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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2011-07-20 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD JULY 20, 2011 Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. Present: Laura Toy, Maureen Miller Brosnan, Conrad Schwartz, John Pastor, Brian Meakin, and James McCann. Absent: Joe Laura. Elected and appointed officials present: Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development; Don Knapp, City Attorney; and Jack E. Kirksey, Mayor. President McCann wished his brother Wade, his sister Maureen, and his sister Judge Kathleen McCann, Happy Birthday, they all have birthdays this week. Mayor Kirksey reminded all registered Livonia voters to vote in the primary election on August 2, 2011 or by absentee vote. Toy said former Mayor Jack Engebretson is doing well and recovering after his surgery. He appreciates all the well wishes and blessings; they are most welcome. President McCann announced there will be an X-Item heard at the end of the Agenda. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. NEW BUSINESS 1. BLOCK PARTY: Doug Kieselbach, re: to be held on Saturday, September 10, 2011, from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Minton, between Merriman Road and Sunset, with a rain date requested of Saturday, September 17, 2011. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE THERAPIST PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Laura George in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. Laura George, 44299 Princeton Dr., Clinton Twp., MI, was present to answer any questions from Council. Toy asked the petitioner what ever got her interested in massage therapy and how long she went to school in Texas. She said she ran her own business for 10 years in Texas and her husband was transferred here to Michigan. She decided to make a career change; either in nursing or massage therapy. There was a 3 2 year waiting list to get into the nursing program. She chose massage therapy. Toy asked how long the schooling was to obtain her national certification. She replied 500 hours. She added that there is a requirement of 12 credit hours of continuation education every other year. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Ying Hong Tang in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. Ying Hong Tang, 26811 W. 14 Mile, Franklin, MI, was present along with her translator, Rick Wong, 374 Arlington Dr., Rochester Hills, MI, to answer any questions from Council. Toy asked Wong to ask Tang why she chose massage therapy as a career choice. Wong said Tang said when she lived in China she worked in the medical field. She has a language barrier as her English is not that good. Also, this career choice is more hands on which gave her more of an equal opportunity because of the language barrier. Toy asked where Tang went to school and where she currently lives. Wong said Tang said she lives in the 8 Mile and Middlebelt area and she went to Trinity School of Therapeutic Massage. Toy asked if it was for 500 credit hours of schooling. Wong said it was more like 650 credit hours. Toy asked how long she has been doing massage therapy. Wong said she said 3 years. Brosnan offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Feng Qu in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. Feng Qu, 846 Canterbury Dr., Canton, MI, was present along with his translator, Rick Wong, 374 Arlington Dr., Rochester Hills, MI, to answer any questions from Council. President McCann asked Qu if he was currently attending Trinity School of Therapeutic Massage. Wong said Qu stated he has already graduated from Trinity. President McCann added that Council conducted an investigation and this is a licensed school here in Michigan and is in good standing. 3 Toy through the Chair to the petitioner, asked what got him interested in massage therapy. Wong said Qu replied so that he can make money and have a good living. Toy asked if he will have a job. Wong said Qu answered yes. Brosnan offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Xiu Ying Limbright in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. Xiu Ying Limbright, 1087 Canterbury Cir., Canton, MI, was present along with her translator, Rick Wong, 374 Arlington Dr., Rochester Hills, MI, to answer any questions from Council. President McCann asked Limbright if she attended Trinity School of Therapeutic Massage for 650 hours and currently resides in Canton, Michigan. Wong said Limbright replied yes. Toy through the Chair to the petitioner, asked what got her interested in massage therapy. Wong said Limbright stated she enjoys the massage aspect of the business. Toy asked if she will have a job. Wong said Limbright answered yes. Brosnan offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 6. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Zhiping Xu in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. Zhiping Xu, 1257 Kirts Blvd., Apt. 212, Troy, MI, was present along with her translator, Rick Wong, 374 Arlington Dr., Rochester Hills, MI, to answer any questions from Council. President McCann asked Xu if she attended Trinity School of Therapeutic Massage for 650 hours and currently resides in Troy, Michigan. Wong said Xu replied yes. Toy through the Chair to the petitioner, asked what got her interested in massage therapy. Wong said Xu stated back home in China she is actually a physician. She thought massage therapy would be the best way for her to make a living. She enjoys the massage aspect of the business. Toy asked if she will have a job. Wong said Xu answered yes. Toy asked if all the massage therapist applicants tonight will be working here in Livonia, Wong replied yes, at Laurel Park Mall. 4 Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 7. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Xiao Hong Xu in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. At the direction of the Chair this item was removed from the agenda and will be rescheduled in the future when the petitioner returns from China. DIRECTION: REMOVED FROM AGENDA 8. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Tao Song in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. Tao Song, 20444 Purlingbrook, Livonia, MI, was present along with her translator, Rick Wong, 374 Arlington Dr., Rochester Hills, MI, to answer any questions from Council. President McCann asked Song if she attended school at Traditional Medical Thai Massage in Mill Valley, California. Wong said Song replied yes. She said she used to visit her daughter there for 4 months at a time several times. She completed her training in increments. Toy through the Chair to the petitioner, asked what got her interested in massage therapy. Wong said Song stated she had a friend who was a massage therapist. She used to have a kink in her neck and her friend did massage therapy on her and it went away. She does massage therapy because she likes to help heal people. Toy asked if she too will be gainfully employed. Wong replied yes. Toy asked approximately how much massage therapists make starting out in this business. Wong said Song said it varies but on average about $16.00 to $25.00 per hour depending on how busy they are; generally about $1.00 per minute. Toy asked if it were an hourly wage if it were based on actual time with clients. Wong said Song replied, it is not an hourly wage and it is based on the time with the clients. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5 9. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE APPRENTICE PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Amber Lucas in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. Amber Lucas, 3060 Geneva, Dearborn, was present to answer any questions from Council. President McCann asked the petitioner where she attended school. Lucas replied, Everest Institute in Dearborn. Toy asked Lucas what got her interested in massage therapy. Lucas replied she became interest 8 years when she started doing infant massage therapy on her autistic son. She saw how well it worked and decided to study massage therapy. Toy asked Lucas if she will be gainfully employed upon approval. She replied yes. Toy asked Lucas what schools in the area offer instruction for massage therapy. Lucas replied there is Everest in Dearborn and Stautzenberger has schools in Allen Park and Westland. Toy asked if which are classified as better than the other schools. Lucas replied Stautzenberger. Toy asked her how about out of state schools. Lucas said she was not familiar with any of the out of state schools. Toy asked if this is far as she can go in the field or if further schooling is an option. Lucas said therapists can specialize in certain fields or different modalities. Lucas said she prefers aromatherapy and reflexology. Toy asked Lucas if she will be working in Livonia. She replied yes and said she will be working at LaVida Spa. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 10. REQUEST FROM THE MICHIGAN LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE REQUEST FROM UNIVERSAL ADVISORS, LLC, TO TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF A 2010 CLASS C LICENSED BUSINESS WITH OUTDOOR SERVICE (1 AREA), DANCE-ENTERTAINMENT PERMIT, OFFICIAL PERMIT (FOOD) AND 3 BARS: Division of Police, re: for the business located at 36071 Plymouth Road, Livonia, MI 48150. Scott Edwards, Attorney for the Petitioner, was present along with Michael A. Gust, Receiver, and John O'Neill, principal owner. Edwards indicated Gust will continue to manage and operate the business. Edwards said they are all here and ready to answer any questions from Council. President McCann asked Edwards if the litigation against the business has been resolved. Edwards replied the litigation is resolved, now it is just a matter of waiting for the redemption period to pass. The redemption period will end within three weeks. President McCann asked Edwards if the litigation will all be resolved once the redemption period ends. Edwards said he couldn't speak for what the defendants could possibly do; he said however, there is no reason to expect otherwise. President McCann asked Edwards if the personal property taxes have been brought up to date. Edwards stated a payment arrangement has been worked out with the City 6 Treasurer. President McCann asked Edwards if he know what the outstanding balance was. Edwards replied, not off the top of his head. President McCann asked Don Knapp, City Attorney, to provide Council with that information prior to the next meeting. Knapp said he would be happy to do that. President McCann asked Edwards if the real property taxes were current. Gust said they are three years behind on the real property taxes. Gust said he has payment plans arranged with Wayne County and the City Treasurer and has been paying them as agreed. President McCann asked Gust to provide copies of the payment agreements to Council prior to the next meeting to be held August 8, 2011. Meakin left the podium at 8:34 p.m. to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest regarding this item. President McCann asked Edwards if this was a transfer for all licenses associated with the business or just the outdoor area. Edwards replied it was for all licenses. Brosnan through the Chair to the Law Department asked Knapp if they received that standard letter of agreement that is always used and if was included. Knapp replied yes and said he believed it was included with the packet provided to Council. Brosnan said she looked and did not see it. Toy asked Edwards if O'Neill has been in this type of business before. Edwards replied O'Neill is semi-retired from the manufacturing industry. Edwards said O'Neill has not been active in this type of business and that is why he is relying upon Gust and existing management to work with him in the future. She asked if he was going to be the sole proprietor and pay all the bills. Edwards replied yes. Toy said the tax situation troubles her but she is glad that an arrangement has been made and they are working to resolve that issue. President McCann asked Edwards if he knew the exact date for the end of the redemption period; specifically if it is before or after August 8, 2011. Edwards said he believes it is after but was not sure and indicated that matter was being handled by another law firm. He said he could find out the date and report back to Council. Brosnan offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR Meakin returned to the podium at 8:37 p.m. X1. PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF TAX FORECLOSED PROPERTIES: Livonia Housing Commission, re: to acquire one (1) house (27621 Pembroke) for a total of $8,915.82, which includes closing costs, through the Community Development Block Grant Program. 7 Jim Inglis, Executive Director of Housing, stated that each year Wayne County sends a list of tax foreclosed properties, some are commercial and some are residential. He said there is one particular property on the list that is vacant and has been problematic for the Police Department and Inspection Department. It has been unsecured, dead trees have been removed, and tall grass has been cut. This property is located at 27621 Pembroke; it is on the tax foreclosed list and they would like to acquire the property and demolish the structure and hopefully sell the lot in the future. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. Toy mentioned that in addition to the two proposed millages, there are City Council positions on the Primary Election ballot. She encouraged all registered voters to vote. President McCann reminded voters that absentee ballots are available in the City Clerk's office. Terry Marecki, City Clerk, said the City Clerk's office will be open this Saturday, July 30, 2011 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for election purposes and will do their last mailing of absentee ballots for the Primary Election. Absentee Voters can come to the City Clerk's office and vote in the office no later than 4:00 p.m. Monday, August 1, 2011. All absentee ballots must be received no later than 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 to be counted. As there were no further questions or comments, Council President McCann adjourned the Study Session at 8:40 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, 2011. DATED: August 4, 2011 TERRY A. MARECKI CITY CLERK