City Council - Regular Meeting

17th, 2020.

The meeting is now called to order. Everyone please rise for our prayer. Pastor Crawford, can you lead us? Trying to sneak up out of here.

I ain't going nowhere.

Let us bow our heads. Father, we thank you for another day. This is the day that you have made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it. We thank you for the vision and the drive of our city and all of our leaders and bringing us closer as a community to move forward with vision. We ask that you bless this meeting in the name of Jesus. Amen.

indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Roll call.

Mayor Nolan.

Present.

Mayor Pro Tem Chisholm.

Present.

Councilwoman Rutledge. Present. Councilman Bishop, excuse. Councilwoman Scott. Present. Councilwoman Howard. Yes. Councilwoman Richardson. Present. Mayor, you have a quorum.

All right. Okay. Everybody had a chance to look at the agenda. We added a few items. Item E. Consider approval for the family over everything. Let's keep Inkster connected community outing with Vant for August 20th, 2026 from 6 to 9. We add item F. Consider approving the administration to approve the needed correction of major contracting for Justine and Review Drive. Ponding water in the amount of $14,504 plus a 10% contingency of $1,450.40 for a total of $15,954.40. And item G, consider approval of a resolution recognizing Reimagine Inkster as a non-profit operating in the city of Inkster. So that is what we have for agenda items. Do we need to add or delete or change anything?

Just the two presentations. Okay, we have...

okay presentation we have sustainability and then we're going to have a presentation on the application application and then just a quick uh presentation on paint the city pink okay so we're going to add another under presentation application or donation request and then paint the city pink so a b and c any other additions corrections changes We have a motion to approve the agenda. So moved.

Support.

We'll probably move then support it. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. It passes. All right. Presentations. Eastern Sustainability Project with the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Good evening. We are here to update on our Inkster project proposals that we've been working on throughout the summer.

Okay. Good evening.

Good evening. Good evening.

So my name is Catherine Arnold. I recently graduated from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a major in environmental science and a concentration in ecosystem sciences.

Hello. My name is Ahmed Canso. I'm a current student at the University of Michigan-Dearborn studying environmental science with a concentration in environmental and sustainability studies.

My name is Brenna. I am also a current student at UM-Dearborn studying environmental science and sustainability. And I'm also intending to get my GIS certification.

Great.

And then also our supervisor is Sarah Mills. She is a director for the Center for Empowering Communities at the Graham Sustainability Institute. And just a quick note, we are going to be covering a lot of info today pretty rapidly. There is going to be a bit of jargon, so please forgive us. And we will be happy to answer any and all questions or review material at the end.

So a little bit of background of how we got here.

We were all in the winter 2026 semester of the Sustainable Cities course, and we were paired with either the city of Inkster or the city of River Rouge. In that, we developed work plans based on weekly meetings with local government partners, such as the planning director, Derek Dowdle, and the director of special events, Charida Crutchfield. And the goal was to help each city enter the Michigan Green Communities Challenge through filling out the sustainability baseline. And so the Michigan Green Communities Challenge, the MGCC, is an annual sustainability program that helps municipalities integrate sustainability practices into their policies, projects, and procedures. There's nine categories of various kinds of action items, with one category being climate resilience and adaptation. And for example, An action item under that would be to create a hazard mitigation plan, which the city of Inkster does have. And so collecting points gets you to the four tiers of bronze, silver, gold, or platinum. And Inkster was recently awarded with silver. Through this, you're able to gain access to exclusive benefits based on the tier, such as funding opportunities, sustainability events, workshops, and the MGC forum, where you can ask about others' progress and sustainability programs. I'm going to hand it over to go a little bit more in depth into our projects.

All right. Let's get this adjusted.

All right, so hello. Once again, my name's Ahmed, and I am leading the project for the tree plantings, for the tree planting projects at Westwood Park. So the goal of this project is to plant approximately ten native shade trees around the play scape. And this location was selected because it gives us a clear practical starting point where the trees can provide direct benefits to families, children, and other residents using the park. The main purpose is to increase shade around the play area, reduce heat during warmer months, and beautify Westwood Park while supporting Inkster's broader long-term sustainability goals. In the image right there, you can see the highlighted area shows the general proposed locations around the playscape where trees could be placed to create shade while still keeping the park open and visible. So what are the benefits of tree planting, and why Westwood Park? Tree planting has several benefits for Inkster. The most immediate benefit at Westwood being shade. More shade can make the playscape more comfortable and usable, especially during hot summer days. And trees also help reduce the urban heat island effect by cooling areas with limited shade and absorbing heat. In addition, they help with stormwater management by slowing rainfall, absorbing water through the roots, and reducing runoff. Over time, trees also improve air quality and add beauty to the park, as well as supporting local biodiversity. And Westwood Park is a strong location for this project because there is limited shade around the play area, and the improvement would have clear public benefits. It's also a city-supported location and a good pilot site for potential future tree-planting projects. So our goal here is to plant approximately 10 trees around the playscape's perimeter. And one important part of the layout is that the trees should provide shade without interfering with how the park is currently used. The goal is not to crowd the playscape or block open space, but to place trees far enough around the edges so that as they mature, they can shade the play area and nearby seating or walking areas. The final tree location should also avoid being directly next to sidewalks or underground utilities, potential mowing conflicts, and areas where trees could block visibility. Because keeping clear sight lines is obviously important for safety here, especially in a park setting where parents and guardians need to see their children clearly. we did have a community survey posted and it's still posted if you guys are interested at the end we'll be passing around flyers about that but the input from this survey so far has supported this direction with residents identifying shade is an important need but the layout should still preserve open play space and visibility GIS mapping can help guide exact tree placements at this site and support future planning projects across the city We're going to go over native tree recommendations and the maintenance plan. So for tree species, we're recommending native trees because they're better suited to Michigan's environment, provide better habitats for birds, pollinators, and other wildlife. And the recommended tree mix includes some you may recognize as they were planted at Parkwood Manor Park last year for the tree planting projects, such as the swamp white oak, the hackberry, and serviceberry. These trees, as well as the bur oak and Kentucky coffee tree, are great options because they can provide long-term canopy and tolerate harsh urban conditions. And a mix of tree types is important because it balances shade and beautification, as well as long-term resilience, while also avoiding relying too heavily on one species in case a disease comes through. It won't wipe out all the work you've done. And maintenance is also a very important part of this project, as the first three years are critical for the tree's survival. During that time, trees will need watering during dry periods, mulch rings around each tree, and protections around the trunks from mower damage or anything else. Light pruning is also needed as to control how it grows out and seasonal inspections are also recommended. The city should also plan to replace trees that do not survive because basically the goal is to help the trees become established after the first few years so they can transition into regular city maintenance instead of requiring a special set of maintenance rules. And overall, this project aims to give Inkster a realistic and visible step forward to increase their tree canopy, as well as improve park comfort and create a repeatable model for future tree planting projects. With that being said, I'll hand it off to Brenna to talk about rain gardens.

Good evening, everyone. Once again, my name is Brenna.

Sorry.

And I will be presenting on the project I led, adding a rain garden to the Booker T. Dozer Recreation Center. We have two goals set for this project, the first being to select and confirm the most viable locations and the second being to organize a thorough resource pool and step-by-step site-specific project guide for easy implementation. So first, what even is a rain garden? Rain gardens act as a natural water filtration system. They are shallow landscape depressions that capture, clean, and absorb stormwater runoff from various impermeable surfaces. Rain gardens serve many different purposes, the most prominent being to divert stormwater runoff and mitigate flooding. Rain gardens are best utilized if placed right before low-lying areas. The four to six inch deep garden beds act as a deposit for runoff over roads and other pathways. Another example of an impermeable surface includes the building and rooftops. Building downspouts may be extended and directly connected to the rain garden for immediate collection. Rain gardens also increase the area's biodiversity and beautification. Using plants native to Michigan increases the regional biodiversity by increasing the presence of those native species. While beautifying the surrounding area, these plants are already adapted to Michigan weather and significantly increase soil permeability with their deep root systems compared to common long grass or topsoil, which has about one to two inch root systems. Lastly, one of our main goals is to reduce long-term maintenance for the city. After about two to three years of regular maintenance, the rain garden will become mostly self-sustaining while also still providing those same stormwater runoff benefits. So that leads us to maintenance. For the two to three year growing period, weekly weeding and watering in addition to rain is necessary. Annually, the garden should be mulched and pruned to help steer growth and prevent weeds. For a rain garden, there is no need to fertilize, compost, or add pesticides, as the garden will provide itself with the nutrients necessary for establishment. Once established, maintenance only becomes seasonal with mulching and cleaning. Every few years, infill and plant divisioning can be done for garden health and long-term prosperity. As we've mentioned, and we'll cover more later, we conducted a community survey in which we included a question about where would you like to see the garden. Through our analysis, we've concluded the most optimal location for the rain garden is site four, behind the recreation center. During our work over the summer, we did a site visit to better visualize our projects. At the recreation building, we found the community garden area, which is fantastic because it means the rec and some of the community are already familiar with gardens in the vicinity. And here we have Site 4, directly behind the building. It may be a little difficult to see in the pictures, but the backyard actually slopes downward towards the sidewalk. This natural slope is ideal because the rain runoff will naturally flow into the garden and help mitigate flooding in front of the building along Middlebelt Road. Here's more of a cutesy graphic of a rain garden at this location, just to have something to be able to visualize. Another reason I favor this spot is because of the purpose of downspout drainage that I had mentioned earlier. By being behind the building, we are out of the way of vehicle traffic in the parking lot, so extending a downspout to the rain garden would be far less difficult and provides an additional source of diverted runoff.

All right, so some of our current progress, we have been in contact with Friends of the Rouge, and we've joined a one to two year wait list for their projects. And if this is chosen, when funding becomes available, they would take over this project. And the only thing the city of Inkster would be responsible for is continued maintenance. We are also researching nurseries, Facebook groups, and other resources for rain garden plant and tree donations, so not just looking for monetary donations. And then this is the most helpful if Friends of the Rouge is not able to take over this project. We're also developing site-specific project proposals for both tree plantings and implementing a rain garden, and these will soon be completed. Like we have been hinting at this entire time, we have conducted a community survey. It is open to all residents. We had this flyer at the National Night Out and the Inkster Summer Magic Paddle Trip and Health Fair at Colonial Park. And so also Troy Seaton was able to put it on the website and social media. We asked about residents' activity at both locations, so the frequency of their visits and the nature of their visits as well. Asking input on planting sites, so what would be a most beneficial addition, like the question here about the rain gardens. And then also volunteer opportunities, recognizing that the workload can't always be on the City of Inkster, and so hopefully engaging the community with that. And we have had some residents say that they would be interested with this, with the rain garden maintenance and initial tree planting. We have accepted responses for about two weeks and also opened it up tonight if anyone would like to scan it and give us more input. Some of our next steps and deliverables would be to start the project specific maintenance plans after finishing the work plan, putting together the resource spreadsheet. So this is funding and plant donation avenues from nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and then finishing up the full comprehensive work plan. All right. Thank you for your time and listening. Do you have any questions for us at this time?

I have a question.

You got to come up to the podium.

You know, the two things I know, when y'all did Parkwood Park, y'all did a wonderful job. Okay.

So I actually, I didn't do Parkwood Park. It was with Derek, but he, so I'm overseeing this current one.

Right, Westwood Park. Right. Okay. All right. Good. You know, and I want to say this, you know, I know you provide, where they provide. What are you talking about? Provide, you know, protective fencing and all that and support posts and all that. And I just want to suggest next time don't have the fence come all the way down to the ground. Have it up just a few inches. Because you know when they can weed whack, they can weed whack. Because right now in Parkwood Park, You know, there's weeds that's growing up in that area, and they can't, you know. I know you probably provide that fence, you know, knowing that we have a lot of deer over there. Keep the deer to get to the tree and all that. That's basically on that when they do Westwood Park. Okay. And okay. Rain gardens. We had something done in that parking lot on the west side of the building, the parking lot area and all that. And it worked okay. We're going to need some serious people to come there and make sure weeds don't grow up and so forth and all that. And I know you're thinking about doing the rain garden, okay, on the east side of the building. right now you know we have a senior building being built up and some of that area you know and it's on the back part of that and maybe we have nice a nice a walkway in the area to carry them out to that you know and maybe set up some benches out there you know if you're gonna have a rain garden and uh and main thing get somebody get out there and keep it weeded you know because weeds They grow up real quick. Other than that, I thank y'all for, you know, help beautifying the city of Inkster. And we need more people to come in and help us along with that. Okay, I thank you. That's all I had to say.

Thank you.

And hi, y'all folks.

Any other questions?

As far as the tree planting, is that set location, is the set location Westwood Park for the tree planting?

Yeah.

Okay. Okay. To council, before tree planting is done, I take my child to Westwood Park twice, sometimes more times out of the month. That playscape does not work. So before we plant trees around a playscape, let's get a playscape for the children to play at Westwood Park. I only go there to walk the track because we barely still have the track visible. But Westwood Park does not have an active playscape for children. So to plant trees around that playscape is inaccurate right now. But we do need some shade for children to play around that playscape, but we don't have that. So we'll be doing a disservice. As far as the rain garden at Dozier, on the... On your survey, section four in the back is no longer able for me to check. It's only one, two, and three. So I would update that survey for what you proposed for item four. But if possible for rain garden, The park, Colonial Park floods more than anything. So a proposal to do a rain garden off Inkster Road to get some of that rain or that, you know, rainwater at Colonial Park would be better because a lot of families in Inkster visit Colonial Park on a daily. So that road, that residency over there will kind of be beneficial for this endeavor. Everything was great. I think the locations are kind of one-offish. But Westwood Park, we need to have a playscape before we plant trees around it if we're looking to have some activity for our youth over there.

I 100% agree. Yeah, when we did our visits, it definitely worked.

The issue with Colonial Park is... Microphone. Microphone.

I think the issue with Colonial Park for the rain garden there is, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's under the county's jurisdiction. So we couldn't go through the city to do any work there. We'd have to coordinate with the county. So what the goal is to make it as easy as possible to get these done. But no, I definitely do agree. Colonial Park is a good choice. But I think for the initial rain garden, the rec center is just the easiest to do.

You guys can correct me if I'm wrong.

But yeah, I think that's why we selected the rec center first. But no, I do agree with Westwood Park. Yeah, definitely there is some work that needs to be done on the playscape because, you know, even if there's trees there, if the playscape is desirable, no one's going to go there.

And then just one more thing going to Dozier for, I mean, a rain garden is like beautification. I don't think a lot of people go behind Booker Dozier Recreation Center unless it's assisting with like some found some prevention of foundation damage of the rainwater. Then, you know, that's a perspective of that being in the back. But I think a lot of the other pinpoints off the main street, one to the side street as well, location or three will give visibility for residents to actually see the work and um that's actually being done within the community rather than location four unless it's just a prevention from foundation damage of that rain water coming into our our recreation center we have one more question

I can add information to the site for a location. The reason that we concluded on site for is because if we added anything in front of the building, we were concerned of public safety with engagement with the garden being in the parking lot. And then there would have to be extended work done on the grass island inlets. You'd have to cut into the concrete in order to have it be a functional rain garden. Cause you need that water to be able to enter in. And so that kind of mitigated costs as much as possible while still making the project feasible, which is why we chose site for behind the building.

Thank you. Anybody else real quick.

Hello, everybody. I know with rain gardens, sometimes even though you have that good flow, well, we've had a lot of rain. And sometimes there's pools of water. And the flowers are beautiful, but they also create bees. And with water, you have mosquitoes. So if it's going to be behind the dozer, where we seniors are, are there going to be something that we won't get eaten by mosquitoes and bees? That will be one of my concerns.

So I can also address that as well. So first, in order to have a concrete answer of would that be a possibility or not, you'd have to do an infiltration test with the soil and the backyard first. You'd have to know the rate at which water will permeate into the ground, and that will determine the depth of the garden and what kind of things to expect in regards to mosquitoes if the water is still or not. so in working with friends of the rouge they had just redone their parking lot in their plymouth office and they had that same issue so i have been um seeing uh guidance from them of how to direct that navigate that and we have that aspect also detailed in our work plan that we are revising okay thank you anybody else all right we appreciate you guys thank you

Next we're going to have a presentation on that new application process to ask the city for a donation. A quick presentation.

This is this one.

This is cool. Thank you.

all right good evening everyone so um i'm gonna keep it quick so i'm just go straight to the application ultimately um sorry i should know better um ultimately this is a program that we designed um the city allotted ten thousand dollars in this um fiscal year's budget um to support community events um Previously, we usually would kind of have one-off approvals. This process will kind of streamline that and kind of add some cohesiveness to the process. And that way, everyone has a fair chance to obtain funds because I know some people may get more love than others. So this way, it just kind of evens the playing field a little bit more. So I just talked about that. So this year's maximum... is $1,000. This way, it kind of allows us to spread the love a little bit more. Also, I want to stress that the maximum is $1,000. So we can approve anything less, right? I also want to point out that we would ask that our sponsorship not be the only fund seat. And I guess not fund your entire event, because that can impact our funding, or I guess the way we approve as well. This is important. So for this year, there's a special cycle. Sorry to all the events that are happening soon. However, the application, we would prefer it be 60 days out. So the approval process or the events Starting after October 12th. So this special cycle is October 12th through January 1st The deadline will be September 17th at 4 p.m You would turn your application in to the city clerk's office Paper wise or you can email it to the clerk's office as well. So the clerk will be collecting all the applications and then council will approve the events at the October 1st, or the first meeting in October. And then after that, you'll see the event windows July 1st through December 31st. The deadline is May 1st. We'll approve at the June meeting. January 1st through June 30th, we'll do at the November 1st meeting.

All right. That's crazy.

That's a sign. Let me speed it up. All right. So ultimately eligible organizations. We don't have issues with this. So y'all good. We talked about that. Submission timeline. We'll post this online. Scoring process. So ultimately, each applicant, let me go straight to the application. So this is the first page of the application. There are some over there in the corner printed out until we get it up online. There should be some at the clerk's office as well if anyone wants to pick that up. This kind of just goes over what I just talked about. This just kind of goes over like what you're doing, what's the organization name, what's the event, the use of funds, talk about community partners. So if you have other partnerships within the city, that'd be great as well. And then community impact. this is something different so this is the project revenue um or like the budget ultimately um it doesn't have to come in this format however i wanted to provide a format just so you all know so as you can see we talk about breaking down expenses um and then it talks about city funds and other funds that you may have received and what you plan on using those for this is the scorecard questions

Any questions?

So she was asking, is this a grant where communities can come or organizations can come and apply for? No, this is just funds that we allotted in the fiscal budget for this year to ultimately help fund the events with a limitation around it because previously, we would have events and then it's kind of like a free for all. So this kind of gives some guidelines to events we're going to fund and then also gives us a maximum amount. So once we approve all the funds, they're done for the year and then we'll talk about it next budget cycle.

Just a quick question. In regards to reporting, since it's not a grant, but it does say these are restricted funds, so they're not open to, it says you can't do certain things with them. How is that tracked back? Do we have to report back to you all, and what is that process?

Thank you for mentioning that. You will see in the back of the application when you sign away that, or kind of sign that you've reviewed the application, you've filled it out, that... I just lost my train of thought. Sorry. Still getting over pregnancy break. What was the question over there? Got it. Ultimately, you're expected to submit. So we can, as the city, we can ask for you all to provide a breakdown of how the funds were spent. So you have the upfront budget. And then on the back end, we would still ask for, you know, supporting documents after that. So that makes sense.

Councilwoman, why don't you just have in there where wouldn't it be better if once they get the application, fill it out, and if people are concerned with how they're spending it, give us an itemized receipt, and then we can attach it to the application. And then that way, if something happens, we always have something to go back and look like, they did do this. Yeah, we can have that.

So you want me to, okay, let me clarify. You're saying on the back end, just ask for receipts of how the funds are spent.

Once the event has already taken place and they got the money, they should supply the city with the receipt of what they brought from the funds that we have gave them.

Perfect.

And that way, if anybody have questions, we can always go back to their packet and say, this is what they did. They didn't spend it on something else. This is what they did.

And then we will have a follow-up email kind of of the events that were funded, and we can include that. Because in the packet language, it's kind of vague. It just pretty much says, like, we can ask for documents at the end. What that looks like. It's kind of up to us. We could ask for them or not. It's just whatever, however we decide to do it. This is also like a pilot, so bear with us, okay? So we can make adjustments as of next year. So, yeah, feedback is welcome, obviously. This is a working document, so... Councilwoman Scott.

I was going to say, I was just looking, glancing.

Speak up, boo. They can't hear you. They can't hear you. Well, let me move.

Good evening, Councilwoman Scott.

There you go. Good evening.

Just based off what Councilman Mejia was talking, speaking to what you were speaking of as far as the receipt portion of it, for any documents that are requested at the end, if an entity refuses, that will automatically ban them from the program.

Yes. Yep. Yep. I think that's in there, but it might not. Absolutely. I think it is. And then also on our scoring card. So for transparency, I kind of incorporated a scoring card for each event. And that's kind of what it talks about prior performance and if they were good stewards of the funds.

I was wondering, Scott, since we only have $10,000 for the entire year, the quicker we get on your schedule, the normal schedule, I think, the better. So we've already expended a certain amount already. We should have, I think, $3,000, somewhere around there. Maybe we should make sure we don't spend any more than $5,000 before 2027. And then anybody who wants to do events in 2027 can submit by that November date, and we can vote on it. October and then we vote on it by November for the next $5,000. And then next year we'll just be on our normal schedule.

Perfect. The way it's kind of, it's up to us. I put the in language. It's kind of, if we provide the 10,000, even next year, we can raise it. We can lower it. We could not do it at all.

Um, this is just something. Oh yeah. Yeah.

I don't know if we can raise it. Um, but, uh, it just kind of leaves a little bit of flexibility for those kind of things. Um, But I agree.

Okay. Anything?

Yeah.

I just have one more. I know you have someone back here. Okay, so now if an organization comes in and get approved, should they wait? What's the stipulations? They can get approved the next year and the next year? I mean, you can reapply, but what I'm saying is if you What are we going by? First come, first serve? Or if you have organizations, be fair. Just make sure everybody, you know, if I got something this year, maybe I shouldn't be entitled to it next year so we can move on to the next one. So it can keep it even.

Yeah, so as you can see, there's like a scorecard in the back. So that's kind of what that's utilized for, so we can keep track of people we funded. I also want to bring up that you can only apply for one event per organization per calendar year. So, yes.

Okay. And you have one. Mr. Mayor. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Okay, I'm not understanding. We're the instant good fellas. And you know our money got to be higher than anything, even that which you're giving. So, in other words, if we ask for $1,000 and we only have to show you a receipt, that because... We do ads and everything to ask the community to help, and it's way more than that. Am I right, Barbara? Thank you.

I hear what you're saying.

You understand what I'm saying? So will this affect us?

No. Okay, so let me figure out what I understand what you're saying. You're saying do you guys have to put down all the other funding that you receive for the project? No. You just need to know that we're not the only one funding the whatever party, whatever event it is. So you could just put seeking other funding through ads.

You got that, Barbara? Yeah, I don't want to know about that.

Okay.

Yes.

That's where we get our money from. We'll put the ad in mostly.

Yeah, there's a difference between what we've, like this pot of monies and then like donations. Those donations, you'd not have to put it down. Even though it's the resident, it's not coming from the municipality of the city of Inkster. Does that make sense, Sophie? Feel free to donate and get your donations. We're not looking to micromanage. We're just looking to add some uniformity and then also transparency within the funds that's given. So if you don't utilize the full 1,000, we want to know that, right? Because it goes back in the pot for everyone else, right? So, yeah.

Thank you.

All right. Anybody else? Okay. Thank you for your presentation. Now we're going to paint the city pink.

Okay.

Coming in October, we are going to paint the whole city pink. I'm sorry. We're going to have a month-long event, and we are going to paint the city pink. So we need all of you to participate because there's various things that are going to take place on various weeks. So the first council meeting in October, we're going to honor 10 families. um survivors um also people who have passed along so what you want to do is you want to we have a qr code on here you want to make sure you scan and get that information in because we can only pick um 10 people we're also going to do yard signs um for purchase we're also doing um a 5k walk Get your teams together so that we can do a 5K walk. We're also going to be decorating. We're asking residents to decorate throughout the city, their homes, and we're giving away prizes. The mayor has a prize that he's going to be giving away. Yes! so we're asking you to get your get your homes together decorate for the whole month of October we're asking businesses to participate we've got Jerome hopefully he's gonna light up the city pink with the city buildings So we are really planning on, we need everybody to participate. We also, the chief is doing a wear your pink pajama party, and we're also doing pink or treat for the kids. So please get one of these flyers, look at the QR codes on there, and I'm encouraging you to encourage your residents, let's come together and let's try to celebrate breast cancer a month and breast cancer awareness.

Well, as regard to the 5K, if you have a team, it's $5 off. So get a team together to honor your loved one. And then also where funds will be going, right? So they will be donated to a breast cancer organization. We also want to keep it home. Right. any of you all have a loved one that may have gone had breast cancer you know that some days are better than others and so sometimes like bills can become behind we're going to do so if someone needs financial help we want to kind of keep everything at home we also want to do like care packages for our residents so this is paint the city pink But also, we're using this to support all of our residents. So yeah, that's it.

Thank you. Any questions?

5K will be at the golf course. And then there will be a better presentation. At the first meeting in September, we just wanted to show you all and put out the flyers so we can start receiving submissions for family members and stuff like that so we can kind of streamline the process a little faster. Cool.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. Consent agenda. Everybody had a chance to look at the minutes from last meeting? Do we have a motion to approve the minutes?

So moved. Second.

We'll probably move to second. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Trust. Boards and commissions?

No.

No ordinances, first and second reading.

I'm sorry, boards and commissions. I forgot to call you. I have someone who's interested in parking rec, but she's already on the board, so does she still need to call you first before we get on the agenda?

She's already on the agenda.

She's on what board? She still has to call you, or can I just appoint her to it?

No, she's already got an application in.

She has an application for the board, not for Parks and Rec though, right? No. She needs to do an application.

No, I don't think so. She's got one in. Okay.

You can just nominate her if you want to.

Okay.

You ready?

Let me make sure I get her last name right. I don't want to have somebody else's name on here. That's not right. Okay. I would like to appoint Vanola Williams to the Parks and Rec.

You have a second? Second. Probably moved and second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, say nay. It passes.

Thank you.

That's for District 5.

That's District 5.

Any more?

I'm sorry. Can you forward me her phone number? Okay. I will. All right. Thank you.

all right any other appointments for boards and commissions all right new business consider approval to establish an affordable housing development fund to support the development rehabilitation and Preservation of affordable housing within the City of Inkster and to authorize the use of neighborhood stabilization program administrative fees and proceeds for nuisance abated properties acquired through court action or voluntary surrender as funding sources for the fund. So moved. Second.

We're properly moving to second discussion. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay. Transition.

Consider approval to update agreement with Clements Authority.

So moved. Second. Second.

Then probably move to second discussion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Passes.

Consider approval to authorize the purchase and implementation of a Cactus QuickCast playback server, Cactus Cloud Services and Cactus Orbit Digital Signage slash Bulletin Board System to replace the city's current leotronics playback system and modernized PEG public access television operations with broadcast automation, live streaming, video on demand, and community messaging capabilities.

Motion for approval as stated by the city clerk.

Second.

We're probably moving to second. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay. Passes.

Consider approval of the Get a Life, Inc. Request funding support of $1,200. Move for approval. Second.

Probably move to second, given the new discussion. Discussion. I think the maximum is $1,000.

Yeah.

We can only give $1,000. So I was going to say I gave everybody the itemized budget. That's what was passed out. Yep.

Everybody had to hear. That's what you're asking about that. Somebody requested what it was going to. Would you like to amend your motion?

I would amend for $1,000. All right.

Thank you very much. You're welcome.

All right.

We'll probably move and support it. Any more discussion?

Yeah, can we have them still fill out the application?

So I've been there, too, with approval with application.

There you go. And that was seconded, too. So any other discussion? All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Passes.

Consider approval for the family over everything. Let's keep Inkster connected. Community outing with van. Event date, August 20th, 2026. Event hours, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Location, Inkster Amphitheater. Contact person, Nicole Scott. So moved. Second.

Properly moved and seconded. Any discussions? Cost to the city will be $550 for that date for the porta-potties, garbage cans, the cardboard garbage cans. We have those, right?

And I just want to clarify that this is going to be considered a Parks and Rec event for support instead of general fund. Okay. Is that what we're thinking?

That's correct. They had the money.

All right. So it's coming out of Parks and Rec fund. All right. Any other discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay. Passes.

Consider authorizing the administration to approve the needed correction with major contracting for Justine Street and Riverview Drive, ponding water in the amount of $14,504 plus a 10% contingency of $1,450.40 for a total of $15,954.40 for construction. So moved. Before? I'll probably move to support it. Discussion?

All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Good classes.

Consider approval of a resolution recognizing reimagined Inkster as a non-profit operating with the city of Inkster.

So moved.

Second.

We'll probably move to second. Any discussion? all those in favor say aye aye opposed say nay so we move on to public participation shirley walker

A man. Good evening councils. Today, I'm about to go speak on one of the other.

I can hear you are going to speak on some as well.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. First off, I would like to thank. and congratulate our female councilwomen on that beautiful breakfast on Saturday. That was fantastic. It was great. And I would also like to thank residential council for coming to our rescue for our Paint with a Twist this week. paint with a twist Saturday August 22nd from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Floyd B Simmons multi-purpose center located at 29150 Carlisle Street in the city of Inkster you'll be painting you'll be eating you'll be having a great time and we like for everyone to come out and support the donation is $40 and And it is for no child without a Christmas. We're trying to raise as much money as we can to support the children of the city of Inkster.

And now I'm going to ask, we're going to have the ads on the table for people to pick up papers for the ads that we need to do for our paper. The full page will be 100, black and white. $150 for color. Half page is $70. The color is $90. A quarter page, what we added in, is $50. And the color is $75. Business cards are $35. And then color is $60. And if you want to be a patron that's being listed in there, it will be $10. Single offers. One person. Don't put 20 people on there for $10. That ain't going to work. So when the ads are put out, we're going to have it at City Hall. We're going to put it at the police station. We're going to put it at the housing. We're going to put it everywhere. We need all the money we can for the kids. Recreation Center. Recreation Center. Sorry. Dozer. We need all the money that we can to buy Christmas for these kids here in Engston. And it's only for the children here in Engston, not outside, not in Vegas, not in New York, not somewhere that your grandkids are at. It's the kids here in Engston. Thank you.

Thank you.

Any questions? Barbara, answer it. Thank you so much. Oh, and then we do have people on the flyer. There's Gabe. He's still got tickets. still got tickets. Asia still have tickets. Mr. James Richardson. He'd like to call Sweet Booger. Have tickets. Barbara Cooper have tickets. Jean have tickets. And Councilwoman Deitris Richardson have tickets. And Daphne, I have tickets. So. Okay, limited correction.

Donation, yeah. Anyone would like. free ticket I'm giving away free tickets so see me only if you're coming if you're not coming don't get a ticket please we need you and if you don't show up she's gonna charge you $100 so you got a choice thank you I got your back B Maya Ruth

Good evening. I will make this quick. I am here just to talk about upcoming project that is yearly, which is our lead service line replacement of known lead lines that we have that will start on the 24th of this month. They will start replacing. We have to replace up to 90 each year. I have the known list of addresses that we are going to test, but this week we are putting out flyers. So if you do receive a flyer, please respond so they can get to you quickly, replace your line, and get to the next person. If you have any questions, my number is on the flyer that Biddy Gear, that's the company, Biddy Gear and Andrew Mills are the people to contact. But if you have any questions before you let them in your house, you're welcome to call me. I have business cards, so I can give them to you.

All right, any questions?

Thank you.

Hannon, McCowie, Glam House Nails. All right.

Good evening, Mayor and Councils. Good evening. My name is Hanan. I go by Hannah. I am an engineer by profession and a mother for two beautiful kids. And I started a business here in Inkster. It's called Glam House Nails. It's on Henry Ruff and Cherry Hill Road. So my vision was to, I see how the city is trying to build businesses and encourage new development. So I had a vision for a different kind of nail salon. It's not the regular chop chop. We try to provide a luxury experience for the clients. we support kids for waiting area so we have like tv puzzles books for them so that they can sit while their moms relax that comes from personal experience we also provide some privacy walls in case of like some clients they kind of don't like to be in the open area so we have all of that The business has been open for four and a half months. The challenges that we face is a little bit of marketing. We're trying to get the word out there. We would like to post in Inkster City community websites. The other challenge, it's kind of sad to say so, but it's really hard to find artists to work. For some reason, it's technicians. Yes, I like to call them artists because they are more than just technicians. So it's been very, very challenging. So I would I also have like some flyers for hiring that I would like to spread or post also online. I also urge and I think like sometimes we don't think about certain things until we are in that situation. I started to understand and realize and value how customer feedback is very important to businesses. So I urge you, if you will visit my salon, please provide your feedback. We've had a lot of lessons learned from our clients. As you can see, it's my first business, so I'm still learning. But like, for example, the treatment room, we had some clients uncomfortable with the with the bedding. So we got like some support for back support. We got heated mat blankets. So that all like we keep building and improving the salon based on clients feedback. So we would really, really appreciate that.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Can we have a couple flyers up here? Okay, thank you.

I'm going to let that fly by. Thank you. Sounded real bad.

It is. Thank you so much.

Roxy Hines.

Why don't you tell my wife how much discipline I have?

How much discipline? Hello, everybody.

Mayor Nolan, councilmen, and women.

I'm Roxy Ives. I am the CEO and founder of an organization called Help for Homelessness and Beyond. We just recently transitioned from Ohio back to Michigan, and we have been providing some activities and things in the community for the young people. Most recently, we just did the Meet Up and Eat Up program over at D'Amico's. So I have a two-part thing that I want to discuss. So the first thing is, if anybody had made any donations to our organization that did not come through me, anybody in the city, please get your donation money back. We did not receive any donations from any outside organizations. There was someone going around and collecting donations in our nonprofit organization named So, yeah, we're kind of sad. But I just want to let everybody know that, yeah, we did not receive any donations from anybody. So if you did donate, definitely get your money back. I also wanted to talk really quickly about a project that we wanted to work on. So there's a building over at 27800 Annapolis Avenue. It was the old prevailing church. And we were looking at rezoning the building so that we can utilize it for a community impact campus to provide some community resources and education and programming for the community. I know that there's a process for rezoning. I did go through some channels in order to be able to start the process. We just didn't want to purchase the property, spending the money to purchase the property if we weren't going to have the ability to be able to rezone it and use it the way that we wanted to. I did bring a sample of our development proposal and we'll continue to come to meetings until we can get a preliminary approval for the rezoning and then we'll start the formal process to pay the money.

Did you talk to Mr. Didale about the process?

I did not have an opportunity to talk to him yet.

We have sent out the emails. I talked to Ms. Gina a couple times, and I sent over the proposal. We just haven't had an opportunity to connect so that I could get, like, a pre-authorization before purchase.

You should grab the application before you leave today. We have it here. Application for rezoning. You got one? Any questions? I'll build an apartment.

All right, Gabe Henderson.

Hello, family. Mainly I want to talk about, you know, of course, our beautification. This Saturday... okay yeah the 29th we're still going to be having you know four locations open up with dumpsters uh main location booker dozier complex there um okay uh uh booker dozier okay lamont park that's on pine street dumpster there wheatley park that's on penn street we're going to dumpster there and westwood park on stormy we have dumpsters there and also you know i want to say uh Mr. the Third, Bishop, Mr. Bishop. Well, okay, Mr. Bishop, he's been doing an excellent job trying to get, you know, south side of middle belt from the golf course all the way down you know we've been a lot of growth there and you know coming across that area we got a sidewalk we've been clearing that out you're doing an excellent job there and uh because that's one of the main places of course that you know people uh come through our city and uh it's looking good and i want to thank him mr bishop for that There was something else I want to say. Oh, yeah, of course, the prayer breakfast. That was excellent. The food was excellent. It was good, you know. And thank you, Ms. Beatrice, for organizing that, the prayer breakfast. The food was really, really good. I started... Well, I ain't going to say that. I started to go back and get some curiosity, but no, I should have done that. It was so good. Well, you know, and of course... So next month, okay, we're going to have a grand opening for the senior program. I hope it comes off on time, you know. And I know there was talk about that rain garden back in that area. It's going to be, I think it'll work. We got a natural drainage to drain away from that area where you have that. So I hope we don't have too many problem with the mosquitoes. Okay. If they do put their rain guard back there. Okay. And like I say, Bookadozier is going to be the main location, you know, for, you know, beautification. You normally have a little coffee, donuts, gloves, so have some trash bags and all that. And we have a sign-in sheet, of course, there. And if you really have some serious areas, some areas that, you know, probably want our city to look at that we can clean up and all that, just come there to the meeting. That's the 29th. And give us the information, see if we can do something about some of the, you know, bad spots in the city that need some serious cleaning up. And with that, you know, they say it ain't over till the, well, the plump lady sing. They say it ain't over till the skinny guy, the skinny guy, the skinny guy. But I'm not saying I'm into it at all. But anyway, that's all I have to say. That's all, folks. I love you all.

I have a question. Mr. Anderson, before you leave this evening, can I see you after the meeting? I tried to reach out to you. Somebody texted me back and told me I had the wrong number, and I know that wasn't you.

Wrong number for what? I was trying to contact. Contact me? Yeah, I called your house. I had that phone number. I had it 660 years, same number. Okay, after the meeting. Yeah. I just want to make sure you don't leave. No, no, it's 60 years.

All right.

Okay. All right. Okay, bye-bye.

The phone I've been trying to call them on.

The same place as they're always in. Feliciana Flair.

Feliciana. Yeah. Lady. Yeah.

She just switched her hair color up on us.

Hello, Mayor, Chief. Council and residents of Inkster, this is a piggyback off of what we were talking about the last time. So I went over some of the bylaws. And if a person were to chair or anybody misses three meetings in a year, the mayor has the right to step in.

I thought it was automatically.

It's excused. Is it automatically? It's excused is a different thing. You know, they're excused.

If they're excused or unexcused. So if you missed three, I think it's automatic if it's unexcused.

Page 13.

Unexcused absence. Is it unexcused?

I don't know who keeps the records for our housing board, but I don't. They would have to let the clerk know if they have three unexcused absences, and then I think that's automatic. They'd be removed.

And then there's other bylaws that may be, how do you go about looking into certain situations in the bylaws?

Read them.

As far as, you know, how can you determine if a person has had discrepancies or things against them through the housing commission?

I don't know. You're talking about commissioners? Yes. Commissioners we know if they have any discrepancies.

Yeah, as far as um, okay, you can't have any Kind of certain disruptive context I'd have to see you you have a copy with you.

No, I don't have I have to take a look at you guys about specific language. I

I was going to ask because I heard they had just found him since, or not found him, they came across him since the last meeting, but I...

So it hasn't been already gone into it fully.

Okay. Could you have somebody send this over a copy of him? If you have a copy?

I will.

Okay. I'll take a look at it.

Okay.

Because I'm interested. I said I'm interested. Okay. Thank you.

Dr. Shatina Jones-Smith.

Hello, everybody. I don't want nobody to tell me to get close to the mic. We're going to scoot over. So it's been a long time. We've had a long summer. Alpha Kappa Alpha has specifically. We're excited. The regional director is now in our chapter. So we've been working all summer. all summer so just wanted to come and share a couple of things that are coming up on wednesday we have our adopt a row ribbon cutting we are excited that we have a row in inkster and we finally get to do a ribbon cutting when it's not super hot and it's also not raining and about the flood because every time we seem to want to clean it up it always floods and that's going to be on august 19th from 6 to 7 30 p.m we have lots of cool people coming and we would love for the community to come And then next we have our favorite event, which is it is a partnership and a collaboration between the Service Builders Foundation, Inkster Parks and Recreation, and Inkster Task Force. We're doing a community yard sale. So if you got stuff in your house that you don't need no more, please come to this event and get rid of all of the things. It's going to be on August 29th. 2026 from 8 to 4 p.m. at Booker Dozier. There is just a cost for the table and after a little service fee, it's $23.40. So come bring all that you want. If you want more than one table, you can do that as well. We encourage all the residents to come to have a community yard sale and we are excited to make sure that we bring that to the community. And last but certainly not least, we have our back-to-school kickoff, which we're going to go to four different schools, two in one day. On August 24th, from 7.15 to 8.30, we'll be at both Inkster Preparatory Academy and Westwood North Academy. On August 24th, we will be between 8.15 and 9.20, we'll be at Daily. And then on September 8th from 6.50, help us, from 6.50 to 7.50, we'll be at AIA. So we are excited about that. And I have like less than a minute left. So we have switched over our programs of service. So we have a new platform. So just wanted to, this is an open invitation for anybody who wants to collaborate. I heard the wonderful things that you were saying, Councilwoman. Scott, but our initiatives are as follows. We now have shifted to educational and support and advocacy. We have one that focuses on foster care and foster care families and supporting them. Family Matters focuses specifically on family, as well as global engagement, economic growth and success, which I know we have some folks we can partner with, environmental sustainability and actions, and the arts. So we're going to be looking for folks, and that's just a couple because I got 15 seconds. That's just a couple of them. Please go to our website and peruse that. But we are going to be looking for some feedback so that we can build some programs that will equally help Inkster, our residents, and the greater community. Are there any questions? See, I made it.

Thank you.

We have one question.

It is on August 19th, so on Wednesday. Okay. It is at the, where Farmer's Market is. Hold on, y'all. My bad. Oh, it's at Booker Dozier.

Sorry.

See, it got you, too.

Is that it?

6 p.m. 6 to 7.30 p.m. 6 to 7.30. Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Sheena Wells.

You don't need to turn the clock on for me.

All right.

Good evening, Mayor, Councilmembers. I am coming as Sheena Wells with Inkster Housing Commission. And I actually have a question. A few months back earlier this year, Mayor Pro Tem sent out a solicitation to the five board members and included myself as the acting executive director. His call to order was for us to respond, to come before Council to discuss the protocol That has been occurring with regards to the process that the Board of Commissioners for Inkster Housing Commission has been conducting. To date, that meeting has not occurred. I understand in the last council meeting, you indicated that if you were to call the board members in and they declined, that action would be taken.

We could take action. In the past, I was explaining to a situation we had in the past where we asked the board to come in and give us an update as to why the Housing Commission was in financial difficulty and how they got there. They declined to do that, basically saying that we did not have any authority over them, even though we appointed to remove them. And so, as a result, they decided not to come. to basically defy our request so we remove the entire board. So that's what happened in the past. I forget what year that was.

My apologies for paraphrasing and leaving out that word, Kent. Very important word.

Mr. Mayor, when you do something like that, is it as a council or each individual council person can request it? How does that work? Is there somebody?

We just looked at the charter. The charter says we can remove any board or commissioner with calls.

But that's your particular appointment? Right.

I think it would take the whole board. When I appointed, you all voted for me. Correct. Now, there may be some question whether I can appoint without you confirming, but that's just been our practice. The council always confirms. We've never had it where you said no, but I guess that could happen. So Mayor Pro Temp sent out a request What was your request?

I remember, I read the email, but it was a while back. I'm going to pull it up real quick, just so you understand. But paraphrasing, it was about what all was going on and trying to make sure we're all on the same page. Because there was issues with the way their public notices are going out and potential violations that aren't being addressed. And that thing in my head, I was thinking, it just needs to come from a centralized person. Multiple people don't need to put public notices out because they're using different templates and formats. And then the other thing was just how the community is starting to alert us how business is being conducted at the meetings. And if someone states that it's illegal actions or the meeting shouldn't take place, they should not proceed with business. And even just to mix up with being on Zoom and in person. and those discrepancies. And so when all those different things came out from commissioners, the public and stuff, we talked about that as far as the joint meeting. I did send that email. Ms. Wells did respond. A couple of commissioners responded, not everybody, but we didn't actually call an official meeting because we then talked about, too, if we did one that had to be a public meeting because we got a quorum of both council and the angster housing commission so what would serve best if we just had a couple of them come before us or if we just met with them you know little by little but it's something we could definitely follow up on um whatever you know and it will have to be a special meeting because i don't think it would be certainly at a city council meeting but it seems like it's still a lot of back and forth and discrepancies with how the other processes and procedures are being handled. And I think we all need to be on one page overall for the entire city.

So that actually was not my public comment. I just started off with that. More importantly, I wanted to know what is the process for presenting Open Meetings Act violations. That's Michigan statute. So I looked it up.

It said you have to file it with your district, local district court or the attorney general's office.

Definitely they have the attorney general's office has the authority to bring an action for a violation and the open meetings that, um, if, if one's occurred. So have you contacted anybody outside of us?

Yes.

Okay.

And which out of courtesy acts that I bring it before a council and the mayor who said that?

I mean, we don't have any authority over the Michigan State statute. You could certainly make us aware.

And I think that's the direction that they were saying, to make sure that you were aware as a body.

So is this something in addition to we've already, I remember it was an issue before the meeting was canceled. I remember that.

That's just one of them, no.

Okay.

Now, I know there's supposed to be a meeting tomorrow. Is that a special meeting?

No, that is our normal board meeting. Okay.

And that notice was done properly?

Yes, I did it.

So is there something in addition to that? I just know of one meeting where there was an allegation of something being wrong with the notice. I don't even think I looked at the notice, but somebody described it to me.

They used to send their notices over here from us to us, their notices, to make sure that they were posted. Does that still happen?

Is that still happening? I don't know if they're still. Not on the regular, but they go to Troy. Some go to Troy. On the website? Yeah, but they should come straight to me, and then I can include Troy on the email to post.

So to be clear, the method of...

So do you need me to speak? You're normally supposed to go through the clerk's office. As far as my input, I just posted on the website. That's the only thing I'd like to know. But meetings, agendas for all boards of commissioners should go through the clerk's office.

And I just wanted to be clear, the posting method is the least of the violation.

I just want to add that violation of the Open Meetings Act is a misdemeanor in the state of Michigan. So, but it only, it only attaches a fine to it. So there's no jail time or anything like that, but it is a misdemeanor in the state of Michigan.

Do you want to call the meeting? You know, type up a letter and send it to them that you, as the mayor, would like to have a formal meeting with all of them.

Talk about what?

Whatever Chisholm was trying to get them to come in. I mean, maybe they didn't respond because it wasn't you. I don't know.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, maybe they didn't respond maybe because it's your appointments. Maybe...

You might maybe have to actually rewind.

Let me think. I spoke verbally to one commissioner and I think two or three did respond by email. Another did not. So, but I'm going to read the email real quick. So the subject matter was immediate response required public study session slash Inkster housing commission review. Good afternoon. Inkster housing commission and interim director Wells. It has come to the attention of the Inkster City Council that discrepancies and lack of confidence in the board have begun to float around. To reestablish open lines of communication with the City Council and Mayor's Office, we are extending an invitation for a public study session and or commission review. Furthermore, this meeting is being requested to address concerns regarding the recruitment process, including communication delays, scheduling and interview logistics, inconsistencies, and publicly posted meeting information which can impact public participation and the resulting impact on candidate consideration and participation. Items to discuss are, but not limited to, interview process of executive director candidates, present status of the Inkster Housing redevelopment, Zoom, meeting notices, roles and responsibilities, hierarchy, etc. Invitees, housing commission board members, executive director, general public for public comment and questions by way of public notice, city attorney. Please talk amongst yourselves and compile some dates that all invitees are available so we can plan accordingly. We look forward to hearing from you soon. And I know someone asked about milk being present too. And I said, absolutely. You know, it's your attorney. If he wants to be there, it's open.

Actually, I was the only one that actually shared it with him.

Can we discipline him or any type of way? Like, isn't it just kind of like either you move him or you don't?

Correct.

Like you can't like, that's where I'm kind of like.

We can't discipline.

That's exactly, and I don't like, so we're talking about open meetings and stuff like that. Like, that's just, you know what I mean, part of it, but the only solution is.

My thing is, if somebody does not understand the Open Meetings Act, I have no problem giving them that information and talking to them about it. That's a friendly meeting. If you are saying people are violating the act intentionally, that's a different conversation. You know, I'm not the police, so I, you know. But if, you know, I know more than one person does notes. You do the notices at regular meetings, right?

So remember this, my comment is not based on the meeting notice. That's just one thing that we're all aware of. This is violation even after the agency's attorney has advised them otherwise.

I thought he canceled the meeting. He told them they cannot conduct the meeting. That's what I was told.

That was one of them. There's been several during this experience.

So you're saying that they may have been advised not to hold the meeting. They held it anyway. Is that what you're saying?

Once the meeting has concluded, the meeting still continued.

Oh, people kept talking.

People continued to meet.

They didn't vote on anything today. I mean, I'm serious. I'm not trying to be funny. We can talk all night long after the meeting ends, as long as we don't take action.

And I'm not shy to say it in front of everyone. So if it went from 10 candidates and now it's down to one and there's only been two meetings, some voting occurred. That's just one of the things. But I have evidence and documentation that it happened. There has been violations. So out of respect, I'm coming before the council.

Can I ask a question to her? Excuse me.

Yes. All of your members, have they had the Robert's Rules of Order training?

Yes. And when they first start, and I can only speak for the board commissioners that joined once I've been on board since 2021, that's one of the first trainings that they take immediately after being sworn in. I've scheduled to personally.

So, Mr. Mayor, I mean, we are affiliated with MML. Are they? Are they not? Okay. Okay. Okay. That's all I had, man.

I mean, to me, at this point, I don't, you know, you guys, the body wants to have a joint meeting. I mean, I'll do whatever the body wants me to do. I just want to be clear on what we're meeting about. That's all.

Right. If it's not the open meetings, then let us know.

I mean, no, no. I mean, I want y'all to be there. I mean, we need to have an agenda. If I'm going to drag them in front of us, we need to be telling them what am I asking them to do? What if they don't come? I mean.

So who do you talk to? I mean, you can talk to her or whatever to find out and then let us know and we can schedule a meeting.

Y'all let me know if that's what you want to do. And then we'll just send out, ask them for some dates. They'll join me. It's got to be open to the public, though, so it won't be no secrets.

Right, it's got to be open to the public, right.

You know, it's, for us, I mean, all type of bills are popping off of my head. I just think of liability. Correct, yeah. You can't sue us, so it's not about liability to the city of Inkster. But, you know, we have an open meeting. The allegations are being made. People can respond. They cannot respond. I don't know. Are we having a hearing? What are we doing here? You know, are we playing court? What are we doing?

You're right.

It seems like they're calling for the removal of the board, so you have to make the decision.

No, but you need calls. So we need calls to remove the board. We can't just remove them.

Maybe you can send over the things that you have, and then that will help us make the decisions that we need to make.

Okay.

I mean, should I rely on just the bylaws first in the open meeting? Because you do have jurisdiction over the bylaws. Your name is all through it.

I mean, it's right in our charter.

I mean, there's lease violations that an individual that's on any of the boards for Inkster Housing Commission should not have.

Well, send them to me.

Oh, absolutely. You'll have them this evening.

All right, send them to all of us.

I need a couple email addresses, and I sure will.

I'll send it to you right now.

She can forward it to us. Just send it to the clerk.

We'll send it out.

Okay, we'll do it. And I just wanted to invite you to our odd staff. Oh, now you want to invite us? Well, listen! No, that was actually my outreach purpose, but I know Friday is here sooner than later, so... I will follow back up with you on that.

Okay. Thank you everyone. All right. Thank you. Dr. Leon Crawford.

God bless city. And all of our great leaders, I'm just here to say thank you for allowing us. Gila Light Services, our nonprofit, have been operating For over eight years, but this particular program that we put together called Boys to Men, where we service boys from nine years old to 17 years old, where they learn how to tie a tie, build a wall, change a tire, some chivalry. We had a public bank, public or republic bank come out and teach on some money management. But what I want to come and say a salute. I'm putting up a little video so you can see. I know my time is limited, but you'll see a little bit from the video. And thank you. But what I want to do is I just wanted to come up and thank the mayor. Our program started out with 14 boys. This is our fifth, sixth year, seventh year, seventh year. And we started with 14 boys. Now we have over 120 boys registered. 60 will be graduating. We have a graduation this Sunday and I'd like to invite all the community out to cheer our young men on. I want to thank Mayor Nolan because we outgrew our space and we had to find somewhere and after speaking with the mayor, he suggested the recreation center and it's always on Sunday. So I want to thank Mr. Clint McDaniels, Ray Rapley. Is that how you say Ray's last name? And I want to also thank Bishop Otto Recking. I want to thank Mr. Raymond Harris, just all the people from our community right here in Inkster. And we wrap around together all the kids that come out. If you see my Facebook page or my this was a little presentation from YouTube. You can catch on YouTube. But my Web site is get a life dot or go get a life dot org. Um, my cash app. No, I'm just kidding. But we feed the kids. Oh, let me mention, um, the pro the food program feed to see the feet. No, no, no, no. Meet up and eat up. Yeah.

Yeah.

It's just a wonderful thing. And I want to thank the city of Inkster as well as this great bouquet of leaders in our city for allowing over 60 young men to learn some skills. And we pray to God that it follows them all the rest of their life. Thank you very much.

What time is the graduation?

Graduation is 10 a.m. And we will have some desserts or food served at the end. It's a beautiful event. Parents come out and just pack the place out with 60 boys. I mean, people actually bring their family out like a graduation, like they graduated from college or something. They receive certificates and all of that. And this Saturday, we're rewarding the boys with a swim party, pizza party, And all of that. And so the funding that we ask from you guys is going to that and making sure that every one of our children know that they are loved and there is some hope and that they can start working with their hands instead of sitting around playing video games all day. So thank you. We could not do it without you. Thank you very much. If you go to YouTube and go to Boys to Men Summer Camp, it's a 30-minute video. You can look at it, everything. And there are other clips on there, too, that are shorter, like two minutes. So if you really want to see exactly what's being done, you can go either on our website or that YouTube, Boys to Men. There it is, Summer Camp.

Thank you. A.C. Williams.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, and residents. In support of Councilman Bishop, I just wanted to announce that our next Clean Blocks community meeting is on Thursday, August 27th, from 6 to 7 at Booker Dozier. We're in the middle of a pilot, and we're offering an opportunity for residents to come together, share their community concerns, code enforcement, blight, et cetera. So you don't have to be a part of District 2 to participate. and we encourage everyone to attend and then the next one i wanted to i've heard a few community groups come up and announce some of their events if you haven't gone to the city of inkster's website and found our community registry qr code or link please do we're trying to come up with a central list that we can access so we know who's doing what in the community and that way if certain things come up or if collaboration makes sense we can encourage everyone to get together and put on the different events that support our community.

That's it. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, we had a public comment get emailed in from Charles Blackwell on Friday. Hello, I want the following public comment read at the August 17th Eastern City Council meeting. Good evening. Each city council member should voluntarily submit to a drug test and release the results to the public.

Okay, where are we going to do it? And make sure you announce that it has been delegated to the council.

Oh, this has been sent out to council by email, and we made part of the record. Okay. Madam Clerk.

Good evening. Just wanting everyone to know that we're done with the August primaries. Good evening. From now, the Board of Canvassers will be officially certifying, so we just need to get that email, which I'm pretty much sure we will be certified. I just want to thank all the inspectors, the chairs, and everyone that assisted with the election, and also to the auxiliary back there. He stated he would be here at 5 a.m. when we walked in, and sure enough, he was parked in the back waiting on us at 5 a.m. Also, after the November elections, I'm going to do an election inspector roundup. So I'm going to have an event inviting people out that want to become election inspectors and chairs and just go through the process and the protocols of what to do and what not to do and just to have you aboard the Inkster team. Last but not least, I have put together and I'm finishing up the flyer for the Inkster Citywide Garage Yard Sale. It's going to be the projected dates are Thursday, September 17th through Sunday, September 20th. I'm going to have a link to where you can go online and sign up. And it's going to be a list of showing everyone that signed up and it's free for those four days to have a citywide yard sale. And That's it. That's what I'm working on.

That's what you're working on?

Yeah.

Among other things.

Oh, she's so less stressed after this election. Whoa. Okay. Mayor and Council. Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Treasurer. Tax bills.

Thank you, Mayor's Council. This being the last meeting for Council for the month of August, as the Mayor mentioned, our tax deadline for the summer taxes is two weeks from today, August 31st. We just encourage everyone to make every effort to make that deadline to avoid any additional interest in taxes. We do have, for our seniors, there are some exemptions available that give you until our February deadline. But for everyone, just to again be reminded that the summer taxes are due two weeks from today, August 31st. Of course, you can pay that online. You can leave drop check or money order in the drop box. Do not leave cash in the drop box located outside of City Hall. Or you can come in and pay when City Hall is open at the cashier. Okay, thank you. Housewoman Scott.

I just want to thank everyone who attended our event. It was a success, and I had a great time with everyone.

Thank you. Councilwoman Rutledge?

Same thing. I had a great time at the Unity Breakfast. It was a great event. I'm looking forward to it next year. All right.

Councilwoman Hopp?

Same thing. Next time we have a room, we would like to see a little bit more residents show up. But we did have fun with the residents that were there. We had a nice time.

Okay, Councilwoman Richardson.

Yes, same thing.

Same thing. Thank all of you that participated and all of you that contributed so that we will be able to host it at no cost to you. Just had one question for Mr. Bivens. A resident called near concern was Cherry Hill. You had talked about us redoing the Cherry Hill road. and they wanted to know why are we doing it, and they thought that Cherry Hill was a county road, and they want you to expound on that.

So, Mayor, Council, you and all this audience here, part of Cherry Hill is a county road. That's from Inkster to Henry Road. From Inkster to... Beach Daily. Beach Daily.

Beach Daily for us.

Beach Daily for us. And if they have any further questions, the town hall meeting is Tuesday, next Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Dearborn. It's posted on our website. And I invite all residents to come out. I will be there representing the city of Inkster along with our engineering firm.

Could you give me the address of that? Everybody's not on the website.

I will get it out to you. It's posted on our website. I'll have it with me right now.

Okay, if you send it to me, then I'll forward it to them.

And they did send out letters. They sent out letters to about 5,000 of our residents that will be primarily affected by Cherry Hill. You got a letter, didn't you, Mr. Mayor? That will be affected by Cherry Hill.

Okay. Thank you. That's all. Thank you. That's it?

Is that the only announcement you need? Oh, I have one more announcement. I need everybody to hear me, Mayor and Council, audience and audience here. You received your water bills recently for the month, and you received a letter in that water bill from me. That letter stated that we are an institutional program implementing a program in the city of Easter per the state order. We will have to go into every house in the city of Easter doing an inspection. It's called the residential cross connection inspection. It was required by the state of Michigan. It's something that I really didn't want to do. I have no choice in the matter. So the program will start next month. You will be getting letters from Hydro Court who's doing a program for me. There is no opting out of this program. We have to do it by state statute. So if you have any questions, feel free to call me at 313-563-9774. But I have to go into every house in the city of Houston. Nobody deserves it. All right. Mayor Pro Tem.

Sure. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The Dearborn Heights City Hall address is 6045 Fenton Street, Dearborn Heights, Michigan, 48127. And that's speaking to the meeting of Mr. Biffins. This is talking about the town hall. It says on the code red, notice how it came out. This is from 5 to 6 p.m.?

I got to tell you, I don't believe that.

Okay.

All right.

Okay. Piggybacking on the unity breakfast. Unfortunately, I had to miss it because there was a county convention for the Michigan Dems that I had to participate in. But Mr. Fizer said, why didn't y'all ladies come down to get all the men that was down in the basement? That's what he said to me. I said, I'll pass those messages along.

I don't mean anything.

He said, y'all was in the same building on different floors and nobody came downstairs and invited him. So I said, I'll pass the message off. He was being funny though, but he said he wish he had known. Anyhow.

There was some man that came and got it now. Got what?

The food. I had, as far as the Westwood Park situation, Mayor Nolan actually, this had came up in his staff meeting. I did a slight walkthrough just to identify two gate accesses that go to Cherry Hill Manor and to West, I'm sorry, Dearborn View Apartments. There was also in the past a church that had worked with, thanks to Beautification Committee, before the passing of the late Tony Bailey. It's called Faith Heaven Assembly of God, and we were going to be reaching out to them As well to see if they wanted to partner back in and do some more improvements over there as the mayor's office is looking to enhance Westwood Park. It is not going unlooked. I know no information has been out quite yet about that, but it did get brought up in a staff meeting. Also, in July, and I attended the MEDC, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, stakeholder meeting, and I attended with Alicia Anderson, and AC Williams attended in August. Just wanted to remind council to check your emails, because AC did send an email to the city council and the planning commission about filling out the form, which is the eligible census tract in the city of Inkster County. that has the potential to receive funds from the federal government for Opportunity Zone 2.0. One of the things that I found out sitting in this meeting was the fact that Inkster would not have gotten brought up at all because no one from the community would have been there. And so sometimes we miss out on different things like that. And so just alluding to what the mayor is always piggybacking on about being at the table so Inkster is brought up. So I'm glad that myself and Ms. Anderson were there as well as A.C. Williams had a different one because it pushed the narrative more that Inkster deserves these types of funds and things like that to help as we redevelop. And the public notice, yes, it says the one that River Heights City Hall sent out from Office of the Mayor. It is at 5 p.m. Yep. All right. Okay, you got it?

Yep. And that's all I have. Thank you.

There you go.

All right, everybody, it's back to school time. I know a lot of you are happy the kids got to go back to school soon. We're having an event on Friday from 12 to 4 at the Ol' Inkster High Grounds for the kids. Free food, free games. It's going to be fun. Everybody's invited, so please let everybody you know under 18 know that they're welcome to come from Friday from 12 to 4. I think we have some flyers on the flyer table. I'd love to see all the boys, the men, guys there so we can have a good time. Because on the 24th, a lot of kids are going back to school, and the rest are going back after Labor Day, I think. So this is our last hurrah. There will be free backpacks given away and a whole bunch of other giveaways. So come on out and enjoy. And if you don't have any kids, just come out and watch them be happy. We'll be out there. It's time to go. It's almost 9 p.m. Thank you, everybody, for coming tonight. Do we have a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Discussion? All those in favor? Aye.