Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the East Lancing City Council regular meeting of April 21st, 2026. The meeting will come to order. Could we have the roll call, please? Council member Whan here. Council member Meadows here. Council member Singh here. Mayor Pro Tim Griggsby here. Mayor Alman here. Uh I will move approval of the agenda with one change, which is to delete item 5.5, consideration of policy resolution establishing amended and restated rules and procedures for city council meetings, resolutions, council agendas, mayoral responsibilities, and council member authority. Second

motion by Altman, second by Griggsby. Uh, all those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Agenda is approved. Is there a motion concerning minutes of previous meetings? No. But I would like to move one item as I mentioned to you. Is that still possible for the consent agenda? From the consent agenda. We'll do that after it's read. Okay. Okay. Uh, I will move approval of the minutes of the regular council meeting of 7th April 2026 and the city council discussion only meeting of April 14th April 2026. Uh, that's my motion. Second.

Second by motion by Alman, second by Whan. Any corrections to those minutes? Okay, seeing none, the motion is on the minutes as uh presented. All those in favor say I.

I. Any opposed? Uh motion carries. Those minutes are approved. Next item on our agenda is a presentation by MSU urban planning practicum team on East Village Plan Update Project. I'd like to invite the team up to the podium to give us their presentation. Good evening, members of the East Lancing City Council. We are a team of Michigan State University students from the School of Planning, Design, and Construction, known as the Red Seedar Squad. Today, we are honored to present our planning practicum project, the East Village Concept Plan, which we have developed over the past four months in partnership with the City of East Lancing Planning Department. My name is Clinton Morales and I serve as one of the community engagement leads for this project.

My name is Luke Dylan. I'm one of the policy and implementation leads. Could I ask you to to approach the podium when you speak just because otherwise your name will get on the record. So, my name is Luke Dylan. I'm one of the policy and implementation leads.

My name is Max Levenson. I'm the urban forum and design guidelines specialist. And my name is Ben Ham, the other community engagement lead along with Clinton. Thank you. All right, next slide, please. Uh to start us off, I'd just like to do an overview of our study area. Uh the study area for this project includes the East Village District. uh the Grand River corridor from Bogue Street to Stoddard Avenue as well as the area north of Grand River Avenue which is bounded by Kedzy Street, Albert Avenue and Stoddard Avenue. Uh through collaboration between MSU and the city of East Lancing planning department, our team was tasked with evaluating current conditions and identifying planning priorities and growth strategies that will benefit stakeholders and visitors alike. Next slide, please. Throughout this presentation, we will highlight four key phases of our project. Research, findings, strategic framework, and recommendations. These phases focus on data collection methods that resulted in findings used to identify emerging themes and translating those themes into a strategic framework which inform the development of actionable recommendations based on feasibility, community priorities, and overall impact. We will begin with the methods used to collect the data and public input that shaped this project. Next slide, please. So, at the beginning of the project, a strong emphasis was placed on qualitative field research to better understand how stakeholders and visitors experienced the study area. Multiple site visits were conducted to observe walkability, circulation patterns, the

quality of public spaces, as well as holding informal interviews with neighborhood residents and business owners to gather firsthand insight into current challenges, neighborhood strengths, and desired improvements. Next slide, please. In addition to field research, our team reviewed US Census and American Community Survey data on population, housing, and employment trends in the study area while examining zoning regulations to identify redevelopment opportunities and constraints. Additionally, to assess pedestrian mobility and transit access, CATA routes, stop locations, and wrership data were analyzed. Together, these sources helped us understand how transportation infrastructure, zoning policies, and neighborhood trends shape our study area and more specifically the East Village District. Next slide, please. Um, community engagement was a central component of the East Village concept plan and one of the most valuable tools for gathering direct stakeholder input. Our team facilitated three public events titled the East Village Conversations using Sheretszbased engagement model along with a dedicated focus group for business and property owners in the study area. Also, an online survey was created, the East Village survey, and distributed through outreach materials and posted on various social media platforms, which expanded participation beyond in-person meetings. Next slide, please. Across these three public events, 22 participants shared perspectives on transportation, walkability, amenities,

development preferences, and their lived experience. A consistent message within feedback we received from the community was the desire for a more vibrant, walkable, safe, and welcoming neighborhood that supports mixeduse development while maintaining housing options that prioritize affordability for current and future residents. These combined findings reinforced the core themes that guided the creation of a strategic framework and planning priorities which Luke will discuss next. Thank you, Clint. Um, next slide, please. Across this data analysis and our findings, we developed three core planning themes that will guide our recommendations from this point forward. The first of which is weak infrastructure. So, a lot of local residents displayed their concerns about infrastructure that does not support their daily needs, such as walking to class or biking to class. Next is the underperforming public realm. So, many community residents identified a lack of key amenities that they would like to see within the neighborhood such as grocery stores, public parks, and gyms. Finally, the student housing capacity gap demonstrates that many residents within the area prioritize affordable housing as well as housing that is close to campus and many students have to go farther from campus to find housing within their income needs. Next slide, please. Some further data that backs up these three emerging themes is that the bus routes within kata the kata bus routes in East Village do not serve students needs. Many of them or all of them are not free and a lot of them serve Grand River and run to Okamus or downtown Lancing whereas students getting to class have to go to other bus routes to get to campus. A route 40% of households

in East Village do not have a vehicle which displays a clear need for infrastructure such as bike lanes or pedestrian trails. There are few intersections on Boke Street, particularly signaled crosswalks. Many residents report feeling unsafe crossing Boat Street and getting to campus. For the underperforming public realm, there are four vacant parcels on Grand River Avenue. Many of them are commercial. There are no grocery stores or gyms in East Village, which many residents requested. Many residents labeled East Village as dingy, bland, or boring, indicating a negative neighborhood identity. for the student housing capacity gap. Over 70% of our participants during community engagement indicated that they would like to see mixeduse development and support mixeduse development in East Village. The student housing capacity gap also shows that there are 16,000 students who have to find housing off campus from MSU in many places like Okamus Hull or other places outside of East Lancing. Next slide please. So from these three emerging themes, we developed three planning priorities that will guide our actions going forward. The first of which is access and mobility. So we aim to improve connectivity within East Village through for welcoming and accessible environment for all users. Next, we would like to improve the place identity and quality of life within East Village through strengthening neighborhood character and neighborhood identity and for mixed use and affordability. Promoting mixeduse development that enhances ex access to campus while maintaining the affordability concerns that many of our residents discussed is a priority for us. Next slide, please. Across these three planning priorities, we developed seven across these three guiding

principles. Sorry, we developed seven planning priorities that will guide our recommendations going forward. We will not highlight every single planning priority here, but we will highlight a few within the presentation, such as improving multimmoal transit. Next slide, please. Speaking of actions and priorities, we have developed 33 actionable recommendations that our client, the city of East Lancing, can follow. These actions range from short-term to long-term with the long-term actions being relatively quick and we can see quick improvements within V East Village, whereas the long-term actions require more stakeholder coordination as well as they will take longer to implement within 5 to 10 years. I'll now pass it over to Max to talk more about our specific actions.

Thank you. So, our actions are developed directly from our research and our community engagement as well as an additional research phase that looked at similar college cities that faced similar concerns that we saw in East Village. Our actions are sorted by their guiding principle and their planning priority as well as the timeline that Luke just discussed. These actions are prioritized based on that timeline but also based on their feasibility. How much coordination is required between different government departments where uh how many how many how much what's the funding? Where's it coming from and what key partners does it need? Our key partners range from anyone to the planning commission, downtown development authority, public works, private organizations, neighborhood committees, private companies, etc. I'm just going to briefly cover some of our actions across our planning priorities and then I'm going to pass off to Ben to go into a little more detail for just one of those actions. You can go to the next slide. Thank you. So for our first planning priority supporting multimodal transit, we want to add a dedicated bus lane to that section of Grand River within East Village. This is pulled from the original bus rapid transit plan from 2017. We believe that adding a bike a bus lane could speed up the many bus routes that would use that area that use that Grand River Avenue corridor as well as clear up traffic in the area as well. We also want to replace street parking with bike lanes and we want to reroute Kata Route 31 to go into East Village. Moving to our second planning priority, improving pedestrian accessibility. We want to pilot some temporary infrastructure changes. We want to add additional crosswalks across Bog Street and Grand River to make them more accessible as well as ultimately build a riverfront trail on the north side of the Red Cedar River. You can go to the next slide. Thank you. For revitalizing the Grand River corridor, we want to place more trees and benches along Grand River to really activate the streetscape. We want to limit drive-throughs in the area so that we

can really focus on a more pedestrian-entered business environment. And we want to partner with a major grocery chain to deliver a urban format grocery store in the area that which was the most requested amenity from our community engagement. We also want to develop more public spaces in East Village. A lot of people mentioned that there were no parks and no public spaces in the area at all. So we believe that adding a riverfront park as well as urban plazas on vacant parcels could add more public space and support local recreation in the neighborhood. We also want to support adding character to the East Village. So, we would recommend creating a independent East Village neighborhood committee that can create its own branding and maps as well as uh banners that could be placed along lights in the neighborhood. We also want to partner with MSU's College of Letters and Arts, Arts and Letters, excuse me, to commission murals throughout the neighborhood to add some color and really bring the area to life. Next slide, please. Finally, we want to incentivize mixeduse development. So, this includes reducing parking requirements to spur development, connecting property owners with existing development resources that the city already offers, and a few other zoning adjustments as well. We want to ensure that these new developments are affordable and attainable. So, we want to use LITC financing, which is lowincome housing tax tax credits. We want to do that with MISTA, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, and a few other key partners. We want to implement the current downtown ordinance of diverse housing. However, we want to specifically focus on the 25% low to moderate income housing mandate within East Village to make sure that the new housing is specifically meant for students in the neighborhood. And now I'm going to pass it off to Ben. Thank you.

Thank you, Max. So just to give you some context um we have as discussed earlier a few actions. I'm just going to highlight one here being 1.1.2. So currently there are only four routes that run along East Village. That being the 22, the 23 along um Grand River as well as the one along Grand River and then the 20 and the 22 or I apologize the 23 again along Bow Street. And the two things these routes all have in common is that they aren't 30s which means they aren't free for students and they don't run along they don't run inside of East Village only on the outskirts. So this action suggests moving the route 31 displayed sorry displayed as the red line on the left into East Village similar to something like the green line on the right. Um, our studies from our community engagement as well as Kata themselves and some of our quantitative data shows that many of the student citizens in this area don't have cars and they showed really great demand and passion for buses in the area. This would help them not only get to campus, which as Clinton mentioned earlier, would help the majority student population, as well as for them to get groceries and just overall like maneuver around our large campus easier. Um this uh could you go to the next slide? Thank you. So here we have a timeline. Um this could be used to help the city um be guided into how they may implement this strategy. So starting off um it might be wise to conduct a feasibility study on funding and potential ridership. Followed up by securing funding for increased labor, buses and other infrastructure. Um after that we would install necessary bus infrastructure as well as benches, signs etc. And finally the new route would begin to be piloted and then after they

test run and some adjustments it could finally begin service. Next slide. Um so we at the Red Seedar Squad we really believe the East Village is something worth keeping an eye on. It's really ripe with potential. It being both adjacent to Grand River and the Red Cedar River. Um it being composed of a lot of passionate students. We really think we could turn East Village into a mixeduse walkable vibrant community um that people would stay in even after they graduate and they could be proud of living in. So I would just like to say next slide please. Thank you from the entire Red Seedar squad and we'd be happy to take any questions if you had any

questions for our panel. Mr. Whan, had were you able to work with Kata? Yeah. Um, so we I believe only in email, if that's correct, but we were able to reach out to them and they sent us some map data, GIS data, as well as just some general um facts about their routes. Um, were you like do you have any questions about if we were able to talk to like someone in person? I'm just Yeah, I sit on I I attend all the academy meetings and I think there's great opportunity there and I think they're they they enjoy the relationship with MSU and also our community. So, I just want to make sure that we're talking with them also.

Yeah. And they seem very open to the idea. They um they were very happy to work with us. Great. you've got this presentation lined up to give to a bunch of different art class and last. Thank you. Yep. So, I will see you at two of those. Um, awesome. But when I when council member Whan mentioned Kata, did occur to me that the Kata board may uh may be another place where you might want to present. Yeah. And ask if they would be willing to put you on an agenda. Thank you for the suggestion. Yeah. Um, we should definitely reach out to them. We still have their email, so I'll I'll make sure we do that. Other questions?

If you connect with I'm sorry. If you connect with AJ on the table over there, she can give you my information. So, if someone can send me whoever the point person would be to talk to Kata, I could try to connect you. That'd be very helpful. Thank you. I'll make sure to do that. Thank you, AJ. Yeah. My question actually is for the city attorney. uh the uh back in 2015 when we were talking about uh dedicated bike lanes on Grand River um then Representative Singh uh introduced a bill to permit MDOT to approve those and I don't know if it ever passed or not. Can you find that out for us and let us know because that's a critical element of making this all work. So, thank you for all the work that you've done on this.

Yeah. Um, and for what it's worth, we believe that bike pads might be better implemented within like the inner streets just because Grand River's already not super wide, but we wanted to include it in the presentation just to show it's something we considered and if like if you guys wanted to take it into account, it was definitely an option. Okay, great. Council member Singh.

Sure. Um, well, first of all, this area does feel like it's a diamond in the rough uh in terms of with the along the red cedar there. So, I want to thank the Red Seedar squad for doing a deep dive on this. Um, I'm curious though in any discussions with Misha, like we have had some projects uh by LITC, but at the same time, it's a difficult program for our community to get uh those dollars out of MIS Misha. So, I don't know if you have any response to that. Yeah, I think you can.

So, I can answer that. Um we did not have any communications with Misha in specifically in regards to uh LITC. Um it is definitely something that we would recommend as going forward with this. Uh we did just want to echo the community's voice of affordability. Um and when making these recommendations and and supporting initiatives uh such as um LITC financing and and collaborating with Misha as well as um recommending the ordinance implementation over in East Village area uh for the 25% of diverse housing options. Excellent.

And I do have one question for Ben. I believe Ham is is your father Dave Hamick? Yes. Do you are you familiar with him? I we worked together in 2008 to elect Barack Obama. I spent many time much I think he was here for two months in Michigan. So first thank you to you and your family uh as he spent time here in Michigan and it was obviously a very important crucial election and we created history. So it's so great to see you. I can't wait to message him. I had no idea. I'll I'll also let him know. That's that's awesome.

Yep. Any further questions? I have one question. So you noted that um your data indicate that many people in the East Village don't have cars. Many residents don't have cars. Is that right?

Yes. Um so currently a lot of the space in East Village is kind of dominated by these surface parking lots that are kind of they're they seem full mostly just because proportionate to the residents in the area. um there isn't a lot of space to actually park. But uh from our qualitative research, we did see that a lot of people valued walking and public transit and used the limited um cataroutes that were available. I think I forgot to mention, but one of the flaws of the 20 routes is that they only run every half hour. Um and while the one doesn't have this flaw, it's often crowded and you still do have to pay for it. Um I so I just wanted to I think I forgot to mention that in the presentation. The reason I ask is that there's um there's sort of a a debate about parking requirements and I think you also mentioned that reducing parking requirements is you know an important component of making areas more walkable. Um at the same time when we hear from at least some local landlords their perspective is that every resident has a car comes with a car.

Yeah. That's a very strong position of theirs. New developers who come to town don't have that position. And so it's an ongoing debate in our community. And so if you had data that would shed light on that, that would be interesting. I did have and I don't think I'm supposed to name names, but I did have the fortune of talking with specific landlords and like private one-on-one interviews. And they did express that they felt parking was like a main selling point and that really set them apart from some of their competitors. So I I definitely see where you're coming from. I think something like a parking structure like for the area. Um, and I think we go more de into depth about the parking issues in our report, but we also ran into similar blockades. Um,

yeah, if you'd love to.

So, when we talked with uh developers and residents about parking, we got about a mix from residents and students um of more parking or less parking. But we know that a lot of the properties rely on street parking and they're and having their residents park just on roads that they shouldn't be parking on in the first place, especially by the river. So, right now, the city is providing a lot of free space for these property owners and their residents to park their cars. So, we do not think that there are they're not meeting their parking requirements already, basically. And um it's American Community Survey data that showed us that 41% of households don't have a car already. But the area is still already filled with cars. So there's there's clearly not more room for car infrastructure in the area, which is why we believe that supporting like more public transit, more bike lanes, more intersections for people to walk to campus is the best strategy in combating that.

Any final questions or comments? One, it came to mind too. I believe when you talk about the studentup supported rides by KATA, those are negotiated between the university, they're subsidized, right? So if you want to add routes, I'm curious if that's an a place where MSU could maybe lean in

it. We when we created that action, we would plan on working directly with Michigan State because we want this area to it's a student housing neighborhood. It's for students who go to campus. We believe that it's appropriate for to have a campus paid for bus that goes there. There are already a few bus routes that go to different apartment complexes. And uh it and if this area grows as it's expected to in the next 10 years, this would alleviate some of the housing struggles that both the city of East Lancing and the Michigan State campus itself deals with.

And could you guys come up because I want to get a picture and I'm going to text your dad. I'm sorry. I have just given a a blast from the past. Thank you guys. Nice nice work, Red Seedar Squad. Absolutely. I just love seeing young talent. You guys did a great job in your presentation and the work you did on this. Thank you. That means a lot. Thank you. Really appreciate it. Thank you for having us.

Yes. Very very well done. Very professional presentation and and slides. So, thank you for your your contribution and I'll look forward to the next presentation. Which brings us to the next item on our agenda, uh, which is communications. Um, all written communications are received by council, uh, by 4 p.m. the day of a business meeting are linked to the agenda packet. Communications from the audience. Um, first slip I have is Kath Edel. Good evening. What happened to Mr. Milock last Wednesday is tragic. violence of any kind is wrong, and my sympathies and compassion go out to him and his family as he recovers from his injuries. And because two things can be true at once, I am heartbroken for the young man whose life was ended by ELPD. By many accounts, this 21-year-old MSU student was weeks from graduating in a field he was passionate about, and most likely his decision to end attend MSU stem from the strength of that program. In high school, he was purportedly an excellent student athlete as well as a son and a brother. Here, he had many friends who along with his family and many in the community are grieving his death. Felonious assault in Michigan carries a maximum $2,000 fine in four years in prison. Instead, he was killed. I suspect all his loved ones would have preferred the former to burying his allegedly unrecognizable 5'6 115 lb body after he was allegedly shot by three

officers approximately 15 times. There is no world where this is not excessive. In a different situation involving black people, the chief unholstered her pepper spray to deescalate a situation. Again, in what world do threats of violence deescalate a situation? This is further proof that this chief and this department have no concept of the p practice of deescalation. And last Wednesday, it is possible that a young man died due in part to this lack of training or willingness to put into practice deescalation practices when faced with a person who by many accounts may have been in crisis. This was not a one-off. And with this chief and her racist statement and her obvious fear of black people, this was inevitable. In fact, so many community members came before this body over the last six months and expressed concern that with her at the helm, this would be the outcome. And now here we are. And how did we get here? Even before here, the history of this department is troubling, but has worsened since her arrival. In my memory, ELPD tased a black high school student who was protecting a female friend. ELPD on two separate occasions smashed the faces of black men into the pavement, debriding the skin on their faces. One for videotaping his friend's arrest and the other for not using his turn signal. And while the officer involved was put on death duty for a while, the department attempted to honor him with an award until the public backlash was too great. An ELPD officer lied about a sexual assault that led to a public defamation of the involved individual, a man of color. ELPD shot a black man in Meyer, smeared him publicly based on a probation violation for a minor issue, and the officers who fired eight times into a busy parking lot were lauded as they offered first aid after inflicting the wounds that necessitated first aid. ELPD illegally searched and forcibly transported a black man who was recovering from a seizure and who had declined transport to the hospital. ELPD tased and arrested a black man for eating a breakfast sandwich at McDonald's because he could not or would not produce identification. ELPD threw a 15-year-old black child on the ground and handcuffed him as he awaited his

ride and could not or would not provide identification. ELPD forcibly arrested a Latinex non-binary person as they awaited their ride, which is allowable by law after being asked to leave an establishment. ELPD tased a black man as he stood with his hands in the air after discarding a knife he had been carrying and was then given just 6 seconds to comply even though he was not showing any aggression toward ELPD. The public has no idea what he was asked to do as ELPD officers did not activate the audio on their body worn cameras. ELPD pepper-sprayed and arrested two young black men and charged them with fighting with no evidence of a fight and then withheld evidence that there was not a fight and defamed them in the press. An officer who no longer works for ELPD violently shoved a black man who was videotaping during the same weekend without repercussion. ELPD bodys slammed and arrested a bipok woman who raised her arm to point at another officer and was labeled verbally aggressive. In fact, in that same month, ELPD use of force report labeled 14 individuals as verbally aggressive to justify using force on them. 12 were identified as black people and two as non-black people of color. This is a department bent on harming black people and other people of color. This is a chief who is in over her head and unable to comprehend even the basics of running a police department, working with the community, and racism 101. Now we come to the predictable coverup or as the chief wrote after the pepper spray incident. This is where she takes control of the narrative. Based on the press release, ELPD has begun the process of reviewing and producing a video timeline of events which will be shared in the upcoming weeks. The names of the officers involved in the shooting will also be shared at that time.

While I imagine the footage is horrifying, it is not and should not be up to ELPD to determine what to release. Every video from the bodywn cameras, the dash cams and local businesses should be made available if desired to the family of the deceased, their attorney, and to the public. This community deserves to know what happened without the usual lies and defenses from the department, the city manager, this council, and the city attorneys. This community lost trust in this city manager and this chief when she made her racist comment, and he defended her. There is no returning from this tragedy. This community deserves better. The blood is on your hands. Thank you for your comments. Uh Teresa Dunn.

Hello. My name is Teresa Dunn. I'm a res a homeowner and taxpayer at 120 Cali Avenue since 2010 and I'm speaking in support of the Chesterfield Hills parking ordinance. We've endured years of issues related to parking excess by non-residents and they have increased in their congestion in recent years. Um, it's been a long-standing problem that precedes my time living on Cowi Avenue. Um, those people parking are largely MSU employees and MSU students. And an organization that owns a house on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Cowi Avenue um has uh guests uh that use the street as their organizational parking both during the day and in the evening several nights a week. Um there's anytime uh you go through the streets there's 15 to 30 cars parked in that south end of Cali. Um as you approach Michigan Avenue um the parking blocks removal of leaves and snow. It results in city services inability to collect leaves and plow the snow properly presents residents and guests of the residents from parking on the street when needed and creates noise disturbance um from 6:00 a.m. till very late in the evening. Um, and when my daughter was uh younger, we had to relocate her bedroom from the front of the house to the back of the house because of the evening noise disturbances from the many non-resident cars parking on the street. And um the we uh wonder um why um guests of these various organizations uh and not the residents should dominate the parking access on the street excluding the residents. We've even had um guests of these organizations uh block our driveway um preventing my husband from pulling into the driveway after work or overlap the driveway making it very difficult to pull in and out of the house. And so we are um very strongly in support of um changing this ordinance and I really thank you for your time.

Thank you. Could I ask those in the back to please refrain from speaking while speakers are at the podium? Thank you. Uh next speaker is uh simply identified as Dana. Let them speak. The revolution will not be silenced. Are you trying to be like Tom Barrett? No town halls. GRPD releases footage of black people they kill within a few days. Release the footage. Stop silencing marginalized voices. This is white backlash. Don't violate my First Amendment rights by selectively enforcing any new rules on what I can and can't do when I'm in this space. When misogyny collides with antilack racism, this is me. You don't like my tinted windows. Cops drive around in tinted windows. You don't want me clapping, but you can stand and clap for your white staff. Did you unload your clip like a G? Gangsters get in trouble for emptying their clips into people. Release the footage. No riots. Let them speak. Michigan does not have a death penalty. We don't win wars. Thou shalt not kill. The police killed. Michigan State University. Remain silent. We won't. I am still black and proud. I am MSU alumni. Show remorse in your comments

today. You're warned. You were warned about Grand Rapids Police Department. Hold a town hall with your community sometimes. You hide behind staff. Written communication is only between Elise and Anthony. I know you all don't have black children, but it's like they said in a time to kill. Now imagine this 22year-old was white. Imagine your bloodrelated 22year-old was blown to pieces in their college town. I am willing to be kicked out for clapping. I am willing to be manhandled by your cops for clapping. Please don't kill me. Don't tase me or hit me for clapping. Emmit till let them speak. I will return after clapping. I will support my community and the time's up. Release the footage. Say their names. You didn't even stand by your chief during the vague, shitty press conference. I only saw a remark from council member Meadows. Other mayors, city managers, and council members in the past and throughout the country stand by their own. Where the were you guys at? Charter violation 4.5. You were not showing up as mayor. Your marriage prom wasn't there during this very crucial moment. What does that mean? Stop physically harming and now you killed our sons. Stop harming our daughters and mothers. Stop harming fathers. Stop hurting kids. Stop covering up. Hold town halls. Are you going to shoot me? Make me unrecognizable. You were voted in by the people. Give us

a town hall. Your staff liaison positions were taken from just the black woman. East Lancing found a better fit with HR who are white and have not been trained as staff liaison. Just in time for the kill. East Lancing allows white older men to challenge DEI in this city. Tell them to challenge the increased need for more cops so they can shoot enough holes in our bodies together. Stop killing us. Stop harming us. Your hands are dirty. Your hands are red like a bloody knife that you hold to stab in the community's back. Your attorneys brag, upholding white narcissism. Your system is built on domination and control and the need to maintain an illusion of superiority. You share traits with narcissism, entitlement, and the need for admiration or we got to go. We got to get kicked out. We got to get tased. We got to get shot. We got to get shut down. We can't even clap.

You have 30 seconds. When challenged, white narcissism often manifests as a defense. It operates within institutions. I work 9 to5 and getting to 6 p.m. meetings is a problem. I know you all don't have kids, but the gap matters. And you're voting for something that you pulled off with two retired boys, an MSU professor who disses students but teaches a class, a mother who works, and a dad who probably doesn't take care of his kids. This is what democracy looks like. Don't shoot. I'm disturbed. Thank you for your comments. Your time has expired. Kelly Ellsworth Etcherson.

Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Kelly Ellsworth Etches and as a business leader in the space of DEI, I have concerns about what appears to be the intentional walk back to a dark past in East Lancing's history. In the 60s, the city of East Lancing was complicit in redlinining practices and deed restrictions that led to housing discrimination. In 2018, the city passed a resolution that was drafted by the Human Relations Commission based on an essay written by an East Lancing High School freshman at the time named Alex Hosy. This resolution acknowledges, apologizes, and condemns its racist history. In an Eli article, council member Mark Meadows, who was mayor at the time, acknowledged that the city of East Lancing has more work to do in regard to racial equality, citing in that article that, and I quote, one of the individuals who was in charge of the jazz festival at the time approached him and said, "African-Americans don't come to East Lancing because they don't feel welcome here to which Mr. Meadows replied, "I think we have a whole lot of work to do and this is just the beginning of the work we need to do." In recent years, there were positive strides. the formation of a DEI department, becoming a sanctuary city, a resolution declaring racism as a public health crisis, recognizing Junth, Hispanic Heritage Month, condemns uh or I'm sorry, Indigenous People's Day, Pride Month, and many

more. Now, if I were a person unfamiliar with the city's reputation as a sundown town to black communities or its redlinining past and I was looking to work, live, move my business, invest in, and or play here, I might ask Chat GPT in East Lance if East Lancing is an inclusive community. And so I did and this is what AI says. The city of East Lansancy, Michigan actively promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion because it produces several concrete benefits for the community, local government, and residents. AI also found an article that says the city leaders explicitly frame DEI as part of making East Lancing an inclusive place to live, work, visit, and do business. This was a quote from Fox 47 News dated October 16, 2024 that Chat GPT found. I wonder what AI would say about this topic by the end of 2026. Recent moves from the Human Relations Commission and East Lancing Independent Police Oversight Commission would suggest a turning back from DEI and a turning to East Lancing's past. I would hope this is not the case. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience who would care to address the council at this point? If so, please approach the podium. Yes. City Council, this is Owen Ron. I live on North Lawn Avenue. Uh firstly, thank you very much for uh serving the citizens of East Lancing. Uh this is obviously a tough job um that you have uh that you've taken on given the challenges that our city faces in a number of different issues. Um, thank you for rising to face those challenges and making tough choices to always do the right thing. Um, as you may recall, I spoke to you uh at last week's meeting about a combined sewer overflow that occurred near my home on April 4th and flooded the homes next to mine uh as well as behind my home and Shaw Park across the street. Um, I'd ask the city council to seek guidance around um, MCL section 324, section 3112A um, which surrounds the disclosure requirements of um, of sewer discharges um, as well as the testing requirements that occur when those happen. um in particularly section pardon subsection one and subsection three as it relates to uh sewage and partial pardon untreated sewage or partially treated sewage discharged onto the land in Michigan. Um thank you also for postponing your discussion and your vote with regards to uh the changes to your rules and procedures. Um I just quickly looked earlier today at um the public comments that have been made over the past four meetings. Um on March 16th you met, you had no public comments. That meeting

lasted 3 and 1/2 hours. On March 17th you met, you had 43 speakers um of which um given uh the aotment of 5 minutes per speaker, they could have spoken for up to 215 minutes. um and they ended up speaking for only 167 minutes. Um had you limited their time to only three minutes per speaker, you would have saved somewhere between 30 and 86 minutes on your 6-hour meeting. Uh on April 7th, you had six speakers. Given their allotment of 30 minutes or pardon, given their allotment of five minutes per speaker, they could have spoken for up to 30 minutes. Um they ended up speaking for 23. And if you were to remove to reduce that down to three minutes per speaker, um you could save a whopping five to 12 minutes um on your three-hour meeting. Last week's meeting on April 14th had also six speakers. Um and given the 5minute aotment, they could have spoken for 30 minutes. Um they did speak for 30 minutes, myself included. If you were to reduce that to just 3 minutes per speaker, you could save 12 minutes on your 4-hour meeting. Um, so I just propose that limiting the amount of time for public comment may not be the right solution to a more efficient meeting and I wanted to offer that data to you in case it's useful. Thanks very much.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience who would like to address Dr. June?

Yeah, my name is Lee June. I had not planned to speak, but after hearing Cat and Dana and Miss Ellsworth, I I feel compelled to say something. I've lived in this area for over 50 years, and I've noticed progress or lack of progress. And I guess as I listen to them and as I observe other actions, I'm pretty disturbed by kind of the backward trend that the council in the city is taking. And I guess I would just want to appeal to you to rectify that. One of my favorite passages, a biblical passage by Micah and he said, "I will tell thee, oh humans, what is right and what does the Lord require of thee and three things are mentioned." He said that you should do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. And a lot of people quote that scripture, but they don't look at what it actually said. Too many of us love justice, but the Bible tells us that we ought to do justice. And I would appeal to you as these incidents occur, even if they go against your initial drain grain that you would do justice. And so I love the city of East Lancing. I came here my first three years. I lived in East Lancing. who moved to Lancing for about 20 plus years and have come back to East Lancing for the last 20 plus years. And so we are watching and I know many of you on the city council. I've observed you over the years and I won't go into detail what my relationships are with some of you, but I just appeal to you. you know, let's

let's take this thing seriously and call in people who know what's going on, listen and try to come up with some plans for actions. And I have two minutes. I didn't do prepared speech but you know I came out of the king era and the king had a approach whereby you know first of all Peter they look at an issue they see what's wrong they come like we're doing here and they appeal to you and they try to negotiate but if things begin to continue to stir even with the king era the next step was that it came about with uh action And I hope that your silence and refusal to make some changes that people are asking here tonight and other people have made, it's going to result in action. And King often said that a right is really the voice of people unheard. And so people love the community. And I see I have two minutes. And what people when they love the community, what they do is they come forward and speak with passion as Miss Elworth, Cat and Dana has done and they speak with passion not because they hate the community but they love it and they want to work cooperatively with you in order to bring about changes. So I along with others you know we have expertise in various areas missworth DEI and we understand some of the issues with DEI but I would encourage you as you move forward and try to do the right thing that you maybe call in some of the ma many experts in this town who have really knowledge and know how to get things done have a feel for the community and want to work with you and Dr. Dr. King is my favorite and

I'll say this. He said our goal is not to defeat the white man but to win his respect. So the issue is always we want to work collaboratively but if that's not allowed then we have to look to other means. So I wish you the best. I along with all the people who spoke tonight stand to do resources for you and our goal is not to defeat you but to work cooperatively with you. so that Lance East Lansing can become the kind of community, the beloved community that uh John Lewis and Dr. King so eloquently speak to. So let justice roll down like waters and then we hope righteousness like an everflowing stream. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to speak? Hey, my name is Taiwan Thirdgill. I'm not an East Lancing resident. I actually live in Hope, Michigan. Um, but what this tragedy continues to show us is that the collective trauma that is felt when we see folks who look like us, who share our experience, get killed. It's felt deeply. Having a body be unrecognizable is the clearest sign that there was an excessive use of force. We have to do better about ensuring that our cops are properly trained for implicit bias. They have the escalation trainings and not by handpicked organizations that are trusted by cops, but create forms where community members can give feedback where they can help pick deescalation trainers and implicit bio trainers that actually represent the communities that these cops are trying to go into. You know there one of my favorite quotes is by Frederick Douglas and it says power conceds nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find a thing that people will quietly submit to and you have found the exact measure of injustice that will be experienced by them until it's refused with words or blows or both. People in my community are tired of seeing folks who look like them needlessly die in our streets. We are done sitting silently by as folks on this council meet the cries of mothers and sisters and brothers and uncles and cousins and friends. As we demand not even justice, but we demand to stop being over police. We demand to stop experiencing this world differently than our white brothers and sisters. We

demand to be treated equally under the law. And most importantly, we want and we demand to wake up in the morning, leave our house, and return home without being shot, without being discriminated against, without experiencing unnecessary forms of racism, without experiencing unnecessary forms of discrimination. We simply want to experience a world that our white brothers and sisters have experienced in this community, which is waking up and not having a fear that their life will end simply because of the color of their skin. I want to live in a world where when I have kids, I don't have to have the conversation with them about how to navigate this world being a person of color and being black. I want to live in a world where I can tell my my nieces and mean it that they can navigate this world the same way everyone else does. They don't have to take certain precautions because the cops who are sent there to protect them are there to do just that. I want to live in a world where I can walk out on the street and not fear how I have to interact with cops and I have to think about every single moment, every single movement I take the same way my white brothers and sisters get to operate in this world. What all of us are asking is yes, we're demanding justice. Yes, we're demanding accountability. But what black and brown folks are asking for and what if I'm being frank we are tired of asking for is to be treated equally. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience who would care to address the council? Seeing none, are there any callers? There are no callers in the queue.

Okay. Um, that brings us to uh communications from mayor and council members. Uh, I will begin uh tonight. Uh, our community has experienced a tragedy. On April 15th, what started as a 9/11 call about a theft evolved into a stabbing and an officer involved shooting with multiple lives forever changed. Our sympathies extend to all involved. We wish for a speedy and full recovery for the victim of the stabbing. We mourn the loss of life. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr. Kirby during this difficult time. We recognize the toll that public safety responsibilities take on our police officers as they make life and deathi decisions in evolving and dangerous situations. We also acknowledge the emotional impact on our community, people who work in the area and families who live nearby who may now think twice about doing the simplest of errands we typically take for granted. We acknowledge that people may have new safety concerns. Incidents like this may change how people feel about living in, working in, or visiting East Lancing. How it feels to go out to eat, to stop at the grocery store, or to get gas. But no single incident can define our community. We are committed to listening to people's concerns and to ensuring that residents and visitors alike feel secure in their daily lives. Our officers work hard to protect us. Our police officers put their lives on

the line each day when people call for help. They are often required to make rapid decisions while under extreme pressure with the lives of our citizens and the officers themselves on the line. We also recognize the tragedy of a lost life and the need for an independent review of the entire incident. We will fully cooperate with the independent Michigan State Police investigation as is standard in cases of officer involved shootings. The Michigan State Police or MSP is conducting an independent investigation into the entire situation. Once MSP completes its investigation, it will submit its findings to the appropriate prosecutor's office or the attorney general for a final legal review. We will also review the findings of MSP and ELPD as the case moves forward. We are committed to transparency. We will provide as much information as we can within the bounds of the law, the independent MSP investigation, and the advice of the city's legal council. ELPD is assembling a video timeline of the events of that day, which will be shared in the coming weeks. We will also share the names of the officers involved in the shooting. Our goal is to maintain the trust of the public. What comes next? This is a time for compassion for all involved, including the broader community. Our community is coping with a tragic and troubling sequence of events with multiple lives forever changed. We can remain unified as we heal by continuing to support each other and by continuing to communicate. I would urge us to honor the process and

allow the independent investigation being conducted by the MSP to run its course. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as we are able. Thank you, Council Member Singh. Yes. Um, I would like to just add a few words. Um, my heart goes out to the victim of the stabbing and his family. As you know, this is a small, tightlyknit community. Um, I wish Mr. Mock a full and speedy recovery. I also want to acknowledge the loss of Mr. Kirby. Regardless of the circumstances, a life has been lost and that weighs heavily on this community and on me personally. As a council member, one of my core responsibilities is ensuring accountability and transparency in our city's public safety. I am anxiously awaiting the findings of the Michigan State Police Independent Investigation and I am committed to following this process through and sharing what we learn with our residents. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pim.

Yes, thank you. Um and I echo uh what has been said by uh my colleagues um and the recent events. Um, I want to thank uh the city manager uh and the mayor uh for keeping me in tune. I was out of town when this incident happened. Um, and um uh I appreciate making sure that I was in the loop with understanding what we knew at the time that was going on. So, thank you for that. And um uh I want to just say a couple different things um going forward. Um Mr. Thornton in the crowd. Uh, please um find my information. I want to stay in contact with you. I I I think I saw you a couple years ago uh doing some good work for your community um and leading in some different things. I think you were elected official or you were running for office and I remember you when you first came up here. So I'd love to continue the conversation with you in regards to um some of the things that are important. Um, a couple different things in the community that are happening right now. We, um, excuse me, my notes here. Uh, the downtown management board, uh, will host after class bash on Friday, April 24th. Um, that's a celebratory community or student event to recognize the end of the academic term and the last day of classes. Um, there's, uh, recycle uh, which is Saturday the 25th. Uh, and that is the greater Lancing's largest one-day uh, recycle drive. Um, and it's going to be at the Ingam County Health Department. And that's really an opportunity for everyone to get rid of those hard to recycle items such as styrofoam and electronics, appliances, all those different things. So, please take advantage of that. Um, and then, uh, there was a mention about, you know, a

community event. I think it was a town hall was mentioned and and having a conversation. And then another member talked about collaboration and having conversations and working with the community. And I'm all about that. Um, and um, I really am about that because um, I think it's a space for those conversations, but I also think it's a space for actual work and a process to be created. Um, and if that is the agenda for some of those people that talked about that, please pick up the phone. My my I got numbers everywhere, you know, how to get a hold of me in regards to that so we can at least have a conversation to see uh, what we can start working on to see if we can make that come to fruition. Um, lastly, I wanted to acknowledge um my son tonight. He is worked his butt off. He's he's playing lacrosse varsity right now as we speak. He's getting his first start tonight. He started off on the bench not playing to now he had his first start tonight. So, I'm very very happy. I told I was going to shout him out tonight and uh just uh wish those guys luck over at East Lansing on the field tonight. Thank you.

Go team, Mr. Meadows. Well, first I want to uh thank all of those who spoke tonight. Um not just about the parking situation in one of our neighborhoods, but especially uh about the incident, the event, the tragic event that took place in East Lancing last week. You know, there were a number of um suggestions that were made here this evening at the microphone uh which I hope that we follow up on relatively soon. Um, it reminded me that uh we had a town hall type event uh with a p a panel of individuals regarding uh racism in our community. And uh this was several years ago. It was the very first time I heard uh former council member Dana Watson speak as a matter of fact very articulately and compelling. uh speaking. So to the extent that we can organize a town hall or a community conversation or whatever we want to call it, I hope that we will do that sooner rather than later. Uh I know that uh our police force has had deescalation training and uh implicit bias training offered to them. I want to make sure that we follow up on that and make sure that all of our officers understand the very uh important nature of deescalating uh circumstances

such as someone charging at you with a knife uh as happened here. um someone who as somebody mentioned at the microphone was likely suffering a mental health issue at that point in time just given the entire circumstances that we've uh seen. Our friends, our neighbors, the viewpoint of the community um regarding this sad event is very very important. It's important to me in putting together policies that can address some of the issues that we have been facing apparently repeatedly. And I want to mention that uh I think that we should take a look at the list of events that uh Kathle mentioned at the microphone and uh analyze each one of those events to determine uh the racial nature of the response that uh she identified. So I am hoping that this moment can have a positive event or turn into a positive change within our community and that uh you know I haven't changed my mind from the time when I was quoted. Um, I believe that we have a lot of work to do and that we we must continue to work as hard as we can to bring equity and justice to this community for every person who lives here, visits here, passes through here. We are a very uh diverse community. Uh, I think there's over 120 different nationalities pre presented at Michigan State University.

We have a large Muslim population, a large African-American population. We have a diversity that we should honor and that no member of our community should feel that they are not treated the same as every other member of our community. Mr. Will

again this is a tragic tragic situation and I think the call for patience and compassion is really important. I think that the um so many people have been touched by this. U Mr. Mock who was identified um by others is the victim in the situation but I I'm hoping that as this process goes he becomes a survivor. Process of being victimized and then turning into survivor is powerful. My heart goes out to the family of Mr. Kirby. Um, it's a tragic, tragic situation. And those officers that were ending the shift thinking they're about ready to go home and have dinner or go on to whatever they planned that night or those that just started the shift. My heart goes out to them. Also, I'm not aware of the fine details as in my role, I am staying away from it, but the pressure and intensity of having to respond to a call like this is a terrible um situation for anyone to be asked to go to and to be involved in. Each one of those officers have family members that are also um having a very difficult time through the situation. But I'm thankful that there are some people that are willing to go to the call. There's also bystanders that were touched by this dramatically. Those that either heard it or saw it. That's something that you can never

unsee. it's something you can never get that um go through that. So, I encourage as much mental health help to please seek out help to anyone that um that is struggling with the situation. Um and just please reach out to loved ones, reach out to mental health professionals to be able to talk through and to unload and unpack this situation. My thoughts and prayers are with each one of these different groups. Um, each one of us deal with this a little bit differently and I understand that. So, I do hope that we can all get the resources that we all need to be able to um become more of a survivor. Thank you.

Thank you. for Tim. If I may, I just I forgot to mention that. Uh right now, uh we have quite a few openings on commissions. I just wanted to say that real quick. Um the housing commission, the parks and reccks um advisory commission, the transportation commission, the building boards of appeals, uh the human uh rights commission. We have quite a few openings right now. Um, and if you're watching um or listening in, uh, I encourage community members to get involved with their city uh, through commission work. Um, your talent, your your experience, um, is much needed on these open position seats.

Thank you for adding that. That concludes communications from mayor and council members, city manager report. Mr. Bellman, thank you. um echo condolences to the family and friends of Isaiah Christopher Kirby, a tragic end to a young life. Also, prayers and thoughts to the stabbing victim, to this community, and to our police department and those officers as we continue to process everything that unfolded Wednesday evening. Thank you. Thank you. City Attorney's Report. Mr. Jopic. Thank you. No report this evening.

All right. Thank you. What brings us to the consent agenda? Mr. Bellman.

On tonight's consent agenda, uh 4.1 is approve the following appointments or reappoints to boards or commission. Uh Joshua Ramirez Roberts to the planning commission for a partial term ending December 31st, 2026. uh Johnny Welis to the downtown development authority for a partial term ending June 30th, 2028. 4.2 is approve a uh correction to the city council motion relating to business item 5.4 at its March 3rd, 2026 meeting for adoption of charter amendment resolutions. 4.3 is approve a conditional class 3 rental license for an occupancy of up to two unrelated persons or family at 231 Lori Drive. The owner of record is Casey and Rachel Lond. The legal representative is Max Mulik, East Lancing, Michigan. 4.4 Four is approved scheduling a public hearing for May 12th, 2026 for the preliminary fiscal year 2027 budget and property tax rates. 4.5 is approved scheduling a public hearing by city council for May 26, 2026 to receive comments on proposed ordinance 1567, an amendment to division 8 building height overlay district of the East Lancing zoning ordinance to allow council to approve a building height exceeding 160 feet when doing so is not necessit necessitated. Solely by the use of is necessated solely by the use of specific construction materials including but not limited to mass timber does not result in additional floors or units and is subject to the review and

approval of city council under the special use procedures of section 50-94. 4.6 Six is approved scheduling a public hearing by city council for May 26, 2026 to receive comments on proposed ordinance 1568, an amendment to chapter 50 of the city code of to reszone uh 1049 Cresenwood Road from R2 medium density single family residential to C community facilities for a new public park. 4.7 is approve a contract change order with Collier's engineering in the amount of$10,000 which includes $1,550 in contingency and authorize city manager to sign. 4.8 is approve a letter of agreement between the city of East Lancing and the Capitol City Labor Program nonsupervisory police officers unit and authorized city manager to sign. 4.9 is approved scheduling a public hearing for May 12th, 2026 to consider fiscal year 2027 community development block grant budget. Uh 410 is approve a resolution 2026-30 recognizing May 3rd, 2026 through May 9th, 2026 as public service recognition week. Uh 4.11 has received the 2025 annual report of the seniors commission and 4.12 is received the 2025 annual report for the housing commission.

All right. Thank you. Uh would any council member like any items removed from the consent agenda? Yes. Uh I would request that item 4.3 put it be put on the business agenda. Okay. So 4.3 will appear at the end of the business agenda and is removed from the consent agenda. Any other items to be removed from the consent agenda? Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended? So moved. Moved by Meadows. Second. Second by Griggsby. Any discussion of what remains?

All those in favor of the consent agenda as amended, please say I.

I. Any opposed? Uh motion carries. The consent agenda as amended is approved. That brings us to item 5.1. Uh introduce and refer to the planning commission. Ordinance 1573, an amendment to chapter 50 of the city code to reszone 825 Westlake Lancing Road from RM22 medium density multifamily multiple family residential to RM14 lowdensity multiple family residential in order to bring an existing single family residence into conformity with the zoning ordinance. Mr. Bartley.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh Landon Bartley, principal planner for the city of East Lancing. Uh so yes, this is a request uh from the owner of the property at 825 Westlake Lansing to reszone the property from RM22 to RM14. Uh this house was constructed in 1955. Uh before the the zoning ordinance or current uh zoning designation, uh this property and the adjacent property at 2345 North Harrison uh were reszoned from RM14 to RM22 in October of 1982. Uh I should mention this is just uh just west of the intersection of Harrison and Lake Lansing. This house is on the south side of the road. Uh the property owner's uh house is its current location in RM22 zone district makes it non-conforming uh and which limits uh what the property owner can do with their house. RM22 is one of our only zoning districts that doesn't allow single family houses. Uh so he's seeking to get it reszoneed to RM14, which would make his house conforming. So tonight's step is to introduce and refer this uh ordinance to the planning commission for a public hearing. Uh after which they would recommend action by council and send it back to you for a public hearing as well and decision. Can I answer any questions about this request?

Questions for Mr. Bartley? Is there a motion? Certainly. I move to introduce and refer the planning commission ordinance 1573, an amendment to chapter 50 of the city code to reszone 825 West Lake Lancing Road. Do I need to cite the lot number? PN33-20- 01- 01-304-33 from RM22 medium density multiple family residential to RM14 lowdensity multiple family residential motion by Singh second

second by Whan any discussion of the motion all those in favor say I I any opposed that motion carries and That ordinance is introduced and referred. Thank you. Uh, next item on our agenda is 5.2, consideration and presentation of the 2025 downtown parking system report. Mr. Bartley.

Uh, thank you, Lartley, principal planner. Um, our zoning ordinance requires that I, as a planning and zoning official, annually prepare a report on utilization of parking spaces within uh, downtown. uh and also that this report is presented and uh approved by council. So we have prepared this report. Uh I have a very brief presentation just three slides. Uh just wanted to summarize essentially uh the the parking report. Um basically we have just about 3100 parking spaces in downtown East Lancing. Most of which about 85% are in parking garages. Uh about 9% in service lots and the remainder of 6% are on the street. uh the number of spaces hasn't changed significantly since the construction of uh the Albert Avenue a Avenue garage a few years ago. Uh so you can see the the top uh top right graph is just showing up roughly the same number of spaces in the system and you can see the uh different difference of uh garage versus surface versus on street uh is that middle right uh pie chart and then at the bottom right is the distribution across of all the different garages uh in the system. So just sort of a a brief overview of what we have in the system. Uh could you go to the next slide please? Uh we did we looked at the uh parking the parking department goes out and does counts uh bannual excuse me semiannual basis uh in the spring and fall of each year. Uh in fact I believe they just completed their their count or they're doing it right now for uh for the spring. Uh so we have a count of essentially the average daily utilization of each uh facility, parking garages on top, surface parking lots uh in the middle and then all the different on street spaces at the bottom. And we included essentially the bolded text to the to the left is the 2025 numbers and the 2024 is to the right uh in both spring and fall columns. So just wanted to sort of point out that things have generally remained the same. some some

uh the average utilization of some facilities went up, some went down. Uh generally we see that the Albert garage and the CVS uh surface parking lot um down under Charles Garage are the most used facilities. Uh in general, the least used facilities tend to be the metered spaces um on I believe an street uh near or excuse me might be Lyndon. Uh we have a couple uh basically small metered spaces uh that tend to be under utilized but otherwise most of our garage facilities are used the most. Uh to the right you can see the general usage of uh EV chargers. We do have several charges across the uh across the system denoted on the in the chart to the left by little lightning uh bolts. And this just shows the average use over the course of the day. Uh so you have a high peak use uh during spring uh typical spring day uh in the middle of the day and then it falls off dramatically towards the end of the of the day uh and then similar more high use in the fall uh towards the morning and then it tends to fall off again at the end of end of the day. But we have high usage of all of our EV chargers uh in our in our public system. Next slide please. And then finally just wanted to talk about the sort of average use of the entire system and also the average peak use. The average daily use of the system is 42% roughly 42% in spring and roughly 44% in the fall. So most days uh is is being less than half used. Uh average peak use and and that this does not count outlier days which are generally home football game days uh Saturdays in which the most cases the system is completely used up. Uh but average peak use is rough roughly s 57% 60% uh in the fall. So 57 in the spring, 60% in fall. This is roughly uh roughly consistent with what we saw in 2024 uh where we're seeing roughly 60 to 65% average peak

usage. So the graph on the uh left is trying to show that how the peak use has uh changed over time. You see the trend line is the dotted lines for spring and fall. we see a slow increase of the average peak use of the system. Uh and then just looking at peak use versus uh between spring and fall across the day uh is is what you see the right. And then finally just as far as monthly permits uh in the garages and bay lot 11 um we see average uh use in the spring uh slightly lower than in the fall but the monthly permits are being well used. Uh I have opportunity to answer questions. I need to tell you that I don't have all the knowledge. I just am reporting this. But what I do have uh Jennifer Lacass from our parking division, our deputy parking parking administrator who is available to answer any questions if you have them. So I'd love to

question stuff. Mr. Meadows the uh you know a couple years ago we authorized variable pricing u in the garages and I noticed that for the monthly fees those that apparently has been implemented at least according to the information we got. Are are we doing that with our most highly used garages in terms of the hourly as well because I think that was our intent. So, I don't know whether it's been implemented or not, but I didn't see it in the in the documents that we were given. Oh, thank you. Uh, and is the cost the deputy park administrator is going to come up? Uh, she nodded at me and said, "Yes, we are, but hopefully she can give some more details on that."

Hello, Jennifer, deputy parking administrator. Uh, yes. Um the monthly permits in each of the garages uh it in the highly desired garages it is the most expensive. Going down to division which is the you uh least utilized that is the least expensive. We've done the same arrangement with the hourly rates also. It's more expensive to park in the highly desired garages and division is now set at 50 cents per half an hour to try and draw in people to the downtown area.

Okay. And have you uh since the time that you have implemented it, have you seen a change in any kind of the parking pattern with regard to those lower cost garages as opposed to the more expensive garages? We just lowered the price as of July 1 last year. So when we did the fall counts, we just got done doing our spring counts. We have not compiled the data yet in the spreadsheet. So I will be able to answer that soon, but not yet. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Wher

I had mentioned this last meeting. So is it still the concept that we are shy of parking on the west side? So that makes Grove and Albert Street ramps fill up the fastest and then the further you go west. So, if we would possibly have some type of park parking alternative on the west side, west of Abbott, that could alleviate some of the pressure and the stress of these east side ramps.

That could, yes. But if people would just be willing to go down a couple blocks, there's plenty of parking in Division. Still plenty of parking in Charles. It just depends how far people want to walk. But that may alleviate some of the pressure of the ramps right downtown at Grove and Albert if there was something west of Abbott. Yes, I'm just I'm just making a point. Thank you. But we're not at capacity though like as a like even at

even those are highest capacity. I mean, I hear you like there are points on the West End that I've heard it from people's church congregants that there's some frustration there, but at the same time, you know, we don't want to build big expensive parking when we have capacity in other places and it's a matter of two blocks. I'm not sure if we're supposed to debate back and forth. I just want to make sure that point is out there like in terms of consideration like it's not it's not clear-cut is your your question kind of conveyed.

I guess maybe it's more of a statement than than a question. If there may be some development on the west on the east side then the possible solution to some of that pressure is possibly something on the west side. That's that's my point. Not necessarily right now. It seems like we got plenty of parking right now, but with potential more development downtown um because we were running out of space the further we go east, we do have a little bit of space. That's just my point. Thank you.

Further questions, Mr. Griggsby. So, uh, it's kind of on the same line of what we're talking about and and I'm and I'm just thinking big picture here when it comes to developments, um, particularly the potential developments of 530 and the Howard and capacity there. And just based off the percentages from what I understand in our conversations, even if those were to go through hypothetically, we still wouldn't be at capacity at peak time in the spring and fall. Is that correct as far as being below 80% is around there? Is that correct?

Currently, our peak time both spring and fall is like a Tuesday or a Thursday during the lunch hour. 65%. 65. Okay. So I'm sorry maybe you just said it but so you're saying so even with those in consideration hypothetically you're saying that we still would be below the threshold during lunchtime and all those different situations. I think it will depend on how many uh cars are brought in those developments. Hard to say.

Hard to say exactly. But didn't we hear this presentation last week or in terms of the amount of parking spots that we've talked to potential development what they would be allocated and there would still be capacity for the lunch crowd. That is correct. Caleb and I did the math and we're willing to um give them 215 spaces and that left still 215 spaces above the parking permits that are already in the system. And that would be intended to be in the division ramp or across several ramps. Division Charles or MAC. Okay. Thank you. F council member Singh. Yeah. Further questions?

Mr. Meadows bring up a question for me because uh Caleb did talk about this at the uh discussion only meeting last week, but I wanted to be clear that you say 250 spaces. 215 15. And um my memory of what he had he had indicated that if we approve the two projects which are pending at this point in time, the parking needs for those projects could be partially taken care of when we preserve this 215. Is that correct? Correct.

And the uh but not entirely. And then uh I guess the the question based on what uh council member Singh mentioned is that you know again it's what came first the chicken or the egg. So if we if we encourage redevelopment on the west side parking available parking would probably enhance our ability to get that done. Is that correct? I would say that's correct. Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Other comments? We I I'm Yeah, I'm done. Are you sure? Yeah.

Okay. Um so I had the same question about the effect of the rate change on parking. Um my hunch is that parking demand is pretty inelastic with respect to prices, but it'll be interesting to see. Mhm.

Um, if you had to characterize how much, we've all been asking version of this question. How much capacity we have remaining that we would like to fill to have the parking system operate at some optimile optimal level. How would you what number would you choose to characterize that? And what would we need to where would we need to get? Is it average use? Is it peak use? I'm going to say it's average use from what I understand between 85 and 90% is where you want your parking system to be and our average use is just over 40%. Correct. So we have substantial capacity.

Our average daily use is about 40%. Our average peak use is around 60. And that's why I was asking which of those is the relevant number. Yeah, the peak use I well I would say the peak use is 65% but that is lunch hours on sporad sporadic days of the week you want your parking system running at 85 to 90%. So I would say you want your daily usage to be there not peak usage but correct daily usage. Okay.

Okay. If I can just add though like I think when we've talked with the parking staff they uh generally the 85% peak use is when you start to consider do we need to do we need to consider more spaces but up until that point I mean that's that's the average daily use is at that level is enough to support the system healthfully and have enough and have enough parking and it's being used. That's when you start to consider should we add more parking but until that point average daily use at 85% or average peak use. I said peak I meant average daily use daily and that's when you start to consider we may have a need to to add additional spaces.

Okay, that's clarifying. Thank you. So it's a great report. It's very as always very clear, very thorough, very accurate. So thank you. Any other comments on this? So, this is an uh this is an action item. Um, is there a motion? Yeah, I'll make a motion. I'll approve I'll make a motion to approve the 2025 downtown parking report as presented. Motion by Griggsby.

Second by Meadows. Any further discussion of the motion? Mr. Whan. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Okay. The motion carries and that uh is approved. Thank you. Which brings us to item uh 5.3, introduction of ordinance 1574, amending ordinance 1364, an ordinance to modify the Chesterfield Hills resident parking permit program. Mr. Clayton.

Good evening, council. Uh Steven Clayton with uh DPW Engineering. Um I'm here to discuss the first reading of ordinance uh 1574. It's a meaning uh ordinance 1364. Uh we discussed the study the public hearing. So, you're familiar with um the data that we gathered and um just that the um the south half of Cali Avenue just from observation um staff observation was consistently impacted um and exceeded that threshold in the ordinance requirement. Um we presented this item to the transportation commission at their March 2nd, 2026 meeting. Uh the commission voted unanimous unanimously in favor of recommending uh the approval of this amendment to that parking uh permit program. Uh as well as staff also just uh operation uh from operation staff just recognize this is desired from a staffing uh perspective as well due to the snow and ice or uh leaf removal and uh so we also supported that effort. Um since the public hearing that we had at the last uh meeting uh we were able to get the ballots to return the ballots. So we sent out 82 in the affected properties. Um I didn't mention last time that there was a couple of letters that had been sent out erroneously. Uh correction letters were then sent out to notify those residents um to either not send in the ballots or if they were sent in that they would not be counted. Um so out of those 82 ballots that were correctly sent out to the affected properties, we had 29 returned. Um there was 21 in support and there was eight opposed. Um

so that is a majority. The B the ordinance just requires a majority. So that is well beyond a majority supporting um and that meets the ordinance. Uh and then I also am as just as a side note, I'm reaching out to the attorney's office and verifying that that ordinance language um if that's been read or verified. I think probably either has been verified or will be verified. So um I'm here to answer any questions. Questions, Mr. Clayton. It's great. I'm glad we're doing this. Is there a motion? Mr. Whan, you had you got there first.

I just did want to say thank you so much for all of your work for this and um as a part of the transportation commission. Um it's been also my personal experience over the last 25 years. This has been a huge problem. So I think it's a fix. I motion to approve the first reading of the ordinance 1574 amending ordinance 1364 an ordinance to modify the Chesterfield Hills resident parking permit program and place on the next business agenda meeting this I'm sorry that's is that the motion we're doing right now or can't we just approve it?

We have to introduce I thought it was already introduced. I'm sorry. I'll start again. Approve the first reading of ordinance 1574 amending ordinance 1364 and ordinance to modify the Chesterfield Hills residence parking permit program and place on the next business agenda meeting for the second reading and possible adoption. Motion by Whan. Second. Second by Singh. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? That motion carries and that ordinance 154 is introduced. 1574 is introduced. Okay. That brings us to item uh 5.4 which is consideration of policy resolution 2026-31 changing the July 14th 2026 city council regular session meeting date to July 21st 2026. I'll be the resource for this because this is my at my request. Once a year I have to travel for uh my day job to present research to the people who uh pay for it. I don't typically find out the meeting dates until um mid-spring. And uh I will have to be out of town from July 13th to July 17th. And so I was hoping we could move that meeting. We have one other meeting in July. Uh so uh we have only one me meeting in July and so I suggested here that we could move to July 21st. Uh but I believe July 7th is also an option although that gets close to the 4th. So I'm happy to address questions if anybody has questions for me. Mr. Bellman,

are you going to also address the amended version in front of everybody? Yes. So in front of everyone is a hard copy of an amended version. Uh the only difference in the amended version is the now therefore built resolved clause which when we get around to making a motion I will read into the record. Um but that is uh based on a recommendation from staff I believe concerning moving the start times of meetings. And I would like to ask Mr. Bellman to address that issue if he could.

Sure. at the um 14th um discussion only meeting. There was um discussion about when to start regular sessions um and when to start discussion only. And so I was asked what staff thoughts were. And so I asked them the next morning and they suggested that for discussion only we could start at 6:00 since it is primarily for staff to present um and possibly at 6:30 for regular sessions which is you know a half hour earlier than what we currently do.

And we did have some discussion at the last meeting of moving uh meetings earlier and I believe Mayor Prom Griggsby spoke to that issue. Um, so if there's no questions or discussion, I'm going to go ahead and make a motion. um which is to approve policy resolution 2026-31 amending the city council meeting agenda agend meeting schedule uh by changing the July city council meeting from July 14th 2026 to July 21st 2026 with the now therefore be it resolved clause to read as follows. Now therefore, be it resolved that the East Lancing City Council by an affirmative vote of its members does hereby amend its 2026 city council meeting schedule by changing the date of its July 2026 meeting from July 14th, 2026 to July 21st, 2026. and by changing the regular session meetings start time from 700 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and the discussion only meetings start time from 7:00 p.m. to 6 p.m. That is my motion.

Second motion by Alman, second by Whan. Discussion of the motion. Mike Mike Mike

I think it might be important to mention that the rest of that early resolution remains exactly the same uh as this last paragraph uh mentions and I'm very much in support of this. I think we talked about this at the discussion only meeting. Um, I don't think I'm not sure we mentioned uh that we would have a different time start time for uh the um regular meeting and then the discussion only meeting, but I think these times are appropriate. And just moving it back down a half hour earlier for a business meeting, I think lets us gauge how the public will respond and whether it still is makes the public comment portion of the meeting available to most people.

Um, and I would add that uh this motion would be effective immediately. So it would apply to our April 28th special discussion only meeting. So the meeting next week would start at 6 p.m. Mr. Jopic. Uh just like to also mention that this only applies for 2026. So this is somewhat temporary. At the end of the year, you're going to consider your meeting schedule for 2027 and you can um keep it the same or adjust it as you see fit at that time. Mr. Griggsby, uh I just had a question about July. um in that one meeting that we had um uh in just the option between the 21st and the 8th. Is that correct? 21st and the 7th would be the two options. The 7th.

The 7th. July 7th. Okay. Um I I don't have any preference. I I I just was curious to see if anyone else had any interest in looking at the 7th as opposed to the 21st or not since no one spoke on it or anything like that. But I just wanted to be clear on that option um within this decision.

I'm happy to comment. I think that you know the 7th is is sort of part of the July 4th um holiday um period and I think a lot of people take vacations during that time period. So, I think we would have more of a turnout if there are issues on the on the agenda that u elicit public comment if we're on the 21st as opposed to the 7th because a lot of people will be out of town. So, makes sense. I I just I didn't know. I just was curious because um it's I was thinking they were opposite but that really makes sense. Council member Singh,

I just have a 100,000 foot comment of I think as Mr. Jopek referenced as we look at the calendar for 2027 or future councils that we take a hard look at the dates. Um I know we changed some dates back in January. You know, we have a mayor mayor prom for reason. you know, if someone has to miss a meeting, we are a part-time body. And while I want to be here for votes just as much as anyone else, um I think if we can do that on the onset and so we're not making changes through the year, it would be most beneficial.

Any further discussion? All right. All right. So, the motion is uh on PR 2026-31 as amended by me reading the now therefore be resolved clause into the record. Um all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? That motion carries and PR 2026-31 uh as amended is adopted. Which brings us to item 4.3. Mr. Meadows

and thank you Elise and my apologies for making you stay late to this is the last item. Uh I I asked this be moved to the uh business agenda because in reading the staff report on this, it appeared that the individuals who were seeking the the um the license for this particular property, which I'm I'm not aware of any other uh rental property on Lorie. So, the um one of the one of the things that we did when we um made the amendments to the rental housing code was we made it easier for house city. And one of the responses that was indicated in the in the staff report was that the individuals felt that they probably might be longer than two years uh away from the the house. and they um and for that reason they wanted to go for a regular license. But in our exceptional circumstances that we passed um we made it easier to go beyond two years for houses sitting by making an administrative decision of staff uh based on an application or explanation of why the people wanted to be uh gone longer. And I just want to know whether they were advised of that and uh still wanted to uh have a regular license on this property.

Sure. They were um deep in the process before that was approved. So they applied for the rental license in November, October, November, and had been working through the the trades. So it hadn't that wasn't approved until February. Um, and I don't believe they would qualify for even an administrative exemption in this case. Um, they've already used uh their two years expires in July of this year. So, they were already Oh, okay.

well into their way for the housesitting exemption. Um, the owner is a physicist. He moved here for the ef um and has a project in Utah and that's where he's at right now. He intends to move back in two years when his project is up. His wife is a MSU faculty member. So they just wanted to get the license in case it goes beyond even the 5 years um or or whatever um depending on how that project goes. So he you didn't have a timeline of exactly when he's coming back, but they intend to be back and what that's why they wanted the license. Okay. And that was the whole purpose of me moving it was to get clarification on whether they were advised of that. Obviously they were if they were already in the process,

it wouldn't have made any difference to them anyway. and it sounds like they've already had almost two years of house sitting anyway. So, that's something I didn't catch from the the report. So, again, my apologies for keeping you late, but um I'm ready to go on this. Well, I have a follow-up question. Sure. Then, which is um

I think that just because they've had two years doesn't wouldn't necessarily exclude them from being able to take advantage of the exceptional circumstances provision. Um, I guess we'd need legal advice on that. For from my understanding, I didn't think that was an administrative for anyone who wanted an extension of the two years. Um, my memory is it was for good cause.

Again, legal I would I would seek legal advice on what what that definition would be if this was a good cause. Um, again, he was well on the way. We actually anticipated him coming in January and then there were a couple delays uh for the final all trades inspection. So, uh, that was when everything was getting approved and it was still, uh, still up in the air. So, um, part of that was it we weren't in that conversation when he applied because that wasn't the rental license or the rental chapter hadn't been approved yet. If it comes up in the future where somebody says, you know, we need a rental license, it might be

useful to have a memo to ship them that explains the the ex exceptional circumstances provision if it helps people avoid having to go through the rental license process. Okay, this is a my first that uh was doing the exception um and needed a rental license because they were going to exceed it. So um we have had several uh since or during the process of the rental regulations being passed. um that were military and so with Prop One they did they are given that already. So we have had that being used um since Prop 1 was passed. That's interesting. Yep.

Yeah. Well, we do um we've got to take a look at this again, I guess, because um we do have a typo here and after we published uh we we need to make a change because in the house sitting section uh we make reference to 7-82 PN8 as the standard, but the exceptional circumstances is PN 7. So, I talked to city attorney. We're going to have to do an amendment to this to to fix the problem. So anyway, thank you again. Appreciate it. Any further questions?

Uh is there a motion? We got to go back. Uh uh I'll move to um approve a conditional class 3 rental license for up to two unrelated indivi unrelated persons or a family for 231 LR Drive in East Lancing. Motion by Meadows. Second. Second by Griggsby. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed.

Motion carries and that uh rental license is approved. Thank you, Director Hodgeges. Okay. And that brings us to uh item six, which is adjournment. Is there a motion? I see you. I move to adjourn. Motion by Whan, second by Griggsby. Griggsby. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? We are adjourned. Bam. Thank you.