City Council - Regular Meeting

Let's call the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Clerk, would you please call the role? Councilwoman Aaron here. Councilman Fleming here. Councelor Gerald here. Mayor Prom here. Here. Councelor Roarback here. Councelor Wright here. Mayor Haynes here. All those that could please stand while Councilwoman Erin does the invocation and the pledge of allegiance.

As we gather this evening for the second meeting of this newly newly seated Madison Height City Council, we take a moment to acknowledge the importance of the work before us and the responsibility entrusted to each member. The city, our community of our diverse voices, strong neighborhoods and shared aspirations depends on thoughtful principles lead principal leadership. May this council be guided by clarity of purpose, fairness, and judgment and a steadfast commitment to the people of Madison Heights. May discussions be in this chamber be marked with civility, respect, and a dedication to collaborative problem solving. Let every decision reflect integrity, accountability, and a sincere desire to strengthen the quality of life for all who call Madison Ice home. As we continue this new term, may we may cooperation rise above the vision. And may each action taken here today move our city toward greater unity, safety, and opportunity. Let this meeting reaffirm that leadership is both a privilege and a duty and that requires wisdom, compassion, and unwavering commitment to the public. As we prepare to move into tonight's agenda items, may we do so with intention, open-mindedness, and the unified focus on the public good. With these intentions in mind, we proceed with the work that is before us. 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.

Okay, moving on to the agenda. First topic is approval of the agenda. Do we have any additions or deletions to the agenda? Okay, hearing none. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? Your honor. Motion. Yes. Thank you. Do I have a second? Your honor, second. Okay. Motion's been made and seconded. Um, all in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Oppose say no. Motion carries. We have no presentations this evening. Next on the agenda is public hearings regarding the parks and recreation master plan. City manager Marsh.

So staff is presenting the 2026 to 2030 parks and recreation master plan which has been under development over the last year. The state requires the city to have a 5-year master plan on file with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to apply for any state grants offered in the next 5 years. This draft plan has been posted on the city's website and was made available in print format to the public through the clerk's office and library to meet the state's minimum 30-day review and comment period. All public comments have been addressed. So, following the required public hearing, staff and I recommend approval of the resolution to formally adopt the plan.

Okay. Thank you, city manager Marsh. I will open the public hearing. there's anyone here that would like like to speak regarding the parks and recreation master plan. All right, seeing nobody is here, I will close the public hearing and we will move on to what is the wish of city council with as it relates to the parks and recreation master plan. Your honor, I I move that uh council approves the resolution adopting the parks and recreation master plan um and authorize staff to submit it to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Okay. Thank you. Is there a second? Yes.

Thank you. We have a a motion and a second. Is there any discussion?

Your honor. Um, I'll just note that the uh city manager and uh the staff in the um DPS and parks and recreations departments worked on this um in-house and I I know she stated it before publicly, but um the work is impeccable. I looked through it um you know really carefully. I read everybody's comments and and so forth, and also just the um amount of detail that we go into in um looking at every park, the inventory of the parks, what's going on at that park, how well, you know, the condition of the things at the park. Um and then everybody's u input from I don't remember how many um individuals uh put left their comments, but we have 116 pages in this thing. So, it's a long lot of lot a lot of comments um about what people would like to see and and you know additional um changes or issues or anything like that. And I just really appreciate how much work went into it, how detailed it was and how um much it suited the needs of this city and our parks. So, um, you know, the, um, the challenge to me for something like this is, you know, everybody has an idea of what would make their park beautiful and but everybody's idea is um, subjective to their own ideas, right? But this helps us to to clarify and quantify those subjective inputs in a way that makes it um, uh, doable, an an action plan. And I know that the city manager um really works hard to make sure that we have these action plans and this is required by the state, but we have these action plans in place that are clearly um clearly ready things that we want to do in the next five years. Our past ma master plan um we were able to complete almost every single thing in that master plan over the course of that time. And

we were able to do that because the master plan had those things. they were reasonable and thoughtful and doable, right? And they took into account what the city um city residents wanted. And I think that this does that same kind of thing. These types of things that are in here are just phenomenal. you know, the the um improvements um the the focus on um accessibility and the types of um services that that we're offering in in the recreation department, the ways that people can interact with the recreation department. And all of these things being here and being ready make us ready to drop a grant application at the drop of a dime. Well, maybe not the drop of a dime, but very quickly so that we can um really capture as much of that outside funding as we possibly can so that we can give the biggest bang for the buck for our residents. And so I just want to um you know encourage anybody this will be available I think on the city website or has been and people have um can see it um still after it's adopted. you can take a look at it and and um just see what what the plans are for the next five years in the in the um in the plan when I think about the fact that we got almost everything done in the last master plan, you know, and then I'm looking at this like the the improvements that are going to be happening at McGilly Park next fiscal year. Um just a complete overhaul. And I know I heard I used to live in the neighborhood right there. So I hear I hear from my former former uh neighbors all the time about how they want to see those improvements. And I know that that's coming and I we know that these things will be happening because um our city uh staff are so good at capturing that outside um funding and um making sure that they are ready and willing to get these things done. So, I just want to say thank you for everybody's work and encourage anybody who is interested

to really take a look and see what your city parks are going to be turning into or growing into developing into the next 5 years. Thank you. Thank you, your honor.

Yes. Uh thank you uh councelor Roarback for that uh extremely detailed uh uh and I'll say kudos to all of that and just wanted to put a special uh comment on. I'm thanking all the hard work as as councelor mentioned it was all done in house. Um saved the city some money there and got more feedback from the public than we did in years past. Um, and it's nice to have all of that on paper so we have a plan and I look very forward to some of the things that that are on that uh plan already. Thank you. Any other comments, your honor? Yes.

Yeah. I I too want to say that the plan is really well put forth uh for the for a path for our future uh in parks and recreation. I uh appreciate all the hard work that was put into it and I also want to commend all the all the citizens who took all the surveys, who showed up to all the uh town halls to give us their input and uh and everybody on council who worked on it. Also, uh I'm really happy about the accessibility portion of it being recognized. Uh the parks are rated from one to five on a scale from one to five from being um the goal is to be barrier free and one being it not being barrier free at all. That meaning that the you know the path to get to the uh the play structures and and to go around the park are free of any obstacles at all and and and five everything being uh just completed and and being barrier free. So most of the parks right now uh per the master plan that were rated are either twos, we have a couple of threes, and there's a couple of ones. So we still have some progress to be made on making sure that we get to a total barrierfree uh park system. Uh I really look forward to that. If we do get grants, we can put them towards uh making upgrades to accessibility. I also want to say that the master plan also talked about having uh programming that's really important for all ages and disabilities and such. So, I'm really pleased with the way that the master plan turned out and u that's it.

Your honor,

I was going to save my comments for closing comments, but feel like it's kind of backwards if I do that. So I do want to just say kudos to you know councelor Roborbach back and everyone else Melissa whom all you know contributed to this master plan when I read through and it is a lot to read through. I was impressed with the amount of comments that residents gave and how it helped to explore and to navigate what we need in our parks. You know this is just the first step to helping us to come up with the vision for more greener spaces, more activities. I read a couple of comments where they were asking for more music in the parks and and I'm like, "Okay, we're on the right track with with with, you know, the arts boards doing things like that." So, we're giving our residents what they want and I applaud you all for working so diligently on this. It was really well put together.

Anyone else? Council or right?

Of course. I have so much more to add to this conversation. Everybody buckle up. No. uh just outstanding by our city staff. The thing that I want to highlight is how you saw the availability of folks to participate via the QR codes around the parks, around the community, in the newspaper. Um now more than ever, it's really hard to people reach people because believe it or not, we don't all go to the same Facebook pages or even social media groups or platforms. So or or parks and everything. And so, uh, city staff did a phenomenal job of touching all of the touch points where people can have multiple opportunities to have their opinion be included in this. And wasn't wasn't this the most ever participated in responses, which is phenomenal. And so, of course, you can't please everyone. Uh, sometimes you're lucky if you can please anyone. But, um, it's it's, uh, just great work, like everyone else said. And I'm I'm very happy as well and fully on board with this plan and can't wait to see us implement it. And I do love the idea of having reasonable achievable goals like council Roarbach talked about. And that's the most significant part is we got to have our, you know, to the moon dreams, but we also got to have our just basic uh first run hits or run hits. So, good job.

Ditto.

All right. So, the only comment, well, couple of comments that I have. I mean, everybody's already talked about it. That's the joy of going last is you get to hear what everybody says. But I agree with everything that's been said tonight. And one thing that I would like to add um obviously a great job um doing this internally. I mean what an incredible turnaround um from our employees, you know, the citizens themselves that took part of the survey, but even more so when I looked through this and was reading through it, it was so professionally done. I mean, I would not have known if you didn't tell me that this was done by, you know, some professional firm. term. I mean, I wouldn't have known the difference. So, again, great job by you, Melissa, and staff and everybody that was involved in that. So, um, so I'll close out the discussion and let's, uh, take a vote on the motion to approve the resolution. All those in favor signify by saying I.

I. Oppose say no. Motion carries. All right. Next up on the agenda is is there any item on the agenda of interest to parties that are in the audience that they want brought forward? Okay, hearing none, we'll move on to meeting open to the public. Meeting is now open to the public. Anybody that wishes to speak, I wish you make sure that you address your comments to me as the chair um and limit your comments to three minutes. That'd be great.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh my name is Kevin Wright. I live at 7:45 Canterbury Drive and also on the uh a member of the Mass tonight's Historical Commission. And that's really what I came tonight to talk about some of the exciting things we have coming up this week um at the heritage rooms. So, as uh I think everyone knows, we just celebrated a milestone on Saturday, December 6th, 70th uh anniversary of the passing by voters of the city charter, which made Mass Heights the 10th city government in South Oakland County at that time. So, we're going to have an open house this Saturday, December 13th, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to help celebrate that that anniversary. Uh, if you've never been to the Heritage Rooms, they're downstairs in the lower level of city hall. Um, it's just a a hidden gem, a treasure trove of of artifacts, displays, vintage photos. I mean, every time I go in there, I learn something new. At the um um open house, we're going to be selling some really nice t-shirts, too. They're designed by a member of our commission, Mark Bliss, a former city council member, and I brought one tonight to show everybody, but they're they've got a really sleek retro design on the front commemorating 70 years. On the back, there's and I forgot to count them. Um, just moments that made us historic milestones from pre-1832 before Oakland or U Royal Oak Township was founded up until present day. So, this is a shirt here. I said it has a really nice design on the front

and on the back we have I think there's 12 moments that made us I know there's a lot more than 12 moments that made us but those are the ones we boiled down to I'm not going to share the moments you're going to have to buy a shirt to get that so but they're going to be available for $20 and proceeds from the sale go to help the historical commission fund digitizing old newspapers um photographs and other uh uh information that we have started in the archives. So, I just want to invite you, Mr. Mayor, the council, our neighbors here in chambers, our neighbors watching at home to come out this Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 100 p.m. to the Heritage Rooms Historical Museum downstairs at City Hall. I appreciate the time. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wish to make a public comment? All right, seeing none, close the public comment portion of the meeting. Next up on the agenda is the consent agenda. Um this evening we have a few items. Uh the first is the community and e economic development director um the MHDDA bylaws amendment which is about term limits. Next is city clerk has 2026 city council meeting dates. Next item city clerk appointment to the brownfield and downtown development authorities which is a mayor's appointment. Next item is from the city clerk council alternate appointment to SEMCOG. Next item is city clerk appointments to planning commission which is also a mayor's appointment. And last item on the consent agenda is city council regular meeting minutes of November 19th, 2025. Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda this evening? Your

honor. Yes. Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Okay. Thank you. Is there a second? Yeah. Second. Councilwoman. Thank you. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. Is there any discussion? All right. Hearing none. Let's vote. Um all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose say no. Motion carries. There are no communications this evening. So, moving on to reports. Under reports, we have the elected officials compensation commission. In the salary order resolution

at the elected officials compensation commission meeting which was held on November the 24th. The commission authorized a salary order that provides for a 3% salary increase for the mayor and council effective January 9th, 2026 and a 3% increase effective January 1st, 2027. The appropriate council action would be for council to receive and file the salary order with the city clerk, which would implement the commission's order effective 30 days from the date of filing, or to reject the salary salary order in whole or in part, which requires a twothird supermajority vote.

Okay. Thank you, man. Um, can I get a motion regarding the elected officials compensation commission salary order resolution? Your honor, council um, uh, receives and files the salary order with city clerk. Okay. Is there a second? Your honor, I will second. Okay. Motions are made and seconded. Um, any discussion on the order? Okay. Hearing none, let's vote to um the motion to receive and file the salary order resolution with the city clerk. All those in favor signify by saying I.

I. Oppose say no. Motion carries. There are no items for future public hearings. So, we're moving on to bid awards and purchases. Um the item up is Skynet IT Contractor networking equipment update phase two. Manager Marsh. Skynet, the city's IT contractor, is requesting to purchase 10 Cisco Catalyst 9300L power supplies, stacking cables, and transceivers along with five year hardware licensing renewal of equipment to complete phase 2 of the networking project. The hardware cost are $68,68. The licensing cost is 54,639 and the cost of labor is 14,600 for a total project cost of 137,3726. The city's information and technology advisory committee reviewed Skynet's 2024 plan, including the proposed phase 2 networking equipment upgrade at their April and December meetings and approved this purchase as recommended for the fisc year 2025 capital improvement plan and budget. in order to reduce risk associated with the city's existing IT structure. While the project cost as recommended is $6,37 over budget, the original estimate only included a one-year licensing for this phase of the project. And the updated quote is for a 5-year licensing on all of the city's switches, access points, and cameras. Therefore, staff recommends council approve the purchase of 10 Cisco Catalyst 9300L power supplies, stacking cables and transceivers, and the 5-year hardware licensing renewal of equipment with labor to complete phase two of the networking equipment update for a total cost of $137 $137,3726. And if you have any questions, especially technical, Ty Dolan is here from Skynet. You're

Yes. I'd like to make a motion to approve the motion as read by the city manager. Is there a second? Your honor? Yes. Thank you. We have a a motion and support. Is there any discussion? Yes, your honor. Yes. Uh question. So, it's a five-year uh lease. Is the total payment due this year or are we going to spread that over to five years? It's all due this year. That's why you get a discount. Okay. Um

it's a substantial discount though from one Could you tell do you have the information from one year to five years? Yeah. Clerk uh actually I have it here in the packet I think. Yes. Um I believe the five-year subscription is 5. So do we need to make any motion to append append the budget or

um no well you can if you wish to but you don't need to because the IT department budget has you know not exactly everything up and down so it balances out in the end so we're okay for the moment. You don't need to do a budget amendment at this time. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions or discussion? Your honor, I do have one question. Yes. Um, so previously we we got I think 10 other Moroi um switches. Is that right? There was 13 last year. 13. So we have 20 23 total with these 10. Correct. Okay. And then so the the previous one of the first 13 are they leased also? I'm sorry. We bought the other ones, right?

Correct. Correct. And these are leased. All right. So, um, when in case something happens and and there, uh, any of these parts like the SFPS or the the the switches, if anything goes wrong with them, we they're at full cost. We get them replaced or how does that work? Uh, these are I think these are actually purchased. Well, these are Yeah, the the subscription license covers the hardware and software or hardware and licensing for the as long as you have the subscription. Okay, is that it? Yeah. No further questions. Any other questions?

Yes. Can I just have uh have you just talk about for the good of the audience what is a switching phase network all that stuff what tell tell us what this is for. So the there there was two phases uh last year there was 13 replaced uh this year is going to be 10 initially it was planned on being 13 of what uh the networking switches and what are networking switches. So the networking switches is what ties the um internet throughout the city. So between the uh point of sales devices, the computers, um it is the what routes the traffic for the for the city's network. Okay, thank you. Not a problem.

Any other questions? Did you have the information from one year to five years or I thought I had I don't have it on hand. Uh one year I think was 17. I can get that. I do have that. Okay, your

honor. Um, the one-year price for licensing was $17,49 and the five-year licensing was uh 50 Make sure I'm looking at the right one. Yep. $54,639. So it's a difference of 17,000 from one year roughly 10,000 less than 10,100 or 10,500 for five years. For five years.

Any other questions? Um I just have one. I'm assuming because we've replaced 13 of them and now we're replacing the other 10. Is that does that replace all of the current switches or are there more to come that still need to be because you That would be that would be all of the networking switches. Okay. Yep. The only thing that is not part of this is the the the routers that is part of the phone system. We wanted to have just the networking switches. So when we go to the phone RFP when it's a it's not going to we were hoping for a non- onrem system. So the the new switches will take care of the need to replace the routers.

Gotcha. Okay. As well as it will hopefully limit the amount of outages we have with internet and other such things having a switch go down. At least these are newer, correct? Replaced and we have a warranty and we have service on them. Yeah, the the the Cisco ones are next day. Yes. So, perfect. Y Okay. Thank you. I have nothing further. So, um let's go ahead and take a vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose say no. Motion carries. All right. We are at the end of the agenda for this evening. So, I will start with closing comments. So, I want to start with Councilman Sean Fleming tonight.

Okay. Um, it's kind of strange. Put Put you right on the spot. I know it happening over there. You need to give a warning before I

I should. Okay. Um, for a couple things I want to say that the uh the nominations for holiday display awards is going on right now. you can nominate uh they have a link on the Facebook page. I'm not sure if it's on the count on the city website yet. Uh or I would say you could probably call the city manager's office and tell them who you want to nominate the address. And um and it ends on December the 14th at uh and then some later date after that there will be people going by and and basically voting on uh your display. Also, the uh the dog licenses which were due on December the 31st uh has been extended to a due date of March 20th uh March 31st, 2026 due to the Oakland County system that kept all the uh dog licenses uh software for all the records is being changed to another system called Docupet uh which you'll probably have to figure that out and for the they'll probably have some uh information so that you can go there and input all your information in the future. Um but uh just so you know that if you're near the due date, which is only a couple weeks away, that you're now extended till March 31st. Um let's see here. One of the things that I wanted to bring up here is that um we we at our city, we have a lot of events that goes on. We have the trail tunes, we have the um the car show that we have right now, and we have other other events like the pride event that we have in the park. Um and so what I'm thinking here is that we could use more uh event planners in the future. So by having an event planner who's also an organizer and a professional that would be able to organize the event and also to um take

care of all the planning of the event would actually uh withdraw some of the take off some of the work that the commissions have to do for all of these events. that would free up the committees and boards to do other work uh on on the different boards and also that the I would also make sure that we're not having meetings that may or may not violate the open meetings act because you know it's kind of hard as a public body having needing to plan an event and you have to you don't have this uh freess to have just meetings at a whim with a bunch of people. You have to have an actual scheduled meeting. Um, so having an event planner who's a professional and that will organize an event is a really important uh thing to have I believe and I think it would really enhance our events and make them even better and that same person could also um make sure the events are more publicized than they have been in the past. So that's just one of my ideas that we could that I like to look into um with our city here. Um and that's it for tonight. Thank you very much.

Okay. Thank you, Councelor Gerald.

I have four things. Um Kevin, you are doing amazing things for the visibility and variety of information you're sharing for the historical. So, thank you for that. It's uh very interesting reading and you're engaging a lot of people in the community, which is exactly what the historical commission needs. So, that's great. Um, I'd like to do a huge shout out to the Madison Heights Food Pantry who is in the amazing but challenging position of receiving a ton of donations and a ton of volunteers um in light of the changes that happened with the SNAP concerns and everything in November. So, um the volunteers have just been incredible. The donations have also. So, thank you for that support. Uh, I'd also like to acknowledge our amazing staff for pretty much everything they do because we are so blessed with the leadership that we have there. And, uh, last but most importantly in this moment is thank you for going easy for me on my first two meetings.

Thank you, Councelor Roach.

Um, yeah, just a couple things today. First of all, we got uh the Environmental Citizens Committee um, G gave out a bunch of garden grants last year. I can't remember 10 maybe um two people who are put putting native gardens in their residence and there's two of the schools also received garden grants and we got back the reporting um recently and I just want to say um you know kudos to those who um received the garden grants and put in so much time and effort on the gardens um the native gardens on their properties. I am so excited to um you know in the spring to start going around and seeing these uh these native gardens really come to life. Um they all you know had different various stages this year. So next year um they should really be coming to life and I'm very excited to go see a lot of those. Um and those garden grants will be coming up again um the beginning of next year and people anyone in the any resident can apply for them. So, keep an eye out for that information as it comes up um through the city. Um I also want to say uh thank you to the parks and rec staff again for the uh and and DPS for their work on the master plan as well as um Kindred um for her work on the design of it. It's absolutely lovely. Also want to say thank you to all of them for the work for the lights. um our tree lighting was just lovely and um you know we are so lucky to have such dedicated staff that uh do so much work there. So that's all. Happy holidays everyone.

Great. City clerk. Well, Councilwoman um Fleming uh mentioned the dog licensing, so I don't have to mention that. So I'll just wish everybody happy holidays. Thank you. Awesome. Right, manager Marsh?

Yeah, I have a few things. So Sean Fleming mentioned and I double check. The holiday decoration awards is on the website so it's easy to um find. So if you see something beautiful out there this holiday season, please go out and put in the information on the website. Um and with that, I would like to give a shout out to staff. Of course, they did the majority of the work on this parks and recreation master plan. Um which is available in hard copy if you can't get it online, but um it is available on the website as well. And last but not least, I want to give a special shout out to my assistant Harley who did a lot of the um work on this book for the master plan, but she also wrote a grant to the University of Michigan to get an intern to revitalize the recycling and apartments. So that's something that my office gets a lot of comments about and she was looking for a way to do that and we have just been awarded an intern that the University of Michigan will be paying for. So, no expense to the city and she has asked to manage that person to work to roll back out recycling in the apartments. So, that is a great way to move Madison Heats forward. And last but not least, um that kind of goes along with the theme of sustainability, which I don't know if you have seen the mugs up here tonight, but one of the things Madison Heights has is a sustainability master plan. And it talks in there about single-use plastics. So, in the past, Madison Heights would buy plastic water bottles, which we all know how terrible that has become for us. Um, and so we are eliminating that for health reasons and also it's terrible for our environment and the landfills and everything else. So, we've moved to these reusable tumblers, I think, is the proper name for them. And if you love them, they're also available for sale in my office because we had to um buy some of those. So, if you want some Madison House swag, feel free to stop by. They're $15, by the way.

All right. Thank you, Larry Sherman.

Couple of comments, your honor. First of all, um I echo council's comments on kudos to staff for the parks and recck master plan. Um, we started off with a contractor that we Melissa and I were not happy with and we saw it early on in the process and then decided to do it in-house and the product was outstanding. The reason why we have to adopt a five-year ma parks and recck master plan is in order to get grants like we've been getting over the past five years, municipality has to have a document like that in place. And that's what council did tonight. Secondly, I want to correct an omission that I made at the last council meeting. When I was looking around the table and I was congratulating the all the the new incoming council members, I forgot to congratulate one of our incumbent council members, Councilman Mir, not only on his reelection, but also on his appointment as mayor prom of the of the city for this election cycle. And that was a function of the change that the charter and ordinance review committee did and the citizens voted it in to make the highest vote getter at the last preceding election automatically become the mayor prom which eliminated any tugof-war council would have had making an appointment um which has been our previously had been our process for a long long time. So I think I think uh so it's never too late to correct an omission. So congratulations mayor prom mayor and I wanted the people to be aware of the fact it was a function of our new charter provision too. Uh lastly happy holidays to all of our residents to everyone. Um let it be a peaceful one. Thank you your honor.

Thank you councelor Wright. Thank you your honor. Uh I'm not used to going this far down the line. So uh it's definitely throwing me off a bit. I know. Just

this uh holiday season, just remember to be kind. There's a lot of folks who are this is the toughest time of the year for folks dealing with mental health issues for some and loneliness and depression. So remember to check on your neighbors, invite them to events like what the historical society um to be a part of the community and not to isolate themselves. Uh this time of the year, no matter what you practice the whole for a lot of them, it's all about hope and resiliency. So let's remember to be kind and uh I yield. Council mayor, keep an eye out for the new city newsletter coming in your mailbox soon. Uh the winter edition will be coming out. Lots of great events going on uh in the library and parks and wreck. So, and thank Mr. Wright for mentioning the Heritage Room Museum will be open again uh this week to the public. It is in the basement of this building. So, honestly, you can find it. There's an elevator on the north side of the building that that will get you down there if you're having difficulty with stairs or the door over here will be open. Um, I also have my t-shirt already. So, uh, I'll be I'll be wearing that on Saturday. Um, other than that, uh, merry Christmas, uh, happy Hanukkah, and happy Quanza, and happy new year to all of you. And, uh, please be safe. And as councelor Wright mentioned, this is a very difficult time of year for some people. So, uh, you know, reach out to them um, and and check on check on them and and make sure that, uh, that they're, uh, you know, feeling loved, uh, this time of year. And, uh, we'll see you all in 2026.

Thank you, Councilwoman Erin.

Okay. Well, I don't have anything really to say, but uh I just want to say uh Christmas on Dong, you know, um Jonathan and Christopher Hart have been doing Christmas on Dong for since CO where they bring Santa in and the admission that they ask is just for a canned good, which they support to go out to the pantry. It is a really wonderful time of year to go through. The amount of effort that they put into this project is really amazing. So for anyone with small children or children at heart that just want to go and visit Santa this weekend, Santa has to go back. So this is going to be the last weekend he's here because he got a long list of everything that he has to do. So if you have time, please stop by Dong. Don't need the address. You'll see it when you get on the street. It's all bright and everything. From 7 to 9:00, it's a really enjoyable time of year and it really brings along a lot of community and it's fun. So, that's all I have.

All right. Thank you. All right. I just have a couple of things. I want to echo the sentiments of councelor Gerald's that, you know, thanking everybody for being easy on all of us for this year because now we can say we made it a year and we made it through 2025 almost though. So, our last council meeting, um, obviously this is the last one of the year, so I want to wish happy holidays to everybody and hopefully um, everybody has a safe, uh, holiday season. And I also wanted to mention to, uh, Kevin Wright, thank you as well for all the historical updates on Facebook. I mean, I I look at them every day and it's just amazing the stuff that, you know, even though I've worked here for over 30 years, it's stuff that I never would have known um, had you not put that out there. So, thank you for that. and um I look forward to seeing um people on Saturday. So with that uh we will adjourn the meeting at 7:11.