City Council - Regular Meeting

[music] [music] Good evening. Welcome to the Inster City Council meeting for Monday, January 5th, 2026. It is 7:03. Um, please stand for our opening prayer. Miss Moon, can you help us out? Where she go? You see her? She ain't here. We would like for you to do the prayer. [laughter] You know you're the best prayer. You

want me to pray now? Sure.

Good evening everybody. Let every heart pray. Father God, in the name of Jesus, we thank you and praise you for this occasion to come and gather together, Father God, in the mighty name of Jesus. Father, first and foremost, we honor you and we thank you for the privilege of of coming here tonight. We thank you that on the way, nobody bumped us and we didn't bump nobody. Father God, we just thank you and praise you for each and every one of the council members. Father God, for the mayor in the mighty name of Jesus, the police chief, everybody, all the residents, everyone here, Father God, we just thank you for everyone. Thank you, Father God, for your goodness and your mercy. Thank you for the city of Ingster, Father God, that we decree and declare that the city of Inster will rise like a phoenix out of the ashes. And Father, we just honor you. We praise you, Father God. Let us be on one accord tonight, Father, as we come before counsel tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And thank God.

Amen. Thank you. Continue. Stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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. Okay. Madame clerk, roll call. Mayor Nolan, present. Mayor Pro Tim Chisum, present. Councilwoman Rage, present. Councilman Bishop, excused. Councilwoman Scott, present. Councilwoman Howard, here. Councilwoman Richardson, present. Mayor, you do have a quum. All right. Great.

All right. We uh have to take a look at the agenda. We have to add a presentation. I think we do. We already Oh, we have to do it now. Um, we're going to have a Inkster zoning update by AC Williams. So add that under presentations. And that's it. And that is it. Do we have a motion to approve the agenda? So move. Second. And properly moved and second. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Say n. All right. Miss Williams, come on up. Good evening, mayor, city council, residents, and happy new year. Happy new year. New year.

Happy new year. All right. So, if I haven't met you before, my name is AC Williams and I'm on the planning commission. I'm also taking the lead in helping become a redevelopment ready community, which is a technical assistance program offered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. It helps announce to everyone that we are ready for reinvestment and redevelopment, and it makes us eligible for funding. Um, and one of the last things we have on our to-do list is updating the zoning ordinance. Hallelujah. So, we're almost there. Um, and so I'm going to just dive into some quick updates. So, first, why are we updating? Well, our current ordinance is a little out of date and it's causing some friction when it comes to housing, businesses, infrastructure, and enforcement. And if we can update it so that it can match how our community is evolving, um we can hopefully, you know, enhance land use efficiency, uh foster economic growth, improve overall quality of life, meet our community where it currently is, and hopefully where it will be in the future. The key priorities are to make it clear, userfriendly, easy to follow, easy to find. That's pretty simple. um update the graphics, update the font, update the format, all of that. Uh the second priority is making sure it aligns with our master plan, which was adopted back in March in 2025. And there were some key priorities within the master plan, including making sure that we um update our housing, uh that we have downtown developments, make things more walkable and accessible. Uh we also want to make sure that we're including more formbased codes or direction. So land use is one thing, where the buildings go are one thing, but we also want to give or provide direction for how we want them to look. And so, you know, what types of materials, architectural designs, interests, something that doesn't, you

know, look so flat like the the flat kind of malls that you may see from back in the '9s where it's all just one surface. There's no really, you know, interesting visual details to it, all one color. So what do what kind of character do we want to create for our city? Um and provide direction on what that looks like. And then of course um like the rest of the nation, we are primarily uh missing missing middle. We're primarily single family homes. So missing middle can include um accessory dwelling units, duplexes, small town homes, small apartment complexes. And we're trying to figure out where they would best fit. Um because these days not everyone needs a four-bedroom house. So we're trying to meet people where they're at. Maybe it's a single professional who needs a studio or just a one-bedroom and we don't really have a lot of that housing stock. So we're trying to address that intentionally. I'm going to take you article by article. Um so general uh provisions is article one. This is essentially telling everybody what and why and how the code works and uh referencing all the required legal enforcements establishes a legal authority and relationships to state law. A lot of the you know boring to read type stuff, but it it's required. So that's article one general provisions. Um it states the purpose. It it tells you that we're implementing the master plan. um tells you that we're trying to protect our neighborhoods and support reinvestment and it's pretty much telling you the intention of the rest of the zoning ordinance. Article two, definitions and rules of measurements. This is where you'll find all the definitions so that we can communicate to the public what we define as an accessory dwelling unit, for example, or what we define as a single

household versus a multi- household. Um, it also tells people, you know, how to measure and it's a consistent system so that everyone's on the same page about, for example, how to measure your lot width, how far back a house should go, um, you know, how far back the rear should be. Um, and hopefully we'll kind of provide that direction um, and consistency, especially when we start maybe building some of this missing middle so that it fits with our neighborhoods and it's like that gentle infill. So, plainly speaking, this is the math and vocabulary section and make sure everyone measures things the same way. Questions, comments so far? Article three. So, this is where we get into our zoning districts and maps um that have been updated and and aligned with our master plan. Uh we have uh updated it to have district sheets for each district. Um in this slide you'll kind of see insters base zoning districts are R1, R2, MRD1, MRT do for uh MRD2 for example. That means your residential one, your residential two, your mixed uh residential districts. These are like your low, medium, high density. Um, each sheet will tell you what the intent of the district is and also provide other information like what's permitted, what's conditional, what's prohibited or special land use. It will also give you other um references to specific regulations. Um, so for example, I included an illustration on this slide that demonstrates an R1 uh single household residential district. We've all seen a house like this, right, in our neighborhood. Um, but if you notice in the back there's a detached accessory dwelling unit. So everything else is kind of whited out so that that kind of

stands out. So, an ADU um is something that we are trying to implement and consider and but we want to make sure that we can guide people on what that looks like cuz for example, we don't want just someone putting one in maybe the front of their yard, right? And so, uh this is an example of how we would direct someone that if they are going to do an ADU, it must be, for example, behind the house. It has to be a certain amount of square feet and it has to have certain utilities in order for it to be an actual dwelling unit that someone can live in. Maybe this is something that, you know, if someone wants to um age in place, like say their children take over the home, but they still want their own privacy, maybe that's an option for them to have. And this is just an example of what a district sheet would look like. And it does have these illustrations on them for reference.

Any comments, feedback? So article [snorts] um four use regulations. Uh this is where our consolidated use table is that we've modernized it. This is that table that gives you all the list of the different types of buildings for example like everything from your single household to your duplexes to your apartments but also your bars, your cafes, your drive-through restaurants. and it tells you by district what's permitted, what's prohibited, and what may be special land use. Um, so we're updating those standards. We're focusing more on building form and context, less of a long list of prohibited uses. Um, so plainly speaking, this is who can do what where, um, but with more emphasis on good building form and neighborhood fit. So I included another illustration just kind of give you an idea of what I'm what I mean. This is an R2 two household residential district. This is an example of a duplex that's asymmetrical. That's kind of looks like it's a single house, right? That one family would probably live in, but if you notice, there's two doors. So, it's meant for two families. This is the type of intentional infill that we're talking about where we can match the existing neighborhood character while still addressing the missing middle. Article five is site and building standards. This is where we regulate building placement, height, massing to support walkable mixeduse areas. This is where we tell people, you know, we're parking and access screening to reduce front yard parking dominance. Um, and plainly speaking, what does the look and the feel of these buildings on the ground? Um, and then how do they meet the sidewalk? Where does parking go? And then how do we handle the greenery and the storm water? So in this example, this is an MRD2

um mixed residential district. This is more of your medium to high density uh district. This is a mixeduse residential over office um example. So on the ground floor, that's where you'll find your offices or your businesses, including maybe even a cafe or something like that. And then everything above will be kind of like your residential. But also, like I mentioned earlier, we want to make sure that we're intentional about building form or um including those form based codes so that things [clears throat] are not flat and one-dimensional. They they have some architectural detail. We're using different building materials um and giving it some, you know, uh visual interest. And that's an example of what I mean. In article six, this is development procedures. So, this lays out step-by-step review processes, submittal requirements, and decision criteria. This is how we coordinate with the planning commission, city council, and staff. Um, and of course, hopefully transparency means more predictability in terms of timelines and clearer expectations for uh applicants. We're also trying to figure out uh what are your different tiers for the types of projects that maybe only admin or planning and community development has to review rather than it always having to come before a voting body. So of course there's certain triggers that say if it's a project of this size that will impact about this much we have to make sure that at least goes before planning commission and then city council. But some of these smaller things don't necessarily have to do that. And I would like to note that RRC or MEEDC is is definitely looking out for that in terms of our zoning ordinance, making sure that some things aren't considered to be um a delay or something that prohibits people from actually doing their redevelopment by always making them go before a voting body. We may not agree

on everything. So, we're working that out, but they are looking out for those types of details. And in this example with the Town Center District or TCD, this is a hotel that has direct street presence, but the um parking lot is like located on the side rather than the front. So hopefully like from the main street, just imagine like Michigan A or something, you would see the hotel building, but behind it or on the side of it will be where the parking is. So plainly speaking, how to get a project approved, who reviews what when, and how are we using the the criteria to determine what projects go forward. In article seven, we have administration and enforcement. So code enforcement and compliance, we're defining the roles and authority of the zoning administrator, planning commission, city council, ZBA. We're laying out those tools for enforcement and compliance. Um, and this is the who does what and how do we enforce it piece. Uh, in these illustrations, I'm just giving an example of what like an amphitheater could look like. Um, or parks and recreations and having like a food court, you know, where everyone can kind of be outside and engaged, especially during those summer months. Um, so we do have a PR or park and recreations um district and that's an example of what we can include in those. So plainly speaking this is the who does what and how do we enforce it article. So before just to clear make it clear this was how the step by step on the review process. This is once we do review who how do we enforce it type article. And then last but not least we have article 8 nonconformities. So, you know, there's going to be some people who are going to not be uh a conforming use once the zoning ordinance is updated

and adopted. Uh that's okay. That's to be expected. But we do need to outline and establish rules for loss of non-conforming status. Uh so for example, if a building has been abandoned for a certain period of time and someone buys it or say even the same person who owns it decides that they now want to reopen, they would have to now abide by the new zoning ordinance rules. They wouldn't be able to go back to where they were. Um so that's what this article addresses. And in this illustration is just another example of you know materiality and urban connectivity like the proposed development and design as it it like we like I said the walking developments making it accessible to the street allowing people to get from one building to another but making it visually and architecturally interesting. Um, and that's an example, another example of what that may look like in like the mixed development or the town center um, districts. So, plainly speaking, this article answers the big question for property owners. What happens to my building or use when the new zoning takes effect? I think that's it. Any comments, questions?

Can you do it all over again? [laughter] I didn't keep it too long. [laughter] No, that wasn't bad. Here we go. Got a question. Thank you. [applause] I had a question. We We do have a question. Oh, um, as as you know, along Michigan Avenue, we have a lot of the motel. Mhm. So, how do we address that? And also, we are on Michigan Avenue, we have the um trailer. I don't want to say trailer park, but mobile unit.

Mobile. Yeah. Mo. So, how do we knock those out? We're in litigation with the mobile home. [laughter] Everything you say is being recorded. [laughter] Well, so I have an answer, but now I need guidance on how much I can answer. [laughter]

And you see that because they're not keeping up the properties and we know that we have issues. And even with the motel, they they were motel, but I think mostly they're just short stay and we're having a lot of issues there because I don't know I don't know what night I don't go to bed and there's always they have to do a run over there cuz somebody oeded or did something over there. So, I just kind of want to know uh if we thought about what we can do or do you have any plans on how we can upgrade that? I do. Am I allowed to [laughter] answer? You can you can talk about

Okay. So, I think there's a variety of ways in which we've addressed it. One of the first ways is to actually define the different types of mobile homes and mobile units. To be clear, I will have to say as far as the district zoning um map and the different base districts are concerned when it comes to the permitted uses versus special uses, we've essentially there at this time there are no permitted mobile home uses in any of the districts. Okay.

So, of course, as it stands where people are living, I we're not necessarily kicking them out or [laughter] getting rid of them. I don't I can't speak on that that piece, but the way the zoning ordinance update is, uh, if you wanted to build one, you wouldn't be able to because it's just not permitted and it's not permitted in any of the districts. Um, mobile homes either. I mean, I'm sorry, motel. Motel either. Yeah, because I see the I like some of the sites you use, the um the graphics, the the designs that you used here cuz some of this remind me of going to Detroit

uh near Tiger Stadium, especially this one, you know, where they live upstairs and everything. And I'm just kind of wondering, do we even have the land for this kind of development?

We do. [clears throat] We do. And so, um, of course, part of becoming a redevelopment ready community is trying to position ourselves to attract those developers in order to get the land to some of the illustrations that I demonstrated or depicted in the presentation. Um, I would also say that the updated code or ordinance is more about what we want more than what we don't want. And I say that in a way in that um like I said we we've taken out some things uh and that's based on the master plan and the feedback of the residents right so uh you know not not to to make anyone feel a certain way but for example we had a lot in our code about like adult regulated use adult bookstores novelty stores I was like there was a time that was had in Inkster clearly Right. [laughter]

Tell me. I don't know if I was around when it started, but [laughter] there was a time that was had and so we we we definitely had that in mind, too. So, the adult regulated uses, the marijuana, you know, shops, the Yes. the motel, like all of that. And as it stands, um, a lot of that has been taken out. like if you wanted to how we address it, the ones that are currently here, I would definitely need Mayor Nolan to, you know, probably comment or give me more feedback on that. But in terms of what it looks like moving forward, we are beefing up the enforcement piece

in this ordinance. Um, and also working with code enforcement to see what that looks like in real time, update those policies. uh me and uh Charardai, the special projects director, even um coming up with kind of residential materials that we plan on sending out to everybody that kind of talks about those frequent uh code violations that a lot of us may experience or or report on um to kind of help get the residents on the same page about supporting one another and achieving the type of environment we all want to live in. But I'm hoping I'm answering your question. But we have addressed those things and we've essentially made it so that if they're gone, they can't come back and that we are putting ourselves in a position to enforce them, the ones that are here to to enforce whatever violations that they may have that we can beef that that process up so that at least it's clean and whatever else. hoping I'm answer are are we reaching out even like DDA we don't really have a downtown

right right we don't but we have buildings that are there yes um that we probably need to look we're going to we're going to work on that piece too right yes and then of course in our master plan we have priority sites that are listed in there too so there have been discussions with planning and community development on how do we promote those sites and RC does work with us on those promo and marketing materials and that strategy as well telling so we're doing this too to all we could also tell any developer that may approach us or is interested what we want like so I know that that

is something that's important to us too um I know we all don't want to just accept anything that comes our way um and so that's part of it we we even if we're going to be an RRC community we're not necessarily saying Hey, any uh development or redevelopment, we're going to accept there are certain things that are like on our priority list and we would like to start there first and then hopefully once we get the ball rolling, others will come and then we'll work with the MEEDC in order to help like facilitate those those relationships. Well, I commend you for the work that you've done because I know I'm the oldest thing up here. Don't you [laughter]

respect your elders? But I remember when Inkingster was we were booming. We had a DDA. We had we had all type of everything. And my grandmother talks about it often, too. And she's 90. I'm not there. [laughter] I know. I know. I'm not saying you're 90, but I'm just saying she talks she talks about that all the time. Exactly. It it does hurt for us that's been here lifelong residence to see it in the condition that it is now. And I personally would like to see it grow. Thank you. Me too. And she's been here 82 years. So

Okay. I ain't been here that long. [laughter] That far. I promise. I appreciate what you're saying. I appreciate your question. Thank you so much. [snorts] Any other questions? We have a question.

She need to come up to the mic. came to you as we had. However, I would like to see a proposed where the young families can move in who have children and put the you know something that's available for the kids in place and I senior allowing we can walk in where I live my neighborhood one time called a sleeping neighborhood because older people was very comfortable. Now it has transitioned to people making noise and throwing trash in the streets and whatever, whatever, whatever. So I realize that we need to have rules and regulation in our community. The other thing I'm concerned about is that we're allowing people to move in our community building those houses that that's not uniform. You know, a big old house and I'm right next door to it and I see that in the community. So I would like to see that our houses equal, you know, uh you talking about uh people are moving in building, you know, and it's uncomfortable

because they squeeze right in, you know, and all I got is a little driveway and I've seen the night in my neighborhood. But I would like to see that uh the seniors are considered in there because, you know, some of our income area, low income are closing up and they had kids, you know, and I I would like to see, you know, I'm not old as she is, I don't think. [laughter]

But I would like to see components like that take place when you're rebuilding Eastern. Eastern has a lot to come together in one and make it happen for our city because nobody has been in our city but us. That's our home. That was our school. You know, you know what I'm saying? So we don't want to see things just fade away in our presence. So with our [clears throat] think about our kids, think about our seniors providing something for them in their neighborhood.

I agree. And I've uh planning commission meetings. If you guys haven't come, I do a lot of the more detailed updates there. So we're every fourth th Monday, I'm sorry, every fourth Monday of the month. Um and so I but I can give you some direct feedback on that. So, as the mayor knows, I've said this a thousand times, I do have anti-displacement uh language in there. I also have neighborhood conservation language in there. Um, like I said, when it comes to the article 2 rules and measurements, it is about providing that guidance on how we can be intentional about who builds a house, like I said, how close, how far away, uh, does it make sense for it to be, you know, the setback to be so many feet when a house that's already been established there is here? Trying to make it as cohesive as possible so that we can address the missing metal without making it look so haphazard. Um, and like I said, being intentional about those materials. We also are going to be adopting pre-approved uh housing uh plans that were actually a part of the NEC uh toolkit. So, that can also make it easier for not only people to go through the review process if they bought a piece of land or want to update it, but um it can also hopefully make things look a little bit more uniform depending on if this person wants this model versus that model. But whatever we offer is going to be something that we've already pre-approved prior to that we know will look good with our existing neighborhood.

Yes. So I hopefully that that may do feel a little bit better. We do have some language for senior um housing too. Uh you know like condos that may you know you have to be 55 or 65 and older to be in. Um and then we do have our uh parks and recreation and open space uh pieces too. Anybody else? This information available on the website? Yes. Good to see you. Oh, good to see you. Oh, thank you. I'll hold you. But

one of the things when it come to planning and competitive planning [snorts] around the state um I will watch you real close one of my do [snorts] one of the things I'd like to see is with regard to website being able to find information it's like a GIS style map so that I can actively take a look at I decided I want to come to the map

we can't we can't hear don't forget This is being broadcast. So, we need you to come up to the mic so we can get you so people at home can hear you. There you go. Don't run like that ever again. [laughter] All right. Good evening everybody since I'm on the microphone. My my name is Will Miller. Uh yes. Yes, sir. I like So, all right. So, I was saying like a GIS style map. So, a map that if I actively want to decide to develop a piece of property in the city, I can go to a GIS style map where I can click it. It'll tell me what is zoned at, what the setbacks are, how how much, you know, buildable lot space I have so that I have the information. I can make I can make quick decisions on what it is that I want to do. I'm wondering if something like that could be or might be already in development.

So, I would love that. I know exactly what you're talking about [laughter] where there are some municipalities or cities who you can go on to their planning community development section. They have their whole city, you know, where it's interactive. You could click on a parcel or kick click on a zone and it would tell you exactly what is permitted, what's not permitted and direct you in the right process when it comes to review and development. However, those things are very expensive. So that I don't know shortterm wise if that's something that we can achieve, but I'm hoping long term because not only you would have to have a a whole uh system to host it

and then we would have to pay someone to actually run it and you know budgets budgets be tight but is a little tight but I would love to have something like that to answer your question. So it's not that it hasn't been on our radar. It's just been a matter of can we afford it at this time?

You know, and so did everybody's question get it answered? Mr. Mayor, when are we um anticipating this coming before council? Oh, this is coming. Um it's coming. It's coming. We we have a we gotten some feedback from MEEDC that we have to talk about and perhaps consider and implement, do some revisions, and then I'm hoping by the end of like before the end of the month, you guys can at least do your first reading. Y and then um aesthetically, are the changes going to have the strikethroughs through it so we'll know what's being changed, what's not being changed for I that I do have that I can share it. Um and then um I also have like a cover sheet that kind of gives you a summary too of all the changes. Thank you.

So we hopefully be voting first readings, second first reading we get feedback from anybody. Uh second reading and we'll be looking to adopt and ready to roll. All right. Thank you everyone. [applause] Okay. We have uh no public hearings tonight. Consent agenda. So move. support and properly moved and supported. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Oppos say nay. All right. Boards and commission. No nominees. Okay. Send us out a list of who we need if we have any vacancies on the important update tomorrow.

Okay. Appreciate it. All right. No ordinances. First or second reading. New business. We have nothing on the agenda. So, we just wanted to look at y'all today. um public participation. Ivon Moore

happy new year mayor and council. Happy new year to

all of our public officials and our residents of Ingster. First of all, I want to tell everyone who participated and helped us with our Insta House resident council Christmas party. Thank you so much. You will be getting something special at your next meet, city council meeting. They had a ball. That's all I can say. They had a ball. So, I'm up here now to let you know that I know that you know that Martin Luther King Day is approaching. So, the Inkster Task Force and Unity in the Community will be hosting again Martin Luther King Day of Service that will be on the 19th of this month. Um, it will be held at the Simmons building and it will be start at 10:00 until 1:00. We are trying to get hygiene kits. We're going to make sure that we support the first responders and um our homeless and our seniors with um those to be able to do that service. We're looking for hygiene kits, um hand sanitizer, water, you know, of course, we're going to have soup and sandwiches. Um, so if you would like to participate because we will we will need volunteers and we will need people to come and help. Um, the flyer will go out tomorrow. So I'll make sure that everybody sees the flyer. It was supposed by tonight, but we didn't quite get it ready. So you will get the flyer tomorrow. I'll make sure that Troy gets it also so that he can put it on the Ingster uh website. Also, um, as I said, we are looking for to try to do at least 150 people. That's what our first responders from police and fire and um the homeless and our seniors. So, whatever you can do, you can be able to bring anything that you have to the Simmons building that's at 2915 Carlile. Um you will accept all donations from now until Friday the I think that's the 16th or no later than that, Saturday the

17th so that we can get an accurate count. you can bring your stuff and drop it off from 10 to two on um Mondays and and Thursdays and Fridays. And on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we'll be there until 7:00 p.m. because we do have our after school program going where u Mr. Timothy Williams is teaching our children how to play the piano and they love that right now. And we do have a chef that's teaching them how to cook and um we have academics. They're doing their academics things from school after school and we are going to do basic sewing uh starting the beginning of this month. So come on out. We welcome anybody's help and thank you.

Miss I didn't have a chance to touch base with you before the meeting. Just before you leave at the end of the meeting, can you touch base with me? Yes, I will.

Oh um hand sanitizer. [snorts] hand sanitizers, hygiene kits, um hats, gloves, you know, stuff like that. And we will be doing soup and sandwiches. We do already have a commitment from uh Pastor Overman as far as turkeys to be able to make sure that we have enough meat to to do the sandwiches and also for her um they're going to get make sure that they get the bread. So that's great. Um Spring Hill Spring Hill Missionary Baptist Church, they're going to prepare the soup. So, you know, we just need you guys to come on with the if you think of something else, a blanket or whatever, you know, we'll we'll we'll take anything as far as this long as this we uh don't want any gently used. I had to tell somebody that once before. So, possibly, you know, I just need you to, as I said, we're going to I said unity in the community. So, that's all of Inkster, all of us. So we going to do this cuz you know our our president doesn't want us to do Martin Luther King. So

you know we going to have to show him. I'll send something to Washington to make sure [clears throat] Jamal Harrison. He's so pretty here this weekend.

Good evening Mayor August body of city council. It is my privilege to stand before you tonight. I just had a couple of questions about a couple of things. Um, and I don't necessarily know I'll get a response tonight, but I understand how it works under Robert's rules. Um, uh, I read through the notification for the city's uh, lead issue in the water. Correct. On the uh, parks pavilion. And as I was reading through the notification, I did not see or if someone can please correct me. I didn't see anything where Inkster is offering any type of remediation or litatement. And it looks like or it appeared to be that that's going to be up to the homeowner. Is that correct? No. Okay. Unfortunately, those can letters are required by the state.

Okay. So, we they don't allow us to really modify them and put additional information in, but we are mandated by the state to replace all lead lines. Okay. Great. We have about 10%. We're roughly estimating 10% of our inventory. We have about 9,000 houses in Ingster. Okay. About 10% of them may may still have lead lines. Okay. Um we've already started replacing back in 2020 or 2021, I think we started. So, we're well into it. If you have a home that was built prior to 1950 and you're not sure whether you have a lead line or not, contact us. We'll send one of our staff members out and they'll check for you. Okay.

Um so, you know, unfortunately, the state makes us send the letters out. It creates a panic because people are scared, you know. Um, but we can we can't say then we only had four houses test uh positive for lead. Okay. Uh, out of all the houses we tested and they were all older homes, but we're not allowed to put that into the letter. Um, but we want people to feel safe. We want them to make sure to feel like they're drinking safe water, of course. So, just contact us. We'll come out and we'll test your water, too. We had some complaints about water being cloudy or smelling like chlorine or bleach. U, we can always test your water, too. Detroit will come out and we'll test the water if there's something wrong with the water just to assure people that it's okay.

Okay. Thank you, mayor. Um the other question is um I had a question about the the water bill. There's been some inconsistency with the water bill and the bill I just paid uh before you we all went on break was it was the September October bill and so I know things happened you know with systems and things like that accounting systems. So I was wondering is uh what's going on with that? And is it going to be remedied soon or? So we had I think we we at the early meeting we kind of explained we had a migration problem. We switched from the old system to the new system. Um so you know the software Yeah. somehow sent out some information went in there and they did not calculate properly. So some people got erroneous bills. Now most people got normal bills but

whole bunch of folks how many we had 600 700 uh erroneous bills. How how many was it? I I didn't think it was that high. Okay. But it it was enough where people like, whoa, you know, yeah, they might get a $7,000, $3,000 water bill. They're used to paying $100, right? Um, so obviously we we had to go in one by one and correct the it's really a math thing with decimal points. We had to go and correct each account one by one. Our staff's been working

crazy. And that's why we had to do a two-month bill because we had to correct everything or attempt to correct everything before we send a new bill out. Um, and we just sent a new another two-month bill out just went out recently. So, we're hoping that we're caught we're caught up now. Okay. Now, it still could [clears throat] be a problem. You could still somebody may have a problem, but we're hoping hundreds of people don't have a problem. Okay. Um and then also people are used to paying we were estimating in the old system 70% of the water bills. Yes. So, every month you might get something that says two or three units. Yeah. You're used to paying a certain amount of money. Right. Right. We put the new meters in to actually calculating your water. Maybe you're using five or six units. Mhm. But the old system wasn't wasn't monitoring the usage properly.

So now people just some people just have sticker shot. Okay. Well, look, I'm used to paying $100. Now it's $200. Well, you use $200 worth of water. But they, you know, Oh, I get it. Yeah. But people don't want to hear that. They they just want to know why did my bill just double, you know, and for some folks that and then other things, this system is much better. Um, so it can detect leaks. So we have we have to run reports. Some people might have a toilet in the basement that's running. Yeah. They may have a pipe that's leaking somewhere and then but this system will detect continual usage. So if your water's usage is moving all the time, something's wrong. That's correct. Yes. And high usage as well.

And high usage. So then we'll we'll get a we'll get an alert. We'll have somebody hand deliver something to those houses to say, "Hey, something's wrong. You need to get your your system your house checked out by a plumber." Um, so we're doing a lot of that too because now people are detecting, hey, I had a leak for three years since I've been receiving estimated bills. I didn't know and we didn't know either. So all this is all happening at the same time, you know. So that's it's it's a heavy lift replacing the whole system. Hopefully won't have to do it for another 15 years. Um, but that's that's kind of where we're at. Okay. Appreciate that. I'm familiar with soft launches and hard launches of software and it never works like they say it.

No, never. Um, another question was the roads in the city of Ingster who they're perfect. [laughter] Yeah, for four-wheelers. So, I just had a question. Um, what what is the plan for that? Uh, like John Dailyaly and Beach Daily and and and those type of roles, they they're in pretty bad shape. Who's the first person to bring up Harrison? Well, it [laughter] started Aenddale. How many years ago we started Aenddale? First time. Oh wow. These road projects take a long time. Yes. And when CO hit, the price of everything shot up. So we haven't finished Aenddale yet. Okay.

We have a whole road plan. So we we do a pacer study on all the roads and figure out who what's in the worst shape. And that's how we create the plan. We need to fix them all. I mean, honestly, um but you know, we're doing basically one street at a time. We got to finish Aenddale already beaten. [clears throat] Got to tackle Harrison at some point. That's almost not passable. Yeah. And then you know this there's many side streets. My side street. I mean Mhm. but that's not high on the priority list. So we have so many side streets. We can the the role plan is on the website. Okay. You can go look and see what the priority is if you don't see your street there.

So here's the thing. My street the problem with my street is it's smooth and everybody drives down my street cuz it's smooth and they treat it like a runway. [laughter] I kid you not. And so [snorts] my last question was, "How do I get uh uh speed humps?" Because what's your street? Norfolk between Beach Deli and Meale. Yeah. And and when I tell you they go down that street, I promise you these kids are out here. These people don't care. And so how do I get speed humps on that street? See, we we you saw we put temporary speed bumps. Well, not temporary. We we put speed bumps down in certain areas. Yes. And then when the winter comes, it's time to shovel the snow. Yep. So, it's a catch 22, you know.

Yeah, it is. Um, so if we put more speed bumps down, we got a grant for that initial group of speed bumps. A lot of them are been destroyed. Yeah. With the plows and then, you know, just they're not heavy duty. [clears throat] I've seen other communities, they do actual seam concrete. Yeah. Know how much concrete costs right now. So, um, it's we can't afford that. I mean, it's a hot mess cuz really every street needs people. Yeah, if you if you want to slow down the traffic, I I work in the city of Detroit for years and every street has speed bumps for a reason. Yeah, that same reason. But you got to take into consideration the fire equipment. Yeah. Those [snorts] fire uh trucks, those lap trucks have to go over that ambulance. Yeah, ambulance is everything, you know. So, I get it.

Going fast. So, if we put permanent speed bumps in, we're going to tear up what is a quarter million a piece. Our ambulance is difficult. Yeah. As well as when we're trying to scrape the roads, if you got concrete speed bumps. So, whoever's driving the truck better know where each speed bump is. Yeah. We're gonna ruin the blade. So, it's no easy fix. Yeah. Um if if we hit the lotto, you know, we'll put speed bumps on all the side streets. But right now, we got to come up with some funding just to fix the streets and then then to try to find funding to for speed bumps. Mr. Mayor, we're close with the police department help. We're close to finalizing to bring before council with the electronic signs. Oh, good. from the location.

They they effective. They do. They do. I mean, because the speed house was the pros and cons. But you've seen a lot of other community not going to the lake district sign. Correct. It makes me slow down. [laughter] We've had [clears throat] a sign approved by the police chief. We're just finalizing the location. Okay. And and my final question, are we getting any help from state of Michigan on our roads? Anything like that? Okay. Yeah, they they put we have a major road fund and we have a local road fund. Um, but it's not enough. Okay. Never is never. Well, thank you so much. I appreciate the time. No problem. Take care. Dr. Shatina Jones dash Smith. [laughter]

I don't want to leave. I want to come up here since I got married. I did get married in real life. Did y'all get an invitation? Congratulations. Did y'all get invitation in here? Listen, Madonna was there, but I and Dana was there, too. I couldn't invite all my 291 members, but you know I love y'all. I do. I love y'all. And I told them the exact same thing. Okay. Some baby gifts anyway.

Oh, you know what? I'm going to need them, too. Right [laughter] after sight after put my my good swords in here and Lindsay Scott. Um, so it's good to see you, too. Okay. So, I have a couple of things and I'm going to make it quick. Y'all ain't put up the timer, but I ain't going to take advantage today. Um, so I just wanted to just take thank you all for your support over the last two years while I have been president. It has been fun. My chapter um was founded in Ingster and loves being from Inkingster, but I'm gonna tell you something. If we do something outside of Inkingster, they gonna take me up out of here. Um so I can confidently talk about Inkingster because I've had good times with you all. Um so I appreciate this space. Well, that leads me to this. I didn't I didn't I didn't ran again and I didn't won. So y'all can't get rid of me um for another two years. So I'm here for two years and I am excited to work with you all. Um, so I just wanted to first extend an invitation to everyone um, because if I invited my whole chapter, there's not enough space for all of us in here um, to possibly join us at one of our chapter meetings. Um, because like I said, my chapter is near and dear um, to Inkster and everybody loves Inkingster, but sometimes they can't come out to this space. We have several older members um, who love this community, but they just can't get here on a Monday and it's after after dark. Mother is not coming out after 4:30. Um, so just wanted to uh extend an invitation for you all to just come and just talk about Inkster. Um, and I love the good sister here who's talking about the redevelopment um, project. That's something that we definitely want to share.

I also want to share um, that with our service builders foundation, we have new leadership. Now, I want to introduce someone who is the vice chairman. The chairman will be here on the third Monday, but she's no stranger to Inkster. I'm gonna have Ladonna Johnson stand up. Um she is the vice chairman of our foundation. So [applause] she is Inkster through and through and we love the Johnson. So they will be here just talk just really truly trying to invest more um into the Inkster community. So a couple updates. We um our founders day is coming up. We have a free event um because I know y'all like free events in this space. Um it is at Bloom Bloom of Southfield which is a um it is a nightclub event space owned by owned and operated by black folks. Um and it starts at 8:08 p.m. Again, it's free. So come celebrate um our many years of serving the community and most importantly serving the community. And last but uh I'm sorry.

What day is that? That is on January 15th. It is a school night. Okay. It's a school night. We won't be before you long though, [laughter] but it definitely is um a school night. And last, we are excited to partner um with all of our cool kid organizations um with in Ingster for the day of service. So with that, thank y'all so much and I look forward to working with you. Thank you, [applause]

April Garrett. Tag team, man. Good evening. Happy [clears throat] new year, mayor, council, and community. I just I hadn't been here in a while. My family experienced uh loss of critical family members at the end of last year. One was my aunt Sarah Young. Some of you know she uh was very active in the city, passed away at the age of 99, and she was our Mrs. June team for our foundation in 2024. So, it was hard loss. And in December, my aunt Maxine Bennett passed away. She was the last of my grandmother's children and she started her career teaching in Inkster at Douglas Elementary School and she finished at Highland Park. I don't know if Mr. Bivvens would have run into her or not, but just we had a lot of things going on dear to our family. But thankfully at the end of December, we were able to assist 12 families that were comprised of 44 children with our foundation. We have a smiles and hugs program. So, we were able to help 10 families that attend daily school, which was good. And we did also assist two families that were experiencing homelessness and financial hardship. So, we were happy we're able to do that at the end of December. But we are looking forward to happier times as West A. Bennett Foundation celebrates its fifth year as a nonprofit organization in 2026. Can you BELIEVE IT ALREADY? [applause] SO, we invite everyone and we know we're a child focused organization, but we always accept adults who come out and help, but we want you to join us as we start kick start reading. It's only going to be one Saturday, so come on out. We're not doing five this time, but we're going to kick it off March 7th. I know. Oh. Uh, we are going to celebrate Junth. That'll be Saturday, June 13th.

We plan to have the parade again. And we will hold kids and cooking on Saturday, September 19th. So, expect some big surprises this year. Thank you. What time? What time on March 7th? Noon. Noon. Everything is at noon. If we can get the post office [laughter] [clears throat] Gabe Henderson, good evening family. Happy New Year.

Happy. Okay, first of all, I want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank Thank you. I want to I want to thank you know all the people who help us Ingster good fellas you know raise money you know to have a nice you know giveaway for our children for Christmas time and uh of course the police department fire department and all the you know the uh congressman our council people you know put a ad in our paper we did have our paper and all that you know and we made pretty good money with that Okay. And I just want to say thank and and want to thank you for supporting and still give uh some prayers, you know, to uh Barbara Cooper. You know, of course, she lost her husband and and actually her sister-in-law. They had the funeral service at, you know, same time. So, she's, you know, just keep on we, you know, we're going to be in support of her and she she's the president of Insta Good Fellas. All right. You know, and with that h Oh, yeah. Uh okay. you know, we still have our ongoing, you know, uh uh we rise uh program with the kids and all that and

[snorts] uh just, you know, you could drop by. We be there on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4 and see how we get along. If anybody want to help, come and help us, support us, you know, okay?

Trying to, you know, get the kids on the good foot, okay? [laughter] And keep them on the good foot and and pretty much and okay, pretty soon. I know we clean be coming up pretty soon, you know. So, we're going to try to get that. I gotta clean up my mess. My kids My kids said they don't shoot me with tranquilizer dart and all that and clean out my house. [laughter] So anyway, well anyway, yeah, I got I got a whole lot to do. You know, Velma up in heaven, she been going, you know, she wouldn't stand for that stuff, you know. But anyway, I'm gonna get her stuff and Okay. Uh and thank you and thanks to everybody. All right. All right,

Madam Clerk.

Um, I have two public comments that was sent in. The first one says, "Dear Mayor and City Council, happy new year. I am not able to attend tonight's meeting, but I just wanted to say a very big thank you to Inksters first responders, police, and fire. In 2025, their services were needed twice and each time they did a remarkable job. They were professional, attentive, courteous, considerate, compassionate, etc. I could go on and on with the objectives. Thank you first responders for all you do in taking care of the city of Ingster. Keep up the great work. May all have a healthy 2026. Sincerely, Anton Shaw, proud Ingster resident. The second one says, "Dear Mayor Nolan, Mayor Pro Tim Chisum, Police Chief Jenkins, Fire Chief Jason Kay, and all others who participated or wish to participate. Thank you for showing up and showing out on January the 1st for our city community walk. We look to collaborate on ongoing events. Sincerely, Octavia Smith, community health worker, Ingster Chamber of Commerce Secretary." and she said she will be watching. That is it. And for the clerk, mayor is just um continuing to renew the 2026 business license that's coming in repetitiously every day. So, that's a good thing.

Okay. Mayor, I have a question for the clerk. Um I know recently they changed how postmarking is happening with the United States Postal Service. Yeah. Um, have they sent any communications down from I guess the organization, the clerks or whatever the head is on how like absentee ballots and stuff like that will be handled? Um, I have some information that came from the state that I will share with all of you. Thank you. But I just opened up my email as far as the absentee ballots and everything and mail in and postmarked and all that. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Treasur.

Good evening, council. Happy new year, everybody. Um we discussed it earlier, but uh the most recent water bills uh have been been mailed out and I think a lot of people have been receiving them. Um just note that those uh bills are for two months, not our standard one-mon bill. Um as we've been communicating, we've been having some as we transition to the new system, we're still having to maintain two billing systems um from the old meters along with the new meters. And so that's been causing some some challenges in trying to combine those. Uh so the the most recent bills that uh people should have been receiving sometime in December and into early January again are for two months. That's the October and November bills. Um and again it's so it's going to [clears throat] because it's for two months it's probably going to be higher than this our standard one month bill. Our expectation is that we'll be back on track with um for January getting the December bills back out. Um but if there's any questions, you can uh view your account online or you can come up to city hall and we can provide you for any information. Um but we just want to continue to encourage people to if they have not get the new meters. We are about I think 81% completed. Our goal is to be uh 100% by April. um you know under the city ordinance uh the water ordinance we are uh everyone is required to have a new meter. So if you don't have a new meter by the um you know within the next couple of months we will at some point we'll have to stop providing service because we're going to have to completely shut off the old system. [clears throat] So you know if you haven't gotten it um is there's no charge for it. Um encourage your neighbors. It takes about 15 minutes assuming that there's no issues and everything. Um, and the sooner we can get everything completed, I think we will all benefit from the, um, you know, from that going forward. So, uh, we're just want to continue working towards

getting the, uh, getting this program done and completed, and I think we will all be, um, you know, at the end, we will all be better off for it. So, all right. Thank you, Mayor and Council Communication. Councilwoman Scott, nothing at this time. Councilwoman Ruther, nothing, Mayor. Thank you. Okay. Councilwoman Richardson. [clears throat] Um, happy new year to everyone. Happy new year.

Say that. I am currently working on uh a community forum again for February, March. I'm waiting for the um the treasurer to get Wayne County treasurer to get back with us for those of you who need help with your taxes and he will give information about probate. Um, I'm also looking for other things that you're interested in healthwise or anything to do with your income. Anything that can help you make your life a little better. If there's an agency out there that I can bring in that you guys would like to have them address some of your issues, I'm willing to do that. Just reach out to me and let me know. Um, I will be taking a little leave. Um, I do have to have some surgery. I am a cancer patient now and I will have to have surgery this week. I request your prayers. Um I am positive. Um I don't I'm not afraid or anything. I I I guess I've had it before, but I do want to say this. It's important for you to follow up on your health.

It's important for you to go for your physicals. My mother was a three-time cancer patient and so that led for me to always go and take my test that I'm supposed to take. That's how I was able to detect mine early. So, I want to just put that out there to you. Um, I'm sure my husband's going to be lost because I can't cook anymore. I will be laying around making him wait on me with the with the bail. with the bail with [laughter] cuz I've done that for him. So, uh so any of you uh just keep us in your prayers and um just watch out for each other cuz life is short.

That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. Councilwoman Howard, nothing at this time. Mayor Proton.

Sure. Um, in the past we had a few accidents that the chief of police had alerted us about. And those accidents along Michigan Avenue and other roads where the state or the Department of Transportation removed our traffic lights or turned them into blinking lights, um I feel pose a hazard because um one of our residents asked about the taking away the no turn on red signs at Michigan Avenue and Middle Belt. And I worked for the state of Michigan at the time or the House of Representatives. And when I reached out to the Department of Transportation, they told me why that was unsafe because they said pedestrians can't cross, you know, those six lanes. But when you get to Michigan Henry Ruff, the light is blinking. Those same pedestrians are walking down there. I know for a fact I can't cross six lanes safely down there, let alone drive across six lanes safely, especially if your judgment is off. You get in that middle right there stuck in between, you know, the two lights. So, I had reached out to our state senator, our state rep as well, um our county commissioner just alerting them about that because two lights, one at Michigan Harrison no longer exists. They filled the island in and then the one at Michigan Henry Ruff. And of course, in the past, I've had this conversation before. I was told that they actually wanted to increase the speed on Michigan Avenue, but [clears throat] the two entities, the state police and the Michigan Department of Transportation have to vote on it in conjunction or in agreement with each other, I'm sorry, um for that to pass. Fortunately, it didn't pass, but it just poses another threat uh for safety. And then when you all are complaining to us about how fast people are going and we had a police department out here doing, you know, traffic enforcement, it's just a conundrum of mess. So, I was going to take it upon myself. I had kind of sort of mentioned it to my colleagues about drafting those communications. um some of the state legislators that reached out say, "Hey, we need to sit down and have a conversation with the Department of Transportation about this." No, we don't. We just need to tell them what we need because we get tired of meeting

meeting because everybody else wants to look good, but it doesn't help us out cuz when you get to the other two communities, the speed limits are different on the on the outside of our borders. So, I just wanted to bring that to your attention. Um, if you do happen to talk to any of your state reps, senators, anybody in higherups, make that known so we all can be uniform in pushing this safety initiative forward. That's all I ask. All right. Thank you. I just want to wish everybody a happy new year. We got a lot of work to do in 2026 and we're on top of it. So, we'll see you at the next meeting. Have a motion to adjurnn. Second.

Move to second. Discussion. All those in favor say I. I. Oppos say nay. The sun service. [music]