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HomeMy WebLinkAboutInterlocal Agreements - 2008.10.23 - 5822CITY OF WIXOM 49045 Pontiac Trail Regular City Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday - October 14, 2008 Mayor Hinkley called the meeting to order at 7:32 pm at which time the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Present: Mayor: K. Hinkley Council: J. Cutright N. Dingeldey J. Lee R. Nordstrom L. Rich R. Ziegler City Manager: M. Dornan CHANGES/ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: At the request of Councilman Cutright, a discussion on setting a town hall meeting regarding Wixom’s ballot proposals was added to New Business as item #5 and the executive session was changed to item #6. Additionally, Council concurred with Councilman Lee’s request to move the Mayor’s appointment of David Hieber to the Parks & Recreation Commission from Consent Agenda #5 to the beginning of New Business (item A1). COUNCIL MINUTES: CM-10-155-08: Moved and seconded by Councilman Lee and Councilwoman Rich to approve, receive and file the special City Council meeting minutes of September 23, 2008. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED CM-10-156-08: Motion and second by Councilmembers Dingeldey and Cutright to approve, receive and file the regular City Council meeting minutes of September 23, 2008. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED CORRESPONDENCE: 1.) Oakland County Board of Commissioners Miscellaneous Resolution #08126 - Transit Commuter Benefit Program for Oakland County Employees CALL TO THE PUBLIC: No one addressed Council at the first Call to the Public concerning agenda items. CITY MANAGER’S REPORTS: 1.) Wixom Public Library Statistical Report - August 2008 2.) Annual Investment Report - Fiscal Year 2007-08 3.) City Manager’s Budget Reports - June 2008 4.) City Manager’s Budget Reports - July 2008 Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 2 Councilman Lee expressed his appreciation for the investment and budget reports. He thought they were extremely informative and well thought out and show the efforts that are being taken to stay ahead of the current financial situation we’re in. He found them quite interesting. CONSENT AGENDA: CM-10-157-08: Motion and second by Councilman Ziegler and Councilman Cutright to approve the Consent Agenda which included: • Approval to receive and file minutes for meetings of the Wixom Public Library Board of Trustees (August 25, 2008) and the Planning Commission (August 25, September 2 and September 22, 2008); • Adoption of the following Resolution authorizing the acceptance of the dedication of Gibson Drive and the placement of this roadway within the City’s Street System: CITY OF WIXOM RESOLUTION 2008-68 RESOLUTION FOR STREET ADDITION TO THE PUBLIC ACT 1951, ACT 51 MAP WHEREAS, the City of Wixom, on or about July 2007, opened to the public and commenced maintenance of Gibson Drive; and WHEREAS, it is necessary to furnish certain information to the State of Michigan to place the street within the City of Wixom Street System for the purpose of obtaining funds under Act 51, P.A. 1951 as amended. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: 1. That the general description of said street is described as: Gibson Drive Starting at Old Wixom Road then west 1,240 feet 2. That said street is located in the City of Wixom rights-of-way and are under the control of the City of Wixom. 3. That said street is Public Street and is for public street purposes. 4. That said street is being accepted into the City of Wixom Local Street System. • Acceptance of a permanent water main easement being granted by Lakeside Oakland Development LLC in the total amount of One Dollar ($1.00); • Confirmation of the following Mayoral Proclamation: National Family Caregivers Month Proclamation Whereas, During this season of thanksgiving, as we pause to reflect on the many blessings that have been bestowed on us as individuals and as a community, we are especially grateful for the love of our families and friends. One of the most profound ways in which that love is expressed is through the generous support provided by family caregivers to loved ones who are chronically ill, elderly or disabled; and Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 3 Whereas, Caregivers reflect family and community life at its best. They are among Wixom’s most important natural resources; and Whereas, The need for family caregivers is growing. We are blessed to live in a time when medicine and technology have helped us live longer. As a result, persons with disabilities are living longer and people over 85 are the fastest growing segment of our population; and Whereas, Family caregivers deserve our lasting gratitude and respect. This month, as we honor the many contributions that family caregivers make to the quality of our national life, let us resolve to work through our community, health care, religious, social, business and other organizations to offer programs and services that will provide caregivers the support and encouragement they need to carry out their vital responsibilities; and Now, therefore, I, Kevin W. Hinkley, do hereby proclaim November 2008 as National Family Caregivers Month in Wixom. • Approval to schedule a public hearing to be held at the regular Council meeting of October 28, 2008 to solicit input from individuals and agencies regarding the utilization of the 2009-2010 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocation in the amount of $44,652. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED NEW BUSINESS: Appointment of David Hieber to the Parks & Recreation Commission: Councilman Lee indicated he asked that this be put under New Business because he thinks it’s important when we have a person come forward that we recognize them, especially when they’re present at the meeting. It’s good to recognize the fact that they have demonstrated their commitment to the community and want to step forward. He’s known Dave for a number of years and thinks this is a very good recommendation from the Mayor’s office and would wholeheartedly support this appointment. CM-10-158-08: Moved by Councilman Lee, seconded by Councilman Cutright, to concur with the Mayor’s appointment of David Hieber to the Parks & Recreation Commission; term to expire June 30, 2011. David Hieber stated he lives on Pheasant Run and has lived in Wixom his whole life (39 years this fall). When Mr. Dornan asked him to get involved with this he thought about it and talked to his wife about it, and they both agreed it was probably time to try to get involved with the community a little bit. He thinks this is probably the best avenue. They have three kids (boys 7 and 6, and a 3-year-old daughter) and are active now in new sports and some of the programs that are in Wixom, and he’d like to be more involved. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 4 Water Service Contract with the City of Detroit and Water Storage Filling Schedule: CM-10-159-08: Motion and second by Councilmen Cutright and Lee that the Water Service Contract with the City of Detroit be approved, the Mayor and City Clerk be authorized to execute the Contract on behalf of the City and that the City Manager be authorized to sign the Water Storage Filling Schedule. Councilwoman Rich commented she thought this was a great contract. She went through it, and every time she had a question or concern it was addressed later in the contract. So she’s quite impressed with how well it’s written and how the City will benefit from it. Mr. Dornan thinks it is a good contract and said he would reiterate Councilwoman Rich’s comments. We’ve worked with DWSD, and he feels we have a good partner. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED Audit Services of Plante & Moran for 2007-2008 Fiscal Year Audit: CM-10-160-08: Moved and seconded by Councilman Ziegler and Councilman Cutright that authorization be granted to waive the bid process and execute the proposal received from Plante & Moran in an amount not to exceed $60,048 to conduct the 2007-2008 General Financial Audit and, if necessary, $6,718 for the Single Audit. Councilman Lee indicated the recommendation states that it’s an amount not to exceed $60,048 and if necessary $6,718 for a single audit. When we look at the dialogue it seems to indicate that $6,718 is actually included and not a separate fee. He wanted clarification on which way it is because it appears it is being double stated in the recommendation. Kevin Brady, Finance Director, stated he was correct. If we have the single audit the total maximum would be $60,048. It’s likely we won’t so it would come in at less than the $60,000. Councilman Lee very honestly had no problems with any of the rest of it. He just wanted to make sure the funding was correct. Councilwoman Rich remarked that she did notice the new rules will also be applying to non-profit organizations. Over the years she has mentioned the benefit of forming a homeowner association type group. Our homeowner associations would also be impacted by the new audit rules, and she wonders if at some point in time it might be beneficial for economies of scale to approach the homeowner associations to see if they would all like to share in the expense of sharing an audit. She was just throwing that out there if there is ever a gathering of homeowner associations or perhaps as the City has contact with them it could be brought up. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 5 Purchase of Inventory for the 2008-09 Meter Replacement Program: CM-10-161-08: Motion by Councilwoman Dingeldey, seconded by Councilman Cutright, to waive Section 12.1 (Purchase and Sale of Property) of the City Charter, as there is no benefit to the City by utilizing the competitive bid process, and approve the purchase of Sensus SR water meters and electronic radio readers from ETNA Supply Company of Wixom MI in an amount not to exceed $45,000 with funds derived from Water Utility System Capital Improvement Account #60 18-41 9809 (Use of Capital Reserve). VOTE: MOTION CARRIED Interlocal Agreement for Lyon Oaks Park Bridge: CM-10-162-08: Moved and seconded by Councilman Cutright and Councilwoman Rich to approve the Interlocal Agreement between Oakland County and the City of Wixom for the construction of a new bridge located in Lyon Oaks Park, to authorize the Mayor to sign the agreement on behalf of the City and to adopt the following uthorizing Resolution: A RESOLUTION 2008-69 CITY OF WIXOM AUTHORIZING RESOLUTION INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN OAKLAND COUNTY AND CITY OF WIXOM WHEREAS, Oakland County has scheduled the replacement of a bridge accessed through Lyon Oaks Park; and, WHEREAS, The bridge is vital to the maintenance of the City’s sanitary sewer system; and, WHEREAS, the County has proposed an Interlocal Agreement with the City to share the costs of construction; and WHEREAS, said Interlocal Agreement is in the best interest of the City. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and City Council hereby approve the Interlocal Agreement and that the Mayor is authorized to sign the Interlocal Agreement between Oakland County and the City of Wixom for the bridge reconstruction in Lyon Oaks Park on behalf of the City. Councilwoman Dingeldey noted we have a cost not to exceed $80,000 and inquired if the only cost to Wixom is we waive the City permit fees or if we are paying $40,000 and they are paying $40,000. Mike Howell, DPW Director, stated that would be correct. Of the estimated $80,000 we would split the cost 50/50 ($40,000 us and $40,000 Oakland County). When asked where the bridge is he replied it is actually inside Lyon Oaks Park. In the back, throughout the back trails, if you were actually to head down at the end of Century Court there is a gate at the end of Century Court. If you go down there and hang a left into the woods you’d come across a bridge. It’s the only access we have back there to the sanitary sewer. Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 6 Councilman Lee asked how close the access point of the sewer is to the outfall point at the Ford property. He knows there is a gate and a fence there and asked if it is possible to access it from that gate. Mr. Howell stated you can access that part of the sewer from the Ford property, but the sanitary line actually crosses back under the stream; and then you can’t access this part from the Ford property. Councilman Lee indicated his question was if it could be accessed from the Ford side of the stream; and Mr. Howell told him no, you cannot. Councilwoman Rich wanted to clarify that the most the City would pay out is $40,000. However, if Oakland County utilizes City staff for certain specific tasks or jobs then the time spent doing that actually gets counted towards our $40,000 after a rate is agreed upon. Mr. Howell said that was correct. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED Consideration of Town Hall Meeting to Discuss Millage Proposals: Councilman Cutright stated we spent some time and effort going over these proposals, and unfortunately he doesn’t think we’ve been able to meet with almost everybody in the City through the subdivision meetings. He feels we should set a date and time for this in the next couple weeks (possibly before our next Council meeting on Tuesday, the 28th from 6:00 to 7:00) and have an open house type deal where people who are interested or want more information on the local roads and the bike safety paths can come in, and we’ll have people there to talk to them. He realizes it is on the website and realizes there will (hopefully) be articles in the newspaper about it, but he feels we should offer this meeting for the residents so if anybody’s interested they can come in and discuss it. Mayor Hinkley inquired if he was suggesting possibly October 28th prior to the Council meeting, and Councilman Cutright answered yes and said it was just a day he picked. It’s up for consideration, needless to say. Councilwoman Dingeldey said she thought it was a great idea. However, after attending the homeowner meetings last night and the City Clerk explaining the very long ballot with a lot of different proposals on it, along with the bikepath and the local road information it might be helpful for someone to point out those various proposals that are on the ballot that she has not yet seen in the paper. There are a couple she’s aware of, but it might be beneficial to the public as well to expand it a little bit. At the subdivision meeting the Clerk explained that the ballot for November 4th is extremely long and it could take as long as 10 to 15 minutes to complete. She’s just suggesting to tag on to Councilman Cutright’s idea of a town hall meeting to also offer information on those ballot issues. Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 7 Councilman Cutright stated we could have some posters of the ballot itself up there so people could read that over. Councilwoman Dingeldey commented it might be very helpful to persons and allow them to be informed voters. Councilwoman Rich stated that’s not a bad idea. She thinks there’s medical marijuana and stem cell research. We just have to be very careful that we’re not advocating any positions. We can’t do that, and we have to bear in mind that there is a difference between having a conversation when it’s just us taking our time or staff taking their personal time at a homeowners association meeting; but if we’re going to have a town hall meeting in a public building using City resources we can certainly lay out all the information. We just have to be very careful and understand that there are rules that apply, and there are lines we can’t cross. When Councilwoman Dingeldey remarked that she thinks we’re all very aware of that but she doesn’t know that it necessarily needed to be said, Councilwoman Rich returned that there are many times here at many City Council meetings where people say things to make sure other people who are in the audience understand the rules that apply. While we are all very knowledgeable up here, people do read our minutes and not everybody in the community understands there are certain rules we have to follow. She would also like to point out that when we do have a town hall meeting this is certainly another avenue on which we can approach our homeowner associations to help us to recruit people and to get the message out that there will be an informational type meeting. She stated as long as she was on the topic and we were talking about bike paths and the safety path millage, we have to be very cautious when we’re talking about that that we do not use the word “completion” as far as she is concerned because there are no guarantees that the monies that will come in (even for the 15 years if it’s approved by the electorate) will afford the City the opportunity to fully complete the gaps in the system. She doesn’t want to place future Councils in the position of having a voter come back to them. Mayor Hinkley advised that the item on the agenda was to discuss having the town hall meeting. He said he had a lot of respect for what she had to present but thought maybe Councilwoman Rich might want to save those comments for Council Comments. Councilwoman Dingeldey stated she did not indicate there would be any discussion on these but rather the information would be there in case somebody wanted to read it and become more knowledgeable. She never indicated we would have a program or a discussion on it. Councilwoman Rich explained that her comments were not geared to Ms. Dingeldey. They were just general comments she wanted to make when Mr. Cutright mentioned the meeting. Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 8 Mayor Hinkley stated he thinks it’s a great idea. However, he does have a concern about addressing other ballot questions that are at the state and county levels because he’s not so sure this Council has the answers to give our public regarding stem cell research and other issues that would be on the ballot. He thinks the nice thing about our two millage proposals is we’ll obviously have Mr. Nowicki and Mr. Dornan there and any of our staff to address any questions that would be raised from the public that Council might not have the answers to. Whereas with ballot questions from the state and federal level he’s not sure that’s the appropriate time. Councilman Nordstrom asked if we can’t just take sample ballots and blow them up and have them scattered around the room. He doesn’t think there’s any need to explain anything to people, but at least let them see what they’re going to see when they walk in to vote and aren’t blinded by it. If they have questions about it they can call the state or whoever is sponsoring that, but at least let them see the ballot before they walk in. Councilman Cutright commented that personally that’s what he meant. He didn’t mean a discussion at all on the other ballot proposals because he frankly doesn’t have the information on them. He has the information on the Wixom proposals, but not the others. If we could put oversized ballots like Mr. Nordstrom said he thinks that would help. Councilman Lee concurred. It’s not unprecedented for us to present ballot initiatives to the public that affect the community uniquely. We’ve done it pretty much in every ballot question of this type previously. To show what other initiatives are going to be on the ballot so people are aware, he has no problem with that. He thinks the only discussion we would have would be on what we can explain, and we do it in a way that says this is the facts and what we’re trying to do. He has no problem with that and thinks it carries on traditions we have fostered in this community over a number of years. Mayor Hinkley stated one of the other underlying questions would be if the community center is available or in the event the community center was being utilized for a class or something that evening if we would conduct it here right before the meeting and just open up the second room. Councilman Nordstrom offered that if it’s here and runs long we wouldn’t be able to conduct our meeting. He thinks it needs to be “across the water.” The Mayor noted we’ll need to confirm whether we can do that, and Mr. Dornan stated he would. CM-10-163-08: Motion by Councilman Lee to concur with the recommendation from Mr. Cutright as amended by Mrs. Dingeldey to have a town hall meeting to present the initiatives for local roads and bikes paths to the community and to include for informational purposes the language of the other proposals on the ballot; seconded by Councilwoman Dingeldey. Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 9 Councilman Nordstrom asked if we can contact the homeowner association presidents since they maybe have a better avenue to get the word out than we have with putting it on the marquees and putting it on the website. They might have everybody’s email address and can hit everybody at once. Mr. Dornan stated we’ll get on this first thing tomorrow morning. We know how to fan out the community, that’s for sure. Councilwoman Rich stated that was pretty much what she suggested a little bit ago. The last time around when water came to Wixom we did that, and homeowner associations were contacted and they didn’t just get the word out electronically and make phone calls. They actually were at a town hall meeting, and it really did generate quite a number of people attending the meeting. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED Executive Session (Union Negotiations): CM-10-164-08: Moved and seconded by Councilmen Ziegler and Cutright to hold an Executive Session to discuss Union Negotiations. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES (7) Cutright, Dingeldey, Hinkley, Lee, Nordstrom, Rich, Ziegler NAYS (0) None MOTION CARRIED CALL TO THE PUBLIC: There were no speakers at this Call to the Public. CITY MANAGER’S COMMENTS: Mr. Dornan wanted to share that if you go to the website you’ll see a message from the City Manager that points out two links – one to the two ballot proposals and the other to absentee ballot applications, the deadline and how people can apply to the Clerk’s Office. In addition to that, we are including a copy of the sample ballot as well. In addition what you’ll see tomorrow when we confirm the date of the town meeting is a message more into the location and time of the town meeting. He thinks that will accomplish a lot of the things Council is looking for in addition to the typical fan out t we do, not only through our Constant Contacts list but also through our inventory of homeowner association contacts. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilwoman Rich wanted to thank the DPW, Parks & Rec and Community Services for the Fall Fest. We were blessed with wonderful weather. The fire station and crew did a great job there as well. She had a lot of positive comments from the public at both events, but she particularly was paying attention to the comments at the Fall Fest. She had a number of people come up to her and just flat outright say they really liked the two events being combined into one. They really enjoyed it and thought it was more easily attended. Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 10 She continued by saying many of us had the opportunity to attend the MML Convention. She had a good time and learned a lot. One of the topics was mentoring which has been in the news of late anyway. She mentions that because also at the Mayors’ gathering we went to the topic was teens. She’d like to see all of us put our heads together and come up with a way in which we could better utilize the teens in our community and maybe better provide them a structure to afford them the opportunity to contribute their time and talent to better serve the City. In partnership with that she’d like to investigate how we can incorporate mentoring as part of that concept. It’s something that has always been near and dear to her heart. She’s talked previously about trying to combine our teens with our senior citizens, and as a parent of a teen she knows there are a lot of good kids out there. Sometimes the kids just don’t get the play. Often we hear more about the bad things that are happening, but there are a lot of good things that are happening too. Sometimes these teens are walking a fine line, and if we provide them a better opportunity to be involved and to actually accomplish things and do things of service and to do things they see and feel are meaningful she thinks they’ll be better served; and she thinks we will be better served as individuals and as a community as a whole. She’s pondering a couple of different ways to accomplish that. She really appreciated Novi putting on the presentation at the Mayors’ gathering. Her gut right now is really leaning towards an appointed teen commission. The reason she’s leaning towards that is because any time you get teens together is no different than any other age group. There’s a certain pecking order and a certain clique type situation that tends to develop, and you bypass that automatically when you have an objective party appointing teens to lead a commission. She’d like to do it a little bit differently than Novi, and that’s why she’s tossing it out there for all of us to think about. Out teens are important. Our community needs them, and we need to create a better avenue for them. Councilman Ziegler mentioned that Mr. Dornan couldn’t be at the festivities Saturday night, but he said to him that he’s lived in this City for over 34 years and that was one of the nicest and best events he’s ever been to for this City to put on. It was a combination probably of both the people who were there putting it on and attending. It was just incredible, and he was very impressed with everybody working together. It was a great day, really nice; and the whole day was wonderful. He thought it was probably one of our best moments frankly, and he wanted to congratulate everybody that had anything to do with it – the DPW, Community Services and Parks & Rec and everybody that was involved in it. He just thought it was a great event. Councilman Lee said certainly he’d echo the comments regarding last Saturday. He would ask (and he thinks he and Mr. Cutright have had discussions with the Fire Chief) that we definitely need a different hamburger next year. Otherwise, he thinks they’ll be looking for new cooks. He felt like he gained about five pounds in grease just from what was on the clothing. Councilman Lee wanted to take the time to once again welcome Dave (Hieber) into our community of volunteers. He said it’s the first step of many, and you never know where you’re going to end up. We appreciate his dedication and his coming Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 11 forward and think he’ll have a really good time. We’ll enjoy working with him and look forward to the future. Councilman Lee also wanted to thank everybody involved in getting the information regarding the sanitary sewer discharges and the information regarding the BOD and the loadings and such. He doesn’t disagree with the information that was presented. He’s mentioned that to a few people tonight and it really mirrored what he was saying, but he thinks it also points out the fact that we are operating close to certain limitations in our permit. While it’s not of concern, it’s something that should be watched. He will watch it as long as he’s up here until it’s fully loaded in the system, and he thinks a lot of it really is going to depend on how the community develops over the next several years. There is no question that we are poised for rapid development when the economy turns around, and he thinks that development will be different than what we’ve seen in the past so we should expect a little bit different flow patterns that will impact this treatment system. Councilman Cutright welcomed Dave Hieber, saying it should be very interesting and fun. He spent time with one of his co-members at the Fall Fest handing out cider and donuts and had a real good time and some good discussions there. With regard to the Fire Department, he told them excellent job on the open house and told the Chief he takes it no one got sick and that he didn’t get any calls on any food poisoning or anything from our cooking. That was excellent and so was the Fall Fest - DPW, Parks & Rec. He saw just tons of people there, and everybody had fun. It was a beautiful day for it. Councilman Cutright noted that Jim Maher was mentioned in Crain’s as one of the rising stars aged 40 and under. He said nice job, Jim. Councilman Nordstrom asked Mr. Brady about the budget stabilization, how it’s tracking, if we’re where we thought we’d be or if we’re less or better than we thought we’d be. Mr. Brady stated that as of June 30, 2008 he thinks we’re exceeding expectations. The amount we would have to transfer over through the budget back to the general fund was approximately $600,000. He projects it will be less than that and will probably come in at $250,000 or $150,000 with one caveat, and that is the taxable value decline; but we see it occurring or possibly will see it occurring. That was not taken into account and obviously we’ll have to revise the five-year action plan, but the action plan as proposed (without that one caveat and the way the economy has turned around), the budget stabilization, we’re doing better than anticipated. Councilman Nordstrom asked if with the collection on the latest taxes we saw much of a difference in delinquent taxes so far this year as opposed to what we normally see coming in. Mr. Brady stated for the summer portion last year we collected 92%. This year we’ve collected about 91%. Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 12 Mr. Dornan added that’s pretty astonishing in this market. We’ve looked at that figure and are pleased by the response of our taxpayers and the ability of our taxpayers to sustain this economic climate. Councilman Nordstrom mentioned the MML Convention and said he thinks most would probably agree you get more information either after the meeting at dinner or maybe in a pub talking to some of the people from the other areas. He talked to a couple different people, and he knows it came up earlier. It’s not his suggestion (Mr. Lee started the discussion on it), but rental inspections. It seems to be a great way to control certain things in your city, and he hopes we are looking at doing that and implementing that. Talking to the other city managers and council people, it seemed to be not the cure but a good potion for curing some of the cities’ ills around the state. So he hopes we’re moving forward with that. Councilman Nordstrom indicated he had one question on the proposals; a couple people asked him about when it says maintenance on the bike path proposal. He asked to have maintenance defined. Is that the snow? Is that doing the repairs to maintain them? What is maintenance? Assistant City Manager Tony Nowicki stated we currently remove the snow on the bike paths. The maintenance there would be removal of a section of broken or damaged sidewalks (as we had talked about before along Maple Road), the repair of some of the boardwalks we have along Wixom Road, the holes where the foundations have been eroding. The maintenance would be the general protection of our asset and protecting the longevity of that asset. Councilman Nordstrom said he assumed that. He assumed that snow removal (and things like that) is coming out of the normal DPW budget. Councilwoman Dingeldey remarked that everyone’s done a marvelous job of covering all topics. She just had one, and that would be to Joan and Larry Rourke with congratulations and best wishes on a milestone in their life not many of us are able to reach; and that is their 50th wedding anniversary together. With that, she wished them 50 more and best wishes to just a really great volunteer couple. Councilwoman Dingeldey thanked Dave Hieber for raising his hand and volunteering and welcomed him to the force. One always has to think of those who are not going to be serving on that commission or other ones and to also thank them for the time they’ve given to the City and that wonderful attitude of community spirit. Mayor Hinkley commented that unbeknownst to him through our efforts of attracting new businesses he understands we now have a hockey rink here in Wixom. The Puck Masters Program is a division of Puck Masters of Detroit and is located at 50950 Century Court. Actually he picked this up out of a hockey magazine he’s been getting for a number of years, and he was quite surprised to see that it’s actually a training facility and not where they’ll be holding games. They’ve got a sheet of ice and dry land training and a real ice training rink, all ages, Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 13 skills and level, male and female player development, beginning programs and on and on. It’s quite a brochure, and he thinks quite an additional opportunity that we have along with our soccer program here in the City. He just thought it was worth mentioning because it might be the start of a rink. He thinks that’s great, and hopefully it’s not the start of a rink we but somebody private would build. Secondly, the Mayor welcomed Dave Hieber. It was great of him to step up and bring us some new ideas and new volunteerism to our community. He’d also like to thank Dale Nordstrom whose commission expired June 30th. Dale had been on the Parks & Rec Commission for quite some time, and the Mayor hopes he will continue to show up at various different events as he has in the past and offer his insight and his opportunity to volunteer. Being on our Parks & Rec Commission or our Planning or our Zoning to him isn’t just about being on that Park & Rec Commission or Planning Commission or Zoning Commission; it’s about participating in the City as a whole. You don’t have to be on the Planning Commission just to do Planning Commission things. You don’t have to be on the Parks & Rec just to do Parks & Rec things. It’s about contributing and volunteering to the City as a whole. As he’s said in the past several months our volunteerism here in the community is at an all time high, and it’s quite evident by people such as Mr. Hieber that have stepped up to volunteer for our various different commissions and bring us some new ideas. Just last night he stopped by the Parks & Rec meeting and one of our new volunteers offered a great idea for our wine tasting event that might allow us to generate more activity with offering baby sitting service for the participants’ kids since they look at that to be a costly event and costly to get a babysitter for the night. So that was a great idea one of our new members brought up. That’s the kind of things we’re looking for, and that’s great. He knows Dave will bring that attitude and that forceful new idea to Parks & Rec as well. The Mayor stated that since he didn’t attend the MML conference on Mackinac Island he had asked Deputy Mayor Ziegler to attend a couple functions for him. One he brought back that he thinks is something we’ve let lapse over the years is the Michigan Association of Mayors and the Mayors Exchange. So he thinks upon Deputy Mayor Ziegler’s recommendation and after reviewing this he’d like to initiate the 2009 Mayors Exchange and would like to encourage his fellow Council members to think about possibly a community we can select to exchange with or we can utilize the selection process the Michigan Municipal League has in pairing with us. He thinks it would be great if we all gave it a thought. He commented to mark your calendars because they typically do it, May 18th is the typical. You don’t have to do it on that day, but that’s kind of the day the MM L recognizes (May 18, 2009); and that’s what we’ll be shooting for. Mayor Hinkley thinks the open house (at what he always calls the fire barn because he’s kind of an old traditionalist) was a great day and had a great turnout. He thinks the panther hunt and pumpkin patch and combining that on one night is great. It allows us to really showcase all the opportunities we have to bring to our community. It also cuts costs by not establishing three or four different days for three or four different events in the fall, doing it all one day and having a great turnout. So he thought, as Councilman Ziegler said, it was a great turnout. Regular Wixom City Council Meeting October 14, 2008 Page 14 He also wanted to add that with the latest infusion of disarray on our stock market, our banks, our country, it’s difficult for all of us to understand why and who and where to put blame and where not to put blame; but he thinks it’s important that we all look to each other as a country and don’t blame the Republicans or don’t blame the Democrats. We don’t blame people for wanting to be wealthy, and we don’t blame people who are less fortunate. We help each other; we help the less fortunate. We admire the wealthy because this is a country where you can become wealthy if you work hard and do the right things and don’t put yourself behind and in debt, and at the same time you have to look back to the less fortunate and lift them up and lift their spirits because any one of us could be that person without a job tomorrow. So you never know, and it’s important to pull together in this difficult time. Regardless of who becomes President in the next four weeks, we have to look at our community, our state, our country and pull together and do the best that we can for all of us. He thinks if any of us have parents or grandparents that made it through the Great Depression there were lessons learned in that Great Depression, and your grandparents or parents will always refer to things we did in that depression and how we got through. It might be something as simple as a lot of us reverting back to one car in the family or we might be looking at a local vacation rather than an exorbitant vacation, but we will fair through this. He thinks it is important that we as a City are doing well. When he went to the local Mayors meeting the other night there are some cities that aren’t doing so well. Through our executive and administrative staff we continue to do well and hang on. So he asks his fellow citizens to reach out to people over the next several weeks because it is going to be a difficult time, and you never know when you might be on that other end. RECESS: The meeting was recessed for Executive Session at 8:26 pm on motion and second by Councilmen Cutright and Lee. RECONVENE: The Executive Session was adjourned at 9:14 pm at which time the regular meeting was reconvened. CM-10-165-08: Motion and second by Councilman Lee and Councilman Cutright to concur with the recommendation of staff and approve the proposal for ratification of the settlement agreement with the Police Officers Labor Council and authorize the Mayor and Clerk to execute the new collective bargaining agreement on behalf of the City. VOTE: MOTION CARRIED ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm on motion and second by Councilman Cutright and Councilwoman Dingeldey. Linda Kirby City Clerk APPROVED 10/28/2008