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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2010-04-19 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD APRIL 19, 2010 Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. Present: Maureen Brosnan, John Pastor, Brian Meakin, Terry Godfroid-Marecki, Laura Toy and James McCann. Absent: Joe Laura. Elected and appointed officials present: Mayor Jack Kirksey; Don Knapp, City Attorney; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Mark Taormina, City Planner; and Maureen Cosgrove, Assistant City Clerk. President McCann announced a Public Hearing to be held in the Auditorium of Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, MI for the following item: Wednesday, May 5, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. Tina Ding, Leapers, Inc., requesting approval of an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate to expand its manufacturing operations of miscellaneous sporting goods and security equipment through the acquisition of additional facilities and the installation of new machinery and equipment at their facility located at 32700 Capitol Street, Livonia, MI 48150. (Industrial Development Overlay District#110) Todd Zilincik, City Engineer reminded people there will be a meeting next Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at the Civic Park Senior Center, 15218 Farmington Road, at 7:00 p.m. re. for people who will be getting their concrete roads repaired. Additionally, there will be also be a meeting next Thursday, April 29, 2010 in the City Hall Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. for people who will be getting their asphalt roads repaired. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. NEW BUSINESS 1. REQUEST TO WAIVE SIDEWALK REQUIREMENT: Wayne and Billie Roberts, re: in front of their home located at 14401 Henry Ruff, as there are no sidewalks on their side of Henry Ruff. Zilincik said there is part of a sidewalk on the east side of Henry Ruff from 5 Mile to the end of Henry Ruff. He said there is an additional sidewalk on the east side of Henry Ruff. Wayne Roberts, 14401 Henry Ruff stated he is requesting a waiver from the sidewalk requirement. He said on Henry Ruff from 5 Mile to Schoolcraft on the west side there are no sidewalks at all. He said his home is in the subdivision Taylor Schoolcraft Manor. He said in that subdivision there are blacktop roads 2 and absolutely no sidewalks. He said he would like to keep the `country look'. He said that is one of the reasons why they built on that lot. He had pictures of his home and the area for Council to review. He said if a sidewalk was put in front of his home it would be the only sidewalk in the subdivision and it would go no where and service no one in the mile long stretch from 5 Mile to Schoolcraft. He said the majority of addresses on his side of the street are Hillcrest. There are only three (3) homes including his that have a Henry Ruff address. In addition, he noted that the due to the terrain in front of his home if a sidewalk were put in it would require work to some storm sewers; otherwise it would be a safety hazard. Godfroid-Marecki asked Zilincik if the resident would have to pay for the work that would have to be done to the storm sewers. He indicated that it would be the responsibility of the resident. Meakin asked Zilincik if this could be conditioned, that if a house is built on either side of this lot that he would be required to put a sidewalk in at that time. Zilincik said it would be difficult because part of the issue they have is grade changes on either side of his home. There could be a possibility of additional work whether it is by the existing property owner or the proposed property owner. They try to get it lined up as much as possible during the initial plot plan review and have it part of the required sidewalk itself. It would be too difficult to go back and try to figure out when it gets developed to trigger the mechanism when to put the sidewalk in, it's best to do it when the house is constructed. Zilincik said there is a portion of sidewalk already constructed in his driveway to add on the remaining portion as necessary. Meakin said he does see the logic of putting in a sidewalk with the potential of expanding down that street. However, there has been a lot of history on that street and said it is unknown whether there is going to be anymore houses built on that street or not. Meakin offered both an approving resolution and a denying resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: 1) APPROVING REGULAR 2) DENYING 2. REQUEST FROM THE MICHIGAN LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE REQUEST FROM SHIVAMDEPASH, INC. TO TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF A 2009 SDD & SDM LICENSED BUSINESS FROM AMNS, INC.: Division of Police, re: for the business located at 19191 Merriman, Livonia, MI 48152. Bharat Desai was present to answer any questions from Council. McCann asked the petitioner why he was requesting the transfer. Desai said he is taking over the store, he is purchasing the store. McCann asked if he knew the people he was buying the store from, Desai replied no he did not and further explained he just received the information from his agent. He also advised Council he already 3 has one (1) liquor license in Ann Arbor for the last seven (7) years and is applying for his second one. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REQUEST FROM THE MICHIGAN LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE REQUEST FROM WINDSOR CAPITAL GROUP, INC. TO TRANSFER OWNERSHIP OF A 2009 RESORT B-HOTEL LICENSED BUSINESS ISSUED UNDER MCL 436.1531(4) WITH DANCE- ENTERTAINMENT PERMIT, OFFICIAL PERMIT (FOOD) & (2) BARS FROM NESBITT PARTNERS LIVONIA VENTURE, LTD. (A CALIFORNIA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP): Division of Police, re: for the business located at 19525 Victor Parkway, Livonia, MI 48152. Andrew Richner of the Law firm of Clark Hill, PLC, was present representing the transferor and transferee. He said this request is for the Embassy Suites Hotel. He said basically it is a transfer in name only. Patrick N. Nesbitt is the owner of Nesbitt Partners Livonia Adventure and will remain the sole owner of Windsor Capital Group. There was a refinancing and they had to create a new entity and that is the reason for the request for the transfer. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. REQUEST FROM THE MICHIGAN LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE REQUEST FROM WAL-MART STORES EAST, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, FOR A NEW SDM LICENSE AND NEW DIRECT CONNECTION: Division of Police, re: for the business located at 29574 Seven Mile, Livonia, MI 48152. Sandy Cotter, Attorney for Dykema Gossett, PLLC, 201 Townsend Street, Suite 900, Lansing, MI 48933 was present representing Wal-Mart. She said Michael Koloshan, Regional General Manager for Wal-Mart for this region and Jim Sheehan who is the General Manager for the Wal-Mart store located on Plymouth Road are also present to answer questions Council may have. She said this request is for a SDM license for the new Wal-Mart store being constructed at 29574 Seven Mile, it would allow for the sale of beer and wine for consumption off the premises. The new store would operate similarly to the store on Plymouth Road. In February they passed a control buy operation at the Plymouth Road store that was operated by the Livonia Police Department. They intend to keep that type of operation going at the Seven Mile store. 4 Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. REAPPOINTMENT OF WAYNE GLASS TO THE PLYMOUTH ROAD DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: Office of the Mayor, re: as a representative of the Other Tax Entity in the District representing Schoolcraft College for a four- year term, which shall expire on May 16, 2014. Mayor Kirksey said he would like to speak to this item as well as Items #6 and #7. He stated Wayne Glass is the current Chairman of the group. He is connected with Schoolcraft College as a part of their management team. Also, they will be considering Scott Grace who has been on the Plymouth Road Authority for some time. He is a great contributing member and owner of a restaurant on Plymouth Road. John Hiltz of Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment is also up for reappointment. These are 4-year reappointments. All three (3) members are contributing members to the progress of this very important body. These are especially trying times for this body because it is based on the tax base of the properties along the Plymouth Road Development corridor; other contributing factors are the economy, the closing of the GM plant and the closing of several auto dealerships along Plymouth Road. Mayor Kirksey is seeking Council approval to support him in the reappointment of these gentlemen and applauds their dedication and willingness to continue on. He said he doesn't believe they've ever been reimbursed for the time that they give and expense that they go through to participate in the Plymouth Road Development Authority. Brosnan offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 6. REAPPOINTMENT OF SCOTT GRACE TO THE PLYMOUTH ROAD DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: Office of the Mayor, re: as a representative of the Business/Property Owner in the District for a four-year term, which shall expire on May 16, 2014. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 7. REAPPOINTMENT OF JOHN HILTZ TO THE PLYMOUTH ROAD DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: Office of the Mayor, re: as a representative of the Business/Property Owner in the District for a four-year term, which shall expire on May 16, 2014. Godfroid-Marecki offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. 5 DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 8. PROPOSED CHANGES TO WAGES, CLASSIFICATIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION: Civil Service Department, re: to re-evaluate the job descriptions while reviewing the wage, relative to the job responsibility. Robert Biga, Human Resources Director said this is a consolidation of classifications and a realignment of compensation for these classifications. These classifications were created years ago when the Recreation Center was opened. The Parks and Recreation Department has now had a chance to look at them and has made a recommendation to the Civil Service Commission to realign the pay rates and realign the pay structure to increase the number of steps and to modify how people advance through those steps. The Commission has approved this recommendation and is seeking support and approval from Council. Godfroid-Marecki said she wished to thank the Parks and Recreation Department and Karen Kapchonick and believes most of the Councilmembers were able to go in there and discuss the subject at length. She said it was very helpful for her and was given a lot of information on this matter. She asked Biga if the Parks and Recreation employees were going to be given the information on this restructuring. He replied stating the Parks and Recreation Department will go over the restructuring with their employees so they are aware of how this is going to work. Especially with the new performance evaluation system they are going to implement. She added she knows this took a lot of time and thinks that it is a great plan. Brosnan said she also wanted to express her concurrence. She said she feels an explanation as to why this is being done should be given and specifically to talk about that performance evaluation which she felt was one of the greatest components of the revised wage program. She said all future jumps and promotions are made after a thorough evaluation and performance measures are met. She said she thinks the program put in place right now is an exceptional one and she asked Karen Kapchonick to come down and give an explanation of how it works and thinks it will be beneficial for those who are watching. Karen Kapchonick, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation said how it works is anyone who has been with them for at least one year will automatically get a raise, whether they worked 10 hours or 400 hours it is an automatic step increase on the date of their anniversary. They propose that this would change to performance criteria. In other words, an individual would have to work over 125 hours in one year in addition to having a performance evaluation before they can move onto the next step. Brosnan through the Chair said a great deal of fairness was taken into account when these changes were made. Most important being that those who are currently in the structure and within the Department of Parks 6 and Recreation are grandfathered. So any changes in the future that may lead to a decrease in their salary, they are exempt from that decrease and their salary remains the same. Kapchonick confirmed that is correct. Godfroid-Marecki offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 9. 401(a) DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2009: Board of Trustees, Livonia Employees Retirement System, re: as submitted by Great West Retirement Services. Robert Biga, Human Resources Director said Great West presented the annual report for 2009 to the Board of Trustees for its review. The Board reviewed it and as required by Ordinance is forwarding it to Council for their review. McCann offered the resolution to receive and file this item on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: RECEIVE AND FILE CONSENT 10. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE FIVE (5) UNMARKED POLICE VEHICLES UTILIZING THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, OAKLAND AND MACOMB COUNTIES BID CONSORTIUM PRICING: Division of Police, re. to be utilized by the Intelligence Bureau from the Drug Forfeiture Funds. Captain Ben McDermott said they were originally requesting five (5) unmarked vehicles but due to budgetary concerns they have reduced that number to four (4) vehicles. These vehicles will replace four (4) existing vehicles that are currently being used by the Intelligence Bureau conducting surveillance and performing undercover work. $150,000.00 was originally budgeted for this year's purchase of replacement vehicles for that Bureau. Our original proposal for purchasing five (5) vehicles would have utilized $130,566.00 but reducing the proposed purchase by one (1) vehicle they plan to save $24,732.00. The vehicle they propose to delete, without going into make and model since the vehicle would have been used undercover, is the fourth vehicle listed on page 2 of the cover letter sent to Council. They will continue to use a high mileage mechanically sound vehicle they have rather than purchase this replacement at this particular time. They were also able to renegotiate the bid price and change a specification on another vehicle which is the third vehicles listed on page 2 of the cover letter sent to Council which going to save them approximately $4,000.00 on that purchase. The amended figure now for the expense is going to be $95,306.00 and they are going to use state adjudicated drug forfeiture funds for the purchase and no general funds will be used. 7 Godfroid-Marecki thanked Captain McDermott for his detailed report and congratulated him on saving the Livonia Police Department all that money. Meakin also thanked Captain McDermott for his efforts in saving money. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 11. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF THE 2010-2011 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM ANNUAL PLAN AND BUDGET; AND REQUEST TO APPROVE HOLD HARMLESS CONTRACTS BETWEEN THE CITY OF LIVONIA AND FIRST STEP; FAIR HOUSING CENTER OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT; JACQUE MARTIN-DOWNS, MA/MSW; ST. JOHN HEALTH SYSTEM/EASTWOOD CLINICS; MR. JOHN V. FARRAR, ED. D. LPC; HEGIRA PROGRAMS, INC; STARFISH FAMILY SERVICES; MADONNA UNIVERSITY; AND QUALITY CARE COUNSELING: Livonia Housing Commission, re: in connection with the operation of a domestic violence victim assistance program; for the purpose of providing fair housing; and for the mental health counseling program provided for through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs for the 2010-2011 program year. (CR 60-10) Jim Inglis, Director of Housing said he came before Council on February 24, 2010 with their action plan and budget and Council gave approval that evening. They did conduct a second public hearing on the program and no changes were made from the original submission to Council. He said one thing he would like to point out is when they drafted the letter to Council on March 24, 2010 they had not received their notification from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as to their total allocation. They estimated that allocation to be $400,000.00. They did get their letter from HUD recently and it was $401,277.00. He said they will use those additional funds and put those into the major housing rehabilitation program. Also before Council tonight are contracts for their sub-recipients, these are their public service programs to assist low- income families in Livonia with mental health counseling and victims of domestic violence and also their fair housing counseling program. They are seeking Council approval so they may submit them to HUD by May 14, 2010. Pastor asked Inglis if he was able to get funding for utility assistance, he replied no they were not able to obtain that funding. Pastor did tell Inglis he appreciated all the hard work that he does and said this is a very important program. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 8 12. PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF FANNIE MAE FORECLOSED PROPERTIES. Livonia Housing Commission, re: to acquire three (3) houses (20108 Antago, 19320 Brentwood and 20215 Floral) for appraisal price less a 1% discount, plus closing costs, from funds available through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). Jim Inglis, Director of Housing said these are properties that have been identified by the City as being substandard and vacant. Fannie Mae has tried to market these properties. They are Fannie Mae foreclosed homes and have been deteriorating and continue to be vacant. They have identified these properties and their relationship with Fannie Mae is that they get the properties for the appraised price less a 1% discount. These will be three (3) additional ones that they will rehabilitate and resell at some point. He is happy to report to Council tonight that next item on the agenda is one of their Neighborhood Stabilization activities where they acquired a property; demolished it and they hope to sell the lots this evening. Also, at the next Council meeting they hope to have an offer to purchase one of our rehabilitated properties. They have a prequalified buyer they will be bringing to Council and they also have two (2) additional rehabilitated properties on the market right now. So these are properties they will continue to rehabilitate and resell them to get them back on the tax rolls. So tonight they are seeking Council approval to acquire these three (3) properties through their Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Meakin asked Inglis for a brief summary of where they are with their program. Inglis replied stating with the purchase of these three (3) properties they will have purchased a total of 17 properties of which six (6) have been demolished at this point. They have three (3) on the market and the other ones are undergoing rehabilitation and they will be bringing them back on the market as well. Meakin asked Inglis if they were going to be able to disperse all of the funds that they were granted. Inglis said they do have some obligation deadlines with the federal government and said they will meet those deadlines. Inglis said there are some expenditure deadlines in the future and we will meet those deadlines as well so they do not have to return any money to the federal government. Pastor asked Inglis to confirm that they could only sell these properties for what the City has into them. Inglis confirmed that was correct. Pastor expressed some concern that the low priced sales could actually lower the value of surrounding homes and asked Inglis if he had checked into transferring the properties to the Livonia Public Schools Foundation and having them sell the properties at a higher price so at least they could make a profit while helping to stabilize the market at the same time. Inglis said that is something he would like to talk to Pastor more about and said they do have a relationship right now with the Livonia Public Schools and they are rehabilitating a property for them and is about 75% complete through their building trades program. He said he received a phone call from their instructor the other day and they want another one for their program next year. 9 Brosnan said in going through the various purchase agreements there was one that said there was going to be a closing on April 26, 2010. She asked Inglis if he was aware that would not be possible. He replied, yes he understands that and said he is working with the realtors and process extensions; he mentioned all of the purchase agreements did specify they were subject to Council approval. He said based on when they get those on the Study and Regular Agendas they will work with the realtors to extend those closing dates. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 13. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO SELL VACANT LOTS: Livonia Housing Commission, re: lots located at 19965 Inkster Road, parcel numbers 46-001-04- 0008-000 and 46-001-04-0009-000, for a total cash sale price of$10,000.00. Vicky Paschke, 19963 Inkster was present. Council asked what she intended to do with lots; she indicated she planned to expand her yard and do some gardening and have a larger outdoor area for entertaining. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 14. REQUEST TO PARTICIPATE IN A SANITARY MANHOLE REHABILITATION PROJECT: Water and Sewer Board, re: to authorize an expenditure of $83,805.00 for a short-term, corrective-action program to be done by the Wayne County Department of Public Services from budgeted funds. Kevin Roney, Public Utility Manager said this is a request from the Water and Sewer Board for the City to participate in the cost of project that will be done by Wayne County. The cost would be to cover work that they are going to do on certain manholes of the City right near their interceptors. A little bit of background so Council will understand how this came about is some years ago, the County ran into some trouble because of combined sewer overflows. As a result, they were put under a final Order of Abatement by MDNR to fix the problem; that was in 1988. The County and the 15 cities that it represented in this regard were basically debating with the State for years over the design criteria. They felt it was too harsh and as a result in 2007 an amended Order of Abatement was entered into and it called for a short-term up front project which is the subject of tonight. After this project there will be a one-year period of flow monitoring that will start in October 2011. That will provide data for a long-term project a couple of years down the road that will impact all 15 communities. What the County did is they went out to the interceptors along Ann Arbor Road and Ann Arbor Trail and inspected the manholes while they were inspecting their County manholes they also inspected any community manholes that were nearby. When they put 10 together their bid package they took all these community manholes and bid it as an alternate price. The bids were received last November; they came to the cities and asked for their participation. Their bids were very detailed, there were 47 certain manholes in Livonia and the price based on their bids was $83,805.00. The Water and Sewer Board is seeking Council approval for the City's participation and expenditure. Godfroid-Marecki asked Roney if Livonia was putting any money into this during the 15 years they debated the design criteria. Roney replied not into this particular project. He said this is the first of an actual concrete project that has resulted from the final Order of Abatement. Brosnan said to Roney, given his description this sound like a pilot project for the County. She asked him if this something all communities are going to be required to do once they go through this process. She asked how that worked. He apologized for giving the impression of a pilot project and indicated it is not mandatory. The purpose of this project is to get as much storm water out of the sanitary system before the flow monitoring. After the flow monitoring they will have hard data and the basis of design will be established and then all 15 communities will be partaking in the cost of whatever sort of retention basin is built. Brosnan asked if it was possible that in doing this project they will find they have to go back and redo something because once they do the flow monitoring they're going to find out they didn't remove as much storm water as they needed. He replied that was not likely to occur. He said he would think the flow monitoring will give the needed data and the only real cost effective solution is for the County to build one (1) or two (2) very large facilities to minimize the cost of land acquisition and construction. This is going to result in a basin or basins. Brosnan asked why Livonia was going first. Roney replied it is his understanding all 15 communities are being asked to participate and cover the cost of their own manholes. Brosnan asked Roney if this was something that was budgeted for in the budget. He replied no and stated Capital Projects like this would usually be taken out of the unexpended balance as opposed to a particular account. Godfroid-Marecki said to Roney she noticed this was approved by the Wayne County Commissioners 18 months ago and asked him when they would be starting the project. He said the construction will begin this summer and added that they notified the communities in December or January and wanted a commitment from the communities before the construction season begins. McCann asked Roney if he was aware of any other communities that have committed to the project. Roney replied he was not aware of where the other communities were in the process but indicated he could check. Brosnan offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 11 15. AWARD OF CONTRACT: Engineering Division, re: for the 2010 Pavement Crack and Joint Sealing Program - Contract 10-D. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer said this is for their annual Pavement Crack and Joint Sealing Program. He said the City went out for bid; the bids were received on February 16, 2010. They are recommending the lowest qualified bidder which is Michigan Joint Sealing, Farmington, MI, in the amount of $151,000.00. The Engineering Division had budgeted $150,000.00 to repair some of the numerous streets for maintenance in the City of Livonia. There was a lower bid received from K & B Asphalt Sealcoating, Inc. from Clayton, MI. They looked at their references, financial statements and equipment list. Their bid amount was $119,065.00. Based on the information they reviewed in addition to the equipment list, most of their contract amounts were for $35,000.00 and had very limited work in 2 other municipalities. In regard to Michigan Joint Sealing, they have been around for 30 years, have MDOT approval and have contracts in an average of over $185,000.00. They felt Michigan Joint Sealing is the best qualified lowest bidder to do the project and are recommending Council award the contract to them in the amount of$151,000.00. Pastor said he was going to have to disagree. He said he has done work with K&B Asphalt Sealcoating for probably around 20 years. He said he doesn't do work with them now but feels that they are more than capable of doing this job and said that they have done plenty of big jobs and doesn't see why the City should spend another $31,000.00 to another company. Godfroid-Marecki asked Zilincik if the City has used Michigan Joint Sealing in the past. He replied yes. She asked if they were happy with their work, he replied yes and indicated there were no problems with their work. Meakin asked why the company was incorporated in 2009. Zilincik replied, according to the references they provided they have been around for around eight (8) years but said he believes they changed from an LLC to Incorporated. He is not sure about the history prior to that but said he was going by the references they provided. Meakin asked if they provided financial statements for those years. Zilincik said they did provide financial statements and said he could provide them to Council. Pastor offered an approving resolution supporting K&B Asphalt Sealcoating and an approving resolution supporting Michigan Joint Sealing for the Regular Agenda. 12 DIRECTION: 1) APPROVING TO AWARD REGULAR K&B ASPHALT SEALCOATING 2) APPROVING TO AWARD MICHIGAN JOINT SEALING 16. AWARD OF CONTRACT: Engineering Division, re: for the Farmington Road Sanitary Sewer Replacement and Relining Project— Contract 10-J. McCann indicated he would receive and file a letter from Kevin Maillard, Director of Public Services and Todd Zilincik, City Engineer dated March 25, 2010, re: the placement of the sewer. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer said bids were received on April 13, 2010. This is an effort to replace approximately 1,300 lineal feet of various sizes of sanitary sewer, 12, 10 and 15-inch. In addition, they're looking at the possibility of lining two (2) segments of 15-inch sewer in a length of 516 lineal feet. Prior to this bid they did have to do an emergency repair back on March 25th and March 26th through March 30th in an effort to resolve an ongoing issue and bring back the customers north of the CSX Railroad tracks to service. They did that repair with getting four (4) quotes to do the emergency repair and that was awarded to D'Angelos Brothers and that amount of $74,100. They are asking Council to award the contract for the 2010 Farmington Road Sanitary Sewer Replacement and Relining Project in the amount of $359,395.70 to DiPonio & Morelli Construction Company of Milford, MI. They have been in business for over 40 years and have done numerous water and sanitary sewer projects. In addition, they are asking Council to authorize an additional appropriate and expenditure in the amount of $74,100 from the emergency sanitary sewer repair to D'Angelos Brothers, Inc. of Farmington Hills, MI along with and additional expenditure for the inspection and testing services of Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc. of Livonia in the amount of $7,100 from the Unexpended Fund Balance of the Water and Sewer Fund. Godfroid-Marecki asked Zilincik if the diameter of the pipes were going to be increased, he responded stating there was just one area they felt it would be important to increase the size and that was under the CSX Railroad tracks. The current existing pipe is a 10-inch sewer main and they're going to increase it to a 12-inch. She asked if this would prevent this type of problem from reoccurring in the future. He responded stating they are working with the Law Department looking at a new Ordinance to address issues with businesses with problems, to track them and potentially issue fines. He said at this time their concern is to address the immediate need of the customers north of the railroad tracks and also work with the Department of Public Works to still maintain flow at this point. It was brought to their attention last August while doing a routine cleaning that there was an issue with the pipe in which a jet head got stuck and they had to extract it. Then they had to get the design and permit in hand in order to do the 13 repair. Godfroid-Marecki asked Zilincik if there were any chemical type solutions to these problems. He said DPW does the tri-monthly cleanings as necessary on some of the sewers that are problematic out there but it's a case by case basis. Meakin asked Zilincik if they have heard anything from any of the businesses about cost sharing. He said they are still waiting to hear something back and are hopeful. Meakin asked if he thought it would be successful, he replied it was hard to say. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: 1) RECEIVE & FILE CONSENT 2) APPROVING 17. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2010-02-02-01 submitted by Gasso Development Company, L.L.C. requesting approval to operate a contractors yard in an M-1 District on property located on the east side of Merriman Road between the railroad right-of-way and Schoolcraft Road (13580 Merriman Road), in the Northwest '/4 of Section 26. Mark Taormina, City Planner said this is a waiver use petition involving the property located at 13580 Merriman Road. There is a building that is 11,200 square foot building on the site which is approximately 1.5 acres and is currently occupied by John Deere Landscapes. They are requesting approval to operate a contractor's yard to store some of their landscaping materials and equipment at the rear of the property. Planning Commission is recommending approval with stipulations relating to not storing any materials or equipment in the side yards and requiring them to only store materials and equipment on a hard surface such as asphalt, concrete or gravel; also, the restriction of the height for the stored materials to a maximum of eight (8) feet. Stanley Collins, 32247 Avondale, Westland, MI representing John Deere Landscapes was present to answer questions Council may have. McCann asked Collins if he owned the property, he replied no and stated they are leasing the property through Gasso Development Company, LLC. McCann recalled that the property used to be an auto body facility and asked if all the equipment from that previous company was still stored on the property. Collins replied that it had all been removed. McCann said the view is right off Merriman Road, a large part of that rear parcel is open to traffic up and down, and he asked Collins what kind of materials would be stored there. Collins replied what they want to do is, they sell pipe for underground sprinkling, some PVC, some brick, some diamond edging; landscaping supplies our customers need on a daily basis. He said they are not a storage facility, they sell these products. They're not going to bring in an abundance of materials and just have them setting there. They'll bring in what they need for the month and replenish it as needed and run it down at the end of the season so as not to store it there during months when they're not selling the 14 materials. McCann asked if contractors would come to the location to purchase these materials directly from him and Collins replied yes, that is correct. McCann said so then it is going to be almost retail. Collins said retail to the contractors, yes. Collins said they have no equipment, they have 2 delivery trucks and it will be soft goods. McCann said to Collins, so you do delivery but you also contractors come and purchase materials from your office and you'll have inside storage of different items they need as well. Collins replied yes. McCann asked Taormina if kind of retail is allowed within the zoning district. Taormina responded stating business to business sales would not be a problem, that it is pretty typical for this type of business. He said he would also like to point out that John Deere Landscapes has been a long time business in Livonia; they consolidated 3 locations from different communities to this location. Meakin said a concern of his with many landscaping businesses is salt, he asked Collins if he was going to be storing salt outside. Collins replied, no, they do not sell bulk salt, only bagged product which is stored inside. Meakin asked Collins if he was going to have separation between each product with concrete or something. Collins said they're separated by PVC pipe. He said he spoke with the Fire Marshal for an extended period of time. The Fire Marshal explained his concerns to Collins and Collins said they will comply with those concerns. He said they will also meet the requirements of the Planning Commission. Meakin asked Collins if there would be any adverse chemicals in the rear yard. He replied no. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT Pastor stepped down from the podium at 9:19 p.m. to avoid any perceived conflict of interest with respect to the next agenda item. 18. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2010-02-02-02 submitted by Dortch Enterprises, L.L.C. requesting approval to construct and operate a drive-in restaurant with drive-up window facilities (Sonic Drive-In Restaurant) on property located on the south side of Seven Mile Road between Middlebelt Road and Maplewood Avenue (29155 Seven Mile Road), in the Northwest '/4 of Section 12. Mark Taormina, City Planner said this site was recently created through the division of a larger parcel. The adjacent parcel is identical in size; it was the former location of the VFW. The former VFW hall building was converted to a bingo hall that was never opened. The building is approximately 8,000 square feet in size and surrounding it is approximately 45 parking spaces. In addition, there is an auxiliary parking area just southwest of the parcel which has the same owner as the former VFW hall parcel. The zoning of the property is C-2, general business. The proposed development of the site would include the construction 15 of a new Sonic Drive-In Restaurant with a drive-up window. The building itself would be approximately, 1,645 square feet. There would also be an outdoor patio area in the front of the restaurant. The proposed site plan meets the parking requirements. There would be a drive-up window on the east side of the building; there would be a traffic lane serving that drive-up window. There would be adequate stacking provided for that area. There would be a by-pass lane. The one modification that would be required by Council is Ordinance requires the lane servicing the drive-up window is required to be 12 feet in width and the site plan shows it at 9 feet in width. However, it has the adjacent 18 feet wide aisle next to it that should provide additional space. The trash enclosure area is shown in the southwest section of the parcel that is surrounded by 6 '/2 feet high walls that would contain face brick similar to the building and would have swinging metal gates. There was also a lighting plan submitted with the application that the Planning Commission went over in detail. Essentially it limits the height of all those lights to a maximum of 20 feet. They also took a look at what the under canopy lighting would be and made sure that those all would be shielded or fixtures that would cast the light downward. The Ordinance requires that the site be service by 2 points of ingress and egress. In this case, there would have to be a cross access agreement with the adjacent property to the west. Vehicles would enter the site through the driveway which is located immediately to the west they would then circulate in a counter clockwise fashion to either go to one of the drive-in stations to park or to utilize the drive-up window facility and would then exit out the easterly driveway onto Seven Mile Road. The plans show landscaping provided at a percentage of 18% which complies with the Ordinance. The protective wall along the south side of the property is deficient in height. The Planning Commission spent a good amount of time discussing this area to see if some type of landscaping could be put in that area. The plans before Council this evening include an improvement to the wall to increase its height 1 '/2 feet so that it's at least 5 feet in height. Taormina said he discussed the subject with the Building Inspection Director today and said he feels that with the level of investment going into that wall, if it's to be done in the way that they are showing, they should just increase the height of the wall to at least 6 feet. This would provide some additional separation between the site and the residential apartments to the south. Taormina showed Council some renderings of what the site would like. The Planning Commission did not have enough information to adequately review the signage and asked for the petitioner to come back with additional information on the signage for further review. The Planning Commission approving resolution does limit the hours of operation to midnight Sundays through Thursdays and to 2:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and also they want trash pick up prohibited between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. in an effort to not disturb the nearby residents. Godfroid-Marecki asked Taormina with regard to back wall, she asked if the mesh was going to go on top of the wall. He replied no. She said she knows there were some concerns because the wall was only about 6 inches wide, she asked if the wall was going to be reinforced. Taormina said they're going to raise 16 the wall and they're going to reinforce it. The survey shows they have an additional foot or two to the south of the wall which will allow them to put reinforcement piers on the wall. This will allow them to put rebar in throughout the system and to extend the wall another 2 '/2 feet. She asked Taormina whether or not they have any plans to put any trees in that area. He replied there is limited space and it doesn't look like it's possible. Toy asked Taormina to refer back to the first slide he displayed which showed the site and the former VFW hall building. Taormina displayed the slide. Toy asked him if the property to the east is Leon's Restaurant. He replied yes. She asked him if there has been any communication with Leon's at all, whether or not they voiced any concerns. He responded stating not really. He said he had a very brief conversation with the owner and said he is aware of the situation. Taormina said he thinks the owner of Leon's also understands that the property owner of the proposed site has a right to develop the property. Oddly enough, some of Leon's patrons have used this site for parking in the past. It will be more difficult in the future to do that but not impossible. Taormina said there is a walkway that was constructed and they're going to maintain that walkway. Toy said she was wondering too about the stacking. She said when she went to the Sonic in Westland and the one in West Bloomfield. She said when these open; people commend them for being very successful but she expressed her concern with regard to traffic. She said she has seen police details out at these locations during their grand openings and has seen where they shut down lanes on the main road. She said to Taormina, he mentioned the deficiency in width for the service lane and the additional area which should allow additional space but she still has concern about the traffic. She asked Taormina if he was satisfied with the amount of space and the proposed site plan. Taormina replied stating there is a period of excitement when one of these restaurants opens. He said he spent quite a bit of time at the one in Westland witnessing the traffic circulation. He said he thinks overall there is adequate stacking space, especially with the agreement of the adjacent property owner to utilize the parking area to help circulate traffic. Toy asked if there are any future plans for the VFW hall building to be demolished. Taormina replied it's actually a very sound building and is currently on the market. There is not intention of demolishing that building, as it stands right now. Toy said with the agreement that must make marketing that property difficult. Taormina said there is a lease agreement and said he would let the representatives from Sonic explain that agreement. Meakin said to Taormina as he understands it they are over for landscaping, over for parking, and under for lot coverage. Taormina confirmed that was correct. Meakin asked if conforming signage would be permitted. Taormina said conforming signage would be permitted with approval of the request but anything else would require them to come back to the Planning Commission. Brosnan asked Taormina the width of the proposed 21 drive-in spaces. He replied 10.3 feet. Brosnan said they indicated they were not going to be able to 17 manage their storm water on site, that they were going to have to use the Seven Mile Road right of way, she asked Taormina if that was something the petitioner is prepared to do. Taormina said he apologized, stating maybe he did not mention what they were going to do relative to storm water. He said they will have to construct an underground storage system. This site would be developed in accordance with Wayne County storm water guidelines. He said that is shown on one of the plans as being developed under the parking lot. It would be a structural system underground. President McCann asked Taormina about the old VFW hall property; referring back to the slide showing this property and the proposed site. McCann said both parcels are currently owned by the same owner, so there is an easement between the two properties with regard to the access driveway on the old VFW hall parcel. Taormina confirmed that is correct. McCann asked Taormina if there are indicators what is planned for the old VFW hall parcel. Taormina replied there is no indication at this point. McCann said it's a unique traffic pattern. He said he'll wait to talk to he owner about future plans. Godfroid-Marecki asked Taormina if they would have someone there directing the traffic. Taormina replied he thinks that is what they normally do but said the representative from Sonic can explain how they handle those situations. Meakin asked Taormina about the parcel to the west, the old VFW hall. He asked if the building as it stands if they have enough parking to accommodate the facility. Taormina said as a standard retail center, yes, but it may not be used for a banquet hall in the future, they might be shy for parking for that use. Meakin asked what about for an 8,000 square foot restaurant. Taormina replied that would be based on the number of seats. He said it's not likely they could have anything over 150 seats. Bruce Calhoun, Creekwood Architecture, 1111 Creekwood Trail, Burton, MI said he was here with Lou Dortch of Dortch Enterprises, LLC and Jeff Padola from Sonic. Toy asked the petitioner where Sonic originated. Lou Dortch replied Oklahoma. She asked the petitioner how many stores they have in Michigan. Dortch replied seven (7) in the Detroit metropolitan area. She asked Dortch when these restaurants were opened. He replied within the last two years. She asked him how many more they planned to open in the next year or two. He replied 10 to 15 restaurants. He said one just opened today in Royal Oak. She asked them what their market niche was, he replied just a fun environment like the old drive- in restaurants where you pull up and place your order and the skater brings you your order, just good food and a lot of fun. She asked the petitioners if they had any knowledge about any future plans for the VFW hall. She said their traffic pattern circling around the vacant building concerns her. Calhoun responded by stating that should only be a temporary situation for approximately 60 days. 18 Meakin said that the petitioners (Sonic) are creating quite a buzz in the City already. He said word is spreading rapidly about a hot new place in Livonia. He said he is looking forward to them starting construction. Godfroid-Marecki said she would like to thank the Planning Commission for doing such a thorough job with this site plan. They do a lot of work before it comes to Council and she wanted to let them know she appreciates their work. President McCann asked the petitioner about the shared entrance. He said it looks a little awkward and asked them if they had other locations with an entrance like this one. Calhoun replied, not really like this one. He said the uniqueness of this one is because it is a shared driveway and is an existing driveway they didn't want to disrupt traffic by moving it and centering it on the property line which is more typical for shared driveways. The problem that causes is it actually puts to the 2 driveways closer together and it's best to keep them as far apart as possible. It also gives the VFW hall better circulation within their driveway; that's the reason for the secondary driveway, vehicles don't have to go back over that driveway they can just use the secondary driveway and exit out onto the road. Meakin asked Taormina with regard to that if Wayne County had a say in the matter since it is a Wayne County road. Taormina replied yes, he said permits for the approach would be obtained through Wayne County and said they would have to look at both and if there has to be modifications to the turning radiuses or even a slight shift to the driveway, they will dictate those modifications. Calhoun said the permit applications have been submitted to the County and City pending Council approval. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR Pastor returned to the podium at 9:38 p.m. 19. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2010-03-02-04 submitted by Apartment Services Company requesting approval to operate a contractors yard in an M-1 District on property located on the north side of Glendale Avenue between Stark Road and Fairlane Avenue (34600 Glendale Avenue), in the Northwest '/4 of Section 28. Mark Taormina, City Planner said the petitioner is requesting approval to utilize the back area of the property for storage of all their equipment and to add a fence. Taormina said this would require removing 4 parking spaces to allow access for the equipment to get to the back of the property. This is something both the petitioner and owner recognize. Planning Commission is recommending approval but would like to see a certified survey prior to them submitting a plan to 19 the Inspection Department. They also want him to notify the abutting property owners of his intention to install the fence and they also want him to work with the Planning Department to improve the quality of the landscaping along the front of the building. George LaForest, 34600 Glendale, said they have been in business in Livonia for 40 years. The main reason they want a fence is they were advised during last winter that some trailers they were storing at the rear of the property were not allowed to be stored there without waiver use approval and the lot had to be fenced. They also wanted to fence for security reasons which are becoming a major concern. They are not going to increase the amount of storage out there, no mowers will be stored out there they'll all be stored inside. He said basically it's going to be a few trailers and that is all. Meakin through the Chair to Taormina said this is the second request for waiver use for storage in the M-1 Zoning District. He asked if Taormina thought the City might possibly look at changing the Ordinance or should it continue to be handled on a case by case basis. Taormina said a case by case basis is fine. He said this particular case before Council came to them through the Ordinance Enforcement Division and it was pretty far through the process before they realized this was one where it could have gone either way. He said they decided to apply for the waiver use and indicated Mr. LaForest has been very cooperative. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 20. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2010-03-02-05 submitted by Brad Turowski requesting approval to operate a limited service restaurant (Subway) on property located on the east side of Farmington Road between Six Mile Road and Curtis Avenue (17134 Farmington Road), in the Southwest '/4 of Section 10. Mark Taormina, City Planner said this is a request for waiver use approval to operate a Subway Restaurant in the Burton Hollow Shopping Center. He said the space they would be occupying is approximately 1,600 square feet. They have provided plans how the space will be arranged. They would have a total of 30 seats which is the maximum. This restaurant would provide both dining and carry out service. They are not proposing any modifications to the exterior of the building with the exception of the wall sign that would be added that would be limited to 20 square feet. He said there is currently only one other restaurant in the plaza and this is the Chinese Pan-Pan Restaurant. The center provides ample parking. The plaza is heavily used. There is a Secretary of State office in the plaza. 20 Meakin asked Taormina if there was any dedicated parking for this space. Meakin said during the days when the Secretary of State office is open it's going to be busy. Taormina replied he was not aware of any dedicated spaces. Meakin asked the petitioner to address that issue. Brad Turowski, 30200 Five Mile Road responded by saying he has been to the site during their busy times and agreed it will be close but said directly in front of his location across the median island in the parking lot there are available parking spaces from what he observed. Brosnan wished Mr. Turowski well in his business venture. President McCann mentioned his concerns to Taormina about the condition of the shopping plaza. He said he feels before the City starts expanding the uses in this facility it would be best to have the owner of the facility here. McCann said he would like the Inspection Department to go out and do a complete site inspection before the next meeting. McCann said he understands the carpet store in the plaza is not owned by the landlord and recalls many difficulties from him and seems to recall it being said he was going to wait until the remodeling of the mall before he did any improvements to the appearance of the site. He said he has a problem expanding the use here if there are any outstanding issues with the site. Godfroid-Marecki asked Taormina if the owners of that property were local or out of state. Taormina said he believes they are out of state. Mr. Turowski said Steven Cohen is the gentleman he has direct contact with and believes he is the owner or the son of the owner; he lives in Florida but comes up here regularly. McCann asked Mr. Turowski to ask Mr. Cohen to be at the next meeting on April 28, 2010. Turowski said he would ask him. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. As there were no further questions or comments, Council President McCann adjourned the Study Session at 9:52 p.m. on Monday, April 19, 2010. DATED: April 27, 2010 MAUREEN COSGROVE ASSISTANT CITY CLERK