City Council - Regular Meeting

Regular meeting of the Holland City Council. I'm Mayor Nathan Box. I'm calling this meeting to order. Matt, would you please call the roll?

Clump-Harns?

Here.

Vreeman? Here. Raymond? Here. Corbin? Here. Schultes? Present. Mayor Keene? Here. Rowan? Present. Jay? Present. And Mayor Box?

Present. You have a quorum, Mayor. Wonderful. Thank you, Matt. We're going to begin this evening's meeting, as we have for many years, first with an opening prayer this evening by Councilmember Vreeman, followed immediately by the Pledge of Allegiance, and we would invite you to join us if you're so inclined.

Ask if you would join me in prayer. Lord, we come before you this evening and we're grateful for the rain that's been really blessing our all of creation. And we celebrate the difference in weather throughout this land. And so thank you for being our provider and our sustainer. And we ask that in this evening you might show us mercy in our decisions that we would make, that we would be attentive and

engaged in the processes that have been laid before us we ask your blessing upon this city and our leadership and it's by your name we pray amen i pledge allegiance to the fight 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. Vreeman. Next item on the agenda are our consent agenda items. These are items that are considered to be fairly routine and 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 asks 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 do that, Matt, would you please review the consent agenda for us?

Yes, item 4B, approval of the minutes of the June 3, 2026 regular meeting. Item 4C, oaths of office. Item 4D, a budget amendment and carry forward request for FY 2027 capital projects. Item 4E, a contract award and budget transfer for disinfection improvements project. 4F, combustion turbine generator fire protection upgrade contingency and budget amendment. 4G, secondary lift station rehabilitation contract and capital budget amendment. 4H, FY 2027, terms of service updates. 4I, text amendments to the unified development ordinance, final adoption July 1, 2026. 4J, claims filed against the city. 4K, redevelopment liquor license request, culture cheese shop. 4L, 360, special event liquor license. 4M, award bid for downtown parking lots resurfacing project. 4N, approved purchase of one storm water pump for the Pine Avenue substation, pump station, excuse me. 4O, March financial reports. 4P, Holland Local Development Finance Authority, LDFA, smart zone, approved contract regarding city services. For Q, approve contract with Downtown Development Authority Services with Smart Zone. For R, Police Division, declare items as surplus, property and evidence room. For S, Police Division, declare items as surplus firearms. For T, approval of Axon contract and purchases. For U, service and maintenance agreement with Great Lakes Uplifting. For V, employee handbook revisions. for W approve interlocal agreement with Ottawa and Allegan counties for transport and jail housing and finally for X revocable license agreement 25 with West 9th Street projecting sign thank you Matt is there any member of the public that would like to have an item removed from the consent agenda and placed on the regular agenda

Seeing none, any member of council that would like to have an item removed? Mr. Shea.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to remove four tango, that is approval of axon contract and purchases.

All right, and that then will end up being at item 12, echo 5.1. Is there any other member of council that would like to have an item removed from consent? Mr. Corbin.

Mr. Mayor, item L, it's in Lincoln. Great, and that will then be- Lima, whichever you prefer.

That then will end up at item 12D3. Any other requests from council members to remove an item from consent? All right, seeing none, what is the pleasure of council in regard to the consent agenda?

Move to approve with the exception of Lima and Tango. Moved by Schultes. Is there support? Support.

Support by Vreeman. Any discussion? All right, Matt, would you please call the roll?

Klomp-Arns?

Yes.

Vreeman? Yes. Raymond? Yes. Corbin?

Yes.

Schultheis? Yes. Marroquin? Yes. Rowan?

Yes.

Shea? Yes. Marabox?

Yes.

Passes.

Great, thank you. Next item on the agenda, item number five, is public comment. Under the Open Meetings Act of the State of Michigan, we provide the public the opportunity to address council at all of our regular meetings, our study sessions, and every one of our board committee and commission meetings. We do have guidelines that we ask you to follow. First, each person may speak one time for a maximum of five minutes. There are three lights on the dais 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 the red light means that your time has expired, and we are strict about that. You may speak to council on any issue that you believe is important, but please note that this is one-way communication. It's an opportunity for you to address council, but we don't answer questions during this time or engage in discussion. But if there is a question that a staff member can ask or can answer for you after the meeting, they may be able to circle back and do that. When you approach the podium, we ask that you state your name and the municipality in which you live, because it's important for us to know whether or not you're 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. And would you state your name and municipality for the record?

Yes, sir.

Can you all hear me well? Yes. Okay.

Hello, my name is Keegan Host. I live in Georgetown Township, and I'm a proud graduate of Hope College Class of 2025, and I'm also a candidate running for the State Senate in Michigan's 31st District. I'm here talking with the council today to draw attention to something awful that's been happening in our country. Something that is affecting each and every community, including right here in Holland, Michigan. Specifically, I'm talking about our federal government causing families to go hungry. Last summer, Congress passed the so-called Big Beautiful Bill Act, and President Trump signed it into law. One of the things this new law did was cut around $187 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP. a program that helps feed so many people, including a lot of families with children. Additionally, this bill gave a trillion dollars in tax cuts to the very wealthiest Americans. In the seven months after the bill passed, around 3.5 million people, including a large number of children, have lost food assistance benefits, and that number is only going to go up. So what happens when people don't have as much money for food? Well, people eat less food. Imagine that. They go from eating three meals a day to maybe just two or even just one. Our government has been forcing children to go to school hungry, it's been forcing them to come home hungry, and it's been forcing them to go to bed hungry. And then the government has the audacity to say, oh, well, we're just getting rid of all the fraud in the system. It touts these spending cuts as rooting out waste in our system. I want to make something very clear. A hungry child who just wants a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a bowl of macaroni and cheese is not a perpetrator of fraud. The real fraudsters are the politicians who ripped the food out of these kids' hands. They take a small amount of fraud that happens in the SNAP system, and they use it as a shield to defend their actions as they take away food from families who need it and give the money to ultra-rich people who don't. I don't know how these people sleep at night. but somehow they do. They sleep, and they wake up in the morning refreshed and ready, ready for an opportunity to do it all again. Because the unfortunate thing is, the Big Beautiful Bill wasn't the end of it. Just a couple of weeks ago, the House of Representatives passed a bill that cut $140 million in funding for fruit and vegetable assistance from WIC, the program that helps women, infants, and children. myself, along with so many other Americans, are left wondering, why? Why are we doing this? Because the thing is, we need a government that puts the needs of hungry children ahead of the needs of the ultra-wealthy. That should be obvious, but unfortunately, we live in an upside-down world where the government makes sure that the rich get theirs and is totally fine with leaving kids behind. This is something that needs to stop, and it needs to stop right now. Thank you all very much for your time.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address council at this time? Would you please state your name and municipality for the record?

Ann Henriksen, Zeeland. Last week I invited you to an event at Collin Park, beautiful weather, and it did take place. And I was there, and I don't know if any of you had come or not, but you would have seen the community come together as a community, feeling safe, also feeling the joy of one another, and family, and that was exactly what they set out to do. It was packed. Christ is king over all. It kind of coincides with the mayor's statement that all are welcome here in Holland. Believe it, live it, and proclaim it. Separation of church and state. is the establishment clause. And what that has done in the past 20, 30 years, more than that, 50 years, is eliminated religion from government completely, which means government has had control over religion and when it can be expressed. And I do want to say thank you to the sexual orientation because they replace the word speech for expression and when I saw that at the end of the ordinance I went that's it we have the opportunity to express ourselves in the United States of America as we believe to express ourselves even when it means not particularly means not hurting somebody else's right to express so those days are over expression for our faith in jesus christ and in my situation is now we're able to do that with joy and it was done at collin park it was packed with people bouncy houses safely put there the polar patrol was there food trucks a celebration of our community and our faith i i couldn't be happier for this event to think that there is more of that to come because people are realizing that it is beyond their church walls where their faith actually takes place. It takes place in their businesses, takes place in their neighborhoods, takes place in the governments as well. Government has no right to hold back our freedom of expression when it comes to our faith. And that's exactly what happened on Saturday. Incredible excitement, music, games, laughter, no fear, wholesome, friendly. These are the words that I got about the event itself. The community coming together, seeing each other, and realizing that we're responsible for each other's well-being. It's about time. Thank you.

Thank you. 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?

Martha Capistani. Holland?

So first off, I'd like to thank the council for their service, and I'm very thankful that I can still come up here, share ideas and concerns and information with the public. So let me begin by saying, as our nation approaches the historic 250th anniversary of the American independence this July 4th, I would like to share a few reminders or reflections about the courage and sacrifice of our founding fathers. The American Heritage Dictionary defines treason as the betrayal of one's country, especially by aiding its enemies or committing hostile acts against it. When the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence wrote their names on that document in 1776, they understood that in the eyes of the British crown, they were committing treason. The penalty for such an act was death. So you might say, who were these men? Well, 25 were lawyers or jurists, 11 were merchants, nine were farmers or plantation owners, one was a teacher, one was a musician, and one was a printer. They were men of education, influence, and means, yet they knowingly risked everything for the cause of liberty. If captured, many faced the horrifying possibility of being drawn and quartered, a punishment that involved being dragged to the gallows, hanged, cut down while still alive and conscious, disemboweled, beheaded, and then having their remains publicly displayed as a warning to others. That was the price they were willing to pay in pursuit of freedom and of self-government. It was Benjamin Franklin who famously remarked after signing the Declaration, we must all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately. Despite such dire consequences, the reality was that our founding fathers valued freedom and its promise for themselves and their posterity so much so that they would risk and pledge their lives, fortune, and sacred honor. In other words, they wanted to secure freedom for future generations and peoples, including slaves. Their commitment came at a tremendous personal cost. Five signers were captured and brutally tortured by the British. Nine died from wounds or hardships suffered during the Revolutionary War. Two lost sons in the conflict, while others saw family members captured. At least a dozen had their homes looted, burned or destroyed. Today, 250 years later, a grateful nation remembers their courage, sacrifice and vision. We also remember that throughout the struggle for independence, our founders frequently turned to Almighty God in prayer, seeking wisdom, strength, and guidance in the face of overwhelming odds and circumstances. And despite those impossible odds, we still have the greatest document in history ever written, the Constitution by which we govern this nation. No other document of this nature has sustained itself so long. So now, as one nation under God, I would now like to offer a prayer. So please join me if you wish. Father God, as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation, we thank you for the blessings of liberty and the sacrifices of those who came before us. Help us to never forget the incredible hardships and great loss suffered by those who founded this great nation. We thank you for the courage, wisdom, and perseverance of the men and women who helped establish this nation and lay the foundation for future generations. today we pray for unity in our country in a time of division and uncertainty help us to remember our shared values in common purpose grant wisdom to our leaders discernment to our citizens and a renewed commitment to justice truth and service to one another we acknowledge that we are an imperfect people and that we have made mistakes and your word reminds us that all have sinned and fallen short of your glory we ask for your mercy your grace and your continued guidance May we never take for granted the freedoms we enjoy, and may we be faithful stewards of blessings entrusted to us. Bless America. Help us remain a people who seek your wisdom, strive to honor you in our actions, and we ask for your favor upon this nation for generations to come. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you very much.

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 meetings, we do also have an email address where you can send written communications that will be received and reviewed by all council members. That email address is publiccommentatcityofholland.com. Again, publiccommentatcityofholland.com. When we receive those, we accept them into the record at our regular meetings. We do have comment this evening, so I would entertain a motion from council to accept those into the record.

So moved.

Moved by Raymond. Is there support? Support. Support by Shea. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, same sign. Motion carries. Next item on the agenda is item 24. 12 D 3 that was one of the items that was taken off of the consent agenda that is to adopt a resolution for 360 special event liquor license.

Mr. Van Beek Thank You mr. Mayor and council this item I think is now a couple years that we've done it but it flows through the maker Michigan Liquor Control Commission requires action by us locally and it would support the Miro Festival held sponsored by 360 in August in the 19th Street and Columbia Avenue area.

All right. Any questions for staff? All right.

Thank you, Mr. Van Beek. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Corbin. Mr. Van Beek, there's additional information that we'll get from the facility that will be provided to Public Safety and the Liquor Commission, such as the layout and training that goes with the staffing and things of that nature?

Yeah, we always coordinate not only the larger event in this case, not always, but then they have requirements that they need to do to do the tips training and all those types of things. And that'll be submitted at some other point in time? Not to you, but that's part of the overall process, yeah. Thank you.

Any other questions for staff? What is the pleasure of counsel in regard to this item? Move to support. Was that Klopp-Arntz? No, Raymond. Move by Raymond and support by, was it Marikeen? Sure. Support by Marikeen. Any discussion? All right, seeing none, Matt, would you please call the roll?

Raymond. Yes. Raymond. Yes. Corbin.

Yes.

Schultes? Yes. Marroquin? Yes. Rowan?

Yes.

Shea? Yes. Clomparns? Yes.

And Mayer-Box? Yes. That item passes. Great, thank you. Next item on the agenda, item 12, echo 4.1, fiscal year 2026, year-end budget amendments.

Mr. Van Beek? Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. I'm going to ask Finance Director Lynn McCammon to come up. And she doesn't know I'm going to do this, but The finance department, triple crown award-winning department, and then because basically they won all three awards from the Government Finance Officers Association. See if I get this right. For standard financial reporting, for the popular annual financial report, or that short PAFR we call it, and then also for the budget presentation. So I figured I'd embarrass Lynn a little bit by recognizing her when she came up.

Congratulations. Well done to you and your staff. And I'm going to give you a round of applause.

Thank you. But it's everybody who helps.

The people of Holland appreciate how well you manage the money for us. Thank you.

Thank you. okay all right um good evening mayor and members of city council included in the packet was a request for a budget amendment for the year end for fiscal year 26 we've been talking a lot about budgets so we just passed the fiscal year 27 but now we're in the last month of fiscal year 2026 and the state has some requirements one of which is that we end under budget in our funds so When we do, we amend the budget a couple different times during the year. We have a beginning of the year where we carry over any projects that didn't get completed in the prior year. And then we do one in mid-year around December when we have better estimates because we have these estimates, we form them in the March of the year before it even starts. then we have a chance during our budget time for the next year budget where we actually amend the budget for what we're in so this one is the end of the year and again most of the amendments that were included this evening were just changes in estimates better information that we had So we did present those and there's a summary of, there's very detailed, all the individual amendments in the packet. But tonight I'm just gonna highlight a few of the major ones. So we look at the general fund mostly because it is our main operating fund and we wanna make sure that we have a healthy fund balance and we'll see that we are tracking to still have that so on the revenue side first we have some positive increases and overall we're asking for an increase in the budget of $682,700 and a lot of that comes from the state personal property tax replacement reimbursement And we actually got 550,600 more than we had budgeted. And we always budget that very conservatively because it's a number that the state just makes very difficult to estimate. So we want to be conservative. So we were happy to report that we did get additional. And it was good, as it turns out, because on the state revenue sharing, which is what we get from sales tax, we get those estimates from the state as well, and they're projecting $124,900 decrease. So the $550,000 kind of offsets that. and finally construction inspections we are still doing very well on the development and building here so we again had budgeted conservatively not knowing on some of the large projects when the fees would materialize but we are happy to report that we have a 230 000 increase in that budget as well so i don't have a clue so moving on to the expenditure side on the expenditure we are asking for an increase in the budget of 442 700 and again there's some increases and decreases for a lot of the different lines and departments but some of the major ones that are significant are the Civic Center and it's a $295,000 increase and that's just because it came in higher than the management firm had originally estimated and then we did have a decrease of $170,000 we did have a contingency for this line for this very purpose but the amounts are still coming in higher than we had even estimated at that point so the rest of them are just minor increases and decreases depending on better estimates But the good news is it leaves us still with an ending fund balance ratio of 43.2%. And we always like to track this, as you might recall. I always talk about it because it is a good indicator of our future financial health. And this is well within the range that we target, and as we have been tracking and expecting. So if we can do one more page. So I did include budget amendments for a lot of other funds. And again, most of them are very small and just based on better estimates. But there's one I wanted to point out because it might have caught your attention. There's the street infrastructure capital projects. I do have a budget amendment for $10.9 million. And really, this is an accounting thing. So you might recall that the city issued the bonds for the broadband project. So it's technically the city's bond. but the Board of Public Works is running the project so they actually account for all the project details but we have to account for a transfer which is again accounting things so again so we don't end up over budget we put this in when we know about how much is being spent on that project so that's ten point nine million dollars so with that I'd be happy to answer any questions any of the detail amendments that were included in the packet any questions for staff

Well done, thank you very much, appreciate it. What is the pleasure of council in regard to this item? Move to approve as presented. Move by Schultheis, is there support?

Support.

Support by Raymond, any discussion? Seeing none, Matt, would you please call the roll?

Raymond?

Yes.

Corbin? Yes. Schultheis? Yes. Marroquin? Yes. Rowan? Yes. Shea? Yes. Klomp-Arns? Yes. Freeman? Yes.

And Mayor Box? Yes. That item passes. Great. Thank you. Next item on the agenda, item 12, echo 5.1. This is the other item that was removed from the consent agenda. This is approval of axon contract and purchases. Mr. Van Beek?

Thank you Mr. Mayor and Council. I'm gonna ask Captain Keith Mulder to come up and do a little more presentation on this and then be available for any questions that there are. I think it was laid out in this, the only addition that I'll add before the other Keith talks. the first Keith maybe is that Axon this is something that we've investigated extensively Captain Mulder has led that and he'll also talk about that this is really a standard platform software that the other law enforcement agencies in the county have also gone to which we think brings a lot of positives with interaction on those types of things also what you'll see and you've seen this in other areas too this is something that used to be more of a capital purchase and like a lot of things this is transferring more into annual service agreement or subscription agreement so you continue to see from a budget perspective that this is transferring kind of from a capital item to an annual operating item and with that Captain Mulder

Yeah, we've done a lot of research for quite a while on the different options for both body camera, cruiser camera systems, and this rose to the top of having the abilities that we needed and the newer technology. So, this Axon system includes not only body cameras, cruiser cameras, tasers, Detective Bureau interview room cameras, and a variety of other things. It's all integrated into one system. One of the big things is it has a digital evidence system that kind of ties it all together and keeps all of our digital evidence into one place, including all the records from our tasers. We've investigated this, compared it against other projects, looked at what other agencies in our area have been doing. Kent County has moved this quite a while back. Ottawa County went to Axon about a year ago. There was a push for all the agencies in Ottawa County to be on the same system from the prosecutor's office, and you'll see a letter in the packet that is from the Ottawa County prosecutor. Partly because when we push our cases to the prosecutor's office, they wanna see the digital evidence coming in into one system instead of having multiple different systems to work within. So Ottawa County's been on it for about a year. They've had good success with it. Kent County has had good success with it, Grand Rapids. Allen County Grand Haven has recently gone to it Grand Valley State University is in the process of switching over getting that approved and the city of Zeeland just approved this switch to axon just this past Monday, so we are Also trying to get on the same system so that all of the agencies within Ottawa County are on the same system it greatly increases our abilities to better manage our digital evidence, but also our FOIA redaction. It's a much better system for FOIA redaction. Has a lot of technological advances from what our current system is. And our current system status is our cruiser cameras are out of warranty and no longer supported. Our body cameras are ending this year in 2026. And our tasers are ending in 2027. And our detective interview room cameras are in need of an upgrade. So it's kind of packaging this all into one system that integrates really well together.

Any questions for staff? Yes, Mr. Shea.

Yes, sorry, I've lost my page here. Thank you so much for the presentation. I guess a couple of questions that I have are, are we planning to opt out of the AI program? There's an option.

Yeah, the AI program is not part of this.

But it is not part of this contract?

Correct.

So I've entirely read the...

wrong here there's some there's some stuff in the contract that references different things that they provide that is not part of our contract but if you look at the quote the AI is not within our quote so we have a we have a premium package but it's not the premium AI package okay does this include then this quote include post cameras Outpost cameras? Yeah. Yes, it does.

Okay. And so for those, are you working with Brian White for road safety requirements on that for those being correctly mounted in that?

Yes, we would work with the street department if it would be within the city of Holland or the state if it would be on their roadways.

Great. And then are there plans for internal policies regarding ALPR data retention?

We would have internal policies just like we currently do for current systems.

And what are those, what is our current, like how long do we keep that information?

For our current camera systems? Yes. I don't know off the top of my head.

Okay. I guess that's all my questions then. If I've read it incorrectly, I apologize.

Mr. Mattikeen. Thank you, Governor Wolters.

Mulder, sorry. I knew what you meant. It's all good. Bundled tier, it mentioned, I think it was post cameras and license plate readers in the vehicles as well. yes is that going to be a complement to flock cameras or in replacement of complement to okay yeah it's a axon is a different system than flock so to be a complement to that okay and then I noticed here that it says that the contract says no data retention query limits etc on their half do we have policies or does the department have policies procedures on those questions or those

For data retention?

Data retention, query limits, audit requirements, or external sharing limits.

Yes, yeah, it would only be shared with other law enforcement agencies that would have the ability. Data retention would follow the state requirements for data retention. There's all different state requirements for different types of data, so we would follow that.

All right, thank you. Ms. Raymond.

What's the difference between the flock cameras and the axon provided cameras?

Very similar. So honestly, I think it's two different companies maybe getting in a little competition with each other. We are going, so it's basically we have a package deal, and it just happens the package that we felt met our needs the best included some of these outpost cameras. It's a benefit to us because it's an additional investigative tool, but we weren't seeking out those cameras. It was just part of this package, so it was an added benefit for our investigative purposes.

So do you envision any reason to remove the flock cameras?

Not at this point. The flock camera is all across the country and extremely valuable to our investigations, so unless that changes, I don't see us getting away from that.

Any other questions for staff?

Yeah, Mr. Matt Keene. Thank you. I know you mentioned that the majority of departments in Ottawa County are coming with this company. Are there any sort of like policies or potential policies around like collaborative sharing or what does it look like that are within the confines, I guess, of our own department sort of protocols and terms? Yeah.

We already have an existing policy for sharing with other law enforcement agencies, and it's for criminal justice purposes only. So we have a policy in existence because of what we currently have. So this would fall under that current policy.

Great. Thank you. Any other questions for staff? Thank you, Captain Mulder. Appreciate it. You're welcome. What is the pleasure of counsel in regard to this item?

Motion to support, Corbin.

Moved by Corbin. Is there support? Support. Support by Rowan. Any discussion? Seeing none, Matt, would you please call the roll?

Corbin?

Yes.

Schultheis? Yes. Marroquin? Yes. Rowan?

Yes.

Shea? Yes. Clomp-Arns?

Yes.

Freeman. Yes. Raymond.

Yes.

And Mayor Box.

Yes. That item passes. Great. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is Item 12, Echo 6.1, Gifts. Matt, would you please review the gifts for us?

Yeah, you're making me work this evening. I am. The City Manager's Office is pleased to report the following gift. For the Park and Recreation Department, donations totaling $20,657 were received for the Youth Advocacy Fund from Parking and Terrain Able Rides during Tulip Time. It is recommended that these donations be accepted with appreciation, credited to the appropriate account, and an expression of gratitude be forwarded to the donor, which is our Parks Department. Great.

Thank you, Mr. Van Dyken, for all your hard work. What is the pleasure of counsel in regard to the gifts?

Move to approve as presented.

Moved by Rowan. Is there support?

Support.

Support by Klomparns. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, same sign. Motion carries. Next item on the agenda, item 12, echo 6.2, human resources, fiscal year 2027, non-union wage adjustment recommendation. Mr. Van Beek.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have a blind spot sometime out there. Oh, she's there. Hi, Jen. Jennifer Orme is going to come up and make this presentation I don't think there will be any surprises in here because we also had presented recently successful contract negotiations and there's some things that flow through there that go to our other employees also and Jennifer is going to outline that

yes good evening mayor council excited to be here tonight to request a wage adjustment for fiscal year 27 for all of our non-union employees full and part-time not seasonal employees but full and part-time year-round employees So each year, we do our due diligence to gather as much data as possible to not only present to Lynn as part of the budget process, we do that pretty early on, but then as the year continues, we talk to different municipalities all along West Michigan and the greater Michigan as a state so we were able to collect 14 different comparable municipalities wage adjustments for fiscal year 27 and they ranged basically from two to five percent but the average being three point one two so that's a good comparable again a lot of West Michigan municipalities but even some municipalities on the other side of the state In addition, we talked to the Board of Public Works, because we're always talking to the Board of Public Works, and this year their non-union employees, they've proposed 2.8% for their fiscal year, 27 wage adjustment to their wage table, and then also gather some data from the World at Work, and that is for government specific, and that average is 2.9% for government. And that's for the state of Michigan, but just for government, our sector. So what we'd like to request tonight would be a 3% increase for all of our non-union full and part-time positions. And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you. Questions for staff? I think you must have done a great job. All right. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

What is the pleasure of counsel in regard to this item?

Move to item 12, what, 6.2, fiscal year 2027, non-union wage adjustment recommendation as presented.

Moved by Corbin. Is there support? Support. Support by Klumharns. Any discussion? Seeing none, Matt, would you please call the roll?

Schultheis. Yes.

Yes.

Markeen? Yes. Rowan? Yes. Shea? Yes. Clump-Arns?

Yes.

Freeman? Yes. Raymond? Yes. Corbin? Yes.

Mayer-Box? Yes. Your item passes. Great, thank you. Next item on the agenda, item 12, echo 6.3, amendment to post-closing contingency agreement with Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity. Mr. VanBee?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. This is I'm gonna say probably kind of administrative in nature, but I thought that While I was working with Dave and by extension Steve our visitors here in the audience I thought it might be a good chance for them to give you and by extension the public also An update on where they stand on this project specifically what is before you I get to this, is it is very common that when we have some type of project out there where there's an expectation, if you would, to bring it to completion, that you'll have a letter of credit that's outstanding to make sure that you get to completion of that work. In this instance, it would need to be renewed July 1, I believe, and had a conversation that they are basically finished just with a handful of units that will be finished I think targeted by end of July so it really didn't make a lot of sense to require that letter of credit to extend but that is something that only you could waive that requirement So work with the attorney's office, and then before you is the recommendation to approve the amendment to the post-closing contingency agreement as outlined, and we would recommend that. What I would ask, though, potentially, is that you can ask any questions of Dave Roseman or Steve Gross, but we have some pictures, and maybe they can just give you an overall update on that project.

Mr. Roseman, Mr. Gross, please come on up. Welcome.

yeah thank you guys for having us uh like keith said um timing wise we're just about done with this project so for those that aren't familiar this is vista green which is on west 36th street it's 42 unit affordable housing development and partnership between lakeshore habitat and jubilee so i'll just share a little update on where we're at with habitat side and then i'll let steve share a little bit of update on where they're at with jubilee's side so we've actually moved uh habitats to an 18 homes We've moved 15 families into homes already. We actually have a dedication on Monday for the 16th and closing on Friday for that 16th home. The final two are just in final details. One thing with Habitat's program is our homeowners are going through a program as well. So even if we rush to get the home done, the homeowner might not be completed with their educational portion of it which includes financial literacy classes homeowner maintenance classes homeowner budgeting classes some sweat equity hours so we don't necessarily try to rush to get things done right away because if we do sometimes the house might sit empty for a couple months until we get them in there so we're finishing the last two units here in July, which lines up with our last two homeowners in that area. A couple other notes. We are in the final process of finishing out irrigation, landscaping. We actually were out there a week and a half ago walking the property of our, what are all the little things that we need to do now? And we utilize volunteer groups quite frequently. So, hey, what are some things volunteer groups can do to help clean up the outskirts of the development and make sure that it's turned over really well to those homeowners lastly as we're wrapping up this project we are having a ribbon-cutting at this development on Monday June 29th I know an invitation was sent to the city so Keith you can make sure all the council members get those if they did not that's at 4 30 p.m. and we're doing this joint with the neighbors as well so we're gonna have some food trucks some fun stuff to really engage the kids if you haven't had a chance to go out there There's an amazing playscape that was built by Outdoor Discovery Center, which was sponsored by several local companies in our community. One of the exciting things when I look at it is the first nine homes that we built. When they were completed, there was 27 kids in those first nine homes, and I think now we're up to 29 kids because some people have had some kids. But when you go there, especially in the evenings on a nice night, there's just kids playing, families out. It's very much neighborhood-centric and community-centric. So there's people sitting on their front porches engaging with their neighbors. So that's just a little high-level update of where we're at with the project. I'll let Steve share a little update from Julie's portion.

Yeah, thanks, Dave. So Jubilee, we've had our final certificate of occupancy was granted about a month and a half ago. So our house has been done for a little while. We're in the process of getting everybody moved in. I think we've got two two bedrooms still available, but they're going quick. So we're really excited about that. It was probably four years ago where we first brought this project to the city of Highland. And we get accused of not tooting our own horn enough. So I'm going to do that a little bit here. Dave and I have had the opportunity of going to Lansing to present around the community about the work that we're doing together. This project is really being held up around the state as a project that needs to be repeated, where you have mixed income, you've got home ownership, and you've got public, private, and nonprofit sectors coming together to make this happen. This thing's a home run. We've got a large segment of the population falls into the income range that we work in, And they can't afford homes. And we're talking about people working critical jobs in our community. And what Dave and I lament all the time is how come we can't go faster? We really want to go faster and we need to go faster. And the City of Holland has been a great partner as we work to do projects like this. So thank you.

Any questions for Mr. Gross? Mr. Roseman.

My question will be for staff so I don't want to diminish the excitement of the project and how remarkable this project is so for you guys great and thank you and like look forward to like finishing finishing back to the mechanical boring part of it Keith is it fair to assume that staff has done some remnants of diligence to assure that there's no financial risk with closing out the letter of credit?

Yeah, we are all set. We're close enough. In fact, I think intended when they did a walkthrough, Steve Peterson was involved in one of those days. So the things that we would be looking at before we would release were there. So we are comfortable in making this recommendation. Great. Thank you.

Any other questions, comments for Mr. Roseman, Mr. Gross, or staff? Ms. Verland.

I just want to say kudos. I'd love to hear somebody come up and report that we've made a home run. So I hope that there's more projects in the offing, and best of luck for the final details.

Mr. Freeman, and then Mr. Corbin.

Knowing you both for a long, long time, thanks for your partnership and your work in this community and just finishing really, really well in something that we all can be proud of. So thanks for your work.

Yeah, I know we all took a lot of heat when this property first came in question, right? And we all worked very hard at trying to come to some consensus on how it could be used. And you guys did an incredible job. I mean, I'm just so completely just surprised what that development looks like now. So thank you very much. So not only you, the two of you and your staff, but the volunteers, too, out there that worked so hard to make sure this worked for our families and our community. So thank you.

Anyone else? Yeah, I wanna echo what Mr. Corbin said. I think, Mr. Corbin, you were the only one that was on council when this was first approved.

So I'm the only one that took heat?

You're the only one that took heat on this one. And Mr. Van Beek took heat on this one as well. And Ms. Raymond was on the Planning Commission. I was simply running for office at the time, so I sat through a lot of the meetings where the heat was taken. It's an absolute joy to see this project. I know that one of the goals that you guys had was to change people's impression about what affordable housing could be and not just build houses here and there but to actually create neighborhoods and create environments and home run on this absolutely as Mr. Verma said I've got a long history with both of you as well I think Mr. Gross you and I have known each other for probably 40 years now and I have long history with Habitat as well. This is not the only project you guys have going on, correct? Could you guys give us an idea, kind of the broader picture, the number of houses that Jubilee's building, that Habitat is building, to try to help with the affordable housing situation in Holland and in the region?

So currently under construction, we also have Ottawa townhomes, which corner of Ottawa and 20th. Jubilee's producing six townhomes there. We're complete, have certificate of occupancy, and have five people living there with the next closing next week. It's the final closing next week. So really excited about that. Habitat, you're doing five there and still under construction.

Yeah, so we're wrapping up. We're working on five units of Ottawa townhomes. But while we were building Vista Green, we also had two other developments going on, a five-unit townhome on the north side of Holland and a five-unit townhome in Hudsonville. So that was probably the most stretched we've ever been. One thing I want to say in addition to Ottawa Town Homes that this project has done is it's really showcased what can be done in Habitat. One partnership with Jubilee and two for Habitat. We're working on three donated pieces of property that one's joint with Jubilee, two would be Habitat. but it'd be well over 100 houses. And it's from people coming and seeing this and going, yes, that's what I envisioned my property to be. We had a landowner that's south of here that was just talking to their municipality about donating their property for affordable housing, but they weren't sure what to do. And less than two weeks after visiting Vista Green, I got a call saying, that's what we want. So this really has, I would say, almost every other week I get a call about property. And we can't follow up on everything. It would take a lot more staff. Sometimes people want money for their property, which is understandable. But it really has accelerated us. And even though after Ottawa Townhomes, I think things will slow down just a little bit, we have a lot on the horizon that we'll be coming back to you soon with.

Okay. I'll give it a little taste without giving too much away. Somebody else asked me to put together kind of a matrix and with a probability chart. And so in total with projects that Jubilee's involved in, some of them include habitat, some we're doing on our own. In the next five years, total number of homes is 183 homes. Now, some of those projects are 20% probability. Some are 95% probability. So I don't want, you know, we're not going to be coming at you with 183. We'd love to, but, you know, finding land is tough right now. And so, yeah, but so there's a lot of work yet to be done. And the problem is even at that 183 homes, we're just scratching the surface of the need. And so we're hoping other municipalities figure out how to make this work like the City of Holland has. Because really in order to make the impact that we need to, we need to be spreading out further out.

Those are absolutely amazing numbers. Thank you guys. Thank you for working together because that's kind of a unique partnership between the two organizations as well. And I know you guys have been phenomenal partners. And to talk about that many homes under construction or projected, I just wanted to give people some perspective. I was on the board of Habitat for Humanity in 2000. Our stretch goal was 10 homes back 25 years ago. And to hear those kinds of numbers is absolutely amazing and a wonderful thing for the community. And thank you. Thank you to your volunteers, to your donors, to the landowners who are interested in doing this, and all the communities who are willing to partner as well, because this is a really, really important thing that you're doing. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. What is the pleasure of counsel in regard to this item?

Move to approve.

Move by Raymond. Is there support?

Support.

Support by Rowan. Any discussion? Seeing none, Matt, would you please call the roll? Mayor Keene?

Yes. Rowan?

Yes.

Shea? Yes. Clomp-Arns? Yes. Freeman? Yes. Raymond?

Yes.

Corbin? Yes. Schultheis? Yes. Mayer-Box?

Yes. Item passes. Wonderful, thank you. Next item on the agenda, item 13, communications from our city manager, Mr. Van Beek.

I'm gonna be relatively quick, partly because I wanna point out for the record that I think Matt Van Dyken has used more words in the meeting tonight than I have. um second though nice segue here with housing and i just kind of said hey guys listen up this um thank you again we've learned together a lot through this process some legislation has changed um i will say kind of the the um Because it wasn't housing TIF in that way. The land bank and some of the mechanics. There's still some things that we're learning and ironing out, just to be honest. And then we're still, as you know, talking about housing TIF and projects coming in the future. And how to apply those to Ottawa townhomes and all those types of things. I don't say that in a negative way, just positive. you do stuff like this, you learn stuff together. So next week, because I don't think we're gonna have some of the kind of the nitty gritty information that we're still looking to get to have that conversation on Housing TIF, the study session I had in my Friday note, we're working on it right now. We're gonna put you in the van, you know the van I'm talking about, and we're gonna drive around and we're gonna look at housing and development across the community. And we are going to drive through this so you experience it in person. We're going to drive by Ottawa townhomes and a lot of other examples, but just wanted to let you know that. And I asked you guys just to stay just to hear that. We're going to be peeking at your properties next week, Wednesday, if that's okay. And then the final thing that I have is, again, on housing of a different sort. I was able and really happy to attend a Project Home celebration yesterday, along with a lot of staff. And Project Home was a cross-collaborative effort, most specifically with eight different entities, nonprofits in the community, and the community mental health department working on specific collaboration and sharing and improvement of services for those unhoused in our community. Fantastic stepping up by the Salvation Army and their location on Clover. So it was really neat to see that come together and see those entities collaborate. I will share some information in my Friday communication of some highlights of that and some news coverage that had there if you didn't get a chance to learn more.

And that's all I have. Wonderful. Thank you. Next item, item 14, appointments and communications from the mayor. I do have two reappointments this evening. I would ask the council to please approve the reappointments of Carolyn Maloof to the Holland Board of Public Works Board of Directors for her second full term, said term expiring on June 30, 2031. Board member of Maloof's first term is set to expire on June 30 of 2026. And for the reappointment of Dave Hoekstra to the International Relations Commission, his first full term, said term expiring on June 30, 2029. Commissioner Hoekstra has filled a partial term, which is set to expire on June 30, 2026. Excuse me, and I'm looking for a motion in that regard.

So moved.

Moved by Freeman. Is there support? Support. Support by Schultes. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, same sign. Motion carries. And I do also have a proclamation this evening in regard to Juneteenth. Whereas, on June 19, 1865, two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas, received word that they were free from bondage and were recognized for the first time as citizens, equal in personal and property rights with their former masters. And whereas acting as the date of emancipation, June 19 became the long-standing day of celebration known as Juneteenth, honoring African-American resilience and the end of slavery and encouraging unity and respect for all. And whereas across our city, state, and country, we join hands in acknowledging the centuries of struggle, courage, and hope in the work of the abolitionists, teachers, civil rights advocates, attorneys, public officials, and neighbors who have helped make real all the principles outlined in our nation's founding documents. And whereas we celebrate the African American community locally, who have made indelible contributions to enrich our community and bring awareness around the needs of the community, And whereas the City of Holland stands in support of the I Am Academy in our collective work to empower African American adolescents to achieve their full potential by centering their identity, cultivating relationships, supporting educational success, providing college experiences, facilitating job readiness, and supporting educational readiness, ultimately changing the narrative and trajectory of our African American youth. And whereas we acknowledge our history and work collaboratively to address systemic racism, remove barriers, and provide opportunity for all. And now, therefore, I, Nathan Box, Mayor of the City of Holland, Michigan, proclaim that the City of Holland celebrate June 19 as Juneteenth. as part of our commitment to anti-racism, racial and social justice, encouraging a day of reflection, recognition, acknowledgement, and healing. Further, we encourage community participation in the Juneteenth Freedom Festival on June 20 at Collin Park. Given under my hand and the seal of the city of Holland, this 17th day of June, 2026, Mayor Nathan Box. And that is all I have this evening. Next item on the agenda, item 15, appointments, motions, communications from council members. Anything from council members this evening? All right, seeing none, then next I would entertain a motion to enter a closed session for a periodic personnel evaluation of the city manager pursuant to a written request for a closed session. So moved. Moved by Freeman. Is there support?

Support.

Support by Raymond. Any discussion? Matt, would you please call the roll? Rowan?

Yes.

Shea. Yes. Klump-Arns. Yes. Freeman. Yes. Raymond.

Yes.

Corbin.

Yes.

Schultes. Yes. Marroquin. Yes. Marabox. Yes. That passes. We're in closed session.

Wonderful. Thank you. And we're going to take a five-minute recess for a restroom break.