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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRDA MINUTES 1999-03-04 MINUTES OF THE 90th REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLYMOUTH ROAD DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF LIVONIA The 90th Regular Meeting of the Plymouth Road Development Authority of the City of Livonia, Michigan was called to order at 3:00 PM, Thursday, March 4, 1999 in the 4th Floor Conference Room of City Hall. Members Present: Mayor Jack E. Kirksey Mr. Dennis Kujawa Mr. Scott Grace Mr. Lowell Peterson Mr. Mike Polsinelli Mr. Bill Pike Mr. Duane Wolfgang Mr. Rod Crider Mr. Stan Anderson (Mir' Members Absent: Ms. Toni Mette Mr. Marvin Walkon Mr. Adelard Raby Mr. Jerry Wordhouse Others Present: Mr. John Nagy, Director Ms. JoAnn Michaels, Beckett and Raeder, Inc. Mr. Ralph Williams Ms. Susan Annibal, Secretary 1. Roll was called. 2. Adoption of February 18, 1999 Minutes: On a motion duly made by Mr. Pike, seconded by Mr. Grace, and unanimously adopted, it was #99-23 RESOLVED that,the minutes of the 89th Regular Meeting held by the Plymouth Road Development Authority on February 18, 1999 are approved. Mr. Polsinelli, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. 1 1 Mr. Polsinelli: The WOMC—Wonderland individuals had a conflict with this meeting and will not be attending. They will defer to another time. Basically, the proposal is for a potential antique car show and parade, which had been discussed previously as part of SPREE. Mr. Grace: I just wonder if this was the same parade that took place at SPREE when they did the car show, and then asked Mr. Anderson if he was involved in the car show at SPREE. Mr. Anderson: The 2nd Sunday in June is our annual car show. Mr. Polsinelli: The purpose here is that WOMC, a radio station, is very interested in sponsoring something. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss any possibilities that might be available by way of having something, doing it in conjunction with having an event There was a police concern. This is purely a beginning point. Mr. Anderson: Is this a Wonderland proposal? Mr. Polsinelli: Wonderland was talking about helping to sponsor it. They were going to come with WOMC to the PRDA to talk about the potential. Perhaps, they can call Mr. Anderson, because if there was something they could tag along with and do together, it might work that way. Mr. Anderson: It might work. Mr. Polsinelli: They wanted to know whether it was right or is there a conflict or whether there was a better way to do it together. This was for discussion. In another discussion with Bill Fried, there was discussion about doing it in conjunction with SPREE. They'd talked about the potential of having it as a SPREE event during a non-SPREE weekend. Mr. Grace: Most people with old cars, if they wanted to reminisce, can do what they'd done for years, drive down Plymouth Road and through my lot, not buying anything. Mr. Polsinelli: I'll have Cathy call you, Scott, to see if there's some way to make money and get that started, if WOMC wants to put money towards it and we advertise. It might work. 3. Comments from Chairman: Chairman. Polsinelli gave an update on the Director's Agreement. It was received by our office and signed and submitted to the Council for their concurrence. . It was scheduled for an upcoming Study Session. That was where it stands. Chairman Polsinelli reported a series of correspondence received with respect to the City property and the Livonia Fire property. That closing was held? Mr. Nagy: It was Monday at one o'clock at Title One across the street at Michigan National Bank. We'd already received from Mr. Faris a deposit of $10,000.00 on the sale, which reduced the sale price to $35,000.00. The purchaser will have to come back for exterior alterations and site plan approval. 2 c-- Mr. Wolfgang: He's (Bill Faris)not here. Mr. Nagy: Well, he does have to come back for exterior alteration and site plan improvement. Mr. Grace: I assume that even though the purchaser is going to the Zoning Board, it appears Mr. Faris would want a recommendation from PRDA. In going to the ZBA, has that nothing to do with site plan? We withheld it until we saw what he was going to do. Mr. Pike: With respect to Bill Faris, is anything scheduled or has anything been submitted? Is it ready to go? Mr. Nagy: He's scheduled already to go to the ZBA in two weeks. Mr. Polsinelli: We may want to entertain a motion. Mr. Grace: If he's going to the Zoning Board for a nonconforming building, it has nothing to do with the site plan. That'll be totally separate. Mr. Nagy: He has to go to the Zoning Board for a nonconforming building and change of use. (lof Mr. Pike: I think it would be really slick if Mike and the Mayor could arrange for us to park all of our construction equipment there. Mr. Polsinelli: We'll talk to Mike when he comes in, if we need to adopt any motions. We don't have to entertain motions at this time. Chairman Polsinelli reported on a letter from John(Nagy) to John Watson of the MDOT just acknowledging that we will withhold 10% of the cost of the work until the first half of the project is complete, and then, 5%thereafter, until there is final letter. There's a memo from Engineering Department, Beckley, Director of Public Works, to Jeff Bryant, Project Foreman, regarding storage. There's a letter from Engineering Department to the Council, re: the Merriman Road Right Turn Lane Project exceeded the $80,500.00, total project was $86,843.41 for the actual cost. 98-838 to the Council stated that the Plymouth Road Development Authority would pay the City's share. Now,has the first portion of that been billed and paid? Mr.Nagy: Yes. Mr. Pike: So,this is the overage? Out of curiosity, what caused the overage? Mr. Nagy: A design change is shown in Change Order No. 1. 4100'' Mr. Pike: Was it due to lack of preparation on our part or the contractor? 3 Mr.Nagy: It was caused as a result of something that was encountered in the field. Mr. Grace: Now, is adding the turn signal included in that? I assume the idea is to keep traffic going there. They have a turn signal on the north-south on Merriman; and they have a right arrow on the east heading west, the opposite direction, on Plymouth. But, there is no arrow yet installed to make that right turn. Mayor Kirksey: That order has gone out. Mr. Pike: Going east to turn south? Mr. Grace: In the middle lane; there's no right. Mayor Kirksey: That order has been put in. Mr. Polsinelli: The original resolution was based on a cost of$94,000.00, estimated cost at that time with $24,000.00 being the City's share. Do we know if it was $94,000.00 or less? Mr. Nagy: Yes, it went over $100,000.00. Mayor Kirksey: To respond, I think it is well that this late term language was put in the resolution for Livonia in that it caught it in the budget. One reason for the added cost was that it �r was done relatively late in the season, and it had to be done very quickly. Mr. Pike: That's about a 7% cost overrun. I would raise heck with a 7% cost overrun. That contractor has about 50 years of experience for putting in that little 150' lane. Weather didn't affect it. Mayor Kirksey: I asked our engineer if it was legitimate or could it have been avoided, and he said no. Mr. Pike: That's good enough for me,then. Mr. Anderson: There could be a good public relations point to make sure that the Rosedale Homeowners Association know the cost. I can convey that, if you like. Mr. Polsinelli: That would be good. Mayor Kirksey: I think, Stan,that we could put it in our own newsletter. Mr. Polsinelli: Based on that I'm going to entertain a motion to accept this bill and reimburse the City. Mr. Pike: So moved. 4 (lbw On a motion by Mr. Pike, seconded by Mr. Peterson, and unanimously approved, it was #99-24 RESOLVED,that the Plymouth Road Development Authority does hereby agree to pay the additional amount of$6,343.41 to cover the full cost of the City's share for the Merriman Road intersection improvement. Mr. Polsinelli, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Chairman Polsinelli reported the receipt of a thank you card from Carol Swales. She was very appreciative of the fact that PRDA had given her an open checkbook to run the parade as coordinator. Mayor Kirksey: Although Carol didn't get First Citizen, it was Gary Garrison, a member of the Clarenceville Board, I think Gary drove a bus for us. Gary's a good guy. If Carol couldn't get it, Gary was a good choice. Chairman Polsinelli asked Mr. Nagy if he'd found out anything relative to brokers on how to make an offer at the northeast corner of Merriman and Plymouth Roads? Mr.Nagy: Yes, I have talked to a real estate broker. There are a couple of firms that Col specialize in that area. In this case,the property would be very, very expensive, because it's not just property; it's not just developed property. He'd have to buy out the business interest, as well as the property. Mr. Pike: Unless we were able to find a buyer, there might be another piece of property that would be just as conducive to his business, but not in that corner. He'd have to buy the business. There might be something else out there to relocate the existing business. Mr. Grace: Unfortunately, Walgreen and these other places have the deep pockets to buy those businesses out. They don't negotiate with the people; they say, 'What do you want for it?' And, they're gone. Next to us, Walgreen's took Bate's restaurant. Mayor Kirksey: They are taking an institution. Mr. Pike: That's just what they did. They told us in Planning, 'How soon can we get this through?' Mr. Polsinelli: One of the things we talked about was whether or not there were options on these properties. We're prepared to start working on assembling the rest. It's probably worth, at least in my mind,the effort to investigate and get somebody on board to start the process and the dialog with the affected property owners.. Mr.Nagy: John Carney is an additional name given to me. 5 Mr. Polsinelli: Mike Fisher has joined us, very timely. We congratulate you and thank you for the efforts in getting this through. It was amazing when talking to John yesterday to find out that the thing was already done and closed and so soon. Mr. Fisher: Well,thank you. Mr. Polsinelli: If we ever need to hire a PRDA attorney, we'll send you an application. Mr. Fisher: I'll check with John. Mr. Polsinelli: Anything you'd like to add, Mike? Mr. Fisher: Well, I can tell you this update on Bill's project. Part of the reason we have closed on it is, he is an extremely eager and persistent fellow and, in fact, has already started his interior work on the facility. He's scheduled to go to the ZBA on the 16th of this month. Mr. Pike: So, I think we were going to check with Mike whether a letter from us would be appropriate. Mr. Polsinelli: I'm surprised he's not back here asking for the letter. He was after it for a long time. So, we'll entertain a motion. (110, On a motion by Mr. Wolfgang, seconded by Mr. Grace, and unanimously approved, it was #99-25 RESOLVED, that the Plymouth Road Development Authority does hereby authorizes that a letter of approval regarding the purchase of property for$65,000.00, such property located at 31600 and 31602 Plymouth Road in the S.E. 1/4 of Section 27 be sent to William Faris at 12321 Howland Park Drive, Plymouth, MI 48170. On a motion by Mr. Wolfgang, seconded by Mr. Grace, and unanimously approved, it was #99-26 RESOLVED,that the Plymouth Road Development Authority does hereby support the proposed development and use of the nonconforming building as proposed by William Faris for the sales and warehousing of marble and ceramic tile. Mr. Polsinelli, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. 4. Mike Slater—Budget Report: The Chairman reported that Mr. Slater had asked if this tel could go on the next meeting, as he had a conflict. 6 Mr. Polsinelli asked if PRDA members had attended the Expo held recently, concluding that everyone that attended had a great time. 5. Beckett& Raeder, Construct Progress Report: Regarding the award of contract for traffic signalization. Four bids had been received, which had come in fairly well, for the traffic signals at the two minor intersections—just the arms, no overhead wires. The budget was $454,000.00. Mr. Nagy was in receipt of these bids. Beckett& Raeder's commendation was to go with Rauhorn Electric for traffic signals at Deering and Harrison(two signals at each intersection). Construction would begin on March 8, 1999 with the ordering of material. Completion date was slated to be June 15`h Mr. Anderson: I had a call from a resident on Fairfield about the sidewalks on the south side of Plymouth Road between Fairfield and the library. I don't know if we are doing anything about that in this Phase. The problem is that the ground level on both sides of the curb is higher than the sidewalk. I wonder if we're doing anything to raise it enough so that the water doesn't accumulate on top of the sidewalk and become slippery and make it difficult to walk. On a motion by Mr. Pike, seconded by Mr. Wolfgang, and unanimously approved, it was #99-27 RESOLVED,that the Plymouth Road Development Authority does hereby accept the bid of Rauhorn Electric for the installation of traffic signals at Deering and Harrison, construction to begin March 8, 1999 and scheduled for completion on June 15, 1999. Mr. Polsinelli, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Mr. Anderson: Secondly, at the entry of the parking lot of Performance Tools and the store right next to it. The roadway goes right up against a part of the building, then, there's a lot right next to that. It's a narrow drive; you can only get two cars in there. What's happening is the trailer part of the truck goes right across the middle part of the planting area. We have to do something about it—put a big rock there or just park over it. Mayor Kirksey: A lot of trucks come in there to deliver tools. Mr. Anderson: I would like us to take a more careful look at that. Mr. Pike: Is there an alley, John, coming into the back of that? If you ask companies to tell their men to come in off the side; but that's if there isn't an alley—something else will have to be done. . Mayor Kirksey: People drive out of that parking lot or the parking lot behind and they drive over some vacant property. 4ire 7 Mr. Pike: Stan makes a good point, because in time, those trucks are making those turns. Those last two tires and trailer will knock things down. Mr. Anderson: Have we ever decided officially whether we were going to put up Plymouth Road street sign posts? Ms. Michaels: I think we talked about it in the future maybe. Mr. Anderson: One sign is up. Mr. Grace: Is there any way they could go on the light poles? Was there some way of the sign coming out on the mast on the arm that comes out? If we did that every red light, we might not need that many. Mr. Anderson: Most all street signs are at street intersections. Putting them on a light pole is not appropriate when people are used to street signs at street intersections.. I think I'd like to see them on street posts. Ms. Michaels: I think what they're doing now is putting up some banners and things. We're concerned about having that much information so high off the ground. Mr. Grace: A given banner would be just a colored one which said just the number, i.e., (I1W "33000". Mr. Anderson: My feeling is that, like a lot of other people, the place for a street sign is on a street sign post; and that's where they ought to put it -- on a street corner. Ms. Michaels: Studies are showing that we want to keep people's vision down lower. That would be the thought for the pole sign locations. Mr. Polsinelli: Two items I failed to mention: First, the Mayor sent a letter that he would not exercise his veto with regard to the City-owned property purchased by Mr. Faris. Second, in members' packets was a PRDA Summary all the way through the end of last year. Once a quarter this will be updated so you can track any of the resolutions passed and their status. 6. Reports from Committees: Public Relations Committee:: Mr. Anderson had spoken with Carol Swales getting information for an article. She reminded him that if we wanted to do it again next year, we should do it as soon as possible, so that somebody else didn't preempt it before us. Just because we did it one year doesn't mean we can have a positive claim to it. It would be a good idea for a prospective sponsor of the parade to write a letter to the Police Department stating the date of the event so that we'd get on record as being the sponsor, as directed per Ms. Swales. Unless we've already decided we're going to sponsor it again next year, I would like to make a motion that we do sponsor it again or co-sponsor it again in 1999. 8 Mr. Grace: I agree that it wouldn't hurt to get that started. Didn't we co-sponsor that with Wonderland Mall? Mr. Polsinelli: Livonia Mall was a contributor, but they still haven't contributed, yet. Wonderland was a cash donor. They provided some cash to help the parade. The intent there was, knowing that Livonia Mall was out and that the City was going to try to do it, they offered some cash in order to keep the parade going. The Livonia Observer acted as a co-sponsor for services in kind. Wonderland offered $10,000.00 last year. I think they would like to be involved as sponsors, whether it would be the Observer, Wonderland, or Daly Drive-In. Mr. Grace: We're the managing partner. Mr. Polsinelli: We're like the J L Hudson's parade committee to work out the arrangements. What happened was that Livonia Mall ran it; they totally controlled it with the cooperation of the City. But, it was Livonia Mall that had it. They elected then not to have it. The City took it over, and the PRDA said that they would lend financial support and would like to keep it for the future when they heard that the parade kind of fell through the cracks. They may come back; they may not. My only question is—we have to get a permit and we do all that—but I thought all of that happened to go through the Mayor's Office and the Council Office before those permits were issued. Mr. Nagy: Let me find that out. (ise On a motion by Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Grace, and unanimously approved, it was #99-28 RESOLVED,that the Plymouth Road Development Authority requests the Planning Director, John Nagy,to take whatever steps are necessary for the Authority to apply for the permit to hold the annual holiday parade in 1999. Mr. Polsinelli, Chairman, declared the motion is carried and the foregoing resolution adopted. Vacant Buildings Committee: No report. Construction Committee: Mr. Pike reported that some changes had been made on p. 3 of the location right-of-way. Some changes had been made with Ameritech to keep between the sidewalk and the curb. Inspection Committee: No report. 7. Update on Plymouth Road Projects. John Nagy reported the relocation of The Brake Shop. Julie (Purple Rose Florist) was going to stay for a while until she found another buyer. Mr. Polsinelli: How are we doing for replacement for the Planning Director. 9 Mr. Nagy: Civil Service has prepared the notification, and we have prepared a job description now; and it will be advertised this month. After receiving resumes from applicants, there is a schedule for the process, which if everything goes well, we'll have someone on board by June 1, 1999 or June 15, 1999 at the latest. Mr. Polsinelli: The offer was, as stated before, that once we finalize the arrangement with John, we would split John 50:50 with the City. We should probably have a motion to that effect for April 1, because I think the Mayor stating that he'll withhold his veto and so on. Mayor Kirksey: I think we'll be talking more like six weeks. Mr. Nagy: The Mayor was kind enough to find some space for our PRDA office on the 4th Floor. On a motion by Mr. Pike, seconded by Peterson, and unanimously approved, it was #99-29 RESOLVED,that effective approximately the date of April 1, 1999, pending hiring of the new Planning Director,that the Plymouth Road Development Authority share with the City of Livonia the services of the Planning Director on a 50:50 basis until his retirement. Mr. Polsinelli: The motion was April 1 through his retirement, April 30th and if his retirement tre changed, this arrangement will be reevaluated. Mr. Pike: It's a win/win for both sides. Mr. Polsinelli: As long as we have a resolution, I think it's okay. A video presentation by the Authority was presented. Mayor Kirksey noted that the VCR was presented to the City by the PRDA. 8. Polling of Board Members: Mr. Pike asked if there was a list of properties that we owned on Plymouth Road for parking purposes? (Nothing at this time.) Mr. Kryder announced the upcoming date of the annual First Citizen award celebration. on the 24th of March at the Italian American Club. Mr. Wolfgang passed. Mayor Kirksey cited the Mayor's Ball would be on April 23, 1998 with tickets at $50.00 each, which included a dessert table, live music. (1Ire Mr. Grace noticed the Bill Knapp's on Sheldon had repainted their building. Other people came before Council. Council treated painting of designs or scenery on buildings 10 as signage. Bill Knapp's had redone a couple of sides of their building with scenery. Mr. Grace was curious about this one. He assumed this was signage. Mr. Nagy replied that it was signage and that the Inspection Department was looking into it. Mr. Grace noted in the video presentation that one of the goals of the PRDA was to reduce curb cuts. It wasn't a goal of his. It was a goal of architectural firms. He didn't know how many curb cuts we'd actually reduced. A problem had been created at Dunkin' Donuts by removing a curb cut. It was a headache. A problem was created with their parking. He thought that especially since we'd done the older part of town, unless there was a dire need(like at a red light like at Wayne Road), he suggested that we not eliminate curb cuts and leave property owners their existing drives and beautify it. He thought that created a problem for us, although it was a goal of Beckett& Raeder. He didn't think it was a goal of the PRDA, nor did he think it should be. Mayor Kirksey commented that the agreement depended on if that they did it for aesthetics, like at Mama Mia's. Mr. Anderson stated that all the curb was put on the Dunkin' Donuts, instead of sharing it and the larger property. Had it been placed elsewhere,there wouldn't have been a problem. Mr. Polsinelli echoed the Mayor's commentary, that it should be selective. Further compounding the problem with Dunkin' Donuts is that corporate approved it without the franchisee having a chance to say, "No, we need two driveways" to start with. We were justifying the amount that we're going to pay the Director, by eliminating the fees that we've been paying and having a more hands-on approach in the day-to-day activities of the PRDA and to be there with all the plans and saying, "Yes,this is right," and making sure it was. He agreed; it should be looked into it. Mr. Peterson commented that the medical clinic was being built. Mr. Kujawa passed. Mr. Anderson added to the curb cut discussion. He'd been to Mama Mia's for dinner a few days before. They were really having a problem. Coming into the parking lot, you're driving into the traffic. Then, in the parking lot on the other side, you have to come in, also,the same way. You have to either back all the way out of the parking lot in order to turn around and get out. It's not a very good system. He suggested that we talk to them and eliminate the first parking spot up to the wall there, so that when you come in, it would be easier to come and leave the lot towards the alleyway. Mr. Grace assumed that the City had requirements on the width and that it's not 10' for the site width of the driveway. So, they would have to eliminate four spots there in order to do that. Mr. Nagy said when you get down to the wall, it was a directional flow to the end of the wall and then you loop around and go back around in the direction of the angled parking. So, it will allow you to complete your turn. Mr. Pike pointed out it was the Authority's job to do that. Did they get back to you on the sewer? Mr. Nagy replied they were going to tap into the sewer at the service station. 401 Mr. Anderson wondered how small business people could be helped with financing, upgrading and updating their properties, citing a party store,which was an eyesore. 11 Maybe we could offer a 0% loan or something like that to give these people the push they needed. Mr. Nagy said they needed a permit to get started. Mr. Polsinelli noted that Mr. Kujawa had supplied him with some information when the PRDA members had first talked about a loan program. He had a package on it and had a list. He'd given a presentation to the Suburban Women's Republican Club. He'd assembled some other information, and it was amazing what was out there. Some had been provided to Mr. Nagy already. He thought the whole intent of a PRDA Director was that the next step would be to have a program like that for subsidy or assistance or whatever it might be. Mr. Anderson thought it would help"mom and pop" stores to get financing. Mr. Polsinelli felt we could follow our improvements with business owners' improvements. 9. Adjournment: On a motion dully made, seconded and unanimously adopted,the 90th Meeting of the Plymouth Road Development Authority held on March 4, 1999 was adjourned at 4:20 p.m. The next meeting of the Plymouth Road Development Authority will be held on March 18, 1999. jite4e4c.) Susan Annibal, Secretary thew (hw 12