City Council - Regular Meeting

I call the Saline City Council meeting to order. If you 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. you very much. Roll call. Members present this evening are Council Members Del Orco, Dillon, Gearbaugh, Halsh, Harmout, Mayor Pro Tem Rice, and Mayor Morrow. From City Staff, we have City Manager Swallow, Clerk Royal, DPS Director McNeil, Community Development Director Atkin. Am I missing anybody else from City Staff? I think we've got staff covered. In the back are copies of our agenda along with a sign-up sheet and listening devices if you require them. At this time, the Chair would entertain a motion to approve the agenda as submitted unless there amendments.

I'd like to add one thing to you under discussion, right-of-way activity.

So that'll be after the interim city manager update, right-of-way activity. Okay. Would you like to move then to approve the agenda as amended? Council Member Gierbaugh? Yes, sir. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Council Member Dillon. All those in favor of approving the agenda as amended, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Aye. The motion carries unanimously. There are no absences this evening, so we'll proceed to the first of two public comment periods. Under the Open Meetings Act, any person may come forward at this time and ask questions. 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. Please note, City Council will not answer questions during this initial public comment period. Are there any citizen comments this evening on agenda items or any other matter of interest? Please Mr. Rhodes, come forward. Yes, sir. We actually changed our rules within the past six months, so you can comment on anything at both public comment periods. The first public comment period is no longer limited to enumerated action items. Yep, make sure the green light is illuminated at the base of that mic, and you may begin when ready.

David Rhodes, 663 Springbrook here in Saline. My comments have to do with the probable ballot issue that's going to come up with respect to the dam and mill pond, whether it is saved or whether it is removed. I want to mention that if the vote is to remove it, that's irrevocable. You can't bring it back. You can't put it back. If the vote is to repair it, then there are still possibilities of keeping a mill pond, and if at some time in the future things changed enough Then it could be removed if that became the common interest of the citizens. I would also urge that when you prepare the ballot language that you gather a group of citizens, residents, along with city staff, and of course legal, understand there needs to be some legal phrases and words contained in that. But I would encourage you to make it as neutral as it is possible so that when people read it and study about it, they know yes or no. I don't believe that the city itself should take a position yes or no, because that's going to. That's my thought.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Rhodes. Appreciate your comments. Any additional citizen comments on agenda items or any other matter for that matter? Ms. Humphreys.

Good evening. Um, I'm Tasha Humphries and I'm here tonight as a resident who's excited about the opportunity to restore this lean river to a more natural state through removal of the saline river dam. As many of, you know, my husband and I bought our 1st house here 25 years ago, just as I was beginning my career municipal engineer. I also recently served as a sales engineer from November 1st, 2021 through July 10th, 2026 throughout my career as a municipal engineer. I have advocated for database capital reinvestment decisions. I'd like to repeat that because that's really the foundation of why I'm here tonight. Throughout my career as a municipal engineer, I've advocated for database capital reinvestment decisions. As outlined in my April 2022 and January 2023 memorandums to council, I immediately recognized the significant infrastructure challenges we face. The short story is that Selene owns a long list of aging assets with increasing maintenance needs, which is resulting in more capital needs and available funding. In an effort to help prioritize investments in our essential infrastructure, I worked to implement effective asset management principles into the city's capital improvement plan. Ultimately sound asset management principles will help to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent where they provide the greatest long term value. The dam life cycle cost analysis was approached in that same mindset. What does it truly cost to own the dam, maintain it, and continue investing in it over the years? We found that removal is less expensive over the long term. In addition, there are realistic opportunities to obtain grant funding that could significantly reduce the city's upfront costs. Removal would eliminate an aging piece of infrastructure that continues to deteriorate, reduce the city's long-term liability, eliminate the regulatory burden, free up staff resources, and reduce overall flooding. More importantly, during the feasibility study, 63% of public comment received supported dam removal. I encourage Council to reread Section M of the feasibility study in the many thoughtful letters submitted in support of river restoration. An Excel summary spreadsheet of public comments received was sent in an email to Council on March 17, 2025. Together, these documents provide valuable context for understanding community input. If the question to restore the river or rehabilitate the dam ultimately goes before the public, I ask that voters receive a balanced and complete presentation of the facts, including the continued condition of the existing dam, the long-term cost of continued ownership, the long-term risks of continued ownership, and the opportunity that river restoration presents. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Humphreys. We appreciate your comments this evening. Are there any additional citizen comments? You may come forward whenever you're ready. You have three minutes once you begin.

My name is Larry Englehart. I lived at 1326 Colony Drive. I've been a homeowner in Saline for 11 years, but I did work here in 1979 and 80, so I've known where Saline is for about 50 years. I'd like to speak in favor of removing the dam to restore the water, the river, to its natural state. In general, communities all over the United States are looking at removal of dams for reestablishing natural waterways and preserving the native fish. Beyond that, economically, as an engineer, I'm trained in cost-benefit analysis. I believe removing the dam would be more cost-effective in the long run for the city of Saline. And then I'm also concerned about the liability. My personal experience is I have an aunt who lives on... Stanford Sanford Lake north of Midland, which was wiped out in a big catastrophic flood as a damn failed upstream. She saw her boat launch and frontage washed away. Fortunately, her house was high enough not to be wiped out by that flood. So I'm very concerned about future liability as thousand year events, weather events are becoming very common across the United States and the rest of the world. I think we should take into account the long-term sustainability and to minimize our risk and damage in the future. Thank you. Thank you, Larry. We appreciate your comments.

Any additional citizen comments?

I'd like to state that according to Spicer and Before you get a break even point between moving them and saving the deal and that's only that's only if they hold to the original estimate of 3.5Million as well. The cost overruns and mission creep or something that. You live with when you do construction, so if they go over 3.5 months, it could take 50 years before you get that break even point. That's the feasibility study is. I don't think it's unfair to compare this to Midland. Midland was a huge body of water compared to what we have. And Eagle has already judged our dam. They say it's a low liability risk because there's nothing downstream. At the Sanford Dam, there's a whole city downstream. This is apples to apples. This is a very different dam situation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jim.

Additional comments? Molly?

Good evening here in Council, Molly Lumber Koi, 1492 colony drive also a member of the Davenport Curtis mansion working group. I just wanted to say, thank you for the consideration tonight. We're the 1st item under new business, but we're working to create a family friendly fundraiser. Our 1st, 1 for the Davenport Curtis mansion. It'll be a summer backyard barbecue with lots of activities for children. We're hoping to have a few contests as well. Best Apple Pie, Cornhole Tournament, and Best of the Season Blooms. Zilpha Davenport always had a beautiful rose garden, so we'll be having a rose contest for the best bloom. We've got wonderful kids activities and been in contact with Sunshine Lambert at the Selene Ruck Center for kids activities that'll be there. along with a silent auction and we have some of our history will come alive with the Davenports, Carl Curtis and Henry Ford visiting in photos in front of the mansion. So there'll be lots of things for folks to enjoy and I'm here to answer any questions you might have a little later on. I know I took the time to call each of you and send an email and hopefully we've provided you with a lot of good detail but We had such a fabulous event on Saturday hats off to the arts and culture committee, but over 500 people on the grounds and just the general general comments were just very, very positive. It was great to see an activation of the grounds and this would be another activation opportunity. So thank you very much.

Thank you. Molly. Any additional citizen comments from those in the audience this evening? Clerk Royal, let me defer to you because I think we had at least one written comment in which the individual wanted their remarks read at this time. Is that correct? Actually, I had four. Four? Okay. Well, I will start the timer and you may begin when ready.

This one is from John Ambrose, 515 Vanessa Court. I urge the City of Saline not to rush its decision regarding either the Mill Pond Dam or repairs to Weller's Mill of Rice. These are significant issues that will affect our community for generations and deserve careful, thoughtful consideration. First, regarding Weller's mill race, the city should not accept any repair plan that shortcuts worker safety. Any work performed in the mill race should be fully comply with OSHA safety requirements, including confined space entry standards where applicable. More importantly, however, the council should ask whether it is prudent to spend a substantial amount of public money to benefit a single property when less expensive alternatives are available. Weller's mill race requires only enough water flow to prevent algae growth and unpleasant odors in the downstream channel. There are practical, cost-effective ways to achieve that goal, and I believe Weller should be willing to work with the city to find a fiscally responsible solution. future of the dam to a public referendum, the process must provide voters with a balanced and impartial presentation of options. The choice should not be framed simply as whether to remove the dam. Rather, the community is choosing between two different visions of Mill Pond Park and the Saline River, retaining the existing impoundment or restoring a free-flowing river. Those who support retaining the dam seek to preserve a structure constructed in 1975. While important to many residents, it is not a historic dam. The impoundment it creates is not well-suited for swimming or boating and has become heavily populated by domestic geese. continues to accumulate sediment, supports a relatively poor fishery, and inundates land that could instead become accessible parkland. Many residents value the pond's appearance, and that perspective deserves respect. Others envision restoring the Saline River to a more natural condition. A clean, healthy, and safe river supporting a thriving fish population and flowing through open meadows and expanded public parkland. That vision is already evident in the beautiful stretch of river upstream of Mill Pond and in the restored river downstream of the dam. A vision championed by the Brenda Saline River. It includes an improved habitat, expanded recreational opportunities, safe passage beneath US 12, and the long-term connection of Saline Parks into a continuous river and corridor. Ultimately, this decision is about much more than the future of one dam. It is about the long-term vision for Mill Pond Park, the Saline River, and the legacy we leave for future generations. If the question is placed before the voters, the ballot language should clearly and fairly present these two competing visions so that residents can make an informed choice.

Very good. We thank Mr. Ambrose for his comments this evening. Would you like to proceed with the second written comment?

The next one is from Edith Anderson. and it's a dear Mayor Morrow and members of Saline City Council. My name is Edith Anderson. I live in Saline Township, pay Saline school taxes, and consider Saline my community. I am also a longtime master gardener and the author of books encouraging homeowners to help restore nature where they live. Although I am unable to attend tonight's meeting, I would like to express my strong support for removing the Mill Pond Dam and restoring the Saline River to a free-flowing state. Yesterday, I walked the new path at Mill Pond Park, and I want to compliment the city choices along the path. The use of native plants was an excellent decision and demonstrates how thoughtful planning can create a place that is both beautiful for residents and beneficial to wildlife. I believe that the same long-term vision should guide the decision about the dam. I understand that removal may take longer and carry a higher initial cost than repairing or rehabilitating the dam, but the least expensive choice today is not necessarily the most responsible choice for the future. Repairing an aging dam may simply postpone the larger decision and pass the environmental and financial burden onto those who come after us. We should not kick the can upstream into the future. A restored river would improve water quality, reconnect habitat, allow fish and other aquatic life to move freely, and create a healthier, more resilient natural system. Dam removal would also give Selene an opportunity to reimagine Mill Pond Park, not as the loss of a familiar landscape, but as the beginning of a new one, with restored riverbanks, native plantings, walking paths, wildlife habitat, and new ways for residents to enjoy the river. If this issue is placed before the voters, the ballot language should clearly and fairly describe both choices. Residents deserve to understand the full long-term cost of repairing and maintaining the dams. as well as the environmental and recreational community opportunities that could come with removal. This is a decision that will shape Saline for generations. I hope the council will look beyond the next few years and choose supports that restores the health of the river and serves the community well into the future. Thank you for considering my concerns.

Thank you to Mrs. Anderson. You have two more, correct?

That is correct.

Okay, please proceed.

FROM ROBERT WOOD, 728 KNOWLEDGE. DEAR CITY OF SALINE COUNCIL, IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT COUNCIL IS REVISITING THE MILL POND DAM ISSUE IN ITS UPCOMING MEETING. I WISH TO REITERATE MY OPPOSITION OF CONTINUING TO MAINTAIN AND EVENTUALLY REPLACE THE DAM FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS. DAMS INTERFERE WITH THE OVERALL HEALTH OF THE RIVER. male pond has virtually no recreational purpose other than being pretty to look at. The dam serves no purpose other than to create the pond. The cost to maintain and eventually replace the dam exceeds its one-time removal and associated cost. I know some citizens have expressed favor in saving the pond when presented with the short-term cost of continuing to patch the aging structure versus the overall cost of total removal. Of course, the short-term cost will have to be added to the inevitable that eventually the dam will have to be totally replaced at an even higher cost for future Selenians. Therefore, I am asking the Council to start the process to restore the Selene River to its natural state, and should the Council move to put the issue before voters, put forward an honest assessment of the long-term cost along with funding sources available for said cost. Thank you for your consideration.

Very good. We appreciate that comment. Okay, that will conclude this initial public comment period. You will have the opportunity to speak to any matter at the end of our agenda as well. We are going to proceed with the one and only presentation this evening, which is a Saline sister city presentation, noting, of course, that the Breck and Saline relationship is celebrating its 60th year. We'll also be receiving some information about our very special relationship with Lindenburg, Germany. Mr. Roth, our former council colleague, are you taking the lead on the presentation this evening, and are you going to be joined by anyone else in the audience?

Yes, I'm going to be taking the lead, and I need to make some last-minute changes, which It's very disappointing, burst my bubble. But I will be making, filling in for the sound which we can't produce with my PowerPoint. I had songs, music, quotations, everything all set. So, we'll do our best and we're going to require your imagination. I cannot sing like the Brecon Choir nor play music like the people do in Germany. So, my apologies and as far as I didn't know this wouldn't work until I showed up here tonight. I went through all precautions thinking that it would work. I showed the presentation to the staff and no mention. from here. I will make a presentation. But first of all, I want to thank you. I want to thank Brian Morrow, city manager. We brought this idea of having a sister city week to them and took up their suggestion that this would be the best week for that and be able to present to the council. So I'm delighted to be here representing sister cities. I've been involved with sister cities since 1967. So it's been a few years of my life doing such, and it doesn't need to, and I wanted, since it's the Sleen Sister Cities, I wanted Sleen Council to understand what it's about, and also part of Citizens of Sleen, those listening in. And after I'm through with my presentation, I have Mayor, the Honorable Mayor Don Sheldon, former Mayor, Judge, he's... His career is so long, great achievements that he's done, and I'm so delighted. I'm not at all. so much more. So he will be giving a presentation. I sent information out, we were having a week, and within a couple of days, he turned around and sent me a PowerPoint presentation of the history, pretty much covering 60 years of the clinic with Brecken Wales. And his involvement was quite endless through these years. So to get started, well, I also want to thank The city clerk, Terry Royal, for the proclamation, for helping for us, putting things together here. The DPW workers were putting up the flags at the four corners. So there's lots of flags up there, but if you look close, you can see the Brecon ones and the Welch flags flying, and the Lindenburg, the Germany flags, and for us. Most of all, I want to thank you city council members for your dedication that you're doing and work that you're doing for our citizens of Saline, the city of Saline. Without you, things wouldn't get done. You give much time in preparation for meetings, attending meetings, extra time. And I know this from experience that I can't thank you folks enough for giving your time. it up keep it up and I would encourage anybody who's listening in that would think about they should get some consideration to give back to the community and become City Council members if they can't do that join us on the committees so it's very very important well I'll get started with my presentation and I couldn't even use my own computer so we'll see I've seen so many people having problems with presentations I thought I had a lick But I got licked. Here we go. Well, here we go. The mind has automatically worked. And this is... Oh, come on. There would be music here. It goes through, this is giving a little bit of the history with it and as far as the late President Eisenhower after World War II came up with the concept that we would have international peace and it would be citizen to citizen. So it's a great concept and I'll let you guys read along with it for the presentation since you've got the monitors in front of you. And this is basically what it's telling us about.

Am I too far away from the mic? No, you're good. Okay. We can hear you. You're welcome to pull it closer and you're welcome to adjust that podium if you'd like.

So this is the concept of sister cities and there's a long going organization and I think they're celebrating right now this 70th year. Sleep brick invent friendship guild was formed in order to help finance while we're hosting visitors here So you can see here. This is a video taking a car ride through the city of Brecken Wales and And as we're going through, you can see April 18th, 1966, our Mayor Johnson, at the time, accepted an invitation from Brecken to become a sister city. That time, Brecken was a small little farming town. They actually had a livestock auction right in the middle of the city. And now it's built up as a big, big, big grocery store. So as we drive through, so this is imaginary thing, so there's music along with this, and I think it was the Welch National Anthem that was being played with this part. So if you ever heard of it, try to imagine hearing it as we go along. The first exchange happened as far as the Musical Youth International, and my involvement, I got involved with Musical Youth International my second year here in Celine. So I was with them. Brecken choir was here. We had art exchanges from both from Brecken side and the school side. The youth choir from Brecken came over. The big band from Celine went over for a jazz festival. They went over a couple of times. They're fantastic. And I think Don probably was even part of that. Big band with it sleep fiddlers Gymnastics measure for measure Don took measure for measure over there and participated with it We had a soccer club sleep fiddlers, and we had several visits through the years about every five years It's clean we go over there in between Brecken would come over here. So these are businesses. We had pub nights for raising funds, as you see here. We're traveling down another street and we changed, and probably coming up soon will be, I thought this whole thing would be running pretty much by itself. That's Arthur Boley in this jailman's outfit, and he was the mayor set up for us through England and Wales. That area there was opened up and that's where the stockyard was. That sign that just popped up was Mayor Sheldon. They put the first signs for sister cities up personally. Now we're going down some other side streets and the streets are very narrow. Look at the sidewalks and I don't worry too much about. And far as this is that was some hard work that went over and you see how narrow the street is. So sidewalks. Not very big. They have a canal in Brecon, and it's still used, and that is one of the boats for it, so it goes through a couple of locks. This is the Brecon Cathedral, and there's music now going on. The choir's singing here in this cathedral. I hope you can imagine hearing that. So this is what it's about. The Celtic Festival came about because of our relationship with Brecon Wales. The music's really good for choir. It's pretty good even without the music. Yeah. And that was as far as the soccer games. So soccer team came over here and soccer from Saline went over there along with it. Now, as far as if you're interested, there's no dues. We usually have an annual picnic, annual meetings. We may have some time to visit the whales, and the whales may be coming over here, but the majority of the people who were involved was gone in my age, and older, and a few younger, and make it that we can't travel too much anymore. So there's who was... where the information for where I got the music and stuff that you missed. So that pretty much covers what I had in mind for Brecon, Wales. We can answer questions and stuff later. Don's gonna do a presentation for us on the more detailed history about Brecon. I'm gonna see if the next one works. This one, instead of going through by car, we're gonna go by foot. And we're gonna hear some German music. Are we going to even hear their... Well, we'll see. Because you're going to have to do that imaginary trip along.

Well, I thought you said at the outset of the presentation that you were going to sing.

That's what I heard.

I'm singing my song.

I mean, that's what I heard. Whoopsie, whoopsie. I've got to go back. It went automatically with my... The sidewalks are wider in Brecken. The architecture's a little bit different. The street's wider. And this is 2003 when the twinning was established between Lindenburg, Germany, and the city of Saline. And there are some pictures along with it. Gretchen Driscoll was the mayor at the time, and Mayor Zitt from Germany, and they've changed different mayors over there. So walking around, this is kind of the main square center of the city that... The picture that you see here is a group right take it right in front of the day is that's here in 2003. So we had quite a few visitors and sleep people and Lindbergh people in that picture. Now we're walking down for some of the shops that cities laid out kind of not in straight streets and rectangle stuff. We took them. That picture was taken in Henry Ford. We did a lot of things. So there's been exchanges. The Lindenburg Jazz Band came over here and did a tour for us. The St. Fiddler's went over there. They had a gap program for several exchanges. And the youth from Saline would go over there and spend about three weeks. And youth from Lindenburg would come over and spend about three weeks. So this is some of the streets. So it's not laid out in rectangles like we have here or squares. So this is And here you would be hearing some good music, German music, southern German. Events that we have through the Lindenberg Group, Oktoberfest, the Stammtisch, we have monthly, we take a break during the summer. We have a German dinner, summer picnics, annual meetings, and a visit to Lindenberg, and we host visitors. And we can talk a little bit more about that later on. And we have the past president, Jack Seale of the Lindenberg Group, and current president, Chuck Lesch is the current president of the group. They can answer questions too. Here's where you hear that German music. This is their city band along with it. I would love to have them come over here, but they all have work to do, and there's a lot of families involved. We hosted one of the gentlemen that's showing in here. His daughter and his grandkids are in this band, so it's kind of a family thing. The kids get indoctrinated to this kind of music from birth along with it. Now, we were over the last visit we had was 2023 and this is the Roth. Brewery, so some of my rich ancestors probably started this stuff. We had an excellent thing. We got to see what was great about it when they hosted us. They had a lunch, but. They had a big spread, you could eat all you wanted to eat, but the thing about it, they had a tap there, so you could fill your mug as much, as often as you like. That all happened before we went through to see how this stuff is made. Now Jack is talking there. I don't know if Jack can remember what he says, but he's saying how time flew so fast. that our visit went just like a blink of the eye. And he's thanking everybody there for hosting us. So that's what Jack said. But sorry you can't hear.

You want to point out the significance of that building? It's really striking.

That building is that, boy, it's a hat museum. And they, Lindenburg was great, known great for hats, also for horse trading. So that is a beautiful museum. When I went there, it was upstairs on top of the building first. So they expanded that into the, redid the original factory into the museum. Now our next visit is going to be probably next fall, fall of 2027. So if anybody wants to be involved with it. What is great about all this stuff, this is another thing what Jack said, but that wasn't what he said before. You can read what he said there, but the whole thing is, You can learn about other people's cultures, and the best thing about it is you can stay in their homes. You're not staying in a hotel. You eat with them. You can have private discussions along with them. They will show you things that they like. They'll introduce you to their family and friends and so on. Now, the membership for this is 25 dollars, 250 dollars for life. And I got an extra year beyond my life. They didn't have the membership charge for like members or anything like that during coven time. So I got an extra year after I die credited to me and there is what music you would have heard and. where it got that video from. So that is the quick trip by car and by walking. And I apologize, but I hope your ears aren't ringing too much from the music that you missed and Jack talking with us. Our former mayor had said this, and she wants to reinforce the fact that When you host people in their homes, you go to their homes and stay, it's a great immersion in their culture and it's a really fabulous experience. And I think Mayor Morrow can testify to that. So I didn't pull him yet, so we went ahead. I want to do a couple things plugging while we're here. July, this Thursday, after the summer concert at 109, you can come and see some Discuss with some of the members of both groups about sister cities and express your interest. And you take care of it there. So if you go to the concert, pop over and stay a little bit later, see what that's about. The next thing I want to promote, and you can probably, Chuck Lesch can probably even take your reservation tonight for this. We're going to plug for us. We're having a German dinner. That's going to be at the American Legion. And it's a good menu. And at that time, I probably have a couple hours of, Videos taken from the last business or the exchange business. I even have one of the Germans came over here. They video stuff. We've had many changing pictures and stuff back and forth. So you've come to that. That's the entertainment for that particular night. See if we can go here. And coming up, September 18th and 19th is Oktoberfest. And we're going to have our traditional brats and stuff at that particular time. So starting right here, Mayor Morrow always helps out with us. He does a great job. in training to take my spot. Big shoes to fill. This is the 60th anniversary, and we're trying to do some things to commemorate it, and having Sister City Week, as we include, we can talk about it, we can talk about some of the stuff we've done, and also as far as any more than I send information out to former members of Don Sheldon responded with a PowerPoint. He created that overnight, I think. And he created for such... I'm delighted to have him here back in these council chambers where he spent quite a few years. Not here. In the other council chambers. Yeah. That was downstairs. Yes, it was. Down in the basement. It was. My goodness. So... We're honored to have him and I think at this point in time, and it's just this. I can bring the thing over to you. I got it. I got it. Thanks. It's either this 1 or that 1. I got it. Good. Thank you, Jim. Thank you, Don.

We appreciate you being here.

Well, my pleasure. Um, I. The last time I was in this room, I was swearing in, I was acting as judge swearing in council members, your predecessors, I think. I don't want to take a lot of your time. I know you have some busy items on the agenda, but I do think history is important. And I think it's important to remember this part of our history. As Jim mentioned, and I won't go through it in great detail, President Eisenhower and his wife established the People to People program. And the idea of that program was to establish friendship and understanding between peoples of the United States and other nations through direct personal contact. Now, at the same time that that was happening, we used to have Dr. and Mrs. Lester McCoy, who operated Music Youth International out of Saline. And MYI had happened to visit a small town in Wales called Brecon, and they brought back great stories of it and said it was about the size of Saline. It was at the time, still is now as we've grown together. So in 1965, Mayor George Johnson received a letter ostensibly from President Eisenhower urging Celine to enter into a sister city relationship. He and Dr. McCoy reached out to the people of Brecon and established a goodwill visit by our police chief at that time, Jim Loveland, and his family. And they were so well received that the idea of establishing a direct relationship was founded. Now, in April of 1966, Mayor Johnson extended the invitation to the town of Brecon, Wales to become a sister city. Now, the exact date of the acceptance by the Brecon Town Council is unclear, but at one point during our various visits, some revisionist historians decided that it must have been July 4th, 1966. And as Jim mentioned, our relationship with Brecon was the first relationship between a U.S. town and a Welsh town. The relationship flourished. One of the things that Jim mentioned and Gretchen mentioned, it's important to note that during our entire history, one of the rules was nobody stays in a hotel. They were all personal visits. Over 4,000 people went back and forth between this small town and that small town. And nobody, even our whole high school band, did not stay in a hotel. They all stayed in homes because that was the idea of People to People. The 10th anniversary was marked by the visit here of the Brecken Cathedral Choir, all 76 of them. And they were all housed mainly by high school families to welcome them. Brecken mayor at that time, Denzel Griffiths, Was the mayor and conducted that that visit of what they call our in? In Wales is not known as sister cities. It's known as twin towns. And so we are the twin town of record During that Excuse me. I jumped ahead here and During that part, as I said, a lot of our relationship was around music, and that persisted throughout the years. Ten years later, in 1986, we had the 20th anniversary. We hosted about 60 Brecon visitors, led by, at that time, Mayor and Mayoress Arthur Bowley. And Mayor Bowley became a fixture in our relationship and a close friend. I will say on a personal note, a close personal friend of my wife and I. The anniversary celebration was followed by a community picnic and a 4th of July parade, not in Ypsilanti, but here in Saline in 1986. For our 25th anniversary in 1991, over 50 people from Brecken made the visit and the mayor at that time was Pat Little and the mayor of Brecken was Susan Francis. Just before that time, I have to. I will share a short anecdote. When our relationship was first established, I was planning our first visit to Brecon. And our clerk, Connie Strait at the time, was on the phone with the clerk of Brecon. And he said, of course, we expect the mayor to address the town council. He said, nothing major, 40, 45 minutes or so. I said, well, that's not going to happen. He was choking, but that established the routine of every time we went there, the mayor was expected to make an address to the town council. The first time was my experience, my first experience before a British government agency, and they let you know right away what they think. of what you're saying. And if they agree with what you're saying, you'll hear a chorus of, here, here, here, here. And if they don't, they'll let you know about that too, and they pound their feet and boo. Well, I got into that, and I decided that during one of the subsequent visits, I was going to... Be a smart aleck. And so for the last two minutes of my talk to the council, I prearranged to do it in Welsh. And so I had a friend there phonetically translate what I was going to say, and he sent it back to me on a tape recorder, and I practiced it. And so I proudly went, and at the end of my talk, the last two minutes I did in Welsh. And it was a resounding success, and I thought, boy, I was really smart. Unfortunately, the next day, the local newspaper had a picture of me on the front page, and the caption said, Celine's Welsh-speaking mayor. During the rest of the visit, I'd walk down the street, and people would talk to me in Welsh. And the only thing I knew to say was, which is, thank you. I figured they probably were saying, you're a fool. And I said, thank you very much. But I have visited with my family and alone, I reckon, seven times during our relationship and formed just the kind of personal, not government, personal relationships that President Eisenhower envisioned. In that 25th anniversary, my wife and I hosted a large picnic at our house, and over 250 people attended. And we had clogging and demonstrations. And toward the end of the picnic, a tornado came. and wiped out the tent, sent everybody scurrying back, and frankly, many of the people were staying in the townships, and they had no power and no water for three days. Needless to say, by the time our farewell ceremony came, it was a distinctly odorous affair. but part of what we have forged as part of our history with those folks. In 1996, we celebrated our 30th anniversary. We had 48 folks from Brecon, and that marked the first annual Celtic Festival, which was really started as part of our relationship with Brecon. Over 6000 people attended that 1st festival, and it began with a parade led by Arthur Bowie as as its Marshall in 1996. We also dedicated the Bowie bridge, which is on the. the Saline River and that was marked by a dedication to Arthur and part of it was we took a bottle of Welsh water and a bottle of Saline water and poured them together symbolically into the Saline River. The bridge has subsequently been updated but the Bowley name and the Bowley dedication are preserved. In 1998, Mayor Koos, at that time, Rick Koos, took 32 of our citizens to Brecon for an anniversary visit. And at that time, Mayor Susan Francis, now deceased, was the mayor of Brecon. 35th anniversary in 2001 was hosted at that time by Mayor Driscoll. And we had 29 visitors who came, and that included three of the former mayors of Brecon and four of the former mayors of Saline. That time, it was a fall visit, and they experienced for the first time an American country fair. by visiting the Saleen Fair and a concert by the Fiddlers. The 35th anniversary was a great deal of fun. We had what became a traditional golf outing, but That visit occurred during that visit we had the 9-11 attack. And our whole group happened to be visiting Chicago at the time, which canceled a lot of our visit as we all streamed home as fast as we could to make sure that everyone was safe. That ended up with their visit being extended by several days. As you may recall, the skies were closed, all the planes were grounded, and it was several days before they were able to return home. I think that visit, as tragic as it was, was a time where it brought us closer together and realized our common goals, our common fears. It was an important time for all of us in many ways. The 40th anniversary took place in September when we had 21 Brecon visitors here. And one of the highlights of that was that we took them all to a Michigan football game. They had a lot of trouble figuring out the rules, but they enjoyed the band. And the end of that visit was separated with a farewell at the Sportsman Club, and Mayor Hopper was the mayor at that time. Our 45th anniversary was in 2011, and that was an October visit, and I think the mayor at that time was Gretchen Driscoll and some young guy named Brian Morrow, who was the mayor pro temp during that visit. We marked our 50th anniversary in 2016 with the dedication of that bench, which is in Breckin Park. And I hope you've all had an opportunity to see that as well. So we're here. And this year marks the 60th, 60th anniversary of our relationship. If you think about that, Celine is over 100 years old. But 60 of those years, we've had a special relationship with a small town in Brecon, Wales. This has been highlighted, as I mentioned, by music, with the Cathedral Choir, the Aber Hombu, the river in Brecon is spelled H-O-N-D-D-U. Okay, which is pronounced Hongthi. And if you can figure that out, good luck speaking Welsh. It marked the Saline Big Band going for the very first jazz festival. And it also included our band and later our orchestra making full on visits to Brecon as well. Our best estimate is that almost 4,100 people have participated in this relationship on both sides of the pond. In the recent years, those activities have diminished, but the resolve is the same. I want to leave you with a couple comments that people have made about this relationship. You can read this, but this is a short poem by Brecken's Rosemary Evans. The town within the beacons, Brecon beacons are the mountains surrounding, they call them mountains in Wales, they're big hills. The beacons give out a welcome call to friends across the ocean who made music for us all. Friendship is a treasure more precise than gold. For if there's no substitute, can neither be bought nor sold. Although the Atlantic parts us, Our hearts will always be in the thoughts of special friendship with our friends across the sea. In our relationship, we always finish with this toast in the Saline-Brecon Friendship Guild. From the hilltops of the Brecon Beacons to the Valley of Saline, our friendship admits of no ocean, only love spans between. to Brecon, to Saline, to friendship, to peace. Thank you for going through this period of history with me. Very good. Thank you very much.

Don, Jim, that was excellent.

Very thoughtful, very thorough. I can't thank Don enough. After he sent me that slight presentation, I tried to get in contact with him for probably the last month. Tonight, I finally did it. I thought for sure of the worst that's happened to Don all along. But he was out having fun with grandkids. And here I thought, I'm so delighted he's here and can share this. Don has done so much for our sister cities over with. He just explained to it. I want to also mention that To celebrate the 60th anniversary, what we have in mind for us is to go and have another bench made along with the Lindenburg group and have them where the trails come, the new trail is in Mill Pond Park where there's a T that goes out to the dog park and so on. One at each side of the T. So we're working with the city to see if we can get foundations for such, and we'll order the things. We're hoping to have that in place perhaps before Oktoberfest, so we'll see how things can move. So that's where we're at with that. I must say, as far as... I think I'm going to end with that at this point. Let's see if I can... It just shuts off that way. Yeah, perfect. Good, perfect. I hope that you enjoyed... The music, the sound. We have former council members, Jack Seal and Chuck Lesch.

If you have any questions, they can answer it now. Absolutely. Let's open it up again. I want to thank Don and Jim for the excellent presentation. Our relationship with Brecken is very special. I'm hopeful that it endures for many years to come. If I can share a personal memory from our visit in 2019, one thing that impressed me with Breck and Wales, which is again, as Don indicated, comparable in size to Saline, they have a fabulous war museum. that celebrates the heroism of the 24th Foot. And if you know your history, it was predominantly a Welsh regiment that served at Rorke's Drift during the Zulu War, actually at both Rorke's Drift and the Battle of Islan Awana. And if I'm not mistaken, Brecon Wales, again, a pretty small city, has one of the largest displays of Victorian crosses in the entire United Kingdom, which is comparable to our Medal of Honor. I think at the Battle of Rorke's Drift, More Victorian crosses were awarded than at any battle during the 19th century. So really, really special and really memorable if you happen to be in the area. Gentlemen, anything you'd like to add?

I guess the only two things I'd like to say is that we're making another trip over to Lindenburg, Germany. next year, probably in the fall. We still haven't filled up all the spots that are available, so if there's anybody who's willing to go, the only cost to you is the cost of your plane ticket over and back. You get to stay in a home there and get to learn a little bit of German. One good thing I'll say is that the German word for beer is beer. Mr. Lesch?

I guess I would just end our presentation by saying that as you all well know, You know, new members are the lifeblood of any organization nowadays, city council or any civic organization. I unfortunately, I'm actually 1 of the younger members of our group anymore. I think we are probably the youngest member. So we are always looking for new blood to come in. Also, I think the way the world is these days, having interpersonal connections with our friends and neighbors in. Europe, especially it's very important thing to have to help. Re-establish bonds and I look forward to anybody within the city. I have my name and contact information all over the websites now. So please feel free to contact me about any of the activities that go on with either of the 2 groups. And we look forward to. welcoming anybody who is interested into our fold.

Very good. Thank you, Mr. Lesch. And before I open up for questions, comments from the dais, let me add to Mr. Roth your statement. I think benches at the T of the new Saline River Valley Trail at Mill Pond Park is um is a wonderful idea and i think they will be well used and visible i i walk my dog on the saline river valley trail um several times a week and while it has not been officially inaugurated it is amazing the number of people who are rollerblading biking running so i think that is a great spot a very strategic spot to recognize and honor our special relationships with both breckin and lyndenburg Let me start to my left and into my right council member harm out any comments or questions for actually all 4 gentlemen are former council members. One's a former mayor as well. So, Mr. Sheldon, Mr. Lash, Mr. Roth or Mr seal.

You mentioned that you're looking for maybe some new folks to join. Is there any age minimum.

You know, on some of our trips, we've had entire families go. So there are toddlers that are actually members.

So are you guys going when it's school is in session or out of session?

Unfortunately, this coming year, it was decided that it would be nice to experience. Oktoberfest in the land where it came from. So the. The people there are actively trying to figure out a way to get us all tickets to the October fest celebrations in Germany. So just a little teaser for anybody that's interested.

Thanks for coming tonight and sharing.

So I've been taking an interesting path down my ancestry recently and always knew that I was staunchly Scottish on one side, staunchly English and Canadian on the other. Turns out a lot of my relatives have started to live in Wales. So I'm tracing that path and we will be taking a trip next year. Early summer to Ireland, Scotland and Wales. So I will be in touch to see whose door I can knock on while I'm over there. And maybe we'll do a little mini dinner or something along those lines, but I'll be in touch for sure.

Thank you for this. Thank you.

I just appreciate all the work that you guys have done over the years and continued this activity. And I know it's been difficult even when we were when I was 1st on council, we started the Lindenberg group and I was able to travel over to Lindenberg and it was right after 911 and how the plane was empty and all of us were worried and concerned traveling over there. But the welcoming and the. I would say the people that were there were so supportive of us, understanding what a tragedy our country had received. And it's just amazing what other countries will step up to when they see what happens in America and even when they're concerned nowadays for what's happening here. But I think you're right. This is the way that we reach out and continue to build bridges. Thank you. That's right.

Thank you. Council Member Dillon?

Thank you. Thank you all for the presentation. It was a great walk through history for some of us that weren't around when the group began sort of seeing how it started what's evolved too. And as Mr. said, thank you so much for keeping it going. I know there's in those lean years, but I think that you're, you always find a way to invigorate the program. and so looking forward to it continuing on and hopefully finding a pathway off of it that can introduce youth to it you know having more of a high school exchange program offshoot or something like that i think would be amazing to give students that same opportunity

Very good. Thank you. Councilmember DeLarco. I just really appreciate the perspective shared with Council this evening. It was enriched experience that you've all been on and I haven't had the opportunity to go. I am curious being of I have some Welch in my bloodline. Do you guys ever go to Bracken anymore? Or is it only to Lindenburg? We would love to.

All right. We would love to. If there's enough people that express that interest, we'll see what we can do. And if there's a small group, we'll keep you in mind.

Yeah, I'm just curious. I'm happy to also go to Lindenburg.

I don't have any German descent, but... We had a young lady that lives just outside of Selene that went over with her mother just a couple months ago, and she visited the city council, had dinner with some in the past. So you go on your own. And if you need some context with it, feel free to inquire.

Thank you again.

Thank you, Mr Del Arco. Councilmember Halsh. Really cool. Really cool presentation. I love history. I am a little bit disappointed. We didn't get a little concert overall sound system. We need a sound system in here desperately to say no, I appreciate the walk down sort of memory lane and I think it's really, really cool being new to council to see how the city has Forged and maintain relationships internationally. So, thank you for kind of. Teaching me something today. Good gentlemen. Thank you very much.

Please done 1, very personal point of orders. Mr seal was up here and. We both do speak a little German. because Jack Seale and I met when we were in the Army together in Germany. Oh, wow. Long before you were both Selenians. A couple years ago. Yeah.

Yeah. A very cool story. Small world, indeed. Gentlemen, thank you again. Have a wonderful evening. We are going to proceed, friends, to the consent agenda. The following consent agenda will normally be adopted without discussion. However, at the request of any citizen or council member, any item may be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. Move by Dillon to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Harmount. Hearing no discussion. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Ayes have it. The motion carries unanimously. We move on to new business item 26-135, a barbecue at the mansion special event application. This will be a motion to acknowledge receipt and to approve or not to approve the special event application for a barbecue at the mansion and to waive or not waive the estimated cost of $822.00.

Move to acknowledge.

Move by Dillon simply to acknowledge. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Gierbaugh. Are there any initial comments from staff on this one? I would defer to either the city clerk or the city manager.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Thank you to Ms. Lumber Coy, who obviously provided an introduction to the event. There's a lot of detail in the packet relative to the layout, relative to the schedule, and so a very detailed application. Appreciate that, but certainly take any questions from a staff perspective that you may have.

Very good. I'd invite Molly Lumber Coy forward and Rebecca Schneider. If you'd also like to come forward as the chair of the Davenport Curtis House Working Group, we would welcome that. Before I defer to our guests, I guess I would ask first if either Council Member Gierbaugh or Council Member DeLorco as our official council liaisons to the working group have any comments at this time. Let me start with Mr. Gierbaugh.

I'll defer to Mr. DeLorco.

Mr. DeLorco?

I just want to keep the momentum going from the wild success that we had just the mansion this past Friday or Saturday. Excuse me. Um, it was very well attended and I hate to be using in cliche, but. And there was truly was magic in the air that property hasn't seen that kind of activity for a very long time. And it was special to to witness that and be a part of that. And I see this as another opportunity to build on that momentum, continue to engage the public and raise funds for a much needed activity at the mansion.

Very good. Molly, would you like to begin and make sure you're speaking into the microphone and make sure that green light is illuminated. And you're welcome to adjust the microphone and the podium if you'd like.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council. It was a beautiful event. Again, hands off to the Arts and Culture Committee. This past weekend, there was a lot of interest in the neighbors and in the surrounding community to come and visit and be on the grounds of the mansion. So this gives us another way to activate that. As you recall, we started in March, right? So... We've been working really hard. This will be our first fundraiser. This will give us some funds to be able to do historic preservation work. And again, anything we do, we do in recommendation that comes back to you as a council. This event, we set pricing at $25 for adults for the meal. $25. 15 for seniors and kids 13 to 18 kids, 12 and under would be free dance tavern is going to cater the meal. We also have a very active children's area that will have all kinds of games, both historical and current games. We will also have lawn games and then, of course, the 3 contests that will hopefully announce and then some. impersonators for our historical figures, the Davenports, Carl Curtis and Henry Ford. We hope to have a little skit that will be presented during the dinner. There will be a silent auction as well. And so just really a family-friendly atmosphere is what is planned. We do have a benefactor for the seed money to help put the event on. The ticket sales should cover the meals.

Very good. Chairperson Schneider, anything you'd like to add?

I think molly covered it. I just wanted to thank you for your consideration. I saw all of you chance this past weekend and I hope that we can keep the activation moving forward. That was part of our mission was activation preservation and long term stewardship of the damage for Curtis mansion. So I think we can check activation off that. We've done some of that so far.

Very good.

We're working on the other two.

Excellent. Thank you both. We'll open up for questions, and please indicate, is your question for staff, the liaisons to the working group, or the chair or the event, I guess the chair of the working group and the chair of the event committee. Since Council Member Dillon made the motion to acknowledge her seat, I'll begin with her.

Thank you. Just kind of going through the application, just making sure that we're all on the same page about it.

so you're not charging the vendors are those your two ice cream trucks yeah ice cream truck and a kona ice truck so and that would cover like you know dessert if you will there will be key lime pie that dance tavern will provide but if folks want ice cream or ice

And they are not that cost is not included in the ticketed price. Correct.

Yeah, but there is key lime pie as a dessert. So if you want ice cream, or you want ice Kona truck, then they would pay for that.

Is there a reason why you're not charging the vendors to be there then? If they're the ones making the profit on the call vendors is the clean lines club.

So we.

I just want to make sure to clarify that that's not part of the ticketed event. It's going to look odd that they're inside on the on the ground if it's not a part of it. So I just want to make sure that we're very clear on that. So there isn't a question about it. Um. And then on the list of equipment and such for the DPW, there's a portable stage. Is that where you're just going to have your performances?

Yes, we have the Celine Fiddlers and the Monroe Harmonizers. The Celine Twirlettes will be performing on the ground level and then possibly the Celine High School dance team as well. So it's kind of local entertainment, if you will. But the Celine Fiddlers do need a stage. So absolutely.

And then our performers bringing in all of the accompaniments, like, Mike speakers, anything like that, or are you doing a full set up?

They will be bringing in they'll bring in their own equipment.

Okay. Um, there was just kind of understand there was a check for fencing. So, are you putting up additional fencing?

I think we're required to have some snow fencing around like the area of the tent itself, because if we do serve alcohol right of the waiver for serving alcohol, it would be beer, wine and a historical cocktail of that period. So, again, we will have wristbands right and limiting the check in location as well. So they would have to use their identification to get a wristband.

Okay, and so kind of stepping back into how this is going to work. So you have to have a ticket to enter the property.

Well, you can come to the property and not partake in the meal. Right?

Okay. That's what I guess I want to understand. So this is an event that is open to the public. So you only are paying 25 dollars if you are eating the meal. Yeah. Okay. That makes a big difference. And are you going to have a limited number of tickets for the meal?

Well, we, we figure we could take between 100 to 200 or more. We'll, we'll monitor that. The tickets are going to be available through selling main street online. So they have that function that they can perform and track the interest level. So, again, for a 1st time event, we thought between 1 to 200 made a lot of sense.

Okay. And then. I'll go back to that. So kind of going back. I just want to hit upon a couple of things while I've got your time. It talked about the silent auction being in the carriage house. Is that structure ADA compliant?

It's flat land, right? It's flat from the driveway into the carriage house. And we will put up some pipe and draping to cover the area, but it's just going to be tables about 20 different items for the silent auction. Okay.

And then you mentioned something about purchasing a commemorative pin.

Yes, we actually are going to take the logo that was created. Robert did a fabulous job with the logo. It's got the circle and the name around it. And our goal was to have pins available with that logo that we could sell and be another revenue opportunity.

Okay. Um, and then I just wanted to the parking issue. Um. I know, looking at sort of some of the emails that were going around, there was that was probably the 1 tiny snafu with the jazz thing was there was a little bit of parking issues with, with using that lot behind Dairy Queen, where some people were blocking in others. Um, so I want to just be mindful of that and we're going to closely monitor the ticket sales.

If we find out that we have, you know, closer to two hundred and we can also add the additional areas like city hall or the sleep middle school and the church. So we can do that and add a shuttling component. But right now, I mean, there should be ample. with the CVS Dairy Queen parking, so.

Okay, and then how will you, you're saying that Main Street has ticket sales, like how would you sign up for the contests or things like that?

You will have a contest component that'll be on that QR code or the link on the Sleeve Main Street site. And our plan is to reach out to the fair because they have a critical mass of folks that are homemakers and enjoy entering for different food events there as well. We have the thistle club, the garden club that we'll be reaching out to. And then work with the schools. I've already talked to Dr. Kowalski about outreach on cornhole. There's youth groups that enjoy that as well as adults. So we've got some pathways to ignite activation.

Okay, and people would not need to buy a ticket in order to participate in those contests. Okay, great. Um, I just want to touch really quickly. I'll just open the door to it about the whole concept of having. Alcohol at this event, you're, you're toting it as a family friendly event. I mean, is there necessary to have alcohol? Is that is that a revenue generator for the event or is it just an add on benefit for those in attendance?

Well, I think it's 2 fold, right? I mean, it's, it's an add on benefit for those in attendance, but it will be a cash bar, right?

Yeah. But are you keeping the revenue? Are you making a profit off of the liquor sales? Or is that just going to the 3rd party that's providing the liquor?

I don't know what you negotiated with Dan. Yeah. So Mary's not here tonight. Mary's not feeling well. And so she's been in touch with the caterer on that. So. Um, you know, right now, I just say it's more of an added benefit for those that are attending. I just a lot of money. Our money for fundraising will come out of sponsorships for the event.

So, okay, so, I mean, that's 1 thing that I really do. I don't think that we need to have alcohol served at a family event. It's a picnic. It's very reminiscent of the 1 room schoolhouse ice cream, social concept. And I think that. It's it's not necessary to do it. I think it just adds more liability to the city aspect of it. It's city property and I. I think for out of the gate, I think that if we could hold off on that would be my opinion and sort of sort of get the event under our belt and then sort of build on it. Maybe in future events would be my ask.

And let me just mention, we, we do have alcohol at Oktoberfest and there's been other community park event, right?

But that's under somebody else's purview. It's not, it's under the saline main street purview.

This purview is summerfest under in the park.

Thank you. Council member Dylan. Additional questions customer gearbox.

Um, just a couple, um, regarding the parking at CBS, I think the issue there was more being able to make sure that traffic flows in and out of there. So that was a concern is that if we know people are blocked in there, I don't know if it's causing a problem for DQ. So maybe laying it out or whatever would you better in the event that we do use the property. So I kind of agree on that just for me with the alcohol concern. You said it'd be fencing. Is it going to be, everything will be within the fenced area and no alcohol will be outside of that fenced area? That is correct. That's what I want to clarify. And then we'll have security or somebody will be checking to make sure it comes in and out. Absolutely. We will have a table for check-in, ID, wristband. That's all. Thank you. And then this is for staff. I'm just trying to understand the 752 for DPW costs. What does that detail? I just saw 752 and I didn't see the...

There was some work to set up the set up on the site.

Um, I'm trying to identify the fencing DPW, um, time, not over time, but just regular time and, um.

Probably barricades that that was helpful. Thank you. That it's not over time. Okay. Appreciate it.

Yeah, so a couple things. The first thing is I would have to agree with Councilmember Dillon in the sense of... Is alcohol necessary, but I think for very different reasons, number 1, I guess I would ask any of our any of my council colleagues. Has there been a prior city sponsored event that has served alcohol?

Yes. Yes. Okay.

For over 20 years in the parks actually. And so what I think my concern has been, and I'll share kind of a personal anecdote. At the last Oktoberfest, my husband was a volunteer, and a gentleman that was over-served actually called him a slur while he was volunteering at the beer tent. I understand the need for... I don't want to say I understand the need for alcohol. I understand how alcohol will elevate this event. My concern is that there have often, in those cases where my husband was called a slur, I think at Summerfest that same year, I had someone intentionally knock a drink out of my hand who was also over-served. My concern is... A, it's a city event, and B, I don't think we've quite gotten a grasp on cutting people off and making sure that people aren't doing things after events as a result of being over-served at our events. So the compromise that I would like to see if there is going to be alcohol served is I would like to see a limited number of drink tickets offered to patrons. I think I've seen it at the fair. I've seen it at other events where you can purchase drink tickets, but there is a limit.

Um, I think we would be amenable to that, say, to, you know, especially because it's a cocktail. Absolutely. It's, it's a cocktail. We wanted to have, like, a historic cocktail of the period. I mean, it's, it's really kind of, you know, again, it's, it's, you know, like you said, a limited and I, and I trust that, um.

I don't want to necessarily limit it to two because I like to have a good time when I'm out, especially when I know I don't have to work the next day. But I do hope that that is something that can be considered so that people can enjoy themselves, but we're not worrying about people being over-served or people getting rowdy or anything of the like. Go ahead. Mr.

I just Dan will be providing the train server. So this isn't volunteers that will be handing out the alcohol. So those individuals are trained to specifically monitor that purpose. And then he'll be responsible for that. Correct? Correct. Thank you.

I think, uh, to, to, uh, point, um. Especially considering it's a spirit drink, not beer and wine, and it is touted as a family-friendly occasion, I think limiting to two is appropriate. I think so, too. That's perfectly fine. I don't think there should be any issues with that. And I quite frankly doubt that anybody would come to an event like that expecting to drink more. Is there beer and wine, too?

Yes. There would either be beer, wine or a specialty craft cocktail.

Okay. Excuse me. Okay. I would be more concerned.

Mocktail like the Davenport daiquiri. Virgin daiquiri.

Well, as we, as we learned, they were non drinkers. So, uh, they were tea, tea, lemonade and water as well, which I would expect most people will partake of. Yeah. Very good. Um, are there any additional questions? Sure. I'm sorry, customer harm out.

Yes. Um, along those lines, maybe there's a way you could have the alcohol tickets versus the non, so you have to purchase it with the package of the food. So there wouldn't be a chance to. Double purchase tickets or whatever I just have a question for the city manager. So does this event meet our waiver criteria?

Weaver for the costs. Yes, that's really a council's discretion. But yes, I mean, it's just it's not over time related to the work.

So, yes, it would meet our waiver criteria for the city to waive the costs. And are we sure that we've reviewed every reviewed everything for the permissions and the insurance and security measures that make sure that they're sufficient from the plan.

So, we reviewed it relative to potential for a call. We didn't look at the information. They obviously, as I noted, they have all the detailed plans in the application. So what portion of the site will be used and how it will be managed.

So yes. Thank you any additional questions before we put on the motion to see customer don't thank you.

It would be for the city court. I did not see any information back from the fire chief. Has he reviewed this application? I have not received anything back from the policy. Okay.

Is that a consideration? I would make that a condition in the subsequent motion subject to review and approval by the fire department. Yep. Good catch. If there's nothing further, thank you both. Hang tight in the event that there are some additional questions or comments that you feel inclined to address. We do have a motion on the floor moved by Dillon, seconded by Gierbaugh to acknowledge. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed say nay. Ayes 7. The motion carries unanimously. Is there a motion now to approve or not to approve, waive or not to waive, or is there amended language that a council member would like to offer from the floor?

I'll move to approve and waive subject to review and approval by the fire chief.

That motion is in order. Is there a 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, by council member Halsh discussion.

If we could just add that limitation of the drinks, I think that would be.

Would you accept that as a friendly amendment? Okay. So, um, let's have the clerk, uh, read the motion back. So it's gonna be a motion to approve and to wave subject to review by the review and approval by the fire chief and, uh, a limit of 2, um, um, alcoholic drinks per patron. Is that language acceptable? Mr. And I believe it was customer hall. She was the 2nd. Yes. Yep.

You clear on that clerk royal you want to read back for council's benefit and for the public's to approve the special event application for the barbecue at the mansion and to waive the estimated cost of

Very good. Any additional discussion?

Councilman just quickly understanding what wasn't checked on the equipment list was tense. So we are ordering our own 10. you're ordering those and then Mr acting can actually maybe confirm. Does the city inspect installation of those or.

Not of tents. If there's electric hooked up to them via generator, then they'll go out and inspect them, but the actual tents themselves, no.

Okay.

Any additional discussion on the motion? Mr. Kierbaum.

I just want to say that I'm supporting this because we need to generate some revenues that does not make the city dependent on taxpayers' dollars in order to do some of the activities and things that will happen related to fundraising and so forth. So this is a way of doing it at this point in time, and working it through Sleen Main Street seems to be the most beneficial approach at this time. So I appreciate your work you've done on this.

I'd echo and add to Councilmember Gierbaugh's comments. Not only do we need to fundraise, we also need to activate the site and make it accessible to the broader community. So this actually, in my mind, accomplishes two goals. We'll generate some necessary revenue for the long-term care of the property and provide a fun, exciting event for Selenians to enjoy on a holiday weekend. Thank you for your leadership on this. Appreciate you being here tonight. Go ahead.

So, just to add on to that, just for clarification, though, as we talk about revenue, generating your revenue that you're generating for this is coming from sponsorships. It has absolutely nothing to do with the actual number of people that attend and buy tickets for food.

I mean, we will make a small profit off a ticket sales, but it's very tiny. The true funding will come through sponsorships. We've identified about 27 different businesses for outreach. and prepared letters and we haven't gone out yet, but I've had preliminary conversations with a number of entities.

Very good. All right, we have a motion on the floor moved by Del Orco, seconded by Halsh, to approve and to waive with some amended language. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Aye. So having the motion carries unanimously. Thank you both. Have a great evening. We move on to new business item 26-136, City Hall Sewer Repair. This will be a motion to acknowledge receipt and to approve or not to approve the bid from Diversified Excavating in the amount of $65,640. Move to acknowledge. I'll go with Gearbaugh first. So Gearbaugh was to acknowledge and to approve, is that correct, sir? Is there a second to that? Second. Seconded by Harmount. DPS Director McNeil.

This brings back the previous action that was held where we awarded this work that was subsequently declined to be completed. So we had this sent back out for bids. We had one bidder which would be diversified that came in even lower than the previous bid, which is great for us. We've asked multiple times to make sure everything was covered this time, to do our due diligence on this end. And again, this work is to replace a gravity lead and install a grinder pump. With us today, we have Marcus with OHM. If you guys would like to have any questions between city manager, myself, or Marcus, we could help facilitate those questions and try to provide some answers for you. Very good.

Marcus, since you've already sat through an hour and a half, I'd be delighted to provide you the opportunity to share some remarks if you'd care to do so.

Good evening. No, I don't really have much to say other than, as Brandon mentioned, Diversified is a known contractor. We're comfortable. We've had multiple conversations. They're willing and able to do the work.

And it's cheaper than it was before. So that's good. Great. Yep. Very good. Hang tight in the event that there are questions that you can best address. City Manager Swallows, anything you'd like to add at this time?

No. Appreciate OHM as well as Director Weill going through in detail and making sure that we vetted this contractor so we're comfortable moving ahead.

Very good. Are there questions for staff or our guest? Mr. Gearwell, you may begin.

Can you just clarify, I mean, we bid this thing out and we had a real big concern about this the last time, so... and why this all changed?

Well, so the last time, so we had two bids last time. One was approximately $70,000 and one was $200 and something, right? The higher contractor was kind of, we don't want to do a price, frankly, so we thought this job was going to be in the $70,000 range from the beginning. The contractor that won it previously backed away. So we went through the process. We had the pre-construction meeting. And when they had the contracts and actually had to sign the dotted line, they stepped back. So they did... provide the bid bond back to the city, $3,700. That was their penance, essentially, for walking away from the project after it was awarded by council. So, this particular case, diversified is about $5,000 under the original bid, and you have the $3,700 that you got back from the original bidder. So you're actually about $8,000 to the good.

Which is great. I was just wanting to know, why did they back out?

He didn't give a specific reason.

But we're still good with what we're planning to do and everything, and everything's proposed. We don't see any hiccups at this time?

We do not.

Thank you additional questions.

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. because you may have answered some of mine when you compare the bid that we had received from the previous 1 from comprehensive and you sort of look at their line items and such. It all sort of shakes out in the end, but. There's a lot of weirdness as to, like, when you talk about the sanitary service lead originally, the 1st bid was for 800 dollars. The new 1 now is 2300. so I feel like, are they just playing with the math to get to the same number? Um, because some things are higher, some things are definitely lower, like, the traffic control for the initial 1 was 500. now it's 2400. So, I mean, the place, I guess that where I have the biggest concern is the place where we're making up the dollars is the actual grinder pump. The equipment is 8000 dollars less. So, are we, is it apples to apples? Are we still getting the same equipment?

Yes.

Okay. I just want to make sure about that part of it. Okay And then can you remind me of the time frame and the impact on City Hall when they do the work?

So there's a lot of four week four to five weekly time for the equipment. So if council were to move forward We have everything ready to go

Contractors ready to go once they have the contract you're looking about about a month to get the equipment So this would be probably a late late September installation Okay, thank you very much additional questions back to Mr. Girbon Manager Swallow will this coordinate with the new company that we just hired Related to the building or is this going to be done separately?

Separately, obviously, we've hired another project manager to work on the steps and the mechanical equipment and some of the other miscellaneous city hall items, but they will not that not coincide necessarily lead. Is it Brandon or. all the officers are informed in.

Just trying to understand, I know these projects, and with your transition, who's gonna be handling all this?

The thing is, in terms of the areas that are operating, they should not conflict.

Thank you. If there's no additional questions, thank you to our presenters. Is there any subsequent discussion on the motion? It appears to be none. There's a motion on the form moved by Guillermo, seconded by Hermann, to acknowledge and to approve. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Ayes have it. The motion carries unanimously. We move on to new business item 26-137, OHM Engineering Department Services. This will be a motion to acknowledge receipt and to approve or not to approve the OHM Engineering Department Assistance Services in the amount not to exceed $72,800. Move to acknowledge. Moved by Dillon simply to acknowledge. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Gierbaugh. I'll get you on the next one, Councilmember DeLarocco. Mr. McNeil, again, would you like to begin?

Yes. Mayor, Council, this is a subsequent ask to the previous ask that we had at the last council meeting for 64,000 to provide 16 hours a week for support duties that were ongoing even previously under the previous city engineer. Those are more of the tasks that the city engineer would bring forward to OHM personnel and have the support duties taken care of. What we're proposing this time is 16 hours per week to be more of the actual city engineer for us on an interim basis until we can hire a subsequent city engineer or project manager. So specifically the tasks that would be related to this job would be project management, project coordination, leading us through guidance of myself, Ryan, GIS updates, and GIS needs. And I have Marcus here, of course, and then city manager also for any questions.

Very good. Thank you, DP, as director. City manager Swallow, anything you'd like to add?

No, I think obviously this is designed to be somewhat of a stop gap if you will, until we complete the recruitment process for the city engineer position. So it covers us through the end of the calendar year. So there's then anticipate by that time we'll have made a decision or hopefully brought on a city engineer at that point.

Very good and to our guest anything you'd like to add before I open up for questions.

I guess the only thing I would say is this is an hourly not to exceed. So this would be as directed from city staff. That's the maximum. If we're not needed that much, then we wouldn't work that much. So really, it's going to be really just supporting the engineering department and the DPW, as you mentioned, kind of a stopgap just until you guys can... Get a permanent solution in place.

Very good question from the DS. I'll begin with the mover council member Dylan and then I'll jump to Mr. Del Arco.

Thank you. I had mentioned this earlier to the city manager. 1 of the things in the memo is talking about representing the city at the Watts committee earlier this evening. We appointed Mr Marion as our representative to that. Are we having dual representation?

At this point with Ryan being officially approved, we'll just have Ryan attend.

Okay. I appreciate that. And then I think the biggest issue I have, and this is nothing personal to Mr McNamara is that right now we have as basically in the city is as an engineer role as an assistant engineer role and as an outside. Service provider, so just understanding who is ensuring that the work that we don't have duplicate efforts that are being done and that somebody is actually outside of checking their work.

So right now that would be my task until we can fill the role. So when they're working on proposals that were approved by council for specific jobs, those hours will go towards that specific approval amount. So if that's the road project and we have OHM staff in-house helping support that, that would go towards that actual work that was approved by council. If it was additional work outside of awarded proposals to them, that would be, Where they would be charging for this time under these and these that are, um, were previously approved and hopefully approved this time and it'll be my job and, uh, to to make sure that I facilitate what's getting charged where and asking for some documentation and doing some of my own documentation as well.

Okay, I think that would be very helpful. I think would also be very helpful at this point, because at every meeting now we're getting asks of other services for is to sort of list out under separate agreement, like, with each agreement is so that we understand because the dollars just keep rolling.

We have a project summary sheet. In fact, I just had reviewed that with director McNeil and Mr. McNamara going over kind of the summary. Do we have, you know, obviously what budget isn't coming from the purchase order when it's tied to the maximum amount and then some notes on the actual project. And then further we've asked for a little bit more detail on the invoices not only. of the work completed that period, but also names of individuals, because that's young. Engineer three doesn't mean much to me when I look at a piece of paper, but I know if MC or whoever from OHM was on site. So we're requesting a little bit more detail, particularly in this interim period.

I appreciate that. Because one of the things, when I looked at scope of services on their letter to us, there's things about the right-of-way permit application review. I'm like, didn't we just approve that under the other agreement? And I just want to make sure we don't have duplicate services, right? Yeah.

So so some of those services will again would be. Some of the remedial tasks that the previous city engineer was asking, and then some of them would be if if I feel the need, or the city manager feels the need that we need more of a city engineer led. action, help with something that would be maybe a little higher level, that's when we'd ask them to step in and facilitate coordinating that work with us. I don't necessarily see that happening for the right-of-way stuff, but it was something that we put on there because Tesha was leading that at the time. So we're trying to provide a scope that they could help us with, but they may not be required or asked to fill all of those.

Okay, because there's things like, you know, assist with resident complaints, things like that. I mean, I feel like that's that's. That's a, you know, tech issue. I mean, I don't know that we need a engineer doing that. So I just want to be very specific in understanding the scope of what we're having them do.

Very good.

Councilmember Del Arco? Actually, my questions were just answered in that line of inquiry, so I'm good. Excellent. Additional questions? Councilmember Gierbaum, then I'll jump to Councilmember Halsh.

I'm glad that you're asking for additional information. I would think if OHM could provide a summary master document of all the projects and everything that you're doing for our city, because... We, as counsel would even like to have that information so that we understand specifically where we are status completion and all of that, which we certainly can do that.

And city manager swallow actually party has for that. Thank you very much. We'll do that actually monthly with the invoicing.

That'd be great because that will help us understand where you stand on everything.

Appreciate it.

Cause we're all I guess my question would be for city manager swallow. Where are we, I guess, in the timeline for back filling our engineering position.

So obviously you are just now wrapping up a review, internal review of the job description, you know, how we want to potentially recruit for that. So I've been working with Director McNeil as well as Director Getchman. I would think we could advertise that. In fact, we just had an email this afternoon, probably going out potentially even as early as next week to start advertising. I would anticipate at least a three to four month process just to get somebody on board and up to speed.

And do you think that... A, that this proposal for services and the number of hours is sufficient. And if not, do you expect that there will be another proposal coming before us to sort of do this all over again?

No, this should be sufficient till the end of the calendar year. Obviously, which does some other work on projects, you know, specific project related work. But, you know, as I indicated, we anticipate having someone fill that position. Now, the caveat to that was, you know, if we don't get a good candidate, that would be the only the only drawback where we'd have to potentially come back and ask for additional resources.

Awesome. Thank you for a vote on the motion. Now, you see.

And have we done an evaluation of whether or not we should just continue contracting services versus filling the position? I know we've struggled for the last three or four years maintaining and keeping people even in the assistant engineering position. It would be helpful to know that I know you're going to go three to four months or hopefully we'll have candidates, but I'm thinking that we struggled to maintain that type of thing in the situation. So it would be helpful now that we know HM has been doing a lot of work for us. how would that benefit for us? I mean, that's my opinion.

Really what we're looking at is the specific criteria for the individual, whether it needs to be a professional engineer or it could be a certified project manager. So in looking at the job description, we are looking at those items and trying to think out loud a little bit or think outside of the box of it doesn't really need to be a professional engineer in that position. Certainly that comes with a lot of great criteria, a lot of good education, but to maintain that position You know, maybe that we look at other certified project managers that could do that. Excellent. Thank you. I appreciate you doing that.

Thank you.

Actually, there's a matter that was discussed today at our first transition team meeting as well. Great. Very good. Okay. We have a motion on the floor. Moved by Dylan, seconded by Gearbaugh, simply to acknowledge his seat. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Is there a motion now to approve or not to approve? Move by Gearbaugh to approve. Is there a second? Seconded by Del Orco. Is there any additional discussion? Appears to be none. All those in favor of approving, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. I say that motion carries unanimously. Thank you so much. Appreciate your patience this evening. Last enumerated action item under new business is agenda item 26-139, Historic District Study Committee for 300 East Michigan Avenue, Davenport Curtis Mansion. This is an important first step in an ongoing process. This will be a motion to acknowledge receipt. To approve or not to approve, establishing a Historic District Study Committee for 300 East Michigan Avenue, the Davenport Curtis Mansion. Move to acknowledge. Moved by Gearbaugh simply to acknowledge. Is there a second? Seconded by Dillon. Community Development Director Aiken, the floor is yours. And if you could take just a few moments, primarily for the public's benefit, to talk a little bit about the process here and why this initial step has to be taken, that would be very valuable.

Yes, according to Public Act 169-170, which is, or 1970, it's the Local Historic District Act. In order to... Establish expand or eliminate historic district. The legislative body has to appoint or give permission to appoint a historic study committee, which will go in and the. In this case, it's an individual property, but it say they were looking at North Ann Arbor. They have to go through and evaluate every property that's in their photographic. Document any historic. And then from there, they create a preliminary report. Which then goes on to counsel to the planning commission and other boards and then a 60 day or excuse me public hearing is set within that 60 days. The city council would either approve or not approve or tell them to proceed with the final report. And then they have up to 1 year to create the historic district. Now, this 1 is not going to be as intense since it is a single property. A lot of work has already been done there by Eastern Michigan students. So we have a significant amount of documentation and photograph. buildings and wealth of knowledge of the history of the property. So this is just the first step for city council to allow us to begin looking for participants. Generally, it's going to be between five and seven, but to get the ball rolling, then we'll come back and look for the appointment under resolution.

Very good questions or comments.

I apologize. The memo is not working on the. It's not attached to the document on online on. Can you remind me? There was some discussion related to expanding it more than the property. This is just clearly just looking at Curtis matches.

It was Curtis mansion. I think back in 2016, there was a committee that was. study committee that was developed to look at East Henry at that point. The study committee can also look at those properties and bring them in. But for the, since there is a time on this, two and a half years, two years, and I don't anticipate it's going to take that long, just focusing on this one property.

Or, but do you need direction from council to make sure that it is specifically only this property so that we do not potentially lose time related to. There will be a lot of concerns if we try to bring in other properties, or if that commission, can they make that calls to bring that in?

So, at this point, we're just looking. To go ahead and proceed, and then we'll come back and city council by resolution can appoint this committee, which then once the historic district is established, it automatically dissolves. But within that resolution, we can specify just for this property. Thank you.

There's no questions council member Dylan and then council member.

Thank you. So, 1 of the things I wanted to ask is, so, since the city owns the property, can we speed up the process more? I know they give you an X amount of time in which you have to complete it. But is there a window in which, like, that X amount of time has to pass before we can do it? Because if you're indicating that most of the work is done, the city owns the property, because part of the issue, and I was a part of the historic district commission in 2016, when we tried to do that. And it was, it was a process. Because you had to get approval from the households that we're going to be included. So, because we don't have that step, can we sort of move this along at a rapid pace?

I think it'll be a little bit quicker than what it will be normal since we're not going to have to convince the owners that it needs to be historically preserved. And again, since we have a lot of the evidence, the bulk of the time is going to be spent in the preliminary report and the final report, making sure there's criteria that's outlined in the Public Act that has to be identified in that report itself. And the clock only starts ticking Then it's within one year.

Okay. I just wanted to make sure that it fell within the timeline of. The timeframe in which we have for owning the mansion.

I don't imagine this is going to last take longer at 6 months.

Okay. Um, so, no, I really appreciate that part of it. So, um, and is there any part of it that we need to outsource or is this something that.

No, they have to be local and the people that represent the study committee have to have certain criteria knowledge in with historic preservation, historic districts. It states I wrote down somewhere representation from 1 or more duly organized local historic preservation organizations. So.

Well, I really appreciate that you accelerating this and keeping on top of it a big part of, for me, agreeing to the purchase of this property was to maintain that historic aspect of it. So, I think that is really a key aspect of it. And so I'd love to see this move forward.

Very good. My only question is, if we do establish a historic district. And we also at some point in the future decide to expand our social district. Would there be any conflict?

Not for this, no. Because that's not going to affect the appearance of the property. Okay.

Awesome. That's all. That was my only question. Any additional questions? All right, we have a motion on the floor moved by Gierbaugh, seconded by Dillon, simply to acknowledge receipt. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Ayes have the motion, carries unanimously. Is there a motion now to approve or not to approve?

Move to approve.

Moved by Dillon to approve. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Del Orco. Is there any additional discussion? Appears to be none. All those in favor of approving, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Ayes have it. The motion carries unanimously. We move on to the discussion portion of our agenda. First up is reports and other announcements, including updates from boards, committees, commissions, and task forces. Again, I'm going to begin to my left and end to my right. Council Member Harmont.

Yes, so first of all, I just wanted to say this last week, and I had a chance to attend the jazz at the mansion. It was fabulous. I wanted to say thanks. You guys did a great job in planning. It seemed really smooth. The logistics and the move-through were really very easy to follow, so I thought it was pretty easy to get around, and I wanted to thank you for putting that great event on. Um, beyond that, so the environmental commission met last Wednesday and we're looking at all the different events and things we want to do. One of the things that we are going to be doing, we will be doing a little reorganization of our board. And so we'll probably have a different leadership or coal. leadership moving forward for the second half of the year. Thank you.

Very good. Mayor Pro Tem Rice, any reports, announcements, updates from boards, committees, commissions, or task forces?

I just want to point out the fact that we approved a resolution today for national

What did we call it?

Sorry.

Parks and Recreation Month.

Exactly. To recognize Parks and Recreation Month. And there's a great snippet in here where it says, whereas the dedication of Slane's Parks and Recreation Department staff, volunteers, partners, and community organizations ensures that local parks remain safe, accessible, and inclusive for all who visit. and participate. And that also includes our wonderful DPW staff, our friends of the Saline Parks program, and then many of my council colleagues as well who do volunteer work through the parks. Lots of things to come, especially as we add some new features. Obviously the pathway and mill pond is all the talk of the town, so we'll be doing a dedication ceremony to that within the next couple of months. But then also stay tuned. We will be putting out a community wide survey about the structure and mill pond and just trying to get some feedback on how people use it. What they would like to see down there some changes that they've kind of been yearning for things like that. So, keep your peepers peeled on the saline parks and recreation website. The friends of the saline parks, social media as well.

Very good. Council member Gearball reports on other announcements.

Just an update. The fire board members of the fire board were invited to as part of our role to attend and actually take a tour of the data center. We were given the opportunity to look and view it and ask questions to determine what kind of impact and some of the things that we were concerned with related to responses and issues that may affect the fire department at this time. About half of the board attended. We were able to just really see what's going on. And I will say from my perspective, it is a massive project that I have never seen on this scale. People are concerned about it's not stopping. It's moving forward. But when we look at it, and we asked questions, we felt we were getting reasonable answers and support from wall bridge and that support. So, at this point, we look forward with working with that organization to make sure that the employers and whatever else the impact on our community and clean township will be managed appropriately in the future. Um, the only other thing I want to do is extend out from, uh, as we talk about events that help our organizations of the annual yard sale that occurs out at the historical Rensselaer farm will be August. Oh, I got to try and read the date 7th and 8th. Um, we still have spaces available if you would like to run a booth. It's 1 of our biggest fundraisers, but it also brings approximately 2000 people into the community that seem to be part of the whole us 12 yard sale that goes from. Detroit all the way to the other side of the state, and it's a great opportunity for people to come out and maybe find a bargain to, or even just visit the farm to see what we have. The sheep are still there and so are the chickens. Very good council member Dylan.

Thank you. As I mentioned last week, most of my committees are on hiatus in July, so I don't have much to report there today. We did have our kickoff meeting for the interim city manager transition team, and we were able to work with Mr swallow. He's created a transition project list that he's going to build upon. And by the end of the week, we should have a better document to share out with Council. So that everyone sort of understands what's out there and then we can sort of start to prioritize that. There will also be documents coming in something similar from the department heads so that we just make sure that things don't fall off the table during transition.

If I may real quick, I think our goal is to get an updated draft of the document right here from Mr. Swallow by the close of business on Friday, and then Mr. Swallow, Council Member Dillon, myself, and Attorney Clark will review it on Monday at our next transition team meeting with the idea that you would get a clean copy by the close of business next Tuesday.

And the other piece to the interim meeting is looking at the scope of hiring an interim city manager took the initial steps, not min skin municipal league. Their partner, Michigan municipal executives does have a service in which there are city managers. I would say city managers for rent. Um, it's, it's separate from them. They do not get involved in it. They're just sort of a facilitator for them. So we started looking through the initial resumes. Um, I've also created a job posting, which we will put out shortly. Once we're able to connect through with HR director. And we will post a position, hopefully to get somebody in the interim in a perfect world. We would have some overlap with the interim and Mr swallow prior to his departure. And so that's the piece that we are looking on right now.

Can I stay on that topic for just a moment? It's enumerated as an action item, but we can just address it now unless there's objection. So as Council Member Dillon indicated, she put some significant time into a draft job description that in a perfect world I'd like to see posted by the end of business this Friday. And then we can all do our part to promote it. And then I'd like to be in a position by that first full week in August that we could start coordinating that. Interviews so council member Dylan attorney Clark and I discussed today setting up a small interview committee that would work with council member Dylan to make any modifications amendments to the draft job description that she drafted then disseminated to city council. and then potentially interview candidates in the next two to three weeks. So I had asked, because I think it is important to have a liaison or a bridge between the transition team and the hiring committee, if Councilmember Dillon would be amenable to chairing that initiative. She indicated that she was, unless you've changed your mind. in the last six hours. And she also has experience serving as the chair of a previous city manager search process. So what I wanted to ask of the body today, is there anybody who is interested in serving in that capacity along with Council Member Dillon? I thought of having probably two other council members work with HR, again, to post this job description and then interview potential candidates and bring either a finalist or finalist for our consideration either at our first or second meeting in August.

Yes, and I had sent out an email earlier today, and I had gotten some feedback council member harm on council member Hall and council member the Oracle have indicated interest in it. And so I think we just need to decide the 3, which 2 are going to be there and no offense to my colleague. I would. Like to pass on you, because I know you've got some other bigger commitments right now with other groups, and these 2 have not served on a hiring committee at this point. Would you would you have I appreciate you were the 1st to respond though. And so I want to make sure that I give you 1st, right? A refusal.

I'm happy to have others participate. I just wanted to fill the void.

No, I appreciate that.

Can I ask a quick question then of Council Member Harmont and Council Member Hulse? Will you make yourselves available then in the next two and a half weeks, one, to review the job description, which should be done in the next couple days, and then to work with Chairperson Dillon and HR to do either Zoom or face-to-face interviews in the next two to three weeks?

Yes, absolutely.

Okay. Did you have a question?

Mr. I guess this is 1 of my things. What are we looking at terms of a term for this individual? Are we talking 6 months right now?

We're using a baseline of 6 to 9 months.

The consensus from our group and the legal counsel put a strong emphasis on this is that we should begin the formal search process for a permanent city manager subsequent to the election. A permanent candidate is going to want certainty that the individuals that are voting on his or her contract are going to be in their positions for the next two to three years, which makes perfect sense. I concur with that. That's great. Okay, very good. Then I'm going to make a motion from the floor, if I may, to appoint Councilmember Dillon as the chair and Councilmembers Halsh and Harmout, respectively, to a hiring committee for the interim city manager to draft and post a job description and interview candidates and make a subsequent recommendation to Council. Second. Okay, seconded by Guillermo. Are you clear on that? No. Okay. I'm a fast talker, so yeah. All right, so it's gonna be a motion to appoint Councilmember Dillon, in asterisks you can put chair, along with Councilmembers Halsh and Harmount to a interim city manager hiring committee. And they will be responsible for posting the job description. then interviewing candidates and making a subsequent recommendation to council and you're still comfortable seconding that mr gerber okay everyone in the day is clear on that motion okay you think you got it clerk royal i think so okay you want to read it back okay um to appoint council member dylan as a chair and council member halsh and harma for a city manager interview committee hiring interim city manager intern that's what i'm doing

Interim city manager hiring committee to post the job description interview and recommend to counsel.

That's all I got to interview and recommend a finalist or finalist to counsel. And Gearball was the second on that. On that point, I'm assuming since you put some time and energy into a draft job description, you can disseminate that with your two colleagues later today. And then what I'd like, ideally, is if you could get the revised or final copy to counsel by Close of Business Wednesday. And I'm going to ask counsel, you've got 24 hours to respond. So, be on the lookout for an email from either council member, Dylan, or council members hall. Sure. Harmon with a, what they believe is a final job description for this position, because our goal would be to get it posted by 5 0 PM Friday.

And I believe that HR director is back tomorrow Wednesday. So I want to make sure obviously she needs to have input on this.

I mean, would you want any other staff involvement other than HR director?

I so I know she's gonna be back tomorrow.

I think that's right.

I just need to start with her at this point over my committee standpoint.

Um, I would defer to the chair. Do you think besides the HR manager, you need any additional staff support?

Um, right. Treasure the treasure.

Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, that would be fine.

And if you needed any admin or clerical support that Ms. Getsman couldn't provide, you're certainly welcome to rely on Ms. Lupton.

Right.

Okay. Everyone clear on the motion? Is there any discussion on the motion? All right. All those in favor of the motion offered by Marl, seconded by Gearbaugh, signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Aye. The committee is established and they will proceed accordingly. Please continue, Council Member Dillon.

Thank you. I've got 2 other issues 1. I just wanted to make a comment. I think that the jazz at the mansion event was very successful as it was. There were a couple of takeaways that I just want to say out loud. I think it can go back to whichever committee needs to, but more for the Davenport Curtis working group is that I would like to see us clearly state that there is no smoking allowed on that property. that there are no dogs allowed on that property other than service animals certified service animals and that we consider doing the red velvet roping at the stairs so that people cannot go up onto the stairs during events but beyond that i thought people were incredibly respectful of the property i thought it was a great venue in which to have it so i just wanted to add those few things that i noticed while i was there and then totally swing into something different. We're gonna talk about port-a-johns. Director McNeil was Johnny on the spot and he and his staff were able to kind of look into the cost of a port-a-john Um, I had mentioned this at our previous meeting of having the city have a portage on in the parking lot where the farmers market is on Thursday night music series. So that there's always access for. Bathrooms to anyone in that area versus having to go to other places for it. So, um. He has looked into the cost of it. What he's looking for right now from council is a timeline of is this we do it just in the summer, like, just while the market is outside. And how does that work when there's other events like summer fest or October fest that bring in their own port of Johns? Do they just work around our 1 kind of a thing? And then the last issue was, we had asked what we had left in our community budget, our community events budget. And so understanding what we have left for dollars. I know we've just allocated some new ones for the barbecue event. So kind of understanding what we have as a budget, and that might determine what we need for how long the port of John can stay with the fresh fiscal year.

Obviously, we start with a new budget budget on.

Yeah, and so I guess it's just a matter of conversation as to what people feel as though, because he needs to kind of understand what kind of a contract we need the length of a contract initial thoughts on the desk.

Go ahead. Mr.

I would say, you know, we don't need it any longer than after November. 1st. Yeah. So I would say probably. May 1st through end of October corresponding with our farmer's market.

Yeah, because Farmer's Market moves indoors at November 1, I believe. Yep, I think that's logical. Anybody object to that? All right, proceed.

Okay.

Is that it?

Yeah, I think that's all I've got. Very good. I'm sorry, go ahead.

I just got one thing to add. So there's two options for the rental. It was $185 per month, includes one weekly cleaning and servicing throughout the rental period. And then option two weekly rental was $160 per week. Uh, this was designed for short term rentals includes delivery delivery, weekly pickup and servicing as needed.

I think it was a monthly. I thought there was a monthly rate. It seemed like the monthly rate rate was. Yeah, there's more than the weekly rate or something like that. The monthly rate is the better. I think we'd go that route. Yeah.

Yeah. I think, yeah, having like the weekly cleaning options or whatever is going to keep it fresh and tidy.

At least once a week.

Yeah, the weekly one is the more expensive one. It's $160 per week, but it's delivery, weekly pickup, and servicing as needed. So it'd be serviced more often, but it is four times as much.

If this is the same entity that does the port-a-johns at the ballpark, see if you can get them on that same cleaning schedule, because any time they vary off of that cleaning schedule, they get pretty jacked up. It needs to be right after the weekend. I think they're doing it on Mondays or Tuesdays. And anything past that, if you get into like Thursday, Friday, they're a mess by the end of the week.

Yep, agreed. Very good customer Del Arco. I don't have any my boards didn't meet since last week, so I don't have anything at this time.

Okay, customer. I just wanted to reiterate, reiterate, reiterate what everyone has said about jazz at the mansion. I think it was. I've always believed it to be my favorite event, but I think that it was an opportunity to see, um. the city that I believe Saline can be and that we're growing into. I know, you know, I didn't necessarily agree with the purchase of the mansion, but I definitely think it has found a purpose, and that is being a space to create community and to just bring us together. So I wish he was here, but I do want to thank Saline Diana, who is a force of nature and really just having a vision and wanting to make sure that it was an experience that everyone in our community could enjoy. I actually ran into someone who traveled from Colorado hopped off a plane and went right to the mansion. So I thought that that was really, really cool. And then the other thing that I did want to discuss like without going into too much detail, I know it was brought up at the last meeting, but I was able to attend with both the mayor, city manager, and Lisa Shea, a meeting with Related Digital in regards to the outstanding pledge to the Rec Center. And one of the things that I think I left excited about from that conversation was a lot of it was centered on how, number one, like how this pledge can be structured in a way that provide equity and accessing both the rec center but also just equity and accessing wellness and health within our community so those were conversations that were excited I look forward to continuing those I know that there will be a proposed agreement that will come before this body but again I think for me the conversation was refreshing giving all of the sort of discourse around the pledge and the data center to see that there was a desire to create that equity that I think many of us want to see throughout our community.

Very good. Thank you. We will transition then to the second item under discussion, which is Mill Pond Dam ballot wording. Mr. Swallow?

Thank you. Mary council as was discussed last time, the city had engaged services of the attorney to start drafting potential ballot language and to do some additional research as to the authority that we would act under as council. So we have engaged services of. Versage and roads, this is the same firm that has written previous opinions relative to the mill pond and the access, et cetera to that to that property. So, with that, they are looking closely at not only charter authority, but also state law to make sure that whatever balance we do draft does comply with those requirements. They will be providing legal opinion. I hope to have that as early as next week. And they also are drafting some different options of about language. The challenges you have to come up with obviously a yes or no question and how you phrase that is definitely definitely something that was discussed at some of the public meetings. in a limited space, limited number of words that you have relative to ballot language, but also at the end of the day have a clear yes or no question. So we'll be providing different options relative to that.

I appreciate that. I think council and the community will look forward to seeing that language and the corresponding opinions. Again, I would ask the city clerk to remind us, what is the deadline to put a proposal on the November 2026 ballot?

It has to be to the clerk's office by August 11th, but it has to be to the county by the 12th.

Okay. So, I mean, I guess the reason I ask that question is we're getting to crunch time here. And so we would, if there was a fervent desire to get this on the November ballot, we would not only need all of the material by next week, we would likely need to call a special meeting because our next regular meeting is on the 10th. And even if we got consensus by the... late evening on the 10th, that's probably not enough time to turn the necessary documents around for approval. Now, in saying all that, again, there's no requirement that it be on the November 2026 ballot. We would have other subsequent options in 2027 and or beyond. So, again, I would, I guess, get another head count this evening. I know I asked a week ago, and people are free to change their minds or their positions may evolve. But, Councilmember Harmon, any additional thoughts this evening?

I'm going to defer to my colleagues.

Mayor Pro Tem Rice?

I am ready and willing to approve ballot language with the caveat in the back of my mind that if we don't have it right, we put it off because there's no rush to failure.

Council Member Gearbaugh?

For me, it's going to be all the opinions. I don't want to strap ourselves. I mean, we know it's maybe not a binding decision, but being able to repair the dam versus fixing it. There's all types of things going on. We need to have the right information and if we can't do this in 2 weeks, we are, we're basically paralyzed when we make decisions. And this is another example of it. It'll being rushed to put this through. So I don't see how we're going to do this in November, but.

I think right now the ship has sailed timing wise. I mean, we do not have time to as a body to review this. To have it out into the public for, like, at least 1, 1st reading before it's approved and really get things moving. I'm really struggling with the fact that. It's taken this long to get the information to us. Um, and as my colleagues say, you know, generally what we've learned from past experiences when we make rush decisions, they're bad decisions. And I don't want to be stuck with the decision. That we are literally stuck with and bound to by law, because we did not explore all of the options or do it correctly.

Very good.

My position is unchanged. This is the third time I've been asked this question. I think this is not our decision. This is the public's decision. The more we delay and the more we pretend like we're doing something and do nothing, we're going to frustrate the public.

Thank you. Council Member Halsh? I have to agree with my Council Member Dolarco. I completely understand the... I heard the comments, and I think one of the most consistent themes throughout all of those comments was that regardless of where people stand, they want clear, consistent, balanced language on the ballot. And I think we owe it to our community to ensure that. I'm incredibly disappointed that it's sounding like that may not happen on the November ballot. I plan to do everything in my power to make sure that if it's not on the November ballot, that it's on the next available ballot as soon as possible, because I think we owe our community the chance to decide the fate of that dam.

Yeah, I don't disagree with any of that. What I would disagree with is if we're not able to put it on the November ballot, I've said all along that if we are going to put this issue to a vote, it should be on a ballot in an election where the largest, most diverse swath of our electorate is participating. So the concern I would have is if we aren't able to make the November 2026 ballot, Again, it's the prerogative of the entire council, not just the mayor, but I would be looking at a ballot where turnout was going to be high and that there would be clear community consensus on this important issue. My other concern, and it was addressed both directly and indirectly tonight and in the past, is it's not just developing the appropriate ballot language, it's also having the educational resources and presenting information in a fact-based, objective way to give to our citizens so they can weigh the pros and cons of both options. So from my perspective, I'm not just looking at ballot language, I'm looking to develop educational materials so that our citizens can indeed make an informed decision on this issue. So I guess we will wait, Mr. Swallow, and see what we get from the attorneys. Hopefully there's some material provided next week. But again, as has been stated by a number of my colleagues this evening, it's looking unlikely that this is going to make it to the November 2026 ballot. Okay, anything else on this subject? All right, then let's transition to mill race city manager as well. You want to give an update on that? But I believe that would be an enumerated action item under on the agenda for August the 10th.

That is yes, as you're aware in the June 22nd meeting, we went over the proposals both from Fisher and O'Neill's the preference, obviously, in terms of cost was the proposal prepared by O'Neill's. There was some missing information at that time in terms of how we deal with some of the. The sediment and placing the structure that they had proposed the concrete weir that they proposed placing in the mill race. So, with that, we asked him to go back, provide some additional detail, which I have provided an updated proposal to Spicer group. Just literally had conversation earlier this week. Excuse me, the last week, but with that, there are some additional drawings required by Spicer group before they can make an informed decision on that proposal. So. Indeed, we do plan on bringing that back August 10th.

Okay, very good. Any questions for the city manager on that point? Again, you'll have a bite at the apple and you're free to discuss, approve, or reject in three weeks' time. Council Member Halsh?

I do want to say one of the thoughts that's kind of stuck in my mind, and I think it was brought up tonight, is that it is worth having a conversation with Wellers about how that fiscal responsibility is shared, given that that's the only property that is able to enjoy that part of it. And so I do think that as we continue these conversations with getting a bid and submitting it, that it is considered. And hopefully we can figure out a fair and consistent and equitable way to have that conversation with wellers.

Thank you. If there's nothing further on the mill rates, we've already discussed interim city managers. So, Mr. Gierbaugh, you have the last item, right-of-way activity.

And this may be for Mr McNeil to come back with I've just been and I know my colleagues have also notices. There is so much activity going on right now in town with in the right of ways. And I'm just seeing all kinds of destruction happening between our sidewalks. I know they've cut the power again to the North Ann Arbor street. street lights that basically are out again from Bennett. We just got them back up after almost a year of being out, and they're out again from the Evangelical Home entrance down to Bennett Street. And then when you drive down Harris, there's metal poles that have been sitting there for at least six months or more, and now there's some more sitting on Clark Street. This stuff I would like to have a report back to us as who's doing what, where, and when, and get an idea because you'll see stuff on Michigan Avenue, you're seeing stuff on Ann Arbor Street. I know you guys are working on trying to get a permit process and everything in board, but it just seems like, I know it's never-ending, but we don't know who's doing what, and it seems like we just did all the sidewalks on Harris Street, and they're all ripped out again, and this is like the second or third time. And We've got to get them into some kind of schedule where it's they're inconveniencing our residents. People can't travel down the sidewalks. I mean, we've got issues with other sidewalks have been torn up that have been replaced. So whatever we can do in that, if we could have a report back of that type of thing, or an understanding. Working with OHM, I think this is where I believe you're hoping to get a handle on it. It's just gone out of control again, and I'd appreciate that kind of approach.

If I can add to that, Mr. Swallow, I think a list of ongoing projects and initiatives in our right-of-way would be... Beneficial to counsel if that could be provided either in your weekly communicate this Friday or the subsequent Friday that would be great and then maybe we can have a subsequent follow-up discussion as As an enumerated discussion item excuse me at our next regular meeting on August the 10th

Should be able to write a report from the way in the right away permit section as least contractors name what the activity is for.

So, in general scope, and I'm going to add 1 unrelated thing and I don't know what makes me recall it at the moment. I actually had a brief conversation, a very spontaneous conversation on site with. Mr. Marion from DPS Today. So much like my colleagues and community members, I have been enjoying the Saline River Valley Trail. I walk it probably three or four times a week with my dog. And there were three vehicles on the pathway last week after five. And one family in a GMC sport utility had the gall, I guess for lack of a better way to articulate it, to ask me with my dog if I could get off the pathway. And no, I wasn't going to get off the pathway. I have the right to be on the pathway. It blows my mind that a vehicle would think it's appropriate to drive on said pathway, but apparently they do. So I think some additional signage down there would be beneficial.

Potentially dollars. Yes.

Yes. Yeah. Not only for the safety of those who are biking, rollerblading, walking, running on the pathway, but vehicular traffic on the pathway will cause deterioration of that asphalt that much sooner. Okay, well that wraps up the discussion portion of our agenda. We come now to the second and last public comment period. Under the Open Meetings Act, any person who may come forward may comment to City Council. This public comment period 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. Please note, City Council will not answer questions during this final public comment period. You will have three minutes once you begin.

Sitting through the sister city presentation reminded me that a group of volunteers rescued the Bowley Bridge from the DPW storage area a number of years ago and took it down to the last of the Hamer Saline River Preserve. So it's in place down there. Our volunteers have repaired it and continue to maintain it and It doesn't really go across a river anymore except when it rains, but there's a bench on it. So it's a good place to sit and observe. Look out over the preserve and that bridge is about 60 years old now. So needs a little has needed some work, but we've taken care of that. The other thing is, I think it's a wise decision if you all decide to not rush through the process of the question of the day on a ballot. I think the citizenry will recognize it as a rush process. with a historic district on getting South Ann Arbor Street established as a district a number of years ago, the state was not at all enthused about the idea of a single property being designated as a historic district. I don't know if they've changed their mind on that or not, but if they haven't, you may find that you're going to have to pick up a few other properties to actually create a district. And last thing, I support the Saline Library Millage. It's... It's a renewal millage, but it's being renewed at a rate that is less than it was before. Amazing thing. Almost unheard of. Because typically, activities expand to fill whatever millage is available. So we should do it.

And I support all the other millages, too, that are on the ballot.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Rhodes. Appreciate your comments. Additional citizen comments. You have three minutes. Why don't you begin?

Hi, Karen Peters, Saline River Drive. I want to make a comment. You know I'm interested in the dam. I am highly against you trying to push this through to the November ballot. Even if you can get the language done by the 10th, there's not going to be time to educate the public. Plus, you're not going to even have another city manager in place or another city engineer in place. So I think you need to focus your efforts on getting another city manager, another city engineer, and deferring this vote until a later time. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate your comments. Additional citizen comments. You'll have three minutes once you begin.

Good evening. I'm Jane Finkbeiner. I'm from Saline Township, the home of the data center. Anyway, tonight I just want to comment on the Davenport Curtis Mansion. As a person with historic passion, and I work with Bill Kenley, who has worked on historic preservation for his properties, which includes the Murphys Building, which is known to us as the Union and Wallace Building, I would love to see the continuation of the use of the Davenport Curtis Mansion versus The Mansion, Jazz at the Mansion, BBQ at the Mansion. I'd love to see that name to be continued to be used as well as the verbiage and in advertising. I want that to happen so we preserve the history of those families who not only built, but saved the mansion for the city to purchase. Thanks.

Thank you, Jane. Appreciate those comments. Additional citizen comments. You'll have three minutes.

Gordon Peters, Saline River Drive. I too appreciate y'all getting to the dam issue, but I think that it's being rushed at the last minute. I too agree there's no way in the world we're going to be able to educate the public and the citizenry about the real pros and cons. You've heard me talk before about how dam removal issues start at one figure. End up being 102030 times more because there's so much unknown if we get to the point where we're going to get it repaired. There's pretty much. Hard numbers about repair as opposed to the numbers we're working with now are already at least 2 or 3 years old. And as I've mentioned before, with the gorge river, Graham, New York, Ohio, they went from. A 30 May 50Million dollar price to 130Million dollars. I don't know that that would be anywhere near what would happen to us, but it's a possibility because of the unknowns. So, I appreciate the. The effort to try to postpone because it's already been more than a year that we've been talking about this. It feels like 10 to me, but. A few more months isn't going to probably make or break if we can get a good educated citizen tree. We've already heard evidence that some of the pamphlets that have been distributed are more persuasive than informative. And to me, I think if we're going to be fair to the citizen tree, both opposed and for they need the truth about what it's really going to cost what it's really going to entail. I'd also like to make a quick comment about the saline trail in the mill pond. Wonderful addition to our park. What I really worry about is. If that dam is removed. That pond is removed most people on that trail won't even know there's a river there. Because the most encouraging part is up by the Michigan app part where you can really appreciate the pond. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate those comments. Any additional citizen comments this evening? Let me defer to the city clerk. Were there any written comments provided in advance of tonight's meeting in which the individual wanted their remarks read? Easy enough. Then I would note, because I think, well, Mr. Rhodes made... reference to the upcoming election. Our council meetings are generally on the first and third Mondays, but because of the primary election, we are on the second and third for August, so we will not meet again until the 10th, which means there is the primary election between now and our next regular meeting. As former mayor of Chicago Richard Daley said, vote early and often, do your part, and regardless of how you vote, please exercise your right. If you have any questions or want to obtain an absentee ballot, please contact the city clerk. If there's nothing further to be brought before Salina City Council this evening, I'm going to go with that clock, although mine says a different time. I'm going to seek a motion to adjourn at 9.31. So moved. Moved by Dillon, seconded by Gearbot to adjourn. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Ayes have it. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you all.