City Council - Regular Meeting

Ellen, you're doing the bulk of the presentation. You good? Like to call the Selen City Council work meeting to order at 5:46 p.m. on uh believe it's is it say the 5th? Excuse me. I think it was the 6th. Um members present, council members Gervar, Rice, Harmount, Deloro, Helsh, uh Dylan, and Mayor Marl. From city staff, we have the city manager, city clerk, along with the deputy city manager and community development director. Um at this time, the chair would entertain a motion to approve the agenda as submitted, unless there are amendments. So moved as submitted. Moved by Gearb. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Dylan. All those in favor of approving the agenda as submitted signify by saying I.

Oppos say nay. Eyes have it. The motion carries unanimously. There are no uh absences this evening, so we'll proceed to uh public comments. Let me make a a few brief statements uh first in the event that there's any confusion. Um this is simply a discussion item this evening to follow up on the due diligence that's been done over the past approximately 90 days on the um potential acquisition of the Davenport Curtis Mansion uh in the heart of uh of of Seline. Um this item will likely be considered for consensus and or a vote at our our subsequent meeting uh which is scheduled for next Monday uh January the 12th. We do have a decent amount of information to go through. So I would ask I can't require but I would ask that if you do have public comments or questions that you exercise some brevity. Um so we come to public comments under the open meetings act. Any person may come forward at this time make comment or questions to city council. This public comment period will be limited to three minutes per person. Anyone who would like to speak is requested but not required to state their name and address for the record. There any citizen comments please? You'll have you'll have three minutes. Why don't you begin?

So I don't think it's going to be any surprise to any of y'all. Uh oh yeah. Brett Pington 319 North Ann Arbor. I don't think it's going to be any surprise to any of y'all that uh I'm staunchly opposed to the purchase of the mansion. Um I can say, you know, I knocked on 1500 doors or something like that during the campaign. Uh I talked about the mansion at almost every door. I tried not to lead. I never heard any residents say that they were in favor of this. In fact, people seem to be overwhelmingly opposed to it. Um, and I think that the primary reason is because we have a lot of fires we're putting out right now. You know, we're we're trying to deal with the rec center. Um, we're uh we got the obviously we got the wastewater treatment plant. We have costs going up. Um, and so aside from that, I think that um I mean here, let me see here. I did a little while little looking at the packet. And uh so one of the things I noticed when I was looking through the packet is that most of the historic homes that were um reference from other m municipalities as like you know um as as giving options like a lot of those homes were um they were gifted to those municipalities. They didn't have to purchase them, you know. Um so that was one of the things I noticed. Um, I also I'm very concerned about the fact that like if we take this on instead of gaining um tax revenue, we're going to lose tax revenue. Um, this house has never hit the open market. It would probably um we would probably gain a lot of tax revenue from from, you know, letting it hit the open market. Um, and then obviously the mortgage cost monthly if we were to go that route. And I know there's different options. Um,

but if we were to go to the the mortgage route, uh, like 1685 to, uh, 1980, that's a, I mean, that's that's substantial in that that didn't include the maintenance cost. So, I think that, you know, overall, I think I encourage you guys to like, please vote against this. Please vote against this. Thank you.

Thank you. Additional citiz citizen comments. Again, you'll have three minutes. Why don't you begin? I uh I'm a kind of a knowable person. I like to gather information. And a couple things I noticed here was a there's a building in Dexter, Michigan, which kind of a small town. And they're going to, if I'm looking at correct, they're going to spend $3 billion restoring Gordon Hall, which is a kind of a [clears throat] special building like this building or in like the deport Curtis. So, there's a lot of things you can do here. I'm in favor of purchasing this building. Uh, [clears throat] there could be a lot of archaeology work you could do on the ground. You're probably going to discover a lot of things past. I mentioned that there was a I guess Lyn Curtis planted every tree in Michigan is on that property. An example, you'll see white pine white oaks and trees like that. I just I'm in favor of it. I hope you do it.

Thank you, Bob. Any additional citizen comments this evening? Again, you'll have two uh three minutes once you begin. [clears throat]

Good evening. I always wanted to try this desk. It's my first opportunity. [laughter] I'm Chuck Le 344 Curtis Lane. First of all, I'd like to say I appreciate the Curtis family allowing the city to evaluate the option to purchase Curtis Stavenport House. It's an iconic image as travelers on Michigan Avenue coming to Seline. However, in my opinion, it's just the wrong time to consider such a purchase. In a period of time when federal, state, and local grants are becoming more competitive and scarce, and foundations are having to make do with less, it could be years before the city recoups its investment on this uh purchase. In the near term, existing city assets and infrastructure are aging and in need of updates. Funding decisions will need to be made concerning Mil Pond Dam, the downtown green space, the rec center, as well as the ongoing battle with aging roads and the uh water sewer distribution system. The decision on fire authority future is also in the coming. The strategic plan adopted by the city in 2024 emphasized asset management and fiscal responsibility. Adding an almost 150year-old asset to the city while removing the largest private taxable lot in the downtown area counters fiscal stewardship. I believe the best course of action is to allow the Curtis family to place the property for sale with restrictive covenant, which will allow the uh property to remain in whatever aesthetic uh shape that the city would like or that the family would like. It's a [clears throat] shame that the timing worked out the way it did, but the city must decide on its musthaves and its nice to have asset list. Let's continue to ask. Let's continue to emphasize all the wonderful amenities and people that Seline has to offer. Thank you.

Thank you, Chuck. Appreciate your comments. Any additional citizen comments?

Good evening, Linda Tar, 108 East Henry Street. Um, I wanted to say that the Davenport Curtis House opportunity is an extraordinary moment for the city and an extraordinary opportunity for council to consider. Um, I would also note we are a city of approximately 10,000 citizens with an appetite for amenities of a city of much larger size and larger tax base. So my hope is that if council decides to go ahead with this purchase that there is a very strong carefully thoughtout plan for protecting the city's finances, not having this become a drain on the city on city finances, the city's financial stability and the ability to take care of all of the other really important things that are going. Thank you very much. Thank you, Linda. Appreciate your comments. Any additional citizen comments? I would defer to the city cler. Oh, go ahead. Quickly, please.

Carl had a 323 North Arbor Street. Um, I think in looking through the packet, I think there should be a fourth option. I think the option should be that the city tells the taxpayers what tax revenue would be lost um and or what they could expect if that land was developed. Um I I think without that information, you're basically telling us you're going to buy it without asking the taxpayers for their permission. If you're going to do that, then I would urge you not to to vote no. Um, and if you get that information, I think you should put it on the ballot. Nothing. My my father always used to say there is always a good deal. So, I don't think this is a good deal for us. Thank you.

Thank you, Carl. Appreciate your comments. One last call. Any comments from those in the audience? Then I would defer to the city clerk. Were there any written comments provided in advance of tonight's meeting which the individual wanted their remarks read at this time? Easy enough. Then we will transition to the one and only discussion item of the evening, which is the future of the Davenport Curtis home. Um, specifically the due diligence that's been done on the property over the past approximately 90 days. Um, city manager Swallow, am I going to begin with you and then will you subsequently turn it over to uh, Deputy City Manager Cole? Yes. Very good. Can I excuse me, can I state real quick for the record? There was some supplemental material passed out. I believe four different documents. Um, I hope everyone on council received those. Um, and it's also my hope that this will be put online for the public to to view as well. Please proceed.

Thank you, mayor, council. As uh, council is aware, obviously, the city entered into a purchase agreement with property owners several months ago with a consideration of purchase of the home. As part of that, uh, council directed staff to conduct due diligence to include structural evaluation of the the property, environmental evaluation, as well as financing options, uh, for if the city chose to purchase property. So, with that, deputy director or excuse me, deputy uh, city manager Cole has led that effort and gone through a fairly detailed due diligence process with this property and worked with staff. And, uh, we're here tonight to obviously present those findings and take any questions that council may have. Very good. Deputy City Manager Cole, please proceed.

Thank you very much and thank you very much for the public comments. I think it's um imperative that all of our elected officials um hear both sides of um purchasing and not purchasing and the opportunity we have ahead of us. Uh but why are we here talking about even buying this house? Um, it was interesting as I learned about the history of the Davenport Curtis home, how much the family really had to do with urbanizing the city of Seline. Orange founded the city of Seline and the Davenport family certainly urbanized and modernized our our local area. So, they brought our first bank. Um they had they uh brought our first library. After the fire of 1881 when um part of the town burned down, they decided that we needed a fire department. So they bought the first fire engine and a fire valve. Um also um they had the very first telephone line. In fact, it was the year after the telephone was invented. They had a line that went directly from the home to their business downtown Seline. So, I just wanted to kind of explain those were some things that I personally learned about this family. Uh, and then the other part of this that is critically important is unlike some of the other historic homes that have been owned by municipalities, this home is in pristine condition. Uh, there's not a needed $3 million investment in the home. Uh so the Curtis's have kept immaculate care and I would say that uh while we were going through the inspection process, most of the inspectors were um beside themselves with the condition of the home, stating that it was in better condition than most homes they see that are 5 to 10 years old. Um with that, I want to talk a lot about uh the actual inspections and due diligence of what we did. And I'm going to turn that over to community

development director Atkin to click.

All right. Thank you. So, scoot over here. The quarter is not long enough. I'm sorry. Uh November 21st, we contracted with Robert Darvis Associates who are structural engineers uh out of city harbor. Uh they came down, they a few of their uh representatives were present. uh their biggest concerns were uh some of the foundation walls which are field stony I would say uh will need some repointing of joints where there's either cracks or it's missing um a couple handrails are missing going to the garage attic and the attict within the house and then there's evidence of uh potential leak well the roof has leaked in the past uh there's stains there that show this The current owner has been very diligent about keeping that maintained. Uh we went up on the roof ourselves and pointed out some things and he was going to get those repaired. They recommended that possibly during a rainstorm or melting snow melt situation. It's somebody just visit the site to see if there's any noticeable active leaks. Uh but overall they said that the condition of this is quoted from their report overall condition of residents and throughout buildings are remarkably good for 150 year old buildings. That was pretty much all they had to say about it. They didn't find anything um significant. Same thing with uh on October 2nd, our building mechanical uh mechan building mechanical, electrical, and plumbing inspectors went out there. Um they didn't see any major defects. Energy code updates are unclear being they don't insulation in the walls or things of that nature. Uh the windows are do appear to be the original single pane double hung, but they're in good

working condition. They also mentioned the uh handrail going to the static or to the attic, excuse me, and some moisture that appears to have penetrated uh interior basement walls where the paint has bled a little bit. Uh, I believe that these walls have been coated with concrete and I don't know the nature of the paint that's over it, but they said [clears throat] that considering the age of the structures or more like it's most likely that there's going to be some lead paint asbestous in there. Um, and then the environmental was done on November 23rd. They did not do an asbestous uh survey because it's outside of the scope of the ASM standards for a phase one. uh they did recommend that prior to any uh demolition or renovation activities that a comprehensive asbestous study be performed prior to so get the levels there now when they did some the homeowner had told uh Miss Cole and I that they did some work inside the house and had with insulation in the walls and so there was some abatement done at that time which was in the past 8 to 10 years when when that work was performed, excuse me. Uh they didn't have they didn't see any um environmental study uh no potential contamination was on the site. Uh no underground tanks, no above ground tanks. Uh they took into consideration all the surrounding properties. Uh a gas station that's not far from there. uh they observe the uh underground water the flow direction of that everything flows away from it so they don't uh believe that there would be any contamination there. Um

the the summary of the report was they they don't recommend any further studies be performed at this time. Thank you director. Please continue. At this point in time, I would like to take a brief moment um just to to turn it back around to council and see if there are any questions about the test, the due diligence that we did um of the report that we just went through.

Okay. Much like I articulated moments ago to the the general public, I would ask that members try to exercise some brevity because we do need to wrap up about quarter to 7 to take a group photo and individual head shot if council members want those uh prior to convening into a regular session at 7:00. Again, we uh I did confirm with the city manager and deputy city manager today. Both of them will make themselves available to any and all of you this week if you do have additional questions or you want to discuss any aspect of this prop proposal further. Uh again, uh this evening, we're looking uh simply for questions. We'll get into debate and deliberation um at our subsequent meeting on the 12th. Because council members um Delorco and Hal have not had as much uh opportunity to interface on this issue, I'd like to begin with them tonight. So, we'll begin with council member Hal if he has any questions now. uh wrap up with Council Member Harmmont and then I'll conclude in the event that I that I have questions that have yet to be addressed by by staff.

Thank you, Mayor. um deputy city manager and city manager. [clears throat] Um I thought the first of all the the proposal that you put together like did answer for me um a lot of sort of the uh autonomos in regards to this purchase in regards to um ultimately the acquisition. Um I did have a few concerns however. Um the major major concern for me is the effect on the fund balance and um the fact that it's essentially going to take an amendment for us to um [clears throat] to be able to make this happen. And for me I campaigned on being smarter, safer, sustainable. Um and when I see that I I don't see a lot of safety. So my question most importantly is um [clears throat] what is the plan uh to to not only um address the shortfall that's going to occur in our general fund. Um but then also what is this what is the 20-year cost of this? Because when I think about this, I don't look at it as we're making this decision now. And when I think about those costs, I'm not looking at, you know, even 5 years because the market could be god knows what in 2031. So, could you Yeah. Yeah. Either of you just kind of walk me through what the plan is to uh make up for and and make sure that money's back in our general fund. Certainly, council member, excuse me, council member Hal, uh, we would be happy to do that. In fact, we have our next slide is on the financing of the of the home. Um, but before we go into the financing section, if you don't mind

waiting until we go to that slide. Um, are there any other questions about the due diligence that we did with the task with the inspections?

Uh, not necessarily directly related to the inspections. I actually had a chance to see the house and and I will agree that uh as someone who loved books, it was a dream uh to be in that space. Um but then the other question that I definitely want to want to see addressed tonight is there's been no citizen input. Um there's there's not been any sort of public houses. There's not been any sort of open open houses. It's only just kind of been um to me sitting on that side of this a couple weeks ago, it just looks like we're going to do this and trust us, we'll figure it out. Um so I would love to hear you both speak to how we plan to incorporate that citizen feedback as soon as possible.

Wonderful. Um we will talk more about that as well kind of through the end of our presentation. Uh we have a plan for community engagement. Certainly, we thought of that and we actually want the citizens of this community if this purchase moves forward to have a very heavy hand in determining the highest and best use of the property and the home itself. Awesome. Well, then yeah, I'll wait.

I would say, you know, one of the challenges, of course, is the timeline. Um, we have a limited timeline under the purchase agreement to make a decision. So obviously that's I know for example uh both mayor and I have been in the community uh speaking to this um whether it be senior breakfast whether it be the coffee hour things of that nature to try and get some uh citizen feedback uh but uh that is a challenge and yeah we'll address certainly um there if the council chooses to move forward there is an engagement portion but again that's after uh the potentially the acquisition so that is you know we have to make a a difficult decision early on here whether to move forward at this point in time or not. Um and then yeah, I think saving the financing questions for the next section would be appropriate.

All right. Thank you, Council Member Halch. Um Council Member Deloro, any questions uh pertaining to Director Atkins presentation on the various inspections that were conducted on the property?

Uh thank you, Mayor. I I feel in the packet there was um clearly outlined detailed information about what was performed as far as building inspections go. um plumbing, electrical, mechanical. Um the the home does appear to be in in remarkable condition for its age. So there's uh little questions for me regarding the information provided on the actual inspection process. Most of my questions are around the financing mechanisms, the instruments um for that and the options for evaluating um the business model that we pursue around the working group, how that's going to be established, how much time they're going to have and again related to council member Hal's questions about um looking at ways in which we can do this without it being a burden on the taxpayers. Thank you, Mr. Delarco. Council member um Dylan, any questions visav the um various inspections?

The only question that I have is I remember when we talked um about doing due diligence. Do you feel as though all due diligence has been done at this point? you feel satisfied that we've looked at what we needed to look at based on the time frame that we had

to the extent that the what or uh studies were ordered. Yes. Uh without being more invasive, you know, uh our on our staff uh inspectors can only do so much without actually going into walls. So, you know, the electrical panel, the generator, uh what plumbing they could see, um and structurally, I mean, the roof system is is exposed. Uh but they didn't see any issues in that. And same with the environmental and um the the environmental report. I only have 29 pages of the 635 pages that they submitted. Um and same with the structural they they were there for quite some time. Um so yeah, I think that uh it was very involved and done to the highest extent possible.

Thank you. And this house was an operational home versus a museum. So we know that the the waterworks, things like that. We we knew that going in that it's not as though it had been an abandoned property that we were looking at. So, it's still an active homestead. Thank you. Thank you, council member. Uh, council member Gearbar.

Um, for me, I think all the inspections and everything and myself have gone through the home too from what we have even comparing it to the farmhouse or to the depot, it's light years ahead of what maintenance has been maintained on those buildings. Um, where I'm concerned is and looking at things, is there anything immediately that needs to be done that would make it um or required for us to insure it? You mentioned on here that $4.5 million um potential replacement insurance on it would be required or need it. Is there any deficiencies or anything that we would have to do at this time that would need to be done in order to mitigate any kind of those issu issues?

No, that's a wonderful question. However, um at this point in time, we've have no further recommendations on any other testing that needs to be done. They were all done um uh very very thoroughly. Uh the only test that we would need to do is if there were construction renovation of the home, not the outer buildings, but the home itself, we would want to follow up with an asbestous detailed study per the recommendation of the report. That is the only potential extra report we would need and that's only if we were [clears throat] to start opening up the house and putting it under construction where some of those materials could be exposed.

Okay. And then for me also you mentioned no environmental there were no septic fields. There's nothing on there at this time. Anything of that we nature that we we're aware of the septic field which um they found the pipes going out which were mostly the downspouts. Uh the septic field is to the west of the uh the property on the other side of the drive that comes in off of Michigan there. Um but uh they I I can't verbatim there was no the ground wasn't soft. There was no um deterioration of the the ground uh the vegetation in the area. So uh they concluded that it septic is no longer in use and they were able to locate where the outgoing um sewage pipe is.

Okay. And then lastly, no utility easements or concerns or issues that we would have to maintain. The property is free and clear. There's pretty much everything on there that we can do in the future if we would wish to wish to use easements within the property. Thank you, Council Member Rice.

Um that septic that you mentioned um when I did my walkthrough with the homeowner, the homeowner did mention that he'd be interested once all the inspections were done to find out why that area was always wet and why it puddled. So, it may have been inspected at a time when it's not wet and when it's not soft ground. Um, but he indicated verbally to me that that area often does pool. Um, and so that explains that if it's the downspouts, if we have a heavy rain or something, if it's the downspouts, it's going to remove some of the down spouts, not all of them go in there, but only a portion of them do because of the surface area of the roof. So, [clears throat] probably the reason why.

Okay. Um, [laughter] a couple of my questions are, you know, we look at the inspection and we're looking at it as, you know, a home inspection and I'm looking at the the fire um, review and this the phrase safe for limited public use with minor improvements. And those minor improvements are like smoke detection, exit signs, things like that. But what was the fire chief's perspective of limited public use? Now, we're talking about, you know, if we want to hold gallas and things like that, how many people are we going to be allowed to have in this house? Are we looking at this from a realistic perspective of like yes, it's a beautiful home and it's wellmaintained as a beautiful residence, but is it in a vent space? Were we looking at it when we were inspecting it that way?

So, the fire chief, we really need to determine what parts of the home will be activated. So, it depends on how the occupancy depends on what the highest and best use will be. If we have both floors open, we may not have either floor open depending on what the highest best use is. The real activation for events is really on the outside of the property. Uh it is sits on six full acres and so we have a lot of green space that we can activate for city parks and public events. Uh and that truly was homeowners wish was to see the community enjoy the activated space. just add to that that yes, if there were, you know, events or something planned for the structure, then that would require additional improvements, you know, both from, you know, an egress standpoint, from an ADA accessibility standpoint. Uh, so right now the house is not set up for event space and would there would be significant improvements if you wanted to utilize that interior space for events. Okay, that's a very good distinction I think that my council colleague should be thinking about as we as we talk about this that we're talking about the home is very wellmaintained and beautiful as a residence. If we're talking about creating an event space or doing more with it and allowing, you know, student groups to come through or things like that, there will be additional costs that we have to add into this with all of these things that we've mentioned so far. Um, second question is, uh, are we expecting the the full environmental review report back to us soon? We already have it back. I

I can I can send you the the meat of it. Not all six. Yeah, I don't need all that. A lot of it is just the background, the research they did, the materials that they looked at. Um owners, uh immediate in the immediate area, uh past, present, um things like that. So, a lot of that information is just part of the phase one and their research on it. But I yeah, I could definitely send you the first 29 30 pages. Well, probably closer to 40. It's not as important that I see it. It's more I just wanted to make sure you all had seen it and were satisfied with it because it said it still says pending in our I think that's a good suggestion and if you could work 3:00 the second

if you could work through the city manager to disseminate that to city council maybe before noon tomorrow that would be I think extremely advantageous. Go ahead. Just phase one is an investigation of you know what they can see so to speak uh and what records they can find that are existing public records. You know obviously the the one concern was brought up there is likely asbestous and or lead paint in the building. So if you do do renovations, that's going to be an issue where you probably have to mitigate uh to a certain extent. And I I did I hear you correctly that they also kind of looked at you said the flow of old gas stations, things like that. I'm just the Gunther property is a big red flag in my mind when we talk about environmental reviews.

The the direction that the aquifer moves in and any uh contaminants that may have leeched into the ground with or based on the flow of the aquifer go different direction or the ground I shouldn't say ground water. Yeah. Okay. Those were my main comments and questions about the inspection. Just to clarify, uh they state in their research they also looked for environmental um issues of surrounding properties and came up with none uh gas station shops, anything commercial in that area included. Thank you. [clears throat] Uh Council [snorts] Member Harmount. Uh questions uh regarding the inspections?

Yes. Um, so as a historic home owner, there are these some of these homes are very fragile and um I would like to understand if we did a sewer in scope investment, do we look into that? Do we look at the underground utilities and the condition of the underground utilities? Um, I am currently dealing with that at my house. So, um, it's top of my mind.

We did we did not televise the sewer line. Um that's certainly something that we could consider um and schedule if if you know that's that is of a great concern. They did look through them through the man mechanical and everything was in order. Like I said, we didn't have any indication to believe that anything was not in working order because every report has come back positive. Um and all of the everything seems to be working very properly in the home. But I think that's something that we could schedule if it wasn't need. Um, yeah. And the other thing, uh, so not just the sewer, but the other the water lines, and I don't think they have, I don't know if they have gas lines to the house, but those should all be inspected.

All with the exception of the sanitary sewer, which comes off the north side of the house and attaches to sanitary sewer on the north side of East Michigan A. Everything comes off of Hendry Street. Okay. Um, but we have not inspected. So, we probably should inspect. No, we have not. Um, other the other thing that's really important that I found with my house is that insurance is specific to historic homes if you want to have it restored to the historic likeness with materials and everything. So, the $4.4 million is that for historical material replacement?

Yes, it is. It's for historical materials replacement. and um human resource sources director Gchman, she worked with the insurance company, explained what we were looking at, what we were purchasing, and went through the whole scenario with them. Um so that's this is what they're requiring us to do is the 4.5. Certainly, we could check into higher amounts. I know for a fact to rebuild a home of that structure with the quality that it is, it would cost a lot of money, probably more than $4.5 million to replicate it. Well, if we're purchasing it based on the historical value of its current condition, we would probably want to make sure that we were covered to have it replaced at that same level.

One of the one of the other concerns that uh we're still evaluating is the contents of the home uh because there are some very valuable contents uh that uh so we're still don't have a value on that that may require a rider if you will or an additional uh policy uh in addition to our standard coverage through the Michigan Municipal League. So all of these are expense expenses we might want to take into consideration. Um and uh I I guess the the other question I have is more on the finance side. So I'll hold that question.

I'm going to forgo my opportunity to ask questions at this time because I think the bulk of you excuse me um Deputy City Manager Cole, I think you want to get through the bulk of your presentation this evening. So I will let you proceed and then we will uh try to address some additional questions uh concerns from city council members before I wrap up this evening. a few minutes before selling.

Wonderful. Then let's move forward to the next slide um and talk about finances. The purchase price of the home is $3 million and we are under a very tight timeline. Once um we get into a position where a decision is made, if the decision were positive and we were to move forward, we have 30 days to close on the property, which limits our ability to finance um and and do some other things along the way. What we're recommending is that we actually purchase the home temporarily with cash from the general fund. Um, and that would cause a general fund balance to dip up to about 8.6%. So even though our fund balance is dipping, we do remain strong. Um, we do have we do retain strong sustainability and liquidity for our reserves. Um, and the reimbursement plan would simply be that we would issue a capital bond in 2026 to reimburse a general fund and council would have to approve a bond authorization authorizing resolution to enable it. And we would consider a 20 to 30-year capital improvement bond or a 15-year installment purchase. And the annual debt payments would be manageable with no tax increase needed. If you want to look to the right, uh what we have here is kind of because the expenses are variable and because there are a lot of unknowns taking the pieces that we do know, um I used a low estimate and a high estimate for what the potential costs could be um for the annual maintenance for the bond payment. Uh we're recommending that we have a real estate um service, excuse me, a real estate professional help guide the process and the the group that will be designing the purpose and highest best use. Um so the annual costs can range between $275,000 to $355,000 and that would be the cost annually after we refinance it. So the refund the

the general fund will be repaid to $3 million and then this would be our annual payment going forward. So the [snorts] annual cost would be between$ 275 and 355 and then it just depends on what the highest and best use is determined to be. Of course council will be informed and those decisions will be made along the way how how it will be used and which what it will cost. So I wanted to open up the floor and see if you have any questions about that. Okay, let's do a round of questions on the um on the finance side. Um again, I'm going to start to my right and then to my left. Uh Council Member Hal, do you have any additional questions, concerns uh visav this slide? [clears throat]

Uh yeah. So, I think for me, I'm looking at like the potential revenue here. Um, and I was doing some research like kind of over once we got the packet and it looks like on average museums, especially homes, generate about $8 in revenue but cost about $40 per visitor. Um, and I guess my question there is when we think about the maintenance, when we think about Yeah. when we think about the maintenance, are we including the possibility um and and kind of the contingencies that come with it being a museum? because I think uh Council Member Rice's point sends out to me when I'm thinking about it as a home, these numbers sound fairly reasonable, but when we're thinking about it as a a high traffic, high use, revenue generating space um and kind of those numbers nationally, like what what is the plan there or what are the projections to per visitor to help kind of cover those costs?

Absolutely. So, you know, a museum is one idea out of many. And there are many ways that um you can creatively and traditionally use this property to generate revenue. And I'd say most municipal owned places like the Davenport Curtis House tend to be break even or just slightly eek above breaking even. So, it's certainly not going to be a money maker, but I would presume by the end of the second full year of programming with a plan in place that we should not have any money being removed from the general fund. On the next slide, we're going to talk a little bit more about this, but we have included a three-year off-ramp clause. So what we're proposing is that to purchase the home, the city would be able to put the proper historical and legal constraints on the home and in three years we would have a clause where we would evaluate the liquidity, excuse me, the performance, the value, and the cost of the home. And at that point in time, if the home is dragging on the general fund, then the city is going to have to make some hard decisions about putting it on the market um with very strong restrictions.

So, I guess my follow-up question with that then is what as we continue I guess any remaining due diligence, um what is that number or what is that threshold that is going to trigger us deciding not to move forward? I believe that that is a perfect question for council to not only decide kind of the parameters of what we will be looking at, but what is that amount? What is the amount that council feels comfortable with uh coming out of general fund? Is it $5,000 a year? Is it$10,000? Is it 15? Um, so as we walk through this process, there will be guidelines and things that we talk about so that we have all of those decisions made ahead of time so when that three-year mark comes, we know exactly what's going to happen.

Thank you, Council. Council member Delarco, I just want to follow up from right where you left off. So the three-year offramp is the period of time we evaluate whether or not it's going to be sustainable to maintain the asset with whatever business model we choose. Um, does that mean that you're looking to evaluate those options for three years before we bond the project and pay back the general fund? No, the bonding will happen within the same fiscal year. Uh, the three-year period is to ensure that the Curtis, excuse me, the Davenport Curtis home is not pulling on the general fund.

Right. That's my main concern because we've always had a 15 to 20% fund bal unassigned fund balance policy. Uh in my previous tenure on council, we never had any reason to dip below that and we've always maintained a healthy fund balance. Um when we do dip below that, my understanding is that that triggers um an a policy that dictates an action plan to get back to where we need to be in that 15 to 20% mark. Is that going to get triggered within the amount of time that the working group needs to evaluate options for business models?

Uh no it will not. So that calculation is done annually at the end of the year. Uh by the end of the fiscal year that money should be repaid and the fund balance should be back to normal. I think to maybe answer your question I mean we have a certain time frame in which to decide to move forward with the bonds, right? And so in order to and that [snorts] was the plan that was to your point the uh the fund balance policy requires us to have a plan to restore that. That's the plan we're presenting is we'd have to bond or borrow uh to restore that fund balance and would that would be within 18 months. Okay. So once we bond the project we're still looking at what whatever $200 to $255,000 in debt service. Yeah.

With the current um things encumbered on the unassigned fund balance. Does that still keep us above the 15 20% once the um project is bonded? Yes, it does. Okay. So, that was I mean, but it does become a budget issue each year, right? So, one of the things accommodate that in the general fund budget.

Yeah. And I I really want to make sure that we're not deferring maintenance or delaying capital improvement on other projects because we have this asset that we're trying to figure out how to make sustainable or profitable in any kind of way. Um and then a couple of the things were identified were um Salt Trail Industrial Park has uh 921,000 um 2 and a half or roughly two and a half million set aside for legislative changes. At some point, maybe not tonight, I'd like to kind of unpack what those legislative change that we anticipate are coming forward. Um are we still in a position to adjust for that if needed if while we have this um on the general fund? don't I'm not necessarily casting doom, but even a six-month window, we need to make sure we're covered in the event that this money is set aside for

uh we will certainly make sure to address both of those questions when we come back next week for the legislative changes and for sock trail. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Delarco. Council member Dylan,

thank you. Um, so as we look at the yearly costs, the 275 or the 355 numbers, you're looking at between 23 and $29,000 a month. Um, that's a very reasonable amount to adjust a budget. We are in a time in which we are going to be planning our budgets. Um, I think that we we're looking at this and we're putting this this these restraints on this, but yet we don't follow the same procedure with the rec center. We are constantly using general fund dollars to subsidize the rec center. And so I want to make sure that we're looking at all projects equally as we do this. And so I I really would like to understand that a little bit better. Um, as far as the legislative funding that Mr. Delorco just uh spoke about, that's been sitting untouched now for quite some time. And I think this body does at this point needs to make a decision. You know, that was sort of an emergency rainy day fund. Well, maybe this is what that is. We are purchasing an asset. We're not purchasing an expense. Yes, there is a cost associated with it, but it has a value. It's not putting something that we're losing the value to. So, I want to make sure that we are looking at that and I will yield my time.

Okay. Thank you, Council Gearbach. Yeah. Um, and I follow up on both Mr. Deloro and Miss Dylan's comment about the 2.4 million. Just to let you know that we started that legislative change back in approximately FY17 at $200,000. It's now grown to $2.4 million. It's really only been a place marker. It's really undesated funds and the use of this 8.2 8.26% fund balance is wrong. Um I disagree with that number. I believe we're at our 20%. So the spending of this money, all we have to do is und designate those funds. We've been tying those funds up into that category just because it was a way of segregating out the money so it didn't look like we had a massive un unassigned fund balance.

Can I interrupt you real quick because you're absolutely right. Can you make sure as the uh chair of the finance committee that that issue is addressed at your next meeting? Yeah. Thank you.

Um I do believe though that the sock trail funds are tied up. They are going to be used for the redoing of Beach Court or the the road in um LDF and unfortunately because the LDFA has expired um we will not have the funds to complete that project because of well that whole mismatch of that. So for me I'm not so worried about the um 20% line. We have that we met. We will replenish the funds, the $200,000. And as Miss Dylan has said, I mean, we right now we're spending $700,000 a year and intending probably more that's going right out the door because of the mismanagement of the rec center for the last 5 years. There's $3.5 million that would have been available had that operation been managed properly and been in place and fixed. Um, so at this point in time, that's uh it's a opportunity lost or whatever. where I'm concerned and as I look at it when we look at this property it's like what we did when we bought Sock Trail property when we bought other property there is a value to it this property in the 30s was designed to be cut up into approximately 30 lots Chris something like that

uh 28 I think 16 no it was in the 20s 28

28 and something like that but if you're looking at 100 to $150,000 per lot the property more than exceeds that and as a commercial value it is significantly more than that. Yes, we could spend that over and, you know, let that be go for development, everything, but we also have the opportunity because we're purchasing this property with absolutely no restrictions on it to what we could eventually incorporate it and work it for the community. Um, so for me, looking at the value, what we're putting into it, it's basically moving some of our funds into an investment just like we did when we bought the other properties. It's not a loss loss and yes, maybe we will lose some money and if terms that we sell it, but because we're purchasing the restrictions and making sure that that building and everything is preserved, it's similar to what happened with the Ford school. But even in that situation when we were allowed that for the Ford school, we've lost trees and a lot of things on that property that are not being enforced on that. In this case, we are purchasing it. We will make sure that that happens and then moving forward, we'll have the ability to address these going forward. the loss of this building without putting some kind of value to it is unmeasurable to this community. So for me, I think the numbers that you've shown, we haven't even valued the properties inside the building itself, which you just mentioned. I'm not so much worried about insurance because MML will back that up. We have that kind of thing. Um the only other thing I look at this is is the trade-off, the other opportunity cost, but this is a value to which I think we can recoup some of our our money. Um, I mean, we can also also look at other assets to determine whether or not we need to reassess our whole portfolio and sell. So, at this point in time, I'd like to also look at there's some land and things that we have that potentially could be sold to offset this. I mean, we're having a significant amount of money that's going to come in from the um sale of lot 20 on the industrial park and potentially other lots in the other. So, at this point in time, when we look at fund balance, I think this a minimum thing truly what it is to determine what this is going to mean is the impact on our operations. Then as I look at our other

museums that we have when we bought the farm that was made as a decision and immediate didn't have not didn't have a lot of input but it had a lot of restrictions on it and it's been beneficial this community for the last 30 years. So um let's move forward and that that's all my comments and requests. Thank you. Council member Rice. Any question any questions um uh pertaining to the uh the the financing plan?

No questions. I'm just a little concerned at our inability to kind of see what the benefit of a recreation center to the city of Selen is. And we just continue to bring up the recreation center in every conversation as if it's a negative asset. It's a positive asset to our city. And we're finding money. We've got money here. We've got money there. We're not concerned about, you know, dipping down to 8.6%. Then why aren't we investing that money into our recreation center? Why are we taking on a new adventure? And don't get me wrong, I stood with the owner of this mansion and I said, "This is an amazing property." And I cried with him in that driveway and I said, "Let's do our due diligence and see what the city of Seline can do to preserve this property." But I think when we look at the numbers and when we look at the reality of it, we don't have a plan. Um, to some of my former colleagues points here, uh, small city, big big hopes and dreams, right? We have a lot of big projects on our on our plates right now. We have a lot of expectations that are really high. It is not the right time to take on another big project that we're going to put a task force together to try to figure out I am not comfortable with spending this amount of money and looking at budgets dropping and having to fight with this every year in the in the budget cycle um when we've essentially given up on doing that for the recreation center. Um now is not the right time. Let's figure out one thing at a time. Uh if this conversation were happening five years from now and we had fixed the issues we had with the rec center, I would probably have a completely different viewpoint of this. But I'm just not seeing it in front of me. I had high hopes. I had hopes and dreams that I was going to see this and I was going to go this is an easy thing. Let's let's go ahead and grab it and make sure that we can uh keep this property in the city of Seline as is. Um but when we talk about fiscal responsibility and we talk about the responsibility that we have as um elected representatives of our community

um an an asset that is a property is not the same as an asset that is health and wellness and recreation and uh you know I could the list could go on about the recreation center. So um when we talk about this uh we've got to look at both of those things together. Obviously, my colleagues have brought it up, so I'm bringing it up as well. And when we look at both of those things together, one outweighs the other to me. And unfortunately, the finances just um these are just these are just numbers I'm not willing to work with um right now as they stand.

Um council member um Harmmont, uh additional qu or actually you have not had an opportunity to ask questions about the financing plan. Uh any questions for the city manager or deputy city manager? I do. Can you just clarify again um you know again owning a historical home there's a lot of expenses with upkeep for the structure. So what where are is the annual upkeep structural upkeep not not just keeping the lights on and keeping the heat on and you know but but actual like the roof where's the roof in this? Absolutely. So, excuse me. Fortunately, just uh by way of example, the roof was recently replaced and it won't need to be replaced for probably another 50 years or so. 100,

how 50 to 100. However, what we need to do when if the purchase were to go through is to kind of sit down and collate all of the items together and um kind of walk through, you know, what our plan is going to be to take care of those and plan ahead instead of waiting um to the last minute when something breaks. So until we know what the highest and best use is, we can, you know, if we were to use it and we were to um let's say they wanted to put a live band shell out in the the property, right? Well, at that point in time, we know we need to plan for replacement and repair on that band shell. Um and it we are going to turn the home into a museum, then we're know we're going to have to have the expense of converting it and then the the expense of upkeep. But as far as the annual maintenance of the home, um the Curtis's have indicated that on average there they particular probably about 25 to 30,000 a year over the life of the house has been what they've put into it on extra. So um aside from the complete renovation that they did in the 1930s.

So to add to that, I think you'd want to establish some sort of capital reserve. Uh so you'd establish kind of the you know what is the the 20-year outlook for what's going to need to be replaced. Furnace you know generator roof barely is going to last longer than that but uh then you'd have you know a reserve that you could tap into. So that is not included in these numbers at this time.

Okay. And then um touring the facility or the the home um the maintenance was quoted a lot higher than what we have on this. uh though they they said it was more in the realm of 140 to 170,000. Uh so I don't know where the disconnect was for that or if those numbers were adjusted. Um I just uh want to just reconfirm that we don't have a solidified partner to invest to co-invest with us on this. So we don't have any uh partners at [clears throat] this point. if we say yes that they're ready to go in and write a contract with us or have some some sort of we don't have anything lined up with that

monetary partners um in not in the affirmative. However, we do have partners who are willing to help support this project. For example, the EMU partnership um EMU historic preservation program um has come in and offered to host a class at the home for a semester where they would catalog and value everything. They're preparing a statement for B to bring forward with packet next week kind of explaining everything that they will be doing. As far as a monetary partner, that's something that we would immediately have to start looking for with the task force. Whether that's a partner who is going to um take over ownership or that's a partner that wants to do it with us jointly and they operate it and we still own it. Um there are so many different options that could come our way based on the different um uses that we determined for the home. But we would be buying it and then building the plan. Okay. What is the um I don't think it's been answered, but what's the tax revenue that we're receiving currently annually on that property?

I can follow up with you. I believe it is $17,000. 1520. Um, but let me follow up on that number and get the the can we jump back because council member Harmout um articulated a maintenance cost of if I if I heard my colleague correctly in the realm of 140,000. That is not a number that I had heard previously. Can you can you respond to that? Yeah, I'm thinking that that must be um some of the highs and lows like a range and maybe some of that included some debt service um as we've done multiple different scenarios of what the homes could be used for. Do they give a breakout of what those that maintenance equal out to? Do we get a detailed breakout of that? Yes. And I'd be happy to send that to you.

Um, city manager Swallow, uh, Deputy City Manager Cole, we're we're running a little short on time here. Um, let me ask a question to my council colleagues. Um, and um, and then if there are some final remarks that you'd like to to offer, we would welcome that. Um, I've heard a number of things from the deis. All good. Um, some people who seem pretty inclined to move forward. um others who who do not. Um and there seem to to also be some some outstanding questions that uh um members would like to have addressed before they they're asked to develop consensus on this matter. Um at a bare minimum, this will be a a discussion or action item on our next agenda on the 12th. However, would people like to continue the discussion via a work meeting uh before our next uh meeting? Or conversely, again, I I I heard from at least some folks that they're prepared to move forward and and probably inclined to schedule the closing. Conversely, I heard from at least one of our colleagues that they would at at this juncture take a pass on on this issue. So, let me start with um uh Council Member Helch. Um any preference uh per the question I just articulated?

Uh I don't think at least for my questions a work meeting is necessary. I can send them to uh city manager Swallow or Deputy City Manager Cole. Okay. Uh Council Member Delarco. Yeah, I feel the same. I think I can get most of my uh issues resolved through dialogue with uh Deputy City Manager Cole and City Manager Swallow. Um I do want to make sure that the the public understands that this is an investment and and not a um acquisition of a liability. Um but we need to make sure that we can um frame it in such a way through the working group that that it becomes an investment and in the event that we cannot get there uh we we need a way out.

Okay. Thank you. Uh mayor or council member Dylan. Thank you. Um you know I I'm fine with a work meeting without a work meeting if people want to discuss it further. I will say if there is not a work meeting I want to make sure that there's adequate time in the regular meeting to have these discussions. So looking ahead to what that agenda is going to look like and I don't want to hear we're limited time. It's we are going to have to take it's either we're taking the time on the front end or we're taking the time during the regular meeting. Um so whichever way it is.

Let me ask a question then of the city manager. Do we know at the moment? Do we have a a number of enumerated action items that will uh generate discussion or debate uh for next Monday? Uh we have a few uh contracts and things that uh could come up but uh they could be we talked about moving them to first meeting February too. So okay probably at least two uh significant items but um let me proceed to council member Gerba. Um because we have the deadline of I believe January 12th for the contract and everything. We need to move forward and get this done. I'm ready to move forward. I've been reviewing this and had this as an issue for since 1997 when I first got on council. So this has been a concern of this community for decades. So, now that we have this opportunity, I want to move forward and get it going. Council member Rice,

I don't need a work meeting. I think we can talk about it on Monday. Okay. Council member Harmount. Um, don't need a work meeting. Okay. I I would like to see the sewer scope though.

Okay. Um so when we have our agenda prep meeting on Wednesday which consists of myself um the city clerk often participates and this uh uh uh two months I believe it's council member Rice we can discuss how this will be formatted on the uh the regular meeting agenda to ensure that there's ample time for discussion and debate as well as outstanding questions to the point that um council member uh Hal articulated. I would strongly encourage if you do have questions or concerns or again want to discuss any aspect of this this proposal or presentation uh with the city manager or deputy city manager or community development director that you reach out to them in advance of next Monday and they will make themselves available to you um at your convenience sometime during normal business hours or maybe even in the evening or morning uh before next Monday's meeting. Um let me first uh defer to the uh deputy city manager. Are there any additional comments you would like to make at this time? No, I just really appreciate your time this evening and uh for the opportunity to come and talk to you about the house.

Very good. Mr. Swallow, anything you'd like to add? Okay. Very good. We have our former colleague here to take some uh individual and group pictures. Um Miss Mlullen, we appreciate your patience. Um if there's nothing further to be brought up at this work meeting, the chair would entertain a motion to adjourn at 6:45. Moved by Gearbos, seconded by Dylan. All those in favor of adjourning signify by saying I. Oppose say nay. Eyes have it. Any journ. Thank you all. Do you want to do individual pictures first for those who'd like new head shot?

like to call the Selen City Council meeting to order. If you'd please rise and join my colleagues and I 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 very much. Uh welcome to our first meeting of the calendar year. Uh there are copies of the agenda on the back table along with sign-in sheets and listening devices if you require them. Uh roll call. Council members present this evening are Gearb Rice Harmout Deloro Hal Mayor Prom Dylan and Mayor Marorrow. From city staff we have the city manager, city clerk and uh our police chief Marlene Radzik. At this time the chair would entertain a motion to approve the agenda as submitted.

Moved by Gearbox, seconded by Harmount. Um hearing no discussion. All those in favor of approving the agenda as submitted signify by saying I.

Post say nay. Eyes have it. The motion carries unanimously. Um there are no absences this evening. So we'll proceed to the first uh public comment period. Under the open meetings act, any person may come forward at this time may comment or question about an item that appears on this agenda. Comments will be limited to three minutes per person. Those wishing to speak are requested but not required to state their name and address for the record. Before you begin your comments, please clearly state the specific agenda item you are addressing. Please note that council will not answer questions during this initial public comment period. Are there any citizen comments from those in the audience pertaining to agenda items? I would defer to the city clerk. Were there any written comments provided in advance of tonight's meeting in which the individual wanted the remarks read at this time? Easy enough. Then we will proceed to uh the first of two presentations. Uh we are delighted to have uh her honor, one of our circuit court judges here for her very first swearing in of uh elected officials uh during her tenure on the the bench and she's doing a phenomenal job. Um we're going to invite um our our one council returning council member forward and our our um well one is also returning but uh Mr. Mr. Delarco and uh Mr. Hal. Um was there any particular order you wanted to begin with? Um clerk oil.

I have council member out. Okay. So um your honor, if you'd like to uh come to the podium, you may use either one of the microphones. If you wanted to introduce yourself. Um again, we are so delighted to have you with us uh this evening. Council member Harmmont will join you and council member Harmmont is welcome to bring forward any family or friends that are present this evening. And I'm sure we can, gentlemen, I'm sure we can encou accommodate or uh uh for you. Yeah. We can we can solicit somebody from the audience to take pictures.

All right. So, thanks for inviting me to be here. It's my honor. My name is Janat. I'm the new circuit court judge. I was elected last year in November. And congratulations to you and your family. You could raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this state and the Constitution of this state and that I will faithfully perform the duties of the office I will faithfully perform the duties of the office of council member of council member in and for the city of Selene in for the city of county of county and state of Michigan state of Michigan according to the best of my ability

according to the best of my ability No help. All right, let's sign this right here. [applause] [applause]

[snorts] congratulations. Very good. Thank you. Congratulations, Jen. Yelcome. Councilman Delarco, if you'd like to come forward and also if you have any family and friends present, they are welcome to join you up front. And again, I'm sure we can comment someone from the audience to take pictures if you you'd like some photos taken for posterity. Do you have a moment? How are you? Good. How are you? Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

Our phone, right? All right, raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this state and the Constitution of this state and that I will faithfully perform and that I will faithfully perform the duties of the office the duties of the office of council member of council member in and for the city of Seline in and for the city of Selen County of Washington county of and state of Michigan and state of Michigan according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability.

So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. [applause]

Where's it? Oh, that's my voice. [laughter] Where's that coming from? Playing it back when I'm here. Yeah. Where's that coming from? I don't listen to myself ever. Thank you. Congratulations to you. Congratulations, Jim. Yeah. Invite uh Council Member Halsh forward. And also, if Tummaine has family friends here, you're welcome to join him up front. And again, I'm sure we can commandeer someone to take some photos if if you would like.

All right. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this state and the Constitution of this state and I will faithfully perform that I will faithfully perform the duties of the office the duties of the office a council member a council member in and for the city of Seline in and for the city of Seline county of Washington county of Washington and state of Michigan and state of Michigan according to the best of my ability. To the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God.

Congratulations. [applause] Guys are running out of pages. Very good. Congratulations, Termaine. your honor. Thank you again. We appreciate your time. More importantly, we appreciate your your dedicated service to the citizens of county. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And thanks for all you all do for the city of Selen. I know your job's not easy, especially as of lately, and I know you're all doing your best. So, thanks for that. Um, can we take a a quick picture with you guys while we're here? Sure. All right. You want us to squeeze in again? Yep. Yeah, we can do that. Let's just squeeze in like we This is Matt Rushton, future lawyer and our Very good. Future basketball star. Future basketball star and lawyer. Okay. These are good aspirational goals. Yeah. I'm sorry. Sorry. Yep. Stand right here. Well, you guys aren't going to be able to be seen here.

Yes. Come here. Somebody right here. Come in front. Come here. Yep. Okay. Good. Okay. Okay. Smile real big. All right. Thank you. Good. Thank you, your honor. Thank you guys. You guys have a great meeting. Thank you.

That's perfect.

Gymnastics. Thank you all. Thank you.

Okay, friends. We are going to proceed to the second presentation which is my charter sanction charter sanctioned state of the city address. My friends and colleagues, good evening city council, city manager swallow, clerk royal, judge Hammud, distinguished guests, and my fellow Selenians. It is an honor to provide the residents of Seline with my 14th annual state of the city address. Tonight, I want to dedicate this address to a great Selenian and dear friend, the recently departed Katherine Katie Beachch, a dedicated community member and former first lady of Seline. Katie was a warm, thoughtful, and civically minded individual, the essence of a true Selenian. She lived a remarkable 97 years, including nearly 75 in the city of Seline. This evening, we can rest easy knowing that Katie is now at peace with her beloved husband, Hubert Beach, former council member and mayor of Seline. Godspeed, Katie, you will be missed. I can scarcely believe this is my 14th address. Tonight, we close the book on 2025 and begin a new, a year full of promise and unlimited possibilities. Certainly, more challenges await. But as I've expressed previously, I know progressive, forward-thinking leaders do not become disheartened, distracted, or demoralized. Personally, I've never been more optimistic or hopeful. I'm confident that 2020, the 2026 calendar year, excuse me, will be one of impactful progress and productivity. Transitioning first to economic development, and I know I've articulated this in the past, but it bears repeating. I'm keenly aware that all communities have reputations, but to be very clear, Seline will never have the ignominious distinction of being hostile to business or private sector investment. Our local businesses, both large and small, enrich our quality of life, offer jobs and amenities, and their tax dollars fund many of the vital government programs all our citizens rely upon. Earlier this evening, city council convened a special work meeting to discuss the possible acquisition of

the iconic Davenport Curtis House located just blocks from downtown Seline. Potential acquisition would preserve a truly one-of-a-kind historic asset. It would also allow our city time to evaluate future programming and amenities on site, which could dramatically enhance our community's quality of life. I fully expect city council to revisit this matter at their next regular meeting scheduled for Monday, January the 12th. Now, some encouraging news. While a number of vacant storefronts and suites have been filled in recent months, we still have far too many vacant commercial spaces in our downtown and various business districts. Partnering with local landlords and our community recruitment and retention team, CRRT, we will we will continue to work aggressively to identify entrepreneurs and desired businesses and connect them with the resources necessary to ensure their success and longevity. Our CRRT, which again is meeting in earnest, will also explore other initiatives and programs, including the reestablishment of our job fair event to improve the local economy and business sustainability in the Selen area. Additionally, for the second year now, our city in conjunction with Selen Main Street has established a social district in our downtown, which I'm hoping can be expanded or enlarged in future seasons. Uh uh further in partnership with PRAIS properties, we are also making remarkable progress on the development of a new town square gathering space uptown behind Carrian Cafe and Cobblestone Roads. This initiative will also include the rehabilitation of the 100 block of South Ann Arbor Street with a net addition of one new business and four new housing units in our downtown. This past fall, we completed another annual economic development video featuring four unique Seline businesses. The video is a great resource for marketing our community and encouraging additional investment, additional private sector investment. Investment, excuse me. I encourage residents to take a look uh at our video entitled my Seline story and of course to share it widely. Economic development of course is not done in a vacuum and often requires holistic regional approach or strategy in order to be

effective. In this vein, I'm pleased to share that I recently assumed the co-chair position of SEMCOG's economic development council. This group uh this group's efforts began in 2024 and our final report will be issued to the region specifically uh specifically the Metro Detroit area at SAMCOG's general assembly meeting in March of this year. As most are aware, we have a tenative sales agreement currently in due diligence for a mixeduse development at 1080 East Michigan Avenue, formerly uh lot 28A. This project is on a strong trajectory and will be considered by our planning commission for preliminary site plan approval at our next meeting on January the 14th. Last, in recent months, my office has entertained an inordinate number of calls and messages regarding the OpenAI Oracle data center slated for Selen Township. This project is nearly 7 miles from our city border. Ergo, my colleagues and I have no jurisdiction over this development. That said, it is important to accept and acknowledge finality when appropriate. Subsequent to the recent approval by the Michigan Public Service Commission, this project is very likely to proceed. Of course, we will con uh constructively engage with the developer and/or corporate representatives when applicable, primarily to ensure preservation of local infrastructure and public assets. Now, on to infrastructure and asset management. I know I've articulated this before u but based on our strong record of the past decade, it should be clear crystal clear to all residents and business owners, the days of infrastructure delays and deferrals are over. city, the city and council more specifically will continue to act boldly and invest robustly in our municipal streets, sidewalks, water and sewer systems, and related infrastructure. Undoubtedly, the most significant and timely infrastructure issue is the comprehensive rehabilitation of our wastewater treatment plant, WWTP, a process city council first initiated nearly 7 years back. As city council learned on December the 15th, our wastewater treatment plant rehabilitation project is essentially on schedule with substantial progress being

made towards construction of a new of new treatment processes. The project is expected to conclude in the summer fall of 2026. I am eternally grateful that the residents of Seline have approved not once, not twice, but three times now a street mill allowing us to invest strategically in our local infrastructure without occurring additional debt. Airgo. [snorts] This past construction season, the city completed a number of quality street resurfacing projects, including work in Torwood, Wildwood, and Arboritum subdivisions and Selen River Drive. This upcoming spring and summer, we will initiate timely and important projects on Beach Court and ADA work in the North View subdivision. Also, during the forthcoming construction season 2026, we expect to begin work on the Selen River Valley Trail, a multi-use trail that will connect Mill Pond from Bennett Street to Michigan AB near Mills. and hopefully it is the first step in an ongoing effort to connect the city's largest park via a north to south trail system. Over the past 24 months, the city has hosted numerous meetings and forums and disseminated questionnaires regarding the future of our Mil Pond Dam, specifically weighing the pros and cons of restoration versus preservation and removal. More meetings are anticipated along with direct communicates to those property owners impacted by future decisions. The city also remains committed to improving our water infrastructure and is actively performing residential lead service line verifications with plans to replace any identified lead or galvanized lines previously connected to our local water manes. Also this past fall, the city completed successfully completed, excuse me, um a water main lining project on Industrial Drive. As many are aware, the city's asset management subcommittee, comprised of staff, council, and private citizens, continues to meet monthly to provide advice and review of projects and initiatives related to our vital infrastructure. The city took action in 2024 and in 2025, and will continue to make progress on a West Michigan a sidewalk. We've worked tirelessly to secure necessary easements and external funding. In fact, we recently secured a tap grant in the amount of approximately

500,000 for use in 2027. Last as residents and business last any resident or business owner can follow progress on any and all infrastructure projects by accessing reports and andor signing up for updates on our city website. The website is a tremendous resource and I strongly encourage its full utilization. Transitioning again to city finances and financial stewardship. Again, it goes without saying, city leadership will continue to cautiously and strategically manage our public funds. As mentioned above, the city of Seline has fully embraced a philosophy of reinvestment in our infrastructure to enhance public services and to improve our residents quality of life. We are prudently funding post-employment benefits while expanding our tax base. Seline is well positioned to meet future demands. Now, I am again delighted to share that during the past fiscal year, the city's overall net position grew by 13.5%. Reflecting prudent fiscal management and increased tax revenue. Property tax revenue rose rather significantly due to higher property values and an expanding tax base. Over 100 new homes and plans for several hundred more. Also, as as shared previously, the city's double A+ bond rating, which is bolstered by appropriate policies, has allowed us to access lower borrowing costs for our critical municipal needs. The city's total debt remains well within the state imposed limits. In fact, we have capacity for approximately 50 million uh more in allowable debt. In recent years, the city has revised its investment policies and procedures. This new approach is supported by appropriate monitoring of cash flow and other prudent utilization practices. The implementmentation of these protocols has resulted in significant increase in revenue during the past three years. Although financials for December are still being finalized, the city expected investment income for the entire calendar year of 2025 to exceed 1 1.2 million. Further, the city recently completed its annual audit for fiscal year 2025 and for the third year in a row, we received a perfect opinion from our auditing firm. From those interested in the audit, it can be found on the city website. Our rec center

sustainability task force worked diligently these past this past year to evaluate future funding opportunities and operational organizational efficiencies to improve the viability of our municipally owned rec center. A number of partnerships and possibilities will be explored and finalized in the next 6 months. In fact, another potential opportunity was recently identified by our deputy city manager, one which will involve Pittsfield Township directly, among others. I will be discussing this matter with my counterpart, Pittsfield Township Supervisor Trish Riley, in the coming weeks, and I hope to have something more tangible to share in the next 30 to 60 days. In my opinion, the rec center is a valuable public amenity. As such, my colleagues and I strongly encourage residents and community stakeholders to tour our facility and to consider a personal family membership at the Selen Rec Center. Leading an active and healthy lifestyle will be beneficial in innumerable ways. As I've stated for more than a decade now, our first responders can rest easy knowing that our community's elected officials will continue to provide them with the resources they need to effectively serve and protect area residents. I have confirmed with Chief Radzik that our police department is fully staffed. an impressive accomplishment considering the difficulty nationwide in recruiting and retaining law enforcement a uh retaining staff, excuse me, in law enforcement agencies. I should also note in the in the latter half of 2025, the SPD added another part-time position. Timothy Edens recently joined our ranks as a new community liaison, ensuring we have proper representation at our front desk during normal business hours. With the support of our police department and others, we will look to launch our wellness initiative later this year focusing on substance use disorders, mental health, domestic violence, and the general welfare of the Selen community. Following up on an item I addressed in January 2025, I'm elated that staff work cooperatively with our partners at Selenary Schools to resolve mitigate the vehicular congestion and backups on North Maple Road adjacent to the Selen Middle School. Recent efforts will continue to be monitored, but it appears to have improved uh safety and

vehicular flow in this vital corridor of SEM. Now, regarding the Selen Fire Department, SFD, they have initiated some important work in the past 24 months, including the development of a capital improvement plan, strategic planning, and risk mitigation. These efforts must continue, and the city will of course provide whatever reasonable assistance support is required. As many are aware, the city approved and subsequently received an independent evaluation on the Selen Area Fire Department and the future of fire services in the Selen community. Set analysis is both comprehensive and thorough. I'm confident the document will be an important resource and genesis for future discussions, deliberations on the creation of a fire authority for the Selen Area Fire District. Last, let me message on openness, communication, and operational efficiencies. As I shared in July, I'm delighted to reiterate this. The city of Seline has a strong and robust strategic plan adopted in 2024 that prioritizes the issues residents care most about. The key uh f target areas are one effective asset management, two foster open communication and standards of pro uh proactive community outreach, three fiscal stewardship, four organizational effectiveness, five supporting a viable community. Six purposeful planning and smart growth, seven employ a skilled workforce, and eight prioritize community health, wellness, and safety. The strategic plan will be monitored and updated and discussed periodically. In fact, a retreat with council and department heads to discuss this matter will be scheduled in the first quarter of 2026. Additionally, a copy of the plan is available online. Please feel free to review and reach out if you have any questions or suggestions. As always, we continue to encourage our residents to explore our city website and social media page pages. And please share your thoughts and suggestions with our IT director or community engagement specialist. Also consider signing up for our electronic DPW newsletter, our 411 text message initiative, updates through clear gov, and feel free to review all documents and agendas on documents on demand. We hope more residents will use these our online reporting tool. Um, and if your HOA or condo association has not

subscribed to our neighborhood updates, please connect uh contact, excuse me, community engagement specialist Sarah Massie directly. Finally, police chief Radzik Wash County Sheriff Alicia Dyer and I will be hosting a free lunch and forum on February on Friday, February 20th. If you'd like more information or'd like to attend, please contact the Selenary Senior Center directly. As I wrap up, I want to thank our friends and former colleagues Jack Seio and Chuck Leash for their 10 years on city council and their many years of service to our community. Let me also acknowledge the dedication and contributions made by returning council members Janet Dylan, Dean Gearbaugh, Jen Harmount, and Nicole Rice. We're also excited to have Jim Delorco rejoin our group after a two-year hiatus. Further, we are delighted to to welcome Germaine Halch to city council. We're confident his passion and energy will strengthen council and our city as a whole. It goes without saying, friends, we have an exceptional city staff. We are indeed blessed. On behalf of the entire council, we thank each of you, including our relatively new city manager, Dan Swallow, who is present this this evening for his first ever Seline State of the City address. Our community would not be the world-class city it is without our staff's dedication and their contributions. My friends, in conclusion, please rest assured this community will continue to experience privations and challenges. But our unwavering focus on core services, investing in infrastructure, strengthening our local economy while pursuing best practices for organizational efficiency will undoubtedly improve our quality of life. I've said it before, Selena is a special place and it's worth fighting for. Positive things continue to happen in our community and our future is bright. I was It was very fertuitous, but I just recently stumbled on a quote from the late John McCain. Perfectly suited for tonight's address. We're leaders. Leaders don't fear change, hide from challenges, pine for the past, or dread the future. We make the future better than the past. Thank you, my friends. God bless you, and may God bless Selene. Okay, moving on. Uh tonight's agenda we come to um the consent portion. The following consent agenda will normally

be adopted without discussion. However, at the request of any citizen or council member, any [clears throat] item may be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. Move to approve as move by rice to approve as submitted. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Deloro. Hearing no discussion. All those in favor of approving as uh presented or submitted signify by saying I. Oppos say nay. Eyes have it. And the motion carries 6 to1. Uh we move to new business item 26-08 appointment of Mayor Prom for 2026. This will be a motion to approve the appointment of council member Rice as mayor prom for 2026 and to appoint council member Harmmont as presiding officer in the event that both mayor and mayor prom are absent. Is there a motion? Acknowledge. Moved by Dylan simply to acknowledge. Is there a second? Second.

Seconded by Gearb. Uh go ahead if you have a question or concern. Uh council have a question. Um we continue to appoint a presiding officer. That's not a position that is within our charter. And just for clarification, have we ever received a legal opinion as to whether we have the authority to create that position and that position would have authority? Um, I believe we do, but I would ask um um city manager Swallow to follow up with legal counsel. I believe uh the second presiding officer position was first established by city council either in 20 um could have been either in 2017 or 2018.

2019, excuse me. So quite some time ago. But um if you want to follow up at that time the opinion would have come from from Dickinson Wright. Um but we can certainly get an updated opinion from uh from our current legal council. The genesis for creating the second presiding officer position was there have been multiple occasions during that time period where both the mayor and mayor prom were absent and we needed somebody to convene regular meetings and of course chair special meetings if they were required.

Yes. And that's where I when I specifically remember we created that position because in that year the mayor and the mayor prom were going to be traveling the German group and making sure that there was somebody here that would take that that position. Um we continued on with that practice but I don't recall that we ever actually received clarification that we had the authority to do that. So what I would be asking is that we pause that position until we have clarification that we have the authority to do that and that position has authority within itself. Um because I what I don't want to do is we can appoint that position and then what happens then if they say that no that's not in your charter you don't have the authority to do that. Mr. Swallow do you have any recommendation? So obviously council has the authority to if there's not a chairperson uh there has to be a designated officer to run the meeting. So you can do that individually if at the meeting there's you know obviously the event that both the mayor and mayor prom are absent um you'd have to pick a chair at that point in time. Uh or I think this is appropriate way to do it in terms of uh terms of identifying that at the beginning of the calendar year. However I don't have legal opinion that supports that. Yeah, I I I mean, again, we've been doing this for more than 5 years now. I think that that this process streamlines the the issue in the event that both the mayor and mayor prom um are absent. So, I see no reason to to deviate from um standard practice. And I I'll be um voting in favor of the motion to not only appoint the mayor prom, but also the second presiding officer. And I have every reason to believe that Council Member Rice and Council Member Harmat will do a fine job in the in the ensuing year. And again, I thank uh council member Dylan and uh council member Cio for serving as mayor prom and second presiding officer respectively in the the past three years. Additional questions.

I'm still Oh, go ahead. Thank you. Um and then I just wanted to as far as the mayor prom position, I wanted to just make a statement that having served on city council for over 10 years, including the la the past three years as mayor prom, I have a clear understanding of the responsibilities this role entails. This position requires reliability, accountability, sound judgment, and trust. Mr. Gerba has consistently demonstrated these quality qualities, excuse me. And I would like to put his name forward for the 2026 mayor prom. Okay. Additional questions or comments? Mr. Gerba,

just um and Mr. Swallow, your understanding for presiding officer would be just at meetings, not any other activity, correct? Thank you. There's no additional discussion. Um, we'll move to a vote simply to acknowledge receipt moved by Dylan, seconded by Gearball. Those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Eyes have it. The motion passes. I'll make a motion then to appoint uh mayor or council member Rice as mayor prom for 2026 along with council member Harmmont to be the presiding officer. Is there a second? Seconded by Harmmont. Okay. Um, any additional discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Post say nay. Nay.

Eyes have it. The motion carries 5 to two. Uh, we move on to new business item 26-10, Axon bodywn camera contract. This is a motion to approve the Axon contract not to in not to exceed amount of 710,000 for a 10-year contract. Acknowledge. Um, I'll let Dylan be the mover to acknowledge and Gerba be the second. Um, can I yield the floor to Chief Radzik and Chief Radic, when you begin your presentation, um, I think especially from a public perspective, the dollar amount is pretty significant. So, um, if you want to explain the the tangible benefits, uh, of approving a a 10-year contract and all that comes with this, uh, with this dollar amount, I think that would be, um, very helpful.

Sure. Uh, and, uh, Deputy Chief Andy Hartwig's in the back there also to answer any questions that you may have. Um, as you know, in 2022, we brought this forward for a uh, contract with Axon, and that was for a 5-year contract at 255,000. Uh we're coming up to the end of life for that contract. Um Axon has worked very well for us. It comes with the redaction software. Um it may look confusing looking at all the itemized uh notes on there. I I know there's probably some questions about um the licensing. That was a question for me when I first looked at the contract back in 2022 with the every officer has to have a license for the body more cameras because that also comes with transcribing capabilities which we don't use that often. Um, and like I said, the redaction software. So, yes, it does look like a heavy lift. Um, but I can also tell you that this especially in this climate, I don't know how we can operate without having body warn cameras and incar um cameras as well. So, I I know it's a it's a heavy lift and it's a big price tag. It's broken down throughout the 10 years and I'm just um I I don't know what we would do if we didn't renew this contract with Axon. Yes, there's other vendors out there. However, we have looked at those other vendors prior to entering this contract in 2022 and they didn't offer what Axon offers as far as the redaction software. So, even though this price looks pretty hefty, if we had to buy all of these additional items um to redact for your requests, which

you know we do, we get numerous foyer requests monthly and especially in light of the most recent incident, we've had a lot of uh foyer requests. So, the redaction software um is beneficial and we're also talking about the tasers, all the equipment that we need to use on the street when we go out to work as part of what's involved in this this contract with the tasers, body warn cameras, and incar cameras that also not only face forward but also um record what happens in the back seat as well. So if there was ever liability um issues, everything was reported.

Uh Mr. Swall, you've had ample opportunity to engage with the police chief on this issue and to review this proposal. Do you have any additional comments that you'd like to add at this time?

First, uh thanks to Chief Rzik and Deputy Chief Hartwig, they definitely did thorough research on this. Also speaking with other communities, Axon is definitely a leading technology provider in this area. Um as mentioned there are other providers but the the quality of the equipment is not uh as good as well as some of the tools and just talking with you know uh even uh IT director Shank um some of the some of the other technology he's investigated and you know just the images can be shaky this has stabilization technology uh obviously it is a longer term contract which was something that we discussed at length uh but just based on what we see in terms of technology increasing cost year over year and we actually had that discussion at our department head meeting this morning is that we are seeing uh technology costs go up uh for this type of this type of equipment. Uh so that's why we are recommending the 10-year contract and certainly I support Chief Radzik's recommendation in this case. Uh take any questions that you may have and or you know technical questions I'll probably defer uh to the police department.

Okay. Uh questions um subsequent to the uh report is there are there questions for either the city manager or police chief? Council member Gearbomb, can you um explain? I mean, this is a significant increase just from an annual basis perspective. I'm looking at this, it's approximately 78% increase um each year. What now? Um that seems significant when I'm looking at we had a 5-year contract, excuse me,

previous contract. We're seeing that unfortunately, you know, [clears throat] with a lot of different uh equipment. Um you know, obviously Axon, I will say, has quartered the market a little bit and developed their product further. So they are you know they are able to I guess you know demand more uh in terms of uh in terms of cost and a price for the equipment. Uh so uh that is that is one of the things but we are seeing technology across the board increase significantly and then not really seeing the actual contract language and everything. Um it seems [clears throat] like the only way we can get out of this contract is if we don't appropriate money for it in a particular year. Is that correct?

That's there is a termination clause that if council is not appropriate that it can be terminated. Yes. But we what else can we terminate it for besides non-performance or if my concern now is we're tying into a 10-year contract um and having the ability to get out of it. Should we have financial concerns or should we do changes in our operations that may be different in the future? Um a 10-year contract seems like a very long commitment, especially for technology and things that are changing so quickly. just for us and for I hope my council members are understanding such a huge increase in such a an approach seems like a significant commitment when we're not sure what technology is even two years from now.

I would argue that uh certainly video technology um is going to be around here for quite some time with the uh with police uh police operations. Uh the other advantage is you know we do get uh as equipment wears out the part of this is that you get refresh on equipment if needed or if it breaks it gets repaired. Uh so there are some definite support uh and update uh provisions built into the contract as well.

And understanding this um seems that we negotiated this prior to the end of December. How long have we been negotiating this or was this not something that we should have been discussing two or three months ago? Obviously coming up at the end of the contract um there were some incentives if you will at the end of the calendar year uh for uh and obviously those discounts reflected in the agreement. So, um it it could have started sooner certainly, but I think the uh where it became where it became uh obvious is that as they as they approach the end of their their calendar year and the end of their um agreement as we approach closer to the end of our agreement, they were able to offer us additional discounts. So, that's when we decided to move forward rather than wait.

And our agreement officially ends 1231 or it officially ends the end of this fiscal year. When was the 5year? So, April 4, 2022. So, we started in it was so it was April of 2022. Uh DC, I think you might have the exact Yeah, it says here in your letter, April 4, 2022, council approved. So, I didn't know. And it was a 5-year contract. So, when we were approaching the end of the five-year contract is when we started having conversations with Axon, which was only probably what, a month and a half, two months ago, maybe.

Right. We were getting ahead of the game. Actually, this isn't like a lastm minute negotiation. This was getting ahead for when the contract would end uh at the end of fiscal year 26. So, coming up in July would have been the last payment. So, we started working ahead, you know, 6, eight months to try to figure out, okay, what do we need to budget for? Uh, and we were doing that ahead of time this fall. Well, then Axon came back to us and said, "Well, if we want to uh go ahead with the contract now, we can miss out on the u the price increases which was uh substantial for this year starting January for all their products." And they started offering discounts uh for starting the the next, you know, budgeting cycle with them early. So that's why this is kind of coming down to it at the end of the year because we saw that uh they want customers for 10 years. Uh so they're offering a lower yearly payment than we would get for doing a fiveyear reup which we did last time. Um because they get a customer for 10 years but at the end of that 10 years our payment is going to be significantly lower than if [clears throat] we did like two fiveyear uh sessions with them. And is most of their software and equipment proprietary? Is that one of the reasons why they want to push for a 10-year contract or

Right. I mean, they want a solid customer for 10 years, right? They don't want the be up in the air in five years to see if we're going to reup with them. That's why we get a discount for going 10 years. provides us for stability built into that is um refreshment of I know there's some concerns about cameras being outdated. Uh those items in that contract are replaced depending on the item anywhere from two to four times through that 10 years to account for you know end of life or updated technology. Um yeah, and looking at the finances and stability and you know we've been pushing uh our department for more long-term planning that that offers a lot of stability for us for planning for the future too.

Okay. And then just the last question and it's not for you Andy but for um I see we're moving funds out of it into the police department. Are we realigning and then we have to add to this because of the increase? This doesn't appear to have been tracked within the police department budget itself. When I'm looking at the uh economic impact,

working with treasure Finch on this, uh we'd like to see more reflective if the technology and the equipment is specific to a department that we track that within that department as opposed to uh we did have kind of an overarching allocation uh that went through IT department. Then it wasn't clear, you know, how do you set that allocation per department based on the which technology they're using. So, we're trying to uh basically if it's specific to the police department, we would like that, you know, payments come directly from that department. So, it's a little easier to track the true cost of each department and not do the allocation as we uh have hopefully that that account and this is from my own thing will be tracked across all departments so we can see a total picture still like we did.

There will be some allocation still for like the BSNA software that is enterprisewide. We use it across the city. uh we'll still probably you allocate that out of the IT department, but for uh very specific department, you know, items and software and technology, we'd like to [clears throat] move that back into the department budget. Thank you. Additional questions, uh council member um Dylan and then council member Halch.

Thank you. Um thank you, Chief. We were able to kind of work through some of my questions earlier as far as the um quote because it was a bit confusing. Um, and that I had some specific questions regarding each because it does state that each license has a redaction available to it and you were able to clarify. Correct. [snorts] Yes. So, everybody is assigned their own specific body warn camera. So, with each bodywn camera, so mine would have the redaction licensing. It that does not mean that I can redact. I I can't even touch any of the video. nobody can modify other than our FOYA coordinator, but there's the original and then there is what is redacted and it's very clear and there's also an audit trail. So, um if I can even see like if if if there's a certain incident that I want to see who was viewing that if I can go into the audit trail and see who has viewed that video. Everything is is tracked through an audit trail.

I appreciated that. Um, a couple of the questions I had were sort of technology and which is does this equipment require city IT support? It it's very minimal I would say um between the DP. So when we first went to Axon they had a representative come out and outfit every car since then. Now that every car is outfitted, it's really relies on our IT and the DPW. If we're switching the equipment out, say into a new car, um they're able to do it. But honest, it's it's pretty much plugandplay. It's not that difficult.

Fantastic. And even when we, you know, we had an incident where body worn camera fell off during a tussle, then it was run over by a car. We literally just um put the body warn camera in a package, shipped it back, and they shipped us a new one. So, and that was one of the questions I had, which was, what was your experience been with equipment failures, repairs, loaner equipment? Customer service. It's been wonderful.

That's wonderful to hear. Um, and then one of the biggest concerns, and Mr. Gerbot sort of alluded to it, what wasn't included was an actual contract language. This was just a quote of like the equipment and services, the licenses. So, within that, there was um a website that said you can look here for Axon's, you know, terms and conditions. So when I looked at that um and you look at termination, really the only way that we can get out of this based on those specific terms and conditions is that if the city were not to allocate the money and and it appears that we can't just say, "Oh, we're not going to fund it this year." It's the city goes like bankrupt kind of a thing. And [snorts] so I guess I would like to understand more clearly what exactly our our exit strategy should we decide to to leave this because what happens in a couple years if this company were to be acquired by another company and it's not the same product that we were that we had had the assumption of or something like that. I want to make sure that we have a clear thing. The city has most recently had this problem where we've entered contracts and there is no exit clause for us and we are stuck with a multi-year contract. Um 10 years is a really long time and as long as we have our own safeguards in in place I I think that I would feel comfortable with that. But I would like to make sure that our legal team has looked at it and that we are comfortable that there is a plan in which we can exit and what that would look like.

Any comments to that that point? Uh either city manager Swallow or or Chief Rzik I would the language as I read it is if the money funding is not appropriated. So I don't see it as if the you know the city goes bankrupt um in terms of that. So I mean that is I think a little bit more flexible than than that but I can certainly yeah it it was it was very vague terminology and I would like to make sure that we clearly understand what we have um as far as an out within those 10 years. Um Council Member Halch.

Yeah. Um, Chief Risac, first of all, I just want to say that I have not always uh I've not always felt safe with police behind me or in the presence of police. Um, but here in Seline is I' I've never had that panic. I've never had um that sense of, "Oh my god, there's a cop behind me." Um, and I know that that speaks to not just the training of your officers, um, but but the standards that you set, but it also speaks to this technology. I do feel a lot more comfortable knowing, um, that there are body cameras and that there are measures of accountability um, in our policing here in Seline. [clears throat] Excuse me. So, for me, I don't necessarily look at this as a financial purchase. I that is important but I think some of my colleagues have covered this uh the financial aspects of it quite well. Um a lot of these hardware companies are really software companies in disguise and as a software developer this is kind of the world that I live in. Um and so some of the some of the things that I have questions about number one in particular um is with signing a 10-year contract. what or is there um any sense of Axon's data retention policies as far as ultimately who owns the footage, who owns the data, and as uh council member Dylan mentioned, you know, should they be acquired, uh what does that data retention policy look like?

So, do you want to answer that or

Sure. It's it's a problem that we're all in. You know, everyone wants uh for their business someone to come up with a solution that combines all their systems so they can run it on one instead of having seven different vendors. And uh that's essentially what we would have to do. We'd have to be coming with seven different contracts to cover everything that they are. Uh the downside of that is we're kind of locked in with them, right? because all of our video evidence and a lot of our criminal cases are actually put together in Axon. It's the video, we've got documents, [clears throat] everything. So, uh that storage is very important to us. Um, and they've got a good business plan where we they work so well for us to share all that information with prosecution, with defense attorneys, um, all those things that, um, that's why it's such a good business because we kind of need to stick with them because we've got such good storage with them. Um, that that is our information. uh you know if uh something happened with their business that's going to be a legal matter that you know it's going to be tough for us to say exactly what happened but it is our data. Uh if we discontinued with them we could still keep all that data but now you know accessing that and sharing that data would be kind of a nightmare. Um that's why it's such a good system and that's why it cost some money. So yeah, we could have some issues if uh uh something happens with them. If we contracted with someone else, it's probably even riskier because the smaller companies more likely to go under and then we have you know data storage issues as well. Uh tax on is kind of a behemoth. They're probably going to be the longest lasting company out there. That's just my assumption because uh you know it's difficult to find an agency that isn't contracting doing such a good job with it. So yeah, that's something we worry about. We've

got a lot of data stored with them

and and and we do follow foyer the retention policy. So we we follow that. But like um DC Hartwig was saying the um it's hard to explain. All of our cases are literally in ASON. So, another added piece that I think I spoke to back in 2022, but I didn't today is even our our prosecutor's office, they won't even look at um say a resisting and obstructing charge unless they see that video. So, what we used to have to do have an officer leave the city, drive, track down, you know, prosecutor drop off a DVD to them. Right? Now, it's a simple link. they get it, it expires in a certain amount of time, they can view the video and and that's how they make the determination on whether or not they're going to charge. Um, but we follow the uh records retention.

One thing I and so I I think that's great. One thing I would kind of caution um and thinking about is maybe a data retention policy that um sort of covers that contingency of should they be acquired um or should they go under? like what happens to that data. Um, [clears throat] another question that I had is is becoming increasingly important is um I often have I often caution people especially when they're making software purchases um is to look at the road map. Um do we have any idea of what Axon's road map is as far as how they plan to innovate any other product lines they introduce? Um in particular what I worry about is uh AI obviously like if they have plans to introduce facial scans if they have uh plans to introduce any type of AI machine learning algorithms that you know start to blur those lines in between people's personal data but also policing. Um, so are you aware or do you know if you can find out what that road map looks like and if they intend or if they intend to incorporate AI?

So I mean Axon is very innovative. Uh they already have a transcription um software which we're not interested in in purchasing. It's pretty much the officers can transcribe. It will take your body warn camera and pretty much write a report from it.

Okay. We're not interested in going down that route. Um, we're also not interested. They do offer something similar to Flock. We're not interested in that. We're not going down that route. I mean, like I said, they are the company out there that's they have the market. Um, they're very innovative, but again, it's up to us what we decide. And that goes with the culture of the police department also, right? I mean, I was here a couple weeks ago, um, you know, kind of gauging the interest based on some downtown, you know, businesses whether or not they would be interested in in flock cameras. It the message was loud and clear and I don't um, you know, I'm not going to proceed any further with that. So,

um, and well, do we know currently if our if our data has or will be used to train any of their proprietary models? No. Okay. No.

Okay. Cuz sometimes I know that that's an optin or an opt out kind of thing. So I want to make sure. Um and then my final question um is are there any uh aotments or uh is there any type of training that's included within this contract? Should there be some kind of underwater super taser that we now have to use? Like is there is you know is that are Are officers uh going to be able to be trained and that be included within this cost?

Yes. So, uh the tasers, um we're at I think seven right now, moving to the 10 version. Um we have a taser instructor within our police department. So, that saves us time and money not sending people out. So whenever we get a new recruit, which hopefully being fully staffed, everybody stays. And we're not going to have some for quite some time. But uh we have a officer that is trained to uh train them in the taser. Uh again, with that technology as well, um if you pull your taser out because you're out at a scene and there's other officers around, it will also activate their body warn cameras. So I just I mention that because this is when I say innovative, this is why we are, you know, leaning towards Axon because they have all the tools that we need when we go out on the streets to police the community. Um, and I again, it's for us, the chief and deputy chief to vet what we want here at the Selen Police Department, what we don't. So, you know, they may have some things, but it doesn't mean that we're going to um I mean, with the contract that you see is what we're looking at right now, the tasers, the incar, and the body warn cameras, and no big surprises. That That's it. That's all I'm looking for.

Those are all my questions. And I just want to say again, thank you for the great work that you guys and girls are doing.

Very good. Thank you for that. I'm going to jump to make sure everyone gets an opportunity to ask questions. Um jump to Council Member Deloro and then to uh uh Council Member Harmount. I just have a quick question for clarification. With such a long-term contract, 10 years, um when we're dealing with technology, software, hardware, as as time goes on, that technology will innovate, increase, and um get more sophisticated. Is there anything in the contract that provides for them to swap out, upgrade the cameras as the resolution improves, uh or as the tasers become more efficient or and use less power? Um, will will they upgrade the gear as part of the contract? Is is that afforded in the

Yes, as a matter of fact, it's already happened in our short 5-year contract. Um, we Andy, you'd know better when we were shipped. Sure.

The new tasers and but it's on a cycle and it's it's all noted in the contract, but maybe you can speak. Tasers have a little longer lifespan, but uh the contract that we're reviewing today um would issue new tasers uh in the first month if we sign that contract. Uh and then again in year five. So that's a good time span for tasers. So there' be two shipments of new tasers over the 10 years. uh the the body cams. Um uh they actually already ship new body cams. We'll have to ship them back if the contract doesn't go through. Uh but then they would ship the new versions in year um 3,58 and 10. Uh because your body cameras go through a lot of wear and tear. Seat belt um puzzling with people falling off on the street. Uh and they've got a lot of uh you know a quick life cycle because of improved cameras. That's what I I was thinking. Yeah.

Yeah. And then uh the incar cameras uh get a new one right away and then in years five and 10. Uh and then their training system which helps train our officers with not only handguns but tasers and gives them scenarios to go through because that's such a a high risk uh and low frequency event. It's hard for people to get experience and uh do real life decision making. So part of this includes training software for officers deceasive areas uh and a VR system uh that refreshes in years 3, six and eight. So it really does plan for their upgrades to the equipment end of life. Um and that's all taken account taken into account. Yeah.

Okay. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you, [snorts] Council Member Delaro. Council member Harmout, I believe you had a question or two.

Yeah, there good good job on this one because it looks like it really uh is has a lot of advantages some of the other brands don't have, including um exceptional video quality. Um, one of the items you did bring up is the rug ruggedness. Is that something that they're working on improving [clears throat] because that's definitely something that they're they're knocked for? Um, [snorts] I mean, I feel like Well, let me back up. That's also why we went to the exterior vest because it's more secure. Um, they have tested years ago. It was just a clip. Now it's a magnetic. So I know you've heard these stories and scenarios from us. They are pretty rugged. They really are. Um and I don't

Yeah, we've only managed to destroy one body cam so far and that was being run over by a car. But yeah, they've been through a lot [laughter] standing in the rain, you know, for hours. Um I was surprised we haven't had issues with those. And the nice thing about the last 5-year contract, because I was used to uh having tasers without necessarily a service contract, something little went wrong, you'd ship it back and they fix that whole part, you'd get the same one back. But uh with the program, it's called TAB, you know, uh once you're covered with the same kind of program we want to go with for 10 years. Uh when we've shipped a taser back, they had a minor issue, they just they don't have to wait, [clears throat] they ship a new one. Uh, so we're not worried about things getting old and kind of fixing pieces here and there. They in general just ship you a new piece of equipment, but yeah, they have been pretty hardy. I mean, the cops can break things and we haven't managed to break too much. So,

is it forward facing or panoramic or is it panoramic or

Well, the the there's a wide angle lens in in actually looking at different vendors. That is one of the selling points with Axon because if you're looking like I remember [clears throat] looking through one lens with a man sitting on a couch in a gun right next to him, you couldn't even see it in one body worn camera in the axon. It was crystal clear because of the wide angle. So they have improved on that. A and when running, you know, if you're watching a video, if someone's in a foot pursuit, some of the other vendors, you you get motion sickness watching the video, but Axons has the I forgot what you call it. Um stabilizer.

Thank you. Yes. They also have the um GPS locating traction or track. So is that and is that something that's unique to that versus other I don't know if it's necessarily unique but it it is very user friendly when you pull up the app and you can see where your officer is at you know throughout the city. That's something that's also sharable with our dispatch partners. Uh other vendors probably wouldn't be because they are on board with most agencies in the county having act. So they pull up uh you know an officer's out on the foot chase and he doesn't even know where he is. You know a dispatcher can pull up that uh a GPS and actually tell an officer where Thank you. I don't have any other questions.

There any additional questions before we vote on the motion simply to acknowledge receipt? Mr. Gbo, one last question. um how do we compare to other communities and our outfitting of everything that we're doing in this contract say compared to a Chelsea or to um I don't know anywhere Ann Arbor the other ones so county uses it but I mean I'm just curious is are we overdoing it underdoing it

I think we're um probably not doing as much as some of the other agencies are but I know Pittsfield uh is on acts on the County, Chelsea. Um, and we just had a conversation with Northfield Township. Uh, they just, uh, renewed their contract. So, um, and they're 10 years, too.

Was I can't remember if I think Northfield was looking at a 10-year. I can't remember what they decided. I I think it's fairly early for the 10 year option to come out. But as far as outfitting, I would say we're it's so hard to compare because there's, you know, there's 10 to 12 things listed in there and each department is a little different, but we're about I would say roughly average because I know I I went through the uh several agencies shared their contracts with me so I can go through piece by piece to make sure we're getting comparable prices and they're not charging one person, you know. So, it's pretty evenhanded. Um, but looking through there, everyone's got a mix of some people are on a fiveyear with tasers, but you know, a threeyear with body cams because this technologies come out at different part different times and they've signed contracts, so they're in these kind of leap frogging contracts. So, it's hard to compare with other agencies. So, um, that's a little bit you can't really get apples to apples comparison. I appreciate [clears throat] though that you did the cost analysis and the verification on some of the other information that gives me a little bit more confidence in what we're moving forward. So, thanks sir.

Okay, we have a motion on the floor moved by uh Dylan, seconded by Gearbos simply to acknowledge receipt. All those in favor say I. Oppos say nay. I have the motion carries unanimously. Is there a motion now to approve or not to approve? Move to approve. Second. Moved by Rice to approve and seconded by Harmon. Is that correct? Yes. Thank you. Is there additional discussion? Yes. I would like to know if we can add a friendly amendment to that that it is subject to review by our legal council to understand the the clause the termination clause. Uh I'd have to defer first to the mover and the second if they want to accept that as a friendly amendment. If they do it can be included without objection. If they do not want to accept it we'll have to vote on it separately.

What are the implications for getting this contract signed if we have to delay this till next week? Oh yeah, we do have a meeting next week. You're right. Okay, that's fine. Council member Harmmont, are you fine with that suggested amendment? Can the clerk um restate the motion then for council's benefit and for the the general public? All right. I have to approve the axon contract not to exceed the amount of 710,000 for a 10-year contract with a friendly amendment to uh subject to legal counsel um reviewing exiting the exiting the contract. termination. Tetermination is better ver is better better vernacular. Thank you. Everyone clear on the amended motion then?

Okay. And again the mover and second are comfortable with that language as articulated by the chief uh by the clerk. Okay. Any additional discussion? Okay. I'll call for a vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Post say nay. I have. And the motion carries unanimously. Deputy Chief Hartwig Chief um Renzik, thank you very much. Appreciate your time this evening. Uh we're going to proceed to the discussion portion of the agenda. Unlike the work meeting, I'm going to begin to my um uh left and end to my right because um um council members uh Deloro and Hal are brand new. So, I doubt they have any board commission uh updates. They may have some broader community updates they'd like to share, but I'll start with council member Harmar. Any reports, announcements, or updates from boards, commissions, or committees? Yeah, sure. We have a historic district commission meeting uh this Thursday.

Very good. Councilman Rice,

uh, parks commission is, uh, really getting into the minute details of a recommendation document that will be presented to council at some point in the near future regarding, um, upgrade recommendations to, uh, Mil Pond Park. We're working on our decision matrix and we're working on getting some um, additional quotes for equipment, things like that, just so that council has kind of a better understanding of like what we would like to see from Mil Pond in the future. um you know, no decisions will need to be made, but we will be presenting it to council so that council can discuss it and perhaps um build it into uh maybe next year's budgeting cycle. Um so that should be we may need to ask the mayor for another week or two um from when we had said we'd originally get it prepared um simply because we're getting some additional quotes that we thought would be pertinent. Um but we should have that within the next couple of weeks. Oh,

okay. You know, I think uh I think the goal initially when first presented more than uh probably uh 12 to 16 months ago was to try to get something to city council, a formal document uh for review before the end of the first quarter of this year. So, um that doesn't mean a special meeting or discussion needs to be held, but at least that a document is in council's hand for review and then a subsequent discussion will be held held um or had rather. Um anything else that you'd like to share this evening? Um Mayor Pam Rice?

Uh I do want to say thank you very much. Um it's an honor to be uh designated mayor part for the upcoming year. Um I'm really looking forward to um joining some new committees this year as well. Um going to be joining um as the alternate to SEMCOG. I've attended one meeting in the past but um would like to really start getting integrated into understanding what the opportunities are for things like grants and funding and partnerships um through that organization. Um, so this is my third year, second, uh, term. Um, it will be an election year for me. Unfortunately, we all have to deal with that. Um, but I'm really looking forward to, um, continuing my service and I appreciate the confidence of my colleagues in uh, designating me Mayor Prom.

Thank you. Uh, Council Member Gearball, reports, updates, or um, um, reports from boards, commissions, or committees? Um, as being appointed to the fire authority or basically we hope to create a fire authority, the fire board. I look forward to meeting on Wednesday to start discussing and looking forward to moving that issue forward. Um there will be a meeting on the 12 on the 14th for planning to actually take a first view at the um site plan for lot 20. Um hopefully we'll be moving that forward and seeing if we can get that um project, you know, on the boards. that development is going to be significant on Michigan Avenue and and what we can do in getting that um realized will be a great asset to our community.

And for the public's benefit, lot what was formerly known as lot 20A is the space adjacent directly to the west of the Zippies car wash on Michigan A. Um so it's actually sort of an L-shaped um parcel that fronts Michigan A but then goes behind Zippies. So, if you're interested in that project, as council member Gearbot indicated, the planning commission will be considering it at their next meeting, which is a week from Wednesday, 7 p.m. here in council chambers. Yeah. Hopefully, it'll be a mixed use of both retail and a lot um townhouse or um residential. And we're expecting and hoping that it will expand beyond just that lot and another lot so that we can u benefit the majority of all that property that's still open there.

Very good. [clears throat] Um, Council Member Dylan, uh, reports or announcements or updates from boards, commissions, or committees?

Thank you. Um, as I've mentioned at the last several meetings about the cable commission, everyone knows that local access channel 18 has been out of service for some time. Uh, there was a fiber optic line that was cut during a construction project over by the middle school. Um, it's been a long road traveled. Um, but we finally have gotten authorization and a project plan from Mystig and right now they are scheduled to begin work tomorrow um to repair that line. They are dealing with some weather issues um and they want to make sure that they have a clear path so that they don't actually cut a different line at the same time as they're repairing this one. So, I'm optimistic that we will have channel 18 up and running again very soon. In the meantime, uh videos can still be watched on the city's YouTube channel or on the school's YouTube channels. Um the zoning board of appeals did not meet in January because it was a holiday. So, my assumption is it will meet on in February uh because we will probably just have a housekeeping meeting. um elect officers, schedules, that sort of thing. Um unless we know of something that comes before it. And Urban County continues to push out information on warming centers. And for those that have made mention that I don't know why you talk about warming centers in Seline, we have a homeless population in Seline. So please do not think that we are exempt from these issues. Um, and they are also been in assistance with the Thornrest um, uh, the Thorn Crest housing project and finding homes for those residents.

Thank you. Uh, Council Member Deloro, any um, reports or announcements? Nothing yet. Certainly change in the near future. Okay, very good. Council member Halsh. Um, I just wanted to say if you haven't seen it, um, there is there has been the creation of the Thorn Crest Assistance Fund. Um, so please consider donating um, if you find it in your heart. Uh, and then no, obviously no committee or boards. Just excited to get started next week with uh, I think arts and culture.

Very good. And yeah, thank you for bringing up the Thornest um, uh, fund. I believe that we well I know we disseminated a press release last night. There's also a graphic. Um, I would encourage council members to share that on their various pages. Um, and if you're so inclined to donate to a very worthy cause, I hope you will I hope you'll consider that. Um, if there are no additional reports or announcements,

I would like to make one comment. Um, it's been mentioned numerous times on social media. I witnessed it myself today as well as others. Um, there is an excessive number of gravel haulers coming through our community right now. um probably based on what's happening at the data center in Selen Township. Um I'm seeing 12 of them while waiting at a light going one way or the other. Um I think that the city is going to need to up its game as far as uh enforcement, whether it's load enforcement, definitely speed enforcement. They are coming through from the township and very regularly are not able to stop at the light at Austin Road and it's I'm not going to wait until there's some sort of tragedy that happens because they're either rolling through that one or the four corners. Um I think that's something that the city is going to need to address as well as what the long-term damage to our roads are going to be with them constantly going over there. Um the other issue that's come about that is, you know, it it's very specific to the west side of town, but there's a car carrier issue and car carriers that are offloading in Michigan Avenue on Austin Road on Austin Drive. These need to be addressed. Um it's a it's an it's a safety issue again today. Um, I watched as a car carrier stop traffic in every direction as he tried to manipulate a car carrier onto a onto a road that he should not have been on. Um, I've witnessed them offload cars in the turn lane on Michigan Avenue. Um, it it's it's totally unacceptable and again it's just a tragedy waiting to happen and so I'm hoping we can address that.

Thank you for bringing those issues forward this this evening. Um, uh, city manager swallow, perhaps you can follow up with Chief Radzik and provide some information either at an upcoming council meeting or in one of your weekly communications. Yeah, we've already actually had discussion on those items at our department head meeting. Uh, trying to look at both from, you know, the car care carrier situation, whether it's site plan and or obviously it is a public safety issue on the road uh and as well as gravel haulers in terms of legal opinion on weight limits and what what we can do. So, um, thank you very much,

Mayor Tag on that. Um I noticed today that Washington County was adjusting the signals uptown. So I don't know if we were aware of that, but I'm concerned they're changing signals to maybe accommodate for that traffic. U so DPW as well as police department did indicate that they felt that there were some delays at the signals. Uh and so they did contact MDOT to check them. So I don't know if they were adjusting them, but they they're just checking the timing. Yeah, I just said and then the one thing there's a damaged speed sign in front of Philips that hasn't been repaired yet and that's been there for almost a month now. So, right across the street here, Michigan A and and and South Harris. And actually, while we're talking about street signs, since Mr. Gearbot brought that up, um, also the one that that annoys me is a waterworks and Ann Arbor Street. Yes, that one has a stop sign attached to it. That is now

you could basically do the limbo under it. Okay. So, if that could be corrected as well. Appreciate that. Uh, we come now to public comments. Uh, under the open meetings, act, any person may come forward at this time, make comment question, city council. This public comment period will be limited to three minutes per person. Those wishing to speak are requested, but of course not required to state their name and address for the record. Please note, we will not answer questions during uh this. There won't be a back and forth. We won't ask answer questions during the public comment period. You'll have three minutes once you begin. Take a second. I just wanted to congratulate both the returning and new council members. Congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate the comment. Any additional public comments this evening? Any written comments provided in advance of the tonight's meeting? Clerk Royal, which the individual wanted their remarks right at this time. Easy enough. Then if there's no additional business to be brought before city council, the chair would entertain a motion to adjurnn at 8:13. So moved. Moved by Dylan. Is there a second? Seconded by Deloro. All those in favor of adjourning signify by saying I. Post say nay. Eyes have it. Meeting is journ. Thank you all. Have one.