City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, time is now 6.30 p.m.

Tonight is the regular City Council meeting, September 14th. We'll start with our call to order and the roll call.

Councilwoman Aaron?

Here.

Councilman Fleming?

Here.

Councilor Gerald? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Meir?

Here.

Councilor Rohrbach? Here. Councilor Wright?

Here.

And Mayor Haynes?

I'm here. Next up, if everybody would please rise as you're able to for the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.

I counselor Gerald Good evening We ask that everybody here works together for the good of the community for the good of the city and to help make the best decisions that we can based on our the information that we have and the input we receive. Thank you for joining us tonight.

Okay, next on the agenda is approval of the agenda. Does anybody have any additions or deletions? All right, hearing none, can I get a motion to approve the agenda? Your Honor? Yes. So moved. Is there support?

Your Honor?

Yes. Support. All right, we have motion support. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed say no. Motion carries. Next up this evening is presentations. We have three. So we'll start with a proclamation recognizing Constitution Week. All right. Whereas the United States of America is commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, celebrating the founding principles of liberty, equality, representative government, and the inherent rights of all people, And whereas those principles were secured and strengthened through the drafting and ratification of the Constitution of the United States, establishing a durable framework for self-government, the rule of law, and the protection of individual liberties. And whereas September 17, 2026 marks the 239th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. And whereas the Constitution remains the supreme law of the land, defining the powers and responsibilities of government while protecting the rights and freedoms of the American people. And whereas, Constitution Week, established by public law 85-915 and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, is observed annually from September 17th through September 23rd to encourage the study of the Constitution and emphasize the responsibilities and privileges of American citizenship. And whereas Constitution Week provides an opportunity for residents to reflect upon the principles upon which our nation was founded and to recognize the importance of an informed and engaged citizenry in preserving our constitutional form of government. And whereas educating future generations about our constitutional heritage and America's founding ideals helps preserve principles of liberty, justice, representative government, and equality that continue to guide our nations. and whereas the City of Madison Heights encourages its residents to learn about and reflect upon the Constitution and the rights, freedoms, responsibilities, and civic duties it represents. Now, therefore, I, Corey Kahanes, Mayor of the City of Madison Heights, along with the Madison Heights City Council, do hereby proclaim September 17th through the 23rd, 2026, is Constitution Week of the City of Madison Heights, and encourage all residents to commemorate this important observance through education, civic engagement, and reflection upon the Constitution and the principles of American government and citizenship. Do we have someone here this evening to accept the proclamation?

Go ahead to the podium.

Good evening, and thank you, Mayor Haynes and City Council members. I'm Sharlyn Douglas, a member of the Ezra Parker Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. On behalf of the chapter, we thank the city for bringing attention to Constitution Week. On September 17th, our chapter will join bells across America to celebrate the beginning of Constitution Week. We invite everyone to join us in Royal Oaks Centennial Commons where we will ring bells beginning at 4 p.m. More than a million women have joined the DAR since its founding in 1890. Today, nearly 200,000 members advance our missions of education, historic preservation, and patriotism. Last year, members around the world gave more than 7 million volunteer hours in service to our communities. Right now, there may be a woman watching this meeting who knows that her ancestors supported the cause for independence. We encourage her to visit DAR.org to learn how she might join us.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you. If you want to come on up. We'll come right down. Everyone, are you able to get down there, Bill?

Thank you. Thanks.

All right, the next proclamation is recognizing National Patriot Week. Whereas, Elks National Patriotism Week is observed annually as an opportunity for Americans to demonstrate their patriotism, reflect upon the freedoms and liberties we enjoy, and express gratitude to the men and women who have served and sacrificed to protect our nation. And whereas, the benevolent and protective order of Elks has a long tradition of promoting patriotism, supporting veterans, honoring those who serve our country, and encouraging civic responsibility within communities throughout the United States, recognizing that the freedoms enjoyed by Americans have come at great sacrifice, and remain committed to honoring the service and sacrifice of members of our armed forces in supporting America's veterans. Whereas Patriotism Week provides an opportunity to remember the heroes and victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including the first responders and ordinary citizens who demonstrated extraordinary courage and selflessness in the face of tragedy, And whereas the Clausen Troy Elks Lodge 2169 is commemorating National Patriotism Week through community activities that promote patriotism and civic responsibility, including a September 10th memorial service honoring the victims, first responders, and heroes of September 11th. And whereas the Clausen Troy Elks Lodge will also recognize local students who participated in this patriotism essay contest. celebrating young people who have reflected upon the meaning of patriotism and the responsibility of the citizenship and Now therefore I Corey Haynes mayor of the city of Madison Heights along with the Madison Heights City Council Do hereby proclaim September 7th through the 13th? 2026 is National Patriotism Week in the city of Madison Heights and encourage all residents to join the Clawson Troy Oaks Lodge number two and six nine in honoring our veterans and armed forces Remembering the victims and heroes of September 11th and celebrating the values of patriotism, service, sacrifice, and responsible citizenship. And I know we have a couple people here, so we will come on down again. Only one more after this.

Can we just stay down here?

Okay. I appreciate it so very much. Thank you everyone.

All right, next one, City Clerk, Certificate of Appreciation honoring Clifford Oglesby. Whereas Clifford Oglesby has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the city of Madison Heights through decades of public service, volunteerism, and leadership on numerous boards and commissions, and whereas his extensive civic involvement includes valuable contributions to the Municipal Building Authority, Housing Code of Appeals, Property Maintenance Board of Appeals, Crime Commission, CIP Review Committee and the Community Development Block Grant Review Committee working to ensure the preservation of municipal facilities and critical capital infrastructure for our community and enhance the safety of our neighborhoods. And whereas, most recently he has lent his expertise in Southern Judgment as a long-standing member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission, helping guide the physical development and land use decisions of our city with integrity and foresight. And whereas Clifford Oglesby's selflessness, civic responsibility, and willingness to share his time and talent have had a positive impact on the quality of life in Madison Heights, now therefore be it resolved that the Mayor and City Council of the City of Madison Heights, on behalf of our entire community, hereby express their deepest gratitude and appreciation to Clifford Oglesby for his exceptional civic commitment, volunteerism, and enduring contributions to the betterment of the community, and wish him continued health, happiness, and prosperity in all his future endeavors, be it further resolved that a copy of this certificate of appreciation be presented to Clifford Oglesby as a lasting symbol of the profound gratitude from the city of Madison Heights.

Thank you.

Okay, next up on the agenda is meeting open to the public. I would ask that you address your comments directly to me. Your comments can be no longer than three minutes. And please give us your name when you get to the podium. So we'll open public comment right now.

Martha Covert, Edward Avenue. I want to congratulate Mary becoming our new city clerk. Good seeing you. And don't look at me because I do make faces. Thank you. And we have three birthdays. This is the big birthday month. You know, September we have Toya Aaron, Quinn Wright, Mayor Haynes. It's all within the next week. So I think we should all have a party. That's it.

Thank you. Hang on. We've got one right in front of you. No, you're fine.

Hi, everyone. I'm Haley from Eluin Friends Pet Care. I'm first in the reports of the agenda for today, but I wanted to speak on how my business was presented at the Planning Commission meeting last month and just provide some clarification. My business was compared to a commercial kennel facility, which my business is not. On a day-to-day basis, my business operates primarily off-site at client homes with dog walking and client home visits and then transportation as well and event chaperones for pets at weddings and stuff like that. My application is for an additional service offering boarding, which is a highly sought-out service and already provided to our community, especially primarily through sites like Rover and Care.com, if anyone's familiar with those sites. Speak into the mic, please. Yep. I would be providing boarding under a single-client household model. This is not an application for a commercial kennel facility, so I just want to make sure we're understanding the differences between those two. But I thank everyone for your time and happy to answer any questions during my report section as well. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. No problem.

Hi, everybody. Chester Grabowski, resident at 26355 Walbury Street. I'd like to bring to your attention about 11 Mile Road just east of John R. It goes from two lanes down to one lane and back open to two lanes. This has become a dangerous area. It is for many drivers, including me. I've gotten into an accident there because another driver wasn't paying attention because they were scared of hitting the curb. I see school buses. They have a hard time making a right turn there. And these have got to be skilled drivers in those buses. It's to make a right turn there. Traffic backups. Right there in rush hour traffic, Traffic is backed up at times all the way to Wolverine Street. Now, I think a left turn lane is a good idea. But when you've got traffic backed up, what good is a left turn lane if you can't turn? It says, I see drivers partially driving as in the left turn lane because they are afraid of those curbs. And when I saw a wreck there that required an ambulance and a fire truck because of those curbs, to me, it had become a dangerous situation. And there's a possibility of a lawsuit. against the city because of this here project that was done. I would appreciate if everybody here could think about putting it back the way it was. It's not going to be cheap. It's going to be a bitter pill. It is a swallow. But I think everybody is going to be a whole lot A whole lot safer and a whole lot happier. Putting 11 miles back to the way it was. And I believe the left turns will be made easier because the traffic won't be backed up either. Okay? Thank you for listening. It's right to me.

Thank you, sir.

Hello, everyone. My name is Martino Tomas. I'm here helping represent Ms. Tanya Cole for her special land use application to run a major home occupation, which is licensed massage therapy. I just come here asking City Council to consider her application and consider the facts. Ms. Tanya Cole did take into consideration recommendations from Planning Commission. We are willing to impose some of those conditions in her running her licensed massage therapy business from her home. It is a very big part of her livelihood. She does make a lot of her income from massage therapy. Another thing I would like for us to consider today is, again, simply the facts and not personal opinions. Because, you know, at the end of the day, when personal opinions come across, some of them can have some valid points, but they can also make room for personal matters, and personal views to come into consideration of a business matter that's presented here at the city. We are open to any questions or comments. If there's anybody that would like to ask a question or two about how we intend to move forward, we are happy to address, and we're happy to work in partnership with the city to get this done as clean as possible. That'll be all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Go ahead, sir. Good evening. My name is Andrew Kolpa. I'm at 51102 Warren Bloomfield Township. I was hoping to speak on the Kratom Prohibition Ordinance 2214. Kratom or Mitraganian speciosa is a natural botanical found in the plant family of the coffee family. It is often used for an energy boost or mild mood enhancing effects. The effects are relatively mild. That, like coffee and tea, has been used for centuries. to improve mood, provide relaxation, reduce anxiety, and increase energy, and is used as a treatment for common aches and pains. The primary alkaloid in kratom, or mitragynine, acts in multiple receptor systems, but is unique as it's a partial agonist. A manner that is distinct from classic opioids, as a result does not cause respiratory depression. There is no evidence that kratom produces the rapid intoxication, euphoria, or dissociative effects associated with any opioid use. While Kratom is not risk-free, when used responsibly, it has been shown to have a very favorable safety profile. Over the past five years, there have been over 400 peer-reviewed scientific and medical studies from major universities like Johns Hopkins and Ohio State University that have found that the botanical can be safely used and is well-tolerated. In fact, the United States Food and Drug Administration has run its own human clinical trial on the botanical. that was published in 2024 that showed that even using upwards of six times the amount is found in commercial products can be safe and well tolerated in an adult population. There are 16 million people in the U.S. that regularly consume Kratom and over 700,000 people in the state of Michigan alone. Unfortunately, there's been a lot of confusion about this botanical over the past few years as a number of what I like to refer to as entrepreneurial chemists interjected a synthetic, a dangerous synthetic drug called 7-hydroxymetragynine, or 7-OH, into the marketplace and misbranded itself as Kratom. These products have been found by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be illegal synthetic narcotics, and they're in the process of making those drugs Schedule I narcotics at this time. There are other similar drugs that have been derived from 7-OH that have recently been scheduled, and those products have been pulled out of the marketplace in the state of Michigan. Those include things such as pseudo-indoxyl, MGM-15, and MGM-16. However, in all their press releases regarding these synthetic drugs, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Health and Human Services have all been very clear that their scheduling efforts have not been directed at Kratom and small amounts of 7-OH that might be found in them, but rather at these synthetic drugs. To be clear, Kratom is not a controlled substance and has never has been. For nearly a decade, Congress, Health and Human Services, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse have supported Kratom's therapeutic benefits within the marketplace. What I request is that you continue to look at Kratom as a separate botanical and look to only schedule the dangerous synthetic drugs that are in there and allow Kratom to continue to be sold within the city and to follow the efforts of the Michigan legislature on this as well as the federal government.

Thank you. Okay, thank you. Anyone else wish to address City Council?

Good evening, Mayor, members of City Council. My name is Elliot Bedell, and I live near 26126 Groveland. I have nothing against massage therapy, but tonight City Council holds final authority under Section 1505 to decide whether to grant special land use approval for PSP 2606. I ask that you to follow the Planning Commission's unanimous recommendation and deny this application. I want to focus directly on the City's official record. compliance history. The city planner classified this as an after-the-fact request. This was not an innocent misunderstanding. A warning was issued in 2022. Operations stopped and resumed again in 2023 and resulted in another warning and another ticket. In 2026, repeat violations were issued within days of each other. That led to just a recent plea deal last week, or I should say a guilty plea. last week of operating a business without a business license from a residence. That's an established pattern of non-compliance from 2022 through 2026. A criminal conviction for unlawful commercial operation in an R3 residential zone proves how this site actually operates. Furthermore, the application directly conflicts with the applicant's own records. The application promises visits strictly between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Yet the applicant's own business posts document appointments offered at 8, 9, and 11, as well as many sessions operating past 11 p.m. Under your standards, Section 7.03.18, Standard 4 explicitly mandates that a major home occupation shall not create negative impacts or nuisances on surrounding properties. That standard has clearly failed. Conditions protect the residential neighborhood only when they are obeyed. When an applicant has repeatedly ignored warnings, accumulated rapid-fire citations, and pled guilty to criminal charges, conditional approval is not an appropriate remedy. I respectfully ask City Council to uphold the Planning Commission's recommendation and deny PSP 2606 and enforce the immediate cessation of commercial activity at this address. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Did you have something new to add? Yeah, I just want to make a clarification. I appreciate the public comments. I just wanted to let you guys know, so there's a civil case that Ms. Tanya Cole is dealing with within the city. However, there was no guilty plea or verdict. You guys can go look at that yourselves. There's a lot of misinformation that's being shared by the neighbors, which is why I'm asking us all to consider the facts today. Again, when there are personal issues, I have respect for that. That should be dealt with separately. That is not a business matter.

Another thing... That's good. We get the point. Thank you. I have one more comment. You've already had your time up here, so I'm cutting you off. So go ahead and have a seat. City Attorney, do you have something you want to add?

I would just note that I prosecuted those cases. There were two convictions for misdemeanor offenses of operating without a business license.

Okay. Thank you. Anyone else wish to address City Council? Yes, go ahead.

Hello.

I'm Chelsea Hager. I live within walking distance of here. I saw a post recently in discussion about the data centers. And I don't know if this has already been resolved by now. I haven't been coming in meetings recently. I've been working on my own health and stuff like that. But at the same time, there's issues I'd like to discuss amongst the board. I want to talk about something already hitting our wallets. DTE keeps going back to the state for rate hikes over and over. In just over a year, they've locked in hundreds of millions of new charges, and they've already filed for another one just weeks ago. Now they want to add over 8 gigawatts of the data center demand onto that same grid. One data center alone equals 25% of DTE's entire current load. This is the same grid that already can't keep up with our lights on, Michigan ranks dead last in the country for power restoration times. And here's one thing. There's no relief coming from the government because we are the government. We pay for this either way, through our taxes, through our bills. So I'm asking this board, don't approve anything for data centers until DTE proves in writing this won't mean higher bills and longer outages for us. Thank you.

Anyone else wish to address City Council? Okay, I know the city clerk has some information to read in.

We have received a public comment via email from resident Kevin Tribucci regarding the issue of conduct around local establishments. We've also received a public comment via email from Kim and Zach DeRocher asking council to uphold the planning commission's denial of the special land use for the proposed massage therapy business at 26126 Groveland Street. We also received a public comment via email from Paula Brown on behalf of a group of independent scientists not in support of our ordinance pertaining to Kratom. All of these communications have been provided to council prior to this meeting and will be added to the official meeting record.

Okay. Thank you. We'll close public comment. Move on to the consent agenda. We have two items on the consent agenda this evening. First one, human resources, the military leave resolution. And the second one is a city council regular meeting minutes of August 24th, 2026. What is the wish of city council?

Your Honor. Yes. I'd like to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Okay. We have a motion on the floor to approve as presented. Is there support?

Your Honor.

Yes. Support. All right. We have a motion in support. Any discussion?

Your Honor.

Yes.

Yeah, I just want to say about the military leave resolution. I talked to the city manager about this resolution and discussed it with her, and I think this is a really great resolution for our military members that are either on active duty, well, not on active duty here, but like National Guard or Reserve that get put on active duty for an extensive period of time, or even I know that... some talk about whether they're going to be on a, on like a monthly, um, like a, like a thing where they go out and do some, um, some training for the month. So I think that this is really great that they're going to be able to get paid, uh, for, for when they're gone for a long period of time. Uh, the state had a, uh, a bill that came through that wanted to, um, Actually, it was actually less than what we're doing for our National Guard reserve members of our city that are on staff Okay, thank you any additional discussion Hearing none all in favor signify by saying aye aye opposed say no motion carries

Up next under reports, city planner, special land use request number PSP 26-05, 30159 Brush Street, major home occupation, dog pet boarding.

The applicant is requesting special land use approval to operate a limited pet boarding business from her home at 30159 Brush Street. The proposed business, Elu and Friends Pet Care LLC, currently provides in-home pet care, dog walking, and pet transportation, and is seeking to add appointment-only boarding for dogs, cats, and small animals. The proposal would have only one employee with boarding occurring inside the home and the fenced backyard, and only one client's pets boarded at a time. The applicant has also submitted supplemental information for council's consideration following the Planning Commission meeting. After the public hearing was held, On August the 25th, 2026, which included letters and public comments in opposition, the Planning Commission did recommend denial of the special land use request, and as you heard a minute ago, the applicant is present tonight.

Okay. Thank you, Melissa. What is the wish of City Council?

Your Honor, I make a motion to concur with the finding of the Planning Commission that we deny the special land use request number PSP 26.05 for a major home occupation at 30159 Brush Street for the findings stated during the Planning Commission.

Okay, thank you. We have a motion. Is there support?

Your Honor.

Yes.

Support.

All right. We have a motion in support. Any discussion?

Your Honor. Yes. I would like to give our applicant an opportunity to talk to us a little bit about what the, you know, I'd like to hear more about, like, what the disconnect is, I suppose, between neighbors and the applicant, just to hear what's going on a little bit.

Do you want to come up to the podium?

Can you repeat your question so I can answer correctly?

I'd just like to know a little bit more about why you think, why you see this as an appropriate business to be held in a residential area when your neighbors seem to be vehemently against it.

Yeah, so like I said earlier, the service is already highly sought out within our community. I don't know how familiar everyone is with Rover or Care.com per se. There's a high need for animals, whether it's anxiety, fear-based, stuff like that, who do better in a home environment versus a kennel. So a lot of people choose that over a kennel. There's a lot of accidents, dogs that get hurt, and that kind of thing, where it's a play group where there's 50-plus dogs a day. My services are, like I said, already sought out within the community. On my website as well, there's hundreds in Madison Heights and Metro Detroit. People are already doing this in their home. So I'm trying to determine the difference between me getting denied versus an app like Rover, why that's not being in looked to. why I'm getting denied, if that makes sense. But it's for specifically single client households where they can't take their dog or cat, per se, to a boarding facility if they're gone for a week.

Your Honor. Yes. So do you advertise on Rover or any of these other sites, or is this purely designed like you're doing it directly out of your home as a primary business?

Yeah, so just to be clear, I do all services for pet care, transportation, and home dog walking, this is an additional one. So I did start on Rover, I think, back in February. I got laid off from a corporate job, so I moved into Rover.com just because I'm already a director at a dog rescue. I do events across Metro Detroit, working with dogs, behavior training, all that kind of thing. So it's my experience. I moved Rover off into my own business just because I learned on Rover. Anyone can join. Anyone in this room can join Rover.com and just accept a pet into their home. You don't have to have the certifications. You don't have to be pet certified. You don't have to have transportation pet animal welfare act certifications. I have all those. So that's why I'm trying to differentiate myself from apps like Rover.com where it's not safe for people who just accept any animal where I have those certifications if that makes sense.

Yes.

Can you talk more please about I think what the description was, is that you would only have a single family's animals in your home at one time. Yeah. Single client household, if that makes sense. Can you tell me more about that? I'm not a pet. Yeah, no, no, no worries. Yeah.

So again, comparing myself to like Rover, um, if anyone joins Rover, they can accept up to like five dogs at once if they wanted to, even if they have pets in their own home. So I already have two dogs in my home, which was discussed during the planning commission meeting. So I would only accept one client at a time for boarding. Does that make sense? So, like, if a mom came to me and said they had a pit bull that needs watching, I would only accept them after a meet and greet. I won't accept, like, a second request that comes into my site.

Your Honor. Yes. Okay, so you already have two animals in your home. Correct. And you'll accept another animal. How can you provide the safety for the residents with a dog that is, or animal, I should say, that's not yours, that's roaming in the neighborhood? And I think that's the... maybe that's a disconnect because it's actually in a residential area.

Just to clarify, they're not roaming the neighborhood. They are within my home and within my fence yard as well. Um, within Madison Heights, any family, one person who lives singly like me, they can have up to three pets in their home. Um, whether it's, they can't obviously do it for like profit kind of thing. So just any person can do that. So going back to my certifications with dog behavior, um, reading signal cues, safety, um, I'm, canine and feline CPR and first aid certified. I do have my U.S. state transport, so I do transport animals as well and all that stuff. So I'm going through the process of getting all the certifications, which I have, just to prove to sites like Rover why they should choose me over just anyone who can join a site like that.

One last question. You mentioned that residents, all of our animals have to be licensed. Correct. So how do you license animals? the animals that's coming into your house. And I get it. My little dog knows how to get out. It's a fish yard, but they can get out. But this is not your animal.

Yeah, sorry. There's two points to that. What was the question?

How do you maintain that everyone is protected from this animal, especially if it's not licensed?

Yeah, so I do lay all this out in the safety, health, and everything in the document as well. But I do meet and greets outside of the home, which is a normal practice in the pet care world, if anyone's familiar. So that was a concern that was brought up. So I meet at, say, a local park with the family or the dog. And that's just truly just for my safety, the pet safety, so I can learn about the owner. We can ask questions. I can see how the owner interacts with the dog, how they interact with me, just based on that and see how they are. If I do accept them, then I would accept them into my home with the dog. On my website, I have liability forms that they sign. I know it's long in the supplemental document, but it goes through all of this, their behavior, background, if they're microchipped. I do ask... like any service that requires pets, asks for vaccination records and rabies certification. So I do anything like a normal vet would require at a pet care facility, I do the same thing. So who's responsible if something happens while the dog is in your care? Oh, yeah, I have pet care insurance for my business specifically, and it goes through all the health, safety, and stuff like that as well.

Thank you. Okay, any other questions for the applicant?

Your Honor.

Yes.

Two. One is probably redundant. How many pets will you have at one time? And then I have a second question. My pets? I mean, no, how many pets will you be caring for at one time outside of your pets?

Yeah, so on top of my pets, it's one client. So I would accept one dog. The other client that was brought up is if, say, someone comes to me and they have two dogs, could I accept that as well? That was kind of in limbo at the last meeting. I would like to be able to accept two, but totally understandable if it's under the requirements would be needing one. I know there's a gray area versus having my own pets versus having three, and then on top of having a business for that within the city.

And my second question was how frequent are pickups and drop-offs at your home? Or how frequent would they be?

Yeah, so this is not my primary service that I want to do. So I'm looking more for, like, the fall and wintertime where, say, dog walking might be more. Obviously you can't walk dogs in snow kind of thing. So it would be more for, like, the wintertime. I'm looking to do maybe once to twice a month is my goal.

So there would be monthly pick-up and drop-offs or like weekly or like daily?

It depends on the need of the client. If they're on vacation for a week, it'd be for a week for say November per se. If someone's gone or just needs it for like two days, I would accept that as well. It truly depends on the need. Okay, thank you. And just for reference, on Rover it's all over the place. A lot of people go to Rover for vacation so it could be longer.

any other questions for the applicant okay thank you have a seat any other discussion by counsel your honor yes a couple of things I 100% respect the opinion of our Planning Commission and I appreciate their taking a good look at this the thing that I kind of wonder about to be cautious with is impacting residents income and it's hard out here for everybody. And also at the same time, respecting the residents who live in the neighborhood. And so that's why I asked about how frequently the animals would be getting picked up and dropped off. I love my dog, so I understand when people come and walk your dog and stuff like that, they come in and out of your house. But I know for a lot of folks, their dog is like their child and you have a babysitter come as frequently as you want as well and need to. So just some of the things I wanted us to consider. impacting someone's individual income, respecting the traffic, and understanding how frequently it would be a disturbance to the neighborhood. I know everyone hops on the Facebook group as soon as they see someone and posts, like, I saw a guy on my block. It was a UPS guy. So we just, I think we should consider the residents' form of income as part of the consideration. I know we can't do that for everyone, but at the same time, it's something that I think about, so...

Okay, thank you. Any other discussion?

Your Honor.

Yes. I just wonder, Attorney Burns, if you would comment on the discrepancy between, like this is considered a commercial business, correct? But if somebody's hosting dogs using the Rover app or a different one, you know, and it doesn't have any, we're not seeing those come to us. So are we singling out an individual or are we going to go after everybody who hosts an animal through Rover?

So the issue we have here is, first of all, I applaud the applicant that she did do the process the right way and not just doing the business but asking for permission to do it beforehand. To define the issue is that in order for her to do it in-house, in addition to the special land use, she would also need to have a business license. So we had to categorize what she was doing under our ordinances, which defined her as a kennel. Most kennels are 6 to 20 type dogs. You know, hers would be more of a 1, but we have to have a definition so she could get that business license. So in regards to this, because anybody Home or business within the city is allowed by right to have up to three dogs or cats in the premises. The issue we have here, though, is that she wants to do the commercial activity. So by doing the commercial activity, we have to approve her doing that activity. In that regard, what we have here is a situation where if we don't approve that special use in the residential area, then she can't do the commercial use, and that's why you have the special land use. If we come across complaints that people are housing a dog just for commercial purposes and they don't have the appropriate approvals and licenses, then yes, we will have to act and take action against them to stop them. So that's why she does need the special land use approval in this matter. Are we out looking for people doing this? No. If we get complaints, will we enforce the ordinances? Yes. In this regard, though, I guess you could take into consideration that if she wanted to... She mentioned that the applicant works or volunteers at an animal shelter. If she wanted to have her own two personal dogs and foster another dog, then she wouldn't need to have... By right, as long as there's only three animals on the property, she's good. The problem we have is she wants to do it as a business, and if she's taking that extra dog in for the business, she's going to... need to have the right approvals and she doesn't have that exemption for the $3 because she's doing it for the personal or she's not doing it for personal, she's doing it for commercial and the commercial use has to be approved if it's in the residential area.

So my question I guess is like she did the right thing. She came to the city and said hey I'm doing this business I want to make sure all my I's are dotted right and so now We're saying, no, you can't do it. But somebody else who, like, Gwen's like, hey, can you watch my dog? I'll pay you $20 for next week to watch my dog. And that puts, I don't have one animal. I have two animals. I have a dog and a cat. So if I watch somebody else's dog, that gives me three animals. I'm at my limit. And I could take $20 to do it. Am I then in a commercial situation?

business and like I do that a few different times like at what point does that become a problem I'm just trying to understand why why it feels like we're punishing someone who went through the right channels again it's a public policy decision but the commercial aspect is what makes the difference here and um if you're having a dog for a commercial purpose then that's your exemption for the dog license but you have to have the business license to hold that dog but um we can only enforce what's brought to our attention. We're not going out actively looking for these types of situations. So in this regard, if someone paid someone $25, we got a complaint from the neighbor, they have an unlicensed dog that's not theirs and it's causing a nuisance, then we would address the situation on whatever we discovered through the investigation, but that would have to be generated by a complaint from a neighbor.

Your Honor, another question for Mr. Burns. If we did not make a decision on this tonight, is there anything we could do to try and make this work for her? I mean, I'm with Emily. She's done everything right. She's talking about only having one or two animals at a time, not for long term, just for short term to help supplement her income.

I mean, if the council is so inclined, my recommendation would be that if you were to approve it, you just put a limitation that she can have one animal on the premises per night or day, you know, for the period, in addition to her two animals that she has. And then she'd be under the same requirements of the business as a kennel, but she wouldn't have the large number of animals available. It would only be the one dog. Again, that's a public policy decision. You have taken consideration both her merits as well as any other public input you received on whether or not the surrounding community is supportive of her application. Mr. Garner?

Yes. I have one just follow-up comment and question. So just to clarify from my understanding of people watching, this is for special approval, right? Correct. And when we do special approval, it's for exemption in cases, which we will always have. We will always have opportunities that are unique that we need to consider if we want to make an exception. And that's what we're considering is special approval, not just the blanket approval of the ruling. And we did this with a couple of weeks ago with the auto shop on the Quinder. And we'll do it again with the next business that comes up and so on and so forth. And I just would like to remind my fellow council members we're talking about the special approval for which you know I personally think that this is an example why you have special approval and we discuss it because it needs special approval so and I also am personally in agreement with Counselor our attorney Tim's recommendation if we were to move forward with making that Approval Your Honor yes

JUST FOR A CLARIFICATION, I BELIEVE I HEARD HER SAY THAT THIS IS NOT, THIS IS SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME. THIS IS NOT OUR PRIMARY SOURCE OF INCOME. SO HOW I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS, IT WILL BE MORE LIKE A DAY CARE CENTER. SO ALTHOUGH I HAVE CHILDREN IN MY HOME, I CAN'T JUST DECIDE TO HAVE SIX OTHER KIDS IN MY HOME FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES WITHOUT HAVING A LICENSE TO OPERATE A DAY CARE. although it's only one animal, and I get it, is operating the business outside of the home, and it's like a gray area. Though she's saying just one pet, but then there was a mention of what if someone had two pets? Who wants to separate brothers and sisters, you know? So it's a little, it's a gray area. It's a good business, but I think that Maybe going back to the drawing board and actually coming up with a bigger business plan of how you can actually operate this business where it does not pose an impact on the neighborhood and the neighboring residents so that everyone can see the benefits of it and not look at it as just someone housing extra dogs or extra cats because it's animals so it can be anything. for a limited amount of time and people coming in and out. And people will start wondering what's going on. And it does seem like she did the right thing by coming. And I don't want her to feel as though she's being punished by doing the right thing. But maybe the business aspect needs to be a little bit more clearer.

OK. Yes, sir.

I do have a question for the applicant. Looking at the notes for the planning meeting, several of your neighbors were concerned over noises and cleanliness. So you have two dogs now. Do they make a lot of noise? Do you keep the yard clean? Why would several of your neighbors be bringing up that point?

Yeah, so I don't know the other neighbors. The letters that they're sent in, I don't know those neighbors specifically. The ones that actually came in and spoke, they are right next to me. The fellow has, he's come into my yard like unannounced kind of thing. He comes onto my property a lot. At the last meeting, if you were here, you saw he touched me on the shoulder. I don't know what that's about specifically per se. That's been happening in 2019 since I moved in. We've always been friendly the last few years. I was actually surprised that they came here instead of talking to me about any noise. I've had these two dogs for a few years already. Like the comments were brought up, there is a facility down the street from us that people hear barking all the time. There's a dog behind his house specifically that barks like 2 to 3 a.m. as well. Mine are pretty quiet. I did note it in my thing as well that there is like excessive noise outside. I do bring them inside if that were an issue as well.

What kind of dogs do you have?

Pugs. I'm a director at a pug rescue. It's like smooshy face breeds to calm specifically, so they're foster fails. Thank you.

If you'd stay at the podium, I have a question for you. I have a question regarding how are you going to limit this to one pet? If we were to approve something with one pet, how would you limit that?

Yeah, I mean, me saying one pet, it's something I can advertise. It's something I can actually put into my website, my form liability and all that. if that's a thing that the board wants to approve with that additional item, happy to do so in any form that's recommended.

Okay, because I'm asking because I have multiple pets, and when you brought up Rover, I've used Rover, and we have them come to our house because the pets are more friendly and familiar with their own surroundings, not someone else's surroundings.

And I don't offer that service specifically.

Huh?

I don't offer in-home client boarding specifically.

Okay. I got you. Okay.

I mean, a lot of people on Rover do that, I'm not comfortable staying at someone else's home. Like I have two dogs on my own. I can't just bring them into someone else's home. So it's not something I offer per se. I haven't found another business like me in Metro Detroit. A lot of people on Rover do stay at other people's homes. I've used Rover for people to come to my home. That's why I went off that because I learned that anyone can join without certifications.

Okay. And the fact you said that you own a rescue or operate a rescue?

I'm a director on the board for a rescue specifically, yes.

Okay. Do you bring rescue dogs home?

I have in the past. I'm taking a break from that just because I started this business.

Okay. I mean, because what are you going to do if there's a rescue dog that needs to be brought home and you already have your three dogs?

I'm the foster coordinator for the rescue and a director, so I have a list of like 50-plus people. I place them into homes, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana.

Okay. All right. Thank you. I have a question for the city attorney. Mr. Burns, with a special approval, because I sat on the planning commission and we went through the public hearings, Doesn't the approval go with the land? It doesn't go with the specific homeowner. So I guess what I'm asking is if this applicant was no longer at the home and we didn't put some kind of a limitation on it, if we did approve it, wouldn't the next person be able to come in and run a kennel?

You could put an expiration of that. If the property transfers to a new owner, the special land use expires.

Okay. Along with...

I guess along with stating that there's to be original request was one One client at a time. I would put one animal at a time. Yeah, I'd also put that any violations of the animal business or criminal ordinances of the city would terminate the special land use and

If I remember correctly, we had three or four residents that showed up at the Planning Commission meeting and were opposition because there is that licensed kenneling facility that sits off of Girard or south of Girard. Is that my memory correct on that?

That's correct. We had a variety of complaints. One was from a neighbor that said that he has military service and dogs create anxiety for him. Another individual said there had been prior noise complaints from this property, though I'm not familiar with those complaints. Okay. All right. Thank you.

Any other discussion?

Your Honor. Yes. I do have a question about, like, has, until this came forward as a request business license question, had the city received complaints about this property prior to that?

No. No, I'm looking at Matt. He's shaking his head no. Come on up, Matt.

Hi, good evening, everybody. Matt Monerstetter, city planner. So I did were you asking if there were complaints about or if we had any formal application?

No before the application for the business license had had the city received complaints about this property No, I actually just checked earlier today.

We don't have any recent enforcement actions on this property.

Okay.

Thank you All right any other questions or discussion Yes

I like to withdraw my motion. Okay.

Is the support in agreement with, I don't know that they have to be, city attorney, they have to be in support?

The motion maker can just withdraw it. Okay.

I was going to ask if there was anybody that wanted to make a substitute motion. I might want to make a substitute motion, but I'm not sure.

If you made a substitute motion, then the seconder would have, or amendment or substitution, so you need to withdraw it and someone else make the motion. I'm going to withdraw it.

The motion is withdrawn from the table. And then, City Attorney, do you have recommendations on a substitute motion to include the items that we talked about? I need to look briefly at the actual...

Okay. So, um, I recommend that the city council approved special land use request number PSP 26 Oh five for a major home occupation in the form of a pet boarding business at three zero one five nine brush street based upon the, um, following findings, the post pat boring major home occupation uses consistent with special land use review standards or criteria set forth in 15 Oh five three. In particular, the use is designed, located, and proposed to be operated in a way that protects the public health, safety, and welfare. The use will not involve activities that will be detrimental to the adjacent residential land uses. The use is designed and located so that it is compatible with the principal uses permitted in the R3 one-family residential district. The use is designed and located as compatible with the Madison Heights Master Plan and single family residential future land use classification. It also satisfies the use specific standards for major home occupations as contained in Section 703.18, use specific standards for major home occupations as contained in Section 703.3 of the Madison Heights Zoning Ordinance. Approval is granted with the following conditions. The pet boarding business shall at all times comply with the specific standards for major home occupation section seven Oh three 18 as effective on the day of this approval, which will be attached to the record on the special language approval except as modified as part of this motion. The, uh, only one pet shall be boarded at any given time. No, at no point shall there be more than three animals on the property. Client pick-up and drop-off of dogs shall be limited to one at a time and shall occur between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. A minimum of one parking space shall be provided for clients in a residential driveway. Vehicles shall not overhang the public sidewalk. Special land use will expire upon the property transfer of this parcel. Any violation... of the city's animal, criminal, or business codes under the Code of Oranges shall result in a termination of the special land use.

Your Honor. Yes. So moved.

I kind of thought that was correct.

Is there support?

Support.

All right. We have a motion, support. Any further discussion? All right. Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed say no. Motion carries. Moving on to the next report, city planner, special land use request. I think she doesn't understand. PSP 26-06-26126, Groveland Street, major home occupation, licensed massage therapy.

The applicant is requesting special land use approval to operate a licensed massage therapy business from a 144-square-foot detached accessory structure at 2 6 1 2 6 Groveland street. The business would be operated by the applicant on an appointment only basis with services provided between 8 AM and 8 PM and approximately four to eight clients anticipated per day. Clients would park in the driveway and access the rear yard structure. This is after the fact request as the business has operated from the shed on and off since at least 2022, without the required city approvals. Following a public hearing that was held on August the 25th, including letters and comments of opposition, the Planning Commission recommended denial of the special land use request, and a representative is here for the applicant.

Okay, thank you, Manager Marsh. What is the wish of City Council?

Your Honor.

Yes.

I move that based upon the Planning Commission's recommendation, recommendation of denial at their August 25th, 2026 meeting. City Council denies special land use request PSP 2606 for a major occupation in the form of a licensed massage therapy business at 26126 Groveland Street based upon the following findings. The proposed massage therapy use does not satisfy the criteria for a major home occupation business with the special land use standards and criteria set forth in section 15.05 In particular, the use is not operated in a way that protects the public health, safety, and welfare of the residential district where it is proposed. The special land use involves activities and uses that are detrimental to neighboring people and properties from increased pedestrians and vehicle traffic to the site. The use is incompatible with adjacent conforming land use and its neighbors in a residential zone. The use is incompatible with the surrounding properties, neighborhood, and vicinities in the following manners. Conformance with the master plan and future land use map for the area as adopted by the Planning Commission. Compatibility with the permitted principal uses allowed in the zoning district where the special land use is requested in consistency with the intent of the zoning district. The use is not consistent with the intent and purpose of the RF Three zoning district in which it is proposed the use does not satisfy the use specific standards for major home occupations as a contained in section 7 0 3 1 8 of the zoning ordinance a special land use does not occur within the primary dwelling of the property and the accessory structure that would be utilized for the major home occupation is not harmonious with the zoning district within which it is located and and negatively impacts the surrounding residential properties. The major home occupation also creates discernible traffic from its use coming and going from the property that can negatively impact surrounding residential properties.

Thank you. Could you repeat that? Just kidding. All right. Thank you. Is there support?

Your Honor, I'll support.

All right, we have a motion to support. Any discussion? All right, so we'll go to vote. A yes or an aye vote will be to deny this special land use, just so we're all on the same page. All right, all those in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, say no. Motion carries. Moving on to the next item from the assistant city attorney, amendment to settle an agreement, Arctic Fox, LOC, doing business as jars cannabis.

The proposed amendment modifies the city's existing settlement agreement with Arctic Fox doing business as jars cannabis to require an annual $5,000 contribution to the police department budget for public safety purposes beginning in 2026 in lieu of other security measures. The first payment is due by October 30, 2026, with future payments due with JAR's annual licensing fees. Although the terms and existing agreement remain unchanged, staff recommends approval and authorization for the city manager to execute this amendment.

Okay. Thank you, Manager Marsh. What is the wish of City Council?

Your Honor. Yes. I move that Council approves the amendment to the settlement agreement and authorizes the city manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the city.

All right, we have a motion. Is there support? Yes. All right, we have a motion and support. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed say no. No. Motion carries. Bid awards and purchases. Fire chief, large diameter hose replacement.

The fiscal year 2027 budget includes funding for the replacement of the fire department's large diameter fire hose inventory. The existing hose is more than 11 years old and exceeds the 10-year service life of this equipment. The city received eight qualified bids with three vendors meeting all required specifications, including requirements related to hose height and corrosion-resistant couplings. The recommended purchase is $6,645 over the amount originally budgeted. However, this additional cost can be accommodated within the fire department's fiscal year 2027 budget through other identified savings. Staff recommends awarding the bid to the lowest qualified bidder, CSI Emergency Apparatus, in the amount of $51,645. The purchase is consistent with the city's capital improvement plan and funding approved in the budget.

Okay, thank you, Manager Marsh. What is the wish of City Council? Your Honor? Yes.

I make a motion that we award the bid to the lowest qualified vendor, CSI Emergency Apparatus. In the amount of $51,645. Okay, thank you.

Is there support? Yes.

Support.

All right, we have a motion and support. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed say no. Motion carries. Next up is ordinances. Assistant City Attorney, Ordinance 2213, Amendment to Water and Sewer Ordinance for Rentals, first reading.

This ordinance amendment updates the city's existing ordinance related to the water and sewer for eligible rental homes to clarify the obligations of property owners participating in the city's water and sewer billing program. The amendment is intended to ensure that the city's ordinance is consistent with applicable state law and provides clear direction regarding the collection of delinquent water and sewer charges. Specifically, the amendment clarifies that when a property owner or lessor has complied with the requirements of the city's water and sewer program, the city may disconnect water and sewer services for nonpayment. The amendment also clarifies that the city may apply any required deposit towards delinquent charges, and if the delinquency is not resolved, may pursue a lien against the property if the property is not in compliance. This amendment is primarily a clarification of the city's existing requirements and collection procedures, and is intended to provide greater clarity for property owners the own rental homes and the city regarding enforcement of unpaid water and sewer charges for those rental homes participating in this program. Staff recommends City Council approve this ordinance on first reading and schedule the second reading for September the 28th.

Okay, thank you, Manager Marsh. What is the wish of City Council?

Your Honor?

Yes.

Make a motion to approve this ordinance on first reading and schedule the second reading for September 28th, 2026.

Okay, thank you. We have a motion. Is there support?

Your Honor.

Yes. Support. All right, we have a motion to support. Any discussion?

Your Honor. Yes. Can I get an explanation from the city manager of how this would work versus how right now the ruling is, is if you're delinquent on your water and then your water bill becomes a tax to the county?

Sure, so this is a completely separate program. So currently the city does not shut off water for non-payment, but the water does go as a lien on the property in March at tax time. So the water bill does end up getting paid. If you own a rental home in the state of Michigan period, there's a state law that says you can come into the treasurer's office, you can supply a copy of the lease agreement showing that the tenant is responsible for the water and sewer bill. You can pay the applicable deposit, which is going to be set with the annual budget. But in this ordinance, it's going to be $300 for this upcoming year. And that's an estimate of about two typical water bills, so six months of water bills. And as long as you do those two things, if the renter does not pay, then I can't lien the renter owner property, because it's the responsibility of the tenant. However, the city still has to be made whole, and if the renter skips town or decides not to pay it, we still need a mechanism. So only in these situations where the renter and the owner of the rental property has filed and is participating in the system, we will go out and disconnect the water. So the renter would come in then and pay it. If they don't pay it, we would use the deposit. If the deposit gets depleted, the person never pays, or the lease agreement expires, then the property won't qualify for this anymore. So ultimately it protects the property owner that is using it as an income-producing property from having a lien put back on the property for a renter that may not be paying the water bill. And it protects the city from being on the hook for someone making money on their property who's not enforcing them paying the water bill. And we currently already have the ordinance. The only real change is we're just clarifying that we will go out and turn off the water because currently we missed that step. which leaves the city liable in the case that a renter would skip town.

Thank you, Manager Marsh.

Any other discussion?

Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed say no. Motion carries. Next up, Assistant City Attorney, Kratom Prohibition Ordinance 2214, first reading.

The proposed Kratom Prohibition Ordinance would amend Chapter 17 of the City Code to prohibit the possession, sale, manufacture, creation, delivery, and certain other activities involving Kratom and Kratom derivatives within the City of Madison Heights. The ordinance is intended to protect the public health, safety, and welfare and establishes criminal penalties and potential business license sanctions for violations. This item is presented to City Council for first reading on September 14th And if approved, the ordinance will return to City Council for second reading and consideration for adoption on September the 28th.

Okay, thank you, Manager Marsh. What is the wish of City Council? Your Honor? Yes.

Submit a motion to approve the Kratom Prohibitation Ordinance on the first reading and schedule the second reading for September 28th, 2026. Okay, we have a motion.

Is there support?

So moved. Support.

Right. We have a motion in support. Any discussion? You're on. Yes.

So do we know where the federal stance is on Kratom?

Right now there is no federal stance or state stance on the matter. If for some reason the law would change, then that would preempt this ordinance.

I mean, that wording is in the ordinance that if any Fed or state dictation comes down, then we would follow that.

That's under Section 174.

So this is something we're putting in place until the state or Fed decides something different or agree with what we're doing. ANOTHER QUESTION IS SHOULD WE PASS THIS AND TONIGHT AND ON SECOND READING, HOW ARE WE GOING TO GO ABOUT ENFORCING THAT WITH THE NUMEROUS PLACES IN THE CITY THAT ALREADY SELL THIS STUFF?

WE WOULD SEND A NOTIFICATION TO THE BUSINESS THAT WE KNOW ARE DOING IT THAT THEY HAVE SO get rid of their inventory at that point when we'd start issuing citations.

It's not like we're just going to put a padlock on their door.

No.

We're going to give them some time to find out something else to do with this stuff.

If passed, I'll work with the police department to develop a strategy on working. There's a specific segment of businesses that are marketing this and we would implement a program that's fair to them to give them some time to get rid of their inventory and then for us to start enforcing it. Thank you.

Yes.

I know we heard from the gentleman earlier about kratom and how is, I'm sorry, I believe a natural herb. However, kratom from what I've always learned is it is like an opioid like compound and it causes a large amount of dependency When people are trying to stop using Kratom, they're facing like withdrawal symptoms, addiction, and they have to be treated really with methadone just as a heroin addict to get off of the drug that's not a drug. So it's the higher rates and the physical dependency on Kratom, it really affects the minds of a lot of our residents. And being that It's an opioid, and we have a crisis already in the world with opioid addiction. Why would we want to bring something into our city that could potentially affect those that are growing up? So I am totally for prohibiting the sale and the use of kratom in the city. This reading, I won't be here for second reading, but put it in the records, I'm still a yes, no for kratom use. you know, is really a bad, it's a bad non-drug.

Okay, thank you. Any other discussion?

I'm just going to say that, you know, one of the problems is that very often state law, federal law moves slower than like life on the ground, right? And so many things, like it was mentioned before, the, you know, people labeled Kratom but it was some other substance. They were putting things out there, and it was called Kratom. And how is the 12-year-old walking into a gas station to know the difference between one or the other? They're not. As a parent of three teenagers, that's terrifying. So I understand perhaps there are some benefits to this botanical, as it was called. I think the danger of it as in a free-for-all state that we're in right now for it is more dangerous than helpful. And perhaps the labs at the University of Michigan who are studying things can find a cure for cancer with it or something like that. And if they can do that, great. But it's not going to come out of the gas station on the corner of 12 Mile.

Any other comments? Discussion?

I just I was doing a little extra digging and I just wanted to clarify also that Kratom and K2 are two separate things. I thought we were talking about K2. We were talking about Kratom which is different. It does not change how I feel about the scenario. I agree 100% with everything Councilor Warbach said. I agree 100%. Marijuana is an organic plant as well and it is very natural but it will get you high. So We have to be very intentional to hear words and understand how they go together, which I'm saying, not saying anyone didn't, but yeah, we have to protect our kids too. We have a duty to protect our kids. We have a duty to protect our younger selves from things we would have done unknowingly.

Correct.

Like in high school, me drinking Mad Dog or 2020. I did not know, but the convenience store definitely sold it to me, and they definitely knew I was underage. So it's like, couple years ago so I'm sure but the fact that it matters we do have a duty to do our very best to protect our children and I think that this is what this is an effort to do so I support that yeah right if I if I knew today was if I knew 30 40 years ago what I knew today there's a lot of things I would

And what the gentleman, I think, was it's not a chemical. It is botanical. And some of the comments that the gentleman made is when used correctly or used when, that's the problem. It's not going to be used correctly, unfortunately. And we see that happening. And it can be very addictive when used incorrectly. And unfortunately, that's what's happening. And we need

Our community from that All right any other discussion yes If I could ask a question of the gentleman who spoke earlier Can I'm not familiar with Kratom, but I was very interested in the information that you provided So if people were not buying it the not the derivative, but Kratom itself. Where would they find it I? Thank you. At the gas station.

The Kratom products are sold at convenience stores. They are, as you've identified, certain gas stations do carry those products. They're sold at specialty stores. So they're sold in a wide variety. They're not just sold at, despite the unfortunate co-branding with many of the vape shops or smoke shops, which as many people identify them as being an illicit substance since it is advertised in green neon letters. They are carried by national chains. Circle K carries them. Racetrack, Quick Trip, all these chains have carried these products.

Thank you.

Any other comments?

I just have one. I agree with everything that's been said here at the table tonight and we do have an obligation and a duty to protect our kids and the one thing that The gentleman did say, and also the mayor pro tem, is when used appropriately, buy an adult. Buy an adult. And we're talking about the kids because any kid at any age can walk into any one of our party stores, tobacco shops, and buy it. And that's what we're trying to prohibit. And I think us, similar to the city of Sterling Heights, because when I saw Sterling Heights working on this, I then asked our city attorney's office to work on it. so that we could get an ordinance and follow suit. And I think you're going to see many other cities following suit, too, because as Councilor Rohrbach brought up, it takes a long time for the feds or the state to act on pretty much anything. So I'm proud that we're doing this tonight and taking the first step on this first reading. So with that, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed say no. Motion carries. We have no unfinished business this evening. So we will do closing comments. Yes. Yeah. We'll do very brief closing comments as we have a joint planning commission meeting that follows this meeting. So we'll start with Councilwoman Aaron.

Thank you, Your Honor. First, I want to just say, Mary, welcome to your longest meeting. That's really it. And I also just want to congratulate the Elks Club. I had the opportunity to go to the Elks Club this past weekend and along with the mayor and Ms. Covert and her husband and I played darts for the first time and I actually won. I was so excited I won. But again, happy Rosh Hashanah which was this past weekend to all of our Jewish residents And happy birthday, Quinn and Mayor. We will have a very good week next week. So that's all I have.

Thank you. Mayor Prochamir.

Thank you, Your Honor. Welcome, Mary, of course. You stirred a lot of conversation tonight. Thank you for that. As everyone knows, last Friday was 9-11, 25 years ago. And 100 million people in this country weren't born when that happened. And I talked to my son, who was five years old at the time, and he said he has no recollection of that day. I talked to my other son, who was eight-year-old, and he said the only thing he remembered is being sent home from school, and he couldn't figure out why. So there's another 25, 30, 40 million people who were here that day but don't really recollect what it was for. So please keep that in your conversation. Remind the children that we should never forget what happened that day.

Thank you.

Thank you. Counselor Wray.

Yes, I concur. I actually had a conversation with someone in my job who was concerned one, when 9-11 happened, which is kind of mind-blowing to me because I was in college and I recall watching Good Morning America as it unfolded and the terror I felt being miles away from my family and seeing that happen. I also was president of student government at Michigan State and so to start seeing how everything started to unfold, how we were coming together as communities to commiserate and to try and find some sense of reasoning was very wild. And I agree. We passed a resolution today talking about patriotism. And something that's been on my mind lately is the idea that we need to recognize that patriotism is for everyone in this nation. It's not for a certain political party or certain beliefs. It's for all of our residents. And we need to not wait for moments like this to remember that, and how patriotism is for everyone who is from the US, in the US. We are all patriots, and we need to stay one nation, undivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I didn't mean to go that far with it. But on another note, I wanted to wish happy birthday to all my fellow fur girls. Happy birthday. And a Libra. Sorry. Tip the scales evenly. Libra. Pardon me. Libras. Apparently, I'm saying happy birthday to myself. I did want to, on a lighter note, talking about unity, talk about Revenant in the Heights, which is this September 19th, rain or shine, we are moving forward. Really excited for this program and what we have lined up. It starts at 10 o'clock as the official kickoff. In that effort, we had a good conversation about this, too. We're going to play the National Anthem at 10 o'clock. So if you're around, please come there for that time to come check out the cars. We're going to have Show Car Limbo, which if you go to the Human Relations and Equity page, you'll see we'll have a free RRC racing track. If you saw it last year, it was really cool. We're going to have face painting. There's going to be posting throughout the day. The library will be open. There's going to be a fire station. It's going to have trucks out there as well. There's going to be a lot going on. And I just want to encourage you guys to come out. The award ceremony is going to be from 2 to 3. It's going to be Mayor's Choice, City Council Choice, HREC Choice. So this is a good chance to get your car judged. So if you have a show car or you just want your car judged and get an award, it's probably a good day to come out. So it's this September here at Civic Center Park. Everyone come out. I want to tell you guys one of the main reasons why the HREC wanted to do this event is because two things that define this area are cars and food. You know, we talk in HRC about, you know, we got food trucks. We got some cool. Oh, thanks. You guys remind me. We have the food trucks are going to be Taco Hub, which I know we all know. But we're bringing in a newbie in Motor City Potato Company. And by God, who doesn't love a good potato, right? So Motor City Potato Company will be there in the morning, both serving breakfast and lunch. So it should be a good show. I hope you guys all come out, see some cars, see some community. And my final note I wanted to talk about was a young lady who came in for special approval. In our community, a lot of us have dogs. I have a dog. Councilor Urbach mentioned her dogs. I know, in fact, who on council doesn't have a dog is my question. We love her anyways, all right? No, just kidding. She's a cat. But my point is I sometimes, I recently have been, we won't call it running. We'll call it trotting around our community. And I see a lot of folks who have their dog, and they'll have a 30-foot lead on their dog, but they don't have control of their animal. They'll be in the vicinity of their animal. And I would just like to remind us as pet owners, we have a responsibility ourselves to be considerate of our neighbors and know that they don't know your dog or your animal, and your animal doesn't know us. Because my fear is when I'm trying to pass your dog, your dog might always be friendly until that one moment they're not. Be considerate, know your dog, can be startled, and respond. And let's be considerate of each other with our animals. I do it the same, too. I have a doodle, and I call him Dumb Smart. He is so smart, but sometimes I'm like, dude, what are you doing? So be considerate and just remember to be kind. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. City Attorney. No legal report tonight.

Okay.

Manager Marsh.

For the sake of time, just one quick thing. This over Labor Day, when Madison House was rocked by yet another storm in addition to July the 4th, as a city manager, I don't ever have to sit and wonder if our city staff is showing up and there for our residents. And so I just want to give a special shout out to our first responders, and that's not just police and fire, it's DPS, which shows up in full force. But also the following day, we had at least two tornado warnings where we had to rally all the residents into the basement, city hall staff, library staff, performed above and beyond to get all of those people safely to our basement. So just a shout out to city staff. I know we all have our feelings about DTE, but I think our staff always shows up well for our residents. All right. Thank you. City clerk.

Well, thank you for the warm welcome, everybody. And absentee ballots are anticipated to be mailed on September 25th to everyone on the permanent ballot list. If you are not on the permanent ballot list and you would like an absentee ballot for the November election, you can fill out an application online or in person at the clerk's office and we will mail it to you.

Thank you. Councilor Rohrbach.

I'm going to try. I'm cutting out a bunch of things on my list because I want to keep it short. But I do want to also reiterate the thank you to our first responders and especially our DPS. I know that people keep asking, are the chippers still coming? to pick up my tree limbs, and yes, I think they have three chippers out going every single day, but there are big trees down in there. It takes a lot of time to do this, so please continue to have patience, and thank you to everybody who's working on that. Skipping ahead to Revin in the Heights. Just want to say yes, please come to that. It's always fun. It might rain. Rain or shine.

Rain or shine.

Rain or shine. And I also, I just want to note that we had a wonderful volunteer recognized tonight, so thank you for coming. But I also wanted to recognize Mike Sally. He was a wonderful volunteer. He did so much for our community. He sat on the board for the Active Adult Center, and also he was the chair of the Environmental Citizens Committee for a number of years, and he passed away recently. It was a big loss for our city, and so I just want to say thank you to Mike and thank you for your years of service. And Happy New Year. Rosh Hashanah to everyone. Thank you. Counselor Geralds.

Honestly, I'm going to pass tonight. I had an 11-hour day and I leave for Boston for work tomorrow for the rest of the week, which is going to be an even longer day, so I will just pass. Thank you.

Understood. So I want to say that first of all that there was a comment about DTE and I know that our council has written letters to DTE through our city manager and sent them forward to DTE fighting for you guys to have against these ginormous DTE rates that are continuing going up and then you're not seeing any improvements into the network that DTE has. I do know that that takes a lot of people to to move the Public Utility Commission so it's we can send a letter there but I'm asking that when they have these great hikes and they have these meetings to hold them that everybody is also sending letters and email and calling the Public Utility Commission and putting the pressure on them because we're just seven people and we represent the entire city but also if all of our residents are calling that's even more people to put the pressure on on the Commission and you know I too Want to see quick restoral of services. And I know the DT is, they do work hard. I'll acknowledge that. But I also was kind of astounded by the lack of tree cutting. Like they just cut a tree today and took my power out for the third time this summer, right? And that's something they could have been proactively doing. I don't know why they wait until the last minute. So I hope they improve on that. I also want to say that my condolences going out to the family of Mike Sally, who was really, he volunteered a lot and he was a veteran. And, you know, he's going to be really missed at the Adult Active Center and also in the veteran community and here and everybody else in Madison Heights. And I want to say that it's important that we recognize people like Mr. Oglesby here for their long-term service. because I wanted to do something for a lot of our volunteers, and sometimes we just miss that opportunity or it becomes too late and they pass away, and then we're doing something after the fact, and I'm glad that we've been doing that as a historical commission when we go ahead and rename things in the city, in the naming committee at the historical commission, and I'm glad that we were able to present you with a certificate today for all your service.

Okay, thank you, sir. I'm not going to repeat everybody else's comments, but I agree with everything that's been said here tonight, so thank you everybody for that. A couple of things that I did want to mention is on September 11th, I had the privilege of hosting a 9-11 ceremony at one of my other jobs, my full-time job, and it was recognition of the 25th anniversary of the attack on our nation, and you know I always look for the silver lining in what comes out of things and the one thing that came out of that is at the end of the day we all pulled together and we all worked as Americans separate from any political affiliation, separate from race, gender, separate from all the things that get in the way sometimes. We came together as a nation and I'm hoping that without having a tragic event we can do that again and come together as as we need to for our nation. Also, on 9-11, I was able to attend the Boy Scout flag retirement ceremony. It was right here at our fire department. What an awesome privilege to be with the Boy Scouts and some Cub Scouts. There were several groups that were there, and it was just amazing to see them and to watch them honoring our U.S. flag. So that was another fantastic event to be part of. And lastly, I just want to thank Council tonight. I mean, you know, the meeting obviously went a lot longer than most of our meetings have gone, but very good, productive discussion. So I really appreciate all of that from all of you. And Mayor Pro Temier has one more thing he'd like to say. Thank you, Your Honor.

One more quick. We had a lot of conversation about Kratom tonight, and the Madison Heights Community Coalition is a group that works very hard to give our youth some other avenues to help prevention of getting involved in these kind of things. They are having an open house on September 23rd. 530 to 730 in the Breckenridge room, so please come out and find out what they're about and and Help us keep protecting the youth of our community for sure. Thank you.

Thank you and lastly I just wanted to again extend my appreciation for For mr. Oglesby and all the time that he has spent donating and volunteering in our city for all these many years I knew him pretty much when I first started here back in the early 90s, which kind of dates how old I am too. But no, he's been amazing and really done a lot for the city of Madison Heights. So thank you again. And with that, I will adjourn the meeting at 8.07. We're going to take about a five-minute break, and then we'll reconnect with our... Hey, good evening again. We're going to start. It is 8.18 p.m. The Joint Planning Commission and City Council meeting for September 14, 2026. City Clerk, would you please call the roll for the Planning Commission?

Chair, Josh Champagne. Here. Mayor, Corey Haynes.

Here.

Councilman, Sean Fleming. Here. City Manager, Melissa Marsh. Here. Commissioner, Ryan Fox. Commissioner, Eric.