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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2010-01-20 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD JANUARY 20, 2010 Meeting was called to order at 8:01 p.m. Present: Joe Laura, Laura Toy, Maureen Miller Brosnan, John Pastor, Brian Meakin, Terry Godfroid-Marecki and James McCann. Absent: None. Elected and appointed officials present: Mayor Jack Kirksey; Don Knapp, City Attorney; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Mark Taormina, City Planner; Paul St. Henry, Superintendent Public Service Operations; and Maureen Cosgrove, Assistant City Clerk. Mayor Kirksey asked Council for their support for a Council Resolution his office has prepared and read the following proposed resolution: WHEREAS, the Great Lakes are currently being threatened by an invasive species of fish known as Asian carp; and WHEREAS, this type of fish crowds out native species of fish by eating enormous amounts of food that native fish rely on and can quickly dominate the waterways due to their large size; and WHEREAS, if the carp make their way into the Great Lakes, they will pose a serious threat to tourism in Michigan and permanently damage the region's estimated $7 billion fishing industry; and WHEREAS, in addition to creating an ecological disaster if they enter the Great Lakes, Asian carp pose a risk to people since they are easily startled and at times jump out of the water when startled, presenting a hazard to boaters, anglers and waterskiers; and WHEREAS, there have been efforts to seek immediate solutions to this threat to the Great Lakes by measures such as requesting closure of the locks to block carp movement into Lake Michigan and installing additional fish water barriers; and WHEREAS, there is an immediate and pressing need to halt the potential progression of the invasive carp and the danger that this fish poses to the unique ecology of the Great Lakes and the way of life enjoyed in Michigan and other Great Lakes states; NOW, THEREFORE, the Livonia City Council does hereby request and urge the State Legislature and the Governor to continue to undertake efforts to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes; FURTHER, the Council hereby urges our Congressional delegation to lend bipartisan support to these efforts; 2 FURTHER, the Council hereby requests that the President support all steps necessary to provide a barrier at the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal or take any other necessary steps to ensure that this invasive species does not enter and permanently harm the Great Lakes; FURTHER, the Council hereby request that copies of this Resolution be sent to President Barack Obama, Governor Jennifer Granholm, State Senator Glenn Anderson, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senator Carl Levin, State Representative John Walsh, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, House Speaker Andy Dillon, Congressman Thaddeous McCotter and the Michigan Municipal League. Mayor Kirksey commented that in today's newspapers, both the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News. The front page of the Detroit Free Press has a headline "Is it too late?" in other words has it gone too far already to even do anything about this and on the front page of the Detroit News is an article addressing the same issue. He said the issue is not new. It has been going on for months and has reached the very critical stage that it is at today. At the heart of the matter is the wrecking of the food chain in the lakes because these fish consume 40% of their body weight each day, every day, each fish and they weigh approximately 100 pounds; a person can conceive what effect these fish would have on the food chain. The Mayor said today it was announced that the DNA of the Asian Carp was found in the breakwater near Calumet Harbor which is beyond the nearest lock. In other words, there are no locks between where the DNA was found and the great lakes. This goes back to whether or not the harm has actually occurred. The Supreme Court rejected Michigan's plea to shut down the locks leading to Lake Michigan. This issue has been said by many to be the biggest threat the lakes have ever seen in the history of the lakes. Arguments have been put forth from time to time that closing the locks could harm the barge owners that use the waterways. The actual harm that would occur to not only our area but all of the shoreline of the great lakes is obvious. Automobiles are the largest industry for Michigan. Tourism is Michigan's second largest industry. Tourism would certainly be impacted. There was high hope that there would be a preliminary injunction from the courts closing the Illinois waterways leading to southern Lake Michigan but that has not occurred and it appears that the carp are moving faster than the governmental processes. A lot of times these are sort of ceremonial in nature and ask do they have any impact; with everything else that is going on should people take the time to do this is a consideration. The Mayor said he thinks in addition to focusing on what has to be one of the most serious problems facing the state and other surrounding states; that the City will have an opportunity to get its citizens involved. He said very often people ask what they can do as citizens. The Mayor hoped that in the next day or so if Council chose to support this resolution, the City would post on the City website the contact information so that citizens can communicate to the President and Legislative Representatives and others that can make a difference. Whether or not it is too late, is yet to be seen but if nothing is done it will be too late. He said he thinks this is a very worthwhile, very appropriate thing for the community to be involved in. The Mayor said he has tried to distill out any politics in terms of that process because there are bound to be people on both sides that are involved one way or 3 another. He tried to just bring the issue itself to Council and stands ready to entertain any comments and hopes for their support. Godfroid-Marecki said she knows the Attorney General, Mike Cox, has been working on this issue. She asked, at this point, whose responsibility it would be in making that decision on closing the locks. The Mayor replied that it could happen in a number of ways and some of our Council members may have some insight on this. He said he knows Councilmember Toy is familiar with what is going on in the state and that the state has not been sitting on their hands and watching this develop but have tried to take actions and create legislation that would give some power to the state to be involved in this. Since this is a multi-jurisdictional issue with a number of states touching on this; there are lawsuits from these states to the federal government to take and seal that waterway off to prevent further invasion of the fish or perhaps to prevent them from being in there at all. The DNA has not been scientifically tested so the fact that the presence of it being detected does not necessarily mean that the fish are in numbers enough to create mass breeding or if in fact whether that is yet to occur. The Supreme Court is not supporting the states' efforts to close those waterways. He said in an effort to support his idea of seeking citizen participation in contacting the President and Legislative Representatives, he recalled how here locally when going through the planning process for Marketplace there was one store that was not supporting the renovation of the mall and the citizens were asked to write to that business and ask for their support. He said within four (4) or five (5) days after the citizens were requested to do that, the company that had not responded for years to anyone's request to be involved were negotiating in ways that they could be involved. The Mayor said he thinks these letters, perhaps not each one was read, but the volume of them gets attention. He believes that is the kind of effort that can make a difference. Pastor responded to Godfroid-Marecki by saying the person whose responsibility for making the decision would be the Governor of Illinois and he said that is who we have to get to, other than the President of the United States putting some pressure on the Governor of Illinois. Pastor said it was unfortunate that President Obama isn't supportive of our ban on that. Pastor stated he was on the DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) for four (4) years and was the chairman of their budget. He said he dealt with this and he went to Washington D.C. He said the State of Michigan actually funded a lot of money to do the electric barriers, so if fish hit the barriers it electrocuted them. He said what we need to do is not only write letters to our congressmen to have the President put pressure on the Governor of Illinois but also to get in with the environmentalists. They need to get excited about this because this is one of the most invasive species of fish that could ruin our Great Lakes. He said that we're not just talking about Lake Michigan. All of the other lakes are connected there. This is very, very important. He said he has had his tiffs with the DEQ up in Lansing but this is one thing they've actually fought hard with, our Governor has fought hard for this and our Attorney General is fighting hard right now for this. He said what he doesn't get is why the other states like Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, you even have Ohio and Pennsylvania and all the other states that hit the Great Lakes and Canada aren't jumping on board with this. Maybe they are and maybe they're not but that is what is 4 going to get this stopped; by putting the pressure on our President and the Governor of Illinois. This is just a huge issue that we need to take care of. Pastor said he recommends that anybody and everyone get on board with this to send out the message that this needs to be stopped. This is very, very important for our fisheries and our tourism. He recalled the zebra mussel and said this was going to be at least ten times worse. He encouraged everyone to get on board and support this resolution. Pastor offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT Lynda Scheel, 19980 Mayfield, President of Livonia Board of Education, gave an update on the Livonia Public Schools budget. She said they had to do mid-year budget cuts of around $8,000,000 and those cuts have been initiated. She said over the last couple of months their negotiating team has been meeting with all of their employee groups to see if they could come to any agreement for any type of considerations to help bring back any of those mid-year budget cuts. She was pleased to say that their cabinet members and their superintendent did step up to the plate in December and offer to meet any considerations that any other employee groups offer. She said as of right now they do have a tentative agreement with their LEA group, which is their largest group of employees and their LEANS group. They are in the process of dispersing information to their members and going through the vote taking process. She said they should know by next Monday evening or Tuesday if those agreements have been ratified. She said that will help them bring back some of their mid-year cuts that they had to make. Also, they are still having ongoing meetings and planning meetings with their other employee groups. They are looking forward to bringing back more of those mid-year cuts. She had a couple of meetings to announce. Their District Communications Team which consists of a parent and a staff member from every one of their school buildings has put together a Legislative Hour which is scheduled for this Monday, January 25, 2010, from 7:30 p.m. — 8:30 p.m., at the Stevenson High School South Cafeteria. They invited all of the legislators that represent any part of our Livonia Public School District. This is a great opportunity to thank our legislators for their efforts and to listen to their analysis of the state of our school funding. Each legislator that is there will give the audience an update on the status of school funding in Lansing and then they will answer questions from members of the audience. They have confirmations from Senator Glenn Anderson, Representative John Walsh and Representative Richard LeBlanc. She said that House Speaker Andy Dillon is going to try very hard to attend. She said they are also starting to put their main focus on next year's budget. Over the last couple of weeks from the January 11, 2010 revenue consensus they were told there would be a probable $268 per student cut to their funding for next school year. Tentative numbers as they looked at them a couple of weeks ago put them at a $12,000,000 cut they'll be looking at for next school year's budget. They have set up some community forum dates to get some input from their community. Those dates are Wednesday, February 3, 2010, at Churchill High School; Thursday, February 11, 2010, at Franklin High School; and Monday, February 22, 2010, at Stevenson High School. All of these forums are from 6:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. and they will all be held in the cafeterias of the high schools. The agenda for 5 these forums are as follows: from 6:30 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. they'll give an update on school funding and a presentation on 2010/2011 budget projections, from 7:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. they'll break up into small groups and each one of the groups will meet one on one with a school board member to ask questions and give some ideas and some feedback. There will also be a Superintendent Coffee on Thursday, February 4, 2010 from 9:30 a.m. — 10:30 a.m. at the Livonia School Board office with the Superintendent in the conference room regarding our financial future for those who cannot attend the evening forums. She wanted to update the community on those dates and invites everyone to attend any and all of the meetings and said they look forward to input from the community. She also said the community can send e-mails to the school board members or send a letter to the Livonia School Board office and it will be copied and sent to all school board members. She said they really do want to hear from the community with their input on any budget suggestions for the next school year. Brandon Kritzman, 29601 Jacquelyn, of the Livonia Jaycees, said they are having their year-end banquet at St. Mary's Cultural Center this Friday, January 22, 2010; the cost of the event is $30 and that covers dinner and drinks. They have a DJ planned for the evening and their guest speaker will be Attorney General, Mike Cox. He said tickets may be purchased from their website at www.livoniaiaycees.com . Pastor wished his wife Happy Anniversary. They will be celebrating their 22nd Wedding Anniversary this Sunday, January 24, 2010. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. NEW BUSINESS: 1. REQUEST FOR THE CITY OF LIVONIA TO DEVELOP A CONNECTIVITY PLAN FOR NON-MOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION: Frank Kalinski, The Non- Motorized Group, re: to make Livonia a more walking- and cycling-friendly community and to qualify for possible federal and state funding. Frank Kalinski, 9832 Berwick, said the whole idea behind this request is the roads have become a hazard to walk across in a lot of ways. He said he'd rather swim across a mote full of Asian carp or something than walk across a lot of streets. He said yesterday a gentleman was killed at 13 Mile Road and Gratiot while riding his bike on Gratiot Avenue in the left lane because the sidewalks are covered with snow. He said this morning he went to the Credit Union here on Five Mile and went to use the ATM and walked into area by the ATM machine but the doors were locked and there was a sign that said to go around the building to use the ATM machine. It was a drive-thru ATM. Here's an example of a case where nobody considered somebody that does not own a car. When you think about it, most people would just say that's fine and get back in their car and use the drive-thru ATM, he said that was what he did. He said to think about somebody that uses a walker who might be 75 years old. They would have to stand in line with cars and go through the drive-thru lane to use the ATM. He said 6 this is the type of situation to recall when talking about walkability issues. He said they think they can designate a pathway from Hines Park all the way up to Eight Mile but then it would also connect to downtown Farmington. This isn't a recreational issue; it's a commercial and economic thing. It would have to be wide enough that people could walk in both directions and bicycles would also get down it. One of the big problems of putting bicycles on the road is there is such a mismatch between the car and the bicycle and when there is an accident the bicyclist does not stand a chance. Even a minor collision between two (2) cars is deadly for a bicyclist or a pedestrian. These things are going on all the time. One third of the people in this country who are eligible to drive do not drive and so it becomes an equal access issue. When looking at the constitution and how to make things available to everybody, these were some very down-to-earth kinds of questions that were not being addressed. In order to get federal funding a master plan is needed. It doesn't need to be a great big huge drawn out thing but they would have to be able to give to the federal government something indicating how things are done. He gave as an example, Wonderland Mall, indicating they did a really good job designing the mall to make it more useable for people to walk around there. He said they brought the stores down closer to the streets, its good exposure for the stores and makes them more visible to the public as opposed to a strip mall or traditional shopping mall. There is economic value to these things and they can then apply those funds. They can get funding from the federal government, matching funds — there's all kinds of money. There is a lot of money being spent on the I-275 bike path which also connects to Hines Drive. You can connect to Dearborn, Plymouth, and Northville. So it's part of this larger community. The pathways would connect Madonna University and Schoolcraft College. There's a pathway on Haggerty Road too. Using all of these things you can actually get around this entire area without a car. Toy said there's a wonderful program the Meijer's Corporation sponsors; it's called Rails and Trails. She said there could also be some dollars there as well since we have a Meijer store in Livonia and another store in Northville. Dave Duffield, League of Michigan Bicyclist, said with regard to the comment earlier about the I-275 bike path its very timely because MDOT will be doing that project this spring. There are three (3) different contractors and many subcontractors but this spring is when they will be doing the I-275 bike path. Meakin offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: REFER TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE CONSENT COMMITTEE 2. NOTICE OF DISCONTINUATION OF TAXI SERVICE: Valerie Duarard, Catch- A-Cab, re: to hopefully resume taxi cab service when the economy picks up. 7 McCann offered the resolution to receive and file this item on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: RECEIVE AND FILE CONSENT 3. APPLICATION FOR MASSAGE THERAPIST PERMIT: Office of the City Clerk, re: submitted by Mary Ericson in accordance with Chapter 5.49 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, as amended. Mary Ericson, 511 N. Holbrook, Plymouth, said she will be working at Complete Care Therapeutic Massage which is located at 6 Mile Road and Newburgh Road. She is currently a massage therapist in Plymouth; she previously worked in Novi and has worked as a massage therapist for over 2 '/2 years. Toy offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. COLLECTION OF TAXES FOR THE LIVONIA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR THE YEAR 2010: Office of the City Clerk, re: forwarding a communication from the Secretary of the Board of Education requesting the City to continue to collect one-half of their district's taxes with the summer tax collection and the remaining one-half with the winter tax collection, commencing July 1, 2010. McCann offered the resolution to receive and file this item on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: RECEIVE AND FILE CONSENT 5. REVISED REQUEST TO UTILIZE THE GREENMEAD PROPERTY FOR THE 161ST ANNUAL HIGHLAND GAMES: St. Andrew's Society of Detroit, re: to hold a special scotch tasting event during the afternoon of games day, August 7, 2010, and to extend the hours in the main entertainment tent until 8:30 p.m. to hold a "Pipe Down." (CR 54-09) Ron Cunningham, 21314 Caledonia, Hazel Park, stated he is a Trustee with the St. Andrew's Society of Detroit. He started with saying thank you to the Leadership of Livonia and the City Departments. St. Andrew's Society has been putting on the Highland Games for 160 continuous years and next August will be their 161St year. He said their request tonight is to renew permission Council gave them last year for their special scotch tasting event and to extend the hours in the main entertainment tent until 8:30 p.m. for a Pipe Down. Normally they finish the games at 5:30 p.m. The reason they're asking for the extended time is because after the competition for pipers and drummers the adrenaline is still pumping and a lot of the people don't want to leave. Last year they received permission for an additional three (3) hours until 8:30 p.m. and it helped them control the 8 congestion of the traffic as they were leaving. About 10,000 people had to start leaving around 5:00 p.m. and a number of people stayed in the entertainment tent until 8:30 p.m., so it helped with traffic control by extending their hours. They were very pleased last year to have about 10,000 people in attendance and even with the down economy they ended up raising over $40,000 which they've distribute in the metropolitan Detroit area and throughout Michigan. He said he was there before Council to again say thanks and ask them to renew their approval from last year. He said the scotch tasting is conducted by the Remy Cointreau Distributors. They bring over a representative from their distilleries in Scotland, from the Macallan and Highland Park Distilleries. Last year they had about 40 people in the brown house at Greenmead and they put on about a 1 '/2 hour presentation. He said it's educational, they give the participants a very small taste of single malt scotch and he said he will admit that after about five (5) Castings, a gentleman came over with a thick Scottish burr, and after the Castings he began to understand him. Mr. Cunningham brought a program from their event last year for Council and asked if they would extend their approval again this year. Laura thanked Mr. Cunningham and the St. Andrew's Society of Detroit for bringing this great event to Livonia. Mr. Cunningham thanked him for his comments. He added that the folks at Greenmead have been exceptional. He said they've worked with them over the years and it's a very special place for them. He also mentioned that they do clean up after themselves. They have a team that comes in there on Wednesday to set up the games and on Sunday morning they come back and start taking everything down and picking up the litter. They leave everything the way they found it. He also said as far as City Departments, he said the City's Fire Department has won their tug of war event three (3) years out of six (6) years. He said last year the Motorcity Hog Riders Motorcycle Club beat the Wayne County Sheriffs in the finals and the Livonia Fire Department finished in third place. Meakin thanked Mr. Cunningham and said they do a wonderful job working with the Police Department with regard to traffic control and their efforts to not disturb the neighbors. He also thanked Julie who has been the past chairperson and has given the presentations for a number of years now and said she brought the idea of the scotch tasting idea to them last year. He said a few of them had an opportunity to partake in that and it was a very educational and informal training that they did enjoy. He said the Highland Park scotch was excellent. Laura offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 9 6. REQUEST FOR NON-PROFIT DESIGNATION: Dr. Keith J. Pierce, Young Academic & Athletic Association, re: as required by the State of Michigan to obtain a Charitable Gaming License to allow them to host a poker event to raise funds for their organization. Johnny Subu, 35163 Nola Lane, Farmington Hills, said he and some associates started a YAAA youth athletic academic association. They help children get more involved with sports. They help children of families in need. Laura said Council is familiar with Dr. Pierce. He is very gracious with his time and has done a lot of charitable events in this City and around the City. Laura thanked Dr. Pierce for his time and efforts. Meakin said he wanted to recognize both gentlemen who are local business owners here in Livonia. It is certainly appreciative in these economic times that they are able to put forth an effort to help youngsters be active in sports. He thanked both of them. Dr. Keith Pierce, 18515 Peninsula Way, Northville, said he'd like to add one thing, just to give a little more depth to the matter. He said they invite everyone to help, just like the Highland Games, which is very important to the City. He said 15 — 25 % of the people who are even on the TV are out of work. This leaves the kids who are not going to be able to do academics or athletics. We're also covering part of the healthcare of uninsured children between the ages of 10 through 21. He said he thinks that it is something that we all need to be interested in and they're always looking for help from the City and community to help out so the community doesn't have the problems like they do at the school districts where families have to pay for their children to play ball. These things create major problems, major problems for all of us, because we want our children to develop in a proper fashion and if they don't do the extracurricular activities, they can't do their academics and if they can't have health insurance they're going to have problems. He said he just wanted to put that on record, and if anyone is willing to help they're looking for as many volunteers as possible. Toy asked Dr. Pierce if they had a specific date in mind for this event. He said that they were hoping for April or May sometime. Godfroid-Marecki said she wanted to commend them on their efforts. She said with regard to the problems Dr. Pierce just mentioned she said many people expect government to solve these types of problems and get involved in. She said it's nice to see a private organization taking care of this. Dr. Pierce responded by saying there's only so much the government can do and we all need to get involved, just like when we reach into our pockets to give $10 to Haiti, they can send $10 to our underserved children in the metropolitan Detroit area. He said one of the reasons he's involved with this effort is because he has 10 a 12-year old son and he wants him to grow up in a community that we pursue as a wonderful community. Laura offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 7. REQUEST FROM THE MICHIGAN LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE REQUEST FROM RNZ, INC. TO TRANSFER ALL STOCK FOR A 2008 SDD AND SDM LICENSED BUSINESS WHEREIN STOCKHOLDER NAJIB ZEBARI TRANSFERS 1,000 SHARES OF STOCK TO NEW STOCKHOLDER, DARREN ZEBARL Division of Police, re: for the business located at 19610 Middlebelt, Livonia, MI 48154. As the petitioner was not present, the item was moved to the next Study Meeting of February 1, 2010. 8. REQUEST TO WAIVE THE COMPENSATION PROVIDED FOR ATTENDING BOARD OF ETHICS MEETINGS PURSUANT TO SECTION 2.00.070(C)(5) OF THE LIVONIA CODE OF ORDINANCES: Board of Ethics, re: same. Don Knapp, City Attorney, said this was just a request to waive the compensation for the Board of Ethics members. Laura asked if there was a time limit set on the waiver. Knapp replied that it could be changed anytime if Council so wished, presumably it would last as long as the members are willing to go along with it and presumably if that were to change the Administration could make a recommendation to Council to change it back to another level of compensation at some point in the future. Laura responded by saying that it's a most gracious request from those members, he said the only thing that he would ask is that when times get better and we look to restore some of the things that have been cut that this be included in those things to be restored at that point in time. Mayor Kirksey said he wanted to add a couple of comments relative to this item. He said Dr. McDowell who is the Chair of the Ethics Committee and has been so since it formed and also the same people that were appointed to that board during the Mayor's first administration continue on. There has not been a change, no one has left and it is still the same people that are there. They had thought that with all the cutbacks going on with all the other commissions, the number of meetings has been reduced and compensation has been reduced. They wanted to join in this effort to try to save service jobs in the community. They are indefinitely offering to go without compensation for their meetings and there may be a time in the future where all of this can be reconsidered again. Pastor offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. 11 DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 9. AWARD OF BID: Water and Sewer Board, re: for water main repair clamps for the City's 2010 calendar year requirements. Paul St. Henry, Superintendent of Public Services, said this is an annual bid they go through and they presented it to the Water and Sewer Board. This is for the clamps to repair water mains when there are breaks or holes in water mains. Meakin offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 10. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO EXTEND CONTRACTS WITH MANSFIELD OIL COMPANY AND RKA PETROLEUM COMPANIES, INC.: Public Service Division, re: for purchase of gasoline and diesel fuel for the period of February 1, 2010 through January 31, 2012, under the terms and conditions of the original bids accepted February 13, 2008. (CR 53-08) Paul St. Henry, Superintendent of Public Services, said this was a consortium they were made aware of and investigated and decided to go with, out of Oakland County primarily, Sterling Heights is the lead on this and they established the rates with the different companies back in 2007-2008. They approached the companies about extending that for another two (2) year option and they were amenable to that and we figured that was as good as price we were going to be able to get. Brosnan offered the approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. As there were no further questions or comments, Council President McCann adjourned the Study Session at 8:51 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20, 2010. DATED: January 25, 2010 LINDA GRIMSBY, CITY CLERK