, and I will turn it over to them. Steven from MUSE, who's also partnered with the Grand Rapids African American Museum, he's going to show you something right here.

Sorry, can someone...

ask them to keep their voices down in the hall please we are here but we we feel like you can see a video and get the full effect

We are excited to present the Third Ward Legacy Tour, an interactive way to explore and learn about the history of Grand Rapids Third Ward. The tour is accessible through an easy-to-use app on a phone, tablet, computer, or at kiosks throughout the city. From the interactive map, users can explore different locations and select individual stops to learn more about the people, places, and stories that shape the community.

The First Community African Methodist Episcopal AME Church was formed from rich history and perseverance as its founder had to fight in advocating for the black community to have access to their own church.

The app offers a variety of ways to engage with this history, including videos, photographs, scavenger hunts, and opportunities for reflection. As users explore the tour, they can test their knowledge through interactive quizzes, adding a fun and engaging layer to the experience. At stops like Al Green, the tour connects visitors to the places where important stories began and explores the people and experiences that shaped the legacy of the Third Ward.

Let's stick together.

We look forward to bringing these stories to life and creating a meaningful way for both Grand Rapids residents and visitors to explore, connect with, and learn about the legacy of the Third Ward.

All right. So yes, that's how the app will work. We're going to bring up George Byer. We are excited to present the Third Ward. And he'll tell you about the kiosk and the locations that the kiosk will be.

Hello, mayor, commissioners, city manager. This is a kiosk. This is a physical kiosk. here's a couple ways that you'll be able to access the kiosk. The first is when you get by one of the spots, they'll be assigned very similar to this. Now I know you all got your app links this week, but you'll also be able to scan the QR code. So if you see a telephone pole or a fence or something that has one of these on it, it'll be also represented in the kiosk. All the kiosks are the physical spots. Right now we'll have those in M Village, MLK Lodge. We'll have it in the Hub 07 building. We'll also have it at Wealthy Theater and at Grandma. So these are the physical kiosk, but like I said, it's really meant to do on your phone. So anybody who has a phone can access the same information. Usually what you're going to see is the kiosk. You'll have a banner very similar to this, which is kind of a collage of people from the Third Ward That'll give you a location. And then once you do that, Steven, you can show them how it works. It has been activated. We did a soft launch on the 4th of July. and we are extremely happy to say that we're gonna have a major launch sometime in the fall. This would launch it to everybody. We were also picked up by America 250, so we're a part of, this project is a part of that project, and it's one that the state has embraced. So, On here, it's got a lot of different things. As Stephen said in the video, we have tapes of music. We have games. We have historical information, which is the most important thing. That's what it's really made for. And if you have any questions, I can answer them for you.

I really love a lot of this. I just had an idea, though. Would this kiosk or this information also be available maybe at the Grand Rapids Public Museum archives, especially since we're going to be opening our new visitor center and stuff in the future? That might be something worth exploring.

Yeah, we're working with city departments to find places for it. We've worked with the Parks Department, and I'm sure the clerk's department, who's in charge of the archives, would be happy to consider that, too, if they have space. Great. We've got a couple more slides to go through. We do. Just real quick about the mural tour. Thank you, partners. So the second piece of this work is the... an additional $50,000 that we're helping to seed this art with a mural in the Third Ward also. And so we have selected a project manager. The team that helped select that were members of the Third Ward, the South Town the South Town CIA in addition. But who was selected was Kamei Strategies. I'm gonna go through here real quick. Kamei Strategies, their principal, Candy Isbell, worked very hard on the successful 49507 project that the Diatribe did a couple years. So she has experience in projects such as this. Available now on that website, thirdwardmural.com, is a call for artists and a call from community volunteers to help in the selections. So we're selecting two things. We're locating sites in the Third Ward that would be happy to host murals, and then the other selection process is the actual art and the subjects. So those two things are available. The website's obviously available now there. In August, we're hoping to have some pop-up community engagement activities. September, community listening sessions with help of grandma. Public voting in September. October, a community celebration of the subject, location, and art. And then next year, May of 2027, a completed mural in the third ward, world class, and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Are you talking singular or plural for the mural? So the $50,000 is for one mural, but the good thing about this project is we should have other buildings that are interested and are already selected for those buildings. So at that point, it would just be up to the community to raise the funding for it. And the city could choose to invest again also.

Okay. How does that compare to other mural stuff we've done around town? Like, that sounds higher to me than, like, I know Brewery of Avant's got a mural on it. There are lots of places around town that we've done art initiatives at before that have been, I thought they were more like in the $5,000 or $10,000 range. Am I wrong?

We're looking for a world-class mural that's representative of the city, so we're not looking for a $2,000 mural on a corner store. So... It's going to be a nice mural. The mural that's of the... I think she's a Korean woman that you can see by Founders. That's a lot of money to do something like that. That gentleman was, I believe, from Korea. His name is Royal Dog, based out in California. Flown here and everything else. We'll see how it works out as far as the the RFPs from the artists, the responses from the artists, but it's a world-class mural. It's not going to be a small thing. Thanks. Commissioner Kilgore.

Yes. Well, I'm always excited to see the third ward get some attention and highlights. Woo. I love downtown too, but whoa. Wow. It's like, wow. Everyone like, woo, woo. I like screen record it for myself. So we're finally talking about our part of town. Finally. Finally? Yes. Yes. Finally. But I'm very excited. That is truly my excitement for this project. I want to thank Grandma. and Muse and Mr. and everyone for working on this. I'm very excited. I did have a question of folks are still able to submit historical pieces for the tour if we are still looking for photos. I know I helped connect some folks for some photos at MLK Community Center. And so just wondering if folks can still submit that and how they do that.

Yes, they can contact Grandma and get that in. Awesome. Yeah, they can contact Grandma on the Grandma's website. They have their email information there.

Awesome. So excited to hear from you all. Looking forward to continue to support this.

Thanks. Commissioner Perdue.

Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for this update. This is a really exciting milestone. I want to thank the prior commission and this commission for supporting this work. To your point, Commissioner, you know, we know that, you know, we know that it's important to be proud of where we're from. We know that we want the city to be part of that pride. And so I just, I'm very excited to have people be able to interact with the history and see how much in the world of sports, music, civil right and justice movement, how much has been birthed and continued and elevated through the Third Ward or from the South Side. One of our local community leaders and a friend of mine actually just moved into a house on Giddings and found out it was the house of where the DeBarge family lived and was raised. And so, you know, she almost elected to say, can I be a stop on this tour? I would love to, you know, host people.

I think they are. She said they are.

Yeah, so just kudos. Thank you so much. I'm excited to celebrate the big launch this fall. My only kind of two questions or notes is just one, you know, do we have a consistent name? Is this Third World Legacy Tour? Is that the final? Is it the cultural tour? You know, so... So I think, you know, just what's the name of the actual kind of project, if you will. And then secondly, one of the major goals with this project, not outside of celebrating and educating ourselves on the greatness that has come from this community to change the world, It was also to get folks out and about walking around visiting parts of the city, parts of our neighborhoods and our businesses. And so to that end, I'm wondering what how can how are those different points on the map? How are they translating to certain routes that people can say, hey, I want like a tour, right? What is the route for me to visit? And then maybe that route overlaps with our business district. So I don't want that to, you know, that piece to get lost. So curious if you can speak to that.

Yeah, for the last question first. I think so much of what it comes to working as a city is we provide a platform for people to live their lives and elevate the quality of their life. And so when it comes to the Third Ward Cultural Tour, we definitely can put in like mini routes or if you want to see a music route or an art route or something else, we can do those for sure. But I'd say there's a lot of opportunity for those hard-working people in the Third Ward and all over Grand Rapids to come up with their own ideas. There's no reason that someone can't say, hey, I want to start a Negro League theater troupe, and we're going to be out at Raspberry Field at this time. They can do that. But we will find ways. We're connecting with businesses so if the stop is close to a business there will be an opportunity to get coupons or whatever at that restaurant and materials at the restaurant to send them back to the tour. But we will look for opportunities. Another goal of this project is to have more of the tour and the art be in those CIA's where we'll have more opportunities and whatnot to fund new projects but a lot of it it depends on the community itself to kind of come out and and be entrepreneurs I think that that is part of it but we'll do as much as we can to create the platform but I think the community's gonna have to step up frankly mayor let me add real quickly and Commissioner

Purdue, as you're aware, we're also partnering with Southtown on a southeast development executive. And hopefully those kind of strategic stops and routes could be something that we continue to develop and learn and become more agile. But there should be some intentionality around the places, spaces, stops. And I think that's something that we certainly can learn. But we've got to get started. But as we do that, then we can certainly learn and see where we need to make improvements.

Yeah, and that was one of the first major goals and objectives of the project. So this idea that we need community members to step up to make that a reality, while I do agree that this can provide some entrepreneurial opportunities. We've seen folks creating routes downtown to look at the architecture. So certainly there's going to be a lot of opportunities for that. and I think it's exciting to your point that you can align it with the sports, with music, so I hope there's filters like that. But to City Manager's point, I think part of this product was to not just showcase, but to get people out, get them active, I think part of the design of the product has to be that overlap in those routes.

Yes, ma'am. And I could have spoke a lot better to your point. I think an immediate opportunity is things like South Prize. So, you know, we're going to have South Prize at this particular time. So how do we roll in the cultural tour with that? And as city manager said, like, that's that partnership with the South Town and other community partners to make sure that happens. So, yes, we can make that happen.

And again, I want to be clear. We're going to be as intentional with that Southeast Development Initiative and also partnering with Experience Grand Rapids to be real laser focused on tourism and being intentional about placemaking, getting people to go. step out. So, point well taken. Thank you. Thanks, City Manager.

Well, and who knows, maybe we get some micromobility tie-ins here. I mean, those things are... Hop on a scooter, do a music route. Ridership is all driven by where the things are, right? You can't rent a bike that you can't see that doesn't exist on a route. So, I hope we can have some intelligent conversations about the overlay. And I think your point too, these things have virtuous cycles, right? So the more people get out, the more people get out. The more people see the possibility, the more people are gonna see the possibility. It's also true that any outside of downtown activity, has to fight against less density, right? Like it's easier to see six interesting buildings in downtown Manhattan in a two block area than it is in Queens. So similarly, if you're having things like this out in neighborhoods, I think transportation from point A to point B, the geographical considerations there, all of those things are things we'll have to, exactly. So we'll have to keep thinking about that. But so thank you for elevating that, Commissioner.

Thank you. Thank you, Grandma. Thank you.

Yep. Okay. I think, seeing no further questions, I'm going to move us into closed session. Thank you. This part is adjourned.