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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-02-11 CITY OF LIVONIA – CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 11, 2019 Meeting was called to order at 8:10 p.m. by President Laura Toy. Present: Brandon Kritzman, Scott Bahr, Cathy White, Kathleen McIntyre, Brian Meakin and Laura Toy. Absent: None. Elected and appointed officials present: Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; Paul Bernier, City Attorney; Susan M. Nash, City Clerk; Mike Slater, Director of Finance; Doug Moore, Superintendent of Public Service; Don Rohraff, Director of Public Works; Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service and Dave Varga, Director of Administrative Services. Councilmember Brandon Kritzman led the meeting in the Pledge. President Toy asked for a few moments of silence to recognize the passing of John Dingell, long time congressman in the United States Congress, who was known for his work that he did for the State of Michigan and the country. She then wished Councilmember Brandon Kritzman and City Attorney Paul Bernier a belated happy birthday. AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None NEW BUSINESS: 1. APPOINTMENT OF JAMES C. MCCANN TO THE LIVONIA BOARD OF ETHICS: Office of the Mayor, for a three-year term, which will expire on March 1, 2022. Dave Varga, Director of Administrative Services, presented this request to Council. He stated he was standing in for Mayor Wright to offer the appointment of James C. McCann to the Board of Ethics to fill the vacancy left after his father, James R. McCann’s resignation at the end of his term which will be effective March 1, 2019. Councilmember White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. Judge McCann stated he was very proud to take his father’s position on the Board. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 2 2. REAPPOINTMENT OF RICHARD W. MCDOWELL TO THE LIVONIA BOARD OF ETHICS: Office of the Mayor, for a three-year term, which will expire on March 1, 2022. Dave Varga, Director of Administrative Services, presented this request to Council. He stated he was standing in for Mayor Wright in this request to reappoint Dr. McDowell who has served on the Board of Ethics since 1998 and is currently the chairman and President Emeritus at Schoolcraft College and a Board of Trustees member and chair at St. Mary Mercy Hospital and is involved in many civic organizations, the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and has a building named after him at Schoolcraft College and was named First Citizen of the Year back in 1996. Councilmember Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 3. REQUEST TO APPROVE FINAL BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 2018: Department of Finance, re: same. Mike Slater, Director of Finance, presented this request to Council. He stated as they do each year, he is bringing forward the final budget adjustments upon closing of the books for the Fiscal Year 2018. The adjustments this year relate to transferring an excess budget from departments which have the excess which is Building Maintenance and Parks to the departments that exceeded their original adopted budget, those being Elections, the Police Detective Bureau and the Inspection Department. Councilmember Bahr offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 4. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE FIFTEEN KENWOOD P25 TWO-WAY RADIOS: Public Service Division, re: from State of Michigan bid process, from budgeted funds. Doug Moore, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to council. He stated the Department of Public Service is asking Council to approve the purchase of fifteen hand-held radios, which are used to communicate between crews and supervisors, they’re used a lot during the bulk leaf pick-up programs, snow removal operations, it’s their main form of communication. Over the years several have broken and they’re not repairable anymore. The old ones are no longer made, can’t get parts for them, and they’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul and Paul wants to be paid now. They are asking Council to approve the purchase from Advanced Wireless Telecom out of Wixom, this is a State bid 3 purchase. Included in the purchase is the radios, a spare battery, and the charger in the amount of $24,180.00. Vice President Jolly if the radios could interface with the Police radios and Moore responded in the affirmative. Vice-President Jolly offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVIING CONSENT 5. AWARD OF BID FOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES CONTRACT FOR DPW BUILDING PROJECT: Public Service Division, re: to provide construction management services for the new DPW Administration Offices and Water & Sewer Building, from Unexpended Fund Balance. Jacob Rushlow, Superintendent of Public Service, presented this request to Council. He stated in Council’s packets there is a letter regarding the topic of construction management services to contract for the DPW Building Project. Through this contract the construction manager will be responsible for the overall management of all aspects related to the construction of the facility until its completion. These tasks include a number of things like collaboration with the project architect and engineer, Sidock, design reviews, value engineering and life cycle costing. Also a cost/benefit analyses, constructability reviews, estimating, scheduling, bid packaging, bidding, construction administration and oversight, project coordination, the actual construction and commissioning of the building. So in order to obtain proposals from qualified firms, an RFP was issued late last year that focused on the firms that would submit their work plan and approach for the project, that was a very important element, as well as their team resources, their communication plan, their quality control and their safety record, as well as client references and similar projects that we could review. Proposals were received and reviewed by a five member committee, two of which on the committee are members of the City Council. After those were reviewed interviews were conducted with each of the four firms. Through that interview process there were two firms that really stood out, both the DeMaria Building Company and Turner Construction Company were determined to be the most suitable construction management firms through the interview process for this project. At that time they had also received construction cost proposals in a separate sealed envelope from each of the four firms that were submitted along with the RFPs or their proposals. Those cost proposals were then opened after the interviews were done and they were reviewed those as a team, entered into negotiations with both DeMaria and Turner, and through those negotiations DeMaria overall submitted the lowest fee proposal to complete the work. So based on the collective evaluations of the review committee, it’s recommended that City Council proceed to authorize the Mayor and Clerk to enter into this agreement with DeMaria Building Company for construction management services and also authorize the additional appropriation 4 and expenditure for the services from Unexpended Fund Balance of the Water and Sewer Fund. Councilmember Bahr complimented Rushlow on the presentation and review. He then asked the timeline of the building construction and Rushlow answered that once they get their construction manager on board they will get the team back together and start to review and put together a timeline. From that timeline they will develop when they’re going to get to the guaranteed maximum price stage which is around 75% design plan completion and at that time the construction manager will be submitting a proposal to us for the overall cost of the project to go out and what they think it’s going to take when they bid it to build the entire project. So, once the guaranteed maximum price is developed that’s when the funding discussions will begin and bring something back to Council to approve as far as the overall cost of the project. As far as scheduling goes, once they meet as a team and develop a solidified timeline then they will know what they’re looking at as far as final design, having the subcontractor bid packages put out, when construction will start and when the project will be complete. Right now we’re looking at final completion of the project to be sometime in late spring, early summer of 2020. Councilmember Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 6. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE ONE FEDERAL SIGNAL EMERGENCY WARNING SIREN WITHOUT COMPETITIVE BIDDING: Division of Police, re: from West Shore Services, the sole source provider of Federal Signal Outdoor Warning products in the State of Michigan, from budgeted funds. Brian Kahn, Director of Emergency Preparedness, presented this request to Council. He stated they are requesting a waiver of sealed bids so they can purchase one Federal Warning Signal, Outdoor Warning Siren from West Shore Services. They are the sole provider, sole reseller of Federal Signals for the State and the Police Department has a longstanding relationship with them and they do all of the contractual maintenance on them. A gap was identified last year during the Spree where there was a thunderstorm rolling into the Spree, a very fast moving thunderstorm. All the notification procedures that are in place worked very well, the Police Department was able to get out there and the Police Department Command Center was able to put warnings out there. However, being such a large area, the sirens would have helped out. The problem they ran into was due to the foliage on the tree and the noise from the Spree itself, it was very hard to hear the siren. So the people that may have been in the parking lot or down at Frost Middle School where people are parking might not have heard that or heard the Command Shelter pushing the “Take Shelter” information out to them. The idea would be to place this siren right at Ford Field itself, right off Lyndon at the furthest east drive by Eddie Edgar, we’ve already mapped out a spot where it could potentially go. This would then allow not only just for the Spree, which is just a 5 week long event, but any outdoor activity there during the summertime it would be very prudent to warn those people who had very minimal shelter to get out of the area especially since we wouldn’t have any other warning systems such as a Command Center that we have at the Spree out there. Again, this is a request for a waiver of the sealed bid for this, we do have the funds budgeted for this. Vice President Jolly asked Kahn if these sirens normally have the ability to speak a voice command over them as well and Kahn replied they can, but the Police Department doesn’t use it because the intent of it is an audible signal and with that signal the general information is announce. Vice President Jolly questioned Kahn if voice command could be utilized in instances such as The Spree and Kahn replied they could and that that is something that can be added on to that individual siren and they could talk to the manufacturer to see about including that capability. Vice President Jolly stated he would like to see that feature included and asked Kahn to follow-up with the manufacturer. Vice President Jolly offered an approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 7. REQUEST FOR INFORMAL APPROVAL OF PROPOSED PROGRAM AND TENTATIVE BUDGET FOR THE 2019-2020 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. Glenn Warren, Housing Commission, presented this request to Council. He stated he is standing in for Brandi Isaacson on this item. He indicated this is an annual item they do every year, Community Development Block Grant Budget. He said this is a tentative or informal approval as the final number from the Federal Government is not yet in. Once they get the final number, through an informal hearing process that’s required by HUD Regulations a preliminary budget will be approved and then a secondary approval with final numbers in April. He said the budget is very similar to last year’s budget with some minor revisions based on actuals. He stated they are asking for the informal approval and that a narrative is included with the document describing their expenditures. Councilmember Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 8. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO PURCHASE ONE (1) 2019 FORD F250 SUPER CAB 4X4 PICK-UP TRUCK: Engineering Division, re: to replace vehicle assigned to Engineering Division, from budgeted funds. 6 Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. He stated they are looking to replace a thirteen year old vehicle in their fleet. The previous vehicle is past its useful life. They went out for bids through the State of Michigan and Signature Ford was the appropriate vendor that would provide the vehicle and Versalift Midwest, formerly Cannon Truck Equipment Company, will up-fit the truck with safety equipment that is needed and also for the plow outfitting, which will help assist in the winter. He stated they are asking City Council’s approval and the monies will come from budgeted funds, the $28,197.00 for the 2019 Ford F-250 Super Cab 4 x 4 from Signature Ford, and $15,922.00 for the up-fitting by Versalift Midwest. Councilmember McIntyre inquired if brighter colored vehicles other than white would facilitate recognition in situations. Councilmember McIntyre offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 9. REQUEST TO WAIVE THE FORMAL BIDDING PROCESS AND APPROVE 2019 CONCRETE ROAD REPAIR PROGRAM BY EXTENDING CONTRACT 18-C UNIT PRICES WITH HARD ROCK CONCRETE: Engineering Division, re: for Contract 19-C in the amount not to exceed $4,300,000.00 for one year. (CR 130- 18) Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. He stated that Hard Rock Concrete was the low bidder in 2017 for this contract and they are looking to take advantage of the unit prices for 2019, especially with the lock out that occurred last fall. Some vendors were out there paving in December on 696 and there is no way to know what the prices will be in store this Spring with residual projects that need to be done, so it’s their goal to get this contract locked in so we can do as many roads as we can in the City of Livonia with the budget that was set aside from the Finance Department, that budget being 4.3 million. The only two items that had to be negotiated was mobilization because last year’s budget was 3.7 million. He indicated Scott Lockwood from AEW is present to answer questions. He stated they are looking forward to working with Hard Rock again, they have been their road contractor for the past five years. The Roads Advisory Committee Meeting list was taken to them last Fall, of all the streets that were given to them there were only five that couldn’t be done, one was Main in the south part of town, and a few other streets that were in Section 17. In addition to the 4.3 million for Hard Rock, they are looking in addition for Construction Engineering Services from Scott Lockwood and AEW and their subcontractor, G-2, in the amount of $516,000.00. He stated representatives were also present from Hard Rock as well as Mr. Lockwood from AEW. 7 Vice President Jolly spoke about Hard Rock’s participation in the “Touch a Truck” event. Councilmember Meakin stated this project is one he is most proud of during his tenure on Council. Scott Lockwood, from Anderson, Eckstein and Westrick, stated they are very proud to be a part of this program, and it is a model for other communities in the State of Michigan. He said that his company as well as Hard Rock are very proud to participate in this program and be a part of the team. Councilmember Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 10. REQUEST TO APPROVE CONTRACT WITH MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Engineering Division, re: for the resurfacing of Ann Arbor Trail from Eckles Road easterly to Newburgh Road, with the City’s participation to be $176,200.00 from budgeted funds. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. He stated this is another project that will be paid for by Federal funds of 81.85% of the total costs and that they are very grateful for MDOT program which enables the City to receive Federal funds from Washington, D.C., requirements must be met and the project st is going out and bids opened March 1 and part of the requirements from MDOT is that the contract is agreed upon based on the estimate submitted. The segment is Ann Arbor Trail from Newburgh Road all the way to Eckles, and they are looking forward to improving that segment of road, having recently completed the east side of Ann Arbor Trail from Newburgh to Lawrence. Councilmember McIntyre offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 11. VACATING REQUEST: Engineering Division, re: to vacate storm sewer easement within the Image First property located at 31500 Pamco Drive. Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, presented this request to Council. He stated recently there was a development on Pamco Drive which involved putting a building between two existing buildings in which the storm sewer was underneath. They were required to vacate that storm sewer and this is a request that gets submitted to the Planning Commission, they’re going to schedule a public hearing and they’re eventually going to dedicate a new storm system along the frontage of Pamco heading west and then heading north at the dead end that the City will take over as a public storm sewer, so that will be coming shortly before Council. As a matter of housekeeping this has to get referred to Planning Department, get a public 8 hearing scheduled, and then come back to City Council in about six weeks. He indicated they are looking to work with the Law Department to streamline some of the future vacating requests. Councilmember White offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: REFER TO PLANNING CONSENT 12. REQUEST FOR ONE-YEAR EXTENSION OF SITE PLAN APPROVAL: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2017-09-02-12 submitted by Tiseo Architects, Inc. previously approved by City Council on December 18, 2017, in connection with a proposal to develop and operate an outdoor storage yard for recreational equipment on property located on the east side of Merriman Road between Plymouth Road and the CSX railroad right-of-way (12350 Merriman Road) in the Southwest ¼ of Section 26. (CR 413-17 and CR 414-17) Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated this item as well as the next one relates to the same property on Merriman Road just south of the CSX Railroad. This is a 5.3 acre site, it’s fairly deep, about 1,200 feet deep and a little over a year ago Council reviewed two waiver petitions, one involving outdoor storage and recreational and the other involving special trade contractor storage which is the next item. There were a number of issues addressed including parking and fencing, lighting, storm water detention. The plan was approved and they have not been able to undertake construction yet, it is planned for later this year. Mr. Tiseo did appear before the Planning Commission and received a one year extension and is requesting the same of Council. Councilmember Kritzman offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 13. REQUEST FOR ONE-YEAR EXTENSION OF SITE PLAN APPROVAL: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2017-09-02-13 submitted by Tiseo Architects, Inc. previously approved by City Council on December 18, 2017, in connection with a proposal to develop and operate an outdoor storage yard for special trade contractors on property located on the east side of Merriman Road between Plymouth Road and the CSX railroad right-of-way (12350 Merriman Road) in the Southwest ¼ of Section 26. (CR 415-17 and CR 416-17) Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated this is the related item to the above item. Councilmember Kritzman offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT 9 Councilmember Meakin stepped down from the podium to avoid any perceived conflict of interest at 8:46 p.m. 14. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2018-12-02-22 submitted by Maya Enterprises, Inc., to operate a full-service restaurant (Maya Cocina Mexicana) on property located on the north side of Seven Mile Road between Mayfield Avenue and Farmington Road (33018 Seven Mile Road) in the Southwest ¼ of Section 3. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated he will present the items 14 and 15 together, starting with 15. Councilmember Kritzman offered an approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 15. WAIVER PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2018-12-02-21 submitted by Maya Enterprises, Inc., to utilize a Class C liquor license (sale of beer, wine and spirits for consumption on the premises) in connection with the operation of a full- service restaurant (Maya Cocina Mexicana) on property located on the north side of Seven Mile Road between Mayfield Avenue and Farmington Road (33018 Seven Mile Road) in the Southwest ¼ of Section 3. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated this will be a new full service restaurant located the Mariona Shopping Plaza which is adjacent to Joe’s Produce on the north side of Seven Mile Road. This has a split zoning, C-1, C-2 and P, Parking, however, it’s the local business district, C-1, that includes the property that we’re looking at this evening. This new restaurant would be in the easterly part of the shopping center complex, it would actually replace where China House Inn was located previously. This shopping complex is about 17,000 square feet, that does not include Joe’s which is an additional 20,000 square feet. This unit combined is about 2,400 square feet. When China House Inn was originally approved in 2008, there was a limitation on the seating of 30 seats which is the cap that we placed on restaurants in the C-1 Zoning classification, however, with Council’s approval via separate resolution in which two/thirds of the members concur, you can modify that requirement and increase the amount of seating. This has been done in a number of similar projects around the City, the closest to this one would probably be the Blue Plate Diner which is located in the shopping center immediately adjacent to this. What they’re requesting is a total seating of 67. Parking at the center is adequate. As you can see from the site plan there’s ample parking located behind the shopping complex. You’ll note too that this shopping center was recently updated, a complete facelift was undertaken. The inclusion of the restaurant would 10 not alter the exterior appearance of the building other than the addition of a wall sign. The liquor license, this would be the first petition under the new ordinance, 3077, which was adopted by Council in November of last year that allows for licenses for the consumption of alcohol on the premises within a C-1 District. So this is the first official case under that new ordinance. There are a number of special requirements that apply to Class C licensed establishments within this district. One, the total of all gross receipts derived from the sale of alcoholic beverages cannot exceed 35% of the total gross receipts of all sales, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic. The Applicant has indicated that there is no problem with adhering to that requirement. Another special requirement is that no such licensed establishment shall be located within 1,000 feet of similar licensed establishments. As you know, Winter Garden Tavern as well as Coach’s Corner both operate Class C licenses and they’re located about 500 feet from the subject property so that will require Council’s waiver of that special requirement of the waiver use. And then lastly, the separation requirement from churches and school buildings, Open Arms Church is located on the south side of Seven Mile Road directly across from this property about 270 feet between buildings, so that is another item that will have to be waived by the City Council by separate resolution. Vice President Jolly asked if the 35% gross proceeds of alcohol sales, how would that be determined or verified. Taormina responded that it is a rough measure, that there isn’t an actual way to evaluate that other than because this is a restaurant and its principal use is as a restaurant, probably puts it in that class of being predominantly a food serving establishment as opposed to a liquor serving establishment. Not that it wouldn’t derive a good percentage of sales from the sale of spirits and beer and wine products but again in most cases this is intended to encourage restaurants as opposed to just bars. Vice President Jolly stated he isn’t opposed to this at all, that this is the kind of development needed in the City, and will be in support of this waiver. President Toy asked if they were expanding and Taormina replied that they will occupy the exact same unit with the same space as previously operated. She then asked about the seating and Taormina said China House was limited to 30 seats and this would have 67. President Toy asked why China House was limited and Taormina stated in 2008 that was all that was requested by China House and that was the limitation back then, too, as it is still now for C-1 zoning unless the exception is granted which is what is requested here. President Toy opened the floor for questions from the Council and Audience. Tim Cruz, 20011 Farmington Road, Livonia, 48152, came to the podium representing Maya as the owner and offered to answer any questions. 11 Councilmember Kritzman spoke on the benefits of approving this and the opportunities it afforded the community and offered an approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. Councilmember McIntyre inquired about the timeline of opening and Cruz responded in June. President Toy asked if Cruz had prior experience in this type of restaurant and he replied he is currently a business owner. Councilmember Bahr asked about the renderings provided in their packets. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR Councilmember Meakin returned to the podium at 8:57 p.m. 16. SITE PLAN PETITION: Planning Commission, re: Petition 2019-01-08-01 th submitted by 18 Street Development, L.L.C., to construct a professional/medical office building located on the north side of Seven Mile Road (39000 Seven Mile Road) between I-275/96 Expressway and Haggerty Road in the Southwest ¼ of Section 6. Mark Taormina, Director of Planning and Economic Development, presented this request to Council. He stated this a request to construct a new professional medical office building that is located on a 35 acre parcel that is on Seven Mile Road that is just west of the I-275/I-96 expressway. Most everyone is familiar with this site, it presently contains a 290,000 square foot building that is occupied by A123 Systems, who will be vacating the site later this year and moving to Novi, Michigan. The new buyer is a health care provider that intends to repurpose the site for use as an outpatient care facility. The project involves constructing a new 161,000 square foot medical office building at the north end of the property and then reusing the existing building primarily as a warehouse and for support services in connection with the health care providers’ needs. The property is currently in the process of being rezoned from M-1, Light Manufacturing, to PO-1, th City Council gave First Reading on the rezoning on December 17 and Second Reading and Roll Call which are the final steps in the process are on hold pending a review of this site plan. The professional office district as proposed permits all permitted and waiver uses as specified in the OS, Office Services District, this would include professional as well as medical and general offices. Buildings in the PO-1 classification are required to be over two stories in height and cannot exceed a maximum height of six stories. He noted as seen in the aerial photograph the expressway is immediately to the east of the property. On the north side is an oil well that is owned and operated 12 by West Bay Oil Exploration. And then to the west is the Pentagon Center Entertainment Campus which is zoned C-2, General Business. The proposed new building would be four and a half stories and would measure 161,659 square feet and as you can see it’s positioned at the extreme north end of the property where the grade rises several feet above the rest of the site. At the closest point this building would be about 262 feet from the expressway. Parking would be available on the north as well as the east sides of the new building. Another major improvement is with respect to access. You can see that CBS/Fox Drive would be rerouted and it will create a new loop road that would really traverse the eastern boundary of the site and then connect to Seven Mile Road via the signalized intersection that is located across from Fox Drive at Schoolcraft College. This same driveway ties into the main north/south access road that runs right through the Pentagon Entertainment Complex. What’s important to note here is you can see how this road would be reconfigured. It would tie into what is referred to here as Chippewa Street but that’s a signalized intersection that is located on Seven Mile Road that was recently constructed across from Schoolcraft College. You can see, too, that that road traverses the northerly portion of the adjacent property. This is where the law office is located. This is an historic resource, this site. The road as proposed would require either the demolition or the relocation of the out building that is located on that property and that is something that the Historic Preservation Commission will have to review ultimately. Related to the building because of the change in grade, the lowest level of the building is actually a half story, it is referred to on the plans as Level 00, it would be about 21,220 square feet. Level 1 directly above that would be about 36,000 square feet. And then the three upper levels, 2, 3 and 4 are all about 34,000 square feet. Parking for the site, the total projected need for this building as well as the existing building would be 615 parking spaces. The site plan shows 716 parking spaces, so based on the Petitioner’s estimates there is adequate parking. Parking is still being evaluated, there is a slight deficiency by Code of about 18 parking spaces which at the present time would require approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals but further study is being undertaken to determine whether or not those 18 spaces can be provided elsewhere on the site Again, because of the significant grade change on the property, there’s a need for retaining walls, both at the north end where this site adjoins or is adjacent to the oil well property as well as retaining walls running along that east side of that proposed loop road which is adjacent to the expressway. There are some plans that show some cross section details that show what the relationship of the grades would be between these properties. There are other retaining walls that are required along the front of the building as shown here on this blow up of the site plan. 13 The Planning Commission spend some time discussing a number of other items related to the site including site lighting, landscaping, as well as the exterior building materials. The plans as they were approved, approved the site plan and all of the site improvements as illustrated on the plan including landscaping, lighting and other site features but does not approve the final design of the building. That is something that the Planning Commission has asked to come back for more detailed review within 120 days of Council’s approval with no permits being issued until such time that both the Planning Commission and City Council approve the final design of the building. Councilmember Meakin questioned Taormina about employee parking and reconfiguring it to avoid going to the Zoning Board of Appeals and Taormina stated they can look at that but that the distinction that the ordinance makes in allowing reduction in the size of parking spaces for general office buildings is not afforded for medical office buildings so the breakdown would have to be looked at between the general office as well as the medical office in this case and then maybe making an allowance for narrower parking spaces that could make up that difference, make up the 18, that’s something that could be accomplished between now and when the final approvals occur. th Tom Kelly, 1621 18 Street, Denver, Colorado, came to the podium representing th 18 Street Development. He stated in addition to Mr. Taormina’s synopsis, he wished to add some context and updates since they last appeared before Council. Although he is not at liberty to disclose the identity they have aligned with their anchor tenant for this building and they’re working through some elements that they are looking forward to present to the Council and to the Mayor at the appropriate time. Within this building they are pursuing a full continue of care, that from an outpatient services perspective, all under one roof, with top quality and convenient health care with most if not all billed at outpatient rates. This is going to be at the benefit of the City of Livonia residents, along with the surrounding community. In addition to the benefit of providing top quality health care to the overall community they do foresee economic benefits to the City of Livonia. The first economic benefit is obviously property taxes. They are a for-profit entity so there will be no tax exemption on the real estate taxes. And to the extent that any of their tenants are a not-for-profit entity then certain elements, I believe at purchase of F & E Equipment, that would be tax exempt, but since they own the building the tax of the construction of their leased premises, tenant improvements, that would be taxed. Another economic benefit long term is relative to employment. They anticipate approximately 310 new jobs will be created within their facility on an average salary of $70,000. Comments were listened to during the rezoning process and understand that traffic in the surrounding area has been a concern. In response, as Mr. Taormina has 14 indicated, they’ve acquired an additional parcel for the sole purpose of being able to align our circulation road to align at the signalized intersection at Seven Mile Road as opposed to the status quo of their current, the CBS/Fox Drive current alignment is. They continue to work through various details to gain access to an easement to the private road to enable this access and understand that their approval of the site plan that was submitted is contingent upon their ability to do so. In addition, they acknowledge they will work with Wayne County at the appropriate time as it relates to their proportionate share of any road improvements that are deemed necessary. He stated he understands that the typical rezoning process in Livonia runs a parallel path with rezoning and site plan approval. And as part of the site plan approval he also acknowledges that typically more detailed architectural plans then what was submitted would be due at this time in the process. They respectfully request that what they have before Council is to obtain site plan approval contingent upon our ability to submit within 120 days full architectural renderings. They are asking this because they are under certain time constraints in regard to the purchase and sell agreement of acquiring this property. It is a significant investment acquiring 35 acres and the improvements on it and their capital needs zoning in place to support the proposed development for them to be able to move forward. That would enable them in the meanwhile to finalize their architectural details and be able to come forward to the City knowing they need to have the full satisfaction of the City to move forward with their building renderings. He then introduced his real estate attorney for the Conditional Rezoning Agreement who can speak on the Agreement. Steven Eske, real estate Counsel for the Petitioner, came to the podium. He stated they did submit a Conditional Rezoning Agreement to Mr. Taormina for the City Attorney to review. The sole purpose of that agreement is to provide some additional assurance to the City and essentially all it does is it makes it clearer in the terms of the Agreement that this rezoning, if in fact it is approved, will not be effective unless and until the property is closed on. They know that the site plan is contingent on the rezoning and they are now saying the rezoning is clearly contingent on their acquisition of the property. They wanted to provide as many assurances as they could to the City that this is only going to go forward if and when the property is acquired. Taormina stated that the same approach was used in previous cases, in particular when Menard’s acquired the former Advantage Logistics property on Middlebelt Road, there was a very similar conditional zoning agreement that was in place and did not fulfill the rezoning until such time that Menard’s closed on the property. 15 Councilmember Meakin asked Taormina if there was any action that Council needed to take regarding some of the tax incentives that were provided to A123 and the vacation of the property by them. Taormina responded that he inquired of the Law Department and that Eric Goldstein had stated that the terms and conditions of that agreement have since expired and no longer apply so there are no claw back penalties to any of the incentives that were established at the time A123 came into the property. Councilmember Kritzman thanked the Petitioner for his presentation and then offered an approving resolution for the Regular Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR 17. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE LIVONIA CODE OF ORDINANCES, AS AMENDED: Department of Law, re: to amend Subsection 040 of Section 60 (Housing Commission) of Chapter 02 of Title 2 of the Livonia Code of Ordinances, to ensure that city ordinances are consistent with state law. Paul Bernier, City Attorney, presented this request to Council. He stated this was brought to the Law Department by the Civil Service Department as there was an employee who was entertaining the thought of going over to the Housing Commission and the question was whether or not they maintain their status and their seniority and their benefits as City employees. In looking at the ordinance, it was confusing, it almost made it appear as if there was a co-employer relationship between the Housing Commission and the City and under State law there certainly is not. So this is to clarify it to take away any arguments or disputes and to make sure that everybody recognizes that the Council does not fix the salaries or the working conditions of the Housing Commission, they do themselves and that is the reason for this request to amend the ordinance. Councilmember Meakin offered an approving resolution for the Consent Agenda. DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None As there were no further questions or comments President Toy adjourned the Study Session at 9:17 p.m. on Monday, February 11, 2019. For the 1,867thRegular Meeting of February 25, 2019. DATED: February 20, 2019 SUSAN M. NASH, CITY CLERK 16 In accordance with Title II of the American with Disabilities Act as it pertains to access to Public Meetings, the City Clerk’s Office of the City of Livonia, upon adequate notice, will make reasonable accommodations for persons with special needs. Please call (734) 466- 2236 or email clerk@ci.livonia.mi.us if you need assistance. Council agendas are available on the City’s website – www.ci.livonia.mi.us - under Government, City Council, Agendas.