Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening, folks, and welcome to the City of Muskegon City Commission General Session for this Tuesday, August 11th, 2026. Before we get on with our agenda for this evening, we remind folks that we do have a few different public comment periods, some of which are public hearings towards the beginning of our meeting, followed by public comment on the remaining agenda items. and then at the end of the meeting we'll have general public comment for folks to share whatever they wish with the city commission in any of the public comment periods each individual has up to three minutes to provide that input directly to the city commission whether they're doing so in person or by phone we do accept phone in comment i'm going to share that phone right now just so people have it at the ready but please do not call right this moment that number is 231-724-6721 again just to have at the ready when we get to public comment periods. We'll take public comment in person first, and then we'll go to the phones for that. And as a reminder, public comment is a time for folks to give input directly to the City Commission, not necessarily back and forth, dialogue, Q&A. We can arrange that at a separate time if folks so choose. You may ask questions rhetorically, and the City Commission may be able to address them when we get to those items, though. All right. We're going to get started. We don't have a faith leader joining us this evening to lead us in prayer, so we're going to have a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. If you wish to join us in either of those activities, I ask that you stand if you are capable of doing so.

Thank you.

I pledge 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. May we have roll call, please?

Commissioner Jackson? Commissioner Cochin? Here. Commissioner St. Clair? Here. Mayor Johnson?

Here.

Commissioner Kilgo?

Here.

Vice Mayor Keener? Here. Commissioner German?

Absent. Nope, not here, and I think we have a scheduling mix-up. We said Tuesday, but we said August 12th. Oh, okay.

Interesting.

We might just have to bring her next time around. She said that her students were not able to, or the youth that are going on to graduate, wouldn't be able to join us this evening. That's why we originally scheduled that for her to present this evening, so they could join. So she was just going to present on behalf of HBCU Club, so I can always invite her to our next general session to present then as well. So we're going to jump right into new employee introduction.

They are here. Hello, everyone. I would like to introduce Mark Mayo, our new finance manager to the city. He's been here for about three weeks, four weeks? Yeah, so he's been here four weeks. So he's going to primarily help with budgeting and grant management and miscellaneous finance things. We got him, he was four years at Pioneer Resources. So he's a welcome addition to our department in the city. So let him say something.

Thank you guys. I'm very excited and thankful to be here. And been a pretty warm welcome from my whole team and literally everyone I come across so far. So just ready to get into it and appreciative of everyone's patience as I kind of wrap my head around stuff.

It's great to hear that you've had a warm welcome already, and we welcome you aboard and joining our organization. We look forward to working with you.

Appreciate it. Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you. And congratulations. Thank you. All right. We're going to jump right into our public hearings. Our first public hearing is for a neighborhood enterprise certificate at 450 Orchard Avenue. Good evening and welcome.

Good evening. Isabella Gonzalez, a development analyst for the city of Muskegon. So the public hearing is for 450 Orchard Ave. The Helms Group LLC submitted an application for a neighborhood enterprise zone certificate. It was for the construction of a new single family home at 450. The proposed one will feature three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and is located within our existing NEZ district. The estimated project cost is about $165,000. Commissioners may recognize this address from a previous NEZ application, so in 2025, The property consisted of two separate parcels that were proposed for development by a different developer. Since that time, those parcels have been combined into 450 Orchard Ave. And that previous proposal did not move forward. So no NEZ certificate was issued. And this is a new request for the current proposal. Approval of this application would grant the future property owner a tax abatement that reduces property taxes by approximately 50% for up to 15 years.

Thank you, Annalise Gonzalez. This is a public hearing, so we're going to open up to the audience if anyone has a desire to comment specifically with regard to the issuance of a Neighborhood Enterprise Certificate for 450 Orchard Avenue. Seeing no takers in the audience, we're going to go to the phones. That phone number is 231-724-6721. This is specifically an opportunity to speak on an A&Z certificate for 450 Orchard Avenue. Sorry, there's a significant delay today. We just got caught up to where I gave the number. And it does not sound like we have any takers or opponent comments for this particular public hearing. So that we may proceed, Commissioner, to entertain a motion.

I move to close the public hearing and approve a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone NEZ certificate for 15 years at 450 Orchard Avenue and authorize the city clerk and mayor to sign the applications and resolutions.

Support. All right, we have a motion by Commissioner Kochan, supported by Commissioner Kilgill. Commissioners, do you have any questions for staff on this item? Any thoughts to share before we go to vote? Yes, Commissioner Cochin.

I do have one question, and perhaps Ms. Gonzalez can help clear this up for me. The only thing that kind of struck me as odd about this was when I was looking through the packet and I looked at the actual application, it says that like the Helms Group slash Sajarda Builders slash Joe Helms. But then below under part two, Sajarda Builders was crossed out and then it looks like probably his information was crossed out. Is Sajarda Builders a part of this or no?

So to my knowledge, they are the ones constructing the homes. However, for acceptance for the construction of a new single family home at 554 Agnes Street, this home will feature two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the estimated project cost is $195,000. As stated earlier, the NEZ Act provides for the development and rehabilitation of residential housing located within eligible communities. So approval of this application would grant the future property owner a tax abatement that reduces property taxes by about 50% for up to 15 years.

Thank you. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to give comment specifically with regard to the issuance of an NEZ certificate at 554 Agnes Street? takeers from our audience. We're going to go to the phones. Phone numbers 231-724-6721. This is time to give input as part of a public hearing for any Z certificate at 554 Agnes Street. All right, does it not sound like we have any takers for phone-in comments? Commissioners, I entertain a motion.

I move to close the public hearing and approve a neighborhood enterprise zone certificate for 15 years at 554 Agnes Street and authorize the city clerk and mayor to sign the application and resolutions.

All right, we have a motion by Commissioner Kugel, supported by Vice Mayor Keener. Any questions? More thoughts to share?

Commissioner Kilgore? Vice Mayor Keener?

Or other commissioners? No?

All right. Roll call, please.

Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgore?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Motion passes.

Thank you. And our next and final public hearing. is a request to establish a plant rehabilitation district at 331 West Licton Avenue. Good evening. Can you introduce yourself and please report out?

Good evening. Joslyn Hines, Development Analyst, City of Muskegon. This particular request has come in front of you all a few times in regarding to a industrial facilities exemption certificate for the property at 331 West Lakeland Avenue. When we submitted the documentation needed for official approval by the state tax commission, we were advised that we needed to create a plant rehabilitation district as opposed to industrial development district. So this public hearing is being held so that we can make that change from an industrial development district to a plant rehabilitation district for the property located at 331 West Lincoln Avenue. Just to refresh everybody's memory, this is the American Fab Project. They are moving their operations from Spring Lake to the city of Muskegon. It'll create about 26 to 30 jobs, and they plan to make significant capital improvements to the property at 331 West Laketon. In addition to that, if this request is approved, then I will be back in front of you all at the next commission meeting asking for these changes to be made in addition to the industrial facilities exemption as well. So this is just for the plant rehabilitation district so we can move forward with making those corrections to the industrial facilities exemption certificate as well.

Excellent. Thank you, Annalise Hines.

Mm-hmm.

Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to give input as part of this public hearing on the establishment of a plant rehabilitation district at 331 West Laketon Avenue? Seeing no takers in the audience, we're going to go to the phones. That number is 231-724-6721. This is an opportunity to give input as part of a public hearing for an establishment of a plant rehabilitation district. All right. Does not sound like we have any takers for phone-in comments on this public hearing. Commissioners, you're welcome to motion.

I move to close the public hearing and approve the resolution establishing a plan Rehabilitation District at 331 West Lincoln Avenue. Authorize the Mayor and City Court to sign. Good morning.

All right. We have a motion by Vice Mayor Keener, supported by Commissioner St. Clair. Do you have anything to ask or share?

I do. I just wanted to know what is, if you could just briefly detail what the difference between a PRD is and an IDD.

That's a really good question. I should have clarified that. So the Industrial Development District is for new construction, and the Plant Rehabilitation District is for if they were rehabbing an existing building. So since they were rehabbing an existing building, we had to make sure the district was reflective of that. Okay. Thank you. That's all.

All right. Before I go to Commissioner Kilgore, I just want to make sure of the support of the motion. Okay. Commissioner Kilgore.

Just a quick question. We did authorize the previous one already?

Yes. I thought so. Okay. Yep. Yep.

Okay. Thank you.

All right. I don't know if this is a question or a comment. I guess as an encouragement. Maybe as they're moving forward with this, which we very much welcome, and they've been before us several times, and we very much appreciate them looking to relocate their business and expand their operations here in Muskegon, the site that they are looking to redevelop and do new construction on, there's property right in front of it on Lake Den, a brown brick building that's boarded up, and it's a source of light. I mean... Is there anything we can encourage them to consider potentially expanding their operation to that?

There's a consideration.

Okay, that'd be wonderful. They could end up owning that and cleaning that up and putting that into productive use. That would be wonderful.

There's a consideration.

Excellent. Thank you, Emily Fines.

You're welcome.

All right, unless there's anything else. Roll call, please.

Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgo?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Commission passes. Thank you.

All right, before we get on to public comment on agenda items, our presenter has arrived, Tara Carson with the HBCU, the Historic Black College University Club of Muskegon. Welcome.

Welcome. Good evening. My name is Tara Carson, HBCU Club of Muskegon, 754 Orchard Avenue, Muskegon, Michigan, 49442. On the behalf of the HBCU Club of Muskegon, the city of Muskegon has partnered up with the club for the last three years, making sure that our students are able to attend our annual college tours, as well as providing scholarship to our college students. As you can see, usually I bring students with me on each year, but all my students have left for college already. On that note, our class of 2026 is the most diversified class that we have graduated within the club. We have students that will be attending NYU, North Carolina A&T University, North Carolina Central University, full scholarship to Western... West Michigan University, as well as Central Michigan University. Also, we have students will be attending Wayne State University, University of M, also Alabama State, Florida A&M, Jackson State, you name it, our students are going all across the nation. So on behalf of the HBCU Club of Muskegon, we would like to recognize the city of Muskegon for your support. Coming in May 2027, we will be hosting a our first ever gala to recognize our sponsors, our donors, our community leaders, as well as the students in the West Michigan area. Thank you.

Excellent.

Any questions?

Thank you, Ms. Carson. We appreciate you being here. More importantly, we appreciate the work that you're doing.

Yes.

And look forward to joining you in celebrating that work and the students. of our community, and it's so beautiful to hear all the different universities and colleges they're going off to.

Yes, and I forgot to mention this. Out of all the students that we have serviced over the last seven years, we have had our first student to receive their Ph.D. that came through our program. Dr. Sargent, if you are online on tonight, we recognize you of your hard work and your duties that you have done. And we just look forward to serving the community even more as the years come.

That is wonderful. And congratulations to Dr. Sargent.

Thank you.

That's wonderful. Commissioners, do you have any questions for Ms. Carson? Vice Mayor?

Not necessarily. Well, yeah, a question. I'll get to the question. But just wanted to commend you for everything that you do with HBCU. You take out so much of your time with very few funds and reach so many children, giving kids the opportunity who have never even been to Grand Rapids before, an opportunity to see different parts of the United States and be able to make choices in life and not just be just stuck, even though we love Muskegon. But it's nice to have people leave and come back to serve as the community. If you could, detail for those that are watching, are listening, how they can get in contact with you. And also, just, I did want to, before you do that, she also helps with scholarships, getting the scholarships done, sending out the information, getting it to the parents. So, if you got some coins, that's a program to donate to.

Yes, the HBCU Club is located at 754 Orchard Avenue in the city of Muskegon, 49442. Our email address is the HBCU Club, C-L-U-B of Muskegon, M-U-S-K-E-G-O-N, at gmail.com. Thank you.

Thank you, Vice President. Anything else to ask our ad commissioners?

No.

Commissioner Cochin.

Yes, I would also like to extend my thanks to you and to the organization for helping our community reach new heights. I think it's an amazing organization, and I was going to ask how folks can get involved, but it sounds like we got that covered, so thank you.

Yes, so we're always looking for volunteers. We're always looking for mentors. We are always looking for donations. That's key as we get ready to prepare for our 2027 college tour. Our first meeting will be held on Saturday, August the 22nd at 2 p.m. at New Life Christian Center, 1624 Hoyt Street in the city of Muskegon where my pastor is, Jo Lange.

Excellent. Thank you so much. Oh, did we have something? Oh, yes. Commissioner St. Clair.

How long have you been doing this now? I was trying to remember.

It feels like it's been... Well, I have been doing this since I moved back in 2010, but the club has been in existence. It started off in 2019 as an LLC, and then we transitioned over to a 501C3 in, I think, around 21, 22. So... Yes. So we've been doing this for a long time.

I've been with you since 2019 on it. Yes. Thank you for the work that you do. I know quite a few of the youth who have come through personally and they've been really impacted on the opportunities that you've exposed them to. I think it's very easy to think small without opportunities to see all that's out there and You have created something that has, I think, given people a different perspective that I think will be world-changing in the long term. So thank you.

Yes, and just because they say HBCU Club of Muskegon, we service all students in the West Michigan area, including all school districts in Muskegon County. So for those who are watching and listening on today, it's not just limited to the city of Muskegon. We service everyone in Muskegon County.

Excellent. Thank you, Commissioner St. Clair. Commissioner Kilgore.

Ms. Carson, thank you again for being here this evening. And we all, I see we just appreciate the club and what you do. And I think it's an opportunity to help negate some of the brain drain. We have some brilliant minds here in Muskegon with our youth and our young people. and giving them the opportunity to go off to college, surrounded by community members who come and volunteer, donate and care, it may give them the opportunity to come back home and serve with all of that knowledge that they've gained. So please continue to do what you do. We appreciate you.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Keokal. Thank you again for joining us this evening.

I do apologize. I just want to put this on the record. I do apologize for my tardiness. I was in a work meeting, and so it went over time. No worries.

I was about to text you and be like, are you on your way? And then I noticed, like, wait, I said August 12th. I was like, it was Tuesday, August 12th. And I was like, maybe she got the date mixed up. And I was like, I don't have a follow-up. I was like, we can have our next meeting if we got the calendar mixed up. But then you walked in. So we were happy to accommodate you. And no worries on the tardiness. But we appreciate you joining us this evening. We know you have a busy schedule. And we very much appreciate all that you do for our community. And thank you for sharing those updates and the success stories. It's beautiful. So thank you. Many thanks and congrats.

Thank you so much.

And take care. Be well. All right, we're going to go to public comment on agenda items. I don't have any forms to speak on an agenda item. Have you received any, Madam Clerk?

I have not.

All right. Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to give input on an agenda item or items? Seeing no takers, we're going to go to the phones. That number is 231-724-6721. It's an opportunity to give input on one of our agenda items or items. When you call in, please turn down any audio in the background. State your name, if you're a City of Muskegon resident, which neighborhood you're calling from, and if you're not a City of Muskegon resident, which other township, village, or city you're calling from. And please announce which items you're speaking on.

Thank you.

All right, does it sound like we have any takers for phone-in comments on agenda items? Commissioners, you've had an opportunity to review the consent agenda. Are there any items that you wish to have removed for separate discussion and vote? Yes, Commissioner Cochran.

Item B is avoid. J and K.

Any others, commissioners? All right, see, Commissioner Kilgore?

It's on there.

No? All right. If there are no others, I would entertain a motion to adopt the consent agenda as presented, minus items B, J, and K. So moved. Support. We have a motion by Commissioner St. Clair, supported by Commissioner Kilgore. If there's no discussion, roll call, please.

Commissioner Kilgore?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Motion passes.

All right. Thank you. Item B, Amendment to City Acquired Property Purchase Agreement, 3rd Street Parcel. Commissioner Cochin.

I move to approve the amendment made to the City Acquired Property Purchase Agreement and authorize the Mayor and Clerk to sign.

Support. All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Cochin, supported by Commissioner Kilgore. Mr. Manager.

Yeah, so this is the purchasing of the third street property, the 3.12 acres. I'm going to probably defer to legal counsel a little bit because he got into the document more, but essentially there was a clause that we needed to add in there to make sure that we were notifying DTE and EGLE properly, and that was being memorialized. That's the very basic version if you want to dig into it.

Ever so briefly, it was... The West Michigan Dock and Market Corporation, as a part of one of their restrictive covenants, had an obligation to notify DT Mishcon at the time, as well as EGLE of this purchase ahead of time. It also included language that required specific language be included in the amendment, or really in any purchase agreement, I apologize. So we're including that in the amendment. We also took this as an opportunity to clean up some additional items within the purchase agreement as there has been a lot of due diligence that's taken place over the last few months. And I think that's reflected in some of the other revised language as well, particularly as it relates to the inspections and closing timeline.

Thank you, Councilor. Commissioner Kochen?

Yes, so I pulled this because we don't typically go back over an agreement, but this is because it's changing the purchase agreement. And Mr. Manager or legal counsel, if you could kind of expound on what kind of protections it provides the city in regards to environmental mitigations and our due diligence as well as DTEs.

And so I can't speak to DTEs or eagles and what type of response they'll have upon receiving notice, but at this point they have received notice. Their response would be to the MARC doc. At least as of this meeting, we've not heard that there's been any response back. I would consider at least the need to have this language included more contractual than it is changing anything substantive. that its inclusion was an obligation created in the settlement agreement that was related to the restrictive covenant on the property. And so it's following a matter of form more than it is changing anything substantive from what's been previously discussed.

If I could add on to that and correct me if I'm wrong, but also because we became aware of it and it needs to be in there, we didn't want to have any technicalities that could impact the covenants that were already there.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Cochin. Commissioner Kilgore, in support of the motion, anything to ask or add?

Not at this time, thank you.

All right, commissioners? Anyone else? All right, roll call, please.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Commissioner Jackson?

Yes.

Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgore?

Yes.

Commission passes.

Thank you. Next item, J, Cruisy Park Boardwalk Contract Amendment. Commissioner Cochin.

Yes. I authorize staff to approve the change order with Midwest Construction Group in the amount of $62,633 for replacement of the existing boardwalk approach section related to cruise park beach access impermovements pending EGLE approval. Support.

All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Cochran, supported by Vice Mayor Keener. Good evening. Kindly introduce yourself and please report out on this item.

Yeah. Hello, everyone. Kyle Kruszewski, Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Muskegon. So this item is to make some further improvements at the cruisy boardwalk. If you have gone out there in the past few years, when the last ramp was washed away, there was a new approach that was created by foot traffic. That has sort of shifted the dune to where now we have a large part of the boardwalk approach to where the new ramp will be, covered in sand at all times. We always have staff go out there. We have a volunteer group in the spring, and then staff's doing it in the summer, and it's still two to three inches deep in sand. So we've worked with the group who is doing the boardwalk. on ways that we could save that from being a problem in the future. The last thing we want is to create this new boardwalk, make it accessible, and have wheelchairs not being able to reach it. So what we're doing is we're going to excavate it. We're going to raise it a little bit. We're going to pretty much rebuild about 45 feet of the boardwalk. And I went out there and measured it. That's exactly what's covered in sand. And that's what they're going to do. And then in-house, we're going to work to replace a bunch of the boards and decking that leads to that. But it's part of our total rehaul of the cruisy boardwalk beach access.

Thank you, Director. Commissioner Kojan.

Yes, so I wanted to touch base with you on this. Has anybody on staff or yourself reached out to EGLE in regards to the plans that are kind of proposed just to see if that's something that's feasible before we?

The engineers have. They are the ones who are paying to do the EGLE application, and they did have preliminary, a good discussion, they said.

Okay, I'm glad to hear that, because it gave me a little bit of pause when I was reading it, and I was like, ah, that sounds a little iffy. But I did not have time to reach out to EGLE myself and touch base with them on it.

When we originally accepted the Cruisy Park boardwalk contract, that was pending the EGLE authorization as well. So that was approved prior to it being approved by EGLE.

Okay, and then the... drawing. I'm trying to get that drawing pulled up to understand a little bit better about the boardwalk approach.

There's a... Ann, could you go to that?

Oh, sorry. I'm trying to find the page.

Sorry.

There it is. It is 175, it looks like.

Oh, maybe we don't have the full... We don't have the full packet? It's at the bottom page. Bottom.

The bottom?

Oh, there we go. Now you've just got to zoom out a little.

Yeah, okay. Slide it over.

I'm sorry, not sure what we're looking for.

Might need to zoom out. Yeah, just... There we go.

There you go. Can you scroll down just a little bit, Ann?

Okay.

Okay, right there, there we're... You see the yellow and the green kind of jutting off to the side there. At the bottom it says pedestrian barricade 72 inches long by 38 inches tall with T-legs. So I thought I had read that that was going to be going away. Is that little landing there going to be going away?

No, we aren't taking anything away. Just where it's covered in sand, we are.

Okay. Yeah, I just wanted to double check because I think having more landings is better because when people who are older, you know, people with lots of kids and dogs, they need to pull off to the side. Having those is good. So thank you very much for that clarification. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Commissioner Kochen. Vice Mayor, anything to ask now? Commissioners, anything to ask or share? Commissioner St. Clair.

I just wanted to express my appreciation for being proactive on this. I think it's easy to look at a problem and think well we'll take care of that next year and maybe the dune will shift again with this and maybe it won't be a problem and people get very frustrated when the government does things like that so I appreciate being diligent about making sure that this is going to work, that we're not making this investment and getting people's hopes up, and then they get there and they can't get through because nature has shifted. So I just appreciate being proactive, so thank you.

The local church had about 30 teens to dig it out this spring, and that's not very sustainable.

No.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner St. Clair, and I concur. Many thanks for the proactive approach and the mindfulness of it. Thank you.

Yes. And the recreation survey is open for the upcoming Parks and Rec. Yes. It's a planned update. I know we like to put those in there. Absolutely. We heard from Debra last night during work session.

She promoted that recreational survey. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgo?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Motion passes.

Thank you. Next item, polling location change of DPW, Commissioner Cochin.

Yes, I move to approve the relocation of Precinct 5 from DPW to Wesleyan Church.

Support. All right, we have a motion by Commissioner Cochin, supported by Vice Mayor Keener. And Madam Clerk, are you reporting on this?

I am. So as everyone knows, the Department of Public Works is going through an extensive remodel. And because of that, the polling location is going to be disrupted a little bit. And even though the DPW director found some solutions, that could be definitely a really good alternative. We were trying to evaluate all possibilities, and then that's when this church came into mind, where we reached out to them. It's in the same ward, which we love. It's also in a neighborhood, so I am kind of curious if that could help drive up. voter participation in that one because it is our slowest one, so it might be a good time to kind of test the waters and see, although the DPW director is building something quite phenomenal too, and I don't want to disappoint him, but we'll see.

Thank you. Commissioner Cochin?

No, I just wanted to pull this so that folks at home heard about it first before getting something in the mail or potentially missing it that they're polling location was changing. So I'm very happy to see that we're getting a new DPW and we have a nice space for voters for the vote.

Vice Mayor Keener? This is your polling place. Yeah, this is my ward.

So I'm very excited about the potential to get more people within my ward out to vote. I'm I'm really excited for this, and I'm excited for our DPW growth, too.

That's going to be nice when the renovations are done and upgrades. Commissioner Kugel. Thank you.

I just wanted to point out, because we did pull this to let the public know in Ward 3... If DPW was their polling location, the address. So not everyone may be familiar. First Westland Church is located at 1040 East Forest Avenue in Muskegon, Michigan.

Just a couple blocks away from Oakview Elementary.

Thank you, Commissioner Kilgore.

If there's no further discussion, roll call, please.

Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgo?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Motion passes.

Thank you. That concludes our consent agenda. We do not have any unfinished business this evening. We do have one new business item. That is the designation of voting delegates for the Michigan Municipal League Annual Business Meeting. And before we take a motion, would you just care to, or Madam Clerk, would you care just to report on this item and explain what this is about?

Absolutely. So every year, the Michigan Municipal League has an annual business meeting that's at their conference. And the commission elects a delegate to vote on their behalf. And so the commission needs to select somebody to do so.

All right. Traditionally, the representative has been the mayor if the mayor is attending with an alternate being another commission member or the city clerk. Vice Mayor Keener, will you be at the Michigan Municipal League in October? I sure will. Okay. Would you be willing to serve as the alternate? I sure will. All right. If there's no alternative, then I would welcome a motion from the commission to appoint the mayor as the official representative and vice mayor as the alternate representative. for that event. So moved. All right, we have a motion by Commissioner Kilgo supported by Commissioner Jackson. Any discussion? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgo?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Motion passes.

Thank you. That brings us to any other business. And I want to first acknowledge our clerk's office on running another successful election. And you all work so hard, so hard. And when problems pop up, and they do pop up, and hiccups happen, and you're scurrying all over the place to resolve them, traveling all across the state sometimes to get them resolved, but you do. And you and everyone on your team in the clerk's office just goes above and beyond in service to our community, and we're so incredibly grateful for that. And I'd like to say, a little bit of a national attention, not too long ago, and I say that you and your team are a national example of excellence. That's what that is.

Thank you. Thank you. It's definitely a team effort, and that was the correct terminology, a team. So thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Kogo? Yes, thank you. On that same note, Regardless of what any president says, we love you. Thank you.

You do great.

So this week on Monday, I walked my neighborhood and handed out some flyers as we continue construction down Apple Avenue. I would just like to make a public service announcement because Apple Avenue is now closed from Creston Street all the way down to Getty and actually beyond. Our side streets are not... Our side streets are not 55 miles an hour. They're family and children who live and play on those streets. I walk my neighborhood. In the Steele neighborhood, I go across this Sheldon Park. So both sides of Apple Avenue daily. And we still have cars that are going a little bit too fast. I think it is imperative that we as a community remember that we're driving through neighborhoods and to just be cautious at intersections and be courteous while we go through this time of construction and wait for Apple Avenue construction to be finished, that we'd be mindful that if we have to drive through neighborhoods or if we have to have some short delays because of detours and stuff like that, that we're just courteous to our neighbor and mindful of that it may take us a minute more, but we don't have to speed through neighborhoods. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Coco. Anything else to raise? Mr.

Manager, I just want to thank Officer Herrera for sitting in with us today. He's also our middle school SRO.

Oh, we're keeping him busy this summer.

Thank you, Officer Herrera, for joining us this evening. And as always, for your service to our community. Unless there's anything else, commissioners, then we are going to go to public comment. I do have one public comment form. Have you received any others, Madam Clerk?

I have not.

All right. So we've got one public comment, then I'm going to open it up to the audience, and then we'll go to the phones for anyone that wishes to give a comment by phone. First, we have Leonard Jones joining us from the Lakeside neighborhood. Good evening, sir.

I made it.

Well, welcome. You have up to three minutes to write your mark, sir.

Okay. Just recently, I'm not going to mention any names. I live at 2564 Lincoln Street. I've had threats on my life. A man came with a knife. And the policeman, and I would just like to add that I was formerly a deputy sheriff for this county, so I understand a little bit about it. He wrote that I was threatening to kill the man that come to my door with a knife. Just recently, I won't mention his name, a policeman come to my house because someone had left an apparel, looked like a child's apparel, on my grill. I opened it up, it said back off. And recently I just was dealing with this group. I marched with them. They came by my house and I joined them. I was in a meeting in Spring Lake at the library and I mentioned about some voting irregularities here in Mesquite, Michigan. And I've also In the past, I brought you information on where individuals was changing my voting precinct and giving me cards that I don't need and not investigating fraudsters that's putting their names to my address. And I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I have a four-year college degree in leadership management. I worked hard to get those degrees. I attended Northwood back in the 70s University, and I attended Baker College in the leadership management program, which I made the president's list. But the thing is, why is every time that I call the police about a threat on my life, and I'm 70 years old, a senior citizen, been living in that house 37 years, they bring a mental health worker to my home. I'm perfectly healthy. I'm perfectly well. I sued one of the largest utilities in this state, Consumers Energy, just for this very thing. Because they try to make leadership-type Negroes, which I am, up out of Mississippi. My father was, my grandfather was lynched. Tyrell Sturdivant, Michigan State Police, is my first cousin. I'm well aware of our situation in this country, and I have white friends, my grandchildren are mixed, but we have a problem in Muskegon, and I don't know why I'm being targeted. I do not know. But I would like to know how we can resolve this matter, because when I call you, I call you for help. When I was a deputy sheriff, it said to protect and serve. We did not go to a house with mental ill people. I was on the sheriff boat, but I did ride with the cruisers. And I just would like somebody to do something about this. Because I feel that there's people trying to get me out of my house. And there's a word for that. They're trying to get rid of black people. So I'm not a prejudiced person, but we have some very prejudiced people in this community.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. I appreciate you joining us this evening and sharing that with us. I saw our city manager taking some notes. I would encourage you to follow up with our city manager to continue that conversation.

Are you the city manager? We have to have a talk, sir. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Is there anyone else in the audience that wishes to give public comment at this time? Seeing no takers, we're going to go to the phones. This is an opportunity to give input by phone directly to the city commission, not back and forth conversation or engagement or Q&A. We can arrange it at a separate time if that's desired. The phone number is 231-724-6721. Please turn down any audio in the background and state your name, and if you're a city of Muskegon resident, which neighborhood you're calling from, and if you're not a city resident, which other township, village, or city you're calling from. Alright, does not sound like we have any takers for phone-in comments. This evening, commissioners, I would entertain a motion. Support. We have a motion by Commissioner St. Clair, supported by everyone on this side. All in favor to adjourn, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. All opposed, same sign. We are adjourned. Thank you. Take care and be well.