City Commission - Regular Meeting

The following program was produced by CTV Community Television.

Stand for the pledge, please.

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.

Welcome, everyone. This is Tuesday, September 8th. DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS COMMENTS DURING THIS PROCEEDINGS YOU CAN COME UP TO THE PODIUM OVER HERE AND STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS AND YOUR QUESTION OR COMMENT UH BEFORE ANY VOTE UH WE'LL ALWAYS ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN AND ALSO UNDER UH NUMBER 11 PUBLIC COMMENT AND QUESTIONS WE'LL DO IT THERE TOO UM LET'S HAVE THE ROLL CALL MAYOR CEDAR HERE

COUNCILMEMBER GATTLER.

HERE.

COUNCILMEMBER CUFA. HERE. COUNCILMEMBER LAFORTE.

HERE.

COUNCILMEMBER PAUL.

HERE.

COUNCILMEMBER VOLT.

HERE.

COUNCILMEMBER WESTRICK.

HERE.

ALL PRESENT.

THANK YOU. WE'LL GO TO CONSENT AGENDA A, CITY COUNCILMEMBERS OF AUGUST 18, 2026 REGULAR AND CLOSED MEETINGS APPROVED. Call Commission minutes of July 14th, 2026, meeting recommendation received. The cemetery board trustees minutes of August 11th, 2026, meeting recommendation received and resignation from the housing commission except with regrets.

Motion to approve A through D is resumed. Support? Any questions? Where I can add something, right? Wait a minute here. For the new business, can we add the discussion?

Wait, let's vote on this. Okay. Was there a motion to meet on that?

There was, in support.

Okay, any questions?

All in favor say aye. Aye.

Opposed?

All right, Bill, what's up? Can we add under new business E, discussion on 500 Fredmore Highway?

Right with a couple of consent here like that and I don't think he discussed 500 for more highway. I need a motion to that. Yeah, yes, you're going to come to me and make a motion to support that all right, Mitch is going to support. All of their side. Okay, so that the under 9. Now we'll go to number 5, the public hearing for fiscal year budget 2026 2027, Mister.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, I have a short presentation that will be on film. If you can please have the control room take care of that. What? And here is the control room.

I'm Steve Duchesne, city superintendent. Tonight I am pleased to present the proposed city budget for 2027. The annual budget begins on October 1st of 2026 and ends September 30th of 2027. Tonight is the public portion of the budget process and I'll go over the keys to the budget in about eight minutes with you. The fiscal year 2027 budget is built around a simple promise, serving our community and building our future.

It was developed with a focus on fiscal responsibility, service excellence, and strategic investment

Latin collective priorities of the city council and the dedication of our city staff, and it reaffirms our commitment to transparent, responsible stewardship of public resources. In short, it's a budget built for stability, service, and smart growth.

Every line item in this budget ties back to a strategic priority. First, financial stability. Adequate, sustainable funding to deliver high quality services to residents. A strong economy, supporting our local business and creating opportunities for new business and job seekers.

Third, sound infrastructure, continued investment in parks, buildings, equipment, roads, and technology.

Fourth, a safe community, protecting quality life by keeping St. Clair safe and clean.

Fifth, a sense of place, celebrating our heritage, expanding recreational and cultural access, and strengthening the ties between the city and the rest. And six, high-performing government, improving efficiency and effectiveness to bring city government into the 21st century. These six pillars guide every decision the budget team made this year. Here are the headline numbers. For the general fund, we are proposing revenues of $6,426,183 and expenditures of $6,001,341, which produces a projected debt gain of $424,842. Across all funds, total revenue is $18,406,179 against total expenditures of $17,521,278. The most important takeaway on this slide is at the bottom. This is a structurally balanced budget. Reoccurring revenues fund reoccurring expenditures that we are not using One time money to pay for ongoing costs and we are not deferring obligations to future years. That structural discipline is what projects the city's long term financial health and your tax. The general fund is the primary operating fund. It supports public safety, public works, parks and general administration. Revenues are projected at 6426185. up just 1.7% over the fiscal year 2026 amended budget. That growth is driven by property tax growth, interest, income, and state-shared revenues, partially offset by lower franchise fees in the absence of one-time grants. Expenditures are proposed at $6,001,341, up 4.8% That increase reflects higher wages and benefits, staff changes, and larger transfers up. Even so, the fund remains very healthy. The ending fund balance is projected at $11,061,589, which is 184% of expenditures, well above our minimum 25 to 50% policy goal. The chart shows four service areas that this fund supports.

Four revenue trends are worth noting. Property tax remains our largest source.

The operating building is proposed at 12.5778 bills down from 12.7229 due to the Headley rollback, which reduces revenue by roughly $42,000. Day revenue sharing is projected at $640,762 per the Michigan Department of Treasury estimates for fiscal year 2027. Garages for services are mostly flat. The water rate rises from $3.28 to $3.54 per thousand gallons and sewer goes from $4.86 to $4.96 and ready to serve fees rise modestly. For the typical household, that works out to $37.92 for the year. Finally, interest income is projected at $350,000 up $6,511 thanks to improved short-term rates and strategic investment practices. The revenue are growing modestly and we are maximizing every non-tax dollar. On the spending side, here's where your dollars work. Public safety is our highest priority. Police represent 25% of the general fund expenditures and we are maintaining full staffing with capital needs funded through the capital improvement plan. Personnel costs, meaning salaries, wages, and benefits, make up about 35% of the fund. That reflects staffing levels and projected 10% increase in health insurance premiums. On infrastructure, we are dedicating $300,000 to street funds, $372,000 to recreation for the new Clutch Apart Playscape, and seeding a new public improvement fund with $200,000. And we are launching the second phase of a multi-year sidewalk improvement program to address aging sidewalks citywide. Safety, people, and infrastructure, those are the priorities in this budget. This slide shows the millage rates we proposed to levy in fiscal year 2027. The general operating rate is 12.5778 mils, As noted, this is a reduction from the 12.729 mills.

The road millage for municipal streets is 2.4004 mills, and the employee pension millage is 0.9638 mills. Together, the total millage is 15.942 mills.

I want to emphasize the operating rate is going down, not up, because state law requires the heavenly rollback. Here is the complete all funds picture. Beyond the general fund's $424,842 net gain, the major street fund shows a net of $242,972. Local streets, $20,276. Municipal streets, $153,555. The water plant, $7,577. And the harbor fund, $30,679. The recreation, pension, sewer treatment, and rubbish collection funds are all balanced at exactly zero. Grand totals, $8,406,179 in revenue, and $17,521,278 in expenditures for a debt of $884,901 across all funds.

Every fund is either positive or balanced. And again, the general fund surplus supports our fund balance policy targets. Before I close, I want to thank the people behind this document, our finance director,

our department heads, and city staff did diligent, professional work through the budget process. And I thank the mayor and city council for their thoughtful guidance, community-focused leadership, and commitment to residents. This budget is presented with confidence that it reflects the values, priorities, and fiscal discipline that citizens of St. Clair deserve. Respectfully submitted, Tim Duchesne, city superintendent. Thank you for your time this evening. This concludes the presentation of the 2027 budget. I thank you for your attention, and I now welcome comments. Thank you.

Great, so this is the public hearing portion, so if anybody has any questions from the public, come on up and let us know what's on your mind.

Mayor, members of the council, and residents, I'm Steve Duchesne. How do you do, sir? How do you do? In case you missed it the first time.

Keep it on a loop.

Tonight is the public portion of the budget process.

Thank you. Any other comments or questions from the public? Okay, I will close the public hearing. We'll move to November 6th, Ordinance and Resolution. a is resolution 2623 the 2026-27 fiscal year budget millage levy levy and appropriations act so we'll need a resolution to approve this or whatever is uh council's wishes this includes the new fees too for water sewer that's correct Can you tell us, Mr. Shane, as far as water sewer, the built-in fees, what's the percent as far as, what's it going up?

All fees, as mentioned in the flat line, but they're about 4.54% going up. I know it sounds funny to say 10 cents and things, but it was extremely, a great deal of work in an extremely special year that we were able to realize some benefit from the investments council made in the system. There are certainly new things that came on that we had to work through and adjust to, but as mentioned in the outline, the 37 some dollars on average, based on the 4.5, 4.8%, is really, in these times that people are looking at double digits or more increases due to cost for commodity, service, chemicals, et cetera, is really, we're very fortunate to be able to put this together as a team here and bring this to the residents. The future is uncertain for sure, but it's investment in the infrastructure that starts to pay off slowly, gradually, but positively in these small steps.

Just to remind the public and council, when Tom Colas was here a couple years ago before we started the big water project, he projected and told us, be ready that every year you've got to be close to 5% increases. So obviously we're just a tail under that 5%. But anyway, that was my two cents on that.

So I'll make a motion to approve the resolution.

I'll support. All right, the motion is made. Support, any questions? Call the roll, please.

Paul?

Yes.

Fuls?

Yes.

Westrick? Yes. Fowler? Yes. Hupa? Yes. LaPorte? Yes. Cedar? Yes. Resolution adopted.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Shearing. Thank you. Okay, B is Resolution 2624, Supporting Construction of a New St. Clair Area Fire Authority Fire Station in the City of St. Clair. You wanna give a little?

I'll maybe kick it off. The fire authority, has studied an issue of how to replace the station or what needs to be replaced and looked at a number of alternatives obviously to precede me. In the last half a year or so that accelerated, a study was performed with some options given to the authority by partners in architecture. We've done a lot of fire station redesign. I think about a month ago, I forget the exact date, there was a special subcommittee meeting of the fire authority and discussed the different aspects of how to fund this project. At the conclusion of that, it was asked by the board members that were present if each of the participating municipalities would consider a resolution indicating support for construction. PRIMARILY TO START THE BALL ROLLING TOWARDS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDING THAT IS INTENDED TO BE OBTAINED. OBVIOUSLY NOTHING IS FOR SURE, BUT THE OBJECTIVE IS OUT OF A $10 MILLION PROJECT. THEY ARE CERTAINLY HOPING AND WE SUPPORT WORKING TOWARDS ABOUT $8 MILLION OF THAT COMING FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES. I HAVE PROVIDED THE COUNCIL I know it's been a while, but I did an analysis of the funding and what a bond payment would be for such a project. And obviously that's a little rich for the Quad community's blood, but certainly with the kind of funding that the authority is talking about seeking and what it intends to do, that would certainly bring it into a desirable position. Our contribution for the next year to the Fire Authority is $333,000 from the City of St. Clair. so anything that would alleviate stress on future costs and for construction is obviously going to be vital to carrying forward and moving ahead on this mission the proposed resolution supports this activity it is not a commitment to spend as i mentioned in here it cites the applicable authorities to do so It preserves the council's authority over future appropriations and financial obligations under the Uniform Accounting and Budgeting Act. It requires that any cost allocation method be consistent with the existing St. Clair Area Fire Authority Intergovernmental Agreement. And it confirms the city's participation would represent a payment of its own authorized share of public safety and would not constitute a lending or pledging of the city's credit, that would be in violation of Article 9, Section 18 of the Michigan Constitution. I submit that for your consideration. I'll be happy to answer what I can. Mr. Mayor.

So, well, I think there's me I was there. Yeah, Mitch, I think. I was there. At this fire authority thing, and the representatives from Lisa McClain's office were there. And they had got burned someplace up north at something just like this going, and when they got down through the crunch time, one of the communities said, we're not in support of this. So they, McClain backed way off. So they're just looking for something from the four of us saying, hey, we are together on this, and that's where we're at.

I'll make a motion to support it. I'll support that.

All right, any questions? All right, call the roll, please.

Bowles?

Yes.

Westrick?

Yes.

Fowler?

Yes.

Pupa? Yes. Laporte?

Yes.

Paul?

Yes.

Peter?

Yes.

Resolution adapted.

All right, thank you. Go to number seven, Horse Administration, Mr. DeShane.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, I'm recommending council approve the award of 2026 Bike Path Ceiling Coating and Crack Filling Program to Aztec Asphalt Incorporated, the local contractor in the amount of $24,972. Are you on number nine? We're on seven. reports i wanted to get to number nine as soon as possible i'm not sure that fancy thing you went right from seven to nine i should record all my appearances at meetings um okay back to i've done that a hundred times we're at seven reports administration I report that I'll have a report and recommendation on new business A.

Any questions for Mr. DeShane? Okay, let's move to Mr. Melanie.

Your Honor, members of council, at the August 18th meeting, you adopted a resolution instructing me to draft an electric bicycle ordinance. I've completed that, submitted to administration for distribution to you. The plan would be to solicit your comments and input. so that we could have an introduction of a finalized ordinance at the first regular meeting of October. If you have any questions, obviously feel free to contact me directly, but from a revision standpoint, it's probably easier if you address any proposed amendments or changes that you suggest to either Mr. Duchene or the mayor for return to me.

Are we benchmarking anything else that's out there? This topic seems to be exploding everywhere. Every newscast, everywhere you look at, municipalities everywhere, all over Michigan and elsewhere are figuring out how to tackle this growing concern of accidents and of everything going on. Are we pacing at the right time to be doing something? Are we benchmarking some other legislation that's happening? Is that part of

I GUESS I WOULD OBSERVE THAT MY EFFORT IS SORT OF AN AMALGAM OF A LOT OF ORDINANCES THAT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BY COMMUNITIES AROUND SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR. COUNCILMEMBER PAUL IS RIGHT ON. YOU CAN'T REALLY TURN ON YOUR TV OR RADIO WITHOUT HEARING A STORY ABOUT IT. SO IN SOME WAYS WE'RE JUMPING ON A MOVING TRAIN, BUT I THINK IT'S AT LEAST A

it's a starting point it's probably not an end point if we do anything this year and we see changes with what legislation and our neighboring communities are doing is this problem that's being addressed can we revise it come spring any point in time oh sure yeah i think yeah and i think frankly that a subsequent revision will be much easier once we have

sort of a baseline in place. But one of the things you note, and again, colloquially, the resolution referred to this as an e-bike ordinance, and that's how I refer to it, but it's actually quite a lot broader than that. I know there have been some discussions at the table about different kinds of electric power devices, and I thought that some of the municipalities that have gone before us have tried to tackle that and I like those efforts so again that's why I'm trying to solicit comments if you think my efforts hit the right tone so I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

Anything else?

No, I'll finish your honor. City departments? He is authority boards, commissions, committee chairs, council reps, anybody have anything to report? WE HAVE NO UNFINISHED BUSINESSES, WE'LL GO TO NEW BUSINESS, A IS APPROVED, A 2026 BIKE PATH SEAL COATING AND CRACK FILLING PROGRAM CONTRACT AWARD.

DUCHENE. LET ME LOOP THAT AGAIN AND REPEAT THIS. I RECOMMEND THIS.

WELL, TELL US ABOUT IT.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU FOR ASKING. THIS IS AN INDIAN repair, crack filling, and seal coat job for the entire path. Doesn't believe it's been done to this extent since its inception. We are a little bit ahead of the curve, which is exactly where we want to be, not too late, not too far in front. In the next few years, we've talked to funding sources where there may be more significant work, but this will certainly extend the life and the travelability for the path And we've had some calls about repairs and we've made several repairs this year. And this will give a chance for the city to be caught up. And then maintain in situationally. Sectionally year to year until such time as a major overall occurs. Probably many years down the road, but they can't project exactly 1. so. Recommend this as an alternative mode of transportation and route through the community and recommend the contractor who has done sufficient work in the past.

Were there only two bids received?

Yes, sir. We sought other quotes, too, and I guess it's just winding down season time.

Is this job too big for a DPW?

Yes, this really is unfair. I just checked and saw, in fact, there's supervisors here with us tonight. I saw there's something like 64 work orders since September 1st already, and it's the 8th. Plus, this is a real go-and-crack-fill situation. the machines will work and then do the seal coating from end to end and get it all done. And then you can do spot repairs, replacement and stay up on it for years to come. In the way that we've allocated, we wanna put our people in the place for the most success. And I think this is the best way to do it with this.

So this bike path was part of the connection from Bridge to Bay. that was part of the bigger picture ralph wilson community foundation is there any thought or action towards either of those groups to pick up some uh

We have contacted the community foundation and in our discussion we found that they are looking only at submitting $100,000 projects or more. They do have a suggestion that perhaps in the future several communities can go together again, but they just did that. for some work and it would be sometime in the future whether we could be considered, we'd have to find partners in their scheme of things. What I did ask them to do is consider this as like a sort of a share for the future on the path. That this shows what the city itself has done on the path, to maintain the path, and that this be some credit in the future working with the wilson foundation and community foundation in a sense on that they were very positive about that but this is good preventative maintenance which always seems to get shortchanged It's usually project work, but by the time you end up in heavier project work, you also have people who have slip and falls or damage done to bikes or themselves. When you get to that point, this is preventative, extends life, and inherently maintains value of the asset.

Is this for the total length of the bike path?

Yes, sir.

I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE.

YEAH, I'D SUPPORT THAT.

ALL RIGHT, MOTION MADE. SUPPORTED QUESTIONS?

I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION. In the description of the work that's going to be done, it says clean out and fill cracks with hot or rubber. I've seen the work that seems to be done by the county lately on several roads in the area, and the material they're using on roadsides is quite thick, very bumpy, very noisy. I'm not sure it's appropriate for bike paths. Is this the same material? It is not exactly the same material. Is it applied in the same way?

Primarily crack fillings, crack filling with injection.

This is like very thick, very wide swaths of your own nodding. Is this more directed and more accurate kind of approach to the application?

It is supposed to be in the application that it's directed and applied in that manner. Not leaving a series of edulations as it goes down.

That's my concern because in a car it's one thing, on a bike it's a totally different thing.

Absolutely. You're absolutely right.

Any other questions? All right, let's call the roll, please.

Westrick?

Yes.

Butler?

Yes.

Buffa?

Yes.

LaPorte?

Yes.

Hall?

Yes.

Foles?

Yes.

Seder?

Yes.

Motion carries.

Thank you. We'll go to B, approve M&L liability and property renewal for 10-1-26-1927.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, obviously this for a municipality insurance is not like everybody else. A little bit of history that many people at the table probably know, but just a restatement for others that the liability and property pool was started and is owned by municipalities jointly as a special Michigan government authority because of lack of ability to get affordable insurance and coverages for the variety of things that cities do. um this is a renewal and i would suggest that it might be the last renewal until we do go to the market to test the waters for some things but having done this many many times i can say that it's difficult for other than focused property liability pools to give municipalities the kind of coverage that they need because you have to place your just for simplification you have to place these lines for police liability official liability roadside liability there is multiple different facets the way cities have to be insured private insurers have to place that with each individual insurance line or company that they sub with to put together a package. The liability pool does that. We also enjoy the experience of a return. This year wasn't a big return. Some, I think, just over $3,000 of your premiums back because of actual experience, but the premiums have ranged up to $20,000 in different places and times. This isn't one of the high years because of what's happened, but That is a factor in it. So for all these reasons, I do, and of course the critical nature of this, I do recommend that council approve the renewal to the MML liability and property insurance pool beginning on October 1st, 26th through September 30th of 27th.

i apologize if you mention this when was the last time we did get a market quote um 23 22 or 23. so this motion includes consideration to go out to bid next year i'll make that motion let's support it the motion is made in support of any questions i have one

So an $18,000 bump up in our premium, did they attribute that to, did we have a lot of claims or something? Because is that?

It's not us, it's statewide, isn't it?

Yeah, it's a pool. We had a few claims that were out of the ordinary, but we had property appraisals. We do have a couple outstanding claims right now still, and their rates did just go up. So there's a couple different reasons to account for the increase. Specifically, they said additional equipment, building improvements, oh, there's cyber liability included as well. So a couple new things on there.

Any other questions? All right, call the roll, please.

Gattler.

Yes.

Hufa. Yes. Laporte.

Yes.

Hall. Yes. Gulls. Yes. Westrick. Yes. Cedar. Yes. Motion carries, thank you.

Go to see special event. St. Clair Chamber of Commerce Trick or Treat Trail.

Beef. Evening, Council, Mayor. I am requesting approval for a special event permit for the St. Clair Chamber of Commerce Halloween Trick or Treat Trail at Gregg Park. The event will take place on Saturday, October 10th on the trails at Gregg Park from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with setup taking place in the morning, afternoon, the morning and afternoon of the event and cleanup throughout the evening after the event. The chamber will also be hosting several other Halloween-related events in the plaza during the month.

was approved for questions. The special that permit. This occurs in a pretty lighting.

I request approval for a special event permit for the 2026 and a parade and tree lighting event event will take place on Friday, November 20th beginning at 06 PM the parade will begin to North and OF THE PLAZA ON VINE STREET, OR SORRY, THE PRAY WILL BEGIN, I SAID EMMANUEL LUTHERAN, EAST ON M-20 OR, YEAH, THIS IS WRONG. THE PRAY WILL BEGIN EMMANUEL LUTHERAN HEAD DOWN VINE STREET SOUTH ON M-29 TO J STREET. THE TREE LIGHTING WILL TAKE PLACE MAINLY FOLLOWING on the stage at Palmer Park. Also, parking will be prohibited on M-29 from Vine to Clinton Avenue beginning early afternoon on parade day in order to have the streets secure and safe for those attending the parade. Setup and cleanup will take place just prior and immediately following the event. Motion to approve. Support.

Questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you, Chief. Thank you. Go to E, discuss 500 Fredmore Highway.

I guess I could start. Okay, so I know we were talking about fair market value, but now we had the building department do their inspection. I mean, the roof, it looks like a fire hazard by everything that was inspected, egress, toilets. I don't know what the next step would be, but it looks like a liability on us.

There's no doubt, I don't think we've done any of that building in 45, 50 years. It does need some love.

So is the wear and tear responsibility on us, not the renter, or where do we fall? Are we doing quarterly, annual inspections?

To my knowledge, there is no other responsibility. report on that building when I assigned inspections to take a look at it, we didn't have anything else to rely on. I don't have obviously the long history on the building, but there is no maintenance fee and there was no, as far as I'm aware of, other inspections that staff was able to find.

but also no notification of issues that were happening.

No, no, no, no notifications from a resident or a current contract or leasee.

Do we have a current estimate on what these repairs are gonna entail, cost standpoint?

I don't have a financial, cost primarily right now waiting on a couple of quotes on things the roof is at its life but it has not been known to leak yet but it has been obviously i think on the building since anybody can tell for years and years i did go back and ask a few people in commercial leasing what should be done the building such as that. And I did get some upgraded quotes that say probably should be a maintenance fee, certainly added in that you can spread. And again, I'm not a leasing agent, so you could spread it over three years, for example, at $250 a month to go into whatever you do to recover that, plus taxes, plus the lease base, which I know we've had a lot of discussions on. but that would go towards the maintenance improvements to the building. I think that the thumbnail sketch was maybe around 15,000 or so, but that's definitely not something I can quote right now without any real quotes or bids to back it up.

Are there any contracts signed by the leasee stating that he's responsible for maintenance, or they?

The last ones that I looked at don't say anything specifically about maintenance that I could see in the lease. They're real simple leases.

On the original lease, we were just responsible for major repairs, electrical havoc, and plumbing. Nothing else is in that. That's the original one from 14 years ago.

Who does it say is responsible?

major repairs, electrical, heating, and plumbing. Who? The city was responsible for, in the original, nothing else. Like windows and everything else, I wouldn't call that major.

I MEAN, FROM A BUDGETARY OR JUST LOOKING AT MATH, NONE OF THIS IS CALCULATING OUT. WE'VE BEEN IN A POSITION WHERE THIS HAS BEEN LEASED NOT EVEN CLOSE TO WHAT MARKETS SHOULD BE. THE WEAR AND TEAR IS NOW ESTIMATING 15,000, WHICH TODAY'S MARKET, I WOULD PROBABLY DOUBLE THAT TO GET THESE ACTIVITIES DONE. What is our measures for, are we gonna continue on this path? Are we looking at, I know there's questions on whether or not the property's sellable or not, which makes me question whether it's leaseable or not. I would love to have a statement from the state of Michigan that doesn't cost us much that says, you're free to do whatever you want with it, or here are your restrictions. from there, make some decisions on what proper repairs need to be done, when they're going to get done, and what our intent for the property's going to be.

I agree, Chris. I don't want to throw bad money at something that I would prefer to get rid of. I DON'T WANT TO PUT THE MONEY INTO THE BUILDING. I KNOW WE HAVE A DISAGREEMENT ON COUNCIL ABOUT WHETHER WE SHOULD KEEP THAT BUILDING OR NOT, BUT I STILL SIT IN. I DON'T SEE A USE FOR THE CITY WITH IT, AND I WOULD RATHER EXPLORE WITH THE STATE, PRESSING THAT A LITTLE BIT AND SAYING, IS THIS SOMETHING WE CAN SELL? I WOULD RATHER FIND OUT THAN JUST WITH NO OBJECTION OF ATTORNEY DOWNY'S WORK. I THINK YOU DO FINE WORK, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO PRESS IT A LITTLE BIT MORE. Because it's been a long time.

And I think we're developing different questions and keeping them out of the same bucket. Whether we can sell it or lease it is one question. I think we should get a definitive answer since property's been split. It's been rezoned or recategorized for different activities over the years. But we now have a building that is wear and tear. It hasn't been maintained. It needs money to be invested, and there's a current renter in there in the space. So that doesn't... very well for the city of Saint Clair. Is it our responsibility to maintain it, put the money in it? If someone's going to be in there, if it's not our responsibility, how do we get it fixed? How much time is it gonna take?

I mean, at $300 a month, we're never gonna get our money back. So I think it should be, people should be sent out and then we'll figure it out if we can sell it after that. I would give them 60 days.

Mr. DeShane, did you send the agreement proposal to them?

Yes, I sent the 30-day notice letter and the statement that... It was our intention to reach agreement within those 30 days or it would be considered a 30 day termination notice. There has been exchange of understanding that that's been made and I'm hoping in the next week or so we can finalize where that is. And have they responded? Not in any terms that they received the letter.

Now when you say finalize in the next week or so, finalize?

A response from the current lease holder. that I put on notice about, I forget the exact date, but three weeks ago. About three weeks ago.

So we're just looking for them to recognize. Right, to recognize. Not finalize anything, but recognize.

Recognize that and either negotiate with an offer back or say that they were no longer interested in leasing the property. If I hear nothing at the end of the tolling period, then I would give them notice to leave the building.

So, I mean, that's no secret where I've been from day one on this thing, that I don't want to give up that building, and my reasons are simply this. If we were in financial trouble, the city, we need some cash, I would say maybe we better sell that building and get some cash. But we've been consistently, progressively conservative in this council for years, and that is why when we look at our state of finance, we're strong. We don't need to sell anything. I have a library, we have a library that is busting at the seams. When the fire department started talking about moving, they were all very excited because they thought maybe we'll get that old fire hall, but that's not the road that's going. We have a museum that is going through some major renovations and is gonna do some really cool things that I think is gonna increase their, the people that go there. buying short golf courses across the street. We're gonna have a new banquet lady next year. I don't know if that lady's gonna come to us in a couple years and say, you guys, I need more space. For what? Just for storage. Well, we used to have a building across the street, but we sold it. Why'd you sell it? Well, we didn't need the money. We just sold it because it needed some work. Like our city pool's gonna need some work, so get ready for that. And that doesn't make us any money, okay? This building has the potential to make us some money. Do we have to adjust the rent? Absolutely. EMS is moving out of our river district. They need a place to land and put some of their equipment. If they don't come to, they're not going to Marysville because Marysville has their own. Port Yarn has their own. Either they're coming here or they're going south. If they go south, it moves them away from our people. We've got a tremendous police volunteer group that that building was originally the special police post. What do we got, 20 people in that group? Am I close? Twenty-five, twenty-six. Twenty-six. I don't know what their needs are. And I don't know what the needs in the three to five years, what the city's going to need as far as property goes. But I hate to give up a building that we can control the rent. And maybe, yes, we do have to do some fixing up. And I'd like to see the real numbers, not just an estimate. But I don't want to, as far as the deed restriction, that's not why I'm not, that's not why I don't want to sell it. I don't want to sell it because I don't know what we're going to need in the next three to five years. And I've been to cities where you go into the library and it's very busy. And they'll see a little sign. Go see our collection, our Cargill collection over at Annex on Fifth Street. Because you just didn't have the room. You had to get something. That's where I'm at with it.

Go ahead. We would still maintain the main parking lot. The large portion of that property would be still held by us. We're just talking about the small building. Right? That 500 address. It's not a huge piece of property and it's a building that's becoming a it's in disrepair and I think we're $30,000 to $40,000 to make it good enough. Just in my looking at it and doing stuff at my house in the last few years including a roof which was More than $10,000. So I think it's just at a point where I don't know at what rent that you're willing to pay where we all are going to recoup the $40,000, $30,000 to, you know, is it going to take, they'll lean it to a roof by the time they pay it back off. And so we still have property over there to do a lot. The majority of that property isn't really in question here. It's a small building that hasn't been taken care of.

And I recognize and support this conversation on what do we want to do with it long term. And that's fine. That's why I said we got to keep this from getting put into one bucket. We now have two buckets at least that we really need to talk through. One's a little bit longer term and one's a short term situation. We now recognize we have a piece of property that isn't disrepair and has not been maintained. We have a renter in there that is grossly under market on what we're receiving for what's been there for the last 10 years, and now we have a debt or a cost in order to repair that. What are we gonna do with that? We can't fix it, and we certainly are not getting enough money to fix it with its current state. We've gotten no response from the current renter in how many weeks. MONTHS ACTUALLY THAT THIS HAS BEEN ONGOING AND NOW WE GOT A FORM OF LETTERS GOING BACK BUT DO WE NEED TO AT LEAST VACATE INCORRECT OR PAUSE ON WHAT'S GOING IN THERE LIKE I DON'T WANT TO BE A SLUM LARD IN THE CITY OF SAINT CLAIR AND THAT'S KIND OF THAT'S EXACTLY PART OF THE PROBLEM THE CITY'S MISSION IS NOT TO BE A LANDLORD NO And if the council and the city gives us direction that says, I don't wanna sell this, I wanna maintain, that's great, good. We need to get it into a condition on where the city can use it safely and it represents our community. And if we get direction and council decides to sell it and take those monies and put it towards something else that's needed, whether it is the swimming pool, which is important to the community and has been for a long time, or paving a one-block gravel road that we haven't been able to get enough funding for because, or priorities, because there's two houses on it, that this money may solve one of those problems.

Correct.

But that's a bigger conversation that I think we need more time to talk through. I think short-term, we need to make a decision on, we acknowledge...

that's your state of the building and what are we going to do short-term well that that may be a moment should we mr shane get some real numbers as to what has to be done what a cost they have it done and then the mister doughty can track down a little bit more solid information as far as the state as far as restrictions on the deed or non-restrictions then come back and say, maybe that helps us decide.

I agree. I think we need to have the hardcore numbers in front of us.

Councilman Gottlieb brought up a good point, though. If we get $1,500, two grand a month in a lease, which would be fantastic for the property and maybe closer to where market is, it's going to take us, how, 10 years? Does this pay off getting the repairs to be an outdated building? Not even making it more modernized or changing the look to be more useful, which will probably quadruple or greater that budget. Meanwhile, are we just gonna have the current renter? We can't fix it, we can't lease it, we can't move based on the current status.

Well, my question is that gotta come to ADA Appliance if we lease it? I mean, that's another cost.

I would think that the city's position would be we'd bring it up to any code. That is presently applicable to the buildings.

Now we're 60,000, maybe more? There's no way. Right, I mean it's- No.

I think eight buildings are already 80. Is there no barriers? That's my knowledge. All right, so we want to let Mr. DeShane find out some real numbers and let Mr. Downey find out what really is, is there more information about the deed restriction that we need to know that we don't know right now?

Do we need to make a motion that we send A LETTER TO THE STATE ASKING WHAT IS OUR RIGHTS TO THIS PROPERTY AND WHAT CAN WE DO WITH IT SO WE AT LEAST UNDERSTAND. I THINK WE JUST DIRECT. JUST DIRECT THEM. WE DON'T NEED A MOTION ON THAT.

I'D LIKE TO GET AN ACTUAL HARD CORE NUMBER ON THE REPAIRS TOO. I THINK IT'S FAR LESS THAN WHAT WE'RE THINKING.

RIGHT, RIGHT, YEAH. LET'S GET THE REAL NUMBERS, YEAH. THE FINAL ONE NEEDS TO BE DONE IN SIX MONTHS, ONE YEAR. I MEAN, I WENT OVER IT A COUPLE TIMES. THE ROOF DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT NEEDS ANYTHING RIGHT NOW.

I THINK IT'S ONE TO THREE YEARS LEFT ON THAT ROOF.

ONE TO THREE. And my other question is, so then we're just gonna keep the rent where it is for now?

I think the rent still needs readjusted.

Something's gotta happen here.

Uh, my understanding is my old direction is still standing that. To renegotiate or terminate the lease if we can't reach agreement. Yes.

Well, that was the approved last motion. Yeah.

My concern is, are we just negotiating with the current renter? Are we negotiating with what the market may be? And we can't. Validate market and reception to market without it being on the market for leaks. So. What are we gonna negotiate, 300 to 600 or 300 to 900? And we're still gonna continue to lose money. And if the market is 1200, 1500, 2000, Like we're just, we keep kicking this can down the road.

How long are we gonna do that?

I think something temporarily needs to be done until we have all the facts in front of us. I mean.

We've been at this for months.

I know.

How many more months is it gonna take?

How long is it gonna take to get a letter back from the state? How long is it gonna take to get the repairs figured out? I mean, we just can't kick them out temporarily until we have our ducks in a row. All right, you also can't continue to pay $300 a month, right? You're losing money. No, so I feel like we need to continue negotiations with the current LAC until we have all our facts. Well, that's what's fair.

Mr. Duchesne, Mr. Downey, you were right, I think.

I do.

In a motion or?

That's just direction.

Next meeting will have a number for us. There are 30 days we'll be up at that point and there we can go forward.

That sounds like a good summary.

All right, do we have any, also do we have any conflict on if we do lease, who we can lease it to? I don't think so. I mean, I don't know.

It was rezoned in 2013.

Well, I don't know if our charter has rules like, can council members lease city property? Can council members buy city property? EMPLOYEES, CAN FAMILY MEMBERS, IS THERE ANYTHING IN OUR CHARTER THAT SAYS THIS IS A YOU CAN AND YOU CAN'T?

OUR CHARTER ADDRESSES CONFLICT ADVENTURE BASED ON STATE LAW. THAT WOULD BE MR. DOWNE'S EXPERTISE.

I THINK IT WOULD JUST HAVE TO BE ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS WHO THAT POTENTIAL RUNNER WOULD BE OR PURCHASER.

ALL RIGHT. WE'LL GO TO NUMBER 10. Claim to the council August 19th, August 26th, and September 2nd, 2026.

Hearing no questions, Your Honor, I make a motion to approve as presented.

Any questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Roll number 11, public comment. Anybody non-agenda items?

I'll ask you to stick to three minutes, please.

This is a public comment. I got this guy right now walking up.

I WILL HONOR THE THREE MINUTES. SO I JUST WANTED TO STOP BY AND INTRODUCE MYSELF. I'VE MET A COUPLE OF YOU BUT NOT ALL OF YOU. SO MY NAME IS PAUL ZELLER. I'M THE CURRENT SEATED COMMISSIONER FOR DISTRICT FIVE AND I'M RUNNING FOR A REELECTION RIGHT NOW IN THE SPECIAL ELECTION. SO I JUST WANTED TO INTRODUCE MYSELF, SAY HI, YOU CAN SEE MY FACE. Um, no, I'm a real human and I wanted to give you a little bit of details about my life. Um, and then give you an opportunity to contact me. I'll, I'll state my cell and email address at the end. So, uh, just personally, um, I live in Kimball township, so I'm a little further to the north, but, uh, married to Anna. Uh, my wife been married about 20 years. I have three kids. Uh, I'm a vocational shifter. So, uh, my, uh, That's not me, that's somebody else. Okay, vocational shifter. My career was in engineering. So I was a civil engineering background. I worked in construction management at MSU, MDOT, and then most recently the St. Clair County Road Commission. But I shifted from engineering into pastoral ministry. So I'm currently a pastor on staff at a church up in Lakeport, but my primary role is I'm the jail chaplain at St. Clair County Jail. So make good choices or I'll see you in jail. I'VE BEEN A COMMISSIONER FOR PUSHING ON ALMOST A YEAR AT THIS POINT. GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN A LOT, CONNECT WITH PEOPLE, MAYOR, STEVE, MET YOU BOTH, AND JUST BUILD RELATIONSHIPS. AND, YEAH, I'M NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN DRAMA. And so you'll notice at commissioner meetings that I don't spend a lot of time saying words. I'm not really active on social media. That's by choice. Solidly Republican worldview. Kind of all willing to talk to anybody. Yeah, and then current attentions. I'm learning everything I can about economic development. Data centers are a popular buzzword these days. WORKING THROUGH DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES AT THE COUNTY LEVEL TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE MUNICIPALITIES WANT THE COUNTY TO DO EVER SINCE THE RELATIONSHIP BREAK A YEAR OR SO AGO. I DO SUPPORT CAUTION AND WISDOM AND PACING WHEN IT COMES TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, HIGH RESOURCE enterprises such as data centers and then I just wanted to reiterate I'm willing to talk to anybody and so if you guys would like to talk to me council members or members of the public I'll hang around after the meeting my three minutes is up but I'll hang around after the meeting and just make myself available look forward to hearing from anybody thank you Paul the other public comment

I'D LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE'S I'D LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE'S I'D LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE'S BEEN ANY PROGRESS MADE ON THE BEEN ANY PROGRESS MADE ON THE BEEN ANY PROGRESS MADE ON THE REPAIR OF THE WALL THAT YOU PUT REPAIR OF THE WALL THAT YOU PUT REPAIR OF THE WALL THAT YOU PUT IN FOR THE BIKE PATH. IN FOR THE BIKE PATH. IN FOR THE BIKE PATH. I KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN FOLKS OUT I KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN FOLKS OUT I KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN FOLKS OUT THERE. THERE. THERE. UNFORTUNATELY I WAS NOT HOME AT UNFORTUNATELY I WAS NOT HOME AT UNFORTUNATELY I WAS NOT HOME AT THE TIME IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, THE TIME IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, THE TIME IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, MY NEIGHBOR

YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOUR HAND RAILS.

HOW ABOUT THE FINISH ON THE WALL?

THAT'S NOT SO SURE. YOU MAY BE PAINTING IT.

I'LL PAINT IT IF YOU WANT ME TO PAINT IT.

HONESTLY, WE ARE NOT SURE ABOUT THE TYPE OF FINISH FOR IT, BUT THE HAND RAILS DID HAVE EVALUATE, AS WAS MENTIONED, AND WE'RE GOING TO BE INSTALLING THE HAND RAILS.

WELL, THAT'S A VERY FAIR ANSWER. IF YOU'RE LOOKING INTO IT, THAT'S WHAT I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT, AND I'M GLAD YOU'RE SERIOUS I CAN'T USE THAT STAIRS. I HAD A HIP REPLACED. I GOT TWO BAD KNEES. I CAN'T USE THE STAIRS. SO IN INTEREST, MY MAIN CONCERN WITH THE WHOLE AFFAIR IS I GOT A MALE LADY THAT COMES EVERY DAY OR A MALE PERSON, LET'S PUT IT THAT WAY, THAT COMES EVERY DAY AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN USE THE STAIRS OF MY TWO NEIGHBORS. SHE HITS THE GRASS ALL THE WAY DOWN OR HE HITS THE GRASS ALL THE WAY DOWN TO MY HOUSE AND THEN THEY USE MY STAIRS. I GOT FIVE STAIRS. THE OTHER NEIGHBORS HAVE FOUR. SO IT'S A BIG CONCERN WITH ME TO GET A HAND RAIL THERE. SO IT'S A BIG CONCERN WITH ME TO GET A HAND RAIL THERE. SO IT'S A BIG CONCERN WITH ME TO GET A HAND RAIL THERE. BECAUSE I CAN'T USE THE STAIRS. TO GET A HAND RAIL THERE. BECAUSE I CAN'T USE THE STAIRS.

TO GET A HAND RAIL THERE.

BECAUSE I CAN'T USE THE STAIRS. AND I KNOW THE CITY HAS TOLD THE BECAUSE I CAN'T USE THE STAIRS. AND I KNOW THE CITY HAS TOLD THE BECAUSE I CAN'T USE THE STAIRS. AND I KNOW THE CITY HAS TOLD THE CONTRACTOR TO WORK FOR MY AND I KNOW THE CITY HAS TOLD THE CONTRACTOR TO WORK FOR MY AND I KNOW THE CITY HAS TOLD THE CONTRACTOR TO WORK FOR MY NEIGH WELL, SHE WAS INTENDING ON IT OR HE WAS INTENDING ON IT ANYWAY. OR HE WAS INTENDING ON IT ANYWAY. OR HE WAS INTENDING ON IT ANYWAY. SO IT DIDN'T MATTER. SO IT DIDN'T MATTER. SO IT DIDN'T MATTER. BUT AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THIS BUT AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THIS BUT AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THIS CITY SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN CITY SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN CITY SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN SAFETY OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC SAFETY OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC SAFETY OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC WHO COME UP AND DOWN THOSE CITY SO IF THAT'S HAPPENING, THAT'S A GOOD THING. SO IF THAT'S HAPPENING, THAT'S A GOOD THING.

SO IF THAT'S HAPPENING, THAT'S A GOOD THING. I'LL ASK AGAIN. THAT'S A GOOD THING. I'LL ASK AGAIN. THAT'S A GOOD THING. I'LL ASK AGAIN. ANDREOS ARE BEING INSTALLED. I'LL ASK AGAIN. ANDREOS ARE BEING INSTALLED. I'LL ASK AGAIN. ANDREOS ARE BEING INSTALLED. THANK YOU, SIR. ANDREOS ARE BEING INSTALLED. THANK YOU, SIR. ANDREOS ARE BEING INSTALLED. THANK YOU, SIR. I DEFER BACK. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I THINK WE JUST APPROVED A THANK YOU.

I THINK WE JUST APPROVED A THANK YOU. WHEN THEY FINISHED NINTH STREET THEY PUT A NICE CONCRETE WALL IN FOR ME. AT THE TIME IT LOOKED REALLY NICE. WELL, IT'S GETTING LOOKING NASTY. I WAS GOING TO PRESSURE WASH IT BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD WAIT AND SEE WHAT CAME OUT OF THIS FIRST BECAUSE IF YOU FINISH THAT WALL MAYBE WE CAN WORK SOMETHING OUT TO GET THE ONE ON NINTH STREET DONE EVEN IF I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. DON'T SAY THAT. I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT.

THAT WAS A GOOD LAST COMMENT.

I WANT TO HAVE EVERYTHING LOOK PROPER. THIS IS THE CITY OF ST.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY. GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY. GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY. MY NAME IS CAROL MILLER AND MY NAME IS CAROL MILLER AND MY NAME IS CAROL MILLER AND I'M HERE TONIGHT TO EXPRESS MY I'M HERE TONIGHT TO EXPRESS MY I'M HERE TONIGHT TO EXPRESS MY SUPPORT FOR COMMISSIONER SUPPORT FOR COMMISSIONER SUPPORT FOR COMMISSIONER ZELLER. ZELLER. ZELLER. I WAS RAISED HERE IN ST. I WAS RAISED HERE IN ST. I WAS RAISED HERE IN ST. CLAIR. CLAIR. CLAIR. I ATTENDED AND GRADUATED ST. I ATTENDED AND GRADUATED ST. I ATTENDED AND GRADUATED ST. CLAIR HIGH SCHOOL. CLAIR HIGH SCHOOL. CLAIR HIGH SCHOOL ST. CLAIR COUNTY IS NOT JUST A PLACE WHERE I LIVE, IT'S MY HOME. MY ROOTS IN THIS COMMUNITY RUN DEEP. MY PARENTS WERE LONG TIME BUSINESS OWNERS HERE IN ST. CLAIR AND WERE DEDICATED NOT ONLY TO THEIR BUSINESS BUT ALSO TO SERVING AND SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY IN COUNTLESS WAYS. THEY TAUGHT ME THE IMPORTANCE OF CIVIC INVOLVEMENT, GIVING BACK AND CARING ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE PLACE WE CALL HOME. THOSE VALUES HAVE STAYED WITH ME THROUGHOUT MY LIFE. WHEN I LOOK AT WHO SHOULD REPRESENT DISTRICT FIVE, I LOOK FOR SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HOW GOVERNMENT WORKS, HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS, HOW ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORKS, AND HOW DECISIONS MADE TODAY WILL AFFECT OUR COUNTY YEARS INTO THE FUTURE, INCLUDING THE CITY OF SAINT CLAIR. PAUL ZELLER BRINGS THAT EXPERIENCE. AS AN ENGINEER, HE UNDERSTANDS PLANNING, HE UNDERSTANDS INFRASTRUCTURE, THE DEVELOPMENT, AND THE PRACTICAL REALITIES OF IMPLEMENTING PROJECTS. He asks questions, he studies issues, and understands the details behind county decisions. Where the discussion involves roads, the county landfill, utilities, economic development, or tax increment financing districts, he has the knowledge and background necessary to evaluate those issues and explain them to public. And if he doesn't know, he digs deep and he asks questions and figures it out. By contrast, much of the public discussion surrounding his opposition's campaign has centered on a single objective, the termination of our medical director, Dr. Nevin. While every citizen has the right to express an opinion, I believe county commissioners should be focused on a broader vision for the future of St. Clair County, not just on the termination and fixation of a single individual. AS AN EXAMPLE, AFTER ANOTHER BOARD MEETING, THE OPPOSITION WAS ASKED A QUESTION ON INFRASTRUCTURE BY A TRUSTEE AND HER REPLY WAS DEFLECTION. SHE ACTUALLY TURNED AWAY AND WALKED AWAY WITHOUT ANSWERING THE QUESTION. OUR COUNTY FACES IMPORTANT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES. WE NEED LEADERS WHO UNDERSTAND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THE WORKFORCE GROWTH, INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING, PUBLIC SERVICES, BUDGETING AND RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE. WE NEED COMMISSIONERS WHO CAN HELP ATTRACT INVESTMENT, SUPPORT BUSINESSES AND PREPARE COMMUNITIES FOR FUTURE GROWTH. I also attend meetings not only in our community but throughout the county because decisions made in one town often affect neighboring towns and townships as well. Effective leadership requires involvement, preparation, and a willingness to understand the issues before casting a vote. For those reasons, I know Mr. Zeller is the person for doing the job as our commissioner, so I hope everybody gets out and votes for Mr. Zeller. Thank you, have a good night.

Any other public comment?

GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS LIBBY PRILL. I'M ACTUALLY A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT 7. I SEE MANY FAMILIAR FACES HERE. I MISS YOU VERY MUCH. AND EVEN THOUGH I LIVE IN DISTRICT 7, SO MUCH OF MY LIFE IS SPENT HERE IN DISTRICT 5. I MEAN, THIS IS REALLY, YOU KNOW, THE CENTER FOR, YOU KNOW, DINING, SHOPPING, GOING TO SCHOOL. I HAVE FOUR GRANDCHILDREN. THREE ARE IN ST. CLAIR AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS. SO I'M HERE TONIGHT TO SUPPORT PAUL ZELLER FOR DISTRICT 5 COMMISSIONER. I THINK HE'S DOING A WONDERFUL JOB. I REALLY DID NOT KNOW PAUL UP UNTIL A YEAR AGO AND REALLY IT'S REALLY BEEN MORE RECENTLY I THINK THAT I'VE GOT TO, I FEEL LIKE I KNOW HIM BETTER. I LIKE PAUL BECAUSE HE'S AN INDEPENDENT THANKER. HE IS A SOLID CONSERVATIVE, WHICH FOR ME I DO APPRECIATE. HE IS VERY OPEN TO ALL OF THE FEEDBACK FROM THE DIVERSE COMMUNITY THAT WE HAVE. HE IS VERY OPEN TO ALL OF THE FEEDBACK FROM THE DIVERSE COMMUNITY THAT WE HAVE. HE IS VERY OPEN TO ALL OF THE FEEDBACK FROM THE DIVERSE COMMUNITY THAT WE HAVE. PAUL IS QUIET AND DILIGENT AND FEEDBACK FROM THE DIVERSE COMMUNITY THAT WE HAVE. PAUL IS QUIET AND DILIGENT AND FEEDBACK FROM THE DIVERSE COMMUNITY THAT WE HAVE. PAUL IS QUIET AND DILIGENT AND DEEPLY INVOLVED IN BUILDING A PAUL IS QUIET AND DEEPLY INVOLVED IN BUILDING A PAUL IS QUIET AND DEEPLY INVOLVED IN BUILDING A COUNTY DRIVEN ECONOMIC DEEPLY INVOLVED IN BUILDING A COUNTY DRIVEN ECONOMIC DEEPLY INV WHEN HE ISN'T BUSY WITH COUNTY BUSINESS HE IS BUSY BEING A DEDICATED COUNTY BUSINESS HE IS BUSY BEING A DEDICATED COUNTY BUSINESS HE IS BUSY BEING A DEDICATED COUNTY G.L. LEAD CHAPLAIN, PROVIDING A DEDICATED COUNTY G.L. LEAD CHAPLAIN, PROVIDING A DEDICATED COUNTY G.L. LEAD CHAPLAIN, PROVIDING COUNSEL TO SOME OF THE MOST G.L. LEAD CHAPLAIN, PROVIDING COUNSEL TO SOME OF THE MOST G.L. LEAD CHAPLAIN, PROVIDING COUNSEL TO SOME OF THE MOST DIVERSE AND LEAST AMONG US. COUNSEL TO SOME OF THE MOST DIVERSE AND LEAST AMONG US HE MAY NOT KNOCK ON AS MANY DOORS BUT HE WILL BE AROUND. BUT HE SPENDS A LOT OF TIME STUDYING THE COMMUNITY AND MEETING WITH BUSINESS, MEETING WITH INDUSTRY AND MAKING THE ROUNDS FOR MEETINGS LIKE THIS TO GET ON TOP AND KEEP HIS THUMBPRINT ON WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY. I THINK THAT AS A CITY COMMISSIONER, AS A SITTING COMMISSIONER HE'S DONE A I THINK THAT AS A CITY COMMISSIONER, AS A SITTING COMMISSIONER HE'S DONE A I THINK THAT AS A CITY COMMISSIONER, AS A SITTING COMMISSIONER HE'S DONE A WONDERFUL JOB. COMMISSIONER, AS A SITTING COMMISSIONER HE'S DONE A WONDERFUL JOB. COMMISSIONER, AS A SITTING COMMISSIONER HE'S DONE A WONDERFUL JOB. HE'S A FULL-TIME HUSBAND AND A WONDERFUL JOB. HE'S A FULL-TIME HUSBAND AND A WONDERFUL JOB. HE'S A FULL-TIME HUSBAND AND A HARD WORKING FATHER OF THREE HE'S A FULL-TIME HUSBAND AND um i appreciate him very much and no he's not on social media you know i kind of stick my nose in it on his behalf even though he doesn't really know it and so i just appreciate the time to be able to express my support and i hope that anyone who has any questions will contact him and ask those questions because he will give you answers thank you thank you libby any other comment

All right, we will move to number 12, Mayor and City Council. I have a couple things. The Turtle Race is September 13th at four o'clock down in Rotary Park. I want to take a minute, if you weren't aware, a few weeks ago we had some vandalism down in the park. We had tables and chairs thrown in the river. And I want to thank the scuba divers that went down there and brought that up for us. That was Sarah Gruy, Dennis Lewis, and Dave Williams. Thank you very much for their help. And if they hadn't done that, I was gonna call maybe one of you guys jumped in there. They took care of business for us. Anybody have anything?

I have a couple things. I wanna mention Cox Road sidewalk is, I would say, painfully close to completion. Painful that it's not completed yet, but we can see it. It's close. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. Unfortunately, I wanna talk about garbage collection again. Ever since we've renewed this contract with Waste Management, we've talked about garbage. PRETTY MUCH NONSTOP. AND A RESIDENT ACROSS THE STREET THIS WEEK, THEY DIDN'T PICK UP THEIR CANS BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO CLOSE TOGETHER. THAT WAS WASTE MANAGEMENT'S REASON. THE CANS WERE TOO CLOSE TOGETHER TO PICK UP. AT SOME POINT WE HAVE TO MOVE ON FROM THIS. IT'S GETTING TO THE POINT OF RIDICULOUSNESS THAT THEY WON'T GET OUT. THEY KNOCKED OVER THE CAN WHILE TRYING TO PICK THEM UP BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO CLOSE AND THEN DIDN'T PICK UP THE CAN AND PUT IT ON THE TRUCK. The repeated issues with garbage, wouldn't it be nice to not think about garbage? That's where I'm at. They can have their green cans back. I'd like to just put a bag by the road and have it be gone on the end of the day on Thursday. and the last thing i want to talk about is probably the most least important thing we've talked about all night but it's something that's come to my attention so i want to bring it up i'm an early morning walker in the park and on the boardwalk pretty much every morning and i put my music in or i just listen to the sounds of nature and i really enjoy it except that we have music going down there at five a m and i just think maybe we could have a few hours of nothing in that park just enjoy a passive park experience Maybe, you know, people carry their own speakers, they do their own thing. Maybe we just have a few hours of nothing in the park.

Paul Dingman, I'm sure, is listening to this right now.

I'm sure he is. He and I have chatted about the music before, and I know he, it's not, I'm not faulting Paul or anyone. Someone mentioned it on Facebook a few days ago, and all of a sudden, all these comments came in about how much people just would like to go down to the park and enjoy just the park without the music. And I felt that way for a long time myself, but I thought I was just being myself, particular about it. And I didn't want it, so I don't want to ruin anybody else's experience, but something maybe we can have a discussion about as a council at some point. Thank you.

Anybody else? We'll go to number 13. I'm gonna ask for a motion to go into closed session to discuss the tragedy connected with the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement with the employees represented by the POLC. I so move. Motion is made. Supported. Questions? Call the roll, please.

Hupa?

Yes.

Laporte?

Yes.

Hall?

Yes.

Lowell?

Yes.

Westridge?

Yes.

Butler?

Yes.

Cedar?

Yes.

Motion carries.

Unfortunately, it's a closed session, so I'll have to ask you to vacate the premises. You can wait upstairs and we'll send somebody up when we're done. If we're gonna vote on anything or take any action, we'll go up and you can come back down and participate. Thank you very much, everyone. Be careful out there.