City Council - Regular Meeting

I aliance 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, madame treasurer, to our city attorney, our chief of staff, and deputy clerk, and to those of you who are with us this evening that are in the audience, and also to those who's doing tonight's broadcast via um YouTube live and our broadcast channel. Um, welcome to the city of Ramla City Council regular meeting and today's date is Monday, February 9th, 2026. Members of the public wishing to participate at this meeting may do so under the public comment portion of the agenda, you're welcome to fill out a request to speak public comment card, which is located on the table in the back. After you uh finish filling it out, just hand it here to our deputy clerk. And at this time we will have roll call. Councilwoman Abdo here. Councilman Bullock

here. Councilman Jones here. Councilwoman Rosco here. Councilwoman Tally here. Councilman Wadssworth is I see he's not here. Can I mark him as excused? Excuse. I'm sorry. Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. And then uh Councilman Wilhy. Yes, here.

Madam Chair, we have a quorum for tonight's meeting. Council, I'm presenting an amended uh agenda for your approval. And that agenda reads as follows. Number one, agenda. Number two, minutes. Number three, petitioner. Four, chairperson's report. Five, mayor's report. Six, clerk's report. Seven, treasures report. Eight, public comment. Nine, unfinished business. 10, new business. 11, warrant. 12 communication and number 13 is adjournment and a motion would be in order to to accept the amended regular council me meeting agenda as presented.

So move support. It's been motioned by Mr. Jones, seconded by Miss Abdo for the uh acceptance of the amended regular meeting agenda as presented. Mr. Jones, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Chair votes yes is approved. Thank you council. Number two minutes agenda item 2a for approval are the minutes from the regular meeting held on Monday January 26 2026 at 7:30 p.m. So move for the approval of the minutes from the regular meeting held on Monday January 26. Second.

It's been motioned by Miss Abdo, seconded by Mr. Mr. Jones for the approval of the regular meeting minutes on Monday, January 26 at 7:30 p.m. Miss Abdel, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Wilhigh, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved.

Agenda item 2B. request approval for the minutes from the special meeting study session held on Monday, January 26, 2026 at 6:15 for an audit presentation from Plant Moran on the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2025 and the special meeting public hearing held on Monday, January 26, 2026 at 6:45 to hear comments and/or objections to the TIFFA plan amendment. So move for approval of the minutes from the special meeting study session held on Monday, January 26, 2026. Support.

Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Abdo, seconded by Mr. Jones for the approval of the minutes from the special meeting study session held on Monday, January 26, 2026 at 6:15 for auto presentation and for the special meeting public hearing uh on Monday, January 26, 2026 at 6:45 p.m. to hear comments and objection to the TIFF plan amendment. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved. Thank you. So there are no petitioners listed on the agenda. Takes us to number four, the chairperson's report.

All righty. Good evening everybody. Good to see some people on your people in attendance. We're going to open it up for Miss Patty Breen for the state of the library, the annual. Thanks for coming. Thank you so much. Good evening, city council. Can you hear me? Okay.

Yes. Make sure I get close to this this time. Um, good evening, mayor, chief of staff, city treasures, city clerk, city attorney, deputy clerk, and audience. Um, tonight I'm here to present the, uh, 202425 state of the library. Uh, and lot going on at the library. We're still serving Romulus and Heron Township. So, uh, starting off with our leadership, um, should have this in your packet. Uh, our president and Heron Township representative is Jennifer Johnson and Jennifer's here with us in the audience today. Thank you, Jennifer. Our vice president and city council leaison, Kathy Abdau. Candace Lucitz is our secretary. Debbie Hoffman is treasurer and Emry Long is uh one of our trustees. So, we're thankful for all of them and they're doing a great job. Um, tonight I'm going to tell you about how the community has used their library in 2024 and 25. um the service that we've provided to the community to both communities actually. I'm gonna focus on the library of things and explain what that is to you um and then tell you about the youth area upgrades that we were able to do thanks to some donations that we received this year. So, how the communities used their library in 2425, we had uh close to 50,000 visitors um to the library. It was down just slightly um but about the same as the year before. Uh public computer uses are at about 4700 up 3%. Wi-Fi uses are up were up 21%. A lot of people come into the library or uh you know sit in the parking lot and use the Wi-Fi. Um so that was up quite a bit. Total checkouts over 66,000 items were checked out. um of those uh

downloadable checkouts, so items uh checked out through our two apps, Hoopla and Libby, were uh over 21,000 and that's up 9%. Those continue to uh go up every year. Our summer reading kickoff attendees was up by 2%. We had over 700 people attend the kickoff that was out in the parking lot, which is a record for any uh library program that we've ever had since I've been here. Um it was great and we had a lot of fun. Um 281 programs were held and the participants for those programs 5,785 participants. So we are really uh reaching out to the community and serving them as as they want us to serve them. Um specifically uh I mentioned the record-breaking summer reading program kickoff, second year in a row. Um we had a grand opening and ribbon cutting for the adult area renovation. That seems like so long ago. Um, we moved on from that, but that was in 2425. Um, our strategic plan goals uh uh were based on community feedback. We sent out surveys. We had um in-house um uh feedback sessions where we asked for feedback. And to to date, well, not to date, but as of the end of 2025, we completed 24 of the 74 strategic plans. We're way above that now. Um new uh adult programming included a new cooking series and music series series both of which are very popular and those continue. Um we added a new Spanish language adult collection. We get a lot of Spanish speakers um in the area so we added a collection for them. Um, we are were awarded a grant to participate in the Library Cooperatives of Michigan Library Marketing Makeover, one of only seven in the whole state of Michigan and the only one in our area to receive that grant. And that has helped

us to market the library more and in better ways make better use of our uh newsletter software to reach people and um provide better information to the to the residents. We added electronic library card signup so people can go online and sign up for a card and then we mail it out to them. Uh we added a selfch check machine that was actually a a donated machine. It was used from another library and they offered it out and we jumped on it and so now we have a selfch check machine uh at no charge.

Um and we also uh received a youth reference desk, a used one from another library. Our staff went and picked that up. uh and the friends um donated the money for that. It was like $200 for a new desk. So, we thank the friends for that. Um we offered new trainings in continuing education for our staff, including uh security uh training. Um we hosted the first grade class from Hail Creek Elementary. And there's a picture up there on the screen of the class. That was a fun day. Uh we had cost savings measures. We we went through, as you know, our our budget was uh cut a little bit. So, we went through staff and looked at things that we could, you know, let slide for a year um and made some great cost-saving measures there. Uh we had uh the youth area upgrades that I mentioned using donation funds.

I'm sorry, Patty. So, what is the cooking series and the music series? What is that about? Is that are those new programs? Those are new programs. Yeah. Um the cooking series included uh things like um we had a baklava making class, things like that where we're demonstrating. We have somebody come in and demonstrate how to make these particular items. We're offering that every two or three months. And then in the months in between, we're offering a music series. In fact, we have one coming up on Thursday the 12th at six o'clock. We have Lenny Price coming. Uh he plays a saxophone. He came once before. He was super popular. So, he's coming back. Okay. Um, so yeah, lots of different things going on.

Thank you.

Um, so next is the Library of Things. The Library of Things is a collection of non-traditional items that can be borrowed for free with a library card, similar to borrowing a book. So, in the library of things, we have things like tools, a drill set, a grouting kit, staple gun, different things that people might want to use maybe once and not have to go out and buy it, but they can borrow it from the library, use it, and then return it. So, tools, games, musical instruments, we have a violin, you could borrow, a ukulele, a keyboard, those types of things. um sports equipment. We have a pickle ball uh equipment kit. Um a core workout kit, a tennis kit with tennis rackets. And then cooking equipment um like special cake pans. Um at Christmas time, I borrowed the holiday cookie cutters and made cookies with them and then washed them and returned them. So it was very nice. Uh and we have lots and lots of other things in the library of things.

Wow. So that's a that's a new collection that is really popular. That's new, too. Yeah. Getting really creative.

Yeah. Very creative. Yeah. Yeah. Um our youth area uh upgrades uh were sponsored by Sheets. We received a donation from Sheets. And uh the Friends of the Library helped with that, too. So, we were able to get comfortable lounge furniture where parents and caregivers can read to their kids or just sit comfortably and uh relax and watch their children. Before we had no place for the parents to sit and now we do. We added a little bit of shelving for our holiday collection. Um, we got a fresh coat of paint on the walls and the wood accents thanks to DPW uh who did that work for us. We updated our play equipment. Um, our floor shelving was moved so that it's ADA compliant. All of our aisleways now are in compliance with ADA. And that allowed us to expand that uh play area um so that we now have a big space in the center for for play area. before we just it wasn't set up well at all. So now it's much better. Um and I mentioned the youth desk. Uh we also got some eye-catching signage and new bulletin boards for our displays. So that was all uh free uh to us and thanks to she and friends for providing that. And then next page, um, just want to thank all of our Romulus and Heron Township residents for using the library and supporting us. We have lots of community partners as well. Um, city of Romulus, thank you. Uh, Heron Township, thank you. And all of the other um, logos there on your on your sheet. And then lastly, our amazing team. They do such a fantastic job working every day with the public. Um providing all of the services that we provide, helping with uh computer use, helping people who don't know how to print, all different types of things, finding books, of

course. Um so they're doing a great job. Yeah. And I'm happy to take any questions or comments. Any questions from council? Well, great job. You got with this team you have with all the programming y'all have. This is your team, huh? That y'all use to execute all that. Yes, y'all do pretty good. Thank you, Patty. Thank you so much. Okay. All righty. So, we're going to Thank you. I'm going to Thank you, Patty, and everybody from the library that came out to support everybody that supports the library. Um, I'm going to yield the floor to Celeste, uh, Councilwoman Rosco.

Thank you, um, Madame Chair. I just want to make everybody aware of the fact that February is heart health awareness month and um something that has become very very near and dear to my heart um over the past year. Uh but I just want to make it very uh uh well known that it's very important to get your uh checkups. Um if if you think you have something going on to to chase after it and and make sure that either you do or you don't. Um, back in December of 2024, we we lost Councilwoman Williams. And 6 weeks later, um, out of the blue, I had triple bypass open heart surgery. And, um, actually, I was sitting here in a meeting. We were replacing her seat and I left and went to the hospital and a week later I had surgery out of the blue. But the thing of it is is I knew something was wrong and I kept going back to the doctor and looking and looking looking and by the grace of God I caught that before I had a heart attack.

Um so February is heart awareness month. Last fee uh last Friday uh February 6 was go red. Um it supports uh women's uh cardiovascular health. It makes them more aware of the fact that um uh cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. And so it's very important um women have different symptoms than than men do. And um and nine times out of 10 uh it's uh a bad outcome for women as as well as men. But I just want to stress the fact that it's very important to get your checkups. Um, you know, make sure everything is going good and if you think something's wrong, uh, chase it. Don't ignore it. And that that's all I can say. And, um, but anyways, February is, uh, hard awareness month. Get your checkups. And uh I haven't really made that public, but I think it's very important to um make it known that uh you can survive. You can uh be better than you were before. And um and to to chase the issues that you you don't know you have, but you know, when you know you know something's wrong, uh get into the doctor and get your checkups. But thank you very much for giving me a little bit of time and um go Brad.

Thanks um Councilwoman Rosco. That's very important information. Thanks for sharing and being transparent about your own situation with that. Thank you. Um and then even in addition to black his uh to uh heart month uh we have black history month this month as well. So we want to keep that in mind as well. So, this is a dual month of um awareness this month. So, um keep in mind Black History Month also this month. Um keep that on your radar for the month of February as well. Um just a couple of quick shout outs. I want to um give a shout out to um our treasurer Stacy Paige, Jasmine uh Dancy Mark Lucis for a great event honoring uh Dennis Davidson um who passed away back in November. They did a honoring a a memorial like an honoring of him on this past Friday and it was just very very well attended, very welld deserving of a um man who was just so much the fabric of Romulus. um um so in connected in our city. So thank you guys for that. It was a great event. Um Jasmine as well again and Mark Lucitz and it was just a great event. So just very informal but it was just a great fellowship and a good time of uh remembering Dennis. So thank you guys for that and everybody that came out to support that event. Thank you for coming out as well. Um want to give a shout out to the mayor his team. I dep I uh attended a department meeting um for the city and it was really very well-run. Thank you for the invite. Thank you for letting me come. I just love the the camaraderie is is business but it's also fun. So they keep it lively and but they also are down to business and you can see why the cohesiveness is there because everybody's involved. So I was at a department meeting u with the department heads but I think you guys do

staff meetings as well. Is that right? So, and I think that's really important to get everybody involved in everybody's buy in into the city. So, thank you guys for the invite. It was a really good meeting. So, just keep keep me looped in too to just know what's going on in our city. So, thank you. Um, and I think that's all I have for my report. Does anybody else have any business they want to conduct? Miss Abdo, I just wanted to remind the seniors at the AARP doing income tax at the senior center. If they haven't scheduled your appointment, you can call and put we still have vacancies left and they'll call back and schedule you. Hopefully I'll see you there.

Thank you, Miss Abdo. And if there's nothing that's um that's all for my report, Madam Chair, I'll make a motion to accept your report. Thank you. Support. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco's uh seconded by Miss Abdull to um approve the chairperson's report. Miss Rosco. Yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Mr. Wilhyde, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Uh, and chair votes yes. Motion approved. Number five is the report.

Thank you. Good evening, council, madam treasure and clerk, deputy clerk, those here in the audience today and those tuning in at home. Um, couple items before I get into the action items on my report. I'm sure city council all received a copy of the statement that we released last week. Um, we've all heard the rumors around right now around a possible ICE detention center coming to the city of Romulus. A few different locations have uh come to our attention and uh I've looked at them. We're driving through parking lots as late as today um just to see. We've seen no activity on that substantiate these yet. We'll continue to watch them. We're working with our state legislators as well as our federal legislators trying to confirm or deny um any of this. So, we'll continue to watch them. We're also working closely with legal counsel to find out what our jurisdiction where where it lies and and where it starts and begin begin. So, we'll continue to watch that and I'll continue to keep everybody updated as much as possible um as as we move forward. These are not the first time we've heard these rumors circulate around Ramos probably because we we house DTW. Um we've heard before about uh the trades that are being used to house immigrants at one time. So, we've heard these before. We continue to look into them. We take them very serious. Um and we continue to see if it's substantiated and also what action we can take if at all. So stay tuned and I'll continue the update. Um and uh the next item I have up is if I turn your attention to the monitors, we have Miss Vanessa Toiver for a message uh from the mayor's office. Hello, I'm Vanessa Tower and here are some events happening in Romulus. The next one Ramulus community meeting hosted by Mayor McCrae will take place on Tuesday, February 17th at Hail Creek Elementary beginning at 6:00 p.m. St. Alawish's Church will hold their annual fresh fry dinner every Friday beginning February 20th through March 27th. The cost of the meal is $15 for adults and curbside pickup is also

available. The annual dog and cat inoculation will be held on Saturday, February 28th at the Romulus DPW from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Peters can pay for dog license as well as dog and cat vaccinations. Nail trimmings will also be available by donation only. For more information, contact the Ramless Animal Shelter at 734-9427591. Registration for spring teball and baseball is open until March the 1st. Students from preK through 8th grade can learn and practice the game of baseball starting the first week of April and concluding in June. Contact the recreation department to register. As a reminder, city offices will be closed on Monday, February 16th in observance of President's Day. Thanks everyone. Remember to like and share us on Facebook and on YouTube or visit our website for more information. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day and stay warm.

Thank you, Vanessa. Great job as always. Uh for action items, I have up on my report is a road uh closure request for an Easter egg hunt. Um, and I would respectfully request that city council authorize the closure of Hunt Street beginning at Bibbons and ending at the post office on Hunt Street from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28th for the annual Easter egg hunt at Historical Park. Madam Chair, I'll make that motion to concur with administration and authorize the closure of Hunt Street beginning at Bibbon Street and ending at the entrance to the post office on Hunt Street from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28th for the annual Easter egg hunt at the Romulus Historical Park.

Second motion by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Jones to concur with the administration and authorize the closure of Hunt Street beginning at Bibon Street and ending at the entrance to the post office on Hunt Street from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28th for the annual Easter egg hunt at the Romance Historical Park. Any discussion hearing? None. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. The next item I have up is for Wayne County park improvements allocation at Elmer Johnson's Park. And I'm excited uh you know to talk about Mike and his team working with Wayne County and also the regional carpenters to rebuild our archery range over at Elmer Johnson. So it's a good project moving forward. Um and I respectfully request city council adopt a resolution authorizing the mayor and the clerk to enter into the attached intergovernmental agreement with Wayne County to renovate the existing archery structure at Elmer Johnson's Park. through the chair. Miss Abdo, I'll make that motion to concur with the administration and authorize mayor and clerk to enter into the attached intergovernmental agreement with Wayne County to renovate the existing archery structure at Elmer Johnson's Park.

Second. Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Abdull, seconded by Mr. Jones to concur with administration and authorize the mayor and clerk to enter into the attached intergovernmental agreement with Wayne County to renovate the existing archery structure at Elma Johnson Park. Any discussion? Quick question, Mike. Um I know we had the archery um up before um and it was going pretty well. What happened where Yeah. What happened between that time and to where we at now? So, the the existing artery structure went into disrepair. Okay.

We weren't able to utilize it like we were, but we had a program. It was going well. Uh the instructors that were involved are still willing to help out and come back as soon as we get it rebuilt and up and running. Um we're hopeful that we can get a program going in the fall. What happened with the disrepair? Was it just being people not taken care of? And just materials. The wood the wood that the structure was made out of was starting to deteriorate hard. It was becoming unsafe to be out there for for residents. So, we shut it down. It still is shut down. Um, and as soon as we get it repaired, we'll have it back up and running. Bring it back bigger and better. Huh. Yep. All righty. Any other discussion hearing? Miss Abdo? Yes. Mr. Jones? Yes. Mr. Wilhyde? Yes. Miss Rosco? Yes. Mr. Bullock? Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. The last item I have up for action is uh we continue to invest in public safety with the purchase of two new uh Ford utility interceptors for PD. And I respectfully request city council's authorization to piggy back on the my deal contract with corno Ford to purchase two 2006 Ford utility interceptors with associated upfitting at a total cost of $151,875. Maria affairs finance director has verified these funds are available. Madam Chair, Miss Rosco,

I'll make that motion to concur with administration and consent to piggyback on the My Deal contract MA240000001193 with Gerno Ford for the purchase of two 2026 Ford utility inceptors with a 5-year extended warranty with associated upfitting for a total cost of $151,875. support.

Thank you. Been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by seconded by Miss Abdo to concur with administration and consent to pay piggyback on the my deal contract number MA24000000001193 with GO04 for the purchase of two 2026 Ford utility interceptors with a 5-year extended warranty with associated upfitting for a total cost of $151,875. Is any discussion through the chair? Oh yeah, Miss Mr. Willhyde. Uh yeah, I have one question.

Uh the two that we approved recently came from forfeite funds. Correct. No, we the the we had two from 661 and then we have three from forfeite. These two will be purchased out of forfeite. These will be purchased out of forfeite also. Okay, that's all I wanted. All right, any other discussion? Thank you. Hearing none, Miss Rosco? Yes. Miss Abdo? Yes. Mr. Well, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved. Thank you. And that concludes my report for this evening.

Thank you, mayor. Number six is the clerk's report. And council, earlier I asked that you would approve the amended agenda which um added agenda items 6D and 6E under my report. Before I ask you to take action, um uh the mayor pro Tim Tally has already mentioned that the month of February is Black History Month. And I just have a little something I'd like to read in honor of Black History Month. And again, as everybody knows, February is Black History Month, and it's a time to recognize, um, reflect on, and celebrate the history and achievements and lasting contributions of black Americans to our community and our nation. Here in Romulus, we are proud to honor our own history. Leonard Fulmer was the city's first African-American city clerk. I believe we were in township at that time, but he was, you know, uh, which I am honored because that means he pioneered and paved the way for me to sit here um, in this seat. Um, and then we have Jimmy Raspberry who was the first African-American councilman um, who was further honored through um, a park that bears his name.

Um, they helped shape our community um, through their leadership and service. And of course there's others that followed afterwards. Um, but I'd like to encourage the city council and residents to please take this opportunity to learn, honor the past, and continue working towards a future built on respect, understanding, and unity. Um, together we celebrate the diversity and um that strengthens our community. So, happy Black History Month here in February.

Very nice. And then also u madame chair and councel um under the clerk's report we do have a request um to speak um from the audience um that's on a regarding agenda item 60 and I ask madam chair can we allow that resident to speak now yes that's fine

you will have three minutes to speak and any additional time will be upon the consent of the chairperson we have Sandra Kraut who is requested um to This greed the team has to take away the power from the voters is astounding. Hopefully at election time you'll remember the names of those who feel your vote doesn't count. I think the fairway is the next highest vote getter replaces a vacated council seat. Those who run to be eligible to run must be approved by the county. They've invested their time, money, and energy. Appointing is taking away the power from the voters. I want to thank all who vote no in support of the voters. Elections must remain a fair and impartial voice of the people. Stop trying to steal the power from the voters. We, the voters, have a right to choose who governs our city, not only by constitutional rights, but also as a citizen and taxpayer of this city.

That was the only request to speak. Okay. Thank you. action items. Uh, agenda item 6A. This is a second reading and final adoption. Um, we're asking council to approve the second second reading and final adoption of budget amendment 2526-13 in the amount of $200,000 to recognize CDBG grant revenue and corresponding expense for the senior center generator purchase. This budget amendment was introduced at the January 26 regular council meeting. Madam Chair, Mr. Jones.

I move to approve the second reading and final adoption of budget amendment 25-26-13 in the amount of $200,000 to recognize CDBG grant revenue and corresponding expenses for the senior center generator purchase. Support.

Thank you. It's been motioned by Mr. Jones. Um seconded by Miss Abdo for the second reading and final adoption of budget amendment 25/26-13 in amount of 200,000 to recognize CDBG grant revenue and corresponding expend expense for the senior center generative purchase. Any discussion hearing? None. Mr. Jones, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Wilhigh, yes.

Chair votes, yes. Motion approved. Thank you. Agenda item 6B. This is a study session and public hearing request. Per the budget process outlined in chapter 9, section 9.2 and section 9.3 of the Ramula City Charter, the finance department requests two study sessions and a public hearing to discuss the proposed 2026 through 27 city budgets. Two actions are requested from council. The first as council, we're asking you to approve a 1 hour and 15 minute study session for Monday, April 13, 2026 and for Monday, April 27th, 2026, both beginning at 6:00 p.m. to discuss the proposed 2026 27 city budgets. Motion would be in order. Madam Chair,

Miss Rosco, I'll make that motion to approve a 1 hour and 15 minute study session for Monday, April 13, 2026 and Monday, April 27th, 2026, beginning at 6:00 p.m. to discuss the proposed 2026-27 city budgets. Support.

Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Jones to approve a 1 hour and 15 minute study session for Monday, April 13th, 2026 and Monday, April 27th, 2026 beginning at 6 p.m. to discuss the proposed 2026 27 city budget. Any discussion? Hearing none, Miss Rosco? Yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Willhy, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved.

Thank you, council. Next, we need a motion to schedule a public hearing on the proposed 20 26 27 city budgets um to be held in the Romulus City Hall Council Chambers for Monday, May 11th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. in accordance with chapter 9, section 9.3 of the Romulus City Charter. Um the date and time are available. Madam Chair, Mr. Jones.

I move to schedule a public hearing on the proposed 2026-27 city budget to be held in the Rominous City Hall Council Chamber on Monday, May the 11th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. in accordance with chapter 9, section 9.3 of the Romney City Charter. Support.

Thank you. Then motion by Mr. Jones, seconded by Miss Rosco, to schedule a public hearing on the proposed 2026 27 city budgets to be held in the Rom City Hall council chambers for Monday, May 11th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. in accordance with chapter 9, section 9.3 of the Romland City Charter. Any discussion hearing? None. Mr. Jones, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Wilhigh, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved. Thank you, council. Well, there is a note from the finance department that they will update you on who will be presenting um when confirmed by the um Ramulus Public Library and the 34th um district court. Okay.

So, whoever those representatives are, they will update you with that. Thank you for that action item. um 6C. This is a study session request and um city treasurer uh Stacy Paige is requesting a 30 minute um study session for Monday, February 23rd, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. for the purpose of discussing the quarterly investment report. The date and time are available for this request. Madam Chair, Miss Rosco,

I'll make that motion for uh study session request from Treasurer Page for 30 minute study session for Monday, February 23rd, 2026 at 6 p.m. for the purpose of discussing the quarterly investment report. Support. Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Jones for a 30-minute study session requested by Treasurer Paige on Monday, February 23rd, 2026 at 6 p.m. for the purpose of discussing the quarterly investment report. Any discussion hearing? None. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Miss Abdo,

yes. Cheros, yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. Agenda item 6D and this is a second reading and final adoption to chapter 2 article 2 um adding sections 2-9 to 2 um-26. Um I have a memo here I'd like to read um regarding the resubmission of council vacancy procedure ordinance during the regular council meeting held on January 26, 2026. The motion for the second reading of final adoption of the council vacancy procedure ordinance did not carry. While the motion received a simple majority of four affirmative votes, it failed to meet the twothirds majority of five affirmative votes mandated by the Rhyma city charter chapter 7 section 7.1. At the request of Mayor Pro Tim Tina Thally, the second reading of the proposed ordinance is hereby resubmitted for council consideration. Therefore, it is recommended that council approve the second reading and final adoption of the amendments to chapter 2 administration article 2 city council adding sections 2-9 through 2-26 to the city of Romulus code of ordinances. This ordinance was introduced at the December 22nd, 2025 regular council meeting.

And to add to that, um, Madame Clerk, um, I would like us to read into record what the charter says, um, as far as that action of what to do in a in the case of a vacancy. Do we have that information available that we can read into record so it won't look like we're taking away the vote of the people? Um, let me see if I can pull that up really quick. Yeah. um to try. Give me a second.

I apologize. I do apologize. See if I can should have gave you a heads up. Yeah. Okay. Ordinance. through the chair. So, city attorney has that language.

Oh, thank you. Thank you. I'm pulling it up. Thank you. I'm sorry, madam clerk. No, it's okay. It just took me a minute to get it up. All right. Am I on now? It's all about teamwork, right? That's right. Team work. That's right. So, uh, as section 4.5 of the city charter provides for filling vacancies in elective office and it provides as follows. If a vacancy occurs in any elective office, then the council by a majority vote of its members elect shall shall fill such vacancy within 45 days except as otherwise provided by this charter for the unexpired term of such office.

Okay, thank you so much for that. So can we get a motion for the second reading and final adoption, please? Madam Chair, Mr. Brasco, I'll make a motion for the second reading and final adoption of chapter 2, article two, uh, adding sections 2-9 to 2-26 to the Romulus code of ordinances for the council vacancy procedure ordinance. Support.

Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Jones for the second reading and final adoption to chapter 2 article 2 adding section 2-9 to 2-26 to the remnants code of ordinance council vacancy procedure ordinance any discussion madam chair okay abdo go ahead

okay the one reason I cannot support this is section 2.26 26 D tie scores. In the event two or more applicants receive the highest score and total score, the names of the tied applicant shall be placed in a drawing. What does that say about us that we can't come together as a commu as, you know, as a body to come forward and we're just going to put names in a hat and draw one out? I think that I think that says it's it's embarrassing. Our job as a council is to come together and work together to get that. And I I cannot approve this. I don't want to draw a name out of hat and say, "Oh, you're the lucky winner. We need to come together and work at if there's a tie score, we need to go back and go through it again."

Okay. Thank you for the input. Do you have any other discussion? No, I just think that's embarrassing in there. Thank you, Mr. Will High.

I'd like to address that. Um, the last meeting I made a a amendment to cover just that reason and it was voted down. So, I had an option that we could have looked at and worked together and had it put together, but that was voted down and it and whatever. The document itself is a good document and we don't have anything in writing right now to cover us in case something like this happens. And we've heard that numerous times that the people say, you know, the people voted. Well, this document is to take care of every angle. And at this time, this last um election, there was 14 people running for council. But it says in the charter that we are supposed to replace any elected official. So the clerk and the treasurer were running unopposed with going to the next in line. We still don't have anything. This document right here, it's got some, you know, it it's it lays it out and it doesn't eliminate anybody that ran for an elected office to not reapply and have an opportunity. I think that it just doesn't close the doors on us and I'm in for I'm for this.

Thank you, Mr. Wilha. Any miss? Thank you. um through the chair. Um I just want to um just let council know when you for this language here um which is even in our charter you know by lot this is also part of Michigan election law. Okay.

Um uh believe it's uh CL 168.851 where there's a tie vote determination of election by lot procedure drawing for um state legislator. So um just one part it says the slips shall be placed in a box and at the time and place appointed for the drawing of the lots each of the persons um for said may draw one one of the slips from the box and any person drawing a slip um on which is written the word elected shall be deemed legally elected to the office in question. So, this is part of election law. And when you look at our language that's um in our city charter, sort of indicative of that, and if I'm wrong, I'll let the city attorney let me know. But I did pull this up and it was interesting because this came up and I'm like, "Oh, well, this is how they do it." Um it's it's written, you know, here, election law. So, just want to point that out to you.

Thank you for that.

It's not something we're making up. Yes. No, thank you. Thank you for that. And um and just like even Councilman Will has said, we we need to have something in place. The charter dictates for us to do some work and I just think the people who did work to try to pull this document together to lay some type of foundation. I mean, if something we have to look at it down the line, that's fine. I remember we went through the um honorary street signing, same thing. We started out with a framework and then it had evolved this stuff over time. So we got to start somewhere and do some work and thank you for everybody who put their work and comments into this documents to give us a foundation to start with. So we have a framework. So any other discussion before we run the

through the chair through the chair just also the um the clerk is correct with it be being part of election law and to comment on council person uh Abdu's um comments on this. There has to be some sort of mechanism to break a tiebreaker. The perils of having a potential ongoing 33 tie in a legislative body

which could last years, 2 years, 3 years, depending on when it could be, is just too perilous for a community to deal with without having a way to do it. And I think if you're drawing from a lot on two potential candidates that really are both qualified

that it's probably it's well m the best or the be it's up to opinion but it's a way to resolve it. And again you can you know pull other communities that have had situations where uh there's a majority of council vote cuz this is not uncommon in charters in Michigan. the perils of an ongoing 33. It just it make it brings everything to a halt and prohibits the city andor the legislative body of the city from moving forward on the things they want to do. Thank you,

Madam Chair. May I say one more thing? And with if you read this document, it is written that the chances of two people tying and going through all of the the aspects the interview process, the chances of two people tying and coming up with the exact same number are so remote um that I don't think that it'll ever be addressed. But this document was put together for a reason. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wilhyde. Any other discussion hearing? None. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Jones, yes.

Mr. Willhy, yes. Mr. Bullot, yes. Miss Abdo, no. Chair votes? Yes. Motion approved. Thank you, city council. Thank you. The last action item um is just for your information. Um this is 6E and this is the 2025 planning commission um year end report. And with that that concludes the clerk's report. Thank you. Takes us to number seven, the treasures report.

Good evening and thank you um to council, mayor, chief of staff, clerk, deputy clerk, and listening audience. I have a few things um on my um under my report here. Um, I'd like to remind everybody that there's a holiday on February 16th. So, city offices will be closed, which leads into property taxes are due on um February 17th, normally on the 14th, but due to the holiday and it falling on a weekend, they are due on the 17th. Of course, if you have any questions, you can call my office. And then also um Vanessa mentioned the dog days where you can get the cat and dog um shots. And I just wanted to remind everyone that if you do plan on attending there um they only accept cash. People show up and they bring the credit card and they only accept cash there. So if you do plan on going, please make sure you have your cash. Um and that should be it. Thank you for your time and for approving the study session as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Number eight is public comment and this is the portion of the agenda for those of you who are in the audience and who would like to address the city council. The rules to address city council can be found on the back of the agenda. To address city council, raise your hand and after being acknowledged by the chairperson, approach the podium. You may state your name. Members of the public who submitted a public com comment card will be called upon first. Um you will have three minutes to speak and any additional time will be upon um the consent of the chairperson. Also further note that any comments um questions that you may have. Please note that um those responses will be under uh agenda number nine unfinished business. So sometimes you come to the podium and you want someone to answer you right away. But just know um the responses or you know will be under agenda item number nine unfinished business. U madame chair and council I do have one written request and this is Mr. Mohammed at I'm going to mess it up so I apologize. So you can come up and you'll have to state your name because I I had it wrong.

Graduation was the worst for me. Okay.

Okay. Uh good evening everyone. My name is Muhammad Ali Habawi. I am a commercial real estate uh expert in Michigan. Uh I work with Lean Associates. Uh my father is a longtime resident and investor in the city of Ramulus. We love the city of Romulus. We we truly do. You know, city of Ramulus means the city of the home of opportunity and that's what we know it to be. uh coming across social media platforms in the news. Uh we we hear that there's this this detention center that's being brought up to the city of Ramulus and we're here basically we're not telling you guys to stop it, but from from a from my point of view and my client's point of view, um in the past year or so, I' I'd say I've been uh engaging more uh companies to bring their jobs here to the city of Ramulus. uh more opportunities to the city uh more better uses for say and what we're seeing in the uh in the inventory aspect is very very small uh opportunities for warehouse sales in the city of Romulus and surrounding areas not much inventory with the cost of uh construction up to like 200 thou $200 a square foot it has become almost impossible to go on ahead and build a new new uh building and do business. So we feel like uh every house every warehouse used for detention is one less site available for creating jobs. Creating jobs is creating more opportunities for the people. Having the money being circulated within the community instead of having a federal organization come in taking over. You know they make their own decisions. They make their own contracts. They have their own things going on within us. So, I'm not a resident of Romulus, but I work in Romulus and I I love the city of Romulus, and I feel like this opportunity is not going to be very good

for us because it's going to just in 10 or 20 years down the line, it's going to just I don't think it's going to be a very good image, especially with the reputation that we have as being the home of opportunity. Um another thing is I wanted to mention uh businesses they they is about branding. Every city has their own brand. Romulus has a beautiful brand that is industrial and we feel like we should be letting be more welcoming to industrial partners rather than uh giving it to the helms of a federal organization where I feel like they can go 20 30 minutes down the road on 94 and find somewhere more suitable for their opportunities.

Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other this from the Miss Kraut? There's a new schedule 1A for seniors for their the new credit that's allowed for social security deduction and the IRS doesn't have the printed forms ready yet, but you can go to the library and they will print you off a copy. And so I just want to let you know that that's another thing that the library does for us that's very helpful. Thank you. Any other discussion? Miss Diane.

Hi. How you doing? Little cold today, isn't it? Um I just wanted to thank uh the mayor's office here and um what's that guy's naming in the building?

Yeah. He um contacted my apartment complex to fix a step. It's too high. There's nothing to grab onto. And with this weather and the ice, it's kind of slippery and, you know, I fall on carpet that's, you know, fine smooth. So, uh, the apartment complex has not done anything yet, but he has contacted me and, um, they're supposed he's going to contact me again to see if it's done. It is not, but I just wanted to thank you guys for helping me and I really feel like there's a lot of support in the city. I can go to, you know, Miss Craig or any of you on the council and with a concern and I get a a really good response. And so I just wanted to let you know that and that you guys thank you for keeping on it and um hopefully we'll get that taken care of and I don't fall and break something. That'd be really awesome.

Thanks, Miss Diane. Any other comments from the audience? If not, going to close that out. Thank you. Number nine is unfinished business. Um, mayor, if I could, if you could, you know, just kind of sum, if you don't mind, because our mayor did address, you know, regarding the ice facility, but he's going to do a quick synopsis real quick. Thank you. Thank you. I want to be very careful what we say because we know where we are in charge waters, but I think I I speak for all of us up here when I say this is not something we want to see in our community. Yeah.

Um the problem I have is in my job and in my career in the city of Ramus, we usually have authority over who occupies they follow our zoning orders and our requirements. Uh we don't have a lot of authority on this one. Um that's why we're working to all of our outside channels to see what options the city of Ramadan has. Um this is not something we want to see come here because of we worry about public safety first and foremost. We worry about this community and our residents. Uh we worry about the drain on public safety that it would tax us. Um, and if it's a federal use, it wouldn't be on our tax roles either. So, no, this is not a good use of a warehouse in our community. Um, I'm continued to oppose it. Um, and if you followed social media, you've seen that I'm taking a beat in that on both sides of the coin here. But like I said, we're I think we're all on the same page that we are pro- Romulus, and that's what we're looking out for here. Um, but our our authority or our jurisdiction is very limited on this. We're going to continue to work with the legal council, our federal representatives, our state representatives, find out what options we do have. Um, yeah, we are building warehouses here. We are building factories and I want to see jobs in there and I want to see tax base um to have something in here that wouldn't produce either um would not be a benefit to us and there's a lot of reasons we go on about it. Um, but like I said, I want to be very guarded what I'm saying, but it's already been out there in our our statement that we aren't supportive. We have not been officially uh approached by any source to open this up here. Uh we're investigating laws and regulations that they have to follow and there's always a preemption in that law that says unless the federal government deems it an emergency or crisis. Uh so we know they have a trump card that would limit our authority. Um but we're going to look into everything that we can um and do what we can do to inhibit this and let them know that this is not something we support.

Thank you, mayor. Appreciate that. Thank you. And Miss Diane, just as a heads up, you got a good guy on the case, Jeff Kemp.

Um, I had a resident call me about an issue at a different place, apartment complex, and um, let me say the situation was rectified. Jeff is on the case, so um, give him time to do his deal, and I'm sure you'll come away with a very satisfied response. So, just as a heads up. So, thank you for coming out. Um, and that's all. Anything else on unfinished business? We're moving on. Thank you, Madame Chair. Uh, number 10 is new business. All right. If none, number 11 for approval is warrant 26-03. Through the chair, I'd like to make a motion we pay warrant 26-03 and the following amounts. General fund $581,78.7. Major Street Fund, $73,8894. Local Street Fund, $14,658. Public safety fund $21,33923. Cable TV $2,19726. Community Employee Activity Fund, $7047. Garbage and Rubbish Collection Fund, $18. Tax Increment Finance Authority, $94,894.554. Downtown Development Authority, $2,2928. Michigan Defense Fund, $10,67,951. 911 Service Fund, $1,020. Law enforcement federal $14,817. Library fund $9,34167. Water and sewer fund $591,3847.

Motor vehicle $36,587.96. Technology services $7,14163. Retirey insurance benefits $434.17. Revolving fund $1,982. Current tax $199.65. Impressed payroll fund $266.60 totaling all funds $1,464,6563.

We got that second. Second that motion. Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Abdo, seconded by Miss Rosco to pay the approval of warrant number 26-03 for checks presented in the amount of 1,464,6563. Any discussion hearing? None. Miss Abdo. Yes. Miss Rosco. Yes. Mr. Bullock. Yes. Mr. Jones. Yes. Mr. Wilhy. Yes. Chair Boss. Yes. Motion approved. Number 12 is communication. Any communication? I'm gonna Did you have something?

Yes, I do have something. Um I just wanted to through the chair. Um this Thursday starts the budget review and I'd like to encourage everyone up here to um to look at the schedule and some attend some or all of them. Um, after looking through some of this stuff, I feel the more information that we have as a group, the better decisions we'll make in the future. So, I'd like to see uh I plan on being there. So, I'd like to see uh some people show up. Thank you.

I concur with you. I'll be there with you. Um, just as a heads up, I'm always there every year. So, I love it. It's just great information and just kind of um puts those pieces together. So, and then I forgot fresh off the press, the Ramulus community connection. Check your mails. Probably been there, but fresh fresh off the press. Check it out. And that's all I have through the chair. Yes, Mr.

Uh don't forget our second annual um dodgeball showdown at Ramas High School next Monday. So, um it was a great event. They started it last year. I think we should continue to build on it. Uh but to see our police department, our fire department, elected officials um out there even if you weren't participating or and ducking and dodging and dipping. Um just the kids to see that community support. The kids really enjoyed it. What a great event. Faculty and staff, against administrators, against PD. Um yeah, if you want to come out there and see me get, you know,

uh zipped with the ball, come on out. It's a good time and a great event. But to really watch those kids see the community support and that's what it's all about. They're raising money, I think, for the seventh and eighth grade trip. Um, they're raising money for this year. So, support the kids, support our Eagles, and uh and come out there and and see everybody pull a hamstring. Thank you, Mayor. Is there any more communication? That's it. If not, number 13 is adjourned and the time is 8:35. So, move support. Then motion by Miss Abdo. I mean, Mr. Jones supported um seconded by Miss Abdo for the adjourment of this meeting. Mr. Jones yes

Miss Abdo yes Mr. Wilhigh Miss Rosco Miss Mr. Pull out. Yes. Chair votes yes. We are done.