City Council - Regular Meeting

to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Good evening, honorable city council members, mayor, Madam Treasurer, to our chief staff, our city attorney, and to our administrative staff that's with us this evening, and also to members of the audience and those watching via our broadcast channel and YouTube live. Welcome to the City of Rockland City Council regular meeting, and today is Monday, August 10th. Members of the public wishing to participate in this meeting may do so under the public comment portions of the agenda. Please complete a request to speak public comment card which is located on the table in the back of the council chambers and return it to me before we get to those agenda items. And at this time we will have roll call. Councilwoman Abdo. Here. Councilman Bullock.

Here.

Councilman Jones is excused, Madam?

Yes.

So noted. Councilwoman Roscoe? Here. Councilwoman Talley?

Here.

Councilman Wadsworth? Here. And Councilman Wilhite?

Here.

Madam Chair and Council, we have a quorum.

Thank you.

Madam Chair, I'm going to ask that we amend tonight's agenda to, in the minutes that that we submitted. It lists Councilman Bullock. We had David Bullock, and it should say James Bullock. So I want to apologize. So we will be amending that. So I guess we don't have to amend the agenda, but at least the minutes will be amended. So tonight's agenda reads as follows. Number one, agenda two, public comment. Three, approval of the consent agenda. Number four is discussion for items removed from the consent agenda. Five is petitioner. Six, chairperson's report. Seven, mayor's report. Eight, clerk's report. Nine, treasurer's report. Ten, public comment. Eight, sorry, 11 is unfinished business. 12 is new business. 13 is warrant. 14, communication. And number 15, adjournment. And a motion will be in order to accept the regular council meeting agenda as presented.

Need a motion. So moved. Support. Motion. Mr. Wilhite, seconded by Mr. Walsh for the approval of our regular council meeting agenda as presented. Mr. Wilhite. Yes. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Ms. Roscoe. Yes. Mr. Bullock. Yes. Ms. Abdo. Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. Number two is public comment for agenda items only. And this is the portion of the agenda for members of the public who wish to address the City Council concerning agenda items only that are listed. comments regarding non agenda items will be heard later in the meeting during the second public comment period which is agenda item number 10 the rules for addressing City Council provided on the back of the meeting agenda if you wish to address City Council regarding an agenda item please raise your hand and after you've been acknowledged by the chairperson please approach the podium and we ask that you state your name for the record Members of the public who have submitted a public comment card will be called upon first. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the City Council, and any additional time will be granted with consent of the chairperson. And Madam Chair, I have not received any requests to speak under this agenda item. Okay.

Thank you. Anybody want to speak under this portion? It's not just for agenda items only. Let's hold that up, please.

Thank you. Number three is approval of the consent agenda and all matters listed under the consent agenda are considered routine by city council will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items. If discussion of an item is requested, that item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately under agenda item number four. The items recommended for approval under the consent agenda are as follows. 3A, approval of the minutes from the regular meeting held on July 27, 2026 at 7.30 p.m. And I'm asking that those minutes be amended just to reflect Councilman James Bullitt as opposed to David Bullitt. Okay. Number, sorry, 3B, to authorize a no-fee permit for the use of Elmer Johnson Park by Heather Mann on Saturday, September 26, 2026, for a community mental health awareness cornhole fundraiser for Team Brandon. consent agenda item 3C to approve a special meeting study session request for Monday, August 24th, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. to discuss proposed amendments to the purchasing ordinance. The date and times are available for this request. A motion would be in order to approve the consent agenda as presented unless there are items that council would like to remove to discuss under discussion.

I'll make that motion.

Thank you. Support. Thank you. It's been motioned by Mr. Wilhite, seconded by Ms. Roscoe, for the approval of the consent agenda as presented. Mr. Wilhite? Yes. Ms. Roscoe? Yes. Mr. Bullock? Yes. Mr. Wadsworth? Yes. Ms. Abdo? Yes. Chair Volchek? Yes. Mr. Perkins?

Thank you. Seeing that there were no items removed from the consent agenda for discussion, it takes us to number five, petitioner, which there are no petitioners on the agenda this evening. It takes us to number six, the chairperson's report. Chair, thank you for that.

I just want to start out. We got some, see if we got boards and commissions. I know Mr. Wadsworth, y'all haven't met yet. And Mr. Jones, they haven't met yet. He's not here anyway. But Ms., and I know Mark, police and fire, you guys meet. We're not going to have a meeting in the month of August. So Ms. Aldo, you want to report out?

No, we have a meeting coming up.

Coming up. And that's for the library? Right. Okay. What's the date of that?

I don't have my calendar. Oh, okay. Thank you. That's okay.

Through the chair, Madam Chair.

Yes, Mr. Wilma. I just wanted to let everybody know that you had information on the fly cameras sent to you and your emails. Yeah. So that was just an update from the chief.

No, thank you. It was good information. And I know you guys haven't met yet, so we don't have any reporters from boards or commissions. So I'm going to just go in and just kind of go in and just do my little spiel. I just want to do a shout out to the clerk's office. Y'all did a great job with this election. um the primary went well we had location changes we've had early voting and they just did a great job pulling it all together absentee ballot proceed temporary polling stations just the whole gamut of everything so great job to you and your team um i got a chance again to both visit the only early voting um and just really well organized so thank you for all your work and your teamwork The training sessions were great. You guys just do a great job. You see why you got clerk of the year and deputy clerk of the year. It's very evident. So thank you. And that's all I have on my report. Madam Chairman. Yeah, Mr. Wadsworth.

If I can, and I apologize, I didn't bring this up to you before the meeting, but I would like a retirement resolution for Robbie Roscoe, and I'll expand if somebody supports it. Support. Yeah. Robbie is going to retire on the 18th of August. He's been employed here for just short of 53 years, which is kind of unbelievable. Robbie worked in many departments over the years. He was first a custodian, then he was a laborer, then he was a mechanic, then he was a heavy equipment operator, then he worked in the water department, and then he was an inspector. I first met him when I moved into Oakbrook Sub in 1967, and he lived over on Colbert. He was 11 or 12 then, so I've kind of seen him grow up to an old man, which is, you know. But he dedicated many, many, many years to this town, and I think it was a good thing for what he did for the city. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Weisberg. Thank you. Let's go with a vote for, we're going to go, it's been a motion made to do a retirement resolution for Robbie Roscoe. Mr. Weisberg? Yes. And I think it would be appropriate for Ms. Roscoe?

Yes.

To second that? Second by Ms. Roscoe to approve the resolution for the retirement of Robbie Roscoe. I'm sorry, Mr. Weisberg? Yes. Ms. Roscoe? Yes. Ms. Abdo? Yes. Mr. Wilhite? Yes. Mr. Bullock? Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

I'm going to give nobody a chance to discuss.

My bad. Anybody want to talk? Okay, we're done. And now we had a special meeting today, and I'm going to yield the floor to Ms. Roscoe for the motion.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to make a motion in regards to our executive session that we had earlier, and the motion goes as a motion to concur with the recommendation of Human Resource Director Stephen Brummer and the legal counsel and authorize the mayor and the city clerk to enter into a memorandum of understanding between the city of Romulus and the IAFF local 4126 dated July 23rd, 2026 as presented. Second. Thank you.

It's been motioned by Ms. Roscoe, seconded by Mr. Wilhite, to concur with the recommendation of Human Resources Director Steve Brummer and the legal counsel, and to authorize the mayor and the city clerk to enter into the memorandum of understanding between the city of Romnus and the IAFF Local 4126, dated July 23, 2026, as presented. Any discussion? Hearing Ms. Roscoe. Yes. Mr. Wilhite. Yes. Mr. Wadsworth. Yes. Ms. Abdo. Yes. Mr. Bullock. Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved. And I don't think there's anything else under the chair so we can close that out.

Madam Chair. Yes, Ms. Roscoe. I'll make a motion to accept your report. Support.

Thank you. The motion by Ms. Roscoe, seconded by Ms. Abdo, for the approval of the chairperson's report. Ms. Roscoe. Yes. Ms. Abdo. Yes. Mr. Bullock. Yes. Mr. Wilhite. Yes. Mr. Wadsworth. Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

Thank you, council. It takes us to number seven, the mayor's report.

Thank you. Good evening, City Council, Madam Treasurer and Clerk, those here in the audience today, and also those tuning in at home. I'd like to turn your attention to the monitors. We're giving an announcement from Ms. Vanessa and the Mayor's Office.

Hello, I'm Vanessa Tatler, and here are some events happening in Romulus. Join us for one exciting evening featuring two free events at Romulus Historical Park this Friday. First up, Urban Muse will take the stage at 7 p.m. tonight, 30 p.m., for an evening of funk, R&B, Motown favorites. Bring your own lawn chairs and get ready to dance and sing along. Immediately following the concert, turn your chairs around and enjoy a free showing of Footloose under the stars on our new mobile LED screen. Grab your blankets and lawn chairs and join us when we host our first free movie in Eagle Alley on Friday, August 28th. The feature movie will be Karate Kid. Legends showtime is at 7 p.m. There's still time to sign up for Punky's 5K Run, Walk, Bike at Rondless DDA Pumpkin Festival. Check out this year's awesome finisher medal. Everyone who registers by August 21st is guaranteed a race shirt and a medal. Registration is $25 and the Run, Walk, Bike takes place on Saturday, September 19th at 9 a.m. Think you got what it takes? Show us your talent and shine on stage. Join the Romulus has Got Talent show on September 20th during the Pumpkin Festival Unity Day. Prizes will be given to first, second, and third place winners. Please call 313-408-3637.

FOR MORE INFORMATION.

THANKS, EVERYONE, AND REMEMBER TO LIKE AND SHARE US ON FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE, OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION. HAVE YOURSELF A LOVELY SUMMER EVENING.

THANK YOU, VENESSA. GREAT JOB, AS ALWAYS. I APOLOGIZE FOR MISSING THE LAST COUNCIL MEETING. WE HAD A FAMILY EMERGENCY FOR MY WIFE'S UNCLE, AND UNFORTUNATELY, WE LOST HIM LAST WEEK. SO I WOULD LIKE TO ASK COUNCIL TO PASS A MEMORIAL RESOLUTION FOR LONGTIME ROMNEYLESS PRESIDENT JIM CANTRELL.

I'll make that motion. Okay. I grew up with Jimmy. And for a resolution for him.

I'll support it. Okay. It's been motioned by Ms. Roscoe, seconded by Mr. Wasburg for the memorial resolution for Jimmy Cantrell. Was there any discussions anybody had?

I'd just like to make one comment. You know, whenever you go through the neighborhood anymore, he was always riding around. in his golf cart and what have you and um it the funeral home was packed and i mean every everybody loved jimmy and even growing up he was always just a really really nice guy he was just always always a good guy yep great guy had that type of infectious laughter that took over the room and you could tell the way merkel was packed last week that he was loved by a lot over there and

He used to drive around in that golf cart and send me pictures of the roads as soon as I got in the office. And, you know, in large part due to Jimmy, and I'm glad you called him Jimmy and not James, was why they got the roads done over there, because they made sure that we knew about that. So thank you very much.

Thank you. Any other discussion?

Hearing none? Mr. Wasworth? That's not part of Ray Cantrell's family, is it? I don't believe so. No.

Mr. Wasworth? Yes. Ms. Roscoe? Yes. Mr. Wilhite? Yes. Mr. Bullock? Yes. Ms. Zabdo? Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. Also, a few weeks ago, we had a resident come to the podium with several questions and issues about operations. We since had a meeting with her about those issues, and we also reported our findings back on the council, too. So I want to make sure that everybody knew that we communicated clearly with her and also shared the data with council. And also, last but definitely not least, we have two birthdays that are coming up before our next councilman meeting. So I'd like to wish our treasurer, Stacey Page, happy birthday, and also Councilwoman Abdo, happy birthday. So we want to have an opportunity before the next meeting. So happy birthday.

Thank you. Thank you.

I'd also like to clarify legislation that was introduced last week by our state representative, Jim DeSena. We did a social media post about it, and there's conversation about it. We already have bipartisan support, but it's still got to get passed into law. So it's a long way to go. And effectively what this would do would increase our share of Act 51 money, which is for our roads. because we have an international airport that seats over 2 million people every year. So this legislation would affect every community that houses an international airport that seats over 2 million people. But just to put it in perspective, DTW seats about 30 million every year. Act 51 distribution goes based on population and lane miles. We're obviously adversely affected because they have an airport we can't add population. So it's been a long time due. We've been working on this for quite a few years. It's good to see this thing introduced, but we have a long way to go. But it would definitely take care of Romulus' road funding issues. Years after I'm out of office, so we're not up there panhandling for a million dollars here and a million dollars there every year Take care of Romulus way. It should be taken care of so stay tuned there I'll provide more detail, but I will be asking counsel for resolution supporting that soon And we'll be working on our legislators to make sure it gets passed. So just want to give you updates on that one Okay get into my action items report tonight Just a couple action items I have today for fleet updates. We want to piggyback on a my deal contract to purchase one F-150 from LaFontaine Ford. I respectfully request city council's authorization to piggyback on the my deal contract with LaFontaine Ford Grand Rapids to purchase one 2026 F-150 XLT for the Ramos Cable and Community Services Department. Gary Harris, our finance director, has verified funds for this purchase have been budgeted for and are available.

Madam Chair, I'll make that motion to concur with the administration and consent on the piggyback on the My Deal contract, MA240000001209. with LaFontaine Ford Grand Rapids for the purchase of one 2026 Ford F-150 XLT for a total cost of $62,281.24 for the Ramos Cable and Community Service Department.

Support. I have a question. Okay. It's been a motion by Ms. Roscoe, seconded by Mr. Wadsworth to concur with the administration and consent to piggyback on the My Deal contract. Number MA240000001209 with La Fontaine. Four Grand Rapids for the purchase of one 2026 Ford F-150 XLT for a total cost of $62,281.24 for the Ramos Cable and Community Service Department. Mr. Walsh.

If I can, to the mayor or to Mike, this vehicle doesn't leave the city after 5 o'clock, correct? All right. Thank you.

Any other discussion? Hearing none, Ms. Roscoe? Yes. Mr. Wadsworth? Yes. Mr. Wilhite? Yes. Mr. Bullock? Yes. Ms. Abdo? Yes. Chair Vujicic? Yes. Motion approved.

THANK YOU. THE NEXT ITEM I HAVE UP IS ALSO FOR FLEET UPDATES. I REQUEST CITY COUNCIL'S AUTHORIZATION TO PIGGYBACK ON THE MY DEAL CONTRACT WITH LONGHAMER FORD FOR THE PURCHASE OF ONE 2026 F-150 4X4 AND AUTHORIZE REQUIRED VEHICLE UPFITTING IN THE AMOUNT OF $11,444 FOR THE TOTAL COST OF $65,122 FOR THE ROMANS FIRE DEPARTMENT. GARY HARRIS, FINANCE DIRECTOR, HAS VERIFIED FUNDS FOR THIS PURCHASE HAVE BEEN BUDGETED FOR THE MOTOR VEHICLE FUND.

Madam Chair.

Ms. Roscoe.

I'll make that motion to concur with the administration and consent to the piggyback on the my deal contract MA2400000001208 and Macomb County contract number 21-18 with Longhammer Ford for the purchase of one 2026 Ford F-150 Super Crew 4x4 at a cost of $53,678, and authorized the required vehicle upfitting in the amount of $11,444 for the total cost of $65,122 for the Ramos Fire Department. Second. Support.

It's been motioned by Ms. Roscoe, seconded by Mr. Wadsworth to concur with the administration and consent to piggyback on the my deal contract number MA240000001208 and Macomb County contract number 21-18 with Lunghammer Ford for the purchase of one 2026 Ford F-150 Super Crew 4x4 at a cost of $53,678.00 and authorized the required vehicle upfitting in an amount of $11,444 for a total cost of $65,122 for the Romulus Fire Department. Any discussion? Hearing none, Ms. Roscoe? Yes. Mr. Wadsworth? Yes. Ms. Abdo? Yes. Mr. Bullock? Yes. Mr. Wilhite? Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. I'd like to thank Council also for, we seem to be buying a lot of vehicles lately, but we had a lot of work to do still, and we're finally up to that point. When I first took over as DPS director about 15 years ago, average fleet in Romulus fleet vehicle was 38 years old. So we've been working steadily and slowly to reduce that number and make it a more manageable fleet. And I think at last count, we were on average for Romulus citywide fleet, 12 years old, and I think that this will finally get us up to where we should be where we're not driving around with our feet hanging through floorboards in unsafe vehicles. And I know some people were buying a lot of vehicles recently, but I tell our staff if it was important enough to budget for, you better buy one when the budget's approved and not wait until March of next year. So I appreciate staff taking the action there and updating our fleet, and thank you for your support, Council. Thank you. That will conclude my report for this evening. Thank you, Mayor.

NUMBER EIGHT IS A CLERK'S REPORT. I DO NOT HAVE ANY ACTION ITEMS. I DO PROVIDE FOR YOUR INFORMATION AN ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE FROM THE MICHIGAN MUNICIPAL LEAD FOR YOUR INFORMATION. BUT I WOULD JUST LIKE TO JUST VOICE OUR APPRECIATION JUST WITH THE ELECTION AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE JUST ESPECIALLY THE ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO ACTUALLY SERVED. AND WE HAD OUR CITY TREASURER THAT WORKED IN THE PRECINCT. WE HAD OUR MAYOR PRO TEM THAT WAS WORKING ON THE RECEIVING BOARD. AND SO I JUST WANTED TO PERSONALLY SAY THANK YOU. AND AGAIN, TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED TO HELP MAKE THE AUGUST 4th, 2026 PRIMARY ELECTION A SUCCESS. ALTHOUGH IT WAS A BUSY ELECTION, You know, I think we did well. And I just want to thank all the voters who participated in this democratic process and for exercising their right to vote. We had about 24%. I wish that number's a little higher. We're just going to keep working to get that number higher. November's coming. And so we just, we need your help. IN ORDER TO INCENTIVIZE AND TO MOTIVATE OUR RESIDENTS AND THE VOTERS TO REALLY COME OUT AND VOTE. COME OUT AND VOTE. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ELECTION. SO NOT GIVING UP. SO THIS IS PRETTY TYPICAL FOR A MIDTERM ELECTION. IS THAT LIKE CONSISTENT WITH PRIOR? YEAH, IT'S VERY CONSISTENT. WE HAD 5,156 VOTERS OUT OF 21,000. YEAH. We could do better, and we're just going to work on it, but I need all of your help to help make that happen, to encourage our residents to get out and vote. To all of our election inspectors and election workers, a special shout-out for them for their long hours, the dedication, and their commitment to serving. They actually did a really, really good job. We had a few little things, but there was just typical election work things that pop up. So, again, and I want to recognize my staff for their hard work, the teamwork. And, you know, elections require months of preparation. And so very proud of the effort that they put into making sure that everything was ready. And then finally, thank you to the administration. to DPW, public safety, the IT staff, and to all the departments and employees who assisted with many details before and during and after Election Day. DPW, especially, I probably... Drove them nuts with all the different changes. We had a lot of construction going on, a lot of construction, and so that required a lot of signage and last-minute adjustments and changing. But they were very responsive, and so just really want to give them a shout-out. Again, we faced a few challenges, but because of the preparation and teamwork, we were able to address them and keep the election moving forward. So, again, thank you, everyone, for helping us with this election. And we're already preparing for November.

There we go.

And with that, that concludes the clerk's report. And it takes us to number nine, the treasurer's report.

Good evening and thank you, and I do not have anything to report this evening, so thank you.

Thank you. All right, number 10 is public comment. This is the second public comment period that's available to members of the public and who would like to address the City Council on any matter. Again, the rules are on the back of your meeting agenda. And to address City Council, raise your hand, and after being acknowledged by the chairperson, come to the podium and state your name for the record. And again, members of the public who submitted a public comment card will be called upon first. You will have three minutes to speak, and any additional time will be granted with consent of the chairperson. I do not have any written requests to speak, Madam Chair.

Anybody from the audience that would like to speak? Diane?

Hi, I'm Carol Roy. I just wanted to say that I wanted to thank Ms. Ellen Craig for the election. I think it was run very well. There were some concerns I had that I'll talk about later. It's not important right now. But I just want to say that overall, the city did a wonderful job with polling stations and stuff. And I just echo her request that we really push people to get out and vote. I will be happy to tell you how I want to vote and how I think everybody should vote. But it's not really important who I want. to be elected. It's the fact that I want people's voices to be heard and that I really encourage everyone that's listening at home that you come out and you participate in our democracy. And if you want your voice to be heard, whether it's at city council, you come and speak, whether it's electing somebody, you go out and vote, you listen to the people, I encourage everybody to do that. And I want to thank you guys for having such a wonderful job with polling and access to ballot boxes that you can drop off your mail-in ballots and stuff.

Thank you, Diane. Any other comments from the audience?

All right.

We're going to go ahead and close that out.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That takes us to number 11, unfinished business. Number 12. Mayor?

Through the chair, yes. Just to address the council, at the last city council meeting, there were members here from the Gateway subdivision regarding the speed bumps, speed bumps actually issue, and I wanted to update the council that we have some preliminary plans that we're looking at to eventually bring to the council for consideration either at the next meeting or the meeting following that. We're looking at different, like I had indicated at the previous meeting, we've done some research into other communities and what they're doing or how they set up programs to do that, evaluating the approaches that we think are the best, or best for Romulus, rather, and evaluating some of those things.

so we hope to have something maybe by the next meeting or the meeting after that no thank you for that quick follow-up glad they'd probably be glad to hear that update so thank you number 12 is new business number 13 for approval is warrant 26-15

Through the chair, I'd like to make a motion. We pay warrant 26-15 and the following amounts. General fund, $150,220.07. Major street fund, $137,594.81. Local street fund, $119,207.29. Public safety fund. $37,316.58. I can quit? Yeah. Romulus Athletic Center, $30.00. Cable TV, $1,582.45. Merriman Road Special Assessment, $325.00. Community Employee Activity Fund, $146.33. Garbage and Rubbish Collection Fund, $36.00. Tax Increment Finance Authority, $12.00. DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, $14,647.91. MICHIGAN INDIGENT DEFENSE FUND, $18,733. LIBRARY FUND, $16,001.37. WATER AND SEWER FUND, $594,822.62. Motor Vehicle Fund, $397,765.54. Technology Services, $89,937.99. Retiring Insurance Benefits, $142,722.88. Revolving Fund, $18,858.99. General Tax Fund, $6,892.50. Current Tax, $5,864.14. Impressed Payroll Fund, $401,031.00. Totaling all funds, $2,166,066.24.

Thank you. The motion by Ms. Abdo, seconded by Ms. Roscoe for the approval of Warrant No. 26-15 for checks presented in the amount of $2,166,066.24. Any discussion? Hearing none, Ms. Abdo? Yes. Ms. Roscoe? Yes. Mr. Bullock? Yes. Mr. Wilhite? Yes. Mr. Wadsworth? Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. Number 15 is adjournment.

So moved.

Wait a minute. Communication. Oh, my bad.

I got excited.

I'm so sorry. The motion's on the floor.

It's too late.

The motion's on the floor. You can't talk.

I'm so sorry. Number 14 is communication. Seeing none. Now number 15 is adjournment.

Support. Thank you. It's been motioned by Mr. Wadsworth, seconded by Ms. Roscoe for the adjournment of this meeting. Mr. Wadsworth. Yes. Ms. Roscoe. Yes. Mr. Wilhite. Yes. Ms. Abdo. Yes. Mr. Bullock.

Yes.

Chair votes yes.