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Good evening. I call to order the August 11, 2026 ported city council meeting and honor of all denominations and personal beliefs. And as we recognize the importance of fair elections to our democracy, we also acknowledge our local poll workers. Please stand for a moment of personal introspection and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance.

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Please join me in the pledge.

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I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,

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one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

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And if I could please ask the clerk to call the roll.

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Yes, Madam Mayor, I'll start with Burns.

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You're led better.

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Here.

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Miller.

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Here.

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Homestead.

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Here.

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here. Randall here and young here. Thank you. All right. We have no

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proclamations this evening. So we'll move along to the opportunity for

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statement of citizens. If anyone would like to approach the council now is

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the appropriate time.

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Good evening and welcome.

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My first time here. I've been a

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40th resident for 48 years. I'm a retired manager from a new epistolic

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church on 3600 Westmellum. Last year and the springtime the city had sidewalk and road repair

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done from I know these from angling road to 131 bridge. They read did some of the sidewalks

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to drive ways and so forth and our church was one of them. My position in the church is I take

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of the building, the inside and the outside contractors, and what they did, I've been trying to

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get a hold of, I got a hold of Kendra from the city here, because a driveway is not right.

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There is a major, major dip in it, you pull in and it goes like this, and it was not like that before.

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I have been trying since August of last year to get somebody to come out and look at this.

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I've been down to the city of Portiture four times.

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I was here last month on July of the 14th and talked to Kendra, and she said,

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I'll have an engineer call you.

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I've heard that since August of last year,

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we had a funeral there, there's past Saturday

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a well of 750 people and every car that came out of that parking lot, hit that dip because

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I stopped the traffic and every car that hit it,

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that's why I'm here today.

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I'm asking on behalf of the church if somebody could kindly come out and meet me there

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to look at it and have a decision be made on what to do with.

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I'm the only church only driveway on Millum Road that has complained, but we're the only driveway

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that holds 150 cars at a time, 100 cars at a time.

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Once somebody sees what I'm talking about, you would justify it, I'm quite sure the problem.

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They indicated like a 2% grade, that doesn't mean anything to me, I don't know what 2%

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five percent, 10, 50, whatever it is. I don't know what that is. But I know it was not like

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that before they started. It was a perfectly dry incline. Now the plow comes in. He's got a

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his blade comes in. He does this number. I hope he can see the frustration, not just my part, but

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the whole congregation has asked me to do. They want to know when it's going to be fixed or somebody

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come and look at it.

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All right, that's my agenda.

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You did it.

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All right, we appreciate you coming in.

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I'm sorry, you've had a year of frustration

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with the city.

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The city council is a great place to come to get a media

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reaction.

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Or if you could leave your contact information

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with the city.

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Have a great regard to a main name, a number of questions.

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I'll take one.

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You'll give one to our interim.

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Good.

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I feel like I'm in court here.

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All right.

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You're not guilty.

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You are a victim.

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and we'll make it right.

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Yep, thanks for coming in.

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Thank you for your time.

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Still an opportunity for statement as citizens

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if anyone else would like to come forward.

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Good evening. Welcome.

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Hello.

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Hello, Portage City Council.

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I'm Chandra Kinney.

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I am the District Manager at the Kalamazoo Conservation District.

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Every five years, the Kalamazoo Conservation District

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seeks input on natural resources,

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conservation concerns within Kalamazoo County.

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And thus we have just launched our Kalamazoo County Natural Resource Assessment Survey,

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which I am working to get out into the community.

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This helps guide the strategic five year long range plan for the Kalamazoo Conservation District.

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And so we are gathering input from all residents, landowners, farmers, and municipalities across the county.

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And we would love for many residents and municipality members from the portage area to be included in this feedback.

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This helps to ensure that our conservation district is growing properly with our community.

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Thus I have brought some of these guys that has one that QR up code on this side has more information about the programs and services we currently offer.

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And then on this side here, it is a QR code to take our current survey and then I've also brought some paper versions.

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Anyone is also able to access this survey on our website at KalamazooConservation.org and I will go ahead and leave some behind as well for you guys to distribute.

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Thank you. You can leave those with our city clerk. We also have an environmental board that would be very interested in participating.

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I'm sure. So thank you for joining us this evening.

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Thank you so much.

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Still an opportunity for statement as citizens.

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Good evening.

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I've lived in forage for 51 years.

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And I love my city, but there's something that I don't love.

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And that's the amount of time it takes to get code enforcement issues corrected.

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The system you're using now was severely outdated.

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You're relying on the post office to deliver notices to individuals that have violations.

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And we all know that the post office is not adequate at the best right now.

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And may I reported a truck in our neighborhood?

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They had a flat tire.

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The city came out and made contact with the owner.

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The owner said the truck belonged to the sun.

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I don't care that this truck belongs to your son.

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It's in your driveway.

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That truck is still there in all.

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August. It now has two flat tires. The House across the street for me had a sewer repair, and as a result, a tree

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had to be taken out, and the front lawn was totally destroyed. The lawn was seated, but the house

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belongs to renters. And without water, grass doesn't grow. Well, weeds came in. And I reported the weeds.

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And in addition to the weeds, we had chairs that suddenly appeared in the parkway. There were three of them.

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They were there for three months before I ever notified the city.

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This 45 minutes before the city came out to look at the yard,

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he went out and mowed the weeds.

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The chairs left today, they finally were gone,

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but the weeds are back.

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There's another house on Renberry that was reported

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for over a month.

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We looked at weeds that were that high in the front yard.

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It was mowed a week ago,

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but it had been that way for over a month.

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There's a house now that has four cars,

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to overrun the driveway to overrun the side yard.

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I'm not even going to bother reporting it.

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It just takes too long.

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The house with the truck we fought four months last summer

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with a trailer with a boat on it and the road.

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The mailman got out of his car truck to put mail

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in their mailbox because the truck the boat was in the road

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that long.

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I don't know what the problem is.

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I don't know.

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I know your procedure because I came to find out

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that you have to send registered letters.

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but we're in a digital society and it seems to me there should be some way that it's more streamlined

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to get problems corrected than having to wait three, four, five months to get things taken care of.

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And I'm asking if the city would please look at the current process.

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Go to another municipality, Ann Arbor, where they have students with violations.

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I'm sure all the time. Grand Rapids, how do they handle these things?

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So we're not looking at them for four or five months.

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I just want my neighborhood to look nice.

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Don't thank you for joining us at the beginning of citizen comment time I failed to say

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but you need to state your name and address.

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Oh, Robin Bowley, 7116 Balfour Drive.

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Okay, I think you've sent me an email or two.

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Yes, I did.

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And you responded.

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All right.

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Thank you.

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Thank you for joining us and we'll look into that process.

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Still an opportunity for statement of citizens if anyone else.

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Good evening.

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My name is Justin Hasser.

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I live at 4337 FoxFart Trail.

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I'm off of 12th Street.

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I have lived in Portage since about 2012-2011 somewhere in there.

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I have two concerns today.

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My first concern is relatively small, but it is one that I am a little bit worried about.

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My second is a bit more severe.

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My first concern has to do with an intersection of a certain road that comes from a

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12th Street, and goes to, I need to just bring up the name of the street here because there is

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a bit of a blind hill that comes down to this particular road. And I'm just wondering if it

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might be worth at least investigating to get a three-way stop there, even if it's a time limited

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one perhaps, because when I had a commute back from like pop-up or other places that were west

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a portage, that left turn was always very nerve wracking to say at least. I was always a bit

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working on that turn, but you know, oh, I have a, it's W on Avenue and 12th Street, that particular

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intersection. Again, it's not that they can deal. I just thought I'd bring your attention

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just as concerned. Maybe I'm maybe just me. The second concern is a bit more severe. It is

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when I, I am feel a bit more strongly about it has to do with contemporary police surveillance

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measures. It has to do with people say, flock cameras, but flock is a brand of cameras that

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that are commonly advertised as license plate readers,

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but they have a lot more functionality than that.

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My concern rests with some cases that are in the news

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about abuse of these systems, having to do with one

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that was used to look into a juvenile gymnastics room

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at a community center,

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and how insecure

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from these cameras are, how people who have the skills

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and knowledge could actually hack these cameras

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and get them to work for themselves.

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I do not feel safer about these cameras being used, especially without a warrant, as I have also been hearing accounts of people using these cameras to stock their ex-partners.

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Evils have been hearing accounts of microphones that are calling a shot mic, perhaps that

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can be set off with a car backfire and can suddenly drop police to them almost like

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a top priority, which if an organized crime group could probably use that as an exploit.

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And probably most concerning of all are systems that will utilize CCTV inside of businesses

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and my biggest concern is sting rays, special devices used by police to intercept cell-ular

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data and examine it freely without a warrant and basically get access to someone's phone

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without any consent knowledge or notification. I am asking you guys here today, a very simple

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question.

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What is your position on this surveillance thing? Because we seem to have plenty of these

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Okay, if you believe your contact information, we do have some information on the safeguards

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that portages instituted around the flat cameras and as far as ON and 12th Street,

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ON is on the side of Texas, so that's not the portage road and I do understand what

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your blind spot is there and the county is really not eager to put in three way stops.

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So but thank you for coming this evening. Please leave your email up here so we can forward

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do that information. Still an opportunity for statement of citizens.

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Good evening.

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All right. I'm Al Hawkins, a live at 10 510 Sudan Street on a corner of Ostrout.

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I was here a month ago about the Patrick McKinnis when you hear, so they look into

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south-westernage to Oasterhouse. So when you go to turn right it's okay but when you go to

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turn a left you have to really pull out. So it's been at least two months the sign was knocked down

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back in early July maybe June I can't remember hexagons got flashed light so everybody knows how to

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ground level. Well, what was it two weeks ago's Sunday? There was a pretty bad accident.

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Nobody was killed. So I'm so thankful. But what at my point is, I don't know where we're at,

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whether he looked into it or not, so that's why I'm back up here again. I think it's a pretty bad

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intersection, and not only that, but I've lived on that street for 24 years on Sudan.

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and it's all double line so you're not supposed to pass so I don't know what you can do as a

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count so I just want to be heard is can we put up no passing signs

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Can we patrol it more? I know our police are always busy. I welcome you to set my drive. You'd probably meet your cold if there is one, because it's a 40 mile-hour speed zone, but it's definitely not that. People have constantly passed. There was a horrible accident back in April for it on my house where a vehicle was turning left and a motorcycle decided it wanted to turn left to pass. Fortunately, he wasn't killed, but it was pretty bad.

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I'm just seeing a more increase because of the new subdivisions going in.

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I'm not opposed to them, I think it's great to have people, you know, I'm pretty

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social-first.

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But my point is I've asked to have these trees looked into, especially that intersection

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of Osterhallen and Westage, because if you are going to turn left, you really do have to

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pull out.

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And it's unfortunate that it took an accident to get the sign back up that needed to be

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a while ago. So just by concern, and I'll probably back up to something, does it change? So

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not faulting you folks. I'm just saying it's just a concern that I've been having for quite a while

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and the speed restrictions don't seem to be adhered to. Anyway, thank you. Mr. Herringa, we'll get back

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to you this week. We do a traffic engineer and look into that as well and just see through our

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public safety, what the traffic accidents have been since all that has

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transpired. Okay, and I've given Erica my info. So thank you.

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Good

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evening. Hello John Paver. I'm in Kalamazoo now. So sorry. Fantastic

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job with the farmers market. It's wonderful. I'm really thrilled now. We

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have an actual farmers market. So great job on that. I'm just

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to really talk about just a few housekeeping things.

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One in particular is the creek.

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I don't know, it's the one that's behind ridders

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and kind of extends behind there,

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and there's, I think there's a green house back there.

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00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,240
Since we had the hurricanes that came through,

228
00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:20,760
there has been more trees than I can count

229
00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:24,280
to have fallen into the stream and have slowed its movement down

230
00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:31,540
That need to be just removed from there and on really hot days. I only know because of my family and I every Sunday

231
00:17:31,540 --> 00:17:37,880
I take the kids up to go get ice cream to ridders and then we walk around in the library and things like that and on some really hot days

232
00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:43,280
It smells like the living dead just because there's no movement, you know in in the stream

233
00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,080
And that's just because there's just been a lot of debris that's fallen down there. There hasn't been picked up

234
00:17:48,460 --> 00:17:51,180
And so that's just like an awareness thing and then the other thing

235
00:17:52,920 --> 00:18:00,820
is that we see now more and more people using these eBikes and eScooters and I don't really

236
00:18:00,820 --> 00:18:06,360
agree with anything that Dearborn does but one of the things that they did is they banned eBikes

237
00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:12,200
and eScooters from public property because people were writing around them and like gangs of them

238
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:18,660
and then they were just causing a big disturbance and I didn't really take note of that until I was

239
00:18:18,660 --> 00:18:25,500
walking with my family and there's a lot of blind corners around those trails right there and a guy

240
00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:30,960
comes flying on this thing and I have to pull my little girl from that side because she's

241
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,460
just like a six year old walking around looking up at the sky and the next thing I know,

242
00:18:35,540 --> 00:18:41,380
somebody comes flying through and he doesn't and I'm like whoa and I grab my little girl and

243
00:18:41,380 --> 00:18:47,700
he doesn't even take notice that anything was there and he continues on and so obviously there's

244
00:18:47,700 --> 00:18:51,140
a sign or something that says no, motorized things, but I don't know if there's something else

245
00:18:51,140 --> 00:18:56,720
that we can do or if that's a part of the ordinance of like no motorized things, so many things

246
00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:02,780
go up to 25 miles an hour. It's very scary. That 25 is fast. I wrote a scooter going 17, that's scary.

247
00:19:05,100 --> 00:19:09,100
And so the other thing was like the other young man that had brought up was

248
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:17,980
There is a lot of stuff with Flock and I support the, oh I loved it, there's a timer here.

249
00:19:19,060 --> 00:19:25,440
And so I fully support, you know, our public safety and their ability to do things.

250
00:19:27,060 --> 00:19:32,860
My request is that any new features, because there are a lot of new features like being

251
00:19:32,860 --> 00:19:37,540
able to track people's devices through the use of those cameras that are coming through,

252
00:19:37,540 --> 00:19:43,560
They're on like contract list for the New York State now in Maryland, and so that's just some of my concerns

253
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:52,000
that any of the features I get thrown on these things, at least they be brought to you guys, so that you can review them so that we know exactly what is going into these cameras and what is not in these cameras.

254
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:56,680
So, not against them, I fully support them. Obviously, because you're favorite.

255
00:19:57,120 --> 00:19:58,540
Your time is up.

256
00:19:59,100 --> 00:19:59,120
Eric.

257
00:19:59,820 --> 00:20:00,140
So quick.

258
00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:01,420
Thanks, God.

259
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:02,220
Thanks for coming.

260
00:20:05,940 --> 00:20:06,660
Good evening, welcome.

261
00:20:07,220 --> 00:20:07,880
Thank you.

262
00:20:10,570 --> 00:20:14,950
My name is Eric Borses. I currently live in Madwan. Do you want that address?

263
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:17,540
Got it.

264
00:20:17,740 --> 00:20:19,700
Got it. Thank you. Yeah, you bet.

265
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,220
Today's agenda number seven, the demolition of 93.03.

266
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,420
I'd like to possibly purchase that building.

267
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:29,940
I've been in talks with the person who built it.

268
00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:33,020
And it is possible I've been talking to a mover.

269
00:20:33,260 --> 00:20:39,080
I just need time to figure out and how to move the lines and things to get it.

270
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,120
But if possible, it would be interesting

271
00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:44,400
purchasing that building already on a lot

272
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,460
that would have need to be approved to move it to in the city.

273
00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:51,320
So that's what I'm asking for today.

274
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:53,460
All right, thank you very much for coming in.

275
00:20:53,500 --> 00:20:54,400
Thank you.

276
00:20:56,900 --> 00:20:58,940
Still an opportunity for statement of citizens.

277
00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:02,220
Seeing no one come forward, I will ask if there are any

278
00:21:02,220 --> 00:21:03,220
colors on the line.

279
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:04,300
There are no colors.

280
00:21:06,540 --> 00:21:08,940
All right, so we will move on with our meeting

281
00:21:08,940 --> 00:21:14,600
to the consent agenda, the consent agenda is available for review by visiting the City of Portage website

282
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:18,420
where it can be found under the City Council agenda and minute section.

283
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,960
At this time, does anyone on the council wish to have a consent agenda

284
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,300
remove for individual consideration?

285
00:21:28,900 --> 00:21:29,800
Adam, please.

286
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:37,700
Let's, if we may remove seven, so we could talk about that, even I know a lot of in-depth study

287
00:21:37,700 --> 00:21:43,800
It's been done on the property, but I think we should have a different topic and that put it on the consent.

288
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:45,860
Okay. Any other items?

289
00:21:48,230 --> 00:21:53,810
All right. I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented, excluding item number seven.

290
00:21:53,910 --> 00:21:54,490
So moved.

291
00:21:54,670 --> 00:21:54,990
Second.

292
00:21:56,090 --> 00:21:57,550
And roll call please.

293
00:21:58,370 --> 00:21:59,170
Start with light better.

294
00:22:00,150 --> 00:22:01,270
Miller. Yes.

295
00:22:01,330 --> 00:22:01,850
Homestead.

296
00:22:02,090 --> 00:22:02,250
Yes.

297
00:22:02,530 --> 00:22:03,470
Pearson. Yes.

298
00:22:03,670 --> 00:22:05,810
Randall. Yes. Young. Yes.

299
00:22:06,050 --> 00:22:06,450
And Burns.

300
00:22:06,730 --> 00:22:07,010
Yes.

301
00:22:07,010 --> 00:22:15,010
All right, the way that works is that we will be discussing the item under regular business items, which will be after our public hearing.

302
00:22:15,530 --> 00:22:17,010
So please stay here with us.

303
00:22:18,070 --> 00:22:19,750
We do have a public hearing this evening.

304
00:22:21,330 --> 00:22:29,830
It is to consider approving the rezoning amendment 26-27-1 to amend the code of ordinance of the city of Portage.

305
00:22:30,300 --> 00:22:40,100
Michigan article 4, zoning of chapter 42 and chapter 44 by adopting a zoning map, amendment to effectuate a citywide

306
00:22:40,100 --> 00:22:52,300
rezoning as more specifically described in ordinance 0-4-2026. I'd like to turn this over to our interim city manager, Mr. Adam Herringa.

307
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:59,680
Thank you Madam Mayor, as Council will recall, a few meetings ago, they adopted or we adopted

308
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:06,580
the residential text amendment to all to the zoning for residential areas in the city

309
00:23:06,580 --> 00:23:14,400
of Portage. This is a follow-on to that. The Planning Commission did vote 602 to recommend

310
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:20,780
approval to this. This is viewed just as a moral formality as the map would follow the adoption

311
00:23:20,780 --> 00:23:23,180
of the, of the text amendment.

312
00:23:24,220 --> 00:23:26,500
If City Council has any questions, I'm happy to answer,

313
00:23:27,380 --> 00:23:30,400
and the Chief Development Officer Dam is in the audience as well.

314
00:23:31,300 --> 00:23:34,000
Oh, if that, I'd be fine answer to questions,

315
00:23:34,180 --> 00:23:36,420
or you can go ahead and open up the public hearing madam mayor.

316
00:23:36,700 --> 00:23:39,320
All right. I will currently open the public hearing.

317
00:23:39,420 --> 00:23:42,920
If anyone is here this evening and has questions about this item on our agenda,

318
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:44,760
now is the appropriate time to come forward.

319
00:23:47,990 --> 00:23:49,430
All right, seeing no one come forward.

320
00:23:49,490 --> 00:23:51,950
I will entertain a motion to close the public hearing.

321
00:23:52,590 --> 00:23:54,130
I moved to close the public hearing.

322
00:23:54,530 --> 00:23:57,130
Second, all in favor say aye.

323
00:23:57,170 --> 00:23:57,550
Aye.

324
00:23:57,850 --> 00:23:58,210
Opposed.

325
00:23:58,450 --> 00:23:58,930
Same sign.

326
00:23:59,870 --> 00:24:01,670
We have been working on this for quite some time.

327
00:24:01,790 --> 00:24:05,750
Does anyone on council need any clarification before we take a vote?

328
00:24:07,690 --> 00:24:07,890
All right.

329
00:24:07,990 --> 00:24:09,310
What is the pleasure of the council?

330
00:24:09,630 --> 00:24:09,990
Madam Mayor.

331
00:24:10,890 --> 00:24:16,730
I moved to adopt rezoning amendment 26271 to amend the code of ordinances of the city.

332
00:24:16,730 --> 00:24:23,430
especially in article four zoning of chapter 42 in chapter 44 by adopting a zoning map

333
00:24:23,430 --> 00:24:28,330
amendment to effectuate a citywide rezoning as more specifically described in ordinance

334
00:24:28,330 --> 00:24:34,490
of four twenty-six. Support and roll call please start with Miller.

335
00:24:37,340 --> 00:24:39,240
Yes, ohmstead. Yes.

336
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:39,840
Pearson.

337
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:48,780
Yes. Randall. Yes. Young. Yes. Burns. Yes. I'm led better. Yes. Thank you.

338
00:24:48,780 --> 00:24:53,060
All right, now we move on to our regular business agenda items that were removed from the

339
00:24:53,060 --> 00:25:00,680
consent. I had Councilwoman Olmsted, remove number 7, which was to authorize the demolition of

340
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:07,380
9303 Portage Road for the reconstruction of our Portage Road corridor. And if timing is everything,

341
00:25:08,020 --> 00:25:13,500
this is the correct timing to be discussing this with the citizens. So I'll turn it over to

342
00:25:13,500 --> 00:25:15,920
Councilmember Olmsted at this time.

343
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:17,340
Thank you, Madame Mayor.

344
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:24,220
A lot of work has been done to this 93.03 property.

345
00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:29,740
It's just being rented right now for like $2,000 a month.

346
00:25:30,620 --> 00:25:33,360
And the city says that we could make, you know,

347
00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:34,920
it's $10,000 a year.

348
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,420
Have we ever thought as a city to sell that if there's a buyer?

349
00:25:40,420 --> 00:25:42,880
or was this something done back in 24?

350
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,540
I mean, is this an option just for this gentleman

351
00:25:47,540 --> 00:25:49,940
right here, the consider?

352
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:52,800
So we've had a lot of discussion on it in previous years,

353
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:54,520
but I'm always willing to look at something

354
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:55,620
from a different perspective.

355
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,260
So I want to turn it over to Mr. Herringa,

356
00:26:00,020 --> 00:26:02,280
who gave us a lot of detail in our packet

357
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:03,200
about the property.

358
00:26:04,020 --> 00:26:06,100
Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you, council member,

359
00:26:06,100 --> 00:26:10,640
from said, this is not the first time this property

360
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:12,200
has been brought before the city council,

361
00:26:12,820 --> 00:26:15,460
and every time it's come forward, it is resulted in

362
00:26:15,460 --> 00:26:18,280
significant discussion, whether it was to purchase

363
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,740
the property, there was a proposal to sell the property

364
00:26:21,740 --> 00:26:25,840
a few years ago, there was also a countervailing opinion

365
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,560
that we should demolish the house then,

366
00:26:29,260 --> 00:26:31,820
and the council settled down trying to rent it

367
00:26:31,820 --> 00:26:33,140
until this day arrived.

368
00:26:33,860 --> 00:26:35,620
And the day that it arrived is,

369
00:26:35,620 --> 00:26:42,960
we are about to embark on reconstructing portage road in this area. And when the engineering was done,

370
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,880
it was determined that if we want to maintain traffic in both directions while we do the

371
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:55,120
culvert, if we want to have bike paths on both sides, this house cannot stay where currently is.

372
00:26:56,260 --> 00:27:03,600
It needs to go. And the recommendation, and this was why the house was purchased was because it

373
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:10,000
is seen by the council and the administrator at that time that eventually this property where

374
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:16,540
it's located is at a key point right on the right on the channel or drain whatever you want to

375
00:27:16,540 --> 00:27:24,040
call it and it's on both sides. So it allows us to redo the call it and it allows us to be able to

376
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:29,500
put in the amenities in the infrastructure that have been proposed as part of the Portas Road 360

377
00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:37,460
project. The reason for the recommendation to demolish is time is of the essence at this point,

378
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:43,400
where we are going to be designing this fall and putting it into engineering for bid, this

379
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:50,780
section of Portage Road. When it was reviewed by our staff, as far as the quality of the construction

380
00:27:50,780 --> 00:27:56,920
of the home, it was viewed as a home that usually when you see a building moved to relocated. It's

381
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:03,360
structure. It's made out of bricks. It's easy to load up and transfer. This home is a split

382
00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:10,800
level with a walkout basement garage on slab. An individual would have to somehow brace the bottom,

383
00:28:11,260 --> 00:28:18,940
brace the walkout, secure the walls, get it lifted, move it down, pour the droid, get the permits from

384
00:28:18,940 --> 00:28:23,560
the individuals involved. It's located in an area right next to a creek so there may be some

385
00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:32,180
and other issues involved, and then get it relocated to a site where then you'd have to have the infrastructure to reconnect the house on the site.

386
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:41,560
So it was viewed as a very unlikely or an overwhelming task to undertake in the time frame that was that we're currently at,

387
00:28:42,100 --> 00:28:48,860
which is we are now in the process of designing and going out to bid for this particular section of roadway.

388
00:28:49,780 --> 00:28:55,880
Chief Officer Dame is here and he may have something else to add along with Director Gwynne

389
00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,840
from our Transportation Utilities Department, Director Hoyle from Parks and Recreation, and we

390
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:06,700
have an engineer from Adam Marsh. I'm sorry, Whiteman. I'm still sorry. I apologize.

391
00:29:06,980 --> 00:29:12,860
They're competitors. I'm working with the other company on another road project, since

392
00:29:12,860 --> 00:29:15,900
they both seem to work on road projects and my apologies, but we do have an engineer

393
00:29:15,900 --> 00:29:22,100
from Whiteman, who can also speak to more of the, not necessarily the sale of the property,

394
00:29:22,420 --> 00:29:24,200
but more along the need for the space.

395
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,920
So with that, Director Dame, if you have anything to add.

396
00:29:28,140 --> 00:29:31,340
I did think you did an excellent job of summarizing the need.

397
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:37,100
I honestly don't think that even if it were determined to be feasible to move the house that

398
00:29:37,100 --> 00:29:45,300
there's enough time to do it, what I wanted to do was share, I had a very similar experience

399
00:29:45,300 --> 00:29:55,880
in my last meeting, we offered the house for free, someone offered to take it. It was a three

400
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,980
years later, the house got moved, and I actually have to...

401
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:07,700
Talk to Eric on the phone, not about this, but he does have real estate background. So, I'm intrigued by the

402
00:30:07,700 --> 00:30:15,680
possibility. But just the logistics of trying to get a house moved, you basically have to have

403
00:30:16,220 --> 00:30:29,980
the next site all day now, it generally would have to be very close by because otherwise you're going to

404
00:30:29,980 --> 00:30:34,780
And you pay the electric company to every time you lift it.

405
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:37,540
It's a huge undertaking.

406
00:30:38,180 --> 00:30:39,940
It sounds really good,

407
00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:42,760
but when it comes down to actually doing it,

408
00:30:43,780 --> 00:30:46,920
it's if and I tend to think that

409
00:30:49,510 --> 00:30:50,370
it's not feasible

410
00:30:50,370 --> 00:30:52,730
to move this building, it's a newer construction.

411
00:30:53,190 --> 00:30:54,670
I've been in that house.

412
00:30:55,230 --> 00:30:58,350
The walls are, you can hear all the trucks

413
00:30:58,350 --> 00:31:01,490
from the inside, it's light construction.

414
00:31:03,550 --> 00:31:09,030
You're going to end up, even if you tried to move it, you have to redo all the drywall.

415
00:31:10,110 --> 00:31:17,350
I think it would be a nightmare, and then we'd be stuck next spring, delaying the project

416
00:31:17,350 --> 00:31:18,430
at the covert,

417
00:31:20,490 --> 00:31:25,350
and so I wouldn't recommend it based on my past experience, nor the advice

418
00:31:25,350 --> 00:31:29,130
that we've gotten about the feasibility of doing it.

419
00:31:29,130 --> 00:31:32,170
So, that's my two cents they add.

420
00:31:32,950 --> 00:31:33,630
Madam Mayor?

421
00:31:35,590 --> 00:31:36,050
Question for you.

422
00:31:36,390 --> 00:31:40,790
The home is still currently rented and we need to give at least a 60 day notice.

423
00:31:41,070 --> 00:31:41,930
Is that the case?

424
00:31:42,170 --> 00:31:42,650
It's still occupied.

425
00:31:43,890 --> 00:31:48,930
And it, and it's 60 months from the end of the current period.

426
00:31:49,150 --> 00:31:49,810
So essentially,

427
00:31:50,350 --> 00:31:51,350
60 days not much.

428
00:31:51,830 --> 00:31:58,250
So we can't even start getting anything happening on this house.

429
00:31:58,250 --> 00:32:00,090
for more than 60 days.

430
00:32:00,190 --> 00:32:01,650
So if we vote affirmatively tonight,

431
00:32:02,310 --> 00:32:04,910
when would you expect the demolition to occur actually?

432
00:32:06,070 --> 00:32:08,870
November, I'm looking at Kendra,

433
00:32:08,970 --> 00:32:12,470
who's gonna have to admit it out, but, um, okay.

434
00:32:13,110 --> 00:32:17,770
So I guess my preference would be to provide you

435
00:32:17,770 --> 00:32:20,250
that authorization to do the demolition

436
00:32:20,250 --> 00:32:22,450
and for you to continue that conversation

437
00:32:22,450 --> 00:32:25,790
to, as I don't know whether this home specifically has been,

438
00:32:25,910 --> 00:32:28,030
you've heard the proposal for the gentleman

439
00:32:28,030 --> 00:32:29,990
and who might be interested in purchasing it.

440
00:32:30,090 --> 00:32:32,050
So I give you the authorization to demolish,

441
00:32:32,910 --> 00:32:34,430
but I encourage you to have one more conversation

442
00:32:34,430 --> 00:32:35,150
with him to sound.

443
00:32:35,470 --> 00:32:37,170
See if it's easier than we imagine,

444
00:32:37,450 --> 00:32:38,750
it might be in reality.

445
00:32:39,970 --> 00:32:41,270
Have you happened to talk to him lately?

446
00:32:41,550 --> 00:32:42,050
Yeah, have a question.

447
00:32:43,010 --> 00:32:44,410
So we do sell to him the house

448
00:32:44,410 --> 00:32:45,630
and they decide he does want to move.

449
00:32:45,630 --> 00:32:46,970
I would give it to him, frankly,

450
00:32:47,230 --> 00:32:49,250
because it's going to cost so much for him.

451
00:32:49,250 --> 00:32:52,210
Well, my question is, if he becomes the owner,

452
00:32:52,650 --> 00:32:55,670
and then the size is not to do anything with it.

453
00:32:55,670 --> 00:32:56,510
Where are we going to?

454
00:32:56,510 --> 00:32:59,950
Yeah, so is that part too?

455
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:03,000
If I may,

456
00:33:05,660 --> 00:33:07,480
it sounds like there's a lot of pieces

457
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,100
that would go into moving this.

458
00:33:09,980 --> 00:33:11,340
And, you know, we need to keep things on track

459
00:33:11,340 --> 00:33:12,600
for the Portage Road project.

460
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,620
If, by some means, the gentleman might be able to move it

461
00:33:17,620 --> 00:33:19,380
by the date of the demolition,

462
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:22,540
how would that be a possibility?

463
00:33:22,540 --> 00:33:23,360
That's not a doubt.

464
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,080
Because you have to get a site plan approved

465
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,060
for the future location,

466
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:29,680
you have to build the foundation,

467
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:39,140
You have to have everything ready to move the house on to and that won't happen during the winter.

468
00:33:39,820 --> 00:33:46,300
So if you don't have everything all set to move the house on to a completed foundation, you're done.

469
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,500
So we would be missing some vital deadlines to keep the ported road project.

470
00:33:50,500 --> 00:33:54,080
I just don't think it's possible, but I'd be happy to talk to them.

471
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:59,720
I have a question, Mr. Dame, we all know that the construction is not going to start on this

472
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:08,300
project until spring at best. Why would we evict a family instead of allowing them to stay there during

473
00:34:08,300 --> 00:34:15,760
the winter? I just don't understand the sense of urgency to demo this. You can still do the site plans.

474
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:23,880
You can still do all that work with that structure on the property. Because we want to have it demolished

475
00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:30,300
using the heavy trucks with the, in the spring, there's a heavy truck prohibition.

476
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:35,620
As soon as that is lifted is when the road construction would begin.

477
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:42,020
So the heavy trucks that you would need to move the house in the spring

478
00:34:42,020 --> 00:34:48,980
or demolish the house in the spring either, it would delay the start of the construction.

479
00:34:48,980 --> 00:34:56,380
this project is intended to start as soon as those truck restrictions are lifted in the spring.

480
00:34:56,740 --> 00:34:58,740
So we want to have all the work done this year.

481
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,840
So just because the challenge is here, I would like to ask him some questions.

482
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:09,240
If you could just come forward, I, you know, I don't know how we approve a demolition and

483
00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:14,040
approve the opportunity to keep the door open. We're either doing one or the other tonight.

484
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:22,500
And so we could, if it's, if staff talks to Eric.

485
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:22,960
Hi.

486
00:35:24,180 --> 00:35:24,600
Good.

487
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:25,280
Eric from marijuana.

488
00:35:25,500 --> 00:35:31,260
He's got another project I'm going to show that is interesting too.

489
00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:44,020
So, I think it'd be possible if you're, that we could explore it and give the staff a latitude to switch to Eric's plan.

490
00:35:44,020 --> 00:35:50,520
And if it proves to work, and if it doesn't, we would proceed with demolishing.

491
00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:53,820
I think you could structure your amendment that way.

492
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,720
Okay, so I guess my question to you is, have you been in the structure?

493
00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:03,340
What's your allegiance to the structure and have you had any experience moving homes before?

494
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,360
I have no experience moving structures.

495
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:15,120
I do know it's possible, I am at the phase where I have texted pictures to someone I found

496
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:20,820
in line in Michigan who has awards for moving structures on rubber tires.

497
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:28,340
So I'm new to this through what they saw over text message, they are optimistic.

498
00:36:29,340 --> 00:36:34,920
They said 60 days to move it, and that's with moving all that I assume their power wires

499
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:41,540
I drove down from the structure I had or that land I have to this and I don't know if we need

500
00:36:41,540 --> 00:36:50,040
to move traffic lights or anything like that but I am very, I met the very beginning stage

501
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:59,060
of this but the person does this, thinks we can do it, they're not scared of it is the point

502
00:36:59,060 --> 00:37:00,420
that I think I get from them.

503
00:37:00,460 --> 00:37:01,760
How far away is your personal?

504
00:37:02,420 --> 00:37:04,580
One point, one miles.

505
00:37:07,330 --> 00:37:09,070
But I do need to, it's out the north.

506
00:37:09,590 --> 00:37:11,650
It's by the celery flats, so north.

507
00:37:12,990 --> 00:37:15,050
So I need to get that approved, of course.

508
00:37:15,690 --> 00:37:18,190
But there's also other lands available.

509
00:37:19,450 --> 00:37:21,130
And I just see it as an opportunity.

510
00:37:22,210 --> 00:37:24,250
And demolishing it will be,

511
00:37:24,250 --> 00:37:26,210
this will be a lot cheaper for the city

512
00:37:26,210 --> 00:37:27,470
than demolishing it.

513
00:37:28,470 --> 00:37:29,970
So if I move it, most,

514
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,400
So that's a better deal for you guys.

515
00:37:34,220 --> 00:37:36,760
Madame Mayor, please. I have two questions.

516
00:37:37,660 --> 00:37:40,880
Did you make this determination when she saw this was on the council's agenda?

517
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:49,680
So, Madame Mayor, honestly, I am not comfortable making a decision like this, because,

518
00:37:50,260 --> 00:37:54,360
honestly, I think it kind of sets a bad precedent for us that if at any point in time

519
00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,820
the city is making a determination on a property we could have a citizen who comes forward and says,

520
00:37:58,820 --> 00:38:06,720
I want to purchase this or I want to X, Y, Z, and this is not personally in attached to you, you happen to be here this evening.

521
00:38:07,860 --> 00:38:26,260
I am more comfortable conferring with Katherine. I don't know if this is understandable if we can do this if we simply hold the vote and ask for more time to give administration time to do more research.

522
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:40,300
But I am not comfortable taking a vote that would in essence just kind of say, yes, demolish it or if you find that he's not able to hold up his end of the bargain, then go ahead and demolish it anyway.

523
00:38:41,260 --> 00:38:49,920
It feels as though we need to have all of the information here because if the vote was brought to us, then we still need to be a party to that.

524
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:54,400
And what would your process be for the family living in the home?

525
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:59,500
I date, they are happy to stay until we move it.

526
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,660
Yeah, I've got doesn't matter to me at all.

527
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:10,700
So when it's available, I mean, I can wait six months to whatever makes sense for.

528
00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:15,080
I can take it in, I'd say the short term would be 90 days,

529
00:39:15,500 --> 00:39:18,200
but you know, I can come get it next year or two.

530
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:21,960
So whatever, whatever's best, I'm interested in the house.

531
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:23,600
I don't have a timeline for it.

532
00:39:23,700 --> 00:39:25,920
I've got dirt available to put it,

533
00:39:25,980 --> 00:39:27,760
and that's not going anywhere.

534
00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:28,720
So,

535
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:32,900
Matt, Mayor.

536
00:39:33,540 --> 00:39:34,620
I've got a question.

537
00:39:35,020 --> 00:39:39,000
So, Mr. Dame has said that the timeline doesn't work

538
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,680
because it would take you a long time

539
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,920
to get a permit to hook up the house

540
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:46,800
on whatever property you're at.

541
00:39:47,260 --> 00:39:48,440
Do you need to do that?

542
00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:52,020
Or could you move the house on the property you own

543
00:39:52,020 --> 00:39:54,240
and then go from there to get your permits

544
00:39:54,240 --> 00:40:01,480
whatever you need. I can give you that answer in about next week. I don't know. I do have,

545
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:06,360
I would have to talk to somebody at the city and get that detail figured out.

546
00:40:08,220 --> 00:40:15,500
So do you think that if the city just gave you the house, you could still make a profit on moving

547
00:40:15,500 --> 00:40:26,700
to wherever it is. And you understand that Portas Road is going under construction. And I will

548
00:40:26,700 --> 00:40:31,740
say this, you know, the city probably just doesn't want to deal with it moving the house,

549
00:40:32,240 --> 00:40:40,420
because it takes time. But, hey, you talked to the city about this or is this the first time

550
00:40:40,420 --> 00:40:45,420
you're coming here about it? This is my first time coming here. Okay, so you really need to talk to

551
00:40:45,420 --> 00:40:51,360
city, you know, if we've gotten a memo about all the complications and I don't know if you

552
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:58,840
know about that, but you know, I commend you for coming here, but you need to talk to the city

553
00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:04,300
to understand the rationale besides what they just presented in a couple of minutes.

554
00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:05,040
Sure.

555
00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:05,900
I agree.

556
00:41:06,340 --> 00:41:06,640
Okay.

557
00:41:07,260 --> 00:41:07,360
Thanks.

558
00:41:08,020 --> 00:41:12,240
Mr. Herringa, would it delay the process if we were to defer the vote for one month?

559
00:41:13,940 --> 00:41:20,900
I'm not necessarily met a mayor, but we need to make a decision, and while I appreciate

560
00:41:20,900 --> 00:41:26,960
him coming forward here, once the property's been in the city's possession for quite

561
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:33,560
some time, and here we are at the last minute and now we have a proposal which we're

562
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:35,400
I'd be happy to look into,

563
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:40,220
but there are a lot of bigger factors

564
00:41:40,220 --> 00:41:46,460
here and that is the Portage Road Project and the time effort and energy that has gone

565
00:41:46,460 --> 00:41:55,620
into that and to ensuring the success of that project versus one singular property.

566
00:41:56,260 --> 00:41:57,940
What if we were to delay it two weeks?

567
00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:08,760
I guess the reason I feel about this is we are in a housing crisis and this council of which many of us were on it when we bought the place.

568
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:12,160
I believe we paid about 400,000 for it.

569
00:42:12,260 --> 00:42:13,860
If that's right from my memory.

570
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:18,920
And a gentleman came forward and said you're not doing anything with it, can't at least rent it.

571
00:42:19,020 --> 00:42:19,940
And so we rented it.

572
00:42:19,940 --> 00:42:25,060
And even though we were getting $2,500 a month, it seemed like the care and the maintenance

573
00:42:25,060 --> 00:42:25,760
and the management.

574
00:42:26,180 --> 00:42:31,280
It just wasn't yielding more than about $10,000 a year to the residents of the taxpayers

575
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:32,040
of Portage.

576
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:41,380
So, I mean, I guess I'm the eternal optimist and what I would expect would be some real definitive

577
00:42:41,380 --> 00:42:48,380
financing of availability that you can afford to do this and that you have an understanding

578
00:42:48,380 --> 00:42:53,920
of our time commitment and a commitment letter from people that can make this happen.

579
00:42:55,120 --> 00:43:01,680
I mean, if we can work with two weeks, I would be supportive of that and we don't do this

580
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:07,300
often council member young. This is a very rare situation when we bought this property and it was

581
00:43:07,300 --> 00:43:12,600
it was not a unanimous vote. It was very, I mean, oh, you were here. I mean, we had talks about it

582
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:18,180
in an ice cream stand and it was too close to the road to draw kids and it's right in the

583
00:43:18,180 --> 00:43:19,160
middle of our park.

584
00:43:21,180 --> 00:43:22,720
So anyway, Councilmember Burns.

585
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:29,200
Anyway, a quick quick question for the city attorney. So assuming tonight, we vote affirmatively to

586
00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:36,120
authorize the demolition. Would that prohibit a subsequent action before the building is actually

587
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:40,740
demolished if better solution were to become available?

588
00:43:41,200 --> 00:43:44,760
Obviously, then Kendra or somebody's going to go out to bid, right?

589
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:50,280
They're going to go out to bid and once a bid is led, then that would be the point where we could not turn back, right?

590
00:43:51,300 --> 00:43:56,820
So I don't know how long that would take, but, you know, obviously a couple weeks and something like that.

591
00:43:56,940 --> 00:43:59,000
So there is still, you know, time.

592
00:43:59,540 --> 00:44:04,500
But once a bid is led and a contract is executed, then there's no turning back.

593
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:10,620
So fundamentally, we may have two, three weeks to assess the feasibility of moving the

594
00:44:10,620 --> 00:44:29,700
building or not, we'll probably know within that time frame just how much effort and trouble it might be, so my inclination is to vote tonight rather than delay things further so that we keep on track and then let them investigate over the next couple of weeks if they come back and there's a miracle solution then we'll hear about that at our next meeting or the meeting after that.

595
00:44:30,220 --> 00:44:35,420
But we'll have the surety of having made the decision that keeps the part of your project going.

596
00:44:37,060 --> 00:44:43,020
And if City Council does undertake that motion, you have a guarantee that we would not go out to bid

597
00:44:43,020 --> 00:44:48,300
until there's another presentation to City Council based on any information that we gather.

598
00:44:49,420 --> 00:44:57,700
While I wouldn't necessarily ask you for a vote to reauthorize, certainly would come back before you before we enter.

599
00:44:58,280 --> 00:44:59,980
Go down a path in the reach.

600
00:45:00,780 --> 00:45:13,580
I have concerns on our paude him in his vision, but he sent pictures about text. It's a somebody to move

601
00:45:13,580 --> 00:45:20,560
a house. Has the person been down to look at them? No, this is in infant stages, but and where

602
00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:27,620
are they located? There's somewhere in Michigan. It was the first number I called, as I said, I'm pretty

603
00:45:27,620 --> 00:45:34,700
new at this, but with an idea and it's not voted on yet, so I thought today was the data show up.

604
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:39,880
And I appreciate it, but it's just like a knee jerk reaction like, you know what I want to do this.

605
00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:44,840
And we on the timeline, you sent this somewhere and Michigan to somebody who you just found.

606
00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:50,500
You see how it looks to me and they know of the location, they know we're not, you know, in the city of

607
00:45:50,500 --> 00:45:53,260
of Kalimazoo, which they were originally scared of.

608
00:45:53,740 --> 00:46:01,860
And I think if you did give me a timeline to check all my boxes, if I can get three out of

609
00:46:01,860 --> 00:46:07,000
the five, that's probably not going to happen and I'll bow out of it immediately.

610
00:46:07,380 --> 00:46:14,360
But I think I've got enough information that it was worth saving the demolition cost for you

611
00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:16,920
and something for me at the same time.

612
00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:21,360
and I appreciate that, but I think that we still should move forward and like

613
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:26,080
Councilman Burns says it become that with some concrete evidence like hey I can do this

614
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:32,460
then we should take you know look at it at that point, but right now I would vote to continue on the path that we have here

615
00:46:32,460 --> 00:46:37,140
just based on you have nothing in concrete. I understand. All right, thank you.

616
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:40,200
Nothing to get you again. Thank you, but I understand.

617
00:46:40,580 --> 00:46:45,620
Madam Mayor, please. I do always appreciate and I'm a entrepreneur and somebody

618
00:46:45,620 --> 00:46:50,620
trying something new for the first time with some of the discussion that we've had up here

619
00:46:50,620 --> 00:46:56,740
about, you know, authorizing it today, but giving kind of that two weeks, I feel like I'm good

620
00:46:56,740 --> 00:47:02,420
with that. I do want to let you know about the urgency of it because as many of us have suffered

621
00:47:02,420 --> 00:47:15,600
through the Portage Road corridor to have the entire area be held up for something might not be

622
00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:22,620
Acting City Manager, hearing a hint has said about the two weeks not putting out for bid to see if it is feasible.

623
00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:28,600
At least give you a little bit of time to talk more concrete, get some concrete numbers on what it would cost to move it.

624
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:34,660
And then, you know, make that decision or get another report in two weeks.

625
00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:38,040
All right.

626
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:38,840
Thank you.

627
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:38,860
Thank you.

628
00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:40,040
Madam.

629
00:47:40,380 --> 00:47:40,640
Please.

630
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:46,180
I'd like to make a motion to authorize the demolition of 9303 Portage Road for the reconstruction of Portage Road.

631
00:47:47,700 --> 00:47:51,610
support and roll call please.

632
00:47:53,110 --> 00:47:54,590
Let's start with homestead.

633
00:47:55,690 --> 00:47:56,850
Here's some.

634
00:47:57,290 --> 00:47:57,810
No.

635
00:47:58,370 --> 00:47:58,870
Brando.

636
00:47:59,370 --> 00:47:59,410
Yes.

637
00:47:59,950 --> 00:48:00,170
Young.

638
00:48:00,670 --> 00:48:00,830
Yes.

639
00:48:01,290 --> 00:48:01,570
Burns.

640
00:48:01,850 --> 00:48:02,070
Yes.

641
00:48:02,450 --> 00:48:03,170
Led better.

642
00:48:04,010 --> 00:48:06,890
So we voted to move forward with the amendment that we have.

643
00:48:07,030 --> 00:48:07,290
Yes.

644
00:48:07,670 --> 00:48:07,730
Okay.

645
00:48:08,770 --> 00:48:10,090
Was that a yes?

646
00:48:10,970 --> 00:48:12,710
Yes to move forward with what we have.

647
00:48:13,150 --> 00:48:13,210
Yes.

648
00:48:13,210 --> 00:48:13,510
And Miller.

649
00:48:14,150 --> 00:48:14,230
Yes.

650
00:48:14,470 --> 00:48:15,370
Thank you.

651
00:48:16,150 --> 00:48:16,590
All right.

652
00:48:16,910 --> 00:48:17,490
Motion passes.

653
00:48:17,490 --> 00:48:22,470
as six to one, I really hope if you, I really hope if you can come back with some real

654
00:48:22,470 --> 00:48:26,970
crime, concrete, maybe we'll all learn something.

655
00:48:28,450 --> 00:48:33,150
All right, time for council committee reports, I would like to ask if there are any council

656
00:48:33,150 --> 00:48:37,790
members who attended a subcommittee that would like to share with the rest of council.

657
00:48:38,810 --> 00:48:39,650
Madam, may I?

658
00:48:39,650 --> 00:48:39,990
Please.

659
00:48:40,430 --> 00:48:46,290
I had a subcommittee, other subcommittee meeting with the Discovery Council, as a Master Plan.

660
00:48:46,290 --> 00:49:01,470
We are continuing to move forward on narrowing down the 19 focus areas and creating the criteria that we are going to use to help us narrow down those focus areas to develop the 10 year master plan going forward for discovery.

661
00:49:04,060 --> 00:49:05,020
Thank you.

662
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:06,440
Any other subcommittees?

663
00:49:06,740 --> 00:49:07,560
Madam Mayor, please.

664
00:49:08,120 --> 00:49:10,760
We had our small business committee meeting last week.

665
00:49:11,060 --> 00:49:20,320
And today we have awarded $191,000 in the side grant improvement funds to small businesses within the city, which is excellent.

666
00:49:21,720 --> 00:49:24,020
And so we want to look to increase that number.

667
00:49:24,180 --> 00:49:26,100
So I want to encourage all businesses to apply for that.

668
00:49:26,140 --> 00:49:31,400
And then we also prepared for the south was Michigan first town hall, which was held today.

669
00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:37,160
myself, Compton member Miller, Mayor Randall, Acting City Manager, Mr.

670
00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:44,860
Herringa, C Chief Development Officer, Pete Dame, Assistant to the City Manager at Tom

671
00:49:44,860 --> 00:49:51,380
Rossiter and Jonathan Hallberg, we're there and so it was a good time we covered several

672
00:49:51,380 --> 00:50:01,700
topics from small businesses to commercial rezoning, the portage road corridor, and our farmers

673
00:50:01,700 --> 00:50:06,780
market and others that we had been doing and so was a good conversation piece, the greater

674
00:50:06,780 --> 00:50:11,380
area of Kalamazoo Reilers was there as well. So just rounding out that work on small businesses

675
00:50:11,380 --> 00:50:15,160
and speaking to more and continuing to keep them active in the community.

676
00:50:17,370 --> 00:50:18,530
I'm here for that.

677
00:50:19,350 --> 00:50:19,950
Post number burns.

678
00:50:20,070 --> 00:50:23,550
Quick one, attended the Central County Transportation Authority yesterday.

679
00:50:23,870 --> 00:50:30,890
I just wanted to post the board on the results of the millage election for the Kalamazoo County Transportation Authority

680
00:50:30,890 --> 00:50:41,650
Millage, which funds the Metro transit, dial a ride, ADA service, door to door throughout the county and out to the VA Hospital in Bale Creek.

681
00:50:41,650 --> 00:50:48,590
past successfully about 65% of the vote, 65-35, and was ahead in every precinct

682
00:50:48,590 --> 00:50:51,570
imported so good support for that service. Thanks.

683
00:50:52,910 --> 00:50:54,490
Any other council committee reports?

684
00:50:55,270 --> 00:50:59,870
Hearing none, I will entertain a motion to approve the reports as presented.

685
00:51:00,470 --> 00:51:01,830
So move, Mayor. Second.

686
00:51:02,630 --> 00:51:03,810
All in favor say aye.

687
00:51:04,110 --> 00:51:04,470
Aye. Aye.

688
00:51:04,770 --> 00:51:05,430
Opposed, same sign.

689
00:51:05,630 --> 00:51:09,690
Thank you all for representing the city outside of council chambers.

690
00:51:09,690 --> 00:51:17,970
All right, I'd like to start on I left this evening with Statement of City Council and if I could please start with council member on said.

691
00:51:18,990 --> 00:51:20,350
Thank you, Madam Mayor.

692
00:51:21,690 --> 00:51:38,290
I want to thank our city clerk's office for last Tuesday election day. A lot of work went into this month's even and her staff, we have deputy direct way of clerk Erica at club and we have deputy city clerk Tammy and he have Aaron Mandi.

693
00:51:38,290 --> 00:51:44,970
I'm Cara and then some human resource first people and also it was so successful that the

694
00:51:44,970 --> 00:51:50,410
shortage should be proud and I'm also thinking the public safety and all the other city departments

695
00:51:50,410 --> 00:51:56,390
that helped make this run smoothly and efficiently like public works, parks and rack and so forth.

696
00:51:56,770 --> 00:51:59,950
I greatly appreciate it and all your dedication. Thank you so much.

697
00:52:01,690 --> 00:52:03,410
Thank you council member.

698
00:52:04,250 --> 00:52:05,050
But better.

699
00:52:05,650 --> 00:52:09,570
Yeah, following our Colt tells, I saw that it was the highest turnout in the

700
00:52:09,570 --> 00:52:12,750
California's accounting with 36%.

701
00:52:13,470 --> 00:52:14,650
That's the highest in the state.

702
00:52:14,970 --> 00:52:16,670
Was it?

703
00:52:16,750 --> 00:52:17,790
That I don't know.

704
00:52:18,110 --> 00:52:18,570
Yeah, I think it was.

705
00:52:19,090 --> 00:52:19,690
We're going to go with it.

706
00:52:19,750 --> 00:52:20,270
We're going to go with it.

707
00:52:20,350 --> 00:52:20,930
We're not going.

708
00:52:21,650 --> 00:52:22,870
That's how we roll down here.

709
00:52:23,290 --> 00:52:23,310
Yeah.

710
00:52:23,310 --> 00:52:24,570
It's a good job.

711
00:52:25,790 --> 00:52:26,490
That's the night out.

712
00:52:26,630 --> 00:52:29,050
It was my first time attending the one in Portage.

713
00:52:29,270 --> 00:52:29,970
I didn't even know that.

714
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:39,700
We had one, because when I worked in the city, we went to seven neighborhoods. So I had a good time. It was nice trying to hear. So good job with that.

715
00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:45,960
And then with the flock, you know, I've always had concerns with that from a law enforcement perspective.

716
00:52:47,020 --> 00:52:58,080
And the stories keep coming out just recently in Georgia, and officer just got fired for stalking someone with flock.

717
00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:04,980
Matter of fact, and I think it's like three or four people in the same department, so it has been very

718
00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:06,760
abused

719
00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:08,760
policies

720
00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:14,380
We got we have cameras and banks with banks still get robbed

721
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:19,720
So just I just think about it for a second people said what we got cameras, okay?

722
00:53:20,400 --> 00:53:23,540
People still get robbed means to the happenings. So you have policies

723
00:53:24,300 --> 00:53:34,220
You still have violations, and it probably doesn't mean anything to you now, but if it was you or your loved one, somebody, you cared about who was the victim of that.

724
00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:35,600
It would take on a different sense.

725
00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:38,280
So we really need to consider that.

726
00:53:38,380 --> 00:53:44,460
And then with the new information about the cell phone data, I got to do more research with that.

727
00:53:44,460 --> 00:53:49,140
So I can be jobbing on our street on the phone and they can pick up my information without a search warrant.

728
00:53:49,320 --> 00:53:49,720
That's crazy.

729
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:57,220
So, again, it's a good two for investigations, it's great for a lot of things, but then again,

730
00:53:57,320 --> 00:54:02,540
it can be abused and a lot of liberties that we have would be taken advantage of.

731
00:54:02,700 --> 00:54:07,860
So, I think we really need to look at all the information that we can find out the stingray.

732
00:54:08,780 --> 00:54:13,520
So, any more information that we get, I would love to have that come before the council.

733
00:54:13,660 --> 00:54:15,240
So, we get make a determination.

734
00:54:15,240 --> 00:54:22,100
but research out of cases and police departments where officers are getting convicted.

735
00:54:22,780 --> 00:54:30,880
Not just tribe but convicted of tempering with the flock stuff. So some serious. Thank you.

736
00:54:31,860 --> 00:54:35,920
All right. Thank you, Vic. Council member Miller. Yes. Thank you. It was

737
00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:40,040
great to be at the Southwest Michigan First Portage Town Hall this morning. We did get an update from

738
00:54:40,040 --> 00:54:46,160
mall, Steve who's the new manager there about a store that's actually expanding within the mall,

739
00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:52,160
that they're starting some new events for like a collector's market, bringing in, you know,

740
00:54:52,300 --> 00:54:58,400
people that collect the different trading cards and different, probably, you know, cars and

741
00:54:58,400 --> 00:55:01,820
different collectors items, so they're bringing in an event for that and they're really reaching out

742
00:55:01,820 --> 00:55:08,700
to small businesses to offer them a place to start within the mall. I kind of see like in the

743
00:55:08,700 --> 00:55:12,780
business timeline. If somebody's starting a business and maybe they are able to start through

744
00:55:12,780 --> 00:55:17,160
the farmers market and then move up to a retail spot, I think it could be a good almost

745
00:55:17,160 --> 00:55:21,280
like incubator for those small businesses. So if you're looking for a store for an option,

746
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:26,260
they said they've got very flexible terms and different openings and different ways to get

747
00:55:26,260 --> 00:55:33,280
you out there. So make sure to continue to check out them all. I did want to talk a little

748
00:55:33,280 --> 00:55:41,880
about we had a special meeting last week. There was a new signature that came through to do a

749
00:55:41,880 --> 00:55:47,380
amendment to the city charter. It was put together by community action Michigan and it was

750
00:55:47,380 --> 00:55:53,080
in several cities within Michigan that they went out and got petitions and people designed

751
00:55:53,080 --> 00:55:58,300
to have amendments to their charters. So it's hard to find direct information about community

752
00:55:58,300 --> 00:56:04,640
action Michigan, but they want the different cities to amend their charter to put in a citizen

753
00:56:04,640 --> 00:56:09,800
health action committee. Well, I empathize with what they're trying to do and bringing attention

754
00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:17,300
to healthcare and healthcare costs at the city level. It's really not our realm. You know, and they

755
00:56:17,300 --> 00:56:22,980
went about creating this new verbage for our portage city charter with no input from the people

756
00:56:22,980 --> 00:56:27,700
in Portage. They've done this also in Lansing, East Lansing, Kalamazoo.

757
00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:36,160
So it's just in Benton Harbor. It just doesn't seem very genuine to me.

758
00:56:37,480 --> 00:56:43,220
So we did because they followed all of the legal actions we did have to put the bat, put it on the

759
00:56:43,220 --> 00:56:48,760
ballot for the snow vember. But it is something that personally I can't get behind the support

760
00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:55,260
as much as I do support healthcare. I don't think it's the right spot for it. There places

761
00:56:55,260 --> 00:57:01,460
where it would work a lot more effectively. And I do want to thank Council and City staff

762
00:57:01,460 --> 00:57:05,700
for being flexible in working with the gentleman that was talking about moving the house.

763
00:57:06,020 --> 00:57:12,020
It is a big ordeal and maybe a miracle can happen but at least to give him that two weeks

764
00:57:12,020 --> 00:57:17,260
to see if we can continue to have somebody be in a house that wasn't in a house

765
00:57:17,260 --> 00:57:22,180
and see, let him discover if it's going to cost more than just building new.

766
00:57:22,940 --> 00:57:25,080
So thank you, everyone, for your time with me.

767
00:57:25,400 --> 00:57:26,160
Thank you.

768
00:57:26,500 --> 00:57:27,700
Thank you.

769
00:57:29,860 --> 00:57:36,860
I have a few things I'd like to focus on, and first I want to start with some of our citizens

770
00:57:36,860 --> 00:57:42,000
received a piece of mail, and it stated it was from the city of Portage.

771
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:52,000
It called itself an annual water test notice, which included an offered in-home water test kits and free water quality analysis.

772
00:57:52,280 --> 00:57:57,840
This is a scam. This is not the city of Portage. Please do not open it. Leave it alone.

773
00:57:58,460 --> 00:58:10,460
We would not send something to you in this nature and so please be alerted to it. You can see a copy of what the scam notice looks like on the city of Portages official Facebook page.

774
00:58:10,460 --> 00:58:13,280
Again, do not contact the number.

775
00:58:13,440 --> 00:58:18,400
If you ever have a question about any mail that states it's from the City of Portage called

776
00:58:18,400 --> 00:58:23,520
the trusted number for the City of Portage if a number looks different to you, send an

777
00:58:23,520 --> 00:58:27,460
email to any of the council members to our City Manager, et cetera.

778
00:58:27,960 --> 00:58:33,120
But please be aware that this is targeting we don't know how this came up, it just

779
00:58:33,120 --> 00:58:38,580
be courted citizens, but we are not offering these water kits or testing that would typically

780
00:58:38,580 --> 00:58:43,220
be something that would come from the county departments that can help to do that.

781
00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:45,500
So we are not singing that out to you.

782
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:47,640
So I just want to make sure you're aware of that.

783
00:58:47,860 --> 00:58:52,380
One of the safe thank you to our Youth Advisory Committee, Portage Public Safety and

784
00:58:52,380 --> 00:58:57,360
the Portage Public Safety Foundation for a very successful back to school batch that they had.

785
00:58:57,360 --> 00:58:59,220
They call it their pick out with public safety.

786
00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:00,520
It was really wonderful.

787
00:59:00,860 --> 00:59:07,120
They handed out backpacks and the kids got to play on rise, get face painting, and the administrators

788
00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:11,860
as reporters play the school set in the dunk tank. So the kids got to dunk some of their

789
00:59:11,860 --> 00:59:17,180
teachers. It was a really wonderful opportunity to see the community come out. The weather was

790
00:59:17,180 --> 00:59:22,780
perfect and so just very appreciative of everything that we do if you didn't get a back act,

791
00:59:22,940 --> 00:59:28,000
but you still need one. If you are a family who is a need, please be sure to contact public safety

792
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:33,720
and they'll do their part to take care of you as always. One who encourages our citizens to reach

793
00:59:33,720 --> 00:59:38,240
to City Council if you have concerns. If you are finding that you are attempting to reach a

794
00:59:38,240 --> 00:59:46,920
department, it is not, we do not have any ability to handle employees, but we can see what we can

795
00:59:46,920 --> 00:59:52,240
do about sending an email forward or trying to see if we can make a phone call for you. So please be sure

796
00:59:52,240 --> 00:59:58,580
to reach out to us if there's a concern that you have in the city to try to assist you and so that we

797
00:59:58,580 --> 00:59:59,980
can just figure out how we came.

798
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:04,740
We connect you, maybe you're calling the wrong department and you just need to figure out how to keep things going.

799
01:00:05,160 --> 01:00:12,340
Want to remind citizens of our city manager search and that next week on Wednesday, we will have that starting at 3 p.m.

800
01:00:12,460 --> 01:00:16,740
So if you are interested in hearing those candidates, we have four candidates coming.

801
01:00:17,800 --> 01:00:28,700
Please be sure to come out. It would be who view if you want to learn a little bit more about each of those candidates. It will be a long day for us as council, but that will be a part of us doing our job.

802
01:00:28,700 --> 01:00:33,160
As always, thank you to our Acting City Manager Adam.

803
01:00:33,400 --> 01:00:34,540
We're doing a wonderful job.

804
01:00:34,540 --> 01:00:36,960
We appreciate you and everything that you're doing.

805
01:00:37,260 --> 01:00:39,720
So, thanks so much for doing this.

806
01:00:40,260 --> 01:00:41,480
Thank you, Council Member Burns.

807
01:00:41,820 --> 01:00:44,800
Yeah, very quick shout out for the August Portageer.

808
01:00:44,980 --> 01:00:50,400
I don't know which departments may have been involved in the half-page of the full page.

809
01:00:51,940 --> 01:00:58,380
Right up of the new residential zoning ordinance, but took 212 pages of pretty dense ordinance text.

810
01:00:58,380 --> 01:01:05,020
and condense it and do an FAQ and a very understandable digest of what we did as a council.

811
01:01:05,500 --> 01:01:06,520
So I just thought that was really well done.

812
01:01:06,660 --> 01:01:07,460
I'm going to say thanks.

813
01:01:09,440 --> 01:01:12,480
Thank you, Acting City Manager, Mr. Herringa.

814
01:01:13,140 --> 01:01:13,980
Thank you, Madam Mayor.

815
01:01:14,960 --> 01:01:19,520
One of the things, and I'm sure that I'm not sure how many school kids are watching this right now,

816
01:01:20,220 --> 01:01:25,160
but with all of our remote construction projects, we do have the opening of school on the mind.

817
01:01:26,100 --> 01:01:28,280
And yes, there will be some conflicts with some of the areas,

818
01:01:28,280 --> 01:01:32,720
but please to report that West Nages is open from Senate to South

819
01:01:32,720 --> 01:01:38,180
Melody, South to Melody, angling roads should be open and the other projects we

820
01:01:38,180 --> 01:01:42,880
are working as quickly as we can to get those wrapped up and also coordinating with

821
01:01:42,880 --> 01:01:47,520
public safety to make sure that the first week of school goes to smooth as

822
01:01:47,520 --> 01:01:51,400
possible. Speaking of public safety this past week, they not only

823
01:01:51,400 --> 01:01:55,680
place in fire, rescued people, property, but also a cat in a chicken.

824
01:01:58,500 --> 01:02:03,900
So, so many thanks to them for being the multi-disciplinary approach.

825
01:02:05,800 --> 01:02:09,860
Since Friday, we talked about housing in the material I provided City Council

826
01:02:09,860 --> 01:02:15,820
we indicated that we had closed on five homes, since Friday we've closed on two more at

827
01:02:15,820 --> 01:02:23,120
would crossings. So I would put our housing efforts up against any community in the state of Michigan and

828
01:02:23,120 --> 01:02:30,120
finally just a little bit of good news. Recently in the budget city council authorized us to

829
01:02:30,120 --> 01:02:35,280
hire an additional mechanic at our Department of Public Works. The mechanic that we hired was an

830
01:02:35,280 --> 01:02:40,180
intern for us. He is a recent graduate of Porter's Northern High School and is just finishing up

831
01:02:40,180 --> 01:02:44,140
K-Risa Career Tech program in their mechanic divisions.

832
01:02:44,380 --> 01:02:51,100
So this is a story as to why and how the vocational education and technical education programs

833
01:02:51,100 --> 01:02:53,620
and partnerships with them work.

834
01:02:54,160 --> 01:02:59,000
Where our new mechanic went through that program and we extended it off for two of them this

835
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:00,540
past week and he signed.

836
01:03:01,040 --> 01:03:03,680
So hopefully he'll be permanent employee here very soon.

837
01:03:03,960 --> 01:03:04,540
Thank you, Madam Mayor.

838
01:03:04,980 --> 01:03:06,040
Thank you.

839
01:03:06,760 --> 01:03:08,520
Mayor Potem, Dr. Pearson.

840
01:03:09,220 --> 01:03:09,660
Thank you, Mayor.

841
01:03:09,660 --> 01:03:16,660
I want to add to what council member led better, had said about

842
01:03:18,880 --> 01:03:20,740
Falk camera surveillance.

843
01:03:21,060 --> 01:03:24,820
He's always been wondering if this is a good thing,

844
01:03:26,220 --> 01:03:29,880
and we had a presentation from the Portage Public Safety

845
01:03:29,880 --> 01:03:32,400
saying all the safeguards we have.

846
01:03:32,660 --> 01:03:34,200
But I will say this to council.

847
01:03:34,640 --> 01:03:36,480
There's a lot of reports on the news,

848
01:03:36,480 --> 01:03:42,920
And we should monitor those reports, because, you know, it's coming out that even though

849
01:03:42,920 --> 01:03:50,040
Portage Public Safety has a lot of standards in checking, Portage Public Safety can

850
01:03:50,040 --> 01:03:58,160
share the information with other cities and other states, and they may not have this

851
01:03:58,160 --> 01:04:04,880
safeguards that Portage Public Safety has, so I'm not taking a stand right now, but I would

852
01:04:04,880 --> 01:04:10,280
encourage city council members, just to monitor what's going on in the public eye of

853
01:04:10,280 --> 01:04:11,860
Fox camera systems. Thank you.

854
01:04:13,420 --> 01:04:16,960
All right, I'm checking things off. My list of already been said, but I do want to acknowledge

855
01:04:16,960 --> 01:04:23,360
the engaged citizens tree that we had come forward this evening. We had a wide range of issues

856
01:04:23,360 --> 01:04:30,920
and usually it's a solo topic that we just get hammered on. So I would just ask Mr. Herringa,

857
01:04:30,920 --> 01:04:38,800
if you could just keep us all in the loop on how the church driveway is addressed and I know

858
01:04:38,800 --> 01:04:44,160
you've sent things to me on flat cameras, maybe just dispense that when you give it to the

859
01:04:44,160 --> 01:04:49,680
council, speeding passing, the conservation survey, I'm sure it would appeal to many people.

860
01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:56,360
Code violations, are we addressing them in the manner that's appropriate for 2026? Is there anything

861
01:04:56,360 --> 01:05:02,840
that we can do to make sure that what what our goal is in neighborhoods is that we're maintaining

862
01:05:02,840 --> 01:05:08,080
it and not letting one house determine the rest for the street, especially if they're rentals.

863
01:05:08,700 --> 01:05:13,840
So I guess all I'm asking is that all of council be kept abreast on these and you always do a

864
01:05:13,840 --> 01:05:19,360
great job of that. I wanted to say that the council should be extremely proud of council members

865
01:05:19,360 --> 01:05:25,740
young and Miller. They have really ran with this small business committee and everything from

866
01:05:25,740 --> 01:05:32,240
our charge card program to the facade improvement. They both addressed a town hall at the

867
01:05:32,240 --> 01:05:37,620
mall this morning and just very informative, very concise and you made me very proud.

868
01:05:39,300 --> 01:05:44,960
Council Member Miller and I did attend a kindly place. It was a land-like piece of property

869
01:05:44,960 --> 01:05:52,420
developed by AVB. There are 49 new homes there. We'll be whether time the project is done and it

870
01:05:52,420 --> 01:05:57,920
just shows you that our builders are taking land that is not easily acceptable accessible to

871
01:05:57,920 --> 01:06:07,140
develop. And so we are doing our part with our zoning and with our development office to really

872
01:06:07,140 --> 01:06:14,080
make sure that we are using our land wisely. And in closing I attended a mayor's conference last week

873
01:06:14,080 --> 01:06:19,060
farming team, and all I can say is I'm really glad that I live in Portage and the amenities

874
01:06:19,060 --> 01:06:24,420
that we have here. Many communities are struggling with some of the same things we are,

875
01:06:24,500 --> 01:06:29,340
but I think we really have a handle on what we're trying to do. Data centers was a big concern

876
01:06:29,340 --> 01:06:36,280
of flat cameras came up. Many subjects like that, but it always made me happy to know that when I

877
01:06:36,280 --> 01:06:40,100
came home, this is where I wanted to be. And with that, the meeting is adjourned.