Council - Regular Meeting

How are you?

All right. Saturday afternoon. We're not

[music] [music] [music] Welcome everyone for this to this uh special special city council work session for December 1st, 2025. Ashley, would you please call the role? Lion here. Dora here. Fritz here. Calio here. Vanessa

here. Uh for this special work session, we have a presentation from Mike Verdevelt for the uh fiscal year 202425 audit. Sir,

hi there. I'm Mike Verdevel. I'm seeing a couple new faces here. So, uh we're just here to present on the audit. We did meet with the audit review committee already and we went over essentially every page of our audit report. Uh it took about an hour, maybe maybe even a touch longer than that. Um, so I'm just going to go through a couple slides here and you know they have page numbers that correspond if you want more information that way and then I'll take some questions at the end if uh anyone would like a little bit more. Uh so first this is the net position of the governmental activities. So this lumps all of the governmental functions kind of together. Um and you know it's staying fairly consistent kind of right in line with what we would expect to see. Uh this next one here is net position of the business type activities which is going to be water and sewer and then a couple other small funds but the biggest piece of this is actually the border light and power that gets combined into the city's financials. So they're the biggest result of that big increase in the unrestricted net position. And then that little kind of line at the bottom you can see coming up is also related to BLP2 restricted funds related to some debt stuff as well. This here shows the different revenues from the governmental activities. So, you can kind of see where, you know, money is coming in. Um, obviously, a majority of that is going to be the property taxes. I'm sure everyone's familiar with that. And you can kind of see everything's, you know, generally increasing as you would expect. [clears throat] Revenues for business type activities, no surprise here. It's charges for services. That's where a vast vast majority of your revenues coming in. And again, a majority of these numbers are going to be from board of light and power just because it's so large. [clears throat and cough] Here's your governmental funds fund balance. Um, so this is the red line there specific to the general fund. The lighter blue line there is a combination of all your smaller non- major funds is what we call them. So there, you know,

general fund kind of flatlined this year and the non- major funds increased pretty drastically. The biggest driver of that was there was some public improvement projects that are I guess anticipated to being done. So the general fund put a pretty large transfer over to the public improvement fund. This shows expenditures by function for the past few years here. So you can see a lot of your expenses are in public safety. You know, fairly common with a city of this size. Um we did do a little kind of deep dive of some allocations in 2023 that took effect in 2024. So you'll see kind of a little bit of a change in that year. Um but you know from 24 to 25 everything essentially just increased just a little bit. You know inflationary increases again right in line with with uh what we expected. So this shows sewer fund operations [clears throat] and this is just operations. it's not any of the non-operating items. So, you want to make sure in these funds that your operations are, you know, increasing your bottom line um to make sure you're, you know, accounting for future capital improvements, everything like that. So, you can see the sewer fund has performed very well. That yellow amount there would be like your operating income. Uh so, yeah, the past five years, uh doing very, very well. Water fund, there's a couple years there that look a little bit funky. So we did a depreciation like um adjustment in one of those years that was a result of a study of kind of the useful lives. I think we talked about that last year uh in our presentation. And then there was also a lot of lead line service work being done as well that result but back on track for 2025. Uh this is copied right out of one of our footnotes. Just a few items that were over budget this year were in there just for your information. They're all fairly small given the size of the budget. Um, nothing concerning, but just

to bring to your attention. [snorts] And this next slide here, I know everyone likes to kind of track how the net pension liability is doing. So, this shows 10 years of how that liability goes. And you can see massive fluctuations in this. And that's a result of whatever those actuaries do. They do big actuary studies every few years that have a massive impact and then they change assumptions and then the experience is different than what they thought and then the market activity plays into effect here too. So there's a lot of different variables going on that affect this. And then this one is very similar to the last one. This is your percent that it's funded. Um I believe the city's goal is to keep that above 60%. So you are getting close to that. Uh but trending the right way. And this is that same chart but for the OPED liability. So again, this is going to fluctuate heavily based on actual experience in the market and experience with the people that are in the plan and then changes in actuary assumptions. And the OPED liability is, you know, a little over 35% funded now. Um and yeah, that's fluctuating heavily um as you can uh clearly see. But that is all that I have to go over in the audit report did have a good clean opinion on it. Uh we had no difficulties dealing with management or anything like that during the audit. Other than that, is there any questions I can answer?

Oh, thank you, Mike. Uh any council members have questions and comments? you know, for a couple of you this is kind of new stuff and some of us we've seen it before, but I appreciated the report being able to like look through all that. It was a lot of information to take in all at once, but I thank you for all the hard work that you did and Emily the the hard work your team puts in year round clearly um to make this audit be a clean one.

Yeah, I want to thank Emily and her staff as well for uh getting us to this point. It's a I know it's an overwhelming job sometimes, but you've stepped up and done a great job with it. Uh it was great to see the general fund, although it was a small increase, but it was nice to see a little increase there. Um there also was uh three uh three uh different um uh groups that were under budget, which was nice to see um for last year. Um pension liabilities, we all know what the story is with that. One day you look good, the next day you don't, and then the next month you're right back to where you were. It changes so often. So, it's at least nice to see that we're making some progress on it all. Appreciate your efforts as well and going through this and sending us all the information. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks for all the information. Thank you, Emily, and your team. Um, just a quick question. So, we the pension liability funds about 67% I think is what I saw in there, but it's over 60. That's the target. Yeah. Um, is there a target for the OPED that we're working at at this point? No, not that I'm aware of. Okay. I didn't know if that if we're having that be related to something that we're looking at right now. Well, I know when you hit 60% on the pension that you get help from the state that you don't want. I don't know if you have that case under 60% if you're under 60. And I didn't know if there was a case like that for

Yeah. Not necessarily with the OPED. the the biggest thing with OPED other post-employment benefits. Um the the city no longer offers retirey health insurance and that's what the biggest expense that's what drives that big biggest expense is the retirey health insurance. Um and so since we no longer offer that to employees and we haven't since 2008. That number is increasing. Um there there isn't really a a set amount because the state really hasn't given us where we you know a set amount where we need to be either. Great. Thank you. Thank you. And that that unfined balance is like an order of magnitude less than the pension.

I just want to say thank you Emily and everybody that was involved in it. Mike and your team also looking over making sure that we got everything in order. And I tell you, we have a very, very capable staff that does a very, very good job. I've been watching them through the years and that and it just seems to get better and better and better each year we go through. So, um, I just want to say thank you and everybody else that was involved in it. It's a good report and I feel happy.

Good. Yeah, I think that this is it speaks well of our finance department, our city management that we're doing this well because we have significant headwinds as we all know and uh we get our revenue sharing from the state gets a little bit less every time and fortunately taxes have been going up but then Headley comes along and rolls them back so you don't gain as much there as you might like. Uh correct me if I'm wrong but this was the fiscal year that just ended. We we included the costs for some of our deferred capital projects that we decided that we were going to put general fund money into. Is that correct? That's correct. And yet so we figured that we were going to spend down our general fund by like a million and a half dollars something on that order. Instead we came out about flat.

Mhm. I think that's very good management. It also speaks a lot to our budgeting process that we make pessimistic assumptions on both expenses and revenues. And then when the real world comes in, we're better off than we thought we might be. Yep. So [snorts] is I assume that that's a good practice to have. It certainly works for us.

Um, no, I think that, you know, the report is good. It's a good snapshot of our affairs in the city. Sometimes we get questions about city finances and no, we're actually in pretty good shape. We have Harbor Islands, the big unknown. Pension is of course that's going to be lingering. It's not necessarily not necessarily a threat to the city's existence, but certainly a burden for us. Yeah, for sure. And it's going to take a long time. And unfortunately, we have very little control over it. We pay the money that they ask for every year, and then that's never enough. Mhm. So, other than that, no, I I thought it was a good clean. I appreciate you're working with our staff and that um Yeah.

comes out as well as it does. Yeah. Yep. Thanks for having us out. Okay. any anything from staff you want to comment on? Nothing to add. Just appreciate staff's effort and the whole process was smooth. Okay. Everyone satisfying. Go ahead, Mike. I just want to say uh thank you for at least showing up tonight seeing we have the storm on this side. I know. And once you get past on 45, if you're taking 45 in, if you once you get to the east side of it, there's no snow. Yep. Then we're good. It's right here. Yep. I know. Luckily, cuz I was going to leave at, you know, give me enough time to get here because I come here all the time. So, Emily texted me that there was snow here. So, thank goodness or I probably would not have been on time. [laughter]

Okay. Well, we appreciate you coming out cuz as you as you can see from the room, not a lot of the public has come. [laughter] Oh, but we're here. That's all right. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Thanks, Mike. Okay. Well, that was the only item of business on the special work session and so we are going to adjourn the special work session and we will resume at 7:30.

So, a lot of reading, huh? Mhm.

Every Thanks for being here.

Whatever works for you. reason for me to write out tomorrow

I know what you're saying. Mr. I'm just praying about

Yeah. Thank you. Welcome everybody to this uh regular city council meeting of uh December 1st, 2025. Uh would you please call the role? Dora here. Fritz here. Calio here. Lion here. Manessa here. Uh our voca invocation this evening is by Reverend Dr. Jared C. Kramer of St. St. John's Episcopal Church. Please rise and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance.

The Lord be with you. Let us pray. Oh Lord, our governor, bless the leaders of our land that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth. To the president and members of the cabinet, to governors of states, mayors of cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant [snorts] wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties. To senators and representatives and those who make our laws in states, cities, and towns, give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people and to fulfill our obligations in the community. To judges and officers of our courts, give understanding and integrity that human right may be safeguarded and justice served. Teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their to their fellow citizens that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your name. Almighty God, our heavenly father, send down upon those who hold office in this city of Grand Haven tonight the spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice that with steadfast purpose they may faithfully serve in their offices to promote the well-being of all people through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

Amen. Amen. [clears throat] 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. Thank you. We have no appointments or reappointments this evening. So, it brings us to the approval of the consent and regular agendas. Can I get a motion, please? Make a motion. Second it.

Okay. A motion by Dora, second by Fritz. I do have one item that I would like to modify. I'd like to remove I'd like to move the um approval of the November 3rd minutes to new business to make a correction. Anyone else have anything else? I would like to remove item C to new business.

Okay. Item C would go to so I so the uh meeting minutes will go to item 14 C and consent agenda item 11 C will go to 14 D. I need a motion to do that. So moved. Second.

Motion by Calio. Second by Lion to modify the consent agenda to move the November 3rd meeting minutes to new business item 14 C and to move consent agenda item 11 C to 14D. Would you please call the RO? Fritz, yes. Calio, yes. Lion, yes. Dora, yes. Manza, yes. So that modifies the motion for approval of the agendas. Any other changes? Would you please call the role on the main motion? Calio, yes. Lion, yes. Dora, yes. Fritz,

yes. Manza, yes. All right. At this point, we have a call to the audience. At [snorts] this time, members of the audience may address council on any item, whether on the agenda or not. Those addressing council are asked to provide their name and address. will be limited to three minutes of speaking time. Council will hear all comments for future consideration will not have a response at this time. Those not physically present who would like to call me dial 616 935 3203. I don't know how to answer. Okay. Well, she's figuring out anybody in the audience like to come to the podium. Hello caller. Are you there? Yes. I can barely hear you though.

Okay. Well, you are live with city council. If you want to go ahead and state your name and address and then make a comment.

Sure. Uh my name is Jim Hagen, 400 Lake. Uh good evening, council. I decided not to go to the council meeting this uh evening due to uh the bad weather, but what I'd like to talk about is the uh forge ma management that's on the uh agenda. And I think we all agree that it's time for Grand Haven to have a structured long-term plan for forest management. I feel in the last few years we've done a great job, but it's sort of like playing catch-up. I I look at it like a doctor uh doing emergency surgery on a critically ill uh person. And the forest takes many years to establish, even centuries to mature. It now must be nurtured and healed. and it may take decades to actually restore our forests. I think it's time for council to pass a long-term forest management plan with a preliminary budget. We need to be proactive in order to restore the forest health and make it possible for future generations to enjoy one of Grand Haven's most cherished and valuable resources. I urge council to please vote for the six-year forest management plan as presented in tonight's packet. Thanks.

Thank you, Jim. Anyone else? Jerard Kramer. I'm the priest across the street at 524 Washington Avenue. I just have two brief things to say. First off, thank you for being here on such a blustery evening. Uh when I I I texted one of you to see if you're still going on and was told that you were. So, I'm I'm grateful for you being here and giving your time and your service, particularly to our new members of council. I'm looking forward to seeing the good work you all do. I'll also let you know anyone here in the room who has a parent that Grand Haven will have a snow day tomorrow. It was just announced. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Yep. Winter is winter is upon us. Anyone else? If not, then I will close the call to the audience and we will roll into a presentation on the musical fountain, the fall update by Jerry Tro. [clears throat]

Good evening. My name is Jerry Tro and I'm the chair of the Grand Haven Musical Fountain Committee and president of Friends of the Musical Fountain, the nonprofit that supports, promotes, and raises funds for the fountain. Thank you for the opportunity to give this postseason update. I am especially grateful to be able to address three new council members for the first time. Uh, congratulations on the successful campaigns you ran in your efforts to be part of the city council and welcome aboard. When I was here on May 19th to give a preseason update, we had just completed two weekends of song testing in anticipation starting the 2025 season on Memorial Day weekend. That season concluded on the last Sunday or Saturday of September and was significantly successful. So, I'm very pleased to give you this update. First of all, from a physical plant perspective, I can confidently tell you yet again, I know I sound like a broken record on this issue, but that the fountain is in better shape than it's ever been, as we were able to accomplish another batch of items on our master task list during the season. In addition to doing routine maintenance, the rebuild of pump number three that was completed in the spring performed flawlessly throughout the season with no issues or water leakage. We completed the process of replacing the computers and monitors that store and play our shows each night. So, we have all new equipment in place there. Winterization of the fountain is already completed and the fountain is in hibernation for the off season. When our Thursday crew returns to the hill in March, we'll be focusing on replacing the seals in pump number two and completing the rebuilding of the rest of our legacy butterfly valves that was begun this past spring. We currently have 54 items on our master task list that still need attention. So, we'll have plenty to do before we get underway Memorial Day weekend next year. If that number sounds daunting, bear in mind that we have completed 890 tasks since we started keeping track of them a few years ago. So, we we've accomplished a lot up in the hill.

Secondly, you may recall that the musical fountain committee voted in the spring to move ahead with the process of replacing the LE fixtures that light up the fountain every night. That process was slowed by the tariff battles that began earlier this year, but I'm happy to report that the equipment has been procured and it is in storage at the in the pump room on the hill for installation during this off season. We are very excited about this project as it will add more light fixtures to the current system and each new light fixture is about two and a half times brighter than the units they will replace. We'll be developing the specifics of the fundraising program to help pay for this major upgrade during our spring committee meeting in anticipation of rolling it out to the public as we begin the se the season next year. Thirdly, while we continue to maintain and keep the fountain in top physical shape this year, the team was also focused on the production side. We again added more new choreographers and completed over 100 more new songs that played this year. We had 110 shows scheduled with 107 of them actually occurring due to two weather cancellations and one technical cancellation. But only two of those 107 were identical with our greatest showman theme show playing twice. Every other show was a unique experience with a significant number of firsts this year as we expanded the library to include new song genres. The catalog of songs continues to grow and the committee will review well over 100 more songs uh for for the list that the choreographers choose from at our upcoming December meeting. Our social media presence exploded this year, growing from approximately 25,000 followers as the season began. I I I an aside here. I wrote this script before Thanksgiving and since Thanksgiving, the number that I have in the script is 41,000. We're that close to 48,000.

So, it's been an amazing uh year that exploding is uh accurate. This was a result of new graphics, new videos of the fountain in action, and and consistently interesting posts produced by our team. Our crowd counts this year were up significantly to a total of over 64,000 fans, not including our two fireworks nights, a marked increase from the 54,000 who saw the fountain shows last year. We also had the opportunity to once again to talk to fans on the radio with multiple visits with WAWWL and WGHN. It seems that everybody loves the fountain. Lastly, and perhaps the most exciting thing that's happening, we are in the midst of creating the next generation of choreography software, a project being spearheaded for us by Brad Boy, who many of you know and who is an exophicio member of the committee by virtue of his involvement with the Coast Guard Festival organization, as well as doing a lot of volunteer work. The development process is moving ahead rapidly with a beta version already in hands of several of our more prolific choreographers for testing and analysis. This new software tool allows choreographers to see a much more realistic simulation of the work they're creating and it introduces new tools that streamline the process of choreography. One of our testers has estimated that it cuts in half the amount of time required to do a song which historically is about one hour per minute of song time. And it simultaneously improves the quality of the work produced due to the ease of implementing complex choreography approaches using these new tools. This bodess very well for our future as our current choreographers can be more productive and the easier to use tools should allow more people to become choreographers. I struggle with whether whether to pursue finding a way to show the software to you as a part of this update. Ultimately deciding that it would not be practical to do so. However, we will be able we would be happy to demonstrate this new tool to

any of you that have interest in seeing it in a one-on-one or a small group basis. As always, we're also glad to provide a behind-the-scenes fountain tour to any council member who would like to have one. Mike, when have you been up there last? It wasn't It wasn't that 2012 video, was it? It's been quite a while.

Well, then you'd be amazed even if you've been up there because it's been a lot of changes. So, um, in closing, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge one of the new council members for her contributions as part of the fountain. Sarah Calio, one of the three members elected in November, has been an invaluable part of our committee for several years now. You've seen her work in much of our media presence in recent years, including the 60th anniversary celebration in 2023, our website, the rack cards we provide for MDOT welcome centers and other places, the FM88.7 signs in the parking lots andformational signs along the waterfront, and all of the graphics we use on our social media posts. Her contributions have been extraordinary and we are greatly and greatly appreciate them. We will miss her as her election to the city council means that she has to step down from the committee. Please join me in thanking her for her contributions to our success.

A thank you. [applause] Now this means we have an opening on the committee. If you are in the council chambers here or listening online tonight and are interested in serving with a great group of volunteers focused on the most interesting opportunity in Grand Haven, please go to the city website and fill out an application for the fountain for fountain committee membership. All of us involved at the fountain are proud to be a part of these efforts and I want to again thank the city council and all fountain fans wherever you might be for your ongoing support of the fountain. Let's continue to work together to make sure that the fountain is forever. Any questions?

Okay. Thank I would like to get Brad Boink to come up to the microphone and introduce himself since he is an integral part of this. He is an integral part of this. What's up? [laughter] No, just introduce yourself. Uh Brad Boink. Get closer to the microphone. Sorry. Brad Boink. You need that address. 11411 Scogan Lane, Grand Haven. Okay. and tell us what you do.

Everything in the world. Um, no, I I designed the uh choreography software. I'm also the lead trainer for the uh fountain. Uh, I designed the new lighting system that's going to be going into play. So, I'm kind of a jack of all trades, just like my grandfather was. So, well, thank you for what you do as well. Oh, no problem. Thank you for stepping up. You're gonna love this new software. It's It's going to change everything for the fountain. I have seen a snippet that you sent me. Um, so I see what it looks like with simulating the water flow and all that. That's Yeah, since you've seen piece of physics

added already over 60 new features to the software. It is. And what's nice, um, I don't know if you heard what spearheaded it, but, uh, we were running on Java and Oracle changed, um, well, they deprecated the version that we were using. So, one day we all went to go use the software and none of us could use the existing software. It was dead in the water unless we found an old version that we could run on. Uh so that's what prompted the whole thing of let's go out let's find a company to build this except the um price tag was coming in at 802 to well $120,000 uh to build it. So in September, midepptember or so, I just started experimenting uh with AI tools and one thing led to another and we have a full development system with a real time simulator that simulates the water. Uh it is the closest thing you can actually get to the actual fountain itself now.

Very cool. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you. Oh, no problem. It's way cool. It is. And best of all, the new software, not one penny of tax dollars or fountain funds were used to produce it. Uh, all in all, uh, I donated roughly what we call AI credits. Under $200 worth of AI credits to build it. Not bad, huh? Pretty good deal. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so very much, Brad. Yeah. And as Jerry said, you know, the fountain is pretty special to this community. pretty unique to this community and we all take a lot of pride in it. This will be my 41st year involved with Fountain. Can you believe that?

That's You're only like 41 years old. I know. [laughter] I wish. Yeah. So, any other questions I can answer? Questions, comments? Anyone? Just want to say thank you um for what you guys do for our city and how exciting it is and I will definitely take you up on the offer to get a tour good when the snow melts. How's that? But [laughter] that that would be that would be not quite as impressive when it's full of snow. Right. I'm excited to see it. We could do icicles coming out. I just want to thank you for such a great time on the committee and how much I've enjoyed it. And

once in a while, check in. Um, and I don't I don't think the public realizes how hard this committee works and on the labor on the hill from that to the choreography to the training of the choreographers. Um, and to just see in the last few years since 2021 since I've been on the committee just the kind of evolution and the newness and the freshness of it and that's all because of you guys and and the people on the committee. So, um, it's been a great great time of my life to be a part of it and I can't wait to see what happens and I can't wait to see the vibrancy of these new lights. Like, those new lights are going to be

they're going to be they're going to make a huge difference. So, we're literally going from a palette of 16 colors to 16.7 million colors. We can now produce any visible color on the fountain. That's amazing. Wow. Can't wait. So, to have it be such a legacy item for the city and such a nostalgic part of our community, but also to kind of have it be this tech company that keeps refreshing itself and that that takes a lot of work. So, thank you. Well, thank you.

Appreciate your time and effort and everyone else on the committee as well. Sometimes it's a thankless job and people don't realize all the work that goes into it. But having been there for 44 years, I'm sure that you can attest it's not an easy job, especially when you walk in, your software is not working that day and everybody wants to have a show. So [laughter] appreciate that and your commitment to the fountain and the city for keeping it up and running. Jerry, Brad, thank you. Committee members as well. Thank you. Thank you. appreciate your support and uh we look forward to seeing the whole group up on the on the hill this this year. We go back a long ways, Brad, your family and all.

But thank you so very much. I tell you what, I seen it from day one. The musical fountain when it first came out there. My brother was working down there taking donations to help keep it going on the hill there. So that was just a coalyard down there. It was dirty and that we what we have now is fantastic. I seen it go from the little spotlights that we had. Was it what they're what are they called? Uh landing aircraft lights or something they had up there at one time. The landing lights.

Yeah. And we made the progression to where we are today. So it's it's a fantastic thing and it's what we need here. It's a great attraction for us. It brings a lot of people into town and plus us old guys are still around still reminisce about the old days, you know, sitting down in a car down there and watching it go. So, thank you both and and your committee and everything for what you've done over there and maintaining it and making it what it is. Thank you. It's only going to get better. We're going to hold you to that. [laughter]

Please do. Um, everything that's happening right now is just going to expedite what we've been able to do. uh our music library has grown and grown and grown and people are noticing and now now that we've made it easier. We're I I'm curious to see how many new songs we're going to have this year because if the old software if we're getting a hundred out, we can do everything twice as fast now. So, wow. I have a feeling we'll have a year of we'll have more songs then we will have slots to play. It's very possible. It's very possible. Might have to extend your season.

Yeah. [laughter] Dang. Opening in February. Yeah. Yeah. Little too cold. Blow the ice out. Maybe just a show that's all new songs. We will be doing another round of training after the first of the year for people who want to get involved in choreography. And how do they how do they get their names to you? Uh you can go to the website, sign up for to be a volunteer there. That's the easiest way to do it. go to uh ghfountain.org and uh click on volunteer. Okay. And they can also go to uh ghmmfs software.com. Okay. And they can sign up for the classes there also. All right. Good opportunities for creative people. You got it.

We have plenty of them. By the way, Brad mentioned AI. What he was referring to was helping to develop the software. There's no plans, no intention to incorporate AI into the actual choreography tools. Uh big the biggest reason is because every every choreographer's version of any song is a piece of art. Literally, it's created. You can tell the difference between individual choreographers uh and they develop a style, color preferences, pattern preferences. you can after a while they get that you can begin to see oh yeah that's David's or that's Dons and [laughter] it's it's pretty interesting

so uh we we we cherish the the choreographers and their input uh because it is literally artwork very good yes that that human element that's pretty critical to this yeah you can't lose that human element all right thank you thank you thank [snorts]

And as Mr. Tro said, there is now an opening on the musical fountain commission as there is one on the planning commission. When you join city council, you have to give up those seats. All right. So, that brings us to our consent agenda. So, uh actually, would you like to read that?

Yes. This is to approve the organizational meeting in regular council meeting minutes for no November 17th, 2025. Approve the bills memo in the amount of $826,858.65 and to approve a resolution to receive and place on file the annual financial statements for June 30th, 2025 as presented by Riteld Hafner LLC. Can I get a motion? So moved. Seconded motion by Fritz, second by Calio. Um, any any other questions or comments on the remaining consent agenda items? Did you want to remove a

We we removed just the part of it, right? Okay. Yeah, we just removed a portion of that. Want to make sure and I believe it was read back that way. Yep. If not, would you please call the role? Dora, yes. Fritz, yes. Calio, yes. Lion, yes. Manza, yes. So, that brings us to our first item of new business. [clears throat] Says consideration by city council of a resolution to adopt the updated 2025 through 2030 forest management plan. Administration recommends approval. Can I get a motion on this?

So, moved in and a second. No, go ahead. Motion by Dora, second by Lion. Um, Ashley, do you want to present this or shall we call up? Mr. Lumpkkey will Brian.

Good evening, council. Derek Lumpkey, facilities and grounds manager for the city. Before you tonight is the updated Grand Haven forest management plan for 2025 through 2030. This plan builds on our long-term forest stewardship program and reflects the most recent field assessments across Duncan Woods, Mulligans Hollow, Lake Forest Cemetery, and other city- managed parcels. This plan provides a coordinated 5-year strategy focused on protecting resistant trees, treating priority hemlocks, removing hazardous or heavily compromised trees, restoring degraded trail segments, and monitoring forest health annually. Here with us tonight is the co-author of the plan and the city's assistant director of urban forestry, Dr. Larry Burns, to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Yeah, Larry. Would you like to say a few words?

Good evening. I I was going to say the the the two sentence answer or the one hour answer, but I'm so excited to be here honestly and I didn't think I'd feel that way, but in November 22nd of 2022 was the first time we we came forward with a plan and we've run it for three years now. And I wish I could share the litany of things we've accomplished, but as the caller suggested, it has been an uphill battle. We have eight epicenters that are currently managed. We've treated uh 65% of our trees, hemlock trees in Lake Forest Cemetery. We're at 40 at 51% in Mulligan's Hollow and so we've made considerable strides. We've looked at different treatment strategies and always looking at best practices and we've modified as as required. So, um I'm open to a lot of questions. I want I don't know since some of you are new whether you'd like a little bit of a backdrop because I know you're seeing an addendum, but in 2022 Brett Kypers prepared a 24-page document called the stewardship the actual long-term plan. It has the maps and the designated areas and the degrees of of invasive species in different locations. Then city council voted on a four-page document that included a slight budget. So what Brett Kypers did this year was he prepared an addendum that attaches to the long longer 24page item. And then I also prepared the plan itself. So that's what's before you this evening. And then there's the budget. There's the health index and also Brett Kyper's addendum for this year. So those are the three appendices that you have. And so I' I'd be welcome to take any questions. I I don't want to um overwhelm you with too much data, but there's there's a ton of really good things to say.

I think we've learned a few things over the past three years, too, haven't we? [laughter] That'd be an understatement. I was thinking that first three years, we actually dr Bill Pasha and I drilled enough holes that if we were treating the General Sherman Seoia, we'd be threequarters way around. That's how many drills at 3 in a piece at the just for the treatment of oat itself in the first seven epicenter. So yes, we have learned a lot. Thank God for modernization and pressurized delivery systems. So yes. Okay. Questions, comments. I How will this work with the deer management plan? Will you guys work together? I mean, I assume now they're going to be two separate plans, but they kind of do need to go hand in hand and work together for the success of both.

Yeah. And I there obviously is deer mentioned here but

I I I think actually the way that the original plan by Kyper's pres there were four pillars reforestation invasive species deer management and um they all work together Jean Madden referred to those as pillars and so each of the pillars was sort of a general focus my specific focus let's say the trees and then the second focus was almost tied with that was the deer management component so indeed they are definitely um block linked together you'll see them mentioned here as Well, um, in terms of how they work together, um, I'm hopeful that we'll see a decrease in the the number of deer so we can actually engage in the reforestation component of of this plan as, but currently we can't because they were eating any of the saplings and stuff that we would try to plant. So, although we do have some deer protected sugars up on Tank Hill as um, that 50% did survive. So, we've done some, but not as much as we'd like. Does that answer your question?

Yeah. Thank you. And then um for the for how we're treating things, the pesticides and what we're using to treat them, I mean, would they harm the deer? Would they harm other would that harm other wildlife? How do we decide what we're using to treat the forest environmentally friendly way?

I'll try to keep it really succinct. So we started with imitopramid which is a neonicottoid in 2019 2020 and it was efficacious but only for um HWA in the intervening years we discovered that elongate hemlock scale ehs el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el el elongate hemlock scale was also a problem that wasn't anticipated and imoperid also promoted the growth or the proliferation of blue spider mites and so the current medication that we're using or med p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p pesticide if you will is dino dynotephron and dinotephron is a similar class but it also helps control or eliminate elongate hemos scale and the spidermitites. So it's actually better it's more expensive but it it moves in tandem. So your the second part of your question is um we're using a basil bark application and there's some questions about whether that gets into the water table or the ground table and since it's limited in its application and very carefully applied it doesn't actually get down into the water table in terms of its harm to to other animals. It's actually a product that is sometimes used in in cat and dog flea collars. It's applied to Christmas trees, you know, prior to their their season and then we have them in our houses and to say that we want a lot of it, but we're very careful in its application and very judicious in the way in which we apply it.

Thank you. And there it is apply I'm I'm MDARD certified applicator and so are the folks who are applying it. So we're we're very and it's been used for many many years in the state of Michigan and very carefully. So thank you. My pleasure. I'm I'm good. Okay. Good. It seems to be a very comprehensive plan. Um we have 40 acres in American Tree Farm System, so I deal with foresters pretty

for that. Not to the extent of this, but it it does seem like you've got a a very a very good comprehensive plan written up. Uh I like the section on dealing with the severely diseased trees and removal. Yeah. Um, I think that will help to uh open up the canopy and and the crown area up above and maybe let some new growth. Yeah. Um, which the deer management will maybe help them get a leg up and actually see some new growth in the area.

So, I was I was happy to see that. Um, I think all in all, um, it should should work out fine. It looks like there's probably enough funding in there to keep you going for a little while. So, I appreciate your efforts and and coming up with this and helping us keep our wooded areas. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah, it's sir. Um I just think that taking a step back and looking at um just so people understand the difference between you know large forest ecosystems and urban forests I think is important. I think we kind of sometimes think of

you know this natural progression of forests grow and eb and die and you know that's a natural progression of it but when you have an urban forest that's very different and that it really needs to have intervention um to be able to handle these things which is not necessary maybe in huge vast areas of the UP um because of uh that that denser and more diverse population of trees in an area like the UP where we have limited um growth. So, I don't know if you could just speak to that just a little bit so people are reminded of why we continue to have to have this conversation and and put this time and effort in to something that if we, [snorts] you know, ask most people are very cons, you know, want to have an urban forest, but

might not understand why this is different than having a vast kind of natural eb and flow and circle of life and all of that in a forest. I think that Mike touched upon it briefly by example. Um, we actually don't have a 10% gap in the canopy at this point. And some folks say, "Well, it's because we haven't had a forest fire in 100 years or we haven't had a heaven forbid, we don't want a horrific windstorm, but there haven't been the sort of natural occurrences which would institute the canopy gaps that that are necessary. So we would use the word can selective canopy management and we need about 10% we need about um eight there there are some metrics in terms of the number of snag trees and the number of tipovers that should be there which aren't there the crude woody degree debris that isn't there because we haven't had enough trees break down and and so we're improving our management techniques. I guess the answer there's a lovely book and it says friend [laughter] you can have an urban forest in a in a residential area and and think it's you know a forest like they normally are because there aren't any predators and there is the natural system itself that surrounds it that would regenerate in the way that you would see up in in these large tracks of forested areas. So I I mean when we had the the snag on Mulligan's hollow I got three different experts who said don't touch it and I was like but it doesn't look the way I wanted to. I said that is a forest and now we have a coyote that has a den under that that's that that slash pile and so in a sense yes because we don't have other predators we have to intervene in in the same system the way that he would be describing in terms of canopy management in terms of the deer in terms of um the regeneration of different species um and then I I'll stop there because it's really fascinating and complicated but yes it requires management because there aren't any other systems in place in this that surrounds our 200 acres I'll give you an example um many many years ago I told my daughter I want to see I want to find the owl's nest and I want to see a pine martin because I knew they were releasing pine martins up in the up

and for 10 years I labored to find a pine martin in our woods and someone said friend you're not going to find them here because they are not interest they're not interconnected there's no way for them to get from point A to point B to point C to point D to get here because they can't zigzag across and I was like oh because it's separated and because it's separated we have to make different management decisions on behalf of our tree fence. I just want to say thank you very much, Larry, for all your work you've done here with it because I remember how many elm trees we used to have in this town and then the Dutch elm disease came through and

ton of them and now the oak wilt we have. It's it's terrible cuz it just goes from one disease to another and it's usually an invasive species of some kind comes to us and destroys our trees and without our trees we have no oxygen, you know, and it's what we have to have. We don't. So for us to take care of our urban forest like we do is I it's very high on my list I think.

Um so I just want to say thank you so very much. And I just want to make a note. I've been getting some emails. I sent them over to Ashley. I sent you some of we used to have a chance to get some grants to take care of these diseases and that we missed out on a few of them. But I think we should keep an eye on them. make sure that we can get to them because the state had I forget how many millions of dollars that they passed out for the uh woolly adelgid and all that they had they passed out to different places. So it be nice if we kind of keep our eyes out on it, make sure that we get on that list and help us out cuz a little boost from them would be very helpful trying to get it back to us. Um, I when I get it, I'll send it over again, but I'm sure they're going to have another uh for next year be coming up again for them. It's kind of like an ongoing thing for the state of Michigan to have those kind of grants for us. But I just want to say thank you for all your hard work and we just need to just be very very diligently go toward everything on there. So,

I'm all for it, Larry. Thank you. if you want some good news what and sort of delayed bad news or good news but the West Michigan conservation sysma so executive director Marielle did apply for a grant which was approved for this year but then it was delayed for a variety of different um reasons but it the funds were restored so she anticipates treating the some of the city parcels including the some of the Highland Park locations with that grant money so we're definitely eager and chasing it but if you're aware of some grants that we can pursue we'll definitely do it Thanks. Yes. Yeah. Let me You done? Yeah, I'm done.

Uh I just want a couple comments. One, when you talk about the complexity of it and how all these things work together in the world of ecology or anywhere else, everything is connected to everything and you can't touch one thing without it affecting another. And so the balance that you're achieving by careful study, by considering all the different elements, that's critical for a healthy system. And in a natural world where there's enough of it, then we don't need to intervene. It kind of balances itself. And here we're trying to do that balance with intervention. And so it has to be carefully considered and has to be followed through. And you can't start and stop and start and stop. So this is necessary that we have a system that a plan in place that we keep on our radar all the time and follow through on. So appreciate that piece of it. Um you mentioned about the purple martin you're trying to find and they can't get here from there and that sort of thing. One of the things, one of the things um I attended a seminar many many years ago in zoning um it was called filling the gaps and it was a really interesting seminar I went to and it was all about how cities can kind of intervene in natural restoration or natural systems and such. And one of the sorts of things you can do is establish sensitive areas which we have scattered around our city. Mhm.

They're little areas that people say, "Well, there's nothing of value in this little patch of sensitive area." But it serves exactly that purpose that

um animals, birds, and such, they can kind of hopcotch around and find their way from here to there. If there's enough connected areas that they can get to that we save within our city. So sometimes when we look at sensitive areas under zoning, we say, "Why did we save this or this serves no purpose or so on?" There's a purpose and it's part of this interconnectedness. We just have to keep that in mind that all these things are worth preserving if we want if we want to have a natural environment within our urban environment. And so I think that that's that's another piece of this and I think that's a great illustration of that. And when people ask about sensitive areas, that's kind of the answer and it's a little hard to get to sometimes without that insight.

So I appreciate that. The only comment that I would make then by way of possibly criticism here is that I've commented before that when we look at our urban forest and we look at whether it's the deer management or anything else that you know we have a six square mile city and we're focusing so much attention on 200 acres of it which is a contiguous forest within the city but there are other areas within the city we should also be looking at see what level of management is appropriate whether it's the 145 acres across the river

or whether it's uh areas along the river on the east side of town or pockets within the city that we consider sensitive that probably could use some attention as well. So somehow maybe obviously not today but somehow we want to start rolling those areas into our plan so we have a comprehensive urban forest canopy plan that that really covers the entire city and allows for all these things to be connected to one another. So, I know the focus right now is more on the areas we've been working on and it's so incredibly expensive to do that we can't take too much at a time, but I'd like to see the plan expanded to be a city-wide plan for all the areas that are relevant and that's more more to come. I would guess

I would add to that. I mean, I shared a spreadsheet with Derek last week, 385 acres if you include the 100 acres on the other side of the river. So, I'm well aware of the of the amount of acreage. When I first started here, people said, "Keep your sites in this specific location and expand once you get to Ashley approved the treatment of the 11 plus acres in Highland Park Association in 2024, which we did, and it's budgeted for 20% uh coverage in 2026." So, we're gently edging our way out, but as you said, I I I have to I I tried very lightly in terms of the budget and very cautiously, but but as thoughtfully as I can. So we small steps was what I was someone told me Larry you can't fix it all in one day.

I was like well that's my plan but clear I was urged to take it step by step. So I hear you and I completely agree with you and I' I'd actually love to take a look at the the relationships in terms of the different locations and see if there are ways to utilize exactly what you pointed out where there might be ways of integrating them or making sure here's water for the water foul and here's this from that something else. But maybe that's a a longer conversation for a different day but yes I I'm very aware of that and I appreciate your right. I think I think we have a lot of tools and a lot of good intentions and we just need to make sure the we utilize them effectively and don't overextend ourselves but still do the things that are important to do for our city. So, thank you for everything you do. My pleasure. Thank you for your thoroughess. Really appreciate that.

It's it's a labor of love. The the the reporter said, "Why do you do it?" Because I love trees and the trees need an advocate. So, that that's that's how I see it. And it's a wonderful and amazing team to work with. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments or questions on this item? If not, would you please call the RO? Lion, yes. Dora, yes. Fritz, yes. Calio, yes. Vanessa, yes. Next item, please. Consideration by city council of a resolution to approve a grant application for the pre-development accelerator program through the Michigan Infrastructure Office in the amount of $50,000 for the Grant Street reconstruction project. Administration recommends approval.

Can I get a motion? So moved. Second. Motion by second by Lion. Um Mike, are you going to explain what we're asking for here?

Yes. Um good evening. So, uh, in cruising the internet looking for different things, Joel from Abominar found this grant. It came out the first part of November. And we have today at 11:00 for a deadline for this. So, this is a $50,000 grant for possibly for Grant Street from Beacon all the way to Beachree. The infrastructure underneath the road is failing. Uh, the four there's a 4-in water man, which is inadequate in size. the storm um is big enough if you hunch over you can walk through it. All the joints are starting to fail and starting to siphon in the sand and you can actually drive down the road and see where those joints are because the road is starting to fail. Sewer in that area is I believe 1940s clay. Um so lots of roots um lead. So this would all help so much um if we can get this. It's up to $50,000. It's not $50,000. So, it just so you know, it's up to $50,000 that we do not have to match funds for if we get this.

What's the What's the timeline on this project? Um timeline, we're going to we've identified it in our six-year capital improvement plan. Um it's I believe it's the towards the latter part of the six years. Okay. So, this is because I wasn't familiar with this project. I found it in the capital plan and other than that I knew nothing about it. So, Yep. Yep. It wasn't on the radar, but we we this money came up and this was a good opportunity for us to get some possibly get some money to start roll getting the ball rolling on it. Okay. Questions, comments? Good work.

Great idea. This isn't the first time we changed directions on things where we could at least get something that we needed done. So, I appreciate it very much. I'm in favor. It's a big stretch and there's a lot of lead through that area and I'd like to get this lead out of the ground as quick as we can. What's the total cost to for that project that I don't know. This will this will help determine that. Oh, gotcha. Okay. Multiple millions, I'm sure.

Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely. I always [snorts] appreciate um when we can take advantage of grant money that that is out there and I [clears throat] appreciate Aban Marsh and and yourself and finding ways that we can put in for it because it certainly does help us uh from the city budget wise and the general fund to uh sub supplement income in in these ways as you well know. Um so I appreciate that. The only question I had is there a fee that Aban Marsh charges us to move ahead with this? That would be all included in the amount of money that we get. Yep. That would help cover the fees in order to do all the uh pre-engineering stuff that they need to do.

Perfect. I support it and I hope it moves forward and appreciate your work. I hope we get it. So, I assume it was 11:00 p.m. Yes. to get it done. Yes, [laughter] I sure hope we got Joelle brought it up during our uh almost three hours, a couple weeks and she's like, "Can we put in for this?" I'm like I called Ashley. I'm like, "I know this is short, but can we get this on the agenda?" Okay. Anything else? No. Good move. Good thoughts and appreciate having looking out for us. They've been a good partner with us and appreciate you're knowing knowing enough to ask. It's good to be looking ahead. Yep. Thank you.

Okay, there's no other questions. Would you please call the role? Dora, yes. Fritz, yes. Calio, yes. Lion, yes. Manza, yes. Okay, go get it in now. Go. Here you go, Mike. Put it together. All right. Next item, please. Says consideration by city council of a resolution to approve the meeting minutes for the November 3rd, 2025 um regular city council meeting minutes. Can I get a motion on this twice? Moved in support.

Motion by Dora. Support by or second by Fritz. I asked that this be removed because I wanted to make a correction correction and it's been our practice to uh pull it off the consent agenda, bring it up in new business and make the correction and then pass it as an amended motion. U the correction I want to make is item 25-208 which was reads on here. Council member Fred's move, second by council member Low to approve a contact amendment with partial tree care services Trevor City treat Duncan Park in the not to exceed amount of $85,000 contingent upon the approval of Duncan Park Commission and authorized the mayor and city clerk to execute the necessary documents. As a roll call vote, this motion failed unanimously. No, it passed unanimously.

Not failed. It did not fail. So that's my correction as I want to say this motion carried unanimously. Okay. So, I need a motion to amend this. Motion to amend. Second it. Motion by Calio, second by Fritz to make that correction. Um, here again the two steps, but any questions on the motion? Please call the RO. Calio, yes. Lion, yes. Dora, yes. Fritz, yes. Manza, yes. So, now we've amended the the minutes. Now, we need to vote on the minutes. Please call the role. Fritz, yes. Calio, yes. Lion, yes. Dora, yes. Vanessa,

yes. Okay. Hope hopefully I didn't miss a step in there. Got it. This is a little more complex than we used to do. We used to do it kind of by acclamation, but this is fine. Okay. Next item, please. Consideration by city council of a resolution to approve a memorandum of understanding with Ottawa County and participating municipalities for Lexus Nexus services. Okay. Can I get a motion on this? So moved. Seconded. Second by motion by Fris. Second by Calio. Um actually you going to explain this one?

Yep. So this is a request from our department of public safety um to enter into an agreement. So it's a subscriptionbased software program allowing um for regional interface with data sharing for um different data including like citations, accidents, that kind of information. Um we do participate in it individually but this is an opportunity for cost share in again that interface from that regional perspective. So it is a budgeted for amount. Okay. Erin, this was your call.

Yeah. I only wanted to pull it off because um this is more of a contract than a memorandum of understanding. And there's just a few things in here that aren't first off there's a typo in section 1.1, but um there's no length of time. Clearly, it's a 5-year contract, but there's no length of time in here that actually says that. And then it also says like it's that any termination is based around the Lexus Nexus agreement date, but we don't even have any idea what that is. And um I just wanted to know if this like the actual full Lexus Nexus agreement that is referenced in here um had been reviewed by our attorney um or not. I mean I know that it's low low stakes in the amounts and Lexus Nexus is what we used in law school. So I'm well aware of what it is but I just want to make sure that we're we're signing a contract that we have all necessary information.

Yeah. And I will say yes in a roundabout way. Our attorney is also the attorney for Ottawa County right now. So yes. Okay, we're just missing it just it just seemed like we're we're missing some dates for a contract. Should we postpone this until we have the proper information on our contract? Can you clarify what date I

Well, part 9.1 it says that you get 60 days prior to the end of the Lexus Nexus contract year. What is that? like we don't I just in case we do want to pull out of this in the end we decide we don't want to do it we just don't have dates for what the Lexus Nexus contract year is and it doesn't actually say like for us signing up for this 5 years you just know it's 5 years based on the funds that were you know given to us my suspicion is when all municipalities have formally signed it that would be the but I I guess I can't say for certain at this point.

Well, so the thing though is that Ottawa County should be the one with the actual lesson's nexus agreement. So they should have a date on that. Okay. Already, right? So because that is what's referenced in here and we're just splitting the funds, you know, that they're formally responsible for. I don't want to hold up this if I don't want us to be the hold up in this happening and getting through, but I just think it would be good for us to know. Um, yeah, it's left that it's kind of important to to know. Okay. Is there a is there a problem with uh waiting to approve this when you have that information?

I don't believe there was necessarily a time crunch on this item. No. as far as holding things up. Well, if we need that information on this contract, then there's nothing wrong with holding it up. Yeah. I mean, I just think we should make sure it's as accurate as it should be from a legal standpoint if we're going to sign it. We're currently in it now, aren't we?

That's the We are individually, but this would be a a joint contract with our regional partners. So, I believe it would be a separate document, but we could certainly postpone this until we have that clarification. Thank you. That would require a motion. Motion to postpone. Second. We have a motion by Calio, second by Lion to postpone further action until you get requested information. Any questions on that? Call the RO. Lion, yes. Dora, yes. Fritz, yes. Calio, yes.

Manza, yes. Okay, so this item is postponed while we pending pending further information. And that is our last item of new business. So that brings us to a report by city council. Who would like to make a report? [clears throat]

I I just wanted to say that there's so much to celebrate right now and I love that about this season. Um, but we also know it isn't an easy time for everyone. So, the holidays can be overwhelming, stressful, and lonely for some. And with this snow, it's just a really good idea to and a reminder to reach out to the people around us. Check in on a neighbor, especially anyone um who might be having a tough time physically or emotionally. A quick call, text, or knock on the door can um mean more than you think at this time. So, just a good reminder. All right. Thank you.

Thank you. Very good. I I have to agree. Um [clears throat] I just want to give out a good shout out to our uh our uh public safety. Uh there was a fire next door to my business this past week and I tell you it was pretty scary cuz the flames were pretty high and the winds were blowing at 60 m an hour and u they come running in telling us we had to evacuate my building. And I'm going, "Yeah, flames right next door." And what I the flammables I have in my shop is I go, "Well, yeah, I don't think I want to stand here." They did a fantastic job of containing it. They called in uh Spring Lake, Fairiesburg, Grant Haven Township. We had five fire trucks there and they made they contained it into the building itself. Then they called in the DPW to come in because they couldn't get into the back wall and they ripped the back wall out and actually extinguished the fire. then it finally got under control. So, I just want to say thank you to all our guys that work so very hard and it's not the best time, you know, being with water and the wind was blowing. It was cold. [clears throat] So, yes, I want to say thank you to them for doing what they did and maintaining so I didn't lose my building for one thing. And also, um, you're right, there is a lot of need out there and there's a lot of people need a lot of help and I I I witness it every day and it's kind of crazy, but we need to reach out and be helpful to everybody. Um, just a little kindness sometimes goes a long ways. And also, um, I want to say we went to the Christmas tree lighting at Bolt Park. Was a fun time. I tell you what, it was really good. It was cold. It was snowing. But I That's the normal for there. I enjoyed it every time. I've been there. Every one of them so far. And I tell you what, it's still a good time.

I just want to say thank you for everybody that showed up out there. I think it was that Wendy that was there. Yeah. Wendy Wendy.

And I want to say thank you to her for spearheading out there and being the leader for us. And it was absolutely great. So, thank you Wendy very much. And uh that's about it right now. Okay. Thanks, Mike. Oh, I just want to say thanks to all the pilots that flew this weekend. Both directions were um I was I don't know if I've ever I'm not really scared to fly, but leaving on Wednesday, I was [snorts] a little worried about the wind and heading [cough and clears throat] both directions. A little bit of delay, but we got to and from Austin, Texas just fine. Could have stayed a few more days, I think. Um waited for the snow to go away, but I'm just thankful for safe travel and all the amazing people we met. And yeah, Syra, thank you for mentioning what you did. Yeah, right now is is the time we we had a few friends in need this weekend and we weren't here. So, understand [snorts] that. I'd like to echo the same, Sarah. Thank you for the comments. Um, we don't realize the number of homeless people, needy people that we have in our areas because we don't see them a lot um like some of the bigger cities, but we do have them and they do need our help and our support. Um, so we we try to donate to the local food pantries and the local clothing outlets as much as we can. Um, but I would encourage others residents to do the same. Um, if we all reach out, we can help make someone's life a little bit better. Um, there's lots of toy drives coming up for underprivileged children. Take advantage of them. I know the mayor was standing down in the middle of the intersection collecting some money the other day. Um,

oh yeah,

I didn't keep it. Oh, [laughter] I appreciate that. But, you know, there's there's a lot of ways to reach out, a lot of ways to be involved, and if we all pitch in, it it certainly will help make someone's life a lot better. So, I encourage everyone to do that. Um, thanks to DPW for keeping our streets navigable and our sidewalks are on the way, I guess. Um, it's been a tough couple of days, I'm sure, and it doesn't sound like it's going to get any easier for a couple more. So, appreciate that. Um, was it light night? Um, it was a great time. Um, thanks to Wendy, as Mike had said, for showing up, uh, kind of steering us along a little bit, helping the mayor get the tree plugged in. So, it was it was a great time. Um, I wish we would have had a little more support from some of the the local neighbors, but it was it was great. There was people had had a good time. Um, what else do I have? Oh, I don't know if anybody's read, but um the lighthouse at the end of the pier has um suffered some pretty significant damage to some windows up in the Fresno light area uh from the last storm. Actually busted two of the two of the windows out. Um the Lighthouse Conservancy is in the process along with um Push Out Builders of getting that repaired and just kind of temporarily done, but it is going to need some some new glass panes and some additional work in order to help preserve a lot of the funds that have been expended to have that open to the public at some point. Uh so if anybody's looking for a place to donate some money at the end of the year, I know the Lighthouse Conservancy and uh community

foundation are happy to receive those um taxdeductible donations to help keep that repaired and in good shape. Other than that, I'm good. Okay. Thanks. And thank you for everyone's comments. This is the time when we need to remember our humanity more than any other time, but you know, it's a year- round thing, but it's really in our in our thoughts now. Um, we tend to bolt park. We I did find the I did find the cord. We did plug it in. The lights came on [laughter] and that was good. Digging through the snow

because they were cords are buried under the snow, but it was it was fine. So, we got that done. We're going to have our jingle bell parade coming up this coming weekend. And uh I want to remind everyone that effective this morning already the overnight parking ban is in place for uh parking on the streets. You can see the difference on Sunday morning after we had the heavy snow Saturday and the plows went out and they tried to get around town and they were plowing around parked cars that were on the street and just hard to make a good job out of that when you have to drive around all these parked cars when you have white heavy snow everywhere. So, the parking ban is in place. If you don't have a special permit from public safety to park on the street overnight, make sure you move your vehicles. Make sure that we can plow the streets. And that's uh it just makes their job more efficient and makes the streets better. And

[snorts]

uh kind of protects your car, too, cuz it's not on the street. [clears throat] Um and that's about all that I wanted to comment on. So, I'm going to turn over to Ashley. All I have is just a reminder that we did set our um goal strategy setting um meeting date for December 17th at 5:00 PM. So, it's a slight shift from what we had originally uh thought we would plan on. Uh so, the public notice will go out for that, but we do have a community budget survey that is on our website right now and we'll be sh we're been sharing that. Um so, it's a great opportunity for residents to submit feedback on how they um feel about the services they're getting. um areas for op areas of opportunity, what they like, don't like, uh would like to see more of in our budget process or less of. Um so just encourage anyone out there to take a look at that. Again, the link is on our website and any help um from anyone in sharing that link out widely is appreciated.

Okay. Thanks. Yes, I was going to mention that and slipped my mind, but it is important that in our budget process, I think a lot of the public feels kind of left out that here we are struggling with budget issues and priorities and setting the things that we think are important for the city, but we need to ask the people, are we doing the things you want? Are you seeing the results you want? What would you like to see different? This gives you an opportunity to give some feedback to council before we start our process that we can be better informed by that. Not everything that comes up in the survey is immediately useful, but it's all feedback from the community. I think it's important as elected officials that we know what the people are thinking about. So, thank you. All right, that brings us to our second call to the audience. This time, members of the audience may address council on any item whether on the agenda or not. Please leave your name and address. You're limited to three minutes of speaking time. Hear all comments for future consideration. Those not physically present would like to call in may dial 616-935-3203. Who would like to address council?

No one. Phone's not ringing. No. Okay. Shoveing. Everybody's out shoveling. [laughter]

Okay. Well, in that case, I'm going to close the call to the audience and if there's no other if there's no further business, we are adjourned. Thank you. Now I have more time. Holy world.