City Council - Regular Meeting

20th, 2025 at 700 p.m. on the nose. Uh, please stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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. Uh, city clerk Ed Norris, would you call the role? Mayor Mlen, here. Mayor Prom Whitehead, here. Council member Edgar here. Council member Radner here. Council member Crawford here.

We have a quorum. Um before we approve the agenda, we've been requested to add item 5 L and remove item A2. L J K L L. Okay. The L number is already typed in on your uh agenda. Uh is there a motion to approve the agenda as amended? So moved. Second. Thank you. All in favor?

I. Any opposed? Motion carried. Consent agenda. The following items are routine items and presented for approval without discussion. Any council member can ask to have um one of these items considered separately. A regular city council meetings for October 9th. B request to hold a public hearing for the allocation of program year 2026 CDBG funds. C. Request authorization to enter into intergovernmental agreement with the city of Ferndale to use their southwest storage yard as a transfer station for leaf pickup. This is a regular thing. D. Approval of payment application number two to Alba Masonry Stone and Tile of Waterford, Michigan for the EventHub masonry work in the amount of $189,000. E. Approval of beautifification advisory commission meeting minutes for June 17th. F. Recycling committee commission meeting minutes for May 15th, July 17th, and August 21st, 2025. G. Payment of invoices from OM Advisors for Engineering Consulting Services for the total amount of $84,96. H. Payment of invoices from MDOT for the 2025 9mm construction project from Clover Lawn to Greenfield Road for the total amount of $16,6312. I. Update on the 2526 miscellaneous concrete repair program. J. Parks and Recreation Commission meeting minutes for August 20th and September 17th, 2025. K. New and renewal of licenses October 20th, 2025. And our new added L request

to advertise for bids for the phase 1 Tyler Park improvement project. Is there a motion to approve? So move. Uh all those in favor please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carried. Uh accounting reports. Uh we need approval for payment of invoices submitted by Garen Loco Miller PC for legal services in the amount of $15,85766. So moved. Second. Thank you. Uh discussion. Roll call, please. Council member Crawford, yes. Council member Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlullen, yes. Council member Radner, yes. Mayor Pro Tim Whitehead,

yes. Motion carried, unanimous. Um, approval for payment of an invoice submitted by Dick, Faber, and Kaplan um for legal services in the total amount of $6,500. Is there a motion to approve? So, second. Discussion or questions? Roll call. Council member Edgar, yes. Mayor Mlen, yes. Council member Rner, yes. Mayor Prom Whitehead, yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Motion carried. Thank you. Uh, city manager Eric Tongate. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of council. 8A1. I would like to ask Director Kimberly Moroni to join me at the podium to explain, please. And good evening.

Good evening, Mayor City. Is it on? It's on. Yes. Okay. Yep. I'll try and talk louder. Sorry. Um, in front of you tonight is a request to approve uh Oak Park Corridor improvement authority facade improvement grant funds uh for Get them Clean Sneaker Service located at 24709 Coolage and they are a new business that opened recently in the city of Oak Park and would like to install signage at their location. And the facade grant does allow uh for funds to be used for new signage for new businesses only. Um so we are requesting that you approve the grant in an amount not to exceed $2,195.

Repeat the amount. 2,195. Okay. Thank you. Uh is there a motion to approve this facade grant? Second. Um discussion or questions? Crickets. Yes, Mayor. I have Yes. Uh Council Member Julie Edgar. Um could you tell us a little bit about the business, where it is, what they're planning on doing?

Yes. So, the business started in their own home and they cleaned sneakers and other shoes. Um found that they were b very busy and needed to find a brick and mortar and open the location on Coolage. Uh, so it's, as you know, many kids nowadays collect sneakers and want to keep them clean. So they found a new niche in the market and opened their location here in Oak Park. And the grant funds are going to be used to purchase a sign for their building. Remember the days when it was cool to have dirty sneakers? I do. Not anymore. I actually do sell dirty sneakers now.

Yeah. My wife has a pair. It's It's like a niche market, actually. Oh, really? I was not aware of that. Yeah, it's just It's crazy expensive. It's more costly to get them dirty. Um, roll call, please. Mayor Mlen, yes. Council member Rner, yes. Mayor Prom Whitehead, yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Council member Edgar, yes. Motion carried. Thank you. Okay. And we are we've removed a A2. So 8B1 we have deputy city manager of municipal services and public works Dave Doster here. Dave, please take it away.

Good evening Mayor, council, and city manager Tongate. Before you tonight is pay application 4 and change order number two for the event hub project. The construction manager, architect, and city admin administration have all approved this payment. The change orders for construction and field changes associated with this project. You may order it. You may notice it's a zero balance. Most of the funds from these change orders um have been from the allowance or the contingency for this project. So our um guaranteed maximum price of the product has not gone up. Uh our construction manager Frank Rewald and Suns will disperse these funds to the various contractors on our behalf. This payment is for a period ending September 30th, 2025 and the project is approximately 25% complete. At this time, it is recommended that payment application number four and change order number two for the event hub project in the amounts of 762,297.69 and $0 respectively to be approved. Funding is available in the event hub fund. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Okay, we need uh approval of this payment application in change order. So move second. Discussion or questions? Um can you explain the change order just briefly?

Yeah, sure. So throughout the project um we've had about 20 24 of these so far things come up through the project whether or not we need need to make a change in the field. Um this change order includes undercuts at the band shell. So we found some contaminated soil we need to get rid of. It wasn't part of the project. So it's an ad to the project called a change order that was taken out of our contingency. We've also bought out some of the products that were approved at this council months ago. Um, and some of the different trades. We've switched to we've switched to a different painting material on some of the columns. Um, due to the size of the columns, they couldn't dip them in a I think a certain kind of primer galvanizing. So, they had to switch to a different kind of paint. Um, and then we added um think there was some um we brought out some of the mechanical screening you'll see on the low deck of the building. So while they're not major change orders, they were budgeted, they were allowances within the contract that you had signed off on months ago. It's just the contractor is now uh assigning those projects to different contractors in the field. So it's called a change order, but the money was all funded and budgeted.

Any questions? Madame Mayor, just one mayor prom Sean Whitehead. Thank you, Mayor. Are we going to have TVs in the event hub? Yeah. So, one wall will have um I believe the one wall will have a 75 in the back wall, but the front wall we're planning on having like four 75 in that are all put together and to make it one big TV. So, you're saying next year we can watch Monday Night Football at the event hub? Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Okay. Um uh roll call, please. Uh Council Member Rner, yes. Mayor Prom Whitehead, yes. Council member Crawford, yes. Yes. Council member Edgar. Yes. And Mayor Mlen. Yes. Motion carried. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, Dave, I'm actually going to have you stay right there if you don't mind. Um, I do have council members. I do have a couple of updates for the Elevate Oak Park update. I believe we have a video. Correct. Okay. She's shaking her head. Yes. Right now. Here we go. This is the site, of course. Wow. Create something out of nothing. Wow. The blue is the kitchen, right? And the restrooms and the office

and the restrooms. Dave, the the paint I don't know if we can stop that real quick, but the paint is is the purpose of the paint is that some s sort of insulation or fire resistant vapor barrier. There's also insulation on the outside of that start. They actually started today. And then there's the split face block for veneer on the outside of that. And then council members, I do want to point out at on the top of that you see the screening that's being put up and that'll screen in the HVAC um systems on the rooftop there. Just make it more aesthetically appealing. Oh, great. So you don't see the air conditioning machines and all of that,

right? And this is a little bit dated now. This is the amphitheater here. Um, not showing the the roof that's been placed. Oh, now we are. There we go. Look at that. So, the wood portion of that I don't know if we can go back, but can you go back? The the wood roof of the amphitheater will be placed on top of that metal infrastructure part there. Okay. It'll be really be aesthetically appealing and that's coming along nicely. That's okay. Okay. And then we get over to I I wanted to show this is the um shelter and new restrooms over in not restrooms, the shelter and kitchen area

in Shepard Park. So, I wanted to just give you Benny um sent out a a drone to kind of get these overhead shots which I think really showcase the stuff a lot better. You can see some of the landscape. The kitchen is on the right side instead of between Yes. where you're sitting and the playground. So when you're sitting inside the shelter, you can see all the playing that's going on. That's correct. Blocked by the kitchen. Yeah. And there's a you'll you'll see I think here in a minute some of the play area playscape that's being installed too, I think. Go ahead. Do you have that? Uhoh. There we go.

And so this is this is just the ice arena. So this is completely vacated now. Obviously this will be part of a demolition project. Maybe a staging project depending on what we do with our construction manager. Um, keep keep going. Oh, staging. Oh, staging for the construction possibly. And I'm going to explain that in just a moment. And what's this?

This is just still the uh ice arena area in the parking lot area. You can kind of see the event hub in the distance there. I think these overhead shots really give you a better perspective on the projects. Okay. So, the um There we go. Is that it? Okay. Okay. So we are the event hub, you know, we we see where the progress is. We're we're everything is going at this point at least as as well as can be expected. We're moving on a pretty aggressive timeline. Yeah, I mean I think early summer is our hope to have this thing open. Um most definitely. So, um we are also today we had our uh an interview with our one of our potential construction managers uh for the community center. Um this will be we're we have one more tomorrow, Dave, and then we'll be moving towards the recommendation phase to city council for that. And from there, of course, we'll be looking to hire an architect and begin the actual design of the community center. And of course that'll be a you know probably 8 to 12 month process where the our community is very involved in determining the way that that's going to look and the functionality of it. Um and a moment ago I was talking about the possibility of using some of these existing facilities that we plan to demolish as staging areas. It we've been informed it might be beneficial to the community center project to have those serve temporarily as um lay down areas for equipment and parts and things. um which may actually save our taxpayers money in the project. So

Okay. More to come on that. Was that from the interviews that you got? Yep. Um that's all I have. Dave, is there anything else you have that you want to share? But no, I think you touched on it all. Things are progressing very well. Hopefully the weather holds off this week and we'll get another full weekend. But the weather is definitely complied and we're on schedule. So

more than complied. Yeah, it's been fantastic. Council members, I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about the Elevate program. We have a ton going on as you saw. We're getting ready to go out and begin the Tyler Park project now, too. So, the 11mi parking lot project is underway. Um, we're still on schedule for that. Um, it's coming along nicely, as I know you've seen when you've been out at events out there. So, it's exciting. I go twice a week and it's it's fun to see them finish it and and mark the lanes and it looks great and and they haven't even started with the amenities, the lights and the tables and all of that yet.

I I wanted to point out one more thing. If residents have questions um about the projects that I'm really quickly talking about here, they can go to the city's website on our homepage on the front page on the about middle right there's a button you can click on which will give you very detailed updates about all these projects going on. There's more going on than the things I've mentioned. Um and there will be even more coming up. So, thank you. That completes the city manager report for this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Next, just call to the audience. Um uh would you um

thank you mayor. Call to the audience. Each speaker's remarks are a matter of public record. The speaker alone is responsible for his or her comments and the city of O park does not by permitting such remarks support endorse or accept the content thereof as being true or accurate. Any person while being heard at a city council meeting may be called to order by the chair or the council for failure to be gerain to the business of the city vulgarity or personal attacks on persons or institutions. There is a threeinut time limit per speaker. Thank you. Um do we have cards for speakers?

We do. Uh Roosevelt House It's my first time speaking. I I live at 234 Marlo. My first question is, are you through with the dirt out there? Cuz I usually don't walk past the dirt, but I there's no dirt out there. It's through for the year. Oh, the piles of dirt. Yeah, we'll we'll we'll explain that. Yes. Did I'm sorry. the please. The um what's the dirt? I'm not I don't know what the dirt is. The the kind of mountains of dirt. Um yeah, the problem where you pick up putting your yard. Oh, the mulch. I'm sorry.

Oh, the mulch. So, um Dave Doster back there can give you specific details. Okay. Okay. And the second thing is that uh when I first moved here a couple of years ago, I know we changed garbage collection people. They used to pick my garbage earlier in the morning. Now, they don't come late at night. And be honest with you, it's Saturday night. I'm in the bed. So my garbage can't stay out all night. So I don't want to. And sometime you got to go to the east, northwest, three or four trucks on the street at the same time, but my go get picked up till I'm in the bed. That's it. Yes.

Um Mr. Hollis, so you can speak to Dave Doster about this too, but I do want to say this is the garbage pickup is something that we talk about and deal with all the time. Um they are not meeting our standards either. Okay. So, we are constantly on them to do a better job, but Dave behind you there can give you specifics about your situation. Okay, then. Thank you. Thank you,

Mr. Sherman. Uh, good evening. Ken Sherman, D384, Oops. Jerome Street, No Park. Um, you'll note I'm modeling the uh 8 mile shirt 8 mile.

Um, I have a question about ordinances pertaining to holiday decoration on residential property. I know there's signage ordinances for businesses. So my question is, are there ordinances pertaining to residential holiday decorations? Specifically, how soon can you place decorations on your property for a specific holiday? When do they need to come down as it pertains to inflatables? Is there a size limit as to how big they can be and how many you can have on your property? and um just those types of questions. So, I don't know if you'll answer them tonight or your next city council meeting, but you know, the big thing is that, you know, people start putting up decorations like a month before the actual holiday. Um and this, you know, leave them up there and then, you know, they have inflatables that are 8 or 10 feet tall. Um, and it's very, to my per, not that I'm downcasting the holiday decorations, but I think it's kind of ridiculous when you got 10 foot skeletons and 10 ft inflatables on your front lawn for a month. It's not very curb appealing. Thank you.

Thank you. So, Mr. Sherman, in addition to all the other things that Kim does for us, she also is in charge of our code division, and I know that she could very specifically answer all of your questions on that. Thank you. Daniel decoration Daniel Fosen 14520 Bishop Street. My concern is the Oak Park swimming pool. I was wondering if anyone's considered putting in if there's enough room for an Olympic size swimming pool.

Well, if there is, I'd like to see one. and you know with a jacuzzi of course and um basically you know that's about it. So if it's possible can I please thank you for your input. Um so we are not at the we are going to be building a new swimming pool. Yes. Um but the design the actual design the specifics of that design have not been developed yet. um once we get an architect on board then we will go through a community um visioning sessions where we will talk about that. So it's coming up. Will it be larger though?

I mean I that's definitely our hope. We'd like to you know obviously make it as large as possible to to meet the demands of our community. Um but until we go through those visioning sessions, I don't think we really know what we can expect at this point. Okay. But you should but I'm all for a jacuzzi pool too. I those that sounds fantastic actually. So

Okay. And there's one other problem with the Oak Park swimming pool. Right now, there's a problem in the diving section. The um where it goes deep, it goes down on an angle like this. But where the diving board is and where you come down, it's um it wasn't designed correctly. It was too close to the diving board. You didn't have enough room to go forward. You had to just go straight down where you were at. If you went forward, you'd hit the wall, you know. So, let's not already So, let's not have that same problem with the new pool, right? Yeah. Okay. But to our dirt diving area and Yeah. Okay. We hope you come to the visioning meetings and and voice your opinion and and requests.

Okay. Sure. Please. Everybody. That's everybody. I mean you. Okay. Anyone else? Nope. Um I'm going to cut my council comments real short. I was going to show you 900 pictures of um the uh trunk or treat, but I've been informed that the Lions are playing tonight and the game started 23 minutes ago. So, I'm going to pass to Mayor Prom Shawn Whitehead. Have a good night everybody. We're efficient government here. Thank you. Council member Solomon Radner.

I actually have a slideshow. Go Lions. Good night. Lions are winning by the way. Council member Dela Council Member Julie Edgar. And let's see. Huh. Thank you for coming everybody and good night. Council member Stephanie Crawford and to all of our residents. I understand that I wasn't able to make the trunk or treat. understand it was great event but with the upcoming for those who participate in Halloween just be safe and everyone uh stay warm it's going to be cold have a good evening

thank you there being no further business to come before this council this meeting is adjourned thank you Okay. So,