[0:00] Elizabeth, nothing.
Just whistle.
[0:06] » It's pretty.
[0:09] » There's a new show called uh
It's on Disney Bay on Apple TV. It's so
[0:13] good.
>> Is it? Okay.
[0:15] » Yeah, it's the guy who played Perry
Mason.
[0:17] Yeah, it's kind of like sad. It's like
[0:22] » Hey.
[0:28] » Yeah.
>> Oh, yeah.
[0:29] » Yeah.
[0:33] » What's that?
>> Yeah, that's right.
[0:35] » Oh, right.
[0:38] » Oh, Widows. Yes.
>> Yes.
[0:42] » How many air miles for a fish?
[0:47] » It is so
>> Josh Charles
[0:53] » And y'all are
>> What's just like
[0:59] » Oh.
[1:03] » Yeah.
[1:07] » Yeah, but
[1:10] » Yeah.
>> How did
[1:12] » Good.
[1:18] » Yeah, it's all right.
[1:20] » Yeah.
[1:25] » What's up?
>> What's shaking?
[1:26] » Oh.
>> Yeah.
[1:27] » Cool. It's like a week and a half or so.
>> I imagine.
[1:31] » I'll be right in the universe.
>> Yeah.
[1:38] » We'll do.
>> Appreciate it.
[1:39] » I feel like I forgot a wave.
[1:44] » What's going on?
>> How are you?
[1:46] » All right.
[1:50] » Ooh, it's almost 5:30.
[1:59] » aloha My allergies are a little bad, so
if I sound like Kermit halfway through
[2:03] the meeting,
that's what it is.
[2:27] » What I do?
>> All right.
[2:32] You can actually come back here.
>> Come back
[2:34] » Yeah.
>> All right.
[2:39] » So, um are we all set?
>> Yes.
[2:42] » All right.
So, I'm going to call the meeting to
[2:44] order. You just slam it on the wood.
>> Okay.
[2:47] » All right.
>> Thank you.
[2:48] » So, I call the May 12th, uh 2026
Pleasant Ridge, uh City Commission
[2:52] meeting to order.
Thank you, sir.
[2:55] » Thank you very
[2:58] » All right.
We have the Pledge of Allegiance.
[3:04] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America, and to the
[3:09] Republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[3:16] justice for all.
>> Can we have roll call, please?
[3:21] » Mayor Scott.
>> Here.
[3:22] » Commissioner Budnick.
>> Here.
[3:24] » Commissioner Lenko.
>> Here.
[3:25] » Commissioner Perry.
>> Here.
[3:27] » Commissioner Shmier.
>> Here.
[3:30] » All right. Uh public discussions, item
not on the agenda.
[3:36] » Hi.
>> Hi.
[3:37] » Hello.
>> Hi. I'll kick us off, I guess. Um I'm
[3:40] just here to take up a few minutes of
your time. My name is Alyssa Tobby. I
[3:44] have met a few of you a couple of times.
I'm here as the community engagement
[3:48] representative assigned to your
community from the Oakland County Water
[3:51] Resources Commissioner's office, Jim
Nash. You are one of our customer
[3:55] communities, but also I'm fortunate to
live just a few streets over on West
[3:59] Drayton. So, it's my honor to be your
engagement representative. I just wanted
[4:04] to reach out. I did bring some folders.
Would it be okay if I asked you to hand
[4:07] them down?
>> Sure.
[4:11] » Inside that folder, there's a QR code.
If you were to scan it, it would take
[4:15] you to our public education and outreach
page. You can find all kinds of
[4:18] materials on there, water resources
education.
[4:22] Um you're also going to find a business
card with my contact information. On the
[4:25] back of that, I've written my personal
cell phone number. If you ever need
[4:28] anything or you have questions, I've
been with Commissioner Nash for about 13
[4:32] years now. So, if I don't know the
answer to your question, I know who
[4:35] does. I will find it. I'd be very happy
to. I'd love to be invited to any kind
[4:39] of community resource fair or an event
where I could connect with the residents
[4:43] and help them better understand the
infrastructure that we all rely on.
[4:46] Um the last thing I'll point out is we
have something right now called an
[4:49] emergency relief fund, which is
different than the water residential
[4:52] assistance program that people are
familiar with or more familiar with.
[4:56] It's not as income restricted. It's more
for emergencies. So, if anybody were to
[5:02] ever have a hard time paying their water
bill because they lost their job or had
[5:05] a fire or a car accident, we would love
to use some of that money, their ARPA
[5:09] funds, to help keep them current and
keep the system system running smoothly.
[5:14] Um so, I did see the utility rates
discussion on the agenda tonight. So,
[5:18] I'm going to hang out and see if I can
learn anything or be helpful at all. And
[5:22] otherwise, I thank you for your time.
>> Oh, thank you for coming.
[5:25] » Nice to meet you.
>> Yes, please.
[5:27] » Um regarding that emergency service at
like So, would a hypothetical example be
[5:32] if somebody's like, I don't know, uh
pipe went out and they like a $2,000
[5:36] water bill that they weren't expecting
or something?
[5:38] » Uh both the WRAP program, the one I
mentioned, and this one will provide
[5:42] funding for um plumbing services. So, if
you have a leak or anything like that,
[5:47] uh they do both. One is uh like 200%
above the poverty level, which is kind
[5:52] of an antiquated poverty level, in my
opinion. And this emergency relief fund
[5:56] is less restricted by that. So, if you
perhaps could afford to repair the pipe
[6:02] or the plumbing, it might not apply to
you. But, if you had some reason that
[6:06] you couldn't that year, even if your
income showed that you were above, but
[6:09] you had some kind of life event, then
yes.
[6:11] » Got it. Got it. Okay, good to know.
>> And this income, is that accurate like
[6:15] the income numbers on here?
>> Yes.
[6:17] » Okay.
>> Yep. But, we do have the ability and the
[6:19] authority to work with United Way, the
service provider for this program, to
[6:23] adjust that. So, if your income is above
that, but you like I mentioned, maybe
[6:27] you've had a fire or a job loss,
and you let us know that, then we're
[6:32] going to work with you.
>> Okay, awesome.
[6:33] » Yep.
>> Perfect, thank you.
[6:34] » Thank you.
>> Yeah, definitely pass this around.
[6:36] » Thank you.
>> And enjoy the budget discussion.
[6:38] » Thank you.
>> Uh were there any other items for
[6:42] » Yes, thank you.
>> Hi.
[6:45] Um Liz and Jim Flieger
in regards to the email that we sent out
[6:50] the other day.
>> Mhm.
[6:51] » Um
>> Could you give your address, please?
[6:53] » 32 Woodside, sorry.
>> No worries.
[6:57] » Um
just wanted to give you the opportunity
[7:01] to ask any questions you wanted to ask.
We can also stay until afterwards if
[7:05] you'd rather ask questions afterwards.
Um and just you know, reiterate kind of
[7:11] what we're looking for.
Um
[7:14] » So, Kirsten, I don't know if you've seen
it, but I think everybody else has.
[7:18] Um
we are looking for a change in the
[7:21] ordinances that the city has. Pleasant
Ridge has, lots of other communities
[7:26] around us don't have that same
ordinance, and it's basically the way
[7:30] it's written now, Jim has told us that
for us as being certified by the DNR to
[7:38] do wildlife rehabilitation, specifically
for us, we do small mammals,
[7:43] um squirrels, possums, chipmunks,
rabbits, raccoons.
[7:48] Um and mostly what we what we do are
orphaned
[7:51] animals. You know, their their
mom has been killed or been chased away
[7:57] uh cuz people are opening their garages
and saying, "Ooh, you know, there's I
[8:00] don't want that raccoon in my attic or
in my house." And then they find out
[8:03] there's babies that are there also. And
then they go, "What do we do?" Um we
[8:08] frequently get called. We
are volunteers through Motor City
[8:12] Possum, which is based out of Ferndale.
Um
[8:15] we're right now at the max for baby
raccoons, which is 70.
[8:19] » Mhm.
>> Um you know, so this is kind of one of
[8:23] those crunches for us.
>> personally.
[8:25] » Not us personally.
>> Not us.
[8:27] » Just so you know.
>> Thank you for clarifying.
[8:29] » So, I think what's
what we want to emphasize is
[8:34] we are not an intake.
>> Mhm.
[8:36] » We are not looking to bring animals into
our city and have 19 cages or anything
[8:42] like that. We are a very very small
small portion of Motor City Possum.
[8:48] All intakes go through Cindy.
She works for a vet. If there's any
[8:53] question about their health, it goes to
the vet to be
[8:56] okayed.
>> Mhm.
[8:57] » Once they are triaged,
we are
[9:01] temporary housing foster care.
>> Mhm.
[9:05] » And we are trying to get certified for
literally five animals. That's the max
[9:11] we can have. We mostly do
it's through a you know, April to like
[9:19] July. Once in a while, we might have
something in August for a week or two.
[9:23] We have an indoor cage. We have an
outdoor cage that's
[9:28] 4 ft by 8 ft by 8 ft.
I think the important thing There's a
[9:32] couple things I'd like you to
understand. One is the DNR
[9:38] something from you is the only thing
that's holding up our permit.
[9:43] Um
>> The DNR DNR has been out and inspected
[9:46] everything. Said you're good to go
except for this ordinance.
[9:50] » Mhm.
>> Um and they said that they would give it
[9:52] to us if we even just got a letter from
someone in the city saying it was okay.
[9:57] And and if you could do that
it would be amazing because we have four
[10:03] orphan
uh raccoons right now that we have had
[10:07] since they were week and a half 2 weeks
old in an incubator.
[10:11] » Mhm.
>> If we don't get something for the city
[10:14] even for just this summer
they will fail our inspection and we
[10:20] lose our animals.
>> Mhm.
[10:22] Okay.
>> Um
[10:23] So
everything is health checked before we
[10:28] get it. It's a very small amount of
animals.
[10:32] We have signatures from all our
neighbors around us.
[10:36] Um I you know, if you could give us
something for this year so I could
[10:40] continue with the four babies we've had
for 6 weeks, I would appreciate it. If
[10:44] not, we're going to have to give them
up.
[10:46] » Mhm.
>> And that would be heartbreaking to me.
[10:48] » Mhm.
>> Um
[10:50] and we would be more than happy to work
with the city in whatever needs to be
[10:54] done to move forward to get something
permanently on the records.
[10:58] » Mhm.
>> So, do you have any questions for me?
[11:01] Us?
>> Does anyone Does anyone have questions
[11:04] for them?
>> I do actually have one question. It
[11:08] sounds like you've been doing this for a
while. I'm curious
[11:12] what changed? Did DNR change its rules?
>> Uh no. Um
[11:16] we had
we were certified for bottle babies. We
[11:21] had no idea that it was a problem here.
>> Mhm.
[11:25] » And um Motor City Possum has grown.
>> Mhm.
[11:29] » And so we needed more volunteers. So one
of the volunteers got licensed.
[11:34] » Mhm.
>> And Cindy wanted to move me from her
[11:38] to the other licensed woman that works
with Motor City Passim. She's right over
[11:43] on Oak Park Boulevard.
>> Mhm.
[11:45] » In order to do that, Cindy had to
they had to put in a new
[11:49] um thing for me and since they put a new
thing a new permit in
[11:54] What's the word I'm looking for?
>> Looking for a new certification was
[11:57] needed.
>> And they wanted to certify me for the
[12:00] outside cage. To outs- to get the
certification small mammals instead of
[12:05] bottle fed,
they have to come out and inspect.
[12:10] And they have to look at the city
ordinances.
[12:12] » Mhm.
Okay. So that was the change from bottle
[12:14] to Okay. Thank you.
>> And and it sounds as though, correct me
[12:17] if I'm wrong, it sounds as though the
service has become um
[12:21] more in demand as well. So you've hit a
capacity limit in other places.
[12:25] » Right.
>> Yeah. There's just unfortunately way too
[12:29] many cars for the
>> wildlife around here.
[12:31] » And too many dumb people that don't know
how to humanely evict. Our our The four
[12:37] that we have right now are four females.
Like I said, we've had them since
[12:40] they're 2-weeks-old, eyes closed, ears
shut, hardly furred.
[12:45] And um they were in a garage. The
gentleman didn't want them in her his
[12:51] garage. So he chased the mom out.
He then took went out and bought a live
[12:56] trap.
Put the four babies in the live trap
[13:00] without a blanket, without heat, without
anything trying to get the mom to go in
[13:05] and get them.
>> Mhm.
[13:06] » And um
put them out in 30° weather.
[13:09] » Mhm.
>> So when Cindy got them, they were half
[13:14] frozen.
>> Mhm.
[13:15] » Uh they were She didn't think they'd
live. They were in an incubator for
[13:19] about 3 hours before they showed any
sign of life.
[13:22] » Mhm.
>> And we've been nursing them ever since.
[13:25] So as I say, it would be
really tough if we don't get something
[13:30] because
they will have to find another home for
[13:33] them.
>> Somewhere. Mhm.
[13:35] » So.
Thank you for your time. Uh do you have
[13:38] any other questions?
>> Sure.
[13:39] » Yeah.
>> How long do you keep these animals?
[13:44] » So, they
>> Can I do this?
[13:47] » Yeah.
>> So, So, this is a DNR requirement that
[13:50] they can only be kept as long as it
takes to get them to a releasable
[13:55] condition. So, that might be hey
they got hit by a car or something. It's
[14:02] skin heals and in 2 days you can say
they're good to go. They can go. The
[14:07] babies typically, the bigger babies, the
raccoons are probably the biggest ones,
[14:12] they usually take about 3 months to go
from the way we got these, which was
[14:18] feeding them with a syringe this big, um
to where they're eating regular food and
[14:23] they're big enough and exposed enough to
the weather and lighting and outdoor
[14:28] noises so that we can then let them go.
They don't get released here.
[14:32] » Nothing's released.
>> In In the city, everything goes up
[14:34] toward northern Oakland County cuz
there's a lot less traffic and a lot
[14:37] bigger plots of land that are available.
People who support Motor City Possum um
[14:43] let us do that and they also,
fortunately, uh frequently feed during
[14:47] that first winter so that
>> Help them kind of get by.
[14:51] » Yeah.
>> They um
[14:53] Right now, the babies are inside. We're
doing the weaning process, which is very
[14:57] much like
people weaning. It's rice cereal,
[15:01] formula, banana.
Yeah, it's a mess.
[15:04] Um and once they get on,
so they're eating mostly solid food,
[15:09] they'll go out to the outdoor cage. And
the
[15:12] the purpose of the outdoor cage is so
that they can get used to night and day,
[15:18] used to um the weather changes. They
have to
[15:21] hear rain.
you know, they have to they in the
[15:25] backyard they'll have exposure to other
animals in this cage. The cage is
[15:30] elevated, food does not get out. There's
secure doors, three secure doors.
[15:36] They're litter trained, so we clean out
the potty box every day and it goes into
[15:40] a garbage can that can't get get into by
other animals.
[15:44] Um
you know, so it's not a threat for rats.
[15:47] It's not like chickens, you know. It's
an elevated cage with a ceramic floor,
[15:52] so food's not falling through.
Um
[15:57] That's That's it. Anything else?
>> And if anybody would like to come in and
[16:02] take a look, you're more than welcome.
Thank you.
[16:05] » Um would anybody like to ask for Jim to
do further work or how how would you
[16:13] like to proceed on this?
>> Uh so, for everyone's benefit, um
[16:18] uh we wrote back to them in email form
uh that there's a process to changing an
[16:22] ordinance. It's usually not fast.
Um it could be
[16:26] two, three, four months uh because uh
first we have to direct uh
[16:31] our city manager to do some homework
with our city attorney.
[16:35] And then um
we may or may not uh draft an ordinance
[16:39] revision based on the
on the findings that we have. The
[16:43] findings may actually tell us not to do
anything. We don't know.
[16:46] Um and then uh we'd uh
but usually I in fact almost always have
[16:51] a public hearing so that everyone would
have an opportunity to speak on the
[16:54] topic and then make a decision. But that
process for ordinance changes is
[16:59] typically it it's usually three months
or more.
[17:02] So, um so that's about the amount of
time it would take to do this even if
[17:06] everyone raised their hand and said we
were in support. Uh but the step first
[17:10] step is agreeing that we wanted to Would
you like to direct?
[17:15] Anybody?
>> Sure.
[17:17] I can take
And then
[17:20] And I guess like before I make a
recommendation, I wanted to verify
[17:24] like is changing it the correct course
of action, like getting an opinion from
[17:30] the attorney. Like that that might be a
faster approach, like if
[17:35] um instead of creating an
an amendment to the ordinance or like
[17:40] revamping the ordinance,
uh categorizing what they're doing is
[17:44] I don't know, like
temporary or re- like it's like a
[17:48] 3-month period like
It like like the the thing says you
[17:52] can't own, harbor, keep, maintain, sell,
or transfer.
[17:56] I I I could see this kind of fitting
into some of those categories, but
[17:59] » It's the wild animal part that is the
problem. So,
[18:04] um
I yes, we could give it to our attorney,
[18:06] but I think based on the other pieces of
our ordinances and the way wild animals
[18:10] are defined, it is a these most of what
they would bring in are wild animals. I
[18:15] suppose some could be not wild, but
>> that have been health checked, so we're
[18:18] not bringing in something that we don't
have diseases.
[18:22] » They're the types of animals we have in
our backyards anyways.
[18:25] » But that's that's a part of what you
would have to figure out in the in the
[18:27] ordinances how to describe a wild animal
that's been health checked or meets DNR
[18:32] standards or what have you.
Yeah. So, um
[18:36] how are other people feeling?
>> Seems there's no other option other than
[18:41] amending the ordinance. There's no
>> If we wanted to go that way. I mean, I I
[18:46] know so in our history, I think the last
time this section would was updated was
[18:50] in 2017. I remember someone coming. I'm
remembering
[18:54] » Pot-bellied pigs?
>> No, I think it was I think it was ducks.
[18:57] Or maybe that I'm maybe that was an
outcome of the ordinance.
[19:00] » Ducks are private, but there was a
another issue with the Yeah.
[19:05] » Yeah.
>> And the
[19:07] our police had no enforcement tools
because there was there were no um
[19:12] specific
languages language around it. And Jim
[19:16] worked hard with a couple
>> Yeah, we had an exotic pet
[19:21] » expert
>> Yeah, oh I remember that now, yeah.
[19:24] » Mark?
>> Yeah, yeah, we worked with him quite a
[19:26] bit to make sure that this
worked well the way we wanted it to.
[19:30] » Mhm.
>> And I I guess, you know,
[19:33] splitting hairs, it does say pets.
>> One of them does. 10.2 says pets.
[19:38] » We're literally
>> I understand.
[19:41] » Yeah.
>> I
[19:43] where I'm torn is number one, what I
think you're doing is amazing and there
[19:47] is certainly a need. And so
and you know, any rescue, but certainly
[19:52] what you're doing is amazing. So I don't
want to take the, you know, that is
[19:57] important, but my concern in all of this
is
[20:01] how are we able to
amend the ordinance without kind of
[20:05] opening up
the bigger issue of other people for
[20:11] other reasons
>> Right.
[20:13] » bringing in wild animals. So is there a
way to do this that allows
[20:18] » That's one of the things that we're
saying, you know, for certified
[20:22] rehabbers. Or in order for rehabbers to
get
[20:26] We would be state certified.
>> Yeah. So the DNR does not allow for most
[20:31] exotic pets, wild animals to be kept to
be kept already. It's against the law.
[20:36] So from a state perspective, so what
we're looking at is specifically for
[20:42] Pleasant Ridge to say the ordinance that
says you can't keep wild animals does
[20:49] not apply to DNR certified people doing
rehabilitation.
[20:54] So it's not like I could just go out and
say, "Hey, I'd like to own a possum."
[20:58] And we get that. People say, "Hey, make
a great pet." No, they make a terrible
[21:01] pet. But that's what we're looking for
is say, "Hey, if you are DNR certified
[21:05] or DNR certified, which means you've
done the inspection, you've done the
[21:08] training, and they've signed off on you
to be able to do this kind of thing,
[21:13] then you could do it here in Pleasant
Ridge.
[21:16] Assuming you lived in Pleasant Ridge.
>> Mhm.
[21:19] » I'm not sure how many other people are
doing this in Pleasant Ridge, but there
[21:22] might be one or two.
>> We have no interest in getting any
[21:25] bigger. We do this pretty much April
through
[21:28] » Yeah.
>> And the concern, I think, is for me
[21:31] personally at this moment, it's less
about what you're doing, but more again
[21:35] about what it
and what it opens up.
[21:38] » And just so you know, I was born and
raised here.
[21:41] » Mhm.
>> When I grew up, there was a woman on Elm
[21:43] Park named, I believe, Mrs. Babcock. I
could ask my brother.
[21:47] » Mhm.
>> But she did
[21:49] rescue. That's I mean, that's probably
what got me turned on to it a hundred
[21:54] years ago.
>> Mhm.
[21:55] » Um and you just whenever you You heard
You heard of her?
[21:59] » I have. I don't I don't know why where I
heard the name, but the Babcock family
[22:03] is known
>> something as little kids, we would take
[22:05] it there. So, you know, I
I moved back to Pleasant Ridge because I
[22:09] love Pleasant Ridge. I don't I
understand the reason for ordinances and
[22:14] that type of thing.
So, I I have no problem working with you
[22:18] to get something in place if you need
somebody to work with.
[22:22] Um my Like I said, my concern
I would like to get that in place if
[22:27] possible.
Um
[22:30] my concern is also for the four babies I
have right now. So.
[22:34] » I understand.
[22:40] Would anyone like to move forward with
uh just doing some more homework on
[22:44] this? We're not ready for an ordinance
or anything, but
[22:48] » I support further research.
[22:53] » Yeah, I mean, I think on my side I would
like to learn more personally, too. I
[22:57] don't know if I have specific direction
at this moment. If someone else does,
[23:01] but
you know, I I'm
[23:05] I'm certainly interested in learning
more.
[23:07] » Maybe to answer the question, um to do
the research on understanding what other
[23:12] communities are doing and um
if it's possible to carve out this DNR
[23:18] piece from everything else to answer
your question.
[23:21] » Mhm.
>> And and then we can bring that back
[23:24] and see if it makes sense or not. Is
that a reasonable course of action, Jim,
[23:28] do you think?
>> Yeah, I've got some notes and some
[23:29] questions I want to answer.
>> Okay. Do you need us to vote on that or
[23:32] is that enough?
>> That's enough.
[23:33] » Okay. Thank you very much.
>> All right. Thank you.
[23:35] » want to again, I just want to give a
realistic expectation that unfortunately
[23:39] this season, I don't know that we'll be
done by July
[23:42] because we're already we're already in
May. So there's only two more just so
[23:47] that you know, I want to give you that.
>> You know, what latitude do you have with
[23:50] the DNR to say there you've come to us
and we're entertaining
[23:54] » I mean, basically the DNR's position is
we're fine doing what we're doing as
[23:58] long as the city doesn't have a problem
with it. I mean, the city is a city
[24:03] ordinance. It's you go next door to
Ferndale, they don't have this
[24:05] ordinance. So there's no problem doing
it, you know, a mile down the road. So
[24:09] it's it's really it's just they're doing
their due diligence to say, "Hey,
[24:14] you're a subdivision of the state and
they're not in a position of
[24:18] violating
your ordinances for their purposes. So
[24:23] they're really just saying, "Hey, if you
say it's okay, they're good with what
[24:27] we're doing already."
So
[24:31] this issue, I guess maybe would be is if
you said, "Hey,
[24:37] Liz and Jim, you know, you've got 90
days to take care of this issue."
[24:42] » Yeah, I mean, even if we had a letter
that said that, that would allow us to
[24:46] finish out these babies and then we
would guarantee we wouldn't take anybody
[24:49] else.
>> Until
[24:50] » until we get this set.
>> Got it.
[24:53] » Um but they just needed a letter
from you saying that we can continue
[24:59] with these babies till the release. We
go away in July and we always have them
[25:06] gone and released before then.
So.
[25:09] » All right. Thank you.
>> Well, thank you very much.
[25:11] Likewise, I appreciate what you're
doing. I think it's a really
[25:15] » The DNR will not hold our permit until
then.
[25:18] » Right.
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for coming
[25:21] tonight.
>> Would you like us to hang out longer?
[25:25] » Do any
want to just get back later or tonight
[25:27] or
>> I don't think I'll have any personally
[25:30] more questions at this point for you.
So, whatever. I think I'm okay.
[25:34] » Thank you.
>> We don't have any sub properties to be
[25:36] dealing with, so.
>> You're not You're not building an
[25:40] accessory dwelling unit for them.
>> I appreciate it very much. Thank you
[25:44] very much for your time and your
consideration. And again, if you
[25:48] I the phone number's on our thing. If
you're more than welcome to come meet
[25:53] the babies, to come take a look at the
cages, just shoot us a call or a phone
[25:59] call you know, or text ahead of time. Um
>> If you're if they're in the middle of
[26:03] the mush eating, you're not going to
want to hold them.
[26:06] » You may have to bathe them and then it's
on you.
[26:10] Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
[26:14] All right. Are there any other Please.
>> I'll be quick.
[26:18] » Okay. No worries.
>> Uh good evening. My name is Chris
[26:21] Gilmer-Hill. I'm a candidate for our
state house seat.
[26:25] If you live in Pleasant Ridge and if you
vote in Democratic primaries, you
[26:28] probably gotten a flyer on your door
from me already.
[26:31] So, I'm here to let folks know two
things. So, number one, today is almost
[26:35] the last day to sign the Michigan Money
Out Politics petition. They're hoping to
[26:40] wrap up volunteer signature collection
by tomorrow. So, I I know a lot of folks
[26:44] here have already heard about it and
have signed. For anyone who hasn't, this
[26:48] is a citizen initiated petition that's
hoping to prohibit certain companies, so
[26:53] specifically the
electric and gas utilities, so DTE and
[26:57] Consumers, or any company with more than
a quarter million dollars state
[27:01] contract, which include Blue Cross Blue
Shield, Comcast, etc. Uh they would be
[27:06] prohibited from spending in our state
elections in a variety of ways,
[27:09] including contributions to candidates.
Uh right now, the overwhelming majority
[27:13] of state legislators take money from DTE
and from these other corporations, and
[27:18] it's really one of the biggest obstacles
to passing legislation that would really
[27:22] help folks. You know, I I work full-time
in environmental policy, and when we
[27:26] look at, you know, why don't we have
more restrictions on the rate hikes? Why
[27:29] don't we have community solar in
Michigan? All these good things. Uh the
[27:34] answer is just because DTE money has so
much influence, and this would really
[27:38] give us a tool to, you know, say we
don't want that in our state. So, if
[27:42] you're at all interested in that, uh
I'll be hanging out in the back until
[27:45] about 8:30. Uh for anyone who hasn't
been able to sign yet, uh I have a here.
[27:50] I'd be more than happy to talk through
it, answer any questions. Uh the second
[27:54] thing, uh so former Commissioner Jason
Krizan and I will be having a meet and
[27:58] greet. It'll be May 23rd at 4:30. So,
it'll be that Saturday, just down at
[28:03] Gainsboro Park by the railroad.
Uh it won't be as, you know,
[28:07] specifically focused as the last one.
It's not going to be just a DTE town
[28:10] hall. Uh we will want to make sure to
talk about some transit issues and some
[28:15] state level issues affecting the train
crossing. Uh so, in particular, there's
[28:19] a state law on the books that caps how
much municipalities are allowed to fine
[28:24] railroads for obstructing streets. It's
not the only barrier to fixing the issue
[28:28] with companies just sort of using
Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge as a
[28:32] railyard, but it is one of the barriers,
and if we can fix that, along with some
[28:37] federal level tweaks,
you know, we could really hold some of
[28:39] these companies accountable, prevent
them from just blocking Hilton ad
[28:43] infinitum. Uh but there's, you know, a a
more to talk about there, and then any
[28:46] other policies that folks want to talk
about, you know, really it's uh meet and
[28:50] greet to hear what folks want to talk
about, to hear folks' issues, and to
[28:54] talk about policy. So, I hope to see
folks there, and we'll be making sure to
[28:57] get that info out. Thank you.
>> Remind me the time?
[29:00] » Uh it's uh 4:30 on May 23rd at Gainsboro
Park.
[29:04] » Excellent.
>> All right. Well, thank you.
[29:06] » Thank you.
>> Any other
[29:10] Wow.
>> Yeah, I know.
[29:12] » Jake Covert, 18 Fairwood.
>> Um speaking of um commercial districts
[29:16] and residential districts, um I've had a
few Amazon drones um conducting business
[29:21] transactions over my house, in my
property.
[29:24] » Mhm.
>> Um they've they're actually literally
[29:27] conducting their transactions in my
backyard.
[29:30] Do we allow that? Do we regulate it?
What's our rules on this? And I don't
[29:34] like it. Um so, we allow their trucks on
our business roads.
[29:40] Can we keep them over the roads, so
they're not over the backyards?
[29:45] » Mhm.
>> So.
[29:46] » So, uh the way drones work as a general
rule is that because they're not landing
[29:52] in Pleasant Ridge, it is an FAA
regulatory
[29:57] situation, rather than a local
regulatory. And the only exception
[30:00] » to restrict them, though. As a city, we
do.
[30:02] » The exception is uh Hazel Park, where
they land.
[30:06] » Okay.
>> So, um I've been speaking with them
[30:08] about this topic. First, to understand
which homes are actually eligible to
[30:14] receive packages in Pleasant Ridge. I
don't actually need to know the
[30:16] addresses, but I'm curious on the
quantity.
[30:19] And uh because there's a they do an
aerial view shot of of um
[30:24] the entire city,
uh summer, winter, fall, spring, to see
[30:28] foliage, and determine which homes they
can reliably drop a package to.
[30:34] » they're able to, not that we're allowing
them to? I mean
[30:37] » Um any any aerial shot is possible. So,
>> So, wherever they can land, they're
[30:41] allowed to. We don't have the ability to
restrict them in any way.
[30:44] » Because they're not landing.
So
[30:47] » That's not really that means we need to
put laws in that that do that. That just
[30:51] means that we don't have the tools at
hand, right?
[30:53] » So all that I'm suggesting to you
tonight is that uh
[30:56] the local uh local authorities cannot uh
restrict airspace.
[31:01] So a drone is flying in airspace and uh
Amazon uses that to their advantage to
[31:07] make the service available. So Um on the
other hand, if a drone happened to land
[31:13] here, I think I told uh Commissioner
Schmear, I'm putting it on eBay. I'm not
[31:17] giving it back. I'm going to
>> I mean, how much of the space above my
[31:20] backyard do I own?
>> it I think uh 12 ft and higher I think
[31:23] is the rule, uh but I could be wrong. I
have to I'll verify that just I don't
[31:27] want to give the wrong number. But I'm
in conversation with them because I want
[31:30] to understand this better.
>> It's a quality of life issue, you know,
[31:33] it really is.
>> If I If I may, I think they want to be a
[31:35] good
uh community partner, but uh they also
[31:40] want $9.99 for 1-hour shipping.
So um part of it is that there is a
[31:45] demand for the service. I did not think
people would actually pay $9.99 to get
[31:50] something in an hour, but
>> Yeah.
[31:52] » they seem to. And there are certain um
uh types of products where it actually
[31:58] does make sense. Let's say you're sick
and you want to receive NyQuil, it's
[32:01] better for that to arrive at your house
from the air than for you to go to CVS
[32:05] or to have someone
>> certain neighborhoods as residential for
[32:08] a reason. Like I'd like to keep the
commerce in the commercial section.
[32:11] That's all.
>> I totally understand. So I'm following
[32:14] up on it um and I'll report back on it
as we go further.
[32:18] » Okay.
>> Thank you, though.
[32:19] » Thank you.
>> And I may I just add one thing? I've
[32:21] obviously as people are outside more,
I'm hearing this from other people cuz
[32:25] we are now seeing the drones. And uh
there is an email address that we had
[32:28] when they were doing their initial
presentations. There were two email
[32:31] addresses, one for the FA FAA and
another one that I've actually been
[32:35] passing out to people and I can share
that. Um because I think having people
[32:41] write the emails to Amazon specifically,
you know, whatever your concerns are,
[32:44] whether it be noise or Whatever it is.
>> I didn't realize we don't have the
[32:48] ability to regulate certain things
though.
[32:50] » They are dropping They are dropping them
from the air, so they are not landing.
[32:54] Um but I think
>> Which is a hazard onto itself, but yeah.
[32:58] » But yeah, so I can pass that information
along because I do think for anyone
[33:01] listening to that has concerns, has
questions, to reach out directly to
[33:05] them. Um
>> And I I will say thank you for
[33:07] mentioning that.
They want this feedback because while
[33:11] this service is available, it is a brand
new service for them. They're really in
[33:15] a sort of a pilot mode, no pun intended.
Pilotless pilot mode. Um
[33:20] but they want that feedback because they
want to tune in their service. Maybe
[33:24] they're doing something weird. Uh they
adjust their service by because of
[33:28] weather and other issues, so this could
be something that they have to consider.
[33:33] Like they don't always Maybe they don't
always want the drone to fly down the
[33:37] center of a road because it becomes more
obvious. I don't know. Uh give them that
[33:40] feedback. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[33:43] » Yeah.
Any Any others? Wow.
[33:49] Lots of items that were not on the
agenda. I have to remember where we are.
[33:53] Uh liaison reports, Commissioner Buz
Nick.
[33:56] » Budnick.
>> I didn't have I had drones on my I had
[33:59] drones on my mind, so it became Buz
Nick.
[34:04] » That was a reference. Something else?
[34:08] » Yeah, exactly.
[34:13] » All right.
Well, thank you, Mayor. Let's get into
[34:17] our
May and June rec happenings.
[34:21] And for all the mothers out there, happy
Mother's Day.
[34:25] Uh
in the absence of Mr. Zachary, we'll
[34:28] start off with learning American Sign
Language, the ASL meets every Wednesday,
[34:32] and this is still going strong. So,
that's 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. at
[34:35] the PR Community Center. So, go ahead
and practice and learn some American
[34:39] Sign Language, and it's for really
anybody. So, children, adults, whoever
[34:43] is interested. It's a free event, and
there's no formal instructor instructor.
[34:46] I think we've all heard Ted talk about
the experience. So, come and have some
[34:50] fun.
Pool tag renewal is this week, and I
[34:54] know it doesn't feel that way walking
in.
[34:56] But, it should be.
>> to Saturday. It'll feel better.
[34:59] » There we go.
>> Hopefully.
[35:00] » So, bring your old tags and picture ID,
and they'll get you renewed. And they're
[35:03] preferring to do this all now, so it's
all out of the way. And of course,
[35:06] uh Shawnee, Kai, and the team will get
you going. During season, it's just a
[35:10] little easier not to get some of it out
of the way. So, if you're going to the
[35:12] Rec Center, work out, or what have you,
go ahead and get those renewed.
[35:16] And the pool actually opens a week from
this Friday.
[35:19] » Isn't that crazy?
>> Yeah.
[35:21] » What?
>> Yeah.
[35:22] » Yeah, that's crazy.
>> It's really early this year, May the
[35:24] 22nd.
And as a reminder, no guest
[35:28] guests are allowed on the first first
weekend, our opening weekend.
[35:33] And then, Memorial Day ceremony is
Monday the 25th at 9:00 a.m., and that
[35:37] is at Memorial Park.
Couple more events here. We have a 50
[35:41] and up club day trip to the DAC.
So, a phenomenal place to tour. That's
[35:46] tour and lunch, and that's on Thursday,
May the 28th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30
[35:50] p.m.
And then, the Pride Swim is Wednesday,
[35:54] June the 10th, and that's from 8:00 to
10:00 p.m. at night. Always a popular
[35:58] event.
And last but not least, the Sakura paper
[36:01] truck will be coming. That's on the 21st
of June, and that's from 10:00 a.m. to
[36:06] 2:00 p.m., and that's of course at the
Community Center. And this is for PR
[36:09] residents only.
>> That's the shredder truck?
[36:12] » Yeah.
[36:16] » And that's a
Sunday, did you say, or Saturday?
[36:19] » Saturday.
>> Okay, great.
[36:21] » Saturday, the 21st from 10:00 to 2:00.
[36:26] » That's all I have here.
>> Thank you. Any questions for
[36:29] Commissioner Bozeman?
[36:33] That might stick.
>> It might stick.
[36:35] » Yeah.
>> All right. Uh Commissioner Perry for the
[36:38] Arts Council.
>> Thank you. Um the Arts Council didn't
[36:41] meet last month. Um but this month they
um will meet on Wednesday. Oops, shoot.
[36:48] I just had the I just wrote the date
down and lost it. Um
[36:52] Hold on. It is
It'll be Wednesday, May 20th,
[36:57] 4:30 p.m. right here. Um also the at
some point soon um the uh the mural will
[37:05] be starting down in Gainsborough Park.
You know, don't feed the the muralist.
[37:08] Like leave the
They'll be focusing and and working on
[37:14] the the mural and
they're very shy, so
[37:19] um
we'll see it Yeah. So, but they'll be
[37:23] there in in full display. So, it'll be
good.
[37:25] » Cool.
>> But um the the
[37:29] Arts Council will be meeting on
Wednesday the 20th of May. Thank you.
[37:34] Thank you.
>> Any questions?
[37:38] All right. Uh Ferndale Public Schools,
Mr. DeLaVergne.
[37:44] » Hey, good evening everyone. Uh Mark
DeLaVergne, president school Ferndale
[37:48] School Board of Trustees.
Uh
[37:51] few things to note. Uh
May 29th is the June Fair. Uh reminder
[37:56] to everybody, uh it is being held at
Ferndale Administration Building,
[38:00] formerly Roosevelt, formerly Lower.
Again, we don't usually have activity
[38:06] there. Uh we will have a lot of activity
that day.
[38:09] Um so, just a reminder that uh it's a
great day. Uh we expect, you know, a
[38:12] little more traffic,
>> a little bit noise.
[38:14] Uh a lot of little kids running around
and getting lost from their parents and
[38:17] screaming a little bit, so
uh all of that and just an amazing day.
[38:21] So, looking forward to that.
Um
[38:24] May 31st is graduation. Uh this year
we're doing something different. Uh
[38:27] we're hosting all three graduations at
Wayne State University. So, it will be a
[38:32] long day for myself and the other board
members, but it will be fantastic that
[38:35] we can just do all three in the same day
and you know, Wayne State has a great
[38:39] facility down downtown. So,
goes well. Hopefully, this will be a
[38:42] tradition that we will continue to do
uh so that we can celebrate everybody uh
[38:47] in the same way and the same really
really nice place.
[38:50] Um
[38:54] not excited about
um our budget. Uh we are probably
[38:59] looking at another year where we do not
have a school budget uh until after
[39:04] school starts.
You know, things came out from Senate
[39:08] and House and Governor's office last few
weeks.
[39:11] Um but it doesn't look great again. So,
uh we'll probably hopefully when I come
[39:15] back in September after a few months
off, uh I will be smiling, but I'm
[39:18] guessing I will be ranting a little bit
about sort of the the challenges that we
[39:22] continue to have. Uh Dawn, who's a who's
our finance director, also a Pleasant
[39:26] Ridge
uh resident, does an amazing job coming
[39:29] out with the amount of alternatives that
we have to do with different uh options
[39:33] on both the the foundation allowance,
but then also different programs and
[39:37] grants that we we rely on. So,
um if you've run into somebody, uh
[39:41] please let them know, you know, how
important it is to get a school budget
[39:43] done before the school year.
Uh you know, the rest of the budget
[39:47] unfortunately probably will take just as
long, but it's it's really hard for all
[39:51] of our teams across
um
[39:54] Last year was uh Teacher's Appreciation
Week. Uh I think all schools we had PTOs
[39:59] all came together and did a lot of
really great stuff for for the teachers.
[40:02] Wish we could celebrate them a lot more,
um but it's a thing that uh we we really
[40:06] take that week to to celebrate all the
the great staff that we have here at
[40:09] Ferndale.
Um
[40:12] You'll be seeing a lot of construction
going on um Um, the high school. Uh
[40:17] we're looking at the renovation of the
softball and baseball fields,
[40:21] new scene shop building addition,
dressing room.
[40:25] I did a quick walk-through last week.
It's pretty good.
[40:29] It's going to look really nice,
particularly the performing arts stuff.
[40:32] I'm just like the dressing room, the
makeup room, the set area.
[40:37] It's pretty great. And the the softball
is looking good. I was telling
[40:40] Commissioner last night that
you know, we're trying to get this
[40:43] foundation up and running for new things
because cuz the softball and baseball
[40:46] coaches are seeing how nice the turf and
the field are. It's all going to be on
[40:49] the infield and they're like, "Well, why
can't we do the outfield now?" So,
[40:53] trying to figure out how we can do that.
But it's you know, continuing to upgrade
[40:56] facilities. We really appreciate
everybody trusting us and sort of making
[41:00] this investment in our kids. And we're
really going to start to see it with a
[41:03] lot of these facilities that mean so
many to so many kids.
[41:06] Um, we'll talk about the millage.
Superintendent Hitler will be here next
[41:09] month
and sort of walk through the the
[41:12] millage.
Um, one thing I will say that's on the
[41:15] the notes is
we're seeing a lot more biking to
[41:18] school, which is fantastic.
>> That's awesome.
[41:21] » We despite
Clawson getting out in the press saying
[41:25] that they have we have the first bike
bus with our elementary. We have parents
[41:28] that dedicate and get kids and bike to
lower and upper. Uh, we have you know,
[41:34] so much activity going in the middle
school and the high school.
[41:37] Unfortunately though, we've been having
some safety challenges. There was a
[41:42] bad crash at
9-Mile and Pinecrest where a student got
[41:47] really injured by a driver not paying
attention.
[41:50] Lots of different close calls at Curry
Park. So,
[41:53] it's great that we have all these kids
out there and biking.
[41:56] Particularly with a lot of our pick up
drop off being challenging at the at the
[41:59] high school and the middle school. But
please, you know, when you're out there,
[42:02] particularly in the morning and in the
afternoon, you know,
[42:05] we've got kids biking everywhere now.
And please watch out for them. And you
[42:10] know, there's no reason to speed through
the light or be on your phone
[42:13] particularly in these areas. So, please
please please be uh
[42:17] You should be careful driving all the
time, but particularly uh around our
[42:20] schools uh where we've got our kids on
their bikes. So, thanks. Uh any
[42:24] questions?
>> Google pickles?
[42:27] How did they do?
>> Uh they did amazing.
[42:32] Uh they got to the like next to next
There's like basically they got to the
[42:37] final day and then there's like 10
rounds before the finals and they got to
[42:42] the next to last round before the last
finals. So, just just amazing. Uh we
[42:48] celebrated all the robotics teams this
week, but again, just just seeing, you
[42:52] know, how this group has just like
gotten better better and now they're at
[42:55] the edge of the the finals is really
really exciting. So, again, appreciate
[42:59] everybody's support uh for those kids. I
think it's going to continue to build a
[43:03] culture of robotics here and the fact
that, you know, we've got kids in the
[43:06] national finals every single year is
amazing.
[43:10] Yep.
>> Yes. And quick one on uh the foundation.
[43:13] Uh I don't know if you've shared the
survey link.
[43:15] » Yes, we shared the survey. So, thank
you. Yes, so uh we had a great meeting
[43:19] Commissioner Lenko. I appreciate you
coming last night. Shared shared the
[43:21] survey link with with all of you. We'll
have a post up this week if you all can
[43:25] share that as well. We're just going to
get the word out. We had a great
[43:28] uh great participation last night.
Really interested and can really see the
[43:32] community going to come together and be
able to rebuild this this foundation
[43:35] that was a such a strong part of this
community for so long.
[43:39] » With budget woes and everything like
that. Like the
[43:41] » Yes.
>> getting the attention and
[43:42] » Yep.
>> the generosity of the neighborhood.
[43:44] » Yep. A lot of a lot of really great
ideas and a lot of people uh with great
[43:47] experience that are going to so, but
room for everybody.
[43:50] » Great. Awesome.
>> Excellent.
[43:52] » All right, thank you all. Appreciate it.
>> doing.
[43:56] » Commissioner Lenko.
>> Mr. Mayor, uh Planning Commission and
[43:59] DDA met uh was it April 27th? Our next
meeting will be July 27th in these
[44:06] chambers at 7:00. Uh there's a lot on
the plate last time and I mean evidence
[44:12] by the rest of our agenda. We're
>> Yeah, most of it's here.
[44:14] » Right.
>> Uh
[44:15] so as far as the write-up and the
summary and the yada yada, uh Jim's done
[44:19] a great job. Thank you, Jim and Kirsten,
like putting together the summaries on
[44:23] each ordinance and uh
yeah, so short-term rental regulations,
[44:28] the omnibus regulations,
ADU regs, and then Cambridge Woodward is
[44:34] uh
it's kind of moving, so at least the
[44:36] site plan was was approved, so
>> stuff.
[44:41] And for the folks here, thanks for
joining.
[44:43] The AP government that
yeah,
[44:47] super cool to see you guys here and
taking an interest in local government.
[44:51] Um yeah, it's a lot of
a lot of collaboration and you know,
[44:56] working with what's on the rules and
what needs to take place, but uh
[44:59] yeah, uh
normally planning commission DDA
[45:02] meetings are not sleepers, but there's
not usually like six things going on.
[45:07] And our city commission packet isn't
usually full of planning commission
[45:10] items, so I'm especially proud. So the
group did an awesome job. Do you have
[45:14] any questions on any of the particular
regs or ordinances?
[45:19] » No, I think we'll get to them.
>> Beautiful. Well,
[45:22] yeah, I guess in the interest of time,
let's tackle them as they're presented
[45:25] on the agenda. But
I'd encourage people to come July 27th
[45:30] if you're interested and
yeah, we'll get to the uh
[45:34] all of our stuff in a minute. Thanks.
>> Awesome, thank you.
[45:38] And last but not least, historical
commission, Commissioner Shumer.
[45:42] » Thank you, Mayor. Uh
the historical museum will be open this
[45:45] Saturday, the 16th. It's the 16th this
Saturday, right? Yes, the 16th from
[45:50] 10:00 until 12:00. So come to you know,
stop by the historical museum. As
[45:55] always, check out your folder, bring
pictures for the folder. They are also
[45:59] now trying to get um you come in or at
home writing a letter to future
[46:03] homeowners that can be put into your
file so that future people can read it.
[46:07] » That's cool.
>> Yeah, it is. It's very cool idea. I
[46:10] mean, it's cool a cool idea too if you
go to your folder and in the future find
[46:14] this letter.
So, um
[46:17] also 100-year tiles, if your house is
100, whether it turned 100 this year or
[46:22] in the past,
come by a tile. You can buy one here,
[46:25] you can buy it at the historical museum,
and I just picked up a box of like 100
[46:29] new tiles. So, we have plenty.
So,
[46:33] that's all I got.
>> Thank you.
[46:35] » Thank you.
>> Um we'll move on to governmental
[46:39] reports.
[46:44] » Good evening, everyone.
>> Good evening, Chief.
[46:46] » Uh
before I get started here, I just want
[46:49] to say that uh the fair coming up uh the
June fair in May.
[46:54] Um I love it. I miss it. I miss the
kids. Um a lot of the officers miss the
[46:58] kids being at Roosevelt. So, I have two
officers scheduled for that night that
[47:02] we do our walk around.
Um
[47:05] right before or right after I was
appointed Chief, someone came in the
[47:10] parking lot and they were talking to me
and they said, you know, "Oh, we're so
[47:13] happy that you became Chief." I said,
"Oh, thank you very much." And she said,
[47:16] "Do you remember when you lost when you
found my lost child?"
[47:19] I said,
"I don't."
[47:22] And she said it was the
it would have been the June fair of
[47:26] 2001. So, I was a cop that had been a
cop for about a week.
[47:31] » Jeez.
>> Apparently, I found her child and uh I
[47:35] although I don't remember it, um it just
makes me feel old because that child is
[47:39] now married.
Um but our officers will be there. Uh we
[47:44] love love being there and seeing the
kids and hanging out. So,
[47:47] » Thank you. Appreciate it.
>> Thanks for doing that there again rather
[47:49] than switching it over to the other
school.
[47:51] » Yeah, no one's ever moving, so.
>> Yeah, we appreciate it.
[47:54] Uh on to Pleasant Ridge stuff. Um
so, usually I say we're winning the war
[48:00] on crime.
If anyone saw Facebook this month, we
[48:04] did have some people that did not lock
their car doors.
[48:08] And they got some stuff taken out of
their cars.
[48:10] It was not an isolated incident just to
Pleasant Ridge. We checked with all of
[48:14] our law enforcement partners and it's
been happening in a lot of places. We
[48:18] usually tell you as soon as the the
weather starts to break a little bit, we
[48:22] have this happen. We did have one
vehicle that was stolen.
[48:26] Keys were with it. Don't leave your keys
in the car.
[48:31] Lieutenant Tyler talked to some more of
our law enforcement partners and went
[48:36] and scoured a certain area of
the city of Detroit and found her
[48:40] vehicle.
So, we recovered that vehicle, brought
[48:43] it back to her. She was very very happy
about that.
[48:47] Lock the vehicles.
Um
[48:49] » It's worth mentioning that if
quite often an insurance company will
[48:53] not consider the car stolen if you left
your keys in the car.
[48:56] So, it's not only a lost car, but
there's no no claim. So, something to
[49:02] think about.
>> Um
[49:05] Couple other things. Lieutenant Tyler
and I went to the Great Lakes Homeland
[49:08] Security Conference.
Participated in a bunch of different
[49:12] classes there. One of the ones that I
was especially interested in was the
[49:16] elder fraud. They had FBI agents going
through a bunch of different things,
[49:20] explaining a bunch of things. I don't
know if you remember when I talked about
[49:23] pig butchering a couple years ago.
Not the literal sense.
[49:28] The average lost on average loss on pig
butchering incident is $150,000 from the
[49:34] person. They just keep taking and taking
and taking until there's nothing left.
[49:38] Um
Couple key takeaways
[49:42] that I mean it shouldn't have to be
said, but I just want to tell you. If
[49:46] anyone asks you to go get anything from
a Bitcoin machine, call us. It's a scam.
[49:51] Something's going on.
Uh if anyone tells you you need gold
[49:54] bars because the government is moving
your money from one place to another,
[49:58] come talk to us. Um let us help you with
that. Uh the FBI agent said one thing
[50:03] that kind of made me laugh. She said uh
the she's been trying to fight against
[50:06] the bit uh Bitcoin ATMs. And I don't
know that this is an accurate statistic,
[50:12] but she said 98% of it is elder fraud
and the other 2% are drug dealers. So.
[50:18] Um
stay away from those. If anyone calls
[50:22] you wanting to have you transfer money,
do just call us. Call us before you do
[50:26] anything.
Last thing uh with the break in the
[50:29] weather, we've got scooter problems.
The uh electric scooters
[50:34] you can ride them on the streets.
They have the same as
[50:39] uh responsibilities as a car, a bike.
You have to abide by the traffic laws.
[50:44] You need to stay to the side of the
road. Um you can do that. However, if
[50:48] you are on the sidewalk because there
are some places
[50:52] the police department preferably would
like to see you on the sidewalk on Ridge
[50:55] because Ridge is a little bit crazier
now with the construction. But you have
[50:59] to yield to pedestrians at all times on
sidewalks. So, just a a note for
[51:02] everyone.
If your kids are out on the sidewalks,
[51:05] make sure that they know they have to
move over to the side. Let the
[51:07] pedestrians through. Um but we are
seeing some more of those. In fact, um
[51:12] Officer Brokey impounded, I believe it
was a moped that was going through
[51:16] Gainesville the other day. Uh driving
recklessly. So.
[51:20] If you have the kids with the mopeds,
the electric bikes, the
[51:25] electric scooters
let them know
[51:28] drive responsibly and uh won't have any
problems. So.
[51:32] Um and oh, last thing uh
just because you post something on
[51:37] Facebook does not mean that you have
reported it to the police department.
[51:41] So, please, if you have anything that
you need the police department to know,
[51:46] if you see someone suspicious, if you
had uh if you were a victim of a crime,
[51:49] if you whatever it may be, call us
directly.
[51:53] Don't post it on Facebook and think that
we're going to see it because we do not
[51:56] patrol Facebook. So.
Other than that, I'm here for any
[51:59] questions you may have.
>> Any questions?
[52:03] » No questions.
>> Thank you very much.
[52:05] » Thank you for your time. Appreciate it.
[52:10] » All right. Uh
[52:13] Oh, I'll wait for the
[52:17] Are we good? Okay. Um
[52:21] Uh consent agenda.
Uh just to
[52:24] bring some attention to a couple of the
things in our consent agenda this month.
[52:29] Uh we have one for gun violence
awareness day.
[52:33] Um and then also there's one to
celebrate Jewish American heritage
[52:38] month. Uh so I would encourage people to
just read the packets on those. Uh but I
[52:42] think we'll go ahead and take a vote.
>> A motion?
[52:45] » Or a motion. Motion before a vote.
>> Mayor, I move the consent agenda to be
[52:49] approved.
>> Second.
[52:52] » All right. Uh may we have a vote?
[52:57] » Commissioner Schmier?
>> Yes.
[52:59] » Commissioner Perry?
>> Yes.
[53:00] » Commissioner Budner?
>> Yes.
[53:03] » Mayor Scott?
>> Yes.
[53:06] 5 to 0.
Who? Okay.
[53:10] Uh the motion carries.
[53:14] Uh we'll move on to utility rates.
>> Okay.
[53:18] » Thank you.
[53:22] » Fiscal year '27.
Uh these are the proposed utility rates
[53:25] for adoption by resolution tonight. Uh
this is the first step in our budget
[53:29] process.
Um all of these things are adopted by
[53:32] resolution of the city commission. So
the proposed uh rate structure this year
[53:36] is a $53.36
ready to serve charge per bill,
[53:41] combined water and sewer usage rate of
$95.90,
[53:45] infrastructure charge of $0.93 per front
foot,
[53:48] and a garbage pickup fee of $31.23 per
bill, and then the
[53:53] stormwater runoff fee of $63.37
per equivalent residential unit.
[53:59] ERUs are a way of apportioning costs
based off runoff factors, and
[54:03] 10 years ago we did a study of the city
and it created districts. Uh
[54:07] They're very similar. They're assessors
districts.
[54:10] So, that's how ERUs are assigned to
properties.
[54:17] Uh inputs.
The largest inputs in the
[54:22] water rate structure are
capital improvements
[54:26] for the water main projects and lead
service line replacement.
[54:30] The items in yellow are our major
external inputs. Those are
[54:35] outside entities
that we pay for stormwater treatment.
[54:39] That's GWK, sewage treatment, which is
GLEEWA, water wholesale cost is
[54:43] SAQUA, and WRC is our maintenance
partner for water and sewer maintenance
[54:48] activities.
So, the percent increases you see
[54:53] overall,
the rate structure will result in about
[54:56] a 3.7% increase for
for the average water customer in
[55:02] Pleasant Ridge.
We are seeing very large percentage
[55:05] increases from our outside entities. So,
GLEEWA had a cap on 4% for 10 years
[55:12] after their creation. That ended. Um and
so now
[55:16] GLEEWA is passing along large cost
increases.
[55:20] Um GWK has been in the 5 to 7% cost
increase for the past few years. See,
[55:25] water wholesale cost is 10.6%, and
that's because SAQUA, like the rest of
[55:29] us, has um
50-70 year-old infrastructure at this
[55:34] point. And their capital improvement
program needs more money to maintain the
[55:39] SAWCUA system.
We benefit from SAWCUA quite a bit just
[55:43] from combined purchasing power. They
have a lot of storage and they can
[55:47] smooth out demand. They fill their tanks
at night and then empty them during the
[55:51] day. So, it's an overall benefit, but
one of the things that we're contending
[55:56] with right now is a $150,000 tank
inspection and painting bill. So,
[56:02] they're
undergoing a capital improvement program
[56:05] right now.
So, that's part of the increase we're
[56:08] seeing there. And then WRC maintenance,
a lot of this is related directly to the
[56:12] water main projects because we're using
WRC more than we normally would when we
[56:18] have them out working to do shut-offs
and exercising valves and just
[56:23] supporting our water main projects.
So, those those um
[56:28] items in yellow normally account for
about 60% of our total water fund cost.
[56:35] So, then you add on the capital
improvements as well. The items that are
[56:38] not in yellow are locally controlled and
you'll see that we've worked to minimize
[56:43] the cost percentage increases in those
items
[56:46] to try to get to that 3.7% overall cost
increase.
[56:53] And here, this is how the breakdown. So,
when you take out the cost of our water
[56:57] main projects, wholesale water and sewer
charges are 55% for supplying the water
[57:03] and then treating treating it when it
goes away. Operations and maintenance is
[57:07] another 20%, services, engineering,
utilities, insurance, that's about 12%.
[57:13] GWK debt, that's our share for
constructing the GWK facility. Those
[57:18] bonds is about 7% of our cost and then
the staff and uh
[57:22] it's about 6%.
[57:26] So, again, there's that 3.7% increase.
This may surprise you, but we're
[57:32] actually below average for our water
costs for uh Saqua communities. This is
[57:38] the Saqua rate survey.
Um, you'll see Pleasant Ridge, um,
[57:42] they they translate everything into
quarterly bills. There are a number of
[57:47] us that bill monthly or bi-monthly. Um,
so they translate everything into a
[57:52] quarterly bill cuz that is still the
most common billing frequency for
[57:55] communities. Um, the average cost for a
commu- uh resident is $706 for
[58:02] a quarter and we're below that at $691
and that also includes our water
[58:07] infrastructure millage cost, which is
above the utility rates.
[58:12] So, you know, believe it or not, we are
below average in terms of our cost
[58:16] structure.
[58:20] Uh, water infrastructure funding, um,
largely funded by uh thirds. The millage
[58:26] funds a third, the ready to serve charge
uh funds another third, and then the
[58:31] front foot infrastructure charge um,
funds the final third. Each component
[58:36] raises about $370,000.
[58:40] Uh, the water infrastructure project,
Oakdale, uh is so done mostly, but there
[58:46] are some cleanup and punch list items
that remain. Devonshire's in permitting
[58:50] right now, uh looking to get that going
late summer of this year, and Wellesley
[58:56] design has started. Um, if you live on
Wellesley, you may have seen all the
[58:59] flags, the blue flags are out. We're
locating the infrastructure where it is
[59:03] right now, so the engineers can take
that into account as they start the
[59:06] design work for Wellesley. That will uh
be next year. We're planning on that
[59:10] project in 2027.
Uh, so that is the um
[59:15] utility rates overview.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you
[59:18] have, and there is the suggested
resolution in your packet. Thank you.
[59:23] » Thank you. Were there any questions from
anyone?
[59:28] All right.
Uh Uh may we have a motion?
[59:33] » Mayor.
I move that the resolution regarding the
[59:36] 2026 to 2027 utility rates be adopted.
>> Second.
[59:42] » Uh could we have a vote?
>> Commissioner Schmier?
[59:46] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Budnick?
[59:47] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Lenko?
[59:48] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Perry?
[59:50] » Yes.
>> Mayor Scott?
[59:51] » Yes, the motion carries.
And we'll move on to budget.
[59:55] » Yes, thank you.
>> I will I will say just a little shout
[59:58] out to our uh
fellow neighboring mayor uh Mary Lynn
[1:00:02] Lixey is having her state of the city
address this evening. Um
[1:00:06] we tend to at least I tend to look at
the budget as a state of the city. Um
[1:00:10] you can tell a lot about a city by how
it manages its money and how it spends
[1:00:15] money and things and I I'm
uh exceedingly happy with where the city
[1:00:21] is at, uh where where what our standings
are and everything and of course happy
[1:00:25] to answer any questions at any time on
how we manage the city. It's uh we're in
[1:00:30] a pretty good spot.
>> As Jim
[1:00:32] » will elaborate.
>> Yes.
[1:00:35] Happy to do so.
>> Thank you.
[1:00:39] » The fiscal year '27 annual budget is
being introduced tonight. The request is
[1:00:44] to schedule the public hearing for June
9th.
[1:00:47] We will get that notice in the paper
once you uh move to schedule it.
[1:00:51] The budget is available for review right
now on the website. Uh action will be
[1:00:55] taken on the budget in June and it
becomes effective uh July 1 of this
[1:01:00] year.
The uh budget is available at this link.
[1:01:04] cityofpleasantridge.org
/budget
[1:01:10] Millage rates. The 2025 millage rate was
uh for the city uh
[1:01:15] part of your the homeowners overall
millage uh was 21.3235.
[1:01:21] This
uh this year it's proposed at 21.0324
[1:01:26] mils. So, there will be a small uh 1.4%
reduction in our local millage rate.
[1:01:31] Um you can see how that's evolved over
time. Uh this year our rollback factor
[1:01:35] is 0.9883 from properties becoming
uncapped.
[1:01:40] Our property tax uh
revenue growth is 3.2%.
[1:01:45] Uh our taxable value growth was 4.65%.
So, as that millage rolled back,
[1:01:50] homeowners who have lived here uh see
their
[1:01:53] their uh
property tax payments increase at a rate
[1:01:56] lower than inflation because of the
pop-ups under Prop A.
[1:02:01] Uh our overall reduction this year is
0.2911 mils. And um you can see now that
[1:02:06] we're actually on an absolute term
below uh where the millage rate was in
[1:02:11] 2021 when uh before the water
infrastructure millage was passed. So,
[1:02:16] that 1.7 mil uh water infrastructure
millage came online in 2022. And uh just
[1:02:22] through the dropping off and reduction
of the parks improvement millage and
[1:02:26] then rolling back and reducing other
millages, um you can see the pool debt
[1:02:29] millage continues to go down
um faster than uh inflation. Um so, our
[1:02:35] millage rate is now lower than it was
when we approved the water
[1:02:38] infrastructure millage.
[1:02:41] Quick overview of revenues. You can see
how that millage rate has evolved over
[1:02:45] time.
Uh going back to the mid-80s. Um stays
[1:02:48] fairly consistent um kind of hovering
around that 20 level.
[1:02:54] I noted that uh our local millage rate
is about 21 mils and uh less than half
[1:02:59] of every tax property tax dollar paid uh
comes to us. The remainder goes to other
[1:03:04] taxing entities. Uh Ferndale School
District is the um second largest. And
[1:03:09] then you have the county operating and
intermediate school districts, community
[1:03:13] college, transportation, and then other
is the zoo, the Art Institute, um
[1:03:19] county parks,
some of those other
[1:03:22] smaller levies.
When you look at us in context, our
[1:03:26] local millage rate is
kind of middle of the pack in terms of
[1:03:30] absolute terms.
Um
[1:03:33] when you look at median household
income, we're at the higher level. So,
[1:03:37] there's kind of a cluster of communities
that are
[1:03:40] different than the rest. Um property tax
revenue per capita, as you would expect,
[1:03:43] uh is consistent with that.
Total revenue per capita, again,
[1:03:48] consistent with that. This has increased
as we've brought the water
[1:03:51] infrastructure project online.
Um
[1:03:55] It's a necessary project, but it's
required us to um increase some of our
[1:03:59] revenues.
Um property tax revenue per capita by
[1:04:02] millage rate, uh what this shows is that
uh
[1:04:08] Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Orchard
Lake, Pleasant Ridge, Huntington Woods,
[1:04:10] who kind of uh we occupy that same um
demographic profile,
[1:04:15] and we tend to generate roughly the same
amount of property tax revenue per
[1:04:20] capita
with very different millage rates that
[1:04:23] get you to that bottom line dollar. And
what that points to is just that there's
[1:04:26] a cost to run a city that is pretty
consistent. You just have to generate
[1:04:30] the revenues to to run a city, and
everything adjusts to get you to that
[1:04:35] level. Um
these are
[1:04:37] generally higher service providing
communities. Um
[1:04:43] Household uh
revenue per household as a percentage of
[1:04:46] median household income, this is just a
question of is it affordable?
[1:04:49] And you see that most communities
cluster, we're right in the middle of
[1:04:52] the pack in terms of affordability,
about 6% of uh median household income
[1:04:57] is revenue to the city, um what we take
in in revenue.
[1:05:02] Um
So, again, we're consistent there.
[1:05:06] When you look at general fund revenue by
source, adjusted for inflation over
[1:05:09] time, um the thing that really stands
out is over time we've had to rely more
[1:05:14] on property tax revenue to support
ourselves. And you see the orange line,
[1:05:18] the orange kind of blob was state shared
revenue, which continues to decline um
[1:05:24] quite a bit.
And so, um, the other the other lines
[1:05:28] are are fairly consistent and charges
for services have, uh, increased greatly
[1:05:32] in the middle and then reduced over time
as well.
[1:05:36] Um, you can see that that's kind of a
consistent total, um
[1:05:41] total revenue that we've operated on
right around that $4 million a year for
[1:05:44] general fund um, over the course of the
last 40 years.
[1:05:48] This is just normalized to, uh, one, uh,
as a percentage basis and again it shows
[1:05:54] the decline of shared revenue, the
decline of charges for services and the
[1:05:58] increase in, uh, taxes and assessments
to fund the city as those other
[1:06:03] things decline, um
you know, to
[1:06:07] School Board member Deal Averns' point,
the state never increases funding. Um,
[1:06:11] so, in the '80s we were taking in
$800,000 a year of inflation adjusted
[1:06:17] shared revenue and now we're, uh, a
little bit over $300,000 a year. So, you
[1:06:21] know, that's a notable difference.
[1:06:27] Uh, property tax value trend, you can
see the compression that occurred in the
[1:06:31] wake of the, um, Great Recession.
As assessed values dropped, taxable
[1:06:37] values also dropped and then we've
continued to um, get a pretty consistent
[1:06:41] pathway, um, since then with both
taxable and assessed property values.
[1:06:46] The
taxable property value trend, however,
[1:06:50] this points out something that during
times when property values decrease,
[1:06:54] state, uh, the state taxing regime
uh, limits revenue growth for local
[1:07:00] communities when things are growing, but
when there's an instance where property
[1:07:04] values decline, there's no catch-up
method. There's no way of regaining or
[1:07:09] clawing back that revenue. Um so that I
call the Headlee gap because after the
[1:07:14] Great Recession, communities everywhere
had to do Headlee overrides. Um
[1:07:19] 2012 to 14 really is when that all
happened. It happened here.
[1:07:23] To make up for that permanent step down
in taxable value on a inflation-adjusted
[1:07:28] basis over time.
So it's a it's inevitable. It's a
[1:07:33] staircase down in terms of taxable
values. It's going to happen again at
[1:07:37] some point.
[1:07:42] Uh and again, after that after the Great
Recession, it took 10 years to even get
[1:07:48] back to inflation-adjusted taxable
values.
[1:07:51] So that was just the the scope of that
uh
[1:07:55] that event.
Expenses, what are we spending our money
[1:07:57] on?
Total expenditures per capita, um again,
[1:08:01] just like revenues, we're up there.
Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Huntington
[1:08:03] Woods, uh us, Royal Oak are at the
higher end for expenditures per capita.
[1:08:09] Uh but again, expenses per household as
a percentage of median household income,
[1:08:12] we're again at that lower end of So is
the question of is the community
[1:08:17] affordable? Yes, we are for the people
who live here.
[1:08:20] Uh police expenditures per capita is
higher. We spend more, uh but you see
[1:08:25] that this is really driven by a small
community.
[1:08:28] Lathrup Village is right up there as
well. Um it's like flying an airplane.
[1:08:31] You have to have wings and a pilot and a
co-pilot. Um and it just costs money to
[1:08:36] have that basic structure to have a city
and a police force in a small town. And
[1:08:41] when you look at number of officers per
capita, we have a higher number here
[1:08:45] because there's a you have to have six
to seven full-time guys to run a 24/7
[1:08:49] police department. So we just have more
officers per capita um as a necessity.
[1:08:55] When you look at total public safety
expenditures per capita, this accounts
[1:08:58] for fire and police.
Uh
[1:09:01] on a total basis, we're very um
normal in terms of expenditures per
[1:09:06] capita.
Where do we spend our money? Well, we
[1:09:10] have a pool, and it's a hole in the
ground we throw money into. Um
[1:09:14] Uh Huntington Woods as well. So, that's
that's the big uh story in terms of
[1:09:20] why are our expenditures higher than
some other communities? We have a pool.
[1:09:25] And it's great, but we have a pool.
>> And we want it.
[1:09:28] » Yes.
Uh water and sewer expenses per capita,
[1:09:33] our water infrastructure project is
starting to really come in line uh on
[1:09:36] the line, and those those expenditures
are flowing through into the budget now.
[1:09:39] So, we are on the higher end of water
and sewer expenses per capita um at this
[1:09:44] point. This does account for those
infrastructure projects um inflating our
[1:09:49] our water and sewer budget. But, still
we're not outrageous uh by any means
[1:09:54] when we have to rebuild our entire water
system on the fly, um that's that's a
[1:09:59] big undertaking.
This is a good news story here about our
[1:10:02] pension funded level uh continues to
increase. We're over 70% now.
[1:10:07] You can see the trajectory that we were
on, and in 2017, the voters did approve
[1:10:11] a police pension stabilization millage.
All of that money has gone into excess
[1:10:15] contributions into the pension fund. Um
and you can see where it took a couple
[1:10:19] years for it to really turn around. Um
part of that was some of the returns um
[1:10:24] before COVID, but as that that uh
millage phased in over time. So, it was
[1:10:29] a 1.4 mil uh approved, but it phased in
at 0.35 mils per year over 4 years. So,
[1:10:36] when that funding really started to
fully come in online in 2021, you can
[1:10:39] see our
uh police pension funding level is um
[1:10:44] dramatically increasing. So, um I am
hopeful we're on track to solve this uh
[1:10:50] unfunded uh pension problem by the time
that that uh police pension millage ends
[1:10:55] around 2031 or two, which isn't that far
away now.
[1:10:59] » So, that's the overview, the high-level
overview
[1:11:02] of the budget. Largely, it's status quo.
We continue to fund water infrastructure
[1:11:06] projects and do all the things we're
doing around town.
[1:11:10] Um nothing new or major planned in terms
of changes or um
[1:11:16] patterns in spending.
Consistent from year to year.
[1:11:20] Um the one thing I didn't hit on in the
presentation was city commission policy
[1:11:24] is to maintain a 75 70 to 80% um general
fund fund balance, which we did achieve
[1:11:29] a couple years ago, and now we're we're
hovering in that um in that area. Higher
[1:11:35] than most communities, but again, that's
a small community number. The a smaller
[1:11:39] community, one thing can have a major
impact on a budget, whereas a larger
[1:11:42] community,
you can spread things out a little bit
[1:11:45] more. Um so, we
uh maintain probably a higher fund
[1:11:48] balance than most do, but
it's a reflection of who we are.
[1:11:53] » And it's for the size of our community,
it's
[1:11:57] actually commendable to be able to get
to this, you know, level of um
[1:12:02] of savings and um
fund balances and things, cuz other
[1:12:07] small communities are
just can't or don't.
[1:12:12] » Yeah.
>> Um
[1:12:15] uh so, uh we uh
we'll also have um a public hearing on
[1:12:21] this in June.
Assuming that this uh
[1:12:24] motion carries.
>> You're looking at me cuz I make cuz I
[1:12:27] make all of the motions. No, no, no, I
was thinking I'm going to make
[1:12:29] » No, I would say have a comment there.
>> Sure. Yes, please.
[1:12:32] » Cuz there is um one of the really nice
things with this budget is the narrative
[1:12:36] that uh the city manager writes up
front. So, it makes it very it's a very
[1:12:41] digestible document, and it helps sort
of understand the history of where we've
[1:12:45] been as well as where we're going, and
talks about the three-year funding and
[1:12:50] all of um or budgeting that, you know,
it
[1:12:54] it helps it all really make sense um in
a way that sometimes just looking at the
[1:12:58] numbers doesn't. So,
um
[1:13:02] it's a
Have fun reading it. You know,
[1:13:05] uh it it's not that long even and it's
but it it
[1:13:10] I don't know. I it's really good.
>> If uh as someone that has read other
[1:13:14] cities' budgets, which sounds very
boring, but it sometimes you have to.
[1:13:18] » Yeah.
>> I can say that our budget is actually
[1:13:20] digestible. So,
I have no problem at all sitting down
[1:13:24] with somebody and going through line
items in our budget if there's ever a
[1:13:28] question about where where everyone's
money's going.
[1:13:31] » Well, and there are awards for these
things, so.
[1:13:34] » Right.
>> For budget writing, but anyway.
[1:13:36] » All right.
>> Yeah. Mayor, I would
[1:13:38] I'd like to add
a second to checking my retirement
[1:13:43] balances, the next thing I check is our
parks and rec endowment balance. I like
[1:13:48] to check in with Jim to see what it's
and it's such a phenomenal thing that
[1:13:51] the city with former Mayor Castelli,
Mayor Scott and in our city manager have
[1:13:56] done is we've taken money that we
we received from 696 essentially
[1:14:01] in the late '80s and then we have now
invested it over the last, let's say, 10
[1:14:05] years ish.
And that money has grown from 1.
[1:14:08] 7 million to almost 400 or almost $4
million now and that also includes the
[1:14:13] roughly $300,000 worth of improvements
we've pumped into the community
[1:14:18] being the
both the uh
[1:14:22] Well, the Foreridge the
room, the big room. Then we had Was the
[1:14:27] city chambers part of that?
>> Uh
[1:14:29] » Or just the pavilion? The two pavilions.
>> So, pretty phenomenal to have those
[1:14:35] those come out and we're still
double.
[1:14:38] » So many parks projects.
>> They're really just
[1:14:41] » been great.
>> Yeah.
[1:14:42] » We've also used it to leverage paying
down Gainsborough. It's it's been a
[1:14:45] great tool and asset to the city.
>> Mhm.
[1:14:49] » Mhm.
>> Cool. Yes.
[1:14:51] » Just one observation. Great job.
Awesome framing it too in terms of how
[1:14:56] we compare to the other communities.
Especially for these young guys, I want
[1:15:00] to point out
how policy kind of shifts and changes
[1:15:04] from its original
I guess inspiration or like why it goes
[1:15:09] into effect. But that state revenue
sharing to put in perspective 800,000 in
[1:15:14] the '80s
is like 2.4 million dollars in today's
[1:15:18] dollars. So that's and what are we
getting like 300k now? So
[1:15:22] » Roughly.
>> So we're not So we're getting 300k when
[1:15:26] you use the time machine to like when
these rules were set up, we should we
[1:15:29] should actually be getting like two
extra million dollars, which is
[1:15:32] half the budget.
So we ask our state reps for this,
[1:15:37] but
[1:15:40] to no avail. But anyways, just just to
kind of pin that as as one of those I
[1:15:45] don't know, thorns in our side. Um and
I don't know, as you're looking at
[1:15:49] things like gas taxes or all these other
like
[1:15:51] just make sure that the money is going
to the thing that's supposed to do
[1:15:55] rather than it to the general fund,
which gets siphoned into like every
[1:15:59] direction.
>> Literally the buck stops with every
[1:16:02] city.
>> Uh-huh. So you'll see laws that occur on
[1:16:06] the federal level and the state level.
Ultimately it's a city manager and a
[1:16:09] city clerk that has to make something
happen.
[1:16:12] And
or not happen.
[1:16:16] The right you know, just to make it
happen the right way.
[1:16:19] And so I'm excited that we've been able
to sort of manage those
[1:16:24] the those moments good and bad from the
federal and the state level.
[1:16:30] » Be cool to have an extra two million
bucks.
[1:16:31] » Yeah.
[1:16:34] All right.
>> Mayor.
[1:16:37] » Oh.
[1:16:40] » Mayor, I move the public hearing be
established for Tuesday, June 9th, 2026
[1:16:45] at 7:30 p.m.
to solicit public comments on the
[1:16:50] proposed fiscal year 2026 to 2027
millage rates and combined city budgets.
[1:16:57] » Second.
May we have a vote?
[1:17:00] » Commissioner Perry.
>> Yes.
[1:17:01] » Commissioner Lenko.
>> Yes.
[1:17:03] » Commissioner Budnick.
>> Yes.
[1:17:04] » Commissioner Schmier.
>> Yes.
[1:17:06] » Mayor Scott.
>> Yes, the motion carries.
[1:17:10] All right. Uh onto the fun topics.
Although I find budgets fun. Um
[1:17:16] Uh short-term rentals zoning.
>> Yes.
[1:17:19] Let me get there in my
[1:17:28] » Okay, thank you. Um short-term rentals
and I can
[1:17:32] pull up the ordinances on the screen if
we need to look through them there, but
[1:17:36] um
I don't
[1:17:37] know if we'll need to.
Um short-term rental, uh this is uh not
[1:17:41] a new topic. We've been discussing it
for almost a year now at the city
[1:17:44] commission,
uh but we're getting to the pointy end
[1:17:48] of the stick at this point. Um
the planning commission held public
[1:17:52] hearing on the zoning portion of this
two ordinance amendment at their April
[1:17:57] 27th meeting.
Um
[1:18:00] recommended approval to the city
commission.
[1:18:03] Uh these ordinances are being introduced
to you tonight to schedule a public
[1:18:06] hearing for the June 9th, 2026 meeting.
Uh the two ordinances would regulate the
[1:18:11] operation of short-term rentals within
the city. The zoning amendment uh would
[1:18:15] allow short-term rentals in the multiple
family and commercial districts while
[1:18:19] allowing the existing um short-term
rental units which are operating to
[1:18:24] continue as existing non-conforming uses
um subject to them being currently
[1:18:29] licensed as uh rental properties with a
landlord license.
[1:18:34] The uh licensing ordinance establishes
short-term rental operation and
[1:18:37] management requirements.
The, um, zoning, uh, ordinance, um,
[1:18:43] again, allows these only in multi-family
and commercial districts, which are
[1:18:46] largely along largely along Woodward.
The, uh, licensing and operational
[1:18:51] standards, just a brief overview, annual
licensing, uh, is required.
[1:18:56] They have to be renewed each year. Um,
there's an application process spelled
[1:18:59] out in the ordinance.
Uh, operational requirements include a
[1:19:03] maximum, uh, occupancy of two adults per
bedroom with a total overnight occupancy
[1:19:07] cap of eight people per unit. Quiet
hours, uh, 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
[1:19:13] Prohibitions, uh, explicitly bans
fireworks, open burning, recreational
[1:19:17] fire pits, subletting, commercial
events, yard sales, uh, at short-term
[1:19:21] properties.
The owner or designated agent, uh, of
[1:19:25] the property must be available 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week as the responsible
[1:19:29] party. Must respond to any issue or
complaint within an hour.
[1:19:33] Uh, there are some parking standards,
uh, RVs, tents, similar vehicles are
[1:19:36] prohibited, parking must not block
emergency vehicle access, uh, ingress
[1:19:40] points on the street, sidewalks,
neighboring properties, etc.
[1:19:44] Uh,
required posting, that there has to be a
[1:19:48] posting in the, um,
in the unit and online in the listing,
[1:19:53] um, addressing all of these standards,
and then some enforcement standards as
[1:19:57] well.
Transition transition for existing
[1:20:00] operators, uh, the zoning ordinance
includes a provision for, um,
[1:20:06] currently operating short-term rentals,
which will no longer be a, uh, which
[1:20:10] would no longer be allowed to, uh,
maintain and qualify for non-conforming
[1:20:15] status.
The operator must currently hold a valid
[1:20:18] landlord license under Chapter 18 and
also be able to demonstrate that the
[1:20:21] property was in use as a short-term
rental prior to the enactment date of
[1:20:25] the zoning ordinance.
Um, if they are a qualifying
[1:20:29] non-conforming operator, they have a
90-day window following the effective
[1:20:33] date to apply for the short-term rental
license. And if they do and obtain the
[1:20:37] license within that window, they'll be
treated as a legal non-conforming use
[1:20:41] allowing them to continue operating in
their current zoning district provided
[1:20:44] that they remain continuously licensed
and in compliance with the operational
[1:20:48] standards
of the new chapter 18 licensing
[1:20:51] ordinance.
Uh short-term rentals that are currently
[1:20:54] operating without a valid landlord
license do not qualify for
[1:20:57] non-conforming status as they were not
legal uses prior to a short-term
[1:21:01] uh rental ordinance adoption.
So, that's the overview of the two
[1:21:06] ordinances.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you
[1:21:09] have. Um
One thing I would point out is at the
[1:21:12] planning commission uh
planning commission chairman Galloway uh
[1:21:18] pointed out that Dearborn Heights is
being sued over their short-term rental
[1:21:21] ordinance.
They enacted a total ban and did and had
[1:21:25] no provision for non-conforming uses.
They're being sued
[1:21:29] by a
somebody who's uh was operating a
[1:21:33] short-term rental prior to the
ordinance.
[1:21:36] Um that's a significant distinction
between their ordinance and ours with
[1:21:40] our provisions for um existing
non-conforming uses.
[1:21:43] Um and uh
city attorney Neid has reviewed that
[1:21:47] lawsuit and he's confident that our
approach is
[1:21:52] um
is valid and defensible and we should be
[1:21:56] fine with this approach. They got I
I couldn't believe they actually
[1:22:01] tried to do that cuz
it's just a lawsuit waiting to happen
[1:22:04] for their approach. So.
>> Mhm.
[1:22:06] » Great.
[1:22:08] » Okay. Any questions? I'd be happy to
answer them. Uh requested action is
[1:22:11] scheduling the public hearing.
>> Mr. Mayor?
[1:22:14] » Yes.
>> I was it was interesting cuz at the
[1:22:16] planning commission the legal
non-conforming was one of the big
[1:22:20] questions that they were asking too and
trying to push back on and like how it's
[1:22:25] it
it yeah, it's an interesting
[1:22:29] um
pain point on that thing. Now, you had
[1:22:34] mentioned you said um and I'm being
nitpicky, so forgive me. Like you said
[1:22:38] something about it's largely along
Woodward. Is there something outside of
[1:22:42] that when uh you were saying that our
zoning that's allowing it right now?
[1:22:46] » I believe it's all along Woodward.
>> Okay.
[1:22:49] » But I don't want to say that
>> Okay.
[1:22:51] » without the zoning map in front of me to
confirm.
[1:22:52] » Right.
>> Okay.
[1:22:55] » I did look at the zoning map, too, and
it does appear, as Jim said, both
[1:23:00] multi-family and commercial appears to
only be on Woodward from
[1:23:06] my interpretation of the colors on the
zoning map.
[1:23:12] » Is there anything that could be built
[1:23:17] in the future
that would fit that like you know
[1:23:23] what is
in
[1:23:26] uh what's the Woodward area that the
um
[1:23:31] like how the condos are fitting that?
>> So, any
[1:23:34] structure any property that is not
already
[1:23:38] uh a rental property could not become a
short-term rental property
[1:23:43] as I understand it. And it would have to
be built within the next whatever number
[1:23:46] of days following the
>> Well, if it's in the commercial
[1:23:49] district, it could become a short-term
rental.
[1:23:51] » Right.
>> Oh, in the commercial district?
[1:23:53] » Yes.
>> Mhm.
[1:23:55] » Mhm.
>> Mhm.
[1:23:56] » But again, that's And that's important
because uh exclusionary zoning claims
[1:24:00] are another
>> Yes.
[1:24:02] » vector by which our ordinance could be
challenged.
[1:24:05] » So.
>> So, Iron Ridge?
[1:24:07] » Uh well, that's that's
not commercial or multiple family.
[1:24:13] » Oh, you're right. Mhm.
But the the uh the
[1:24:18] » It's not commercial.
>> No, I think it's workplace.
[1:24:21] » Okay.
>> It's It's a hybrid industrial
[1:24:23] » Yeah.
>> commercial district that allows for a
[1:24:26] wider range than a normal commercial
district.
[1:24:28] » Interesting. There are two restaurants
going in back there, by the way.
[1:24:30] » Yeah.
>> Which is really great. And we kind of
[1:24:33] blew the doors wide open cuz
[1:24:36] It's over there on the other side of the
train tracks.
[1:24:38] » It's tough.
>> It's pretty tough.
[1:24:39] » Um but the exclusionary zoning thing is
important as well. So the the theory is
[1:24:43] that a a short-term rental use is more
like a commercial land use than a
[1:24:46] residential land use because of its
nature. So it's appropriate in a
[1:24:49] commercial district. So that's the legal
theory upon which the zoning
[1:24:53] um decision is predicated.
>> Mhm.
[1:24:56] Thank you.
[1:24:59] » No, I have no question. I mean, I have
no additional questions. I feel
[1:25:04] really comfortable and I think we did a
really good job of
[1:25:07] um
of setting guidelines for the existing
[1:25:11] non-conforming, also limiting the future
ones to more appropriate areas.
[1:25:17] Um and I'm glad we did it, honestly. I
mean, we're seeing in the news more and
[1:25:20] more cities facing this issue and and
dealing with it. So I'm glad we
[1:25:26] got ahead of it and are hopefully almost
done with it.
[1:25:29] » Mhm.
Yes, thanks to everyone that's come to
[1:25:31] meetings and
discuss the topic. Thanks to the
[1:25:34] pleasant uh excuse me, to the uh
to the planning commission for giving us
[1:25:39] a good start.
>> Mhm.
[1:25:43] » I won't look at anyone. I'll just look
ahead. What Could we have a motion?
[1:25:47] » Mayor. I move that a public hearing be
established for Tuesday, June 9th at
[1:25:50] 7:30 to solicit public comments on the
proposed short-term rental zoning
[1:25:54] licensing ordinance amendment.
>> Second.
[1:25:58] » Okay, we have a vote.
>> Commissioner Alenko?
[1:26:01] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Schmier?
[1:26:03] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Budnick?
[1:26:05] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Perry?
[1:26:06] » Yes.
>> Mayor Scott?
[1:26:07] » Yes. The motion carries.
All right, on to accessory dwellings.
[1:26:14] » Yes.
>> Uh one of the things that we heard from
[1:26:17] the last uh community master plan uh
effort was that there is was uh quite a
[1:26:23] bit of support for allowing accessory
dwelling units um
[1:26:28] from the community during that process.
So, the planning commission set to work
[1:26:33] and uh is recommend had a public hearing
on the proposed ordinance and uh that's
[1:26:36] being presented to you tonight
uh with a request to schedule a public
[1:26:41] hearing at the June 9, 2026 meeting.
The uh proposed accessory dwelling unit
[1:26:46] ordinance, it's in their packet,
available for review, but a summary of
[1:26:49] the proposed regulations
uh is that the planning commission will
[1:26:53] be the approving body for the first 10
applications. Um after 10 applications
[1:26:58] the planning commission will review the
ordinance and approval process, see if
[1:27:01] there's any necessary changes based on
the working experience they gain um as
[1:27:05] the approving body.
Um and then at that time, these could be
[1:27:08] administratively approved or approved
continued at the planning commission or
[1:27:11] some other process, but what we will
determine. Um oftentimes ADUs are an
[1:27:15] administrative approval process, but
this is a way of making sure that our um
[1:27:21] our standards are working as intended
and that the planning commission has the
[1:27:23] ability and
process to to see these come through.
[1:27:28] Property owners within 300 ft uh of the
proposed site on the same street, and
[1:27:33] then property owners within 100 ft of
the property not on the same street, so
[1:27:36] think of neighbors behind,
uh will be mailed notice of the
[1:27:40] application prior to the planning
commission meeting where the application
[1:27:43] will be reviewed so that they are aware
of the proposal.
[1:27:46] Design standards are included in the
ordinance um including a 5-ft setback
[1:27:50] requirement from any property line.
Um the typical is a 3-ft minimum setback
[1:27:55] for an uh detached accessory uh
dwelling, but or um
[1:27:59] structure.
But if it's an accessory dwelling unit,
[1:28:03] there has to be a 5-ft setback.
Um 18-ft maximum height measured to the
[1:28:07] midpoint, requiring that one of the
dwelling units, either the main uh
[1:28:12] dwelling unit or the accessory dwelling
unit, be owner-occupied,
[1:28:16] that no part of any property containing
an ADU may be used as a short-term
[1:28:20] rental, that ADUs have their own
dedicated water service and meter,
[1:28:24] that one dedicated off-street parking
space be provided for the accessory
[1:28:28] dwelling unit, and then there are some
design standards for the design of the
[1:28:30] structure itself that are largely in
keeping with our exterior design
[1:28:33] standards applicable broadly in the
community.
[1:28:38] A restrictive covenant must be filed
with the county register of deeds
[1:28:41] describing these requirements for the
purpose of making any prospective buyer
[1:28:45] of the property in the future aware of
the restrictions that come along with
[1:28:48] the accessory dwelling unit on the
property.
[1:28:52] And then there are some enforcement
enforcement and if necessary revocation
[1:28:56] of ADU approval procedures.
So, I'd be happy to answer any specific
[1:29:01] questions you have about the ordinance.
And again, the request is to schedule
[1:29:05] public hearing for the June 9th, 2026
City Commission meeting.
[1:29:11] » Mayor, I do have one question. Just a
clarification actually. Under
[1:29:17] enforcement
section two
[1:29:20] A.
So, that would be page four of five.
[1:29:24] Where it says revoke or modify the ADU
ADU approval, if revoked, the
[1:29:28] improvements added to convert the
accessory structure into an accessory
[1:29:32] dwelling unit shall be removed within 45
days of the City Commission decision.
[1:29:37] And I'm just curious what that means. I
mean, we're not tearing down the
[1:29:40] building, are we? I mean, is it capping?
Can you just explain that section, what
[1:29:44] that looks like?
>> Sure. So, right now our ordinance states
[1:29:48] that you can't you can't have a
combination of utilities to an accessory
[1:29:51] building that would allow it to be
converted to a habitable dwelling space.
[1:29:55] » Mhm.
>> So, a combination of utilities is
[1:29:58] functionally electric, water, and sewer.
>> Mhm.
[1:30:00] » So, you can only have two of those right
now.
[1:30:02] » Mhm.
>> So,
[1:30:05] removing the
um
[1:30:08] the improvements
that would allow it to be used as
[1:30:11] accessory dwelling unit. Well, that
would be cooking facilities and sanitary
[1:30:15] facilities. So, bathrooms, showers,
water, sewer.
[1:30:19] That would be determined by what the
property owner wanted to do to take that
[1:30:24] out. So, it would just be removing
toilets or capping water service or
[1:30:28] » removing if they had the three, removing
one, two. Okay.
[1:30:31] » Right.
>> Okay.
[1:30:32] » And part of that part of that is the why
we require a separate dedicated water
[1:30:37] line and meter.
The
[1:30:40] The sanitary can tie into the main house
sanitary line that runs out because
[1:30:44] that, you know, that's less of a
concern, but
[1:30:48] the water service with a shutoff and a
meter
[1:30:51] uh becomes our enforcement mechanism um
for for some of these things.
[1:30:56] » Okay.
>> Thank you. I just I assumed it was
[1:30:58] something along those lines, but as I
was reading it, I was like, are we
[1:31:01] taking down the building? Like, what are
we doing here?
[1:31:03] » Right.
>> Which seemed, of course, insane, but
[1:31:05] thank you for clarifying.
[1:31:09] Um yes. Thank you.
>> The um so, the maximum height of
[1:31:15] a garage or whatever the secondary unit
is is 18 ft and that's at the peak?
[1:31:21] » No, that's at the midpoint.
>> Oh, that's at the mid
[1:31:24] » So, our ordinance measures the maximum
building height to the midpoint between
[1:31:28] the eaves and the peak of the roof.
Typically, that's how uh
[1:31:33] building height for pitched roofs is
measured in in just about every zoning
[1:31:36] ordinance everywhere for principal
structures.
[1:31:38] » Okay.
>> Most ordinances regulate accessory
[1:31:42] building height to the peak, but we
don't and never have. So, our accessory
[1:31:46] building uh maximum height is 15 ft
measured to the midpoint, which allows
[1:31:52] for taller garages.
Um the 18 ft gives you some extra height
[1:31:56] because likely, you know, if you still
have garage space on the first floor and
[1:31:59] this is a second floor accessory
dwelling unit, you need that extra
[1:32:02] height to make the habitable space
>> above. So, 18 ft is a
[1:32:08] a middle ground. It's it's doable for a
dwelling unit,
[1:32:11] but it's it's not it's also not as high
as we allow for a principal structure,
[1:32:15] which is 30 ft to the midpoint.
>> Okay.
[1:32:20] » Also, that correct including a sightline
and all of the other things required in
[1:32:24] our design guidelines.
>> Yes.
[1:32:29] » And it's in relation also to the primary
um structure on the property. Is it uh
[1:32:37] say if it's 18 ft, it can also
Is it rel-
[1:32:42] » Can it be taller than the home?
>> Can it be taller? Thanks.
[1:32:44] » Is that your question?
>> Thanks, Brett.
[1:32:50] » Uh there is nothing in here that uh
[1:32:54] says that the accessory dwelling unit
can't be taller than the principal
[1:32:58] structure currently.
[1:33:01] » Is that something we should consider?
Or
[1:33:06] um
[1:33:08] uh
just for you keeping with the character
[1:33:12] of the community and things like that,
like building something. I know there
[1:33:17] are size limitations and things like
that, right? It's like a percentage of
[1:33:21] the square footage of the
>> Yes.
[1:33:23] » principal property.
>> I you know, I don't
[1:33:26] My opinion is I don't know that we need
to worry about the accessory dwelling
[1:33:30] unit being taller than the principal
structure because 18 ft is still much
[1:33:33] shorter than you can build for a
principal
[1:33:35] » Okay.
>> structure.
[1:33:36] » I probably own one of the five homes in
Wilson Ridge where the garage would be
[1:33:40] taller than the home.
>> Yes, there's a very small number.
[1:33:44] » Yeah.
>> And I think since I've been here, we've
[1:33:45] lost half of our
of our ranches. So.
[1:33:49] » Yeah.
[1:33:54] » And just to clarify I I was at the DDA
meeting watching. Um
[1:34:00] there could be a two-level ADU also.
>> Mhm.
[1:34:05] » In that situation though, they wouldn't
be allowed to have a garage. Is that
[1:34:08] correct? That you you can only have one
additional
[1:34:11] » You can have one a detached uh
accessory building right now. So, if you
[1:34:16] choose to make that a two-story
accessory dwelling unit, then yes, you
[1:34:21] cannot have another
>> So, you cannot have a garage and
[1:34:25] » a third structure.
>> and a third structure.
[1:34:26] » You can have an attached garage.
>> Mhm.
[1:34:29] » If the garage is attached to your house,
then fine. And then you get one detached
[1:34:33] structure.
>> Mhm.
[1:34:34] » And that detached structure could have
garage space and dwelling space.
[1:34:39] » Mhm.
>> However, you configure it.
[1:34:40] » Yes.
>> Yeah.
[1:34:43] » Fitting the square footage of
>> This the 700
[1:34:46] 700 square feet.
>> Whatever it is for your property.
[1:34:49] » But you were saying to I mean, you could
stack it, so it could be 1,500. It's a
[1:34:52] 750 footprint.
>> Yep.
[1:34:55] Or 35% of the size of
>> Mhm.
[1:34:59] » your house.
>> Okay.
[1:35:02] » And it can be a
long-term rental. It can't be a
[1:35:06] short-term rental.
>> Correct.
[1:35:08] » And the
>> Oh.
[1:35:10] » owner of the property has to be
permanently in one of the spaces.
[1:35:16] And
um
[1:35:21] There
>> And these are the And these are all the
[1:35:23] items that we would require to be in
that notice filed at the register of
[1:35:27] deeds.
So, we don't get somebody buying the
[1:35:29] property and then finding out that, you
know, expecting to rent both of them
[1:35:33] out.
>> Mhm.
[1:35:34] » Mhm.
>> And
[1:35:36] having to fight that battle after
they've
[1:35:39] bought the property. So, that's
why we're trying to provide advance
[1:35:43] notice.
>> Mhm.
[1:35:52] » It's interesting. Jim and I have been in
conversations with Lansing about
[1:35:55] affordable and available housing over
the last weeks.
[1:35:59] » Mhm.
>> And this is an example of how Pleasant
[1:36:02] Ridge might
solve that problem where
[1:36:05] I'm a person that has that would
probably build an ADU for my mother
[1:36:11] at much less cost than assisted living.
So,
[1:36:15] uh the cost to build a accessory
dwelling unit is probably a year of of
[1:36:19] assisted living cost.
So, um
[1:36:24] uh it's a it's a great example of uh
getting the feedback from the community
[1:36:28] and it turns out that it's going to
solve a problem that the state is
[1:36:31] seeing, too.
>> Which I noticed they they're having
[1:36:35] public hearings on those bills
completely unchanged.
[1:36:37] » I know.
[1:36:41] » It's nice of them to meet with us, huh?
>> Yes.
[1:36:43] » And I know the concern with parking that
a lot of people talk about, the fact
[1:36:47] that it is requiring a dedicated spot, I
think is also
[1:36:50] important and obviously a really good
add.
[1:36:52] » It's an interesting another follow-up.
So, I'd asked Jim earlier today, "So,
[1:36:56] what if I build a three-bedroom,
three-bath
[1:36:59] accessory dwelling?" And it each
it had to change my thinking about what
[1:37:05] a dwelling unit is, but I had to might
be actually creating three dwelling
[1:37:09] units, which you can't do. You can only
create one dwelling unit in the
[1:37:12] structure. So, it isn't um
it isn't very likely, in fact, not
[1:37:17] possible
>> Yeah, but it's not possible that you can
[1:37:20] create three dwelling units inside the
accessory dwelling. It's that the law is
[1:37:25] not written that way because of the way
dwelling units are defined.
[1:37:28] So, so the one parking spot is for the
one
[1:37:32] » The one dwelling.
>> Exactly.
[1:37:33] » Mhm.
>> So, is there a requirement for
[1:37:37] homeowners that that the owners also
have to have one parking spot or
[1:37:43] anything?
>> Practically by ordinance, the yes, but
[1:37:47] driveway spaces count.
>> Mhm.
[1:37:49] » So, you can accommodate that.
>> Mhm.
[1:37:52] » It's it's doable.
[1:37:55] » So, it
but it's not specifically saying there
[1:37:58] have to be at least two spaces off the
street for a property.
[1:38:06] » Well, yes, actually the ordinance is
saying that.
[1:38:08] » It is. Okay.
>> Because the parking standards right now
[1:38:09] require at least one off-street space
for
[1:38:12] » homeowners?
>> Yeah. And then this adds the other one
[1:38:15] that it can.
>> Okay. And then you need for the
[1:38:17] » accessory dwelling unit.
>> Okay.
[1:38:18] » Yeah.
And that can be in the garage.
[1:38:21] » If it's a
>> Yeah, if it's a small garage and then
[1:38:23] above or in the driveway or next to the
garage or however
[1:38:28] however makes sense that meets the
standards of our ordinance. You can't
[1:38:31] park in the front yard.
So, you can't, you know, create a
[1:38:34] parking space in front of the house and
be That's not allowed by ordinance. So,
[1:38:38] they still have to meet those standards.
>> Are there any houses without driveways?
[1:38:42] I know there are on Kensington, right?
Specifically?
[1:38:45] » Yes. Just Kensington.
>> So, they ultimately would not, unless
[1:38:48] they can figure out a way to
[1:38:53] make a driveway or make a garage.
>> Mhm.
[1:38:55] » Then it wouldn't work.
>> Mhm.
[1:38:57] » Parking-wise.
[1:39:00] Correct?
[1:39:04] » It's going to be hard for a 40-ft wide
lot to
[1:39:07] » Yeah.
>> meet these standards.
[1:39:08] » Yeah.
>> Yeah, it's just it's going to be easier
[1:39:09] to do on some lots than others, but
that's
[1:39:12] » I mean, of course it is.
>> Yeah.
[1:39:16] » Okay.
[1:39:19] » Any other questions?
[1:39:22] All right, I guess we're So, this motion
is to have a public hearing?
[1:39:28] » Mayor,
I move that a public hearing be
[1:39:31] established for Tuesday, June 9th, 2026
at 7:30 p.m. to solicit
[1:39:39] Uh wait.
[1:39:42] To solicit public comment on the
proposed a a accessory dwelling unit
[1:39:46] zoning ordinance amendments.
>> Second.
[1:39:50] May we have a vote?
>> Commissioner Schmier?
[1:39:53] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Linko?
[1:39:54] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Budnick?
[1:39:56] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Perry?
[1:39:57] » Yes.
>> Mayor Scott?
[1:39:59] » Yes, the motion carries.
All right, one more zoning thing.
[1:40:03] » All right.
>> Um occasionally we go through and just
[1:40:05] do a cleanup of the zoning ordinance and
general ordinances to
[1:40:09] address things that come up.
So, just as we live our lives at City
[1:40:14] Hall, um dealing with things and
find parts of the ordinance that we wish
[1:40:18] existed or that aren't working for us,
uh we change them.
[1:40:23] So, uh
there's a zoning ordinance amendment and
[1:40:26] also some uh some of these are in the
general code of ordinances, but we just
[1:40:30] lumped it together in one omnibus.
Um
[1:40:33] clarifying clarifying existing standards
for driveway approaches and driveway
[1:40:37] locations, setbacks for vertical
structures from sidewalks, uh stairways
[1:40:42] for front porches,
monument sign height reductions, and
[1:40:46] storm water runoff standards.
Quickly, uh the specifics of these are
[1:40:51] driveway approach and location
standards.
[1:40:53] Um we've had some increasing requests
for circle driveways and driveways that
[1:40:56] meander through the front yard, uh
inconsistent with our interpretation of
[1:41:00] existing ordinance standards, so uh we
have some clearer language that um
[1:41:06] I think more straightforwardly states
that the driveway has to be on the same
[1:41:12] half of the property where the garage
exists.
[1:41:15] Setbacks for vertical structures from
sidewalks, um we have standards that
[1:41:19] require fences to be at least a foot off
of sidewalks, but there's other things.
[1:41:23] We have a lot of peop- not a lot, we
have some retaining walls that are built
[1:41:27] right up to the sidewalk. And you know,
when you have kids on bikes or strollers
[1:41:31] or walking a dog and you have that
vertical structure right on the
[1:41:33] sidewalk, it makes it difficult. There's
no shy area
[1:41:36] to pass, and also the typical standard
is that the property line that the
[1:41:41] sidewalk is 1 ft inside of the
right-of-way. So, technically the
[1:41:45] right-of-way usually is a foot in
from the sidewalk towards the house.
[1:41:52] In a place like Pleasant Ridge that's
100 years old, that's not always the
[1:41:55] case, but that is the standard.
So, by requiring everything any vertical
[1:42:00] structure, retaining walls, anything to
be at least a foot off the sidewalk
[1:42:05] will ensure that that's on private
property not in the public right-of-way
[1:42:07] and also provide for that shy area to um
help make our sidewalks as comfortable
[1:42:13] as possible.
Um that would apply to vegetation. We go
[1:42:17] through and um
uh
[1:42:20] at least once a year try to do a
uh uh
[1:42:22] sidewalk overhang inventory and then
tell people to cut your cut your shrubs
[1:42:27] or your bushes or whatever else is
overhanging the sidewalk and then if
[1:42:30] they don't, we do it. Um so, we do do
that currently. This ordinance would um
[1:42:34] also clarify that requirement.
Stairways for front porches. Uh we do
[1:42:38] permit unenclosed front porches to
encroach up to 8 ft into the required
[1:42:42] front yard setback, which is consistent
with the historic character of the
[1:42:45] community and it's something we want to
encourage.
[1:42:48] The ordinance does lack specific
standards for staircases and
[1:42:51] uh and landings associated with the
encroaching porches.
[1:42:54] Um
sometimes we've had uh porches on
[1:42:59] historic, mostly craftsman-style
bungalows that have been enclosed over
[1:43:02] time. We don't allow that now, but
if they were enclosed, then there's no
[1:43:07] uh location for a landing, so the
landing has to be outside of the
[1:43:10] structure and then the stairs begin. So,
um we've had some requests where the
[1:43:14] stairs essentially start at the sidewalk
and uh that provides a, you know, a
[1:43:19] vertical element in the front yard,
starts to encroach on those um setbacks.
[1:43:24] So, the proposed standards would uh
limit that and uh limit tread depth to
[1:43:30] uh 11 in
to help um
[1:43:33] allow for reasonable stairs that provide
access
[1:43:38] uh
in the sort of minimum amount of space
[1:43:41] necessary for that.
[1:43:45] Uh monument sign height reduction.
Currently, monument signs may have a
[1:43:48] maximum height of 25 ft along Woodward.
Uh very tall. We have some
[1:43:53] » Yeah, it's tall.
>> I mean, taller than an accessory
[1:43:55] dwelling unit.
>> Yeah.
[1:43:58] » Um the proposed amendment would reduce
the maximum height of monument signs to
[1:44:02] 6 ft uh and a maximum area of 32 sq ft.
That's uh maintaining a scale more
[1:44:07] consistent with the
uh residential pedestrian oriented
[1:44:10] character of the community.
Also, it lines up directly with
[1:44:13] Ferndale's standards for signs along
Woodward. So, we'll have a consistent
[1:44:17] set of standards uh with our neighbor to
the south.
[1:44:21] Stormwater runoff standards. Uh
we need some clear standards requiring
[1:44:25] that all stormwater runoff generated by
a property be contained within the
[1:44:28] property.
Um this may surprise you, but sometimes
[1:44:31] neighbors don't get along.
>> What?
[1:44:33] » I know. And sometimes neighbors point
downspouts so that all the water shoots
[1:44:37] onto their neighbor's property.
[1:44:40] It happens.
Frequently, actually. So, uh the the
[1:44:45] ordinance standard would clearly
identify that you have to maintain the
[1:44:48] stormwater runoff within your property,
that you can't do anything that would
[1:44:52] cause it to run off onto a neighboring
property.
[1:44:54] Uh and then it that I can
run to the street where the drains are.
[1:45:00] So, I can uh
clarify or expand on any of these
[1:45:03] ordinances. All of the specific language
is in your packet, um which is available
[1:45:07] online
for anyone to review. Uh the requested
[1:45:09] action is again to schedule a public
hearing for the June 9th, 2026 meeting.
[1:45:18] » Any questions?
[1:45:23] » Um Mayor
and
[1:45:27] I am, full disclosure, my stairs, I
think, and my porch. I'm not making it
[1:45:31] bigger, but because I'm redoing my
>> No monument sign.
[1:45:34] » No 25-foot monument sign. But, I'm
redoing my stairs and I'm redoing my
[1:45:38] front walkway, and because of that, I
have spent a lot of time walking the dog
[1:45:42] looking at other people's stairs.
Um
[1:45:46] So, this 12-in
tread depth,
[1:45:50] I think I'm looking for a little bit
more clarification on that, because as I
[1:45:54] walk around, you see a lot of houses
also that have
[1:45:58] incremental stairs almost leading up to
the main staircase.
[1:46:01] So,
where does that fall, number one, into
[1:46:05] all of this? I mean, I think some, you
know,
[1:46:08] we see them like the incremental stairs,
especially when houses are built a
[1:46:11] little bit higher up. So, I guess number
one, what is what's How do we deal with
[1:46:15] that?
>> Right now, if the I know what you're
[1:46:18] talking about. So, basically, where the
pitch of the front yard rises up to the
[1:46:21] house, and then the stairs kind of, you
know, there's a walkway that right
[1:46:26] » Yep.
>> If it's if it's not raising more than 8
[1:46:29] in above the surrounding grade,
>> Mhm.
[1:46:31] » which is a standard we have elsewhere in
the ordinance, it's not considered a
[1:46:34] staircase at that point.
>> So,
[1:46:37] » a walkway that is rising to, you know,
be equal to the grade surrounding it.
[1:46:43] » Okay, so under 8 in doesn't
>> Yeah. And by a typical rise for a
[1:46:48] staircase is 7 in.
>> Mhm.
[1:46:50] » So,
And where did the 12-in
[1:46:53] tread depth come from?
The standard for staircases is
[1:46:58] uh two times the rise plus the run
should equal 24 or 25.
[1:47:04] Uh because that's it's based on
a human gait, and what's comfortable and
[1:47:09] safe for a person to climb stairs. If
you start to increase the tread depth in
[1:47:14] there, you have to lower the rise,
because it's farther in between the
[1:47:18] stairs.
So, that's part of the issues when
[1:47:20] people want to do 16-in treads, well,
now what's happening is you have to
[1:47:24] lower the rise and that lengthens the
staircase. So, now that's what pushes it
[1:47:29] out towards the sidewalk.
And again, you know, if you have that
[1:47:33] rise that gets too much you start to
turn it into a ladder. So, usually your
[1:47:37] rise is 7 in cuz that's what falls
comfortably with a
[1:47:44] 10 and 1/2 to 12-in run
run on the stair.
[1:47:48] So, that's where those That's what the
standard is based around.
[1:47:53] » My current stairs are 12 and my
foot or my the my walking shoe, I wear
[1:48:00] like an 8 and 1/2 basically fills the
whole space of that 12-in. I don't know
[1:48:04] where that math comes from, but there we
go. So, it fills in and in redoing my
[1:48:09] stairs, you know, I've been talking to
these people and asking about what about
[1:48:12] a little bit more breathing room on
those stairs.
[1:48:16] And and maybe not to the 16-in, but
13-in or 14-in.
[1:48:20] And is there any conversation about
taking that 12-in a little bit? I've
[1:48:24] also been walking around and I I
apologize to anyone who's caught me on
[1:48:27] their ring camera. Seriously, like
putting my foot on their stairs to see
[1:48:31] like where my foot shoe falls in
relation to their stairs.
[1:48:35] And I have noticed that some of them,
although not huge, are a little bit
[1:48:38] bigger than 12-in, especially ones that
have um
[1:48:42] you know, brick and then kind of a a cap
on top of that brick. I don't know what
[1:48:46] we're calling that, but so, I'm
wondering if there's any and what other
[1:48:49] people feel about giving a little bit
more flexibility to that.
[1:48:54] And
and maybe limiting how far something can
[1:48:57] come away from the house versus, you
know, isn't the more concern about
[1:49:01] getting it too close to the street? So,
what about
[1:49:05] is there any conversation about limiting
how far away it can be from your house
[1:49:09] versus the actual tread of the stairs,
especially if
[1:49:14] and
for me again, personally, the reason I
[1:49:17] wanted to maybe give some more breathing
room to the stairs is because my porch
[1:49:21] isn't huge. And I priced out expanding
the size of my porch a little bit
[1:49:26] width-wise to give myself like a little
bit more movement. And that just
[1:49:30] price-wise made zero sense. So, again,
just thoughts because I am in the
[1:49:34] process of thinking about all these
things.
[1:49:36] » Mhm.
>> But
[1:49:38] again, limiting how close something goes
to the street versus limiting the size
[1:49:42] of the stairs is
a conversation I'd be I'd like to have
[1:49:47] understand a little bit more.
Or hear other people's thoughts on.
[1:49:53] Now we're in the future, you know.
>> Well, uh the good news is that we've got
[1:49:59] a month.
>> We have a month.
[1:50:01] » And
ahead of the public hearing we could all
[1:50:04] be seen on ring cameras.
>> Yeah, I mean, seriously, I I do put my
[1:50:08] foot
>> Send us photos.
[1:50:11] » I I
have photos.
[1:50:13] » Yeah, they're from 14 Pleasant Ridge.
>> I do have photos. And some people do
[1:50:16] have I mean, again, people's stairs are
different throughout the city.
[1:50:20] And
>> I think it was helpful for me to hear um
[1:50:24] Jim's logic on the 24-in total
ergonomics. And
[1:50:29] what is
you know, considered to be a standard.
[1:50:34] Although we could deviate from that.
>> Mhm.
[1:50:36] » So that that's helpful. But I'll have to
think about it some more to be honest.
[1:50:39] » Of course. And as you're walking around,
I mean, take a look because
[1:50:43] again, it's top of mind for me, which is
I think why
[1:50:47] » Mhm.
>> I
[1:50:49] me my stairs hopefully will be done in
sooner rather than later, knock on wood.
[1:50:53] » I think they can come out and start.
Okay.
[1:50:59] I see a thought.
>> Yeah, I'm just thinking.
[1:51:01] » Okay. I'll well
Do you So
[1:51:04] so I'm clear.
Do you want alternate language that
[1:51:09] would
>> Um
[1:51:10] » maybe you'll for a larger tread depth?
[1:51:14] » I I don't know because I I have not
thought about it that deeply.
[1:51:19] » Yeah.
>> Meaning the it feels what you have
[1:51:22] specified feels normal to me.
So, I don't know that an alternate would
[1:51:28] help at this moment.
And I don't know that they would change
[1:51:31] what would go into the public hearing. I
guess that's kind of the question. Or is
[1:51:35] that your question or no?
>> Yeah, I mean I guess as I think about
[1:51:38] it, if you have a
a large enough setback,
[1:51:42] I guess the key thing is as long as the
stair as long as the stairs aren't
[1:51:45] getting ridiculously close to the
defined to ridiculously close, I don't
[1:51:49] know, but
>> Uh-huh.
[1:51:50] » to the sidewalk, there's probably room
on some properties to allow for a deeper
[1:51:55] tread.
For 14 for a 14-in tread, say.
[1:51:59] » Mhm.
>> As long as you're not, you know, getting
[1:52:02] too close to the sidewalk.
>> Mhm. Cuz the goal is to not get too
[1:52:07] close to the sidewalk.
>> Yeah, that's really the goal.
[1:52:09] » Mhm.
>> Cuz some of these staircases people you
[1:52:11] know,
with the side and the caps and then they
[1:52:14] get massive.
>> Yeah. Um
[1:52:17] » I'm going to need to measure your shoe.
[1:52:21] » My Montour walking shoe.
>> If we kept it at like there could be a
[1:52:25] variance, right? I mean if somebody
had a giant foot
[1:52:28] » What I'm thinking is if the stair as
long as all parts of the staircase are,
[1:52:32] for instance,
uh if all parts of the staircase are set
[1:52:36] back at least 20 ft from the sidewalk. I
don't know if 20 ft is a number. I have
[1:52:40] to figure that out.
>> Mhm.
[1:52:42] » Uh then we don't care.
Build it how you want it.
[1:52:47] If
if the staircase is going to be or has
[1:52:52] to be less than 20 ft from the sidewalk,
then it can have a maximum tread depth
[1:52:58] of 12 in to just basically minimize
>> Mhm.
[1:53:01] » so that staircase so the stairs become
the minimum reasonable
[1:53:04] » Mhm.
>> um you know, size because you have less
[1:53:08] space to work with and you just have to
work with that.
[1:53:10] » focusing on that one problem and not the
whole
[1:53:13] » Right. So, as long as there's enough
space then, okay. Then you can have a
[1:53:16] 16-in tread depth if you want to.
>> Would that bleed into like the bigfoot
[1:53:20] rules? Like I guess would
you know, on a smaller property having a
[1:53:25] large
uh, staircase with that potentially
[1:53:28] trigger bigfoot where I I mean, you have
to have like what is it? 85%? I think.
[1:53:33] » No.
>> Like so
[1:53:35] » No, it wouldn't it wouldn't trigger that
way. It's really just
[1:53:40] minimizing
how close that
[1:53:43] uh, smaller property staircase gets to
the sidewalk.
[1:53:46] » Mhm.
Mhm.
[1:53:47] » When
yeah, when you we run into that issue.
[1:53:50] And again, you know, another variable
another variable in the equation is how
[1:53:55] tall is the front porch. Cuz sometimes
the front porch is, you know, 3-ft tall.
[1:53:58] Well, sometimes it's 5-ft tall. So, that
changes the run.
[1:54:03] » Yeah, the run.
>> as well.
[1:54:04] » Mhm.
>> So, if you have a tall porch and a small
[1:54:06] setback then you're going to have to do
12-in, you know, just do 12-in treads
[1:54:10] and make it the minimum as compact as
possible.
[1:54:14] But if it's a 3-ft tall porch and you
have 40-ft then
[1:54:19] you know, knock yourself out.
>> know how far it is from the sidewalk to
[1:54:22] your
stairs right now? So, like
[1:54:26] » I haven't measured it, but I do know
that I mean, you've all seen. I mean, it
[1:54:30] it's not tight. I don't think going 14
For me personally, I don't think it
[1:54:35] pushes it too close. Whatever that close
is.
[1:54:38] » of sweeps, doesn't it? To the driveway?
>> Mhm. It's just it's just
[1:54:43] up and down.
>> Would you like to give this some
[1:54:45] thought?
>> Well, I think that's the approach I'd
[1:54:48] take would be the minimum setback and
then if you can't meet that then you
[1:54:52] will allow you to do 12-in tread
staircase.
[1:54:56] Minimum necessary.
>> Yeah, that does.
[1:54:59] » And the only thing I need to do
is just
[1:55:02] » Pick the number.
>> go get a measuring wheel and walk around
[1:55:05] town and
base it off of what exists right now.
[1:55:09] » Mhm.
>> So that we're not create you know, not
[1:55:11] allowing
kind of expansion beyond the character
[1:55:14] that we have that exists.
>> Mhm.
[1:55:16] » So I'll I'll
figure out what that number is
[1:55:21] and put something in there. If you're
comfortable with that approach.
[1:55:24] » I'm comfortable. Do you Do we need to
say that here or no, just for the public
[1:55:27] hearing?
>> Mhm.
[1:55:29] Yeah, I'll just amend it.
>> Okay.
[1:55:30] » Does it need to go back to planning
commission?
[1:55:33] » No.
>> Okay.
[1:55:35] » The intent and the concept is still the
same.
[1:55:38] » Okay.
Okay.
[1:55:41] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:55:45] » Okay, Mayor.
>> I'm staring at you.
[1:55:49] » Mayor, I move to a No.
Mayor, I move that a public hearing be
[1:55:53] established for Tuesday, June 9th, 2026
at 7:30 p.m. to solicit public comment
[1:55:59] on the proposed general zoning ordinance
amendments.
[1:56:03] » Second.
May we have a vote?
[1:56:06] » Commissioner Schmier?
>> Yes.
[1:56:07] » Commissioner Budnick?
>> Yes.
[1:56:09] » Commissioner Lenko?
>> Yes.
[1:56:10] » Commissioner Perry?
>> Yes.
[1:56:11] » Mayor Scott?
>> Yes, the motion carries.
[1:56:15] On to item 13.
[1:56:19] Which is a Granicus.
>> Yeah, I forgot about that. Okay.
[1:56:23] » Yeah.
>> Granicus.
[1:56:24] » It's still within zoning sort of.
>> Kind of, yeah. We didn't quite escape
[1:56:28] it.
>> Nope.
[1:56:30] » Uh Granicus, uh we're uh I guess
fighting fire with fire on short-term
[1:56:34] rentals here. Um
short-term rentals are advertised on
[1:56:39] online platforms.
Very I don't know what percentage of
[1:56:43] short-term rentals are rented through an
online platform, but it's probably over
[1:56:46] 99%.
One of the challenges with regulating
[1:56:50] short-term rentals is the fact that they
are short-term rentals and that their
[1:56:54] advertisement can come and go. It's not
always there. And for a staff of three
[1:56:59] people at City Hall, it's difficult for
us to as we adopt short-term rental
[1:57:04] standards, difficult for us to stay
ahead of and actually monitor short-term
[1:57:08] rental advertisements and who's doing
that. Particularly when we're
[1:57:11] prohibiting the use in single-family
residential districts.
[1:57:15] Granicus offers a short-term rental
monitoring and compliance service. I've
[1:57:19] had a number of meetings with them, seen
the service.
[1:57:22] They continuously crawl all of 60-plus
short-term rental listing sites.
[1:57:28] But you know, Airbnb, Vrbo, HomeAway are
the main ones, of course, and then all
[1:57:31] the other ones you've never heard of.
Their address identification pings and
[1:57:36] locates all of the places that are being
listed, that have been listed since 2010
[1:57:41] as short-term rentals.
So this is will be essential to us as we
[1:57:46] enforce and monitor this.
They also have a 24/7 complaint hotline
[1:57:51] and compliance outreach services as
well, which I'm recommending we
[1:57:56] we implement. The 24/7 hotline,
they create an online platform where
[1:58:02] residents in the city can call or send a
a note through the online portal
[1:58:08] to Granicus, and then as part of the
licensing ordinance where you have the
[1:58:11] responsible party, we will have that
information. Granicus will have that
[1:58:15] information.
They'll reach out to that responsible
[1:58:18] party. So if this happens at, you know,
10:30, that a complaint comes through,
[1:58:23] we don't have to, you know, have
somebody present to act on that.
[1:58:26] Granicus has, you know, their back end
that's handling this for all their
[1:58:30] clients. They'll reach out to the
to the responsible party to get that
[1:58:34] complaint addressed.
The um
[1:58:38] Excuse me, compliance outreach service
is related to that, where they will um
[1:58:45] respond to those complaints. If we
identify a non-permitted or illegal
[1:58:49] short-term rental,
um
[1:58:53] Excuse me. Uh we click on the button and
they send the letter that we've adopted.
[1:58:57] So, it just takes a lot of the
administrative back end um off of our
[1:59:00] plate. So, that'll ease
and uh improve our ability to enforce
[1:59:05] the ordinance.
The uh annual cost for these services
[1:59:10] will be about $6,000. Uh we'll make up
through uh we'll um
[1:59:14] make up for that cost through short-term
rental licensing fees. So, that'll be
[1:59:18] part of the cost equation for having a
short-term rental license in the city.
[1:59:24] Um So, I'd be happy to answer any
questions on this. I'm asking you to
[1:59:27] approve this now before the ordinances
are approved because there is lead time
[1:59:31] and spool up time involved with getting
ourselves set up with Granicus and I
[1:59:35] want to make sure that we have this um
operational
[1:59:38] as close to um
our ordinances coming online
[1:59:42] as possible.
[1:59:45] Happy to answer any questions if I'm
able.
[1:59:48] » Um I had the pleasure of walking through
the Granicus tool set maybe 2 months ago
[1:59:53] and it's very capable
and um it's sort of like Jim's analogy
[1:59:58] of what it takes to have a police
department. Uh it's probably more than
[2:00:02] the average city will need, but this is
the minimum that you can buy.
[2:00:07] So, um we don't we're not like a uh lake
community with 80 or 90 short-term
[2:00:13] rentals and tracking lots of things, but
we need this to know when they pop up
[2:00:17] and and that they pop up.
>> Yes.
[2:00:19] » So,
>> The good news is their fee schedule's
[2:00:21] also related to how many
>> Yeah.
[2:00:23] » you have.
>> Yeah.
[2:00:24] » So, we're actually at the low end of the
fee structure.
[2:00:26] » Right. And I imagine other communities
will pick up on this and start using it
[2:00:30] because of the
of the its capability and its ease of
[2:00:33] use.
[2:00:36] » And I thought the compliance outreach, I
spent some time on the Summit Colorado
[2:00:39] link and I thought it was a good look,
you know, I kind of went through all of
[2:00:43] it and it also provided the data, too,
of what they were collecting, which I
[2:00:47] thought was also really interesting so
you can see where the problems if there
[2:00:50] are problems
but I thought yeah that page and that
[2:00:54] system looked good. Simple.
>> Yeah.
[2:00:57] » Easy to use.
>> And I couldn't figure out like it felt
[2:00:59] like
you didn't realize it was a third party
[2:01:02] either when you were on the site which I
thought was also good. I mean it was
[2:01:05] well integrated into their city website
or city look so.
[2:01:12] » All right
do we have a motion?
[2:01:15] » I move to approve the agreement for
Granicus address identification 24/7
[2:01:19] hotline and compliance outreach services
at an annual cost not to exceed $6,000.
[2:01:26] » Second.
>> Do we have a vote?
[2:01:29] » Commissioner Lenko.
>> Yep.
[2:01:30] » Commissioner Budnick.
>> Yes.
[2:01:32] » Commissioner Perry.
>> Yes.
[2:01:33] » Commissioner Schmier.
>> Yes.
[2:01:35] » Mayor Scott.
>> Yes. The motion carries.
[2:01:37] Wow we made it to the city manager
report.
[2:01:42] Street sweeping one of the things that
was in the consent agenda is a agreement
[2:01:46] with the city of Ferndale to take up our
street sweeping.
[2:01:49] So this will
[2:01:52] be good.
They are they should be coming out this
[2:01:55] week or next for their their first run
through the city city to sweep
[2:02:01] and then that should put them on target
for one in early June and then we are
[2:02:06] looking to maintain our fourth Wednesday
and Thursday schedule that's on the
[2:02:10] signs that we have around town right now
that have been there for a few years
[2:02:14] that nobody knows are there
but yes so this will
[2:02:19] take our aging and increasingly
unreliable boat anchor of a street
[2:02:23] sweeper out of service. We'll still keep
it. I think we can get it
[2:02:29] useful for spot duty but it's getting to
the point where we can't make it through
[2:02:34] the entire city on a sweeping cycle for
two straight days without something
[2:02:37] going wrong with it so
Um, you know it doesn't really have much
[2:02:41] value so again, we'll keep it, we'll
maintain it to
[2:02:44] do here and there, but
I'm looking forward to not having that
[2:02:49] will it make it every month?
What kind of fluid is that?
[2:02:55] » I don't know.
>> Yeah.
[2:02:57] » So, they'll just be going out as sort of
a test run in the next
[2:03:02] » No, they're they're going to sweep the
whole city. I mean, I guess it's a test
[2:03:05] run as their first one, but they're
doing a full double check.
[2:03:08] » can give us a heads-up and we'll try and
get the word out on days to so people
[2:03:11] can move cars.
>> And again, you know, we are now
[2:03:14] contracting with Ferndale, so they are
going to be fitting us into their
[2:03:16] schedule, so I can't promise that we're
going to have tons of notice.
[2:03:20] Uh, but that's again why we're trying to
they're trying to get back to our, you
[2:03:23] know, fourth Wednesday, Thursday
schedule for some regularity. But as we
[2:03:27] kind of catch up on our spring sweeping
>> Okay.
[2:03:31] » I'll try to let you know if I can.
>> Great.
[2:03:35] » Uh, Wellesley, we've begun the water
main design work. Uh, you may notice if
[2:03:39] you live on Wellesley. Um,
which some do.
[2:03:43] That, uh, there have been some blue
flags marking stop
[2:03:46] stop box locations. The engineers are
picking that data up for the design
[2:03:49] plans. Please leave the flags out for a
couple weeks. Um, and we'll let you know
[2:03:53] I'll let you know if we finish
beforehand, but
[2:03:58] that's all part of the design work.
And any questions on anything else
[2:04:02] happening?
>> I have a question on the flags. With
[2:04:06] everybody mowing and everything, I think
a lot of flags are getting displaced. Is
[2:04:10] there
is there anything we want to do like
[2:04:14] like do you have spray paint we could
put on like so people could go spray
[2:04:19] paint their little flag dots and then
mow or
[2:04:23] » I don't know. Let me I'll I'll check
with the engineers to see if they got
[2:04:27] what they need.
>> Okay.
[2:04:28] » And cuz if we have to go back and remark
or I don't know. I don't know. Don't
[2:04:33] know the answer to that.
>> Cuz I see flags.
[2:04:35] » Yeah.
>> On Wellesley I know that they posted the
[2:04:40] flag in the place which I now believe is
the stop box of everyone's house, but
[2:04:44] they also actually spray painted the um
I don't know if it was the same on
[2:04:47] Devonshire, but they spray painted the
curb, too. So, I'm assuming it's double
[2:04:52] double confirmation.
>> Mhm. Mhm.
[2:04:54] » So,
>> We have different lots of colors of
[2:04:56] flags.
>> You do have a lot of colors.
[2:04:59] You're far you're farther along.
>> paint, which would be awesome to have.
[2:05:02] » gas, red is electrical, blue is water.
>> I don't know what green is. What is
[2:05:07] green?
>> Gas? Did you already say gas?
[2:05:11] » said gas.
>> It's grass.
[2:05:16] » I don't know.
>> Okay.
[2:05:17] » Good question.
>> Yeah.
[2:05:19] » Yeah, let us know if you want us to
spray if you want to give me some spray
[2:05:23] paint and we'll
be fun.
[2:05:25] » I think for liability reasons,
>> let them do their own
[2:05:28] » We'll let the officially sanctioned uh
marking do that.
[2:05:33] » Fine. That's actually that's a good
>> idea cuz it really means something.
[2:05:36] » Right. I appreciate the enthusiasm.
>> the way, Anne would be doing it at like
[2:05:39] 2:00 in the morning and your ring
definitely would be going off and you
[2:05:42] would see Anne out there with a can.
>> And you measuring their steps and you
[2:05:46] would
>> And I would be there with you. Yes,
[2:05:47] measuring their steps, but
basically it would be really creepy.
[2:05:51] » You had a couple of black leotards
projects and this is one of them.
[2:05:54] » Yeah, exactly.
>> Green means sewer according to the
[2:05:57] mistake website.
>> Ah, thank you.
[2:06:00] » Okay.
>> See, very important.
[2:06:04] » That's a
>> Yeah, okay.
[2:06:06] » I want to say thanks to uh Jake and
>> Yes.
[2:06:09] » the uh the crew. This This is a long
one. Way to hang in.
[2:06:12] » Yeah.
>> Yeah, I got it.
[2:06:14] » Any words before we leave, we're on to
uh other business. Is there any words
[2:06:17] that you have for your anything you'd
like to
[2:06:20] Okay.
Okay.
[2:06:23] » Yeah.
>> I get it.
[2:06:24] » Yeah. All right.
Any other other business?
[2:06:29] » I want to mention Ferndale Pride is
actually it's also like the June Fair.
[2:06:34] It's also in June. It's going to be
uh May 30th, Saturday, May 30th. I think
[2:06:40] it starts at 1:00 p.m. officially in
Ferndale.
[2:06:44] Um which is always a very joyful event
with lots of um different activities and
[2:06:49] awareness and everything, which is
really great.
[2:06:52] It's nice that it's right in our
backyard.
[2:06:56] » Um I'll mention that we've got uh I may
have mentioned this last week, but I'm
[2:07:00] not sure. Two uh
more EV chargers have gone in. They're
[2:07:04] level two. They look weird because
they're hanging on a pole and then they
[2:07:09] come down to meet your car. So, I've
been testing it out over the last month
[2:07:13] uh
um
[2:07:15] and it works pretty well. You won't even
know that they're there, which is a
[2:07:18] problem because during the day the spots
are often occupied by
[2:07:22] internal combustion engine cars, which I
can't penalize anymore.
[2:07:26] » Right.
[2:07:28] » Um uh but if you have an EV and um
I probably more convenient for the folks
[2:07:35] on the east side of town than the west
side of town, but if you have an EV,
[2:07:38] you're just looking for another place to
charge your car, even for the folks on
[2:07:41] the west side of town, just park it
there. Let it charge up for a few hours
[2:07:44] and come back. Um I'm working with them
on
[2:07:47] um idle time rates because that's a bit
of a challenge if you're not in the
[2:07:51] building. I've been dinged a couple of
times because it can take 10 minutes to
[2:07:55] walk back to the car and then they hit
you for extra cents per minute when it's
[2:07:59] just sitting there.
But it does work. It's pretty cool. And
[2:08:01] the company's name is Voltpost. They're
getting more chargers installed in
[2:08:04] Michigan. I'm introducing them to some
other cities cuz it seems to work. So.
[2:08:10] » To that point, I've actually been
walking by it and noticing a lot of the
[2:08:15] bad cars, whatever you call them, parked
in those spots. Um I actually have not
[2:08:19] looked at the signage, but is there are
we working on
[2:08:22] » Yes, they are intending to have uh their
contractor uh paint the typical EV signs
[2:08:28] on the spot so that that should reduce
the amount of people using them
[2:08:32] incorrectly. But, those are prime spots,
so occasionally they might be taken.
[2:08:36] » Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I did notice that a
couple days ago. Or
[2:08:40] » And they were supposed to do sign signs
as in addition to the painting as well.
[2:08:44] Um
>> That's their plan. At least that was my
[2:08:46] conversation with them last week. Yeah.
It's just taking them time.
[2:08:50] » Okay.
>> Yeah.
[2:08:52] » Anything else?
[2:08:55] » All right, we're ready to adjourn.
>> Move we adjourn.
[2:09:01] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[2:09:03] » Aye.
>> Aye.
[2:09:04] » We're done.
>> Thanks for coming.
[2:09:07] » Thank you.