City Of Muskegon Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Did you see him?

Good evening, good folks, and welcome to the City of Muskegon City Commission General Session for this Tuesday, September 8th, 2026. Before we get started with our agenda this evening, I want to remind folks that we have a couple different public comment periods. One is towards the beginning of the meeting, and that is public comment on agenda items. And then we have general public comment at the end of the meeting, which is an opportunity for folks to give input directly to the City Commission on whichever topic you wish to share with us. In either of the public comment or any of our public comment periods, it's a time to give input directly to the commission, not necessarily Q&A or dialogue or back and forth. We can arrange that at a separate time and place if so desired. If you would like to give public comment at either of those periods, I encourage you to complete the public comment form at the back of the room. Please provide your name and home address. Note I will not be sharing your home address nor announcing that or asking you to announce that. That is just for our records. I will be acknowledging which neighborhood you're joining us from if you're a City of Muskegon resident. If you're not a City of Muskegon resident, which other township, village, or city you may be joining us, or country perhaps. When you complete the public comment form, please hand that to our City Clerk at the end of the dais here, and we will be happy to welcome your comments. We do have phone-in comments as well, so if you're not able to join us here in person, once we're done with in-person public comment, we'll be going to the phones. And so people can phone in during the comments on agenda items as well as general public comment at the end of the meeting. I'm going to share that phone number right now just so folks that may be watching have that at the ready. That number is 231-724-6721. Please do not call right now. Just have that at the ready for when we get to phone-in public comments. Now before we get started with our agenda, we're going to be led in prayer by Dr. Rob Renberg with Anchor Point Bible Church, and we're going to be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. If you wish to join us in either of those activities, I ask that you stand if you're capable of doing so.

All right, let's pray. Lord, it looks like there is a lot going on tonight, and I just thank you for the dedication of the mayor and these commissioners, the staff, everybody who is involved in the care of this beautiful city that we love. We pray, Father, that you would give us spirit of wisdom, of discernment, of understanding, of being able to listen to one another. Come to consensus and agreement as possible. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for beautiful weather that you've blessed us with in spite of storms that come our way, whether it's physical or even in our lives. And we just ask that you would grant this evening to be one of unity and peace and harmony. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the... God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Pastor. May we have a roll call, please?

Vice Mayor Keener? Here. Commissioner German?

Here.

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

Here.

Commissioner Kilgo?

Present. Thank you. We're going to get started with honors awards presentations, and we have one presentation. Development Services Director for Garden City Machine Info Housing, Brownfield.

Good evening. Really, this is more to do with a couple items that are going to come before the commission in your October meeting, but because it's fairly complicated, we wanted to keep it on this agenda as a presentation item so you didn't you know, get a ton of information in a work session and then be expected to vote on several things the next day. So most of you know that for really over a year and a half, Development Services has been working with West Urban Homes on potential amendments to an existing agreement from 2020 and 2021 that calls for 100 infill rental housing units. And that was prior to a lot of existing incentives at the state level through MSHDA, that exists today. So the housing, the scattered site pilots that you guys have approved for other developments, the housing TIF that we've done for other developments, those things didn't exist. There was an attempt by administration at that time to implement some effective incentives into bilateral agreement with West Urban Properties. So one of those was this concept of basically a minimal baseline rent per unit that each unit that was built and rented out by West Urban would collect. In the event it collected less than that, then the city would be responsible for subsidizing that rent and adjusting that on a basis based on inflation annually. The inverse of that was if it went over a certain amount, then there would be rent sharing where 50% of that overage would be split between the city and West Urban. In the event that property taxes on a given unit went over a certain numerical value in the agreement, that value was $2,325 at the beginning of the agreement and it was adjusted annually for CPI, then we had to amend that rent share. We were obliged to amend that rent share section to accommodate for that overage. Over the course of the last two and a half years, West Urban and myself have realize that this is a mutually unfavorable structure. And so effectively, the rents collected don't necessarily cover the cost to operate the portfolio, which as of today I believe sits at 48 units. And then additionally, because of both vacancies but predominantly the property taxes, which were not reflective of what the actual property taxes would be on these new construction homes in the agreement. So as an example, if a unit was constructed at $150,000 at the time when the agreement started, we'll use 2021 construction pricing. The property taxes are going to be more like $4,600, so approximately double what the maximum in the agreement allows for. Because of that necessary adjustment, over the course of time, we've come to owe West Urban Properties quite a bit of money out of what is dictated in the agreement to be the economic development fund. We have some ideas about that, and we'll get to that in the October work session. But effectively what it's doing is there's a set amount of money in the existing agreement of $250,000 that's set aside in the West Urban Project Fund, and that comes from the Economic Development Fund, and the city has to hold that available to reimburse West Urban according to the terms of this agreement. As of now, based on our math on the rent rolls and what the rent subsidy would have to be adjusted to after... five full years of implementation of the project, the subsidy would be around $246,000 and some change. So we're getting to the end of that $250,000. And the challenge to West Urban is that is the entire subsidy. And so starting next year, they will have no safety net, I guess, if you will, And they'll continue to post losses against the taxes because they were conceived to be lower in the math for the agreement. And so they'll start to post five-figure losses annually against their portfolio because of that tax burden. So first, like I said, for about 18 months now, we've been trying to mutually work together to figure out how do we extricate ourselves from this existing mutually unfavorable agreement and come up with something that both preserves the affordability components on the existing rental housing that's been constructed and then provide a pathway for more affordable rental housing to be constructed on the remaining lots if that's what the city and West Urban so desire and obviously based on our housing needs that's what we desire and what we would recommend and so we've come up with utilizing two different tools a way to extricate ourselves from this existing document and enter into more traditional state backed housing incentives to finish the project. So that would be a combination of the housing TIF, which again, we've seen on other projects, this housing TIF would be utilized for the existing units that are already built. And so moving forward after this year, as the taxes gradually go up on those units that have been constructed, the city would retain in our infill housing brownfield all the taxable value that those units create to date, and then moving forward, so 2027 moving forward, that increment would go to West Urban as a housing TIF subsidy in exchange for having to keep those units rented to families at or below 120% of the area median income for the life of that brownfield TIF. For the units that have not been constructed, which is 52 additional units because the original contract was for 100 houses, we would do the same incentive that we've done with Alan Edwin and Karen Nowak and various developers that she has brought us, incremental developers, and we would utilize the scattered site workforce pilot. It is the equivalent of 10% of the shelter rents as a payment in lieu of taxes. And that period would be for 15 years. And that, again, would be restricted to families renting those units that are at or below 120% of the area's median income. So the current agreement that is in force only requires, I believe, half of the units to be affordable. The other half can be market rate. This would... change things in the sense that all of the units in the portfolio would have an affordability requirement due to the incentives used, but it would also alleviate both parties of the obligations that they carry under the existing agreement. There will need to be a payment to West Durban because of the previous years of obligation. At this point, in good faith, both parties have said, okay, let's find our way out of this, and then we'll settle the payment for the agreement as we exit it. So next month, what staff will bring forward is basically a termination of the existing agreement, a workforce pilot for the unbuilt units, and then a brownfield plan amendment for the city's infill housing program because all of these lots are in our brownfield plan. So we will continue to get some TIF revenue from all of them, including the yet to be built pilot units. But we will add West Urban as a party only for the housing TIF portion of the 48 units that they have built. That's a mouthful, that's a lot. It's a complicated structure. But it's really the only way to safeguard the affordability components, exit both parties from the agreement, and continue to have the houses developed and maintained. With that, I want to make sure that everybody had opportunity for lots of questions on the basic structure, and then we will release to you guys over email the final drafts of the documents well before the packet, because I think, and the mayor recommended that, and I think that's fair, because it's several items and it's several documents, but I think we'll have a work session item in October, too, to answer any final questions, so. It's a big change. It's a big step. Like I said, we've been working for well over a year, probably closer to two years, on trying to come up with a solution. West Urban retained Jared Belka at our recommendation to get a third-party consultant to help them put together these documents, and then Parmenter worked closely with Warner on getting the final drafts together. That was a mouthful, so happy to entertain any questions. Thank you, Director Acklam.

Commissioners? Commissioner Kilgill.

Thank you. We've talked a little bit about this kind of coming up with a plan to make West Urban Home move forward. My main questions surround keeping the affordability for A, residents that are in these rentals currently and B, new residents that either rent the current ones that are built or new ones that are built. What is our plan to make sure that we're keeping, and I did hear you, I wrote down a page of notes, but what is our plan to make sure that these units stay affordable for folks?

Sure, that's a great question. And actually, this will provide us with more security than we have now. So we have the existing bilateral agreement. And the agreement, if memory serves, actually has a range of 70 to 140% AMI, which is an arbitrary percentage. I've never seen 140% AMI in another document. This will now be backed by separate state statutes, one being the amendment to the MSHDA Act that allows the workforce pilot payment in lieu of taxes program. And so there's annual affidavits and rent roll certifications that have to go through Both MSHDA, you have to file, and then also our treasurer has a process there with equalization to maintain the special tax role, it's called, where basically you get to pay a percentage of your rents rather than your property taxes. And then on the housing TIF side, we, as the city, we're the ones who distribute the TIF. We certify each year the brownfields. We have the right to demand the rent roll, and we'll basically get to do it twice, one for the pilot units and then once for the housing tip. So now it will be backed by state law rather than just this one contract that we've had in the past. And so no one should be displaced or anything like that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Kegel. Commissioner German, did you have something to add?

Yes, yes. Thank you, man. Thank you, Director Echolm. City of Muskegon, we started this project with West Urban Development. 2020 or before 2020?

It was this particular project with West Urban. West Urban has built several products for the city over the years. This is, I think the first iteration was passed July of 2020, and then it was amended November of 2020, and then again in 2021. So we're operating under the 2021 terms. And then the exhibit, which basically highlights which lots are to be built on, that's been changed a couple times as well. So 2020 effectively was the start year for this thing.

Yeah. Okay, we always talked about affordability. That was one major thing when we opt into this. I guess my inflation have anything to do with this also?

So in a sense, inflation in this capacity mostly works in the city's favor because it increases incrementally the maximum taxes that can be paid before we have to subsidize the unit. So the only way the CPI or inflation really works is by amending those figures annually. But the rents at this point, would be higher if we were to say, okay, you can now charge X because we've had to amend the agreement so much. And candidly, many people in the community wouldn't be able to afford them. So the agreement's just not functioning structurally the way it was meant to. It was well intended. It's just because of lots of economic factors, it's not working the way it was meant to work.

Okay. I guess my last question would be, if this is amended, We look at somewhat a opportunity for existing residents that's living in these units. As Commissioner Kilgore asked the question, no one, and you stated, being displaced or anything like that. But I always thought, under my observation or If I remember correctly, I thought we did some type of subsidizing on these properties with West Urban.

We are the party that is responsible for subsidizing, and so effectively saying this unit cannot generate any more taxes for the developer than this. Otherwise, they have the right to amend the rent to allow the minimum rent to go up, and then we have to subsidize the difference. So effectively, like I said, those rents have stayed relatively stable. They have not gone up to the maximum that by right they could under the agreement year over year. And then we are effectively paying the difference out of that West Urban Fund. And we have not paid anything yet, but the settlement payment as of now, like I said, is about $246,000 and change. So that would be considered the subsidy.

Okay, that was my next question. I just want to make sure you haven't paid anything, but what sits in that fund? we have to make up for that.

And next month we'll get into more detail, but I'll actually be making a recommendation for your consideration. It's up to you because West urban doesn't care where those dollars come from, but we have this new housing fund that we didn't have at the time of the agreement either. And that is funded in part by Brownfield TIF from the infill housing Brownfield and and so our staff recommendation will be to actually pay that settlement payment out of the housing fund rather than the economic development fund because the economic development fund is not self-replicating. It's a finite amount of money. We have a loan program, and we hope that we get good terms and returns on those loans, but the TIF for the infill housing brownfield will last 20-plus more years, and so we'll recover that money faster through that fund.

Okay. And there's, of course, 52 more units that have to be built under that agreement.

Could be. Yeah, absolutely. And so that's what we're recommending because West Urban's been a good builder and a good owner. And so we would like to, with these state resources, these state incentives, utilize those the same way we have with newer developers that we've worked with to effectively finish out that project and finish those 52 remaining single-family homes. Similar to the products that Allen Edwin are building right now, but likely at slightly lower price points.

All right, thank you. Thank you, Commissioner German. Commissioner Cochin.

Yes, and just for clarification, are these going to be rental units?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay, thank you.

Will the transition to a pilot, a more typical pilot or scatter site pilot agreement versus what we had previously, which used pilot but not in the sense of payment move taxes pilot. It was just a novel agreement, the original initiative. Yeah. That original agreement required the property owner to make the home available to the renter in the event they wish to acquire it. So with this transition, will that still be an opportunity that a tenant could buy the home? Or because of the new system, like, no, they're kind of locked in for the duration of the pilot?

They're not locked in for the duration. That's a good question. So they're not locked in for the duration of the pilot. A pilot home can be sold. It will be added to the tax roll. And so, as an example, if it were in an NEZ district, then that owner could apply for an NEZ before purchase and effectively get a tax abatement on it. But the pilot is only subject to rental properties.

So it can be sold, but so long as it is being rented, it is obligated to be rented per the parameters of the pilot for restoration. Okay. Thank you. Commissioner, is there anything else to ask or add at this time? This will be coming back along with the various different associated agreements next month. All right. Thank you, Director Ackholm.

Thank you.

We do not have any public hearings this evening, and we do have public comment on agenda items. Madam Clerk, have you received any forms yet?

I have not.

All right. Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to give public comment on an agenda item, one of our remaining agenda items? Seeing no takers in the audience, we're going to go to the phones. That number is 231-724-6721. This is an opportunity to speak on one of the City Commission's meeting agenda items. or multiple agenda items if you wish to speak on several of them, you're welcome to do so. Each person has up to three minutes to provide their remarks. If you're phoning in, please turn down any audio in the background, state your name, and which agenda items you're speaking on. Do we have any takers or comments on agenda items? Commissioners, you've had an opportunity to review the consent agenda. Are there any items that you wish to have removed for separate discussion and voting?

Yes. Q.

You say Q? Yes. All right. Commissioner Kilgore.

C as in cat, O as in Oscar, P as in Paul. You just spoke out.

Can you repeat that? C, O, and what? C, O, P, Q. C, O, P, N.

Commissioner Kochen.

Yes, item J.

Another one, Commissioner Kochen? Yes.

If she's pulling item J, I'd like to pull item K. I tried to say.

Any other items, commissioners?

No.

All right. Commissioners, I'd entertain a motion to adopt the consent agenda as presented, minus items C, J, K, O, P, Q. So moved.

Support.

We have a motion by Commissioner Dermott, supported by... So before we go to our roll call, I didn't want to pull an item because we already have several items to pull. So I'm just sharing that I'm voting no on the consent agenda just by virtue of one of the items on the consent agenda. I've voted no previously, so. just for consistency's sake, I'm voting no on the entire consent agenda. But it's not an indictment of the consent agenda itself, but I just wanted to be transparent in that, rather than pulling the item and having to go through that process in voting. It's a foregone conclusion that's going to be approved, but I want to be consistent with that. Yes, we're about to go to roll call.

Did you want to share what item that was?

It's the amendment to the Red Dads Agreement.

Thank you.

Roll call, please.

Mr. German?

Yes.

Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson? No. Commissioner Kilgore?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you.

All right. First item C, amendment to the plan unit development at Harbortown County Minimum Association. This is the second reading. Commissioner Kilgore.

I move the request to amend the plan unit development at Harbor Town Condominium Association to reduce the amount of sidewalk to be installed as required as part of their plan to construct additional housing and be approved with the following conditions. As presented, you can say as presented.

That's fine, because there's a lot of conditions. We have a motion by Commissioner Kilgore, supported by Vice Mayor Keener, and the conditions were discussed and presented at our last meeting as well. Director Franczak, can you kindly introduce yourself and please report on this item? I know it is the second reading, but if you could give us highlights, it would be helpful.

Sure. Mike Franczak, the Planning Director. Back in 2024, Harbortown was approved for adding 10 new buildings with a total of 28 new units on the vacant lots. One of the conditions was to put in sidewalks the entire length of the development. Just on one side though, working with Harbortown since then, they've been unable to come up with a way to make that work and still make it a viable project. They tried working with the county assessors for an assessment, which they could not agree upon that would be legal to do. It appears that this project would be dead without, with incorporating the full sidewalk. So they have proposed to the planning commission, which unanimously was approved to agree to the other conditions and to put the sidewalk in from beginning of Harbor town at Fulton street, all the way up to Indiana.

Thank you, Director Francik.

Commissioner Kittle? Thank you. At that Planning Commission meeting, were all members present at that meeting?

No. We scrolled down a little bit, I think we can see.

It's fine. You don't have to.

There was a couple absent, and one of them abstained because he lives there.

Gotcha. So... SINCE OUR LAST MEETING, MY WIFE AND I TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO AND WALK HARBOR TOWN. WE HAD TO WALK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. WELL, NOT THE MIDDLE. WE HAD TO WALK ON THE SIDE OF THE STREET BECAUSE THERE'S NO SIDEWALKS THERE. AND JUST WALKING IN THE STREET JUST DOESN'T FEEL WELCOMING. AND I BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE WAYS TO WORK WITH THE CITY, MAYBE EVEN IF THE COUNTY ASSESSOR DIDN'T VOTE OR RULE IN FAVOR OF HOW WE ALL WANTED THEM TO RULE. I THINK THAT THERE ARE WAYS TO WORK WITH THE CITY. SO I WANTED TO PULL THIS AGENDA ITEM BECAUSE I'M GOING TO CHANGE MY VOTE FROM LAST TIME. I THINK THERE ARE WAYS TO PUT SIDEWALKS IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND BUILD THE NEW BUILDINGS AND HAVE IT BE A WIN-WIN FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, MR. CAIRGILL. VICE MAYOR KEENAN. IS THERE A MOTION, ANYTHING TO ASK READ RIGHT NOW?

I probably, I know I will be in support of this. They have tried and tried and tried to get the sidewalk. And I am part of planning commission. And the reality is, is that there are people in that community that don't necessarily want it and would have to take on the financial responsibility, even if they do not want the sidewalk. So they did, to me, I feel like what was best for their community and being able to get the sidewalk. So I will be voting yes or yes.

Thank you. Commissioner, is there anything else to ask? Oh, wait, I'm sorry.

I do want to note, just as our mayor says, we would love to see paved walkways everywhere. But this is just a very unique situation. And... They've invested a lot of time and are very committed. If we don't vote, then they will not move forward, from my understanding, if I'm correct, with the building of the houses or the construction of the walkways, correct?

That's my understanding.

Okay. So I just want the commission to understand that, too, that we could potentially miss out on housing as well with our votes. Thank you.

Commissioner German?

Yes, thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Director Franzen. I just want to make sure I voted in favor of this. I thought I heard from the HOA chair at the last meeting and heard from some of the other, I believe, residents that had some concerns. Nothing's changed since then, the last meeting, correct? Okay, so we're ready to move forward. Um, just hearing from that community out there, um, I believe that's commissioner coaching. Is that your community out there? Yeah. Your, your ward, um, just kind of gave me insight. And that's why it's important to listen, ask questions. Um, they know the community better than I do, um, because they live out there. Um, and I think they're doing the best thing in the interest of that community to try to move forward to, uh, get sidewalks and whatever it is to, you know, make it more friendly and walkable and people have a good quality of life, you know, just being safe. So I just wanted to make sure there's no changes or anything added in since last time we had to meet. So that's all I have. And you've answered that, so thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner German. Commissioner Kochen.

Yes, thank you. I could echo Commissioner German or Vice Mayor Kochen Keener's thoughts on this. I think that I would love to see the sidewalks there and everywhere, but the reality of it is that several of the residents don't want to see that happen. And if we don't vote to approve this, then it can't go to their board for approval. And ultimately, I think their board should be the ones deciding this portion of it. And so I'm going to vote yes, because I would like for them to have the opportunity to vote amongst themselves and make that choice.

Thank you, Commissioner Cochin. Commissioner St. Clair.

Thank you. Just to clarify, there is additional sidewalk in this proposal, yes?

Yes, from Fulton to Indiana.

Okay, so we are going to see if they approve this additional housing and sidewalk that does not currently exist.

Correct. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner St. Clair. Anything else to ask or add, Commissioners? All right. Thank you, Director Francik. I will continue to support this amendment, although, as you know, and everyone else knows, I very much would like to see sidewalks there. And we have tried and tried. And working with the HOA over there and the neighbors over there about finding ways to make this happen, originally looking at the assessment process that didn't pan out, And for technical reasons, we've explored doing a development agreement with the city and HOA, where we front the money, and then the HOA pays us back over time for that. We've looked at doing asphalt instead of concrete to try to reduce the price, because it was awfully expensive to do the traditional sidewalk, the whole length there. And so we looked at doing asphalt as an alternative to try to bring down the cost. We've also looked at doing on-street demarcated walking path. And the road just isn't wide enough to accommodate that. So we've looked at various different alternatives to try to find a way. And that's not to say that a sidewalk's never possible there for the entire length of Harbortown Circle East and West. But it's just not in the cards right now. And particularly as we had initially set out to pursue it, which was a condition to the PUD, whereby that sidewalk had to be installed in order for the housing to be constructed. So we're still getting, as Commissioner St. Clair noted, we're still getting some sidewalk being added, which is welcomed, and we're also getting additional housing over there, which our community welcomes, as well as the HOA and the development fees that come with that. And the developer is going to be paying for the sidewalk installation over there. So maybe not perfect, but it is progress and good. So roll call, please.

Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner Sinclair? Yes. Mayor Johnson? Yes. Commissioner Kilgo?

No.

Vice Mayor Keener?

Yes.

Commissioner German?

Yes.

Motion passes.

Thank you. Next item. J. Carriage house contract for housing tax exemption. Commissioner Cochin.

Yes. I move to approve the contract for housing exemption at carriage house and authorize the mayor and clerk to sign.

Support. Alright, we have a motion by Commissioner Kochen, supported by Commissioner Kilgill. Good evening and welcome back. Kindly introduce yourself and please report out on this item.

Good evening, I'm Jake Eckholm, Director of Development Services for the City of Muskegon. So, there are actually four associated items related to a large project out on the east side of the city on a quarter line. So, Carriage House and Hickory Village, which is a senior living complex. They represent a large number of multi-family housing units on the east side of the city and they are what we would call like legacy housing units. They've been there for a long time. They've been consistently owned by Glick which is a large national housing developer. I think they have over 23,000 units across I think nine or 11 states. They seek to do a substantial renovation of the units at Carriage House and Hickory Village, and they are utilizing effectively a LIHTC rehab. It would be a 4% LIHTC rehab where they will pursue federal tax credits, similar to a 9% new construction rehab but a slightly different process. And then they will utilize a sale of those tax credits to finance a large portion of those renovations. So these will be mostly interior, but also some exterior structural renovations. We've been working with representatives from GLIC for probably five months now, just taking a look at, hey, if you do this project, there will be new affordability requirements to the site that did not exist previously. What are the chances of somebody being displaced if they're over income? And if they are displaced, what are your responsibilities? And they were really good about showing us, A, their legal responsibilities in that situation, as well as their corporate policies as to what they do in those situations. We've also looked at an anonymized version of their rent rolls, and we find that there is very little impact of displacement. There may be a small number of people impacted in each complex, and they are entitled to up to $5,000 in relocation assistance. And then Glick is responsible for finding them a substantially equivalent unit in the same community. they're protected under the law in that way. And so after quite a bit of internal investigation and doing some research on how those processes work, We feel that the renovations of these units, which have not been substantially renovated in some time, along with the now safeguarded cap, I guess you would call it, on rent escalations, which rent escalations in all unsubsidized housing in the city of Muskegon have been pretty substantial in the last six years. I myself lived in Carriage House from 2012 to 2013, and for a multi-floor townhouse with a full basement. I think at the time we were paying $695, and I think those equivalent townhouses today are more than double that price. And so this will effectively tie them to MISHTA rents and allow for roughly $13 million in repairs. So we are recommending approval on Hickory Village and Carriage House. Hickory Village did pass on consent. Happy to answer any questions. I believe there is a representative from the development here tonight as well.

All right. Thank you, Director Francik. Before we invite up the developer, I'm going to ask Commissioner Cochin if you have anything to ask of Director Ekholm at this time.

Director Ekholm, thank you very much for reporting out on this. I don't live in that area, but my father used to live in that area, and so this kind of caught my attention. Can you explain what... what the numbers look like potentially for displacement at this time?

I can't give an exact figure because obviously with LIHTC, as we know, there's a certain number of units are going to be at a certain percentage of AMI, and it goes on up from there. And so there may be none impacted. There are probably likely to be a few. There are many folks that are recipient of Section 8 in those areas, in both of those complexes, and so they will be unimpacted. It would be folks that would be over income that would be potentially impacted so um the least vulnerable of the folks that are there hypothetically and again they would be protected under these various policies so i can't really speculate on a number but based on the anonymized rent rules that we've seen and how those relate to mr rents it will be anecdotal relative to the total number of units

Okay, I see. And you were talking about the renovations. They'd be mostly exterior but some interior.

The other way around.

I'm sorry, mostly interior. I need a coffee. Mostly interior with some exterior. The contractors for that, is that something that Glick will be choosing then?

Yes, they have a procurement process. They're a pretty large organization, so they shared some of those details as to how they go about that. We did encourage them to consider local contracting and local trades.

All right, excellent. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Kochen. Commissioner Kilgore?

I have questions for the developer.

All right. Before we invite up the developer commissioners, do you have any questions for Director Ackholm at this time? No? All right. Thank you, Director Ackholm. Thank you. Will you kindly come up to the podium and introduce yourself?

Yes, my name is Janine Betsy, and I'm the Director of Tax Credit Development for the Gene B. Glick Company. Thank you for having me.

Welcome, Commissioner Kilgall. Thank you. Janine, we spoke a little bit earlier, and I just was wondering if you could share with the Commission some of the questions that I had. Both developments are in my ward, and I had asked about... displacement and rent prices, kind of similar to the question I had asked about a different development here in Muskegon. Can you talk about those two things?

Yes. We have about 12 households that are, some of them are not over income. They're choosing not to certify under the tax credit program. So we're offering the same incentives that we would offer folks that are over income and And so typically, it is up to $5,000, but what we try to do is not write people a check. We try to pay the amount of rent where they're moving and pay their moving expenses directly so then they don't receive a 1099 excess income. Also, I did note after we talked that rents are going down in all of the market rate, quote, unquote, units that are in Carriage House Muskegans down to the tax credit rents. except for two units are flat, they're staying the same amount. We also, as a company, we are one of the largest holders of Section 8 and affordable properties in the country, and we don't raise rents more than 5% annually ever because it's not realistic that folks can absorb large rent increases. As we all know, Incomes are not appreciating at the level that other expenses are, so we made that a company policy. We also have eviction prevention as one of our corporate tenants, so we work really hard not to evict residents. And to your note earlier about sidewalks, because this is funded by Section 8, every sidewalk will meet current UFIS standards. So they'll all get rumble strips and all the ADA items as well. And 5% of the units will be brought up to current ADA standards because what they were when they were built does not meet today's standards.

That is great to hear. We're getting a new sidewalk at the development right next door, Central Park. So it's going to be great to connect those. Commissioner Kogo?

Yes. You said 40 years old?

Yes, more than 40 years old.

More than 40 years old. Thank you. So I had asked you about mass exodus. So if we approve this pilot... You all will be moving some residents out and putting some up in hotels, putting some who want to choose to stay with family. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yes. So we have a special team that comes in and supports the on-site team. It consists of a regional manager that's been with the company for 25 years and has done every single one of our tax credit rehabs. So they come in with the associates and do all the income qualification, and they work with the residents. We help them box up. We use a rapid rehab model, so residents are typically out of their apartments three days. The first week, we open one unit per day. The second week, we open two units per day. The third week, we open three units per day. We don't work over Thanksgiving or, like, after the first full week of December because we don't want to impact people over the holidays. But we direct bill with the hotel, We take residents to the hotel if they don't have transportation, and then we also give them Visa gift cards based on their family size for meals. If they choose to stay with a family member, they still get the Visa gift cards for meals or whatever they choose to use them for. And then the units that are fully accessible, that meet the ADA standards, those folks are typically out 30 days. And we also, again, direct bill with the hotel. And we target the folks that most need those improvements or want those improvements so that they're good homes for them as well. We did also have two different resident meetings where we had 105 of the residents show up. This is a MISTA requirement. They review the scope of the work. We ask them for input on the work. And then we also have started to set aside $20,000 for each of the properties so at the end of the property the residents can say, okay, we really want to redo the library, all the furniture in the library. We want new outdoor patio space. We want these items. So each of the properties, Carriage House Muskegon and Hickory, at the end of the property. Once they see what's done, they'll come to an agreement on what they want to do with thousand dollars. That's awesome.

Thank you. Um, can you, as far as like the updates in unit, what are some of the updates that you're doing? Obviously if this building's over 40 years old, there's probably quite a lot of things that have aged out. What are some of the updates you're doing?

So on the insides, we are completely redoing all the kitchens. We put in solid surface countertops like you get in a market rate apartment. You're getting all new high-efficiency appliances, all new lighting. We are doing 100 percent of the flooring in the entire units. We help residents box up their stuff, too, because it gets moved back and forth. And then, externally, there's a lot of high steps there into those units, and so we will be replacing all the steps. There's new playgrounds. We're adding a dog park. We'll likely do 100% asphalt at the end. We have a budget of about 115 right now, but usually we'll prioritize doing all the asphalt. There is windows, new water heaters, and lots of concrete work, as well as you can't see it from the street, but there is They sort of over-planted Carriage House Muskegon in the tree-wise. So as trees have been coming down, they've been stashing them in the back of the property. So we're going to get rid of the tree pile that's there because it's going to be $100,000 to get rid of all the debris back there. And the property just can't absorb that cost annually. And so this is our 16th and 17th tax credit rehab. And as we... done, some of ours that are seven years ago, we're constantly improving on what we're doing that both creates the best experience for the residents and really keeps the properties looking better for the next 40 years.

That's awesome. My last question, I know we We passed Hickory Village on consent, but for our seniors that are there in Hickory Village, is there any specialty things being done, special transportation that's needed, or for people who may not be as able as others, are we taking care of our seniors?

We do, and actually we had a property that we did this in Louisville, and we ended up putting the resident in a nursing home for 30 days because they had completely outfitted their current apartment. So Destiny, who is that regional manager, will sit down with anybody that unique needs and they also have pre-identified if somebody has a lot of stuff so that they're already working with them to have so that they're ready for the rehab and they have a lot of meetings with folks because it's intense and then everybody's happy when it's over but it's a lot and that's also why we bring in the special team so that the on-site team can just continue to focus on the work and its relationship. So nothing special, but we do really work with people as individuals.

Okay, thank you. Well, her name's Destiny, so I'm sure she's an awesome person. She is. We know a Destiny around here.

There is a woman who came to the resident meeting who's lived in the property since it was built. And I have a picture of the two of them because I just think it was awesome. And she was very excited about the improvements and seeing the property. refreshed.

Great. Well, we look forward to a smooth transition for these folks. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Kugel. Any other questions for the applicant or the developer? Commissioner German. Yes.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening. How are you? You answered a lot of the questions that was some of the questions that I was going to ask and Director Echo mentioned some of the things that As for this tax credit, you already have the tax credit been approved through the state, right?

Correct, yes.

Okay. Okay. Got that on record. Just want to make sure.

Yep.

Okay. Now, my concern about disemplacement, when we have these renovations and improvements, is the elderly. How many elderly do you currently have in your unit, in these units out there?

In Hickory Village, it's 180 elderly residents. And we have done... We rehabbed one in Indianapolis just recently. That was 204 units. It's where my grandma used to live back in the day. We've done 203 units in Lexington, Kentucky. So we're very familiar with doing the senior properties and just making sure that those residents are taken care of because there's a good portion of seniors that live in our apartment. They're They're the most nervous. They're filling out a whole new certification system. They don't want to lose their housing or their rent subsidy. And now they have two levels of certification, and so that's really .

Okay. Also, how many current households fall up under the 30%, 40%, 60%, AMI, or even 80%?

It is. So I looked that up because that's important to your housing. So in Carriage House Muskegon, 54 of the residents are under 30%. 18 are under 50%. The remaining 62 are between 60 and 80%. And in the Hickory Village, 166 of the 180 units. The other thing that this does is we have, by moving these to tax credit units, it's also opening up the opportunity for folks with vouchers to move in. So we have like six pending move-ins that have come from your public housing. accepted at places.

Okay. This question, I have a couple more. Will Glick agree that no resident be evicted or have a lease refused solely because the property is converted to the LIHTC?

We would only be able to evict people for nonpayment of rent or other violations in their lease. So I'm not positive what you're asking about if people will have to certify for the low tax credit program. And some of the folks that didn't want to certify have chosen to out, but we did not evict them.

Okay, that was my question. Okay. And just one last thing I know. I heard the director mention that you're looking for working with local contractors. That's one of the things that I've always advocated for when we look at development and renovations and tax credits and things like that. So are you following the EEOC policies also for fair employment?

Yes. And MSHDA actually makes you put together an EEOC part of your application, and then they monitor your success on it, and they also ask you to buy Michigan projects, products as well. There is a key amount of work that is done to keep it moving, and so typically what gets local contracting is asphalt, concrete, some of the plumbing and the flooring. and some of the other installation is done by a team. CRG is a big company, so they have regional teams that work in this area, and we have a team that's coming from Milwaukee that does the cabinet installation, because literally 10 people work in the units at a time to get things done.

Okay. Well, thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner German. Any other questions, commissioners?

I just have a comment. I work for Senior Resources, so Hickory Village, most of my clients were there. And I just am so thankful that a project like this is going on because a lot of my residents have been there for like eons since the development was built. And so... Just to especially when you mentioned those, I had most of my clients had a nobody in their life. And for you all to be so willing and to think about the processes for them to be able to move their nervousness and how that's going to look and, you know, just holding their hands and walking side by side with them. I commend you all for that and really appreciate you all taking on this project. Thank you so much.

You're here. I heard you mention earlier that for your market rate units, that you're actually going to be lowering the rents for most of them, or a couple of them are going to stay flat. How many of the units will remain market rate after?

None will be market rate.

Okay, so there will be none. So, okay. I thought when you were referencing that, there was a certain number that we were going to continue to have market rate there.

And the Carriage House Muskegon project of the two has been... We are actually investing $4 million of our own money. If you made part of a market rate, then you don't get tax credit. So it just wasn't feasible.

Yeah, it throws off your average as well. Yes. Which is a conversation I've had many times with our state partners, because we really would, as a commission we've talked about before in the city, like to have socioeconomic diversity. And so being able to have a mix of market rate as well as subsidized or housing is preferred, generally. But the LIHTC program, the way it's set up now, disincentivizes that.

That is why we income averaged, though, so that we could get those 80 percent.

Excellent. Well, thank you so much for joining us this evening. Thank you for investing in Muskegon, making these important improvements and upgrades. And thank you for continuing to grow with Muskegon. As has been mentioned, the care and thoughtfulness in which you are approaching this and working with residents. Thank you. Any final thoughts before we go to vote, Commissioners? All right. Roll call, please.

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

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgo?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Commissioner German?

Yes.

Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Next item, Carriage House Municipal Services Agreement. Commissioner Kilgore.

Motion to approve the Municipal Services Agreement for Carriage House as presented and authorized the Mayor and Clerk to sign.

Support.

I wave motion by Commissioner Kilgore, supported by Commissioner Jackson.

Welcome back. Kindly introduce yourself once more and please report out on this item. Good evening. Jake Ekholm, Director of Development Services for the City of Muskegon. So this is a companion agenda item to the payment in lieu of taxes contract for housing exemption, we call it, that you just passed. The Municipal Services Agreement is a separate agreement that is also for a percentage of the shelter rents. This is meant to defray the cost of the host community providing public services to the site because they don't pay ad valorem property taxes. So The difference between a payment in lieu of taxes agreement and a municipal services agreement is that the pilot payment, similar to your property taxes that you might pay in your house, get split between all the various taxing jurisdictions, the county, us, the college, the library, et cetera, whereas the municipal services agreement stays with the city. And so this would be 3% of the collected shelter rents over the life of the pilot.

Commissioner Kirchhoff? Just one quick question. totally different than our first agenda item, the infill housing brownfield, the original agreement with West Urban where we were getting a portion or had to subsidize a portion

Yes, that was a sort of locally developed at the time sort of attempt at creating some affordability components and to incentivize construction because we were not seeing residential construction then at the pace we are now. So that was a local idea not backed by any state statutes at the time. This is LIHTC rehab that is backed by the MISHTA Act and then the federal tax credit policy. So, yeah, two different things.

Thank you. Commissioner Kilgo? Commissioner Jackson?

Nothing.

Commissioners, anything to ask or add? No? All right. Thank you. Thank you, Director Echolm. Roll call, please.

Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgo? Yes. Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Commissioner German? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commission passes.

Thank you. Next item, O, Allen Edwin Phase 3, Workforce Housing Restrictive Covenant. Commissioner Kilgo? Yes.

Motion to approve the restrictive covenant as presented and authorize the mayor and city clerk to sign. Support. I have a motion by Commissioner Kilgore, supported by Commissioner German.

And welcome back and kind of yourself once more. For anyone just tuning in. I remain Jake Eckholm, the director of development services for the city of Muskegon. This is just going to be Jake night. Yeah, it feels that way. This one is a familiar, it should be a fairly familiar item. So these, this and its companion agenda item, they're two separate documents, so they have to have separate items. They are the necessary documentation to implement a workforce housing pilot, which we often call like a scattered site pilot payment in lieu of taxes agreement under the latest amendment to the MISHTA Act from 2023. It allows for, rather than simply LIHTC projects, which are traditionally multifamily projects that have unit stacks between 30% and 80% AMI, This allows for what the state calls missing middle housing development, so housing in neighborhoods, whether single-family or all the way up to small multifamily, with targets really 80% to 120% AMI, though anyone under 120% AMI can be eligible. They are thresholded to MSHDA's rent tables for Muskegon County, the same way LIHTCs are. And then the term is 10% of the collected shelter rents for a period not to exceed 15 years. Alan Edwin has two existing agreements under the same statute with us. One is technically through the county land bank and some lots that we helped broker from them. And then another one later was for lots that are directly from the city. The reason that we were disinclined at first to convey lots to Allen Edwin, because at the time there was a flaw in the Mishnah Act that disallowed brownfield tiff capture on pilot payments and so all these lots were in our infill housing brownfield we did not want to convey you know a significant number of them 50 plus of them to alan edwin because then we would not receive any brownfield benefit from them for the housing fund the state legislature amended that so that now you can tiff pilot payments and so now we are inclined to enter into those types of agreements this one in particular based on our understanding alan edwin has acquired a number of properties from other owners throughout the city of Muskegon and they want to continue their construction portfolio of infill rental housing, single family rental housing in particular, and they seek to do the same incentive on these lots that they've done on their other lots in the city.

Thank you, Director. Echo? Commissioner Kiogo?

Thank you. So it sounds like from what you just said from the beginning because Alan Edwin's done two phases either with the city or with the land bank with the city's help. So this would be phase three of them putting up more. Um, These more hit towards market rent prices for that workforce housing, is that correct?

Yeah, Allen Edwin has found what I would call a market niche where they really like to build larger family homes, so three-bedroom, three-bathroom, four-bedroom, three-bathroom homes, and their rental price points vary between somewhere in the $1,700 to $1,895 range, and they are... typically looking for folks that are somewhere between 100 and 120 percent AMI I can't say that they don't have any 80 or 100 or under folks in there but they are certainly building like larger family homes for larger households yeah a few things you you and I have discussed before like and they've changed some of their practices they kind of when they first with their first phase and

would advertise a certain price for a sale and then it would really be more. It, it, it is around that 17 first month rent break.

Yeah. Yeah. First, first 1695 and then 1895 for their four bedroom unit, I think.

Yeah. And I, I personally, I don't see how anyone under a hundred percent AMI could afford $1,900 a month. I mean, maybe they can, but you're getting into debt to income and you know how much of your income you're spending on your housing as opposed to other stuff. Um, You said something about following the MSHDA threshold of things. So there's with MSHDA, there's income limits. And then with MSHDA, there's rent caps. Which one are we talking about?

Oh, that's a good question. So, uh, MSHDA puts out a table by county, uh, annually. And so it includes rent limits, uh, by unit size. So housing unit size. So thou shall not charge more than X for certain unit sizes. Thou shall not charge more than X by certain household sizes, so two-person, three-person, four-person, and then by AMI or percentage of the area median income. So for easy math, if the area median income is $50,000, that would be 100% AMI household unit, and then they would take the lowest average of those various price points, and that would be what they could charge for rent.

So they may be looking at a combination of a few of those different things, depending on, because like you said, they're building bigger units, right? Sure. They're building four. So a four unit would, that cap is going to be larger, $1,800, $1,900 a month, as opposed to if it was just a two unit.

Yep. So it's, this one specifically is an incentive that is intended for people 80 to 120% AMI. They're building a four bedroom house and then, you can have up to two people per bedroom. So in theory, I don't believe this has happened, but in theory, they could have as many as eight people in there. So there's an eight-person rent cap, there's a four-bedroom rent cap, and there's 120% AMI rent cap. Okay.

Thank you. My next question is, how many, because I guess these are probably, I don't know if they're on the two separate agenda items or if this is both on the one, but... How many lots from the city in this Phase 3? Are we selling them, or did we sell them?

Zero. These are, I believe, 19 properties on the exhibit, and they are all privately... All private properties. Yeah, privately acquired.

Thank you.

Thank you. Oh, just to piggyback on that real quick. They were all vacant? Yes. Because the reference says privately owned vacant. Okay, I just wanted to... Confirm that, because they did have a resident a couple months ago at a meeting concerned about a developer buying houses just to tear them down and make new. And they specifically mentioned this developer, and I was like, we have an agreement with them, but they're just doing infill on vacant lots. And up to now, it's been our lots, and now they've been buying these private lots, but they've all been vacant lots. Sure.

I think in a couple, not in Alan Edwin's case, but in some private... development cases where we were not the seller of the lots. There have been vacant structures, but they have not been vacant single family residential houses. They've been vacant accessory structures of various kinds. And so those have been removed along with their foundations in the past. But this brings a good point that I should mention for the commission's edification. So this is 19 lots. We anticipate that some of these will be split. So it will likely result in more than 19 units for the sake of clarity. Okay.

Excellent. Any additional questions, Commissioner Kelgo? Commissioner German, as supporter of the motion, anything to ask?

Yeah, thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Director. 19 lots, and some of them may be split, as I heard you correctly. Some of these are rentals, and some of them will be single-family homes, right?

These are all single-family homes, but they are all rental homes. They are homes for rent.

Okay. And household income... does not see 125, 120% AMI. So anyone under that could actually attain the home.

As long as they can meet the credit requirements and same thing that every rental property does.

Are the lots been designated or do you know where these homes would be built at?

The exhibit is 19 properties. They are kind of throughout the center area of the city, so I think there's at least three in Nelson. There's one or two in Marshfield. There's some on the east side of the city. And then I think at least one or two that I saw that are in NIMS that were privately acquired. They kind of spread around.

Okay.

Thank you. Commissioners, anything else to ask or add at this time? Just curious, with the 10% rate that's collected on shelter rents, how is that 10% decided? Is that stipulated by state? Is that something that mutually agreed upon locally? Or how did we arrive at the 10%?

It's mandated in the statute that this type of pilot is 10% of the shelter rents in every case for 15 years. So the term and the pilot rate are non-negotiable. There's also no... capacity for an MSA on the scattered site.

Okay. That answers where I was going. I was like, is that the reason why we don't have a municipal services agreement in addition to this? So, okay. Thank you. All right. Roll call, please.

Mayor Johnson?

Yes.

Commissioner Kilgo. Yes. Vice Mayor Keener. Yes. Commissioner German. Yes. Commissioner Jackson. Yes. Commissioner Cochin. Yes. Commissioner St. Clair. Yes. Commission passes.

Thank you. Next item, P, Allen Edwin Workforce Housing Phase 3 Pilot Resolution. Commissioner Kilgo.

Motion to approve the resolution setting annual service fee and authorizing the mayor and clerk to sign.

Support.

We have a motion by Commissioner Kilgo, supported by Commissioner Cochin.

Do you want me to do it again? Please. I am Jake Eckholm, the Director of Development Services for the City of Muskegon. This is similar to our last topic. This is a companion item, so there's two documents that must be certified by the Commission and signed, and so we have to do them separately. This is the resolution that effectively sets the annual service fee, is what the MSHDA calls it, so that's the pilot rate.

No question. No question. Just 15 years, just like the other one, correct? Yes.

And as of now, I think this is just a good educational piece. As of now, there's not an opportunity to do it again with units, but there are many entities in Michigan that are trying to get that amended where someone could then come back and recertify for another round of pilot term on a given unit.

Yeah, because otherwise it's going to be a frustrating scenario in 15 years, considering, yeah, the number of houses we approved last year and this year. And we're going to have a host of our neighbors that are going to be in a conundrum, potentially.

Yeah, and I will say, as of now, who can say, you know, in 15 years what our housing market will look like? The only thing I can tell you about my estimates on that is that they're always wrong, but I can tell you that... You know, right now, one advantage that I see it as an advantage, others may not, is that our market rate rents and our subsidized rents in the upper area of subsidies, so 80 to 120 percent, they're not that far apart. And so there are what we would call primary markets where they may be $1,000 a month apart. And then you have secondary markets where they're still hundreds and hundreds of dollars apart. In many cases, the difference between a market rate two-bedroom unit and a 100% AMI, 80% AMI, two-bedroom unit might be $150 to $200, which is not insignificant when families are struggling with the current price points, but you may not see, like, a complete shock to the market the way we would in a primary market where all of a sudden something goes from price protected to whatever the market will bear, and the market will bear a lot more than what people were paying. So that is a certain protection that we do have right now.

Thank you, Dr. Echolm. Commissioner Cochin, do you have anything to, or did you have any additional follow-up, Commissioner Kilgo?

No. No.

Commissioner Cochin? Anything to ask or add at this time?

No.

Commissioners? Anything you'd like to ask or add?

All right.

Roll call, please.

Commissioner Kilgo?

Yes.

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

Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so do you want to do it now or do you want to do it after?

We'll do it at the end. We'll end on that. We'll do it now.

Just a little bit of housekeeping. We're going to take what we had voted on consent and we're going to vote on it additionally just so that we can get a unanimous consent on the first read so we don't have to have it come back on a second read, which is the amendment to Chapter 82 of the Code of Ordinances, Affordable Housing. So that was adopted on the consent agenda. But because I voted no on a different item of the consent agenda, it meant we did not have unanimous approval by all seven members of the commission on that. So I would welcome a motion to adopt the amendment to Chapter 82 of the City of Muskegon Code of Ordinances as presented.

Nobody can reconsider because everyone voted yes.

I'm the only one.

Anybody in the majority is in a position to... I think it would be in there.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. In the majority, it's a reconsideration, so any... Any member in the positive, yeah.

So we would need a motion for reconsideration by one of the commissioners who is in the majority in the vote to approve the consent agenda. That motion will require a majority vote upon which we can reconsider the consent agenda... or if a commissioner wants to pull an individual item off of the consent agenda and re-approve the consent agenda, they'd be welcome to do so. Clarify that again.

So you're saying we need a motion to reconsider the entire consent agenda, or we can just say screw that out?

Because the motion was for to approve the consent agenda, we would reconsider the consent agenda vote. at which point it could either be decided as a vote or dealer's choice on whether you'd like to pull it the second time through.

I'd like to make a motion to reconsider the consent agenda.

Support.

Do you need to clarify anything?

No, they were both in the majority.

No, I'm saying anything beyond reconsider.

Like, do you have to specify what you're reconsidering, or are you just like, I'm voting to reconsider, and then they can make an additional motion on what exactly we're reconsidering? Correct.

So once it's reconsidered, then somebody will make a new motion.

Yeah, I move to adopt the amendment.

Well, we have a motion. And you're supporting Commissioner Kochen?

Yeah, I did.

So we've got a motion by Commissioner Kochen to reconsider the consent agenda, and now you're suggesting...

Now there would be a majority vote. We'll need a majority vote to approve the motion to reconsider. Okay. We're just opening it up with that motion.

Okie dokie. My goodness. I really wish I had someone to pull the other item now. Trying to expedite things. Roll call, please.

Vice Mayor Keener. Yes. Commissioner German? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson? Yes. Commissioner Kilgo? Yes. Motion passes.

All right. And now you advise, Councillor, to make a motion to adopt the consent agenda as presented, assuming, Mr. Mayor, that you would vote yes, and if not, to have a commissioner pull that item from consent for separate consideration.

Well, shouldn't we pull it first?

Well, let's just pull N. Yeah.

Yeah.

All right. So I would entertain a motion to adopt the consent agenda as presented minus, I'm going to read all the items. Yep. Minus items C, J, K, N, O, P, Q. N, H. Did I miss H?

H.

You said N. N was not on the original. Correct. We're doing now. N is what we're adding.

Oh, not H? No, we are doing N, yeah. N was the one that needs a unanimous vote. That's the one that requires, yeah.

So move. Support.

Well, I guess we could have gone the other way. It doesn't matter. Anyhow, motion by Commissioner St. Clair supported by Vice Mayor Keener to adopt the consent agenda as presented minus all of those items previously referenced. Yes, Commissioner Kilgore.

Question. So we're going to vote on the new consent agenda. Got it. So we're going to vote on the new consent agenda, which pulled the item we need to vote on. So if you vote no, it doesn't matter because we pulled that item. Got it. Okay. Got it. All right. Roll call, please.

Commissioner German?

Yes.

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

No.

Mr. Artilgo?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Motion passes.

All right, thank you. Now, Item N, Amendment to Chapter 82 of the Code of Ordinances, Affordable Housing. This will be our first and hopefully final read.

I move to adopt the amendment to chapter 82 of the city of Muskegon called importance as presented and authorized the mayor and clerk to sign.

Support. All right, we have a motion by Vice-American and supported by Commissioner German. I don't know if we need to report on this. Does everyone understand what we're doing here? Yes. So, okay. Thank you for offering to return to the podium, Direct Jack Holm. Roll call, please.

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

Yes.

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

Thank you. All right. Final item.

Thank you, everyone.

That's where all of that hustle or chattering back here in Whistler and trying to sort out some logistics. All right. Item Q, resolution designating the portion of 5th Street at Western Avenue as Lewis Collins Way. Commissioner Jackson, would you present the motion?

Yeah. I move to approve the resolution to designate the portion of 5th Street at Western Avenue as Lewis Collins Way. Support.

All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Jackson, supported by Commissioner Cochin. And would you like me to read it?

I have just something to read before, but then if you could read the actual resolution.

Okay.

So... Tonight, I have the honor of bringing forward a resolution that is deeply personal to me and my family. On July 22nd, 2026, my grandfather, Louis Collins, passed away. For many people, Lou was a coworker, a union brother, a public servant, a county road commissioner, a former county commissioner, a board president, a friend, or better yet, Big Lou. To me, he was my grandpa, and I don't think I would be sitting here today as a city commissioner without him. My grandpa taught me many things about the world, but most importantly, he taught me how to be a good human being. He taught me to treat people with kindness. He taught me not to judge people based on where they came from or who they were. He taught me that you can disagree with someone and still treat them with dignity and respect, and he lived by those values. For 44 years, he worked at Continental Motors, and he was a dedicated member of UAW local 113 and continued serving his fellow retirees for many years. He served on the County Road Commission from 2013 until 2016, I mean until 2026, and he served as a county commissioner for a term. And he served as president of the Service One Federal Credit Union Board for many years, and he owned a service station called Gooses on Old Grand Haven Road, over by the movies for decades. And if you asked my grandpa what mattered most, I think he would have told you it was the people. He had friends from every walk of life. He welcomed people, he listened to people, and he made people feel like they mattered. That's why I chose 5th and Western. That intersection represents a part of his life that meant a great deal to him. It was a place where he spent time with his brothers and sisters of UAW Local 113, participated in many parades, attended Halloween parties and Christmas parties, Democratic Party meetings and other events at the CIO Hall, and built relationships with people in the community. And I also want to acknowledge that my grandpa was incredibly proud of his children and grandchildren. Many of us graduated university, started our own families, and are continuing to honor his legacy daily. And I was fortunate enough that he got to see me elected to this commission, and he was very proud of me. I know that my decision to serve this community was influenced by watching him spend his entire life serving others. So today I'm asking my fellow commissioners to join me in honoring his life and his legacy by designating this portion of 5th and Western with the honorary name Lewis Collins Way. And this isn't simply about putting someone's name on a sign. It is about remembering what that name represents. service, family, working people, community, kindness, and being a good human being. And that is the legacy that my grandfather left me and is the legacy that I hope my community will continue to remember. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Jackson.

Thank you.

We appreciate you bringing this forward and we're very grateful for your grandfather and the legacy that he leaves, inclusive of

your leadership and service to our community and his sisters and my mom his daughter is here my dad and his family members are watching too at home so condolences and I'll read the resolution as presented by Commissioner Jackson thank you for the opportunity and honor to

Read out the resolution. It's a resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of Lewis Collins and designating a portion of 5th Street at Western Avenue as Lewis Collins Way. Whereas the City of Muskegon wishes to honor the life, service, and enduring legacy of Lewis Collins, a lifelong member of the Muskegon community who passed away on July 2, 2026. And whereas Lewis Collins was born and raised in Muskegon and later made his home in Fruitport, remaining deeply connected to the City of Muskegon community throughout his life. And whereas Lewis Collins dedicated 44 years of his working life to Continental Motors and L3, where he built lasting relationships with his coworkers and remained committed to his fellow retirees through his many years of service to the company's retiree group. And whereas Lewis Collins was a proud and dedicated member of United Auto Workers, UAW Local 113, an organization with which he remained deeply involved and which provided him opportunities to advocate for working people and to participate in community events and traditions. And whereas Lewis Collins devoted much of his life to public service, serving on the Muskegon County Road Commission from 2013 until 2026, where he contributed his knowledge, experience, and commitment to the residents of Muskegon County. And whereas Lewis Collins also served a term as a Muskegon County Commissioner and served for many years as President of the Service One Federal Credit Union Board, demonstrating his commitment to serving his community through civic, governmental, and financial institutions. And whereas in addition to his professional and public service career, Lewis Collins was a longtime small business owner who owned and operated Goose's service station for decades, building relationships with generations of customers and community members and becoming a familiar and trusted presence in the Muskegon area. And whereas Lewis Collins was a lifelong and dedicated Democrat who believed in public service, working people, community, and the importance of ensuring that every person has an opportunity to be heard and treated with dignity. And whereas Lewis Collins will be remembered not only for the positions he held, but the way he treated people. He formed friendships with people from every walk of life and never judged anyone based on where they came from, what they looked like, or who they were. He welcomed others with kindness, compassion, respect, and genuine friendship. And whereas Lewis Collins took great pride in his family, and was especially proud of his grandchildren. He instilled in his family the importance of treating others with kindness, standing up for what is right, serving one's community, and above all, being a good human being. And whereas the area of Fifth Street and Western Avenue holds special significance in Lou Collins' life and service to the community, the area served as a place where he spent considerable time with his fellow members of UAW Local 113, including participating in parades and events associated with CIO Hall, creating memories and strengthening relationships with fellow workers and community members. And whereas the City Commission believes that honoring Lewis Collins at Fifth Street and Western Avenue is a fitting tribute to a man whose life was deeply intertwined with the people, institutions, labor movement, and civic life of Muskegon. And whereas the honorary street designation provides the City of Muskegon with an opportunity to preserve Lewis Collins' memory in a place that reflects his history of service, fellowship, and commitment to working people and the community he loved. And now, therefore, be it resolved that the Muskegon City Commission hereby honors and recognizes the life, service, and legacy of Lewis Collins and extends its sincere appreciation for his many years of dedication to the Muskegon community. And be it further resolved that the City Commission hereby designates the portion of Fifth Street at Western Avenue with the honorary designation Lewis Collins Way. Be it further resolved that the honorary designations will serve as a permanent commemorative recognition of lewis collins and shall not replace the official street name or alter official property addresses maps property records emergency response addressing or other official city records unless otherwise authorized pursuant to applicable city procedures and be further resolved that the city of muskegon recognizes lewis collins more than four decades of dedication to his fellow workers his years of civic and governmental service his commitment to uaw local 113 and the kindness and respect he extended to people from every walk of life And be it finally resolved that the City Commission extends its deepest condolences to the Collins family and recognizes that the legacy of Lewis Collins will continue through his family, friends, co-workers, and community members whose lives he touched and enriched. That is the resolution as presented.

You're here.

before we go to vote. First, I should go to the supporter of the motion, Commissioner Cochin, if there's anything you wish to share with us.

I don't know Lou very well, but I know how much he meant to the community and how much he meant to Commissioner Jackson. And so when she called me and asked me about this, I said, absolutely. I will take a look at it. I'll read it 110%. I'm behind you. My condolences to you and your family. He was definitely an incredible man. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Cochin. Commissioners, anything else to share or otherwise ask about this initiative and resolution?

No? All right.

I think this is quite fitting. Not only is it a recognition of the man, but I'm Also, the work that he's done, and I think it's quite fitting, the location, being close proximity to so much of the work that he had done and with the CIO Hall.

Thank you.

Thank you. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Cochin? Yes. Commissioner St. Clair? Yes. Mayor Johnson? Yes. Commissioner Kilgore? Yes. Vice Mayor Keener? Yes. Commissioner German? Yes. Commissioner Jackson? Yes. Motion passes.

Thank you. That concludes our published agenda. We don't have any unfinished business. We don't have any new business. Do we have any other business, commissioners? Commissioner Kilgore. Yes, thank you.

Being a resident of Ward 1, the Steele neighborhood, and Apple Avenue, First, let me start with praise. Our DPW department, Taylor and others that I've spoken to at DPW have gone above and beyond. I just want us to remember as more of these street projects go, when they impact residents who live right on that street or in front of that street, that we make sure that we think about how they leave this house every day, how they'll access their driveway, I have a handicapped neighbor. I have seniors who are disabled on my street. And I just want us to make sure that we're thinking about how we can accommodate everyone, especially if we have to shut down certain things to fix them. Totally understandable. But communication with the residents as to what's going on could be better. And I just wanted to state that because There will be future road projects for other residents that live in the city of Muskegon. And I just want us to think about how certain projects that we do as a city affect residents in their everyday hustle and bustle.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kilgore. Certainly it's an opportunity to learn from... that situation and apply them to the future. Just wondering, have you had an opportunity to speak directly with the state, um, which is responsible for that project and leading it? Have you conveyed any, uh, concerns directly with the state or the selected contractors?

Yeah, the state had, uh, originally, uh, pointed a gentleman to the entire project as senior oversight manager, and then they replaced him. Uh, so I have now spoken with the replacement person, but, um, It took a few days because the person I was trying to contact wasn't even part of the project anymore. So it just felt like the ball was dropped by MDOT a little bit. But they have to connect with us, the city of Muskegon. And at the end of the day, residents don't see MDOT or DPW. They see the city. So I think it ultimately reflects on us. So I just wanted to encourage us to make sure that we're doing everything we can to communicate with residents, knowing that this project, this particular project I'm talking about, is an MDOT project. But seeing that it goes right down the heart of our city to downtown, it's affecting a lot of residents right now and just their day-to-day. For sure. We're almost to the finish line.

And just as a reminder to our community, we do have a – Connect Muskegon Community Engagement page or portal. Our Connect Muskegon Community Engagement portal has a page dedicated to the Apple Reconstruction Project. And I think you can also sign up for notifications on there to get updates on the project. Commissioners, anything else to share? Commissioner Cochin.

Yes. I just wanted to let folks know that if you're an animal lover, we have the Pooch Parade coming up at McGrath Park on Saturday, September 12th from 2 to 4 p.m. And I believe I've roped the mayor into judging.

I'll be there. Anything else, commissioners, that you wish to share?

bring up this evening?

Okay. That brings us to general public comment. Have you received any forms, Madam Clerk?

I have not.

Alright. Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to give public comment at this time? All right, seeing no takers from the audience, we're going to go to the phones. The phone number is 231-724-6721. This is an opportunity to speak directly with the City Commission. If you have questions, we may not be able to answer them right away. We won't engage in back-and-forth dialogue, but we can set up a separate time and place to do so if that's desired with myself or any other relevant staff or individual commissioners. That phone number again is 231-724-6721. Everyone has up to three minutes to provide their remarks in sharing with the City Commission. When you're calling in, please turn down any audio in the background. State your name. And if you're a City of Muskegon resident, which neighborhood you're calling from. All right, does it not sound like we have any takers for phone-in general public comments? Commissioners, what's your pleasure?

There was one second on the clock. There was one second left.

Motion to adjourn.

Support. I have a motion by Commissioner St. Clair to adjourn, supported by Commissioner Kilgore.

All in favor, please indicate by saying aye.

Aye. Aye. All opposed, same sign.

We are adjourned. Thank you.

Take care and be well.