City Council - Regular Meeting

This meeting of the Oak Park City Council is called to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. Please be seated. City clerk Ed Norris, would you call the role? Uh, Mayor Mlen, here. Mayor Prom Edgar here. Council member Radner here. Uh, council member Crawford here.

Council member Whitehead. H. Wait a minute. Thanks. Yeah.

Yes. Okay. Um, we've got a quorum. Thank you so very much. Um, before we approve the agenda, we are adding one, two, three, four, five items. So, you might want to mark your uh agenda. S 6H is a pay application to Mioli cement. 9 C1 is an amended final draft of the fee schedule. 9D is a budget with the district court. 15e1 is the event hub mural approval. 15D1 is an agreement with Civic Plus for CRM request module. Is there a motion to approve the agenda as amended? So move.

Second. Thank you. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carried. Um, city council is considering the written resignation of Shawn Whitehead. Do we need a motion to accept? Yes. Motion to accept, please. So moved. Second. Second. Um, any discussion or comments? We sadly accept this resignation. Uh, all those in favor, please say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion carried. Thank you. Consent agenda. These are routine items presented for approval without discussion as a single item. Any member um can ask to have a motion dropped from the blanket motion of approval and considered separately. A regular city council meeting minutes for May 4th, 2026. Special council meeting minutes for May 1st, 2026. C. Payment application from Newman Smith Architecture for architectural services on the community center project for the total amount of $184,750. D. Request to approve payment payment application number seven for the 2025 block pruning project to Limb Walker's Tree and Snow LLC of Kenna Key, Michigan in the amount of $16,950. E request to approve payment application number one for the 2026 lawn maintenance contract to Parrot Landscaping of Clinton Township, Michigan in the amount of $8,542 F. request to approve payment application number one for the 2026 landscape maintenance contract to Brighton View Landscape of Pontiac, Michigan in the amount of $2,146.50. Finally, G, new and renewal of licenses for May 18th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve?

Madame Mayor, we also have 6H, please. Oh, G H. ah pay application to Matti cement. Thank you so much. Uh motion to approve the amended consent agenda. So move. Thank you. Second. Uh all those in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion carried. Thank you. 9 C1. Okay. Uh, number eight, special recognition presentations, uh, tribute and moment of silence in memory of Oak Park public safety officer Henry Wolf, who was shot and killed in the line of duty on May 21st, 1973. Um, Steve Cooper, our public safety director, will say some words. Uh, good evening, mayor, mayor prom, uh, city council, and city manager Tongate. I'd like to, uh, thank this council and city manager Tongate for allowing me, uh, to take this time each year to remember Officer Henry Wolf. Uh, every year we pause and take this opportunity to explain the circumstances surrounding the death of Officer Wolf. None of the officers working on the department today with the exception of myself were even born when Officer Wolf made the ultimate sacrifice. Uh also most of the officers here today have never heard of the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. Today we are here to remember and honor our pledge to never forget. May 21st uh will mark the 53rd anniversary of the death of officer public safety officer Henry Wolf who was killed in the line of duty on May 21st, 1973. Although none of the current members of the public safety department today had the pleasure of personally knowing Officer Wolf, we stand together as one honoring his sacrifice to this great city. Henry Wolf joined the Oak Park Public Safety Department on April 1st, 1968. Shortly after he married his wife, Linda. His daughter Laura was born the following year. Officer Wolf was a highly regarded and respected officer by all of his fellow officers. During his

five-year career with the department, he earned several citations and accommodations, including the citation of valor, which was awarded postumously. At 7:30 a.m. on May 21st, 1973, Officer Wolf made a traffic stop at Sherman and Northfield. Officer Wolf was unaware of the two occupants of the vehicle that he had stopped had just been involved in a shooting incident in Royal Oak. As Officer Wolf approached the car, the passenger produced a gun. As officer Wolf struggled with the passenger, the driver took Officer Wolf's gun from his holster and fired a fatal shot to the back of Officer Wolf. The two suspects attempted to flee the scene while exchanging gunfire with an Oak Park officer who was arriving to assist. Suspects were later apprehended, tried, and convicted for the murder of Officer Wolf. At the age of 27, with five years of service, Officer Wolf made the ultimate sacrifice, leaving behind his wife and four-year-old daughter. Each day, the men and women of this fine department proudly, without hesitation, dawn the uniform and badge and head out into this community to protect and serve just as Officer Wolf did. Out of respect and gratitude to Officer Henry Wolf and for the sacrifice that he made, we stand here on this 18th day of May, 2026 to honor his service, sacrifice, and bravery. We would pause for a moment of silence, please.

Thank you.

Yeah. Item 8B is special retirement recognition for public works foreman Joe Nissan. Um, I'm vetoing this. Just saying. We like having him around. Um, I'm gonna go ahead first here. Um, uh, Joe and family, thank you so much for all of your sacrifices and for your service to this community. I'm going to read a special recognition. the mayor, council, and administration of the city of Oak Park, Michigan, in testament and tribute to his distinguished public service and lasting contributions to the city of Oak Park and its residents wish to express their sincere appreciation to Joe Nissan. You have served as a pillar of integrity in this organization and have helped to set the city's high standard of excellence. You have served as a source of guidance, support, and leadership for your colleagues. And it is those qualities that will have a lasting impact on the city of Oak Park. Your dedicated spirit, wealth of wealth of knowledge, and overall dedication to the city of Oak Park will be sorely missed. Joe and family, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all that you have done over the last 25 years for this great community. You've made helped make it great. So, so much appreciated. And with that, I'd like to ask Deputy City Manager Dave Doster to say a few words as well.

Thank you. Uh I will echo exactly what you're saying. Uh we do not want Joe to go. Joe started here 25 years ago. Uh I think he would I won't say his age, but he was a young man. Um so he's worked his way up through the ranks. He started in DPW as a just a public service worker. He became a crew leader and became a general foreman leading all of our crews on day-to-day operations. So he's really mastered everything he's done at DPW. He's been a leader. He's been a friend to many, including myself. um and he's very well respected. He knows all aspects of the job. Uh unfortunately, his time has come. He's been here 25 years and he's going to move on to some some special things as well. But uh just want to on behalf of myself and the entire department to the city, thank you for your service. Um it's been a pleasure.

Thank you. Joe, I'm going to ask you to come up or and receive your Joe. Do you want do you want to say anything, Joe? You want to It's up to you, council members. Joe Joe does want to say some little something. Keep it to 10 minutes.

Well, first and foremost, I want to thank you for uh doing this for me today. I really appreciate it. And uh really want to thank the residents of the city of Oak Park. You were amazing people. Difficult, but great. I love it. So I appreciate you all city council you all city manager also difficult but great

and also I'd be remissed if I didn't say something about Dave here too. Well Dave coming to our department's actually been you know one one of the greatest things ever happened down there. He's probably one of the best people to work with and work for. I wouldn't hands down I would do anything for him. If you needed it outside or inside the job it wouldn't matter. and also my family for putting up with me for 25 years of doing this job. So, I appreciate you. Love you guys. Whatever you need. And uh public safety also, you know, there's a couple of them that uh that stand out obviously. I mean, but they they've they've all done great work around the city. You know, without them, you know, we couldn't do our jobs as well. So, we love working with them hand in hand. So, we appreciate you guys too. I just want to thank everybody. I appreciate it. And uh just want to ask one question though. So, if I get this plaque, I don't have to come back tomorrow. No, actually, my last day is the 29th, but I appreciate it. Thank you. Why don't we do one with city?

So here I'm gonna give this to you. Mayor, if you want to flank on one side and I'll flank on the other. Joe, you want Here we go. Smile. Thank you so much. Here I am walking away. David. Sorry.

All right, we got one more. Thank you everybody. Appreciate

Thank you. the guy who wanted didn't want to do the event to the nail. Mhm. Oh. Oh. All right. Thanks, Joe. Thank you.

Uh, item 8 C is an annual budget presentation. Uh, city manager Eric Tungate. Okay, I know everybody is here for this exciting part of the agenda. You're not.

Is it this? Is it on here? Yeah. I need to put a new mic in the budget. Now the excitement begins.

Really exciting stuff. Okay, council members, members of the public, um members of the staff, members of our district court, we are here. This is my gosh, this is my 15th budget here. This I'm going to be presenting a three-year budget today. I'm going to talk a little bit about the current economic climate, some of the budget highlights, and then I'm going to ask for the approvals that are necessary immediately thereafter. So, we do a three-year budget here in the city of Oak Park because we like to model and plan for changes that we may not otherwise be able to see. Um, we, you know, especially as it relates to our capital improvement planning, um, this is critical. Um that includes the budget for next year beginning July 1st. Our budget year, our fiscal year is July 1, June 30, as well as the projected budgets for the two years thereafter. I always have this slide, council members. Many of you are probably sick of seeing this slide, but I want to remind everybody this was the winter of 2012 and this is what that was my mayor's there in that council, but that was my first city council right there. And that's what we were dealing with in the winter of 2012. We had a $3 million deficit, meaning we couldn't even balance our budget. And I want to just read the quote from the previous city manager here. He said, "We can no longer avoid making major changes that will significantly impair service delivery. Employee layoffs will be included. Exactly how many is uncertain, but it's obvious that there will have to be more than a few. There happened to be 32 layoffs including 15 public safety officers to balance the budget that year. Okay, so jumping right into some of the current economic climate

items as it relates to our taxable value percent change by year. This is absolutely critical to telling our story about how far we've come. So I didn't even include 2012 in here. I included 2015. So in 20 2008, our previous high taxable value was about 728 million. It went from that in 2015 down to 436 million. About a $300 million decrease and that was actually up a little bit. We've gone from that now in the 20 in 2026 where we're projecting about a 5.33% in our taxable value. And you may be wondering, well, how can we have a higher taxable value than inflation? And that's because we have a lot of new development, um, a tremendous amount of new development and new people moving into our city. And as a result of that, our percent change in taxable value is now in far in excess. Actually, it was over 2028 last year. It's now about $83 million total taxable value. So very important statistic to understand. It does tell the story of how far we've come. Now in previous years back in 2024, we were the number one city in Oakland County for taxable value increase. Um I don't know where we stand. I won't know for a while, but I'm guessing we're going to be in the top five. Um and again, revenue from one mill. So 1 mil is now, if you look back fiscal year 2007208, that was our previous all-time high, $722,000 for every one mill of taxes that we had. We have now exceeded that. We are about $832,000 for every one mill that we have. I never thought after reading that headline and that paper I just showed you, I never

imagined today when we'd be sitting here talking about something like that. I'm very proud of the work that the staff has done and the council has done to get us here. Um, now court people, look away because this is where we're going to acknowledge that we've maintained about a 17.3% general fund balance um, in our general fund, which has been great. Here's the thing. The average for a community of our size is about 25%. So, while it's great, 17% of our general fund being stowed away, it's not nearly where it needs to be. And we do have a reduction in this year's budget as a result of a deal we're going to strike with the district court to provide a larger than expected court subsidy, which is going to drive our fund balance, which is where we're going to get these funds. It's going to be down to about 16.7%. not going to be enough to get our credit rating up to double A minus. Um, I do want to point out the city's millage rate. I think there's just a lot of confusion out there about what how this works and what the city actually gets. This is the city's portion of the millages. It includes debt. And so you can see that back in 2015, our residents were paying about 37.6 mills versus the 33.07 07 mills they pay today and that's with the bonded debt for the new community center. I also want to point out in utility bills because a lot of people ask questions about this too. This is a comparison. We don't have this year's numbers yet because I don't yet know what the other cities are going to be charging. As you can see from this graph here, Oak Park is really in the center uh in our some of our comparative communities with Ferndale being the highest and Royal Oak

over here being the lowest. And this is based on an average user of about seven units per month. Um I also like to point out the retirement system funding because this is something that I'm very proud of. Um, you know, and just and again, I I hate to keep going back to 2012, but in 2012, um, Oak Park's a little bit unique. Let me digress a little more. Oak Park's a little bit unique because we have our own private retirement systems here. And so many communities of this size around the state of Michigan have outsourced that to MS or other uh, organizations. We keep ours here. And in 2012, when I came, the retirement systems did not have an amortization schedule. They had no realistic timetable for when they would fund their retirement systems here. Very, very scary stuff. Today, we are on a 17-year amterization. So, that means 17 years if we continue the way we are paying our annual contributions plus we'll get to the promised land of fully funded status, if you will. And so, on the public safety plan, we're about 63% funded in 2025. in the general plan, we're about 55% funded, which again a far cry from where we were not so long ago. Okay, so some of the budget highlights and I put these in summary. So this will be the seventh year in a row that I am not recommending a fee increase for solid waste. So we are not increasing your fees for garbage. this uh this year's water and sewer combined rate increase. We are recommending a 6% combined water and sewer rate increase far below what our calculations support. Um our calculations supported in excess of a

10% increase. Um and we think in a you know testament to trying to work with our residents um you know a 6% combined water and sewer rate increase is going to be amanable. Um and again getting back to the general fund balance, it's going to be a little bit lesser because of the larger subsidy to the district court. Um we are not for the fifth year in a row presenting a storm water utility increase to our residents. So those charges will not change. We're going to continue in the capital investment size just to name a few. Um, parks and recreation obviously is the theme here because we have so many of those things going on with our event hub and our new community center and the new Shepard Park and so many other things, Tyler Park. But we're we're really going to you're going to see in the next fiscal year, you're going to see us really push harder. Um, not only do I plan on starting construction on our our new community center next spring, um, you're going to start seeing trailways being built in some of our other parks and you're going to start seeing Tyler Park's going to be coming online. Shepard Park is actually going to be coming online. We're going to have a ribbon cutting for that on June 22nd of this year. Um, and we're going to continue making those investments that our residents uh, in all of those community meetings designated as their primary interests. And trailways, by the way, in our parks was the number one amenity throughout that process that they that they identified as the top. So, you're going to see trailways in most of our other parks. Um, and again, we're going to continue pushing forward with our bonded debt. We've already issued the 10 million to begin the community center construction project. We're going to be in the spring, we're going to be issuing the remaining 34 million in bonded debt. Remember, our bonded debt was capped at 44 million. Um, so our our new community center and council members, members of the public, you know, you're going to start seeing renderings for this thing pretty soon, but our new community center um is going to begin taking shape really quickly.

You may note that the demolitions all on the city's campus have already begun. Um, and that's going to continue until those those obsolete facilities are removed, paving the way for for our new community center. So, very exciting. Um, I do want to point out one more thing just going back to our fund balance, not having the standard, you know, let's say 25% general fund balance and not being able to increase our credit rating to double A minus. Let's say we're A+ stable if anyone's wondering. But not being able to do that means that when we issue debt, our credit rating, we're going to pay a higher rate of interest because our credit rating is not double A minus. And so there is a direct effect on us, you know, providing other subsidies and things like that on what our residents are going to pay. This is bonded debt that our residents pay and voted on uh directly. Okay, that's a lot of stuff. I don't ever want to go too deep into this. We could talk for, you know, I think the other day we talked for nine hours about the budget. So yeah, council members, I know you're exhausted with this and staff members, I know you are, too. Um, I do want to use this opportunity to directly thank um our finance director Sandre Crawford, uh, deputy finance director Josh Johnson, Carl Johnson, uh, Sabrina Lila, Dave Doster, um, many other people who worked on the budget process, um, which by the way starts in really starts in January of each year and culminates tonight, um, with the recommendation of the formal city budget. budget. So tonight I'm asking you to approve the budget and the bud the projected budgets. I'm also asking you to approve the fiscal year 202627 millig rates. And then finally I'm asking you to approve the 20 202627 fee schedule which is in your packets council members. And then additionally there is a memo um of memorandum of

understanding immediately after that in the agenda packet which will be a memorandum of understanding with our district court to provide uh as I mentioned a little bit larger subsidy um with the hopes that we can you know build some momentum on identifying some cost savings and uh you know helping them get some better financials uh so we're not subsidizing it from our general fund balance. And with that, council members, thank you, city staff, residents, business owners, and city council. Are there any questions, we are very impressed with all you have done and all the staff has done.

I'm going to deflect that right to the staff because I mean, honestly, the staff is to thank for all of the hard work. I just appreciate it so much. Thank you for your time and your presentation. Thank you. Public hearing now. That's it.

Yep. Okay. Item nine, uh, public hearings. 9A is a public hearing to receive citizen comments regarding the proposed fisc year 2627 budget and property tax millage rates. and acknowledge the multi-year budget including projections for fiscal years 2728 and 2829. Is there a motion? Well, first public hearing. If anyone is here to speak about the budget, um please come up and give us your name and address.

All right. Good evening. Uh my name is Jamie Pala Horowitz. I am chief judge of the 45th district court. Uh mayor, city council, city manager. Uh I want to thank you uh for your attention and your diligence during our budget negotiations, our budget presentation. It was a long one. Um but I really really appreciated your attentiveness. Um I appreciated your feedback. Um I really enjoyed presenting in front of you this year and I really appreciate the attention to detail. Um we are asking that you adopt the memorandum of understanding tonight. Um and this is meant to address our staffing needs as well as as well as beginning to address our aging infrastructure. Um I just just want to highlight um this is not a subsidy to the court. We are a statutory requirement. Um the city is required to fund the operation and the maintenance of the district court. We really pushed back this year um you know trying to budget a court around ticket revenue on the backs of litigants um is is not the right thing to do. Um we are a million dollars underfunded from other courts that are similarly situated. So, I am truly appreciative that the council is starting to address our needs um and making sure that our our building is um being taken care of. So, I I very much appreciate the memorandum um that we have uh come to an agreement on the city manager, myself with council. Thank you for that. Um as always, we are committed to this community. We are committed to providing equal access to justice for all people. Um we also want to thank you for your continued support for our specialty court programs. We still continue to have behavioral health and wellness court, the veterans treatment court, and we applied for a $50,000 grant with the state this year for Operation Drive. We are the only court in the county that got this grant. It was highly competitive. Um, this really helps us to start addressing what I just talked about, this this issue of um finding litigants into poverty, trying to build a budget around litigants in the court system. Um, Councilman

Crawford, thank you again for sitting through our docket. Uh this grant will help us us the courts and the stakeholders um to eliminate barriers that prevent otherwise safe drivers from getting their license. This means more people back to work, more people driving their children to school without looking over their shoulders. Our court is always committed to restorative justice. I thank you again and I look forward to the vote this evening. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Any other comments about the budget? Uh, good evening. Kenneth Sherman, 23840 Jerome Street in Oak Park. Have one question to ask and one suggestion for either this budget period or maybe for future budgets. Uh, my first is question. Is there a rainy day fund? um for lack of a better terminology in the three-year budget that the city has. And then my um suggestion is a lot of neighboring cities, especially as an example, the city of Southfield um use their public safety EMS to transport patients to hospitals. and I wondered is that something that the city of Oak Park could or should consider to add revenue to the budget and to the city. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Any other uh comments about the budget?

Hi there. Uh my name is Sophia Lada. Uh my husband and I just bought our first home in Oak Park in 2024. Um and we're really excited. We love living here. We love the bike lanes on Nine Mile and we're really excited about all of the things that are happening over here. Um one thing that I did want to bring up is that we bought a fixer upper which has been fun and expensive and um when we got our summer property tax bill last year, we were like, "Wow, what this is, you know, more than we thought it would be." Um, and so, um, you know, I kind of did a deep dive and read about how we're still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, and now I understand why that it's that much. Um, and obviously the presentation tonight was super informative. So, thank you so much for that. Um, but one question I did have was um, you mentioned that like we're on the way to fully funding the um, retirement system, which is really cool, by the way, that we have a private um, system for that. And I was just wondering like once it is fully funded, will that still be a part of the millage rates or at that point if it'll be like taken off or what the process is like of like maintaining that fund once it's complete. So yeah, but thank you all so much for the work that you're doing and yeah, it's nice to see you all in person. So

thank you for being engaged. Thank you. Yeah. Any other comments about the budget hearing? None. Uh I will declare that public hearing closed. Item 9B. Need a motion uh to approve the resolution adopting the fiscal year 2627 budget and millage rates and acknowledging the multi-year budget including projections for fiscal years 2728 and 2829. Second. Thank you. Uh discussion or questions. Roll call, please. Uh, Council Member Crawford, yes. Mayor Prom Edgar,

yes. Mayor Mlullen, yes. Council member Radner, yes. Motion carried. Thank you. Let's see. Item 9C, adoption of the fiscal year 2026 27 fee schedule. First, we need a motion to adopt. So moved. Thank you. Second. Thank you. Uh discussion. Um city manager a few words.

Uh madame mayor, members of council. So this is um as presented to you during the budget sessions. Um the changes are denoted in red um to the right of the current. Um I'd be happy to ask any questions if you have any specific. Um I I want to just also mention, you know, obviously with the event hub coming online, we're going to have, you know, different or new fees, I should say. Um as well as the administrative hearings bureau coming online, there's going to be new fees associated with that as well. Um so outside of that, if you have any questions, be happy to city manager, could you talk a little bit about those fees for the event hub

just in terms of wh

which page? Uh starting on page 10, actually all of page 10 is the event hub fees. Um you know, and then going into page half of page 11. Um so most of these with the exception of the farmers market, obviously those are a carryover. Um they'll just be at the event hub. Now, those fees are um you know, this kind of goes back to we've had a work session here, city council members, where we've talked about how we identify the fees. And in this case, and not always this this way, but in this case, this is a um you know, being a government entity, not for-profit entity, we cannot make money on our operation. Um so these fees, we believe based on not only comparatives and other event hub type facilities, but also just based on our overhead, so our staff time, maintenance, etc. We believe these fees will most closely resemble what could be almost 100 direct offset um of our costs associated with running and maintaining the event hub.

Excellent. Are we going to add any staff? We actually um we'll have two full-time staff um in the and they'll be staffed in the event hub. There's two office spaces inside of there. Um, but outside of that, we will not be adding additional staff, but maybe see I'm sorry, say it again. Pardon?

Yeah. So, building monitors, but we'll have those in the We've had those in the recreation department anyway, but as you know, council members, Erin Foley is our event hub manager. She's not here, but we're very excited about her receiving that promotion. It's wonderful. Any further questions? Uh, roll call vote, please. Mayor Pro Tim Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlullen, yes. Council member Rner, yes. Council member Crawford, yes.

Motion carried unanimously. Thank you. Um item 9D, resolution approving the budget memorandum of understanding with the 45th district court. Um motion to approve, please. So moved. Second.

Thank you. Uh discussion or questions. Just a a note of thanks to our u court officers who really worked hard with us and really were um I felt we really worked as a team to come to a to a common understanding. So and I thought the budget of memorandum the the memorandum of understanding was called for. So thank you for working with the city. We appreciate everything you do. M American

I I also want to um specific not only um thank our two judges and our court administrator, but I also want to thank city council members for just all of your input and the staff. Of course, um the budget process can be difficult. Um but but it is what it is. Um painful.

What what our goal I mean the same goal that the court has is the same goal the city has, which is obviously we're trying to protect the city's assets and get the best deal for the city. So I believe working with our colleagues that this is a great framework for the future. Um and if taken seriously and we we move through this and we'll certainly take our aspects of this seriously on some of the building issues um which I believe are our responsibility to do but I believe if we can work collaboratively um going forward we can find some solutions. So I want to thank all of you long process hard process but here we are. Excellent. Thank you. Roll call please. Mayor Mlen, yes. Council member Radner,

yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Mayor Pro Tim Edgar, yes. Item 10, special licenses. Hold on one second. Yes, we need a motion, right? Oh, and then amend the budget. Did we Is this resolution approving this sufficient to amend the budget? It is not. Um, and I apologize. I meant to say that. But so you've approved theou um but then now there needs to be a motion to amend the budget that you just approved. So a motion to which we don't normally do but

amend the new budget um uh with this memorandum of understanding with the 45th district court. Okay. Solomon, you know that's another separate Did you make the motion? No, we need we need someone to make the motion. So, um I make a motion that we amend uh the 2026 2027 budget um with the changes from the memorandum of understanding. Is that correct? Is that good? Second. Second. Good discussion. Roll call, please.

Council member Rner. Yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Mayor Prom Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlen, yes. Motion carried unanimously. Thank you. On a lighter note, special licenses request for a special event license submitted by Miranda Monet 23201 Republic for a block party to be held June 20th, 2026 from 1 p.m. to 4. Is there a motion? Is there Yep. Thank you. Um, all those in favor, please say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion carried. Accounting reports 11A. Uh, approval for payment invoices submitted by Garen Luca Miller, PC for legal services in the amount of $15,236.71. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Thank you. Second. Second. Thank you. Um, as far as discussion, I think we get fine service from our attorneys and um, they are fair in their fees. Roll call, please. Council member Crawford, yes. Mayor Prom Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlullen, yes. Council member Rner, yes.

Motion carried. Thank you. 11B. Approval for payment of an invoice submitted by Dick Faber Kaplan for legal services and the total amount of $6,500. So moved. Second. Discussion. Roll call, please. Mayor Prom Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlullen, yes. Council member Rner, yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Motion carried. Thank you. Item 12, bids. request to award the bid for the construction fencing portion of the new community center project to American Fence and Supply of Warren, Michigan for a total amount of $40,159. We need a motion.

So moved. Second. Thank you. And this, as I understand, is for temporary fencing while the construction is going on.

Correct. Uh good evening, mayor, city council, city manager Tungate. Uh you are correct, mayor. This is for temporary construction fencing around the site um before construction starts and throughout the construction of the community center. So on April 16th, 2026 at the regular city council meeting, this uh city council approved the request to bid the construction fencing portion of the city um community center project. On May 6, six bids were received and opened. The low bidder American Fencing Supply of Warren, Michigan submitted a total bid of $40,159 and they met all the criteria in our contract. This project provide labor, equipment, and materials for phase one of the construction fencing for the new community center project. We have worked with American Fence in the past and are comfortable with their work. It is recommended the city council award the bid for the construction fencing portion of the project to American Fence and Supply of Warren, Michigan in the total amount of $40,159. funding will be available in the community center fund.

Okay. We don't have a motion. We do. We do. Okay. Uh any discussion or questions? I do have a question. Mayor Prom. Um wasn't this the company that um failed to finish the fencing project at the dog park? Didn't we have to go after them? That was a different That was Mcome Fence Outlet.

I thought it was American. No, American Fence has done extensive work for us. They're doing some work right now for us. They've done fence repairs. I believe American Fence did the first stage of the nine mile construction fencing through the linear park. Um they did bid on that project, but Mcome Fence Outlet was the vendor you're speaking of. So you're you're happy with American, correct? Yes. Further questions? Roll call, please. Mayor Mlen, yes. Council member Radner, yes. Council member Crawford. Yes. Mayor Prom Edgar. Yes.

Okay. Motion carried. Item 13, ordinances, second reading and adoption of an ordinance amending chapter 2, article two of the code of ordinances to add division 2 establishing the administrative hearings bureau. Do we have a motion to approve the second reading? So moved. Second. Thank you. Uh discussion or questions? Roll call, please. Council member Radner, yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Mayor Prom Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlen, yes. Motion carried. Thank you.

Item B, first reading of a proposed of proposed text amendments to the city of Oak Park's zoning ordinance in the following sections. Article 3, Division 1, general provisions to add regulations regarding electric vehicle EV charging stations and article 4, division 4 signs. We need a motion to approve the first reading. So moved. Second. Thank you. Um explanation. Thank you.

Yeah, sure. Uh good evening, mayor, city council, and city manager Tangate. Before you tonight is a proposed amendment to the city zoning ordinance that adds regulation regulations for electric vehicle charging stations along with minor revisions to the sign ordinance. We have been receiving requests to install EV charging stations on a variety of properties. Currently, our ordinance does not include specific standards to address these requests. This amendment is intended to establish a clear framework that defines when EV charging stations are considered a principle and accessory use, identifies where they are permitted, and outlines the applicable review process and site regulations. In addition, we have prepared electric vehicle charging stations station guidelines to complement the ordinance. These guidelines are advisory and provide best practices to assist property owners and developers in planning for EV infrastructure. Together, the ordinance and guideline create a balanced approach providing regulatory clarity while supporting a long-term planning and investment as demand for EV infrastructure continues to grow. The planning commission at its meeting on May 4th voted to recommend the city council adopt the proposed text amendments. With that, we uh recommend approval of the first reading of the proposed ordinance. Thank you.

Um do we have a motion? Yes, we do. Okay. Um during the council meeting, um an interesting question came up that it takes uh 20 minutes to get 80% uh charged, which is what you want to get. 30 minutes from zero to 80% it will take 30 minutes 30 minutes uh for a 100% one full hour right but they don't recommend that you go for 100%

so the question came up what about these uh new ones that can do it in five minutes so they said that they are ready all the stations going to be ready just to swap the cord and install the new um like any technology that's going to be ready for justice swapping.

It was also interesting that uh the car makers are very anxious to get this uh infrastructure uh out in cities um so that uh making the electric car something that we can do. Just to give the city council a background at the planning commission meeting, uh a new site plan review was approved for Iana uh electric vehicle station. It's a privately funded company founded by eight major automakers including BMW, GM, Honda, Honda, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stalantest and Toyota. they are building uh level three uh which is fast charging uh stations across the US. Uh currently they have 108 sites um and more than 300 sites are in the development. Three in Michigan, one in Oak Park just was approved at the last meeting, one in Rochester Hills and the other one in Farmington Hills. And that's what the mayor was referring to.

Where is the third one? Oak Park, Farmington Hills, and Farmington Hills, Rochester Hills, and Oak Rochester. Yes. Rochester. And we just received today an application for administrative review to add uh charging stations at the Kroger uh parking lot. Okay. So, and that's why we need the ordinance. Okay. Uh questions, discussion. Okay. Um, I was interested to see that the price of filling your tank either with gas or electricity is almost the same.

It's it's it's going to vary depends on the gas prices, right? Yeah. And the region and in California there's a bigger change than in Michigan. Yeah. Uh sign of the times. It's new things happening and u the city is adjusting to the to the new to get you after. Um roll call please. Council member Crawford. Yes. Mayor Prom Edgar. Yes. Mayor Mlen. Yes. Council member Rner. Yes.

Motion carried. Thank you. City attorney. Uh Courtney Krauss. We do not have any Freedom of Information Act appeals for this evening. Glory B. Uh, city manager Eric Tungate. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of council. I have a couple of things to um speak to before we get to item 15A1. Um, we do have our city assessor, Don Sheets, is here with us tonight to talk about that. Um, couple of things though. Um, one is I wanted to um I think we have a graphic to put up about the council member appointment schedule. Ask a question.

And so I wanted to make sure council members that

there we go. Well, hard to read, but the we've had in my tenure at least and then I think even before that, we've had council members um step down before. um when they step down, the city charter has a very explicit process that must be followed. And so, one of the things that I wanted to point out to the public is that city council just initiated one of those things by accepting the resignation of Shawn Whitehead. uh effective immediately, the council acting on the resignation um will start the application process which will be published as it has been in the past on the website in social media and that will be done tomorrow. Um the deadline, bless you. The deadline to receive applications from candidates will be June 1st. Council evaluation of candidates to determine interviews will happen from June 2nd to June 5th. We will contact the final candidates to schedule interviews for June 5th. Have the interviews on June 8th at a special council meeting. And then if all goes well, council appoints a new council member at the council meeting, the regular council meeting scheduled for June 15th. The city charter deadline to complete the appointment is 30 days. Um, and that 30 days would be up on June 17th. So, I wanted to point this out, council members, um, and members of our public, if you are interested, the application process will be out there, um, with a link. So, there you go. Okay. Also, and I'd like to ask Director Cooper to join me at the podium for the next one, which is I'd like to issue a statement um, regarding literature that is being distributed in our community. The city of Oak Park is aware of anti-semitic literature distributed in

around in and around our community on Saturday evening. While we recognize and uphold First Amendment protections, I want to make it clear that the city strongly condemns hateful and discriminatory materials of any kind and will uphold the law to the fullest extent possible. In recent months, Oak Park Public Safety has increased its presence around places of worship, schools, parks, and other community gathering spaces to help ensure the safety and well-being of our residents. So, the city of Oak Park remains committed to fostering a community where residents feel safe, welcome, and respected. Acts of violence, intimidation, or threats directed at any individual or group based on religion, race, ethnicity, or identity will not be tolerated. Residents are encouraged to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity. Of course, as always, in an emergency, dial 911. in a non-emergency concern, you may report those to Oak Park public safety at 248-691-7520. I want to thank our director of public safety, Steve Cooper, who has been all over this since it started. And I want to thank our residents and community partners for their continued cooperation and commitment to keeping Oak Park a safe and supportive community for all. Director Cooper, I would ask if you'd like to share any comments of your own. Um, I would just uh simply like to say I echo the uh city manager sentiments. Uh, I was made aware of the incident uh early Sunday morning and uh at that time we were uh very it's on Mayor.

Yes, ma'am. Okay. Yeah, you can't hear me. I'm need to speak up. Big boy voice. Thank you.

We were made aware I was made aware of it early Sunday morning and immediately contacted the city manager and our team was uh in in action. Um, like I said, we are investigating uh it currently. Um, our investigation bureau uh is asking that if you have any leads or any information uh any doorbell uh footage or any surveillance that uh may assist us in the investigation, please do not hesitate to uh to bring that forward. Uh and as always, like I said, if you want to contact me directly, you're more than welcome. But like the city manager said, obviously uh hate has no place in in our uh in our world today. And uh Euro Park Public Safety Department will do everything that we can to make sure that you're safe. We want you to be comfortable moving about the community in your normal fashion and uh let us worry about your safety. So uh like I said, uh if there's anything that I can do personally or our team, don't hesitate to reach out and uh let me know.

Director Cooper, could you speak just a little bit? You know, I know unfortunately this is not just unique to our community. This has happened in some communities nearby. Could you speak to that a little bit?

That's correct. I I've been in touch with the director of public safety from uh Berkeley uh uh Matt Kaine and also the uh city manager director of public safety from Huntington Woods, Andrew Pazahowski, uh since this incident's happening. So, we've been sharing information. uh the pattern is pretty much identical and uh like I said, we we've always worked really well with our our surrounding uh communities and uh we'll continue to do so. So, like I said, it's awful. I know Berkeley uh got hit with probably about a hundred of those flyers that went out. I'm not sure as far as the number for Huntington Woods and we had about about 50 that went out in uh in one particular area of our our community. So, we take it very seriously. Uh, we want you to know that we're not asleep at the switch or at the wheel and uh we will do uh whatever whatever it takes, like I say, to keep this community safe. And we want you to feel um you know, welcome here. You're more than welcome to to to work, live, play in Oak Park, but want you to do it respectfully. And uh with that, like I said, unless council has any questions uh for me specifically, uh please know that we're we're doing everything that we can to stay on top of it.

Thank you, Director Cooper.

Thank you for being all over it. Okay, council members, I'm going to move, unless there are questions or comments, I'm going to move to 15A1 uh and ask Dawn to join me at the podium. I know you love the spotlight uh for the Bellefor Community Fund lot combination request. Good evening everyone. Um Belffor Community Fund um they own three parcels over on Belffor. They have requested to combine two of the lots. Um they're going to demolish the homes and they're going to build a synagogue. Originally it was going to be three parcels. The third parcel is in a different school district. So um they are still going to use it as the parking lot. um they're going to um record a declaration of restrictions so they can only be used as a parking lot for um the synagogue. So um we would request that you approve the proposed um platted lot combination. Okay, we need a motion. Motion to approve, please.

So second, thank you. Take your pick out. Any questions? I do have a question. Um, may Mayor Proim Julie Edgar. Hi, Don. Hi. So, um, I'm not sure I understand if we agree to combine these lots, why what difference does it make how they use the parking lot? I mean, if we if we approve the combining these Why can't they use it for other other things?

Well, there was three lots and when they um um planning approved everything, they have to have all those lots. Um I would imagine municipal services can probably explain it better than I can since, you know, they approve um that type of stuff. for my purpose. Um they would need to have that kind of a deed restriction for that parking lot because the original configuration um originally took up all three lots. But since they can't combine all three lots, they can only combine two of them together. They put the deed restriction on that third one so that it stays as it's supposed to be used in order for it for the proposed plan. the site plan.

So, Salam, can you speak to the site plan just for clarification?

Yes, sure. Um, so the site plan was approved for three parcels for the entire synagogue which have the synagogue and a parking lot. uh when they submitted and the site plan one of the conditions is to combine the three parcels into a single parcel. When they submitted for the assessing department they found out that two parcels um fall under um a different school district I think

Berkeley. Yes. Uh so the three parcels cannot be combined. So we went back to the planning commission and we asked them to amend the approval to have two parcels approved and uh execute a deed of restriction on the third parcel that it's going to save as a parking and any future development has to be approved and reviewed by the city. So just because it's a one project, we want to make sure that it is one project and it will provide adequate parking spaces for the synagogue.

And my understanding is that part of Oak Park is in the Oak Park School District. So you're saying that one one of those lots is Berkeley. two under uh one school uh I think two two lots are in Berkeley school district and one is in Oak Park. Yeah, because the entirety of Oaks on Lincoln is the Oak Park school district, right? And that's pretty much right there.

You know, I looked at the map and exactly it's like the school district is split um yeah within these parcels. So that's why there is one parcel within a school district and two parcels within another another school district and it's not allowed to combine the three parcels. And so how how many parking spots are required of the developers? I I can't remember right now but they went to the uh zoning board of appeals and they got uh a reduction for the parking. So we need the entire parking spaces that's right now on the site plan approved.

So that that's an important point to to note is they the ZBA approved them to have 27 spaces. It's a common practice for synagogues to have reduced parking spaces because they don't depend on like vehicles on Saturdays and main holidays. So that parking lot will it take up the what was going to be occupied or what is occupied by a house right now?

Yeah. Three parcels were occupied by houses. They're going to be demolished and it's going to be one site for the synagogue. The synagogue sits on the east side going to be or the west side and the middle and the east uh parcel going to be parking spaces with landscaped areas. Thank you. Um, are we ready to vote? Roll call, please. Mayor Prom Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlen, yes. Council member Rner, yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Motion carried. Thank you.

Okay, moving right along. We have 15 A2. Oh, looks like we have a competition to see who's going to speak to 15 A2. This has never happened before. I'm gonna say our director of finance needs to speak to this one.

Good evening, mayor, mayor prom Edgar, city council members, and city manager Tongate. Before you is a request to receive and approve exception recommendations regarding the special assessment districts. At the council meeting of April 6th, the city council adopted the special assessment resolution number nine to confirm the role with the exception of 38 which were removed temporarily for further review. City council also adopted the special assessment resolution number 10 setting the due date of June 2nd, 2026 together with a penalty of 10% for special assessment district number 731 for delinquent utilities. The recommended action is as follows. It is recommended that the unpaid invoices belonging to the following parcels be restored to the special assessment district 731 along with the original 10% penalty. 21947 Kulage 22110 Whitmore 8501 Colgate 231 131 Park Lawn 14 311 9mm 15 200 Sutherland 22810 Rosewood 218 831 Coolage 238 840 Onita 22 021 Stratford 23 091 Rowan Oak 23530 Morton 22040 Dante 2351 Majestic 22120 Sussex

243 0 Jerome 24501 Pine View, 8440 Oak Park Boulevard, 23611 Cloverline, 21841 Clover Lawn, 24081 Cynica, 13741 Kingston, 23430 Beverly, 211 110 West Hampton 12920 Northfield 13630 Naen and the following parcels be removed from the special assessment district 731 along with the original 10% penalty 10 300 Oak Park Boulevard 2591 Stratford Place 216 681 Whitmore 24081 Moritz 13620 Label 24320 Church 24280 West Hampton 23740 Wildwood 24 630 Gardener 24121 Onita 22 22 131 Avon and 23 171 Beverly. Okay. Um we need a motion to receive and approve these exception recommendations regarding special assessment districts.

So moved.

Second. Thank you. um questions. Just if anyone objected to um to the recommendations, how did we investigate and what kind of letter was sent to the people and so whether they came to the public hearing, whether they submitted it by letter um or met with again someone at staff that was present. Um we reviewed staff took the request, reviewed it and sent letters to investigate all of the ones that um pro uh that were uh exceptions or that we reviewed were delinquent water. So we reviewed and so once staff determined which ones should be restored, we sent letters. Once they determined the ones that should not be on there, we sent letters as well. So they were notified. So anybody

each one was investigated carefully? Yes, we sent over I believe it was what 38 letters out to all um individuals who had wanted us to review that were exception at that public hearing to be reviewed. Okay. Um any discussion? Yes. um council member Stephanie Crawford and uh from my understanding they were given until what was it close of business today to make payment?

Actually they'll be given to um so once we um after we investigated um we sent the letters and we notified them. So now what will happen tomorrow is that we will send notice for those that we're putting back on the role. They will get that information sent to them with the 10% penalty. The due date is still September 2nd, I'm excuse me, June 2nd to pay whatever the balance is that's left. After that date, then another 5% penalty will be added and then it will be put on the property taxes.

I thought I saw a May 18th date in the letter. Maybe I read that wrong. um if they will for the for the ones that were investigated. And um can I can I weigh in too? I I think you're referring just to today in terms of when they were either going to be placed back on or permanently removed. So that date is June 2nd. June 2nd to pay um to avoid it going on property taxes. Okay. Okay. And an additional 5% penalty being added. They have to pay by June 2nd. June 2nd. So everyone Okay. Thank you. You're welcome.

Further questions. Um, let's see. So, uh, roll call, please. Mayor Mlen, yes. Council member Radner, yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Mayor Prom Edgar, yes. Thank you. Motion carried. Thank you, Director Crawford. 15B1. We have our deputy city manager, David Doster.

Good evening again. Uh before you tonight is our monthly uh payment for the event hub project. So this is uh pay application number 11 and proposed change order number nine. The construction manager, architect and city administration have all approved this payment. The change order is for construction field changes associated with the project. Uh Frank Rewald, our construction manager, will disperse these funds to the various contractors and the payment is for a period ending April 30th, 2026. Uh as you may have noted, the interior is nearing completion and we are now working on the exterior of the project. It is approximately 67% completed. And before you tonight, it's recommended that pay application number 11 and change order number nine for the EventHub project be approved in the amounts of $633,18.93 and0 respectively. Funding is available in the EventHub fund that I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

First, we uh can we have a motion to approve the pay application? So moved. Second. Thank you. Uh questions or comments? Madame Mayor, can I just add to I I want to point out something, council members, on the um front page of the of the approval, the application approval that

this is a testament to Dave's leadership on this project that we have not had a change order since the very very beginning. Um you'll see z all zeros and that is a testament and it showcases good project management. Dave, thank you for that. Excellent. Thank you. Any further questions? Roll call, please. Council member Radner, yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Mayor Pro Tim Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlen, yes. Motion carries.

Dave, stay right there because we're going to Council members, we're going to jump right into the um Elevate Oak Park update. I'm not going to speak too much about the community center uh update. However, we did have our community center meetings um earlier today from 4:30 to 6:30 and we received input. Um there is a flyer with a QR code and I'm sure Britney's going to love that I'm putting it up to the camera. That's not going to help, is it? Um we are seeking your input. um community members. I do want to spend a little bit more time tonight though on the event hub and band shell which I as you know um just by looking next door is coming together really quickly. Um I am beyond excited for June 30th when we get to allow our community to come into this amazing facility that they have earned and worked so hard for. Um it'll be really a new chapter um in this city's history. Dave, do you want to go through the report though?

Sure. So, as uh we do have a month, Frank Real, our construction manager, provides a quick monthly update of the project. Uh you'll see some of the pictures and some of the items listed are again, this is through April 30th. A lot of work has been completed since then. Uh all the concrete flooring inside has been uh completed. The polishing has been completed, metal sophets, uh the band shell is completed, the roof screening, electrical lighting is is all done now. Um you've seen some of the color changing elements that we had on while we get some of the programming done. Uh but moving into May, we're wrapping up some of the uh landscaping. Uh today they finish up top soil. We're going to see the irrigation and the landscaper come in as early as this week. Still wrapping up some of those ballards, some of those security features. And we have a lot of stuff to do inside yet. So, we're still working on security. We're still working on cameras, uh, networking, things like that. Some of the office furniture and some of the amenities still need to arrive on site. So, a lot of work to do, but a lot of progress is being made. Uh, we still have about

uh back one. What's the circular um shape between the event hub and the band shell? Yep. So, that's that's just the open green space. We have the band shell that kind of overlooks the event hub patio. That green space is for the community to enjoy whether it be picnics, whether it be sitting out for the the the summer concert series or whatever you have you. But that is a large just a gathering space. It'll be sided. It'll be grass. Thank you.

But yeah, I mean we still have about $2.5 million to build on this project, but we are proceeding on schedule and on budget at this point. Uh happy to answer any specific questions you may have, but things are progressing well. Yes. Mayor Prom Julie Edgar, is there anything in the budget for shade? Um, we do have obviously large canopies in the building. Uh, we do have nine picnic tables arriving in two weeks. Six have umbrella shades on them. We do have uh, city manager I just talked about this 100 trees on the site. I thought it was 82, but it might be 82. Yeah. Yeah.

Um obviously those trees will take a little bit of time to mature. Uh but those are um those are trees that are added onto the site plan. So it may take a little bit for those to mature, but we do have the large canopies, the umbrellas and things like that that will provide shade uh at this point. Yes.

Dave, Madame Mayor, can I um I I do also want to mention, you know, council members, earlier we had um the memorial for Henry Wolf. Um, we do have a placard on a boulder, if you will, um, over in between the old public safety and the new public safety. Our intent is to move that boulder as well as the Mason Samorski boulder with the placard over to the memorial garden area, which Dave, I was hoping you could give a little bit of an update on that portion of the project because that's one of the most overlooked portions of this project.

Yeah. So, when the far west uh I guess would be southwest portion of the project um outside the west entrance to the actual event hub, there's a small area over there. You can see now there's a mound, a small hill. It's by the sign for the um library. Uh in that corner, there's a small limestone path. There's some lighted ballards in there. There's some benches in there. And it's really the small reflection area, memorial garden that we have uh either for officers fall in the line of duty or whatever we determine that kind of memorial area will be. Uh they're working on that right now. They've cut out some of the grade. Some of that will be some plantings and some small trees. Some of it will be grass, but it'll be a nice limestone path through that area.

Nice. Nice. Any further questions? Thank you. So there's um we can just accept the report. We don't need to vote. Yep. Thank you. Anything else? Okay. We love when you bring us good news. Yes. Okay. Um 15D1, we have our deputy city manager of community services, Adam Ozarzac, here. Council members, more. This is another big step for us. This is something that we've added to the agenda. Go ahead. Good even. Yeah, there you go.

Uh good evening, mayor, city council, city manager Tongate. Uh before you um we have essentially um our replacement for for GV QA. Um earlier this year, we were notified by Granus um who is the vendor for GV QA that they are sunsetting that program. uh when we were made aware um we started the our due diligence process of looking at different vendors uh to see what the most cost-effective and best option for the city of Oak Park would be. Um of those three vendors, we did see uh Granakus' new version uh essentially GovQa 2.0, but it was called uh different name. Uh Comkate, they are um essentially a 311 um that's big on the west uh coast. And then uh civic plus uh cclick fix. Um cclick fix is one that um neighboring community ferndale as well as city Detroit uses for that. Um ahead of you what we have we are proposing or recommending that council approve um a 5-year agreement with uh cclick fix um which is civic plus. Um civic plus also is our vendor for agenda management as well as some other tools. So, we felt um having uh things under one umbrella uh we were able to um negotiate some savings there as well. Um and the reason for the 5-year contract um gov QA um obviously I believe uh 2013 uhish around that time is when we adopted it. So, whatever vendor we go with, we're looking to have a long-term uh relationship with um just for the sheer fact of, you know, both on uh a staff side, easy to, you know, do the reporting as well as um the resident side um having that consistency and ease of use uh was something very important to us while looking into that. So, um we're very happy with um this new product um and feel it will keep uh the

efficiencies that GovQa has and build upon that um to ensure any request um any resident trying to speak with the city um from a digital format, we'll be able to do so. We'll be able to rectify those um questions or concerns in a streamlined manner. So, Adam, couple couple things I I was hoping you could touch on as well. Um, so I want to talk about cost in just a moment, but

council members, I think the biggest thing that you're going to notice is the mapping feature with this application. It's and as Adam mentioned, um, Civic Plus does our agenda management foyer, other things too, lots of other things. So, this brings all of those services for us inhouse. But could you talk a little bit first about the mapping feature? Maybe Tim, you can talk about that, but where PE people can report issues um and then they can visibly see it through the mapping feature. Is there more to it than that? Yeah. So, I can I'll elaborate a little more then have Tim go on, but uh essentially one of the main features that you know we feel an enhancement from GovQa is um essentially there's going to be a portal with a little drop down pin essentially um kind of a a Google maps with a pin on there. So any resident can essentially go uh if they're interested um say there's a blighted property in their neighborhood uh they can go on there and see uh it was submitted on this date and this time and then you can kind of track the follow-up if it's been assigned to code enforcement. Um so essentially it cuts down on the duplication of efforts and then you're able to click on that and kind of track the progression of um you know the status of where that is. you know, obviously going through our code process with some properties. Um, you know, sometimes, unfortunately, we can't fix things overnight. So, um, we get some phone calls of saying, you know, what's going on with this blighted property?

What if it's a new one that hasn't been reported before, like I see something and I want to drop a pin. And so essentially you would um either drop the pin or put the address and then uh similar to gov QA there is going to be a drop-own menu of different categories um where you can essentially you know a blight concern um you know abandoned car um something along those lines. It's going to be very all of the categories are going to be just the same as gov QA. Um so residents will have all the same capabilities of reporting uh similar concerns. Uh so if anything it's an enhancement they're not losing anything. Uh we're building upon and is it easier to use?

Yes. So that was one of the largest for those of us seniors who are not so techy. So mayor I did think of you when we were going through the process and learning about these different options. I was the poster child for the not techie. You're always the poster child. So, one of the features with the map that I thought was probably going to be most useful to the residents is if you're standing on the street corner and you're on the app, the phone's going to know where you're at. So, you can take a picture of a pothole and it's going to tell us exactly where it's at and that's really all you need to do. That's good. That's that's kind of the way you think. So, you're thinking ease of use is improved.

Yes, I do 100%. Yes. And and council members, I just want to add too, and I do Adam, why don't you talk about cost a minute as well, but I do want to add that, you know, we're right now with our gov QA data, um, you know, we're tying that data to investing our city resources. Um, if we know there's a problem area, of course, we know that as Tim will tell us in his reporting that we need to take a harder look at, you know, dealing with an issue that may not have been on our radar. Um, and this really goes pet and parcel with our creation of the resident services coordinator function, which I've noticed other communities around us are now copying, of course, and utilizing, um, which good for them. But it it really does tie those resources to activity um direct activity. And then Adam, I on the cost side of it um so you know the costs are higher. We're we'll be paying more for this resource. Um can you speak a little bit to that and just the bidding process in general?

Correct. Yes. So as mentioned previously uh we did uh get pricing from three vendors. Um unfortuna and I believe it was around 2013 um we were paying about $2,272 uh a year for that. Um unfortunately when we went out to bid, you know, prices obviously were a lot um higher for that. Um so for the the first year of um the roll out of Civic Plus is going to be roughly around $6,000. Um, and then it does increase to around I'd say 15

uh 14,697.

Now, however, we did um very aggressively negotiate that down. Um, one thing that we were able to do was that there um there was a 5% increase year after year. Um, we were able to remove that provision. Um, so from years two to five, we were able to keep the price the same. um where that was something with a lot of other vendors um they were kind of the pricing structure is about 3 to 5% increase year after year. Um so that we were very happy with um while it is a higher price unfortunately it's kind of the market for for what we're getting you know and the additional features. Um okay any questions? Uh, is there a motion to approve um motion to approve this 5-year professional services agreement with Civ Civic Plus?

So, second. Thank you. Um, discussion or questions? Nope. Roll call, please. Council member Crawford, yes. Mayor Prom Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlullen, yes. Council member Radner. Motion carry. Thank you. One more thing I I forgot to mention. Um with the approval of this, the roll out will be October 2026. There's going to be a implementation period and phase out of GovQa. So this will be live um October of 2026 and we'll do a very heavy um you knowformational campaign to the residents to show how easy and you know submitting a request is. Question.

Yes. And it's approximately a threemonth process to get it going. Correct. I read that. Okay. Yep. We have to work with the kind of the back end of software development and a sort of build it to Oak Park specific um and kind of make sure that each request gets routed to the proper department. Um and then we have staff training um on it as well. Okay. Thank you. Everything is a lot of work. Yeah. Thank you. And is in constant flux.

Okay, council members, one more and I am going to take this last one. 15e1 is the approval of the event hub mural and I think we have renderings we would like to put up on the screen. Just as a little background though, um uh the Detroit Institute of Arts, um has a program called There we go. Partners in Public Art and um that program began we partnered I'm sorry with that program in the DIA three years ago and last year we were selected to do a mural. We chose um the event hub for that mural. And since that time, we've been working with the DIA to conduct a community survey to gain input on what the art should reflect. And then city council hopefully tonight will be selecting the final um piece of art. Um an artist who has already been selected and her name is Luis Jones, better known as I hope I'm not messing this up, Uzi. Weezy. Her work first gained recognition after moving to Detroit in 2014, where she began painting murals of flowers on buildings and local businesses. You may have seen some of these murals in downtown Detroit. As a matter of fact, to date, her murals have been displayed in museums and public spaces throughout the US and the world, including the Henry Ford Cancer Pavilion, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. Wow.

She currently works in the public and private sector simultaneously completing floral mural commissions in addition to works on canvas that stretch the genres of still life and landscape. Um, now council members, we brought this a replica of this, if you will, to you before and we took your input back and the mural presented on the top left of the screen there is the final version that we would like you to approve this evening. Okay. First, um, we need a motion to approve the event hub mural. So, second. Thank you. Discussion. I love it. Yeah,

we're going to call it uh Mary and Sunflowers because she loves those. I'm good. You're not getting the Van Go. The Van Go. No, I think it inspired the It's It's more cheerful than the Van Go, actually. Okay. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carried. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of council, that completes the city manager report for this evening. Thank you very much. Yes. Next, we will have call to the audience.

Okay. So, here are the rules guidelines. Each speaker's remarks are a matter of public record. The speaker alone is responsible for his or her comments, and the city of Oak Park does not, by permitting such remarks, support, endorse, or accept the content thereof as being true or accurate. Any person while being heard at a city council meeting may be called to order by the chair or any council member for failure to be germanine to the business of the city, vulgarity or personal attacks on persons or institutions. There's a threeminut time limit. Okay. Um, anybody who would like to speak and has been extremely patient, thank you waiting all this time. Uh, now's the time. My name

No. Um I I I can do that. Rosetta, right? Okay. Rosetta Sadena.

Rosetta Street.

Can you grab the the mic and Yeah. pull it down a little. There you go. Thank you. I live on South Street and uh the problem that I'm having is not actually on my street. It's on Wildwood where my cousin lives. And uh it's been a big concern about a weeping willow that had been planted about 10 years ago. And from my understanding, my cousin and her neighbor came up here and complained about this weeping willow. and uh it wasn't supposed to be planted in the beginning. And so it's it's hard for me too because I ride a scooter, a handicap scooter and a lot of uh city sidewalks in Oak Park are lifted up really high from the trees and I end up having to go on the street. So, it's not really safe for me to go on the street, but it's more safer for me to go on the street than the my little scooter flips over on me. So, um I did talk to uh sorry, I have to always punch in a darn thing. Okay. Uh the complaint that I made uh was to public works and the one guy's name that stuck with me was Dave. So, I was able to write write his name down, but it was a another public works guy that I talked to that referred me to Dave because I understand Dave was supposed to be the top guy in the public works to make the decisions. So, after I complained and talked to him, uh he said that uh they couldn't knock down the tree because it was healthy. Let me take this hat off. So, it was healthy. And I felt that my

argument was it should have never been planted there. And it's almost given a person the right to do something illegally because it wasn't supposed to be planted in the first place and it we were it was told 10 years ago. Now, this tree is really big. is lifted up the sidewalk that is in front of the house that it's in front of is actually lift up the sidewalk. I mean, a lot where they had uh the house ended up getting sold and I guess investors who bought it had to end up fixing the sidewalk before they could even sell the house. Now, my understanding of Oak Park is that if a tree lifts up your sidewalk and you have to replace your sidewalk, you have to pay half of it. Not anymore. and now they want you to pay the whole thing. So I think it's unfair to let to have a illegal tree

and refuse to knock it down saying because it's healthy when it shouldn't have been planted there in the first place. And then the new homeowner that's now in that place and which it only took 10 years for this to li it it took less than 10 years for the roots to actually lift up that sidewalk. So now that new person is going to be held accountable or other taxpayers,

we all, you know, as taxpayers, we all chip in to get whatever's fixed on the sidewalks and streets and there we all are in there. That's why our taxes are high as they are, you know. So, and I don't have a problem if you're doing what you need to do. So, I just really am very very upset about it. And I even tried to call you my lovely mayor. I love her so much because she's always been very kind to me whenever I see her at the park or whatever. But I understand she's busy. But I did leave a message. My my phone number, my cell number. You can write this down.

Okay. Wait a minute. Hold on. Let me let me tell you what number I actually call because they gave me this number to call you. 248 217183. And every resident no park gets my cell number. Okay. So I am not too busy for you. That's why they pay me the big I received was uh 24821 71883. Yep. You call that number and and I left a message. Matter of fact, it was I was feeling a little guilty because I thought my message might have been too long. But I did leave a message in my phone number.

Can you do you know how to text? Can you text me that? Yeah, I can text. Do that like right now. Okay. And then before you um uh before you leave, would you speak to the gentleman in the purple shirt at the end? Uh uh Dave Daster. Okay. And thank you. And I'm sorry if you called and didn't get called right back

cuz this is I mean it's just I just think it's a lot and and the we and I even researched the weeping willow. The weeping willow causes uh you know even the piping system that you guys are really doing a good job with trying to fix up now. The water system on a lot of streets are getting fixed up. And the thing too is on her street they've knocked down all these trees. So, I was trying to catch them while they were knocking down trees. So, instead of having another truck come all the way back out, that costs money when you have to use equipment to talk um talk to director Dosta. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much for taking time to listen. Yep. And then text the mayor because she missed your message.

I will. Okay, Mary. Have a great one, guys. Is there anyone else? Yes.

Hello every Hello everyone. My name is uh Summer Moore Crawford. No relation to Miss Crawford there. Um but I just wanted to introduce myself because I am a candidate on the ballot and one thing I do know I'm running for Michigan State Representative of House District 5. I do not come to anyone's home without notifying them first. I am a Detroititer and I know that Oak Park I have relatives in Oak Park who are homeowners and so before uh coming into the community I wanted to find out um from all of you with permission what is acceptable what is not because we come with class but I just wanted to have a friendly face and not just come through the community and you're like who is this lady? Uh, my first name is spelled s o u mm m rer. Uh, so my if you want to check me out uh it's s o mm m more m o r e crawford c r a wf o r d.com and I've been doing the work for 20 years grassroots uh housing advocacy back uh workforce development is my background. My mother's retired Air Force did a lot of traveling. I just wanted to say thank you and I just wanted to introduce myself

and we welcome you to come and knock doors and talk to our residents. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Anyone else call to the council? Um, we cherish the first amendment in this country. Everyone is allowed to say whatever they want. Um, as long as they're not threatening and that allows a lot of uh negative, hateful speech that we don't like. Um, but it's legal. Um, the purpose of the flyers, it seems to me, is to provoke fear. And I think as Oak Parkers, we're tough and we don't give them what they want. We We know that our city council and our um public safety department are on this and will be protecting us as we move forward. We stay vigilant. We look out for one another, continue to show up proudly and visibly, and our response is to all stand together, confident, connected, and unafraid, and supporting one another. Uh that's who we are in Oak Park. Thank you, Mayor Prom. Thank you all for coming and um just wanted to commend uh city manager Tongate and deputy director Doster and the entire city staff for great budget. It was

daunting. It was daunting. It was a little exhausting, but we got there and I know that there was um you know, we had some back and forth with the court, but that's the way things go and that's the way things actually should be. So, um I wanted to thank everybody for uh their cooperation and um and just say I'm so excited about the event hub. It's absolutely beautiful. So, thank you for coming. Good night, Council Member um Solomon Red. It's been a long night. Good night, everybody.

I have um Thank you. That was quick. Uh Council Member Stephanie Croft. uh few couple uh couple things I want to give a shout out to the recycling and environmental conservation commission. They are just doing a lot of great things. They uh had uh park cleanup on Sunday. I was unable to attend. I want to thank my colleague Julie Edgar who was out there representing picking up trash and making our city beautiful. And they also have the Rain Barrel seminar coming up uh Thursday, May 21st in the Oak Park Community Center. If you need the address, it's 14300 Oak Park Boulevard and it's at 700 p.m. It's I went last year. It was great. Um they give you uh information on how to capture uh and reuse rainwater and it can lower your water bill and prevent flooding and keep our lakes cleaner and healthier. So, it's really a great seminar. If you can come on out, um please do. Uh let's keep growing smarter, greener, and more sustainable. And also, I just want to talk about Junth, which is coming up June 19th, and we have some great events uh coming up. We uh we're going to start off with a walk in the morning. At 7 a.m. you register and at 8 800 a.m. we're going to have line dancing and the walk. And you going to be there again, Ken Sherman? He's there. Thumbs up. He's there every year. Uh stretching. Uh we'll have a mo mobile health unit. And then we're going to have a program from 4 to 6 and it's going to be great. We have some fantastic speakers and music and dancing. And then this year we're going to have uh a new addition. We're going to call it the community block party. And we are partnering with our

public safety department. And we are going to have a DJ, band shell, music, uh food vendors, dancing, and we want the whole community to come together. Uh not too late. If you'd like to become a sponsor, please uh go on our website. you can become a sponsor and please we want the entire community to come out and just celebrate with us. So, uh it's been a long night. Thank you for coming. Good night and everyone be kind to one another. Thank you. Um, we need a um motion to convene a closed session to discuss attorney client privileged communication and pending litigation pursuant to section 8 of the open meetings act.

So move second. Second. Roll call, please. Council member Crawford, yes. Mayor Prom Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlullen, yes. Council member Rner, yes. Thank you. Okay. Out of this one, please. Yeah.

Thank