City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the February 18, 2026 regular meeting of the Holland City Council. I am Mayor Nathan Box. I'm calling this meeting to order. Brenda, would you please call the role? Yes. Clumps here. Freeman here. Raymond here. Corbin here. Schulty present. Maren here. Rowan. Sheay present. Mayor Box present. We have a quorum.

Wonderful. Thank you. We are going to begin this evening's meeting as we have for many years. First with an opening prayer this evening by city manager Keith Van Beek followed immediately by the pledge of allegiance. And we invite you to join us if you're so inclined. Thank you if you'd join me. Gracious God, thank you for this day. Thank you for the sun, for the warmth, uh for the promise that sometimes we need after long winters um of new birth and um growth again. Um we ask Lord that in this day and in this meeting that we do the business of the city being mindful of all the people that we serve and represent um and that we do work that is pleasing in your eyes. We ask for safety uh for all those in our community and those that serve it. It's in your name we pray. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Mr. Vanique. Next item on our agenda are our consent agenda items. These are items that are considered to be fairly routine and they have been previously reviewed by council members as part of our council packet and they will be enacted in one motion unless a member of the public or a member of council asked to have an item removed from the consent agenda and then it will be placed in its regular order on the regular agenda. But before I ask if anyone would like to have an item removed from the consent agenda, Brenda, would you please review the consent agenda for us?

Okay. 4 A. Excuse the absence of council member Rowan. 4 B, approve the minutes of the February 4, 2026 regular meeting and February 11, 2026 study session. 4 C, accept executed oaths of office. 4 D, amendments to consumers energy leases. 4 E, grant of sewer bill of sale for 470 Cleveland Avenue, Ottawa town homes. 4 F, amendment to unit 7, major inspection contract contingency. 4G, early voting notices agreement with Ottawa County. 4 H, award a bid for mowing services. 4 I, the November financial reports. 4J, the quarterly investment report. 4K, approve the grant application to the build grant program. 4 L, approve the grant application to the 2026 port infrastructure development program. 4 M, the West Michigan Enforcement Team Burn Justice Assistant Grant Approval. 4N, declare transportation items as surplus. 4 O, a revocable license agreement for 55 East 8th Street, a projecting sign. And 4 P, imagery acquisition agreement with Alagan County.

Great. Thank you, Brenda. Is there any member of the public that would like to have an item removed from the consent agenda and placed in its regular order on the regular agenda? Seeing none, any member of council that would like to have an item removed from consent? Seeing none there. What is the pleasure of councel in regard to the consent agenda? Move to approve the agenda as presented. Moved by Vreamman. Is there support? Support. Support by Schultice. Any discussion? Seeing none, Brenda, would you please call the role? Clumps. Yes. Raymond, yes. Raymond, yes. Corbin, yes. Schultz, yes. Marin, yes. Shay, yes. Mayor Box,

yes. Motion carries.

Wonderful. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is item number five, public comment. Under the open meetings act of the state of Michigan, we provide the public the opportunity to address council at our regular meetings, our study sessions, and at every one of our board, committee, and commission meetings. But we do have guidelines that we ask you to follow. Uh first is that we do limit uh each speaker to speaking one time and for a time limit of five minutes. There are three lights on the deis in front of me. There's a green light, a yellow light, and a red light. Green light means that you're doing well on time. Yellow light means that you have one minute left and red light means that your time is expired and we are strict about that. You may speak on any subject that you believe is important, but please understand that this is one-way communication. It's an opportunity for you to be able to speak to us, but we do not answer questions during this time or engage in discussion. But if there is a question that staff is able to answer after the meeting, they may be able to circle back to you on that. We ask that when you come to the podium, you please state your name and the municipality in which you live, the community that you live in, because it's important to us to know whether or not you are a resident of the city of Holland. Now, having said that, is there anyone here who would like to address council at this time? If so, please come forward.

Good evening. And before you get started, I just want to let the public know because we all know as council members, we also have members of the Holland Youth Advisory Council who come and attend our meetings occasionally. And we love having you guys here. Um, but I also I I also have a couple of extra questions that I like the members of the Youth Advisory Council to answer. And I'm sure that you guys have been briefed on that already, but I want the public to know. We'd love to know what school you you are here representing, what grade you're in, uh what it is that you do with Hayek, and if you have any plans for the future. And as I always say, it's okay if you don't because I did not have any at your age either. So, welcome.

Hello, my name is Kylina Zanichak and I'm a senior at West Ottawa High School. I'm also the chair of the recreation committee for Hayak. And what we do is we're considered more of the fun committee. So, we have like Easter egg hunts, scavenger hunts for Patrick St. Patrick's Day or like cookie decorating. It's very fun. And my plans for the future is to go to a 4-year university to major in psychology and then move on to medical school. Thank you. Okay. Good evening, members of the city council. I'm here to address concerns about factory operations in our city, issues that affect many workers, families, and the greater city of Holland. Factories play a huge role in Holland's economy. Many people rely on these jobs to support their families, and the stability of these factories also directly impacts the well-being of our own communities. However, economic productivity cannot come at the expense of safety or public health. Last year, we saw how quickly accidents occur at factories. I believe that safety, especially in industrial settings, should be a top priority. Workers should not have to fear for their lives, and I feel that it's important that factories follow strong safety protocols with consistent oversight. To add on to that, there are also incidents highlighting environmental concerns. Last year, a chemical spill at a plant sent 15 workers to a hospital. While there were no life-threatening injuries, exposure to toxic materials still highlights the potential risks that these operations can pose to both employees and the surrounding community. Taking AP environmental science with Mr. Blake taught me that about the detrimental impact that industrial emissions can have on wildlife, natural resources, and air quality. Even limited exposure can create long-term environmental and health impacts. At the same time, I also appreciate the measures that the Holland

Board of Public Works has taken to support our town. Initiatives such as Holland Energy Park improved both the efficiency and environmental performance in our city. Efforts like this have shown that Holland is capable of sorry of balancing growth with sustainability. Ensuring that these factories in Holland operate safely and sustainably is important for protecting workers, families, and the environment. I believe we should continue prioritizing oversight, environmental responsibility, and workplace safety so that Holland can remain both economically strong and environmentally healthy. Thank you for your time and your commitment to our city. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address council at this time?

Good evening. And you are also one of our Holland Youth Advisory Council students. Welcome. Hi, I'm Saurin Traver and I am a freshman at Westado High School. I am on the social services committee. I have anaphylactic food allergies and I like to eat downtown at the restaurants, but eating at restaurants with food allergies can be uncomfortable and make you feel nervous about what you are eating and wondering if it is safe. Most menus do have descriptions of the meals, but most menus are not specific about what kind of oil they use in the fryer. if there is crosscontamination. I think that all restaurants in Holland should have a citywide key on the menus with little symbols for the top nine allergens. Each menu item that contains or has been cooked in one of the allergens will have a symbol next to it. This will make it easy to tell if any part of your meal contains or has been cooked in something that you're allergic to. This will make people with with food allergies feel more comfortable eating downtown and all over Holland at our amazing restaurants. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address council at this time?

Good evening. And you are also one of our Holland Youth Advisory Council students. Welcome.

Thank you. Hi, my name is Liam Kunkrite. I'm a part of Hayak serving on the environmental committee. I am currently a junior at West Ottawa High School and I live in Park Township. My plans for the future are to go to a 4-year university to study urban planning. Today, I would like to discuss the idea of walkability and the important role it plays in our cities. I think that walkable cities have a stronger sense of community and understanding. People have more freedom of how they choose to get around and they are not just restricted to one mode of transport. Plus, it's convenient to have numerous amenities all just a walk away. Walkability also benefits the environment. Oftentimes, air and noise pollution levels are lower in walkable cities and neighborhoods. This is also beneficial to human health as high air and noise pollution are quite harmful to human health in the long term. Now, I'm observant enough to know that the city of Holland has made strides toward becoming a more pedestrian-friendly city, but there is always room for improvement. The space for improvement is best shown in a local study I came across by Housing Next, a Grand Rapids space organization advocating for positive social impact through housing. This study found that 56% of West Michigan residents would prefer to live in a walkable neighborhood with the majority being younger generations. Yet currently only 9% do. Additionally, only 3% of regional land is zoned to be walkable. Holland can fix this by creating more walkable neighborhoods through the implementation of mixed use zoning around the city, not just in downtown. Another benefit to pedestrian-based development that I personally think is one of the most important is its long-term low cost.

Traditional suburban development can be extremely expensive to maintain. The roads and utility pipes in a suburban neighborhood are much more vast and extensive than those in a walkable neighborhood. I would also like to point out that developing more walkable neighborhoods to accommodate future growth preserve natural and agricultural lands around the city. Overall, I would like to see the city of Holland value the design process of putting people over cars and planning and the planning of more walkable neighborhoods that are accessible to all and that help to create a more connected and resilient future for our city. Thank you.

Thank you. And if you haven't met Steve Peterson, who's sitting right in front of you, I think you'd love to have a conversation with him. He's our city planner. Is there anyone else who would like to address council at this time? And would you please state your name and municipality for the record?

Ann Henrikson, Zealand. Good evening, council. The board and various committees of National April Faith Month Action Organization Incorporated is proud to announce the 2026 projected events. We are growing with more and more citizens becoming aware of our pledge to the faith in this area. We are not a church but bring worship and information to not only those who profess the faith but to bring our message outside church walls in a winsome inclusive way into public spaces to people who would never set a foot in the church. These spaces include parks, amphitheater, theaters, museums, libraries, etc. We believe all people are made in the image of God, both male and female, and have the constitutional rights to respect and dignity. We do not operate in display or performance. This is not about us. It's about God. Our theme scripture is John 12:32. Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all people to myself." Because we believe and witness this power of God, we include all local ministries that support the well-being and needs of our communities with compassion and care, subscribing to and honoring God. It is much more than social justice. We are not better than anyone else, but take joy in what God is doing in the lives of people. We uniquely include the loving faith of the Hispanic community and many of our events are bilingual. We are we hope to expand to the Asian faith culture in the future. We are excited to get to know them. We want to take time to thank Marabox for willingly pledge the National April Faith Month and National Day of Prayer

declaration in 2026. This is the only municipality in the United States where the mayor of the city does this. We thank Esther Fafliski as well for promoting it. Our 2026 events are as follows. National April Faith Month will be acknowledged we hope at Heric Libraries during the month of April with special appropriate information concerning our faith in Holland. We are excited that Diane Quaker received the human relations award January 28th and attributed the award to her staff's diligence to include everyone in the community. We are in a discussion with her as we speak as to how this will look. National April Faith Month will host the following. The 250th birthday of the United States of America with National Day of Prayer on Tuesday, April 28th at the Holland Civic Center Place six 6:00 doors open the program and it begins at 6:30 to 8. Dan Seaborn and Massie Campos will be the guest speakers and join us for intercessory prayer five o'clock to six o'clock. The official day uh national day of prayer is being held across the nation on May 7th and will be held at Centennial Park at noon as has been the tradition for the past 20 years. Due to tulip time, the civic center place was not available for May 7th. We will delay any events in the summer because many community members spend time at cottages and the city has concerts in the park. It will be wonderful if one of those concerts was a hymn sing. Last year the Legion band opened up this season with a hymn sing and it was wellreceived. The

old hymns have powerful messages. We are already planning our annual shine the light of Jesus in Holland at Colin Park Banshell. Each year more and more are involved. It was amazing how many people showed up 2025. We we were thrilled. This year we hope to offer a nonprofit expo or festival of all the ministries and businesses in the areas. We will make sure those who serve the Lord Jesus will be included. We will have food and things for families to do. And finally, Christmas singing at Rest Haven is always a thrill to join with the residents and their families for all the joy of Christmas with these dear people. Last year, our piano player was 90 years old and did a wonderful job. We're absolutely sure this is what Holland was formed for. We pray that many people will come to this jewel of a city to find peace and safety in God. We hope the public institutions will show evidence of this dynamic faith. Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else who would like to address council at this time? Seeing none, I will close the public comment period. Next item on the agenda is item number nine, written petitions and communications. In addition to providing the public the opportunity to address council in person at our council meetings, we do also have an email address where you can send written communications. And that email address is public comment at cityofholland.com. Again, public comment at cityofholland.com. When we receive those communications, we accept them into the record at our council meetings. We don't read them into the record, but we accept them as part of the public record. We do not have any this evening, but I always like to make sure that the public knows that that email address is available and those uh emails will be received by all council members. Again, one more time, public comment at cityofholland.com. Next item on the agenda, item number 10, adoption of ordinances, item 10A, resoning request for 702 East 8th Street, 209 Waverly Road, and 213 Waverly Road. Mr. Van Beek.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Councel. Um, I'm going to ask senior planner Steve Peterson to come up and make a presentation on this while he's getting himself ready. Just a few things. I think um, this has been in process in a while. It's a project that staff has been working with a a local nonprofit partner on for some time. It it it's going to seem pretty timely after a pretty thorough study session talking about housing policy and and housing projects um last week. Um but this comes to you with unanimous uh vote and recommendation from the planning commission and again as I said it's example of a of a very great project with a nonprofit partner. So Steve, why don't you why don't you take it away and say what's before us this evening.

Great. Great. Thanks, Keith. Yeah, so as Keith mentioned, this is a recommendation uh in part from the planning commission for the reszoning piece. Um what you see in front of you is the Doors of Hope project at the souththeast corner of 8th and Waverly. It is eight total units. Uh if you're familiar with that corner, you know that there's a building out there now. They really would keep that um use that for one of the units and then have some community space in there. And then there's seven additional uh units um on the property. It actually incorporates three different pieces of property. That piece that is right on the corner um and then two pieces that are just to the south of that property as you kind of go up the hill on Waverly. Um in addition to making the recommendation to you guys for the resoning to PUD, the planning commission approved the site plan. They approved the PUD agreement which basically puts into writing the actual plan that you're looking at here. And then they um gave a waiver for uh house size for one of the house uh one of the houses on this plan is under our 500 square foot requirement. The PUD process allows for that waiver to be granted. Uh the building is 440 square ft. So it's a 22x 20 um home. Uh that 20 foot dimension is important too because we actually require uh the minimum width to be 22. So the planning commission gave them a waiver on that as well. The other one is the sidewalk on Waverly. You can see it on your plan there. Um it is coming up from the eighth street sidewalk about halfway uh up the hill if you will. And the requirement in Udo is really that you would normally build the sidewalk along your entire frontage. Um and we kind of settled on um kind of at the

halfway point if you will uh for a couple reasons. One of the biggest reason is really the topography of this site. Again, if you're familiar with it, you know that you got a um a big a big hill going um sort of down to 8th Street and then you also have a hill coming down towards Waverly. So, there's a couple things going on on that frontage. Um, and as you guys know, we don't have any sidewalk on that side of Waverly between 8th and 16th Street. Um, and so without any plans to to build any of that sidewalk, uh, the concern was that if eventually that extension were to happen, if we had them build that all the way to the property line with retaining walls and grading and things that might be needed, the concern was that we might actually have to rip some of that out uh, in order to make that connection in the future. So rather than do any of that, we kind of settled on meeting at that halfway point. So again, that was something that um is allowed as part of the uh planning commission's review uh based on uh the city engineers uh review of the site as well. So I know we don't normally talk a lot about site plans with resonings, but because this is a plan unit development and the site plan really comes with the reszoning, thought it was important uh that we kind of went through a few of these um basics of the site plan. Um, as you guys know, you've done PUDS before, that does create a bit of flexibility with that review process. I think it's important to remember, uh, at least the way the staff reviews, uh, the PUDs is that that flexibility should still be based on the master plan and what the underlying zoning um, tells us. so that you know it's not just a blank check to do whatever you want, but that uh we're going to use our plans to kind

of form what uh uh would be allowed in a PUD. One of the things you didn't have in your packet, but one of the things the planning commission saw was uh a little test plan that showed if we if the developer simply did what the zoning allowed out there, how many units uh would they get? And they ended up with essentially the same number of units. This is just done in a little bit different way than what the underlying zoning allows. So these are a couple maps. Um obviously on the left is the zoning. On the right is the master plan map. The zoning of that piece right on the corner where the where the home is is in the uh neighborhood mixeduse category. The two parcels to the south of that are in our medium density residential category. So, in addition to kind of having some of the topography challenges, we also have two different zoning districts going on here. Um, the NMU piece is interesting, right? That that district really kind of is telling us we're going to have these buildings come closer to the street, a mixeduse building. You might re recall the 317 central project, a relatively newer one u in the NMU zoning district. That's kind of what that zoning district is is wanting us to do. As you guys know, this is a challenging corner. Um, not just some of the things we've already talked about, but um, the streets themselves, 8th Street is considered to be a major street. Waverly here is an actually a truck route. Uh, the speeds are much higher. Uh, so that is another challenge here. Um, I pointed out the master plan on this map just so you could see that it's in the um neighborhood commercial and in the um suburban residential category which basically coincides with that with the zoning districts that are there. So again, as we kind of look at what is the master plan tell us of the the changes for this area, uh what might

make sense. So, uh, that's a longer explanation of we thought this was a great candidate for the PUB reszoning technique for, um, what they wanted to do. Um, so you kind of end up with the same number of units that you might have with with it just kind of done, uh, needing some flexibility through uh, the PUD reszoning process. So again, as Keith has pointed out, the recommendation from the planning commission was unanimous. We didn't have any public comment. Uh I know we did take a few calls from uh some people during that process, but during the planning commission's public hearing, we did not have any uh comment. So recommendation for you is to approve uh the change of zoning uh from NMU and MDR to the PUD designation.

Any questions for staff? Okay. Question though, Mr. Freeman,

can you unpack uh Thanks for the presentation. I think uh I know most of the property owners in that area of how that's all going to happen. Uh so it's in the housing piece. Great. Can you unpack a little further though the sidewalk piece as we we hear a lot walkability, walkability a lot. Um, I understand some of the challenges, but where were these residents like to get to Meyer? What's their projected route? Would they have to walk then to 8th Street, connect over 8th? Do you know what I mean? There's like feel like a big loop around.

Yeah, they would essentially have to do that loop around and go to the to the west side of Waverly to be able to walk south to 16th Street. Um, and obviously if the sidewalk on this property would have been extended to the property line, they'd still have to make that same movement uh to get anywhere further than this property. Okay. Any other questions for staff? Steve, I know it's not it's not part of the PUD or the site plan, but could you talk a little bit about the design of the homes that are here? I think that might be helpful for the public and and a little bit for staff as well and about where those designs came from.

I don't know if you're you're prepared with any slides on that. Sorry, I don't have any slides for that. Right. And and I I think they're they're here. they might uh we could certainly have the applicant I' I'd love to I'd love to invite the applicant up to kind of explain where the where those designs came from because I I think that's at least an an interesting point and helpful for for council to understand where those designs came from and and and the availability of those to the public. So, I'd love to be able to have that that question answered and maybe I don't know if Mr. Rinsky is interested in coming up and helping with that as well. And I I apologize for blindsiding you on that one. I should have I should have asked you about that ahead of time, but

yeah. So, as and before I start, could you please state your name your name and municipality for the record?

Yep. Uh my name is Scott Sternberg. I live in Zealand, but I work for Doors of Hope and part of this pro uh planning process. So, as doors have opened, City on a Hill were starting to look at options for um some affordable housing, we wanted to have something that was a really good quality. Um essentially, we attended a lunch and learn with Ottawa County Strategic Impact, Department of Strategic Impact, and they were kind of simultaneously working on a project um where they were developing a small footprint home. It's not a tiny home, but it's a small footprint home where we can put more units on the same type of property. Um, one of the things that we wanted to do as an organization is make sure that we're not just building another massive affordable housing that's going to be deteriorated in 10 to 15 years. We really want something that's going to be a highlight for the city and a unique um opportunity to show affordable housing throughout. So, um, one of the project, this is the first project that those houses are being used for. We're really excited about that. Um, so working side by side with Paul and, um, others at, um, Ottawa County Strategic Impact, we were able to pull these designs in place. Um, there's four different types of designs along with four different um, floor plans of the houses. So, we were able to pick from different exterior designs. We picked a a city version of that that fits really well with a house that's already on the property and so it'll accent that home as well as um providing that housing. Yeah, I would just um add that this being the first project that will have a cluster of these Ottawa County small footprint homes um bodess well for the overall uh finished quality of this

project because this will be the poster child kind of showpiece project and there will be other uh prospective developers um and residents of Ottawa County that will be able to walk through this site and get up close um to these built homes and look at them. Um, so that's that's really important for the strategy of the Ottawa County small footprint project, but it also lends itself well to the the good execution of this project. The other thing I would add is um these although the elevations of these uh four different structures are in the planning commission packet, um they're also available on the Ottawa County Department of Strategic Impact website for free download. So, in January, after about an 18-month effort, the Department of Strategic Impact in concert with the Ottawa County Housing Commission launched the the free website and all you have to do is go online, you check a few boxes um uh regarding some of the legal side of it and give your contact information and then the plans are sent to your a link is sent to your your email inbox and you have the plans for free and that's available to anybody for free. um but in particular residents um and developers and uh anyone in Ottawa County. Um and so those those graphics are available um to anyone who's interested in this project to go and access as well and actually look in detail at the different designs. So thank you for the opportunity to to connect the dots with this uh uh Hope Ridge project and the Ottawa County project.

Great. And and I I appreciate you making that point because that's one of the things that I wanted to make sure that the public understood is that the the plans the county has made the plans for these homes available free to the public. So if somebody wanted to build these types of homes, they don't have to pay an architect to design these homes. That the the plans are available now for free. The other thing I'd love to love to have you highlight a little bit is the the design and how that's how it they've been designed to fit into the urban environment in Holland to so that they're not just a another type of design and also the material qualities that you guys have been looking at with these because I think that was a really important piece at planning commission.

Yeah. Um it the the the process that was the 18-monthlong kind of exercise uh run by Department of Strategic Impact included a fairly extensive uh character survey of the entire county. So groups of housing commissioners, staff members, and others went into communities. We went into the city of Zealand. We went into the city of Holland. Uh we went up north to uh little pockets of Grand Haven and Spring Lake and collected u over a hundred character defining features that we tabulated using a framework that we developed. And then from those that sort of in informed our sense of what does it mean to have an architectural pallet that belongs belongs to Ottawa County is kind of Ottawa County and at home here as opposed to we bought this 800 square foot home u from a vendor on Amazon and it was developed in Oregon and now it's here. That might be a great design, but this one's actually been developed with the local character and context um in mind. uh very very closely and then relative to that that informed the material pallet um and the the the plan the planning commission approved package uh does show and and kind of expresses that this this would have a certain material quality. So, we've got um like LP siding or equivalent as opposed to vinyl siding. And that really um has a has a a a subtle but important effect on the quality, the perceived quality when I get up close to, you know, be able to reach out and touch a house. There's less J channels. There's less less kind of details that um aren't playing nicely with window trim and and those kinds of things. And so, um, we always felt and the county always supported and felt too that what better product than a smaller house to carry some of this great

detail. Um, if I've if I if I want to go out and really maintain uh great detail and quality, a 3,000 square foot house is a hard place to do that because there's so much surface to cover. Um, but a smaller house, it may be more within reach or that delta between uh vinyl and LP or a crown over the windows or not is less. It's a it's a smaller delta to tackle. Um, and so that's been part of the ethos of the of the Ottawa County project since the beginning and it's it's going to benefit and bless this project as well. Thank you. Other questions for Yes, M.

Actually, I think this is for Steve. Um, can you go back to the zoning map? Sure. Thank you, Nick. And Scott, um, so what is what's what's to the to the east of this parcel? Some office buildings.

So, just to cl just to confirm that what you were saying earlier that this piece of property in particular, the NMU, which is the this northernmost part, right. Right. is it it isn't it isn't um really conducive to NMU because of the topography is that um I mean because you were using that example of the 317 central which is really you know obviously right up on the sidewalk

right yeah so I think it's sort of a combination of a few things um and not just the topography making this site challenging but the um even the street um that we had The two streets that we have here certainly make the NMU um zoning district a little bit uh more challenging than it would be in a place like 317 central. Okay.

You know, uh I think at planning commission I pointed out we we've got two uh places where we have NMU sort of on the east side of 31. the other one at Country Club and 16th Street that um planning commission approved a plan there. But as we approved that plan, we actually gave them a waiver to not have to do the commercial piece in large part because of some of these same challenges in particular with the um with the street network there and the speeds uh that you just don't have in other places where we have the NMU. So NMU is just tough I think at that corner. Although to be fair, of all of our zoning districts when we went through the UDO process, that was probably the best one to put it in.

Sorry, that's a long answer. No, no, that's helpful. Thank you. Can I add one other note to that?

Yeah, come on up. Sure. Certainly, Mr. Linsky. One one other factor to consider with NMU and kind of pushing a building up towards a a 0 to six foot setback or or thereabouts is that there is an existing historic home on the property that's kind of up the hill and it's got a larger kind of more generous setback and that home was probably there before the rest of the buildout in the area. It was probably a home out on the countryside based on its vintage and the vintage of the rest of the buildout. And so even though that parcel is was thought of as NMU, um the master plan is also calling for adaptive reuse, creative solutions around adaptive reuse. And so this scheme uses that historic home and kind of lets it still do what it's always been doing relative to those setbacks and kind of how it's up that hill and presiding over that intersection. Um, and to keep that there, but then put something right in front of it that then follows NMU dimensions kind of ste would steal the thunder from that that main house of the site. So, that was another consideration helpful.

Thank you. Thanks. Other questions for staff for the applicant. Oh, Mr. Van Beek, I have a sense maybe um I I want to take a crack at answering Tim's question because I don't think that we landed. So, Steve, let me take a shot and then Tim ask more questions. But on the sidewalk issue, I know it it's not directly part of the reasonzoning request, but I like to um so there is a complete sidewalk network on the west side of Waverly all the way from 8th to 16th.

Yes. There also is I will just point out if you go up um I'm going to say probably seven years ago we we redid Hope Avenue um and there also is a complete sidewalk then from basically where you can get on the sidewalk network to here to Hope Avenue to 16th Street. So you can get that way. Um there is no sidewalk right now at all

from 8th to 16th on the east side of so what what um Steve described is common in what we do. Um I get maybe people have questions about that but let me explain it for first. Um the city doesn't pay to put sidewalks in. So, and a lot of people I don't think understand that sidewalks is actually something like that in a development. It's part of the cost of the development to put in. So, in this case on that part, we're requiring them to put in sidewalk basically on what I'll call the more flat portion of the topography. But when we get to more where the hill is, instead of requiring them to put that in there, that becomes a sidewalk that I would say we would hope when other maybe possible redevelopment happens or periodically. I think this council knows that we're always looking for grant funds and we're trying to expand and close gaps in our sidewalk network. We're not recommending to do it all the way here because if we would at a future point put in that sidewalk network. Um we'd actually want to do that in a planned coordinated way because um it otherwise we'd require them to put in sidewalk here that isn't going to connect to any other sidewalk and then we'd probably have to tear it up in the future to connect it when a future date the sidewalk would be expanded. Does that make it does

that lands? Okay. Thank you. Mr. Corbin, this might be strange, but Hardboard of Public Works might be able to answer this question because at a board meeting, I think we discussed potentially uh that area being torn up and infrastructure being redesigned and put through there as well as streets um doing some adaptive work there. So, in the near future, is that correct? Water. Yeah, we have some water mane work, but if you're talking about all the way up until 16th, no, that that that's not part of it. And

I I guess what I was trying to imply is that we always have projects. Kind of reinforcing what you said. We always have projects in the in the hopper to do things like this in the future. Yeah. If if there was sidewalk sidewalk network that this sidewalk would already connect to, then we would say you have to build the sidewalk. It's just right now there isn't sidewalk to connect to. So, we wouldn't want to require the cost to probably have to tear it out. Okay. Other questions for staff or the applicant? Thanks, Steve. Appreciate it. Y uh what is the pleasure of council in regard to this item? Wait, I have one more question.

Oh, yes. I'm sorry, Steve. Sorry, Miss Raymond. I'm sorry. Steve, could you come on back up? I guess we weren't done with you yet.

Psych. So, just refresh my memory about the PD. Like, I appreciate uh what Nick has explained about the the building and what it would mean to put something in front of that. There is still a lot of property closer to the street. If if um the the PUD wanted to develop that piece of property in in a a commercial manner, they could still they could still do that. Is that still allowable within a PUD? they would have to come back and do an amendment to that PUD. So, it wouldn't just be permitted. There would have to be a an approval process that they would have to request. Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions for staff? All right. Now, I think we're done with you. Thank you, Steve. Appreciate it. What is the pleasure of council in regard to this item? Move to approve. Moved by Raymond. Is there support or support by Freeman? Any discussion,

Mr. Corbin? Yes. So, first it might be a little bit uncharacteristic of me. Um, but I'm never I'm not really supportive of this type of reasonzoning. As as many of you know, I'm trying to preserve as much single family residential property as possible. But when we look at the practical use, the adaptive reuse, I think someone mentioned, um, or practical application, uh, this does hit all boxes in my opinion. Um it's a very challenging property uh on that corner as you mentioned. I think it makes sense that uh what will develop there other than a more commercial or more retail property that in the future if we don't put housing there or at least a PUD I don't want to speak to what's going on there necessarily but um but this reszoning of what could be there. Um, so I think this this is a a good zoning change for us. Uh, it helps add housing, which I'm very supportive of. So, uh, short of that, I I just noticed that Steve uh was very excited when our our student mentioned that he was going to be a urban planner. That's that was amazing to see the smile come on your face. And when we mentioned walkability, I saw Devon's face. You know, he his smile got real big. So, I think it's meeting all the I appreciate that. Um, but that's my comments.

All right. Great. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Sheay,

thank you. I just want to say I was years ago I was on the zoning board of appeals when this group came forward to try and turn the existing house into units. Um, and being on the zoning board of appeals, you don't get much leeway. You just have to interpret the law. And I was so bummed to have to vote against this. And this is going on my resume for achievements at council is seeing this go through. I'm so excited. I'm so impressed by it. Um, I'm also so proud that we get to be the standard bearsers for this awesome project at the county. So, kudos to everyone involved. This is an amazing partnership and I'm really excited. So, thank you. Other comments, Mr. Freeman?

Yeah, I would just say your affirmation or my affirmation for what's taking place there and just keeping that good I say friendly residential, not big apartments. Uh we have a ton of that in the Heights already and to have some single family homes even in the different way to do that. Very much appreciated. So, thank you. Other comments, other discussion by council members?

Y um I have a couple. I know I mentioned uh a few things at the planning commission level. Um thank you all kudos for for the work for all of the different groups that were involved in this because I know that this was a team effort to bring this together. Um I do not see Bob and Peggy Ankerman who were the property owners for this uh in the room, but thank you to them as well. Um a phenomenal use uh as Mr. Sheay said of the Ottawa County plans. I think it's great that that Holland will be the standard bearer of that, that people have the opportunity to be able to see what highquality affordable housing can look like and can be. I think that's one of the goals of this council has always been not only to increase the housing stock in Holland, but to increase quality housing in the city of Holland. Um, this is a challenging lot. um and you have worked very very hard to come up with I what I think is a phenomenal creative idea for this site. Um I think it's going to be a a wonderful creative thing for the community. Um I cannot wait to see this get built. I cannot wait to see what it looks like. I cannot wait to see the smiles on the people who are going to have the wonderful opportunity to be able to live in this site. I don't want to get ahead of myself if council approves this. Uh, which I'm very hopeful that we're going to do that. Uh, and let's find out. Brenda, would you please call the role?

Okay. Freeman, yes. Raymond, yes. Corbin, yes. Schulty, yes. Mayor Keen, yes. Shay, yes. Clumps, yes. Mayor Box, yes. Motion does carry. Wonderful. Thank you. Congratulations. Uh, next item on the agenda, item 11, reports from special committees. Uh, item 11A, community energy plan strategic development team recommendation. Mr. Van Beek.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. Um, I will let the viewing public know that this might be a little bit interesting. Um, council council saw this this report in a more detailed fashion last week at study session. Um but it's a very important regular routine um and report out and something that I think can be celebrated um regarding our community energy plan. So we basically didn't want to waste the opportunity that it is available in regular session uh both for anyone that's here or viewing or can see it later on video. So, um, very happy to welcome tonight Joel Davenport and Andrew Reynolds from the Holland Board of Public Works, who council, I will say they're going to do a little bit abbreviated version of what they presented and discussed at study session last week. But again, um, I would just give the highlight of great progress on the community energy plan. And specifically, I want to give thanks um to the strategic development team that Joel will um intro in introduce at least by slide, but really the team from the city and the BPW that continues to do great work on this um I'm not even going to call it a project. I'm going to call it a an overall plan and commitment integrated into everything that we do. So, thank you gentlemen. And Joel, take it away. Thank you, Keith, and glad to be in front of the council again discussing this topic. Again, as Keith said, I think this is a kind of a continued success story. So, it's kind of exciting to be up here presenting it. A success, I think, not only of the community energy plan and this process, strategic development teams, but obviously the outcomes as well.

So, just for the general public, maybe a little bit of background on the community energy plan itself. This is something that obviously was first developed in 2011. The big out or the big goal of that was reducing the carbon footprint of the city of Holland with a goal of a going from a baseline of 24 metric tons per capita per year down to 10 metric tonses per capita per year by 2050. So in order to kind of set this in motion once the plan was developed we have a regular process of a strategic development team coming together on a regular cadence about every three or four years to kind of review strategies on how to move us towards those ultimate goals. Keith mentioned the most recent team. You've got that on the slide in front of you. We have a couple members on council. I certainly want to thank everybody on this team. Obviously, they volunteered their time, their knowledge, their inquisitive nature in a series of meetings that really brought us to where we are today. So much appreciated. I should also mention that most of these members, this is not their first strategic development team. Most of them are actually recurring, which is extremely useful for building consistency in the whole approach. walked through a little bit of the background on the community energy plan. What you have there is just the guiding principles associated with that. The strategic development team, as I mentioned, has been around for really since the inception of this coming around every few years. But really 2021 marked kind of a a change in the approach, a more robust approach. And that resulted in the establishment of five levers or buckets that really are the areas of influence to drive down that carbon footprint as we're desiring. Three of those are really the sources of the emissions in the community. So

that's the electric portfolio. That's going to largely be the BPW's portfolio. building energy consumption. A lot of that's really going to be the gas usage for for heating, transportation, and then the other two levers, education and carbon offsets are really just tools to use to kind of drive home those other ones. I mentioned this is a success story. I think this slide does a great job showing that. The dashed red line up top shows what we were expected expecting to happen if no changes were made. The green is really our progress. So you see the movement from the 24 metric tons at the beginning down to 16. Obviously good progress to go but more work to come. I mentioned earlier that the original goal of the community energy plan was 10 metric tons per capita per year by 2050. That 2021 strategic development team actually pushed that a little further and really tried to do a lot of that work right away. So we actually have a target of 12 and a quarter tons by 2030. So that's really what we're working towards. This is kind of a different way of showing those levers. Uh as we mentioned or as I mentioned the three primary levers where these carbon emissions are really coming from the electric portfolio if you look that's really kind of that orange and yellow more I'll say the bottom half represents about 50% of the emissions right now. The blue shades on the right, that's the building energy consumption. That's really the natural gas usage. And then that purple is the transportation. This is just showing you where where

everything's coming from and what we're targeting. So why do we have the strategic development team reme, you know, go through this process every few years? Because things change. And that's what this slide is really about is just showing some of the things that have changed since 21 in addition to some of the actions we've taken to really drive down that or drive those decarbonization actions. But state and federal level, there's a few things that have happened. The inflation reduction act came incentivized a lot of renewable development. It's since been reversed. So that those are just kind of things that influence what we can or can't do or or how cost- effectively we can or we can do those things. State of Michigan passed the new energy laws the near the end of 2023. Those influence things because they dictate adoption levels of renewable and clean energy. uh adoption levels of energy waste reduction, which is kind of where we're incentivizing people to use less energy. Locally, there's changes that have come as well. The integrated resource plan, this is a process the BPW goes through historically every five to seven years going forward, probably more like every three. This is where we look at the resources needed in our mix to meet load growth but also to meet external constraints like the community energy plan or the state legislation. Speaking of load growth, we obviously had a large customer come in recently here which has driven a lot of load growth for the utility. I also mentioned there's several things that have been done really to help drive some changing customer uh usage, home energy 101 and beneficial electrification rebates. This is where we're, you know,

encouraging people to move away from fossil fuel fired tools or or heating and cooling to electric options where we can better control those emissions. And with that, I'm going to hand it off to Andrew to walk through some of the more changes to the actual plan that's in your packet.

Great. Thanks, Joel. Um, what you have in front of you here is a table that's summarizing 20 strategies that we've outlined in the attachment to the meeting packet tonight. These are categorized under those different five levers that were mentioned previously. So we have strategies under each of those that staff are working towards both at the city and BPW, but a lot of these also involve members of the community. So this is not just a staff effort to get us to 12.25. This is a community effort to get us to 12.25 and and hopefully beyond those reduced emissions. Um the different colors here on strategies are representing the fact that some of these strategies we had three years ago and we want to keep doing them. If they're in gray, the lighter color here, those are things that we've been doing but want to keep doing. Some of these things honestly we've been doing since the plan was first created in 2011. We've been doing public education in some form since the beginning and so that's never going to go away. Um some strategies that we had three years ago we have completed. So those have dropped off the board and new ones have come in. So it's like Joel said just the importance of having to kind of reset every couple years as things change that are in our control or out of our control. If you want a a better look at what these strategies include in detail, I' I'd point you to the packet to be able to read them in more in more specifics. And so, finally, kind of where are we headed next? A lot of the goals that we're talking about are 2030 goals. And so, if you do the math in your head, about three years, three, four years away from now, we're going to be at 2030. Um, we think the strategies that are outlined here in the plan will get us there. um we might need to do modifications again in the short term to to keep on track with that and we don't think that 2030 will be unfurl a banner that says 12.25 we made it everybody in like a big celebrate like we're going to probably then have to reset and say okay how do we go farther than 12.25 25. How do we get cleaner, more towards zero? So, this won't be an end definitively in 2030, even if we reach that goal. Um, and then

in the meantime, we will be giving updates to this uh to council. Um, also to the public on a regular basis. That graph that Joel showed with the stepping downwards on the green line, we update that every two years. So, that'll be an update in 2027 and 2029 to give us more of a timely update as we get closer to 2030 on how we're doing. Um, and then I'm assuming we'll have some kind of version of the SDT reconvene in that 2029 time frame to help set us up for the next years to come. That's what we have tonight. So, if there's any other questions, I'm happy to answer those or Joel and I can pass it back and forth. Yeah, questions. Mr. Meteen.

Yeah, thank you for this. uh recent EPA uh um revocations, is that going to impact this at all or any approach thoughts around that? Not any of the specific strategies we've set out. Um certainly what we're doing in Holland is part of a global effort and so that might set back other communities efforts or just the results of those, but locally that won't change anything that we're doing here. Great. Thank you. Yeah. Other questions? Miss Raymond?

Yeah. Um so I don't want to reveal my ignorance, but I think I'm gonna have to. So, could you go back to the goals and objectives? The good goals. So, um you are one of the the new strategies or revised strategy is to incentivize electrification. However, half of our carbon emissions comes from electrification. How are how is that particular goal working in concert with other goals to to make sure that we don't expand that that piece of that piece of the pie.

Yeah, that's a great question. It really depends on the use. So, with the goal of incentivizing electrification, that's not saying electricity everywhere no matter what. Um, that's saying efficient electrification when doing so reduces the emissions versus natural gas or versus some fossil fuel. So, this is very targeted thing. So, like an airsource heat pump for your house. It's electric heat in place of a gas furnace, but it's because that heat pump is actually 300% efficient. So, yes, it's using electricity and it has emissions with that, but it's actually less on a net basis than versus the furnace. And I'll also say, and Joel didn't have time to to highlight it much tonight, but the state of Michigan's energy laws have changed such that we have a much more aggressive push towards renewables than we did a few years ago. And so achieving that would mean that those electric emissions would be even proportionally less in the future.

Yeah, that's more what I was going to say. I mean, a lot of that goal really revolves around the fact that the emission rate, if you look at the emission rate of electric generation versus the emission rate of natural gas because we're able to layer in renewable resources, you know, clean energy resources. We have a council member who knows nuclear very well, you know, those types of things. help to drive down that emission rate of the electric portfolio which in turn decreases the overall carbon even if you are increasing the demand. Natural gas on the other side is much more difficult. There just aren't as many sources of renewable natural gas. It is out there but it's just not as common.

Mr. Freeman, you would I know you did tongue and cheek a little bit about not doing a banner or flag of 12.5. I don't think un don't diminish putting a flag out that says a accomplished and it keeps people motivated. Yeah. You motivated and I think it shares accomplishment to the public as well and they'll ask like what is that all about and gets people talking. So thank you. Other questions for staff? All right. Thank you gentlemen. Appreciate it. Uh what is the pleasure of council in regard to the strategic development team recommendation? We're just recommending that we receive it. Correct. I believe that's what we're doing this evening. Yes. So moved.

Move. Move to accept the recommendation from the the strategic development team. Thank you. We have a motion. Do we have support? Sup support. We have motion from Breeman. Support by Shay. Is there any discussion? Yes. Mr. Schultice.

Yeah. So first and foremost is I think speak for Scott too. absolutely honored to participate on this committee. Um so thank you learned an enormous amount uh of energy and emissions. uh really appreciate that the long-term approach is used because it assures success instead of chasing trends and that was clear uh from the team uh staff and the community engagement uh staff and members of the committee remarkably engaged. Absolutely. from your team coming in with some recommendations, some ideas, some challenges, some risks and then the committee that was put together. Absolutely phenomenal that we have so many brilliant people within this community who are willing to be a part of uh such an important strategic plan.

Thank you. Great. Thank you. Any other comments or discussion?

I of course always have a couple and and thank you Mike for that because it's it leads right into what I want to say. I wanted to thank you Mike and and Scott and all of the members of the strategic development team um both this goround and back in 2021. Um it was one of the jobs of the mayor to put that team together and to ask the members to be part of that team. And Mike, you were exactly right, a lot of very very committed uh brilliant people who are willing to be part of that team. Um, and when I initially asked a lot of those folks in in 2021, uh, I underestimated the amount of work that it was going to be, amount, the amount of time that it was going to take. Um, and it was a lot heavier lift than I anticipated that it was going to be. And every single person stepped up to the challenge and was willing to take on the amount of work that was necessary to be able to come up with a really, really good plan. and that's because they were incredibly dedicated to getting this work done. Um, one of the things that I love about this plan is that unlike other communities, um, we don't set goals and then just hope that we're going to achieve them. Um, this group was determined to see what is possible, to figure out how that how we can get there, and then to use that information to help set that goal and those targets. Um, and what that allowed us to do is to set realistic and achievable goals. And although that initial goal in initial goal was 10, and now we've kind of pushed that back a little bit to 12.5, I don't think anybody should look at that and go, "Oh, they're retreating a little bit." What that means is we have realistically looked at what is possible, what's achievable, what it is that we can actually do in this community with the tools that we have, with the energy that we're using, with the with the realistic landscape that we're looking at and what can be accomplished based on what we

know now. Um, another thing that I was incredibly impressed with, especially with the 21 2021 team, even after they had worked longer and harder than anybody had expected they were going to have to, one of the recommendations that they came back with was, "Please have this group meet more frequently. And we think it's really important that a lot of us continue to be on this team and we are willing to be on this team." And when you look at the names that are on this team, you're exactly right. Most of the people that are on the were on that team this year were on the team previously. They were willing to maintain that commitment. And that that says a whole lot um about this community. And when you look at that goal, that realistic goal that we have set in this community, we're actually cleaner than just about any other community in the state, if not in the country. I think that that says a whole lot about not only what we have figured out we can do but what we have been able to achieve in this community. Um, what I know from looking at this report is that a lot of the goals that we have attained so far have come from Holland Energy Park and from reductions that BPW has been able to make, that the city has been able to make. And a lot of the the rest of that goal that we need to achieve is going to have to come from the community. It's going to have to come from the industrial sector. It's going to have to come from the commercial sector and it's going to have to come from our residents. We need the people of the city of Holland, our businesses and our industry to step up and be part of this process as well. But what we have told people is you are not alone. We are here to help. And that's part of one of these strategies is we want to help you help us achieve these goals. And that's a big part of what those strategies are. So thank you. Thank you to the strategic development team for coming for coming back again. Be willing to come back again. And I am hopeful

that the members of the strategic development team will be willing to come back again in a couple of years and take a look at these, maybe not all of you, but most of you um because it is incredible team of brilliant people. Congratulations on the work that you've done. Brenda, would you please call the role? Raymond, yes. Corbin, yes. Schultice, yes. Mayor Keane, yes. Shay, yes. Clumparens, yes. Freeman, yes. Mayor Box. Yes. Motion carries.

Wonderful. Thank you. Uh, next item on the agenda, item 12A, reports from boards, city offices, and commissions from the Board of Public Works person uh, excuse me, purchase and sale agreements for a portion of 4036 Hillside Trail property. Mr. Van Beek. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And without further ado, I'm just going to ask Dave Coaster, general manager of the island board of public works to come in up and present this item.

Thank you, Keith. Good evening, mayor, members of city council. It's great to be in front of you tonight. And yeah, great job by Joel and Andrew and all the others on the on the team of the strategic development team, assistance from staff. Uh great outcome there. And just want to point out as well that, you know, again, just a reminder if you didn't catch it, you know, as far as that goal goes, that's that's 20 years earlier than the original goal, too. So that's moving it up in terms of that timeline. So that that's really good news as well. Um, and just with that subject and this one, it involves a little bit of history as Joel mentioned, going back to 2011 with that. This is something that we're going to be talking about kind of going back to 2001. And given the fact that I'm celebrating my 34th anniversary with the BPW uh this month, um, I actually, thank you. I wasn't asking for that. It's just pointing out just how long I've been around that I actually have firthand experience with some of these uh, historical items. Um, so, uh, excited to be in front of you tonight. Also want to recognize Bernie Merkel is here. Very key, uh, team member of ours, uh, from Coldwell Banker, Woodland Schmidt, who has been helping us with the real estate transaction here, but also has helped us many times in the past with the BPW. When you look at Hound Energy Park, there were about 61 individual parcels of property that had to be acquired uh, through that process in order to create the site, you know, that we have for Hound Energy Park today. and Bernie and Jim and that whole team was was instrumental in in getting that done. So, yeah, tonight we're in front of you uh to talk a little bit about a sale opportunity for part of a property that is owned in Lake Township. And so, I want to give you a little history here. Um this property that comes into our hands actually all the way back to 2001. Um at that time the the family that had uh owned that property uh the the patriarch and matriarch of the family had passed away. The trust was selling

the property at a time where we were not sure what our future would hold in terms of water supply to our community and there aren't a lot of uh properties that become available in close proximity to a water uh system that have access to Lake Michigan. So strategically uh we made a purchase of this property. It's about a 24 acre parcel in Lake Township with about 325 ft of frontage. I'll show you a picture of that site here in a moment. Uh that was uh purchased for just under $1.5 million. And again, the plan was to hold that as a possible access point for water supply into the community. Now, more recently, um what we've been doing is investing in infrastructure that would actually set us up for expanding at our existing water plant site. Um in addition to that, you look at the ongoing obligations of a 24 acre parcel with structures on it. Um there are continuing obligations there and some of those things include property taxes. Um you might say, well, aren't you a municipality or a notfor-profit entity that wouldn't pay the property taxes? like no, we're not using the property today for a utility function. So, we're not exempt uh from the property taxes. Those amount to about $50,000 a year uh that we're paying in property taxes for that for that site. In addition, there you see the A-frame that's on the on the site. That is a structure that continues to kind of, you know, get a little bit longer in the tooth every day that goes by. And um we've done work to try to make it safe and board it up and secure it. uh but it doesn't make it look any better uh with weather and age and things like that. So um the thing that we're facing there is that either improve it or take it down. Now taking it down has issues in terms of grandfathered um setbacks and things like that that could come into play. Fixing it up has other investments, you

know, that come into play. In addition, uh there's a private road access that comes to that site and uh there's some maintenance requirements that happen along with that as well. So, as we thought more and more about this, you know, we really don't need to hold the entire parcel to still preserve the option of having a source into Lake Michigan. And again, this is the picture of that site so you can get a sense of what we're talking about here. It kind of looks, you know, like, you know, I've I've said to people it looks like Oklahoma in a way. It's it's maybe not exactly like Oklahoma, but it's it's it's the panhandle you have kind of sticking out there showing the access to the lake that 325 ft and then a much wider area in the back. That back area is also challenged from a topography standpoint. There's a lot of elevation change uh back through that area. Uh and so we investigated um what options we might have for marketing that property, but also we thought if we did sell this property, you know, we could actually still preserve an easement. And our plan is to preserve an easement on the north edge, 50-ft easement on that north edge all the way out to the lake. So, in the future, if we still wanted to, a never say never sort of situation, uh, access that and put an intake uh line out into the lake, we still could do that along that easement along with preserving some land to the back end. And I'll talk more specifically about what that looks like for a pumping pump house. So, we could actually draw that water in, pump it inland to a uh treatment facility somewhere inland in the future. We could do that, preserve that, but still sell the property, get out from a lot of those liabilities, a lot of those um continuing uh costs that we have to the water utility. So, that was discussed with uh the board and council actually back in 2022. Um both the board and council um acted to uh place in front of

the voters because our charter requires that a three-fifth vote of the electorate uh be done to both sell waterfront property in the name of the city as well as utility property. Uh and so uh there was a referendum that was put forward, a ballot language here that you see asking if the voters would agree to transfer the authority to dispose of that property uh as the council and board see fit. Um fortunately that passed pretty significantly. There was a 67% uh positive vote on that that allowed us to to move forward. So where are we at tonight? Um we've been marketing the property for quite a long time. Uh we've been marketing it uh as one uh main parcel. Uh primarily that is what the listing is. Um but we've entertained conversations along the way. Um, one of the conversations that comes forward that we believe is prudent at this point is to look at taking out that portion where it has gotten wider by creating a sale to the adjacent property owners that are immediately to the south along the lakefront, which would allow them to extend their boundaries of their property back to the east. And I'll show you what that looks like uh when we're done here. and we have on the table available to us about a $400,000 offer um split between two of the three adjacent prop uh property owners immediately to the uh south um to actually take that off the table. Now, why do we believe that's a good idea? Um when we've been marketing that property, we do not believe that the value at the waterfront is any different, frankly, based upon how much of that back area is available in the sale. And so we can continue to market what's happening uh what's left uh and cumitively between this sale and what we would do after

this sale do better for um the water utility customers ultimately in terms of the proceeds of the sale by doing that. The other thing that's important here is there are contingencies on this. Um, one of the contingencies is that because of the fact that we're doing these boundary extensions and given the size of those width to length, there are some approvals that Lake Township is going to have to agree to in terms of the lot splits that are left as we go through this process. We had early conversations and we've been actually dealing with this potential proposed uh situation for almost a year now, but there's been management changes and some board changes at Lake Township. So, we're going to have to re-engage there and and go through that process. Um, further, there was some language in the uh deeds of this property that was pretty interesting. Um, if you look at the the how far back it dates and some of the things that it both allowed and other things that it restricted. Um, both some some of the things that allowed it allowed for kind of a recreational use among the property owners in that area for that back uh that back portion of the property that we own. And it also restricted some things like being able to use the property for public enjoyment. Um uh and so or public amusement I think is the right word actually that's used in there. Uh and so going through this process one of the things that we wanted to do in in doing this boundary extension since everybody that is um uh involved in that language is part of this transaction is to clean up that language. And so included in this is an actual um uh requirement that at closing uh that the parties uh would all sign two things, an amended restated easement, which is part of that road access, and also an amended and restated covenant agreement. And those were attached in the packet as well. So you

can see those. Um but before I get into the details of those, I want to show you what the outcome would be if we go through this and we have those those um boundary extensions. And so you can see by this drawing here, there are three property owners along the lakefront. Two of those property owners are the are two that would be buying the boundary extensions. So, the northernmost of that adjacent property and the southernmost of those are the two that have agreed that um combined are paying $400,000 or $200,000 a piece to create these boundary extensions back to the east end of that property. What we're left with then is basically a rectangle um of that 325 ft uh all the way back to the east. And you can also see a green line in there sort of dividing what's called utility property from lakefront property. And this is important because again remember that we are looking at ultimately reserving some property for potentially a pump house in the future uh in order to draw the water in an intake line and then move it further inland. It will likely not be the entirety of that where that green line is. The green line really kind of represents the road that's going up that way, but it'll probably shift back somewhat, but have enough room that we would actually be able to um build a pump house in the future, but it has to satisfy again the lot split um provisions that Lake Township would manage. So, that would be a next step in this process as well. And I'll I'll talk a little bit about that um coming up. So, again, why uh do this sale with part of the property uh at this time? Again, we believe by taking a piece of this right now and then continuing to market the remainder of the property, that's going to yield the best outcome overall for the proceeds of the sale of this property. It also allows us by going through this now with these property owners to clean up all those deed restrictions which are going to allow us

to market the property to other property owners with a clear understanding of what is going to be in those deeds as opposed to having some of this antiquated language still sticking around as we do that. Um, and again, we really think this sets up well for being able to be aggressive at the marketing of the remainder of the property and still end up where we want to be in terms of the ultimate goal um for our water utility customers in terms of where we are hoping the proceeds of the sale would be. So, two final slides here is just to walk through or a couple slides just to give you a little bit of understanding of what these contracts that are attached to it are. The amended and restated easement, like I mentioned, just basically removes the uh restrictions in the rider and the warranty deed back to 1963. And it provides all the owners of the beachfront property with easements to the access road in order to bring utilities up there and to be able to uh use the road to get to their properties provided that they agree to uh participate on a prorated basis in the maintenance of the road. Okay, that's pretty straightforward. Um, and then it also for us in terms of the utility property owner, that area to the east, it allows us to use the road in the future, you know, should we actually need to um do that through the construction process or to access um uh the line after we would build it in the future. And again, very unlikely scenario that we're going to do that, but if we did, um as long as we agree that anything that we would do there to damage the road, we'd be responsible for repairing it. Again, pretty pretty common, pretty pretty understandable why they would want that. And in a little bit more detail here on the amended and restated restricted covenant, then uh again that that amends and restates these terms that came from 1963. Um and it restricts now uh again the property for uh for use by the public as a private park or for commercial purposes. Now, that part might seem a little bit concerning, but as I'll talk about here a little bit later, there is

an exemption on that prohibition for the area that's related to the uh utility property. So, I'll I'll I'll kind of bring that up here in a little bit. Uh it also provides for these lot division uh restrictions and and dwelling locations. So, there's a little bit of setback requirements that kind of get put on this as well as part of that, but nothing that we don't believe that we can we can live with. It also opens up the possibility for both um who would be buying our property at the end this this remaining parcel as well as the property owners that are there that they could create a guest cabin essentially um and that it also allows for some short-term rental utilization. Now, our covenants here would not trump, you know, what what Laketown Township would do. So obviously their prohibitions on short-term rentals and allowances on short-term rentals would carry the day, but provided that was allowed um then we have some provisions here that allow for up to four weeks per year, which I think is again a good number in terms of creating a little bit of flexibility around it, but also not creating a situation that would be a detriment to our ability to sell the remaining parcel. And so so that's in there as well. And then as I mentioned earlier, this utility property at the east end, we don't have to live by this this inability to use commercial um you know to do commercial activities there, we're allowed to use it for utility purposes, including but not limited to water extraction. Uh and then in the future, if something were to occur where we finally said, look, we're just never going to build something there. uh instead of being kind of stuck where we have this piece of property that we can't do anything with, it does allow for us to kind of use that again for residential purposes and also to provide a shared access to Lake Michigan if we wanted to do that so that we could develop that or have that developed into more of a residential piece uh in the future. So that also is sort of an out. Again, don't know when that day would come and I think we're always thinking kind of in decades here when we're talking about planning for the

utilities. So, it's probably some time out, you know, before we'd even think about exercising that piece of it. But for a while, we would hold it and see what happens in terms of water demands and also what we end up doing with the north side uh water plant. So, so again, um just coming back, this is what we're talking about in terms of the um uh outcome of tonight's uh decision and then ultimately the next steps would be in to get in front uh to first of all update the survey and then to create the division between the lakefront utility property, get in front of Lake Township, which Bernie and I were just talking probably would happen in the next week or or so to do that, start that conversation there and then uh to close and execute on these restated and amended agreements that are attached to it. What that will allow us to do then is probably allow the existing listing to just expire and that we would reenter into a new listing out there, a fresh listing, get it out on the uh out on the market again with just that remaining rectangle left at a new price that we would be sort of determining based upon the market conditions uh later this spring. So, that's kind of the the next steps that we see in front of us. And again, happy to answer any questions that you have on this particular item.

Great. Thanks, Dave. Questions for Dave. I think you laid it out perfectly for council. Thank you, Dave. Appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah. Uh, what is the pleasure of council in regard to this item? Moved by Corbin to to accept. Is there support? Support. Support by Raymond. Any discussion? Seeing none, Brenda, would you please call the role? Corbin, yes. Schultice, yes. Marin, yes. Shay, yes. Clumps, yes. Raymond, yes. Raymond, yes. Mayor Box, yes. Motion carries.

Wonderful. Thank you. Next item on the agenda, item number 13, communications from the city manager. I believe that is you, Mr. Vanpek.

It is. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council, uh, I do have a handful of things, but I promise I'll go relatively quick. Um first uh this should no plans for study session next week. We've had a couple big things recently and nothing planned. So you can barring something changing in the next couple days uh expect that that will be cancelled for next week. Um second just want to point out um in the consent agenda there were two grants um that I will say more broadly support waterfront Holland and more specifically within the all that waterfront Holland means it supports the concept of the land swap and more specifically the grants specifically support the idea of doing um improvements at the former JDY site to support Verplank's dot company moving from their location at the end of a street to JDY. Um, and really what I want to point out there is the fantastic work by Connie Locker, our combined grants manager position, and the two grants that um, you approved um, us pursuing tonight total 11 total grants or directed spending that we've applied for, totaling $119 million that we've asked for to support this project. That's the good news. The challenging news is to date we haven't secured a penny. Um so it is not by lack of trying. Um but we also are in a larger context

right now where obviously some of those things that we've swung really hard at we haven't connected just yet. Um, I I'll let that stand on its own, but um, we haven't applied for 11 of them without kind of communicating the need that we we need some of those outside fundings in order to make this work. I think that's somewhat obvious. I And if not, I think I just made it obvious. So, we are continuing to swing hard. Um, next thing, um, March 4 would be the next time that we all meet, uh, for a regular session. And I do have what I expect to be good news and two items that will be on that agenda. Two actions. One would be to uh, formally accept an Eagle grant um, totaling a million dollars. And we've also had other grant funds really moving in the same direction. And then also an agreement with a uh property owner um for the proposed location of the recycling center. And just because we're still finalizing some things there, I'll just leave it at that at this point. But we do expect to have both of those items on the March 4 agenda. Um, and there will be conditions um in that um land transfer agreement, I I'll call it. Um, so it doesn't mean like we're turning dirt immediately, but uh that's where Matt Van Djkin rolls the sleeves up and gets in project management mode again. So, we're really excited about that. It's been a lot more work than we expected, but um expect good news in March. Um, I will also say last week we talked

about housing tiff a long time, right? you approved a resoning tonight that certainly is in the realm of housing and I know by the comments that you made but also direction that you've given housing with a nonprofit partner that meets some of the things that um I think we all agree on are um the things that we most desire, right? Um what you approved earlier tonight isn't a housing tiff, right? because an entity has to be able to pay taxes that we would then collect back that tax increment to pay back to them. Um you're basically looking at earlier tonight very likely, right? um still have to be steps, but an entity that um provides housing to others and then that entity um holds the title to and is a nonprofit entity and would likely apply for and receive tax exempt status. I will tell you that um also in March at some point I would expect to have what we referenced in our conversations last week that again isn't housing tiff but a um proposed renegotiated um property agreement along Colin Park Drive for property that we um have have sold and have some money in escrow right now related to dwelling place and again a nonprofit and a project that they're doing. So I think you gave a lot of good direction last week um and I think um expect to see that we'll have something for your consideration at a meeting in March also. Um, and then finally, sorry I was

bending it while I was talking to you, but I'm going to pass down for your viewing. Um, not final results, but um, a lot of times when we walk out of the council retreat at the end of the day, a lot of times you at least get to kind of mentally know kind of the totals and everything. And because you did the rankings offline, um, thank you all to Mallerie, not to me. Um, but she totaled those up. Um, and we also have a first crack at the SWAT analysis on one side of that on sheet. And then on the front side would be the results of your ranking. And remember, what that shows is not only each priority and how many of you happen to vote for a specific priority, but then also the results of your weighted voting. And I won't speak too long on this because I'm not making a point. It's just observations in doing these for a lot of organizations over the years and now doing it here with you all for many years. Um, I looked back at prior fiscal years and I'll tell you that when we started doing this, and it's not exact, right? Because sometimes there would be like maybe more than 12 votes, but it was always pretty close. Maybe we'd have like 14 or 15 in a category. When we started doing this, um, the first two years there was always three priorities that had more than 100 weighted total votes. Um, and as we've gone through, what we've seen is over the last several years, we haven't had anything. We only had one over 100 in fiscal year 2025. And um the highest weighted vote that you had

this time was 51. And um I think there's only been one other year that there hasn't been hasn't been a year that there wasn't at least a handful of items that had a weighted vote higher than 51. Um I also look at the number of votes. Basically, there was a wider dispersion of your votes both on a variety of categories, but also the waiting of what you put on there. And that's just an interesting outcome that will continue to take a look at will definitely become part of eventually what I would hope that you adopt in your strategic and business plan. And since we're doing a lot of budget work right now, that's definitely informing our work. So, just wanted to give this to you and give you a few simple observations about it all and that's all I have tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Van Beek. Uh, next item on the agenda, item 14, appointments, communications from the mayor. I do have a proclamation this evening in regard to Black History Month. Uh, proclamation whereas Black History Month was established by the United States Congress in conjunction with the US bicesentennial in 1976. And whereas during Black History Month as a nation, we celebrate the achievements and contributions made by Black Americans to our economic, educational, cultural, spiritual, social, political, and scientific innovation. And whereas Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate and honor this diversity and foster belonging and inclusion through focused learning about the history and legacy of Black Americans and the important contributions to the growth and prosperity of our city, state, and country. And whereas we honor the many local black leaders, organizations, and educational institutions that have contributed to the progress of our community, in particular, IM Academy, and their work to foster access and opportunity for young black Americans and the many other organizations in our community. And whereas we acknowledge this time to not only build greater understanding of the historical context of discrimination and marginalization often faced by black Americans, but to build opportunities and channels for change. And whereas we as a city as a city, we are committed to build a culture of learning and aspire to be a channel of peace for the greater good of our city, county, state, and our great nation. And whereas the greatest change in outcomes stream from learning about one another, our history, our experiences, our dreams, and the divine ability of humankind to influence change for the common good. Now therefore, I, Nathan Box, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the city of Holland, Michigan, and members of the

Holland City Council, do hereby proclaim and observe February 2026 as Black History Month, and encourage all residents to celebrate our diverse heritage and culture, participate in learning opportunities, and continue our efforts to make Holland an inclusive community for all. given under my hand and the seal of the city of Holland this 18th day of February, 2026, Mayor Nathan Box. And that is all I have this evening. Uh, next item on the agenda, item 15, appointments, motions, and communications from council members. Anything from council members this evening. I got a couple pictures.

Yes. So, we can keep that up. Great. Thank you. Um, anything else from council members? Great. Then there's just one more motion. I would entertain at this time. Move to adjurnn. Moved by Raymond. Is there support? Support. Support by Raymond. All those in favor say I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Great. Thank you much. Have a great evening.