[0:00] All right, so we will begin our meeting
6:05 and we will stand for a pledge of
[0:05] allegiance.
[0:10] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:15] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:22] justice for all.
[0:28] We'll do roll call.
>> Yes, Mayor Jacobs.
[0:31] » Here.
>> Chairperson Taylor.
[0:34] » Here.
>> Vice Chair Bedoun.
[0:37] » Here.
[0:39] » Uh
Secretary Walkonus.
[0:42] Sure to be absent.
[0:46] Dr. Hyder.
>> Here.
[0:48] » Uh Trustee Berry.
>> Here.
[0:50] » Dr. Nazaretti.
>> Here.
[0:51] » [clears throat]
>> Trustee Perridor.
[0:53] » Here.
>> All right, you do have a quorum today.
[0:56] Making you a quorum of seven. Thank you.
>> Okay.
[1:01] Uh approval of agenda.
>> I move to approve the agenda as
[1:06] presented.
>> I second.
[1:09] » All right, so we have
a motion by Mayor Jacobs, seconded by
[1:14] Trustee Hyder. Any discussion by the
table?
[1:18] All in favor.
>> Aye.
[1:20] » Any opposed? All right, that will carry.
We have a presentation today. City
[1:25] Manager Tim Gibbons has joined us.
Welcome.
[1:28] » Thank you, Mayor.
Um yeah, just stopping back by to check
[1:31] in about um our search for a replacement
community development director and DDA
[1:36] director.
Uh as we all are dreading, uh Mr. Miller
[1:40] is retiring at the end of the month and
um we have faced a need to replace him.
[1:44] It is not been an easy solution. Um Matt
carries on uh three very important
[1:49] roles. One of them is DDA director, the
other is our community development
[1:52] director, and runs our building
department. Um and Uh, it as a planner
[1:56] as well. Um and this is what this is is
from McKenna. So, um, we initially
[2:00] sought to replace someone who could do
all three of those things. And, um, we
[2:04] asked Trustee Peredar to participate in
what we what we thought were the best
[2:08] candidates available for the job, and
really just weren't able to find someone
[2:11] that would fit and perform all three of
these roles. Um, you know, uh, so,
[2:16] really we've been spending after finding
out that with one person just couldn't
[2:20] replace all the things that he does.
Matt has unique talents that are unique
[2:24] to the position we created for him.
Um,
[2:28] really we're going to have to solve it
in the aggregate. We're going to have to
[2:30] find individuals who can do parts of
really the three roles he carries on.
[2:34] So, um, we put our heads together and
thought, um, really the to present the
[2:38] board with two options today. One I
prefer the most is one to continue to
[2:41] exist within the current cost-sharing
agreement, allow us to appoint a DDA
[2:45] director, um, subject to your approval,
um, which I'll get a little further
[2:50] into, and continue to carry out that
agreement providing the same level of
[2:53] service we did, but just more in the
aggregate. Not just one person doing all
[2:57] three of those roles, but we appoint a
director and then that director would
[2:59] have the ability to utilize all the city
services that come with it. They already
[3:03] do. You know, continue to use our
technology, office space, access to a
[3:06] planner, access to economic assistance
with grant writing, assistance with all
[3:10] those skills that Matt uniquely brought
all in one package, really sort of
[3:14] create them all together with city
services in combination. Um,
[3:18] so, um, it the agreement doesn't say
that I have to appoint one person to do
[3:22] all of the jobs I said. It just says
that we have to provide a DDA director.
[3:26] At the last meeting it was clear to me
that the board contemplated promoting
[3:30] uh, or making John Prosch the director
to to bump him up. I'm more than
[3:33] amenable to that. And then and then if
that is something that the board is
[3:38] inclined to, I'd request that if they
choose this option is to go with that
[3:42] and give me some type of voter uh, some
type of verbalization or vote of support
[3:46] for John, and that would take me to
feeling like I I could appoint him to to
[3:50] carry out that role. Then John would
continue to be able to work out of the
[3:52] city, use all the resources and the and
things that come with that, and be
[3:56] successful.
Um and then we would just find other
[4:00] pieces for the other missing pieces
really around the city side. The other
[4:03] pieces for this are really just from
someone to run building, someone to do
[4:06] economic development on the city side
and assist and can assist John.
[4:10] Um so um that's really kind of my option
one. That's what I prefer. It's what I
[4:14] think the best course is. I think the
city and the DDA both mutually benefit a
[4:18] lot from working more together than
separate. There's a lot of costs that
[4:21] the DDA would have to bear to
reestablish itself on its own. Um I'll
[4:25] learn a lot of connection to the city
that the city would lose that it wants,
[4:28] especially at such a critical time for
the DDA. We've got a lot of properties
[4:31] that I think being cohesive and together
on is very important. Um so that's
[4:35] really option one. We continue to
maintain the agreement. I provide an
[4:38] acceptable director to the DDA board. We
use the city services and we move
[4:42] forward as is.
Um the other option would be the
[4:45] contract allows the DDA to volunteer to
discontinue the agreement with a 30-day
[4:48] notice. So just coming out of tonight,
um you know, if you want to go in your
[4:52] own direction, appoint who you want, and
um kind of um distance yourself from
[4:56] this cost sharing. Certainly it's it's
contemplated within the agreement and I
[4:59] don't want to take that off the table.
And no matter what you do, the city is
[5:01] supportive of the DDA. We'll be here to
support the DDA in whatever mechanism. I
[5:05] do think this current agreement is the
preferable way to do so.
[5:09] Um there's just so much we can provide
as a large municipality
[5:12] um with all the services we do on a
daily basis for the rest of the city
[5:15] that the DDA can continue to enjoy. Um
you know, even during Matt's time, the
[5:18] ability to utilize communications, uh a
planner, and all those things to assist
[5:22] in projects that the DDA has always been
available and extremely beneficial to
[5:26] his success in the pro in this uh
position. So
[5:29] um
just really what I'm looking for tonight
[5:31] is
one, um
[5:34] short of a commitment to stay within the
cost sharing agreement with a new
[5:36] director. Two, um
you know, an indication of your
[5:40] preference for director. If it if if if
I was picking up uh the thought at the
[5:45] last meeting that if it that that John
would be an acceptable director, gladly
[5:49] would take a recommendation for his
appointment through the agreement and
[5:53] the city. Or third,
if you choose to discontinue the
[5:56] contract
cost-sharing agreement, just let me
[5:59] know. Um, but glad to answer any
questions. Um,
[6:04] any specifics I'm here for, but I do
think it's way in our benefit to
[6:08] continue to maintain this cooperative
agreement. Um, and I you know, I don't
[6:12] think it has to be dependent on one
person doing all of those things for all
[6:15] of us to benefit. I think we can
piecemeal it together and be just as
[6:17] successful.
Um, a little more difficult without Mr.
[6:20] Miller, but he does make things easier
and we'll just get by without.
[6:25] » So, I have a question.
>> Yes.
[6:26] » Do you see it if John takes the position
as a part-time or a full-time position?
[6:32] » Uh, it'd be part-time.
>> Okay.
[6:34] » Um, but then that would allow us to take
some of those resources and apply them
[6:37] to other parts. But really, you know,
Matt's position, if you look at what the
[6:43] DDA was funding and the total cost of
that position, it was a third.
[6:46] » Right.
>> Um, so this kind of fits within that
[6:50] budget. We'd keep John at his current
hourly rate that he's being paid through
[6:53] the DDA and
give him the necessary amount of hours
[6:58] to perform the function and provide him
all the assistance he needs to be
[7:02] successful. You know, if you need we we
already cooperatively help with events.
[7:06] Um,
you know, help with any other type of
[7:09] work that EDA needs. So, we would just
continue to do that.
[7:13] » I'll I'll add a couple things. Also,
I know Tim kind of broadly touched on
[7:18] the office space and the resources.
When I when I took over as mayor and
[7:24] kind of pushed for some changes to get
rid of the office over there, um, you
[7:30] know, we were paying 900 $900 in rent a
month. We're paying electric. We're
[7:35] paying
I don't know about electric, I take that
[7:38] back. Phone,
copier, maintenance on copier,
[7:43] some other miscellaneous things.
And that's where kind of the agreement
[7:48] that to maybe go in a different way and
bring them over to City Hall came from.
[7:53] So, I think that's worked out really
well and with the offer that Tim has
[7:57] made, allowing
John or whoever we select, and I'm I'm
[8:02] in favor of John, but um
doing that, we still save all that
[8:07] money.
And we're going to save a little bit of
[8:10] money on what we were paying our our
previous DDA directors.
[8:15] Not much less, but
he'll be a little bit less, but again,
[8:19] we're
to me, for the DDA, it's a bonus, it's a
[8:22] plus.
Um
[8:24] you know, we'll have the resources,
we'll still have John to run everything
[8:28] we need in downtown, and he takes care
of a lot of it as
[8:32] as as it is now. Uh you know, he's right
next to Matt with the Lucky Squirrel, if
[8:38] not doing more Lucky Squirrel, the
Chili Cook-Offs, the
[8:42] all the events, the gardens, the water,
all that stuff. Uh John does a lot of
[8:48] that now, takes that off Matt's plate
anyway, so I think we wouldn't lose
[8:53] anything, we wouldn't miss a a step, and
we're still probably saving money
[8:58] overall as opposed to having to go find
another building for rent for for DDA
[9:03] director,
plus the salary we'd have to pay them.
[9:06] So,
to me, I think it's it's a win-win for
[9:09] for us and the city again. So, that's my
>> it's about can we continue to provide
[9:15] the value to the DDA that I think we
have been providing, and I think we can.
[9:19] Um I think and I also this cost-sharing
agreement allows for the DDA to decide,
[9:24] well, in the future, now we didn't think
or at least put that pressure, like,
[9:27] hey, we want value out of this. We've
got 30 days notice, so
[9:30] yeah, this is the most seamless thing I
think we can do, and I think you can
[9:34] just continue to keep an eye on, make
sure we're providing you the value in
[9:36] this agreement, and we will do the same.
We got to make sure this works for us,
[9:39] but I do think it's the absolute best
direction to head. Um it's the most
[9:43] obvious solution. And
and and as the mayor said, there's
[9:47] there's just a lot of things because we
already have we already have IT. We
[9:52] already have computers. We already have
office space. We already have a a
[9:55] contract with the kind of for planning.
We have building inspectors. We have
[9:59] communications division.
Um we have staff that can supplement
[10:02] because DDA doesn't always need a ton of
staff, but when you need a resource all
[10:06] of a sudden to put on an event, we have
a pool of people that we can easily when
[10:10] we have a cost sharing agreement
that's very easy for me to articulate
[10:13] how we can be very assist easy to
assist. Otherwise, it's a little bit
[10:17] barrier to doesn't mean the city
wouldn't. I don't want it to be taken as
[10:20] that if you decided not to go this way
we would abandon the DDA or anything
[10:24] like that, but I do think this makes it
the most seamless way to proceed forward
[10:27] and uh
and I I
[10:30] think John spent enough time with Matt
to understand the role.
[10:33] » Question, is this a is this a something
that we can
[10:37] first ask John if he wants to do this.
Secondly, is this something that we can
[10:41] vote on today? We can do this? Okay.
>> Yes to both.
[10:44] » Okay.
>> Correct. And what I thought is it could
[10:46] be one motion to continue uh I was
thinking about it in my head of course
[10:51] from the last meeting is you know, make
a motion to you know, to continue the
[10:55] agreement number one and then also to
support the appointment of John. You
[11:00] know, that would give you know, you
agree to it and then Tim will you know,
[11:05] on the city side we're really going to
kind of change GL numbers of where it
[11:08] would be paid from and it'll go to a
city side GL number. So
[11:14] » Yes, that's kind of what
>> The the first question he had was I
[11:16] guess does Mr. Prash
>> Yeah, that's right.
[11:19] » it?
I forgot I guess that would be the first
[11:22] » I'm sorry, John.
>> The the first the first question.
[11:26] » Uh yes.
>> Okay.
[11:27] » Okay, let me know why. Yeah, absolutely.
>> So I motion that we continue the
[11:31] agreement that we have with the city and
to move forward with appointing John as
[11:36] the
>> DDA director.
[11:38] » director.
>> I'll second that.
[11:40] » Everybody seconds
>> Everybody seconds.
[11:41] » Okay.
[11:44] Motion by trustee Heiders, supported by
I heard trustee Perrydorfer, so I'm
[11:49] going to put her down.
Uh any discussion
[11:52] by the table?
All those in favor?
[11:55] » Aye.
>> Any opposed?
[11:57] All right. So,
Oh, easily solved. Thank you.
[12:04] Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, Tim.
[12:07] » Thank you.
>> All right.
[12:12] All right, we're going to move down then
to community events.
[12:17] » We don't have anything
>> No community events?
[12:19] » Mhm.
We'll talk about them later.
[12:21] » All right, so then we're going to go
down to our consent agenda.
[12:25] Um we need a motion to approve our
consent agenda.
[12:29] » I make a motion to accept.
>> I second.
[12:31] » All right. So, we have a motion by
trustee Perrydorfer. I'm sorry, who
[12:34] seconded?
Okay, trustee Berry.
[12:38] Um any discussion from the table?
Mr. Miller.
[12:43] » Um in the in the report you would see
uh under legal services, when I was
[12:48] reviewing that, I actually found an
error in that and uh the city was
[12:53] actually applying uh you know, the Kelly
firm does the DDA uh legal services, but
[12:59] the Kelly firm also was just recently
hired by the city to act as the city
[13:03] council's uh legal services. And so, we
were accruing costs from Kelly services
[13:09] to the city, but they're really being
charged to Kelly services to the DDA.
[13:13] So, I did catch that and a journal entry
was done to reverse all those costs. So,
[13:17] just I wanted to let you know, if you if
you spy legal services going crazy,
[13:23] uh then
we went like that and so, um I made sure
[13:27] that it was caught and a journal entry
was done to correct it. So, just in case
[13:31] anybody saw that, I wanted to get it on
the record that it was caught and we did
[13:36] correct it. So.
>> Very good. Thank you.
[13:38] » Just so you know.
>> All right. Uh, any other discussion?
[13:43] All right. All those in favor of the
motion to approve the consent agenda.
[13:47] » Aye.
>> Aye.
[13:48] » Aye.
>> Any opposed?
[13:50] All right. So, that motion is carried.
Now, we're going to go down to our
[13:54] action items. The first being alley
repaving and storm water drain. Mr.
[14:00] Miller, I'm guessing this is you.
>> Yes.
[14:03] Okay.
Um,
[14:05] this is regarding the alleyway behind
Cafe Europe, Fatima's Bakery, the bike
[14:10] store. That alleyway there is also in
very poor condition, and we had, uh,
[14:16] last year talked about we're going to
continue to fix the alleyways that are
[14:19] over there. We did the one behind the
eye care. This is kind of rounding the
[14:23] corner and going north. Um, but also we
have a a slight flooding issue there,
[14:27] too, where water kind of flows to the
west when it really should be flowing to
[14:32] the east. So, um, when the, uh, kind of
Kitty's Chop Suey got rebuilt and then
[14:37] the addition was put in in that, old,
uh, parking area, um, the grade was all
[14:43] kept, but it is getting sheet drainage
back to those businesses, actually. And
[14:48] so, we need to fix that problem, also.
Uh, so, part of our, uh, doing the alley
[14:54] repaving is that we were going to have a
storm drain extension also, um, at that
[14:58] location, and it will then connect, uh,
to there's existing storm drain, but we
[15:04] have to cut through the parking lot to
get that to go in place. And when we put
[15:08] the,
put this out for bid to have the work
[15:12] done, we did include the, um, storm
water extension in that. Um, we didn't,
[15:17] I did put together, uh, request for
proposal for the work to be done
[15:23] according to our purchasing policy. We
actually received six um contractors
[15:28] that wanted to do work here in the city
for the DDA, and um we did uh select a
[15:35] JB Contractors, which was the lowest
bid, and we're required to at least make
[15:39] that recommendation unless we can
disqualify them. But we we cannot
[15:43] actually. JB Contractors has done work
for the city before, and we think that
[15:48] they'll be able to get the work done um
in a timely fashion and within budget.
[15:53] And so uh last year when we did actually
in January of this year, we established
[15:59] a budget to do these improvements, and
uh we're a little over, but I always
[16:04] kind of go 10% when we do the budgeting
anyway, so we had uh recommended 75,000,
[16:10] but we'll have enough to cover this cost
for JB Contractors. Uh as if this does
[16:16] get approved tonight, we'll start to
enter into a contract with the
[16:20] contractor, we'll get their insurances
put in place, and then we'll notify all
[16:25] the businesses, and we'll start to get
the work done over there in that parking
[16:29] area. So. And this is adjacent to the
parking area where we seal coated and
[16:34] striped also.
Excuse me, last year.
[16:37] » Approximate length of time from start to
finish?
[16:40] » They're hoping actually just a couple
weeks.
[16:42] » Oh, okay, good.
>> So, um and last year, if you can recall,
[16:45] it was about uh 7 to 10 days to do the
one alleyway. So, we're just going to
[16:49] add a little extra time to do that.
>> Is there asphalt involved in this?
[16:53] » Um there will be some asphalt to repair
the parking lot area.
[16:57] » Where the drain's coming in?
>> Where the drain is, but then the uh
[17:00] alleyway will be cement. And so, they're
cutting out asphalt and putting in
[17:04] cement in the alleyway area.
>> Is there going to be extra asphalt that
[17:08] we can push over there?
>> Well, we uh later on the agenda, you'll
[17:11] see we've got some something in the
works for your side. Okay. Yes.
[17:16] » So, we can approve it, you know.
Mhm.
[17:20] » [laughter]
>> I see.
[17:23] » Does it say the total square footage of
the area?
[17:26] » Uh I forget.
It was in the bid.
[17:30] » The total?
>> I think it was 83,127.
[17:34] » is 83,000.
>> is 83,000. And then the square footage?
[17:37] » And then the square footage,
I have it somewhere. One moment, please.
[17:42] If I can read it.
>> It just says site size is 3750.
[17:47] » uh and
the payment removal is 4800 square feet.
[17:52] So that is about that, about almost
5,000 square feet.
[17:56] » Right.
>> Or that they're replacing with concrete?
[17:58] » Yes.
>> How many inches of concrete are they
[18:00] going down?
>> It's going to be 8-in concrete there.
[18:09] » Are they doing anything with the storm
drain that's in the in the They're just
[18:13] tapping into that storm drain?
>> Correct. And they'll reset it to grade,
[18:16] also.
[18:24] » I think all the specifications for the
steps they're doing were all in there.
[18:28] » And then also on the last page of that
that you in the RFP,
[18:33] uh was H&C Engineers did a elevation for
us so that when the contractors are
[18:39] installing it then we can confirm the
elevations so that we have the right
[18:42] fall so that we're getting that proper
drainage in the alleyway. So it'll kind
[18:47] of go south and then it will then
connect to the drain there in the alley
[18:51] and then underground over to the storm
drain that's existing.
[18:56] » From the the least
contractor that you've selected to the
[19:01] most expensive contractor, there's
$30,000, which is
[19:04] » That's substantial.
>> half of what the contract that you
[19:07] » Mhm.
>> agreed to.
[19:09] » But the you know, the bottom four were
in
[19:13] roughly in line. We had thought 75,000.
Of course, costs go up.
[19:17] But the other two a bit high. That's all
I can come up with. OCG, that number
[19:23] four contractor there, when they were
our low bid for other contract for the
[19:30] alleyway by the eye glass
and so I thought for sure they would
[19:35] maybe low bid again. I actually spoke
with I talked to OCG companies every day
[19:40] practically. They're also the contractor
in town doing the sidewalks. So I'm I
[19:45] talk to them four times a day probably.
And I said, "Well, why so much?" He
[19:50] said, "Well, you know, I I put it
together, but my boss wanted to give
[19:52] some wanted to make a little more money
I guess." What he said. I said, "Okay,
[19:55] well, somebody is going to get the job
and it's not you."
[19:59] » [laughter]
>> So.
[20:03] » So it looks like about 123 yards of
concrete.
[20:05] » Mhm.
[20:10] » So it's about $24,000 in concrete alone.
[20:16] » And then we have the removal, the
subgrade, and then the drain extension.
[20:26] » What do we all think?
Looking for a motion to go with JB
[20:30] Contractors if that's what we choose.
>> If it's going to help businesses across,
[20:34] I I motion to move forward with it.
>> All right, so we have a motion by Dr.
[20:39] Heider.
Seconded by Trustee Bedoun.
[20:44] Any further discussion?
All in favor?
[20:48] » Aye.
>> Aye.
[20:49] » Any opposed?
All right, that motion will carry.
[20:53] Down to the SEMCOG planning grant for
the
[20:58] Kmart site.
>> Yes. So
[21:02] um
I was I was made aware that SEMCOG,
[21:06] which is the Southeast Michigan Council
of Governments, um does the board know
[21:10] what that is? It's actually it's a
seven-county agency that really is a
[21:14] remitter of funds mostly for
transportation projects. Um
[21:20] which they have what is called the TIP,
Transportation Improvement Plan. But it
[21:24] usually it's a clearinghouse the federal
federal government gives to our region
[21:29] and then they disburse it to the
counties based on the TIP, the
[21:32] Transportation Improvement Program.
Well, there are also um planning a a
[21:37] planning side to the organization.
There's communications. There's a SEMCOG
[21:42] University.
Um there's many facets of SEMCOG. The
[21:45] city is a member of SEMCOG and um we are
able to then apply for grants that come
[21:52] available to the city, available to do
different projects throughout the city.
[21:58] Well, one of the one of the grants that
was made available to us was really a a
[22:03] planning grant. It's it's not a huge
thing, but it is a planning grant that
[22:08] we can work to put together and I made a
a proposal to SEMCOG and we were awarded
[22:14] the uh grant as long as we go forward
with it. Um the grant is a kind of a
[22:20] two-part and they require a local match.
And the local match for this grant is
[22:26] $7,260.
The total from SEMCOG, the grant amount
[22:31] is $32,740
for a total of a $40,000 grant to the
[22:36] city. So, we're taking funds and
leveraging them to get more out of them,
[22:41] correct? And I don't know if you can
recall about 2 years ago, we wanted to
[22:46] just survey that quadrant and we did not
because it was so costly. And so, um
[22:52] part of the grant that I put together
was
[22:56] let's get a survey over there and also
start a process of getting a
[23:01] redevelopment plan put together for
repaving at least and some other
[23:05] planning ideas.
Um, if you can recall, we also had
[23:09] another grant for housing and we did
kind of an overlay and I think everyone
[23:13] here, I sent a copy of our housing
master plan amendment to you
[23:18] uh to really just start to focus on this
lot and this block. And so the
[23:23] uh this grant will really put together a
survey. It will also get all the
[23:27] property owners, which of course
including Dr. Hire but the property
[23:31] owners that aren't there also. Um, for
the Kmart site, the K Auto, um Mr.
[23:36] Newman's property just uh just east of
the Kmart site and then all of the
[23:41] businesses that are there to get in one
room to first of all make an I think we
[23:46] should at least put together a plan to
make a entrance improvements
[23:51] specifically off of Middlebelt. It looks
like an alleyway there. Um, but also it
[23:56] will once we have a survey, we can
identify who is all the property owners
[24:00] are,
how much property they own and really
[24:04] get some costs for how much it's going
to cost to pave that because we have a
[24:08] lot of property owners. The city owns
very little property over there.
[24:12] Um,
and really start to formulate a plan
[24:16] that if one either A we're going to have
to bond, will the DDA have to get bonds
[24:22] to start to repave that and put in the
parking lot improvements off of
[24:25] Middlebelt. Um, this will be a plan that
will be put together that we could bond
[24:29] for or at least if we do a bond, maybe
we do a special assessment district
[24:35] where
we know that, you know, property owner X
[24:38] has 5,600 square feet of property here
that needs to be paved. They need to pay
[24:42] 5,600 square feet of this cost.
And I don't know that cost, but I think
[24:48] this will be a really good step that we
could of course get some, you know,
[24:52] leverage our money to utilize um
to get the survey done, to everyone in
[24:58] the room to talk about that site and
specifically. Um it is in the DDA and
[25:04] then I that's why I'm actually coming to
you to request the match portion come
[25:08] from the DDA in the parking lot
improvement line item so that we can
[25:13] start to formulate this. And it will
again, I think it'll really focus on
[25:18] just this site and also how to you know,
how we can get it to look better in the
[25:24] meantime. You know, Kmart is still a big
portion. They're the largest property
[25:27] owner over there.
And the Kmart site um they're not the
[25:32] owner. Just to clarify in case anybody's
saying they bought it back or something,
[25:35] but um but that that's the largest site.
Um but they also own property that is in
[25:41] the parking area, too. The lines, if you
look at it, their line the property
[25:44] lines are kind of crazy over there and
it was um
[25:49] never done anything great over time
because there's really ribbons of
[25:53] property there owned by different
property owners. And this hopefully will
[25:57] be the the first step that will we can
go forward to figure out how much it's
[26:01] going to cost to repave. And also, if we
have a plan put together, maybe we can
[26:05] use this plan to get somebody to give us
more money to get it paved and get these
[26:09] improvements in place.
And so that was my thought for applying
[26:12] for the grant um to focus on that block
only. Um so the grant was for um the
[26:19] block was for
uh Beachwood, Brant, and Middlebelt.
[26:23] And so I would like to ask the DDA if
they would uh support the match for this
[26:28] and then the city will have to enter
into an agreement with SEMCOG to
[26:33] actually start to get the funds and then
we will
[26:37] um go through the process to get the
survey done and then McKenna and
[26:41] Associates is a planning agency that the
city has under contract that can handle
[26:46] carrying out the grant to get the survey
done, to get everyone in the same room
[26:52] to talk about ideas and also make some
make some ideas from everything they
[26:57] gather to put it on paper to make it
look look doable and then also start to
[27:03] assign some cost to how much it would
cost to improve that.
[27:07] So, that was my thought in getting the
grant. Hopefully you'll support my
[27:11] request for the match and then as we go
forward, John will be taking the ball
[27:17] and working with Mario and McKenna and
we will be able to hopefully
[27:22] get everyone on the same page for once
over there. How about that?
[27:26] » That sounds good.
>> So, that's that was my plan and my hope.
[27:29] » Thank you for doing
that work.
[27:31] » I'd like to make a motion.
>> Second it.
[27:34] » I third it.
>> [laughter]
[27:36] » All right, so we have a motion that we
are going to approve the match for the
[27:41] grant by Trustee Perridon and it was
seconded by everybody, I'm pretty sure.
[27:46] » I was hoping to have some more hair on
by the time we started [clears throat]
[27:49] the talking.
I'm losing it and it's turning white.
[27:53] » Okay.
>> Okay, any discussion from the board?
[27:59] All in favor.
>> Aye.
[28:01] » Aye.
>> Opposed? All right, that motion will
[28:04] pass.
>> And then the next step, like I said,
[28:07] I'll be going to the city council to
ask that we enter into the agreement and
[28:13] start the process there.
>> Thank you.
[28:15] » Awesome, thanks, Matt.
All right, next item is our 2027
[28:21] downtown banners.
>> Okay, I was
[28:25] again, I'm thinking
off in never never land. I don't know
[28:29] where I where I think all the time. But
anyways,
[28:32] um
our hometown hero banners have been
[28:35] Yeah, I know.
>> You do a lot of thinking.
[28:37] » I do a lot of thinking.
>> [laughter]
[28:39] » Um and hopefully thinking turns into
action. How about that? So, um I was
[28:43] looking at some ideas for our 2027
banners. You know, our hometown hero
[28:47] banners have been received well,
but I think we've kind of run out of
[28:53] applications for we we still have a
couple that
[28:56] we could put in there, but we get 40
banners and so we've done it 3 years,
[29:01] that's 120 banners we've put forward. If
you can recall for this year, I worked
[29:06] with the Straight Farmhouse to get
people that were killed in action that
[29:10] don't have people in town to represent
them anymore and we're able to honor
[29:14] them that way. Um, but I was working
with the school district in my thoughts,
[29:19] I guess when I was thinking and I talked
to the superintendent of schools about
[29:23] maybe doing a
student art kind of contest from the
[29:28] schools and I
just put together on that second page
[29:33] you will see is that some ideas of what
a banner would look like and we've got
[29:40] those there and I wasn't really picking
anyone but it's just to give you an idea
[29:45] of what a banner would look like and we
would have kind of the same process but
[29:50] when I was talking to the superintendent
of schools, we have um
[29:55] nine schools
No, we have eight schools times five,
[29:59] that's 40. So there are seven schools
for Garden City Public Schools and I was
[30:03] going to work with Tipton to get the
last five and I actually at the Garden
[30:08] City Business Alliance Music in the Park
Tipton Academy was there. The assistant
[30:12] principal was there. So I cornered her
at the Music in the Park. [laughter]
[30:16] She comes to these things probably to
enjoy herself, but I cornered her
[30:20] anyways and they loved the idea also and
would support kind of the same project
[30:25] and I sent her just an idea. I said the
board has not approved it, but I just
[30:29] was again thinking and looking forward
to next year and if if this does get
[30:34] approved, it will take a lot of
coordination, but when I was speaking
[30:38] with
Derek Fisher, the Garden City
[30:40] superintendent
he said he will work with the art
[30:43] teachers to make the selection of the
five kind of the best, you know, best
[30:47] for that school kind of deal. So, it
kind of removes us and then we would
[30:51] have an application, we would have a a
release. I know that there could be some
[30:56] concern about their name. I would like
to do a name and the grade and the
[31:00] school. Um, but in the end, they get
that. The student would get that then.
[31:05] And I think it'd be kind of a neat idea.
And it will again draw people downtown
[31:09] to for all of the family, every family
member that child better go see that
[31:12] banner and they can stop and visit one
of our stores or restaurants while
[31:16] they're doing that. And I thought we
would, you know, kind of come up Garden
[31:19] City DDA supports young artists.
We'd have a, you know, a cougar paw or
[31:23] something like that saying it's the
schools and then we would have their
[31:27] artwork. And then I was even trying to
think that maybe the artwork could be
[31:32] uh, their favorite thing to do in Garden
City.
[31:35] My only concern when I thought that, I
thought, well, you know, every other kid
[31:38] will make McDonald's best place to eat
in the world. So, maybe we don't want
[31:41] that. But, again, business, uh, we could
do uh, trees, we could do buildings,
[31:46] something like that connected to the
downtown. And then we would then go
[31:51] forward and have the banners made. I
talked to
[31:56] uh, Signarama, Greg at Signarama and he
thinks he can pull it off cuz all we'll
[32:02] need really is the same kind of idea and
a digital image and then the digital
[32:07] image can transfer to the banner the
same way we do all the uh, all the
[32:12] banners. So,
I don't know, I'm I'm game for input. Of
[32:16] course, it was a thought, but I wanted
to because if we're going to do this, we
[32:20] really need to start going as soon as
school starts, which is less than a
[32:24] month away now. And then we'll kind of
get it ready and then right after the
[32:28] holidays, you know, we'll have the art,
you know, the art picked out and we'll
[32:32] start the process to get the banners
printed. So, I didn't know what you
[32:35] thought. I'm open to ideas and uh
let me know.
[32:40] » I love this idea personally. And do you
think this would maybe be able to give
[32:45] us if we did this maybe on an every
other year,
[32:48] um that would give us time to build up
the Hometown Heroes again and do an
[32:51] every other year perhaps highlighting
the children and then our Hometown
[32:55] Heroes?
Just a thought.
[32:59] Did you by any chance talk to the
superintendent about the names?
[33:03] And the school
>> I did
[33:05] » did that. Okay.
>> So that's something we'll have to figure
[33:08] out. Yeah, it'll be
>> Cuz you're giving their full name and
[33:10] the school they go to that can be in my
opinion a little dicey.
[33:14] » We would have a release on the
application and and maybe we'll have the
[33:18] uh
Dan Kelly, the attorney, maybe look at
[33:21] that also. Or the schools could have a
policy too. I don't know exactly how it
[33:25] all works out.
>> you had asked them.
[33:26] » It can simply say Jimmy, third grade.
>> Well, that's what
[33:29] » Maybe not last name.
>> Right, exactly. That's that's what I had
[33:33] brought up. Yeah.
Yeah, anytime we do anything
[33:36] [clears throat] at the church that I
work with with the kids, the parents can
[33:39] sign off so that their kids' images can
be used and then they say if their name
[33:44] can be used or not, but Yeah.
Last names are a little
[33:49] if you're asking.
>> Yeah, we don't have to. Correct.
[33:52] » It could also be a a class project. So
it could be Memorial third grade class
[34:00] putting it up. So you're not using an
actual name.
[34:03] A class.
Something like that. But that that's
[34:07] probably the easiest
>> I just wondered if you had talked to Mr.
[34:10] Fischer about it.
>> not yet.
[34:12] » I think it's a great idea. It's very
interactive and it's supporting the
[34:16] young generation. I think it's great.
>> I love it.
[34:20] » Good thinking.
>> Thank you.
[34:22] » That's awesome.
>> All right, do we have a motion then for
[34:24] this?
>> I motion it.
[34:26] » All right, so Trustee Heider and it's
supported by Trustee Nazerdeen. Any
[34:31] other discussion?
>> It would be unanimous.
[34:34] » All those
>> in favor?
[34:36] » Aye.
>> Any opposed? All right, that will also
[34:39] carry. And down to the Santaland Parade
sponsorship.
[34:44] » And tonight we have actually
um
[34:48] Dan York from Santaland. There he is.
Uh Santa himself.
[34:52] » Is Santa.
>> Bringing you joy to all. Uh anyways, he
[34:56] he's here to answer any questions, but
in the past we have done a
[35:00] sponsorship for that. And May, do you
want to just tell the tell the board
[35:04] about the parade, what happens on parade
day, the chaos and all that?
[35:09] Okay.
>> Why don't you take the microphone over
[35:12] there?
>> We'll take it here. It's Dan.
[35:16] » He he he knows how to use his diaphragm.
>> That's what I was kind of thinking of.
[35:22] Thanks.
Um well, this is the 65th year of the
[35:26] parade. The DDA has been the title
sponsor, I believe since 2006. It might
[35:33] be 2009. I I get those years mixed up.
Um it was basically the first same first
[35:39] year as the Kmart in town.
Um the parade is put on by the Santaland
[35:44] Parade Committee, which is part of
the uh Garden City Community Coalition.
[35:50] Um so, that's our 501c3.
It's all volunteer.
[35:55] Uh pretty much the same thing that it's
been
[35:58] uh you know, at least since I got
involved, which was in the early 2000s,
[36:01] I think.
Uh the JCs had done it for a while, then
[36:05] a couple of other groups did it for a
couple of years, but it was originally
[36:08] the JCs parade.
And um
[36:13] today we announce the the uh theme for
the parade, which is '80s, an '80s
[36:17] Christmas. We we put it out there and
let everybody vote on it. So, we let
[36:22] them vote for about a week and a half on
it, and that's what came out of it. But,
[36:25] we've always used the DDA's money since
I became a part of this as the seed
[36:30] money just to get us started.
>> [clears throat]
[36:32] » Uh we don't operate at much of a profit,
that's for sure. The cost of everything
[36:36] has gone up, and you'd be surprised the
things we're expected to pay for. You
[36:40] know, we have insurance, we have to pay
for porta-potties, we need to rent golf
[36:44] carts, although I think we may have
found an out on that the last couple of
[36:47] years.
Uh if you don't pay bands, they don't
[36:50] show up. High school bands don't show up
for free. They need to have their buses
[36:53] at least paid for. Uh
um it just goes, you know, the list of
[36:57] that kind of stuff goes on and on and on
and on and on. Uh when we have Miss
[37:00] Michigan here, they expect that we make
a donation to whoever Miss Michigan's
[37:05] charity is. So, you know, it costs
around 26 grand, between 26 and 30, but
[37:10] closer to 26 to run this every year,
which seems like a lot of money for that
[37:15] amount of time, but that it is what it
is.
[37:18] Um
like I said, we don't we don't leave
[37:20] much money in the bank every year. We
spend what we bring in. We don't spend
[37:24] more than we bring in. That's for sure
for certain. And uh you know, I it's
[37:28] obviously the longest-running
tradition in Garden City, and with the
[37:32] chili cook-off, it's probably the
largest event in Garden City. So,
[37:38] I just we're here with our handout again
every
[37:40] » [laughter]
>> every 2 years hoping for some help. We
[37:42] did ask for an extra $1,000 this year
simply because our costs have gone up so
[37:47] much. And it is it is in the past many
of the downtown Garden City Santaland
[37:52] Parade or the Garden City DDA Santaland
Parade. Uh John Proch and I had spoke
[37:57] about the possibility of migrating back
to downtown Garden City Santaland Parade
[38:02] because it sounds better.
Uh but it was a couple of board members
[38:06] about 10 years ago that didn't think the
DDA was getting enough attention with it
[38:11] being called downtown Garden City
Santaland Parade. So,
[38:15] uh we're we're open to anything on that
concept, but I mean, that's that's
[38:19] pretty much it. If you have any
questions, I'm I'm here.
[38:22] » Mr. Miller, I would I I believe we
budgeted for that, don't we?
[38:27] » Yes. Yes.
>> So, it's not like this is unexpected. We
[38:31] We know what
3 years what's been coming. So, it it's
[38:36] budgeted for.
>> And and it's a 2-year deal 2-year deal
[38:39] normally.
>> I motion to approve.
[38:43] » I second.
>> Over the 2 years, 10,000 a year.
[38:46] » Okay. Do we have a second for that?
>> I second.
[38:49] » Okay. Sorry. So, we have a motion by
Trustee Bedoun, seconded by Trustee
[38:54] Berry.
Any discussion from the table?
[38:58] All those in favor?
>> I.
[39:00] » I.
>> Anyone opposed?
[39:02] All right. Thank you, Dan. Um
Happy to help.
[39:08] Trade's always a favorite.
[39:11] » Thank you.
[39:17] » All right. We do have some other
business. Um bylaws committee report. Um
[39:23] I know Mayor Jacobs, Trustee Peridor,
and I had looked over the bylaws. And
[39:31] there were some
>> a printed copy to
[39:33] » Okay. There were some changes
>> If you'd like to take one out
[39:36] and pass it on. Thank you.
>> Some changes suggested, so we'll look
[39:41] over those.
[39:46] » And the And the changes that the
committee had discussed kind of green
[39:50] means go, red means no kind of deal. So,
I did a kind of a color-coordinated
[39:55] version
on that just so you would see the
[39:59] difference.
[40:08] » All right. So, do we need to go over
these separately or should we just kind
[40:13] of glance at it on our own?
>> How do you want to do this?
[40:16] » Well, if you would like to
go through each one or I don't know who
[40:20] would like to speak on behalf of the
committee.
[40:21] » did a lot of work. So, would you like to
present what your thoughts were on these
[40:25] changes?
>> My thoughts were
[40:29] » A lot of a lot of it's house cleaning.
>> Well, it is. It is. A lot of it's just
[40:33] updating.
>> Rewording
[40:34] with the changes that have come along uh
>> So, for example, we're we're
[40:41] um the ordinance numbers were wrong or
the act recital was wrong. We cleaned
[40:46] all that up.
We also
[40:50] um
changed
[40:53] some things based on how we are with the
city right now, which would be
[40:58] um for example, taking out a treasurer
because the city now does all the
[41:03] financials for us. So, the the treasurer
position has been removed.
[41:09] Um the
[41:12] Oh, the the attendance policy because we
went to quarterly, we had to change. The
[41:17] nominations,
we've kind of changed because of the way
[41:21] that they've been handled. So, now that
we're now we would be in compliance. The
[41:28] um
>> Terms.
[41:28] » Committees, we basically don't do. So,
we have made it so it is may instead of
[41:36] shall, right? You can have the
committees. Um article what? Seven?
[41:42] We've added We've defined uh the city of
Garden City again as the trustee of the
[41:48] financials.
And then, I think there was one other
[41:53] thing that we thought was important and
I probably skipped over it.
[42:00] » Or we said the amendment at the bottom
there of article nine uh just a total
[42:07] membership. We took that out. It would
say that or elected Make sure that
[42:10] everyone has one. And it used to You had
to mail it by person, but we could use
[42:14] electronic mail now also.
>> Yeah.
[42:17] » So, a lot of it was housekeeping. A lot
of it
[42:21] was
forced upon us by going to quarterly
[42:24] meetings and by changing the way we do
business as a whole working with the
[42:30] city.
[42:33] » Makes sense.
[42:36] All right.
>> I motion to move forward with uh
[42:41] » Accept these bylaws with the changes?
Okay.
[42:43] » Accept the bylaws with the amendments.
>> All right. So, we have a motion to
[42:46] accept the bylaws with the amendments as
they're shown.
[42:49] » I'll second.
>> And seconded by Trustee Bedoun. Any
[42:53] discussion from the table?
All those in favor.
[42:57] » Aye.
>> Aye.
[42:58] » Any opposed?
Okay.
[43:01] Um shall we
>> I did want to say that
[43:04] » Sorry, Matt.
>> Um when I was working with Trustee
[43:07] Peridor, I did not mean to
lock her in City Hall for eternity.
[43:13] » [laughter]
>> But
[43:14] » Literally locked
in City Hall.
[43:16] » accidentally.
>> How does that happen?
[43:19] » Yeah. Yes. So, anyway, so
>> [laughter]
[43:21] » we owe her at least a bit of gratitude
for not coming apart. But
[43:26] when we were meeting it was after 5:00
and
[43:30] she left my office and she went down a
hallway that locked her in a vestibule.
[43:36] So, she couldn't get out and she either
way all the doors were locked and so and
[43:40] then of course I had stepped out of the
office to come in here to set up for a
[43:43] planning commission meeting and left my
phone on my desk.
[43:47] » So, then when he didn't answer is when I
started the claustrophobia.
[43:50] » Oh, no.
>> Anyway, so
[43:52] » How long was she in there?
>> Uh
[43:54] 5-10 minutes or so. I mean, yeah.
>> 5-15 minutes.
[43:57] » Maybe 10. Not banging on walls.
>> Well, I was contemplating calling the
[44:01] police department cuz I didn't know what
else to do.
[44:03] » Yeah.
>> And and the city clerk
[44:05] » Luckily walked past and I
>> banged it on the glass. Freaked him out,
[44:09] too.
>> [laughter]
[44:11] » So, thank you for that effort and I
apologize publicly to causing you
[44:15] consternation.
>> to me. It's funny.
[44:20] » Okay, uh chili cook-off community event
coming up sooner than we know.
[44:27] » Fast [clears throat] approaching on
September 26th, we got all our
[44:29] applications
have been approved or submitted for uh
[44:33] various things including food license,
liquor license, all that stuff.
[44:38] Uh the awards have been ironed out as
far as uh ordering those. Registration
[44:42] for everything is open. We're looking
for chili teams. Uh if you know anybody
[44:46] that's interested in putting a team
together
[44:48] and wants to be part of that, that would
be great. We're looking for chili teams
[44:52] still.
And we're looking for food trucks.
[44:55] We're also looking for volunteers and uh
all of our equipment orders have been
[45:00] submitted.
So, really we're just in the process of
[45:04] working through it and keeping planning
and meeting and doing all the things. Um
[45:09] The Auto Show of Autism has agreed to
operate and and facilitate the auto
[45:14] show. Uh Rick and Nikki from Rick's
Custom Cycle are going to handle the
[45:18] motorcycle show again, which is great.
Uh so, that makes that easy and
[45:23] » Pancake day.
>> Oh, yeah. Pancake. It's International
[45:27] Pancake Day. Matthew's very excited
about that cuz we're going to have
[45:30] pancakes in the morning.
So, that went over well last year and
[45:33] we're going to continue to do that. And
I'm working with uh Parks and Rec.
[45:36] They're going to handle all the kids
activities for us
[45:40] along with the open houses from the
police and fire and the DPW.
[45:45] » Chili being cooked at on site?
>> Mhm.
[45:48] » It is?
>> Yeah.
[45:50] Yeah, those teams are there 7:00 in the
morning, I think.
[45:53] » They get it started there.
>> sooner.
[45:55] » Yes.
>> And it's all cooked on site. We got some
[45:58] judges from an outside source. They're
part of a international food tasting
[46:03] company judges.
>> own
[46:05] equipment or it's on-site?
>> It's all on-site. Any team that comes to
[46:10] cook brings all their own equipment.
>> bring their own cooking equipment.
[46:12] » Yeah.
>> [snorts]
[46:14] » We provide what? The crackers,
uh spoons, bowls, cups.
[46:22] » The bare minimum, but the propane is on
whom?
[46:25] » That's on the teams.
>> Okay.
[46:27] » Yeah.
>> John, I have a question about that. Um
[46:31] and I don't remember from last year. Do
you do Do you want to offer an online
[46:35] sign-up for volunteers like the parade?
Okay, cuz I thought I saw that, but I
[46:39] wasn't sure.
I just think that reaches a lot more
[46:42] people.
>> Yeah.
[46:44] » You want to do it that way for sure.
>> Yeah, we're trying to do all the
[46:46] majority of all things electronically
now. It's easier to track it and, you
[46:51] know, monitor it and
spreadsheet it.
[46:53] » You have to give us old folks options.
>> I'll I'll ask the questions and fill it
[46:58] in for you.
[47:02] Any other questions?
>> I don't know whether permitting that
[47:06] Wasn't it SEMCOG that did that drone
survey for us?
[47:11] Um and did they said like 5,000 people
had visited the the chili cook-off. I
[47:16] don't know how they count, but they came
up with the number of somewhere around
[47:19] 5,000 people wandering around there
during the event.
[47:24] » A little bit of a correction. It's
actually It was through SEMCOG again
[47:29] actually. And I don't know if you
remember I gave out to the board that
[47:33] map with the dots that said where
everyone came from. It's through a
[47:36] company called Placer AI.
And it is a digital company that
[47:42] utilizes actually pings from phones.
And it uses So, if your phone is there,
[47:49] Placer AI knows this. And what was kind
of neat about it is that it told us how
[47:53] many people kind of in general who who
who were there. It even does age range,
[47:57] where they came from, where the phone's
registered to. All this information, all
[48:01] this public data that's out there that
this Placer AI use it. I mean,
[48:06] uh
you know, this is you carry a phone, it
[48:09] just comes you know, you think it's
listening. I think it does actually, but
[48:13] but what was what was great about that
um
[48:16] is that we we started to see where
everyone was coming from and that we
[48:19] could you know, we could start to really
get a good count of how many people were
[48:23] there and it was just you know, we're
handling a lot of people in one day in
[48:27] one place coming to Garden City. I think
it's important. And it was actually the
[48:30] first time we were able to, you know,
use that data and go from there. And
[48:34] actually, John and I went to the
Michigan Downtown Association conference
[48:39] and they gave a whole session on AI
Placer AI. And I thought, well,
[48:44] I'll fill out the form and get it. Why
not? And so we did it. And you know,
[48:47] they want a specific event so that they
can use that data and look for a
[48:51] specific time frame and what it all
tells us. And that was I think a really
[48:56] good report we got.
>> Very cool. And they're going to continue
[48:59] to do that?
>> We if we make the request after we have
[49:02] the event, yes.
>> Oh, okay.
[49:04] All right, very cool.
>> But they can do it in past in time?
[49:08] » Well, no, um
yes, they can look back and and get the
[49:12] data from the day that it occurred. Yes.
Because we may I made the request a
[49:17] month or two after, correct? And and
they
[49:21] it's stored somewhere. I don't know
where. In in a data center somewhere, I
[49:24] guess.
>> I'm always watching.
[49:26] » Always.
>> Always watching.
[49:28] » I'm worried about one of the kids last
year.
[49:30] » Companies going to be all of the judges
this year?
[49:34] » We have a title sponsor that's we're
we're allowing that title sponsor to
[49:38] choose two of their own judges.
So, if you have a certain
[49:43] commitment as a sponsor, then we let you
pick a judge and send a judge or come
[49:48] yourself or whatever. So.
>> Anybody that has judged it knows it's a
[49:53] uh
I consider it way better to let someone
[49:56] else do it.
I did it the one year. It's a lot of
[49:59] chili to eat and try to sample, judge,
and sample, and
[50:03] uh
I'm I'm really happy I'm not in it. And
[50:06] » [clears throat]
>> outside company can have all the eaters
[50:10] they want.
>> Yes, but this year Batcheller Group is
[50:12] our sponsor again. We had a 2-year
agreement uh from last year, and they've
[50:16] submitted their check for the title
sponsorship. Uh we're looking for any
[50:20] sponsors all the time. So, anyone who
would like to uh do a sponsorship, we'll
[50:24] be glad to uh put your name out there
and be a sponsor for the event. So.
[50:30] » Is there a minimum amount you look for
for sponsorship?
[50:34] » What it is.
>> Uh I think we have a $100 sponsor, and
[50:37] then it goes to 250, and then up from
there.
[50:42] » Each level gives you more visibility.
>> Okay.
[50:47] All right. Uh how about the Hometown
Hero banners?
[50:51] » We kind of talked about a little bit.
Just so you know, they're all up, all
[50:54] 40. And uh you know, we had a terrible
windstorms, and actually they all held.
[51:00] So, I think it was a a good I think it
was a great The next morning I drove by,
[51:04] I'm like, "Oh boy." Uh and they all
held. So, I was really happy about that.
[51:07] And I talked to Gary Carter and uh gave
him kudos. They were latched on really
[51:13] well. So, um that's good. I mean, cuz
it's a little bit of a liability. You
[51:16] know, it's on a you know, it's a sail on
a pole. You know, that could cause us
[51:20] some issues. So, correct.
>> Flying on anyone's windshield.
[51:23] » Correct. So, uh they all held. So, I
think that was great. So.
[51:25] » Right. Uh then com- Is that community
shed or shred?
[51:28] » Shed, actually. I If you go by the Lucky
Squirrel area, you will notice a shed
[51:34] there now. Um the community shed Um we
were able to get a uh
[51:39] First of all, I asked OCG, even though
they weren't our um low bidder, but I
[51:44] did ask if they would donate concrete
for a shed.
[51:48] And they did. So, I I'm giving them
kudos for that. OCG, they're in town
[51:53] pouring tons and tons of concrete, and
they um donated the to the DDA a shed
[51:58] pad for us. So, I thought it was very
kind of them. And then we were able to
[52:01] get a Tuff Shed um at a deeply
discounted price um because we'd bought
[52:07] another one over at the Radcliffe
Center. And so, we were able to get one
[52:10] for about $4,200, a shed that is going
to be at at place. And it actually was
[52:16] built in place Tuff Shed Corporation,
and it's going to hold all of our
[52:21] pylons, uh banners, the chili cups, uh
uh tents, all of that. You know, we're
[52:28] working on food truck Fridays also in
that area. We have those canopy tents
[52:32] that we put up around the under the
picnic tables. All of that, we're just
[52:36] kind of making it a little uh place that
will store those the material for our
[52:40] community events. And uh it looks very
good. If you go down Central Street,
[52:44] take a look at that. And I just want to
let you know it's there. So, if you're
[52:47] going by thinking, "Where did this come
from?" That's where it came from. And
[52:50] we'll be able to I think it'll expedite
it expedite at the end of these events.
[52:55] You know, we're going over to DPW to
Radcliffe, over to the park, taking
[53:00] stuff back. Maybe we can kind of start
to centralize it there. We do have our
[53:03] storage at DPW that will hold larger
things, but
[53:07] » What size is the shed?
>> It is 10 by 10. I think 10 by 10. Yeah.
[53:12] It's not huge, but it'll hold a lot of
stuff.
[53:13] » What's the stuff that you need to fit in
there that you have?
[53:16] » Yes. So, the pylons actually we have
pylons that stack. So, that that's good.
[53:20] We're hoping they'll all fit in there,
and we we found a uh shelf just um over
[53:25] at Radcliffe that was not being used,
and we put in there, too, to hold
[53:28] things. So.
>> All right. So, that kind of morphs right
[53:32] into the next one, Lucky Squirrel
update.
[53:36] » Yes.
>> Yeah, the next one September September
[53:37] 19th. It's already full. Uh so, we're
taking people for the waiting list.
[53:42] Um as you may or may not know the July
event was
[53:47] um we decided to play it safe and cancel
that due to the air quality at the time.
[53:53] » [clears throat]
>> Uh still showing some terrible unhealthy
[53:56] and there's a lot of elderly people that
you know worked that event and
[54:01] we just didn't want to
have that thought of liability cuz we
[54:04] kept the event going. So
uh those those events are pretty hard to
[54:08] reschedule due to the fact that these
vendors are usually planned out for the
[54:13] full summer all weekends. So
uh we just did not host it. But
[54:18] September's ready to go.
Um
[54:21] the feedback from most of those vendors
is it's one of the the bigger better
[54:25] ones for them for their business around
the area. So it's great.
[54:30] » All right. Side note, Ann Arbor chose to
have their event the same day and they
[54:35] had nine respiratory runs
that day.
[54:40] Because of the air quality. So it was I
think it was great that we canceled.
[54:43] » for sure.
>> It was a hard choice.
[54:46] » Yes. Oh yeah, for sure.
All right. Last but not least in that
[54:50] category is our lighting repairs.
>> Still waiting on delivery of the light
[54:55] poles. They said by the end of August.
>> still the ones that were knocked down
[54:59] » by the by the drivers, yeah.
>> Three light poles from last winter,
[55:02] that's correct.
>> had talked about maybe having some on
[55:05] hand. Maybe that's not a bad idea in
light of how long it takes to get them.
[55:10] » We're just concerned about having them
there and then they change something and
[55:13] then we have obsolete parts. That is our
only concern.
[55:16] » Did they give a reason for the delay?
>> Just take I don't know.
[55:19] » They probably over They probably order
from overseas.
[55:22] » Oh, maybe.
>> We also correct
[55:25] I didn't think of that, but I'm sure.
Also we're working with our municipal
[55:30] insurance carrier. So we're getting most
of the costs are being covered by
[55:34] insurance, but then in turn they're
going after the driver's insurance if
[55:38] they have it to get us made whole, get
the insurance company made whole also.
[55:44] So it takes some time also that part to
go through MMRMA, our municipal risk
[55:49] management company.
>> Okay.
[55:54] Maybe we'll have better news about that
next time we meet.
[55:56] » Yes, though I'll be up and ready to go.
>> Okay. All right, public comments. Oh, I
[56:01] see Council member Gold back there. You
have anything?
[56:05] No. And then you have nothing else to
add? All right, uh director report I
[56:09] think Matt have you covered everything
or is there anything else you'd like to
[56:12] add?
>> I did want to of course thank the board
[56:14] uh for my confidence in me and uh to
kind of start a new path for the DDA and
[56:21] um I will miss everyone. I won't be far.
I live in Westland so I won't be very
[56:25] far away but I'm planning to kind of go
there and also Florida so I'll be in and
[56:29] out. You'll see me still.
>> We'll be missing you as well.
[56:32] » All right. Thank you.
>> We'll miss you for sure.
[56:34] All right, uh trustee board comments. I
guess we can start down at the end with
[56:38] the mayor.
>> Uh I don't have anything other than uh I
[56:42] want to thank Mr. Miller for all his
time and effort and
[56:46] uh everything he's done for us and uh um
I'll I'll just speak for DDA cuz I'm
[56:52] sure we'll speak again as uh we go into
the uh city council stuff but uh thank
[56:58] you for everything you've done and uh we
appreciate it and congratulations to Mr.
[57:02] Proch for
uh stepping up and being appointed as
[57:06] the new director and good luck and
you know
[57:10] we'll support you the same way we
supported Matt.
[57:13] » Absolutely.
>> Great.
[57:14] » All right, trustee Berry.
>> I'd like to say the same thing, you
[57:17] know, we're going to miss you
and um if you ever change your mind come
[57:20] on back.
>> I'm sure.
[57:22] » yeah, congratulations Sean.
>> All right, trustee Bedoun.
[57:27] » Yes, we're all going to say the same
thing but no, you you did a lot, you
[57:30] know, a lot of people were afraid of
this whole merge and everything, but
[57:35] you showed it otherwise that it was a
great idea and now I'm sure
[57:39] it's going to be a hard feet, you know,
to replace, but
[57:44] I'm sure John will do a great job, too.
>> All right. I will I will also add to all
[57:50] those comments, but thanks Matt for
everything. So many innovative things
[57:54] you've brought here and it's changed the
city for the better. So thank you and I
[57:58] know John will
pick up where you left off.
[58:02] » Well, and I'm sure Mr. Miller will
answer Mr. Brosius' phone call.
[58:06] » Absolutely.
>> Yes.
[58:09] » All right.
>> Yes.
[58:11] » So I
I'm going to say the same thing. Matt's
[58:14] done a lot for the DDA, but he's also
done a lot for Garden City. So we're
[58:19] we're going to miss you on as many
levels as we can. I also wanted to say
[58:24] that the grand reopening for Family
Heating & Cooling was fabulous. That
[58:30] building is
>> It's beautiful.
[58:33] » stunning.
Stunning. So and I've noticed now other
[58:37] places around them are start starting to
go, I need to spruce up a little bit. So
[58:44] it's a great thing for Family and it's a
great thing for Garden City.
[58:47] » Domino effect.
>> Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.
[58:50] » And they and they did take advantage of
the architectural fees if you recall the
[58:54] grant and so again we're seeing it real
bricks and mortar in motion.
[58:59] » Yep.
>> That's all.
[59:02] » Again, ditto
to everything that was said and thank
[59:05] you and
and looking forward to John to making it
[59:09] making better better and the better.
>> Okay.
[59:13] » And the best.
>> Okay.
[59:14] » And the best.
>> Same like everyone said, looking forward
[59:16] to John to work with you and enjoy
Florida as much as you can.
[59:19] » Right. Thank you.
>> All right. Unless there's anything else,
[59:23] we'll close our session at 7:05 with our
next meeting being October 20th.
[59:31] » October,
wow.
[59:34] I don't want to think about October.
It's a long time, huh?