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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2010-11-22 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD NOVEMBER 22, 2010 Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. Present: Conrad Schwartz, John Pastor, Brian Meakin, Joe Laura, Laura Toy, Maureen Miller Brosnan and James McCann. Absent: None. Elected and appointed officials present: Mayor Jack Kirksey; Don Knapp, City Attorney; Mark Taormina, City Planner; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; and Terry Marecki, City Clerk. President McCann wished Mayor Kirksey a Happy Belated Birthday, his birthday was November 21, 2010. President McCann announced there will be an X-item discussed at the end of the regular agenda. President McCann announced a Public Hearing for the following item to be held in the Auditorium of the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, MI. Monday, December 6, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. The City of Livonia will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, December 6, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Auditorium at 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan; PROPOSED SPECIAL ASSESSMENT STREET LIGHTING PROJECT: for approval of the Assessment Roll for the Rosati Industrial Subdivision located on the west side of Stark Road, between Schoolcraft Road and Plymouth Road, in the Southeast '/4 of Section 28. (CR 364-10) Pastor reminded everyone about the Toys for Tots program. Pastor said his office located at 34018 Beacon is the host for Toys for Tots for the Livonia area. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: John Grzebik, 11301 Hubbell, commented on the Livonia Public Schools 20-J funding. He said all three of the Livonia Public High Schools will be having all night Senior Parties. He said he coaches at Franklin High School and stated there will be a fund raising event for their Senior All Night Party at Buffalo Wild Wings, located on Six Mile Road just west of Newburgh Road, December 13, 2010 from 12:00 p.m. until Midnight. NEW BUSINESS 1. REQUEST FOR DESIGNATION AS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION: Bruce Rosen, Director, Livonia Travel Baseball, Vice President of Livonia Baseball and Softball Association, re: as required by the State of Michigan to obtain a 2 Charitable Gaming License to allow them to host a Texas Hold-Em event to raise funds for their organization. Bruce Rosen, 27435 Pickford, presented the request to Council for their approval. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2. REQUEST FOR DESIGNATION AS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION: Lt. Gregory Winn, Livonia Police Honor Guard, re: to obtain a Charitable Gaming License as required by the State of Michigan to conduct charitable gaming activities in conjunction with a dinner and an auction to raise funds to defray the costs of their annual trip to Washington, D.C. for National Police Memorial Week (May 13-15, 2011). Officer Dennis Burklow, 15050 Farmington, presented the request to Council for their approval. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE LIVONIA CODE OF ORDINANCES, AS AMENDED: Department of Law, re: to Section 380 of Title 13, Chapter 20 (Livonia Sewage Disposal System) to provide for enforcement of the prohibition on discharging hazardous waste into the City sewers. Don Knapp, City Attorney, stated Council was already aware of the proposed FOG (Fats, Oil, and Grease) Ordinance that was forwarded to Council. This amendment works in conjunction with the proposed FOG Ordinance. It is more of a pollute or pay ordinance. It sets forth a standard and provides a mechanism which really does not exist today; for the City to be able to recoup costs associated with clean up. There are also provisions in the amendment that provide for if there is a discharge reported to the City, creating a remediation plan and recouping costs associated with the mess. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. Brosnan asked Knapp how the City would know if there was a violation. He replied, it would be more or less an after-the-fact situation. He said quite frequently there is an event that involves the City, the City will go out and uses a camera to discover the cause of the problem which allows them to trace it back to the polluter. 3 Pastor said he has been working with the Administration on this issue and said originally he was totally against this because they wanted to just go ahead and report to just anybody and everybody. He said they have come to some agreement. He said there are approximately 77 people who are potential repeat violators. The Administration is going to contact each one of those 77 people who have been dumping excessive grease into the sanitary sewer. They will be given approximately six months to get into compliance. After six months, the City will go back out and test them. If they are not in compliance at that time then they will go into the new Ordinance of now having to report to the City, because now it is getting into an abusive situation, getting into a position that they are going above and beyond everybody. He said that was one of the things that he was hung up on was that previously they wanted to do this to everybody. This targets only the abusers. The City will contact the people who are excessively discharging and giving them an opportunity to be compliant. Brosnan said she would like to know how the City intends to implement the Ordinance and how they intend to roll it out in terms of notifying residents. Also, if there will be a test period or review period. She would like to know some more details. Knapp said there might be a little bit of confusion with the Ordinance being proposed tonight and the FOG Ordinance that is already in Council Committee. The FOG Ordinance, as described by Pastor does that. There is a period by which it will take effect June 30, 2010. So there is about a six month lead time for the City to identify those businesses that they know are problematic. Allowing the City an opportunity to educate them about the Ordinance and the discharge limits and all of the things that they would be obligated to do in the event they are found to be in violation. The idea being that the City educates them enough so they are not in violation. He said that is relative to the FOG Ordinance. The Ordinance that is before the Council tonight deals with discharges that are above and beyond the limit. Giving the City the authority to recoup costs associated with the clean up of those messes. Also, adding further requirements that if there is a discharge; they not only have to provide information about that discharge but a remediation plan in order to fix it. There is some overlap of the two Ordinances, the whole idea between these two is that this is the pollute or pay gives the City the authority to recoup costs after there has been a discharge. The FOG Ordinance is designed to prevent it from happening. Pastor added they will be educating the public regarding the new Ordinance via the newspaper, cable, City newsletter, and directly contacting people who are known to have problems previously or have a high probability for a potential problem. President McCann clarified what he heard and summarized by stating the Ordinance before Council tonight would be the section of the Ordinance that would give the City the authority to enforce the FOG Ordinance. 4 Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, said they call them monthlies and tri-monthlies. He said if they don't go out to these areas there is more of a potential for a back up. He said they are trying to be proactive and try avoiding a potential issue with the monthlies and tri-monthlies. Brosnan asked President McCann if he expected to see the initial portion of that Ordinance out of Committee soon. He said they were talking about bringing it out after everyone gets the information. Brosnan replied she would be more supportive if they were moved together. He said that was the intent. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR X1. REQUEST TO APPROVE ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION AND EXPENDITURE: Engineering Division, re: for construction engineering costs in connection with various road improvements and traffic signal modernization on Newburgh Road, from Laurel Park Drive north to Seven Mile Road, until Federal funding becomes available for reimbursement. (CR 297-10) Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented the request to Council. He said it is a housekeeping matter. He said they should have approved an additional $112,800.00 to pay for the Construction Engineering portion of this contract. This will allow them to seek reimbursement from MDOT. He said the project is nearing completion; the only thing that is going to be left is the traffic signal at Laurel Park Drive north at Newburgh and that should be completed within three weeks. Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. Pastor reminded everyone about the Toys for Tots program and encouraged the public to participate. He said anyone with questions can call his office at (734) 522-3800. Laura wished the residents a Happy Thanksgiving. President McCann wished his father a Happy Birthday; his birthday is tomorrow. As there were no further questions or comments, Council President McCann adjourned the Study Session at 8:28 p.m. on Monday, November 22, 2010. DATED: November 30, 2010 TERRY A. MARECKI CITY CLERK