February 11, 2008 council minutes

1. CALL TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

3. ATTENDANCE

Present: Kucinich, Kirklin, Bemer, McLean, S. Smith, Markle

Absent: P. Smith

Others present: Superintendent Anthony, Chief VerHage, Ruth Goheen

Motion by Bemer, support by Markle, to excuse member P. Smith. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

4. WELCOME TO THE PUBLIC

5. ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING BEING RECORDED

6. OPEN PUBLIC HEARING ON 3 MILLS FOR POLICE FOR ONE YEAR

Motion by Kucinich, support by S. Smith, to open the public hearing on the 3 mils for one year for police support. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

7. PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

8. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING

Motion by S. Smith, support by Kucinich, to close the public hearing. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

9. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Item B under new business was removed.

10. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 28, 2008

Bemer asked that the apostrophe be taken out of mosquito.

Motion by Bemer, support by S. Smith, to approve the minutes of January 28, as corrected. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

11. BILLS TO BE APPROVED IN THE AMOUNT OF $ $16,971.12

Motion by Kucinich, support by Bemer, to pay the bills in the amount of $16,971.12. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

12. LIMITED PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

13. BOARD AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

There were no board and committee reports

14. STAFF REPORTS

A. DPW SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT – TOM ANTHONY

Superintendent Anthony reported the village hall generator was about completed, the project on Glidden was going slow but it was still moving forward, the footings for the arsenic treatment plant are in and should have the plants set around March 5th. They have been patching pot holes and he has been working on the up coming budget.

B. ENGINEER’S REPORT – KARL FREED

Karl was not at the meeting.

15. OLD BUSINESS

A. I-94 BRIDGE PROJECT

Superintendent Anthony would like to address Council on the support of this project.

Anthony stated the Village needed to make some kind of commitment to MDOT regarding the bridge project slated for 2011. They will not move forward without some kind letter, etc, to the fact that we will fund the remainder of the project.

Anthony stated he had talked with Dan Veldhuizen regarding the LDFA funding this project. With the monies that the LDFA collects each year it is possible to fund this project using this money.

McLean stated she felt we did not have much choice as we have to get the bridge work done. Kucinich stated she felt it would be to the advantage of the LDFA to help fund this project.

Motion by Markle, support by Kucinich, to approve the memo by Superintendent Anthony and to give authority to go to the LDFA board for their support. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

Markle complimented Superintendent Anthony on a good job with writing the memo.

16. NEW BUSINESS

A. ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION FOR SPECIAL POLICE ASSESSMENT OF 3 MILLS
FOR ONE YEAR.

S. Smith asked why we still needed to go with three mills and not 2 or 2.5 as everyone else is tightening their belts. . Markle stated that the money the 3 mills bring in does not even come close to covering the police budget. Markle stated she had been reading up on this public act and you can levy up to 10- mills, therefore she feels we need to leave it 3 for now.

Bemer stated we can always lower it if need be by another public hearing so she felt it should be left at 3 mills for now also.

Motion by Markle, support by Kucinich, to pass the resolution for special police assessment for 3 mills for one year under Public Act 33 of 1951. Roll call vote. Six members voted in favor. S. Smith voted against. Opposition noted. Motion carried.

B. PURCHASE OF MORE ROAD SALT

Superintendent would like to purchase the remaining 100 tons of salt that is the remainder of the salt contract.

S. Smith asked if this was a budgeted item. Anthon stated this was not, however, because of the harsh winter we have had and still may get more, the salt is a needed commodity. Anthony stated we have already gone through 250 to 300 tons of salt this winter. The cost of the 100 tons would be approximately $4,000.

Motion by Markle, support by Kirklin, to purchase the remaining 100 tons of salt left on the salt contract. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

D. APPROVAL OF CLAUDIA SPULICK AS NEW OFFICE STAFF

Policy & Personnel Committee recommends 3-0 to hire Claudia Spulick as new office staff personnel effective immediately.

Bemer stated they had three very good candidates for this position. The committee recommended Claudia Spulick.

Motion by Kirklin, support by S. Smith, to hire Claudia Spulick as the new office staff effective immediately. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

E. APPROVAL FOR ALL COMMITTEES TO START ON 08-09 BUDGETS

Motion by Bemer, support by S. Smith, to give approval for all committees to start on the 08-09 budgets. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

17. COMMUNICATIONS
a. MML Legislative Link for January 28, & February 4, & 7, 2008

18. COMMENTS FROM VISITORS

Charles Fruin of East McGillen Avenue stated he was sorry he missed the public hearing but had some questions. He asked why we needed additional millage as stated in the newspaper.

McLean stated we were not asking for additional millage but a renewal of what we had for the last two years. McLean stated is was not written correctly in the paper.

Fruin then asked why we needed to do the three mills a couple years ago. McLean stated because we had lost a large amount in state revenue..

Chief stated there is 24/7 coverage in the Village with one officer on the afternoon and midnight shifts. We have one school liaison officer and the school pays for his time which is about 2/3 of the year. On Monday’s and Friday’s there are two officers on during the day as these are court days and it takes one officer to do all the paper work and go to court. Chief feels the department is well run and very cost conscious.

Mr. Fruin thanked everyone for taking the time to explain.

Mark Boven who had been interested in a piece of property that is outside the village and would like to get water and sewer in that area. He stated that last year the Antwerp Township and the Village tried to work out a 425 agreement but could not come to terms. He would very much like to pursue that agreement again. He wanted to know what he had to do on his end to get it going again.

McLean explained she would get with our attorney and give him a call back.

19. COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL

Lori Anthony had done a proposal on re-vamping the web site to make it more user friendly.

Motion by S. Smith, support by Bemer, to send Lori’s proposal to the communications committee for further review. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

20. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.