Introduction:
Links to the video recording and the council packet are at the bottom of this post. Please note any errors or omissions in the comments. Anything noted in brackets was inserted by Clarkston Sunshine.
Agenda Item #1, Call to Order (video time mark 0:00:00):
Sue Wylie said it is 7 o’clock, calling the meeting to order.
Agenda Item #2, Pledge of Allegiance (video time mark 0:00:04):
Wylie said if everybody would please rise, we will say the Pledge of Allegiance.
(Pledge said.)
Wylie said thank you.
Agenda Item #3, Roll Call (video time mark 0:00:25):
Wylie said Item #3 on our agenda is a roll call. (To Angela Guillen, city clerk), Wylie said if you could take the roll call, please.
Sue Wylie, Laura Rodgers, Al Avery, Gary Casey, Amanda Forte, Erica Jones, and Ted Quisenberry were present.
Wylie said great, everybody’s here, thank you.
Agenda Item #4, Approval of Agenda – Motion (video time mark 0:00:40):
Wylie said Item #4 is approval of agenda. I will need a motion to approve the agenda as presented.
Motion by Forte; second Rodgers.
Wylie said and any discussion, questions, or comments from the council or the public.
No comments.
Motion to approve the agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.
Wylie said the agenda is approved.
Agenda Item #5, Public Comments (video time mark 0:01:02):
[Though public comments can sometimes irritate the city council, there is value to both the council and the public in hearing them. While they can’t eliminate public comments entirely without violating the Open Meetings Act, your city council has occasionally decided not to acknowledge public comments during a city council meeting unless the person submitting the comments also appears at the meeting (in-person or electronically) to personally read them. In the past, members of the public have been cut off for exceeding the city council’s arbitrary three-minute time limit (it’s arbitrary because no time limits are required by the Open Meetings Act).
If your public comments were submitted to the council but not read, or if you tried to make public comments but your comments were cut short, please email them to clarkstonsunshine@gmail.com and I will include them in my informal meeting summaries either under public comments or under the specific agenda item that you want to speak to.]
Wylie said public comments.
(Wylie read the rules for public comments.)
Wylie said does anybody have public comments.
No comments.
Wylie said OK, thank you. I didn’t receive anything.
Agenda Item #6 – FYI: (video time mark 0:01:32):
Wylie said Item #6 is FYI.
Item #6a – Clarkston Christmas Market (video time mark 0:01:34):
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- Clarkston Christmas Market Flyer (page 3/23 of the city council packet)
Wylie said Clarkston Christmas Market is December 13, and we have the flyer in our agenda packet. (Holding up a document), Wylie said it looks like this, and it is this Saturday, December 13th, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Depot Park in Clarkston, Michigan. It includes pop-up shops, last-minute gifts, food truck, free activities for the kids, pony rides, s’mores, hot cocoa, games, and a visit with Santa. It’s sponsored by the City of the Village of Clarkston, Clarkston Living Magazine, Clarkston News, Parker’s Hill Top, MLC Building Company, Amy Peterson, Mel’s Diner, Michelle Geiger/Century 21, Washington Management, and we thank all those people who are sponsoring it.
Rodgers said we still need four volunteers to run games, somebody from 4:00 to 6:00, 6:00 to 8:00, we have two different games, so if anybody knows somebody that might want to do that, they can get in touch with anybody here and they’ll get in touch with me. Wylie said it’s a lot of fun to work at. Rodgers said it’s really fun. Even if it’s cold, it’s a lot of fun. Rodgers said and you don’t have to bring anything, just yourself. We have the game, the prizes, and everything.
Jones said we’ll talk after. I’m in again this year. Rodgers said awesome.
Item #6b – Clarkston Holiday Lights Parade (video time mark 0:02:49):
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- Clarkston Holiday Lights Parade Flyer (page 4/23 of the city council packet)
Wylie said the next FYI is Clarkston’s Holiday Lights Parade, which is December 13th. The parade starts at 6:00 p.m. It’s always sponsored by Team Rush, that’s Team 27 for the robotics team, and what did they say, Clarkston, is there something else there? Is it starting at the Renaissance High School? Smith said yes. Wylie said yes. I went to a different town’s holiday lights parade this weekend, and in comparison, Clarkston’s looks like so high-tech, so beautiful, so stupendous, and it was a small city, small town. It was in Virginia, and I was like, wow, our parade is really, really good. Rodgers said last year it was like 40 minutes long. It was really cool. Wylie said the technology they do for the lights are really awesome, so that’s always a great event.
Agenda Item #7 – City Manager’s Report (video time mark 0:3:43):
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- 12-08-2025 City Manager Report (page 5/23 of the council packet)
Wylie said Item #7 is city manager’s report, and Jonathan [Smith, city manager] has included a report, and (to Smith), Wylie said did you have anything you wanted to add or highlight? Smith said just on the, let me talk about just a couple things.
Smith said one on the sanitary sewer maintenance. So, I don’t know if I reported this in the last council meeting, but it was pointed out to me by Tom Ryan [former city attorney] and a couple others, Gary Tressel [former contract city engineer], that there are certain sewers in the city that are shared with the township. In other words, their sewage is coming through the city on its way down to Dixie Highway. So, on those pipes, it’s a shared event. Those are shared, so any maintenance that needs to be done would also, the cost should be shared. So, I met with Hubbell Roth and Clark [the city’s contract engineers], and they are doing a comparison of what needs to be rehabilitated and comparing that to what’s shared. So, we thought it best to get that done before we embark on any maintenance work. So, still hoping to do the maintenance work over the winter. There’s no reason it can’t be done. They do this year-round, because it’s like 12 feet down below grade, so it’s not an issue.
Smith said the master plan, we are working with, the planning commission is working on developing the master plan and redeveloping it, hopefully at a reduced cost by doing some of the work in-house. I did talk with McKenna [contract planning firm], and they’re going to be giving us a quote as well, so we’ll have two quotes to look at on that.
Smith said the building services request for quote, I have gotten some more responses. You know, I did revise the posting on the MML [Michigan Municipal League] website, as well as the BIDNET website. I did revise those postings, and it did seem to shake loose a few extra quotes. Unfortunately, all the quotes I’ve gotten, either they are completely incapable of doing the job, they have absolutely no building experience, they’re just putting resumes out there for any possible job. Or, the ones that did have some kind of history in the field were asking for well over $100,000 a year, $150,000 a year for the job. So, it’s, I really don’t know how much longer to continue this, but it’s bringing up no options that are better than our current one with the township. Which incidentally is working very well. I have no issue with the township building department.
Smith said I guess that’s it.
Wylie said any questions or comments from council members.
No comments.
Wylie said anything from the public.
Wylie recognized Cara Catallo for a comment.
Catallo said I was just curious if you had a chance to ever speak with Ortonville to find out how they run their building department, just because it seemed like it is an effective choice for them. Smith said I did talk with the city manager in Ortonville, and so that worked out, and I did make a note here. It’s good that you brought that up, because I was going to speak to that. That worked out amazingly well for them, because they had somebody that lives in the village that is an ex-building inspector. And so, he’s doing it for virtually no cost, just as a contribution to the village. Now, they do have to hire inspectors. He’s not certified for doing most of the inspections. So, they do have a cost in that they’re hiring inspectors. But the main building official is somebody that lives in their township, or in their village, and doing it for essentially free. Now, I did ask him, because it was very clear in his choice of words that he didn’t want me to steal him. So, he was being very cautious on how he said things. He says he’s very busy. He’s got two other jobs in addition to this job, so he’s very busy. But he says I can ask him if he knows of anybody similar in the field that might be available. So, he was going to get back to me. I haven’t heard back from him yet. But that’s the only kind of live possibility that I still have pending out there. Wylie said thank you.
Wylie said anything else from the public.
No comments.
Wylie thanked Smith.
Agenda Item #8 – Oakland County Sheriff’s Report for October (video time mark 0:08:37):
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- Oakland County Sheriff Monthly Report (page 6/23 of the council packet)
Wylie said Item #8 is Oakland County Sheriff’s Report, and that’s made available to us.
Wylie said any questions or comments from council members.
No comments.
Wylie said anything from the public.
No comments.
Agenda Item #9 – Consent Agenda (video time mark 0:08:56):
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- 11-10-2025 Final Minutes, Regular City Council Meeting (page 7/23 of the council packet)
- 11-24-2025 Draft Minutes, Regular City Council Meeting (page 9/23 of the council packet
- 12-08-2025 Treasurer Report (page 11/23 of the council packet)
- 12-03-2025 Check Disbursement Report, 11-01-2025 – 11-30-2025 (page 12/23 of the council packet)
Wylie said OK, Item #9 is the consent agenda. This includes the final minutes of the November 10, 2025, regular meeting; draft minutes of the November 24th regular meeting; and Treasurer’s Report December 8th. And any questions or… Actually, I need a motion to accept the consent agenda as it’s presented.
Motion by Quisenberry; second Avery.
Wylie said and any – (To Avery), Quisenberry said unless you want to do it also. Wylie said we’re not switching guys.
Wylie said questions or comments from council.
No comments.
Wylie said questions or comments from the public.
No comments.
Wylie said OK.
Motion to approve the consent agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.
Wylie said the consent agenda is approved as presented.
Agenda Item #10, Unfinished Business (video time mark 0:09:47):
Wylie said Item #10 is unfinished business. There is none.
Agenda Item #11, New Business:
Item #11a – Discussion: Status of the Mill Pond Dam, Project (Ryan Woloszyk, WRC [Water Resources Commission] (video time mark 0:09:50):
Wylie said Item #11, we have a discussion, status of the Mill Pond Dam Project and Ryan Woloszyk. Ryan Woloszyk said Woloszyk. Wylie said from Water Resources Commission [WRC]. Woloszyk said yes. Wylie said OK. Thank you. Thank you for being here.
Woloszyk said here is my long list of questions that I got from Smith last week.
Woloszyk said for those of you who don’t know me, I’m Ryan Woloszyk. I’m the Lake Level Engineer for Oakland County WRC, responsible over our lake level program. And we have helped you guys with the study and are in the process of getting that study put before a judge and setting the legal lake level. So, I’m going to go through these questions and then I’ll just open it up to more questions. I think that’s the easiest way to go with this.
Woloszyk said so, first question, chronology of discussions with the council. I haven’t really had much discussions with you guys because the Lake Improvement Board funded the project. The only thing that the city council had to do with it was the actual grant application and everything else was either paid for by the grant or paid for by the Lake Improvement Board. Last update to you guys, (to Smith), Woloszyk when’s the last time you brought something to him. I haven’t been before you guys, really. Smith said it’s been probably six months or more. Woloszyk said yeah. Smith said and the city, by the way, did contribute $5,000 and then the Lake Board was $5,000. Woloszyk said and then the grant was the rest of it.
Woloszyk said survey concluded in 2023 on this project. The final version of the study was 2024. Those were provided. The updated version that was sent to court. I don’t believe I sent to you. I’ve been going back and forth with the lawyers to get that thing cleaned up happily because the first version was 120 pages. Court really needs like 12. You don’t give court more than what court needs. Court needs X. They get X. That’s all they need. That just opens it up to more questions and more things that get stuck into our legal lake level that you wouldn’t want to have in there.
Woloszyk said so, now here comes the actual portion of us. What physical changes need to occur before we assume responsibility? We will not take responsibility of that legal lake level until we have constructed that new dam that meets our capacity requirements and meets all the requirements that EGLE [Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy] has set forth for a high hazard dam. We have had discussion with the current dam owners about potentially operating in the interim, but it’s only been discussion. There’s nothing on the table that we will come in and guarantee when we get that lake level set through court, we’ll be operating the structure. There would definitely have to be some kind of agreements in place due to the fact that I have no clue the age of that gate valve down there. And if damage should be happened, I wouldn’t want to put my residents in my new assessment district on the hook for a repair that might happen because of my staff operating that gate. I don’t think it needs to be operated. I think it can typically operate just through that overflow spillway as it has been. But in the event of a large rainfall event, there is potential that it would need to be operated.
Woloszyk said who will manage the pond levels in the future. That would be the WRC Lake Level Unit at that point. Once that new dam is constructed, we have three field staff, a supervisor over the unit, and then me as an engineer over it. We already have multiple lakes in the area that we manage, so the way this will be designed, it should be very minimally operated. It should be able to essentially pass all the flows coming in without having to ever come up to the structure. It would be a little bit larger weir than what’s out there going to Parke Lake, and that’s where the majority of the water will end up going as it is today.
Woloszyk said who will have responsibility for any subsequent damages. I’m assuming that that question was intended to be pointed at the actual damages to the structure itself. With that assessment district that will be set up by court, will it be covering any of those maintenance costs associated with potential damages.
Woloszyk said what costs will be incurred in transitioning to Oakland County responsibility. To the city, there’s none unless you guys volunteer funds toward it. All the costs will be covered by the residents of that assessment district. I do believe you guys have one parcel, so you would be on the hook for that one parcel that is adjacent. The parking lot parcel is adjacent to the structure.
Forte said I’m sorry, for the, what did you call it, the assessment district around the dam? Woloszyk said yes. Forte said how is that determined? Is that what’s determined by court? Woloszyk said so, the assessment, the law is very clear in what that assessment district looks like. It’s anyone who has access to that lake. There are no back lots in this case, so it’s going to be everyone abutting the lake level will be within that assessment district. It’s not as clear as to how those assessments are distributed. We use a unit benefit methodology for all of our lakes. So, all the residents in the lower pond will be in a benefit of one. They have, they can do everything in that lake. You go up to the upper pond, it’s a very different story. If you guys were out there when it was very low and drained, that upper pond is a swamp. You can’t swim up there. You can kayak, you can do some fishing, but that’s about all you’re doing. You’re not doing a lot of the other stuff you do in the lower pond.
Forte said so, does that mean like – (interrupting Forte), Woloszyk said they would have a lesser unit benefit up there on the upper pond. Forte said OK. And there’s no back lots that we found that have access to it, so that is not an issue with this lake level. Forte said OK, I’m just curious.
Woloszyk said who will pay for the costs. We just went over that. Ongoing is nothing.
Woloszyk said who will own the dam in the future. So, WRC intends to purchase the land the current dam sits on, or have it donated optimally, but we’ll see what that looks like. At a minimum, we typically own at least the parcel the dam itself sits on, which means that we don’t have any concerns with easements and having to go back to residents to be able to do work that might need to occur on that dam, should it need to.
Woloszyk said does ownership of pond-adjacent properties change. No, with the exception of where the dam’s on. Everything else is staying at normal.
Woloszyk said and then timing, we’re hoping for a quarter early in 2026. I think we’re, everything that we’ve got to legal now, they’re happy with. So, once they get it in, we’ll know what, when we get on, put on the docket. So, last time it was four months for Bay Lake to get on the docket.
Woloszyk said so, and then I will open it up to questions from council.
Avery said yeah, I’m kind of new to this. So, there’s a dam that has to be reconstructed? Woloszyk said yes. Avery said and that’s included in a grant that was already provided? Woloszyk said the grant was just the study and then some design. Avery said so, who’s paying for the dam? Woloszyk said the dam will be paid for by that assessment district. Avery said OK, gotcha. Woloszyk said so, the residents will be paying for it. Avery said and what’s the estimated cost of that dam. Woloszyk said they were at $1 million-ish. So, now with that, as we go through and finalize design, get better estimates, we have financing options available more than likely with the number of units on the lake. We can finance all the way out to 40 years if we have to. They made changes because of the dams in Midland to the law to allow us to go out that far. But it is definitely a hefty cost to get it replaced and back where it needs to be. Avery said and how many parcels are on there? Woloszyk said 68. Avery said that’s $20,000 per, yeah, gotcha. Woloszyk said not a small number, no. Avery said OK.
Rodgers said is there any ability to get a grant to do that, to help with that? Woloszyk said on the state side of things, all grants in the dam world are removals. Every now and again, like a fish ladder grant comes up. But nothing that is necessarily repairs. The grant that we did get is currently gone. They shifted that $15 million from what it was to specifically DNR dams. We’re hoping it comes back next year and we can potentially apply for it. But that’s a hope. That’s in the state budget. On the federal level, there’s no grants that we’re aware of that are going to the state. Rodgers said those Midland repairs were all by (unintelligible). Woloszyk said that budget, they got $490 million in grants from the state specifically for that project. They had gotten a ton. But those are grants specifically written for that project and that project alone. So, it’s not like it’s a pool that already existed. That was pulled from elsewhere and that was a ton of political pressure that got it there. Rodgers said was it pulled after the breakage of that dam? Woloszyk said oh, yeah. They were well after the breakage. Rodgers said it wasn’t anything that they were planning? Woloszyk said yeah. No, it was nothing that was in the works for planning. They were working. They already had gone through this process. They had set up a district. They had set up the legal lake level process up there. And they were starting the process of working with that owner to take ownership of them when they failed. And then with that failure, I couldn’t tell you the back ends working of that, but there was nothing set in the budget whatsoever until post that failure that they were going to put that money in there. A lot of that came with dam reform items that went through the state that got approved.
Wylie said do you recall how much it cost to replace that dam? Woloszyk said they’re at like $700 million right now. Wylie said so, they’ve got more than half of it in grants. Woloszyk said yes. I mean, they’re still at a hefty chunk of change for those residents, for sure. But yes, they did get a very large chunk of it from grants. But like I said, a lot of that came through with other dam reforms and a lot of political pressure to get that thing moving forward.
Avery said it’s better than the alternative, which is what? They’ve just got an empty lake bed. Wylie said wetland downstream. Avery said yeah. Woloszyk said we didn’t call it a wetland, it’s just a bunch of stumps in the ground, apparently. I mean, they flooded it, it wasn’t exactly clear.
Quisenberry said question, who will own the dam in the future? I missed that one. Will that be WRC? Woloszyk said yep, so we would own and maintain that. Like I said, typically we like to at least own the piece of land that it sits on. If I’ve got easement for access, that’s fine, but typically we want to at least own the piece of land that it sits on.
Avery said who owns that land now? Do we know? The owners that the dam’s sitting on? Woloszyk said the Washington Management. And we’ve been in conversations with them.
Forte said what’s a typical maintenance schedule for a dam like this? Like, once you guys take it on, like, what does that look like? Woloszyk said like in terms of long-term maintenance, like major repairs, or just day-to-day? Forte said either. Woloszyk said OK, so I mean, day-to-day, typically there’s not a whole lot going on with them. It’s more so that the end-of-life thing, especially the way this is designed, it’s going to be essentially a steel structure replacing that concrete one. Significantly cheaper than the concrete one. There may be some painting out there. That’s about your average yearly maintenance. Once you kind of get to the end-of-lifespan, then you’re really just looking at replacement, because it is a steel structure. Done properly, I mean, you’re looking at 50 to 75 years on that steel structure.
Forte said and then for the lake level, do you anticipate it for the upper, what do you call it, the upper Mill Pond? Woloszyk agreed. Forte said would that be at, like, kayak-able levels, or what do you anticipate? Woloszyk said the lake level would basically be where it’s spent most of the summer, just barely going over there. We didn’t change anything in terms of what the lake level would be. We based it off of the existing dam that was out there that essentially controls that level normally. So, there would be no noticeable changes. The only thing that might happen is instead of being flooded as long, we might be able to move water a little bit faster.
Rodgers said they talked about we having to redirect it, because the dam is, and I don’t want to misspeak, so correct me, the dam is underneath the building right now – Smith said right – (continuing), Rodgers said and so it would have to be redirected. Smtih said it goes underneath the building. Rodgers said that’s all part of that million-dollar cost. Woloszyk said so that’s outside of the scope of what that million-dollar cost would be. So right now, the main structure is on Parke Lake. That’s where most of the water goes out under M-15 to Parke Lake. Rodgers said right. Woloszyk said the majority of our cost is going in on that side to essentially replace that one fully with a steel structure. The intent for it to continue water flowing behind the property, which is where that existing pier sticks out, that pipe goes underneath the building and comes out, would be to tap the city sewer on the north side and just have a small overflow to continue having water go in that direction. And the only reason I have to do that is because EGLE wants flow to continue to go there. Even though I wouldn’t need it in terms of my requirements, they would consider me basically stagnating that water course by not having water.
Forte said so, the lake district would include, or the assessment district would include, Parke Lake? Woloszyk said nope. That’s just where the water goes. Forte said OK. Woloszyk said the water ends up going to Parke Lake, and that’s where the majority of it already goes.
Casey said with the construction that replaces the mechanism, what needs to be torn up to do that? There’s that concrete thing sticking out there. Is it underneath that? Woloszyk said our intent with that is to just seal that. That’s it. To stop it from working. All of our construction work primarily is going to be on the Parke Lake side. What happens with that pier and that mechanism is kind of outside the scope of what this project would be doing. Casey said so, you’re going to do something with that spillway? Woloszyk said that spillway is the primary method of overflow, yes. Rodgers said and that alone will regulate the levels? Woloszyk said yes. Casey said so what’s going to happen, you’re going to tear that down and replace it with something else? Woloszyk said it’ll be a steel sheet pile structure, yeah.
Wylie said so does Washington Management own that also? Woloszyk said yes. Wylie said they own both? Woloszyk said yes. Wylie said oh, we’re talking about the spillway right next to Main Street, next to – Smith said Jennifer Radcliffe’s house. Wylie said yeah, Jennifer Radcliffe’s house. Casey said the water goes out of the Mill Pond towards Parke Lake. Wylie said yeah, I got that now. I’ve always assumed that we were talking about the dam at Washington. Woloszyk said yeah, and since that building has been rehabbed, the actual full dam structure doesn’t exist anymore. There used to be a significantly larger gate in there that would regulate more flow. Since whenever those modifications took place, most of the water has been leaving through Parke Lake. That’s how it’s been operated, essentially, for the last couple of decades. Casey said will that continue? Woloszyk said yep. Wylie said but some of the water will still go under Washington? Woloszyk said won’t get sent. We’re going to redirect it to the existing city storm sewer in that direction. Wylie said oh, so water won’t be coming into – Avery said down the Mill race? Wylie said yeah. Woloszyk said it’ll be going down there because that’s where that ties back into it. It goes around and ties back in on the other side of the building. So, it’s no longer going underneath of their building. Wylie said OK.
Smith said there is a storm drain off of Washington that takes rainwater off of Washington Street, and it goes down there already. It’s a 12-inch, I believe, pipe that goes down and ties into the Mill race and then continues on its way up to Middle Lake. They’re going to use that pipe as a means of getting the water from this new steel structure that Woloszyk’s referring to. Woloszyk said well, not the new steel. That would be a different structure that’s on the south side of the lake. So, the steel structure is the Parke Lake side. This would be a very simple just inlet structure that would allow us to still move that water that way. But we’re talking very small amounts of water so that it has flow. It’s not becoming basically just this marshy wetland area down there. There would still be a little bit of water flowing in that direction.
(To Woloszyk), Avery said I was going to ask you because right now the Mill race is almost dry. Smith said almost dry. Avery said does that have anything to do with what’s going on up at the pond? Woloszyk said did you guys deal with that beaver? Smith said we dealt with it. (Laughter.) Smith said we almost wish we had our beaver back because it has gotten so dry. The beaver was damming it up, and now with that opened up, it is virtually dry. I’ve never seen it this low.
Smith said so, there’s a question I had. You need to do, you say it’s just a little bit of water, but right now the Mill race almost just looks ridiculous. It’s so low. I don’t think it needs to be as high as it was when the beavers were in control, but it needs to be wider. Right now, it’s about just a stream in the center of the big cut. So, it looks a little silly. So, I’d like to talk to you about what we can just regulate whether it’s not going to be 50-50, but could it be 75-25 kind of split between, I know you can’t dial it in quite that closely, but something on those percentages to split between the two outlets. Woloszyk said so, there’s a couple things with that. One, your sewer system wouldn’t carry that level of flow. So, then we’re getting into a full replacement of that to something much bigger. And two, with a legal lake level, especially when it was dry like it was this year, there’s not going to be water leaving. We don’t really necessarily have a lot of base flows coming into a lot of our lakes where I can, we have constant water coming out of them. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of times where it’s dry and there’s nothing coming out of either of those. They’re both just shut. Smith said yeah. We had in July, August. Woloszyk said yeah, so there wouldn’t be flows at that point in time.
Woloszyk said now, that being said, your Mill race and that are also affected by our dam at Cemetery Dollar. So, we control the Cemetery Dollar dam on Dixie Highway. Right now, we’re very close to our winter level. So, we’re a good six inches below where summer will be. So, you can essentially assume there will be another six inches of water up in there come springtime. And typically, that one runs a couple of tenths over as well. So, six to eight more inches will be in there. But your beavers were doing a good job of keeping it very high for sure. Smith said yeah.
Wylie said can I go back to something you started talking about? Because I think I was confused. You were talking about, I thought, a spillway. And you said you did not know the age of it. Did I misunderstand early on? Now, I assumed then you were talking about the spillway into Parke Lake. Woloszyk said I don’t remember talking about the age of anything. I mean, we know that these were put in by Henry Ford. Wylie said OK. Woloszyk said so, I mean, we’re talking ‘40s. That’s part of the reason we know that they need to be replaced. I mean, you’re kind of reaching the end of that concrete’s lifespan. And we need to make changes to get modern flows through there. Wylie said OK. I must have misunderstood completely. OK. Thanks anyway.
Wylie said anybody else on council.
No comments.
Wylie said anybody in the public. Is Chet online today? (To Smith), Wylie said I’m sure you have questions. Smith said Chet’s not online tonight. Wylie said OK.
Smith said so, we were talking about timing. OK. So it goes to the judge, the courts. Woloszyk said yep. Smith said they’re going to rule on this. And then we would have to have a series of you call them public engagement meetings with the residents? Or is it just done at that point? Woloszyk said at that point, we have district. I can, I will, at that point, work to finish the actual plans. Really, my first public engagement isn’t going to come until I have an engineer’s estimate of cost. At that point, we would reach back out to public and go over what that looks like and see where we’re going to go from there. There really isn’t a way to undo one of these currently. We can just ignore it. But the law doesn’t actually provide a way out, technically. We have one that’s in that state. I think that in our changes to the law that we’re working on, that’s one of the things we want to put in. But you’re kind of stuck in that legal lake level loop until that point. If everyone says, hey, we don’t want to do this, we can stop moving forward. They will be responsible for whatever costs were spent up until that point. But we can zero it out and just sit on it at that point if that’s the direction folks don’t want to move forward with it.
Smith said but this whole decision on how far out to spread the amortization, whether it’s 10, 20, 30, 40 years, and then the actual construction itself. I’m just trying to – because people say, when will this be done? I’m kind of guessing it could be easily two years from today. Woloszyk said so, the one I’m working on right now, Bay Lake, I’m getting close to final design. We’re four years into it. The one before this was Bush that was 2016. That took eight years to get through. It’s not, it’s not a very speedy, quick process. And the other one that I’m working on is at risk of actually failing. So that’s the only reason that one’s moving that fast, is it’s at risk of failing.
Forte said what’s this one’s level of risk? Woloszyk said in terms of failure? I mean, nominal. I don’t have any. That one, you can walk out, and I’m like, yeah, I get a good ice push. I’m going to lose the top of this dam. This one, I’m not, I have no concerns of it actually failing and causing downstream damages, et cetera. I think the only really risk is operating that valve and it potentially breaking in an open state. I think that’s probably the biggest risk to it, is that.
Casey said where is the valve? Woloszyk said the valve is in that pier. So that pier across from Washington Management’s building, that sticks out in the lake, the valve is in there, underneath the water.
Wylie said is there any reason to operate the valve? Woloszyk said I know that the owners have been operating it to maintain that level and move some water and stuff sometimes. Wylie said see, this is where I get confused. So they’re operating that to maintain the lake level, yet – Woloszyk said so, Parke is a weir. So, it’s just a line. Wylie said right. Woloszyk said and when water goes up, it goes over, and that’s it. Most of the flows can make it out through that. It does take a little time to build up. I think our weir will be set a little bit lower on typical operation until we get to where we want to be, and then we can add boards back in. That used to have a function of boards. Those are long past rusted and gone. But the new dam would have that, a little more flexibility and a higher capacity. Right now, it’s just stuck at whatever that level is. The new dam will have, I think we had it at 3 1⁄2 feet of boards. So, we can go out there and pull a couple boards, which basically just gives us more capacity for more water to get out and manage the lake through that. Wylie said OK.
(To Smith), Wylie said anything else. Smith said nothing else.
Wylie said anybody in the public have anything else with council.
No comments.
(To Woloszyk), Wylie said thank you very much for coming. I appreciate it. cold night. And you’re well prepared. Smith said maybe we’ll have you back out once you kind of get through the court process. Woloszyk said yeah. Wylie said all right. Thank you. You really know your stuff. Woloszyk said thank you. That’s the only thing I do.
Item #11b – Resolution: 2026 Congressionally Directed Spending Grant (Fleis & Vandenbrink) (video time mark 0:34:34):
Wylie said Item #11B, resolution, 2026 congressionally directed spending, grant, Fleis & Vendenbrink. Is that you guys? Smith said yes.
Wylie said I’ll read the resolution. Smith said yeah, go ahead.
(Wylie read the resolution.)
Wylie said normally we’ll ask for somebody to resolve and a second, but I think we’ll wait until we get the presentation, which I assume you are here for.
Dave Lynn [no spelling provided] said hi, I’m Dave Lynn, Regional Manager at Fleis & Vendenbrink. My colleague Sophia Bodkin [no spelling provided] is here tonight as well. I would like to state though that the Category B is not a CDS [Congressionally Directed Spending] grant, it is through MDOT [Michigan Department of Transportation]. If we could possibly amend that resolution to reflect that.
Forte said I’ll make a motion to amend.
Smith said the Category B I was just mentioning here, that was something that we did previously together. But this is all about the CDS. Category B was approved and done, and we hope to start construction on this coming summer. Lynn said understood, my apologies. Smith said yeah, okay.
Lynn said on the Category B, I would like to congratulate you on pursuing and winning a very competitive grant with the State of Michigan and MDOT. It was $117,000 for .22 miles of Church Street rehabilitation. Part of the reason why it was awarded was Smith’s due diligence in choosing a street that met not only the qualifications of what the program is but also pursuing it well and writing an excellent grant application. So, kudos to Smith for securing that funding for the city. And the cherry on top is this is the last year that it is an active program, so Clarkston is the swansong here. Smith said under the wire. Thank you.
Lynn said sorry, I misunderstood with the CDS spending, but yes, I’m happy to answer any questions on the CDS grant.
Wylie said council members.
Avery said yeah, we talked about this in pretty depth last year, or this spring I guess it would have been, right, or no? Smith said yeah, it was this spring. Avery said that last minute kind of deal, you tried to get it through. I mean, I don’t see any downside, right? I mean, it’s not costing us anything other than Smith’s time, your time. You know, you’ve kind of taken a shot. But if we get it, great. If we don’t, no harm to the city. So, no, we don’t have a problem with that. Jones said same.
Wylie said anybody else.
Lynn said we reviewed the proposal that we put in last year as far as the grant application is concerned. We didn’t see an appreciable difference in cost from what the original engineering estimates are. I know it’s a year age, there may be some variation, but as far as what we’re seeing in the industry right now, general costs of a project like that are relatively flat.
Avery said what was it again? I’m trying to remember. Smith said just about $1.7 [million]. Lynn said I think 1.7? Smith said yep. Avery said OK. Smith said $1.68.
Wylie recognized Casey for a comment.
Casey said the grant covers non-compliant sidewalks and driveways. Lynn said correct, I believe that there are – (interrupting Lynn), Casey said does that include those pavers on the aprons that you’ve been talking about? Smith said yes, that is really the primary focus is eliminating those non-compliant pavers. Not only non-compliant in that they’re disintegrating and tripping and fall hazards, but they’re non-compliant in terms that they are not ADA slope in the sidewalk portion of those aprons. The apron up from the street doesn’t have to be ADA, but once you get into the sidewalk portion where all those aprons cross the sidewalk, those do have to be ADA side-to-side compliant, and they’re not. I think there’s one that is, but all the rest are not compliant. So that’s, the primary focus is to eliminate all those. And while we’re there, make the sidewalks, which are also side-to-side slope, non-compliant. (To Lynn), Smith said and we had also talked about if you recall, some bump-outs. With MDOT’s approval, we have to work with MDOT for some bump-outs to improve visibility and pedestrian safety. So that is also included in this. (Casey made an unintelligible comment.) Smith said what’s that? Avery said slow traffic, basically. Smith said yeah. Slows traffic, allows the pedestrian to get out further. You know, with just this spring, or this summer, we hashed off the marks, the spots in front of K.H. Homes and Honcho to allow pedestrians to be seen. If we put bump-outs there so you can come out a little further, still be on the curb, up on the sidewalk, and get out a little further just for the drivers to have a better chance of seeing you, that’s something that was also included in this project. So, there’s clearly some work that would have to be coordinated with MDOT.
Casey said so, this grant is going to cover a lot of ground that we haven’t been able to do previously. Smith said correct. Avery said right, we’re kind of swinging for a home run here, because if we get it, great, we can fix them all, or we can replace them all, but in the meantime, if we don’t, we have to at least start to consider allocating budget money to start replacing the bricks, because we can replace the bricks, it doesn’t trigger any ADA issues if we’re just repairing. Is that right, or has that changed? Smith said well, the only way, or my understanding, and Lynn, chime in here if you disagree, my understanding is that if you do any kind of wholesale change to that, you replace the pavers with concrete or asphalt, then you must bring it up to code. If you literally just take out one paver and put in a paver of similar size to replace that with a similar one, then you don’t have to bring it up to code. Avery said that’s something we should at least start thinking about, because we’ve all walked along and saw the pavers, and some of them are in pretty rough shape and they need to be replaced. Smith said right. Avery said one way or the other, we can’t keep waiting in the hope that we’re going to get a grant that can cover it all. So, at some point, we have to start figuring out how much is going to be to replace these individual bricks.
(To Smith), Casey said about the sidewalks, they slant slightly on the east side of the road. Smith said actually on both sides, but the east side of the road is worse than the west side. Casey said so those are just going to be completely replaced to make them level? Smith said absolutely. Casey said I see.
Smith said so, if it was going on a case-by-case basis, we would have to look at the level of the current concrete against the building’s foundation, against the brickwork or what have you – Casey said yeah – and then taper that out in an ADA 2% max slope out to the curb. Casey said two percent? Smith said yeah. So, if we’re currently about 5% on average, you start to think, well, all I can do is raise the curb up or lower the exposure on the foundation down. Either one is not necessarily something we want to do, but we’re going to have to find a balance to make it maximum 2% side-to-side slope. Casey said OK. Smith said it’s a tricky one.
Casey said so the sidewalks are going to be replaced from roughly Two South down to Honcho? Smith said all the way to Waldon. Casey said oh. Smith said two blocks from Washington to Waldon. Quisenberry said either replaced or ground? Smith said in theory, they’d be replaced. Quisenberry said oh, but was Casey saying that they were just recently, some were replaced and some were ground? Smith said we did some grinding in places, but not too much in the downtown. There weren’t any, because there’s not any big trees down there, is the reason why we didn’t have to do a lot of grinding downtown. Most of that was out in the residential area. But the downtown area, when it was first put in, I don’t think it’s shifted that much over time. I just have to believe when it was first put in, it was not up to today’s ADA compliance, side-to-side slope. Wylie said was that put in when the sewers were put in? Smith said right, 2001. Wylie said 24 years.
Wylie recognized Quisenberry for a comment.
Quisenberry said so, this resolution, two parts. One is we’re going to be contracting with you to write the grant for us, and two, if we get it, then it’s to hire you to do this work that’s going to cost roughly, you’re projecting the cost to be roughly $1.7 million to do? Lynn said the construction portion. Quisenberry said the construction portion, yes. The application was no cost. Lynn said the application for the CDS is no cost. Quisenberry said got it.
Wylie said anybody else have council questions or comments. And I’ll give you guys a chance if anybody has questions. So, what we need is, Lynn, did you have anything else to add or Bodkin have anything else to add? Smith?
Forte said when will we hear back on this grant? Lynn said depends. Anyone’s guess is good, it depends a lot on federal funding and also when budgets get passed. Usually – Smith said this year, in 2025, it was like April when we learned we didn’t get it. So, I assume it’s about that time when they told the people that they did get it. It might have been May. The deadline is in March sometime. So, we’re getting started on it way earlier this year, and actually I have scheduled for next week, assuming that you would be in favor of us proceeding with this, I’ve already gone ahead and scheduled a meeting with both Elissa Slotkin’s and Lisa McClain’s CDS manager. I don’t think that’s their actual title, but that’s effectively what they do. So, Lynn’s counterpart, Chris Hennessey, was saying, you want to do that, let’s bring them out here, let’s engage them, let’s walk the district with them, show them why this is a hot button, why it needs to be addressed, and it can’t just be left year after year. So, we did not do that last year, we’re getting started earlier this year, and in the attempt of trying to just head out of the park this year with our application. Rodgers said so, you’re talking months, not years? Smith said right. Rodgers said yeah. Smith said yeah. Rodgers said cool.
Wylie said unless somebody else has something else, we can still talk.
(To Jones), Wylie said go ahead.
Jones said I’ll motion for the resolution. Wylie said it’s actually resolved. Jones said I’ll resolve; second Avery.
Wylie said now is there any other discussion or comments from anybody on council.
No comments.
Wylie said anybody in the public.
No comments.
Wylie said and then we’ll need a roll call on this. (To Guillen), Wylie said can you do a roll call? Guillen said yes.
Jones, Quisenberry voted yes.
Quisenberry said did she determine there was no other comment? Rodgers said yes. Quisenberry said OK.
Rodgers, Wylie, Avery, Casey, and Forte voted yes.
Wylie said thank you, everybody. The resolution is adopted, and Lynn and Bodkin, thank you for coming out.
Lynn said thank you. Appreciate your time. Wylie said thank you for following up.
Lynn said congratulations again on your Category B. Just in general, Smith is doing a great job of due diligence to make sure that these grants have the light of day that they need as they work through the process. Wylie said great. I think that’s a good step to be meeting with Lisa McClain’s and Elissa Slotkin’s managers.
Forte said yeah, when do they get reelected? That’s a good question. What’s their cycle? Avery said oh, Slotkin’s got, what, five years, four years? Quisenberry said oh, yeah, she was just reelected. Wylie said McClain’s got a year. Avery said yeah, she was just selected. Wylie said OK. Avery said I think it’s every other year, yeah. Wylie said yeah, every other year. Wylie said OK.
Item #11c – Motion: May 9, 2026 Angel’s Place Race (video time mark 0:49:07):
Wylie said we are Item #11C, May 9, 2026, Angels Place Race. I don’t see Paul here this year. Smith said Paul could not be here tonight. He actually was hoping we would do this in January, but I had already put it on the agenda. I asked him this afternoon, do you want to defer to January? He says no. If it’s already on the agenda, it’s not that complicated. Just go ahead and – Wylie said we’ve heard from him. Yeah, three years. Smith said I mean, if you want to know where the funds go for that he raises, I can have him come back at any time to give you that update. Wylie said it’s for mentally disabled housing for adults. For adults who are – does it say on here?
(Wylie read the resolution.)
And we’ll need a motion in support to approve the plans for the May 9, 2026, Angels Place race through the Village of Clarkston. City of the Village of Clarkston.
Motion by Jones; second Rodgers.
Wylie said and any comments or questions from council members.
No comments.
Wylie said from the public.
No comments.
Wylie said and we just need a, we don’t need a roll call.
Motion to approve the plans for the Angels Place Race passed by unanimous consent.
Wylie said the motion is adopted and now Paul doesn’t need to come home.
Item #11d – Motion: Cancellation of the December 22, 2025 City Council Meeting (video time mark 0:51:19):
Wylie said Item #11D, motion, cancellation of the December 22, 2025, city council meeting.
(Wylie read the motion.)
Wylie said and we’ll need a motion and a second to approve the cancellation of the second December 22, 2025, council meeting.
Motion by Jones; second Casey.
Wylie said any discussion.
Forte said yeah, I brought this up because in our charter we have to have two meetings per month. And I just want to make sure that’s okay.
Smith said yeah, so Guillen – Guillen said so, in our language it says shall, it doesn’t say must. Wylie said thank you for looking it up. Quisenberry said I thought those two terms are the same. Shall is mandatory. Avery said legally, yeah. If it says shall, may gives you a leeway. Shall in legal terms usually means that you have to.
Guillen said then why doesn’t it say must? (Unintelligible crosstalk.) Avery said because an attorney drafted it. That being said, I don’t know. Quisenberry said that’s just the legal term they use is shall. Avery said yeah.
Wylie said so, the only concern is would there be any repercussions if we cancel this meeting? I think that’s what Forte’s concerned about. Forte said yeah. Casey said no. Avery said there’s a legal opinion. About 150 bucks. Wylie said I’m much more highly paid. Avery said you are.
Jones said I was going to say, I’m not going to be here. Quisenberry said we don’t get paid on that vote. You don’t get money (unintelligible) – fixed income. Casey said you’re in it for the money. Wylie said yeah. Casey said we’re going to lose 25 bucks.
Smith said the last nine years since I’ve been here, we’ve always done it. Avery said yeah, we’ve always done it. Smith said we’ve always done it. Not to say that that’s right, but we can always call a special meeting later in the month, just on an afternoon and as long as we can get a quorum and just meet to approve tonight’s minutes and then adjourn, we can do that if you’re concerned about the legality.
Guillen said but if you had a quorum, they could approve them, but if you don’t – and I just wanted to say, I also talked to other cities and just asked how they do their meetings. They said they don’t even schedule it on them, they just leave it off completely. Wylie said do they have a charter, though, that they do? Rodgers said should we change our charter? Wylie said the problem is, we have unique residents sometimes who get a little persnickety about how we’re conducting this. Casey said that hasn’t been an issue in the past. Quisenberry said the other option is to keep the meeting planned, but none of us show up. (Laughter.) Wylie said these guys have to. Smith and Guillen have to show up.
Wylie said OK. So, we’ve got a motion and a second, and let’s just do a roll call, unless, does anybody else have anything else you want to talk about? I don’t know about, OK. Let’s do a roll call.
Quisenberry, Rodgers, Wylie, Avery, Casey, and Jones voted yes.
Forte voted no.
Wylie said OK, so the motion’s adopted, thank you very much.
Agenda Item #12, Adjourn Meeting (video time mark 0:54:52):
Wylie said and I need a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Motion by Jones. Wylie said we’ve got a motion from Jones because she’s going for first tonight. Avery said she’s going to leave. Second Forte.
Motion to adjourn passed by unanimous voice vote.
Wylie said we are adjourned.
Resources:
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- Link to video recording here
- 12-08-2025 City Council packet