[0:00] that yours may be deleted

[0:04] >> probably.

[0:10] » Good evening. Today is Tuesday,

[0:11] September 1st. Please stand for the

[0:12] pledge of allegiance.

[0:15] >> I aliance to the flag of the United

[0:18] States of America and to the republic

[0:21] for it stands one nation

[0:25] indivisible with liberty and justice for

[0:27] all.

[0:30] Heather, would you please take role?

[0:32] >> Council member Radits

[0:33] >> here.

[0:34] >> Mayor Prom Smith

[0:35] >> here.

[0:35] >> Council member Laskkey.

[0:37] >> Mayor Sullivan

[0:38] >> here.

[0:38] >> Council member Kek

[0:39] >> here.

[0:40] >> Council member Gowski

[0:41] >> here.

[0:42] >> Council member Ruska

[0:43] >> here.

[0:43] >> City manager

[0:44] >> here.

[0:45] >> Community development director.

[0:48] >> Police chief

[0:48] >> here.

[0:49] >> Fire chief

[0:50] >> here.

[0:50] >> City engineer

[0:51] >> here.

[0:53] >> Roll call complete.

[0:54] >> Thank you. Uh disclosure of conflicts of

[0:56] interest. Council member with a conflict

[0:57] of interest regarding an agenda item

[0:59] should disclose at this time.

[1:02] Public hearings, we have none. Citizens

[1:04] comment on agenda related items. Any

[1:06] citizen with correspondence to be

[1:07] distributed to council should provide

[1:09] items to city clerk prior to the start

[1:10] of the meeting or after the meeting has

[1:12] adjourned. Limited to five minutes.

[1:14] Anybody on the agenda?

[1:21] » Hi, good evening. I'm Karen Mal 5364th

[1:24] Street. Um, I've been on the parks

[1:26] commission for five years, the last two

[1:28] as chair and now vice chair. Our our

[1:30] chair couldn't be here tonight, but here

[1:31] I am. Um, I just wanted to give a parks

[1:34] uh commission perspective on the Duffy

[1:36] and Morton lots. I think the prevailing

[1:39] winds on the parks commission is that

[1:41] yes, the Morton lot, it's kind of

[1:42] debatable whether that's it's a

[1:44] neighborhood park. It's not as heavily

[1:46] used as Duffy and that one is not as

[1:48] high a priority. And if we need to delay

[1:50] or even maybe eventually eliminate that, would be understandable. But the

[1:54] Duffy law, I just wanted to advocate for

[1:56] putting that back on the change order.

[1:58] Um, I was looking, I'm not an

[2:00] accountant, but I'm pretty good with

[2:01] numbers. And I was looking, we had 70k

[2:03] um, earmarked on the capital

[2:04] improvements budget for Duffy and

[2:06] another 25 for Morton for the lot. So

[2:08] that's 95. Am I right? Um, the low bid I

[2:13] think was around 73K. And, um, compared

[2:16] to the fire department lot, I think it

[2:18] incurred like a 28% engineering fee. I

[2:22] applied that to the low bid and that

[2:24] still came out just under 95k which if it's accurate we we had 95 and um the

[2:31] reason I think that's important on the

[2:32] parks commission especially we've been

[2:33] talking about safety there because it's

[2:36] one thing with the muck and the mud and

[2:38] getting pelted in the face with fine

[2:40] gravel in the spring soccer months but

[2:42] that's a nuisance it's not great but um

[2:45] there's kids darting back and forth

[2:47] between that west side soccer field and

[2:50] the east side soccer

[2:51] It'd be great if we could have it paved

[2:53] so we could paint a crosswalk, a

[2:55] designated safe, you know, path across

[2:57] there. In addition, for some reason this

[3:00] year, people have started parking for

[3:02] those soccer matches. Um, driving their

[3:03] cars up on the grass on the west side,

[3:05] so their bumpers, their front bumpers

[3:07] are, you know, parallel with the u

[3:09] bleachers there on both sides. It's not

[3:12] real safe. So, we thought that the paved

[3:14] lot in addition to I think the DPW might

[3:16] have said they had some of I don't know

[3:18] the terminology the bumpers I think that

[3:21] keep you from driving beyond your

[3:22] parking place. I think they might have

[3:24] still had some of those um available

[3:27] that we could put kind of along

[3:29] especially that west lot so that it it'd

[3:31] just be safer for kids. So, I just

[3:33] wanted to throw that out there. Um I

[3:35] also wanted to throw out the Morton

[3:36] Park. I know that there was an agreement

[3:38] made with Morton Salt that they were

[3:40] going to contribute 25K in addition to

[3:42] the city's 25k to repave that lot as

[3:45] well and I didn't know if that was

[3:47] remembered or um I didn't see it

[3:48] mentioned on the on the agenda. So

[3:51] that's all.

[3:52] >> Thank you.

[3:53] >> Thanks. Anybody else on agenda?

[3:58] >> Okay. Consent agenda. All items marked

[4:00] with an aster are considered by the city

[4:01] manager to be routine matters. Prior to

[4:03] approval, any member of council may have

[4:05] an item removed and taken up during

[4:06] regular portion of the meeting. Items

[4:08] include approval of minutes, cash

[4:10] balances, revenue and expenses, balance

[4:12] sheet. At this time, council could take

[4:14] action to approve the consent agenda as

[4:15] presented. Is there a motion?

[4:17] >> I'll make that motion.

[4:19] >> I'll second that.

[4:21] >> She makes the motion. I second it.

[4:23] >> Thank you.

[4:24] >> Heather, would you please take role?

[4:27] >> Council member Radits.

[4:29] >> Yes.

[4:29] >> Mayor Prom Smith.

[4:30] >> Yes.

[4:31] >> Council member Laskkey. Yes.

[4:33] >> Mayor Sullivan.

[4:33] >> Yes.

[4:34] >> Council member Kek.

[4:35] >> Yes.

[4:35] >> Council member Gabowski.

[4:37] >> Yes.

[4:37] >> Council member Ruska.

[4:38] >> Yes.

[4:39] >> Motion approved.

[4:40] >> Unfinished business. We have new

[4:41] business. Introduction of firefighter

[4:43] Jane Dika in the fire department update.

[4:46] She

[5:05] Yes. Uh, good evening, council. Uh, this

[5:07] is your update. We have kind of a

[5:09] midterm update with the fire department

[5:10] with a lot of different things going on.

[5:13] Uh, first thing I wanted to go over with

[5:15] was the current statistics of the fire

[5:17] department. So far, your fire department

[5:19] has responded to 830 calls so far this

[5:21] year. 568

[5:24] of those are EMS type calls representing

[5:27] just under 70% of the calls. We have 13

[5:30] fire calls for 1.5% of our calls. Then

[5:33] 249 calls um we categorize those as

[5:37] other. Um also all the way over on the

[5:39] right hand side we have aid. So those

[5:42] are our mutual aid numbers. So far we've

[5:44] given aid out to other communities uh 41

[5:47] times and received aid 138 times. uh

[5:51] that 138 times is a little bit skewed

[5:54] right now because that involves um when

[5:57] they are doing their reports they're

[5:58] checking uh our police department. So

[6:01] when our police department comes with us

[6:02] on a call that's also um aid. So those

[6:05] numbers are a little bit that the police

[6:06] department has came and helped us out uh

[6:09] 98 times. So really when it comes on to

[6:12] it mutual aid it's running right around

[6:14] 50/50. We helped 40 times and they

[6:17] helped 40 other times. on the bottom is

[6:19] kind of the breakdown of the different

[6:21] types of calls that we respond to. Uh

[6:23] 70% is, you know, our our meta calls and

[6:27] we have public service fire calls and

[6:28] lots of other different types of things.

[6:30] So, respond to a lot of different types

[6:32] of calls. Now, we've had a lot going on

[6:35] with our fire department. Uh staffing

[6:37] has been um a main topic in that and I

[6:40] want to show you on the right there that

[6:42] is an org chart of how our fire

[6:44] department is currently staffed right

[6:46] now with the amount of firefighters that

[6:48] we have allotted to budgeted for us. So

[6:52] our fire department maintains daily

[6:54] staffing of two personnel 24 hours a

[6:56] day, seven days a week and that and

[6:58] that's how we we've maintained that

[7:01] staffing um for a very long time and we

[7:03] continue to do that today. We recently

[7:06] have a new firefighter, firefighter uh

[7:09] Jaden Dika in that and Jaden's gonna

[7:12] come up and say hi really quick,

[7:13] introduce himself. This is Jaden.

[7:17] >> Hi everybody. As Chief said, my name is

[7:19] Jaden. Um I want to thank each and every

[7:22] one of you for the privilege of being a

[7:24] firefighter for your city. Um thank you

[7:27] very much.

[7:29] >> Thank you.

[7:30] >> All right. And Jaden's off to a really

[7:32] good start. We're happy to have him. We

[7:34] also have firefighter Joe Wnak. He's not

[7:36] here with us tonight, but he recently

[7:38] completed his paramedic school and he's

[7:40] looking to take his state test to become

[7:42] a licensed paramedic. Uh we promoted

[7:46] Captain uh Heath Darling. He's been a

[7:48] longtime firefighter. He's actually a

[7:50] firefighter who's been with our fire

[7:51] department for the longest. He got

[7:53] promoted to captain. And we also have

[7:56] firefighter Brandon Nelson who is

[7:58] recently promoted to the fire marshal

[8:01] and he'll be handling those

[8:02] responsibilities for us. Those are a lot

[8:05] of responsibilities and he's also the

[8:07] new union president and Brandon I think

[8:10] you want to come up and say hi real

[8:11] quick.

[8:14] >> Yeah. Yeah. Uh I just want to thank uh

[8:17] Mayor Sullivan for stopping by today to

[8:19] meet with us. Contrary to social media,

[8:22] local 645 is in support of Chief Hearnen

[8:25] as well as Bill Gamble on support of the

[8:27] regional fire initiative in regards to

[8:30] adding full-time staff. Uh we feel your

[8:32] city fire department is not a toxic or

[8:35] hostile workplace. Thank you.

[8:37] >> Thank you.

[8:39] Now, they are on duty, so

[8:42] they're going to be bailing out right

[8:43] now. And that just back to the fire

[8:45] station, that's where they have the full

[8:46] aotment of vehicle or of cars and stuff.

[8:49] So, thanks a lot guys for coming.

[8:54] >> All right. And then uh also, so we do

[8:57] have two openings, open positions with

[8:59] our fire department right now. And I

[9:01] currently have two conditional offers

[9:03] out to two candidates right now. We're

[9:05] going through the rest of the interview

[9:07] process where they do background checks,

[9:08] psychological devel um and physical

[9:11] agility, uh different types of testing.

[9:13] So, we do have two conditional offers

[9:14] out right now.

[9:16] Um, another big topic, hot topic that

[9:18] we're all talking about would be the

[9:20] Manasty Regional Fire Initiative. And I

[9:22] think one of the most important things

[9:23] that I'd like council to understand is

[9:25] why we are doing this. The reason why

[9:27] we're doing this is because the number

[9:29] of emergency calls has risen. This has

[9:32] been a national trend for a very, very

[9:34] long time. We've went back for the past

[9:37] 20 years in Manaste County and counted

[9:39] up all the calls that our county has

[9:41] responded to emergency times and they

[9:43] are following the national trends of

[9:44] increasing by about a third. So call

[9:47] volume is increasing. Uh the second

[9:49] reason why we're doing this is the pool

[9:51] of available responders is decreasing.

[9:54] All right, the number of volunteer paid

[9:56] per call firefighters has dropped.

[9:58] That's another thing that they've been

[10:00] tracking since 1984. 1984 there was over

[10:03] 800,000 firefighters. Today we're down

[10:06] around the 600,000. So that is dropping

[10:09] by a third. So our call volume has

[10:11] increased by a third and um the amount

[10:13] of available responders has decreased by

[10:16] a third. I was speaking with the fire

[10:18] chief just today. Um he tells me about a

[10:22] full roster of 25 they had 15 years ago.

[10:25] Today they're down to nine. Okay. So

[10:28] we're looking to do something different.

[10:30] Mutual aid and other fire departments

[10:31] are important because we have automatic

[10:34] aid agreements. When there isn't a fire,

[10:36] we count on all fire departments to come

[10:38] and respond to us. The when they have a

[10:42] reduced amount, we have a reduced amount

[10:44] to use on scene both inside the city and

[10:47] outside the city. We all work together

[10:49] when it comes to um handling these

[10:51] emergencies. And that's why this is

[10:53] important.

[10:54] The third reason why we're doing this is

[10:56] capital equipment costs have increased.

[10:59] This has been something uh since the the

[11:02] really the pandemic in that that is when

[11:05] um apparatus fire trucks have

[11:07] skyrocketed through that they've

[11:09] increased by 50 to 100%. Uh $500,000

[11:13] fire trucks today now cost a million

[11:15] dollars. Uh ladder trucks now cost about

[11:18] $2 million and it takes about two years

[11:20] to get them. And that so those are the

[11:22] three main reasons why we're exploring

[11:24] this initiative. So, so what is it? So,

[11:28] this is actually the Massie Regional

[11:29] Fire Initiative. This is a ballot

[11:31] initiative to increase fire and EMS

[11:33] capacity within Filer Township, Strronic

[11:36] Township, and Onka Township. It's a

[11:39] ballot initiative. These communities are

[11:42] putting out a millage or a ballot

[11:44] proposal to raise millages in order to

[11:47] raise their funds available to support a

[11:49] fire authority. All right. If we create

[11:52] a fire authority, we're going to have a budget and a funding formula, and each

[11:56] community that participates in it will

[11:58] need to contribute a certain amount of

[12:00] money. These funds in this ballot

[12:02] initiative is designed to raise the

[12:04] funds for their contribution for this.

[12:07] We do have a public engagement meetings

[12:09] scheduled for September 21st in Strronic

[12:12] Township. That's going to be from 6:00

[12:14] to 8:00.

[12:16] Now, and then I think we've all realized

[12:18] is Massie Township was originally

[12:20] involved in this. You can see in our

[12:22] little map and in all of our logos in

[12:24] that that they're colored in there.

[12:25] Well, they decided to withdraw from this

[12:27] conversation from the conversational

[12:29] fire authority. And what that really did

[12:31] is it changed our website, it changed

[12:33] our budget, our changed all of the

[12:35] materials that we have to advertise with

[12:38] or that we have to communicate this

[12:40] idea. So it t took some time to update

[12:44] that website, update all our m material

[12:47] and really devise a whole new plan. We

[12:49] had to come up with the new budget,

[12:51] those types of things. And uh that that

[12:53] takes some time. That did create um a

[12:56] delay, but we are getting things

[12:58] scheduled. The uh website is will be

[13:00] updated by the end of this week and we

[13:03] should be looking good to communicate

[13:04] with the public and really show them um

[13:07] the needs that the fire service has in

[13:09] this community.

[13:10] So with this fire authority, this is

[13:14] what the city of Manasty gets. It gets

[13:16] additional full-time firefighters. Right

[13:18] now, we are the only fire station that

[13:20] has full-time firefighters occupying

[13:23] fire stations. So, we have two two

[13:25] firefighters uh really within the entire

[13:28] county. What this is going to do is this

[13:30] is going to increase it to five

[13:32] firefighters today. They won't be

[13:34] stationed at our fire station. They'll

[13:36] be stationed in Fer. There'll be a few

[13:37] stationed in OnCA. But what that's doing

[13:40] is that's keeping them available to

[13:42] respond to our city immediately when we

[13:44] need help. Remember, mutual aid is a big

[13:47] part of what we do. So, we do need help

[13:49] on occasion and we'll have people there

[13:50] available to respond to us immediately.

[13:53] The next thing it does is it provides

[13:55] replacement apparatus and equipment. So,

[13:58] there's a sustainable capital

[14:00] improvement plan involved in this

[14:02] initiative. So what really what this is

[14:04] saying is is this is covering the cost

[14:06] of our fire apparatus currently right

[14:10] now. Um

[14:13] if we were to go out and to get new fire

[14:15] apparatus, we would have to go for a

[14:17] millillage and a bond and ask for more

[14:19] money from the citizens of Manaste to

[14:22] purchase fire trucks for this this

[14:24] ballot initiative by everyone working

[14:26] together reducing some capital cost.

[14:29] There is a capital plan involved in this

[14:31] and it covers the cost of new fire

[14:33] apparatus.

[14:35] Also, the shared service administration

[14:37] standards, it's really just getting us

[14:39] the same training days um working

[14:42] together, same equipment and just

[14:44] bringing it closer together so it's a

[14:46] little bit more seamless when we arrive

[14:48] on scene emergencies. It's not much like

[14:51] um when there is a fire and we have

[14:54] three, four different fire departments

[14:55] responding. It can be a little clunky at

[14:58] times because we have different

[14:59] equipment, different gear, different

[15:01] ways we communicate and that bringing an

[15:03] organization closer together just helps

[15:06] us make it more efficient and run things

[15:08] run a little bit more smoothly. Now,

[15:10] without this fire authority, uh,

[15:13] municipal fire and EMS would continue to

[15:15] operate independently with the existing

[15:17] staffing levels. We wouldn't be

[15:19] addressing any of the staffing concerns

[15:21] and constraints on long-term

[15:23] sustainability. There is no capital in

[15:26] uh improvement plan that involves the

[15:29] motor pool. How we buy apparatus here.

[15:32] Um with ordinance, we don't uh pay for

[15:36] uh ladder trucks or fire engines through

[15:39] our motor pool fund. In order for us to

[15:41] purchase those vehicles, we would have

[15:43] to go for a millillage, a bond to pay

[15:45] for those types of apparatus. in that

[15:48] currently right now our fire engine is a

[15:50] 2004

[15:52] and our ladder truck is is approaching

[15:55] 30 years old. So they're both uh right

[15:58] there at the replacement age. We we need

[16:01] new fire apparatus. So we do have to

[16:03] plan for that that

[16:06] Oh my gosh, I turned it off.

[16:11] » Must be good.

[16:12] >> Sorry about that.

[16:17] And I think

[16:23] » that was the last slide and really

[16:25] that's what I have. That's the update

[16:27] that I have for you right now regarding

[16:29] this and um believe I'm open for

[16:31] questions.

[16:33] >> Yes.

[16:35] >> What determines if we go forward on

[16:36] this? Is it the vote by the other

[16:38] townships or do the Manasty City people

[16:40] get to vote or ask questions? I mean I

[16:43] know we have the 21st but what do what's

[16:45] the drop dead that this is a move

[16:47] forward? So really in order to join the

[16:49] authority that's a vote by the council

[16:51] to say yes we want to join the authority

[16:54] and that so there would be a contract

[16:55] articles incorporation and the council

[16:58] the different councils or township

[16:59] boards would be voted on whether or not

[17:01] to um they want to join what's happening

[17:04] right now is the um the ballot and the

[17:07] initiative and why is that is they are

[17:09] looking to raise funds in order to

[17:11] support it because they need to really

[17:13] increase their fire budget in order to

[17:15] uh make this plan work. We do not need

[17:18] to increase our budget to make this plan

[17:20] work. We're going to we use the existing

[17:23] uh budget that we have now. So, we don't

[17:26] have anything going to vote right now

[17:28] because we're not asking for a

[17:29] millillage to support this plan.

[17:31] >> How much millage do you know that each

[17:33] of the townships are asking? They have

[17:35] very low budgets is why I'm asking that

[17:37] before. They 288,000 were 1.3 million.

[17:41] >> So,

[17:42] there is that form. Uh, I believe it's

[17:45] under the resources on the website and

[17:47] it says millillage details on it with

[17:49] that, but it's wrong right now because

[17:51] it has Massie Township on it. I spoke

[17:53] with Mr. Bradford today. He's reworking

[17:55] the numbers and we hope to have the

[17:57] brand new one on there by the end of

[17:58] this week.

[18:01] » Yes.

[18:02] >> What was the reason given by Manasty

[18:05] Township for withdrawing from the

[18:07] authority?

[18:08] >> Um, I did not get a reason. I got a

[18:10] phone call from Mr.

[18:12] uh told me that, you know, they had a

[18:13] meeting, they decided to withdraw from

[18:15] the um the authority. He said he would

[18:18] follow it up with a letter. Um not sure.

[18:21] I I didn't receive a letter, but that's

[18:23] the only communication that I had with

[18:24] Manacey Township.

[18:26] >> Okay.

[18:28] >> What the minimum it' be sustainable for?

[18:31] Like we have four remaining ones. Have

[18:33] you like say two of them want it and

[18:35] then the other two do not? Yeah, we we

[18:38] do have different budgets in that of

[18:40] what it would look like in that and

[18:42] really what it is when we do have those

[18:44] it would be sustainable with um Stronic,

[18:48] Filer and um the city and that and we we

[18:52] have looked at the different models and

[18:54] really all of them um are sustainable.

[18:57] What it as far as daily operations the

[19:00] meat and potatoes is is the capital

[19:02] improvement in the capital plan. So with

[19:05] reduced amount of people um in this

[19:08] contributing it changes the capital plan

[19:11] not necessarily the operations plan.

[19:15] Do

[19:15] >> you have a question Jeff? Well, I guess

[19:18] the only question I've been you've shown

[19:21] us at least three times a lot of this

[19:23] information with different because the

[19:25] numbers change naturally as people move

[19:27] in and out and I know there's a certain

[19:31] group in the city who doesn't agree with

[19:33] this but I haven't really heard exactly

[19:37] a solid reason why like you know are

[19:42] they going to lose their jobs or they

[19:43] think this community is not going to be

[19:45] served and So, I'm I don't get it why. I

[19:49] just don't get it because you're clearly

[19:51] stated, you know, no no middle age, and

[19:54] that's one of the rumors I've heard.

[19:55] There's going to be a millage.

[19:58] I just I don't get it.

[20:01] >> I know. I agree.

[20:03] >> Do you have any insight?

[20:04] >> That's why I wondered why Manasty

[20:06] Township what their reasoning was

[20:09] because we're hearing all negative,

[20:11] >> right?

[20:12] >> As you can imagine.

[20:13] >> Yeah. And I I think what happened with I I don't know why Massie Township

[20:17] withdrawal really. Um but when that did

[20:20] what that did do is it slowed our public

[20:23] engagement down which was originally

[20:25] scheduled for August

[20:27] >> which didn't allow us to get our message

[20:29] out which allowed a different message.

[20:32] >> Yeah.

[20:32] >> To to really maybe ruminate a little bit

[20:35] longer.

[20:35] >> Yeah.

[20:36] >> And that and um we we need to get the

[20:39] website right and get our message out.

[20:41] Um I feel that this is a and that

[20:44] >> would be good for people,

[20:46] >> right? Jim, you said that you had the

[20:50] there was a similar proposal 13 years

[20:52] ago or so. Do you have any insight? I

[20:56] mean, you probably have more experience

[20:58] than someone like I do.

[20:59] >> Well, they worked at the whole deal

[21:01] before.

[21:03] in your paperwork I read and it says

[21:08] about

[21:12] using

[21:13] the uh axes

[21:18] now you're saying you going to you're

[21:20] going to just use what you got. I mean

[21:22] it doesn't consist same thing you got

[21:26] here.

[21:26] >> Can you just show me the front just

[21:28] >> Well, I'll have to find you. That's what

[21:29] I'm looking for.

[21:30] >> Okay. But you're going to have a fire

[21:31] chief,

[21:33] deputy fire chief, operations chief,

[21:35] fire marshal, clerical position. I mean,

[21:38] we're talking a lot of money here,

[21:41] >> right?

[21:42] >> I can't believe that, you know, you're

[21:44] going to just come in here with with

[21:46] what we have and say that that's going

[21:49] to equal out. I don't believe that there

[21:51] has to be

[21:53] taxes or something going up. And you

[21:55] said it before. Yeah. when you talked

[21:57] that we were going to see a tax

[21:58] increase.

[22:00] >> Okay. I think maybe the paper that you

[22:03] have would have been maybe an original

[22:04] white paper that I wrote in 2023 to

[22:08] introduce the concept

[22:09] >> revised 2026.

[22:12] >> Okay.

[22:12] >> I just ran it off.

[22:14] >> Okay. So that would be the plan that was

[22:16] just before Manacey Township's

[22:18] withdrawal. Okay. So that would have

[22:20] been So that is the plan that was on

[22:23] there with Manasse Township in it. There

[22:25] is going to be a revised plan with that

[22:27] reflects the withdrawal. But with that

[22:29] plan that you have there with Madison

[22:31] Township in it in that we did create a

[22:34] budget that um we feel we've used

[22:36] conservative budgeting numbers and the the budgeting in the plan did work.

[22:42] >> So the public just needs to know that at

[22:44] this point there's no intention of a

[22:46] millage or tax increase or anything like

[22:49] that.

[22:49] >> Not in the city.

[22:51] >> Okay.

[22:51] >> In that but the other ones yes they did.

[22:54] Yeah, they did have to put that out, but

[22:56] in the city, no.

[22:57] >> Okay.

[22:58] >> So, Jim, there's a concern that with

[23:01] increasing staffing, which is another

[23:04] concern we've heard from our residents,

[23:06] is that there is a decrease of staffing

[23:08] or a decrease of availability of

[23:11] services. But you have a concern that

[23:13] with increasing of staffing that that

[23:16] would be a problem.

[23:17] >> Well, are you going to pay your deputy

[23:19] chief? Are you going to pay him 35,000

[23:22] or are you going to pay him

[23:24] So seeing seeing how that's broken down

[23:27] uh with a potential salary for each

[23:30] potential position would help.

[23:34] >> I think it is broken down at some point

[23:36] some documentation I recall has it

[23:39] broken down.

[23:40] >> Okay.

[23:40] >> But I think

[23:43] >> the additional funds for additional

[23:45] staff will happen if these millages

[23:47] pass.

[23:49] There's no additional funding from the

[23:51] city for staff because we're all working

[23:54] together.

[23:56] We get more staff through the county

[23:59] based

[24:01] operating budget in there,

[24:03] >> right? All budgets are projected, right?

[24:06] >> Okay. So, there's a there's a staffing

[24:09] concern that Manis will have too much

[24:12] staff

[24:14] for our fire department.

[24:16] >> Well, I've already talked to some people

[24:18] county and they said there were four

[24:20] fire departments that they talked about

[24:22] having they said there were no way would

[24:24] they vote for something like that.

[24:26] >> Okay.

[24:27] >> Because now you're talking about putting

[24:29] one man in on one man father. Do you

[24:32] think that's going to cut the time down

[24:34] when you have to go on a call?

[24:37] >> Yeah. Yeah. So having a staffed fire

[24:40] station right now um firefighters get on

[24:43] the truck in under a minute. uh as on

[24:46] the paid per call model that they use.

[24:48] They respond from they carry pagers or

[24:51] you an app on your telephone is really

[24:53] popular now. Once a call comes in, they

[24:56] respond to the station then um respond

[24:59] to the call. So what we're doing is

[25:01] we're reducing drive time to the station

[25:03] for the paid per call. So we're getting

[25:05] trucks out the door faster in that. But

[25:08] one of the thing that I I I want to make

[25:10] clear is that we still need in uh

[25:13] volunteer firefighters desperately and

[25:15] that they provide a very valuable

[25:17] service and we need them. What it is is

[25:20] a lot of these medical calls in the

[25:22] increasing call volumes. There's a

[25:24] burden on them and they are asked to do

[25:27] a lot and it's hard to make those types

[25:29] of time commitments. The ones that we

[25:31] have are dedicated. We need them dearly

[25:34] in that and this is a way to help have

[25:37] some staff available to respond to a

[25:39] little bit more of the redundant calls

[25:41] to increase that. We still need the

[25:44] volunteer response for this plan to

[25:46] work. We need uh good dedicated

[25:49] volunteers.

[25:50] >> You're saying you're going to have 24

[25:51] people. How many on duty at a time

[25:54] >> in that? Okay. So the 20 it's it's two

[25:59] people per station and that and there

[26:02] was two people in the filer station, two

[26:04] people in the Manaste station and that

[26:07] plan that you had there had two people

[26:09] in the um Manasty Township station and

[26:12] two people in the OnClima station. So

[26:14] that was eight people on per day. Three

[26:17] different shifts is 24 total

[26:20] firefighters. That was with that plan.

[26:24] That's where you're losing people

[26:25] because they can you can't get

[26:28] volunteers. Now, how are you going to

[26:29] put those volunteers? Uh when you got

[26:32] paid people in town, now you're putting

[26:36] volunteers.

[26:38] Uh can these guys get off and work? A

[26:41] lot of them at work all the time.

[26:42] >> Yeah. So, what we're prescribing is

[26:45] called uh commonly called a combination

[26:47] style fire department where there's

[26:49] combination full-time and combination

[26:51] volunteer. It is a common model uh

[26:54] within the United States of having both

[26:57] a combination style department.

[27:00] >> Okay. And here you got 16 full-time

[27:03] firefighters and administration. So that

[27:06] means you or whoever is in

[27:08] administration 15 paid encore

[27:10] firefighters. Then you break it down

[27:12] here to staffing city man six father six

[27:17] three shronic none district wide 10.

[27:23] And council member Gowski just want to

[27:25] point out that's the old plan. The new

[27:27] plan is what's stated there where it's

[27:29] two on at the mast station, two on at

[27:31] Filer, one on at Stronic. So that's an

[27:34] obsolete plan and that's what we're

[27:37] >> printed this off.

[27:39] >> Yeah.

[27:39] >> Where's the new one?

[27:40] >> And I believe I sent that to council

[27:43] about two weeks ago. I can resend that

[27:46] and it'll be on the website by the end

[27:47] of the week as well. So, it's

[27:51] >> I just don't see it working.

[27:54] >> Jim, I I thank you for that opinion. Uh,

[27:56] and I'm wondering if part of the reason

[28:00] that some people can't see it working is

[28:03] because that's the responsibility of not

[28:06] this council of whether the whole thing

[28:08] is going to work or not. So, I I really

[28:12] appreciate you giving us uh information

[28:16] about our citywide operations and the

[28:18] decisions that need to be made here and

[28:21] uh the options that we can present to

[28:23] our neighbors and be the best neighbors

[28:24] possible. Um I I just don't feel

[28:28] comfortable skipping way down the road,

[28:29] especially without something current in

[28:31] front of me. and I really look forward

[28:33] to attending on the 21st so that uh

[28:36] everyone can hear at the same time and

[28:38] look at the same information and uh if

[28:41] there's questions or concerns there

[28:44] they're brought forward with full

[28:45] transparency. So I really thank you for

[28:48] this update but I'm going to be honest

[28:50] I'm looking forward to having the

[28:53] >> Okay.

[28:54] >> Well, I'm waiting for that too. And

[28:56] >> you know what people don't realize these

[28:59] gentlemen have gone up to Arcadia

[29:03] >> from so that leaves the city nothing

[29:06] right now.

[29:08] >> Arcadia we've been we've been ble I mean

[29:12] I even ran as when I was on duty in

[29:14] police but the thing is I didn't leave

[29:16] the city empty. This is what we're

[29:18] leaving. This was brought up by Mr.

[29:20] Bachman years ago.

[29:21] >> Okay.

[29:22] >> And that's the

[29:23] >> same thing.

[29:23] >> And if I may that's the whole impetus of

[29:25] this is that council kept asking why we

[29:28] keep responding out of the city. And the

[29:29] idea with this working with um Chief

[29:32] Hearnen was to add capacity to backfill

[29:35] to have full-time to cover. There are

[29:38] going to be instances where we have to

[29:39] do mutual aid, but the idea is to add

[29:42] full-time capacity so that those people

[29:44] can stay in the city and respond in the

[29:47] city. So really, this is kind of a

[29:49] response to those those questions you

[29:51] had, Mr. Gowski, about how we're going

[29:53] to um address this situation with our

[29:56] firefighters leaving town. It's other

[29:58] communities chipping in to add full-time

[30:00] staffing so that our our firefighters

[30:03] can protect the people in the city,

[30:05] >> you know, and then then sometimes when

[30:07] our guys go out, then we got to call in

[30:10] somebody else. I mean, you know, I

[30:12] understand you're you're you're talking,

[30:14] but the thing is then you send somebody

[30:16] else in here. We have to wait. My

[30:18] father-in-law was having heart attacks

[30:19] and we had to wait for Welston to get

[30:21] here for another 40 minutes. So you

[30:24] ain't telling me nothing new about

[30:26] running out in the county and you guys

[30:27] have been out out in Oxy,

[30:29] >> right? And with

[30:30] >> this why I'm concerned about this

[30:33] >> we're going to be running all over the

[30:34] place. You're going to have two people

[30:35] all over.

[30:36] >> But the problem is when that somebody

[30:39] gets busy from

[30:42] >> and somebody else has got to go up and

[30:43] cover their shift and you got to

[30:44] somebody else is open. So you still have

[30:47] it open for you like it or not.

[30:49] >> Yeah. And I I think that's

[30:50] representative of the increased call

[30:52] volume that we're seeing everywhere. And

[30:56] also one of the things that you mind is,

[30:58] you know, we we talked about the mutual

[30:59] aid. We requested aid 40 times into our

[31:04] city. And out of that 40 times, eight 70

[31:06] to 80% of those times it's medical calls

[31:09] that we're requesting aid in for. So

[31:12] that's roughly averaging about once a

[31:14] week we're asking for an ambulance to

[31:16] come in and take care of our residents.

[31:18] That's because our our current ambulance

[31:20] is busy right now. So, one resident is

[31:24] receiving service from our ambulance and

[31:26] the next resident isn't. It's receiving

[31:28] from a a private ambulance. When they

[31:31] receive a service from the private

[31:33] ambulance, they're getting a bill for

[31:34] it. And that so we have one resident

[31:37] receiving a bill, one resident not. By

[31:40] creating this authority and having

[31:41] additional ambulances available,

[31:43] there'll be authority ambulances. So,

[31:45] there won't be a bill. they will be uh

[31:48] built the same.

[31:49] >> So you're saying that if if the people

[31:51] from the city have to call an ambulance,

[31:53] no matter where they're coming from,

[31:55] they aren't going to get built.

[31:56] >> If it's an authority ambulance, they're

[31:58] operating the same way we operate in the

[32:01] city.

[32:02] >> I want to I want to put that down in red

[32:05] because that's a lot of people concerned

[32:08] about that.

[32:08] >> Yeah. Yeah. Put that red.

[32:12] >> Well, I'll wait till the 21st. I have no

[32:14] more questions.

[32:15] >> Okay. Thank you.

[32:16] >> Thanks, Chief.

[32:19] » Consideration of local revenue sharing

[32:21] board grant applications. Local revenue

[32:23] sharing board LRSB distributes 2% money

[32:26] from the Little River Casino. The

[32:27] deadline for the 2026 cycle 2

[32:29] applications is Friday, September 11th,

[32:32] 2026 by 5:00 p.m. City staff have

[32:34] prepared two grant applications for

[32:36] submission to the local revenue sharing

[32:37] board. This agenda item will include two

[32:39] separate motions, one for each grant

[32:41] application.

[32:43] First one is at this time council will

[32:44] take action to authorize a submission of

[32:46] a grant application to the local revenue

[32:48] sharing board for the fire district in

[32:50] the amount of $4,990

[32:52] for video laroscopes. This is a mot. Is

[32:55] there a motion?

[32:58] >> Motion support.

[33:01] Any discussion?

[33:04] Would you please take a vote?

[33:06] >> Council member Radits.

[33:07] >> Yes.

[33:08] >> Mayor Prom Smith.

[33:09] >> Yes.

[33:10] >> Council member Laskkey.

[33:11] >> Yes. Mayor Sullivan,

[33:12] >> yes.

[33:13] >> Council member Kek,

[33:14] >> yes.

[33:15] >> Council member Gabowski,

[33:16] >> yes.

[33:16] >> Council member Ruska,

[33:18] >> yes.

[33:18] >> Motion approved.

[33:26] » I just wrote all over mine. I can't read

[33:28] it. Okay. At this time, council take

[33:29] action to authorize the submission of a

[33:31] grant application to the local revenue

[33:33] sharing board for the police department

[33:34] in the amount of $28,69041

[33:38] for the beach warning lights. Is there a

[33:40] motion? Thank you.

[33:42] >> I'll make a motion again.

[33:44] >> Is there a second?

[33:45] >> I'll second.

[33:47] >> Any discussion?

[33:48] >> I just have one question. If we don't

[33:51] get this revenue sharing grant, what's

[33:53] your plan B?

[33:55] >> We're going to have to work in the

[33:56] budget for a capital improvement

[33:57] project. Something that expensive.

[34:01] >> Yeah,

[34:01] >> there are some other grants out there

[34:04] working with the Coast Guard the last

[34:06] three years. I don't know if I can

[34:07] wiggle I shouldn't say wig. they don't

[34:09] know this would qualify for a port

[34:11] security grant based on my conversations

[34:13] with them. So it's either explore

[34:16] alternative funding sources or put the

[34:19] capital improvement plan or combination

[34:21] of both. So this this this these grant

[34:25] funds if they're awarded gives us five

[34:27] years sustainability and a 10-year

[34:29] warranty for lights which is the most

[34:30] expensive thing.

[34:32] >> Josh, are these taking the the waste of

[34:34] those lights that are on the buildings?

[34:36] >> These are going to replace those. So,

[34:38] what this includes is we have four

[34:40] lights, right? Two in each building and

[34:42] brand new lights which come with a

[34:45] 10-year warranty. There's improvements

[34:47] to the lights. I talked to the engineer.

[34:49] I can't regurgitate all the

[34:50] improvements, but they're more visible

[34:53] um different lighting system, but

[34:55] reality is if we can get this these

[34:58] funds, it's five years of maintenance

[35:00] parts and then 10 year warranties for

[35:02] the lights. Lights are the most

[35:03] expensive. The lights are about five

[35:05] grand a piece. And so we're getting into

[35:08] I think we bought these in 21 or 22.

[35:10] We're getting to the end of their

[35:11] original life cycle, which is five

[35:13] years. These new lights, their life

[35:15] cycle is 10 years. So we're trying to

[35:17] look down the road and find a way to

[35:18] sustain this long term.

[35:20] >> Now, where are you going to put these

[35:21] lights?

[35:22] >> Well, council member, last category, my

[35:25] intent is to put them where they

[35:26] currently are, replacing those, but I'd

[35:28] like to listen to the park's opinion on

[35:30] if there's a better place on the

[35:31] building, they're more visible.

[35:32] >> Yeah. Those lights I'm very I mean, a

[35:34] lot of people tell me they don't even

[35:35] see them. Yeah. So here, so that's a

[35:37] great point. So these were

[35:39] state-ofthe-art four years ago, right?

[35:41] >> Yeah.

[35:42] >> They're LED, which are very visible from

[35:45] here, but as you deviate x%, whatever it

[35:48] is, LED is not so visible. So these

[35:51] lights, the new and improved lights are

[35:52] more visible from a higher degree of

[35:55] whatever. Does that make sense? I'm not

[35:57] doing a great job there. But so our our

[35:59] beach lights while we end up buying two

[36:01] for building is from a long way away. As

[36:03] long as you're at that cone, very

[36:05] visible. Kids can see them from the

[36:07] period, we can see them. But when you

[36:09] get too far sideways, they aren't as

[36:11] visible. These new lights are more

[36:13] visible. A wider cone, I would call it.

[36:16] >> Is it possible to put them on a roof?

[36:20] >> I think anything's possible. I don't

[36:22] know how visible those would be.

[36:24] >> Yeah.

[36:24] >> So

[36:25] >> because I told you when we was up last

[36:27] time. I said people don't see them.

[36:29] >> Yeah,

[36:30] >> that's about time we move them.

[36:32] >> So, if council approves this grant

[36:34] application and then if we get award the

[36:36] grant funds, I think in that time go to

[36:39] the parks, get some input where we've

[36:41] had these lights for four years, are

[36:43] they okay where they're at? Are there a

[36:45] better place for them? We can always

[36:46] review those things.

[36:49] >> I wish both of the applicants luck.

[36:53] >> Thanks, Chief.

[36:54] >> Thank you.

[36:54] >> Anybody else? Heather, would you please

[36:56] take role?

[36:57] >> Council member Resga,

[36:58] >> yes.

[36:59] >> Council member Gowski,

[37:00] >> yes.

[37:01] >> Council member Kek,

[37:02] >> yes.

[37:03] >> Mayor Sullivan,

[37:04] >> yes.

[37:04] >> Council member Laskkey,

[37:06] >> yes.

[37:06] >> Mayor Prom Smith,

[37:07] >> yes.

[37:08] >> Council member Radits,

[37:09] >> yes.

[37:10] >> Motion approved.

[37:11] >> Thank you. Consideration of authorizing

[37:12] a contract and a change order number one

[37:14] with Mullen Construction for the fire

[37:16] station site improvements. Several

[37:18] parking lot several parking lot and site

[37:20] improvement projects were recently bid

[37:21] out uh including Duffy Parking lot,

[37:24] Morton Parking lot and fire station site

[37:28] improvements. The city received two bids

[37:29] for the project. Only the fire station

[37:31] site improvements were within the city's

[37:33] budget and reasonably aligned with the

[37:35] engineers estimate. Therefore, the staff

[37:37] recommends proceeding with the fire

[37:39] station site improvement at this time

[37:41] while evaluating value value engineering

[37:43] options for the two parking lot projects

[37:46] or alternately they may be rebid at a

[37:48] later date. At this time, council could

[37:50] authorize contract with Mullen

[37:52] Construction, Inc. for the fire station

[37:54] site improvement and proof change order

[37:56] number one to remove the parking lot

[37:58] work from the contract. Is there a

[38:00] motion?

[38:04] No motion. Okay. Moving

[38:08] on. Consideration of appointing police

[38:09] chief

[38:11] Josh Glass as harbor master. City

[38:13] ordinance requires city council to

[38:15] appoint a harbor master. The city

[38:17] manager recommends appointing police

[38:18] chief Josh Glass. At this time, council

[38:20] take action to appoint police chief Josh

[38:23] Glass as harbor master. Is there a

[38:24] motion?

[38:25] >> I'll make that motion.

[38:27] >> I'll second.

[38:28] >> Any discussion?

[38:30] >> You want it again, Josh?

[38:34] >> You want it again? I haven't had it uh

[38:36] initially but just talking to other

[38:38] police chiefs come full circle

[38:41] chief hornleold chief cold and house back uh if you

[38:47] graciously appoint this to me chief

[38:49] glass

[38:49] >> chief

[38:50] >> I am willing and honored to accept the

[38:52] additional responsibility to serve the

[38:53] community

[38:55] >> thank you chief thanks would you please

[38:57] take role

[38:58] >> council member Ratitz

[38:59] >> yes

[39:00] >> mayor prom Smith

[39:01] >> yes

[39:02] >> council member Laski

[39:03] >> yes

[39:03] >> mayor Sullivan Yes.

[39:05] >> Council member Kek.

[39:06] >> Yes.

[39:06] >> Council member Gowski.

[39:08] >> Yes.

[39:08] >> Council member Ruska.

[39:09] >> Yes.

[39:09] >> Motion approved.

[39:11] >> And now we will have a report on the

[39:13] Mast County Historical Museum and

[39:15] Historic District Commission. Mr. Mark

[39:17] Feder.

[39:24] » All right. Uh hi everyone. I'm back

[39:26] again for another year uh to talk about

[39:28] the thrilling and exciting world of

[39:30] local history. Uh happy to be here as

[39:33] always. uh talking very briefly about

[39:35] the historic district commission as well

[39:36] as what we do, what we've been up to at

[39:38] the museum within the last year. Uh so

[39:40] getting started uh with the historic

[39:42] district commission uh uh in terms of

[39:44] the museum uh we work with potential

[39:46] building owners, business owners, uh

[39:48] planning and zoning department, uh

[39:50] environmental specialists on researching

[39:52] various aspects of historic buildings

[39:54] here within the city um and within the

[39:57] historic district itself. Um this

[39:59] includes, you know, when was your proper

[40:01] or when was the building built? uh you

[40:03] know, who built it, who occupied it, uh

[40:05] what's the history of the property, what

[40:06] was on there before, was there a fire

[40:08] there, uh was there something underneath

[40:10] it potentially? Um and so we use a lot

[40:13] of different aspect, a lot of different

[40:14] sources to attempt to find this

[40:16] information. Uh building abstracts,

[40:18] newspapers, city directories, maps,

[40:20] aerial views, uh photos, phone books,

[40:23] etc., etc., scrapbooks, uh whatever we

[40:26] can find, uh that will help us answer

[40:28] those questions. Uh sometimes it takes a

[40:30] couple hours, sometimes it takes a

[40:32] couple days, and sometimes it takes a

[40:34] couple of weeks to try to hunt all this

[40:35] stuff down. Uh so, uh it can be a lot of

[40:38] fun, and it can be very frustrating. Um

[40:40] uh uh in the same in the same breath, um

[40:42] a couple I'm not going to go over all of

[40:44] the uh all of the certificates of

[40:46] appropriateness that the historic

[40:48] district commission um uh uh approved

[40:51] over the last year. Uh altogether, I

[40:53] believe it was 17 certificates of

[40:55] appropriateness. Uh this is roughly

[40:57] average uh for what the the HDC does. Um

[41:00] a couple of the pro couple of the

[41:02] buildings that uh the the HD HDC spent a

[41:05] lot of time on and a lot of discussion

[41:07] on as well as um uh some of the uh time

[41:10] that uh the museum spent on uh were um

[41:13] this building here at 385 River Street.

[41:15] The piping clover uh that uh frontage

[41:18] was put on in the 1960s. uh they've

[41:21] taken that off and I think anybody who's

[41:22] driven by that or walked by that of

[41:24] recently uh they've done a really great

[41:25] job of it and uh uh really happy to see

[41:28] that they've put a lot of TLC into their

[41:30] building. It looks terrific. Um uh of

[41:33] course uh uh the HDC has had a lot of

[41:35] discussion on uh this building, the

[41:37] Hotel Northern over the last couple

[41:39] years. Uh it continued on to this year.

[41:42] Um and at the museum we recently

[41:44] approved some paint colors that will go

[41:46] along with it. Again, I think anybody

[41:47] who's driven by this building has gone,

[41:49] "Holy cow, this really looks great." Um,

[41:51] uh, uh, in all of our combined, well,

[41:54] maybe not combined, but all of our

[41:56] lifetimes um uh has always looked a

[41:59] little a little odd. Uh, but, uh,

[42:01] they've done a phenomenal job with it.

[42:03] And that cool, um, Hotel Northern

[42:06] painted, um, mural or not mural, but

[42:08] sign there on the side of the building

[42:10] is still there today. Um, and is still

[42:12] exposed. And just kind of one of those

[42:14] cool things for anybody who's nostalgic

[42:16] about this sign. Um it is currently on

[42:19] display at the museum. So if you want to

[42:21] come by and pay homage to it or genulect

[42:23] um by it, you are more than welcome to.

[42:25] Um several a couple years ago they asked

[42:28] if we wanted this sign. And of course uh

[42:31] perspective plays a role. Uh not to me.

[42:34] Uh but I was standing on the street and

[42:35] they said, "You want the sign?" And I

[42:37] said, "Yes." And then when they showed

[42:38] up, uh city workers showed up uh uh this

[42:41] March to drop it off. Um, my mouth fell

[42:43] to the ground and where am I gonna put

[42:45] this thing? Um, there it sits right now

[42:47] at the museum. It'll probably be there

[42:48] till the end of the year. So, come on by

[42:50] and and pay homage to it. Uh,

[42:52] regardless, uh, uh, uh, the the HDC

[42:55] spent a lot of time um, uh, figuring

[42:57] this uh, building out and all the

[42:58] specifics and, um, again, it looks

[43:01] really great. I also spent a lot of time

[43:04] uh with a new building owner here at 348

[43:06] River Street earlier this year, wanting

[43:07] to know all about the history of that

[43:09] building, what used to be uh what it

[43:11] used to be when it was built. Again,

[43:13] photographs of it. Um also spent a

[43:16] couple days researching all that

[43:17] information for them. Um hopefully uh in

[43:20] the near future there'll be um some

[43:21] activity there. Um uh as well as this

[43:24] building at 340 River Street, the new

[43:25] occupants, the new owners of it. Uh we

[43:28] spent a lot of time uh between uh uh HTC

[43:31] planning and zoning museum researching

[43:33] the building and and uh going over their

[43:35] plans for it. Um again um uh um with the

[43:39] HTC, you know, there's, you know,

[43:40] signage and paint colors and ex all the

[43:43] exterior work and doors and windows and

[43:45] all that really great fun stuff um uh

[43:48] that uh the HDC kind of pours over and

[43:51] several dedicated members to that uh

[43:53] that want to see um that history

[43:55] continue on. um uh it's unique and it's

[43:58] special to the community. Um so we all

[44:00] kind of want to see it um continue on

[44:02] over the years. So a lot of time, a lot

[44:03] of energy, a lot of discussion goes into

[44:05] it. Um and and poor Jerry over there uh has to hear all of it. So um uh but

[44:11] anywh who um uh we're very happy to

[44:14] continue on with our relationship with

[44:15] the HDC. So uh in terms of the museum,

[44:19] from August 2025 uh to this July, we had

[44:22] 159 visitors. Uh that's a a little bit

[44:25] more than average about 30 or 40 more

[44:27] than average. Um uh which is great uh to

[44:29] have all that activity down there. Uh we

[44:31] had 49 researchers over over that time

[44:34] period. That's about average. Uh these

[44:36] are people coming from uh nobody from

[44:38] around the world this year. Uh but

[44:40] people coming within the United States

[44:42] to come to Manaste to come to the museum

[44:44] to do this research. I had people uh

[44:46] earlier this year as as far away as

[44:48] Seattle and Southern California uh to

[44:50] spend a couple days here and we get I

[44:52] get to know them and get to know their

[44:54] families and get to know their stories.

[44:55] So that's kind of one of the fun aspects

[44:56] that we do in terms of genealogy. Uh

[44:59] have had uh a really interesting

[45:00] increase. I've been with the museum for

[45:02] almost 20 years. Um and and in all my

[45:05] years there um it seems to be an

[45:06] increase of new property owners, new

[45:08] building owners that bought a house in

[45:10] Manacey and and want to know the history

[45:12] of it. Um uh so there's been a

[45:14] significant increase in that which is

[45:15] really great to see. Um people want to

[45:17] know the history of it and want to know

[45:18] if somebody died there um have a seance

[45:21] or whatever they want to do with it. Um

[45:23] but regardless uh it's always fun to

[45:25] meet those people and get to know them a

[45:27] little bit and get to know those

[45:28] properties. I in turn learned something

[45:30] as well as they do. Uh so um always a

[45:33] lot of fun to to delve into all that

[45:35] research aspect of it. Uh couple of the

[45:37] community projects that we've been up to

[45:39] over the last year. Uh back in January,

[45:42] uh we got the great news that Manasty

[45:44] Fire Station was put on the National

[45:45] Register. Uh several years, uh a couple

[45:48] years ago, uh Chief H. Hearnden, uh

[45:50] former Manasty Firefighter Fred La Point

[45:52] and Sarah Herburgger from the Manasty

[45:53] County Foundation, uh kind of met and

[45:56] decided to pursue this venture. And uh

[45:58] we're we're really pleased that uh we

[46:00] got put on the National Register. And

[46:02] that means a lot for the uh for the

[46:04] building and I think for the community.

[46:05] The building looks really great, too. Um

[46:08] uh we uh did the uh uh we did a lot of

[46:10] the information and the photographs for

[46:12] the first phase of the new history based

[46:14] signage on the Riverwalk in River Street

[46:16] uh that was installed uh late last year.

[46:20] Hope to continue on with that um as time

[46:22] goes on, but it looks it's it's got all

[46:24] the cool historical information and the

[46:26] cool historic photo. Uh and it's got

[46:28] kind of a modern vibe to it and it's I

[46:30] think it looks really great and I'm

[46:31] really excited about that. Uh for

[46:32] several years we uh toiled away on the

[46:35] uh mapped the Manary public schools uh generations project. Um we finally

[46:40] decided what to do with that old bell

[46:41] that was sitting outside the waterworks

[46:42] building uh for almost 70 years and

[46:45] there it sits outside the the Manasty

[46:46] Elementary building now. Um so that was

[46:48] a really fun project and took a long

[46:50] time but uh very pleased with that as

[46:52] well. Uh we've been um having a lot of

[46:55] conversation uh from from the museum

[46:57] side of things uh with the Smith family

[46:59] at uh 99 Pine Street. Last year it was

[47:02] put on the the house was put on the

[47:03] state register. Uh we've continued that

[47:06] conversation with them. Um they have

[47:09] some very um ambitious but very uh

[47:12] interesting and kind of very cool plans

[47:14] for the property and if that becomes a

[47:17] reality at some point down the road that

[47:20] would be a very significant attraction

[47:21] for for the city. Um uh so we've been

[47:23] continuing that conversation what kind

[47:25] of role the museum can play um uh with

[47:28] developing that. Um uh and it's it's

[47:30] really been a lot of fun um chatting

[47:32] with them. So hopefully that'll be a

[47:34] thing in in the not too distant future.

[47:36] Um uh we've uh done a lot of the um uh

[47:40] photographs and been involved in some of

[47:42] the design work and um uh the historical

[47:45] information for the uh uh journeys

[47:48] project. Uh I think Sammy from the

[47:50] visitor center has spoken with you about

[47:52] that or spoken with some of the

[47:53] commissions about it. um that'll be kind

[47:55] of history based or portions of it will

[47:57] and so we provide a lot of information

[47:59] for that continue to do so and have kind

[48:01] of h a hand in that work. Um we also

[48:04] were uh involved in the Manasty Chamber

[48:06] Leadership Program for History Day. We

[48:09] toured the museum and did a trolley tour

[48:11] and and a walking tour and all that

[48:13] great stuff. Um now it's always a lot of

[48:15] fun to to to get involved with a lot of

[48:16] those people who don't know of the cool

[48:18] history aspects of Manaste. Um we were

[48:20] involved uh at the big lighthouse

[48:22] dedication here on Memorial Day. Um and

[48:24] of course the museum uh are the former

[48:26] managers of the um lighthouse and we

[48:29] were very uh happy and more ways than

[48:32] one to kind of hand that off to lakes

[48:33] shoreke keepers. Uh I don't know if all

[48:35] of you have gone up there but it's it's really cool and it's they've

[48:38] had a great um ad uh visitorship over

[48:41] the last several months and uh we're

[48:44] very happy to play a a a role in in kind

[48:46] of handing that off. Um very pleased

[48:49] with that. They've done a great job out

[48:50] there. Um uh and we've also been

[48:52] involved in a couple bus tours. People

[48:54] of course uh on the big uh Greyhound

[48:56] buses come in and do a tour of Manasty

[48:58] and it's always kind of fun to see

[48:59] people working in their yards on Cedar

[49:01] Street and all of a sudden this big bus

[49:02] is in front and and I'm uh uh talk

[49:05] yelling about history to all these

[49:06] people on this bus. Um uh anyways uh did

[49:09] a couple of those uh over the last year

[49:11] or so. Um always a lot of fun. Oh, I

[49:15] kind of overshot that a little bit. Uh

[49:17] did several lectures throughout the

[49:18] year. These are some of the these are at

[49:20] least four of them that we did. Uh we

[49:22] talked to the parks commission about the

[49:23] history of Reeds Park. We had a fun

[49:25] night kind of hashing that out and who

[49:27] Mr. Reach was and how Re Park became a

[49:29] thing. Uh uh I gave that talk again at

[49:32] this at the Wagner Center back in July.

[49:34] Um I did a a program with the near and

[49:37] far friends in OnCA and I've done

[49:39] several programs with the Many County

[49:40] Library. Um some of their summer reading

[49:42] programs as well as kind of a Halloween

[49:45] walk through the museum. Um uh in 1976,

[49:49] my predecessor, Steve Harold, began a

[49:51] weekly history column with the Manasty

[49:53] News Advocate. He always told me that was the one of the most important

[49:57] ways to get the community at large

[49:59] involved or interested in local history.

[50:01] 50 years later, uh I continued uh that

[50:04] tradition and that's roughly over 2500

[50:07] uh articles of Many history that have

[50:09] been public published uh within 50

[50:11] years. Um, so that's always a fun thing

[50:14] to do and to try to come up with that

[50:16] article on a on a weekly basis. Um, uh,

[50:19] to continue on with that, I do the daily

[50:21] looking back column uh, in the news

[50:23] advocate, everything that happened in

[50:24] Manaste 20, 40, 60, 80 years ago. Um,

[50:27] and again, a way to engage the public

[50:30] um, uh, in local history.

[50:33] Um, uh, in terms of the future at the

[50:34] museum, we are continuing our work with

[50:36] Hopkins Burns Design Studio out of Ann

[50:38] Arbor. uh they done they did uh the

[50:40] preservation study of the building and

[50:42] we're almost to the end of that phase

[50:44] out master plan. Uh after that the fund

[50:47] starts uh we're with grants and funding

[50:49] and so on and so forth uh to help

[50:51] preserve the building uh to update it uh

[50:53] in certain in certain parts um and to

[50:55] kind of keep that uh keep that uh keep

[50:58] that building down there alive. Uh it's

[51:00] very unique and very special especially

[51:01] the visitors who come in um and so we

[51:03] hope to continue on um um doing that in

[51:06] the future and this will be a part of

[51:07] it. So hopefully by the end of the year

[51:09] we'll have we'll have that master plan

[51:11] uh all all done. Uh I rambled through

[51:15] that pretty quick. Are there any

[51:16] questions uh you have for me uh uh in

[51:18] regards to the historic district

[51:20] commission or in regards to the museum?

[51:23] >> Well, I think you do a good job. I think

[51:25] >> I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you.

[51:27] >> And I mean you've helped us out helped

[51:29] me out a lot.

[51:30] >> Happy to do it. Yeah.

[51:32] >> Talk he gives for the parks. We started

[51:33] and it's an annual talk. you have been

[51:35] to it, you are missing a treasure. It's

[51:37] not only historically accurate, it's

[51:40] very entertaining.

[51:40] >> Oh, well, thank you. Yeah,

[51:41] >> it's history entertaining.

[51:43] >> Yeah, I I I try I sat through a lot of

[51:45] uh uh adult dull uh college lectures, so

[51:48] I try to throw a little fun into it or

[51:50] at least attempt to. Anyways,

[51:52] >> I really appreciate the looking back.

[51:54] >> Yeah.

[51:55] >> No, I ages to my She can look at those.

[52:00] But you had a picture of my mother as a

[52:02] cheerleader.

[52:03] >> Oh. grand kids were very impressed.

[52:05] >> Oh, that's great. That's great. Great.

[52:07] That's always a lot of fun. You wouldn't

[52:09] be the first person to mention that to

[52:10] something similar to that to me, but

[52:12] that's always fun to kind of bring that

[52:14] out.

[52:14] >> Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

[52:15] >> And that's hard to write an article week

[52:16] after week consistently to find new

[52:18] topics, make it interesting, and to make

[52:21] it lengthy and cover it all and done.

[52:23] Good job. You have continued it.

[52:24] >> Appreciate that. Thank you very much.

[52:26] >> Great. Thank you so much every

[52:28] appreciate it.

[52:29] >> Thank you.

[52:30] >> Citizens comment. This an opportunity

[52:31] for citizens in attendance to comment on

[52:33] municipal services activities or areas

[52:34] of city involvement limited to five

[52:36] minutes. Letter submitted to council

[52:38] will not be publicly

[52:46] council. My name is Jordan La Point.

[52:48] Mayor and members of city council. I'm

[52:50] standing before you tonight because I

[52:51] feel that for far too long only one side

[52:53] of the story has been heard. The issues

[52:55] within the Manasty Fire Department did

[52:57] not begin with recent resignations, and

[52:58] they did not begin with a small group of

[53:00] agitators. They began much earlier. In

[53:03] July of 2025, the union was finally

[53:05] looped in on the fire district proposal.

[53:07] The next day, the fire chief and city

[53:08] manager attempted to reprimand using

[53:10] Union President, Captain Brent Haskin

[53:12] for word spoken during that protected

[53:13] meeting. Around the same time,

[53:15] disparaging remarks were made by those

[53:17] involved at city hall about the

[53:19] volunteer firefighters in our

[53:20] surrounding communities. firefighters

[53:22] who are our neighbors, our friends, and

[53:24] the very people we depend on in mutual

[53:26] aid. Then, in the fall of 2025, Captain

[53:29] Chris Jeff was written up by the fire

[53:30] chief for allegedly falsifying training

[53:32] records. Yet, on those very records,

[53:34] next to Captain Jeff name, it clearly

[53:36] stated that he did not attend. The

[53:38] reason, his grandfather was actively

[53:40] dying, the man who was his father figure

[53:42] in his life. Despite that, Captain Jeff

[53:44] was accused of falsifying records and

[53:46] was called a liar. In February of 2026,

[53:49] both myself and the union attempted

[53:50] twice to sit down with the mayor and

[53:52] simply have our side of the story heard.

[53:54] Those requests were adamantly refused.

[53:56] In March, the fire chief walked into

[53:58] city hall smiling as he fired Captain

[54:00] Brett Haskin, a 15-year captain who

[54:02] dedicated a decade and a half to this

[54:03] community and its citizens. The same

[54:05] month, the union made a protected social

[54:07] media post drawing attention to what we

[54:09] believed was a hostile and toxic work

[54:11] environment created by the fire chief

[54:12] and city leadership. That was the final

[54:14] straw that led to additional federal

[54:16] unfair labor practice lawsuits being

[54:17] filed. Then comes July of 2026. The city

[54:20] settled the federal unfair labor

[54:22] practice outside of court. Captain

[54:24] Haskin was paid 200% of his lost wages

[54:26] rather than returning to his position.

[54:27] Captain Jeffrey's discipline for

[54:29] supposedly falsifying records and lying

[54:31] was completely erased and I was given

[54:33] back two of the four days of unpaid

[54:35] suspension received over the protected

[54:36] union Facebook post. Those outcomes

[54:38] should have caused everyone in this room

[54:40] to ask an important question. Maybe the

[54:42] firefighters were actually telling the

[54:43] truth. Captain Jeff had also met

[54:46] separately with city manager Bill Gamble

[54:47] on two occasions and told him directly

[54:49] that he was actively looking for another

[54:50] job because of the hostile work

[54:52] environment he believed had been created

[54:53] by the fire chief and city management.

[54:55] In July, I took a part-time position at

[54:57] MMR to supplement my income and to

[54:59] continue to better my skills as a

[55:01] paramedic. In August, after actively

[55:03] looking for over a year, Captain Jeff

[55:05] interviewed for a supervisor position at

[55:07] MMR, a position that came with a pay

[55:08] raise of over $20,000.

[55:11] Meanwhile, after receiving a total of

[55:13] nine days of unpaid suspension, being

[55:14] told I'd be moved shifts for the third

[55:16] time in a year, and facing the attempt

[55:18] to create what I believed would be an

[55:19] illegal military policy, I had finally

[55:21] had enough. I resigned. The day after I

[55:24] submitted my resignation, Captain Jeff

[55:25] was offered the position at MMR. He

[55:27] accepted then submitted his own

[55:28] resignation. There was no coordination

[55:30] to create a staffing crisis. MMR was not

[55:32] acting in bad faith. MMR was not being a

[55:35] bad neighbor. And MMR had absolutely

[55:37] nothing to do with my decision to leave

[55:38] the city man. My decision had everything

[55:40] to do with the hostile and toxic work

[55:42] environment that I experienced under

[55:43] fire chief Tom Hurden and city manager

[55:45] Bill Gamble. Two experienced

[55:47] firefighters did not simply wake up one

[55:49] morning and decide to abandon careers

[55:50] and a community that they care about. We

[55:52] spent months and in some cases a year

[55:54] trying to make things better, trying to

[55:56] be heard and trying to get the

[55:57] leadership to listen. Since Tom Hen's

[55:59] been hired, there's been seven

[56:00] resignations in one termination. That's

[56:01] an alarming turnover. My only regret is

[56:03] that city council did not take the time

[56:05] to sit down and listen to the

[56:06] firefighters before accepting without

[56:08] question the version of events that was

[56:10] spoonfed to them by Tom Hearn and Bill

[56:12] Gamble. You had firefighters telling you

[56:13] that there was a problem. You had people

[56:15] resigning. You had federal labor

[56:17] complaints. You had settlements. You had

[56:18] my violations. And still the people

[56:21] working inside that department were not

[56:22] listened to. I'm not here tonight

[56:23] because I wanted to leave. I'm here

[56:25] because I wish I didn't have to. Thank

[56:27] you.

[56:28] >> Thank you. Thank you.

[56:31] Anybody

[56:35] else?

[56:50] » Dave Milky at 273

[56:52] 6th Avenue.

[56:55] Um,

[56:56] I had made a previous request

[57:00] for action from the city council

[57:04] regarding the sign at the senior center.

[57:09] I'd like to see some action taken on

[57:11] that. In any response, I would like to

[57:15] have it in writing.

[57:20] Um, some other

[57:23] review items on the sign. It's still up

[57:26] as of a few days ago.

[57:29] Um,

[57:31] some of the statements that were made by

[57:33] the zoning person

[57:35] where they could put up an unlimited

[57:37] number of signs at the senior center as

[57:42] long as they met the size. I think it's

[57:45] 3x3

[57:48] and

[57:51] If that's the case,

[57:55] um

[57:57] I I think that takes away from the

[57:59] character of the whole senior center.

[58:03] And another item that came up there is

[58:08] when they originally put the location

[58:12] signs at the senior center, there was

[58:15] only two signs allowed.

[58:18] So that had to go to the zoning board of

[58:21] appeals for the third sign.

[58:25] So I don't know if the zoning ordinance

[58:27] has changed where they can have an

[58:30] unlimited number of signs over there

[58:33] which doesn't make sense.

[58:36] Um,

[58:39] also some of the material I was supplied

[58:44] when they were reviewing this process

[58:47] through the permitting

[58:49] is there was never a a plan submitted

[58:56] for the the new sign over there.

[58:59] The original three signs all had

[59:03] engineering work done with those.

[59:07] Um,

[59:09] and where the sign is now,

[59:12] I don't think it's made out of stainless

[59:14] steel. It's made out of combustible

[59:17] material

[59:18] and it's nestled up under the eaves of

[59:22] the building.

[59:24] So I think there could be a a fire

[59:27] hazard thing there to

[59:31] consider also. And if you have unlimited

[59:34] number of signs,

[59:36] are they going to place them all under

[59:38] the eaves?

[59:40] So that's just my update and request for

[59:44] a written response. Thank you.

[59:47] >> Thank you. Anybody else?

[59:51] Mr. Gamble. Oh, I'm sorry.

[59:55] Good evening, city council and madame

[59:56] mayor. I'm Caitlyn Snay of 109 Cedar

[59:59] Street. I wanted to bring up my concerns

[1:00:01] in regard to the fire department. I'd

[1:00:03] like to share a fact. My father served

[1:00:05] that the local 645 proudly for 25 years.

[1:00:08] And during that time of service, he only

[1:00:10] saw two firefighters leave. And both of

[1:00:12] those reasons for leaving were personal

[1:00:14] outside of the fire department that the

[1:00:15] fire department wouldn't have been able

[1:00:17] to retain them in any way. With that

[1:00:19] being said, I find it very ironic that

[1:00:22] we've had eight firefighters leave

[1:00:24] within the past two years with our

[1:00:26] current chief being in that role for the

[1:00:27] past three. This is an alarm going off,

[1:00:30] warning us that something is not right.

[1:00:32] It is time to have some hard

[1:00:33] conversations. I'm greatly disappointed

[1:00:35] with how the city manager and multiple

[1:00:37] of our council members have been talking

[1:00:39] about the city firefighter EMTs and

[1:00:41] paramedics, especially the ones that

[1:00:42] have just unfortunately recently

[1:00:44] resigned. I truly hope that you ask all

[1:00:46] the questions, learn what you can, and

[1:00:48] have conversations outside of just

[1:00:50] discussing these things with the city

[1:00:51] manager and the chief directly. I look

[1:00:53] forward to the meeting later this month

[1:00:55] and to get more information about the

[1:00:57] fire authority. I'm hoping that we

[1:00:58] actually get answers. Thank you for your

[1:01:00] time.

[1:01:01] >> Thank you. Else,

[1:01:05] Mr. gamble.

[1:01:06] >> Um, I will just mention there were some

[1:01:08] facts left out of that statement by that

[1:01:10] former employee and I will say there

[1:01:12] were legitimate reasons for the

[1:01:13] discipline. There was a grievance file

[1:01:16] uh process that was followed and there

[1:01:17] was a settlement. So I would say it's

[1:01:19] time to move on

[1:01:22] >> and then we're going to also

[1:01:23] >> sorry

[1:01:24] >> I think we're also going to have we'll

[1:01:26] discuss more about the um parking lot

[1:01:29] determine council's priorities with that

[1:01:30] and move forward.

[1:01:32] >> Thank you. Ra

[1:01:33] >> um I guess I'm I think haven't we sent

[1:01:38] or you sent Mr. Gamble, Mr. Milky a

[1:01:40] reply in

[1:01:42] >> I have

[1:01:42] >> Okay. I just I thought so. I I know you

[1:01:45] sent us a copy of those.

[1:01:48] Um that's it. Nothing on the Rams.

[1:01:52] >> Mr. Kowski. Uh,

[1:02:00] Bill, you I sent you a letter reference

[1:02:03] to two gentlemen and I know in the

[1:02:05] ordinance or the

[1:02:09] city rules you hire and you can fire.

[1:02:12] Um,

[1:02:14] we now with the removal of the

[1:02:18] Department of Public uh works director

[1:02:23] being terminated,

[1:02:25] you put in two other people and I just

[1:02:27] want to voice my opinion. Uh, you sent

[1:02:31] me a letter back saying we're going to

[1:02:33] reduce some of the qualifications

[1:02:36] and I really disagree with that because

[1:02:39] we went down when we hired the last

[1:02:43] person and he didn't have a degree that

[1:02:47] he should have had and now we're going

[1:02:50] to go down again and I would like to see

[1:02:54] back and hire outside people who have

[1:02:58] the degrees that know what they're doing

[1:03:02] because that's to me as a citizen I want

[1:03:06] to know people are doing work they know

[1:03:08] how to do and I don't have nothing

[1:03:10] against gentlemen that appointed. Uh,

[1:03:12] you know, we need to intim people. I

[1:03:15] like both guys and I talk to both guys,

[1:03:18] but I just like to see things change

[1:03:21] here because I'm I'm tired of seeing it

[1:03:22] going downhill. The next thing is, can

[1:03:25] the golf carts that ride around the

[1:03:28] city, the rental golf carts, can they

[1:03:31] advertise on the back? People have asked

[1:03:33] me and I don't know what the rules are

[1:03:34] for that thing.

[1:03:36] >> They have advertising.

[1:03:38] >> Yeah, I think you're talking about Z's

[1:03:39] cart rental. I don't know of any issues

[1:03:41] with that. So, I wouldn't think there's

[1:03:43] >> people asked me. I don't know.

[1:03:45] >> And they're looking at as a sponsorship.

[1:03:46] I don't have a

[1:03:48] >> Okay.

[1:03:48] >> Think there's a legal reason to fight

[1:03:50] that.

[1:03:50] >> I didn't know if there was anything that

[1:03:51] you knew that would help. Okay.

[1:03:54] >> All right.

[1:03:55] >> Miss K.

[1:03:56] >> I'm good. Thank you very much, Mr. Rits.

[1:03:59] >> I just want to say what a wonderful uh

[1:04:01] back to school day for Casine and Maps

[1:04:04] yesterday. I just want to uh thank our

[1:04:06] city law. You're smiling. It was It was

[1:04:09] pretty fun. It was It's a little

[1:04:11] chaotic, but uh just everyone be safe on

[1:04:13] the roads and look out for little ones

[1:04:15] who are excited to get to school. Thank

[1:04:18] you, Mr. Smith.

[1:04:20] >> I am all set. Thank you,

[1:04:21] >> Miss Liy.

[1:04:23] I think Bill, I think it was a good

[1:04:25] decision whoever made it not to have the

[1:04:26] attorney. I think it's a cost savings to

[1:04:28] the city. I don't know that he has to be

[1:04:29] at every meeting. If there's an issue,

[1:04:31] he can view it on video at meeting

[1:04:34] number minute number 37 or something.

[1:04:36] So, thank you. That was looking out for

[1:04:37] us. Um the question someone was asking

[1:04:40] is that plaza I think it was there's

[1:04:43] bolsters that can be put in at the end.

[1:04:45] Is that going to remain open as a road

[1:04:48] most of the time? People are worried

[1:04:49] that it's going to be closed at the end

[1:04:51] more than open.

[1:04:53] >> So the ballards were a long lead time.

[1:04:55] We're waiting for those to come in, but

[1:04:57] the idea was for it to be you can still

[1:04:59] drive through it and it can be closed

[1:05:00] down for special events and we can do

[1:05:03] that as we choose fit. So

[1:05:05] >> be it's still going to be a road. People

[1:05:06] are concerned that it will be Not a

[1:05:08] road, but a

[1:05:08] >> little bit different geometrics where

[1:05:10] you do kind of turn at the end into

[1:05:12] water, but

[1:05:12] >> but you can still go through

[1:05:13] >> and you can go there, you can park.

[1:05:15] >> Good. Thank you.

[1:05:16] >> Does it look good? Okay, I take a motion

[1:05:17] to return.

[1:05:18] >> I'll make that motion.

Manistee City Council Meeting 2026-09-01

Transcript