City Council - Regular Meeting

Hey. Heat. Heat.

Hey. Yeah. Heat. Heat.

Hey everybody. Hey,

Good evening, Garden City. I'd like to call to order regular city council meeting for Monday, April 20th, 2026 at 7 p.m. Our first order of business is our opening ceremony, which consists of the national anthem, followed by the pledge of allegiance, followed by a moment of silence for those service members who've given their lives for our country. If you please rise. Happy birthday. Algiance to the flag of the United States of America.

for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with

Mr. Smith, if you take roll call, please. Mayor Jacobs here. Mayor Prom Dold here. Council member Hughes here. Council member Whit here. Council member King here. Council member Dol here. Council member Kerapotus here. You have a quorum of seven. Okay. Thank you. Uh item four is the approval of the agenda. Mayor. Council member Wit like to make a motion to approve the Monday, April 20th council meeting agenda as presented. Support or from council member Hughes. Discussion from table from the public. All in favor? I

I opposed. Motion passes 70. Okay, we have no recognitions, no state or county officials, no pres presentations or community events, uh no petitions, communications. Uh item 10 is a public hearing on the 5-year capital improvement plan. Uh Mr. Given you'd like to give a short explanation, this

this is the uh time of year which we approve our 5-year capital improvement plan. Our charter requires um a capital improvement plan uh for five years. And this is where we sort of list out our capital priorities. Um we're doing our best to identify those we can at least realistically try for during the course of the next budget year. You know, financial constraints means we don't always do these things. It isn't a guarantee that we will. it isn't a promise or uh um a part of our actual where we budget the money. Um some of these things are though. Uh some of them such as getting two police cars is anticipated in the next budget. Um some of the the road bond work, some of the water water repairs, but largely is a list that over the next 5 years. These are our capital priorities that we want to address and uh kind of keep them on our radar. And when we go out for grants and um other sources of funding, we can point to this as this is always something that's been one of our priorities. Okay. Uh with that, I will open up the uh public hearing on the uh 20 2026 2027 capital 5-year capital improvement plan. Anybody wishing to comment? Okay, I'll ask again. Anybody wishing to speak on the uh CIP for 2627 case? No one's no one wishing to speak. I will close the public hearing and we will move on to item 11 with which is our consent agenda.

Mayor, council member Wit like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda items A 1 through 5 as presented. Support or for mayor prom. Discussion from the table. Mayor, council member Kotus. Just for the budget meeting notes from April 13th, uh Mayor Jacobs was absent, but it says Mayor Jacobs announced it was time for public comment. That would be we can correct that. Okay. Further comments from table from the public. All in favor? I

opposed. Motion passes 70. Okay. Our action items. Uh item one is our five-year capital improvement plan that we just had a public hearing on. Motion is in order. Mayor. Council member King. I move to approve the proposed 5-year capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2026 and 2027 as presented or from council member Hughes. Discussion from table mayor council member Kapotus

I'm glad that Mr. Gibbons took into uh consideration that we're trying to save money and there's a lot of restraints in the budget because normally this whole thing would be filled. So I'm glad that everybody's aware that we're trying to save money. Yep. Further comments from table. Mayor, council member King. I also like to um I am also happy that our CIP is moving to more of a practical direction opposed to a wish list. I think this focus lets us um make better plans for you going forward in the future. Okay. Thank you. Further comments from table council member Hughes.

I too agree that you know a realistic cap SCIP is is something that we've been looking for forward to. So I I appreciate that. You further comments or discussion from the table from the public? All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 70. Item two is uh gateway uh metro act permit application. Mr. Smith.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council. In front of you is a Metro Act permit application for Gateway Fiber. Um they would do fiber optic internet. Uh we do have a representative from Gateway Fiber here tonight who can take any of your questions. Um my kind of role in this is to receive the application. Um the Metro Act what it does is it created kind of a uniform safe harbor permitting process um for use of the public right away. The one thing that it's important to remember is while we're kind of limited in the scope of what we can approve and deny, um we can't deny a permit unjustly um if we don't have cause from the vendor u a bad track record, things like that in the you know, but this is a new one coming in. What we can do is we can put uh make them put up a performance bond. This is what we've done with the other entity that's currently operating within the city. Um it's basically a percentage of the total project cost. And what we've done with the first vendor is um having have to dip into that bond so far. Um if we use, you know, if we have $20,000 bond, we use $5,000, then they put 5,000 more in to keep that bond what we set it at. Um, if you have any questions, um, I do believe I do see the representative from Gateway here.

We'll do a motion first and then we'll have, uh, if if we have questions, we'll we'll ask them. Mayor, Council Member Do a motion to approve the Metro Act right-of-way permit application submitted by Gateway Infrastructure LLC doing business as Gateway Fiber contingent upon the contractor providing a performance bond or irrevocable letter of credit in an amount acceptable to the city manager prior to the start of any construction activities. Support or from council member Wit. Now discussion from table.

Okay. Okay. And first I will uh uh Mr. Derek Leffort uh who is the head of government affairs for Gateway Fiber. If we have any questions uh for him, he's here. And I'm sorry I didn't hear. Yeah. Council member Hughes. Thank you. Um I was wondering, you mentioned that um we we um take into account their track record and I was wondering what do we do to to establish um you know the research and find out about that? Well, it would really be based upon their record here within the city. So, like if we had one that we have granted a permit to, permits eventually expire when it comes up to renew if you know, but for an initial one, there's

but we don't go outside. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Council member Dol,

can you tell us where what where's the work area? uh that's going to be largely dependent upon so we've engineered a a pretty good portion of the city. However, there is uh a competitor that is doing some uh installations in some areas. So, Gateway typically doesn't overbuild uh another provider. Number one, there's really not a good business case for it, but it's also kind of a lot more disruptive to the residents, and we certainly don't want to do that. Uh so, green field areas, the there's a little bit of Greenfield area left. I'm not sure specific. I can't provide you street names off the top of my head, but I'm happy to follow up with you and provide you with kind of that information. Uh, but it would basically be in the areas where there is not currently uh fiber being installed by our competitor and I I'm happy to follow up with I apologize. I don't have the specific street names, but I'm happy to follow up with you on that.

Okay. Is it more residential? It is. Yeah. Our primary focus, Gateway's primary focus is is residential internet. We will serve uh businesses and uh multiple dwelling units. Uh but our primary focus is uh residential. Yeah. Mayor. Yeah. Council member King, my question is is this going to be um below grade or on the utility poles? I'm sorry. I can Are you installing it um in the ground or on the utility poles?

Great. Yeah, great question. So, it'll be all underground for the most part. I don't think there's any circumstance in which we would go aerial in this particular build. Uh and then all of our u pertinances are going to be flush mount. So you're not going to see pedestals. Uh everything's going to be level with the ground uh and flush mount. Uh thanks.

Uh I do have a comment because I've had a lot of complaints about the other company um not notifying the residents when they're coming, just showing up, start digging up lawns. Uh the restoration's taking a long time. Uh I'm really hoping you guys are going to be a lot better than that because I don't want to field any more calls and have to get other departments involved. But um yeah, communication's huge and and so is restoration.

Yeah. And so I could absolutely speak to that. So Gateway um just as a general company, we think very locally. We were started for a town of 300 people, started by a gentleman that lives in a town of 800 people, was born and raised in a town of 800 people uh and continues to live there. So he it from the very beginning uh made sure that it was in our DNA that we think very very locally and every potential home that we go past is a potential customer for us. So, if we do anything wrong on the front end, uh, where we're not kind of communicating with them and letting them know, if we don't restore the property, uh, to as good or better condition, that's a potential lost customer for us. So, Gateway places a huge, huge emphasis on overcommunicating as well as our restoration practices. Now, I will tell you, uh, there's going to be some circumstances where restoration simply can't be done at the moment, right? So, let's let's let's say there's uh you know uh it's in the middle of August, there hasn't been any rain for three weeks and there's nothing projected for another three weeks. It's not going to do us any good to throw sod down right then because it's not going to take. But we will absolutely come back and make sure uh that we get that taken care of. We also have a team that's dedicated to any any sort of complaint or any issue that arises. Uh we have a team that's that's dedicated just to resolving those issues. and I will give you my my personal business cards and I would encourage you as an elected official uh if you have any issue whatsoever with a constituent. I would encourage you to reach out to me directly. Uh my my cell phone number is on my card. You can reach out to me at any time and I'm more than happy to to uh get with our our team and make sure that it gets resolved.

My next question is there will be a point of contact that we can reach out to. Correct. Yeah, there' be a local point of contact for your city staff, but if you as an elected official, so I head up government affairs nationally for Gateway Fiber. Uh, so we're in multiple different states. I head up our legislative, regulatory, legal affairs, uh, all across the the US. And, uh, I would encourage you to, if you have any issues whatsoever, reach out to me and I'll help you resolve resolve the issues.

As far as our communication practices, sorry, as far as our communication practices, uh, we do place a huge emphasis on that as well. uh even if we weren't required to come before the committee or I'm sorry the council for uh this particular metro act we would have asked to come here and have a conversation with you guys similar to what we're having right now. That's part of it. Uh in addition to that, we'll do uh geoargeted microtargeting on uh social media where we're going to reach out to specific uh sections that we're going to be doing the the work in uh in social media channels and specifically let them know, hey, here's the process. Gateway is going to be in this area. We also do door hangers if that's permitted in the cities. Sometimes we'll do sometimes it's not allowed but if it is allowed uh we'll put stickers on the garage doors like a post-it note kind of like what you would see UPS leave uh because a lot of people don't use their front doors uh and so they do they go in through the garage doors and so we just put like a post-it note on the garage door. Uh we also hold various different events in those neighborhoods that we intend to to construct. Uh so we'll go out and we'll like during the summertime we'll have a snow cone truck or something like that go out uh and interact with the residents there uh to kind of let them know what's going on, what to expect and then give them points of contact for them to reach out to uh if they've got any issues. So communicating with the the general public and with you as elected officials is critically important to us and we want to make sure that uh we continue that dialogue with everybody. If again for whatever reason you have a constituent that has a complaint and you will I I it's a certainty uh I encourage you to have them to for you guys to reach out to me directly. Hopefully that's minimized. Our intent is to make sure that that you guys as elected officials as well as the city staff isn't dealing with those. But anytime you have any utility project where somebody is uh you know disrupting a yard, you're going to get some some calls.

Okay. I know door hangers are much appreciated. Sure. Council member Kerapotus, how soon do you put those things out before you do the work? Like, is it the day before, the week before? No, it's usually a week to 10 days prior. And if this gets approved tonight, when is work going to start? Uh, we would probably start I would say probably within within 30 days. Okay. Thank you. Further comments? Mayor, Council Member Hughes.

Um, I was how long do you expect this project to last? Uh, a lot of that will depend on the runway that we have based upon uh, what we're able to put in, what our competitor is putting in. Uh, I would anticipate that if if we didn't have a competitor here in in Garden City that it would take it would probably be a three-year project. My expectation is probably that's going to be, you know, not nearly as long considering that they're they're aggressively building on their side, too. Uh, so I would say anywhere from probably a year to two. Thank you. Um, and have you already done work for other communities in in a local area?

Uh, we have. So, this is actually Michigan is a new market for us. So, we're headquartered in Missouri, started in Missouri, expanded. Our second market was in, uh, uh, Minnesota. Uh, then we went into Massachusetts, then we went into North Dakota, then we went into Kansas, uh, and Michigan is our newest market that we've just recently started building, uh, within the past couple of weeks. Now, we've we've got an entire team that scour the entire United States that looks specifically for where we can put our capital. Uh and uh we we have identified these areas around here as uh attractive opportunities for us and we certainly want to make sure that that we're investing not only in the infrastructure but also in the community as well.

Now, you mentioned that you have um competitors and it's going to affect your timeline

in what way? Uh so you know there's a a limited number of what we call what we call passings which is a business or or a home. Uh there's a very limited number of those. Uh so if it was completely wide open for us then it would take us you know a lot longer to build that that whole amount. But since there is a competitor that's taking part of those passings off the table for us uh then there's not as much for us to to build. And so that shrinks kind of our timeline down. And um I was wondering from city clerk um as we go along this is an extended project. So I know they have to have a bond you know in case things aren't going right. So um let's say that things are moving along and that we are finding problems early on.

How do we address that?

Yep. Um so what will happen is a after this you know this granting this approval isn't the end of everything. Um after that the the vendor will communicate with our building department um and our uh engineering. So, I know uh Derek um came in and met with us with his team uh spoke to myself, members of the building department, um representatives from Buchelli uh to kind of go over the outline what the our expectations are for the vendor. Um what they provide to us. Um so there are permits that they'll have to get after this. Um the building department will maintain that bond if there are any issues. um it gets reported to building department. If we have to go out and our crews have to make fixes and you know at our time then we deduct from that bond and then we notify the vendor. We have to build that bond back up to what it is. So, but it is an ongoing process.

That's I want to know. Thank you so much. Yeah. And I would encourage, you know, if anybody has any uh questions or concerns about kind of our our track record, I can provide you with a a list of all of the communities that we've been in. And I think if you reached out to those communities, I think they would tell you that we we've been a very good partner for them. Thank you.

And that's not a sales pitch. That's legitimately when we go into those communities, we we are very very focused on making sure that we have relationships with with the right people to make sure that we're doing what we need to do and it's communicated back to us. Okay. Further comments from the table, from the public. Okay. Uh, all in favor? I opposed. Appreciate it. Motion passes 70. Thank you, Mr. Lefert.

Okay. Item three is our road bond issuance resolution. And I will call up uh our treasurer, Miss Shannon Shepard. Good evening, mayor and councel. Uh what you have in front of you is a resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds related to the road improvement program. Um this item is for the second and final series uh for an amount not to exceed 7.36 million. Um as with the first issuance, the uh debt service on these bonds will be paid uh by the um by the voter approved millage. Each series is structured to be paid over five years. So this is not um an additional tax. This is just a continuation of what was already approved. Um you may notice that the second series is slightly less than the um 7.5 million authorized amount and that's due to how the bonds were sold. Um, sometimes investors will pay more for a bond called a premium. Basically, they're paying more than face value. And that's what happened on the first series. So, we don't need to issue as much on the second series because we're still going to get to the 15 million. We're just going to have to borrow less to get there. Um, the and the the program the program is structured so that we do the improvements up front. We're frontloaded on that and then the repayment occurs over time and that's so that we can um make the improvements more efficiently using today's costs um rather than spread it out over a number of years where costs are likely to increase and then we can also deliver the improvements to the residents sooner so that they don't have to you know have it delayed over a number of years. Um I think that covers everything but if you guys have any questions I'm happy to answer. Motion is in order. Then we can ask ask questions.

Mayor, council member King, I move to approve the following resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds not to exceed 7,360 360,000 to improve streets and related items in which the debt service will be paid with a levied mill. The port or for mayor prom. Uh discussion from table. Mayor, council member Kerotus. I just want to make sure that the residents understand what you were you were saying. There's been a lot of discussion, people thinking that we are spending all the money first and and it's supposed to be spread out over five years for us to spend it. It's frontloaded. So, we get them the services now. We get the new roads now. We have five years to pay it back. Exactly.

So, we're paying less for the cost for the materials today instead of doing it four years from now. Exactly. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Yep. Further comments from the table, from the public. All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Uh item four, you're still up. Uh is the road bond issue issuance engagement letter.

Mayor and council again. Uh good evening. So what you have in front of you here is an engagement letter with Benzinski and company um to serve as the municipal adviser for the issuance of these bonds. Uh they assisted us with the first series. So this is just a continuation of that relationship. Um the this is a standard uh process for the bond issuance. Um have having an adviser kind of helps make sure that we're structuring the debt appropriately and that we get the best terms um for the for the bonds. Motion is in order. Mayor Council member Wit

like to make a motion to approve the engagement letter with Bedzinski and Company to serve as municipal adviser for the city's 2026 road bond issuance and to authorize payment of the issuance fee in the amount of $30,860 contingent upon closing of the bonds. Support from council member Hughes. Discussion from table mayor. Council member Ker Fotus. I just wanted to also be clear that this is not a new road bond. This is something that we've already been approved and that we're just we have to do this every year right before we fix the roads so that no one thinks we're doing a new bond. Correct. Thank you. Further comments from table. Mayor. Council member Dol. This is the company that we previously used. Correct.

Y. Okay. Thank you. Further comments from table from the public. All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Item five is our 2026 uh sidewalk program bid award. Um Mr. Omen, our DPW director.

Good evening, mayor and council. Uh continuing with our six-year rotation around the city. This year's program will be in the area of Warren to Ford Venoi to Marman. We we will be addressing trip hazards greater than one inch and it'll be evaluated and inspected by the Belli group. We did receive seven bids for this project. Lu Luigi and Sun was the lowest bidder. They have been working for the city of Ham Tramik doing their sidewalk program and uh doing a great job. I feel they'll do the same for us.

Okay. Thank you. Motion is in order. Council member Dol.

A motion to approve the contract for the 2026 sidewalk program with Luigi Ferninandi and Sun Cement Company of Roseville, Michigan in an amount not to exceed $262,73.50 50 cents with a 10% contingency and to approve design and construction services with Hennessey Engineers of Southgate, Michigan in an amount not to exceed $9,196 and to approve field evaluation, project administration and inspection services to the Buchelli Group of Leavonia, Michigan in an amount not to exceed $74,973 for a combined project total of 346,872.50. 50 cents

support or from council member King. Discussion from table. Mayor, council member Ker Fotus. This is a a new vendor with us, correct? Yes. Okay. A lot of discussion about the vendors from last year and things not looking good. And um lost my train of thought. Oh, when would it start? Uh we'll have a preconstruction meeting. I would think uh by June they'd probably start. Okay. And then do you know what it's going to be per square for residents?

Uh for a typical 5x5 flag of 4 in it'll be $23325 which is about a 2% increase from our pricing last year. and 6 in would be $280 for a 5x5 flag, which is about a 8% increase. And uh if they choose that can go on their taxes, right? And they can pay it. Yes. Okay. Thank you. You further comments from the table, mayor. Council member Wit.

Um just because we're we're doing the roads recently with the cement that's used for the sidewalks. Is it similar, if not the same, to what the federal government is approving for the cement mix? Yeah, it'll be the same cement. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Mayor, I just want to say real quick that um unfortunately I can't remember exactly what the project was, but the DDA used this company several years back and we had no issue with them. Okay. Thank you. Further comments from table from the public. Okay. All in favor? I

I opposed. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Item six is our housing readiness master plan amendment. I'll uh call Mr. uh Ortega up here.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor, council members. Um the planning commission has been working diligently and has completed a draft amendment to the master plan. This master plan amendment is focused on a housing including specifically providing uh housing alternatives in the downtown. Uh the master plan amendment has been developed utilizing a grant from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. As part of that grant uh obligation, the plan must maintain a uh specific schedule to ensure a plan addressing housing is ultimately adopted. So, as required uh by the Michigan Planning Enabling Act, uh a draft master plan amendment must be made available for public comment uh by residents and and property owners for a minimum of a 63-day review period. During this review period, uh both uh city leadership and uh residents and property owners can provide comments and suggested uh renov uh edits to this master plan uh amendment. And then at the conclusion of that 60 63 day period, the ma the planning commission will make any and all uh recommended edits uh to the master plan draft and then it would be presented uh for final adoption. So before you tonight is a request to take the next step in the grant process by authorizing distribution of the draft plan to begin the 63-day comment period as required by uh state law. Thank you. Motion is in order.

Mayor, Council Member King, I move to authorize the distribution of the housing readiness master plan amendment to begin 63-day common period as required by the Michigan Planning Enabling Act. Or for Mayor Prom Dold, discussion from table. Mayor, council member King. Uh question is what would be what's our method for residents um to add a comment?

So we we will have at least one planning commission meeting in that 63-day period. It also is going to be made available uh at every public building in the city. So we can make that available uh you know in the at the um Radcliffe Center here in city hall. Uh it could also be uh published on the website uh and we can uh find other alternative uh methods that that could be available to distribute it uh to to the public. Uh and then the comments can be uh emailed in they can be called in to McKenna uh and then we can um make those edit make those edits as as um as we as we as the planning commission indicates at the end at the conclusion of that comment period. Mayor,

Council Member Kerapotus, I think making it uh available to the public is very important for their input. So, I mean, I know we talked about before we have email lists and we have all these alerts on our phone. Sending that out to link to to make sure that whoever's on that uh gets it and says you can go to this link on our website and do the survey, make a comment, that would make the most sense to me. Yep. Thank you, Mayor. Council member Dol,

I just I wanted to um say a couple of things in reading through the master plan amendment for this. Um it was interesting because you have in here that uh Garden City has a higher percentage of owner occupied housing. Nearly 80% of our homes are owner occupied. The only surrounding city that has more than us is Leavonia, which then of course our vacancy rate is only 2.6. It says for context, a healthy vacancy rate in a community is below 5%. So, we're extremely healthy with that. But what I really wanted to mention is when we get back here, so you know, everybody knows our Kmart property is empty. It's been empty for several years. It does have an owner. Uh I love the concept in the amendment for that property. I think it's fantastic. So my next question is have we started meeting with that property owner to discuss something like this? Do you know?

We have began discussions with him adequately at the beginning of the planning process to talk to him about the different alternatives and also to talk about what the city's vision is for that site. Um so it's still in the planning stages. Um and the intent is to uh you know begin with the draft plan and then hopefully if this gets whatever policies and and layouts get adopted hopefully we'll begin that can trigger the next step meaning making sure that the zoning ordinance uh is edited and and and to make sure that it's as um we have the right review process that the city wants to have because um when it comes to these type of changes sometimes it's easier you see more investment if things are uh changed to have things permitted by right because right now technically uh there's a two and a half story maximum in the downtown. If uh after the master plan is uh adopted and if the if say the policy is to allow by right a four-story building uh then that's something that the zoning ordinance can be edited and then it allows property owners to submit applications for a building that would meet the fourstory uh height right away. Um because right now technically they could go through and attempt to do a four-story building, but it involves the PUD process, predeed process. And as we know, that's a little bit more involved. Uh we we have had one uh property owner attempt that right right there at the southwest corn southeast corner. Uh but something like this could also spur additional interest by changing tweaking the rules to allow for some things at by right because the city has determined that that's something we'd like to see.

Thank you, Mayor. Council member Carotus, I don't think that um Councilwoman Dol's question was totally answered. We know we talked to the owner of Kmart that was over a year ago. Has anybody spoke to him recently to talk about things that we want and see where he's at and when we're going to start? not recently, but we can definitely begin those talks. Yes, I think that's very important that we keep in contact with these two major properties downtown so we know where they're going. Okay. And just to clarify, there has been outreach. It's just a substantive discussion. Um hasn't occurred and it's not from lack of want. It's uh exactly. But

but our our phones are always on and our doors are always open and we regularly reach out to to make those just to we're definitely uh on the same page on that thought. Okay. And then the other question was uh we talked about h housing but is this study from really 2018? Some of the data is from that that that's a long time ago.

Yeah, it was. And so actually uh some of the initial comments from the planning commission members is looking for more up-to-date data. So we'll be looking forward to the assessor to get some more uh up-to-date information on the existing housing stock. I think that was over a year ago that we talked about that before because it was the same thing with the census and the median income and all that that they were using the census from 2010. So I I just think that whoever is doing this, we need to make sure that things are up to date. It's a waste of our time if they're bringing information that's not correct and this is the second time we've talked about it. I know the planning commission talked about it the last time too. I think if we're paying for service, we should be getting things that are up to date. Further comments or discussion from table? Council member Hughes.

Um I in the planning commission they they raised a question about the cottage style homes. Yes. And will how will that be addressed when we release this or will it be addressed at this point or

it'll uh we'll gather more comments from the public as to what the opinions are about the cottage style. Um there there are um just impromptu uh conversations with city hall staff. Some people uh like the idea of a cottage style because they liked the idea of a smaller home that's not as much square footage to take care of and it's all in one story. Uh and others um felt that they they just didn't think that would be appropriate. Then we have those same people thought, oh, town houses would be better because town houses have more options uh or they like the look in them, excuse me. But then those same those other people that like the cottages didn't like all the stairs involved in a townhouse style. So there's a lot of different opinions. So we'll gather uh those various opinions on both different housing types and then uh see what if there's a way to come up with a another alternative for the housing types. There's a lot of different styles out there uh to include and then um the planning commission will in the end make a recommendation as to what they feel is best for for the different housing types.

Further comments, discussion from the table. Mayor, Council Member Wit,

thank you. Um thank you Mr. Ortega for all the information. The only question that I have is the last council meeting that I believe you were at, we brought up the or you brought up the six different house amendments that are potentially being and passed and you know, we know our state lawmakers don't like to listen to us all that much. Will that affect the process if those happen to be passed after this 63-day period with what the zoning changes are coming potentially coming? So, it all depends on if those uh bills actually become adopted and into law because if they do, depending on their final draft and final version, they could dramatically impact what is permitted by by right in the city because that's the intent of these laws. Uh however, I do think it's very important that the city goes through this process and specifies exactly what the city has chosen is appropriate and and uh is desired in in within for Garden City because that's the key point of this issue is that the state legislature is trying to tell every community they have to be the same whereas the city is exercising its right to make sure that it's uh um voicing its opinion and clarifying it. how that opinion is going to influence the legislators and whether the whether they'll actually uh you know scale back their their efforts. It's hard to say. It's just so much you know legislator is just always in motion. Yeah, I just I just want to make sure that we don't have to like super overhaul this in, you know, two years time if that's what happens where we just got to recreate the entire document back through and now list all of these other cuz I saw after that meeting uh the governor's little video that she posted on social media that was you know we got to make housing more available and that's what all those bills are triggered from. So that's all. Thank you. Yep. Further comments from table

from the public line up ma'am. State your name please.

Hi, I'm Britney Smith um from here in Garden City. Um, I was just wondering, maybe this is related to council member Stacy's point about the up-to-date data, but Thank you. Thank you. We'll make sure that the data reflects, for example, the idea of affordable housing and making sure reflecting the current um income levels of of residents and future residents and trying to make sure that housing created is going to be affordable for thank you. Uh further comments from table from the public. All in favor?

I opposed. Motion passes 7 nothing. Thank you, Mr. Ortega. Okay. Item seven is the Goodfellows on street sales. Mr. Smith.

Good evening again, Mayor and Council. I received a request from the Garden City Good Fellows to have on street sales for a newspaper fundraiser sale. Uh the sale will take place Friday, June 26th, Saturday, June 27th, and Sunday, June 28th from 8:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. at Ford and Middle Belt, Ford in Marman, Ford in Venoi, and Middle Belt in Warren. Uh in their communication uh the good fellows did indicate that they will provide uh copies of insurance and hold harmless agreements uh for each participant prior to the event. So this is a request to grant the approval for the Goodfellows to host their newspaper fundraiser.

Motion is in order. Mayor, Council Member Dalt like to motion to grant approval to the Garden City Goodfellows to hold their 2026 Goodfellow newspaper fundraiser on Friday, June 26, Saturday, June 27th, and Sunday, June 28th from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the intersections of Ford and Middle Belt, Ford and Marman, Ford and Venoi, Middle Belt, and Warren subject to the receipt of a valid hold harmless agreement by each participant in compliance with the provisions of city on street sales policy. support or for mayor promold. Uh discussion from table from the public. All in favor?

I

opposed. Motion passes 70. Okay. Item 12 is other business which we have none. Uh item 13, public comment. This will uh allow you three minutes to speak on non-aggenda items. It's not time to go back and forth. Uh if we can answer the question, uh we will. Uh I'll give Mr. King there a second to get the microphone working. Okay. Uh Mr. Jones, Mike Jones from the Lions Club. Okay, I have three items tonight. The first one concerns the Garden City Lions. They were founded in 1954. Garden City Lion Club is proud of 70 years of service to the community. However, our membership numbers have been dwindling and the club is on the precipice of closing. We are in need of new members to continue our long-standing legacy of service to the Garden City community. This is your chance to get involved. Lions clubs are groups of men and women who join together in fellowship to serve mankind in a way they could never do as individuals. Garden City Lions Club is focused on helping the blind and visually impaired, the deaf and heart of hearing, special needs children, and the community at large. We serve where there's a a need, there's a lion. Make a difference. So if you have any interest in uh the possibility of continuing the club, you should contact uh Stanzakata at slee y

zcot tka atgmail.com by tomorrow, April 21st. And then a couple of community announcements. We do have uh the Garden City Theater program this weekend doing the music Frozen on Friday, April 24th at 7 o'clock, Saturday, April 25th at 2:00 and Sunday, April 26 at 2:00. Reserve seating online tickets at the door. Uh tickets are online are $16 for adults, $14 for students, military and seniors. And the um Mother's Day lunchon will take place on May 7th, which is Thursday at 12:00 p.m. I believe the uh cost for that is $20 per person for Garden City residents. You can purchase your tickets at the Radcliffe Center. There will be uh coffee served by the Garden City Police and Fire Department. 50/50 raffles, entertainment prizes, and more. We want to thank the Garden City Thrift Store for their generous donation to this wonderful event that'll take place at Radcliffe Center.

You sir. Okay. Next, uh Mr. Ralph Brooks. Good evening, mayor and council. Uh, I'm here to discuss uh the street that I live on. I've lived here in Garden City for over 53 years and last year approximately 6625. They reconstructed the whole street along with Arc Colola, which is west or east of me, right next to Inkster Road. I live off of um Maplewood, Arco, and Chester. That's the street that I live on. Since then, Hard Rock uh came in. That's the the concrete company that poured the concrete. And uh they did the job and within the last I'd say six months, the street is starting to crumble, chip up badly. And I want to get an answer on how much they it cost us the citizens to pay for that street and how we're going to get that street repaired if any. And then there's another thing that I'd like to say is um in the process they came up my driveway and they replaced two slabs of concrete and I was not allowed to pay in check. I had to pay in cash. I paid $600 for two strips on the sidewalk. And I come to find out everybody east of or east of me, everybody had the almost the same thing

done and nobody paid except me. And I'm wondering how I can get my money back for what they did. Uh I have your address and your name and that and we will look into your at your both issues and somebody will get back with you. Okay. Appreciate it very much. Thank you. you. Okay. Further comments? Yes, ma'am.

Hello again. Um, I was just checking in on a question I had a couple months ago about the AI data governance policy of the city and the public posting of it. And so I was checking in on the status of that if any. Thank you. Uh do we have anything Mr. Given or Okay, he'll he'll get back to you. Did you fill out a form so he can reach you? I can do that. Okay. Thank you. Further comments from the public. Anyone else wishing to speak? Okay. Uh, Mr. Given, your report.

Uh, thank you, Mayor Council. First, just to address the AI policy. It's actually currently being drafted in combination with the police department and the rest of the city. Um, as uh, as everyone knows, it is a emerging field of technology that municipalities are confronting across the nation and we are too. Um, just it's uh going to be a comprehensive policy that we want to make sure that we've had it thoroughly, legally, and uh, and technologically investigated before we issue a final policy. but it's in the works right now and actually I appreciate your comments as I uh as we spoke after that meeting that it was definitely good to hear something to put it on our radar. We've got always juggling a lot and it's and it's just uh it's nice to be reminded to get in the right direction. So also and also in that meeting we had a uh there was a discussion over the flock uh uh license plate reader cameras and just a a check to verify yes information is held by flock for 30 days. It's controlled by us. um it doesn't get released unless we say so um and permit it to to another law enforcement agency. It can only be used for law enforcement uh purposes. Our policy is pretty extensive on that. And um you know some some of the concern is uh with federal sharing. I've spoken to the chief. There's no federal agencies we're currently sharing with. So uh some of those were I think the concerns related to by our representative and some comments at the city council uh public comment. Um we've thoroughly we had a really good 2023 policy. I was quite pleased to see all the things that uh were being looked for already contained in that policy that we're a little ahead of the game on that. So, um covers those two issues and just one more um 6248 middle belt. That was the building down here down the road that was severely damaged by fire. And I just want to thank one our fire department, our police department for staying on that building. Tragically, it was uh severely damaged by fire that it couldn't be saved. Um we had the fence over top of the sidewalk. They made great communications with the owner and to the owner's credit um the moment they could really get it down, they got it down. Um it's the kind of responsible building ownership we like to see in this city. So it was a nice convergence of both our uh the mechanisms we used to enforce uh

issues with those buildings and a cooperative engaged owner who was communicative throughout the process that got the building down quick. So, um, you know, it's just an an excellent, uh, sad sad situation that the building was destroyed in that, but good to see that the pl things we have in place to, uh, make the public safe when we have a dangerous building all took place. Again, including a responsible owner. Don't want to discredit them. They were very quick. As soon as DTA gave them the ability to, they had it down. So, kudos to all involved. That's it. That's it.

Thank you, Mr. Smith. Um, just two quick things this evening since the next time we meet it will be May already. Um, so the just a reminder that the citywide garage sale is coming up the first week in June. So June 4th through the 7th. If you'd like your name on the list for sale participants, come on into the city clerk's office anytime between now and June 1st. Get a permit free of charge so we have your address so we can get you on that map uh for the website. And then the other notification is our spring shred day will be held here at Garden City City City Hall Saturday, June 6th from 10il 1. Um the normal setup that we've utilized in the past here at city hall. And if you can't make the June 6th shred day, we do have a fall shred day coming up in September. Um, so we do have flyers for the garage sale and the shred day here at city hall and I'll bring some to the next meeting, but just mark your calendars because those are fast approaching.

Thank you. Uh, Mayor Prom Dole. Thank you, Mayor. I don't have any comments tonight. Thank you, Council Member Hughes. Thank you, Mayor. No comments this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Wit. Nothing tonight. You, Council Member King? Uh, same here. No comments. Thanks. Okay. Thank you. Council member Dol, I have a a question actually. You brought up the flat cameras. Yes. Um, under what? I'm assuming our police officers can access the data on the flat cameras. Correct. Correct.

So, are there any conditions associated with that or do we have a way to see who accessed it at what time? And because recently there was there was an incident where a police officer used the flat cameras to locate I believe an ex and not here but not in Garden City. No, no, no. Not in Garden City. Not in Garden City. Um but um you know

Yeah. Uh and really anytime a uh and this goes across all really sensitive uh criminal justice law enforcement information when we access those systems um there's metadata that records when it was accessed by who logged in, what time they accessed it. And as far as our policy is concerned, really the only thing we're accessing that data for is to investigate crime or some other public safety like a missing person or an endangered person. Um where then that might be useful. Um we don't just uh there's no just random surveillance. There has to be a criminal justice crime nexus to the access of that or some other um public safety related um nexus that is beyond just looking at the data. The only other thing I had, um, I wanted to thank the city on behalf of the Kuanas Club. They held a bake sale over at Radcliffe today to help our Key Club at the high school, uh, pay for the Kids Against Hunger program that's increased quite a bit in the last year. But, um, I have to say I was over there for quite a few hours this afternoon and that place was hopping. So, uh, I love to see that. Love to see. Actually, while we were there, um, a senior citizen came in. It was the first time that she had been at Radcliffe and she was given a tour and she's coming back Monday for some classes. So, it was really good to see. That's all I have.

Good. Thank you. Uh, Council Member Carotus, I always have something to say. Um, regarding the flat cameras, just reiterating what uh, Councilwoman Dol, we don't have a officer actually watching the cameras. We just review them when needed or if we get an alert like if they saw stolen license plate or something like that. Right.

Correct. There would be a typically it's from a flag in the system for a stolen license, stolen car traveling through the intersection, lets officers know or um you know one event would be we had a subject commit a violent crime um at a uh a business in Garden City some time ago and actually set fire to the business um not related to the one but a different one. Um and then we were able to go back and investigate the vehicles fleeing the city right around that time. So a more specific nuanced check as to those vehicles related to a specific crime that was actively being investigated. It's not just surveillance of vehicles or anything like that. The policy requires something occur that's a legitimate uh governmental public safety crime criminal investigation interest to access the system.

Not like big brother looking to see what bumper stickers I have or anything. Right. Our officers uh you know we do one from a practical standpoint uh one from a principal standpoint we don't do it. But too, from a practical standpoint, our officers are on the streets looking for uh a crime with their eyes, not uh not watching license plates. Okay. Um and then I also wanted to address two things. One, the resident that came up and talked about his street, everybody is complaining about that. There's a lot of residents that are contacting me saying they had worked on last year and they're just falling apart. So, um what should those people do? I mean, should they call your office? Should they call DPS? Should they call Buchelli? If they need to call and say, "Listen, they just did this last year and it's already crumbling." Who should they call?

Yep. I I just contact DPS at this point. Um Okay. We'll we'll collect the uh areas with issues and uh see what we can do with contractor. Okay. I know one of the major ones was by the hospital and we've talked about that numerous times. Is that in the works to already being fixed? Um I could speak with the DPS director and get an update after this meeting.

Okay. Speaking of our wonderful DPS director, um I talked to him today because I've had several residents reach out to me about uh water meters because our uh rates have increased so much. And of course, the first thing everybody says when we talk about water is why we have to have one meter that does sewage and one that just does water. So I asked him today, other cities, uh like the city of Farmington Hills, they actually allow the two meters. And so our director said that he was going to look into it and get some information and at the next council meeting he will be up and tell everybody about it. Um the other thing that I wanted to mention was um senior alliance. I've talked to a lot of seniors that have been in need. Uh everybody's bills are going up. If you are a senior and you need help, you can call the senior alliance at 734-722830. They have transportation services, caregiver support, senior employment program, long-term abudzman program, nutrition programs, they have care management, health and wellness. They have safety checks, and they actually have a chat line. So, if you just want to talk to someone, if you're having a bad day, you can call over to Senior Lions. Um, and then the other thing I want to say is that the batting cages are now up and working at Radcliffe, and I'm so glad they're going because I think it's at a I think it's something that's going to generate revenue so that we can have other programs. it's going to help support them. So, if you have a team that needs batting practice, you can call Radcliffe at 734-793-1850. And the last thing I want to say is that uh I think everybody on council is hearing the talk from residents about the budget and please know that everybody on this council is working hard to make sure that we get things right and that we try to save money.

And that's it.

Thank you. Uh I just have a couple things. One, uh street sweeping is going to be starting next Monday, I believe. Right. It is starting next Monday. So, be prepared to move your vehicles and uh be aware uh I'm sure it's going starting Monday in the Friday garbage zone and then it'll move along. So, that's coming. Uh condolences to the Earl family. They had a loss in their family. So, condolences to uh to them. And on the fly camera, the license plate readers. Um, I know when uh somebody talked the other day at the the podium about Big Brother watching and why we have them and all that, uh, there was just a a police chase, high-speed chase that an innocent bystander ended up uh, being killed in. And that's another good use for them because we don't we don't have to chase. uh we can just go to the readers and and follow the car and find them that way without endangering uh lives. Uh and as Mr. Given stated, we're not watching or they're not keeping track of it. They're not watching it constantly, but in certain circumstances, it's a safety issue for our residents and innocent bystanders that uh get caught caught up in the middle that they have nothing to do with. Um, so again, that's uh I think it's a good thing that we're doing and and I'm glad we have them where we have them uh just for security reasons for our residents. Um, having said that, no further business. This meeting is adjourned.