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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPUBLIC HEARING - 2017-07-19 - SAD WASHINGTON PK CITY OF LIVONIA PUBLIC HEARING Minutes of Meeting Held on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 ______________________________________________________________________ A Public Hearing of the Council of the City of Livonia was held at the City Hall Auditorium on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. MEMBERS PRESENT: Kathleen E. McIntyre, President Scott Bahr Maureen Miller Brosnan Jim Jolly Brian Meakin Cathy K. White MEMBERS ABSENT: Brandon M. Kritzman, Vice President OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Taormina, Director of Planning Todd Zilincik, City Engineer Paul Bernier, Assistant City Attorney Bonnie J. Murphy, CER-2300, Certified Electronic Recorder The Public Hearing was called to order at 7:15 p.m. with President Kathleen McIntyre presiding. This is a Public Hearing relative to the necessity for a proposed Special Assessment LED Street Lighting Project in the Washington Park Site Condominiums, located in the southeast ¼ of Section 31, located south of Ann Arbor Road, west of Hix Road, within the City of Livonia, Wayne County, Michigan. The City Clerk has mailed notices to those persons owning land in the proposed Special Assessment District and all other requirements of Section 3.08.110 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended, have been fulfilled. The public hearing is now open for comments. There were eight people in the audience. Please state clearly your name and address before making your comments. McIntyre: Mr. Zilincik. Zilincik: Good evening, Madam President, City Council Members. I just want to give you a brief history on the assessment conditions for Washington Park Site Condos. There’s forty-five lots in that development that’s located again off of Hix and Ann Arbor Road and there will be a proposed eight streetlights 14-feet tall colonial 73 watt LEDs and again it’s for illumination in that subdivision in which there would again eight lights and the anticipated costs would be currently $60. 2 If there are any questions, I’d be happy to answer them but this is being paid for by the developer and the anticipated costs to them was $28,110 for eight lights. Thank you. McIntyre: Good evening. Dixson: My name is Marsha Dixson and I own Lot #28 in Washington Park. So the developer is going to pay for everything? Zilincik: Through the Chair, if approved through the process the developer paid for the installation of the streetlights, the residents would then be responsible for the electricity costs for the future illumination of the lights divided by the forty-five lots. Dixson: Okay. Since I’m the only one here from that subdivision or condominium site, our association hasn’t even met yet and I think it’s a little premature to make a decision on this and I prefer that this be taken to the first homeowner’s association meeting. I just feel it’s premature. McIntyre: Mr. Meakin. Meakin: This is just the beginning of a long process, this just determines the necessity at this point, we’ll have two other opportunities, Mr. Zilincik? Zilincik: One, the hearing for the roll. Meakin: So we’ve got some time. I think it’s to your advantage to put the streetlights in because we require them for every subdivision that we put in adopted by Council. Streetlights are a safety issue that you’re going to want. Dixson: So the builder pays for the install of the street lighting? Meakin: Yes. Zilincik: Madam President. McIntyre: Yes. Zilincik: Just so you know, obviously there are houses that are being built and will be occupied very shortly and garbage pick-up and people living in these resident locations, it does take time to get to DTE and get the information and get the check and then construction does take place of the poles and it most likely will be this fall or late this fall, so there is timing issues. But again, in the best interest, the lots are owned by the developer, he’s aware of it and just wants to make sure that we move forward with the process 3 and it does take time and the residents then will be responsible for the electricity once everything is officially approved. Dixson: Are there other assessments we’ll be paying or just the cost of the electricity? McIntyre: For this streetlight assessment it would only be the cost of the electricity, the developer is paying for the actual installation. Zilincik: If lights get hit or is burns out or whatever, DTE will take care of the responsibility of maintenance and replacement of the light if it gets hit. Dixson: Okay. McIntyre: Does that help? Dixson: Yes. Oh, and another question is eight lights enough? Zilincik: Based on the recommendation of DTE provided to us and the illumination plan, again based on eight lights and they recommended 73 watt LED 14- feet tall at the entrances and throughout. We trust, they’ve been doing lamp poles, they’ve been around for a while so I look to them to particularly facilitate these types of installations throughout the subdivisions. McIntyre: They have models that they use to indicate for safety the right amount of lights for the number of houses. Dixson: So to clarify, my only fee is going to be the cost of the electricity for the LED lighting? McIntyre: Yes, correct. Zilincik: I’m not sure once the homeowner’s association sets up, another fee may be coming forth from that condo document or whatever but I just want to clarify this is a hearing for the SAD for the street lighting itself, there may be site fees with the homeowners association with the condo that we may not be aware of in the future that may take place, so to clarify this is street lighting only. Dixson: Okay, thank you. McIntyre: Thank you. Bahr: I will offer the approving resolution. 4 Brosnan: To the homeowner who’s here and probably goes back and tells her neighbors which is going to be fantastic, in looking at the street lighting plan and design in combination with DTE you were wondering about the number of lights and whether it would be adequate for the neighborhood, one of the things that I particularly liked about this design that DTE put forward was light #9 which extends into the open area, the general more common area to everybody, and the fact that they looked at lighting that space in addition to just making sure that the streets were well lit in that area. So I think that has good placement of it and I think the other thing you’re going to appreciate is the colonial light, I think the fixture itself is a lot more attractive than some that we see in neighborhoods, so I think that it’s going to be something that is not only functionally pleasing but esthetically pleasing. So our main purpose tonight as was indicated a number of times is to look at whether or not there is a need for lights in your neighborhood and the fact that you’ve got a hidden street in that neighborhood and one street that goes off to the side and everything coming off of Hix would indicate to me that there is definitely a need for lighting. That there’s enough distance there that it could get extremely dark in there and whatever lighting is on Hix is not going to be adequate. You will hear this issue come back again, a second public hearing is where we’ll talk about the cost and how that’s allocated. All of the costs for installation will be borne by your developer and that’s typical of all subdivisions and also that the homeowners themselves will be responsible for the ongoing energy costs. And again, one of the good things of this plan because that’s what we’re talking about tonight, the plan, is that these are LED lights so they are a little bit lower cost than the ones that were put in my neighborhood many, many years ago. I think this is actually one of our better lighting plans that your neighborhood will benefit from it. Dixson: Thank you. McIntyre: Thank you very much. And I just wanted to make sure you know that this item will be on the regular meeting agenda of Wednesday, August 9, 2017. As there were no further questions or comments, the Public Hearing was declared closed at 7:24 p.m. SUSAN M. NASH, CITY CLERK