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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSTUDY - 2018-07-23 CITY OF LIVONIA – CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD JULY 23, 2018 Meeting was called to order at 8:35 p.m. by President Toy. Present: Brian Meakin, Jim Jolly, Brandon Kritzman, Cathy White, Kathleen McIntyre and Laura Toy. Absent: Scott Bahr. Elected and appointed officials present: Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Michael Fisher, Assistant City Attorney; Susan M. Nash, City Clerk; Lynda Scheel, City Treasurer; Jacob Rushlow, Director of Public Service; Ted Davis, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation; and Mayor Dennis Wright. President Toy stated that the Council had a commendation to present at the meeting to Matt Henzi, long time Zoning Board of Appeals member. She stated that Joe Laura had initially appointed Mr. Henzi to the ZBA, and afterwards Treasurer Lynda Scheel continued the appointment. Treasurer Scheel came to the podium to present the commendation to Henzi for fifteen years of service on the Zoning Board of Appeals, having been appointed on December 9, 2003. He has attended over 355 meetings and has participated in the decision making process of over 1,147 appeals having to do with residential, commercial and industrial petitions. She stated he served as Vice Chairman of the ZBA from July 13, 2004 until April 12, 2005; and Chairman from April 12, 2005 until July 10, 2018. The Livonia City Council commends and extends its appreciation to Mr. Henzi on behalf of this community for his contributions and further extends best wishes to him for the future. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. NEW BUSINESS: 1. REQUEST TO WAIVE THE CITY’S NOISE ORDINANCE: Linda and Matt Macchiarolo, re: to host a small concert in the parking lot of Town Peddler Craft & Antique Mall located at 35323 Plymouth Road on Saturday, September 15, 2018, with music playing from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Linda Macchiarolo, 35323 Plymouth Road, Livonia, presented this request to th Council. She stated it is the 25 Anniversary of the Town Peddler Craft & Antique Mall and they would like to celebrate it with an outdoor concert. McIntyre offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2 2. REQUEST TO WAIVE THE CITY’S NOISE ORDINANCE: Richard McLain, Old Rosedale Gardens Homeowners Association, re: to show family friendly movies beginning at dusk until the end of the movie on Friday, September 14, 2018 in Kleinert Park. Justin Elsworth, 9335 Berwick, organizer of the event, presented this request to Council. He stated they are showing one movie that evening starting at 7:30 p.m., the move is PG rated and runs about an hour and forty-five minutes. He stated they will be out of the park by 10:00 and he comes back the following morning to clean up the area. Kritzman inquired what move they will be showing and Elsworth responded “Ferdinand.” White offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. BLOCK PARTY: Rebecca Drzewicki, re: to be held Saturday, September 29, 2018, from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Parklane Street between Clarita & Margareta, with a rain date of Sunday, September 30, 2018. Rebecca Drzewicki, 18615 Parklane Street, presented this request to Council. She stated this will be their second annual block party on September 29, 2018, in th honor of National Good Neighbor Day, which is actually September 28, this being th the 40 Anniversary of this event, initiated by President Jimmy Carter. Jolly offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. BLOCK PARTY: Karen Werden, re: to be held Saturday, September 8, 2018, from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., on Flamingo Boulevard, from St. Martins to Bretton, with a rain date of Sunday, September 9, 2018. Karen Werden, 19651 Flamingo Boulevard, presented this request to Council. th She stated this will be their 15 Annual Block Party and that President Toy had attended on their parties many years ago. McIntyre offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3 5. REQUEST APPROVAL FOR SENIOR ALLIANCE 2019 ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (AIP): Jason Maciejewski, Chief Information and Planning Officer, re: as required by the Aging and Adult Services Agency (AASA) to be submitted to the State Commission on Services to the Aging. Bethany Burge, Planning Special Projects Manager for the Senior Alliance, presented this request to Council. She stated she appreciated the opportunity to ask for approval of a resolution for Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Implementation Plan which is a requirement for Aging and Adult Services Agency and it outlines how to prioritize funding for older adults for all of the seniors across the thirty-four participating communities in southern and western Wayne County including Livonia. She indicated this the third of a three-year plan, so it’s basically a progress note of their goals. McIntyre stated she has the great privilege and pleasure of serving on the Board of the Senior Alliance and the process of communities reviewing and supporting the Annual Implementation Plan has been made a bit more formal and that’s been done to make sure that communities, all thirty-four communities in the service area of TSA really take note of the Annual Implementation Plan and understand the vast array of services that are provided through the Agency to all of the seniors that need them and other people who try to live independently who have various disabilities. McIntyre offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 6. REQUEST TO AUTHORIZE AN ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION AND EXPENDITURE: Department of Parks and Recreation, re: due to additional materials required to complete the project, for the Fox Creek Golf Course Restaurant Patio Project. (CR 45-18) Ted Davis, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, presented this request to Council. He stated that Parks and Recreation is asking the Council to approve an additional expenditure in the final payment to Pizzo Development Group in the amount of $1,736.85 due to overages on the Fox Creek Golf Course Restaurant Patio Replacement Project. He stated the existing base materials were not able to be salvaged and a portion of fencing that could not be salvaged as well. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda stating this is a minor overage on the project. 4 President Toy commented on the grand opening of Rotary Park and thanked Davis for his hard work as well as the other people involved on the project. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 7. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE ONE (1) 2019 FORD F250 SUPER CAB 4X4 PICK-UP TRUCK AND ONE (1) 2019 TRANSIT VAN 250 THROUGH THE STATE OF MICHIGAN BID PROCESS: Public Service Division, re: to replace vehicles assigned to the Water Section, from budgeted funds. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated this item is a request to purchase two vehicles, on is a Ford F-250 Super Cab 4x4 Pick-up Truck, the other is a Ford Transit Van, both to be utilized in the Water Department. This new equipment will replace what was an aging thirteen year old pick-up truck used by the Water Department which is a frontline piece of equipment for water main break repairs. The Transit Van is replacing a ten year old van used by the Water Meter Department. Both of the vehicles are basically beyond their expected useful life and the repair costs to keep these aging vehicles in a well-maintained condition are starting to exceed their remaining value. The existing equipment that is being replaced will be disposed of through the auction process and outfitting of the pick-up trucks for initial equipment includes safe equipment and lighting, air compressors and a V-plow for the pic-up truck and the van includes safety equipment, lighting, air compressor, a mule crane and a power inverter. Funds for these vehicles were approved and budgeted in the Water and Sewer Account. Pricing of the vehicles was set through the State bid process and extended purchasing made available to local governments through the State of Michigan and the upfitting pricing was through the Rochester Hills Purchasing Co- Op. He stated it is the recommendation of the Public Service Division that Council proceed to authorize the purchase of one Ford F-250 Super Cab 4x4 Pick-Up Truck and one 2019 Ford Transit Van from Signature Ford in the amount of $57,744.00; and also authorize the outfitting of the vehicles through Rochester Hills Purchasing Co-Op in the amount of $53,165.00. White inquired if all of the vehicles have back-up cameras and Rushlow responded that the pick-up trucks do, and that he believes the Transit Van does as well. President Toy then asked for an update on water main breaks and Rushlow responded that there are two contributing factors, one being the long extended dry period that was experienced with extreme temperatures which dries out the ground around the water and there is some constricting in the ground as it dries and there 5 is cold water that comes from the bottom of Lake Huron that comes through the treatment plant that gets served to the community through the Great Lakes Water Authority System and the cold water going through those pipes at a much colder temperature, the differential makes it expand and contract and there starts to be a popping in the pipes. Normally they see the reverse in the winter time when the ground is extremely cold, you get the opposite effect where the water is actually warmer. In this case with it being so hot and dry the same effect is occurring in the summertime so there has been an uptick in water main breaks this summer which is unusual but not for these extreme temperatures. White offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION APPROVING CONSENT 8. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE FOUR (4) 2019 FORD F250 SUPER CAB 4X4 PICK-UP TRUCKS WITH PLOWS AND SAFETY LIGHTING THROUGH THE STATE OF MICHIGAN BID PROCESS: Public Service Division, re: to replace vehicles assigned to the Roads Section, from budgeted funds. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated these new pieces of equipment will replace four pick-up trucks that are aging between ten and twelve years old currently, used by the Roads Department, which are also extending beyond their expected life use and the repair costs to keep the vehicles in a well-maintained condition are starting to exceed their remaining value. These are frontline vehicles for the Roads Department that must uphold a very high level of liability for response to any emergency situation that faces the DPW from road hazards, snow emergencies, wind storms, and the like. The existing equipment that will be replaced is being disposed of through the auction process. Upfitting with the pick-up trucks will include safety equipment and lighting and V- plows for use during snow events. Funds were already approved in the DPW Capital Outlay Budget through the Roads Department. Pricing was set through the State Bid Process in an extended purchasing program made available to local governments through the State of Michigan in upfitting through the MI-Deal. It is the recommendation of the Public Service Division that Council proceed to authorize the purchase of four F-250 Ford 2019 Super Cab 4x4 Pick-Up Trucks from Signature Ford in the amount of $112,788.00 and authorize the outfitting of the trucks by Cannon Equipment in the amount of $62,071.00. Meakin offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 6 9. REQUEST TO APPROVE PURCHASES WITH SOLE SUPPLIER, EJ USA, INC. f/k/a EAST JORDAN IRON WORKS: Public Service Division, re: for the purchase of storm water, water main and sanitary manhole-related items in an amount not to exceed $75,000.00 annually, for the period of July 10, 2018 through July 10, 2019. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated this is a sole source supplier of the iron castings which include not just manhole covers but also fire hydrants, water line valves that are underground and the special City logo covers that are made by them with the City crest. They verified with other neighboring communities that the pricing they’re receiving is consistent with those that are paying for the same sole source through EJ. He stated it is conveniently locate nearby, their main distribution center is in Oak Park and have been very responsive out of that facility meeting the Department’s needs as well as getting materials as quickly as possible when needed. He said it’s the Public Service Division’s recommendation that Council proceed to authorize purchases from EJ USA, INC. for these castings in an amount not to exceed $75,000.00 annually from funds already budgeted for this purpose and waive the formal bidding process in accordance with City ordinances. Kritzman stated this is a sole source supplier that the City has a good working relationship with them. McIntyre asked if anyone had ever seen the process within which the castings are made and Rushlow responded that he personally did not but that they do offer tours. Kritzman offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 10. AWARD OF CONTRACT THROUGH THE MICHIGAN TRADE NETWORK (MITN) PURCHASING COOPERATIVE: Public Service Division, re: for a two-year contract in an amount not to exceed $25,000.00 annually for as-needed repairs for catch-basin, storm sewer, and concrete slab stabilization, from budgeted funds. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated this contract would provide the Department with another technique to make repairs to the aging infrastructure, specifically catch basins, storm sewers and concrete slabs that need stabilization. This technique would allow them to make quick repairs to crumbling catch basins, fill voids under slabs, seal leaks and 7 pipes by using a polyurethane foam that’s spray applied instead of a very costly and destructive process of excavating, rebuilding or replacing, repaving and ultimately replacing surface turf to fix one of those structures or slabs. This technique is also currently being used by some neighboring cities, townships, county road commissions as well as the Michigan Department of Transportation. This has been a successful product and a technique that’s been proven to be efficient for both time savings and cost savings. This would be a two-year contract and it was competitively bid through MITN by the City of Farmington Hills just recently in June 2018, the low bidder was Havener Tech of Troy, Michigan and pricing was extended to other agencies through the MITN Purchasing Cooperative so it is the Public Service Division’s recommendation that Council proceed to award a two-year contract with the option to extend an additional two years to Havener Tech in an amount not to exceed $25,000.00 annually for completed the noted work and to waive the formal bidding process in accordance with City ordinances since no advantage to the City would result from competitive bidding in this situation. Meakin asked Rushlow why he needed to come before Council on this item as it would fall under his management authority for a one-year project and Rushlow responded stated they are seeking it for a multi-year contract instead of annually. Meakin stated it seems reasonable for a two-year project and offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 11. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2018-04-02-10 submitted by Feldman Automotive, Inc., to construct and operate a used auto dealership with outdoor display of vehicles (Feldman Pre-Owned Superstore), located on the northside of Plymouth Road between Farmington and Stark Roads (33850 Plymouth Road) in the Southeast ¼ of Section 28. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated this item does have a companion rezoning petition that is currently under review involving the rezoning of the rear of this property from M-1, Light Manufacturing, to C-2, General Business, in order to allow for the expansion of the waiver use since it’s an auto dealership on this property. This site, just to recap, is about ten and a half acres in size, it has 340 feet of frontage along Plymouth Road, a depth of about 1,300 feet and currently there are no buildings on the property. This is the site of the former Olson Oldsmobile dealership. There are a variety of commercial properties east and west of this site and there is also residential located to the west of the property. The site plan that has been approved by the Planning Commission shows a one-story 6,850 square foot building that would be set back about 150 feet from Plymouth Road. This 8 building would contain the dealership’s showroom as well as sales office, there’s a wash bay, some prep stalls as well as a service reception area. The exterior of the building includes a combination of materials including composite metal panels, there’s split face concrete masonry right along the lower portion of the building. The majority of the masonry on the building is actually a burnished concrete masonry, there’s E.I.F.S. and then as you can see on these plans there’s a lot of windows, there’s a curtain wall of glazing that’s on the front of the building really to reveal the interior or the inside of the showroom. Overall height of the building would be roughly 26 feet. The C-2 District allows for maximum height of 35 feet. So looking at the parking for dealerships it’s based on two components, one is the sales and service operation, well, actually the sales and the service are the two main components that drive the parking requirements. In this case there will be no service, no auto service or auto repair services, so parking is based only on the sales. The square footage requires a total of fourteen parking spaces. There are all together 832 parking spaces on this site, fifteen of which would be located immediately adjacent to the building on the south and west side. Those spaces would be 10 feet by 20 feet would be reserved for customers and employees of the business and then the remaining 817 spaces that are shown would be used primarily for inventory and in that case the spaces are reduced to 9 feet by 20 feet. The site plan also shows that the spaces that are closest to Plymouth Road would have a setback of 20 feet from the property line and this is a special requirement of the waiver use. There is a single trash enclosure that is generally on the west edge of the rear parking lot that shows masonry enclosures as well as access gates. Also included in these plans is a detailed photometric plan. All the light poles would be limited to a height of 20 feet. We are making a recommendation and it is included in the Planning Commission’s approving resolution to limit the light levels along Plymouth Road to those that are consistent with Feldman’s new car dealership. Looking at the landscape plan, a total of 30 percent of the overall site would be in the form of green space and the submitted landscape plan does show the location and species as well as quantities and sizes of all the plant materials. As you can see from this overall site plan the landscaping is provided mainly along Plymouth Road, it also shows greenbelts along the east and west property lines and then at the rear of the property where there is a large storm water detention basin. Also included with the plan and this is something that the Plymouth Road Development Authority did get a chance to look at and is recommending approval of the plans as they relate to the PRDA themed streetscape improvements along the frontage of Plymouth Road. That includes some decorative brick piers, there’s four section, one on either side of the two main entryways going into the dealership 9 property. Then bordering the site to the west as I indicated earlier there is residential property that runs for a distance of about 990 feet and in this area the Zoning Ordinance does require a masonry screening wall at least five to seven feet in height. The plans show the screening wall running for a distance of approximately 652 feet. There is a section primarily along the northwest corner of the property where the petitioner is proposing a greenbelt in lieu of a masonry screen wall and that is something that the Planning Commission has reviewed at their hearing and is recommending approval as well. Then lastly I’ll just go over the signage plan, this is something that the Planning Commission did spend quite a bit of time on with the developer and the plan that you’re looking at is fully conforming to the Zoning Ordinance. What you’re looking at is a single wall sign facing Plymouth Road that would be limited to 82 square feet which is the maximum that is allowed for a wall sign on the building. The monument sign, one is allowed, maximum of six feet in height, thirty square feet in area. There was a couple plans presented showing what the sign might look like but it would be conforming to the ordinance. With that, Madam President, I would be happy to answer any questions. President Toy opened the floor for questions from Council. Hearing none, she called the Petitioner or their representative to the podium. Trey Brice from Jaffe Raitt law firm in Southfield, Michigan came to the podium. He stated as Mr. Taormina said this has been an ongoing and companion adventure. Council has already had the first reading of the zoning, you’ve had that and now we’re here for the nuts and bolts of the actual building. This is all laid out, all the requirements, we’ve gone back and forth and worked with the Planning Commission with response to their questions and concerns and have presented a plan that meets all of the code requirements, save a little bit of landscaping that will be required on the approval and not continue the wall, figured it’s much prettier, that spot wouldn’t be the wall. There are two points that I want to point out to you, questions on the landscape plans. There are two spots where the wall is broken on the west side, in both the situations we have, one is the wall is stopped along there, there’s a drainage easement so we can’t have any sort of wall. And in the very back there actually where the landscaping stops, there is an easement, wire tower easement for the communication tower and anything we put up, they’re going to come and cut down. So those are the only two spots where there’s any sort of opening there. He indicated the architect is here that can answer any questions specific to the plans. Kritzman stated that Council has had the chance to review this property multiple times as it initially came before them for the rezoning and the waiver request. He stated he has no problem with the use of the property but he would like to see a high level of design representative of what is needed in that corridor. The geometry of the design that you’ve got going and the metal panels I think is sufficient but the 10 rest of it is concrete block with E.I.F.S. and that is not really what I had in mind when I made those comments. I think maybe it’s a simple matter of shedding some additional light or seeing samples or maybe understand the module size that’s being proposed of the masonry units but those are not the level of materials that I would approve. Brice invited the architect up who he stated had samples. He indicated they were trying to keep with the other auto dealerships along the road, in fact in keeping with the new car dealerships, not the used car dealerships, this design is a step up from some of those and part of it is the branding of the 1-800-PREOWNED, so the color scheme and the glass is something they’ve been working on. Kritzman stated he had no problems with the color scheme and the glass, those were the two positives, but he has a problem with the rest of it. John Free, City Scape Architects, Inc., Novi, Michigan, came to the podium to address Kritzman’s questions. He stated they chose the burnished block because they were looking for a durable material and it was a more refined solution rather than standard block and provided a sample. He indicated they were looking for a clean palette of materials and that the client liked it and that it fit in with the other facilities he owns so he is comfortable with the durability and material and the look that it’s going to carry. The majority of the showroom is glass, it’s not a cheap material, it’s an elegant solution for a pre-owned building. Kritzman replied that he has always been consistent that the amount of concrete block on a building is something that should be limited. He doesn’t feel it meets the standards that they have come to expect from an esthetic perspective. He then asked if the Petitioner had given any consideration to using any other exterior materials other than the concrete block and he responded on prior plans there was more E.I.F.S. in an effort to provide insulation value which was reduced and that he felt the burnished block is going to be more expensive than a plain concrete block, and that they’ll probably due a double width wall, there will be two layers of block to be energy compliant on this building because of all the glass on the front half of the building and on an all glass building with overhead doors it’s going to be a challenge to meet the energy requirements so that’s one of the reasons why we originally started with E.I.F.S. and we backed up to something more durable, resilient, refined natural material. Kritzman responded if we’re going to cite the Energy Code can’t it be accomplished with a brick and a block back up and the Petitioner responded yes, that could be done with brick and block with probably an insulated cavity. Meakin stated his concerns were more along the landscaping of the site because he doesn’t want to see 800 cars parked on Plymouth Road and he feels that they should block the side. 11 The architect clarified the question by asking if Meakin meant because there’s a lack of hedges along that side the cars are more visible and Meakin replied he doesn’t want the cars visible and asked how that can be addressed? The architect responded that the easiest way to do that would be to provide a hedge row behind the building to block the back half of the lot. Meakin stated he would like to see more green, more hedges, more trees then are currently on the proposal. McIntyre offered to refer this matter to the Committee of the Whole and that she is excited to see development here and that Feldman is well-known and credible brand, but after discussion she feels there are a number of questions and issues with the building materials and the landscaping. She stated she is not comfortable with approving it but does not want to deny it either. Kritzman offered an approving resolution with the façade materials changed to traditional brick from the concrete block as well as the additional landscape screening that Councilmember Meakin referred to earlier. DIRECTION: 1) COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE 2) APPROVING WITH BRICK FACADE REGULAR ADDITIONAL LANDSCAPING 12. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE LIVONIA CODE OF ORDINANCES, AS AMENDED: Department of Law, re: adding Section 051, and amending Sections 050, 090, 100, 310 and 345 of Title 12, Chapter 04 (Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places) of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. (CR 71-11) Mike Fisher, Assistant City Attorney, and Todd Zilincik, City Engineer presented this request to Council. Mike Fisher, Assistant City Attorney, presented this request to Council stating it was an outgrowth of a Council discussion five months ago about updating fees. The City Engineer was the only official who seized that opportunity to revise fees and he indicated that these fees are strictly cost recovery and not a profit center, which is the principal legal goal of fees to make sure they’re not excessive. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, thanked the hard work of the Law Department regarding the Ordinance and there were two areas that were critical to his department, the permit processing fee will now be $35.00 and sidewalk waivers will now be $250.00. He stated they have not had an increase in their permit fees since 2005 and to be in accordance with other communities, they are recommending these changes. 12 McIntyre offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. President Toy thanked the boy scout who led the Pledge and his mother for their attendance at the meeting. As there were no further questions or comments, President Toy adjourned the Study Session at 9:38 p.m. on Monday, July 23, 2018. DATED: July 30, 2018 SUSAN M. NASH CITY CLERK