Month: January 2021

Posted on

January 25, 2021 City Council Meeting (held virtually)

Note: links to the video recording and the council packet can be found at the bottom of this post. Please note any errors or omissions in the comments. Anything noted between brackets was inserted by Clarkston Sunshine.

Meeting:

After briefly discussing Eric Haven’s absence, City Manager Jonathan Smith welcomed everyone to the meeting and reviewed the rules for virtual meetings as they were presented on screen.

Agenda item #1, Call to Order (Video time mark 0:02:08):

Meeting called to order by Wylie.

Agenda item #2, Pledge of Allegiance (Video time mark 0:02:14):

Pledge of Allegiance said.

Agenda item #3, Roll Call (Video time mark 0:02:34):

Al Avery, Ed Bonser, Gary Casey, Jason Kniesc, Joe Luginski, and Sue Wylie were present, and all were located in Clarkston, Michigan. Eric Haven was absent.

Agenda item #4, Motion: Approval of Agenda (Video time mark 0:03:50):

No discussion.

Agenda approved unanimously.

Agenda Item #5, Public Comments (Video time mark 0:04:41):

Chet Pardee:

    • The only council members to show interest in the city’s financials have been Sue Wylie and Al Avery. Perhaps the other members have been unable to read the city’s financial documents because of their orientation in the packet.
    • In recent years, the capital expense portion of the city’s budget has been funded by transfers from the parking fund and fund balance. The current budget is funded by $100,000 from the parking fund and $144,000 from the fund balance.
    • Based on the recent audit, the fund balance to begin the budget year was $34,000 less than assumed when the budget was established. The January 11, 2021 budget amendment for $14,000 for legal expenses will bring the fund balance below its minimum at the end of the budget year.
    • No parking funds will be available based on COVID [related] council decisions.
    • The city’s capital improvement plan calls for more than $250,000 in capital spending in the next budget year. Unless the fund balance is taken below its prescribed minimum, there will be no capital spending funds available for the 2021-2022 budget.
    • The East Alley repair costs and Bisio damages are not in the original or amended budget.
    • Pardee attached the 2020-2021 budget documents with correct orientation and large font for the council. The 2020-2021 budget was used in the budget approval on June 24th.
    • The mention of street repairs for Clarkston Road was removed after the public hearing.
    • Pardee also attached the May 2015 fund balance policy. The policy will likely need to be violated in order to have capital expenditures in the 2021-2022 budget.

There was some discussion regarding when Pardee sent the referenced materials to council, and he advised that he’d sent them mid-day.

Clerk Jennifer Speagle, Pardee, Wylie, Avery, and Smith discussed the fact that the budget documents are sideways in electronic copy of the council packet. While it’s possible to rotate the documents when viewing them on the computer, it appears to be an issue with either B S & A and/or CivicPlus software. Smith will talk with Coté to see if there is a way to skinny it down.

Public comments were closed.

Agenda Item #6, FYI (Video time mark 0:13:53):

There was no FYI.

Agenda Item #7, City Manager Report (Video time mark 0:13:58; page 3/28 of the council packet):

Luginski asked about the speed sign activation. Smith said that CJ went out late this afternoon to download the data. The signs will be activated first thing in the morning.

Luginski asked when the finance committee meetings would start up. Smith said he wanted to do it soon because he wants to talk about the budget. And, more importantly, he wants to talk to the finance committee about the possibility of just adding the charges to the sewer billing rather than setting up a Special Assessment District (SAD) to recoup the Oakland-Macomb Interceptor repair costs, as suggested by our auditor. SADs are very time-consuming to set up and require legal work. Usually, SADs include only part of a city, not all of it. Using the sewer billing system for four quarterly payments would be much more efficient.

Pardee wanted to know if the sewer bills are on a resident/water hook up basis. Smith said that they are separate from the water bills. Pardee recalled a discussion about REUs [Residential Equivalency Units], and Smith said that we would break up the Oakland-Macomb Interceptor repair cost based on the REUs that each property has. Most properties have one, some businesses and apartment complexes have more than one. Speagle said that duplexes would have two.

Wylie was happy to see the construction project approval flow chart happening because we’ve needed one for a long time. Smith said it’s moving along and gave thanks to Bill Basinger for some steps to get the effort started. With some refinement, they can get something ready for the council’s review in the next thirty days. It’s long overdue.

Agenda Item #8, Motion: Acceptance of the Consent Agenda As Presented (Video time mark 0:18:46)

    • 12/14/2020 Final Minutes (page 5/28 of the council packet)
    • 01/06/2021 Final Minutes (page 8/28 of the council packet)
    • 01/11/2021 Draft Minutes (page 10/28 of the council packet)
    • Treasurer’s Report dated 01/25/2021 (page 12/28 of the council packet)
    • Revenue and Expenditure Report for the Period Ending 12/31/2020 (page 13/28 of the council packet)
    • Carlisle/Wortman invoices for September and December 2020 (page 24/28 of the council packet)

No discussion.

The consent agenda was approved unanimously.

Agenda Item #9, Old Business (Video time mark 0:19:55)

No old business.

Agenda Item #10, New Business

Item 10a, Resolution: Old Village Café Temporary use of City Property, page 28/28 of the council packet, Video time mark 0:20:00):

    • Resolution – Temporary Use of City Property on E. Washington by Old Village Café

Wylie asked if the council needed to read the resolution out loud. City Attorney Tom Ryan said that she just needed to read the highlights and the “wherefore” clause so that people understand what is being approved by the council.

The temporary approval lasts until Sunday, May 2, 2021. This approval aligns with the timeframe that was given to the Union Joints for the use of Church Street. They are asking to use one parking spot and 12’ of sidewalk on East Washington to place one greenhouse, provided that the Old Village Café owners list the city as an additional named insured and that all existing ordinances are extended to the outside space.

Bonser said that there are two parking spots there. He noted that the building sits close to the sidewalk on the corner and he wants to make sure that it’s safe so that someone in the greenhouse isn’t going to get hit by a car. Smith said that there are two concrete barriers that have been placed at the city’s expense.

Smith said that Pete from the Old Village Café talked with Smith today about how he would do business in the greenhouse, and he believes that he needs the second parking space to do this safely. His request is for the use of two parking spots on a temporary basis. They are both protected with barriers, and this would allow him to fully protect the greenhouse. Once it warms up outside, he would like to put a couple of tables there to expand his seating capacity. He plans to use the three heaters that he has been allocated by the city to warm the tables. This discussion just came up today, so the resolution doesn’t reflect this new request.

Wylie thought that two spaces was a better solution. There’s less risk and the servers could come to one place. Bonser also thought this was a good idea.

Ryan said that the resolution needs to be changed from one parking space to two parking spaces in paragraphs 3, 4, and 6.

Pardee asked if the length of the sidewalk needed to be changed as well. Smith noted that paragraph 3 and 4 references 12’ of sidewalk; that may need to be changed to say the sidewalk adjacent to the building. There is plenty of room to walk around the tables and the greenhouse without going into the street. Wylie asked if the resolution should be changed to 20’-24’ of sidewalk. Smith said that the whole length of the building is approximately 40’. Bonser suggested saying the extent of the sidewalk that is subject to the resolution to be consistent with both parking spaces.

Wylie said that there were questions at the Planning Commission meeting about how to heat the inside of the greenhouse. They talked with Curt Catallo of Union Joints to get some help. Smith thought that using propane heaters inside the greenhouse was unsafe. Pete agreed and is talking to an electrician about wiring in an electric heater which is safest. He’s looking at a couple of different styles of electric heaters but hasn’t finalized the choice yet.

The revised resolution passed unanimously.

Agenda Item #11, Adjourn (Video time mark 0:30:59)

Motion to adjourn was approved unanimously.

Resources: