[0:09] Ice
flag of the United States of America and
[0:14] to the republic for which it stands. One
nation under God, indivisible, with
[0:20] liberty and justice for all.
[0:29] Yes.
[0:35] » Mayor Barbara,
>> Mayor Pro Tim Bob
[0:39] » here.
>> Commissioner Tom,
[0:43] » Commissioner Ste Davis
>> here.
[0:45] » Commissioner Joe Duca,
Commissioner Al Ramirez
[0:49] » present.
>> Commissioner Luke Stimpian
[0:52] » here.
>> City Manager Craig Morton
[0:54] » here.
>> Fire Chief Keith Kloakar
[0:56] » here. ADA director Chuck Bennett
>> here.
[0:59] » Thank you.
>> Okay,
[1:03] the agenda. Is there anything?
[1:08] » Um, we don't have anything additional.
We we we did uh uh get the flyer for
[1:13] pilot. We put a copy that for the volume
that the uh 45day extension has been
[1:18] approved or or uh received. So, um it's
your call when you want to do that. Um,
[1:25] I'm thinking since we're three
commissioners short, I'm not sure we
[1:28] want to make a major decision today.
That's up to you guys.
[1:32] » I move we approve the agenda.
[1:37] » All in favor?
[1:41] » Appro consent agenda items.
Any questions?
[1:49] If not to move,
>> I move to consent items including the
[1:53] payment of 700
784,813.73
[2:06] » Davis.
>> Yes.
[2:08] » Stimpian.
>> Yes.
[2:10] » Ramirez,
>> yes.
[2:13] » Dannis,
>> yes.
[2:14] » Thank you.
>> Okay. The citizens of the for
[2:21] like to speak now is your time right
now. So yes,
[2:26] » I have some questions.
>> Yes.
[2:29] » Yes.
>> Your address, please. Your address,
[2:31] please.
State your name and address.
[2:35] » Uh try over 360 West.
>> Okay.
[2:38] » I had some questions.
>> Sorry.
[2:43] I had some questions at um I tried to
contact the police chief about some of
[2:46] the local
people have questions about. I think a
[2:50] couple of other people have kind of
directed me. They're far less
[2:54] surveillance, more security and
observation. I just if anyone had
[2:58] anything they wanted to add.
>> All I can tell you is the police have
[3:04] not come to the commission to put up
with cameras. So, they are not those.
[3:08] Those are just security cameras.
>> That's what I
[3:10] » There you go.
>> There were a bunch of people up in arms
[3:12] about it and I just wanted to get some
answers so that people could
[3:15] » Okay. Thank you. Y
[3:21] we have
Craig Ross. Would you like to step up to
[3:26] the podium, please?
[3:38] » Okay.
Sir, you want your wife over? You can
[3:42] have her.
>> No, she's fine. She hurt her back so she
[3:47] didn't want to stand up.
>> Okay. All right. Okay. I'm going to read
[3:52] the question for you. Okay. We're asky
fashionally and with dedicated
[3:59] dedication served embassy as an embassy
firefighter for more than 32 years. And
[4:05] whereas Craig during years of service,
he has been highly respected firefighter
[4:12] with mentor and guidance from many new
firefighters. And whereas due to being
[4:18] well respected by his peers
[bell]
[4:25] was pronounced
to lieutenant in 1979,
[4:30] assistant chief in 2000, and was acting
chief in 2001.
[4:37] And we're asked Craig was one of the
leaders of the city firefighters
[4:42] association and helped the group raise
money and equipment outside the fire
[4:47] department budget and in for local area
causes and whereas Craig
[4:56] dedication, passion, mentorship and
leadership was voted the Pier County
[5:01] Fireman's Association fire [bell]
in 2014
[5:06] and Emily City's firefighter of the year
in both 2013 and 2023.
[5:13] And whereas Craig had life changes at
times and his dedication to the
[5:18] department throughout those years
demonstrate the determination and
[5:23] realism that defined his career. And now
therefore, we have proclaimed that the
[5:30] city of Emily City and the commission
does hereby recognize and commend Greg
[5:36] Ross for his dedication and contribution
to the Emily City community given with
[5:43] integrity and genuine faithfulness. May
it be further proclated that we present
[5:49] this proclamation to Ross as a token of
the appreciation and his well-earned
[5:55] retirement and Our extended gratitude
for dedication of faithful services,
[6:01] leadership, mentorship and faithfulness.
This day is first day of September 2026.
[6:12] [applause]
[6:19] [applause]
[6:27] » [applause]
>> get pictures after this, but we got
[6:31] something else first.
>> Okay, so you're back.
[6:44] We've got a couple more. I we've been
I've chasing a few things down in the
[6:48] last results. We were successful. First
of all, I've got a letter from Sn's
[6:53] office that she put together. Basically,
congratulations on your well-deserved
[6:57] retirement after 32 years of dedicated
service with the El City Fire
[7:01] Department. The achievement is a
testament to your commitment,
[7:04] leadership, and dedication to serve the
community. Throughout your career, you
[7:08] serve with distinction as a lieutenant,
assistant chief, acting fire chief. Your
[7:12] your leadership, integrity, and
commitment to the fire service earned
[7:15] you the respect and admiration of those
who served alongside you. Your
[7:19] experience and willingness to mentor and
support others, help strengthen the
[7:23] department. Thank you for your many
years of dedicated service to the Emily
[7:27] City Fire Department. On behalf of
Michigan's ninth district,
[7:30] congratulations. Once again, your
retirement and chief, please don't
[7:33] hesitate to call my office immediately.
[7:37] [applause]
[7:43] » [applause]
[7:47] » Lastly, we were able to get a
proclamation from the state of Michigan.
[7:52] So, JB's off the road together. So we
ended up being green Kevin Daily Gil
[7:59] Press and what sign
[8:04] says, "Let it be known that with great
pride and sincere appreciation, we honor
[8:08] Frank Ross upon this occasion of his
retirement from the Emily City Fire
[8:12] Department. After 32 years of dedicated
service to the residents of Emily City
[8:16] and the surrounding communities for more
than three decades, Craig has answered
[8:21] the call of duty with courage,
integrity, and unwavering commitment
[8:24] protecting the lives and property of
others. As a firefighter Emily City Fire
[8:29] Department, he has faithfully served
alongside his fellow first responders,
[8:33] amplifying the values of selflessness,
professionalism, and compassion that
[8:38] define firefighting profession.
Whether responding to fires,
[8:43] emergencies, or accidents, Craig has
demonstrated remarkable resilience and
[8:47] willingness to place the well-being of
others before his own. His calm
[8:51] leadership, dependable character, and
commitment to the team and strength and
[8:56] department helped ensure the citizens of
LA city received the highest level of
[9:00] service possible.
The LA City Fire Department has long
[9:04] been recognized for its commitment to to
training and community service. Craig's
[9:08] careers embodied these principles
throughout the years of service.
[9:11] the impact to Craig's career extends
beyond emergency services he responds
[9:15] to. His example has helped shape the
culture of the department, inspiring
[9:19] newer firefighters through his
experience, dedication, and willingness
[9:23] to serve. His 32 years of faithful
service reflect not only an
[9:27] extraordinary commitment to the fire
service, but also a genuine devotion to
[9:32] the community and to those who had the
privilege of serving alongside him. This
[9:36] occasion marks a close and exceptional
career defined by sacrifice, courage,
[9:40] and awed dedication.
In a special tribute, therefore, this
[9:44] document is signed and dedicated to
Craig Ross in recognition of his
[9:47] remarkable 32-year career with the Emily
City Fire Department. We extend our
[9:52] extend our deepest gratitude for his
years of faithful service and steadfast
[9:56] commitment to protecting the people of
Emily City. May his retirement be filled
[10:01] with good health, happiness, and
satisfaction knowing that his legacy was
[10:05] will serve older generations since it
comes.
[10:11] [applause]
[10:18] [applause]
[10:25] Before
[10:42] [clears throat]
[10:47] we're done, I want to get all
[10:53] sushi.
[10:59] I'll just take the same.
[11:19] » Thanks, guys. Thanks,
guys. Should we with him holding his
[11:26] plaques?
[11:29] » Can we do that?
>> Bring up the crew with them.
[11:35] » Yeah, they can do it. [laughter]
[11:41] » Wow.
[12:04] That's what I figured. We get a tighter
a little tighter group.
[12:16] I figured you can do that first.
[snorts]
[12:34] Thank you, GENTLEMEN.
[applause]
[12:46] for the fans.
>> Yes.
[12:59] Wow.
[13:12] » Thank you.
>> Oh, thank you.
[13:24] » We do have a department head
for us.
[13:27] » Yep. after the department head since um
Jeff Park and Ben just got back from
[13:34] looking for looking at moving the truck
and so they're going to give an update
[13:39] the status and what the deal is what's
going on and so forth. Okay, why don't
[13:43] we go ahead and have a report?
[13:47] » So, as Keith said, um we literally just
got back from the airport.
[13:53] It was a very hot two days
because it's just like this over. Um
[14:00] started Monday morning. Got to see the
truck finally complete. It's we looked
[14:06] back. This has been a 4-year project. I
was Ted, our sales rep, the Tuesday
[14:11] after Labor Day in 2022. So, this has
been a long
[14:16] » Yeah.
>> labor intensive at times project.
[14:20] Right away, we noticed some things that
were incorrect, as you will out on a
[14:24] build like this. Realistically, compared
to some we've seen, weren't too bad. In
[14:30] total, we had 74 corrections that I have
a list here. We went over one by one
[14:35] with the project manager and the lead on
the floor to tell us what the plan is to
[14:40] fix it.
A lot of it is scuff mark, a little bit
[14:45] of run out of paint that already went
through overnight after we saw it the
[14:49] first time. And we're already getting it
prep for paint. Little things. We had
[14:56] Ben's a certified diesel mechanic. He
crawled underneath, looked at everything
[15:00] there. So, we had a game plan for all
the corrections.
[15:06] First and foremost, it's a beautiful
truck. I mean, we had multiple
[15:11] departments coming up to us, hey, we
have red trucks, but that looks sharp.
[15:16] So, well worth it. All the equipment
works. We went out and tested it, flow
[15:20] water, tested the foam system just to
make sure it works correctly. We will
[15:25] get additional training once it gets
back here and we're in service.
[15:31] But all in all,
it is great piece of machinery. This is
[15:36] the truck 2s is 20 plus years in this
community.
[15:42] Is there any other questions about it?
>> Did they give you a time frame for uh
[15:48] you know final delivery? Then
>> with the holiday gun this weekend, we'll
[15:51] probably take delivery anywhere from 2
to 3 weeks. They drive it manually from
[15:56] Wisconsin to Wixom at the Rant facility.
Main reason they do that is just the
[16:02] working see if better something hop
there whether it's a line or anything
[16:09] happens between okay it happened now not
we get it fresh off the trailer
[16:14] and go grab there so we're going to look
at schedules after the holiday what
[16:20] works when we can get it up here once it
is up here we have more work to do still
[16:27] because we have to model the tools again
get everyone trained driving it running
[16:33] the pump running the foam system. The
pump and foam training is included in
[16:38] the price of the truck. So, it's just
scheduling at that point, getting the
[16:42] trainer here to teach us. We got a crash
course on it.
[16:47] I remember most of it, but I'll tell you
right now, I don't remember all of it
[16:51] cuz we had so much going on.
Um, but yeah, so hopefully by the end of
[16:56] the month it's here in service, it's all
about schedule and we're going to start
[17:01] looking at dates for that.
>> Thank you.
[17:03] » Thank you. And yes, it's still, you
know, it's still safer.
[17:10] [laughter]
>> I second that.
[17:13] » If you go online, if you go online, we
actually have pictures out there on the
[17:16] web. They put they put numerous
pictures. It's it's a pretty truck. It's
[17:19] got it's got the lower is the the
typical yellow, but it's got a gray
[17:22] upper. It's It's a good looking vehicle.
>> It came out al fantastic.
[17:27] » I got to tell you one thing. Before I
left in New York, I got a brand new
[17:31] truck and we were upset. It cost us
$56,000.
[17:38] » Well, I can tell you with this project,
and I asked this camera yesterday, today
[17:44] when we voted it, it was 959,000.
>> Yeah.
[17:47] » With changes we made, it was just over
953 or just below
[17:53] » right around there. So, we saved a
little money there.
[17:56] » If we would have priced that truck out
today, you add 15% right on top. No,
[18:02] it's only getting worse. While we were
out there, we did discuss our plans
[18:06] forward. What's next? Because of the
wait for trucks to see what we want to
[18:12] do next.
How quick, how soon, that is up to our
[18:16] new truck officer, Lieutenant Ben
Horton. So, this was my to-do and I'll
[18:21] pass out along the way with the next.
>> Good luck.
[18:25] » Great job.
I've got a couple couple more quick
[18:30] items.
>> Um, one of my lieutenants stepped down.
[18:35] That was Neil. He stepped down. So, I
had we had a hold for lieutenant. So, we
[18:38] we go ahead and we did post an interview
and then Lieutenant Ben Horton is now in
[18:43] that position for this year. I I went
into the budget and got and got
[18:49] approved. We actually added a third
lieutenant and we subdivided our work
[18:54] plus the fact we just need better
coverage on our officers throughout the
[18:57] day and night. So we did the same thing
we posted it we interviewed and then
[19:02] Mike Raven is now a lieutenant effective
today.
[19:06] So I now have two lieutenants in the
system. So
[19:10] » congratulations
and thank you for all your service.
[19:13] » Thank you.
>> And then just one more item. We
[19:16] currently have three people in the mix
right now that we're going through the
[19:19] We actually want to deliver process
right now. I'm asking get the background
[19:23] stuff back and then we'll keep
proceeding out. You know, keep
[19:26] proceeding along. So, I got three
potential new hires on top of the one I
[19:29] brought in this year
>> because it's going to take three people
[19:32] to replace Greg.
>> Oh, yeah.
[19:35] Actually, four [laughter]
in. So, yeah. So, that that would be
[19:41] that would get me up to that 20 number
that I want to be that'll pass out. Very
[19:46] good. So that's why you guys Thank you.
>> All right. Your staff.
[19:51] » Thank you all.
>> Could be a 20.
[19:53] » 20.
>> Yeah,
[19:55] » that's pretty good for a hard.
[20:01] » All right.
Um, you're all done. You're done.
[20:15] [laughter]
>> Unfinished business. city own property
[20:17] community center.
>> Yes. Basically, all I want to come here
[20:20] tonight for is to see if any commission
members had questions on the uh draft of
[20:25] the rental policies and that we put
together the committee. You know, it's
[20:30] already been due to DDA board. We got
their recommendations, made changes. I
[20:34] want to make sure there's no questions
before we took it live.
[20:38] » Just the 40,000 is not necessarily a
figure that we're going to deal with.
[20:42] » That is we're talking community center.
>> That's a different topic, don't you?
[20:47] If not, you know, the goal will be to uh
get this live, get it on the city's web
[20:52] page, DA's web page, get information out
there, and then I'll schedule a meeting
[20:56] with the committee and we'll start
tackling the next project, the next
[20:59] project. So,
>> I thought that committee did a pretty
[21:02] good job on the draft, too. I said, I
read it twice.
[21:06] » Excellent. Good.
>> Through it, so
[21:08] » perfect. I'll relay the information.
We'll get it live. Thank you, gentlemen.
[21:11] » Yes. Thank you.
[21:19] Okay.
New business. Um, wait a second.
[21:25] » Do you want to just check again with the
Sweet Corn?
[21:29] » You want to discuss that?
>> Yeah. Sweet corn social your packets.
[21:33] You got flyers. Just kind of a reminder.
You would like to join us. It's going to
[21:37] be on the 19th of September. And we are
going to have we're kind of tweaking
[21:43] this week on social a little bit. We're
still going to have lots of free sweet
[21:45] corn for everybody to eat, but we're
also going to do a celebration of
[21:48] agriculture. So, we're going to have
presenters there um like the library as
[21:53] examples will be there um letting people
know that we have books in how to can,
[21:57] how to garden, how to do things around
the house. They're also hoping to bring
[22:01] their uh computer down so you can even
sign people up for library cards there.
[22:05] The museum, it will be a presenter
talking about some of the artifacts that
[22:08] they have so people can learn about the
agriculture in LA city. We will also
[22:12] have the cornhole tour happening at the
same time. Uh cornhole corn social. And
[22:18] then uh we actually are having a young
kids marketplace, a young entrepreneurs
[22:22] marketplace where anybody under the age
of 19 with a parent can set up a booth
[22:26] and it'll be free of charge and they can
sell what they make and try to promote
[22:30] some entrepreneurship in their town.
Um but that that's basically the event.
[22:36] We're going to go from noon till 5 and
then setups at 11:00 for the market and
[22:40] then cornhole will be going a little bit
longer until they have their corner
[22:45] and it'll be happening right now
[22:49] to
>> 1 to six on what's Yes sir.
[22:55] » Yeah, no problem.
>> We need a motion to approve the permit.
[23:01] » I make that motion. I will to approve
the special event permit 2026-10 the
[23:06] sweet corn social as sponsored by the LA
city DDA to be held on Saturday
[23:10] September 19th 2026.
>> All right.
[23:18] All in favor?
>> I
[23:27] do the permit for Christian school
project.
[23:38] » Same thing. We need a motion for that to
approve that as well.
[23:42] » Nothing else changed the same as last
year's.
[23:44] » Yes.
I'll make that motion then too to
[23:47] approve parade permit 2026-03
for city Christian school turkey trot to
[23:53] be held on Saturday November 21st of
2026
[23:58] support
all in favor
[24:01] » I
carries okay um
[24:07] as far
as far as the property group yeah we got
[24:13] this Um I think we're missing too many
members of the commission to be moving
[24:18] forward. Leave it on the 45day
term
[24:23] probably
>> probably.
[24:27] » Okay.
[24:31] » We'll move it to the next.
>> Yeah, we'll move it to 15.
[24:36] » Y very good.
Okay.
[24:42] Um, I guess we're back to citizens from
the floor. Would anybody like to speak?
[24:51] » Yes, Brett. I'd just like to say for uh
Craig's um leadership and everything. Uh
[25:00] he was there over 30 years, 27 and that
years I was there with him. His
[25:05] leadership, professionalism, his
officers,
[25:09] everything um top notch. So,
Congratulations on your retirement. Good
[25:14] c.
I'm right behind you. [laughter]
[25:22] » Okay. Anybody else?
>> I guess if not then I guess we
[25:29] » No need for a close session.
>> No need a close session. City managers.
[25:34] » I don't have anything additional. No
>> commissioner time. No. Thank you for
[25:40] coming gentlemen.
And congratulations to the fire
[25:43] department.
>> Yes. Big congratulations all around the
[25:47] fire department. You guys truck be
beautiful. It's going to be better
[25:49] department than ever. And even though
we're missing a good long-standing
[25:53] member there with it, you know, you guys
are fill in all those footsteps. It's
[25:56] going to be great. Thank you guys.
>> Thank you guys.
[26:02] » Okay. Uh thanks guys for coming out.
Shows you know what we like about Craig.
[26:08] Otherwise, we wouldn't be here, right?
We appreciate it and keep up the good
[26:13] work, guys.
And
[26:17] thanks again for coming out.