City Of Muskegon Commissioners - Regular Meeting

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The meeting is starting. We're live. Okay. Thank you.

Good evening. Good folks. Welcome to the city of Mskegan City Commission general session for this Tuesday, February 10th. Before we get on with our business, uh remind folks, we do have a few different public comment periods. Um looks like we don't have any public hearings tonight, but we do have um public comment on agenda items. So that's towards the beginning of the meeting. Uh that's an opportunity for folks to give input on anything that's on our agenda this evening. We also have a public comment period at the end of the meeting and that's on anything you wish to share with the city commission. Everyone has up to three minutes to provide their remarks whether they're in person or by phone. We do accept phone and comments. I'm going to give that phone number right now just so you have it at the ready, but please do not call in just yet. Uh that phone number is 2317246721. When we get to public comment period, um the phone number will be scrolling at the bottom of the screen and I'll be sharing it again at that time. Um public comment is an opportunity for folks to give their input directly to the city commission. It is not a time for Q&A or or back and forth dialogue. we can arrange a separate time to have that um those conversations take place and get any answers to questions that folks might have. Um before we get started with our business though, we are going to uh have prayer followed by the pledge of allegiance. If you wish to join us in either of those activities, I ask that you stand if you're so capable of doing so. And we have Pastor Dwayne Bennett from the Mount Zion Church of God in Christ joining us this evening to lead us in prayer. God, we thank you this day. We thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your kindness, your grace, and for your mercy. God, we thank you for this gathering of civic leaders and the community to discuss business of this city. God, I ask that you lead them and guide them. God, cover us with your blood and hide us behind the cross. God, I pray safety on our community during this winter months and even when we go into the spring and summer. And

because you're doing it, we say thank you. We give you honor and we give you praise. It's in your son Jesus name we pray. Amen. [clears throat] 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. Thank you, pastor.

May we have roll call, please? Commissioner Cochen, here. Commissioner Sinclair, here. Mayor Johnson here. Commissioner Kilgo absent. Vice Mayor Kenir absent. Commissioner German absent. Commissioner Jackson here. Thank you. We just barely have quorum to proceed with our meeting this evening. Have quorum. Um someone seated. Yeah. Um yeah. Yep. All right. Um Yeah. So, all right. We have starting off with recognition.

Uh there you are, sir. And Kyle, you want to come up and present to you?

So, we have a proclamation and recognition of our park staff. The microphone's here. I'm going to read it from here, but I'll I'll come up there to get it to you. Um whereas Hackley Park is a cherished public space and a focal point of community pride within the city of Mskegeegan. And whereas during the holiday season, the appearance and atmosphere of Hackley Park play an important role in creating a welcoming festive environment for residents and visitors alike. And whereas the dedication, creativity, and professionalism of city staff contribute directly to the quality and success of these seasonal efforts. And whereas Tim Duba, Jeremy Hoogal, David Bailey, and Justin Prowent devoted significant time, skill, and effort to the planning, installation, and maintenance of the holiday decorations at Hackley Park. And whereas their teamwork and commitment to excellence enhanced the beauty of the park and brought enjoyment [snorts] and holiday spirit to the community. Now therefore, I, the mayor and city commission of the city of Mskegegan, the magnificent city of Mskegegan, do hereby proclaim recognition and sincere appreciation to Tim Duba, Jimmy Hoo, David Bailey, and Justin Prowent for the outstanding work on the Hackley Park holiday decorations and commend them for their dedication, teamwork, and service to the community. Well, thank you. I'll come on down there. [applause] get copies.

Yeah, we'll be signs. [laughter] [clears throat] All right, we don't have any public hearings scheduled for this evening. Uh, do we have any federal, state, or county partners in the audience that wish to give any updates? I don't see any. Uh, we're going to go on to public comment on agenda items. I don't know if we have any on agenda items. No.

All right. Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to give public comment on an agenda item or items? Seeing no takers, you got an agenda item? I do.

Uhoh. Mr. Hoodie, your agenda item with regarding to the beach, is that in reference to item H on the consent agenda?

Okay, thank you. All right. Got one request to speak on an agenda item. And so we're going to welcome up Darlene Dhoodi joining us from the city of Norton Shores speaking on item H, beach warning system update. Good evening and welcome. You have three minutes to provide your marks.

Thank you. Um this summer and I go to the beach often. happened to be there when two people almost drowned separate occasions and in both cases it was people who are already in the water and in watercrafts of their own that save those people. So my point is and it has been that there needs to be signs by the pier saying that this is a rip current zone. That is where this happened. It's where people drown. It's where it continues to happen and there's no signage that says stay away from peer structures because that's where they get sucked out. So, I'm just encouraging I see you have, you know, some new technology that's coming to the beach, which is good. Um, another thing that possibly could be done, which I highly recommend, is take the pamphlet that's out here in the hall and put it on the beach so that the people that can see the colored lights comp, you know, all right, let's read about it. What are they talking about? They're talking about a rip current. And this can be anywhere along the beach, not just the pier, but that is a very, very dangerous area. So, I'm just saying I hate to see anybody drown. And fortunately, there were other people who are very skilled that saved those people because there's time factor that the emergency vehicles can't get there in time. [clears throat] And fortunately, these other people were right there on the scene and they saw it happen and they, you know, helped these people. I think you gave a citation or, you know, merit a citation to the people that did help the one. So, anyway, thank you. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hoodie. appreciate you joining us this evening. All right, is there anyone else that wishes to give comment on an agenda item or items? All right, we're going to go to the phones. The number is 2317246721. This is public comment period on agenda items. Um, if you have something to share with regard an agenda item, uh, please state your name and which item or items you're speaking on and make sure you have any audio in the background turned down, uh, so we can hear you and there's no, uh, echo or or audio disturbance. [snorts] And if you're a city of Moskegan resident, which neighborhood you're calling from and if you're not a city of MSK resident, which other township, village, or city you may be calling from. We'll give that a few moments.

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Right. Does nothing wave takers for phone and comments on agenda items. Moving on to consent agenda. Commissioners, you've had an opportunity to review the consent agenda. Are there any items that you wish to have removed for separate discussion and vote? Commissioner Cochin. Before we do that, I did notice that uh Commissioner Cook showed up. Do we want to do the official updates? Um yes, we can we can welcome her. We did move beyond that, but we will welcome you up here. Um, we will reverse course. I'm sorry, I missed that. I was looking up ahead at the public hearings. My bad.

Yeah. No, we will reverse I was going to invite you up because this should I don't want to drink this. Never mind. I was going to say come speak under any other uh, you know, at the end, but no, we'll welcome you up right now if you do have uh, updates to share with us. Commissioner Cook, thank you so much, Commissioner Coachin and Mayor Johnson. I appreciate it. I'm Jessica Cook, um, county commissioner for district 6, which includes a large portion of the city of Moskegan, and just wanted to obviously, um, I think this is my first meeting this year. So, congratulations, Commissioner Jackson. Glad to have you here.

And, um, just wanted to give everyone an update. Um, I'm sure you heard the news that the very sad news that our county commissioner, Daryl Paige, passed away last Saturday, um, December 31st after serving as a county commissioner for the city of Moskegan Heights and part of Norton Shores in Moskegan for three and a half years. And it was such an honor to serve with um, an amazing leader who who leaves a lot of of mourning people behind um, this month. So, um we had 30 days as a commission to appoint a replacement before it moved to special election. And um just an amazing outcome last week at our first county commission meeting when we had um complete bipartisan unanimous support to appoint Kim Sims, former mayor of Moskegan Heights, to take Commissioner Pa's spot. and right now she is slated to be sworn in on March 5th. So really excited that um the part of the city that Commissioner Sims will represent and city of Moskegan Heights and Norton Shores will have a great public servant stepping in to fill the term through the rest of 2026. And then there will be an part of the regular election with the August primary and the September general election will um be filling that seat permanently. So Kim Sims interim and we'll see what happens for next year. So that's my update. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Cook. appreciate that update and um is nice to always hear when you do get such a broad um support across party uh partisan affiliations um and expecting a a quality person to fill out that term. And um our condolences to our friends at the county um on the loss of not only a good man but a great public servant and our condolences to Commissioner Page's family. All right. Uh consent agenda commissioners and the items. Uh Commissioner Sinclair, item B and H

there. No. Commissioner Cojan. Yes. Uh item E, F, and G. All right. If there are no others, I would entertain a motion to adopt the consent agenda minus items B, E, F, G, and H. So moved. All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Sinclair, supported by Commissioner Cochen. There's no discussion. Roll call, please. Mayor Johnson, yes. Commissioner Jackson, yes. Commissioner Kosan, yes. Commissioner Sinclair,

yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Item B, hosting ordinances on Municode site. Commissioner Sinclair. Thank you. I move to approve staff to sign an agreement with Municode to host the city's ordinances. Support. All right. All right, we got a motion by Commissioner Slair, supported by Commissioner Cochen, and this is being reported out by our city clerk handling this. All right. [clears throat] Uh, could you please, for those that might not know, kindly introduce yourself and please report out on this item?

Yes, I am Ann Mish. I'm the city clerk for the city of Mskegegan and um Mutode is a company that we have worked with for several decades um that um hosts well they um put our ordinances in an appropriate um fashion and uh for us to post and currently we host them on our own site. Uh this change is what hundreds and hundreds of other municipalities do is that we're going to we want to host them on um the MUN code site uh for it's a reasonable cost. I think it's around $1,200 um every year and it offers us more search capabilities and I think it's going to be better for residents who and then we can also look at every so if we're like trying to compare other ordinances I think that's really nice too um and we're trying to get away from hosting them on our website as their technology seems to be um better I mean I think RIT has done an amazing job with it but just that has more capabilities um because this is what their focus is.

Thank you madam clerk see Mr. manager has something to add? Yep. Um clerk did a great job of uh explaining the the new service. One of the really cool things, and I've worked with this in other communities, is that you can actually link um send emails with links of specific parts of the code to people so they know what you're talking about. Um it's searchable. Uh so it makes it a little bit easier for the public to navigate it. Um and update. So, and we're going to be looking at the zoning code, too, which will be coming later. Um but this so this would be for the non-zoning code right now. So, thank you, Commissioner Sincler.

So, these are things that are not necessarily exciting to most people. Um, but I am really excited about this because I spend more time than I'd like to looking up ordinances and codes and like what are the rules around this thing and people ask me questions and I don't know what the answer is because our ordinance is a a very dense document and it is not easy to navigate in this format and I am endlessly frustrated by trying to find answers for people. So, I'm I'm really excited to see this happen. And um I think the more accessible these sorts of pieces of information are for people, the better our community is going to work because if you don't know if you don't know how things are structured, it's really hard to know where improvements can happen and and where the barriers are. So, I think that this this is a really good step to making um transparency easier around what are our rules. So, thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Zinc there. Commissioner Coen.

Uh yes. So, um I could echo that sentiment almost exactly. Um I was originally going to pull it off, but then I realized we had very few members and I was like, well, it'll be okay if it just goes through. But it is really exciting. You know, if you're a nerd, it's very exciting stuff. Um the the price point I thought was also extremely reasonable. And um I do love that we can send those links, Mr. Manager. That's appreciated. But I think the searchability function will make it a lot easier for our users at home to be able to find answers to I got this citation in the mail and here's this code. What does that exactly mean and how do I fix that? Um, and the other question I did have in regards to this is, uh, madam clerk, you had mentioned maybe moving the zoning to it in the future. Would that be an additional 1,200 per year?

Um, so the original cost is going to be more, and that's something that um, uh, our planning director will be bringing forward to you. But the first time when we actually move uh, such a document, it's going to it's going to be substantially more. Um, and then once it's part of it, I don't know if it's actually going to cost us more because then it'll be just part of our whole ordinances. So, I I don't think so. Okay. But we're not anticipating [clears throat] massive increases in fees or anything like that. We're going to have a one-time fee that's going to be uh definitely larger that will be coming at you, but once it's done, it's done. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Goen. Commissioner Jackson, do you have anything to ask or add on this item? No. Nope. All right. Uh, roll call, please. Commissioner Jackson,

yes. Commissioner Cochen, yes. Commissioner St. Clair, yes. Mayor Johnson, yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Item E, automated benchmarking service agreement with Michigan Green Building Collaborative. Commissioner Coachin. Yes. Uh, I move to approve the automated benchmarking service agreement with the Michigan Green Building Collaborative. Support. We have a motion by Commissioner Coachin, supported by Commissioner Stlair. Good evening. Can you kindly introduce yourself and please report out on this item?

Absolutely. Isabella Gonzalez, development analyst with the city of Moskegan. So, today we are talking about the approval of a one-year agreement with the Michigan Green Building Collaborative um in the amount of $1,500 to provide automated building energy benchmarking services through Energy Star portfolio manager for a select amount of uh city facilities. So, the facilities that we're going to be talking about are the water filtration plant, city hall, and the public works building. So for some background um [clears throat] in 2023 the city commission adopted a resolution uh committing Moskegan to climate action which then led to the development of our organizationalwide uh greenhouse gas inventory. This in turn then informed the city's climate action plan um which was approved and adopted in 2025 um and that establishes a roadmap for net zero greenhouse gas emissions um by 2040. So, uh, one of the key action items within the climate action plan, um, is improving how the city tracks and manages energy use across municipal buildings. Um, so through this agreement, uh, the Michigan green, I'm just going to use the acronym uh, MIGBC uh, will establish and manage uh, the city's energy start portfolio manager, which we currently do not have, and then they will automate uh, the upload of utility data from consumers and DTE. Um, additionally, uh, this this initiative is a complement of our Johnson Controls energy performance contract.

Excellent. Thank you, Analyst Gonzalez. Commissioner Cochen. Yes, thank you. Um, I really appreciate you taking the time to work on this and I appreciate the city for continuing their dedication when we are seeing other places kind of drop that dedication. So, I just wanted to bring this out to the forefront to let people know um at home that we still care about our environment and trying to make sure that our buildings are efficient and helping to save greenhouse gases. Um, and if we can't track it, we can't fix it. So, that's why this is important and I appreciate you. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Coaching. Commissioner Sinclair Jackson, either one have anything to ask or add? No. No. All right. Thank you. Um, and on this thing, just a note, I did ask our city manager if we can get um updates in April, like around the one-y year anniversary of our adoption of the climate action plan, so we can get updates on uh, you know, progress we're making, where we stand, and what our outlook is. All right, there's nothing else. Roll call, please. Commissioner Jackson, yes. Commissioner Cochen, yes. Commissioner St. Clair, yes. Mayor Johnson, yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Item F, MD dot local agency agreement for Apple Avenue. Commissioner Coach.

Yes. I move approval of a contract with MDOT for the reconstruction of Apple Avenue from Webster Avenue to Home Street at approval of a resolution authorizing the DPW director and clerk to sign the contract. Support. We got a motion by Commissioner Coach and supported by Commissioner Sinclair. Good evening. Kindly introduce yourself and please report out on this item.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. Dan Vanderhigh, director of public works for the city. Uh, I've been before you a number of times now uh talking about uh the Apple Avenue uh reconstruction project. Although the city's not uh in charge of the construction or the design or or many parts of the project, we were able to partner with MDOT in order to include various improvements. Uh the outcome of that, as we've talked about, is that we do owe some money as a part of the project. MDOT sent this agreement that the city uh will enter into which obligates the city to those dollars formally. It matches uh the numbers that were provided to you uh in May uh when we passed a resolution of support that included uh those numbers and they're in detail uh there in the packet for you broken down by uh which fund of the city's uh many [snorts] will pay for these portions and they will come from road sewer and water funds depending on the specific items that they're paying for. The project is uh set to begin here in perhaps even as little as one month and take all year and will be quite the disruption. Uh but we anticipate it'll be quite the improvement when complete.

Thank you, Director Van. Commissioner Coach. Yes, thank you. I basically pulled this uh agenda item because I know we've talked about it a lot, but we people don't necessarily know when some of these things are coming up. So, I wanted to pull it for the general public to hear that if we sign this, we will be seeing work starting in possibly a month and it's going to be for the next year. So, folks at home, please pay attention. [laughter]

Yes. And uh we have a couple different ways that folks can learn more about the project uh if they'd like to. On February 18th from 4 to 6:00 p.m. at our DPW facility at 1350 East Keading, we're hosting an openhouse. You can learn about this project as well as many others uh that are happening this summer. and MDOT uh although they haven't scheduled the meeting have said that they plan to host a public meeting uh themselves uh more focused on very specific components of the project uh what will happen to my driveway and and questions like that but I'm sure they'd welcome the wider public to come and and learn more about the the impacts that it will have to our traffic around town as well. Thank you.

Thank you Commissioner Koshan Commissioner Sinclair or Jackson anything to ask or add? All right. Thank Vanderhood. Roll call, please. Commissioner Jackson, yes. Commissioner Coochin, yes. Commissioner Sinclair, yes. Mayor Johnson, yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Uh, next item, transportation asset management plan update. Commissioner Coochin. Yes. I move to adopt the resolution authorizing the mayor and finance director to certify to the state that the city has updated or has an updated transportation asset management plan and to adopt the updated plan.

We have a motion by Commissioner Coach and supported by Commissioner Sinclair. Good evening again. Again, Dan Vanderhid, director of public works for the city. Uh this item is uh an update to a plan that the city already has on file with the state, but we're obligated to update it every three years. So this plan is called the transportation asset management plan. It has a couple different components to it. Uh it has a road asset management plan, a bridge asset management plan, and a few others. But alto together uh the intent of the plan is to help the public and the city understand what assets we own, what condition they're in, and make a plan to take care of them going forward, making sure that we have uh funding to do so and a plan in place uh to make improvements as they are necessary. [snorts]

Thank you, Director Vanheim. Commissioner Cochen.

Yes, thank you. So, um is this just a state that we have a plan to make a plan or do we have a plan that we will be seeing presented soon? This is the plan. The plan is in your packet. Uh and it is the plan that is both obligated by the state but then also helps direct the city's road funds. Uh which projects will be done. Um the plan is uh a little bit higher level than is useful on a practical basis. You know, from a year-to-year capital improvement planning perspective. So each year you know we consult the plan other asset excuse me [clears throat] other asset management plans we have for the water and sewer systems. We combine you know needs in all of those systems since they all affect the roads and we plan our capital improvement plan uh for six years uh is the intent and we shuffle those projects about as needs become

I understand that we had a water man break in my neighborhood today. Yes, exactly. [laughter] Thank you so much. I just want to people to know that we have are working on a plan for these things that people continue to ask me about in regards to how we are handling our infrastructure. So, I wanted to make sure that is available and will we have that publicly available where people can see it? Yes. Once the state accepts the plan, then uh it'll be on our website and theirs. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Coch. And also say it's currently on our website through the packet. So, yeah. So it's it it's in the packet so everybody can see it there too. It's 152 pages. Okay. [laughter] So bedtime reading. Yes. All right. Commissioner Sinclair or Commissioner Jackson, anything to ask or add? Not at this time.

No. All right. Thank you. Roll call, please. Commissioner Jackson, yes. Commissioner Cochen, yes. Commissioner St. Clair, yes. Mayor Johnson, yes. Motion passes. Thank you. All right. Next item. Beach warning system update. It's a contract before us. Commissioner Sinclair, I move to authorize staff to contract with Swim Smart Technology based on their prop, I'm sorry, on their proposal for upgraded electronic beach safety signage and notification system. Support. All right. Uh, we got a motion by Commissioner Sinclair, supported by Commissioner Jackson. Good evening, sir. Kindly introduce yourself. Please report out on this item.

Good evening. I'm Cocker Chesky, director of parks and recreation for the city of Moskegan. Um, so what we have here, well, first of all, you can see our beautiful beach. Um, this is one more component to the parks capital improvement plan that um was pretty much my first priority and responsibility um when we uh re um re reimagine bringing back the parks and recck department. Um, and this we've been here about three years and so we've been working on all these projects and it's it's time to um to make upgrades at our beach. So what we have is um is the warning system that you currently see down at PM Marquette. Um one is on the concession stand uh at the restroom area. The other one is over at the kite shack. So what this will do is this proposal is it's with our same vendor Swims smart who is the only company like this um in the country that that has automated realtime updates for beachgoers to see what the conditions are of Lake Michigan. So what we're proposing to add is the two red X's that you see right right here um are our current stations and the yellow would be when we where we're adding more stations at. So, at the curve right at Margaret Drake Elliot, you're going to see one on your right. That's that's a big one. We think pretty much everyone going to the beach will see that. Um, one in between uh the two stations we currently have. One at each end of Beach Street um or uh Lake Michigan Park and then one at uh Cruisy Beach uh when you go down the steps hopefully um or the ramp in in the future and then um go to the dog beach. And so, so we really want everyone who goes to a beach in the city of Moskegan on Lake Michigan to know what the water action um is going to be like. And so what not not only does it give us an on beach presence um there's

an extra layer where we can where we're going to have an online hub so beachgoers if they're not sure if they want to come out that day or if they just they just want to see an update um or want to make some plans they can see what what the current status um of our beach is like. So that's not just going to tell you air temperature and water temperature. You're also going to see um what the status is of those beacons on our beach. Outside of this, we also have a big communication plan uh moving forward to to put this out because we do know um from the feedback that we received from our master plan that um survey that helped us guide us to these improvements um there a ton of visitors gave us a lot of feedback um as did our residents. Um, and so all of this feedback for us to to have a new um or an improved beach warning system. We want to make sure that um so that's that's the whole thought is that if you're um if you're if you're not from around here and you're staying at an Airbnb or going to restaurants and you're around town, uh we want to have QR codes and communications out there showing you what those lights mean when you come to the beach so that it's not just a light that you you drive [snorts] by and think it has to do with traffic. It's um we have a quite quite the effort uh moving forward to improve those. So, uh that's that's a big part of what the parks and recck department has been working on during this this offseason. Uh we're ready to kick it off by Memorial Day weekend um with with our new systems. So, [clears throat] this is it's a four-year package, and that's it's coming at about $24,000 per year. And what that gives us is it gives us a partnership with Swims Smart so they can actively be updating it um and providing new software and hardware um because currently when we do have issues at the beach, we have to pretty much scramble to get Swims smart um a an agreement or get an invoice from them to come and

service it. Um but now it's constantly being serviced and updated. um by Swims Smart. Swims smart also has buoys that'll be in the water that will not only tell us the temperature and the but it will also send real time data to Noah in Grand Rapids, which is who automates this system through Swims smart. So, so we're we're constantly giving feedback to help improve um what the information that Noah is gathering. There's also the ability, as you can see here, there's a camera that we'll be able to have a camera um on the top of the water filtration plant that'll be able to give you a good idea of what um what the the conditions and the um the beach traffic is like at that is is like at that time. And you know, we talked in length last night, so I'll open up to the commission for any more questions.

Thank Thank you, Director Keski. Uh, Commissioner Sinclair, thank you. I um you did a great job showing this last night. I just wanted the folks that had not seen it. Um, not everyone watches work sessions and um I wanted to make sure that people understood what this was for. it is not an insignificant investment financially and um it it's a big upgrade from what we currently have and I think it's a it's an ambitious plan to keep people safer. So I just wanted people to have the information.

Thank you. Commissioner Sinclair there. Commissioner Jackson, do you have anything as a supporter of the motion? Do you have anything to ask around at this time? Um, I just really liked the idea that you had of having um kind of a beach safety mascot. So, I hope that um you actually create that and then you'll implement that as well because I think that's very important because a lot of people um especially young children here don't know how to swim even though we have a beautiful big lake right next door to us. Um, so I think that would be great along with this program to help eliminate some of the risk that they have coming down to the beach.

We have created Sandy the safety seagull. Um, who will be kind of like I said last night, the whole point is to put these big pictures and uh bright colors next to these lights and next to our communications so that if parents might walk by and ignore it, kids will hopefully drag their guardian over to see what this what this light means, what this character is. Um, and then, you know, just one extra way for us to try to make sure that people are are seeing it and paying attention to the warnings. Yeah, I think that's great because I still remember the Dalmatian from the fire safety stuff. So, I think if I can remember that still, I'll I think the kids will remember Sandy the seagull.

Thank you, Commissioner Jackson. Uh, not not only do I like the intent of the the mascot what is, but I I love theiteration. I'm just a a [laughter] fan for alliteration. Um, Commissioner Koshan, do you have anything to ask Brad? Um, I I do. Um, one of the things I wanted to ask was in regards to the Swimmart Smart products, have we looked at other Swims smart products that they have in regards to things like Mr. Hoody was talking about with having some kind of signage near the pier um that would help indicate that you can't go over there or

Yeah. Yeah. Well, signage for Ripcurren is it's definitely signage that we can can get out and and have near the pier that we can create in in house whether it's, you know, through our internal DPW or or we outsource it. So, so yeah, signs like that and honestly, Swims smart, they they really we were their first customer, so we are going with them along the way to help them improve. Um the the other option they have is is the cylindrical poles that are at Grand Haven um State Park. And so we we thought this might be um just from the feedback we had from our our residents from our surveys that a system like this was what they were a little little more into. But yeah, as far as you know signs and that that's one thing we've been working on as well with this communication is having not too many signs but signs where you need them.

Yeah. No, I appreciate that because I it has been brought up and I actually tried to bring it up with the city manager last night about having signage down near the near near the pier. So it's obviously relevant. [laughter] Yes. It appears a very important part of and I think that that you know having a visual with like this we see where the rip current and how it works. I think that's really important to that as well and I love Sandy the safety seagull and I hope that we make Sandy the safety seagull like stuffies to give out to kids. Yeah, because that would be phenomenal. Thank you, Commissioner Coach.

Thank you, Director Keski. appreciate uh not only you joining us again this evening presenting on this but um all your work uh on advancing this has been a um quite the lengthy process and uh it's been in response to what we've been hearing from our community um as well as the members of our parks and rec advisory committee has been very important to them um so I'm happy to see this moving forward and uh yay for the focus on continuous improvement thank you roll call please commissioner coach yes commissioner Stlair Yes, Mayor Johnson. Yes, Commissioner Jackson. Yes. Motion passes.

Thank you. That concludes our consent agenda. We don't have any unfinished business. We don't have any new business. Uh brings us to any other business. Mr. Manager, you have something for us? Yeah, I just wanted to thank Tim for coming out um and for all the work that you do uh and all your teammates uh in the parks department. We get a lot of compliments on that. Uh we have really great staff here, not just in the parks department, but throughout the city. Um, and it's right that we, you know, recognize them and and the the dancing trees this year we got a lot of really good feedback on. Um, so thank you, Tim. Like, where'd you get those from? [laughter]

Um, commissioners, anything else you wish to commissioner coach? I just would also like to echo that u to to Tim and his team because I have not gotten a chance to see him since they did all the work in Heckley Park. It was phenomenal this year. My daughter was just elated and so I really appreciate all the creativity and ingenuity that you guys put into it. Thank you. Trying to update little by little. Uh thank you, Commissioner Kosh and Commissioner Sinclair.

I would agree. I um had the opportunity a couple of evenings during the holiday season to happen through Hackley Park well into the evening and it was filled with families and kids playing and that's not something that you generally see in the winter in in Michigan and um it was it was clear that people were really enjoying the amenity and

um you know it was really thoughtfully done and um really inclusive which again you don't always see and I also very much appreciated the singing Christmas trees even down to the vibr that you could see on um their mouths in some of the songs. So um like the little details are just great and I wanted to make sure that we thanked you for that. Thank you Commissioner Sinclair. All right. Just looking up something. Um, Commissioner Jackson, do you have anything to share under any other business?

No, just also thank you for the holiday display. I wish we could leave it up all year long, but then it would ruin the holiday magic, but I definitely think it adds something to the park. I do like that we leave the the the wintry lights up still, so still have some pizzazz and sparkle. That's our goal. I'm working with DBA to on Western Avenue to do more of White and Snowflake so that we can bring people downtown instead of having everything cut off at January.

This way we have the flow to bring everybody downtown. Normally February, March, it's kind of a blah blah month and it's like, "Oh, wait. We got light. Let's just travel. Let's cruise Western Avenue like they used to." [laughter] Yeah. We'll take we'll take as much light and sparkle and uh uh uh cheer as we can get uh over the the winter months. That can be rather challenging. Uh so, thank you.

Yep. Um, we've already acknowledged the passing of Commissioner Page. And on that point, um, one, I want to thank our city manager for being able to make, um, Commissioner Pa's funeral. Um, I unfortunately was out of town. I had to conference in Lancing that I had to get. I wasn't able to be there. Um, but I appreciate Mr. Manager being there to represent our city. Um, to show not only care for the family and everyone affected by his passing, but how meaningful uh, Commissioner Page was to our city. Um he served in numerous capacities over the years. Previously as mayor of Mske Heights on the council of Msk Heights Mske commission, but he um served the greater Moskegan community so very well and was just a good good man and his loss is definitely being felt in our community. Um, and I would propose that we consider, and we need to talk with our neighbors in Mskin Heights, um, but I would propose that we consider finding an appropriate um, stretch of road that connects MSG and Mskin Heights uh, for consideration of adding an honorific um, to recognize or memorialize Commissioner Paige. Um, it would be nice if we could find somewhere along the the boundary of Mskin Heights and and have [clears throat] that be on both extend to both sides of Moske and Mskegegan Heights boundary. Um, now something to celebrate. Um, one of Mskin's very own Anthony Bradford just participated in the Super

Bowl and was on the winning side of the Super Bowl um with the Seahawks. Uh but not only that, but um Mr. Bradford holds a distinction of playing on teams that not only won the Michigan State Championship, uh but the uh national college collegiate championship um and the Super Bowl. Um and so it's quite quite a feat and we wish to congratulate uh Mr. effort and his family and celebrate with him and um we look for future opportunities to be able to celebrate as a community. I hear that um there will be something uh in the works uh uh down the road and so keep an eye out for for that and how we as um a community can celebrate the accomplishments um of one of our very own special person. So thank you And we're going to go on to Oh, and I was remiss in not recognizing a big red. He said he went on to the Michigan State Championship, but as a Big Red. So, one of our one of our very own Big Reds. Uh, first up, we have Diane Stark joining us from the Lakeside neighborhood. Good evening and welcome. You have to three minutes to provide your remarks.

Thank you. As a citizen of the United States, I urge you, our elected officials, to oppose the actions of our federal government and refuse to comply with the unconstitutional edicts of the president who ignores the legal propriety of his office and who ignores the needs of the American people. Further, I urge you to issue written statements and spoken positions that identify the violation of our basic legal foundation and accuse the current administration of its very callous and greedy disrespect for democracy. The human rights and equality, basic commitments of our democracy guaranteed in our constitution are not held in esteem by this administration and its puppet regime. The current state of our public affairs is parallel to the Nazi government preWorld War II, and it was only able to be stopped by other governments waking up to the travesty that was being perpetrated by a madman with an insatiable greed for power. The president has disabled the three branches of government so that there is no balance of power. He has vilified one sector of the population so they are hunted down and removed like the Jews in Nazi Germany. He deserves no respect. He has betrayed his office and he spreads lies about anyone who opposes him. And if he leaves the country, why should he be allowed back in since he himself is a convicted felon? How can a government that has so badly let the American people down be brought to accountability? That's what I'm asking you to stand for. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Stark. Appreciate you joining us this evening. Next up, we have Pat Jones joining us from the Jackson Hill neighborhood.

[cough]

Good evening and welcome. Good evening. Thank you. I'm here this evening. I've been here before and uh it's good to hear you honor those who've served in the past and recognize their contributions. You know, even when I I said smile when you were even talking about Cruzy Park, some of you probably weren't even born then, but I had the honor of working with him. I had the pleasure also. I think I served with Daryl Paige 12 years.

But you know what's happening if you don't die all your service you see just like the John Halman building. He was a great man. you know, uh, taught me a lot about, uh, I learned I learned politics while nursing because he was my patient. Uh, I worked at Hackey Hospital as a nurse, a RN for 24 years. Uh, I've been blessed to still be here at 69 years of age. I hold I think the youngest the title of the youngest council member ever elected in the city of M the county of Moskegan city commissioner at 26 years old I served 18 years and today I'm here to tell you as I've been here before as a senior we're missing the mark you know and one day I looked around and I saw all the hard work me and others had put into place was falling down you have a company, a construction company, I believe KMG Prestige, they're building, they own the Birkshshire, they own the 1020, they own the da da da, they bought up all the other apartment complex, and I think they're building the new complex over there. These people we're letting into our city. Into Yeah, it's my city now. Into our city. These people uh don't give a darn about who they're building it for. They're just putting places there for poor, senior, or anyone that they can take and trick out of money. They're putting less than habitable buildings up. And who do I run to? I came here once asking this commission, and I thank those commissioners who were nice enough to even talk to me after the meetings. Uh, Commissioner German, is he gone?

He's not here with us this evening. He's never here. He's never here. Uh he treats you like he treats me. I've called him several times. We were supposed to meet up. That never happens. Um they continue to rent less than capital places. I I do give praises to the rental department. They did come out and they looked at like boarded up windows. Those things that were obvious that they had to act on, they acted on. But they weren't there when I went over six months without with with the garbage backing up through the disposal until I finally just shut it down, which was part of, you know, my contracting getting paying $1,000 for. I'm through.

Unfortunately, that is your time, Miss Jones. Um, but we can continue the conversation after the commission meeting. Okay. I can go back to my yard where they've set my things out during the blizzard. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Jones. Appreciate Next up, we have Andrea Ginong. I don't know how you pronounce it. I'm giving a little Frenchness to it, but joining us from the Nelson neighborhood. Welcome. You have three minutes to provide your remarks.

Thank you. It's G, by the way. Close enough. Um, yes, I'm from Nelson neighborhood. I'm newer to Moskegan. Uh, moved here the last year or so. Um I guess I'm here today to speak on the behalf of our one of our underserved portions of our community which is our unhoused friends um in Moskegan. So those of you that are unaware, some of you are u me and Pastor Lisa from Covenant Community Church um opened an overnight warming center um on January 21st. We did this for 11 days or 10 nights, 11 days. And um over the course of those nights, we ended up uh serving 253 people um on 10 evenings. 178 men, 75 females. Um our slowest night, which was the very first night, was nine guests. Our busiest night was 37 people. Um [sighs and gasps] there's many things that I learned from providing this temporary overnight center. Um, obviously this is my first time doing this. I've never done this before. Um, but the main most important thing that I learned was that our unhoused friends are people too. Um, and they're also a part of our community and they're often forgotten, left behind. Um, the other thing I learned is each person has a unique story. Um, and deserves to be heard. Um, because they've not always been unhoused. This is something that does not happen overnight. Um I guess that I and the third thing I learned was everyone deserves a home. No one deserves to be hungry and everyone um deserves to be warm and not cold. So I guess my question is that I have for the city is why is our community stepping up and helping our unhoused friends? And I am curious to know what the city is doing to help on the behalf

of this problem. It's a crisis in Moskegan County. We have um from the small statistical facts that we found, we know of at least 150 people that are unhoused and that's not including the people living in their cars that are maintaining jobs. Um [snorts] so I'm asking the city, how can you help? How can you help our community members? Um help provide for our our other communities. So Covenant Community Church and the Giving Table put this together in 5 hours. We literally put together a shelter in 5 hours. I called Pastor Lisa at 1:00. By 8:00 p.m. we were opening our doors. So, if we can do it, I encouraged Moskegan County to do it um and to establish some form of a code emergency blue in extreme weather conditions to open an overnight shelter um for emergency weather which we face all all winter long. So, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Gagman. We appreciate you joining us this evening. Next up, we have Linda Norton joining us from the city of Norton Shores. [clears throat]

Good evening. Good evening.

The topic I want to address tonight is the problem of homelessness. I've spent all week trying to decide what to say, how to say it. How do I address my concerns to a city council who have taken no noticeable initiative of their own to do anything about it? How do I sway their hearts? Between 2023 and 2024, homelessness increased by 18%. The largest jump in the history of the point in time count. From 2018 to 2024, the increase was 40% with family homelessness rising by 39%. Since 1985, rental prices have increased 149% while income has grown only 35%. Grants and assistance to eliminate the problem have been cut. So, individual cities will have to step up to fill the void for the monies. The myths of home of homelessness is frustrating. Please do your research on it. A homeless person is most often a very deeply hurting person. addiction, mental illness, job loss, forclosure, post-traumatic stress disorder, throwaway teens, and age out teens to mention some legitimate causes of homelessness. Our society has no exit plan for foster children who age out at the foster care age of 18. As a pediatric nurse, I saw firsthand how broken our foster care system is. Worst case scenario of child abuse that we saw in our practice was within a foster home. A foster child in Fruitport recently lost her life at the hands of her foster mother. We saw infants born already addicted to drugs. I hear it said that we all come into the world the same. No, we do not. We all have the same opportunities. Realistically, we do not. Child haven taught me that approximately 31 to 46% of um youth who age out of foster care experience homelessness or housing instability by the age of 26. The risk is so high that some researchers describe the foster care system as a highway to homelessness. Within a year of aging out, 81%

face severe outcomes including homelessness, incarceration, or early death. I would like to thank Commissioner Kosan and Commissioner Kenir for reaching out during the Covenant or the Covenant church opening. I have seen a lot of things in my lifetime, but what I have seen evolve in the last 10 years has absolutely been the worst. The reduction of empathy, compassion, and understanding leaves me heartbroken and at a loss as how to reverse this trend. Ignorance at its best is a decal I read on a truck that said, "No one cares. Work harder." To simply ignore the homeless is inhumane, represents a chosen ignorance of the problem. The solution is so easy. If the community works together, but the fact is the city has shown little to no desire to step up and help. So the question remains, what do you feel obligated to do? Frostbite, possible amput amputation, worse death by hypothermia. Are you willing to step up to help set up warming centers, um shower facilities, pantries, transportation, shelter, warmth, food, the bare minimum to survive? I pray that the city will join the citizens who are taking the initiative to resolve this problem to keep people's lives back.

Thank you, Miss Norton. Appreciate [clears throat] you joining us this evening. Next up, we have Nicole Hudson joining us from Mskegan Township. Good evening. You have up to three remarks.

Good evening. I'm not going to ask you for a warming shelter because you already know it's the right thing to do. We've covered this before. I am going to remind you that housing the homeless is going to cost you less money than policing them. I would like you to know about Gerald Fitzpatrick who has had his uh time in the hospital this month because he needs to have his fingers amputated because he also has um frostbite. And this is the the the first one this year and I've heard of two others. Okay. And then um I would like you to know about Stacy who lost his SSDI who he was he was on SSDI for 34 years. Um and he decided that he was going to go try to get a part-time job even though he was disabled because he felt like he needed something to do. And the reason that he is homeless is because um the government told him that now that he got a part-time job and he was had only been working it for two weeks, they took his benefits away completely and he's never gotten them back. Never. That's why he's homeless. I'd like you to know about Britney who got engaged to a guy that did her really wrong. She lost her place because of him. Um, I'd like you to know about Pam. She says the reason that she is homeless is because the rent is too high. She's by herself. She's been homeless for 5 years. She doesn't want to stay with people. She wants her own privacy. She gives people money for rent and they find a reason to kick her out a week or two later. She's heartbroken uh because she thought the people she moves in with are her friends, but they

find a reason to throw her out. Her partner says, "No one cares about me." He was adopted and he got kicked out of the house when he was 18 and that's why he's homeless. Then um we have [clears throat] Larry and Joe who say that they are trying to seek treatment for um addiction um and they really really need help. Uh they were living in their truck and they rented a room from someone who um they found out had animal feces all over the uh place so they had to leave. Um, then I have another woman who I pulled out of the gully a couple weeks ago. She has a child. I'm not even going to discuss the child, but I'm going to tell you that I pulled her out of the gully and she's doing okay now. What are you doing? Because dogs and cats have a home in the wintertime. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Hudson. Appreciate you joining this evening. Uh, next up we have Darling Doodi joining us from the city of Northern Shores.

Hello. Welcome back. You have three minutes to write your remarks.

Thank you. I'm here to support the homeless. Every human being is important and deserves a chance to recover from life's traumas. We are in the midst of a housing crisis. actions need to be taken to house the unhoused who are not automatically a criminal. By ensuring that everybody has housing with support, we build safer, healthier, more just communities. In Moskegan, we rely on the Moskegan Rescue Mission, a religious-based mission. Such organizations promote religion and use religion as a condition of giving shelter and support to a significant degree. They cannot legally receive public tax dollars. The legal director of the Washington DC ACLU states, "No homeless man should have religion forced upon them in order to keep from going hungry and sleeping on the street." A lawsuit by the ACLU settled this question in Washington DC in July 2008. At the time, their mission required homeless men to attend Christian religious services as a condition of getting food and shelter. The courts ruled taxpayers dollars could not be given. In 2022, the city of Moskegan provided land to the Moskegan Rescue Mission for the construction of the community resource center. Taxpayer support to a religious-based mission is not allowed by law. When the homeless are given decidedly different treatment based on their abilities and willingness for religious conversion, that's discrimination. New community homeless shelters are needed, which are low barrier entry and have no religious coercion. Temporary emergency shelters are badly needed. The new shelter should have a detailed annual report. A code blue ordinance cooperation between the county, the Red Cross, and the cities. Um, they will apply for all possible housing homeless grants. All shelter

policies and rules are transparent and public. They are adequately staffed by social workers. Trauma specialists and case records are made on every shelter guest. Hourly paid shelter staff defer behavioral problems to supervisors for amelioration. The unhoused are treated as human beings with equal rights. They are given the right to read materials of their choice as well as access to a TV, radio, music, etc. Families and pets are not separated. Guests are referred to community resources. Guests are taught important skills such as computer use, writing a res resume, etc. Guest cell phones are a personal right and are not confiscated. Adequate restroom facilities are provided indoors and outdoors should the shelter be closed. Showers and laundry facilities are provided. The shelter is free of unhealthy conditions. Meals are adequate and nutritious. Guests sleep on cs or beds, not on vinyl mats on the floor. No one is referred to as outdoor people. Smoking is allowed outdoors.

Thank you, Mr. Hoody. That is your time. And I just got off. Please [laughter] have to stick to the clock. I'm sorry. Okay. I will I will definitely obey your rules. Um I have um handouts for each one of you regarding the status of the homeless. Any handouts you can give to our city clerk and she'll distribute it. But thank you for joining us this evening. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Next we have Chelsea McKinley joining us from the city of Mske Heights.

Welcome. You have three Mr. Fed remarks.

Thank you. I just want to start by supporting the volunteers who are sharing their experiences tonight. What they're describing is real ongoing work and it carries weight. I also want to remind us that social justice is multiaceted. Uh, a warming center is critical, but it exists within a larger system. Public transportation supports employment. Safe crosswalks near the mission protect lives. Fair housing includes options like tiny homes and transitional housing. Uh, and ownership. I'll mention um uh pathways to permanent uh stability. churches are willing to help when the city enables them to do so because right now they're actually intimidated by from helping. Uh I want to gently but clearly remind the city of its obligation to all constituents both housed and unhoused. Everyone deserves safety, dignity, and access to opportunity. The code blue protocol I shared is for everybody. No one is immune to mass power outages, extreme weather, or other natural disasters. Planning ahead protects the entire community, not just those already in crisis. I also want to thank commissioners uh Coochin, Kilgo, Cleaner, and as well as Mayor Johnson for responding to the concerns and engaging with this issue. I encourage cooperation dil uh diligence uh shared responsibility moving forward. When the city works alongside volunteers and community partners, we all do better. And I will just say that we are making a great effort. But if everybody made a small effort, I do believe that nobody in our community would be in need. The the need the the the uh the means to uh uh help them would be there before their need even arrives. Um those resources should be in place before the need is even felt. And if we all cared just a little bit, um that's a

very feasible reality. So, thank you again for your time. Thank you, M. McKinley. Appreciate you joining us this evening.

This is the last form I have for public comment. Um, you have any more not down there? Uh, so there's still time. If you wish to give public comment, I encourage you to complete a form in the back of the room. Please provide your name and home address. No, I will not be sharing your home address um or asking you to announce that. That's just for our records. I will be acknowledging which neighborhood or other city, village, or township you're joining us from. But we are going to be going to the phones shortly. So, this is more just a heads up for anyone that may be waiting to call in. I will be going to the phone shortly unless anyone else pops up wanting to give in person public comment. Um, right now the final um form I have is for Cara Widom joining us from Futland Township. Good evening. You have up to three, Mr. Fried remarks.

Good evening. Thank you. Um, I I live in Futland Township and I taught in Moskegan public schools for 30 years and I'm also here to to speak to you about our unhoused population. I'm going to finish her comments first because I don't have a lot to say. Um, we would like shelters to allow smoking outdoors. Excuse me. [clears throat] Have lockers with locks that provide safe storage. Mailboxes for guests that to receive mail shelter. Daycare and a playground are freely available to all children. Basic human needs are provided including on-site clothing, personal hygiene products, first aid, etc. Um, and Pat. Okay. And now mine. Um, I'm here to ask you to pro provide more services to our unhoused population, starting with immediately establishing and implementing a code blue plan for getting our neighbors out of the cold. My parents taught me to care for all people irrespective of their status. As a psychiatrist, my dad donated one day per week to work with those without permanent homes in Hartside in Grand Rapids. He informed me that the majority of people in the United States are only one to two paychecks away from being on the streets, even doctors and lawyers. It only takes one catastrophe to go from working to without a home, an illness, divorce, loss of a job, car breaking down, a death in the family, the main bread winner being detained. Any one of us could end up out in the streets without shelter. The unhoused are people. They deserve to have their basic needs met. Food, shelter, clothing, and connection. I just recently began to get involved with the unhoused of Moskegan. My son Jesse with him and he allowed me to give his name. Thought some of you might know him. Connected me to some organizations that are helping this population. He, my husband, and I hung out at the community

covenant church when they were housing people overnight. We were there just one evening and it was beautiful. Andrea um who spearheaded the overnight sta stays at Covenant Community Church posted many videos calling for people to come to action in support of the unhoused of Muskegan. I kept watching the updates praying for some organizations to open their doors but no one was. I contacted a church in Moskegan to see if they could open the doors but they couldn't. So, I asked uh my pastor, we live in Futland Township, and [clears throat] I thought it was too far, but he said, "Of course, that's what we should be doing." So, I'm asking you um as the city of Mskegegan to also open the doors because um people need it. Uh we loved having so I'm sorry. When our church opened our our doors for one day um the whole day last Sunday, 19 people came. We had a wonderful time eating together, worshiping together, playing together. These are real people. Um, very polite, helpful, offered to take out the trash, and we're doing it again Sunday.

Thank you very much for them. Appreciate you joining us this evening. Is there anyone who has not spoken uh this evening that wishes to give public comment? Yes. Yes. Delila joining us from Lakeside. I know you love to see me coming. Welcome. Welcome. Thank you. You have three minutes. Read your I'm ready. Okay.

I didn't prepare anything because they all did. So, I just want to reiterate the um comments that my counterparts made and also thank Ken and Cat active in our mission lately. Um, and I want to recognize because I think that a lot of us may forget that that this is a county issue and not necessarily a city issue.

But I would compel you all to contact the county commissioners and talk to them about this. The reason that this is our focus, I believe, is because currently our only solution is within the city. And while they are a separate entity, they're not necessarily held to standards that all of us would expect to receive when we walk through those doors. There's a loss of autonomy, um, rights, and those rights are definitely being impeded because it's a religious organization. And this is something I hear again and again and again and again in the organizations that I work for. Um I think it's really important that reme we remember that uh somebody said this doesn't happen overnight and that's true systematically of course but it can happen overnight to any of us. Um it could be a fire, it could be a flood which is something I know we may have to deal with in potential future. So we really have to consider that this could be us in this situation. And we've had several clientele, I would say, that are truly capable human beings who are just down on their luck. And we have lots who are not necessarily capable and need resources desperately. and um having to go to a religious organization to get services or have it be one of the few places who's willing to help but under conditions is a barrier to receive help and we really really need to eliminate that barrier and that's all I have for once. [laughter]

Thank you Mr. Delila appreciate you joining us this evening. Is there anyone else who's not uh given comment yet? Wishes still still give comment yet tonight? [laughter] All right. Uh we're going to go to the phones then. That number is 2317246721. When you're calling in, please turn down any audio in the background. State your name if you're a city of Mskegan resident, which neighborhood you're calling from. And if you're not a city of Mskin resident, which other township, village, or city you may be calling in from. We have a call.

Good evening. You're with the city of Mskegan City Commission.

Hi there. This is Angel calling. Um I'm a resident of MS County, a business owner downtown. And I'm sure some know that, you know, we were able to open our doors and also contribute a little bit to this problem. And so I just wanted to speak to, you know, the ongoing efforts of our community members to solve a problem that like many of them said, we shouldn't need it to be a problem to have something in place to handle this when the issue arrives. We live in Michigan. our winters are not going anywhere and so the unhoused community members become especially vulnerable during this time and as others have said you know the issue with many churches whether it's you know working with earthwise and divine suturism I really don't understand how hard it how it's difficult for people to open their doors especially those that are in a tax-free status and this mi it is their mission to serve the community and whether that's a city issue you um like others have said, the county really needs to step up as well because this is not just an isolated issue and we community members are really ready to see Moskegan rise as a whole, but the city of Moskegan can lead the way and I think it's a little unfortunate that so many people want to just forget the history of Moskegan, forget that Moskegan was left behind on the lake shore for a very long time. And we can all speculate on why that was. But what I refuse to do is sit quietly while we watch investments come in and we forget about the culture and the heritage and the history of our Moskegan community members and and the community that they were building. the noise ordinance that we have potentially I'm not sure maybe this is a reason that people are unsure or community organizations are unsure of

whether they will have any issues because this is selectively enforced and then to sit here and watch you know I I understand that this is a this is a layered issue and so not to create blame but we just passed a $20,000 you know um order or a motion for $20,000 for signage for the beach. Some of our community members don't even make it to the beach. They hardly can even get to that side of town. So, I understand that it's important, but also it's time that our government start leading the way and the things that really matter. And our community does not just need money invested in our our city. We need healing resources for our community members. for those of us that are struggling that are are dealing with mental health and that um you know just need the community to care a little bit more. So I look forward to really working on this issue together so that he can rise together and be the true melting pot of the Midwest. Thanks.

Thank you Miss Appreciate you phoning in your comments.

Heard someone else trying to ring call in. Give a few moments. Again, that phone number is 231-724-6721. This is public comment time and we're welcoming phone in comments right now.

You have a call. Good evening. You're with the city of Moss City Commission. You have three minutes to write your remarks.

Hello. I'm calling about Moskegan Heights and the potholes in the streets. I was just wondering if you guys could please fix the holes in the streets. Um Norton Shores doesn't have it. Downtown Mosskegan, Lakeside, nobody has the big holes in the potholes in the streets like Moskegan Heights. And this has been going on for decades. We're just wondering when you guys are going to fix those big potholes because people are coming through with their tires and they're blowing tires. We call down there and nobody does anything. We had a boy that was filling in the potholes with dirt himself. He was only like [cough and clears throat] 11 years old. But we can't get in and out out of the streets. We're trapped. When it rains, we're trapped. and it's been a big problem for years and nobody's done anything and we're just wondering when are you guys going to come down here and fix these holes. So that's all I have from Moskegan Heights.

Thank you for calling in to share your remarks from Moskegan Heights. Thank you. We wait one someone else tried to calling Dr. Pi. Is he on? No.

No. Okay. Give it just a little bit longer.

He's calling. Good evening. Hi. You're with the city of Michigan City Commission. Thanks for calling in. Dr. Plety joining us from Beachwood Bluffton. You have three minutes to provide your remarks.

Okay. Thank you very much for uh having me. Uh we just finished making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless. Anyway, yeah, I think that um I just want to say that I think it's really important that our city um gets involved and augment uh what's going on with the shelter. The shelter is a religious organization that says their number one priority is saving souls, but it may be like saving, you know, surgery was successful, the patient died. Uh that sounds extreme, but the point is that we uh want to save lives first and we need to have uh some facilities and some focus from our leadership and providing uh places for people to stay not only through the day but overnight. and having adequate planning for holidays where we've missed the boat a few times or we have holidays where the libraries are closed and u so anyway I'm I'm I'm uh I'm I'm hearing that we're doing a little bit more and I'm encouraged by that. Uh we got a long ways to go and uh if anyone wants any help with some ideas, we have a big core group with Bike King with purpose. We make sandwiches every Tuesday and deliver them by bike on Wednesday. Um, and now we're putting out uh we've got u buddies and propane tanks, 20 pound propane tanks we're bringing out to camps and then the individuals to keep them alive so we don't have any fatalities or digits uh cut off. Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Pleti. Appreciate you phoning in your comments. Byebye. Give just a little bit longer for any additional phone and comments.

[snorts]

All right, sounds like we've exhausted phone and comments. Commissioners, I would entertain a motion. Motion to adjourn. Support. Thought I heard something out there. What was that? [laughter] So, um, all right. Uh, we've got a motion and and support. All in favor of adjourning, please educate by saying I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Any one of us could have stopped that. [laughter] Thanks.