City Council - workshop

Council work session order clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Hader.

Excused.

Stoner. Here. Bining. Germani. Here. Stringham. Here. Felder. Here. Mayor Clark.

Here.

First is public comment.

First is public comment.

We'll start to see if there's any comments from the public here this evening. Obviously, we have a presentation that's going to be provided if there's any comments prior to. Seeing no public comments, next item.

The next item is item 6048, results of the downtown traffic configuration stakeholder sessions.

Thank you. City Manager Cochran, we have an item this evening.

Yeah, good evening, everybody. So this conversation goes way back to 2018 and before regarding the downtown master plan recommending Front and First Street and other streets to be converted from one-way to two-way streets. as well as looking at the Monroe Street configuration for traffic patterns downtown. Looking back to 2024, and I don't want to steal the thunder from the presentation tonight, but City Council and the DDA had had a presentation about a study that we had completed about the implementation of a possible conversion and some options. And at that time, city council had asked that we move forward with stakeholder engagement with downtown to find out how those who would be most impacted by a potential change feel about it, and then bring that and report that back to city council. In March, you had indicated when we held your goals and objectives session that this was one of the priorities that you wanted to focus on before the end of the year. So recently, throughout the summertime, Maria Sufferdini, Matt Van Nisacker and Patrick Lewis had set up engagement sessions. block by block with downtown business owners and building owners and residents to review the study with them and gather feedback. And so tonight is not a night to make a decision, but to provide you with that feedback and get direction subsequent to that on which direction we would like to go, which we can discuss a little bit. But for tonight, Maria is going to present to you the results that have been gathered so far.

Thank you. Maria, welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, Honorable Mayor, City Council, Clerk Treasurer Lavoie, and City Attorney Buds. As City Manager Cochran had described, I'm going to be giving this summary of our stakeholder feedback sessions to all of you today. And as we kind of already discussed, I did want to kind of get into a project timeline or background information just so we are all on the same page regarding the previous information we were working with when discussing and developing these stakeholder sessions. So in 2018, the Downtown Master Plan recommended two-way conversion for First and Front Street as they go through downtown. And based on my understanding of that downtown master plan, it seemed like this was recommended because visitors had reported some confusion navigating downtown if they're not familiar with those one-way streets. So that could potentially be a barrier to engagement with our downtown and how many visitors our downtown is attracting. at a certain time and we all lived through uh 2020 so we all remember the pandemic so unfortunately the pandemic did delay any actions on this project from happening at that time and in 2024 ohm advisors completes the downtown traffic study which looked at traffic counts things of that nature to see if our downtown roads could support a one-way to two-way conversion with traffic And as discussed before, a presentation of the findings was given to the Downtown Development Authority and City Council by Patrick Lewis. He was kind of our expert on that study as we navigated through this process. And from April to June, we've been working on developing the feedback sessions, the materials presented to our stakeholders and evaluating and gathering that feedback. And before we started talking with our downtown stakeholders, we had a couple goals or objectives we wanted to achieve with this effort, just to make sure we were presenting the best feedback to all of you when we were summarizing our downtown stakeholders opinions regarding the project. So our first effort was to kind of to identify who those downtown stakeholders were. And as previously described, it was kind of decided that this would be comprised of business owners, residents and property owners, as we felt, these individuals would have the most to say and could give us some of the most insightful feedback. Not the only insightful feedback, but a good starting point. And then from there, we decided to collect that feedback from our stakeholders. And that started with general feedback regarding their attitude and temperature for any street conversion from one-way to two-way traffic. And then if... Two-way conversion was supported. What design alternative developed by OHM advisors in that traffic study was the most well-received just because that we felt that would best educate us as to how to move forward and how to summarize these findings to all of you. And on screen now is that project's study area. So as you can see, it kind of encompasses all of downtown. There are very few sections left out. It includes a significant portion of Monroe Street, as we all know, that goes right through our downtown. So the traffic study did investigate Monroe Street on top of looking at 1st and Front Street. And from that study area, Patrick, Matt, and myself all sat down and discussed and tried to figure out what were the best ways to break up that study area into digestible feedback sessions because one of our priorities was making sure these feedback groups or sessions weren't so large that people felt uncomfortable sharing their opinions because they're not comfortable speaking. in front of large crowds so we wanted to keep them to a manageable size so ultimately we decided on doing three feedback sessions one with each quadrant and funny enough um quadrant one two and three that is the order in which their sessions were held so we had quadrant run one's uh session first and then ended with quadrant three uh in mid-june so quadrant one was made up of east first street And Washington Street. Quadrant 2 was made up of East Front Street and South Monroe Street. And Quadrant 3 being the largest of each section being West Front Street, West First Street, and South Monroe Street. And these are the evaluated alternatives I discussed earlier in this presentation. And the purpose of displaying these was to make you all aware as to what was communicated with our stakeholders in that session. And this stems from OHM advisors concluding in their downtown traffic study that the conversions on 1st and Front Street, they would be able to accommodate two-way traffic, but there would be minor adjustments required to our current infrastructure downtown. And these images come directly from the west end of that study area where First and Front Street intersect. The study found that that intersection would be a critical point of development as some new layouts would potentially have to be developed. So alternative one creates a T intersection between first and front street. Alternative two creates a dead end on front street and lets traffic continue on first street. And then alternative three creates a roundabout, which we know everybody loves. So that one had some interesting feedback, but creates entrances and exits for first and front street and then the parking lot located nearby and catch street. And then from there, we received our feedback from our stakeholders. And the general consensus from our participating stakeholders was they were not in favor of converting 1st and 2nd Street from one-way to two-way. And they cited three main concerns for that opinion, the first being parking concerns and then delivery and safety following after that. My impression from attending all three sessions was parking seemed to be the biggest hurdle. As we know, parking can kind of be a hot topic when it comes to our downtown area and other areas throughout our city. So a lot of local businesses cite that they already have issues with the limited amount of parking available right in front of their businesses. So they found that the two-way conversion had the potential to take away on-street parking, and they felt that That loss was not made up for by the fact that they have two different directions of traffic interacting with their business. They thought that loss would be too great to overcome. But as the session kind of developed, we did get some interesting feedback that I don't think I was originally anticipating. A lot of our stakeholders were open to the idea of some sort of reconstruction effort on Monroe Street, and this would be with the purpose of improving walkability downtown and making Monroe Street less intimidating for people to walk alongside of it. We had a lot of participants tell us that while we don't have an issue with the layout of downtown, the traffic on Monroe Street can make it very intimidating to feel comfortable walking along that street. And the three alternatives or design ideas for this idea were a Monroe Street road diet was actually suggested by one of our local business owners. And in our next slide, I actually have his quote from our feedback session for you all to see. And then a four-lane redesign and a three-lane redesign from the OHM traffic study. So that was suggested to us from that original 2024 study. And then it wouldn't be a feedback session presentation if I didn't share some direct quotes with all of you. So these quotes are a combination of in-person feedback that was given to Matt, myself, and Patrick in our conversations that we jotted down, and feedback from our online survey that we provided participants at the conclusion of each stakeholder session. Well, all five are, I think, good, give us good insight. The two I wanted to point out was the downtown is easy to walk, but not always pleasant to walk. I would rather see focus on Monroe Street Road Diet, just so you all get a sense as to where that idea came from. And then the Holland and Detroit are a great example of one-way traffic of cities that are thriving. I thought that was an interesting perspective to share because I do, while Detroit is much larger, that could be the reason why they see their one-way streets thriving. But I was interested to see what Holland is doing different to what we're doing to see if there's, some kind of correlation there. And maybe instead of investigating converting the roads, we investigate other ways to improve our walkability and get people down to interact with that area. The other quotes kind of pertain to some of the safety issues that was discussed, and then the people not seeing a benefit to our local businesses, and then that walkability point again. So now, if anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to discuss them and try to share what I feel like the feedback presentations presented and things to that extent.

Thank you, Maria. Kathy, you have a question or comment?

Yeah, when they're talking about M125, are they talking about crossing it, parking? What was the feed that you understood?

Yeah, I didn't get the intention it had to do with parking. To me, it seemed like crossing and walking alongside the road because just the noise from... the large volumes of traffic or the truck traffic that goes down that road, it was kind of shared that it made some people uncomfortable walking alongside the road. We had one local business owner kind of say that his, someone in his family or someone that he knows avoids walking downtown because of that, of that road. Like it, it makes them uncomfortable on top of not liking the one way street. So they have a separate, you know, they have a couple issues with that, but yeah, the, it seems like walking alongside the road seemed to be the main challenge.

When I was out in Dundee recently, they're putting in an island on 50. And so I was wondering about that for, and I know this is just like, I'm not an engineer, middle of the block. So you've got people that are turning left from both sides. If you did the island in the middle of the block, it would make it maybe safer. I don't know. It's just throwing out an idea.

Are there questions or comments? Andrew.

Can we go back to the slide where we talked about the three alternatives that we looked at? There we go. I remember, and I may not be correct, but I remember that some of the apprehension of the council the last time that we engaged with these is that they were prohibitively expensive. Do we have the cost options of each of those?

We have the cost estimate that was shared with us when the traffic study was originally done, and we've seen how inflation and stuff like that can affect numbers for that. So we wouldn't, I don't feel we have the exact amount for how much it would cost now, but I believe based on what I remember from the study, I think each alternative was around a million dollars, something to that extent. Yeah, one to three. And that's not including signal changes and stuff like that. That would have to be done on Monroe Street as well. I know when we did our stakeholder sessions, Patrick spoke a lot to the cost of some things. While we didn't want cost to be the main deciding factor for this project when we were interacting with our stakeholders, it did eventually organically find its way into the conversation. So Patrick was kind of our authority when it came to that.

Does Alternative 2, is that two-way traffic, or is that an entirely pedestrian-only, non-motorized path from Monroe Street? That's what Alternative 2 is?

My understanding of that alternative was it was a two-way street that would dead-end right there. Or was it a pedestrian street?

Correct. Any sort of fully non-motorized... I mean, from the comments of the business owners that we received, it sounds like that parking in front of the buildings, despite parking being directly behind those buildings, It would not have been seen favorably anyway, but I don't know if it's an option that we've explored.

I can say the original downtown traffic study, I don't believe explored that option. They explored that street remaining two-way or one-way. It didn't take into account making that a pedestrian street.

I guess I have a follow-up today, Andrew, because I know with the Downtown Development Authority, when we met and we had these, actually Alternative 2 was interested, the DDA was interested in, and they did talk about that and different options. I know Eric's our chairperson of the Downtown Development Authority now, Eric Drummond. And not say that everybody did, but they thought it was an idea that would turn it into that walking marketplace. But also we understood the challenges of if it's a dead end, you have to get out also, right? And it means you have to go in the parking lot and come back out. So there was nothing that was solid as far as what the DDA thought, but it was just looking at alternatives and what it could be. It might meet some things, but then they had some other detractions to it.

If I could add on to that, Mayor, I know when discussing these with businesses and other individuals, some did see alternative to being a potential, like a benefit of that is they could see it being a very popular street to close down for those markets and stuff like that because it has that dead end road. So it's easier to close that one down and not have to worry about that intersection and how you reroute traffic because it wouldn't be a concern. So I did see a couple individuals while they weren't in favor of the two-way conversion, if they were, that, interestingly enough, was the idea they liked the most and liked the potential it has for events and things to that extent.

Yeah, so as I thought that through in the discussion, it was utilizing the parking lot to the greatest efficiency, but also managing the traffic that comes in and flows out. But I know there were some that were in favor of looking at that, which when we said we weren't sure and that people that were on the board said they would support that. But it's all in the details, too, how do you deliver it and how do you manage it. Yes, Kathy.

It's hard to see the street names. Can you explain these?

what streets are we looking at just to make sure i'm not missing anything yes the top street on all three alternatives that would be front street and then the bottom street that's labeled that would be first street in all three alternatives and then the road that's not labeled that's vertical that's uh cash street at the bottom i appreciate you guys checking to make sure i did the roads right yeah um

Cass Street at the bottom and Harrison at the top. Yes. Do you understand what we're saying, Kathy? I just want to make sure. Looking at number one, if you're going toward downtown on First Street, that first street that is wider, that is Harrison. And then you go down, right? I thought so. And then you go down further is where Cass Street is.

Yep.

Is that correct? Yeah, because Cass cuts across the, yeah, it's down further even. The street to the left that's kind of on all the alternatives has to be Harrison because Cass Street cuts across the front and it's not on here.

So for reference, that's the corner that the whistle stop is on, on the left. That's Harrison. Cass Street is the one that runs next to the old Monroe News building, now DigiLabs 360. So it's, yes.

So it would come in between Cass and Harrison?

Is that what you mean?

Yeah, this is, to make this, sorry, to make this, I should have explained this earlier in more detail. That, like, corner kind of intersection that exists currently, that is the west end of the study area they were referring to because that intersection, as it is right now, you have just the two lanes merging to go one lane or one direction. If we convert it to two-way, you would have two different lanes of traffic trying to get through that corner. So to make sure people can navigate the road safely, that's where the design alternatives came in and the reconstruction efforts would have to be focused. I apologize for not explaining that earlier.

Do you understand? Because on option two, where you see that square gray box in the middle, that's where the parking lot goes down to the riverfront parking. That's Front Street and it would stop there Number two, right in the very, to the right side of that box, do you see it?

And if I may, currently right now where you can turn to get into the parking lot, that thruway still exists, it's just not highlighted in that dark gray color, but if you look to the left, I believe, of that building, it's still visible, it's just faded because of the editing they did to the base picture.

The parking lot is the KSC hall in the number two. And the building that you can see to the right edge at the top is Icing Bakehouse. So that's the turn into the parking lot.

So in this one then, it would dead end. People would either have to go through the parking lot. Would that become a freeway for everybody to get around then?

yeah it appears that's the intention for that one and that does when in the study it kind of gets into how alternative two well all three are acceptable for levels of service and delay um the traffic engineers found that alternative two gave the most delay out of all three options just because you'd have to use the parking lot to you know navigate around that and then get out and then get back on uh first street either direction you want to go in yeah

Well, you'd have to come back out.

It's a parking lot.

And again, these alternatives were simply the west side of the study area. It doesn't address on the east side of Monroe Street. Because that was the more difficult intersection we thought we'd have to encounter if there was a conversion from a one-way to two-way. He had to solve this. Andrew?

So by the east side, do you mean where West First and West Front come into contact with Monroe Street or literally East First and East Front Street, east of Monroe Street?

These here, thanks, this is a good picture here. When you see the, I don't know what, I'm going to call it an X or a cross, but to the left, is monroe street is in the middle of course going north and south and to the left triangle was what we were looking at that was the intersection that was identified to be more difficult where west front street and west first street are and as you get go east to monroe street we don't have any uh there were no renderings, I'll say east side of Monroe Street.

And if I made this, this also those alternatives does not, they didn't display what potential like signals and stuff like that at intersections would have to be improved. I'm assuming you would see that on the east side of the study area as well. The alternatives were just referring to the street reconfiguration that would have to occur. It doesn't, they didn't map every single intersection and signal and stuff like that, that would have to be improved to accommodate for the two ways of traffic or two lanes of traffic.

I guess the question I have is if we proceeded with a two-way conversion, would that assume that the east side of both of those streets, east of Monroe Street, would also be converted two-way between Monroe and McComb?

Correct. That's the idea. Because I don't think if you're on West Front Street going east, you'd have to either turn left or right if it wasn't two-way. And it defeats the purpose unless you'd have to turn to go down First Street to go back around to the So it was like kind of all or none.

Yeah. To make sense. I definitely agree with that. I mean, I think what you're doing is explaining what my opposition was initially when we did Cass, where we were chopping it into four pieces, a one-way, a two-way, then another one-way. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, Mark, I'm sorry.

Point two, it would also imply the two-way conversion of Cass Street in between West First and West Front by the Monroe News Building. So continue that two-way conversion north to Front Street.

North Street, that's between the two. Mm-hmm.

And if I also may, to add on to that, if a two-way conversion was to occur, you would also have to account for some changes on Monroe Street. I believe it was mentioned in the traffic study, a left turn lane would be established in certain areas. I'm blanking on the exact location, but you also could expect some alteration to occur. Monroe Street, which is if Patrick were here He could get into how complicated dealing with that road can be considering its owned by MDOT and not not the city So you'd have to go through MDOT for approval and things like that Other questions or comments Kathy Both ways

or on both sides of the street, would you not just do angled parking with two-way traffic, or would it completely change?

The way Patrick had originally explained it in these sessions, and I am deferring to the knowledge Patrick has shared with me regarding this, is even if you switch to diagonal parking, you're just, by the orientation of the parking spot, still losing a couple spaces. So business owners were... concerned about those couple of spaces being lost because they already hear about not having enough spaces currently. So they were worried that while they have two directions of traffic passing their business, if there's no readily available spots in front of the business, that they're still losing potential clientele despite having that increased visibility.

Do any of the changes increase non-motorized safety downtown?

That is an excellent question. I do not believe that was in the scope of the study.

Part of what I believe we would enter into if we wanted to move forward, whether with this plan or some other component of the plan, would be incorporating non-motorized through the recent conversations we've had with you about e-bikes and other bicycle recommendations. So at the time, as Murray indicated, I don't believe that was a focus, but we talked about the ability to add to it, just not identified.

I THINK THE NONMOTORIZED, WHICH WAS GOING TO COME LATER, WOULD REQUIRE PARALLEL PARKING, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE SPACE FOR THE NONMOTORIZED. IT'S INTERESTING TO ME BECAUSE ON EAST FRONT STREET FROM MONROE TO, WELL, I'LL SAY FROM MACOMB TO WASHINGTON IS PARALLEL PARKING AND TWO LANES. BUT FROM WASHINGTON TO MONROE STREET, IT'S two lanes and angle parking. So I think the space in which there's the greatest reduction of parking is between Monroe and Washington, and they're probably the furthest from where the parking is available. Obviously we have many parking spaces on the riverfront, but you have to come up and cross Monroe Street. Whereas the east from Washington to Macomb Street There's a small parking lot on the river, and we also have now the city lot that sits behind the College of Beauty. There's many spaces, and it's close. So the challenge is that half of the block of East Front Street, I believe. And I think that's where we get most of the, I don't wanna call it opposition, position of concern on parking is more so that block than I think any of the other locations. Michelle.

So wouldn't some of the bump outs be removed in that case? Wouldn't there be more parking for those areas because the bump outs are gone?

That's another excellent question. I unfortunately am not a traffic engineer, so I, Patrick hadn't communicated that to me from what I can recall, so I'm unsure how that potentially could change. I don't recall the traffic study signaling out parking because it was kind of just focused on analyzing traffic through the downtown. So I also don't have that to share any feedback with. But that's, I'm assuming something that would be investigated if this moves forward. So I apologize, I don't have the answer to that right now.

And I should mention Washington Street, as we know, has angle parking. So it's Washington Street and Washington to Monroe on East Front Street where the spaces would be most significantly impacted. Mark?

Yeah, to follow up to Councilwoman Germani's question, part of the high cost did require that road modification with the bump outs being pulled back to accommodate both the turning traffic, the left turn traffic, as well as just general possibly widening of the road. So That's partially why the higher the cost, not necessarily to widen the whole road, but to deal with the bump outs, the islands, and some of the modifications that have been made over the years that have required angle parking versus parallel parking to accommodate equal numbers. So, yeah, the answer is yes.

If I could add on to that, I remember in the stakeholder sessions, truck traffic was also discussed because we know that sometimes trucks navigate through this section of downtown. So the road widening was also discussed just with trucks in mind because they want the roads to be wide enough to accommodate that traffic and those tight turns and things like that. You don't want any damage and things like that. So I know it was discussed in that aspect as well.

You know, there's local truck traffic, which is permitted in the downtown. It's the truck traffic that's, I'll say, passing through, wherever they're coming from, is not really permissible. But even the local truck traffic that may be doing deliveries, I know other communities have them. They set scheduled time for deliveries. And that's a big change for everybody because you have to say your deliveries are from this time to this time, which you have to get with your company that's delivering your, whether it be whatever your needs are. But it is a change, and it is a difficult change.

Maria? With respect to the delivery times and setting a set schedule, that also was discussed with our downtown stakeholders, and we did receive some pushback regarding that idea as well because they They found that while they do try currently to schedule a concrete delivery time, they see that delays can happen to things like that. So it would be detrimental to their business if a delivery were to be delayed and it couldn't happen during that acceptable time. And then having the two-way traffic, it makes it very difficult to receive your delivery if you have to do loading on the road and things to that extent. So that also was discussed. And we did have... some local business owners that shared some pretty valuable feedback on that regarding how that typically works with their schedules and such.

and uh andrew yeah on the point of deliveries um i think it has gotten better than in prior years recently especially for the the like food delivery trucks that are going on a consistent basis of once it's not for like ups or fedex or amazon they don't care they're just going to double park and they're going to sit there while they deliver whatever packages that they have it's a it's it's not the worst thing right now because you can just go around them In a two-way scenario, you would not be able to do that.

Are there other questions or comments? Yes.

In New York City, they have two-way traffic, and they deliver at 4 o'clock in the morning, and it works out just fine.

That is also an excellent point.

There are communities that have, I'll say, resolved this, and it's through policy, but also knowing what the traffic can be. I've seen it in large communities and cities, and I've seen it in small communities. Other questions or comments?

Yeah, so in conclusion I want to thank Matt and Maria and Patrick for caring for because of course community engagement and decision-making is one of the priorities of City Council as well and Maria did a great job of summarizing what they've heard for you What we would hope to take away from this conversation tonight is which direction you would like to move toward next certainly we will do whatever you prefer as next steps. Based on what we heard, it seems like there's not much interest, public interest, in moving forward with the one-way, two-way conversion. However, there was great interest in taking a better look at Monroe Street and the opportunities and the possibilities there, which, as Maria indicated, is a bit of a heavier lift because it's an MDOT road. It's not just our road to make decisions on. So if... Certainly seeking your direction from there, but with that being the general consensus, we could begin to engage conversation on Monroe Street because the two are not mutually, we can do one without the other. We can look at modifications to Monroe Street without having to do the two-way conversion. The two-way conversion would require some modifications to Monroe Street. And so we would look to your direction if that's what you would like us to do is to explore Monroe Street further, as Councilwoman indicated, the options anyway. We've seen road diets taking it down to two lanes, to three lanes, non-motorized, how we add that, possibly potentially explore options and bring those back to you for feedback and consideration as well as what MDOT may be looking for.

thoughts.

Andrew. Well, I agree with the summary that there's hesitation so far on the two-way conversion, but there seemed to be a consensus that they'd at least like to explore what a Monroe Street alternative looks like. I'd love to see the quote from the individual who had thoughts on the road diet for M125. I think that the alternatives that were proposed were versions of a road diet. for M125. And that's in part why we pursued them. I think that some of these alternatives, especially in terms of two-way conversion, are going to be much more viable once we have much more COMMUTER NON-MOTORIZED TRAFFIC VISITING THE DOWNTOWN AND AS WE GET NON-MOTORIZED CORRIDORS AND EASIER PROXIMITY AND DENSITY OF HOUSING IN THE DOWNTOWN AND THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON AND I THINK THAT WE'RE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION ON BUT TO MAKE THEM VIABLE FOR THE BUSINESSES I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'RE THERE YET. But if we can show viability in the future, I think that the business community might be more open to that because I think it might benefit them more. But I'm certainly reluctant to spend a bunch of money taking those roads in a direction that the business owners don't want to Go and say, oh, we're doing this for the business owners. You know, to make it more viable for them to own and operate and run a business in the downtown and then benefit off of the tourism and commerce that they get from that, you know, that that's a tough 1 to tough 1 to swallow. So I think at least for the time being. I'd be in favor of pursuing, you know, looking at options regarding Monroe street. Maybe not so much maybe.

in a holding pattern sort of regarding uh the two-way other comments shell i agree with andrew i i think the two-way for right now um there's a lot of controversy and i i think we should first look at the monroe street what that would look like and then go from there because i i don't think the patterns that i see i'm not sold on because they look like a bottle next to me. That's how I feel, thank you.

Other comments? I agree with Andrew and Michelle as well. When we started this, we were looking just at one location, and I think what we came to consensus on, and of course the DDA as well, is we should look at it in its entirety to see, because you can't just do one segment and think that it's all going to work and everything will be fine. This gave us the understanding that the majority of those are not interested in the conversions of, I'll say, the local streets, but it seems to be consensus that Monroe Street is something where we should start. And I think if we start there and at least pursue this and continue, it might lead to the later conversion of the local streets once some of the things that might be seen that would be beneficial on Monroe Street. And it might not. But that said, there's other things that change along the way as well that might benefit a stronger response on the local streets. But I don't think we should just walk away because I think we'll never make some progress in discussion about walkability, which... um it says this walking is fine it's not pleasant to walk and i think they talk about monroe street i think the second quote and i like the last quote don't see downturn getting better until walkability standpoint until we deal with that 125. so i think that's a good that's a great quote and i think we should at least start pursuing that to see what that would look like and how we would get there other comments okay i think you've got some information and i know we have another item here this evening so Maria, thank you so much for the presentation. And I know that we'll probably get with the DDA as well here in the future so they can, oh, they can watch it too. Eric, thanks for being here. Should have asked if we had a comment. All right. If there's no other comments, we need to close the work session. So I'll close the work session at this time. And we do have another item this evening for our time before our regular meeting. And it is a special meeting. So at this time, I'll open the City Council special meeting. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council President Hader.

Excused.

Still good? Here.

Mining? Here.

Chair Maney? Here. Stringham? Here. Felder? Here. Mayor Clark? Here.

First item is public comment. So we have public comments, especially meaning we're going to be going into closed executive session is what the request for the motion is. But if there's any public comment at this time, any comment for those present? Seeing none, next item, please.

The next item is consideration to enter into closed executive session for the purpose of labor negotiations.

Thank you, City Manager Cochran.

No, no comment.

Okay. So if there's no other questions, we need a motion.

I'll make the motion to go into closed session for negotiations. Support.

Motion by Councilman Stilgrave, supported by Councilman Stringham to go into closed executive session for labor negotiations. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Stilgrave? Yeah. Bining? Yeah. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Beller? Yes. Maricard?

Yes. Special meeting, need a motion to go back into open session. Motion by Councilman Jermaine Spurley, Councilman Vining to go back into open session. Clerk?

Councilperson Hader? Steelegrave? Yes. Vining? Yes. Jermaine? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

And we have no additional conversation at this time, Manager Cochran?

Nothing further for the special meeting.

Just need a motion to adjourn.

Motion to adjourn.

Support. Motion to adjourn by Councilwoman Stringham, supported by Councilman Germani. Clerk?

Councilperson Stilgrave? Yes. Bining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Thank you. So we have about five minutes, and the regular meeting will start.

Council President Hader.

Excused.

Vining. Germani. Here. Stringham. Here. Felder. Here. Mayor Clark.

Here.

I ask we all please rise for the invocation and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

We have faith and hope in each other and our city. We ask for your guidance in the decisions that are made here this evening. We ask you to work for the welfare of this community and all its residents.

I pledge allegiance to the

Invisible with liberty and justice for all Look next item please the next item is the approval of the regular agenda

City Manager Cochran, I think you might have some adjustments for the agenda.

Yes, sir. We have three amendments that we would like to request. The first is all the council action items were inadvertently placed under council comment when the agenda was created. So we would just ask that those be moved from council comment to council action. The second item is to add an item to move the August 3rd regular meeting from 7.30 to 6 o'clock p.m. That's the night before the election, which is our typical standard practice. And then the third item would be a request to add the approval of the collective bargaining agreement with the IAFF.

And that'll be under council action as well, correct? Yes, sir. Any questions from City Council regarding that request? And if there's anything from Council. If not, Councilman Felder.

Your Honor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the agenda with the recommended adjustments.

Support. It's a motion by Councilman Felder, supported by Councilwoman Stringham. to approve the regular agenda with the three amendments as stated by Manager Cochran. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Steelgrave? Yes. Vining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes.

Next item, please.

The next item is the consent agenda, and for item B, approval of payments to vendors, the amount should read $1,657,188.95. 1-6-5-7-1-8-8.95. Thank you. Are there any items on the consent agenda that council wishes to have pulled for further discussion?

Any council members for change or opposed items from the consent agenda? If none, are there any items on the consent agenda? Those present here this evening wish to have polled for further discussion. If there is an item on the consent agenda you wish to discuss or have comment, now would be the time to ask to have it polled. Otherwise, it'll be passed in one motion from the council. Some of these items are contracts, but some of them are items we've discussed past. Any items on the consent agenda? Those present here this evening wish to have polled for further discussion. Seeing none, a motion would be in order. Councilman Felder?

Yes, Your Honor, I'd like to make a motion that all items on the consent agenda be accepted, placed on file, recommendations carried out, and resolutions adopted.

Second.

Motion by Councilman Felder to order Councilwoman Steelegrave on the consent agenda, all items on the consent agenda be accepted, placed on file, recommendations carried out. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Steelegrave? Yes. Vining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Next item, please.

The next item is under Presentations, Communications, and Public Hearings. It's item 6049, the Opportunity Center at ALCC 2026 Second Quarter Report.

Thank you. Manager Cochran.

No comment other than in accordance with the operational and lease agreement that we have with MCOP They're required to submit to council quarterly a report of activities and finances for the operations of the Opportunity Center And that's been submitted just for your review for the second quarter of 2026 so this is a communication that doesn't require any action by the council correct and just is placed on file unless there's any questions or comments from council about that to be discussed and

Next item, please.

The next item is under council action. It's item 5976, scheduled public hearing for case PUD 26-001, 610 West Elm Avenue.

Thank you. Manager Cochran.

Good evening. This item is pertaining to the existing planned unit development plan and agreement that's in place for the IHM senior living community. This is the parcel of land that's to the west, the former mother house property. They've submitted a request to the city to amend their existing PUD to allow for the construction of a memory care building. a new building to house a memory care facility on the western side of the campus. And so they've amended the proposed PUD plan to show the construction of that building, the schematic preliminary plan. And then also an update to the agreement that was included. And so at the last meeting of the Planning Commission, they did recommend City Council consider approval of that amendment. And so the first step in that process would be for City Council to schedule a public hearing for that matter. which we're recommending for the August 17th meeting. That being so because we have to do the mailing and the public notice in the newspaper and according to the zoning code in Michigan law. And so we're requesting to schedule that where the public will have the opportunity to be heard before final adoption of that agreement.

Thank you. So the action today is simply to schedule the public hearing for the date in which it states, correct? Correct. Very well. Any questions? Councilwoman Germani.

I'm just going to make a motion unless there's questions. Move to schedule a public hearing on the proposed planned unit development amendments for 502 West Elm Avenue on August 17, 2026 at 7.30 p.m. during the regular meeting of the City Council.

by Councilman Germani, supported by Councilwoman Stilgrave on item 5976, scheduling the public hearing for case PUD 26-001-001. Ends there. Clerk, please call the roll. Councilperson Stilgrave?

Yes. Vining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Fowler? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Next item, please.

The next item is 6033, first reading of ordinance 26-008, proposed rezoning of 747 South Telegraph Road.

Mr. Cochran.

This was also a Planning Commission item at their last meeting. The owner of this property at 747 South Telegraph, it's the former Admiral Gas Station, for purposes of familiarity. But that property right now, when the zoning code was updated in 2020, was zoned as R3 Low density residential. However, they've submitted an application and city administration supports rezoning that in line with the CT telegraph commercial, given its proximity directly on the commercial corridor. And so the planning commission held a public hearing and following that public hearing, they recommended city council adopt that amendment as well. However, because this is a rezoning, it will amend the zoning ordinance. So this one requires an ordinance amendment. So tonight the action would be to place the amendment on the floor for its first reading and then also schedule the public hearing for August 17th for the same purposes.

Thank you. Any questions from council? Seeing none, Council Member Stringham. I move to place proposed ordinance 26-008 on the floor for its first reading and schedule the second reading and public hearing for August 17th, 2026 at 7.30 p.m. Motion by Council Member Stringham, supported by Council Member Germania, item 6033, the first reading of ordinance 26-008 regarding the proposed rezoning of 747 South Telegraph Road. Clerk?

Councilperson Steelgrave? Yes. Vining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes.

Ordinance 26-008, Chapter 720, Zoning. An ordinance to amend the zoning map of Chapter 720, Zoning, of the Code of the City of Monroe.

Next one, I just want to say thanks to the administration and the staff for including the maps and aerial to this. I think we all know where the address is and know the property, but to see it here gives you an understanding of what the size of the property is, and I appreciate that. Clerk?

Next item is item 6010, Landscape Improvements, Former Lazy Boy World Headquarters Bid Award.

Manager Cochran.

This is another planned unit development. However, this is one that the city actually owns. And so this is for the former Lazy Boy headquarters, the continued redevelopment efforts of that property. We retain most of the, well, all the public space, including the streets, the right-of-way, as well as the mason-run drain area under our maintenance responsibilities. And so with the planned unit development, the standards always called for landscaping within that area But we've proceeded with as development occurs. So now that most of that is done along Telegraph Road and we're continuing along Huber, we put out a request for proposals and RFP for landscape improvements along Telegraph and then also Huber Drive between Holiday, or Holiday between Huber and North Telegraph. This is for trees and other landscaping installations. As well as a future project will include the installation of the street lighting and pedestrian lighting, but that's not part of this agreement. So the project did go out to bid. We received five bids with the low bid coming from Brighton Lawn and Landscaping out of temperance. They have done projects for us before and we've been satisfied with the outcome of their work. And it is worth noting that their proposal did come in 41% below the engineer's estimate of $80,000. So we are recommending to go ahead. This also, I'd be remiss to say, This includes the landscaping for the Mason Run Drain area itself. If you'll recall, the PUD plan included open space and trailways within that area for the enjoyment of the users of that property. And so the landscaping, you've probably noticed perhaps that that was cleared out earlier this year with the landscaping and brush previous removed with the culvert work that MDOT completed on Telegraph Road. All of that to say, we're recommending moving forward with the award to Brighton Lawn and Landscaping for the installation of the landscaping at the former Lazy Boy headquarters site.

Thank you, just one comment before we turn to Council for action. The Brighton Lawn and Landscaping LLC is from Temperance, Michigan. I know when you see Brighton, you might think it's from a greater distance, but when we talk about local companies here within our region of Monroe, I just thought I might want to clarify that. So I appreciate it though. Any comments from Council? If not, I'm looking for a motion. Council Member Stringham.

Move that the City Council award a contract for the landscaping improvements for Lazy Boy former World Headquarters to Brighton Lawn and Landscaping LLC in the amount of $47,408, that a total of $55,000 be encumbered to include a 15% contingency, and that the Mayor and the Clerk-Treasurer be authorized to execute the contracts on behalf of the City.

There's a motion from Councilman Stringer to award to Councilman Stalegrave on item 6016. Zero, the landscape improvements as was presented. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Steelgrave? Yes. Bining? Yes. Germaney? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Next item, please.

The next item on the agenda is item 6046, Riverwalk Camera Installation.

Manager Cochran?

Yes, so this item is continuing. We've got a couple items on the Riverwalk this evening. What we are bringing forth is a recommendation from Sentinel Technologies to install Meraki cameras along the Riverwalk. This would be primarily at the Monroe Street Bridge, and the purpose for this would be to increase the safety and security for users of the Riverwalk. The cameras would be able to see from the Martin Luther King Bridge east toward Soldiers and Sailors Park. And so this would be operated based off the City Hall Wi-Fi, and we had funding in the budget for this project. However, there was additional funding needed that was identified in the fact sheet this evening. That would also come out of the IT budget from some extra funds that were used place due to other projects either not moving forward at this time or left over from other projects.

Any questions or comments from council? I guess I want to add here again, I appreciate that the view, the aerial view within the packet is helpful. It's also in the packet that anybody can see to understand where. The second comment is over the years we've had this conversation. I think back to well over a decade that we talked about how would that be done and where it would be mounted. And technology was the reason why it didn't proceed forward. The technology allows the wireless, as you said, connected to here versus putting on people's side of people's buildings and having to have direct sign of light. So light, you know, the site had to be direct. So this allows us to move forward. So I appreciate that. There's no other comments. I'm looking for a motion. Councilwoman Germani.

Move to approve issuing purchase orders to accept the proposals from Sentinel Technologies in the amount of $35,804 in excess and alarm the amount of $12,400 for the needed camera and internet connectivity equipment at the cost of mounting the equipment to the bridges. It is further recommended that an additional $6,000 be allocated for electrical work, miscellaneous installation supplies, and contingency that the assistant manager, finance director be authorized to execute the, uh-oh, sorry. agreements and transfer $34,204 from information system fund reserves. Sorry.

Motion by Councilman Germani, supported by Councilwoman Stringham. Item 6046, the Riverwalk camera installation. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Stilgrave? Yes. Vining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Next item, please.

The next item is item 6032, acceptance of Riverwalk underpass mural.

Manager Cochran.

For the past several years, council has been approving a set aside in the capital improvements program for the purposes of installing public art that not only serve to beautify our city, but also serve other purposes as well, like enhancing crosswalks for pedestrian safety. And tonight's proposal is no different. In keeping with the Riverwalk, we have experienced, and you've probably seen, vandalism in certain locations along the Riverwalk that are a little bit harder to see. tended to be under the Monroe Street Bridge and the Macomb Street Bridge. And so we looked holistically and had a conversation with Presley Bergmoser of Presley Made It, who is a local artist who has done work for us before, as you know. And we received a proposal from her to install murals in those locations, as well as the lower ramp of the access point to the Riverwalk from the Macomb Street parking lot at Macomb and Front Street. The proposal that she submitted, you can see tonight, is for $55,000. And that will be to cover the murals in all three of those locations. And as it's one of council's goals to include community engagement and initiatives and support, we do have public engagement included in each of these opportunities. So for all of them, we would have separate documents different opportunities for the public to support. Similar to how we did the crosswalk at St. Mary's Park last year when the public was able to come out as part of one of our concerts in the park and help actually paint that. And I know one of the initiatives we've discussed is the upcoming stewardship camps with Cody, the Commission on the Environment and the River Cleanup, and having the participants within the stewardship camp come and paint one of the murals that are alongside the river that they're learning about valuable lessons on. And then we're still framing up some other ideas and opportunities for public engagement on the other two. So this is a proposal from Presley. We're recommending move forward using the capital improvements funds that have been set aside and a little bit out of the balance and contingency in the fund or the capital improvements plan needed to advance the contract. The next step will be for Presley to formally show us what the murals would look like before moving forward with installation.

Thank you. Any council questions? Councilwoman Stilgrave.

Moved to accept the proposal from Presley made it for the Riverwalk public art installations in the amount. of up to and not to exceed $55,000, authorize the interim city manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the city, and authorize the assistant city manager and finance director to amend the budget as described in the fact sheet.

So motion by Councilman Stalegre supported by Councilman Germani on item 6032, the acceptance of the Riverwalk underpass murals. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Next item, please.

The next item is item 6034, change order, citywide parks and gateway signage project.

City Manager Cochran.

project that City Council approved last March in 2025. We are ready to move toward installation. Matt Banasacker has been working very hard along with Brad Willey and Chris Schaefer in the engineering department to move toward final installation of the gateway and park signs, which at your seat this evening, Just for a refresher for you is a packet that demonstrates what those signs are going to look like in the different areas. But as Matt and the team have been out with Valley City signs at each of the locations and following feedback that you provided on the original designs, we've changed either the location or the size or the type of some of the signs at the different locations based on site visits. and so this has resulted in a change order um that's a seventeen thousand three hundred and thirty dollars on top of the original change or the original contract but that's because of the changes that we've made in some of the locations and so it's laid out matt did a great job in the fact sheet to show what was originally planned in 2025 versus what the proposed changes are in 2006 and the different types. And so we are just asking for your permission to issue a change order to Valley City Signs for final fabrication and move forward with the installation. In essence, being able to do more than what we thought we were going to be able to do this year for $17,000, which is a total of 14, no, 33 signs from 22 that will start being installed hopefully this fall.

Any questions or comments from city council members? If none, I'll make a motion. Councilwoman Germani.

Move to approve the change order to the Valley City Signs Project proposal for the citywide parks and gateway signage update. Authorize the interim city manager to execute the proposal on behalf of the city and authorize the assistant city manager and director of finance to amend the budget by allocating $29,737 from capital projects fund balance.

Support.

Motion by Councilman Germani, supported by Councilwoman Stringham on item 6034, the change order for citywide parks and gateway signage project. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Steele. Yes. Signing. Yes. Germani. Yes. Stringham. Yes. Felder. Yes. Mayor Clark.

Yes. Next item.

The next item is the item that was added to move the August 3rd meeting from 7.30 to 6 p.m.

Manager Cochran or Clerk Lavoie, I don't know if there's any comments. I know this is what we've done in the past prior to elections. It's early morning, late night.

Right, and when we approved the calendar in December of 25, we didn't have a work session scheduled for that night, which is our practice, but the time was written for our regular time as opposed to 6 p.m. for the regular meeting. So we just need to clean that up.

Thank you. Councilwoman Stilger. Move to move our August 3rd meeting from 7.30 to 6 o'clock p.m. Motion by Councilwoman Stilgrave, supported by Councilwoman Germani for the August 3rd meeting date time change. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Stilgrave? Yes. Bining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Next item, please.

The next item is the consideration of the IAFF collective bargaining agreement.

Manager Cochran, anything further?

Just to highlight, as council knows, the public safety collective bargaining agreements expired this year. So Dr. Everly, Director Tolstad, and Assistant City Manager Sell have been working very hard in negotiations with the IAFF and pleased to advance forward with a tentative agreement that was unanimously approved by the IAFF last week. And that agreement was provided to you. We went over that, and we are asking for City Council's approval of that agreement this evening.

Thank you. Any comments or questions from Council? If not, Councilwoman Stringham.

I move to approve the IAFF Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Second. Motion by Councilman Stringham, supported by Councilman Felder, to approve the IAFF Collective Bargaining Agreement. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Stilgrave? Yes. Feining? Yes.

Stringham?

Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes.

And I do not have any other items.

I think we addressed all the additionals, right? Yes. So it's the council comments, and it is July, but we'll move on. Councilwoman Stilgrave, comments this evening.

I would just like to remind everyone that we do have the Wednesday city market. Also Thursday night is the music in the park. So lots to do in the city.

Thank you. Councilwoman Viney.

No comment.

Councilwoman Germani.

Thank you. On August 1st, ages five through age 19, can go to the health department from nine to one and get sports physicals, immunizations, hearing and vision, and they can turn in their medications, and nutritional education. This is all nine to one pre-school, because school is coming faster than I like to say. But go to the health department and get all these things taken care of. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Stringham.

I just want to mention again, just how amazing it was to get through this storm. I mean, those trees came down and I still see new limbs falling and I feel like there's still this concerted effort to get it cleaned up. I know I've saw a couple of comments on social media about their blocks not being cleaned up by the city. And I don't think people realize when you drive around just how many limbs came down. so thank you to all the citizens that did their cleanup on their neighborhood and their blocks and Thank you to the city for all the hard work and continued hard work

Thank you. Councilman Felder. No comments this evening, Your Honor. I just have a couple comments. I'm going to follow with Councilwoman Stringham. You know, it's been a great work done by the DPS. I appreciate the residents that have sent messages and calls about the work that's being done. We know we're not done yet. There's still some that are there. They're working in quadrants. So they started with what was maybe the biggest lift, the hardest lift, and where the streets were closed. and have moved on to the next kind of quadrant of the city. So while you may have some small, any amount out in front of these branches, I know is not what you want to look at, but you have to get the bigger things that are impacting the streets and some hazards. But they are working through that. I appreciate all the comments from those that are advising. And they'll continue to move through the city on that. Our communications director, Jody Egan, along with Amy Moore, are putting messages out as well as we continue to transition through the city. The second comment I have is our students, our Monroe students are in our sister city currently in Hofu, Japan. And they'll be coming back on the 22nd in a couple days after their time there. It goes by so fast. But with that then comes our students from our sister city. They'll be arriving on Friday. And you'll see them through the next couple weeks. So when you see the students, they always like to practice their English. So if you want to chat with them, if you see them as they're on tour or wherever they may be, feel free to talk to them. I want to thank our community in the support of this program with the Monroe International Friendship Association, which is our nonprofit that manages it. and our host families that are allowing the students to live with them through the weeks they're here. They shift one family to the other part way through. And I know that in our sister city, the same occurs there with the host families that allow our students to live with them. So it's a great program. And I just wanted to let everybody know that the transition of our students returning and the other students arriving will be soon. Clerk-Treasurer LaVoy, comments this evening?

I just have one comment. The election is also like school, coming really fast. So we will be opening early voting this Saturday, August 25th, here at Council Chambers, and it will run for nine days. So it will be through August 2nd, and it will be daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. And it will look just like a precinct, so there's no mystery to it. You'll walk in, you'll check in as you do, you'll receive a ballot, you'll vote, and you'll put it in the tabulator yourself. If you prefer to bring your absentee ballot that maybe has already been issued to you and you want to place it in the tabulator yourself, this is a great opportunity to do that. So we'll have information on our website. about this and other items related to voting but it's an important nine days if you're interested in beating the crowd that sometimes happens on precinct day or with this election being a little different because you can only vote one side of the ballot you have to vote you know you have to pick a party and vote within that party or for the or for the proposal and sometimes that results in spoiled ballots so this is also a great way to do it and be able to take your time and have some additional assistance if you need to spoil that ballot and start again. So we're here for you and the voters and we look forward to seeing this chamber filled with voters. That's all I have.

Thanks. While we did announce at our last meeting the public accuracy test is coming up as well.

That's Wednesday at 7.30 in the morning, and that is here. And the clerk's office has been working this last week to test the programming that will be used in each of the tabulators as well as all of the voter assist terminals. And on Wednesday morning at 7.30, the election commission will randomly select. We have no way of knowing. They'll randomly select a tabulator, and they will test it by running all the ballots through. So

um a lot of extensive testing going into our equipment and the election commission is made up of council members that you'll send out a update a notice reminder those that the four that said they could attend and if there's the opportunity if something's come up with your schedules changed i know we had a fifth person as well that could attend so uh just be look for that email so make sure we respond So we have attendance at that on Wednesday at 7.30 in the morning.

Because we need a quorum, yeah. So I'll send that reminder out probably tomorrow morning.

Yeah, and you said you were going to, so I thought it was good to hear. The council heard those that had committed to be there. Yes, council member.

I have a question for the clerk.

Yes, sure. Clerk Treasurer, I'm...

been getting a lot of questions about do we plan to move voting back to uh for three south back to um the navarre branch library um i've been saying that for now we're gonna continue at the fire station one are you planning to notify the people because i think Some people think because the new building is up that the voting will return to the new building. Do we plan to do anything to let people know that that's not the case?

So in every communication that we do, we have been calling attention to the fire department remaining the site. And we have also talked about it not changing mid-cycle. And yet, and as we've discussed, we still have some, we still have some conversations that we need to have because of the shape of the new building and make, cause we want to make sure it's, it's, it's good for voting. So to your point, yes, we will continue to, to try to, um, get the word out as much as we can. And we will be at the fire station again for this and for the November election for 2026. And then we'll have conversations regarding 2025. Communication is, I know, challenging sometimes because we have so many communication channels. But we've got it on our website and on Facebook. And we'll just continue to try to spread the word as well. We could also place a sign up at the library. Um, on election day to make sure that folks know to, to go to the fire station and the drop box is still also for the voters. And, um, in two and three South, there is a drop box at the fire station. That's also, I personally check it, um, once a day right now. Um, but we'll be moving probably to twice a day as we get closer to the election. So that's also a place to be able to deposit ballots. And then we also have one, um, in the park on, uh, at the fire station. on the other side. So yes, thank you for thank you for bringing that up.

Because I do know it has confused some people out there that helped last time.

Because I anticipate people are going to come appreciate the librarians you continue to to help people find it as well. So I appreciate that.

And the clerk was at the fire station today and did go to the box and collect ballots. So it's not where they're sitting there waiting. The clerk is diligent in checking the drop boxes for ballots. So they're done.

When it rains, I try to check it more often because it gets a little, it doesn't get wet, but the air is humid. So we work hard to make sure all of the ballots get back to City Hall as quickly as they can.

They're dropped off to be picked up. Thank you.

That's all I have.

City Manager Coffin, comments this evening?

Bear with me, I've got a couple. Just to highlight a couple things that were on your agenda this evening, particularly on consent. One was a ballot for the Michigan Municipal League's Workers' Comp Board. That is new to you. We have traditionally had ballots on there for the Michigan Municipal League Board of Trustees, and then also the Liability Board. liability pool board that we've been a member of. But you'll recall last November, we also transitioned to the MML workers comp board. And so that is why that ballot was first on your first time seeing that on the agenda this evening. Just a reminder that we are now a member of that board. The other thing I want to thank Dr. Everly, Director and Assistant City Manager Sell, as well as the IAFF negotiating team for their professionalism and the great job that they did in negotiating with professionalism, but also with stewardship in mind in order to achieve the agreement that you passed tonight. And thank you for your support for their diligent efforts as they've been working on both sides very hard to reach this agreement this evening. So well done to them. DPS as well as the parks crew they've had an extremely challenging couple of weeks not only with the storm but also record high temperatures with real field temperatures of 110 degrees as well as wildfire smoke also giving up their own holiday due to the storm cleanup and so I thank you for their your recognition and appreciation for them add to that a very long 12-hour day to celebrate America 250 that we did since the last meeting so They are working very hard with very challenging conditions, and we want to make sure that they're safe as well. And so we appreciate the public's patience as they are getting around to all four corners of the city and everywhere in between, because this storm certainly did not discriminate in our city and hit everywhere very hard. And so... I know we gave a very comprehensive report at the last meeting, but they have been working 10-hour days, 12 hours in some cases, and weekends to restore our city. And it's probably going to take over a month, if not longer, to fully get to where we were pre-storm. The park staff, they've also been working very hard at the parks that have been impacted. The north trails, the nature trails at Munson Park alone have 25 trees or more down across the trails, and that's very hard to get up there and get those removed. But I will give credit to Our IT team and Terry Davis and Brad Willie, who actually pinpointed using GPS where each of the trees were so that they can come up with a plan of attack to get up into those trails and get those removed and safe for the users within parks too. So working very hard. Again, July 8th was a team effort all across the board, all across the organization to make sure that that event went off without any troubles, any problems. Certainly was a great night to enjoy from start to finish with the market and the The ceremony with America 250 and the reading of the declaration to the drone show, very well received. But boy, was it a monumental effort. And having our parks crews, public safety, even administrative team helping to support that event. We keep hearing if we're going to do it every year, and I remind people it took a year to plan that event alone. And so we are looking forward to hometown holiday lights now, but... Keeping with the parks, the last item I wanted to mention, the splash pad at Carnes Park is down. We did have to turn that off today. The actuator is stuck in the on position. So we are going to try and get it turned on for the last week of tot lot that is going on as well as we head back into the back to school season. But thankfully we're not dealing with the high heat temperatures, but the part is on order and it should be open within the next couple of days. And then the final comment, this Friday at 10 a.m. is the dedication of the State Historic Marker for the IHM. So everybody's invited to attend that. The IHM, I know, are very excited. We'll have representatives from the State Historic Commission as well as locally in the IHM to help dedicate that marker at St. Mary's Park at the north foot of the Martin Luther King Pedestrian Bridge. So that will be Friday at 10 o'clock in the morning if anybody would like to join.

Thank you. Before I go to citizens' comments, I also want to take this extra opportunity to thank Dr. Everly for the work and the negotiation team, as Mark had mentioned. And in preparation of informing the council along the way, it wasn't just what we had this evening, of the road that we got and how we got there to understand a hundred 29-page document of changes and updates. And as I always say, when it comes to contract negotiation, it takes two parties. So I want to thank the IAFF for their preparation and professional discussions throughout that, as I've heard about from our staff. And I'm glad that we're moving forward with a contract for the years to come. So next is citizens' comments. And so at this time, we'll hear if there's citizens' comments. Just be mindful of the rules of the chamber. Please come to the podium, state your name, jurisdiction of residence, and three minutes. Ladies.

Chris Cull, 519 Godfroy Avenue. I'm here on behalf of the Sawyer Homestead with Janice Steinman.

502 East 4th Street, Monroe. Mm-hmm.

We have this lovely cot quilt. The names are ancestors of mostly daughters of American Revolution, so they're Revolutionary War soldiers or patriots. And we're going to do other ones. We've got things from Civil War, War of 1812, Spanish-American War, World War II, you know, just military in general. You don't have to have served during a war. And We want to loan you this to put on display somewhere.

That would be great.

Yeah. On the back here, we've got informational stating that it was sponsored by members of the Nancy DeGraff Toll Chapter of the Daughters of American Revolution this year, and then the crafters listed on it. But eventually, you know, we'd like to share it around the community. There'll be more coming. Yes. And then eventually it'll be housed at the Sawyer.

Well, I think before you depart, if you're looking to have us display it at this time, you can get with Manager Cochran as we can figure a place that would be visible for all. I think of the opportunities for the various locations as you work around and back to the Sawyer Homestead. I want to thank you for being and for the work that was done. I have a comment to make as well, because during the America 250 celebration, I was presented with a booklet from the Daughters of the American Revolution. It was great. I have a copy of it, and I know it's available. I'll make it available to anybody here in the city, but you have copies of those available as well that traces back the lineage of those that, well, Chris and others, right, and that talk about their family that was in the Revolution, Mary Warr, and of course, the timeline and how they came to Monroe, or how their families came to Monroe. So I think it's, you know, America 250 wasn't, our celebration wasn't just one day, it wasn't just one week. It continues on through this year. So I think the opportunities that we have to further strengthen, you know, our commemoration and remembrance is appropriate. So thank you.

Janice is still accepting I don't know, applications, whatever you want to call it.

Yeah, I'm working. I've got towards the fifth one, but I'm running out of steam, so if you want one, get one quick. Go to our Facebook website. You might have to go back. I'll go out and refresh it again. Okay. But it will give you information. Or if you call us at the Sawyer, get a hold of me. personal phone number, I'll get you an application form. It's $25 for a square, which is really, I don't think is very much, but you know, Sawyer's used it as a fundraiser. Plus we wanna honor anyone that's served from obviously Revolutionary War to currently serving. So, okay.

Well, thank you.

Thank you. Thanks.

Other comments from those present? Yes, sir.

Patrick Mendez, Jerome Street, District 3. I'd like to thank the city for the America 250 celebration, as well as certain individuals, Councilman Stalegrave, Tino Amaya, for... the community market and the great suppliers and people who came out with their goods and wear, especially the title sponsor, King of Buds, which has raised a lot of concern because they were at the event not selling any other products They were handing out free stuff for glow sticks and other stuff for kids to enjoy the night. They had been a great sponsor of the events leading up to the 250. However, there were some worry about them being there for the America 250, which was unfounded. They had been a great supporter of... the city market and of the drone show and everything. And I think they deserve as much recognition as anybody else for helping make the event a great success as far as the business sides. Because I know you guys did a lot with the blogging off of the streets and all the events citywide, but as businesses, Councilman Stalegrave, Tino, and King of Buds, their businesses deserve the recognition as well. And I just wanted to make sure that they got the recognition. And that's it.

Okay, thank you for your comments. Manager Cochran, it might be, since this has been a conversation that has come to City Council regarding the market and what the state law has regarding cannabis locations and where they can be and when they can't be and what environments they can, because you are correct, they were here, but then they were also required to depart. And I think it's important that we have a conversation about it, but we let people know the facts and the reason why. And I'm going to look to Manager Cochran to kind of give some background because those that are here and those that are listening or hearing, I'll say part of what it was and kind of where it ended the best we can. And I'm looking at Attorney Buds as well. I mean, we have to follow state law, right? So kind of that's what I want to see, Mark.

Yeah. So in any instance, whenever there's an event for the public that's on public property and open to the general public, we are required to enforce and abide by state law. And in this instance, regarding marijuana and the promotion and advertising or sponsorship of an event, the marijuana regulatory agency does promulgate rules as required by law that does lay out certain requirements for the advertising and promotion and sponsorship by marijuana companies and dispensaries and so in these instances with events that are open to the public in general public as with any state law we make sure that we follow them as well as the event organizers follow them particularly regarding this topic. And so we have had conversations with Laura and the regulatory agencies on when it is permissible and when it's not permissible for the advertisement, sponsorship, or promotion of marijuana products and marijuana dispensaries. And they have communicated in the affirmative that, especially in this event, like the America 250 or other events that are open to the general public that they are not allowed to advertise or promote in accordance with the rules of the Michigan regulatory or the marijuana regulatory agency.

Thank you. I make my comments not in any way of the business and what they're permissible to do, why the passage of our statute and state law. It's just that how and where has to be followed according to the state law. Thank you. Other comments from those present here this evening? Yes, sir. Name and... Jurisdiction of Residence, and three minutes.

Hello, how you guys doing? Omar Byrd, Plano resident. Kind of glad I'm going right now. So, thank you for that. And thank you, sir. But that's kind of why I'm here. So during all that fuss with the King of Buds, the city ordinance, or I should say the lack of the city ordinance, and that's why we defaulted to that, and the interpretation of the law or misinterpretation, but I'm no lawyer. A lot of people have asked me, how do you get involved? How do they take your seats? People have told me only two, and I know this, only two seats were opposed last election. So last Saturday, I did a candidate meet and greet recruiting session, invited all the community members to come get involved, come learn about the issues, come talk. And I'm going to be there again this Saturday. I'll be at a Maya's restaurant, Saturday, 25th, 5 p.m. I'll be there. And I will be there educating anybody who wants to get involved, who wants to run. I feel democracy is stronger when we stand together. So I ask you guys to please come with me. I ask people if they want to run for state rep. You guys know I'm running for state rep. I will teach them how to run for state rep. I hope you guys do the same and teach people how to run for city council, how to get involved, how to learn issues. Anybody wants to run for school board, county commissioners, whatever, I know how to do it. I know how to campaign. I will be there 5 o'clock Saturday, the 25th at Amaya's. Please, come help me educate the community. Let's help them run for city council. Let's get all these seats opposed. Not just yours, Mr. Mayor, and not just yours, Councilman Bynum. Everybody should be contested. Democracy is stronger when we stand together. Saturday 5th. I hope I see you there, Mr. Mayor. Omar Ferdinand.

Thank you. OTHER COMMENTS FROM THE MOST PRESENT HERE THIS EVENING?

ELLIOT JAMES, 633 STONE STREET. I'M STILL BEATING MY OLD DRUM ABOUT THE PARK BIKE PATH AND WALK PATH, BUT I GOT A NEW ONE. It's the orchard. I am proposing a plan to get the community involved in helping to preserve fruit trees. I'm wanting to get names and people involved to be responsible for the trees that is going to be put in. I hope that people that see me now can get in touch with me and sign up for this. Project. Elliot James, my number is 734-755-8859. Save the fruit trees.

Thank you. Other comments from you present here this evening? Comments from those present? Seeing none, I need a motion for adjournment. Motion by Councilman Germani, supported by Councilman Stilgrave to adjourn. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilman Stilgrave? Yes. Vining? Yes. Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Felder? Yes. Mayor Clark? Yes.

Thank you, everyone.