City Commission - Regular Meeting

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Comments number 11, we'll do that there also. I'll ask for the roll call, please.

Mayor Cedar.

Here.

Council Member Gattler.

Here.

Council Member Kufa.

Here.

Council Member LaPorte.

Here.

Council Member Powell.

Here.

Council Member Volz.

Here.

Council Member Westrick.

Here.

All present.

All right, thank you. Consent agenda A, City Council Minutes of August 3rd, 2026, regular and closed meetings. Recommendation approved. B is the Cemetery Board of Trustees from July 7th, 2026 meeting. Recommendation received.

Motion to approve the NB as presented.

Support. Any questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Go to number five. Tonight we get recognized. Ian Justin is here, our Eagle Scout that had a project going for us. Ian, you want to come up and give us a little rundown of what you did exactly? Please.

Thank you.

So, hello, my name is Ian Justa. I did an Eagle Scout project for the city of St. Clair for Kletcha Park. I was building six picnic tables, adult-sized picnic tables, and then I built seven kid-sized picnic tables. Originally, the goal was to build four adult-sized picnic tables. and then six kid-sized picnic tables. But then the goal changed over time because Ms. Hawkins had six tables, so she convinced me to do all six. And then for the six kids picnic tables, I ended up getting a very generous donation from Todd Bigger and their family, who are a part of the American Legion family. So they were able to donate up to, I think it was, $700 for the project or 900, it was between those numbers. So they were very generous. Mine's blank, I've never been in this high stress of a situation here. It's not high stress, you're doing a great job. So originally, there's the two phases. MISS HAWKINS HAD THE SIX ADULT PICNIC TABLES ALREADY, SO THAT WAS THE FIRST PHASE, AND AFTER BUILDING THOSE PICNIC TABLES, THEY'RE VERY NICE QUALITY, THEIR COMPANY, PILOT ROCK, I'M GUESSING WE GUYS GO FOR ALL THE TIME, BUT AFTER BUILDING AND REALIZING HOW GOOD QUALITY IS, WE ENDED UP GOING FOR THE SAME COMPANY FOR THE KIDS PICNIC TABLES TO MATCH THE OTHER PICNIC TABLES TO MAKE IT MORE UNIFORM FOR THE PARK. So the original goal was probably to raise about $2,000 for originally not the Pilot Rock tables, and then I was able to, since changing to Pilot Rock, it raised the fundraising goal so it ended up going to over $4,800 that I was able to fundraise for the project. And Pilot Rock was generous and gave us a discount, so that helped out. probably quite a bit. I never did all the numbers. So that and then Laser Market, we were able to do the plaques as on the tables. Laser Market were very also generous and helped us get a discount and be able to do the plaques. They have all the sponsorships, my name, troop number. And then for the bigger family, later on I figured out it was They donated the money in memory of a brother member of the family, so that helped out. It meant more to me after learning that. Then the sponsors that we were able to get were American Legion, Sons of the American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, the St. Clair Lions Club, La Fontaine Buick GMC, Coughlin Jewelers, Distinctive Eyewear, and then the Marshall Family Chiropractic. And then there was a possibility to get more money from the Ford LaFontaine, but sadly, we were in a time crunch before the, I wanted to get all the tables done before the reopening of Cletcher Park, so we just had a, just had a, sadly, Just kind of avoid going to Ford and asking because we originally went there and asked for the person for me to talk to and learned that he was on vacation. So I couldn't talk to him, so we just had to avoid it. And then there was some difficulties with getting the picnic tables. So I put in the order, and then it was 30 days after putting the order, they would ship it out. But of course, the company had to do something on me. And they were changing their technology for their management of how to, for their stock and everything, and really shipping out and everything. So they were slowly integrating everything into their new system. And like, so after, where's my picnic table? So I called them up. And then they said, oh, this is all happening. We're like, we got to get these. Could we please get these as quickly as possible? So... WE WERE ABLE TO GET IT, THE PICNIC TABLE WAS DELIVERED THE DAY BEFORE THE REOPENING OF KLETCHUP PARK, ABLE TO PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER ON THAT DAY, HAD FAMILY MEMBERS, FRIENDS, TROOP MEMBERS HELP OUT IN THIS BUILDING AND THEN FOR THE FIRST PHASE FOR THE SIX ADULT PICNIC TABLES, DAN AND DAN GERSTENBERGER WAS THERE FROM THE DPW AND MS. HAWKINS WAS THERE TO HELP OUT. Back to delivery, delivered the day before, put them all together. Then we're able to get them all delivered before everything started early in the morning, got them all placed out for everyone to enjoy them for the reopening, for the playing around in the splash pad. I believe there was a baseball or softball game scheduled for that day as well. And it was Ms. Hawkins posted on social media, and everyone seems to really enjoy them. When I first delivered them, looking around, immediately some people started going to them. It kind of warmed my heart, seeing they're already being put to use after I put them up already. That family was very happy because they said that they lived near the park and it always looked a little gloomy for a while. I don't want to say neglected or ignored, it's just Wasn't being taken care of properly, I guess, could be a way to put it. I could be wrong, because I'm not a part of this group.

No, I needed a little sprucing up. Yeah. So, Ian, it looks like you had a whole bunch of people there helping you with that. Your troop members were there as well?

Oh, yeah. So there was scheduling conflicts with some, like, for some of my troop members. So one of them had work and he couldn't get out of it. And then the next time, so I only had one troop member able to come. And then the next time only the other troop member could have come because of the same scheduling. It just wasn't working out. One went on vacation one time, then work. So, but everyone was able to help out that. They helped out, everyone helped out collectively and it, MADE THE PROCESS, BUILDING PICNIC TABLES A LOT EASIER FOR ME. MADE THE PROCESS, BUILDING PICNIC TABLES A LOT EASIER FOR ME.

MADE THE PROCESS, BUILDING PICNIC TABLES A LOT EASIER FOR ME. IT'S GREAT. TABLES A LOT EASIER FOR ME. IT'S GREAT. TABLES A LOT EASIER FOR ME. IT'S GREAT. IAN, THANKS SO MUCH FOR DOING IT'S GREAT. IAN, THANKS SO MUCH FOR DOING IT'S GREAT.

IAN, THANKS SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS FOR THE PARK. IAN, THANKS SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS FOR THE PARK. IAN, THANKS SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS FOR THE PARK. IT'S A GREAT PROJECT. THIS FOR THE PARK.

IT'S A GRE

I got to tell you, I'm impressed. Your organizational skills, your speaking abilities, the work you did. I'm particularly proud of you with the little ones for the little kids. But sometimes little kids, they don't get to pick their table.

So since the splash pad was put in, usually splash pad is a bit more targeted towards a younger focus of kids or people. So it was nice to put up the bigger ones for the pavilions that they plan to put them under the pavilions. Then the kids picnic tables, just kind of like, I wanted to make it look more kid friendly for younger kids because I want it to look more inviting to them, more fun. Because you don't see kids picnic, kid sized picnic tables that often, like two foot high, four foot long. So you don't see that very often.

And who doesn't like a kid picnic table?

It was good. If you guys want to ask questions, I can say that.

Do you want to ask some questions before I present this young man with a certificate? Well Ian, like I said, I'm darn proud of you and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts because it warms my heart too, like I said, but the little kids, they will use them and they'll enjoy them. So Ian Justin, on the occasion of being honored for completion of the Eagle Scout project and contributions to the renovations of Clutcher Park, this recognition is given by the City of St. Clair in the true spirit of community pride for his educational, community, and personal achievements dated this day, the 18th day of August, 2026. Ian?

And then one more thing right before I go and sit down. So, well, two things. I would like to collect the flyers if I could. And then other one was I planned, Ms. Hawkins was emailing me about coming last city meeting. So I sadly couldn't make it because I was at Boy Scout camp. So I couldn't make it. So like... I had fun at Boy Scout camp, but it was a little disappointed I missed the meeting where it was already presented, so I'm just kind of recapping. I don't know what Ms. Holligan, I haven't seen anything about it.

You were a lot better.

A lot better. And then I keep on saying one more thing. I probably got it from my family or something, but... I did end up, by building these picnic tables, I got a very special opportunity and was able to get a job through. So I work for Parks and Grounds. So I actually, I'm pretty much stationed at Clutch of Parks. So every day I get to look around the park and see my picnic tables getting used, the splash pad getting used. It's all just nice to be there and everything. Good job, Ian. Well done. Thank you. Well spoken. Thank you.

And since you're an Eagle Scout and since you did so much work, I want to give you this opportunity if you'd like to leave right now and not sit through the rest of this, you will not hurt our feelings. We appreciate what you did.

I'm not an Eagle Scout with a chest. I don't want to take the name of Eagle Scout with a chest. I got a little one. All right.

All right. Thanks, you guys. Thank you. Be careful out there.

Thank you all very much.

All right, let's go to Orange's resolution. Mr. Shane, you got a resolution 2622, e-bikes.

First, just to cover the subject matter, I don't think it's news to anyone who lives in the state of Michigan or the city of St. Clair or anywhere that e-bikes have become a topic of conversation and some consternation by municipal governments on how to regulate or to put reasonable regulations in place that are still fair to everybody, but protecting the public health, welfare, and safety. e-bike regulations are really in their early formative time so this is on the agenda tonight to discuss the creation of an ordinance and local e-bike regulations with some reliance on guidance from state law but also for customization which are able to do at the local level to fit the particular needs of this city when compared to others What is before you tonight to act on is the simple part is to give direction to create a ordinance for consideration in the future, addressing the issues and how you'd like to deal with them. we can just kind of go through there. E-bike regulations are why we would consider local rules instead of state laws. State law is very broad, and it covers a number of aspects of it, but it does not necessarily deal with specific applications in a municipal sense. What streets, where there's the most problem, where they can be used more safely than others and regulating that in a manner that's enforceable. My concern as a superintendent is to ensure that we can clearly communicate what's right and wrong and that the police department and the chief's direction can actually be understood and enforced in a way that is fair, understandable, and achieves its purpose. As you'll note, back in the research we have, this has been around for some time. In the last seven, eight years, e-bikes and their technology have changed considerably, where now you are, and for those of us who've driven or looked around or have seen this happen, you see now a small motorized, electric motorized bicycle that can do up to 40 miles an hour that's not our old bicycle i couldn't pedal 40 miles an hour um i doubt i i doubt if the normal child on a regular bicycle could even come close to that but certainly these are such advanced vehicles that the velocity and the care in in the ability the natural abilities to handle this kind of vehicle pushes certainly those under 16 to handle them carefully and they are difficult because of size people come to intersections hard to see them and as i've said this to some degree seriously and not so seriously but i do say that it's too bad there isn't better regulations on parents buying vehicles for kids under 16 that can do 28 to 40 miles an hour because there's no question you put that in the hands of most children I've known either raised or friends of or see today and that is a tempting device to have a lot of fun on and unfortunately So that fun at those speeds can endanger them very much out in the public traffic ways. So the stories are building every day. So here we've spent some time discussing exactly what is an e-bike and there's a framework that we mentioned that Michigan has laid out. There's class 1, 2, and 3, and that's important, and City Attorney Downey and Chief Ennis can speak a little bit to that and how that would overlay into an ordinance that we would have locally. But clearly it's based on power speed, and it differentiates between a 16-year-old plus driver and somebody under that age, and it's considerable research has been what is more likely to need more driving skills. So I won't go over that too long. The Michigan regulation options, we do have obviously some areas that you can regulate and at the local level they include things like the locations and time limits. That is not a problem against state law because there's not a conflict there. And there are some abilities on broad prohibitions, even though, again, that's something that people are addressing very cautiously. Without a doubt, we've looked at about half a dozen Michigan ordinances that have been passed. Some I would say are a little more hasty than others. Others are a little more thoughtful and we'd rather be thoughtful, I think, and a little more right and have some sustainability than to pass an ordinance very quickly. Michigan law is our baseline. Just know this, that if you did nothing, there are some compiled laws that address this, and how they address it can be obviously observed and well-known, and that is enforceable. The trade-offs are there though for council and I say for your consideration, it isn't a one size fits all. It's not a easy matrix to put together quickly because there are trade-offs in the way you regulate them. I've used many examples and we maybe have overthought this issue on a policy development level because for every, I think, option that we've discussed, we come up with an alternative that might be a problem to somebody who means well or does well and operates that, both on age, if you do bans and prohibitions, it's across the board, and then when you get too detailed and down in the in the the mix a little bit you're asking police officers on the street to make such calls about somebody's age separation between 14 and 16 or so and these are difficult to do and difficult to to say that you can clearly enforce those in the street so there's a number of trade-offs so what I would like to suggest tonight, and I recommend the council have some discussion, maybe ask you a couple questions of the chief or city attorney and see if we can send them back and work with them to bring up an ordinance that is fully supportable by the city council. So I have one recommendation that's really kind of a hybrid framework for drafting this, and it's in your materials that we can discuss a little bit. Because it is, again, I can't emphasize enough, it doesn't just have a simple yes, no, black, white answer to it. I've heard a lot. and I've talked to many of you about the issue, and everybody raises a good point. And sometimes I just hate it when everybody has a good argument, because you walk away saying we may not have a solution that fits everybody, but maybe we can have a majority resolution that does what our key purpose is, regulating health, safety, and welfare. So with that, Chief, would you like to speak to the topic if you'd mind, Mr. Mayor? Absolutely.

Yeah, evening, Council, Mayor. Yeah, it's no secret that these e-bikes are everywhere around town. And Mr. Duchesne didn't even mention the e-scooters. So we're having the bikes, and we're having the issues with the e-scooters. It seems like every kid is getting these devices. I went to a birthday party a few weeks ago, and a four-year-old got an e-scooter. So parents are just kind of buying these devices and throwing their kids. And the assumption is, my kids are outside. They're going to be good. But we know what kids do when their parents are not around. So when I drive my personal car around town, I see it everywhere. But when I drive the police car, guess what? It never happens in front of us. So our main goal this summer is was educate. So we're contacting the youth, we're contacting the parents and just trying to have that conversation, wearing helmets, safety. A lot of these kids, you'll be walking the sidewalk one direction, they'll fly up on you from behind and they feel like they're going to catch you. They're not honking their horn or they're not yielding to pedestrians. They're not yielding before they enter the roadway. They're kind of just going carelessly through town. You know, our goal isn't to, because the police department, we have two of these devices. They're fun. E-bikes are great. They're a great tool. But, you know, in the hands of the youth, they're kind of being a little reckless with it. So, as Mr. Duchesne said, there's no easy way to solve this. I wish we had a blanket and the state would come out with a law, but we need to figure out what our recipe is. Because if you look, yesterday Berkeley passed one. They passed their own recipe for it. Dearborn Heights is not doing it in city parks or city properties. City Rochester is doing downtown district. You can't you got to walk your bike or your scooter downtown district only. So we just got to figure out tailored to our community. So we can prevent injuries and prevent deaths. So this is a sort of conversation, but honestly, our office is getting calls multiple times a day with these bikes and scooters. So it's something we definitely need to look at, you know, whether it's going to be age-based at 16, 14. We've got to look at some type of resolution to figure out this problem because as these batteries and these devices are getting ever cheaper, you know, we've got to address it.

So, I've had some talks with Don about this, and I will be transparent as heck here. I don't like these things, and I've gotten tons of calls from people, people stopping me on the street, Bill, you guys got to do something about this. And I can tell you that in the last couple weeks, I have witnessed two close calls just right in front of me. And they come across the intersection. These kids don't look. They're just going straight ahead and going, man. It's a good thing the drivers of those cars saw them. And some of them kids are so little, you can't hardly see them. And they're going.

Yeah, we had our first incident during boat races where a youth was crossing Third Street and got struck by a car. They were coming in between cars onto Third Street, so they got struck. Luckily, no one was severely injured. But we get a million close calls all summer long from different people calling our office or just different contacts when I walk in the mall. you know the kids are doing wheelies in the mall um and the the plaza is trying to dress up the best they can it's private property so um chris has put up signs to help you know prevent that kids doing going in there with her with their e-bikes but we just got to figure out you know how we want to do this as a city so we can just make it safe well you know and i'll just throw this out here um

I want kids to be safe when I'm having fun, yeah. But what's going on with these things right now, it's not like you think it'll ever happen. I think it's just when's it gonna happen. And it's gonna ruin that kid's day and his family and whatever made it hit that kid. There's a bunch of people, their lives are gonna be hurt. I'm just telling straight up people, I think I want this thing to be strict, enforceable. I know this is gonna be tough on you, I get it. But I would rather have 100 parents come in here and yell at me because what we did this year, restrict my kids' fun. I don't want one to come in here and say, you guys knew it was dangerous and my kid got popped and he's hurt bad. I'll take those 100 all day long.

Yeah, no, I agree. We can, you know... It's just going to be a tough situation to figure out because I'll see kids ride those e-scooters to football practice instead of riding their traditional bike. And do you want to penalize that kid to get into practice? No. But unfortunately, you're in a situation where there's several bad apples that are making it wide known in town.

Is there a size where they're not supposed to be on the bike paths or are they basically considered like a... like a Raz scooter, where I believe you still could, at like 15, get a moped license, and you literally have to be on the road. You can't ride that on the sidewalk. But it seems like some of these that are doing upwards of 40 miles an hour, which exceeds the speed limit on most of our roads, Legally, are they even supposed to be on sidewalks with those?

So, yeah, we've been trying to have a social media campaign. One of our public service volunteers taught a program during the YAPS this summer. She's actually going to bring it into the schools, but those are called e-motos, and those are outlawed unless you have an operator's license. So they gotta be licensed with the state. You gotta have headlights, taillights, brake lights, just everything like a motorcycle. But yeah, those e-motos, they go, I think, 30 to 70 miles an hour, very high power batteries, and they don't have pedals. But my officers have zero tolerance for those. But a lot of those e-bikes, as long as it's pedal-assisted, you can operate it on sidewalks. Are most kids hitting the throttle and going? Yeah, but technically, if you're pedaling, it's legal on the sidewalks. So, yeah, but those e-motos are exclusively banned. We had a lot of kids during the high school season. We were having a lot of conversation at the high school with those kids riding to school down Cox Road in the morning driving reckless. So, again, we try to educate kids. We don't want to, you know, go out there and impound all these devices, but we want to give them a chance to make the correction before we start, you know, being more aggressive with our tactics. Thank you.

So are we allowed, can we ban bikes on sidewalks or the boardwalk? Is that not legal in the state of Michigan? Can we do a ban like that?

Yeah, like I think- That's broad-based? Yeah, I think like Grand Haven, I think I sent that in Mr. Duchesne's email. I think they banned it in their down, or their boardwalk. And same thing that downtown Rochester does.

They don't ban them, but you've got to walk them. We could say like any assisted bicycle is banned from sidewalks.

Yeah. You could do something like that. You could, but again, we're banning grandma and grandpa who want to go out for an e-bike ride because they can't pedal.

But there are also licensed drivers who know how to yield, who are going to make good decisions at intersections and probably riding the road.

Yeah, yes and no. I mean, I do see people on the sidewalks all the time hitting the throttle, and they are senior citizens.

It happens often in front of my house.

Yeah, so it's always weird with the bike. We have that bike path downtown. you know, on River Road, but a lot of people still use, and I don't blame them, because people are on their cell phones, they're distracted driving, so I don't even feel comfortable riding my bike on that thing.

Well, and it's next to parking, too. You have doors opening. There's a whole bunch of issues with that section of it.

So, you know, it's an outright ban that we could, but we could do an exclusive downtown district where you're walking only. Many communities are going to those downtown districts. I think Royal Oak does, Berkeley does, Rochester downtown.

And we're not talking about someone riding in the road being banned from riding one of these things in the road.

No, roadway is illegal, 100%. You can ride those bikes.

You wouldn't have to pass around because it's assisted on a roadway ever. It's just on sidewalks, boardwalks.

Yeah, so bikes have the same rules as a vehicle. You can ride a bike on the roadway, and that's 100% legal. But yeah, I mean, we could look at banning them on sidewalks too. You know, it's just, you know, how extreme do we want to go? Do we want to blanket the whole thing to ban it? Or do you want to narrow it down to certain demographics or certain areas in town?

Yeah, I don't love the idea of the demographics. I feel like that gets to be just really troublesome. I HATE THAT WE'RE IN THIS POSITION BECAUSE I THINK THESE THINGS ARE FUN AND THEY'RE KIND OF A NICE WAY. I THINK PEOPLE ARE USING THEM TO COMMUTE. LIKE YOU SAY, KIDS GETTING TO PRACTICES AND DOING THIS KIND OF STUFF. I THINK IT'S REALLY AWESOME THAT THAT IS POSSIBLE. BUT YEAH, THE SAFETY IS A HUGE CONCERN. AND I AGREE WITH BILL'S STATEMENT ABOUT HAVING ONE VERSUS 100. I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME KIND OF SOLUTION THAT'S NOT SAYING NO TO EVERYTHING.

I would agree. I don't want to punish those of age. And those that can do it. Correct. But this gives me flashbacks of when I was young, it was skateboards and BMX bikes. And the nuisance that came when it became strong and where we were riding and what we were doing. And now we're in an age that they're powered and the acceleration rate is so much higher. So... you know it's whether they're on the road or they're on the sidewalk the question is are they coming off the sidewalk across the road into another sidewalk and it's the third child or yeah you know it's very difficult and it's very dangerous you know and it's hard um but the cost the long-term cost or effects of what could happen it's no different than our golf carts underage people driving it you know not understanding road safety driving to an intersection and an f-250 hits one of these things whether it's a golf cart or other It's horrible.

Yeah, that was a steep curve, just educating parents on not allowing their 12-year-old to drive a golf cart because, I mean, that was pretty common.

The accessibility is so high. You know, golf carts are one thing, but, you know, everybody's got an e-scooter. I own an e-scooter. I own an electric bike. We have all of the things, and, you know, you go out and you're rolling around, and even cars don't know what to do. I'm not a little man. I pull up to an intersection and if I stop, they don't know what to do. You know, is it for me to go or they're going? Are you going to go? They're so used to someone just firing out in front of them, now it's awkward. Because I agree, the education's not there publicly, even for us in motor vehicles to know how to treat them and what they're going to do. So I think it's a very sensitive thing, but I think we need to take a very strong look at it and decide what's best for our community.

Yeah, I can tell you that every community, every council's having the same conversation, whether they're in front of the. The public yet, or they're having these back conversations with the city manager and the police chief, but every community is having this conversation. And you kind of wish the state would address it more, but they're leading up to local municipalities to figure out this situation, which best fits their community, which I understand.

Would you, as a department, feel like it would be feasible to tag these bikes or have some sort of identification of, we know that this one is safe on a sidewalk. It's a class one. It's a kid that's, this kid, they can ride it on the sidewalk. It's not going to go.

Yeah, you could have that, but then we get into the conversation, a mom just buys one for their kid and they throw it on the road. Now we're constantly stopping and checking tags. Is this the best use of our time as a police department? That's my question. We're looking at speeders, we're looking at officers that are investigating crimes. Now, like Mr. Duchesne said, do they have a tag on it or not? Or the golf cart is pretty obvious, front and rear. So now we're making a lot of contacts with these kids.

SO LOOKING AT THE ENFORCEMENT SIDE OF IT ARE YOU THINKING, YOU SIDE OF IT ARE YOU THINKING, YOU SIDE OF IT ARE YOU THINKING, YOU SAW LIKE WARNING, CIVIL SAW LIKE WARNING, CIVIL SAW LIKE WARNING, CIVIL INFRACTION, FURTHER PENALTIES. INFRACTION, FURTHER PENALTIES. INFRACTION, FURTHER PENALTIES. WHAT KIND OF THINGS ARE WHAT KIND OF THINGS ARE WHAT KIND OF THINGS ARE MUNICIPALITIES USING? I mean, I like that idea of a warning call. The parent comes to pick the kid up.

And this is what we've been doing all summer. And my officers have been taking a beating for that. And they're trying to talk to this mom and dad about what the kid can't do. And it's almost like we're stepping on their toes and you're telling my kid what they can and can't do. It's a toy. So my officers are constantly going out there every day fighting this battle with these parents. And, like, our goal is to educate. We're not out here trying to, you know, seize these devices. But if you look at the news story on 247 about Dearborn Heights, they're impounding these bikes, you know, probably for show. But they're, you know, doing so in fractions. I think multiple, you know, contacts could be misdemeanors. But, yeah, they're definitely impounding these things. Like I said, that's not our goal, but we've got to do something so people are aware.

Is this just too rudimentary of me? Well, number one, if some lady tells me that she bought her kid a toy that goes 40 miles an hour, it's not a toy anymore. That thing's almost like a vehicle that moves.

I mean, it's subjective. It depends on the parents. My kid has a power wheel. It's a 12-volt that goes three miles an hour. But parents are getting these devices. I just don't think parents understand the capabilities of these devices. And when they allow their kids to go out, they're not stopping at intersections.

I feel like if you're 16 years old and you have a driver's license, you have the training. If you want to ride an e-bike, you have legal access to the roads. But if you're 13 years old, you don't have a driver's license.

Yeah, there's no formal train harbor. Get off the road. Yeah, and that's why we did the YAPS program this summer. That's why we're going to try to bring it to the schools this year. Now, whether kids will listen, we don't know. But we're trying our best to educate kids. We always get the easy stuff. It's not an easy, we can blanket it and just ban them or we can just kind of nitpick and what parts of the recipe that we want.

Any more questions for Chief?

You mentioned in this report about conduct based on safe operation standards. Is that something that we, do we have anything in the language for that right now at all? Or is it just at the officer's discretion that this is conduct that's unsafe? Are we pulling every kid over right now that looks like they're under 14 just to see?

Yeah, I mean, we're getting multiple calls. And if an officer does see something reckless, they're going to stop and make contact with that juvenile, and they're instructed to make contact with the parents. Because any time we make contact with a juvenile by default, we have to make contact with the parents. Sure. There are state laws. The MCL does define certain reckless activities on e-bikes, but our city has no definition of what an e-bike is. We can't do anything local through Mr. Downey's office.

So even if we just start with defining that better for you, you could use some of the current laws for a little bit of enforcement.

It seems like local municipalities are defining those three classes of bikes, and they're putting penalties in there for any type of violation or misconduct. Just one more.

BECAUSE I'M KIND OF WONDERING IF IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR US TO DO THIS LIKE JUST FROM THAT LIKE CIVIL INFRACTION SIDE OF IT OF YOU KNOW WHEN IF YOU'RE ABLE TO DO THE CONDUCT IF IF THERE'S POOR CONDUCT ON THESE MACHINES THEN THERE'S A PENALTY FOR IT YEAH I MEAN NOT THAT THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT TO BE DOING ALL DAY BUT PERHAPS THAT WOULD ACT AS A DETERMINE MY KID GOT A $50 TICKET FOR RIDING A e-bike too fast on a sidewalk, they're not going to be riding that e-bike on a sidewalk very much longer.

No, but I think that's what we ended up doing with golf carts. At the end of the day, at 16, you have to have a license, but you're not pulling over everybody between the ages of 20 and 12 to see if they have a driver's license. So you see them. If you see them do something that isn't proper on the road or safe, you talk to them. You find out that they're 15, don't have a driver's license, then dings. But if they didn't do anything wrong and they're performing well and they're doing all those things, the assumption is they're old enough. They're doing their job. We're not bugging them. They haven't caused a situation for a question in order to get involved. I mean, I kind of feel that this falls under the same approach to what we're doing with golf carts and everything else of set the limits. If there's some type of activity that does not merit safety, then you question. And if it falls outside of what the requirements are, then I guess you're dinged. Anything else we have?

I give my officers full discretion when they're investigating these things, whether they write a citation, whether they give a verbal warning, whatever they do with it. But yeah, so it's up to, honestly, it's up to that officer how they want to handle the situation.

Similar to speeding, I get pulled over twice for a rolling stop, and the officer is like, I don't want to tell you again, think you'd be very careful, third time, he's like, here's your ticket.

Yeah, but again, like, Officer Wood wrote three tickets today. Did that, you know, do laws in the book stop people from committing traffic violations? No. So it's like, you know, does the stop sign mean that person's going to stop? No. But, you know, we try our best, but I guess this is a way to kind of curb it. We can kind of get the education out there.

Yep, all right. So the resolution today is just giving the chief and administration?

The resolution basically takes the position that council does want to see a drafted ordinance. It really just says to administration, city attorney, and police chief, to prepare an ordinance, bring back to us for consideration. In other words, paraphrasing, we would like, or we think we need to put some regulations in place. From there, that's the jumping point start. That's the policy point. If you don't want to do that, and we remain, and there's nothing wrong with utilizing state law, except it seems to be inadequate right now, but the resolution would only direct that an ordinance be drafted.

Right, so this is basically, you're looking for the support of this council saying, hey, move forward, get us something. All right, I'm going to make that motion to direct administration, police chief, attorney to work on a resolution regarding e-bikes, scooters, and all that stuff.

All right, any more questions?

All right, call the roll, please.

Paul?

Yes.

Foles?

Yes.

Westrick? Yes. Gattler?

Yes.

Gupta? Yes. LaPorte?

Yes.

Cedar? Yes. Resolution adopted.

Thank you, Chief. Thank you. Good luck. All right, we'll go to reports of administration. Mr. Duchesne, you're up.

Just a quick tonight. We put out, you have on your table, a little pamphlet guide for political signs. Tis the season to put up signs. And we just want to reinforce in the pamphlet, and we'll put it on the website, too. There are several ordinances referring to temporary signs. We do not deal with content on the signs or what's on the signs, but We again say don't place signs in the public right-of-way. It doesn't go on public property, utility poles, street signs, traffic signs, trees, public structures. Don't block driver's visibility. They must stay under two and a half feet tall along the corner of the right-of-way. or within 30 feet sight lines, and don't leave them up too long. 10 days after the election, they are to come down with no exceptions. And that's all, not just local candidates, that's all candidates, state, federal, and county offices. That's all I had, Mr. Mayor.

Any questions for Mr. Desai?

Do we have any update on fair market value? Hi, Monarch Fred Moore.

Not yet, I got some more information today that I'm trying to craft together and verify, and I should have that very soon.

Anybody else? We'll go to B, Mr. Attorney, you got anything? Nothing this evening, Your Honor. All right, see you on that, I know you have some stuff.

Yes, just a quick follow-up. The August election on the fourth went well. Everything went smooth here in the city of St. Clair. Those election results are posted at stclaircounty.org on the clerk's page. We're already gearing up for the November election. I'm going to put another... plea out there for election inspectors if anyone is interested in working the election and see how things operate clear up any Misinformation I am happy to train you there is a county training that is required as well So again, if anyone is interested in being an election inspector for the city of st. Clair You can find an application here at City Hall or on our website city of st. Clair mi gov and The next election is Tuesday, November 3rd. Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, good news. The local road millage renewal passed. So, I'm sorry to have led with that. Good news.

The authority board, commissions, committee chairs, anybody have anything to report? Excuse me. No one finished business, let's go to new business number nine. All right, there is a recommendation of the award of the Sixth Street Water Main, Mr. Duchene.

The bid was received, opened, and the consulting engineers, AEW, are recommending the bid number one be awarded to Raymond Excavating Company, Marysville, Michigan, for $759,706. So we'll support that.

The motion is to support, sorry. The motion is made to support questions.

So the bid we're looking at is the bid that will do the directional boring to limit the amount of open cuts, is that correct? That is correct. Perfect. Thank you.

Anybody else have questions? All right, let's call the roll, please.

Poles?

Yes.

Westrick? Yes. Gattler?

Yes.

Hufa? Yes. LaPorte?

Yes.

Hall?

Yes.

Cedar? Yes. Motion carries.

Thank you. B, 2026 Street and parking lot pavement marking program contract.

Mayor, members of council, we are recommending the contract be awarded to Zebra Striping for $23,800 for the 2026 street and parking lot marking program. Emphasize, again, that is a high part of traffic safety, is visible clear street markings, and as we continue with our right-of-way enhancement program, this is highly recommended and necessary, and we have reasonable bids, so I recommend it. Motion to approve.

Any questions? I have a question. Have we done any inspection of these parking lots if they need to be cracked, sealed, or sealed, or the condition they're in before we go about striping them?

That is in progress. There will have to be some, certainly clean up, stabilization. I have some parking lots that I'm waiting on further recommendations on from an existing contractor right now, and we will, before striping, do those repairs before striping.

Perfect, thank you.

Any other questions? Call the roll, please.

Fowler?

Yes.

Kupa? Yes. LaPorte? Yes. Hall?

Yes.

Bull? Yes. Wester? Yes. Cedar? Yes. Motion carries.

All right, C is the recommendation to award Third Street Clinton to Mulberry.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, continuing on with the street improvement program as determined over the next few years and continuing the year that's been published in 27, we recommend that the consulting engineers be retained for professional services in the development of the Third Street reconstruction, Clinton Avenue to Mulberry Street specifications for bidding.

Were you able to determine if that excluded the intersection of Adams and Byrd?

Not yet, but I do have a question posed. Good question.

Thank you. Is this, this street was reclassified, correct?

The entire section of the street was reclassified for federal terms, yes.

So that makes us eligible for money?

We're hopeful that additional funds can be obtained for federal support.

So if we pass this tonight, we'll still be looking at it?

We'll still be looking at that. I don't know whether the section of the street is gonna qualify exactly right now, but it is on our PACER approved program to continue the project.

There's a bad area in that street over there between Clinton and Mulberry Street. It's failed.

So one question I have, is this outside of our current street budget that we approved for the year?

This is just the design phase for the upcoming budgets. So it's in the multi-year plan.

So we're talking about this is for 2027? It'll be for 2027.

Actually 26, 27, but it's our fiscal year 27 for this design. Where's the budget? Yeah, probable execution though would be closer to 28 for construction.

Okay, so this doesn't affect our current budget.

That is correct.

And so the amount we're looking at is under item 154,975. That is correct.

I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE. SUPPORT. THE MOST SUPPORTED QUESTIONS. CALL THE ROLL, PLEASE.

BATTLER.

YES.

PUPA.

YES.

LAPORTE. YES. HALL.

YES.

BOLT. YES. WESTRICK. YES. SEEDER. YES. MOTION CARRIES.

THANK YOU. LET'S GO TO D, MR. DE CHEYNE, NEW WATER METER CHARGE.

The new meter charge would apply to those that have failed to schedule an obsolete meter changeover in our water system. As noted in some administrative reports, we're over 2,200 meter changeouts successfully, leaving every day it shrinks a little bit, but just around 400 or slightly under 400 left to change. that have not responded to the numerous contacts, calls, letters, which we will continue. If at some point somebody does respond within notice, they will not be charged the $200. If they choose not to participate, in a voluntary transitional program, then each billing cycle will be, there will be an additional $200 charge added to their bill until such change is activated.

The communications that are going out for the ones that are delinquent at this point in time for responding to, is that standard mail that's going out?

We have done a number of things, including standard mail, posting, notes on doors, calls.

That's what I'm getting at, the one thing that I have noticed, historically, one time, we didn't pay our water bill, and when we saw the sticky note on the door, we were like, hello, where'd the bill go?

So we are doing that. We will do everything in our power to contact people to let them know, including door hangers, letters, whatever we need to do. I'm sure that we get a better response when the $200 charge ends up on the water bill. It's $200 per quarter. Per bill. Per bill. I think you'll get some responses. Yeah, I'm hopeful. We just want to change it.

Is there a warning that's going to go out prior to that first bill or is, you know, a final notice that we have adopted this if it were to pass tonight?

Yes. We will give as many notices as we can formulate in the billing period. and tried to make some follow-up contacts where we can. I am debating bringing back the installation company again, but frankly, I hate to spend more money on something that is, again, a participation program that are required to do, and we understand that mistakes happen. We understand that Sometimes people are gone for lengths of time, but at any given time, you do come to the end of the road as far as notice. But we are trying everything, and they will continue to do that. I mean, there was a family here that had concerns about them, you know, that I think are... We've adjusted to those. We've tried virtually everything, and it's not unusual. Everywhere I've been that we had a transition program, we usually get to this point where there's a few that need final reminders.

I guess it's a steep price to pay, and I'm not... I don't know. I don't like us having to do this as a city government. I understand the issue with it, but... I guess my concern is notifying residents that this is coming before, that I think they at least deserve a notification, a warning that, hey, this is going to happen on every water bill you get until this is taken care of. If that's steep of a price we're going to go for, it can't be accidental. It can't be that it just show, you know what I'm saying? It can't just show up at their house with an extra $200 on it.

Is there a list or a way for residents that aren't sure if they've done it or not to be able to easily check, or do you have to call?

Yeah, absolutely. They can call City Hall, and we will let them know whether they're scheduled, whether they had received notice, or some neighbor took it off their door, or any number of things. And I will say this, even if they obtain the charge, if they get a bill with a charge on it, we'll be happy to take that right off the bill if they set up and schedule a transition. It is not intended to be anything punitive. It is intended to just let's get done, get back into one system where right now everybody else is paying their fair share. Anybody with an obsolete meter and system, they are not. That fee is set based on this number of $58,986 in additional funds to complete the changeover.

Yes.

If the amendment passes today, is it effective immediately?

Yes.

Sorry.

Good catch.

It's done. I'll make the motion.

I'll support it. Excuse me, motion to make support of questions. Call the roll, please.

Cufa? Yes. Laporte?

Yes.

Hall?

Yes.

Wolff?

Yes.

Westrick? Yes. Butler?

Yes.

Cedar? Yes. Motion carries. Thank you.

Let's go to E, schedule fiscal year 27 budget public hearing.

We are recommending the council schedule the public hearing for the budget for Tuesday, September 8th at 6 p.m.

So moved.

Support. Any questions?

All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Special event time. Beef, oh. Do you have the other one? Special event permits, soccer, bowling, yoga, fundraiser.

Do you have the?

Auburn Park. Did I just miss something?

Do you have that one? I don't have that one.

I do. Yes, you want it? The first item is for Rotary's special event, a yoga fundraiser. And Chief Innes is requesting approval for a special event permit for a donation-based yoga class sponsored by the St. Clair Rotary Club to support a future Palmer Park Trailhead restroom. The event will take place on Saturday, August 29th from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in Palmer Park. Cleanup will be immediately following the event. The Rotary Club has leased Palmer Park for this event.

I make a motion to approve. Questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? G, special event, American Legion Dwayne Williams Ceremony.

I'm requesting approval for a special event permit for the American Legion Post 3D II annual ceremony honoring PFC Dwayne T. Williams, U.S. Marine Corps and Medal of Honor recipient. The event will take place Friday, September 18th, 2026 between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. in the city park just located south of the BP gas station. There will be a stage and sound system set up for the ceremony. Set up for the event will be on Thursday, September 17th with cleanup immediately following. So moved.

Board. Questions? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Special events, Lincoln High School Homecoming Parade.

I request approval for a special event permit for the 2026 Sinclair High School Homecoming Parade. The event will take place on Sunday, October 4th, beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. Staging and lineup will begin at 4 p.m. at Emanuel Lutheran. The parade will start on 9th Street and Vine, continue east on Vine to M29, proceeding south past the plaza and ending on Trumbull Street. Closure of Vine Street from 6 to M-29 and M-29 to Trumbull have been requested for the duration of the parade. So moved.

So moved. Any questions? Chief, one thing. I don't know what you did last year, but I watched that parade and remember we had talked about the kids standing in the back of the trucks, how ugh.

Yep, same thing again.

They were all sitting down there.

They listened to you. Well, you're too. I don't think they listened to me. Maybe their parents, hopefully.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE.

AYE. AYE.

AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE.

AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE.

AYE.

AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. A All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, vote number 11. Public questions, public comments, anybody want anything? Not agenda, three minutes please. All right, we'll go to number 12, I have a few things. A MATTER OF NOTE, THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE SEPTEMBER 8TH, WHICH IS A TUESDAY, 6 O'CLOCK. THIS SATURDAY IS THE 5K. OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD AND THE FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT WERE SUCCESSFUL SPECIAL EVENTS. I WANT TO GIVE A SPECIAL THANKS TO THIS CITY COUNCIL AND THE VOTERS. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US ON THE ROAD MILLAGE. Another 10 years of being able to be aggressively conservative, and I'm taking that vote as a vote of confidence, so thank you very much. I don't have anything else, anybody got something? Yeah, let's go to close.

So we are doing Tuesday again next meeting? Well, it's the day after Labor Day. Oh, just confirming. Yep, yep. That's right.

All right.

Thank you.

I'm gonna ask for a motion to go into closed session and discuss the strategy connected with the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement for the employees of the POLC. So moved. Support. All right, motion is made supported. Any questions? Call the roll, please.

Laporte? Yes. Paul? Yes. Poles? Yes. Westrick? Yes. Gattler?

Yes.

Lupoff?

Yes.

Peter?

Yes.

Okay, Terry.

Thank you. Thank you for coming, everybody. If you want to hang out up there, I will come and get you. We might take some action when we come back out. We may not. Be careful out there. Be safe.

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.