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[6:03] [Music]
[6:11] [Music]
[6:28] welcome everyone to this regular city
council meeting for Monday February 17
[6:33] 2025 I'd like to note that uh neither
Ashley lch or Maria borma could be here
[6:39] this evening so our supporting staff
today is Melissa boss and finance
[6:43] director Emily green thank you for being
here would you please call the role L
[6:48] here Fritz here mlin yeah here manetta
one of
[6:54] here yes yes here here one of them
please rise and uh our invocation this
[6:59] evening is by Pastor Nathan stom of the
Grand Haven Church of God please rise
[7:03] and remain standing for the Pledge of
Allegiance Let's us pray Heavenly Father
[7:09] we thank you so much for this
opportunity that you have given to us to
[7:12] come together to do business for the
great City the Grand City of Grand Haven
[7:18] in Michigan Lord right now we pray that
your Holy Spirit would come into this
[7:22] place and lead us guide us direct us
Lord that as we make decisions that
[7:28] there'll be decisions father God that
you have already prepared for us that
[7:33] you have led us into that Lord you will
help give them wisdom each and every
[7:37] commissioner father God they have the
wisdom of your spirit to lead and guide
[7:42] this city to the best that it can be
father God I pray that you be with our
[7:47] mayor tonight help him Lord give him the
strength that he needs to do what he has
[7:52] to do tonight father God we thank you
for everyone that made it out here to
[7:56] this council meeting tonight that Lord
you will be with us bless us bless this
[8:02] city make this city the grandest city
that you can by your power and your
[8:08] grace we love you Lord for all that you
have done and all that you are going to
[8:13] do through this city through this
Council in your name we pray amen
[8:22] amen I pledge allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the
[8:28] Republic for which stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and
[8:34] justice for
[8:41] all now we have no appointments or
reappointments this evening brings us to
[8:46] the approval of the consent and regular
agendas can I get a motion for that
[8:49] please so moved and I'll second it
motion by low second by mcclaflin any
[8:55] questions or change I'm Sorry by Fritz
no second by Fritz
[9:02] um any changes to the
[9:06] agenda if none would you please call the
RO Fritz yes mlin yes L yes manessa yes
[9:16] okay it brings us to our first call to
the audience this is the first of two
[9:20] opportunities at this time members of
the audience May address Council on any
[9:23] item whether on the agenda or not those
addressing Council are asked to provide
[9:27] their name and address will be limited
to 3 minutes of speaking time Council
[9:31] will hear all comments for future
consideration will not have a response
[9:35] at this time those not physically
present who would like to call may dial
[9:39] in at 616 935 3203 who would like to
address
[9:50] councel M Davis 209 South Third Street I
guess I'd like to begin with a prayer
[9:57] two the Christian goes to to where
Christ is being
[10:01] crucified I'm going to make my proposal
to you and then I hope I have enough
[10:06] time to give some of the reasons I want
you to take measures to declare Grand
[10:14] Haven to be a sanctuary City or if you
need a euphemism a welcoming City many
[10:20] large cities in our state and throughout
the nation have so declared themselves
[10:25] but why should a small City do it if we
don't raise any trouble trouble they
[10:29] won't come after us we have many
migrants in this city by the
[10:33] way our
duty when something is going on such as
[10:40] being done by ice and if you need a
short course on that I would suggest
[10:46] that you see the Tuesday January 21st
issue of the Grand Haven Tribune where I
[10:52] at my own expense made a full statement
about what ice is doing I'd also call
[10:58] your attention to a letter from the Holy
Father a letter from the uh Bishops of
[11:04] of uh Michigan and a suit uh
against
[11:11] Ice uh that is joined by among others
lutherans menites methodists Quakers
[11:17] Presbyterians
unitarians uh and the Jewish Community
[11:23] uh I'm sad to report that in Grand Haven
after I wrote a letter to 27 pastors
[11:29] asking them to support measures against
ice only one uh was able to do that
[11:37] perhaps their conscience went in some
other direction on this matter I ask you
[11:42] to not let your conscience go in another
Direction I want you to get in touch
[11:49] with me within the next few days set up
a meeting where I can meet with you and
[11:56] and discuss what we have to do to go
about doing this thing and I think it's
[12:01] important that we do it as soon as
possible uh we must remember that what's
[12:07] happening involves all of us uh and if
people in small cities don't act we in
[12:15] danger of the same thing that people in
Germany in the 30s did when they didn't
[12:19] act the time to act is now and uh once
again the Christian is one who goes to
[12:27] where Christ is being crucified thank
you thank you thanks
[12:32] mayor who else would like to
[12:37] speak uh Oliver champine 540 D Avenue uh
I'll I'll Echo uh Max's previous
[12:44] statements I'm just going to read
something from the Pope Francis in his
[12:47] new book immigration and War are two
sides of a single coin it has been
[12:51] rightly said the greatest producer of
migrants is war war in one gu or another
[12:55] since climate change and poverty are
essentially the sick fruit of a BL war
[12:59] that man himself has declared against a
fair distribution of resources against
[13:03] nature against his own Planet moving on
though uh it's a pleasure to be here and
[13:07] I appreciate your time and attention uh
so I come here to iterate a statement I
[13:11] made a couple weeks ago the previous
meeting and while I do respect and impla
[13:15] the works of the Department of Public
Works uh I believe we can do and should
[13:20] do more for our residents humans are the
only bipedal mammals who are like
[13:23] exclusively on walking upright for
movement and as a species we've traveled
[13:27] and estimated 2 2 quadrillion miles
which is a lowend estimate enough to
[13:33] walk to Pluto and back over 400,000
times yet when winter arrives many
[13:37] cities priorities colleting roads for
cars while whilst neglecting the
[13:41] sidewalks and Pathways used by
pedestrians to me this is a diservice to
[13:45] our community it affects those who are
Line Walking as the primary mode of
[13:48] transportation those out with their dogs
our mail carriers and delivery workers
[13:51] and most critically the young and
elderly who need safe passage ensuring
[13:56] clear and accessible walkways is not
just a matter of convenience it's a
[13:59] matter of equity safety and public
health I'm worried that there even could
[14:02] be lawsuits in the future in fact this
is the issue issue is one of the main
[14:06] pillars of my campaign so I'm going to
announce that here today uh I'm running
[14:09] to fill the empty seat over there held
by Ryan cumins um and my idea first that
[14:15] I'm going to give to you is
accessibility and public transportation
[14:17] so we often hear about parking in the
city concerns about it but I'd argue
[14:21] that Grand Haven does not have a parking
problem at all it is a walking problem
[14:25] uh in a pursuit of our own convenience
and comfort we've de deprioritized
[14:28] walking enti
but the real issue lies in our drift
[14:31] away from physical activity the lack of
accessible and passable routes and the
[14:35] absence of a robust public
transportation system so this is just
[14:38] one of my many policy pillars that I'm
addressing but today I wanted to
[14:41] highlight it because it's affecting many
of our communities right now and just
[14:44] it's relevant and the coming weeks I
plan to come back with more but uh I end
[14:49] with if we really want a city that truly
serves all its residents I think we got
[14:52] to start rethinking our priorities so
I'll Echo Max statements again too
[14:56] thanks for yours thank you
who else would like to address
[15:05] Council see no on I'm going to close the
call to the
[15:09] audience at this point I'm going to
present a proclamation drafted by the
[15:14] human relations commission regarding
Black History Month in the City of Grand
[15:18] Haven so this is one of the things that
we attempt to do toh to address some of
[15:22] the diversity some of our appreciation
for all of our citizens in this
[15:27] community so human relations commission
has prepared this resolution for us the
[15:31] black history African-American Heritage
Month whereas it was the late great
[15:36] Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr who
had a dream of equality and shared
[15:41] Mutual acceptance of true freedom and
when this happens and when we allow
[15:45] Freedom we allow freedom to ring and we
let it ring from every village and every
[15:49] Hamlet from every state and every city
we'll be able to speed up that day when
[15:54] all God's childrens black men white men
Jews Gentiles Protestants and Catholics
[15:59] will be able to join hands and sing the
words of the old spiritual free at last
[16:03] free at last thank God Almighty we are
free at last and so it is that we in the
[16:08] City of Grand Haven Michigan does
proudly acknowledge and Proclaim that
[16:12] the month of February will henceforth
and forever be black history
[16:16] africanamerican africanamerican heritage
month and whereas Grand Haven vows to
[16:21] honor the many achievements and
contributions made to our Fair City by
[16:25] those citizens who are of African
Heritage in the areas of civic duty
[16:28] beuty economic growth and success along
with contribution to grow and help
[16:33] diversify the overall culture of Grand
Haven and whereas in the same manner
[16:38] that Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr
proclaimed his great dream for this
[16:41] nation from our nation's capital we the
collective unified body of Grand Haven
[16:46] do Proclaim our continued support to the
work and goal of that dream from for for
[16:51] from our own City Hall and
whereas as our growing city continues to
[16:57] diversify in its culture makeup it
becomes imperative that the City of
[17:01] Grand Haven continues and improves its
efforts to educate all members on the
[17:05] culture of our citizens of African
descent we commit to the cultural
[17:09] education and support of our citizens of
African descent as we raise awareness
[17:14] and do the work necessary to Route out
all Prejudice and discrimin
[17:18] discriminatory practices no matter what
form they may take and whereas now comes
[17:23] the time that the city of City Council
of Grand Haven calls on its great
[17:28] citizenry to come together hand in hand
as Dr King envisioned extending the hand
[17:33] of Brotherhood and friendship embracing
with love and dignity the citizens of
[17:37] our city of African Heritage we commit
to the dream of all people regardless of
[17:43] color or Creed truly being free at last
and whereas in celebrating the black
[17:48] history African African-American
heritage month we are committed to the
[17:52] support provision of advocacy for all
citizens of African descent so it may
[17:57] serve as an opportunity to strengthen
and the internal Alliance of this city
[18:01] with all its citizens equally as we
Foster Mutual acceptance for all and now
[18:06] therefore be it resolved that the City
of Grand Haven does hereby Proclaim that
[18:10] the month of February is now and
henceforth to be acknowledged as black
[18:14] history African-American Heritage Month
in support of all those of African
[18:18] Heritage who call the City of Grand
Haven home so thank you to the human
[18:22] relations commission we certainly take
this to Heart
[18:30] and now that brings us to our consent
agenda the consent agenda allow me to
[18:35] read this um item a approve the regular
council meeting minutes for February 3rd
[18:42] 2025 Item B approve the Bill's memo the
Bill's memo in the amount of
[18:48] $739,500
120 item C approve a
[18:53] 85t easement within Rick's Robinson Park
to Merit Network Incorporated van Miss
[18:58] Michigan for the purpose of conducting
fiber optic
[19:01] utilities and item D approve the
proclamation drafted by the human
[19:06] relations commission recognizing Black
History Month throughout the City of
[19:09] Grand Haven can I get a motion so moved
second motion by first second by
[19:16] mlin any questions on any item on the
consent agenda yeah I'm just questioning
[19:22] on the
um I think on our agenda the numbers on
[19:27] the bills memo
don't I have on and maybe I have
[19:34] 739
5432 and then up on the screen it says
[19:39] 739 054 91 I don't know if that was a
late change a typo okay so is this the
[19:46] correct one no the what's on the agenda
is a correct one okay oh oh so the slide
[19:51] is the one that's not updated okay so
we're we're correct okay okay good then
[19:56] what you read is correct my only
question all right but thanks for
[20:01] catching
that any other comments or questions on
[20:04] the consent agenda no please call the
role Fritz yes M
[20:13] Laughlin yes I said I'm sorry I I
speaking into the mic I apologize
[20:18] Melissa you're fine lello yes M I'm
sorry
[20:22] manessa yes
[20:29] [Applause]
all right that brings us to our first
[20:32] item of new business first item of new
business is consideration by city
[20:36] council of a resolution to award a
street resurfacing to award a street
[20:40] resurfacing a beach tree non-motorized
pathway contract to Michigan Paving and
[20:45] materials of Comstock Park Michigan in
the amount of
[20:57] $418,500 $892
7620 and authorize the mayor and city
[21:03] clerk to execute the necessary documents
the administration recommends approval
[21:07] can I get a motion so move second motion
by first second by
[21:13] mclin uh Mr Mike England is going to
briefly describe what this is good
[21:19] evening um so Leah from abam Marsh did a
lot of work on this for us her B her
[21:25] estimate was 54500
$54,000 we came in pretty low underneath
[21:32] the estimate and we're asking to do more
than the streets that were in her bid so
[21:38] we can get some more streets done at
this time okay well thank you that
[21:41] explains why you want the not to exceed
budgeted amount just to because we had
[21:45] it budgeted yep okay questions from Mr
England good work we get more roads done
[21:52] and get more more done that's
good very good doesn't always happen
[21:57] that way
uh any other questions no please call
[22:02] the rooll M llin yes Fritz yes Lo yes
manessa
[22:09] yes uh next item is a consideration by
city council of a resolution to approve
[22:14] a contract with Michigan Department of
Transportation for project contract
[22:18] number 24- 5496 the beach tree and
Robins traffic signal replacement and
[22:24] the not to exceed amount of $16,839.23
[22:28] and authorize the mayor and city clerk
to execute the necessary documents
[22:32] Administration recommends approval can I
get a motion so moved in support motion
[22:39] by low second by Fritz Mike would you
like to tell us what this one's about
[22:44] yes that's through the beach tree
traffic signal over there and um in
[22:48] Robins Road we were able to get a
participation grant for
[22:54] $326,000 um and then it came in a little
bit overestimate because of the fancy
[23:00] street light scheme that we use here in
the city so that's why it's we're
[23:05] requesting it to the extra money for
this
[23:09] one now the grant we got was through m.4
correct and so we're just making up the
[23:15] difference on the quote correct yep or
was that a percentage participation it
[23:19] was I believe it was a percentage
participation Emily am I correct yes and
[23:23] the total is 326,000 that were Grant
funds 326,000
[23:30] yeah and this is just
standard this this street light just
[23:34] going to be standard just like the the
remainder of in the city is that what
[23:38] you're saying it's the decorative the
the I believe the black decorative ones
[23:42] that we've been putting up around the
city down by c bar and all the other
[23:45] ones you put in got it thank
you I'm good any other questions
[23:53] no well I'm glad to see us get some
grant money to help us pay for these
[23:57] things get some of the money back that
we send into other other uh capitals
[24:02] around correct if there other questions
please call the roll hello yes Fritz yes
[24:09] mlin yes manetta
yes the next item is a consideration by
[24:15] city council for resolution to approve
an agreement for property assessment
[24:19] administrative Serv services with Ottawa
County for a three-year period fiscal
[24:24] years 2025 26 fiscal year 2026 27 fisc
year 20
[24:30] 2728 with a three-year optional
extension and authorize the mayor and
[24:34] city clerk to execute the necessary
documents can I get a motion don't move
[24:40] support motion by mclin second by low
this is a uh something we've been doing
[24:47] for years using the city or using the
county assessing Department in Lou of
[24:51] the city doing it that's correct that
started the the original agreement
[24:54] started in 2011 2011 or 201 excuse me um
and uh has been a three-year extension
[25:02] since then and so this is just another
three-year extension um the current
[25:07] agreement start um runs through June
30th of 2025 and so it's time for us
[25:12] to sign up for another three years with
the county uh assessing Department okay
[25:17] and we save considerable money we save
considerable money yeah correct and we
[25:22] get a very professional result yes we do
yes any questions or comments
[25:30] no you please call the rooll M Laughlin
yes Fritz yes lell yes Mana
[25:39] yes last item of new business is a
consideration by city council of a
[25:44] resolution to award the custodial
Services contract toer a facility M
[25:49] maintenance in the amount of
$534 75 cents monthly and authorize the
[25:55] mayor and city clerk to execute the
necessary documents Administration
[25:58] recommends approval can I get a motion
so moved second okay motion by Fritz
[26:05] second by
mclin Mike you're back yes Derrick is at
[26:09] home taking care of his family um so
yeah dererk was able to get three bids I
[26:14] believe we right now we do have
Professional Building Services of Norton
[26:18] Shores they were the lowest bid and um
Derek is recommending approval of that
[26:24] okay and this is this was before us once
before the a little bit of clean up in
[26:29] the contract language which I believe
this reflects MH yes I believe so okay
[26:35] thank you any questions or
comments
[26:40] no okay well then would you please call
the roll L yes britz yes mlin yes maneta
[26:49] yes that's all our items of new business
it brings us to the report by city
[26:55] council any who would like to go first
[27:00] oh bman you
[27:04] didn't yes it is cold
outside I'm reporting cold and cold for
[27:11] a while yet but spring is coming soon I
hope other that baseball Tigers be
[27:20] starting pretty soon I think opening day
is with the Phillies so for them down
[27:25] there in spring training so
sco Tigers okay I'm good thank you I
[27:33] have nothing to report no um don't have
much of a report tonight either
[27:39] so and we don't have a report by the
city manager unless there's something
[27:43] Emily would like to contribute there is
something that I'd like to pass along um
[27:46] that Ashley wanted me to mention um we
have exciting internal Staffing changes
[27:50] to share our own Derek Gatos um has is
taking a new role with the city um based
[27:56] on our needs he will be the new project
management director and as he makes that
[28:02] switch we will be looking to hire a new
public um Works director and so we will
[28:07] need either one or two of you council
members um to participate in the
[28:11] interviews so she wanted me to ask who
can we count on to help
[28:17] participate I'm more than happy to I'm
good i' like these okay well well you
[28:22] both have your hands up I'll volunteer
okay I'm used to volunteering it's fine
[28:27] with me whatever yeah whatever you know
she needs I'm F don't matter anybody
[28:31] wants to do it no we just can't we can't
do three of us just because be a qu no I
[28:36] have some limited availability though
coming up so I'm I'm guessing that she'd
[28:40] want to get um right on this so correct
okay very good thank you so you get
[28:45] Kevin and Mike very good thank you thank
you guys yep no
[28:50] problem okay anything
else well then that brings us to our
[28:56] second call to the audience at this time
members of the audience May address
[29:00] councel on any item whether on the
agenda or not those addressing Council
[29:03] are asked to provide their name and
address will be limited to 3 minutes of
[29:07] speaking time Council he all comments
for future consideration will not have a
[29:11] response at this time those not
physically present who would like to
[29:14] call in may dial 616 935
[29:22] 3203
time uh I'm Don keot by the way
[29:30] uh three minutes go so fast and I really
want to impress on you the necessity
[29:38] that you get back to me on this proposal
and that we work together either to find
[29:44] out why it can't be done or why it can
be done and I'm hoping that you will
[29:49] contact me sometime this week to set up
such a meeting uh you may remember
[29:56] Pastor nealer uh in Germany had a a
statement that he made that you now see
[30:01] on many t-shirts it begins with the
lines I was not a Jew so when they came
[30:06] to the Jews I didn't do anything he goes
on I was not a Catholic so when they
[30:11] came for I was not a migrant I was not a
black person I was not a
[30:17] Muslim and he said finally when they
came for me there was no one to stand up
[30:24] for me we're all in this
together
[30:28] fascism
never
[30:31] stops um you should I I I wish I had
time to present to you all the things
[30:39] that I've done in researching this
matter and especially in researching our
[30:42] borders are Homan uh I think a good
bumper sticker would be Homan Ain't
[30:48] Human uh his desire to for example he
says that if you're in this country
[30:56] illegally you're a CRI criminal that's
not the case undocumented people are
[31:02] guilty of a civil offense not of a
criminal offense but already that line
[31:08] is being erased soon other lines will be
erased there are plans to get rid of Doc
[31:13] uh dreamers there are plans to go into
churches to go into schools to go into
[31:18] meeting places this will not stop until
we take the actions to stop it and the
[31:26] only way we can stop it
even in Little Grand Haven there is no
[31:31] Haven anymore the only way we can stop
it is to stand up and say not here not
[31:37] on our
watch
[31:40] uh
and what they're doing is not only
[31:45] illegal and unconstitutional it's
immoral it's terrorism and it is
[31:51] unspeakably
cruel the Christian goes to where Christ
[31:57] is being Cru crucified that's true of
all other religions too and even of
[32:01] those of us who don't have a religion
but it's our duty these are our brothers
[32:06] and sisters
um there's so much I I I wish I could
[32:12] say
uh there are by the way groups advising
[32:18] our migrants and when they know their
legal rights and are able to present
[32:22] them to ice ice backs up they don't know
their EV EV their legal rights hauled
[32:28] off so that's another kind of education
that we need to give we can really do we
[32:34] can not only do our
migrant members of the community great
[32:39] service we can make this community stand
up for
[32:44] something I look forward to hearing from
you thank you
[32:49] [Music]
m uh Oliver champine 54d Avenue just
[32:54] going to Echo M Mac again and just say
one of my favorite fav quotes is if we
[33:00] don't do the impossible we will end up
with the unthinkable that's all I'm
[33:03] going to say thank
you anyone
[33:10] else well if no one else wants to speak
to council then I will adjourn the
[33:16] meeting thank you for
[33:26] coming
[33:56] e
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