City Council - Regular Meeting

and welcome to the monday august 24th 2026 regular meeting of the rochester hill city council uh miss bowen will you take role president carlock here vice president mangioli here mr blair here mr limberg here miss menino here miss neubauer here mr scalzi here president carlock we have a quorum thank you very much i have not been made aware of any changes to the agenda i have a motion I do have to do the pledge. I missed that. The Youth Council will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance 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.

My eyes are moving faster than my brain today. Approval of agenda. I have not been made aware of any changes to the agenda of a motion by Vice President Mongioli, seconded by Mr. Blair. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? We have an agenda. Next up, Council and Youth Committee reports. Vice President Mongioli. Oh, yes. Wow.

I know, wow.

Is that a promise? Yes, we'll start with our youth council representative, Ms. Wang.

Okay, good evening, President Karlock, Vice President Mongioli, Mayor Barnett, council members, and citizens of Rochester Hills. My name is Christina, and I am an 11th grader at Rochester Adams High School. I am in my third year of serving on the Rochester Hills Government Youth Council, and I serve on the Green Space Advisory Board and Human Resources Committee. I'm looking forward to learning more about how my city's government functions and the projects going on within our community in my time as youth council representative. This past month, youth council has volunteered at the Brooklyn's Block Party where we helped attendees at our tie dye station, held our August regular meeting, swore in our new members of the 2026-27 term at our swearing in ceremony, and held our youth council orientation where we had time to chat with members of the city council and had lunch together. This upcoming month, we are participating in the State of the City Address on September 17th, where we will be helping out with various tasks. Our next meeting will be September 9th. Thank you so much for your time and have a great evening.

Thank you very much, Christina. Now we will move to Vice President Manjuli.

Thank you very much, President Carlock. So in my neighborhood, there have been fall flowers, summer flowers, springing up in the lawn. And they say, wow, a city of Rochester Hills, gas line, because we are now having easy fiber. coming through our neighborhood and putting in fiber lines. They're going down one side of the street, down others. I have three of these little flowers that have popped up. My neighbor has 20. For whatever reason, they have 20 yellow flags out there in their front yard in a straight line. But the neighbors are asking me, All right, councilmen, what is going on? And I want to let them know that, yay, they are a legal company that is coming in to put fiber optics into our neighborhood. So if you do not have these wonderful little flags showing up in your yard yet, they will be coming. We've made enough of a comment here on this council dais that at least Easy Fiber sent a card and then just today put a door hang This is very different from the first vendor that came through and just started digging up front lawns. So please watch for these. This is not junk mail when you get it. Please understand what it is with Easy Fiber. Eventually your internet provider may come and offer you fiber. They haven't yet in my neighborhood, but these are true. Please watch for them because they are coming citywide. And if you don't get the flowers this summer, you may get them next spring. Thank you, President Carlock.

Thank you very much. Next up, Ms. Menino.

Yes, thank you, President Carlock. I just have a couple of announcements on some upcoming activities. Emma, could you please share my screen? Okay, first up, Payne Creek Trail, the annual Labor Day Bridge 5K run-walk. Monday, September 7th is Labor Day. So join us at the Rochester Municipal Park Kiwanis Pavilion for the start of the fun. There will be both a 5K and one-mile fun run-walk option. The race will start at the park and then move onto the trail to experience the beauty of the Paint Creek Trail. So please, if you're interested, it'd be a great event. Check out paintcreektrail.org and sign up. Next up, fall activities are starting at the Rochester Hills Museum. First off, the Van Heusen Farm Cornhole Classic and Cookout should be a great time. It's an actual cornhole competition. Saturday, September 6th from 3 to 8 p.m. And then Scarecrows in the City activity on September 29th from 11 to 2 p.m. And then Stonewall Pumpkin Festival, October 10th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. is when the carving happens, and then 7 to 9 for the lighting. I know a lot of this is great for kids, so please, if you can make it, go ahead, check out the Rochester Heels Museum webpage for further information. And then lastly, the OPC, Thursday, September 8th, from 4 to 8, they have their annual food truck rally. They'll have a food truck lineup. They'll have beer, wine, beverages, live music. It's just an overall party theme. Also, it's family-oriented, family fun, kid zones. It's open to the public and free admission and shuttle service. And then in the month of October, the 650 players present a live musical melodrama called villainy in the vineyard it's a live play at the opc multiple dates for luncheon shows and did dessert shows during the month of april so please check it out at the opc website and that's it thank you thank you very much miss menino next up miss neubauer thank you president carlock um emma can you share my screen too please so the planning department in conjunction with the pla um

parks department is asking that our residents participate in survey uh... called the blueprint for innovation if you go to the uh... website you can't just put it in the search bar and will come up and then if you click on it you can take uh... the survey where my little arrow, I don't know if you can see it, but where my arrow was showing. We have 80,000 residents nearly, but we only had 573 people take the survey. It's really important that you share your opinion so that we're guided in the right direction on what our residents want for what they want to see. Then you can turn off my screen now. Thank you, Emma. Our Youth Council representative mentioned that we're going to be at the state of the city. What's really exciting is that we now have all of our kids sworn in and we're ready to kick off. We're really excited about what Youth Council is going to do this year. There's other projects that we're going to be participating in and I'm really excited for the kids. Can't wait to see you guys grow and how you guys are going to contribute and how we as Council are going to support our Youth Council. So I'm saying this for all of the kids who are involved. Reach out to us because we want to mentor you and do everything we can for you. So that's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ms. Neubauer. I don't see any further council committee reports, so we will move on to consent agenda. All matters under consent agenda are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion without discussion. If any council member or citizen requests discussion of an item, It will be removed from consent agenda for separate discussion. I have a motion by Vice President Mongioli, seconded by Councilwoman Neubauer. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Next up, Ordinance for Adoption, Item 2026-0070, Request for Acceptance for Second Reading and Adoption, an Ordinance to Amend Article 5, Schedule of Regulations, Chapter 3, Temporary Moratorium, Section 138-5.301, Temporary Moratorium for Data Centers. To extend the moratorium, suspending the city's processing and acceptance of applications and plans for developing development and improvement of data centers to chapter 138 zoning of the court of ordinances of the city of Rochester Hills, Oakland County, Michigan, to prescribe a penalty for violations and to repeal inconsistent or conflicting ordinances. Ms. Roediger.

Good evening, President Carlock, Vice President Mangioli, Council, Ms. Cedrovich. I'm here tonight just as our second reading, as you just indicated, for our extension of our moratorium for our data centers as we continue to work and research to provide an ordinance back for your consideration six months in the future.

Thank you very much. I don't see any council comments on this. I have a motion by Vice President Mangioli, seconded by Mr. Blair. and seeing no council comments, I'll read the resolution here. Resolved that the Rochester Hill City Council hereby accepts for second reading and adoption an ordinance to amend Article 5 Schedule of Regulations, Chapter 3 Temporary Moratorium, Section 138-5.301, Temporary Moratorium for Data Centers to extend the moratorium, suspending the city's processing and acceptance of applications and plans for development and improvement of data centers to Chapter 138, zoning of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Rochester Hills, Oakland County, Michigan, to prescribe a penalty for violations and to repeal inconsistent or conflicting ordinances. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes.

If only they were all this season.

If only.

Thank you.

Next up, public comment for items not on the agenda. This is an opportunity for the public to make comment for items not on the agenda. Using a blue public comment card, I don't see any comment cards or public approaching the podium, we will close public comment. Next up, legislative and administrative comments. Do we have any council comments? Going once, going twice.

twice yep yep mrs sidrovich want to make some comments on behalf of the administration indeed thank you so much emma if you could share my screen please i will uh keep this brief uh wanted to uh certainly uh say good evening uh president carlock vice president mangioli members of council I'm Erin Cedrovich. I'm Mayor Burnett's Chief of Staff and happy to be here with you this evening to provide the administrative report. Firstly, we want to thank everyone who came out to support our annual Brooklyn's Block Party on August 12th. We had a lot of photos because it was a lot of fun. Here's just a couple that show about the 2,000, estimated 2,000 crowd that stopped by to enjoy everything from face painting and foam parties to reptiles in the Rising Market. So it was a great night, really excited to be there, and certainly grateful for all of our council members who were there in attendance as well. Speaking of Rising Market, we had a great group of 16 young vendors who participated in the block party this year, and Maggie Bobbitts, who is the president of the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce, presented two $250 checks to two of our entrepreneurs, Adrit Mishra with the HEART organization he started, which stands for Helping Elders Adapt Recent Technologies, and Callan Perro with Callan & Co, who makes toys and ornaments, bookmarks, et cetera, with Perler beads. So congratulations to the both of them. Exciting new improvements continue to happen within our parks system. We are replacing the playground at Avondale Park this fall. This new one should open October 1st. So you can see some of the photos there on the right showing the construction that is happening right now. So keep an eye out for that. Our latest podcast just dropped last week. This one features a conversation with Sean Hayes, the executive director of the Paint Creek Center for the Arts. Among other things, Mayor and Sean discussed the Art in Apples Festival, which is celebrating its 60th year this fall and will take place September 11th through the 13th. So please check out the podcast and go see Arts in Apples. Another big milestone to report, of course, it is the first day of school for Rochester and Avondale school districts. We wanna offer a big welcome back to all of our students, teachers, and staff, and best wishes for a great new school year. Many of our talented students remained hard at work this past summer, including Audrey Mishra from Avondale Gate Magnet School. Audrey was the 2026 Michigan State Merit Winner for the 3M Young Scientist Lab for his cocoa scrub. He received the 3M Award for his sustainable idea of replacing plastic and polymer-based dish scrubs to 100% natural scrubs made from coconut husks. And if you're thinking this name sounds familiar, yes, this is the same Audrey who won the $250 Rising Market Award from the Chamber. So keep an eye on this one. He's going places. So congratulations to him. Couple more quick notes before closing. With school back in session, we are hiring for crossing guards. Please apply online at rochesterhills.org backslash jobs and tell a friend. We've got a referral program. I'm just going to make that up because maybe Brooke will have something for us in HR. But anyway, please spread the word about that. I also want to offer congratulations to our assistant fire chief, Ann Eccles, who recently graduated from the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. This program spans four years. There's two week-long courses held each year, and she's put a lot of time and effort into it. So of course, we want to offer her kudos. This is a picture of her with her cohort at their graduation ceremony earlier this month. So congratulations, kudos to her. And finally, speaking of our Fire Department, please mark your calendars to join us for our September 11th Remembrance Ceremony. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Patriot Day, as many of you know, and the Rochester Hills Fire Department will host a special event on Friday, September 11th at 9 a.m. at Station 1. That concludes my remarks.

Thank you very much, Ms. Cedrovich. And for everybody listening, please slow down in the school zones now that they're back in. I see it every day at Hamlin Elementary, people speeding through there, and the sheriffs are watching. So you will get a ticket. Next up, new business. Item 2026-0358, request for purchase authorization facilities, contract blanket purchase order for snow removal services.

Oh, that's...

I'm on my third. I missed the attorney's report. Okay, well, I think I'm out of strikes. Thank you, Mr. Christ. Item 2026-0358, Request for Purchase Authorization, Facilities Contract Blanket Purchase Order. for snow removal services for the 2026-2027 winter season for city-owned properties and the amount not to exceed $210,000 through June 30th, 2027, Russell Landscaping, Inc., Troy, Michigan. I was just so excited to talk about snow. Mr. Hollis.

Yes, I expected you were President Karlak. Good evening, President Karlak, Vice President Mongioli, city council members, and Mr. Drovich. It is August 24th, and I am here to present the contract for city council approval for our 2026-2027 snow removal. An evaluation committee composed of the facilities department staff thoroughly reviewed the proposals that were obtained. And based on our vendor experience, positive references, demonstrated operational capacity and competitive pricing, Russell Landscaping was determined to offer the best overall value to the city for the 2026-2027 winter season. And we're asking you to approve this contract. I'm here to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you very much, Mr. Hollis. I don't see any council comments or questions. I have a motion by Councilwoman Neubauer. I don't know. Oh, she just said I'm fired. I'm out. Seconded by Vice President Mangioli. No council comments or questions. I'll read the resolution. Resolved that the Rochester Hills City Council hereby authorizes a contract blanket purchase order for snow removal services for the 2026-2027 winter season for city-owned properties to Russell Landscaping Inc. Troy, Michigan, in the amount not to exceed $210,000 through June 30th, 2027, and further authorizes the procurement manager to execute a contract on behalf of the city. Further resolve that the city's acceptance of the proposal and approval of the award of a contract shall be contingent and conditioned upon the party's entry into and execution of a written agreement acceptable to the city. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Thank you very much. Next up, item 2026-0374, request for approval of proposed revisions to the council attendance and per diem compensation policy. There you go.

Let's try again. Good evening, President Carlock, Vice President Mangioli, and members of City Council. Before you tonight is a request to consider and approve the proposed revisions to the council attendance and per diem compensation policy as recommended by the Human Resources Technical Review Committee. Following a series of meetings by the Council Policy and Procedure Technical Review Committee and a formal recommendation from the HRTRC on August 10, 2026, these updates were designed to foster greater accountability, transparency, and public trust in municipal leadership. The revised policy clearly delineates routine duties covered by annual base salary from qualifying activities eligible for per diem compensation. Additionally, it establishes explicit criteria for non-qualifying events and introduces a good faith standard for claiming per diem compensation. On behalf of the Human Resources Technical Review Committee, we respectfully request that City Council accept and approve the revised council attendance and per diem compensation policy as written. Thank you for your attention, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you have.

Thank you very much. Vice President Mongioli.

Thank you very much, President Carlock. So the City Council Rules and Procedures Committee, and I know that's probably not the official name of us, I sit on it with President Carlock and Councilwoman Neubauer. We were going through the rules and procedures, and there's one line in there that says cover the salary based on this policy. which is the council attendance per diem compensation policy, one line in our overall rules and procedures. We debated this over many hours and meetings just within that committee before we brought it to HRTRC for their review and support. It went from a one page, SEVERAL PARAGRAPH, ONE-PAGE DOCUMENT TO FIVE PAGES TO TRY AND ACCOUNT FOR ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO. THIS POLICY HAD NOT BEEN UPDATED IN 20 YEARS, SO THAT'S WHY DURING THE BUDGET MEETING I KEPT ASKING DIRECTORS, SO WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DID YOUR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES? BECAUSE WE KNEW FROM EXPERIENCE 20 YEARS, WE WANT TO SEE IF ANYONE HAS THAT RECORD, CAN BEAT US ON 20 YEARS. I just want to make sure our council fellow council members support what we're doing here with these changes because it does go through a number of activities that we're engaged in on a regular basis. We do get a salary, so if you do nothing except come to these meetings, there is a base salary that you get. But then we also want to make sure that the city council is out meeting with residents, talking to them, and being engaged so when we're here, we can actively vote what our community wants. It's not the city of Teresa-Mongioli, it is the city of our residents. So being able to define those opportunities and give council members the chance to get out and meet with the community more and recognizing the time that they're spending dedicated to that was extremely important as part of this policy. So I am grateful for the work that President Carlock and Councilwoman Neubauer went through with me to develop this. I'm glad that the HRTRC, they fine tweaked everything for us, put the right words. Interesting debate on what per diem means versus allocated meetings or stipends. So, um, but with that, I moved the resolution in our packet.

Thank you very much, vice president. So I have a motion by vice president and Julie seconded by Mr. Blair. I don't see any further council comments or questions on this. Resolved that the proposed modification to the council attendance and per diem compensation policy as recommended by the Human Resource Technical Review Committee are hereby approved. All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion passes. Thank you very much. Next up, item 2026-0375, resolution in support of establishing a second early voting site for the city of Rochester Hills. Clerk Scott.

Thank you, President Carlock, Vice President Mangioli, City Council, and Ms. Sudovich. I think this is pretty self-explanatory. I'm requesting council support in asking Clerk Brown at the Oakland County Clerk to authorize and approve a second early voting site for this November. As you know, the last November election in 24, the presidential, we had extremely long lines at our one early voting site. We are at capacity at the Rochester Hills Public Library. We cannot bring in another piece of voting equipment, another voting booth. There's nowhere to expand. And November is a month that we really don't know what the weather's gonna be like. So it could be raining, it could be sleeting, it could be snowing, it could be sunny. I don't know, but I do know that the residents really have asked for this. This is not something we'd have to do in non-state or federal elections, but in our busy, busy ones, we absolutely need to. So I appreciate any support, and I'm here for any questions.

Thank you very much, Clerk Scott. It actually might be all of those types of weather in one day. It could be.

We're in Michigan, right?

It is Michigan. We do have some council comments and questions. Ms. Menino.

Yes, President Carlock. Clerk Scott, I just have one question. So the request goes to Lisa Brown, the Oakland County Clerk. So does she decide the location, or are you requesting a location? I want to understand a little more what she needs to do.

Okay, so we're in contract with, Oakland County as are most of the local clerks in Oakland County to hold early voting sites. And because of that, I have to get her approval to have a second site. Okay.

But you're, you're going to request a location. She just needs to approve it. She won't assign it.

Correct. She will. Right. I had, I had offered after the presidential election that we have a second site for this upcoming election at city hall. Okay, so I'm looking for council support to encourage her to look favorably upon that. Okay, thank you.

Ms. Neubauer.

Thank you, President Karlak. I just wanted to say thank you so much for bringing this to us so that we can show how supportive we are of having this extra site. It helps with election integrity and fair opportunity for people to vote. It was disappointing to me to see people leave the long lines and not vote. It's a privilege to be able to vote and it's our job and frankly the job of every clerk to encourage our citizens to exercise their right to vote and there's frankly no reason why this shouldn't be supported. So with that I'd like to move the motion.

I have a motion by Councilman Neubauer seconded by Vice President Mongioli. I don't see any further council comments or questions so I'll read the resolution here. Whereas, pursuant to Article 2, Section 4 of the Michigan Constitution, registered electors have the right to vote in person during early voting periods prior to statewide and federal elections, and whereas the City of Rochester Hills currently participates in an interlocal agreement for early voting operations to serve electors within the municipality, And whereas during prior elections, the designated early voting site experienced sustained high voter volume and continuous long lines throughout the early voting window. And whereas the current early voting facility has reached maximum physical capacity within its designated room, preventing further expansion of voting equipment, check-in stations, or election personnel at that location, and whereas the City of Rochester Hills has demonstrated they are a willing partner when asked by Oakland County to manage joint early voting operations for neighboring communities during the May 2026 special election, and whereas securing authorization for a second early voting site within the City of Rochester Hills will significantly alleviate congestion, reduce voter wait times, expand accessible parking, and ensure equitable voting access for all residents, and whereas the Mayor and the City Council of Rochester Hills fully support the City Clerk's effort to establish an additional early voting location to accommodate turnout demands for the upcoming general election, Now, therefore, be it resolved that the mayor and the city council of the city of Rochester Hills hereby formally request that Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown and the Oakland County Election Commission authorize and approve a second early voting site within the city of Rochester Hills for the upcoming general elections, and be it further resolved that certified copies of this resolution be formally transmitted to Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown, the Oakland County Board of Election Commissioners, and relevant state election officials. All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion passes unanimously. That brings us to any other business before the Rochester Hills City Council. Seeing none, next meeting date will be a regular meeting, Monday, September 14, 2026, 7 PM. I have a motion by Councilwoman Ubar, seconded by Vice President Mangioli to adjourn. All those in favor? Aye. This meeting is adjourned.