City Commission - Regular Meeting

The following program was produced by CTV Community Television.

Stand for the pledge, please.

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.

Well everyone this is Monday July 6th if you have any questions comments during the proceedings you can wait until public comment if you like that's number 11 will get the 3 minutes for each person on that also before we vote anything of the opportunity to express your views and comments at the podium there. I'll ask for the roll call please.

Mayor Cedar here. Councilmember Gallagher here Councilmember Kufa here Councilmember Laporte here Councilmember Paul present. Council Member Volz?

Here.

Council Member Westrick? Here. All present.

All right, thank you. I do need to amend the agenda with your approval, Council. I would like to add to number six, letter D, the Clemmons Participation Authority Interlocal Agreement. So moved. Moved. Moved to make support questions. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, that will be 6D, Clements. For a consented agenda, City Council Minutes of June 15th, 2026, we recommend you approve and Zoning Board of Appeals, Minutes of March 18th, 2026, meeting recommendation received.

Motion to approve A and B as presented.

Any questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye. Go to number five, Presentation. We are fortunate tonight. We have two outstanding gentlemen from the Community Foundation, Dan Laquan and Mike McCartin. Here to, is this Mike? Yes, Mike.

THANK YOU, MAYOR SEATER. THANK YOU, MAYOR SEATER. I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF THE I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF THE I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, THE ST. COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, THE ST. COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, THE ST. CLAIR ENDOWMENT FUNDS. CLAIR ENDOWMENT FUNDS. CLAIR ENDOWMENT FUNDS. AT OUR RECENT MEETING WE GOT A AT OUR RECENT MEETING WE GOT A AT OUR RECENT MEETING WE GOT A VERY ARTICULATE AND IMPASSIONATE VERY ARTICULATE AND IMPASSIONATE VERY ARTICULATE AND IMPASSIONATE PLEA FOR FUNDS FROM HIS HONOR, PLEA FOR FUNDS FROM HIS HONOR, PLEA FOR FUNDS FROM HIS HONOR, THE MAYOR IT WAS DECIDED BY OUR GROUP THAT WE WOULD MAKE A SUPPLEMENTAL CONTRIBUTION TO WHAT WE HAD DONE EARLIER IN LIGHT OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT EVENT. WE ALL KNOW THAT IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS. I THINK VIRTUALLY ALL OF ST. by just looking at how many cars passed my house. And, you know, the feedback was entirely positive. And so congratulations to, I'm sure, the hundreds of people and the hundreds of hours that went into making that. So it's my honor to present a check of $10,000 to go to the expense of the recently performed fireworks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I don't really need to say a whole lot about this, but the Community Foundation is so supportive of the city of St. Clair, and we are so fortunate that we have good people up there representing us, including these two fine gentlemen. And their support on this $10,000 was very much appreciated. And as you said, if anybody was in town Saturday night, you know it was just unbelievable almost what happened Saturday night down here. So thank you very much, Community Foundation, Mr. Lockwood, Mr. McCartin. And I'll say it again, Mr. McCartan, you are welcome here anytime. All right. Thank you. 6A, Ordinance of Resolution, Ordinance of Adoption, 2601, Administrative Services.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, originally we, when I say we, the city attorney, I worked on an ordinance amendment that would follow the charter of the city of St. Clair that had been somewhat vacant for about 35 years. IT REQUIRED ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES TO BE WRITTEN IN UNDER SECTION CHAPTER 2 UNDER ARTICLE 408 AND THERE HAD NOT BEEN WORK DONE ON THAT. SO WE ATTEMPTED IN THE FIRST IDITERATION OF THIS WAS THE VERY COMPREHENSIVE ORDINANCE SINCE THAT TIME OF INTRODUCTION. WE AGAIN CONFERRED AND WE feel that it's better to scale it back to what we started to chapter two administration article two administrative services. So this amendment brings us to the very, very first part of our introduced ordinance and it basically says that administrative code and plan and subsequent amendments will be submitted to the council after directing the city superintendent to create the code with the different functions of the officers, deputy officers and subordinates of the city in accordance with Article IV of the charter. So we believe that meets the appropriateness and this was just something that I wanted to initiate to cover all aspects of that and to be in compliance. So with this passage tonight, we will then finalize the administrative code and plan. It'll have flexibility and be able to be changed with changing times and as year by year the council sets the budget instead of reintroducing an ordinance numerous times, which the more extensive version would have required us to do. So with that, I recommend council adopt the amendment, section one, chapter two, article two, administrative services.

I'll make a motion to adopt the ordinance as presented.

All right, the motion made to support questions. I have at least one. So two weeks ago we introduced the administrative services and that was the packet that I received that was like 30 some pages long, is that correct? Yes. But now we're not doing that, we're just saying in this document here, we're gonna instruct you to move forward and create that document that was sort of created, but now we're just uncreating it and starting over?

Sort of? Sort of. We're back to only using Article 2, the initial language that was part of the introduced ordinance. The rest of it, exactly that. We'll do that as a written administrative order that can be changed by resolution of the council or the superintendent at any given time without reintroducing and modifying it as an ordinance amendment.

Okay, so the thing that we introduced, no, no, we tabled that, didn't we? Yeah, it was tabled. Okay, so we can come tonight and adopt, not just introduce and then adopt?

We can adopt it because it was introduced in the section article two, administration, administrative services. It was originally in the other documents, but this is modifying that slightly, but taking out all of the other verbiage that was in the, you say 30 pages. I don't count pages quite like that.

It's 31, but. Okay. Okay, so I understand now. Okay, and the motion to be made in support of any other questions. Call the roll, please.

PUFA?

Yes.

McCourt?

Yes. Hall? Yes.

Fuls?

Yes.

Westrick? Yes. Butler?

Yes.

Cedar? Yes. Coordinates adopted.

Thank you. It's going to be introduction of the 2026-02 virtual currency machines.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, the council is asked by Police Chief Don Ennis to consider a proposed ordinance identified as Ordinance 2026 to amend Chapter 18 of the City Code would add Article 9, virtual currency machines, to establish licensing and operational regulations for the virtual currency machines and associated devices within the City of St. Clair. This is a trend that's been developing where currency kiosks or currency or Bitcoin ATMs are installed in communities. And the chief and I concur with the chief be ahead of this issue. And he brings that forward today. Chief Ennis.

Yeah, so a few other municipalities have also adopted this. Sterling Heights was the first one. Port Huron PDD or Port Huron City just adopted this last month. And it's just a way for us to be proactive. We deal with a lot of scams. A lot of our senior citizens, a lot of people who live alone, who can't bounce ideas off each other, get these phone calls, texts. We've all gotten those scam calls. Well, you know, if they shoot, you know, they call 100 people, one might respond to it. So we haven't really had, per se, any issues with cryptocurrency itself because we have none of the ATMs in our town that I'm aware of. But Port Huron does have a few. And kind of the premise is, obviously, you've got to warrant for your arrest. You've got to pay some type of bill. There's something going on, this urgency. So they send you to Port Huron, add a few of the party stores up there, and make you scan a QR code and deposit X amount of money. And this doesn't necessarily ban them, but this puts limits on them, and it gives us more of a tool to investigate these criminal matters. Because once the currency is gone, once the money is deposited and cryptocurrency is bought, we don't have the resources to track down these finances anymore. We get a lot of the other type of scams where we go buy a gift card, give us a number. We haven't had too much of this crypto, but this is just being proactive. I don't trade crypto, but anyone I talk to uses apps on their phone, because these ATMs charge substantial fees, like up to 30%. So you get scammed with $1,000, they're going to take 30% of that, and you're not getting any of it back. I'm sure these ATMs do have legitimate, you can buy crypto on them, but most people who do trade and buy the stuff, they do it on their phone through an app. Any questions?

All right, thank you.

Yeah, so we're just trying to be proactive. Crypto is becoming more and more, especially the younger generation. They're buying, selling, trading. There's new crypto coming out every day. This is just for a way to be proactive. I'll make a motion to introduce support.

All right, the motion to introduce the ordinance for virtual currency machines. Questions? I'll roll, please.

LaPorte?

Yes.

Paul?

Yes.

Foles?

Yes.

Westrick? Yes. Butler? Yes. Ufa? Yes. Cedar? Yes. Ordinance introduced.

Thank you. Thank you, Chief.

All right. Thank you.

Go to see Resolution 2618, Fiscal Year 26, Budget Amendment Schedule of Fees and Charges. Mr. Duchesne?

MR. MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, THIS IS A SUGGESTION AND RECOMMENDATION THAT RENTAL REGISTRATION AND INSPECTION FEES BE CHANGED. WHAT I HAVE SUGGESTED IN THE BACKUP IS FUNDAMENTALLY THIS, TO APPROVE AND AMEND RENTAL REGISTRATION INSPECTION PROGRAMS AND FEES TO CHARGE THE RENTAL FEES, CHANGE THE RENTAL FEE STRUCTURE AS RECOMMENDED SPECIFICALLY, RENTAL REGISTRATION FEE FROM $20 TO $100. Rental inspection fee from $50 to $75. Single family dwellings would become no more than every two years inspected. We have a breakdown in the backup of the different number of permits in the different certs, as we call them, or certifications that this applies to. Multiple dwellings would be inspected no more than every two years or every four years if there were no violations in the last inspection and no ownership changes. The rental registration is good for four years, so fundamentally that fee is only paid once every four years for those owners of rental properties, individuals' properties. I did not put together the whole presentation tonight. There is in the backup a breakdown. Comparison by year certification expirations from 26 to 2030. We are coming up in the next couple years with this change in 2028. There will be a peak of nearly 65 certification expirations in that year. Prior to that, we ramp up slightly. No more than 10, for example, would be contacted in 27. And then after the 28 peak year, that goes down below 30. But obviously the point is not about the cost of generating any revenues because the inspections that follow and the time put into that are based on full cost recovery and not on a profitability scale. But rental registrations and the maintenance of rental properties is certainly one of the largest consumers of public time and effort that is done in the inspections division so with that i certainly would stand for any questions and recommend that the exhibit a those fees and charges be changed so a single family registration

IT'S CURRENTLY $20 EVERY FOUR YEARS. IT'S CURRENTLY $20 EVERY FOUR YEARS. IT'S CURRENTLY $20 EVERY FOUR YEARS. YES. FOUR YEARS. YES. FOUR YEARS. YES. WE WANT TO MOVE TO $100 EVERY YES. WE WANT TO MOVE TO $100 EVERY YES. WE WANT TO MOVE TO $100 EVERY FOUR YEARS. WE WANT TO MOVE TO $100 EVERY FOUR YEARS. WE WANT TO MOVE TO $100 EVERY FOUR YEARS. YES. FOUR YEARS. YES. FOUR YEARS. YES. SO YOU HAVE TO REREGISTER EVERY YES. SO YOU HAVE TO REREGISTER EVERY YES. SO YOU HAVE TO REREGISTER EVERY FOUR YEARS. SO YOU HAVE TO REREGISTER EVERY FOUR YEARS. SO YOU HAVE TO REREGISTER EVERY FOUR YEARS. YES. FOUR YEARS. YES. $100, then 300 times 10.

For anyone subject to certification, yes.

Just to be transparent, I used to have rentals, but I sold them all like eight years ago, so. At first I thought this was a heavy hit, but then every four years, 20.

I think part of the problem is this has been, Hasn't been raised in a long, long time. Yeah. So that first jump is the biggest. This isn't something we should have to look at again for a while. Yeah. I don't think it should cost the city to do this. Right. For the inspections. For the inspections. Right. You know, $100 cost of the inspection.

Yep. Yep. Yeah, I think I'm good with this.

How detailed is the inspections?

They follow the building official's code and standards for rental and inspections, primarily looking for health, safety, and welfare violations. It is not directed at a cosmetic, and I want to be clear about that. It's not about cosmetic aspects, but it is about unsafe wiring if there is an open and obvious problem with plumbing or fixtures and lighting, but it is not there to regulate that. carpet wear and tear or types of walls or anything like that. This is to ensure that the housing stock remains equivalent to those home occupied or in the rental unit cases, some of the building supervisors do take very good care of all of those things So it's a very nominal kind of inspection to make sure they have the cert and it's been followed up on by that. But in a residential home situation, a number of the calls that we get, probably out of proportion, is about a owner-occupied home next to a rental. In some cases, they'll always take care of the property maintenance code, property maintenance standards, as if somebody's ownership had been living there. So those are very kind of open and obvious. So it isn't that kind of deep dive where people are going through and the inspector doesn't go into back rooms and find and dig things. Primarily health, safety, welfare, property maintenance standards if in case you have a broken or hanging window or something to that degree. Those are the things that they are taught to and instructed to do. note and then cause to be corrected not always writing citations but certainly marking it down for re-inspection gotcha yeah the only concern that i have are questions i have in councilman kuffa could probably help with that is first time a home goes or a building goes to you know a rental situation and it's not owner occupied

If we buy a home and you get a home inspection, it's not a one-hour process or a half-hour process. It's not. So what's the cost and time involved to have a building inspector go out to say we're flipping a property from A to B? Does it meet compliance? What's that initial, like from a re-registration or a re-inspection? That's a very quick blip of time to go out and make sure those items were corrected. That might have been found or identified, right? If we go in from the initial standpoint, it's probably a little bit more evasive than that to make sure we are compliant on all of the aspects of that home or building being converted. Is that not a one-hour process of city time, but that's cool.

I do the health and safety inspections on the city of Detroit. And they take a good two hours. And then the paperwork, which takes maybe an additional hour to two hours.

Is your question more or less something like, are we actually losing money on these things? Yes. From an initial standpoint. Go to the very end on the second page, italicized. I think that will answer your question. It just basically says anything cost-wise that goes past the initial fee will be passed on to the applicant.

Thank you. That was the lead-in. If you have the On the bottom of the fee schedule, building and planning resolution 2012 did address this. In review of applications, the city may require the services of city attorney, city planner, and or city engineer to ensure that those services do not negatively impact the city's general fund. The cost of said services is passed on to the applicant in the form of review fees and associated escrow accounts. for information on the escrow policy please see resolution 2012. so when you have that uh i think as the councilman's mentions your first time in you see everything from possibly you know a structural deficiency that needs to be corrected well you have permits and things that follow up on that to cover those things The initial fee, you might be able to have a amount of money set aside for repair that you draw from when the repair is done and it's refunded to.

My question may, I guess, go along the line, since I'm not an inspector for the city, is if a property first time is converted from A to B, is there a more involved process that they have to apply for for that? and if that covers the fees and the time and everything else according to that schedule fantastic if there's a gap in that that is the only question that i have is do we need to address that gap on that initial flip you know this is is We don't need, the concern would be someone going in without a more involved checklist of these things are what I gotta hit for the first time and this is how it's covered. It's a quick in and out. How far are they gonna go to find out if there's anything necessary to do a deeper dive for any reason, right? So that's primarily my question. If our code enforcement or building inspectors from electrical plumbing and everything else in the building or property is changed for usage to protect the end user, is there a process that contains that?

This, and we could do a little deeper dive, but I think it's when you have the initial cost, you are making the assumption that things are gonna be pretty well ready to go and they're basic. when you do and find like maybe the electrical box is a problem and you write that up for re-inspection, what's gonna have to be done to that box is gonna require electrical permit and time to do it. There's no doubt that we probably out of the the couple hundred inspections that we're planning on having on the books and research you're probably going to have some that are going to absorb a little more of our time without a doubt but on the other hand you're going to have some you're going to go through and do it very efficiently and maybe effectively you know i think that we're probably finding a middle spot right in there but we can certainly assess it on a time and materials basis and then come back to council and adjust it. If it looks like we're too front loaded in this thing, we better charge up front more and then give people who are in compliance a bigger break. Good point.

All right, have we had a motion on this yet? No. I'll make the motion to adopt the resolution amending the fiscal year 26 schedule of fees and charges. I'll support. Motion made, support questions. Call the roll, please.

Call. Yes. Close.

Yes.

Maestric. Yes. Butler.

Yes.

Ufa? Yes. LaPorte? Yes. Cedar? Yes. Resolution adopted.

All right, thank you. Go to D. This is the resolution 2619 for participation in the Clemmons Authority Inter-Local Agreement. Mr. Duchesne, you want to say something about that?

Mr. Mayor and Council, we are a participant in Columbus. It is a large courts and law enforcement information system that is really the largest in southeastern Michigan. It provides data and connection between, as it says, the courts, law enforcement agencies of all kinds, information sharing and database. Long story short is the Clemmas was originally founded in Oakland County as an agency of Oakland County. It is now expanded and everything else became bigger than Oakland County in Clemmas. So Clemmas has been reinvented basically as its own public corporation entity. And now as members, we're, in a sense, to make it simple, we're re-upping under new agreements with the new Clemmons as a public agency. So I'm asking to address it quickly because the chief will continue to do exactly what we're doing today, tomorrow with this. And it is a matter of governmental paperwork and process. I don't know anything else to do much to add, Chief, if you'd like to say something there.

No, we're not going to skip a beat with it. We've been using it since 2015 without an issue. So it looks like they're going to privatize it rather than have it be owned by Oakland County. So we won't miss a beat with it.

So we recommend this be authorized so that I can sign the necessary documents for the city.

I'll make a motion to approve. Support. Motion to make a support of questions. Call the roll, please.

Bowles.

Yes.

Westrick. Yes. Dallard.

Yes.

Kufa. Yes. LaPorte. Yes. Hall.

Yes.

Cedar. Yes. Resolution adopted.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we will go to reports of administration. Mr. DeShane.

I have the opportunity to do something that's very enjoyable tonight. While everybody else has a chance to say thanks to her and congratulate her, one of the key achievements recently earned by our clerk is Clerk of the Year at Michigan City, Clerk of the Year by her peers and colleagues. She is a key person in the legislative process, central to all things in the city. She has seamlessly collaborated with the superintendent, which really scored really high in my book. Continuity and shared ownership of so many projects and programs with the city. When I noted especially things like the cemetery wreath project or environmental day leadership goes beyond what the office typically calls for. She is timely and clear in communicating in social media, web updates and correspondence. And she is very active and participates in her professional associations and duties. Certainly been notable as we all have now a chance to say thank you and good job, Annette Sturdy, for your high integrity, ethical conduct, and professional and approachable demeanor. So I'd like to be the first to say thank you.

thank you very much i'll have some thoughts under number 12 but would you like to give a little speech maybe or i would thank you thank you so much so yes last month i had the incredible honor to be awarded the 2026 mamc city clerk of the year award The Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks is a professional organization that promotes, enhances, and encourages the professional development and standing of municipal clerks through cooperation, communication, and education. Today there are currently over 1,400 members representing communities across Michigan. It was the first professional organization I joined after being appointed clerk. In fact, only three weeks after being appointed, I attended my first MAMC event. In the first session of the first day, the presenter asked if anyone was new, and myself and two other people raised our hands. And when they found out I was new-new, at only three weeks, there was an immediate outreach of support. And I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Since then, the MAMC has been an invaluable part of my professional growth. The institutes, academies, member education days, conferences, and online materials have all provided exceptional information. But the most important resource has always been the people. The relationships we've built, the conversations we have, the opportunity to exchange ideas, work through challenges, brainstorm solutions, and celebrate successes together are what makes this organization so special. We all share the same statutory responsibilities, but if you asked 100 clerks what else we do, you'll get 100 different answers. Every community is unique, and our roles evolve to meet those needs. MAMC helps us navigate that with confidence and the knowledge that we're never doing it alone. It's cliche, I know, but it is truly an honor to be nominated.

to be recognized by colleagues, or the work in and out of the office, means more than I can express. Steve, thank you for nominating me. I know how busy your days are, which makes your thoughtfulness even more meaningful, and I truly appreciate your support. To be included among the year's outstanding nominees was already an incredible honor. And being nominated is amazing, but I will also admit the feeling to then being elected by my peers is incredible. Humbling and overwhelming in the best possible way. There are so many bright and dedicated men and women in this group who I admire and strive to live up to. Thank you doesn't seem enough, but I hope they know how grateful I am. I WILL CONTINUE TO DO MY VERY BEST TO SERVE THE RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF ST. CLAIR, CONTRIBUTE TO THIS PROFESSION, AND PROUDLY REPRESENT BOTH THE CITY AND THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF MUNICIPAL CLERKS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I HAVE ANOTHER THING THAT We may not be the same tearjerker. It's about brush. I love this job. It's just smoothly moving. We have, and I say we because this has come from the staff, the employees, and the public works, the X-Men public works maintenance crew there. We have a maintenance program called Maintenance X, and that's why there are X-Men out here working. But it is about preparing the brush pickups. This came as a recommendation from them that I wholeheartedly support. and it really is not a change in the service it is a change in respect i think for the way we provide service for excuse me for everybody because what it does is we're asking residents to put some time a little time into preparing the brush piles so that we don't spend two hours on one pile and nobody else gets service and it's just a little bit of courtesy again still it's a very obviously respected service and we want to continue that but for example we are asking that and we'll go into this process through some change And the crew is not certainly complaining that they have work. They're complaining that you'll go from 1 house to another in some houses in some cases. Seem to be the, the American foresters. Because they produce a lot of brush for people and we appreciate that. But. Time taken away from roads, streets, water, sewer, and everything else has to be balanced in a full spectrum of services and balanced in a way that's fair to all to get it done properly. So we're asking about having brush eventually in manageable lengths not exceeding four feet. We would like to have the bundles together, not in the street. so that they become instant problems for parking and traffic control. Brush that's loose or unbundled that are just laying about, strewed about, are not the kind of thing that we can officially make work better. And so we're asking that residents conform in the next two months, really, we'll take time to educate and leave notes and do things and understand that garden refuse, soil, rocks, non-organic materials, These are things that are not natural woody brush or tree limbs. And those are the things that we want to provide the service to pick up. The woody brush, tree branches, shrub trimmings, they all qualify and will continue for collection. So fundamentally, we're just looking at... trying to avoid, and it appears sometimes the commercial landscapings, they leave debris or they come from somewhere by commercial points and they're left here. We ask the residents to remember you're really co-responsible for safety in the rights of way and you can't just stack this stuff up in big piles in the roadway and hope the crew gets there soon. That blocks storm water, it blocks traffic and other issues. And really we say too, when there's emergencies, when trees are knocked down and there's storms and things like that, everybody understands it. Certainly the crew understands it. They'll be out doing their very best to pick this up. So it's a modification of some rules for service. But it's certainly not elimination. In fact, we really think it'll be a more effective and efficient service in the way we put it. And I really appreciate the written in comments from the crew on how to improve the service coming from them. So I wanted to let council know that and say that in a public meeting. We'll have information out for the public so everybody knows it. And again, we're on the same team. and the crew and certainly administration wants to emphasize that that i think we can make this a service better for everybody so any questions i'd be happy to entertain those but certainly not adversarial process just a refinement and we'll get out some designated rules so that people have something to go by they seem very able to utilize public rules for waste management and things of that nature so we hope we can do the same with this I don't want to put him on the spot, but my crew chief and foreman is here tonight wearing shorts, but he works in otherwise. But he could comment if anybody had any other concerns or thoughts, I'd be happy to share it from the man himself working the street. But that's just what I wanted to in my reports, and that's otherwise, that's all I have. Mr. Mayor.

Any questions for Mr. Shane? Okay, Mr. Downey couldn't make it tonight. City departments, anybody have anything? Chief?

I'm just going to do a little recap on the 4th. Not sure if the council had any concerns or questions for me, but just kind of give a little brief synopsis of it. So we had about 20 officers come in, 10 at St. Clair PD. We had about 10 other agencies, including the Sheriff, Marysville, Marine City, State Police, and Richmond PD. They came in. I think we had about 14 PSVs come in. So between the PSVs and law enforcement, we had a good crew, about 34 people, walking in the park and the mall around town to make sure everyone was safe and secure. We had about 40 calls for service. So those were actual dispatch calls between 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. Dispatch was called about 40 times. Officers handled things in between in the park and the mall and kind of really... settled the stuff, didn't actually just pull a call for service number. So we had 40 actual calls for service. We rolled about 17 parking tickets. We were having a lot of issues on River Road, just north of the inn. The problem is one person parks illegally, and what does everyone else do? They follow suit. So we had to address that situation. We only really had one arrest that we actually had to take someone to jail with. That was during the early morning hours at Hamlin Pub. And then I just want to thank Clerk Sturdy. She was out there all morning sweating, making the vendors, getting the cones, everything set up for that crew. And then Kevin and the DPW crew, they did a great job putting up the barricades. We had an issue with one of the barricades the night before the 4th, and they came in right away and addressed it. Dan Gerstenberger from operations, he got these big barricades. I'm sure you guys saw them downtown to help block off traffic. So that was done within the last week. And then I know we're going to have a meeting later this week to kind of address some of the other minor issues, but I'm not sure if the council has any questions or any thoughts of how the event went. We shut down the road. It seemed to be what we're probably going to stick to. Pedestrian safety is our key. We really didn't have any other issues with the pedestrians or vehicles with the detour. So overall, pretty successful event, and we'll try to keep that blueprint for next year. I was impressed, Chief. I don't know if I've ever seen that many people in our town, really. James Harold said 10,000, so I don't know how they got that number. Was that your quote? No.

Okay. I think it was 10,000 in the courtyard.

There wasn't, but... So I don't know where that number came from, but it was a lot of people, and again, it's mostly a family-friendly environment. Yeah. It's always hectic after, and we know that Clint Avenue, one-way street, was going to be an issue, but again, some people moved the barricades, and again, Kevin and his crew, I believe, came in Sunday afternoon and replaced everything, positioned correctly, so...

other than that no real car accidents no pedestrians hit by vehicles everyone's pretty safe event awesome yeah across the board i mean organizing managing the setup the execution was phenomenal the amount of presence that we had from the psv group everybody was fantastic so um nice job like it was wild it was busy and it was well taken care of And the cleanup. The cleanup was amazing the following morning. Yes.

Thank you, Chief.

Yeah, so any questions, let me know.

Congratulations. That was a well-run event.

Yeah, so it was a good event for us. We're happy. Thank you.

Any other departments?

Yes, Your Honor. Yes, ma'am. Two quick things. Absent voter ballots are available for the August 4th primary election. Early voting will be Saturday, July 25th through Sunday, August 2nd. Those polling hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No changes to election day. The polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Again, that is August 4th, 2026. And secondly, the chapel renovations at Hillside Cemetery will begin next week. They'll take approximately three to four weeks. So, Council Member Guttler and I thank you for your support in that. We're excited to share you the final reveal.

Thank you. Thank you. Okay, how about the authority, boards, committees, committee chairs, reps, anybody? Nothing under number eight. Let's go to new business number nine. Approved proposal for DPW parking lot. Mr. Duchesne.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, after a round of very good questions, we went back and got engineering opinions, checked out the work that was done. In fact, found that Eagle was there just a short time before we put this together and did the underground inspections. Long story short, I think we answered every question. I did ask the question again about... If this amount of inches is good, if four inches is good, is six better in all cases for a little more money? And basically engineering and representatives have said to me a key thing. And I guess I was wanting the other answer, because it would be simpler, but they said most parking lots use three inches of paving material, four and more is typical for commercial areas, and the six inches is only needed where the heavy truck sets, or runs. So, again, I'm not a paving engineer, I listened to all those people and talked to AEW and they've reviewed everything. And we are set to continue the recommendation to award this to T.G. Preece for $64,250.

So these numbers didn't change. We just verified that based on experts, they're very comfortable with it, including our own engineers. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you for the effort on that.

It did change. Weren't we talking about only having six inches of pavement up to a certain point here and then it was for the rest of the way?

It's going to go six all the way to the back. I think the question was, and I know Councilman Westwick raised it and we've had some sidebars discussions. It was like, well, we parked some heavy vehicles on either side of that six. And again, I sort of argued with everybody, but they said, no, that's fine. That's going to be adequate. So we tried.

I appreciate the due diligence in answering all the questions.

Why don't we get four inches all the way across and then it's fine?

Well, but it's not fine where that truck is.

There's no way to see him in the middle. I do on the edge.

And this project is within the funding approved budgets of fiscal year 24, 25, 25, 26?

We started out in that year with 40,000. So I will admit it's 25,000 over. based on time, materials. Again, ask the industry barriers or the industry reporters if that was unusual and said no. This is considered to be a very good bid for current time because we did award this bid to a different, we have a street contract with this vendor, or this bidder, contractor, so AEW says it matches all their engineering metrics.

Have we had a motion yet?

I got one more question. On the $64,000, it says it does not include permits, bonds, or inspection fees. So there'll be additional costs on top of that?

It's a self-done project, so we'll get permits and things to do that. But I think basically City will inherit those. We're the owner.

Inspection will be done by in-house?

Yes, yeah.

Make a motion to approve.

This will actually take two motions. First, you need to motion to take it off the table, and then we'll motion to approve it.

I'll motion to remove from table.

Support. The motion made is supported to remove from table. Questions? Do you need a roll call on that?

No, it's not required.

All in favor say aye.

Aye. Opposed?

We'll need another motion to approve the contract.

I'll make a motion to approve.

Support. Any questions? Clayman.

Bill Clayman, 1374 South Riverside. Does that include striping the parking lot?

Sorry, Bill, what? Parking. What the parking lot?

Striping the parking lot for parking spots.

I didn't put that in the budget.

Well, you gotta at least do the handicapped spot, right?

With blue paint? If you're free, I can get some paint.

Well, I'm just asking.

We're gonna have a bid for all street striping and set. I'll throw the parking lots in there because I'm gonna do that.

All right, I'm just asking if you're gonna do that. Well, if you're free, I've got a bucket.

Any other questions? Can we ask Kevin what his thoughts were on a six-inch? What's that? Can we ask the department? Does he think six inches should be the whole thing or only four? I mean, you parked your trucks down there. I don't know.

I understand your concern, but I just hate to see three or four years of it be redone. Any other questions? All right, call the roll, please.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right. Thank you. The recommendation to approve the award sidewalk replacement program. Yes.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, the bid for the 26 sidewalk replacement program had two fine bidders by all reference check, and the recommendation of AEW is to award it to Hartwell Cement Company, 46,305. They're out of Oak Park, Michigan. And the engineer's estimate for the project that we were aiming for was more like 35. And I know you and I have had a couple conversations about sidewalk expenses. I know this is at your maximum, but we're going to get done. 3,000 square feet or more, and I took a call today from somebody who reported that during the fireworks, she watched a big area of sidewalk that was lifted with some people stumbling and tripping over it, and I said, well, the council's about to act on this, so I think it's very appropriate. Again, AUW recommends it, 46,305 Hartwell Cement Company.

Can you come up here and give us your name and address please and then state your business?

Tim Starbuck, 3435 St. Clair Shores Boulevard. What I was referring to is there's a lot of concerns and specifications on handicap ramping of any kind. Is that considered in any of the sidewalk quotes and things like that? Or are there any handicap areas involved?

At any point in time, there would be a handicap ramp or connection, it would be done according to the ASTM standards and specs, part of the engineering requirements.

Very good, they're tight specs, so, okay.

Thank you, Tim. Anybody else? All right, call and roll, please.

Kufa? Yes. Laporte?

Yes.

Paul?

Yes.

Gold? Yes. Westrick? Yes. Scholar?

Yes.

Cedar? Yes. Motion carries.

Thank you. Let's go to C, approve temporary sign permit, St. Clair Rotary.

And St. Clair Garden Club, we have a couple there.

Sure.

Are these both under the same request?

There are two separate items, but there's one memo of explanation. So St. Clair Rotary is requesting to have a temporary sign posted in Palmer Park in support of fundraising efforts for the St. Clair Trail Hub rest station. and it needs to come before council because it is in the public park. Otherwise, the building official can approve temporary sign permits. They are requesting to have the sign now through October of 2026 to bring attention to the project and their fundraising efforts. That is the first item on the agenda.

Mr. Mayor and council, we obviously recommend that we are working hand in hand with the Rotary Project. Civil has been scheduled in the next few weeks. That means the underground and the base. And then we'll be publishing with the Rotary Project leader, Mr. Livingston, the upper bidding for the actual construction of the facility, hopefully in the next couple weeks.

Where's this sign gonna be?

right about where the restrooms are going to be, I think is the angle to it. Dan, yeah, please jump up, Dan. Many, many talents designing science.

My name is Dan Lockwood, 1605 Oakland. I'm a member of the Rotary Club. The signs currently are up and they're on the walls of the Port of Johns. We put them up during the art fair who had authority. We should have taken them down. We got permission to keep them up until this meeting today for the park. And I think Ralph said they're going to break ground next Monday.

To make a motion to approve? No support.

All right, motion made support to approve the temporary sign permit for the St. Clair Road. Are there any questions? Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. What's temporary about a foundation and underground work?

This is the sign.

This is just a marketing sign for the fundraising, not the actual building.

Okay, the foundation is the bathrooms you're talking about? Yes.

Any other questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you, let's go to D. Temporary sign permit Sinclair Garden Club.

So again, before you is approval for a temporary sign permit. This one is for the St. Clair Garden Club to place temporary banners on the boardwalk to recognize their 65th year as an organization. They are requesting two 2x6 banners to be installed now through September. There's no expense to the city for the sign, the banner, or the installation. So again, recommendation to approve.

Motion to approve. Support. Questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Go to E. Thank you. Approve special event permit outstanding in the field.

Mayor, Council, I'm requesting approval for Outstanding in the Field Dinner Event, which is being sponsored in partnership with Cargill, the St. Clair Historical Museum, the City of St. Clair, and the Event Company. This event will take place Thursday, August 6, 2026, beginning at 1.30 p.m., and is expected to conclude at 7 p.m. with cleanup immediately after. Guests will gather at the St. Clair Museum, then walk over to Palmer Park for a specialty-prepared catered dinner, The organizer of the event wishes to celebrate the history, culture, waterfront heritage of the city of St. Clair by celebrating the region's agriculture and maritime heritage through a meal prepared using fresh fish, seasoned produce, and ingredients sourced from local producers throughout Michigan. The organizers have leased Palmer Park for the duration of the event and are requesting that the park along M-29 in front of Palmer Park to be reserved To preserve during the event for the vendors to have easy access to for setup.

I'm requesting approval for this permit Or right the most of it support any questions Just to clarify that the approval of this special event does also include the approval of the lease for Palmer Park All fair say aye, all right Thank You chief Special event thank the high school seniors sunrise. I

Our request and approval for a special event permit for the St. Clair High School Senior Sunrise to take place on Tuesday, August 25th in Palmer Park along the boardwalk. The event will begin at sunrise, 6.30 a.m. and by 7.30 a.m. This event is sponsored by the St. Clair High School faculty and staff. The special event is for seniors of the class of 2027 to celebrate the beginning of their final year of high school with classmates and faculty.

The motion to approve. All right, the motion may support questions. I guess the only question I have is, did they get these kids up that early?

I'm just 2027 graduating class. It's more of a shocker. All in favor say aye. Aye.

Opposed? Thank you, Chief. Thank you. We'll go to number 10, Claim to the Counts, June 17, 24, and July 1, 2026.

Hearing no questions, Your Honor, I make a motion to approve as presented.

Support. Any questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Voter number 11, I'm going to ask for public comment. Limit to three minutes, please. Any non-agenda items, come up, give us your name, your address, and tell us what you've been thinking about. Okay.

My name is Robert Weber and I lived in the city of St. Clair for about 54 years and I come here to comment, to compliment the city in a tremendous job it does in cleaning up after these big events. I have people from out of town and they are really amazed that is just such a thorough job. And I compliment the police department, the fire department, the EMS units, and all the other cities that help out. And so it's just that simple comment. I think sometimes people don't appreciate it, but usually i met tim hortons at seven in the morning if i go down north river road it is immaculate i mean so i i'm very impressed and i just had to spend two minutes to thank everyone that's involved in it thank you thank you everybody

Hi, I'm Dorothy Yope, and I am running for the County Commissioner seat for District 5, which includes the City of St. Clair. And perhaps I look familiar because I've been to most of the doors in the City of St. Clair. I have about 300 doors left. I've been out there with my volunteers, and some people like Mr. Volz have seen me in the middle of the street walking. Even though I've lived in the township with my family for 24 years of course st claire is part of that home too with annette and i had our daughters and brownies together and mr volts my daughter's band teacher and sorry chris but my husband harasses you for more scotch ale every time we're in more waters anyway what has motivated me uh to run is i am frustrated with what's going on with the health department I DO NOT AGREE WITH THE POSITION ON ELIMINATING FLUORIDE AND CLOSING THE TEEN HEALTH CLINICS AND JUST IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS ABOUT A HALF MILLION DOLLARS OF FEDERAL MONEY THEY WERE GOING TO TURN AWAY THAT WOULD HAVE SUPPORTED, THAT IS TO SUPPORT FAMILY PLANNING AND STD TESTING AND THINGS LIKE THAT. that's what got me fired up is the issues with the health department but my goal is to get all of that a little quieter right and get back to focus on the things that are important our roads our parks keeping the landfills safe ALL THOSE THINGS. SO A LITTLE BIT OF MY BACKGROUND IS I WAS A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER FOR 18 YEARS AND THEN A SCHOOL COUNSELOR FOR SEVEN YEARS AND THEN I'VE BEEN A LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR SINCE THEN. AND YEAH, I THINK THAT COVERS QUITE A BIT. IT'S BEEN A BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITY TO RAISE MY CHILDREN IN AND I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY AND JUST IN GENERAL KEEP COUNTY GOVERNMENT FOCUSED ON WHAT IT NEEDS TO BE FOCUSED ON. AND THEN THIS IS MY FIRST MUNICIPALITY THAT I'VE VISITED SO I ASSUME COMMUNICATION BACK AND FORTH IS KIND OF IMPORTANT AND WOULD TAKE ANY ADVICE OR QUESTIONS AND HAVE AN OPEN PHONE LINE. ANY QUESTIONS? Thank you for your time. I will drop off my literature and my cards. Thanks.

Tim Starbuck again. Tim, what's your address again? 3435 St. Clair Shores Boulevard and 854 North 9th Street as trustee.

What's on your mind?

A couple issues. One, the new dock, the launch at the boat ramp, it's awesome. It's worked out pretty well. The deck plate that was put in place still doesn't actually go to the step that you step up to the dock level. And the other day, we had a bit of a sage. We had like an 8 or 9-inch fluctuation in water in one day. I saw the whole thing while underwater. So at one point, both ends of the ramp were completely underwater. I wish I had taken pictures. There's others that witnessed it. And it was down to kind of a safe level, but the deck plate is still covered by water every day since it's been installed. Enough on that subject. Needs addressing, it's a safety issue for the city and a liability. Number two, I just have signed a sales agreement on one of the documentiums in the city, buying Ron Salisbury's lot, downriver lawn care. I've already got the sales agreement. We'll be closing that this week. My question is, I understand there's a plan to pave the marina parking lot later this fall. Is that true? That's according to Dave. That's true.

Nothing we've discussed lately.

Okay, because one, the striping at the ramp is totally insufficient. It's still ghosted there, but we've had a lot of retrieval people on the launch ramp, a lot of launching people in the retrieval ramp, and there is boat road rage. Let me be there as a witness. So it was as simple as a can of paint. I'm sorry.

I think it's a possibility of stealing the parking lot. With that coming through striping. Okay.

Because I offered, you know, if Dave could have got the can, I'd do the painting because the ghosting is still there right now. Six inch roller, four inch roller, you're done. And it's kind of late for the year. The boat ramp that's been pulled out, the boat launch ramp, the old one. It's plugging up the parking lot. And we had enough issues with the paving of the roads and the great parties you guys did. And 4th of July was beyond awesome. I totally agree with everything here. But my point was on the striping, that's something that could have been done for about 20 bucks and one hour of the young fellow's works. I can name the individuals at the marina at any case. The furthest question is, is that ceiling also being talked to the doctominiums? Are we bothering to share the bid, share the cost, share the, because I understand they were paved at the same time.

That's not our property. You're talking about very south?

Yes, sir.

Yeah, that's not our property.

I understand that, but it was paved at the same time last time. It was kind of an associated deal. If it's not, that's fine. You can wrap it up, Tim. Okay, well, there's three different items. Okay, I'm set to purchase Mr. John McDonald's boathouse, and I understand it wasn't brought up today. I need that... How does something like that get tabled? That does not come to us. Okay. Good. Very good. Thank you, folks, very much.

The transfer of the lease will come to you, but it's not prepared yet.

Yeah, it hasn't come to us. Anybody else?

I'm sorry, there was involvement somehow?

Not at this level.

It's an administrative process for the city.

Thank you, folks.

Anybody else? All right, let's go to number 12 mayor council. I have a kind of long list, but does anybody else have something 1st? All right, well, I just want to congratulate the fair. The fair was another huge success. Great crowds. A great weekend for the city of St Claire again, and obviously it's been said, but the fireworks. it was just phenomenal what happened saturday saturday and saturday night good job with everybody what cooperation and uh the city really showed itself very well that day uh the classic clar show was this coming saturday right down palmer park uh the boat races will be july 24th 25th and 26th there's our three races on saturday four races on sunday anticipating in and around 50 boats I do want to mention the passing of Mike Mullane. And I say that because Mike Mullane was in this city for forever. And he was actually a cobbler. Yeah, and he worked at Whit's Shoes in the mall for years. And I knew Mike very well. He loved the city of St. Clair. He had a great sense of humor, and he will be missed. I do want to recognize our city clerk, because we are very fortunate that we have the number one clerk in the whole state. And I think that's very impressive. And all that stuff that Mr. Shane said is all true, but I'm going to sum it up like this, because this is what I noticed. When you talk to Annette Sturdy, you know that her heart has the city of St. Clair in it. You can tell. So I appreciate that. So thank you and congratulations. And onto business, and this is my last thing. The road millage is coming up in August. That is a renewal. That is not an additional tax. This is a renewal of what we've been doing for the past ten years. And when you look out and see how progressively conservative we are with roads, and what we get done every year, year in and out. I'm just saying it because I'm proud. It's slightly impressive and I think we should be proud. So don't forget to vote August 4th or prior to that if you get a ballot to renew that so we can continue that.

Anybody else have anything?

I have a motion to go into closed session to discuss strategy connected with the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement with the employees represented by the Police Officers Labor Council of PLLC and to continue discussions on the periodic and personnel evaluation of the city superintendent.

So moved.

Board. Any questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Roll call, sorry. See that clerk copy, see that? I was testing her. I was testing her. She's got her two friends here, and they're sitting right here just smiling from ear to ear. And I had them all in class, Bethany and Rebecca, and then they're all, I don't, where are you guys going after the meeting, I'm wondering. No, I'm just kidding. Okay, call the roll, please.

LaPorte?

Yes.

Paul?

Yes.

Bull?

Yes.

Westrick? Yes. Schaller?

Yes.

Kupa?

Yes.

Cedar? Yes.

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right. You are not welcome to stay. You can go up to the lobby. We will come and get you. We may take some action when we return, so just keep that in mind if that has anything to do with your decision. We may not. We may. I just don't know right now. So thank you, everyone, for coming. We appreciate you being here, and have a great rest of your summer or rest of July.

The preceding program was produced by CTV Community Television.

CTV Community Television is supported by the cities of Marine City and St. Clair, East China Township, Cotterville Township, and the East China School District.