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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2015-02-02 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 2, 2015 Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. by President Brosnan. Present: Brandon Kritzman, Brian Meakin, John Pastor, Laura Toy, Lynda Scheel, Susan Nash, and Maureen Miller Brosnan. Absent: None. Elected and appointed officials present: Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development; Don Knapp, City Attorney; Susan Hoff, City Clerk; and Mayor Jack Kirksey. Mayor Kirksey mentioned to residents that if their street had not been plowed, to please keep their cars off of the streets. He noted that the Snow Emergency will not officially be lifted until 3 or 4 p.m. tomorrow. Toy announced that February is go red for women month to show support for prevention of heart disease in women. More information is available at www.goredforwomen.org. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: Christopher Martina, 12275 Inkster, expressed his support of the proposed hotel at Schoolcraft and Inkster Roads. NEW BUSINESS: 1. REQUEST TO WAIVE THE CITY'S NOISE ORDINANCE: John Paepke, P.E., Traffic Operations Engineer-Taylor, State of Michigan, Department of Transportation, re: in conjunction with the crack treatment on Old M-14 (Plymouth Road) between Market Street and Farmington Road, to allow the contractor to start operations at night, starting at 9:00 p.m. and continuing until 5:00 a.m. — Monday through Thursday, work is expected to begin in or around June of 2015. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented the request to Council. In an effort to adhere to MDOT construction specifications, reduce the impact to the motoring public and to allow the Contractor to maintain an aggressive work schedule, MDOT has requested a reprieve from the City of Livonia's ordinance regarding work during the night time hours for the duration of the Plymouth Road (Old M- 14) Road Crack Treatment Project, Market St. to Farmington Road. Work on M- 14 is expected to begin in June of 2015 and be completed in September of 2015. The Engineering Division in conjunction with the Inspection Department has no objection to this request and would like to respectfully recommend that the Council approve MDOT's request to allow the work to be completed in a timely manner and in the interest of safety. 2 Toy asked Zilincik how long the projected is expected to last. Zilincik said he expects not more than a couple of weeks. Scheel offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2. REQUEST TO APPROVE LEASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF LIVONIA AND ELIZABETH BURR FOR THE WHISPERING WILLOWS GOLF COURSE CLUBHOUSE RESTAURANT: Department of Parks & Recreation, re. for a period of eight (8) months, commencing on April 1, 2015 and ending on November 30, 2015, with three (3) optional five (5) year extensions. Dave Varga, Interim Superintendent, Parks and Recreation, presented the request to Council. During much of the past year, the operator of the Whispering Willows Clubhouse Restaurant has failed to meet its contractual agreement with the City. Non-payment of rent continued over many months in 2014. Therefore, the contract was terminated and the restaurant closed effective December 31, 2014. The Department of Parks and Recreation is seeking your approval on a lease agreement with Elizabeth Burr to operate a full-service bar and restaurant at the Whispering Willows. The clubhouse restaurant will serve the general public and golf patrons starting April 1, 2015. In order to find a new operator, specifications for management and operations were prepared by the Department. An advertisement was placed in the Sunday, December 21, 2014, issue of the Livonia Observer. Information was posted on the City of Livonia website (December 9, 2014, to January 7, 2015). In addition, two large signs were erected near the property, and information shared through the City and Livonia Chamber of Commerce's social media platforms. After an analysis by the Department in conjunction with the Finance Director, Ms. Burr's proposal was selected. It provides the highest rent payment and no exceptions to the City's proposed lease language. In addition, the proposed tenant has experience as a former co-owner and on-site manager at George Murphy's at Fox Creek for six years and a background of more than 25 years in the industry. It should be noted that the winning bid is $2,867 per month, which is about 30% less than the last contracted rate. This lower rate may reflect some of the location's inherent challenges, such as visibility and signage. Varga noted that Ms. Burr was present to answer any questions Council may have. Vice-President Meakin asked Varga what changes have been put into the lease to avoid the same problems from occurring again. Varga said they increased the security deposit and they made specific opening times and encouraged them to have breakfast available to the members. They also made some changes with the maintenance, specifically the frequency of cleaning the grease traps. 3 Toy asked the petitioner, through the Chair, about her experience and her plans for the restaurant. Elizabeth Burr said she has experience as a former co-owner and on-site manager at George Murphy's at Fox Creek for six years and a background of more than 25 years in the industry. Toy asked if the menu would be the same as George Murphy's and Burr replied, similar but not the same. Toy wished her much success. Vice-President Meakin asked the petitioner if she would explain how she intends to operate the business. Burr replied she wants to be open for breakfast and she said she wants enclose the patio and plans to be open year round. Toy asked Burr when she planned on taking possession. Burr replied April 1, 2015. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. AWARD OF BID: Department of Management Information Systems, re. for the proposed expansion of the City Fiber Network from City Hall to the Livonia Community Recreation Center (LCRC) and the Department of Public Works (DPW) for an amount not to exceed $145,348.91 from budgeted funds. President Brosnan said Mayor Kirksey will present this item on behalf of Dan Putman, Director of Information Systems, who was unable to attend the meeting tonight due to the snowstorm. Mayor Kirksey presented the request to Council. He said if Council preferred to wait until Dan Putman is available to answer any questions Council may have that would be fine, otherwise, Council may proceed with moving this item forward should it decide to do so. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. REQUEST FOR INFORMAL APPROVAL OF PROPOSED PROGRAM AND TENTATIVE BUDGET FOR THE 2015-2016 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM: Livonia Housing Commission, re. so that a second public hearing can be held on this matter, after which time a final program and budget will be forwarded to Council for formal adoption. 4 James Inglis, Executive Director, Housing, presented the request to Council. A report containing an explanation of the CDBG program (Attachment A) and the recommended budget (Attachment B), prepared by the CDBG Committee, for the use of CDBG funds for the 2015 program year (July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016) have been provided to Council. The CDBG Committee consists of the Housing Director, Director of Community Resources, Assistant City Engineer, Director of Inspection and Assistant Chief Accountant. The recommendations developed by the CDBG Committee are based on requests for funding received from various City departments and local non-profit organizations. The CDBG entitlement grant for the 2015-2016 program year has yet to be determined by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Once HUD calculates the formula then the City will be notified by HUD as to the final funding allocation. The 2014-2015 CDBG funding was in the amount of $328,256.00 and the Housing Commission anticipates that funding for the upcoming program year will be approximately the same. In addition to the annual entitlement, $366,000.00 of unprogrammed funds is reflected in the proposed budget. Two long-standing CDBG activities, the Home Improvement Loan Program and Scattered Site Rental Housing Program, generate program income through the repayment of deferred loans and rental income. The importance of the program income is that fifteen percent (15%) of all program income generated in the previous program year plus fifteen percent (15%) of the entitlement grant allocation may be allocated to public service programs identified in Section VI of the proposed budget (copies provided to Council). The recommended CDBG program and budget has been approved by the Livonia Housing Commission and Mayor Jack Kirksey. A public hearing was held earlier this evening, there were no adverse comments regarding the proposed budget, the housing market and the housing and non-housing community development needs in the community. At this time, they are requesting Council's informal approval of the proposed program and tentative budget so that they can hold a second public hearing on the matter as required by federal regulations. Based on the results of that hearing, a final program and budget will be prepared for formal adoption by the City Council. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Kritzman asked Inglis if many residents showed up at the Public Hearing; Inglis replied no. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2014-12-02-15, submitted by Matthew Adamcheck, to operate an indoor training facility (4 Star Strength & Conditioning) located on the west side of Industrial Road between the CSX railroad right-of-way and Schoolcraft Road (30958 Industrial Road) in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 26. 5 Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented the request to Council. This is a request to operate an indoor athletic training facility within an M-1 industrial zone. This is known as SARMOR Industrial Park which is located on west side of Industrial Road about one-third of a mile east of Merriman Road. This property contains roughly 482 feet of frontage along Industrial Road, has an average depth of 592 feet and contains a total land area of roughly 6.5 acres. The site is developed with a large multi-tenant industrial building that is about 110,880 square feet. There are two driveways off Industrial Road, one at the north end and one at the south end that provide access to the site. It is a "U" shaped building with parking and access on all sides. There are a total of 208 parking spaces available to the tenants within this facility. Entirely surrounding the subject property is industrial zoning and industrial land uses. In the lower right hand corner of the site plan, there is an area identified with red cross-hatch that denotes the space where 4 Star would be located. This is about a 1,645 square foot unit in the southeasterly corner of the building. The space itself would be divided into two areas. There is a front office and entrance area and then a door leading to the back area which is identified on the plan as a gym. That's the larger space and the area where the athletic training programs would be operated. There are no exterior building modifications planned in connection with this proposal. The strength training and conditioning facility as proposed would require one parking space for each employee plus sufficient off-street parking spaces for the safe and convenient loading and unloading of students. Parking is shared by all of the tenants in this facility. There are at least 20 parking spaces in close proximity of this unit. They don't anticipate any parking or access issues, mainly because of the number of persons that are going to be using this facility in relationship to the points of access or ingress/egress as well as parking. They believe that the peak hours of operation for this business will not coincide with the peak hours of the operation for most of the industrial uses within this complex. The petitioner, Mr. Adamcheck, is present this evening to answer any questions Council may have. Matthew Adamcheck, 18985 Filmore, Livonia, gave a brief description of the type of business he intends to be operating at this location. Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. As there were no further questions or comments, President Brosnan adjourned the Study Session at 8:25 p.m. on Monday, February 2, 2015. DATED: February 12, 2015 SUSAN A. HOFF CITY CLERK