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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSTUDY - 2018-11-07 CITY OF LIVONIA – CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD NOVEMBER 7, 2018 Meeting was called to order at 9:26 p.m. by President Toy. Present:, Brian Meakin, Jim Jolly, Brandon Kritzman, Scott Bahr, Cathy White, Kathleen McIntyre, and Laura Toy. Absent: None. Vice President Jim Jolly led the meeting in the Invocation. Elected and appointed officials present: Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Paul Bernier, City Attorney; Denise Maier, Director of Human Resources; Doug Moore, Superintendent of Public Service; and Mayor Dennis Wright. President Toy wished her sister Carol a happy birthday. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. NEW BUSINESS: 1. REQUEST TO WAIVE SIDEWALK REQUIREMENT: Eric N. Conn, re: for the single-family home located at 30069 Munger. Eric Conn, 30069 Munger, presented this request to Council. He stated he obtained a building permit to build a new house and that all of the homes on his street are zoned R-U-F and there are no sidewalks. He stated that the Building Department sent him to the City Clerk in order to be heard before Council requesting the waiver. Jolly stated that it’s a great thing there are R-U-F lots in the City and he offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: Approving Consent 2. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL TO RENEW LEASE AGREEMENT: Livonia Housing Commission, re: for a ten-year period effective September 1, 2019, to occupy the City property located at 10800 Farmington Road for the administrative offices for two federal housing programs, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and the Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance program. 2 Jim Inglis, Director of Housing, presented this request to Council. He stated he has a renewal of a lease agreement that back in September of 2009, the Housing Commission leased a property from the City at 10800 Farmington Road, the old Fire Station near Sheldon Center and that that lease is about to expire on August 31, 2019. He asked for the lease to be renewed. The current lease does provide for a five-year renewal period; however the Housing Commission would like to offer a 10-year renewal period. The lease does provide for a 30-day cancellation provision by either party, so they hope the 10-year provision will not be a problem. st Also, the lease amount will increase on September 1, 2019, the lesser of 4% or the Consumer Price Index as of June 30, 2019. The current lease does provide that the Housing Commission handle all the snow removal, and that they are offering to take over all of the lawn maintenance themselves rather than the DPW, and they will enter into a contract with a landscaper to do grass cutting, edging, weed whipping, also trimming bushes and the like to try and enhance the look of the property on the outside and they are asking the lease be revised to include that provision of the Housing Commission taking care of the ground maintenance including the cost thereof. He stated the Housing Commission respectfully requests that the lease be extended for a period of ten years effective September 1, 2019. White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REQUEST TO APPROVE EMERGENCY REPAIR: Livonia Fire & Rescue, re: for emergency repair to Tower 1 which suffered a failure in the main swivel device due to deterioration of the main swivel, rendering the vehicle inoperable. Dave Heavener, Fire Chief, presented this request to Council. He stated that they have two aerial devices, and that their 100-foot Tower which is one of their platform devices that protects the north end of the City, suffered damage to a part on it, it is an expensive part because the vehicle’s manufacturer is no longer in business, so any parts that need to be replaced on it need to be custom built. The vehicle is out of service currently. It is being repaired and expected to be done hopefully by next week. He stated this is an emergency request due to the fact that it’s a frontline piece of equipment that is crucial to the operation of the Fire Department. White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Bahr asked when looking at the invoice, it appears that the work was already done and Chief Heavener responded it is in the process of being repaired, it’s a long process and that the damaged piece, the broken piece happened last month and it’s been in process since then, just to manufacture the part takes that long. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3 4. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN SMART AND THE CITY OF LIVONIA: Department of Community Resources, re: for the Municipal Credit Contract for the period July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, with all Credits to be used for the Livonia Community Transit Program. Linda McCann, Director of Community Resources, presented this request to Council. She stated she is asking Council for approval for their yearly Municipal Credit Contract with SMART. It is $95,342 and it goes into their Community Transit Program budget. White stated this is a recurring item and offered an approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 5. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE ONE (1) 2019 FORD E-45O CUTAWAY VAN UNDER THE STATE OF MICHIGAN CONTRACT: Department of Community Resources, re: for Livonia Community Transit. Linda McCann, Director of Community Resources, presented this request to Council. She stated this is an additional vehicle for the Transit Department. SMART does maintenance on SMART’s schedule which is very strict and sometimes there are four or five buses in for maintenance because the schools do the maintenance and they have one mechanic that works on all their buses and Transit vehicles, which sometimes results in routes being cut because the department is short vehicles. She stated the addition of this vehicle will help alleviate that problem and is a budgeted item. She said it also comes out of a SMART millage and there’s no general funds. Kritzman offered an approving resolution on the Consent Agenda. Kritzman stated he would like to see more identification on the Transit vehicles recognizing the City of Livonia and McCann replied that she agreed and would pass that comment on. DIRECTION APPROVING CONSENT 6. REQUEST TO MODIFY LIVONIA COMMUNITY TRANSIT JOB CLASSIFICATIONS: Civil Service Department, re: to better define the qualifications, responsibilities and expectations of job descriptions to be used in the Community Resources Transit Division. Denise Maier, Director of Human Resources, presented this request to Council. She stated for about the last twenty-one years, the Community Resources Transit Department has been working with what for them is outdated job classifications and descriptions. She stated the Community Resources Director, Linda McCann, 4 went through the four positions that are before Council tonight and rewrote the job specs with new appropriate job titles. The other job classifications have not been retired because Housing still uses them but for Community Resources, the ones that they were using are obsolete. The new classifications are Assistant Office Manager, Program Office Manager, Dispatcher I and Dispatcher II. Prior to this request, the Dispatcher I was referred to as a Project Leader, and Dispatcher II a Project Coordinator, so you can see they don’t really represent what the employee is doing. Job descriptions were also provided to go with the classifications. President Toy asked when the last time these were changed and McCann replied she had been with the City for twenty-two years and they’ve always been the same. Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 7. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF TRANSIT/GRANT CLASSIFICATIONS PAY RATE INCREASES: Civil Service Department, re: a request for 4% wage rate increase effective December 1, 2018, a 2% wage rate increase effective December 1, 2019, and a 2% wage rate increase effective December 1, 2020. Denise Maier, Director of Human Resources, presented this request to Council. She stated the last time the Transit employees received a pay increase was on st December 1 of 2015 and that was a 2% increase, so they’ve not had an increase st as of 12-1-16 or 12-1-17, that’s why we’re looking for the 4% on December 1, 2018 and then 2% and 2% for the subsequent years. She indicated they are trying to stay competitive and retain the employees they do have. Kritzman offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 8. REQUEST TO ESTABLISH INDIGENT DEFENSE FUND (260) AND APPROVE BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR 2017-18 AND 2018-19 FISCAL YEAR BUDGETS: th Department of Finance, re: for the 16 District Court to provide the required indigent defense services required under Public Act 93 of 2013. Mike Slater, Director of Finance, presented this request to Council. He stated this item and the next two items all relate to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission which was established by Public Act 93 of 2013. In a nutshell, what this is trying to accomplish is to improve the representation of indigent defendants in the District Court. The first item relates to establishment of a budget for these additional services, they will also be funded through a grant from the State of Michigan, a small portion is going to be funded with City dollars. 5 What is before you is a two-part request, one, the Department of Treasury has indicated or provided guidance that we need to account for these activities in a separate special revenue fund and so they are asking to create the Indigent Defense Fund (260). And then secondly, since there is no budget for this at this time they are asking Council to approve budget amendments to the current year budget, 2017-2018, and then also amendments to the already adopted 2018-2019 Fiscal Year Budget. There is additional information in your packets regarding what type of costs will be incurred by this program. Vice President Jolly pointed out that Natalie Stojcevska , Court Administrator, was present as well. He indicated that Natalie has been updating him in regard to what is going on in this effort throughout the State for the last couple years. He stated they’ve done a great job here, and confirmed that grant funds will be utilized as well, substantial grant money. He then asked if going forward if this grant funding will be renewable or at some point would these costs be borne by the City in subsequent years. Stojcevska replied that the Act at this time indicates it is the function of the legislature to fund the Indigent Defense Act and the Commission itself, so there is no information that states otherwise at this time. She indicated they are asked to supply a local share which is minimal, approximately $17,211.00, which is an average derived from the years of 2011, 2012 and 2013 of the Court’s expenditures and reimbursements for Court Appointed fees. So at this time she doesn’t believe that there is going to be any additional costs that would be incurred in the next years to come but that is subject to the legislature. Jolly stated that this is important and it is an attempt by the State to bring up the level of indigent defense and he thanked Stojcevska for her good work and keeping him updated. Jolly offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. McIntyre inquired who determines who the court appointed attorneys are and Stojcevska replied at this time it is upon the local level to determine the list of court appointed attorneys and presently they have a list of local members of the bar in good standing and the belief that there will be additional standards that will come along after the first four which is what their current compliance plan is addressing, which separates the judiciary to some degree and has the funding unit take an active role in the decision making of who those attorneys will be who will be serving for the indigent defense. White asked even though the Act was adopted in 2013, is it being done now because now is the first time that funding was available from the State and Stojcevska replied in the affirmative. 6 Jolly stated to McIntyre’s query that generally speaking the court appointed attorneys that are there currently, that they will continue to be either Livonia citizens or members of the Livonia Bar Association and Stojcevska replied that that is typically their standard and in good standing with the State Bar. Jolly then stated this process will add an additional level of continuing education in terms of Criminal Defense Statutes and case law that has not been mandated by the State at this point. McIntyre asked how the wage of the court appointed attorneys is established and Stojcevska replied it appears that they set a wage at the present time, the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, it is $100 an hour at this time. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 9. REQUEST TO APPROVE GRANT AGREEMENT BETWEEN MICHIGAN INDIGENT DEFENSE COMMISSION AND CITY OF LIVONIA: Department of Finance, re: for grant funding available for period of October 1, 2018 through th September 30, 2019, to be used to assist the City and 16 District Court to provide the services described in the approved Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Compliance Plan. Mike Slater, Director of Finance, presented this request to Council. He stated this is the actual grant agreement and the agreement is between the City of Livonia and the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC). The maximum amount of the grant is $396,939.96 and they are asking Council to authorize the City to enter into this agreement. Jolly offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 10. REQUEST TO APPROVE PURCHASE OF VIDEO ARRAIGNMENT CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND WAIVE THE SEALED BID th PROCESS: 16 District Court, re: to allow for confidential remote communication between attorneys and defendants, from budgeted funds. th Natalie Stojcevska, Court Administrator, 16 District Court, presented this request to Council. She stated this project ties into the MIDC Commission. During the planning stage of the compliance plan that was required to be submitted, they had to recruit the vendor that deals with their technology needs both at the Court as well as the Livonia Police Department. In order to comply with the standards of allowing for confidential communication between the Defendants that are in custody and in person that appear for arraignments, they have to allocate for confidential hearing settings as well as for remote technology so the attorneys will be able to reach directly to the Police Department via Polycom that’s confidential 7 and reach the defendants so that they can satisfy one of the standards which is having a counsel at first appearance and also a confidential meeting prior to the arraignment. She stated they contracted a quote with a vendor that they’ve used since inception of the building of the courthouse which is Conti. The Conti Corporation met with them, along with the Police Department, as well as the IT director, and they do have support from the Livonia Police Department as well as the IT to use this agency for their technology needs, that is part of the current compliance plan that has been approved by the MIDC. White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Jolly inquired how they are going to train the attorneys to use the equipment without anybody else involved and Stojcevska stated that will be their biggest challenge. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 11. REQUEST TO ACCEPT QUOTATION FOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE: Department of Finance, re: with York Risk Services Group, to provide claims administration services and with Midwest Employers Casualty Company to provide excess insurance coverage when losses from any one claim reaches $600,000, for the period from December 1, 2018 to November 30, 2020. Mike Slater, Director of Finance, presented this request to Council. He stated this is a request to renew their Workers’ Comp insurance, it is two part. The first part is a request to authorize a contract with York Risk Services Group in the amount of $37,896 in year one and then $38,654 in year two. He indicated York is their current claims administrator and the price that they’ve quoted is a 12% decrease from their current cost. The second part of this is a recommendation to approve a contract with Midwest Employers Casualty Company, to provide the excess insurance coverage and this is the coverage when claims reach over $600,000, they would cover any additional costs over and above that. The annual premium for that coverage is $134,298.00. Midwest was the only provider that was willing to offer a self-insured retention less than $750,000 and their quote reflects a 7% increase over their current rates. The summary of the quotes provided and the history of costs are provided as exhibits to Councils’ packets. White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 8 12. REQUEST TO RENEW THE CITY’S LIABILITY AND PROPERTY INSURANCE COVERAGE: Department of Finance, re: with the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA) for the period from December 1, 2018 to November 30, 2020. Mike Slater, Director of Finance, presented this request to Council. He stated the current coverage expires November 30, 2018 and that they are recommending to continue coverage with the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA). Their quoted premium cost for the first year is $1,226.486.00, however, as has happened for a number of years now, if we do remain with them the City will receive a net asset distribution of dollars back to us of $810,939.00, so the net cost is much less than the quoted premium. He indicated MMRMA has been a great partner with the City, they provide coverages that other commercial insureds do not provide and other additional services that if the City had a commercial insurer, they would need to hire additional people to perform. He stated the other thing to keep in mind is if the City does not renew with them, it will not get the $810,000 and it is their recommendation to renew with MMRMA. White stated she knows the net asset distribution varies from year to year and asked how the City’s distribution for this two-year period, how did it compare to prior periods in the last five or six years. Slater directed her to look on Page 2 of the letter where the distributions back to 2006 are listed and stated that between 2006 and the expected net asset distribution with renewal in 2018, the City will have received over $8.3 million dollars back. He stated this is not a guarantee, it is based on a fairly complicated formula, but what they do is they take a look at their net assets and they compare their reserves to what a high quality insurer would expect to have in reserves, and to the extent there’s excess, some of that is distributed back to members. Those members that have had good claims experience and have been with the program the longest get the bigger distributions so the City does very well on that rating scale. McIntyre offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 13. REQUEST TO WAIVE THE FORMAL BIDDING PROCESS AND AUTHORIZE PURCHASE OF ONE VARIABLE MESSAGE SIGN: Public Service Division, re: through the State of Michigan bid pricing from budgeted funds. Doug Moore, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated the Department is asking for Council’s approval to buy a variable message sign, there actually is one on Farmington Road right now by Bates, it 9 gives the ability to put a message up for all kinds of things from road work to special events to you name it, it gets towed behind the truck and set up. He indicated they are looking to purchase it from Truck & Trailer Specialties of Howell in the amount of $17,897.00 and is being purchased through MiDEAL at a 15% discount over retail. McIntyre asked if there was an opportunity to rent these signs or if the need necessitates the purchase of them and Moore responded there probably are rental places but is not aware of all of them but cited Garden City Rental as being one of the places that may have these kind of units and that they probably could go through the supplier. McIntyre stated she’d be happy to offer the approving on Consent but asked Moore to look into what the rental costs would be per day and give an estimate of how many times a year these are needed. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 14. REQUEST TO AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF ONE PIVOTING CONCRETE BUGGY FROM MICHIGAN SOLE SOURCE PROVIDER: Public Service Division, re: for use by the Roads Department. Doug Moore, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated this is a motorized concrete buggy but they are also called motorized wheelbarrows, they used to be made with wheels, this one will have tracks on it and the ability for the dump body on it to dump up and down and sideways. He stated they’ve been in situations where they have to get in backyards or tight areas and to move material in and out becomes very cumbersome with either skid loaders which tear up things or wheelbarrows which are hard to man after a few hours. He stated they are looking to purchase this from Alta Equipment Company in the amount of $16,644.00. Alta is the local distributor, the next closest is somewhere in Kentucky. Bahr stated he usually sees these requests with the language “from budgeted funds,” but that this letter states that funds have been made available and asked for an explanation for that. Moore replied that they had savings in the pick-up truck purchases this year from the Roads and Parks Sections, savings were realized because some of the items that were being included on the vehicles were not as expensive as they thought they were going to be. 10 Bahr offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 15. REQUEST TO ACCEPT PROPOSALS FOR CONTRACTED SNOW REMOVAL SERVICE FOR MAJOR STORMS: Public Service Division, re: for snow fall of over four (4) inches for a three year period (2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020- 2021). Doug Moore, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated this is a three-year contract, it’s the same contractors they have used for many years, they used to have three but Nagle has dropped out of this service, so they are now down to Stante and it used to be Fiore Enterprises but now it’s Great Lakes Contracting Solutions, they supply anywhere from ten to sixteen pieces of equipment to us depending on what the storm sounds like it’s going to be. Normally they store them over at Glendale at the Waste Management building area for the most part. They’ll bring them in, bring them out as they see fit but usually we keep a supply through the winter. Stante will bring the road graders in and Fiore has a tendency to bring in the four wheel loaders with the plows on the bucket. President Toy asked if that is for snow fall of over four inches and Moore replied that it would be the snow emergency kind of snowfalls. Jolly asked if there was a reason for the name change of Fiore and Moore indicated he did not know unless they were bought by somebody recently. Jolly offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 16. REQUEST TO APPROVE 2019 ROAD REPAIR PROGRAM: Engineering Division, re: as reviewed by the Citizens Advisory Committee on roads for the seventh year of the ten-year road paving millage approved by Livonia residents. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. He stated that Karl Kevra, Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee was in the audience tonight. He said this is the seventh year of their ten year renewal program. This year they went out and rated the roads, 370 miles of roads, they do it every two years so the next time they do it will be in 2020. From there you can see that the ratings, basically 8 to 10, we have approximately 370 miles of roadway, which 58 are in very good to excellent. The rating of 6 to 7 is in good condition, we have about 163 miles. The rating for 4 to 5, fair, there is about 137, and the poor, 1 to 3, is about 13 miles. Basically a brief summary is as you know we had a bad winter last year, a lot of the roads have somewhat deteriorated to the point where we’re at a 6.3, the overall 11 rating is about 6.05. The good news is that we’ve got a budget set up for 8.2 million for this year’s program, that will hopefully infuse some additional locations that we can get done but wants to give a brief breakdown of what they found from the ratings this year. rd From that there was a meeting with the Citizens Advisory on October 3, they went out and took the bus to go out and look at the roads with the Committee members. th Then there was a follow-up meeting on October 25 where the residents were invited to come out and speak their piece, any concerns. Four people showed up for the meeting, the same as last year, so that is a sign that they’re doing something good but again, they always want to hear from people, if there’s something they missed or other information that may not come to light. So that’s always a good effort to get the word out to have people attend. Basically about 9.1 million dollars’ worth of repairs, however, the budget set up this year is 8.2, as always we fit the budget for the roads itself. So we try to predict where we can do the roads for concrete and asphalt. If you look at the overall map, we’re going to focus on locations north of Five Mile Road which we didn’t get last year that were cut off in Section 24 that were in green, asphalt off of Five Mile and east of Middlebelt. On the concrete side of things, kind of picking up areas where we kind of left off over the last three years, Denne, Olson, down in Section 35 off of Joy Road, picking up a piece of Iowa, a little piece of Hartel, but the major portion you’ll see is Hillcrest and Milburn off of Seven Mile, those have been desperately needed for a while to get done. And in Section 17 off of Levan and continue on in Section 18, Nola Circle, where we’ve been in this year, try to get some relief in those areas as we’ve been focusing further away from the central part of the City. One of the things I want to bring to your attention is we have an MDOT OAP Program, funding to get 81.25% paid for Ann Arbor Trail from Newburgh to Eckles which we’ll do next year. As you know Farmington Road is under construction, we’re hoping that they’ll finish this year but weather will tell us, if not, we’ll have to carry over next year but we are very grateful that Wayne County is out there getting that done with Zabroni. And Inkster Road from Five to Six Mile will be done by Wayne County and the last one that’s carry over for this year is Haggerty from Five to Six, they didn’t get to us this year, so that’s a brief update on that. So we’re looking for your approval, I do have Karl Kevra who would like to talk a little bit about the resolution that we have talked about on County roads over and above the City roads, I’ll let him speak to that if he wants to on the resolution. But there’s six locations that we felt that we have concerns with but he can speak to that. 12 Karl Kevra came to the podium and stated that after the meetings that were held rdth on October the 3 and the follow-up meeting on the 25, they came up with six roads that they were hoping to get the support of the Council when they talk to the Wayne County Commission, obviously you’ve driven these roads so these won’t be any surprises for you. One of the roads we’d like to bring to their attention for serious consideration is Merriman Road and Five Mile, the intersection right there. Also, the Farmington Road between Plymouth Road and Orangelawn. Thirdly, we’d like to have them consider the repaving of the road segment of Merriman Road between Plymouth Road and Schoolcraft. Fourthly, we’d like the resurfacing of the Farmington Road, Six Mile to Seven Mile. Fifth, we’d like the resurfacing of the intersection of Middlebelt and Five Mile, all roads that you’ve all been on. Then number six, to review the concrete median on Middlebelt Road between Schoolcraft and Plymouth. They are hoping that Council will support the Committee and bring these six areas to the attention of the Wayne County Road Commission so it can be moved to the top of their list. President Toy asked what was needed, and Zilincik responded that a resolution was provided in the packet seeking Council’s approval and have the City Clerk address it to Warren Evans and the Wayne County Commissioners. We need to bring to light our concerns with the residents and businesses in this location that we don’t want to wait any longer for Merriman Road and anything they can do to try to help again, take additional Act 51 funds or whatever else funding is necessary to bump these up, to help improve the rideability and the quality of life in the City of Livonia. Jolly asked if two resolutions were required, one for the Road Program and one for the Resolution and Zilincik replied that the Resolution was provided and there was also the Resolution as stated by the Citizens Advisory Board for approval of the 2019 Road Repair Program in the amount of 8.2 million. Meakin offered both approving resolutions for the Consent Agenda. Meakin asked if Council needed to speak to Mr. Evans directly so that the roads can get put to the top of the list and Zilincik stated that it would be ideal once the December Federal Aid Committee meeting where do they shake out and after that maybe have a meeting again with the administrative staff with Wayne County and see what we can do to partner up like we did on Farmington Road, anything we can do to help assist them I think would be a great advantage as we’ve shown on Farmington Road. Meakin said anything Council can do to help in the process they’d be happy to do it. 13 President Toy thanked Zilincik and the Citizens Advisory Committee for doing a great job. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 17. REQUEST TO AMEND THE CONTRACT WITH ANDERSON, ECKSTEIN AND WESTRICK, INC., FOR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE 2019 CONCRETE ROAD PROGRAM (CONTRACT 19-C): Engineering Division, re: same. (CR 365-16) Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. He stated Council just approved the 2019 Road Repair Program which sets the budget of 8.2 million of which 3.4 million will go toward the Asphalt Program, which will be brought to Council later. The balance of that which is 4.8 million will be the Concrete Program. Of that 4.8, they want to take 4.3 and put it towards the reconstruct portion of the roads that are listed on the map. There are some coupled together with some maintenance so their goal is to extend the contract to the existing contractor to do that reconstruct portion. There’s another component to this, it’s taking the Selective Slab money which is budgeted for $150,000, which was approved, the 2019 budget, and take a half million dollars, couple that together for $650,000 and do the Selective Slab which is the next item. For this item, 4.2 million, we’re looking for your approval to do, reconstruct with AEW, with Scott Lockwood and his firm, to design the reconstruct portion of the 2019 and based on that his contract amount would be $184,900 for design at this time, and the construction engineering portion will be brought back based on whatever final amounts we determine on the contract, or the extended contract, or if you want to bid it out. Scott is here to answer any further questions, they’ve done a great job over the past ten years, and he looks forward to continued success in improving approximately 14 miles of road with the asphalt and the concrete. Lockwood thanked Council and the Administration for their consideration, AEW has been very proud of having been part of this program for over ten years. He stated this is a model road program for all of the State of Michigan, he doesn’t think any other community has a program that is as effective as the City of Livonia’s is. White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 18. REQUEST TO AMEND THE ENGINEERING CONTRACT THROUGH THE QUALIFICATION BASED SELECTION (QBS) PROCESS WITH ANDERSON, ECKSTEIN AND WESTRICK, INC., FOR DESIGN ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE 2019 CONCRETE ROAD MAINTENANCE/SELECTIVE SLAB PROGRAM (CONTRACT 19-J): Engineering Division, re: same. (CR 365-16) 14 Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. President Toy stated that Zilincik had discussed this item with the previous one and asked for direction from Council. Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Kritzman asked how long Lockwood had been with AEW as there was a notification on Linked In that he had been with them for nine years and Lockwood stated that he has been with them for twenty-five years. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 19. REQUEST FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPROVEMENT BONDS: Engineering Division, re: to assure the installation of public improvements at Heritage Square Site Condominiums located at the east side of Newburgh Road between Five Mile and Six Mile Roads (36900 and 36910 Mallory Drive; former Clay Elementary School site, and 16600 Newburgh Road and a portion of 16700 Newburgh Road) in the Northwest ¼ of Section 17. (CR 273-18) Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. He stated this is a housekeeping issue, make sure that they cover bonds for paving, water, sewer, sanitary, if something happens, they want to make sure they can get back in there and take care of their residents if something goes wrong, like in 2008. Hopefully, with the economy being high and development that you see throughout the City, which is a good sign, more development to come. He stated he is looking for approval for the bond amounts set forth in the document and as the projects are completed and approved, he will come back before Council to release the bonds as necessary. Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 20. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2017-08-02-10 submitted by Livonia Retail Management, L.L.C. to operate a full-service restaurant with drive-up window facilities and outdoor seating on the site of the commercial development known as Livonia Market II located on the south side of Seven Mile road between Middlebelt Road and Melvin Avenue (29659 Seven Mile Road), in the Northeast ¼ of Section 11. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning & Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated this is a request for site plan and waiver use approval for the development of Parcel C which was referred to on the original plan as Outlot A of 15 Livonia Market II, on the south side of Seven Mile just west of Middlebelt. It was in 2017 when Council granted the site plan approval for Livonia Market II resulting in the demolition of the former Builder’s Square, which later converted to a Farmer Jack and then the construction of the new 37,000 square foot L.A. Fitness. And there were two outlots identified on those plans, Outlot A which was a 10,000 square foot retail building which was located in the northeast corner of the site, and that’s the one we’ll be looking at this evening. And then Outlot B, which has been constructed, that was an 8,000 square foot retail building in the northwest corner of the property. So the Petition does include all of the required documentation now for the review of Outlot A. This would be a proposed 7,000 square foot building. It appears as a multi-tenant building currently with three tenant spaces. The easterly unit would include a drive-thru restaurant that would total about 1,700 square feet and then the other two units would be about 1,700 square feet again and 3,600 square feet respectively. The drive-up service window would be along the east side of the building, the traffic lane that would serve the drive-up window would commence at the south side of the building and then wrap around to the east side. There is sufficient stacking space available. The lane width is adequate as well as a relief opening for vehicles that want to bypass the drive-up, that would be located near the menu board in the southeast corner of the building. Parking for the development is more than adequate. This is one of the issues we went through in detail with the original site plan. There’s also details on landscaping. A fully detailed landscape plan was submitted with the application. Lastly, with respect to the design of the building this would be brick on all four sides of the building, there’s some other design features that include as you can see colored awnings above doors and the windows, the overall height of the building would be about 22 feet 8 inches. A fully concealed dumpster would be located behind the building and the Planning Commission is recommending approval of the plans as submitted. This Petition originated in 2017, there was a delay for various reasons on the part of the developers. They’re back now with essentially the same plan, there was some minor changes between what the Planning Commission approved and what you’re seeing this evening but those are just very small adjustment in the size of the building and that’s the only real change. President Toy called the Petitioner to the podium. Brian Amman, on behalf of the Petitioner, came to the podium. He stated as Mr. Taormina explained, the Council probably recalls this project overall, you’ve spent a lot of time on it, in essentially setting up the parameters. We shrunk the building, 16 have taken the elevations to Council laid out for us and tried to actually even add to them a little, finesse them a little better but we think we’ve improved them with this one here. So we think this is hopefully the cherry on top of the frosting of the cake at this later hour for you on this day after the election as it relates to the design of this building. The restaurant user, I’m able to tell you, it’s actually an American domestic, it’s a smoothie company, which I won’t give the name up per se, but they are known for being a leader of health cleansing food smoothies that have now gone global, to Korea and Grand Cayman, and all kinds of other places. They want to open up in Michigan and Livonia would be their first location of five that they would do and so they’ve decided they’d like to be in this location. The drive-thru, they happen to believe it will get great use out in front of L.A. Fitness because they seem somehow think people that want to be healthy otherwise so what the heck. He stated they appreciate Mr. Taormina’s working with them and the diligence as we spent some time really trying to make sure we honored the Council’s requests when we were here a year ago overall on the overall design requirements and so we hopefully that Council will agree that we’ve gotten where you want us to go and ready to move forward. President Toy opened the floor for questions from the Council. Meakin stated that Mr. Amman is always thorough and the Planning Commission did a good job to prepare this and he offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. McIntyre asked when they would reveal the name and Amman responded in about ten days. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 21. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2018-09-02-19 submitted by ALDI, Inc., to utilize an SDM liquor license (sale of packaged beer and wine) in connection with the operation of an ALDI Food Market located on the northeast corner of Schoolcraft and Middlebelt Roads (29330 Schoolcraft Road) in the Southwest ¼ of Section 24. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning & Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated this is a follow-up on discussions that were had with the original plan approval for this project, that is the addition of an SDM License at the ALDI store. 17 A couple special requirements that apply, all of which are being met, but the one that maybe is most curious to everyone is the separation requirement between this and the next closest retailer of similar products which is the The Wine Palace. This actually is located beyond the 500 feet, it’s 525 feet away, so it complies with that requirement as well as the separation requirements from any church, school or other similar facility. So this is a fully compliant use and the Planning Commission is recommending approval as submitted. President Toy called the Petitioner to the podium. Mark Kellenberger, representative of Aldi, came to the podium. He thanked the Council for having them here this evening and that there was a misunderstanding on the exact process for the liquor license. They are present this evening asking for that and hope Council finds their way to approve that. McIntyre offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. She stated it’s her understanding from some discussions with the Petitioner that the selection of beer and wine is mostly private label, Aldi brand, a few National brands, local more regional brands, but not a Budweiser or Bud Lite that would interfere with normal retail business. Kellenberger stated it’s a small portion in the floor plan provided, it’s a small corner of the floor plan. McIntyre stated they are very happy to have Aldi in Livonia. Jolly stated his wife came home from a trip to Aldi with a six-pack of some random beer and that it was very good. He also asked for an update on the opening date and Kellenberger responded it will probably be later December, the third week of December is what it looks like. Bahr stated that a number of residents had messaged him about how impressed they were at how quickly the store is going up. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 22. SITE PLAN PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2018-09-08-08 submitted by Jude’s Investments, Inc. in connection with a proposal to renovate the existing BP gas station, including demolition of the existing building and construction of a new gas station, located on the southeast corner of Schoolcraft Road and Farmington Road (33265 Schoolcraft Road), in the Northwest ¼ of Section 27. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning & Economic Development, presented this request to Council. 18 He stated this existing gas station building is a one-story structure and about 1,000 square feet in size. The plans would demolish that for the most part and build a new C-store in the same general location which is centrally positioned and aligned on the rear portion of the south side of the site. So on the new site plan the building would increase to about 3,500 square feet overall, so more than double, almost triple the size of that structure. The new building would have a two-story appearance to it. The actual upper level would be in the form of two mezzanines at either end of the building being used for an office as well as some needed storage space. There would not be any change to the configuration of the existing pump islands except that the canopy would have to be shortened in order to accommodate the expanded building. Now, that canopy for the most part, would be replaced with a new structure but it would be slightly smaller than what presently exists because of the smaller building and the area that it covers. New parking arrangement provides sufficient parking on the site, eight spaces are required and they are showing eleven spaces on the new plan. The new location of the trash enclosure along the east side of the building, that would be fully enclosed. The building setbacks were adjusted, the original plan showed a slightly nonconforming setback along Farmington Road but the Applicant has made adjustments so that it fully conforms now with the 60 foot minimum setback requirement. The access to the property would not change so there’s two points of ingress and egress along Schoolcraft Road and one off of Farmington Road, those would be maintained in their current location and configuration. Landscaping, this is an issue that the Planning Commission wants a submittal of a plan within sixty days following any action on the part of the Council that might approve this drawing. The Planning Commission is also requiring the replacement of all of the lighting, site lighting, to new 16-foot high LED fixtures and I believe that covers most everything. Taormina then put the elevation plans on the screen and stated this is what the building would look like, it is a combination of two different color bricks, the grey and the brown. On the lower portion of the building and parts of the towers, you’ll also notice there are portions of the site that contain a fiber cement siding, that’s identified on the ends of the building primarily and on the upper part there are some metal siding treatments next to the windows almost in the form of shutters on either side of those windows. There are elements of stucco or E.I.F.S. just above the fiber cement siding and just below the top. You’ll also notice the aluminum canopies are part of the design. One of the issues that the Planning Commission wanted to see was along the rear of the building, originally it was going to be a block building and that’s been changed to a combination of that siding as well as a brick material. Again, this is a building that goes all the way against up to the rear property line, so there are no openings shown along the south elevation of the building because there is zero setback along that side of the property. 19 President Toy called the Petitioner to the podium. Johnny Hamade,, 33265 Schoolcraft, Livonia, came to the podium with Ghasan Khalaf, 16236 N. Gulley, Dearborn, Michigan. Khalaf stated in regard to the siding, they decided to put metal pieces which are panels. And he stated the canopy, there is a new design that is not on the plans but Hamade has decided to go diagonal into the building. Taormina stated he is not aware of the new plans. Bahr asked what the reason was for the change. Hamade explained that they are having single pumps, four lanes of single pumps, to make it easier to access. Bahr stated it makes sense to do that and from an esthetics standpoint. Khalaf presented the new set of plans to Taormina to look at. Kritzman stated he liked the idea of changing the orientation of the pumps as well. He then asked for some more detailed description of the metal panel. Khalaf replied that they have a picture of the metal siding, that it is being installed at the new building that Ford is building on Michigan Avenue and West Dearborn area. Kritzman asked if it was a corrugated panel and Khalaf responded no, it is a smooth metal. Kritzman asked if he knew who the manufacturer of the panel is and Khalaf responded he did not know yet. Kritzman complimented the Petitioners on their investment in the community, he thinks it’s a well balanced design from the standpoint of the symmetry of it, the proportions of it, the size, the scale, the ornamentation of it, that they’ve done a really nice job in putting it together. Khalaf produced a picture of the metal siding and Kritzman stated he thinks it would be an acceptable material, it looks like a smooth metal panel that can be applied to the façade, it is seen at a lot of car dealerships, you can see it at Feldman Chevrolet, it’s what that façade is made out of. Khalaf stated originally they wanted to go with the Hardy Board, but after researching it online, it fades in color over many years, so they wanted something that would last long, look nice, different, and this is what this is. 20 Kritzman stated that he thinks the metal panel will have that effect for them from a longevity perspective, it will be a nice application for that, but that they are going to ask to coordinate through Mark to get those drawings submitted. He stated he is prepared to offer an approving resolution. Kritzman then inquired about the dumpster enclosure, it being listed with a 4-inch block on an 8-inch block. Khalaf replied that they’re both 4-inch brick which will match the brick on the building. Kritzman asked the Petitioner to make those revisions on the drawings, and note that the brick will tie to the brick on the building. Kritzman stated there is an approving resolution on the floor but it will not go on the Consent Agenda because of the outstanding items that need follow-up and he thanked the Petitioners for bringing this to the community. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR Kritzman then confirmed with the Petitioner that the existing light poles would be replaced and Khalaf replied that each entrance will have LED 16-foot light poles. 23. REQUEST TO APPROVE THIRD AMENDMENT TO LEASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF LIVONIA AND NEW CINGULAR WIRELESS PCS, INC., d/b/a AT&T WIRELESS PCS, LLC: Department of Law, re: to accommodate request to move and upgrade the equipment on the tower. (CR 29-12; CR 120- 98; CR 18-97) Paul Bernier, City Attorney, presented this request to Council. He stated this is found money, they are redoing some of the cellular towers on the Police tower and paying the City money for it. Bahr offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None. ST For the 1,861 Regular Meeting of November 19, 2018 As there were no further questions or comments, President Toy adjourned the Study Session at 10:40 p.m. on Wednesday, November 7, 2018. DATED: November 15, 2018 SUSAN M. NASH CITY CLERK