[0:07] [music]

[0:11] [music]

[0:17] [music]

[0:22] [music]

[0:36] [music]

[0:47] » I would like to call this meeting to order. This is the meeting of the Port

[0:50] of Village Council. It is Monday, July 27th, and it is 7:00 p.m. The meeting is

[0:56] called to order. If we could all stand, pledge allegiance.

[1:03] I pledge allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of

[1:07] America, and to the republic

[1:09] for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:15] justice for all.

[1:17] » Thank you very much. I could have the roll call of the

[1:23] sitting council members, please.

[1:26] » Fritz >> Here.

[1:28] » Green >> Here.

[1:30] » Hayden >> Is absent with notice.

[1:33] » Bocker >> Here.

[1:35] » Bunton >> Here.

[1:36] » Holt >> Here.

[1:38] » Rosenberry >> Here.

[1:41] » Uh that takes care of the roll call. Next is the approval of agenda. Before

[1:44] we move forward with that, I would be remiss when I came in today, uh both

[1:49] manager and clerk had given us each a copy of the uh

[1:53] uh the letter from the uh auditing firm that we use to do our

[1:57] audits and uh, he asked if this be added to the agenda. Uh, I told him that yes,

[2:04] we can certainly add it to the agenda but as a discussion item and that he

[2:08] went on to say how imperative it was that we uh, approve this amount of money

[2:12] or we have to come back for a special meeting just to do so. So, we can bend

[2:16] one rule and accomplish two things at once if we add this to the agenda. We

[2:21] could then make it item E for to approve the money for the audit. If not, we can

[2:26] wait another month and by then I think that ship will have sailed.

[2:31] So, I wanted to just point that out so that everybody's aware. If we do approve

[2:35] the agenda that it will be a item which we voted on on item E

[2:40] as the audit or funds to uh, approve an amount up to to to cover our

[2:46] audit for this year.

[2:50] With that being discussed is uh,

[2:56] Well, before I ask I'd like to say does anybody have an objection to this

[2:59] addition? The addition itself, not the entire

[3:03] agenda but just adding this now instead of a special meeting in a couple of

[3:07] days. I don't. We're we're here but I wanted

[3:11] to point out that typically we would not be able to vote on something that is

[3:15] added right away. That's just uh, as a policy and rule rules of order because

[3:20] it's not fair that anybody didn't get a chance to review it ahead of time. So,

[3:24] we I think it's uh, prudent of us to make that exception

[3:28] uh, this time and I do want that to be noted in the uh, minutes as well. So,

[3:33] with that in mind is there a motion to approve the agenda?

[3:38] Motion to approve the agenda with the addition of under new business E audit.

[3:44] » Support. >> Okay, moved and supported for a final

[3:49] agenda for us to work from tonight. Uh, all those in favor say I.

[3:52] » I. All those opposed, this agenda is now official.

[3:57] Approval of council minutes. Uh

[4:01] You knew that copies of the village council meeting of 6/22 is here for our

[4:05] approval. But moments ago, our village manager Pete mentioned to me there were

[4:10] a change or two maybe that you would like to point out to us before we vote

[4:14] on it. >> Yes.

[4:16] If nobody has anything else, item B, which is on the last page of

[4:21] number 11, deputy treasurer onboarding. It says has on the second line, it says

[4:27] has become proficient. Actually is is is becoming proficient. I just want to make

[4:32] that clear cuz she does need more training and I want to send her through

[4:35] more training. I just want to make sure we have in here the right verbage for

[4:40] the for the minutes. That she is becoming proficient. She is not

[4:43] proficient yet. >> Uh that change in the minutes makes

[4:48] perfect sense to me. Um So, we can approve those minutes with

[4:53] the changes just mentioned by the village manager.

[4:56] Should be treated as a

[5:00] » I'll make a motion to approve the village council

[5:05] meeting minutes from June 22nd, 2026 with the correction as noted. Uh

[5:12] » Wait, moved and supported to accept the minutes. Those in favor say

[5:16] I. Those opposed.

[5:20] And that motion does pass unanimously. Next is a

[5:25] an acceptance item, which is first up committee meeting.

[5:31] Boy, you guys seem like you covered a lot of territory today.

[5:33] » [laughter] >> It seemed like

[5:35] there too the would have been hard to give it a word and what all the all the

[5:39] business you guys talked about. So, although I did like to read all about it

[5:43] because it does keep the rest of us informed as

[5:46] to what's going on. So, those minutes meeting

[5:49] are going to be accepted as forcing record keeping within the Village of

[5:54] Ortonville and they will be at file in the Village office if anyone else want

[5:58] to check out those minutes. And

[6:01] that's an accepted fighting that we will accept.

[6:04] Next is disbursements and June disbursements in the amount of

[6:08] $70,766.49.

[6:13] I jumped out a little when I first saw that amount for the expenditures, but

[6:18] that was there were a couple of things on there

[6:22] that made that jump way way sky high as to what we're usually used to seeing and

[6:28] uh if you want to just highlight those

[6:30] items for us that or just briefly tell us why that's a higher number.

[6:34] » Certainly. Um the $12,000 of that is actually grant money that we got from

[6:39] the county that belonged to DDA that just comes to us and we just we hold it

[6:43] and then we pay it up to them through our account. This is comes out of our

[6:45] bank. So, $12,000 of that and then another $2,500 was also to the DDA.

[6:50] So, that's those those two items right there I think are one of the biggest

[6:53] ones. We had um uh a couple of our veterans that we

[6:58] gave back their their tax money to get them

[7:01] » Yeah, it's on the June Yeah. >> Oh, okay. So, even though that's a large

[7:06] amount, it's understandable why that number is as

[7:10] high as it is, but besides that I looked at the other items and they seemed like

[7:14] normal expenditures and that that our amount would be more in line with what

[7:19] we're used to seeing uh if not for those items.

[7:24] Does anyone have any questions about the disbursements? Uh

[7:27] well, let's make a motion and then we can discuss it if you

[7:34] » So, that's what he needs to do. >> I make a motion to approve the June

[7:38] disbursements in the amount of $70,766.49.

[7:44] » Support. >> All right.

[7:46] » Move to supported and now if anyone has any questions on any of the line items

[7:49] that appear with Ed Mack, uh as balance will be tied to check with

[7:53] the manager or anybody on the village staff who may be aware of this an

[7:57] expenditure but they did again seem all in in accordance with what we're used to

[8:01] seeing.

[8:05] » Yes, sir. >> I just wanted to let the board know

[8:08] these are going to be elevated for the next few months because as we have tax

[8:12] money's coming in, we're still paying off last year's debt. So, we're going to

[8:17] have extra expenses for the next two or three months.

[8:20] It's just going to be elevated from normal.

[8:22] » And in your opinion, to be expected? >> I expect to be have all that debt paid

[8:29] off by the end of September. >> Okay, great. That's actually It'd be

[8:33] nice. That's actually positive news. Uh does anybody have another question of

[8:38] Pete about the disbursements? >> Uh moved and supported. I'd like to have

[8:43] a roll call vote on the disbursements place.

[8:46] » Trustee Bolt? >> Yes.

[8:48] » Watson? >> Yes.

[8:50] » Lockwood? >> Yes.

[8:52] » Greaves? >> Yes.

[8:54] » Brooks? >> Yes.

[8:55] » Quisberry? >> Yes.

[8:59] » Okay, that takes care of the disbursements. Now it's time for public

[9:03] comments uh on the items that are on our agenda. Is there

[9:07] anyone who came to the meeting tonight that would like to speak to the village

[9:10] council?

[9:14] Okay, uh seeing no persons wishing to comment at this time, we'll move to

[9:19] items from trustees. I'll start with that uh

[9:22] on this side with uh Trustee Kay Green. >> Uh we met with the um DPW

[9:28] » All right. >> Pete and

[9:30] Bob last week and uh they had a couple issues Bob needed to

[9:34] talk about. Um Bob, we're not ready to put this out there at this point, but uh

[9:39] they're doing the cold patching and just uh taking care of business even though,

[9:43] we know we're not doing any big projects right now.

[9:46] That's all. Thank you. >> Okay, thanks. Uh meeting with the DPW uh

[9:50] at two. Uh trustee Linda Brooks. >> Um

[9:54] I want to mention that I attended the Historical Society meeting this month.

[9:58] Um it was good to be able to offer this building so we could have an

[10:01] air-conditioned um meeting space cuz it was very hot that night. Um if anyone is

[10:06] interested, um they are in search of trustees for their board and I it's

[10:10] highly um encourage anyone to get involved with the Historical Society.

[10:14] They do great work and uh you can uh go to their meetings and

[10:19] learn more before you make a commitment to uh serve there. Uh also that they

[10:24] were present at the Oakland County 250th celebration this past weekend and I

[10:28] think that was really nice to have a presence there for our Historical

[10:32] Society. Um

[10:36] I also had signed up for a standers gathering webinar about

[10:41] backyard chickens just because we had a big chicken issue and I thought

[10:45] that sounded interesting, so I will be listening to that next Thursday from

[10:49] 12:00 >> Yeah, I'll be doing that with you.

[10:51] I'll be doing that >> Well

[10:53] » [laughter] >> Don't be a Don't be a chicken for that

[10:55] one. >> Um

[10:59] Also, I did want to bring up we did uh have some

[11:02] in our minutes about the Sherman Park um agreement that we had sent to the

[11:06] attorney. It has been um redlined uh in a number areas. So, um I have spoken to

[11:14] uh the village manager and we've talked about possibly um moving forward with uh

[11:19] more detailed look at what how we want to move forward with the Sherman Park

[11:22] with the committee. Um I don't know how long we would form

[11:25] that, but that was a suggestion that we had in the conversation this past month.

[11:30] And my last thing is Crossman Park. Um I've been working um with Stephanie

[11:35] Alauskis. She's a part of the DDA. She secured funding for the park from Oxford

[11:42] Bank and we have found some playground equipment that is within budget almost

[11:48] and she is working on making sure that through the DDA we will be able to add

[11:54] two standing spinners into Crossman Park. Uh

[11:59] We are >> [snorts]

[12:00] » all that we are all that's being requested from the

[12:03] village is that our DPW receive and install the equipment and it's just two

[12:08] little standing spinners. So I'm excited about that. Another

[12:11] little addition to our park. >> Okay, thank you very much Trustee

[12:17] Rochelle Butzu. Anything to report?

[12:20] » Well, I'm still not on any committee but I would like to mention our board.

[12:23] » Okay, sure. >> And then

[12:28] » [laughter] >> I have nothing idle as everybody knows

[12:32] we have six seats opening up on this council next election. I've been working

[12:36] diligently to make sure there's a candidate in each spot. So mission

[12:40] accomplished. There you go. These aren't easy seats to fill so I was

[12:44] canvassing our community. >> Better full ballot it's certainly better

[12:47] than uh >> As you said.

[12:49] » It shows interest and it shows uh you know motivation on some people's part

[12:53] and so that's appreciated by us. Okay.

[12:56] Trustee Ashley Mool. >> Okay.

[12:59] Uh Personnel you guys kind of read the

[13:01] minutes on that one. Um

[13:03] We kind of dove into a couple different things as far as new personnel files for

[13:08] everyone that are missing. Um making sure that all the old

[13:12] documents are updated hopefully in the next little bit so that we actually have

[13:16] current information on things. And then a combo with the IT is to

[13:22] figure out how to get maybe a SharePoint to where we can have all the policies on

[13:26] there so that personnel and council members can see everything without

[13:31] losing it and not having it

[13:35] accessible. Um and then I worked with Pete on the

[13:39] marijuana flyer that came out that everyone probably got

[13:43] um to try and figure out that and to write the article for the citizen and

[13:49] the website. So everything's on the website. If you guys have any questions,

[13:52] just go there on it. Um and then also for me for vendors,

[13:58] it's actually been awesome the last couple of weeks. It's actually been

[14:01] really busy and there's been some good vendors and I spent a lot of money.

[14:05] » Yeah. Yes. >> Thank you.

[14:07] » Okay, I'm the trustee Alex Walker.

[14:10] » Uh yeah, so with personnel committee earlier this month,

[14:13] you guys have kind of talked about it a bunch.

[14:16] Other things I've been working on, the I got a call from Bob. He repatched that

[14:21] spot Francis Lane and was it Ball Street right there and he called me and said

[14:25] that it was done and dusted and looks good and I know I kind of had mentioned

[14:29] it over the past few months a couple times, so I'm glad to see that done.

[14:33] Uh other than that, kind of working on this home run derby thing that's kind of

[14:36] put a lot of glue up on this. >> Yes.

[14:38] Okay, thank you very much. That takes us to number 10 unfinished business.

[14:43] That's a good sign that we're busy because there is no unfinished business.

[14:46] Uh everybody must be up to speed on their jobs.

[14:49] Next is new business and there are some items on the list.

[14:53] First is the one that Alex just made mention of which is the home run derby.

[14:57] That's an event that I think you are co-sponsoring this I believe.

[15:01] » Yes. >> Okay. Yeah, you are co-sponsoring that.

[15:04] I never saw such a detailed special event package before.

[15:08] » It had lots of help. >> Oh my gosh and the maps and diagrams and

[15:14] just the the depth in which that was completed gives the board

[15:19] you know more information to go on. So thanks for at

[15:23] putting the effort into making a packet that contains the information that we

[15:28] needed. Um

[15:31] If anybody didn't get a chance to read it, it's lengthy and it's very

[15:35] inclusive of the things that we usually look for. Most importantly is approval

[15:39] from the police department and approval from the fire department. And those look

[15:43] like they've been taken care of. So, when it comes to checking off the boxes,

[15:47] looks to me like they've been checked off. Um

[15:51] if you want to discuss further, we can make a motion and then

[15:54] if anybody has any questions, I think you'd be the one to be getting asked.

[15:58] » I make a motion to approve the special event home run derby as presented.

[16:02] » Support.

[16:05] » Okay, motion supported and we will take the vote on this in a

[16:10] moment, but I just want to point out to the minutes

[16:13] Alex did bring in a couple of additional pages on top of the many we already

[16:18] received with more details about the event, but

[16:22] you you know, it's good informational stuff, but obviously

[16:26] tied to the approval of this special event permit, but it's still

[16:30] good stuff to know. >> Yeah, it's a lot of the stuff is I'm

[16:32] getting from a lot of the contestants that want to join. They want to know the

[16:35] distances and all those things. >> Sure.

[16:37] » If they want to know, I think we should know, too.

[16:39] » Yeah. If you you want to practice some more

[16:41] first >> [laughter]

[16:43] » and see how they see how they do. Okay, motion supported. Are there any

[16:48] other questions about the home run derby?

[16:51] Um hearing none, all those in favor of the permit, special permit for home run

[16:55] derby, say aye. >> Aye.

[16:57] » All those opposed? Home run derby just hit a home run.

[17:05] » [applause and cheering] >> Okay, next on ours is a interlocal

[17:10] agreement with the building department and I believe this is also in large

[17:15] Framingham Township. And I think I'd like you to maybe outline it a

[17:20] little bit better for us. >> Certainly. Um

[17:23] as we have talked about in the past, uh the

[17:26] the village or the township has agreed to um

[17:29] take over our building inspections for the village. Um this is a great relief

[17:34] for us. They have They have the uh the infrastructure already built in to to

[17:38] take care of our handle all this for us. Um

[17:42] uh they're going to do any a very good job. They're They've already

[17:46] started doing it. All we have to do with this is um

[17:49] vote on it to let them take it over, and that way they can contact the state of

[17:53] Michigan, and they have to let the state know that they're going to be doing our

[17:56] our um our inspections. All of our

[18:00] uh zoning ordinances and ordinances are all going to stay the same. Nothing's

[18:04] going to change. It's all They're going to do all of their inspections under our

[18:07] under our under our ordinances. So, we are we're good to go then. So, we're

[18:12] excited about this. I know um Mr. MacArthur was through the planning

[18:15] commission. He's We've been working on I was on the planning commission with

[18:19] uh Mr. MacArthur working on this, and we're excited to get this moving

[18:22] forward.

[18:25] » Okay, great. Um

[18:28] is this uh in a position to be voted on and approved at this coming meeting?

[18:33] » Yes. >> Okay. And uh I take it Did we have a

[18:36] motion yet on this in >> Not on the

[18:39] interlocal agreement. I don't believe we did.

[18:42] » Had the motion yet? >> Okay.

[18:43] » No, we haven't. >> Okay, yeah. I'm just going to say ask

[18:46] for a motion on this.

[18:51] » I'll make a motion to uh do the intergov- governmental agreement

[18:55] with the building inspector with the cabin.

[19:00] » Support. >> Okay, moved and supported. Uh Pete

[19:03] already uh went through and explained it to us and answered most of the questions

[19:06] I had. Uh of course, this has been ongoing so most of us are

[19:11] aware of it for many many months and if this is able to

[19:16] put to rest some of those concerns that it's

[19:19] is a good thing and also as the manager mentioned if if we

[19:24] aren't officially giving up any overall authority that we can't reclaim that

[19:28] some other later date that's another thing so

[19:32] sounds to me like there is a uh parachute here somewhere should we need

[19:37] one. >> Yes.

[19:38] » Okay, that being said and this being an

[19:41] an agreement between us and another governmental body I'd like to have a

[19:45] roll call vote.

[19:48] » Brooks? >> Yes.

[19:50] » Green? >> Yes.

[19:53] » Bonfiglio? >> Yes.

[19:56] » Buttsu? >> Yes.

[19:58] » Boldt? >> Yes.

[19:59] » Wisbar? >> Yes.

[20:01] » Okay, we can move forward with our building department agreement and that's

[20:06] that. Item C is 141 Mill Street variance the same almost all of it we've done

[20:11] that because we just did this at a zoning board meeting but we do need to

[20:15] put it on our official meeting minutes for this so rather than rehash what we

[20:21] just went over half an hour ago this is something I believe we can just make a

[20:26] motion to approve vote on it and continue on.

[20:32] » I make a motion to approve the 141 Mill Street variance

[20:37] as presented in the zoning board meeting.

[20:40] » I'll support. >> Okay, moved and supported again there's

[20:43] if there's any further discussion we can do that but we did

[20:47] all go have a chance to go over it in the zoning board meeting so I believe

[20:51] we've covered that angle pretty well. Um because it is a a variance I'd like a

[20:56] roll call on this one as well.

[21:00] » Boldt? >> Yes.

[21:02] » Buttsu? >> Yes.

[21:03] » Bonfiglio? >> Yes.

[21:05] » Green? >> Yes.

[21:07] » Brooks? >> Yes.

[21:08] » Whitsberry. >> Yes.

[21:10] Okay, the balance street variance is now a part of the official minutes of this

[21:14] meeting and will be recorded as such. Uh next is uh the marijuana ordinance.

[21:22] Um another topic that we probably covered

[21:25] more than just about anything in the past 5 years or 6 years. Well, I'm not

[21:30] sure how long, but it popped up on our agenda again.

[21:35] Uh last month or so we had a discussion with the planning commission about this

[21:39] and it seemed that there was some question as to whether

[21:43] uh the drive-thru window was going to be for pickup only or for new orders and it

[21:49] was uh it was determined that if it were a drive-in window, it could just be for

[21:55] picking up orders that were previously made and not where someone can pull into

[22:00] it nine kids in their car and just make an order and pick it up at the window.

[22:04] So, it sounds uh not important, but it was us. So, that

[22:09] was the change we made. Uh the idea of a drive-thru window is has

[22:14] been tested many, many times in different jurisdictions and uh it is

[22:19] always always been upheld. So, I think it's better that we at least uh

[22:24] put a restriction or two on what we're going to have so that we could have a

[22:28] little better control over it. The planning commission went over this and

[22:32] they're the ones who approve it and uh I do as well. And uh

[22:37] And again, just for anybody who's here, it doesn't have anything to do with the

[22:41] marijuana business itself or whether they are licensed or whether they have

[22:45] the right permits. That's kind of items that have already been addressed and at

[22:51] this point certainly can't put the toothpaste back in the tube

[22:55] or the genie back in the bottle, but we can make the with the we can approve the

[23:00] requests that the Planning Commission has made to us.

[23:05] » I make a motion I make a motion to approve the amendments to the marijuana

[23:11] ordinance including intersection distance and the drive-thru window

[23:15] provisions. >> Support.

[23:19] » Okay, with the support cuz this is a a change or an addition to our current

[23:25] ordinances, I would just like to ask that we do a roll call vote on this as

[23:28] well.

[23:31] » Brilliant? >> No.

[23:34] » Brooks? >> Yes.

[23:37] » Walker? >> Yes.

[23:39] » Watson? >> Yes.

[23:40] » Poole? >> Yes.

[23:42] » Rosenberry? >> Yes.

[23:44] » Uh the motion casts uh four to two.

[23:48] Uh that takes us past the ordinance issue and

[23:52] brings us back to our added items or no, yeah, added items of P which is our

[23:57] audit. As I mentioned in our opening uh statement, we Pete just received this

[24:02] either today or yesterday and it's going to require some action on our part

[24:07] immediately. Therefore, we I will ask the council to

[24:11] uh if they haven't had a chance to review it, uh I can have Pete summarize

[24:15] it for you. Re- really what we're doing here is uh

[24:18] approving village manager to spend up to $19,000 for this year's audit. This uh

[24:25] if anybody remembers, our last year one was uh

[24:28] about $4,000 more and this is a maximum amount too, so we're still hoping that

[24:34] through negotiation it can come in a little bit lower, but uh I for one don't

[24:38] want to delay this process because that's part of the reason

[24:43] we got under the under the

[24:47] underwater uh last year because we didn't even get our

[24:51] audit completed until December and it wasn't even given us until February. So,

[24:56] uh that's something that we need to be cautious of and do anything within our

[25:01] power to avoid that type of a scenario again.

[25:07] » Can I make a comment? >> Yes, you may. Certainly.

[25:09] » Um just so you know, guys, just I just received this this afternoon. And um

[25:14] the uh we're going to start our audit is it officially going to be

[25:19] going until November 2nd. But we have a ton of work to do for

[25:23] them. And this is what this is going to allow us to do is get all the paperwork

[25:27] and everything sent over to the to the auditing company so they can be prepared

[25:31] everything. And then when they come in at November 2nd, it should be a bing

[25:34] bang boom. Should be able to go really quickly. Um

[25:38] that that that didn't happen last year is my understanding is that they had to

[25:41] come in last year, the reason why it was so high, and they actually had to do

[25:44] reconciliation and journalizing for for us. And that that's that's not what they

[25:48] were paid to do. We have people to do that.

[25:51] So, we're going to just pay them to do the audit. So, hope this is going to

[25:54] allow us to get started, get all the paperwork to them so that they can come

[25:57] in and do the audit uh immediately. We have everything signed on November 2nd.

[26:02] » Okay. And you're aware if it does happen to exceed that amount that uh that would

[26:07] require additional board approval. >> Yes.

[26:09] » Okay. >> Make a motion to um approve the village

[26:15] manager to go ahead and um >> And so that

[26:19] » approve this audit not to exceed 19,000. >> Support.

[26:25] » Okay. Uh moved and supported. Does anybody have further comments on it? I

[26:29] ain't talking. >> I have a couple of questions.

[26:31] » Yeah, sure. >> Just just because it's so new to me, is

[26:33] that like is that a normal amount or I mean, is

[26:36] that This is less than what you guys had the previous years.

[26:40] » It's less than we did last year. The previous years, I would say it's still a

[26:44] little bit higher. I believe a couple years it's been 14. Like I Like again,

[26:48] I'm hoping that it does come in lower anyways. And a lot of that's going to do

[26:53] with as he mentioned and Scott will verify is as much prep as we can do that

[26:58] we never did before or we haven't done in the past and we haven't done it

[27:02] correctly. The auditing firm had to basically reinvent the wheel when it

[27:06] came to our books. They had to reconcile the bank accounts that should have been

[27:10] done. They should They had to do things with checking account and bank accounts

[27:15] that was not properly done last year and that's what caused that amount to go up.

[27:22] I think our auditing costs are going to just be based on how well we're prepared

[27:26] for. Is that accurate?

[27:28] » Yeah, that 19 is the top. That's the That's the top that that it'll cost us

[27:32] and they're they're also saying hoping it's going to be less also.

[27:36] » The reason I was asking is because when I think the auditor's name was Ken.

[27:41] » Yeah. >> He said $9,000 and we thought that was

[27:44] so steep back or I shouldn't say we but you guys thought it was so steep back

[27:47] then and you're vacillating whether it should be done or not.

[27:51] » That was >> an interim type audit.

[27:54] » I think that was the That That was when we were talking about having a pre-audit

[27:58] to find out from what >> Actually, what the the reason they they

[28:01] were cheaper, I believe and I wasn't here for that, but it's because there

[28:05] was already another auditing firm that had done in theory the first 6 months

[28:10] and so Ken was only having come in review their work quickly, but then

[28:15] really only had the audit the second half of the year.

[28:17] » Okay. >> So, I think that's why he came in less

[28:19] because he had already paid another auditing firm some money already.

[28:24] Uh some get some things I didn't really

[28:26] understand of what what I backed down so >> So, Scott, according to you, this all

[28:30] looks as a very reasonable >> In fact, it could be a little higher cuz

[28:34] I don't know and we'll have to talk to them. I don't know if that includes

[28:37] preparing our financial What I mean by preparing our financials is that after

[28:42] the audit is done, for instance, Ken does it for the township as well is that

[28:46] there's a report that have to just be sent to the state of Michigan. I don't

[28:50] think that I don't think things are sent probably but to the state of Michigan

[28:53] and he prepares all that but he doesn't do it for free.

[28:56] Um but it's really something that he's better equipped to prepare those

[29:00] documents than we would be here. But even the township

[29:03] has elected to have him do this for >> Okay.

[29:07] And if as much as it stands as a statutory requirement that any

[29:11] municipality that uses or collects taxpayer money is

[29:15] required to submit audits such as this. So

[29:18] we don't even get we don't even get a choice. We can just shop around and find

[29:23] somebody cheaper but I don't recommend that we do this and I would say that

[29:27] Cannan and Skiles are are well equipped to perform what we

[29:32] need very professionally.

[29:34] » Okay.

[29:38] » Okay. Again and uh

[29:42] This is not something normally done but it's added to the agenda and we

[29:46] discussed it and I do believe it's our best interest to vote on it at this

[29:50] time. Uh do you want a roll call?

[29:54] » Brinks? Yes. Doctor?

[29:58] » Yes. >> Bunton?

[30:00] » Yes. >> Zane?

[30:02] » Yes. >> Schultz?

[30:04] » Yes. >> President Gary?

[30:06] » Yes. Okay. You can move forward with this and

[30:09] let them know that the board has approved it. Give them any soon signed

[30:12] documentation and indicating that. >> Yeah, it probably needs to be amended so

[30:16] we'll get those. >> Okay. As soon as it's ready to be uh

[30:19] move up the chain. >> Yes.

[30:20] » I'll make sure there aren't any delays on our end.

[30:23] » Thank you. >> Well, thanks very much for that

[30:25] information and I'm glad we got to put that behind us for now. Uh takes us

[30:30] to item 12 which is village manager. Uh there's just a couple items on here

[30:35] but I wanted to bring something to our point in in the village manager report

[30:39] in general. Sometimes there's four or five items on there and I would just

[30:44] like us to you know when he addresses a particular item that he get to do it

[30:49] from start to finish and then we can fire questions away all day long.

[30:52] Sometimes we end up getting off into the weeds on something and it's something he

[30:56] was going to cover anyway. So we'll give him an opportunity to make a

[31:00] statement we can take all the notes and ask all the questions we want once he

[31:04] tells us that

[31:07] that report is completed with what he can share with us at this time.

[31:11] And that's just a courtesy that I keep him, you know, on task and not get you

[31:15] know, confused several different items at once.

[31:19] » Sounds fair? >> Sounds very fair, sir. Thank you.

[31:22] Um with that being said, just I do have a I do have a few more items that are

[31:27] that I want to talk about that aren't on there on my on my thing. It's a very

[31:30] they're very short. One is American Bloom. We did this I did this with the

[31:34] DDA two weeks ago. American Bloom came out.

[31:38] We walked our whole village two different days. I was only there for

[31:42] the Thursday, but they just gave us some great ideas on how we could pretty much

[31:46] beautify our our our our our village. Um

[31:49] Uh and that at very low cost. So, nothing that we're going to be doing

[31:52] right away, but it's things we're going to be getting a a large report from them

[31:55] here in the in in the very near future and it's

[31:59] going to indicate all the things that you know, what we were able we're going

[32:01] to be able to do or can do. Whether or not we can afford them or not right away

[32:04] is one thing, but it's just a nice it was a it was a great

[32:08] um a great little event that the DDA put on

[32:11] and Melinda was there also with us. Melinda and me and Melinda both did it

[32:14] together. It was a um I thought it was a great event.

[32:17] Learned a lot about the village, learned a lot about our trees and our plants.

[32:20] So, very interesting. If anybody want to know any more about it, come see me and

[32:24] I'd love to talk more about it. Um we already talked about the audit.

[32:28] Thank you for that. We'll get that started right away. DPW sign over on

[32:32] Nearing Street. Or I'm sorry, it's on Cedar Street. It's um I got a

[32:38] an email from a citizen indicating that she would really like to paint that sign

[32:42] for us and take care of it for us. So, I I asked Bob and Bob said that would be

[32:47] awesome to have someone paint it. We're going to buy the paint. Bob's going to

[32:51] prep it and then she's going to paint it the the DPW sign the Ted Veit DPW sign

[32:55] there. It looks nice. Her name is Jamie. She lives in the village. Um I'm not

[33:00] going to give her last name or address at this time, but she said that she's

[33:02] going to take care of this for us. So, we're pretty excited about that.

[33:04] » Will it be using the colors that have been used?

[33:07] » Yes. Yes, we're going to That That was one of the things that Bob said he had a

[33:10] hard time trying to find a paint for it, but we're going to do as best he can to

[33:12] match them with the back. Um EV charging station, I know a couple

[33:17] different trustees have asked me about the EV charging station. I've been

[33:20] looking into this. I contacted Charge EV.

[33:24] Um they are the ones that installed this for us. I got the contract. Um

[33:30] Man, it's a it it's um I'm going through everything. I'm talking to them. Me and

[33:34] Tom are starting in the process of taking all of our DTE bills and figuring

[33:38] out exactly how much we've paid out for this and exactly how much it's been used

[33:42] and whether or not it's feasible if need be if it's a

[33:47] if it's a it's the right thing for our community. Maybe maybe having them

[33:50] removed or maybe not. Just a We just want to make sure that we have them

[33:54] there and they're doing the right thing for our community.

[33:56] If we're paying for them, we want to make sure they're getting used.

[34:00] Anybody Yeah, so are there any questions on that? I know that our Sally, you

[34:03] » Colin. >> I know I have seen sometimes it get

[34:06] used. I do know that it's the older charging unit, so it is slow charge. So,

[34:11] people will probably drive past it to go to the next one. Uh

[34:15] » People. >> Yeah, so I think it's either get rid of

[34:17] » outdated. >> Yeah, it's either get rid of it or look

[34:20] for the that are quality one if they are willing to give us one, right?

[34:23] » That is an option of upgrading it. Either upgrading it or yeah, getting it

[34:27] out. >> Got it.

[34:28] » I had some comments to my uh daughter's family has gone um completely

[34:33] EV and they drove up here from Ohio and he had got his little map out and

[34:39] there are hardly any of the fast charging pumps

[34:44] anywhere near us and I said wow that how does this makes us very difficult

[34:48] doesn't it he said it's only difficult when you travel most people who have

[34:52] electric cars charge at home.

[34:54] » Yeah. >> Um so this is only something that is

[34:57] used by people who are traveling here. Um and yes it would be much faster if we

[35:03] had a new pump in there but again >> Yeah.

[35:05] » Yeah there are very few quick pumps in this area.

[35:09] » Um >> but there are other smaller ones and

[35:13] again only used for travel. >> Um

[35:16] and correct me if I'm misunderstanding but I thought that that was going in and

[35:20] wasn't it going to cost us anything? As long as it got used with enough hours

[35:25] on it or however they gauge the use on it that it doesn't cost the village

[35:29] anything but I don't understand why we need to be paying for somebody else's.

[35:33] » Yes. There's like a formula there's a certain percentage that we do have to

[35:36] pay you know with the with those charging stations um and that's

[35:40] something that we're looking out and into to see exactly how much we're

[35:43] putting out just to compare to how much we're actually getting from them. We're

[35:47] really not getting a lot of money from the station I got to tell you it's very

[35:50] minimal I don't have the exact amount I could have the exact

[35:52] » And I was here at the meeting not even on the council it's happened to me here

[35:55] the guy's name Steve the rep from the EV and if you listen to his presentation it

[36:01] was going to be a huge money maker for the

[36:03] » That's right. >> We were going to have to pay a couple

[36:04] bucks here and installation fees but they're going to be they're going to be

[36:08] lined up to Oakwood Road just to >> [laughter]

[36:11] » and we all know that that did come to

[36:14] fruition but they did uh certainly pull down a pretty good pitch that it

[36:19] was a money maker and we know it not to be.

[36:22] » But when >> So with that being said there will be

[36:24] more to come on the EV station and as we get deeper and deeper into it. I'll keep

[36:29] it before price of everything. Step um

[36:35] I had a meeting with our attorney uh last week. We met for the first time. We

[36:39] had lunch. Um we got We discussed quite a few things. Uh obviously it's

[36:43] client-attorney stuff, so I can't discuss it here. But um

[36:47] very, very good meeting with our attorney. Very very very happy with what

[36:50] we have. Um

[36:53] We talked about Sherwood Park. Uh Linda I I talked about that really quickly,

[36:57] and I would like to have maybe the three of us meet here in the very near future,

[37:02] maybe this week sometime, and we can discuss what we need to do to move

[37:06] forward with that. Um

[37:09] Septemberfest um I've been requested by the township. Um they are they would

[37:14] like to use our DPW for the Septemberfest. I know we've done it in

[37:17] the past. Um I think that would be um

[37:22] uh great to have as our in-kind services. This is taking place in our

[37:25] village. I feel I know I talked to Bob about it already.

[37:29] Uh they they like to work this event. Um so I would like to be able to give them

[37:34] the the opportunity to use our DPW for Septemberfest. I'm pretty sure we use

[37:37] them every time in the past. Uh maybe

[37:41] Just I'm sorry.

[37:43] » I don't think last year they did. >> No, last year we may not have last year.

[37:46] That that that is the question if we used them last year.

[37:49] » And do they pay for the DPW then? >> Well, no. I it would be our in-kind. You

[37:53] know, we would that would be our services to go towards I know I know

[37:56] we're not it's not our gig. It's not our it's not our Septemberfest, but it is in

[37:59] our village. And our residents do >> Sorry, sir.

[38:02] » I would only ask that just find out what it would cost us for the overtime for

[38:06] the cuz this is Saturday, right? Sunday? Yeah. So

[38:08] » but I would like also to object that this

[38:11] although I think you're just briefing this on this.

[38:13] » Yeah. >> This should shouldn't will be part of

[38:16] our next agenda. >> Sure.

[38:17] » Cuz this will be voted. >> Yes, yes.

[38:19] » And this is uh involves our DPW. It involves labor. It involves fees. That's

[38:24] it. forth. And if it's an in-kind service, I'm going to want to know in

[38:28] detail what the reverse in-kind service is going to be. So,

[38:32] automatically put this on next month's agenda.

[38:35] » Yes, it will. >> Okay.

[38:36] » Yeah. Um And they they also would like to use the

[38:41] the old town hall here for their puzzle race. They're having a

[38:45] puzzle race, and just in case it rains, they'd like to have an indoor area. So,

[38:49] they'd like to use this between 4:30 and 5:30 on that day.

[38:52] » Who's that? >> The

[38:54] township. >> Okay.

[38:56] » The township would like to use it for their puzzle race. I'll also have that

[38:58] on the agenda. What do you vote, I recommend

[39:00] » this a township-sponsored event? >> Yes.

[39:02] » Then solve it out. Okay. I mean, I

[39:05] Of course, we would, but um

[39:08] the notification process probably could have been better.

[39:12] » Yeah, they just got They just asked me today.

[39:14] » Well, that's That again is uh

[39:19] Okay. >> Yeah.

[39:20] » Not Not happy with the way that that went down.

[39:24] » I'll have make sure it's on the next next month's agenda so that we have a

[39:27] proper vote on it. >> The approval for the township to use

[39:29] this >> And and the and the services of Saugus.

[39:32] » Yeah, absolutely. >> Yeah, absolutely.

[39:34] » We'll have them both on there for you. >> Yeah, yeah, the good thing is is though

[39:36] renting this place is anyone can rent this place for whatever charging.

[39:40] » We rent >> Uh

[39:41] I think it's $130, $120. >> So, that's an in-kind service, too, as

[39:46] well, if you wanted to do that. >> It involves

[39:50] » Yeah. >> on our behalf to them.

[39:52] » Yep. Yeah.

[39:55] Um also, just to to to pass on to with this DPW, uh we did have our meeting and

[40:02] um the DPW supervisor did come in today just to tell me about the the the storm

[40:06] drains that they're working at in the area. He's He's just letting me know

[40:10] that they're they are in pretty bad shape. And the the the repairs that

[40:14] they're doing All they're All it is right now is a

[40:17] couple bags of I shouldn't say a couple bags of quite a few bags of cement at

[40:20] $22.50 per bag and then brick at $0.50 per brick. He's doing the best that he

[40:25] can to fix these, but he's telling me it's really going to

[40:28] be a 2 to 4-year fix and they're going to be pricey

[40:32] to have to fix all these storm drains here in the future. He's He'll be just

[40:35] giving me the heads-up that I just wanted to give the board that's

[40:37] something we may be looking at here in the future in the next 4 4 years is

[40:41] having replacement storm drains. I think he said about 12 grand a piece. But I'm

[40:45] not I don't

[40:47] » How many are there? >> Yes.

[40:48] » How many? >> Well, we have quite a few of them.

[40:51] He's working on the one right now that's right across the street from the the

[40:54] village people. Um Um that one that's probably that's a

[40:57] really bad one. It was a really bad the one that's right there by um

[41:01] uh Davis and >> [snorts]

[41:02] » um Mill or I mean South Street, I'm sorry. That

[41:06] that one is um that one's really bad.

[41:10] Uh one's over on Ball Street. Um Yeah, there's

[41:15] We've got quite a few of them. I don't know if that's

[41:17] » green for each of them? >> Yes.

[41:18] » down the road. >> Yeah.

[41:22] And that being said, that's the that's the last of my uh Not

[41:28] not really cuz you got two on agenda. Oh, I'm sorry. SEMCOG and

[41:33] You jumped us right. You jumped uh Yeah. I was I was going off my written list

[41:37] here. Yeah, SEMCOG uh couple weeks ago myself and uh Trustee

[41:41] Hayden went to the SEMCOG meeting. Um I got a chance to meet all all the

[41:45] people there. Um I I've got a lot of contacts.

[41:48] Um we have looking at tap grants, which is for our roads and sidewalks. Um that

[41:54] is something that we are going to dive into heavily here in the future trying

[41:58] to uh find these grants to get our that we can

[42:01] use for our sidewalks and the streets. Um

[42:05] Anybody got any questions on SEMCOG? Um asset management championship

[42:10] program, that is they're sending tablets to the school. It's a free school.

[42:14] Um it's good to uh

[42:17] really what it is it's it's it's it's how to prepare

[42:20] CIP, how to um uh

[42:24] future forecast your spending. Um there's it's really very um

[42:30] uh detailed. It's a very detailed training that he's going to be going

[42:33] through. It's going to be here at the office. It's going to be online. It's

[42:36] going to be you'll be able to do it right here at the office and it is free.

[42:40] Um and I I I I did include the letter

[42:44] um if anybody got a chance to read that just some of the some of the stuff that

[42:47] he's going to >> And I saw it was from Thomas indicating

[42:49] now this is all how >> Yes, I'm sorry.

[42:51] » It was from Thomas indicating this whole thing is coming about. Yes.

[42:54] » Yes, yes, sir. >> Well, are you going to be able to allow

[42:57] him to take this like in a back room or is he

[43:00] going to be getting interrupted with people walking in the whole lot?

[43:04] » Yeah, I'm going to I we have Mary's office back there. I can give him that.

[43:08] » I I just was curious as to you know, I I I assume he's not going to be doing it

[43:11] the entire day but >> Yeah, no, it's not a say

[43:14] » I just thought that there's so many people that walk in that it'd be nice if

[43:16] he could have a couple uninterrupted hours.

[43:19] » Yeah, we'll we'll we'll that we did that for well, actually when Leslie did her

[43:23] training for free training, she did it right there. I would actually just put

[43:26] her, you know, plugged in. >> Okay.

[43:28] » And then we just did the rest and then she would answer all the phones and

[43:30] that. >> Whatever makes Thomas happy.

[43:32] » It was nice that he was nominated and accepted.

[43:34] Not everybody gets into this program and it really looks to me like it'll benefit

[43:38] the village with this. >> Yes.

[43:40] » Yeah. >> Thank you for for mentioning that. You

[43:42] know, he was nominated and he did get accepted to the class. It's

[43:47] » Okay. Thanks to the manager's support to

[43:52] I needed with Calvin. Please check all the emails and they added and it's all

[43:56] in support of concern. Uh it just in the 13 on our agenda.

[44:02] Second to jerk. >> Support.

[44:06] » Those in favor say aye. >> Aye.

[44:08] » Those opposed? It's 7:43. This meeting is adjourned.

[44:11] Thank you for coming.

[44:22] » [music]

[44:27] [music]

[44:33] [music]

[44:39] [music]

[44:51] [music]

7/27/2026 Village of Ortonville Council Meeting

Transcript