City Council - Regular Meeting

We call the City Council work session to order. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Vining.

Excused.

Germani. Here. Stringham. Here. Felder.

Excused.

Hader. Here. Steelgrave. Here. Mayor Clark.

Here. We start off with public comments, so we'll start there. Is there any comment from those present here this evening? Any public comments? Seeing none, we'll go to the next item, Clerk.

The next item is on the work session agenda, item 6112, City Council 2026-27, Goals and Objectives Progress Report.

Thank you. Manager Cochran, we have an item you're going to present to us this evening.

Yep. Good evening. Honorable Mayor, City Council, Clerk-Treasurer Lavoie, Attorney Buds. This previous year, obviously, you adopted your goals and objectives that you had set forth for administration to work with you to accomplish through the remainder of this term, through 26 and 27. And so tonight, we wanted to take the opportunity to go through the work session, now that we're almost three-quarters of the way through the year. about nine months through the goals and objectives to let you know where we're at in accomplishing these goals and working through them. But first, I wanted to start. I was fortunate the city supported me in going through the professional development leadership program that's put on by the ICMA. And General Colin Powell had a lot to do with facilitating and developing that program. And there was a quote that I thought was pretty pertinent to the discussion that we're having tonight. Because while I'm fortunate to be able to present this update to you, I'm not the one who can take the credit for it. Because we've got an incredible group of staff and team throughout the entire organization that work very hard to accomplish these goals and work on these goals that you've set forth throughout your term. Throughout the whole city, I'm very fortunate to be able to see all of our staff go beyond just their job description. And a lot of our staff and the folks who work for the city realize that their work is more than just words on a piece of paper, but it's about making our community better. And so this quote talks about good leaders set vision, mission, and goals. Great leaders inspire every follower at every level to internalize their purpose and to understand that their purpose goes far beyond the mere details of their job. When everyone is united in purpose, a positive purpose that serves not only the organization, but hopefully the world beyond it, you have a winning team. And I want to say, through your leadership, I want to thank you for setting clear objectives that you laid out for us to work on since the beginning of this year. On the screen, 2026, these are the goals that you have for us. It's your job to set the vision and to help us accomplish policies They clear the roadblocks to success. But tonight, I also want to say this has been a great exercise to put this presentation together because it's pretty remarkable to look back and see in the nine months since we gathered to set these goals, how much progress has been made. And I think through this presentation, I hope that you'll be satisfied with the progress that's been made from your leadership on down through the organization. While you adopted these overarching goals and objectives, you also gave us some priorities to work on. And so buckle up, because I think there's about 48 slides in the presentation, and those priorities that you wanted us to address. And so starting with the first one, and these were in no priority order, But the post-retiree health care trust fund resolution that Dr. Everly and her team worked very hard to help us move through this year and accomplish, it was very satisfying to put an X under completed for the current status. As a reminder, the trust agreement was amended by you. via resolution back in April. And what that allows for, as a quick summary, is for the trust to reimburse the city for the bond debt payment as long as the trust fund balance remains funded at a level that you determine annually through the budget process. This year, it's 120%. But this year, you also expanded the board by two members. Ed Sell joined the board as our finance director. but there's also a second board member that is a citizen at large. And so while the trust fund was, the agreement was amended, there's still some next steps. And so you'll see this format as we go through this presentation. what the status is, what we've accomplished, or things that have helped us make progress on the left, and then what lies ahead on the right. So now that the agreement and the resolution was adopted, the next step is for the first reimbursement by the healthcare or the trustee board to the city for that bond debt payment. And that will take place after the next actuarial evaluation is completed. Through that resolution, through the agreement, we also added dental and vision benefits for retirees. And that will take place after that actuarial evaluation is done as well. And then, of course, the mayor and the city council, the appointment of the second board member still needs to take place as well. So... Great progress, accomplishments, but still some next steps toward implementing that. I will say as we go through this, if you have questions, please interrupt. Raise your hand, just motion, signal, and we can stop. But I don't want to go too fast, but we have a lot to cover. This we had a lot of discussion earlier this year on data centers and what that would mean for the city of Monroe particularly in terms of our utilities. And so we marked this one completed as well because Barry Leroy before his official retirement Worked with Fishbeck and Fishbeck came and gave a presentation to you about an overview of our system capacity and various scenarios. If a large user like a data center were to locate within our service territory for utilities, what that would mean. And so that was more of an informational item that you had requested and that we wanted to evaluate as the discussions were happening around Monroe County in Frenchtown, but also Dundee. So the next steps really are, we're just gonna continue at administrative level and keep our ears to the ground, but also remain engaged with proposed development opportunities to make sure that our system capacity is not only adequate for that development, but also for our own future needs as well. So most recently, I think you may have seen in the news that DTE announced a new natural gas plant that's being proposed in Milan. There was a note in the article that they proposed to get their water from the village of Dundee, which is one of our service communities. So I know we'll be having conversations with DTE about that proposed development, but also any others within our service area to make sure that we're not shortchanging ourself. We also had some discussion about potential charter amendments. There was some thoughts, ideas about amending the charter. I know the prior city manager provided some information to you about the legal requirements and the timing constraints along with the guidance and input of Clerk Treasurer Lavoie. And so we marked this completed because that information was provided to you and we didn't get any indication about any proposed or desired charter amendments at this time. And so the next steps and the action items are really at your pleasure. If that's something you want to pursue, just let us know. Okay, this has been a big internal process that we've been working through alongside you with both Patrick Lewis as well as Dr. Eberle. The utilities department leadership transition. So earlier this year in February, Barry Leroy and Spencer Manassi both retired. And so that left us in a position of how we were going to structure the utilities department From a leadership perspective and so we marked this one in process because a leadership or a transition plan was presented to you You approved agreements to both appoint Patrick Lewis as the interim director This slide did not have enough room to put his full title on there right now but the interim director of utilities in February but also appointed Jacob LeBeau, our assistant director of water and wastewater, and Chad Dykes as the interim wastewater superintendent. And so the thought and the idea is the secession planning and leadership development, not only in this department, you'll see it in other areas as we go through the presentation too, but at this point under Patrick's tutelage, and also with the support that's ongoing with the contractual arrangement we have with Barry and Spencer, We're making sure that the licensures and certifications are implemented for all staff, not just Jacob, not just Chad, but Chris Schaefer and our engineering department is also pursuing additional licenses and staff even deeper through the bench throughout the department as we look at who, not just the assistant leaders, but who within that department we can help develop into leadership positions well into the future as well. And so our next steps is to continue and evaluate this leadership or this transition, also the refinement of the department organization, and then continue through the planning and talent development, not only of those interim and new appointed leadership positions, but other staff through the department as well. So I know Dr. Eberle and I are gonna have some conversations with Patrick. to touch base in the coming weeks to have some discussion about how it's going, and we can certainly report back to you if you'd like.

Any thoughts on that? Questions?

I'll just say I know that, Mark, some of the staff has been more engaged with SEMCOG as well and attended some of their sessions and bringing information there as well that they're reading from others, so...

Yeah, I think those are development opportunities that aren't just licenses and certificates, but also reaching out and engaging with other communities and other organizations to bring that helpful information back to their job, but also the city overall and the city of Monroe overall. Same with public safety. So earlier this year, about that same time in February, Chad Tolstead and Derek Lindsey officially retired, but remained on through employment agreements as we work through leadership development through the public safety department overall as well. You should have gotten an invitation, I believe it went out today, to a reception for JD Wall, who's going to be retiring in August or October, following Lieutenant Herrick's retirement in August. But as we look at those vacancies, we also look at our internal staff and opportunities for advancement and development as well. And it just so happens, the individual who is selected as the next administrative commander pending your approval of an employment agreement is with us tonight, Lieutenant Nelson. Appreciate his opportunity for advancement in the department. And so we're still working on the organization and structure throughout the remainder of the department as well with Lieutenant Herrick retiring. But we've also identified several new hires who will be going through the police academy this fall. And then also working through the promotional processes throughout the rest of the department. So coming up next, commercial there. We are going to have Lieutenant Nelson, his employment agreement for your consideration in the next coming meetings as well. But we're also looking at the command structure with Lieutenant Herrick's retirement. possibly shifting that with a new school resource and community officer sergeant position. The reason for that being, we have a school resource officer, of course, in Monroe Public Schools right now, but we've also, been fortunate to come to an agreement with SMCC and the Catholic schools to have a new school resource officer supporting their institutions as well. And then ongoing discussions with Mineral Public Schools about the addition of a possible additional school resource officer to make sure that our schools and our youngest citizens are kept safe and have that resource coming to them as well. that one pending some state funding discussion. So obviously with some additional school resource officers looking at a new leadership position that would help lead those officers. So we're just reviewing that right now, more to come on that. but also succession planning and talent development. Obviously, we've got future command retirements coming. We know Commander Scott Smiley on the fireside is looking forward to retirement someday as well, but also some other patrol retirements. And so making sure, I know this has been a big discussion that we've had with you over the past several months is succession planning and leadership development internally within the public safety department. So- A lot of transition, but also a lot of ongoing discussion and planning as well.

Okay, breezing right through.

Collective bargaining agreements. At your previous meeting on July 20th, you approved the new two-year agreement with the IAFF. So while that part is completed, we remain in negotiations as we've kept you abreast of with POAM and COAM. And so as those negotiations continue, the next steps is obviously to bring you an agreement with those two bargaining units as well. So ongoing discussions. E-bikes. I feel like we've done a lot on this, but we're already a bit behind the ball. So this has been another policy discussion that you've helped us navigate through. Earlier this year in May, you adopted a new ordinance pertaining to e-bikes. And just recently, over the summer, we gave an implementation update not on May 17th, that's an error, but in July, the work that Matt Van Nessacker and Jody Egan, and we've been doing with the public safety team to talk about how do we now educate the community on that through signage and educational campaigns. The signs that we reviewed with you and you gave input on are now in development or manufacturing to be posted as soon as those come in. And then the public information campaign is ongoing with the assistance of our communications department and also public safety. Next steps related to this is the signage installation, both along the trails, but also downtown. Continuing the education enforcement campaign, evaluating the effectiveness of the amended regulations. I think something that is not addressed in the ordinance that has popped up this summer as an ongoing issue is the e-motos. that technically don't fit the traditional definition of an e-bike or a traditional bike. And so as these technologies and modes continue to advance, you can count on us and administration to continue to monitor what other communities are doing. but also remain engaged in advocacy and legislative opportunities. There's obviously a tragic incident that happened over the weekend near Detroit where two youth were critically injured on emotos. And I think, unfortunately, as these instances continue likely to occur, it's going to spur some additional legislation that we'll keep abreast to.

Councilwoman Stringham and I had the opportunity to go to the SEMCOG session informational. I know that there'll be some slides coming out as they usually put out a week or so later. Make sure we provide those to the staff, but I think council members as well. I'll give my comment, maybe Kathy has others, but I thought they really made a good... Clear understanding of what separates the classes, but also the emoto and why that is. So I thought there was a lot of good information. There's over 100 people that attended from law enforcement, administration, elected officials, public groups. I thought some of that might be beneficial as well.

Yeah, you probably heard up there, every community is grappling with this, right? We are not alone in this. And so I think that the strength in those networks that we have with our peer communities is important, but also the conversations to have with legislators. Okay, the special event ordinance is something I marked in process because we have had several internal discussions about this. As a reminder, this is a lot of discussion about sponsoring events and policies, procedures, protocols for when the city will approve special events, participate, market, implement, or partner with special events. Things like when will we put in the newsletter? When will our logo be on there? What are requirements and reviews? Are we charging for city services in some instances? So it's our anticipation following those discussions that Coming up throughout this quarter, we'll have a draft to review for you, hopefully for consideration by the end of the year, so that as we look toward next year's events, we'll have plenty of time to help have conversations with event organizers and other folks who are interested in doing things in the city about what is the new policy and how we roll that out. So while I know you haven't seen much progress on this, we've had some discussions also again looked at our peer communities and what other organizations do as policies and trying to put together one that will recommend fits best for our city. So more to come on that. This is completed so you did adopt in April an amendment to One of the the ordinances to remove the term limits for citizens planning commission members So I believe that was the one that we looked at and so since that is done We can mark that completed and there's no next steps other than continuing to find great qualified commission members Temporary signs, so we had some discussion with you particularly following a previous election about temporary signs, their location, their size, their manner of where they can be located. And so we didn't want to spend a lot of time and energy to update just one component, but as you've noticed probably a lot of times with our ordinances, whether it be the zoning or the sign ordinance, There are changes that come along that we have to make, and rather than do them one-off, we try and address it comprehensively to be efficient with staff resources, but also finances as well. So this is one item. I know rooftop signs was one of the items that we discussed. We'll have that as part of a larger package of sign ordinance amendments in the coming months rather than standalone. Chickens, another ordinance amendment. So we've had discussions with you about where we'd like to go from a policy perspective in closed session dealing with some individual cases that we've had. And so as of now, we're following the guidance that you gave us in closed session. And future action will be at your pleasure. So we'll leave it at that. Unless you want to talk further. Okay. Okay. Comprehensive master plan update. So this is something we are due to complete as you may remember cities and municipalities across the state by state law are required to update our comprehensive master plans every five years. The last one that we did comprehensively was 2017. We've done things like the Heritage Corridor Master Plan, the Orchard East Master Plan, and some of those that get incorporated into it. But we haven't opened the whole thing up. It was called Resilient Monroe, if you may remember that. And so we had applied. through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, through Matt Banasacker and Caitlin McBriarty, through the disaster recovery funds that we were eligible for as part of the 2023 flooding disaster declaration. I believe we applied for $120,000 because it's a very extensive process. And we also hope as part of one of your goals. We'll talk about a little bit later Community engagement and involving a lot of stakeholders in that discussion about what we expect for the long-term future of our city And please that we did receive preliminary approval from the administrative level at the MEDC so with that preliminary approval We are now able to go ahead and release a request for proposals to work with a consultant through that process, but we are not able to award that until the Michigan Strategic Forward Fund Board formally approves that funding for the City of Monroe, which we expect to happen in September. And then after that, we'll probably move pretty quickly. Once we receive the funding, I imagine we will establish a committee that's made up of council representatives, planning commission representatives, and others, to guide that process forward, initiate our public engagement and steering committee, and then through the legislative procedures, the planning commission, city council, but also our neighboring jurisdictions have to review it and provide comment as well before it finally gets adopted. So this will be a long-term one that probably stretches until the end of your term next year, given the complexity of it, plus the funding requirements that we have. So... Any questions on that? Okay, Jim's Towing has been an ongoing issue that we've, one of the ongoing issues that we've been dealing with from a non-compliance perspective with our both property maintenance and zoning code as well. And so with your support and your guidance, as well as the time from Attorney Buds, we were able to draft and execute a settlement agreement with them regarding particularly the use of their property as well as the city-owned property along First Street They did receive special use approval by the Planning Commission to operate for their employee parking on that lot. But one of the things that we had to do was to have the property surveyed so that they know exactly where their property boundary is and we know where ours is. And so that was completed. A couple weeks ago, we provided that to them. And so now the ball is in their court to continue operating in compliance. And if they'd like to make improvements to their property, including fencing, they've been given the advice and guidance on how to do that in the appropriate channels. So I would say for this one, the next step is just continuing to review their compliance and follow up on any concerns with their approved special use. But generally the ball is in their court at this point. on the Kentucky Avenue property. We've been continuing with property acquisition within the Heritage Corridor. A lot of movement on this within the past week, so we did receive a purchase agreement back from the property owner of 1236 East Elm. This is the last remaining property on Elm Avenue. He signed an agreement to sell his property to the city as a willing seller. And so you'll see on the right hand, we do have a closing scheduled for October 15th with asset title. And so once we own it, Lauren Bennis and his team will then get demolition bids to demolish that property and then have that completed by the end of the year. And then the other properties are owned by Mr. and Mrs. Gross on the south side of the river on Front Street, three vacant properties next to Hellenberg. The significance of these, we did receive a signed purchase agreement back from them as well. These are three properties we're going to use our 2014 trust fund grant to purchase, utilize the remainder of those funds, and then go through the process of closing out that grant. So, Some significant property purchases we expect to take place before the end of the year. We have also let ITC and DTE know that that property will also be demolished, which will be the last customer they have to serve on that line. And then those lines can be relocated. As you may recall, we've been working with ITC to take those off of Noble, Dixie, and Elm for the viewscape within the Heritage Corridor. So... With that, when we close out the grant that we've had for 12 years, we're preparing to apply for another one in the first quarter of 2027, which we'll talk a little bit about later in the presentation. Downtown blight and property maintenance. So this has been one, this is an ongoing issue, obviously. We don't really know where the completion process will be with this one, but we are doing proactive code enforcement within the commercial district, following up on properties that strategically are not meeting our code compliance standards. And so on a case-by-case basis, I know Lauren and Matt and Maria have been doing a great job in working with property owners. but also making sure that there are tools available to them and making sure that they know about it. So Maria worked with the Downtown Development Authority to bring back the big grant, formerly the facade grant. This is a tool right now, the applications are open on the DDA's website where building owners and business owners can apply for funds available through the DDA to help improve their properties. And then we've also got the obsolete property rehab abatement act we've actually got one of those on your agenda tonight for one of the properties Seeking to make some improvements and we'll talk about that at 52 South Monroe And then the commercial rehab program this is similar to the Oprah but this was actually a program that had sunsetted and was no longer a tool in our toolbox that we could use to promote and help people with financing for their projects, but Gratefully, the state did bring it back and it's now got a sunset. I think it's into the 2030s. So that's a tool that's now available. So we're doing our best to make sure people know about these and opportunities and certainly appreciate you helping with that in the conversations you're having with downtown building owners too. So we'll continue for high priority parcels. I think we all know them, we all see them in making outreach and making sure that those inspections are scheduled and follow up with accordingly. And if you have individual properties that perhaps may not be in our radar, please go ahead and send them our way and we'll make sure we follow up. Port land use and development plan. So we've had a lot of discussion about the future use of land at the port. Certainly the land at the port is limited. And so being very selective, of course, any conveyance or transfer of property at the port requires your approval. And so looking at what is the master plan for the port, we have regular discussions with them about what are future opportunities. So particularly thinking about DTE and the mineral power plant. We'll have a discussion on that here shortly in future slides. But what is opportunities that we have at the port for things like alternative power electric infrastructure throughout the port that we can identify some of our sites as we see some of our neighboring jurisdictions moving ahead in discussions with DTE. But also one of the opportunities that we had recently was Voltaic. You may not have heard about this, but this was a startup company that was identified by the port and attracted them to the port to build autonomous vessels that could possibly be used by the Navy, for the Navy. So this is one company we've been partnering with. We did work with the MEDC and the port to pitch this as they're looking to possibly establish a new research and development facility, but also a new manufacturing facility. But like many of these projects, they do a site selection process where they partner with a firm and states have to put in bids for their project. And so I will say Matt worked very hard to put together our bid that we are still waiting to hear from, but great advancement on that project. And we just had some discussion this week with them about that. So always working hand in hand, step by step in step with the port staff as they see these opportunities and what that means for future development and tax base at the port. The master plan update, you may not have seen it, and perhaps it's something we can hand out for you in the existing master plan, but there's what's called a future land use map. And what we will do as part of the master plan is go property by property and neighborhood by neighborhood in the master plan and say, here's what we envision for that neighborhood in the future. I suspect we will also do that with the port as we look east of I-75 and development opportunities there. And then continued coordination with them on future development opportunities.

Thoughts?

I know Councilwoman Stringham, you're intricately involved through the port as your position with the port liaison and keep abreast at their monthly meetings too, so.

There's a lot going on down there. A lot of positive things.

There is, yeah. Okay, Oaks of Righteousness. I think it's no secret that we've been working with Oaks through a very challenging season with their certificate of occupancy and also zoning compliance. So some of the steps we've taken over the past year, we did... Through conversation with you, but also with their leadership team, we did go on the site and inspected their property and gave them a very thorough, I guess, checklist of what needs to be done in order to safely operate as a homeless shelter. And to their credit, Oaks has taken that information. They did retain a professional architect to help develop plans to safely achieve compliance to achieve their goals of reopening as a homeless shelter. And so I know within the past two weeks, we did receive a set of plans in the building department that are currently being reviewed for permits, construction permits, particularly for some mechanical systems as well as structural. Those are getting reviewed for permits if Oaks moves forward with the permitting process. And then we do regularly meet with them and their architect to talk through the plans as well as their initiatives and where we're at with that. The next steps with this, review the construction plans that they've submitted for permitting. Continue with the ongoing dialogue regarding their future operational and reopening plans. Review their zoning compliance certificate. So you may recall the Planning Commission did give them conditional approval to operate as an emergency shelter, but they still need to achieve some of those conditions in order to receive a full zoning compliance certificate. And then a certificate of occupancy inspection whether that be a conditional there's been a lot of discussion about could they have a partial reopening? Versus while they work to rehabilitate the rest of the building This is not unprecedented. This is what we did for the Michigan College of Beauty while they renovated part of the building They occupied part so we only gave them a certificate of occupancy for that portion of the building And I know Oaks is interested in that. And so we're helping to guide them and inform them of how they can go about that at this time too.

Any questions on that or where we're at?

Okay, we'll keep cruising right along. MDOT bridge improvements. So this discussion particularly focused on Monroe Street and Telegraph Road. So earlier this year, I think we all recognize that the sidewalks and the pedestrian pathways across both bridges were in less than desirable condition deteriorating. So Patrick worked feverishly to engage MDOT to get a team to come down and at least temporarily repair those to make them somewhat safe again. But through that, engage in a larger conversation about the Telegraph Road bridge improvements. So I think if you've been on Telegraph Road this summer, you can see they're doing a lot of work on Telegraph Road. They responded that they were open to exploring options for a pathway widening on particularly the west side of Telegraph, which would be in line with our non-motorized trail plan, as well as the Telegraph Road corridor development plan. What we took that as, they're interested in having further conversation. We did let them know with their blessing to move forward, we would like to put some plans in place to apply for a TAP grant, Transportation Alternative Program through SEMCOG. And that deadline is October 1st. And so, With your support, we engage Fishbeck to develop some preliminary options to see what we can achieve together on that asset that of course belongs to the state. But in partnership with them, right now they're reviewing those proposed improvements. To gain support for a particular concept. I know Patrick was working to set up a meeting with them to go over those concepts And then once we have their initial feedback, I know they sent back some questions fish back was answering on our behalf they will develop some cost estimates and we can get that application and October 1st to look toward hopefully making some improvements to that bridge next year I That of course is only the Telegraph Road bridge. We still have some discussions to go for Monroe Street, but looking at the condition of Telegraph Road in particular with some other improvements that are happening right now.

Thoughts on what you've seen so far or questions?

Okay. Fire station site redevelopment. This has been another one that you've been intricately involved in carrying this forward. So working with Woda Cooper, the county, Solid Rock Church, MSHDA, Community Reimagined with Stephanie and Aaron on this project. We've been, City Council supported the application from Woda Cooper to apply for MSHDA for funding support for this project. for 43 units. The developer did receive their MSHDA approval, which was an exciting milestone toward moving this project forward, but we still had some roadblocks in place. And with your support, Matt Vanisacker worked very hard, both with administration and the team at Solid Rock Church to execute a memorandum of understanding where they relinquished their right of first refusal on the Wadsworth lot, adjacent to the fire station lot. And in exchange for some other considerations, which included the transfer of the county parking lot on First Street to the city that we will then convey to them. So this has been a very complicated process with a lot of negotiations and a lot of personalities to work with, I will say. But all of those agreements have been executed. So the next steps, we do have to just update some of the environmental assessments that we had completed prior on the fire station site in the county parking lots. Those are getting done right now. The county's attorney is working on the conveyance agreements for those two lots, the Wadsworth and First Street lots to come to the city. And then after that, our next step will be to convey that First Street lot to Solid Rock Church and make good on our promise and our memorandum of understanding. And then also convey, once Woda Cooper gets their final site plan approval, which they're working on right now, convey the Wadsworth Street lot to them. And then they can turn in their construction plans for permits and be off to the races with construction hopefully next year. So everything's underway, but everything is also with the attorneys right now. So working our way through that, I will say ours has been tremendously helpful in helping move this process along.

And Mark, part of that also with our parking lot that we have on Macomb and East Front behind the College of Beauty, that relationship and agreement continues with the county for their employees parking.

Yeah, I forgot. That was the other agreement in addition to the land transfer agreements with the county. We also have a lease agreement with them that we separated out for their employees to park in between the Register of Deeds building and the College of Beauty. That was another item we had to take care of. But we're pleased everything's moving right along. We've had some conversation about the status of the police station and where we're at with that. And so the direction that we received from you is the county is looking to explore some improvements to their facilities. Director Tolstead has been engaged with the sheriff and the county on their future facilities planning to explore an option to continue with our police operations in partnership with the sheriff and the jail versus possibly constructing a new fire station. And so while there were continuing to work through that, we're engaged in those conversations, but also Some of the operational considerations within the department, like we talked about earlier with leadership transition and staff development, has been one of the priorities we've been focusing on. But as part of this, the county is planning to make some investments into the locker rooms. If you've toured the police station recently, you've probably seen the condition. We do anticipate the design to be completed by the end of 2026. put the project out to bid through the county early 2027 for construction to take place in mid-2027. Obviously, there's some complicating situations over at the county that we have to navigate through as part of this conversation, but still keeping it as one of your priorities that we continue to keep a pulse on. We did mark this one completed, the downtown one-way conversation conversion with stakeholder engagement. So Maria, Matt, and Patrick held four sessions with downtown stakeholders, presented some of the options and alternatives for the First Street, Front Street, one-way to two-way conversion, Washington, Monroe Street, Road Diet. And earlier this year, throughout this summer, they presented that feedback to you. And so, We did mark this complete because the stakeholder engagement was completed. Also the DDA work session and also conversation with council. But we know that you'd also gave us future direction on this one as well. So I anticipate that this goal will mold or move from stakeholder engagement to MDOT discussions as it seemed to clearly indicate not moving forward with the one-way conversion on first in front at this time, but there seemed to be support both from the stakeholders and from you to explore Monroe Street further. So as we engage with MDOT on the Telegraph Bridge, the Monroe Street Bridge, we will also start engaging with them on conversations about a possible Monroe Street road diet as well. So while it's completed, we know there's still more to do. Okay. Updating you on housing development projects and plans. We marked this one completed because Matt Vanisacker did give a great presentation on June 1st of all the housing projects, housing development projects that are underway across the city right now. Many of them still continue just to work through the queue. And so while the update, the comprehensive update was completed through that work session, we know you will continue to be remain engaged through that with legislative action you have to take with property conveyances, approvals, things of that sort, where you'll be kept up to date on those projects, but also providing you quarterly updates, whether it be through written updates and notifications, work sessions, or through the interim city manager report that you've been getting regularly as well on projects. And of course, Matt and I are always available if you ever have any questions or burning questions as you're driving around the city and say, what's going on with this one? This one is not started yet. This was to have some conversation with our neighboring jurisdictional partners who partner, who establish a corridor improvement authority in Frenchtown to have some coordination between their corridor improvement authority and our corridor improvement authority. I will say, Matt, and for the most part I, do meet regularly with their administrative team. Mayor, you've joined a time or two monthly to talk to them about their projects, our projects, what's on the horizon, looking for those opportunities we can collaborate. But I will say we've had some challenges with our corridor improvement authority in trying to maintain and achieve a quorum at meetings. And so I know in conversation with the mayor, we're looking at the appointments on there and having conversations about the composition so that we can continue to move some of the development plan forward. but we do know the the three next steps that that you discussed with us was to Have a joint meeting between their corridor improvement authority and ours. I think that's still a great idea and a great thought To talk about our common goals and objectives reviewing the corridor design alignment across the the borders between mineral and Frenchtown which happens a lot during those administrative discussions and And then coordinating our corridor beautification and access management. Of course, the challenge we have with this is that is an MDOT road. And so where we may not appreciate having a driveway, sometimes MDOT does permit it regardless. And so that's one example. But to MDOT's credit, we did have some progress on this item over the summer. Nope, not that one. With infill of sidewalks and trails along Telegraph Road. So with the repaving of Telegraph Road, they also put sidewalks all the way down from Stewart Road to 7th Street, where there was a missing link. M dot installed it whether it was in Frenchtown or the city and we just took over the the maintenance of that in the long term, but there should now be At by the end of this project complete sidewalks at least throughout that stretch. I know they may be five foot sidewalks in some areas where we may have called for eight or ten feet and our development plans and But these are building blocks that we can build from in the future, making sure that at least there's safe opportunities for pedestrians as we look to expand those in the future. Duffy, so this has been one of the challenges that we've had with the Corridor Improvement Authority not achieving a quorum. We did work with Jim Jacobs Architects to come up with some different scenarios and alternatives for that property for redevelopment. With that, and one of the meetings where we did have a quorum with the authority, they decided with the recommendation of administrative staff, based on the condition of the Duffy Towing Building, they said it needs to be demolished. There's many structural concerns with it, that the cost of rehab the building versus building new or starting afresh would present a better financial outcome in starting new. Lauren has worked with several demolition contractors to get a bid to move forward with demolition, but unfortunately we haven't been able to achieve a quorum to approve those bids and move forward. But as soon as we do, their next meeting is supposed to come up in the next couple weeks. Once that site is clear, we do anticipate issuing a request for proposals to try and attract some development to that site. But in the meantime, we do have that site identified for one of our Welcome to Mineral Gateway signs that you've seen, as well as making a more aesthetically pleasing gateway with some landscaping features and things of that sort, at least in the meantime, as we continue to try and work on this property with the authority. The non-motorized plan, we talked about this already. MDOT filling in the gaps in the sidewalks within our stretch of Telegraph Road throughout the city. The bridge pathway improvements with the TAP grant. And in particular, the former Lazy Boy site, the sidewalks are getting filled in as development occurs. So particularly on the Holiday Huber side, we don't want to put sidewalks in that may be damaged or destroyed with construction. And so those will be filled in as future development happens at that site. But they should all be installed along the telegraph road frontage at least by the end of this year. St. Mary's Park. So, if you drove by the park over the weekend, you may have noticed that the playscape was removed. You did approve the final plans. You offered some great comments and feedback when we presented that as well. So, that feedback and those comments were incorporated in the final plans put out to bid. Sal and Bean Construction was awarded that project, and you can expect to see construction starting later this week. So very timely update. The playscape was removed to start some of the work. I know tree removal, some trees are going to be impacted as part of the project. That's going to take place this week with our crews, and then you'll see Sal and Bean on site later this week beginning construction. The band shell was not, we get asked this quite frequently, because of the project budget, and we were very fortunate to receive, and I should have put this under milestones and progress, but we received over one and a half million dollars from the state, thanks to various grant applications that Caitlin put together in coordination with the parks and rest of the staff. But due to funding constraints, we couldn't fit the band shell improvements into this round of the projects. It needs things like a new roof, lighting, improvements, things of that sort. So you can look forward to seeing that as a proposed capital improvements plan coming later this year and early next year.

When is the expected completion of the park? Is there an idea of how long it'll take?

It's a bit of a moving project at this point because of the dam removal work and The dam work, the water utility work that's ongoing on the western side of the park, that's going to impact some of the courts, but we have to go through SHPO review because there's federal funding involved, and that's been a bit of a snag. So, Sal and Bean will start at the eastern edge and work their way west, but the actual completion will be dependent on when we can get to work with that NOAA funding project on the west side. So still hoping for this year, but it may bleed a little bit over into early next year. Thankfully, we got our summer concert series done in time though. The Battlefield Event Center. So we had some conversation with you earlier this spring about opportunities for future development plans on the south side of the Battlefield Education and Visitor Center. We did receive the report from Hunt and Associates and looked at the feasibility of having a large-scale event, conference, expo center on that south end of the building. And unfortunately, it didn't come back so positive. And so where we left that conversation after presenting that, we were going to go back to Hunden. They had offered to give us a proposal to issue a request for proposals to look at what are some other ideas we may not have thought of, what are some of the other operators or developers of these facilities that they have great contacts and networks with that we may not. And so we did get a proposal from them that we'll be presenting to you in the next couple weeks to determine whether that's the path we want to go forward with the funding needed for that. or if there's some other ideas that we want to explore further. I know we have had some conversation about with other local organizations who may be interested in doing something with that facility as well. And we'll present that to you rather in a comprehensive presentation as we look toward what next steps we take with that. So more to come. This one's still in process. Ford Warehouse. We marked this one still in process, though this has obviously been a challenge as well. There's been a lot of outreach done to Ford and Fordland to try and figure out what is the future use of that property. I will say the city has tried, the port has tried, and most recently we have heard from potential developer who would like to have a conversation with Ford and they may have found a contact. So we're really just trying to utilize all of our opportunities, all of our networks to try and engage them and have some discussion about what is a higher and better use for that property than a warehouse. But unfortunately, having this goal completed is totally dependent upon a private property owner. And of course it's their will of what they wanna use their property for into the future, but it's a large organization. So we're gonna continue to try and keep engaged with this and explore options and alternatives, whether it's our outreach or whether there's developers who have relationships, we can kind of get in that way. So nothing new to report there other than we're still continuing to try. Custer Airport, so the future plan for Custer Airport, I believe I sent a communication to you last week on this. The milestones and the progress, we have ceased the sale of jet fuel at the airport, as well as removed the underground storage tanks for jet fuel. We have ceased accepting the MDOT funds for capital improvements that trigger that 10-year payback requirement. And then we've also reduced airport operational staffing, provided the guidance that you've given us, and that we've worked together on looking for what is a higher and better possible use for the airport given the current state and status of utilization, but also market for the airport and the amount that City of Monroe taxpayers pay to continue to support the ongoing use of it. And so with those three items, those were, I would say, some pretty significant policy objectives that drive forward the future plan for the airport. But we do still have the deed restriction from when the then Department of War passed. deeded the airport that if it ever ceases to be an airport, it needs to go back to them. And so we've worked with our federal legislators to try and get some assistance within the federal bureaucracy to have that removed and we're still working on that. So we will continue with that. But a path for future decommissioning, again, looking at in our master plan and the future land use, what is the higher and better use that we identify for that site? We'll work with you through those conversations as we explore that. I know this was part of our residential strategy and housing opportunities there, but also much like we've done With the Orchard neighborhood, the Lazy Boy site, now the High property, developing a possible sub-area master plan for that in the future to develop some more schematic visions of that property. I will say, if any of these items, I know we're going through these rather broadly today. If these are future work sessions that you would like to have, please just let us know and we can dive in deeper as well. The HTC has made great progress this year. And so we haven't had a chance to fully talk to you about this, but through your actions and the mayor's appointments, there were three new members that were appointed. And this is significant because it's the first time in a long time that we've had a fully seated historic district commission. I know this is something that the state is very pleased to hear, but also, and you read that right, they've adopted their first goals and objectives update since 2005. So we worked with them to refresh their goals and objectives, which you see on the right side of the screen. But hopefully you've been able to catch, if you weren't able to attend, at least watch them online, the three public information sessions that they've hosted here in the council chambers. And I know we're planning another one yet this fall. Carol's been working with Chairman Egan on an idea that you'll see more information on coming soon. But some of their goals and objectives that we've worked with in partnership with the State Historic Preservation Office is updating their brand and their website, making sure that they've got resources listed on their website. One of the things we get asked a lot is who are contractors that Historic property owners can use to rehabilitate it and so we're putting the resource together for them Evaluating project review procedures making it a little bit more easier to navigate for those who own historic properties Developing a HTC merit award to recognize with City Council those who have invested into their historic properties and then an identity signage plan you'll see more about that in your capital improvements plan this year and The Sawyer Homestead. So this is in your agenda tonight. You've got their current financial report and operation summary over the past year that they've submitted to you, as well as what's ahead over the next year. They're required to do 12 opportunities for public business. public engagement at the Sawyer House. And so you've got a draft schedule for that. But that's part of their operating agreement. But you can see from their finance statement, we've got some discussions to have into the future about the condition of the property and the cost and the expense of the upkeep of that. And so we did meet with them, it was probably about two months ago, about the current lease, the property condition, their obligations and our obligations regarding the condition of the property. We did apply for a SHPO grant to improve the side porch, and we're just waiting to hear back from that. That was one of our capital projects. There's some brickwork and chimney repair that was one of our capital improvements projects this year that we need to get awarded. There does need to be a new landscaping plan, and then also the sign. So DPS did remove the old bushes around their sign. Unfortunately, what you see now is a deteriorated sign. And so we'll be working with Jody to come up with a new version of that. And then also exploring future operational options on that property as well that we'll bring back to you for further discussion.

Any thoughts, questions so far?

Okay, our wayfinding signage. Matt has done a great job in getting our parking gateway signs into fabrication. So right now those are being made and manufactured by the sign manufacturer to be installed this year yet at all of our parks and then also most of our parks and also several of our gateway entry areas into the city. And so we look forward to seeing that refresh. Some of the deteriorated wayfinding signs, those old blue signs that pointed you to Sawyer House or the battlefield or Government Plaza, they were really starting to peel and deteriorate. And so those were actually removed. But they were removed because we're coming up with a plan for the next phase of our signage program to replace those. That's why the posts were left in place, because the posts are in good condition. And we didn't want to remove those and destroy those, just the signs. So that'll be the next part. You'll see the signs going up yet this year. We do know that there are some places around the city that have the old logo in it still. And we're doing an inventory of those and replacing those as we become aware of those. And then, like I said, the next phase is our wayfinding signage plan. This is separate from the trail project, by the way. Hellenberg Park, at the last meeting, you did see Matt presented the options for a realignment of the East 1st and East Front Street. This was a grant we got through the state to relook at that intersection and also come up with a new entryway for Hellenberg Park. And so I would say as part of this, it's in process because we did get some great community engagement from the neighbors and the neighborhood as part of the Heritage Corridor Master Plan update and the Orchard East Neighborhood Master Plan update. And we'll take that feedback next year. Our Parks and Trails Master Plan is due to be updated. So we're moving full steam ahead on St. Mary's Park. In the parks that were identified in the last update of the master plan father Carnes labor st. Mary's Park Manor Park Mill race Park and Munson Park and so we'll work with you to determine through the capital process Which ones are the next ones we want to focus on and incorporate? future improvements to Hellenberg as part of that so really envision this being part of the master plan update for the parks starting next year and Long-term planning for facilities and infrastructure, looking at sustainability and lifecycle cost consideration. This really has to deal with our capital investments and prioritizing those in our facilities based on revenue projections that we have available right now. So I mark this one as not started because some of the next steps and action items that we talked about earlier this year are listed on the right. developing a comprehensive asset management plan, a life cycle cost analysis for all of our major facilities, and then sustainability standards in our building program. We haven't put those together formally, but I know our team between building and engineering and DPS does a great job with utilities and looking at what are our greatest facility needs and forecasting those out through the five-year CIP. So I put this as not started, but it's really something that we look at and monitor as part of our annual capital improvements program, as well as our capital improvements budget.

We only have 10 more slides.

Oak Forest litigation, this has been a challenge. We've kept you up to date on as best we could. We do have a signed consent judgment with them that we have been trying our best to work with them through. I believe last week we looked at out of all of their over 150 units, only 29 of them are certified right now. And so the challenge that we've had is we've been inspecting units But the problem is we inspect the units, we find violations, and they don't call for reinspection of those units once they're fixed. They just call to have inspections done on other units. And so the problem continues to perpetuate. Of course, the water bill, the $43,000 water bill that was delinquent, and we worked out a very short-term payment plan that was fully paid on Friday. However, right now they do have another bill that is near becoming delinquent again. And so with all of this, we've had discussion with Attorney Buds. He's made outreach to their attorney and looking to go back into the courtroom to update the judge on the lack of progress related to this. But also we did get outreach from a potential buyer that we were set to meet with last week. Unfortunately, they had to cancel due to a family emergency, but we'll be re-engaging with them and looking the event that the property does change hands with the new owner to make sure they fully understand and are aware of what the improvements that are necessary needed to be done. So that's the latest update that we have for now. The water bill has been, the delinquent bill has been paid. Our efforts to reach out to their attorney and management about inspections have not been successful at this point and there is a potential new owner. The tax valuation, so you may recall last year we did approve a one-year agreement with DTE on the valuation of the plant in anticipation of their integrated resource plan to be, their three-year plan to be released this year. And so we have had movement on this. They do anticipate releasing that. It's called an IRP to talk about what is their generation plans to meet customer demand over the next three years. That's going to be released later this month. We do have a meeting scheduled with them next week to begin talking about what is for this year and the 2027 valuation, what is the strategy and the schedule for that we need to follow and then begin earnest discussions with them similar to the way we did last year. So certainly more to come on that one as we move toward the end of the year.

So, Mark, I know that we were at this time last year having conversations with DT, and of course, timelines are important toward the end of the year. So just for council's awareness, what we might get accomplished for this year is going to be, could be close to a deadline. And we won't know that until we meet with them.

Yeah. Yeah. And the assessor is obviously, Chrissy's doing a great job of making sure she's engaged in these conversations as well. Which also leads into our three-year budget. So this one is always in process because obviously you approve a budget resolution every year by April 30th. And so this year, the main request that you had as part of this was an understanding of when all the millages will begin falling off. are expiring, and so that information I know is provided to you, and it's included in the annual budget. So a milestone, you approve this year's budget that we're currently operating under, and coming to traction, you can expect another one early next year as we move into the next three-year budget. Matt's got us all working on capital improvements right now. So as we finish up capital improvements, we'll roll right into our annual operating budget. Okay, in the home stretch, the downtown road plan action, including TAP grant application, we've already talked about this one with the Monroe Street Road Diet. So now that we've received direction from you on where to move forward with next, we'll engage MDOT in the conversations on Monroe Street and then look at opportunities for funding both any design work that will be needed as well as construction implementation and the process that will go along with that.

I HAVE A QUESTION ON THE LAST ONE. JUST STARTED WITH THE BUDGET AND WORKING ON THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS. WE ALWAYS DO THE ROAD AUDIT. HAS THAT BEEN DONE? I MEAN, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE JUST NOW GETTING SOME PROJECTS FINISHED BECAUSE OF THE TIME, HOW IT WORKS, WHICH IS GREAT. WE KNOW THAT ALWAYS HAPPENS AT THIS TIME OF YEAR TO GET PROJECTS FINISHED. AND WE LOOK AT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE The next year, that road assessment is, did we move that up this year?

Yeah. So very timely. Patrick just put it on my calendar, drive the streets with him next Friday. So I know him and his team have already started driving the streets to perform that. And then he and I will go out next week with Chris Schaefer to begin putting together the priority list for, to Bruce and to you for your approval.

Well, it's not on this slide. It'd be on some other one there. You could, the fact that you, you know, council was looking for a earlier timeframe to have information as we get to California to know what those roads may be. Yep.

Thank you. Yeah. Okay, the West Elm grade separation. This is our big enchilada of infrastructure projects. So this is the rail grade separation on West Elm Avenue by Danny's Riverside School, the YMCA and Bay Corrugated. There is some items on your agenda tonight relative to this, Some of the progress notes that we had, Monroe County did support us with a million dollars toward our local match requirement. And so we were able to accomplish that this year. The Michigan Infrastructure Office also provided us with $2 million toward our local match requirement. Representative Bruck also supported us through a state appropriation through the, it's called the LEO department, for a half a million dollars and then CSX and their 5% contribution that's statutorily required is one and a half million. So just getting that was an accomplishment in and of itself. We have been going through the NEPA process. Of course, we've contracted with Manikin Smith for this project. NEPA is the comprehensive environmental impact review that we have to do because it is federally funded. So we received a categorical exclusion on that already, which is good news in terms of efficiency and timing. We also received CSX approval on the variance that we need for the height of the rail underpass. And then also the maintenance agreement that we had with them, you also approved that as well. So we do, you'll see this on the agenda tonight, and if we have time, probably not during the work session, Patrick will be able to provide some updates. We're at a 30% design completion, so CSX and the Federal Rail Administration are reviewing the preliminary designs. Once we have their sign off, we can move into final construction design, which is the proposal on your agenda tonight. Next steps, we've been working on property acquisition for the properties that are needed to be acquired as part of the construction for this project. Final design proposal approval that's on your agenda tonight. We do have public engagement with the surrounding property owners in the neighborhood planned with Manikin-Smith to make sure that the public is informed and aware of what this project entails. And of course, this is a project that's slated for construction over the next two years, 2027 and 28. So more to come on this one during your regular agenda when you've got a couple large approval items under council action. The I-75 bridge replacement, this is a timely update as well. MDOT, of course, this is a state project. This is not led by us. We're just part of the stakeholder team. They've also been going through the NEPA process, the environmental impact. that's been underway. We've been participating as a local stakeholder and leader. With that, we were actually able to achieve $5 million in their federal grant to help with the local road impact that we'll be able to collaborate with them on how we're going to address our local roads that will be impacted by this large project. And then just last week, we were on a meeting with them to review the proposed detour route. I don't want to steal too much time because they do have a public meeting next week on September 14th at 4.30 in this room. If you'd like to hear complete updates and details. But Matt Van Nessacker also reached out to them to start the conversation about that local road impact funding and how we can work together to spend that. I'm sure we'll do it easily. And then the community gateway enhancements that were committed as part of this project as well to make starting at I-75 into the city an aesthetic gateway. But this is scheduled for a 2028 to 2030 construction. This went from a two-year to a three-year project, primarily because they're replacing the Dunbar Road bridge too. So that's going to happen the first year before they move into northbound 75, then southbound 75. So if you want to know more, join us on September 14th here. The Heritage Corridor Master Plan implementation, we mentioned closing out the existing Trust Fund application. We do intend this year, with the support of Simcog, we received the preliminary Greenway Trail Schematic Plan for that area in between the railroad tracks going from the River Raisin to Plum Creek. The next step is to apply for a Trust Fund grant to move forward with the property acquisition needed to to actually build that, as well as some brownfield assessment funding because we know it's gonna be a qualified facility due to its past use. But also with the Heritage Corridor, we did receive preliminary consideration in the federal budget for the realignment of Detroit Avenue. That's realigning Detroit Avenue to Battlefield Parkway around the National Park property and the city property. This has been something we've applied for for several years, but we understand it is going to be included in the federal budget if they actually approve one in December. And so that's great from a funding perspective. And then primarily focusing forward on the Greenway Trail after that. Addressing challenging landlords, this has been something that we've just consistently been doing again with some of the downtown targeted blight enforcement. You've been supportive of this and improving legal action where necessary to achieve compliance with our rental ordinance. And so we'll continue to do that and identifying those who are severely delinquent, trying to get those into compliance with your support as well as the support of Matt Buds and his team. Future direction of city-owned properties. So Matt gave a presentation, Matt VanSacker, on May 18th regarding this topic. And so we did mark this as completed. But I know Councilman Felder isn't here tonight, but one of the things he had asked is looking at where we have economic development, granted economic development incentives for a property, how has that impacted the area around it? And so we're working with Terry Davis and the assessor's office team to look at what has the impact been of our economic development incentives, and we hope to have that tool for you soon. regular updates on ongoing development projects. This was actually one of those opportunities to update you on development projects, but also through the city manager reports and the action that you take as part of your legislative agenda in moving those projects forward. And we'll continue to try and keep you updated as best we can, but certainly with the transition of myself into the city manager's office, and Matt Banasacker trying to help out in the leadership position and doing a great job with that. Moving to a quarterly report, we just haven't been able to accomplish yet, but we'll try and do that early in 2027 for you. This was an item, just information on the current waste collection contract. I think there was just some questions, and this was more of an informational request that council had had So you had approved on July 1st, 2023, a five-year agreement that will run through the end of 2028. So our current agreement with Stevens runs through the end of 2028. But of course, discussions will probably start taking place toward the end of next year on the future of that agreement and certainly welcome your input. And we'll have future discussions with you on that. But we do have a great resource on our website. under DPS that gives all the details regarding our collection program, including the changes that we had made that December. It went into effect in January and we had tweaked it somewhat regarding bulk collection and carts and things like that with some of your feedback and input that December. So all that information's online. But that's the current status of our contract. Last slide. You also had nine other goals that you had asked us to work on. And I included these all on one slide because they weren't necessarily project related or initiative related. They were just more values that we wanted to align and move into our processes. So thinking about including neighborhood engagement, community engagement, internal policies related to transparency and accountability. I think some of the discussions we've had lately is kind of fed into that. But these are all just priorities and values that you have told us we want to weave into the day-to-day work that we do in partnership with you and our residents as well. And so I included these on this slide just to reinforce that we are mindful of this and the work that we do every day that this is a priority for you for us to address and work. So with that. I can send this out to you as well, this presentation, so you have it to look through and certainly as we look toward the end of the year and early next year, if there are work sessions or further discussion we wanna have on any of these items, or because as I talked about, Earlier when I started the presentation, applauding success, we have accomplished a lot. And I hope that has borne witness through this presentation. If we want to talk about additional things we'd like to add to your goals and objectives, we can certainly do that too. Thinking possibly a work session early next year to kind of touch base again, not to give you an update on everything,

but just to touch base on the goals and Dropping some off because we've accomplished it or adding more so I appreciate the last comics I think the others councils has consistently wanted to review the goals and objectives toward the end because With two-year terms were in the second year and looking at those items that we can potentially still achieve and complete by the end of the year, not just waiting? And also, is there something that's come up new that we didn't anticipate when we set the goals and objectives last January? So I think that's always good to do. I'm sure there's many questions. I'm not sure you'll get them tonight, but any comments or questions from council? I appreciate the report and the time put into this. I think it's beneficial to have and hold as we go through the conclusion of the issue, like I said, but also moving into next year. It gives us an update. I think it's good for those that will be able to view it themselves by watching the work session in the future.

I just want to reinforce, too, I'm very Proud to be the messenger and deliver this update to you, but really the bulk of the work and the credit goes to the great staff that are here every day. You can see everybody's hands touched each and every update that you've seen tonight. So I hope that you're proud of our team and all that we've been working toward.

Very good. There's no questions. Thank you. Clerk, anything further from you?

The next item would be any other items as time might permit.

Thank you for reminding me of that. I don't know if the city manager or city attorney or anything that's other items that we may have in operation with the meeting or council if you had any items that you wanted to get a comment about before we start the council meeting.

I see none. We were going to talk about the rail underpass. Just a deeper update than what you got, but given the time, we can do that when those items are up for consideration this evening.

That'd be great. All right, thanks, Mark.

Thank you.

If there's nothing further, we'll adjourn the work session, and we have about eight, nine minutes. Thank you. We'll call the City Council meeting to order. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Vining.

Excused.

Maney. Here. Stringer. Here. Salazar.

Excused.

Hader.

Here.

Stillgrave. Here. Mayor Clark.

Here. Next item.

The next item is the invocation and pledge of allegiance.

So I'd ask we all please stand for the invocation. We stand for the pledge of allegiance.

This week, we mark the 25th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Please join us in a moment of silence to honor the lives lost, to remember those who responded with courage, and to reflect on the resilience shown in the years since.

Thank you.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Clerk, next item, please.

The next item is the approval of the regular agenda.

Manager Cochran, any adjustments to the agenda? None from administration this evening. Council, have any? If not, Councilman Hader?

Motion to approve the regular agenda. Second.

Motion from Councilman Hader, supported by Councilwoman Stilgrave, to approve the regular agenda. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Hader? Yes. Stilgrave? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Next item, please.

consent agenda and for approval of payments it should read three million nine hundred and twelve thousand nine hundred sixty seven dollars and sixty four cents three nine one two nine six seven point six four thank you are there any items on the consent agenda that council wishes to have pulled for further discussion any items from city council

Seeing none, are there any items on the consent agenda those present here this evening wish to have pulled for further discussion? Any consent items? Seeing none, I'll be a motion for the consent agenda. Councilwoman Stilgrave.

I'll make a motion that all items on the consent agenda be accepted, placed on file, recommendations carried out, and resolutions be adopted.

There's a motion from Councilwoman Stilgrave, supported by Councilwoman Stringham, that all items on the consent agenda be accepted, recommendations carried out, resolutions adopted. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Hader? Yes. Stilgrave? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes.

Next item, please. The next item is item 6106, under Presentations, Communications, and Public Hearings, the Sawyer Homestead Annual Financial Statement.

Thank you. Manager Cochran.

In accordance with the lease agreement and operating agreement that we have with the Sawyer Homestead Group, they've submitted their required documents as part of their lease to you, and we place those on the agenda for your review, and then a motion, an appropriate motion would be just to receive, accept them, and place them on file if you're satisfied with them.

Any questions or comments from City Council regarding the communication? If not, a motion to accept and place on file. Councilwoman Germani.

I'll make a motion that we accept the Sawyer Homestead Annual Financial Statement and place on file.

Support.

Motion by Councilwoman Germani, supported by Councilman Hader on item 6106, the Sawyer Homestead Annual Financial Statement. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Hader? Yes. Steelgrave? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Thank you. Next item, please.

It's under council action and it's item 6108, schedule public hearing for 52 South Monroe Street Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act.

Thank you. Manager Cochran.

Yeah, the city received an application from the property owner of 52 South Monroe Street for what we commonly refer to as an OPRA. But it's an obsolete property tax abatement. Part of this requires a public hearing prior to consideration and approval. And so we've put that on the agenda, requesting to schedule that for September 21st. but also recognizing all of these abatements and incentive applications are always reviewed by the Economic Development Review Committee of the city, and they are planning to meet this week to formulate a recommendation to you that you will hear at that meeting. And so tonight is just a planning action to schedule that public hearing. I know the clerk has also went ahead and published it in the newspaper as well. Thank you.

Councilwoman Germani?

I move to schedule a public hearing during the regular meeting time of Monday, September 21st, 2026 at 7.30 p.m. for the purposes of receiving and reviewing comments on the PA 146 application for 52 South Monroe Street. Second.

Motion by Council, excuse me, Councilwoman Germani, Councilwoman Steelegrave, item 6108, the scheduling of public hearing for 52 South Monroe Street. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Hayter? Yes. Stilgrave? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Next item, please.

The next item is item 6097, resolution two, paving special assessment district alley east of Maple, south of Lorain.

Thank you. Manager Cochran?

Earlier this year, the city received a petition from the residents. This is for the alley, the east to west alley located between Maple and East Lorraine Street, Maple Boulevard and East Lorraine Street. And so when that was received, that petition was received to pave that alley and consider a special assessment district, you initiated the next steps with the adoption of Resolution 1. which was on April 6th, and what that did was authorize Patrick Lewis and his department to proceed with receiving a topographic survey and complete the design work. The next step in the process is to meet with the impacted property owners who would be included in that special assessment district and review with them the design, which Patrick and his team held last week. And so that informational meeting was held. The next step would be for you to consider Resolution 2, which is on your agenda tonight, which would move forward with setting the public hearing for the special assessment district on September 21st, delineates the cost involves and kicks it forward to resolution three, which verifies the public purpose for the special assessment district and moves toward with the selection of the contractor and paving. And so certainly Patrick is in the audience tonight. If you would like more information on the public information meeting, who attended, what the feedback was. But really the main action this evening is to schedule the public hearing where anybody would be invited to come and be heard.

Any questions or comments from Council? Councilwoman Germani?

So when we do the alley, and I'm not opposed to any of it, who maintains, if it's paved, do the property owners have to maintain their portion of the alley?

Yeah, so the ordinance requires, for maintenance purposes, keeping it clear of blight, overhang, things of that sort. The property owner is responsible to the midpoint, but for the paving, it would be us.

What about snow plowing? Is that us?

Welcome.

Very good questions all. Honorable Mayor and Council, Patrick Lewis, Director of Engineering and Public Services, Interim Director of Water and Wastewater Utilities. Yeah, that's very good questions on all that. The city typically doesn't plow alleys regardless of whether they're paved or unpaved. and that wouldn't change with the paving project here. We do a select few, usually because they're adjacent to our parking lots, and there's a couple of downtown ones that serve more of a higher public purpose, but by and large, we don't do that. So the long-term maintenance, though, once it's paved, would fall on the city. So in other words, in 40 or 50 years, if we have to repave it, it becomes our asset. Most of these alleys will last 40 or 50 years, though, so... that is the advantage to the city and being able to remove our annual grading liability for the stone and pave it and then we don't really have to worry about it but the residents anything they want to do if they want to plow it we let them but we won't do we won't do the plowing ourselves all right thank you other questions councilman hater

I'd like to make a motion that we approve the attached resolution to be adopted and that the public hearing be scheduled for Monday, September 21st, 2026 at 7.30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Okay.

Motion by Councilman Hader, Board of Councilwoman Stilgrave on item 6097, Resolution 2, the Special Assessment District as discussed. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Hader? Yes. Stilgrave? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes.

Next item, please.

The next item is item 6080, Professional Services Award, extension of West Lorain Street, east of Huber Drive.

Manager Cochran. For a preliminary introduction, you've heard a lot from me this evening. But as part of the project, when we started the rail underpass project on Elm Avenue, we had to establish a project area, which then was subject to the NEPA evaluation. And that's what's been evaluated as part of the alternatives analysis and also the environmental impact analysis. over the past year or so. But as part of this and the design for the rail underpass, the property of Bay Corrugated is going to be impacted in as much as their driveway off of Elm Avenue, based on the current design of the underpass, will have to be relocated west due to the grade of the separation from their property to the underpass. That is also where Mason Run Drain needs to be relocated. So we have some conflict of where their driveway needs to be relocated to, but also where the Mason Run Drain needs to be relocated. So as part of this, we've reevaluated with Bay having some conversations about possible alternative access to their site, moving that traffic off of Elm Avenue to the north side of their property, which is where Lorain Street terminates off of Telegraph Road. This area is outside of that original project scope that I spoke of earlier in the introduction. And so if we wanted the project to fund possible looking at paving and extending Lorain east to the railroad tracks, we would have to reevaluate that as part of NEPA, which could add another six to 12 months on the project when we're almost getting ready to start construction and final design next in the coming weeks. And so what we're proposing is to award a contract to Mannequin Smith that would relocate all of Bay Corrugated's traffic off of Elm, move them to Telegraph Road, Telegraph to Lorain Street, and extend Lorain Street to the railroad tracks. The benefit is the city, it's already a local designated truck route, that area of Lorain Street between Telegraph and Huber Drive. So that's already a truck route off of Telegraph to the industrial area on Huber. And the city also had acquired property right easement on the property owner to the north across of that area from Bay Corrugated. So Bay has indicated at this point they would be willing to grant the city the easement necessary to extend the public roadway, which would provide an alternative to their site off of Elm. To Lorraine Street. So in order to explore this further, what we've asked is Mannequin Smith to provide a proposal given they're intricately involved in the larger project itself to begin the design work of what that extension of Lorraine would look like and then begin to plan for that. in conjunction with the construction of the rail underpass project. So that's a general overview. Certainly if you have more specific questions, Patrick's been doing a great job leading this project and can speak to it further if need be.

Question for city manager? Yes, Council Member Germani.

Does that go under our capital improvement program budget?

Yeah, this wouldn't be funded by the overall federal project. So it would be something that the city funds the construction of.

So we amend the budget to do this?

It would be part of next year's project.

Oh, okay. All right.

Or next year's budget. Thank you.

So I do have a question. I know that it's two blocks, but there's still an impact on traffic. And I know that they corrugated generally. It periodically does use Lorain Street. I've seen them depart and go out to Telegraph. And anything in this nature, there'd be at least a traffic analysis done of stop signs where they are and things like that.

Yeah, so look, Patrick, correct me if I'm wrong, but looking at how traffic is managed on that area of Lorain in relation to Huber Drive and Bentley Drive and stop signs and traffic impact would be assessed as part of this design.

I think you might have said it. Earlier, there's no driveways from the residents that come out to Lorraine. They're all on the street, correct? Correct.

They're on Bentley or Huber Drive, not Lorraine Street.

So it wouldn't be that impact. You always think about the residents, and while it is there, you want to make sure the traffic flows safely as well as when we make an adjustment like that. But it seems to make sense to me. Any questions or comments? If not, Councilwoman Germani.

Move that the City Council approve the attached agreement with the Manikin-Smith Group in the amount of $63,812, that a total of $73,000 be authorized to include a 15% contingency that the Director of Engineering and Public Services, Inter-Director of Water and Wastewater Utilities be authorized to execute the agreement on behalf of the city, and that the Director of Finance, Assistant City Manager, be authorized to make any necessary transfers, including from major street, local street, or municipal street fund balances. Support.

Motion by Councilwoman Germani, supported by Councilwoman Stringham. Item 6080, the Professional Service Award, extension of West Lorraine Street, east of Hewer Drive. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Hader? Yes. Stilgrave? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. I just want to make one additional comment. I appreciate this and the next report. They're very thorough and detailed, but adding the maps really helps when you can read through it and the different photographs that were added from the different locations to see the drive and see when it's talked about the size of the road, but also where the lanes and entrance were. So I just want to say thanks for that. Clerk, next item, please.

The next item is item 6105, West Elm Avenue grade separation, professional services agreement for the final design.

Thank you. Manager Cochran.

Yeah, if I may ask Director Lewis to come up and provide information and introduction to this item. Thank you, Mr. Lewis.

All right, I'll try to make this relatively brief, although this is one where there's a lot of detail necessary on this one. Within our project plan with the Federal Railroad Administration, we have different tasks, and they want you to complete one task before moving to the next one. So what they call the preliminary engineering, or PE, was everything leading up to basically approval from CSX and the FRA of the concept, which is generally considered to be 30% complete. We're probably more like 50% as far as the design details we have. So... We had an initial proposal from the Manikin-Smith Group as a result of their consultant selection. We had three different firms that competed for this a couple of years ago, and we picked their team. But we were ready to move on to that next piece of it. So it's into final design, which is where we basically take it from 30% to 100% and get the project plans ready for bidding. Fortunately, we had money left on the table, which I'm happy to report from the PE side of things. It's always nice when you come in with about a half a million dollars under what you thought for design. That's a credit to the whole team, I think, with Mannequin-Smith-Quandell team. We moved quickly through the NEPA process. There were very few hiccups with CHIPO, anything like that. So that's been really nice. But we wanted to do a clean proposal here, so that's kind of where we're transitioning to the next step on this. As far as the funding, and that's one thing that I know is, it's kind of a moving target. And I know I probably make Mr. Sell a little bit crazy when it comes to where's the money coming from on this one. But as you know, the baseline project fund, and I think Mr. Cochran alluded to this during the goals and objectives, is we have basically 80% funded from the feds. So it's pretty close to 24 million. I'll just use round numbers. and then on a $30 million project. So the city has to put in 20%, which we have been, I'll say, setting aside the last two CIP cycles. We'll set aside a bigger chunk with this coming year, starting July 1st, to do that. And so our share of this cost would be somewhere approaching, whatever the number is I put in here, I wrote this a week ago, so I'd have to come up with what that percentages, but it's roughly $380,000, something like that, that we would have to come up with from the local share. I say that in quotations because we do have additional funds that were brought to the table, as Mr. Cochran mentioned, from the state of Michigan and the county of Monroe, which we could begin to utilize those funds at any point. Up until now, we've chosen to keep it a little cleaner so that we're only tracking city funds, for now and until we get into construction. But there may come a point towards the end of this where our city allocated funds, we're going to need to start supplementing those with county and state. So we're asking, I guess, to authorize this proposal with the understanding that we could be on the hook for the full 20% of this, but our project partners may help offset that as well. So the hope is still to get some construction underway in 2027. We're going to need to have the roadway closed for pretty much a year. We're working on temporary options for pedestrian access, although we have gotten quite a bit of pushback from CSX on that. I don't know why, and we're still trying to fight through that. But the hope is that we would do the relocation of the Mason Run drain to the west sometime in 2027, and then close the roadway and complete the underpass in 2028. That's still the goal we're working towards. I think we can still get there. As we mentioned, the I-75 project is becoming a complicating factor for that because they are going to start in earnest in 2029. So kind of racing to beat the clock on that, which is why we wanted to get this moving as fast as we could. The second we get formally cleared from CSX from the concept level, we'll move right into final design. I could probably talk for another half hour about this project. I'd give you a dissertation when it's all done. I think I'll leave it there for now unless Mr. Cochran has anything else he wanted me to hit.

Okay.

Nothing further, no. Any questions or comments from council? Again, a thorough report, again, and the details and information, not just all the numbers, but understanding the process, how it goes. And also, as our last item we approved, a discussion on the Elm and Lorraine and how that kind of has a connection. So I appreciate it, Patrick. Thank you.

Yeah, and we will be allocating the funds for the construction. I think I'm going to request something on the order of a million dollars in the next CIP to provide for the remainder of our truly city-local match, and then some other things like this that may be outside of that federal eligibility, just to make sure that we're set for the next fiscal year. So you'll probably get a, there'll be a large chunk of money that I'll be requesting to set aside, and so hopefully we'll be, hopefully the project will come in in budget as well as the design has come in under budget, so. Thank you. I appreciate this. I know it's a big ask tonight, but your support is much appreciated.

Thanks. If there's no other comments, Council? Council Member Stringham.

I move that the City Council approve the attached agreement with Mannequin Smith Group in the amount of $1,739,457.40. that the director of engineering and public services interim director of water and wastewater utilities be authorized to execute the agreement on behalf of the city that the engineering department is granted the authority to make minor modifications to this agreement if needed to satisfy fra requirements and that the director of finance assistant city manager be authorized to make any necessary transfers, including from major street, local street, or municipal street fund balances, and to appropriate funds to the correct fiscal year. Second.

Motion by Councilman Stringham, supported by Councilman Stilgrave on item 6105, the West Elm Avenue Great Separation Professional Services Agreement for Final Design. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Hader? Yes. Stilgrave? Yes. Mayor Clark? Yes.

Yes. Next item, please.

I see no further items this evening, Your Honor.

Go to council comments. Councilwoman Germani.

All right. Back to school is upon us. And driving here, there's a football game over at Arborwood School, Cantrick School. And there's a lot of kids in and out of the traffic. So please be mindful of the kids in the streets. since school has started. And also, I want to remind everyone that Friday evening, the anniversary of September 11, there was a fundraiser to benefit Dave Netto for his illness connected to his rescue mission on 911 at the tunnel at the towers. That's from five to nine on Jones Avenue at $25 at the door. Go there if you can. That's all. Thank you. Thanks.

Councilwoman Stringham.

I want to wish all the families a good school year. I know everybody's kind of excited to be back in class and wish them a good school year. I want to echo the mayor's sentiment and thank you to all of the information. The packets are thorough and it's, you know, sometimes the meetings go quickly because we've already prepared because you guys are providing such good information. So thank you.

Appreciate that. Councilman Hader. I have nothing this week, Your Honor. Thank you. Councilman Stilgrave.

I just want to say that since school is in session now, that at the buses, be really careful. I just want to make sure that the public understands that if you go past that bus with the stop sign out, you're getting a ticket. And I saw that that happened this weekend. I was pretty excited that, you know, they're doing that. So that's all I have.

Thank you. Just a couple of comments. I think school, since it's mentioned, I'll throw another one we've talked about here and had work sessions on with e-bikes and e-motos. Unfortunately, there's continues to have traffic crashes that we've heard elsewhere. We don't need to have that here as well with the, but some of the youth are riding those as well as they're on their way to school. So everybody, please be, take your time, slow down, and let's just watch for everybody. Earlier in our work session today, Manager Cochran mentioned about the MDOTs having an open house on Monday. September 14th here in the council chambers at 430 regarding an update on the I-75 project, opportunity for the public, anybody to come in and look and see where we're at, talk about the lane detours and different things in the project and the timeline that they'll have. So if you're available, come here to City Hall on Monday at 430. GOES RIGHT IN LINE WITH THE WORK SESSION PRESENTATION. I WANT TO THANK THE STAFF FOR GREAT WORK THROUGHOUT THE PAST YEAR, AND AS WE MOVE FORWARD, IT WAS ABOUT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AND OUR VIEW, AND TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGER COCHRAN FOR PUTTING IT TOGETHER AND PRESENTING. THOSE THAT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN HERE, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU GO ON TO THE CITY'S SITE OR YOU wherever you can find it. And watch, it is an hour and a half, but there's talks about all the goals and objectives, and you can find it on YouTube as well. This, on Sunday the 20th, that'll be before we meet again, at 1 p.m., the American Cancer Society that has their 2026 Relay for Life. This year they'll be at the Frenchtown Event Center, and that's on Sunday, September 20th at 1 p.m., as they do their Relay for Life, and hopefully there's those who can join in support of that cause. LAST IS A THANKS FOR THE LABOR DAY PARADE AND THE DOWNTOWN ACTIVITIES. IT WAS FABULOUS TO SEE NOT ONLY THE ACTIVITIES AND JUST SEE EVERYBODY THAT WAS HERE. SO THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS FOR THIS EVENING.

I just have two things. Just a reminder that the I Voted Sticker contest is in full swing. So again, if you know any young artists or you know anyone who works with young artists or just kids that you know in the neighborhood or something, please encourage them to participate. Additionally, there's been a couple of references to the material in the packets and how thorough it is. So just a reminder that that information, that same information is available to the general public and it can be obtained and accessed through our website on the agendas section of the website. Or if you are having some challenges finding it or you need some additional information, just please contact the clerk's office and we'll be happy to help.

I guess I want to throw a thanks there as well because it doesn't get published and doesn't get recorded without the Clerk Treasurer's Office and her staff as well. So, you know, they're very engaged with the administration as we produce the agenda and all the packets. So, thank you again.

You're welcome.

Manager Cochran.

Nothing further this evening, Your Honor.

Very good. Next is citizens' comments. We'll take comments from those present here this evening. Just be mindful of the rules of the chamber, your name, jurisdiction of residence, and three minutes. Any comments from those present here this evening? Yes, sir.

James, 633 Stone Street. We had a storm, a small storm this past weekend, and we had wire die. I'm on Stone Street by Larson's Bar and where Duffy's used to have a big light up that says Duffy and it's not there anymore and we got lights out on that street and they had tape across the street because we had a wire down and people was running through it because they couldn't see it. And this was at 629 Stone Street where the light is out at. And I want to see if we can get something done about that. And it's surprising that that's all I got to say.

Well, I appreciate letting us know, and I see Mr. Lewis and Manager Cochran have taken notes on that to make sure we get a call to see that we get that repaired, whether it be through DT or how it gets done. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Other comments from those present here this evening? Yes, sir. Name and...

My name is Edward Schwartz. I live at 526 West 7th Street. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of the Monroe County Commissioners. Last week they voted to correct the error regarding the surveillance cameras, the flock surveillance cameras that have been installed. The county voted to begin the dismantling of that system. It's been an experimental system. They did it for a couple of years, and they've come to the conclusion that most normal people have that it's unnecessary. The world is fine. We live in Monroe, Michigan. Whatever level of policing we've had for the last 50 years that I've lived here, it's fine. It's a little utopia. So I just want to let you know that hopefully in a few months I can come back here and tell you how proud I am of you because you did a great job and you recognize the problem that normal people don't want to use taxpayer dollars to do surveillance on themselves and their neighbors. especially when it's not necessary, because everything is fine. The world's fine. We live in a great place. We don't need it. Thanks for your time.

Thank you for your comments.

And if you do have a response, I'd be happy to hear it if you've got something to say. If not, though, I'll be proud of you in a couple months.

Other comments from those present here this evening? Seeing no further comments, the motion... It's a motion by Councilman Stilgrave, supported by Councilwoman Germani to adjourn. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilperson Germani? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Hader? Yes. Stilgrave? Yes. Mayor Clark?

Yes. Thank you all for being here this evening.