Let the record show that the regular Riverview City Council meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. on August 17th, 2026. Will the clerk please take a. Mayor Swift? Here. Council Member Williams here. Council member. Clark. Here. Council member. Council member. O’Neill. Here. Council member. Pré. Here. Council member. Webb. Here.
Let the record show that Councilwoman Canoga is excused. Tonight we have the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Pray and invocation by Councilwoman Nicole Clark. Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Oh, Heavenly Father, we are gathered here tonight to better serve you by serving our citizens. Inspire in us a deep sense of public duty and a high code of ethics in order to achieve the best solutions for our community. We say this in thy name. Amen. Amen. Thank you guys for that.
Jeff, before we get started, any announcements? Yes. Your honor, we have a couple announcements this evening. Uh, recreation department. Mr. Todd Dickman. Yes. Thank you. I just want to remind everyone that we are in our last two weeks of the summer concert. So, um, please come out the next two Wednesdays. They should be really good concerts.
We have Phoenix Theory, which is a classic rock and dance music. Uh, for you on this Wednesday night at 630. And then on our last Wednesday on August 26th, we have, uh, Bob Seger tribute band, Fire Lake. So, um, we should be ending the concert series in great style. So. 630 in young Patriot’s Park on both of those Wednesdays.
Also next week, the recreation department, through our seniors are going to be holding a book fair for kids for Children’s Scholastic Book Fair that is going to be at the community center. It is going to be on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the 25th, 26 and 27th of August.
So if you want, come on out and support that, it will be, uh, 10 to 3 on Tuesday, 4 to 8, um, which will also be during the concert on Wednesday and then 10 to 3 again on Thursday. So please come out and support. Thank you. Todd. Your honor, our clerk, Mr. Cherry Lawson. Uh, yes. Good evening, everyone.
With the Labor Day holidays and approaching on September 7th, uh, the council meeting is going to be moved to Tuesday, September 8th at 7:00 pm here in the City Council chambers. Thank you. Thank you, Jerry. That’s it, Your Honor, for announcements for this evening. Okay. I do have a couple.
I want to congratulate Councilman Paray on the golf outing for a victory agenda. He sponsored or put on on Saturday. It was a tremendous turnout. Uh, the weather even agreed it didn’t rain and cloudy all day, but that worked well. Um, a lot of positive feedback on the how the the the the outing went.
Uh, and, um, I hope it was a success that at least it appeared to be. Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. It was a huge success. Victory, Jim. The magic golf outing raised over $30,000 for the for their cause. So all that money goes to veterans, first responders, and, uh, PTSD counseling.
So it was a tremendous success. So I think everybody who attended, um, I think not only Rear View, but the surrounding cities that, uh, went into the event brought their hearts and their checkbooks. So I think everybody who attended. Thank you.
And also, congratulations, Tab on the senior Olympics for this past week, uh, Rear View sponsored pickleball and bocce ball. Uh, and I did attend the the luncheon. Uh, you have a number of the counts of the medals that are seniors. One. Yes. Uh, I mean, we did have 25 seniors participate in it, and we were able to bring home 41 medals with those 25 participants. Wow. Very good week.
Congratulations to all the seniors. Uh, and that’s all I have. Um, under 41, retirement of K9 blue. The police department chief, do you want to come on up? Blue. Up to. First blue. Thanks, mayor. First, I want to start off by thanking the Villard family.
Such a wonderful donation you did for our canine program. And we thank you sincerely. Buddy, tonight we have the honor of recognizing the retirement of a very special member of the Riverview Police Department, K9 blue, who has faithfully served this community from 2019 through 2026.
When people hear the term K9 officer, they often think about the obvious things the training, the searches, the apprehensions, the tracking, and the ability for the dog to detect narcotics and other evidence. But being a K-9 officer is much more than that. A police K9 is not simply a piece of equipment, and being a K-9 officer is not simply another assignment. It is a partnership.
It’s built on trust, discipline, communication, and an incredible amount of work. A K-9 officer is responsible for another officer’s safety and well-being every single day. The handler trains with the dog, works with the dog, travels with the dog, cares for the dog, and ultimately becomes responsible for a partner who cannot speak for himself. This partnership requires tremendous commitment.
A canine officer can spend countless hours training when nobody is watching. They train in buildings, vehicles, fields, neighborhoods, and other environments. So when the call comes, the handler and the dog are prepared. And when that call comes, there’s no hesitation. Sir, I’m going to be a little long winded.
I’m pretty passionate about the canine program, whether it is searching for a missing child, locating a suspect who has fled from officers, searching a building, locating evidence, or assisting another department, the K-9 team is often asked to go into situations that are unpredictable and dangerous. The dog trust the handler. The handler trust the dog.
That trust makes a difference between success and failure, and sometimes between life and death. But there is another important part about being a K-9 officer that doesn’t always get recognized. Canines are also ambassadors for their departments.
Over the years, blue has attended community events, interacted with children, met residents, and helped our community see the police department in a much different way. Sorry I lost what I was doing there. Those interactions are important because they remind people that behind the badge and behind the uniform, there’s officers and partners like blue who are here to protect and serve our community. Blue is represented.
The Riverview, the police Department with distinction. You keep hearing your name, don’t you? Since 2019, blue has been a part of countless calls, investigations, searches, training, exercise, and community events. He has worked alongside officers and has helped make our department safer and more efficient.
But perhaps the greatest measure of a K-9 service isn’t the number of cases he has worked, or the number of searches completed. Sorry. It is the trust he has earned. Blue earned the trust of his handler, his fellow officers, and this community. And standing beside blue throughout these years has been Detective Sergeant Herrick. Being a K-9 handler requires a tremendous personal commitment.
It means bringing your partner home with you. It means continuing training on your own time. It means caring for your canine partner every day, whether you’re on duty or off duty. Detective Sergeant Herrick didn’t simply work with blue. He built a partnership with him, and that partnership has benefited the entire Riverview community.
So tonight, as we recognize Blue’s retirement, we aren’t simply saying goodbye to a police dog. We are recognizing a police officer who has served this community faithfully for seven years. Blue has earned his retirement.
He has enjoyed the opportunity to spend his days without a radio going off, without being called on another search, and without having to wonder where the next suspect is hanging, hiding. Although he likes that his job is done, his watch is over. And now it’s time for blue to enjoy his retirement.
On behalf of the Riverview Police Department, the City of Riverview and our entire community, I want to thank K9 blue for his service, dedication and loyalty, and I want to thank Detective Sergeant Herrick for the years of his commitment he has given to blue and to our Department. Blue. Thank you for your service. You have protected your fellow officers. You have helped keep our community safe.
You have represented the Riverview, the Police Department, with honor and respect. Thank you. Blue. Enjoy your retirement. You, the canine handler, gives the city a dollar and we turn over blue. So we’ll have a little brief, uh, passing of a dollar bill, which may or may not be passed back to him. What the hell? Well-deserved. Thank.
I just want to take one moment to take up a little bit more of your time. Um, a huge thank. Thank you. I want to thank Cindy and Jerry, uh, myself. We wouldn’t be here without you guys. Thank you for your generosity. It means so much to our city.
I wouldn’t be here without the officer standing back there, too. We might get the recognition, but those are the guys that are out there helping us. So we wouldn’t be here without the officers. You see, standing at the back of the room either. Um. And if I could, can. Amanda, Uriah and Elijah come up here, please? We have time for that.
Yes, absolutely. This is a family. It’s going to be a heck. And thank you, chief, for the for the kind words. If if anybody doesn’t know that chief is a former, um, canine handler. Um, and I appreciate how passionate he is about this program. Um, uh, and it shows.
He’s super dedicated to our dogs. And, um, it’s great to have a chief that supports us in that way. So, like chief said, when somebody gets a dog, it’s not just a commitment for the handler. It’s the whole family. And you can see this is his family here.
So I just want to say thank you to, um, Amanda, Uriah and Elijah. Who wouldn’t be the dog he is without them up here? Um, there’s a lot of rules at home with the police dog. A lot of, uh, training at home. Um, you’re an Elijah jumping on, pulling Blue’s ears, petting him when he was little.
When they were little is what gave us the ability to be the that community outreach team that we were for Riverview. So a lot of credit goes to the three of them up here too.
So just want to say thank you to my family and my family in the back and to the chief and to the city for allowing us to be a canine team for, for eight years. I really appreciate it. Thank you. I just like to say on behalf of the city, the city council and myself, congratulations to blue and to and to you for all the work that you’ve done in serving the city. So thank you.
We appreciate it. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Happy retirement. Thank you guys. Okay. We’ll move on. Five one approve the minutes of the eight three 2026 regular review city Council meeting and the condensed version for publication. What’s Council’s pleasure? So move support. Motion by Councilman O’Neil’s.
Uh, motion by Councilman O’Neill, supported by Councilman Webb. Any discussion? Roll call. Councilmember Clark. Yes. Councilmember O’Neill. Yes. Councilmember. Pray. Yes. Mayor. Swift. Yes. Councilmember. Webb. Yes. Councilmember. Williams. Yes. Tonight, we have no public no public hearings. Now’s the time for public comment. Anyone wishing to address the mayor and council, please approach the podium.
State your name and address. For the record, try to keep your comments to five minutes. There is no sharing of time and no rebuttals. And please be respectful. Anyone want to address the council? Good evening Mayor and Council, this is Jonah Beauchamp 14759 Shenandoah.
I think we have to address the elephant in the room, as evidenced by recent council hearings. And that is regarding the issue of lock cameras. As other fellow residents have addressed. As of late, there have been some serious concerns with the Fox system and what it would bring as a private AI surveillance system to our communities.
I understand the need for ensuring that our communities need to be safe, putting our trust in for cameras, though, is absolutely not the way to do it. I don’t feel as if the council’s approach and response to the issues that Fox system brings has been very appropriate, and if I may not mince my words here, it almost feels like a sellout by this
council. This is not the voice of an expert here. This is the voice of a citizen whose generation will have to navigate the effects of AI and automation far more than most, and it doesn’t matter who’s in charge of these critical decisions here or what generation they’re part of.
There has to be better leadership. See here set no matter what. Please understand. Like this is not a system that just reads license plates and runs a search like you would in a cop cruiser in a traffic stop.
These four cameras with the AI software in them surveys your facial recognition and patterns as well, not just in a given moment, but retroactively as well. So your patterns in the data are not only already being tracked and shared from some private database, which leaves many opportunities for for profiling and evidence planning.
But with the AI software that is being used, that creates even more room for error. There have been alarming incidents across the US as of late of misreading and other incidents with Fox involvement in various cases that have led to innocent people being accused of crimes they were never involved in and held at gunpoint.
In some extreme cases, I strongly suggest that we please be very careful in the future. For example, when saying the good outweighs the bad with flock. I don’t understand why we blame the people prone to misusing the flock system for the flaws of a system that is honestly the antithesis of proper human use.
Yes, there are bad apples in the social system, but that doesn’t matter if the system is inherently flawed from its roots and setting us up for failure here. And that’s what it can absolutely happen.
If your hands are tied down to AI and the Fox system that is promoted by also, with Riverview having so much pride in being a small, close knit community, which is one of the safest communities this side of the Metro Detroit area, why is it going to put its trust in flock as the best solution to enhance its safety, which is not even a federal or federally regulated agency or even a state one? Mind you, it is a private, for profit, owned
surveillance system that has very little nationwide standards to enforce any real accountability or protection, which is not at all good precedent that’s going to set for a city.
There are plenty of better ways, even in the long 70 year history of Riverview, to be able to protect our citizens. Why are we trusting big business in AI to do so? Moving forward? There has to be better leadership from this board left to right, and there absolutely can be.
I hope my city that I’ve lived in most of my life demands a lot better and continues giving appropriate pushback on issues like this. Thank you all for your time. Thank you. Anybody else? We’ll move on. Is there any item Council wants to remove from the consent agenda? Seeing none nine one approve special events application from Grace church to hold a church picnic at Machine Park on August 30th, 2026. Nine two.
Approve execution of the municipal credit and community credit contract for fiscal year 2027. Suburban Mobility Authority, Regional Transport, transportation or Smart. And that’s it was council’s pleasure. support motion by Councilwoman O’Neill, supported by Councilman. Pray any discussion. Roll call, please. Council member O’Neill. Yes. Council member. Pray. Yes. Mayor. Swift. Yes. Council member. Webb. Yes. Council member. Williams. Yes. And council member. Clark. Yes.
Uh, ten one resolutions. Adopt. Resolution authorizing the mayor to execute on behalf of the City of Riverview. Amendment Agreement number four to the water service contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority with Council’s pleasure. So moved. Support motion by Councilwoman O’Neill, supported by Councilwoman. Clark. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Council member. Pray. Yes. Mayor. Swift. Yes.
Council member. Webb. Yes. Council member. Williams. Yes. Council member. Clark. Yes. And council member. O’Neill. Yes. 121. Authorize second reading by title only. Adoption of ordinance to amend the Riverview Code of Ordinances by amendments of chapter 38. Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions. Article four. Article five offenses involving public peace order.
Chapter 42 Parks and Recreation. Article four conduct in Parks and chapter 66 Traffic and vehicle. Article four bicycles to regulate the use of electric bikes and electric skateboards within the city. What’s Council’s pleasure? So moved support. Motion by Councilman O’Neill, supported by Councilman. Pray any discussion. Roll call. I reading it first.
Oh, I’m sorry you read it. You read it first, right? Okay. No, you take a vote first. Okay, fine. I get a different every time. Thank you. Any of that written down here? Mayor Swift? Yes. Council member Webb. Yes. Councilmember Williams. Yes. Council member. Clark. Yes. Council member O’Neill. Yes. And council member. Perry. Yes. Thank you.
Ordinance number 760, an ordinance to amend the Riverview Code of Ordinances by the amendment of chapter 38, Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions. Article five offenses involving public peace and order. Chapter 42 Parks and Recreation. Article four Conduct and parks. And chapter 66 Traffic and Excuse me. Vehicles.
Article five bicycles to regulate the use of electric bicycles and electric skateboards within the city. With that, I’ll look for a motion to adopt from Councilwoman O’Neill. So moved. Is there support? Support by Councilman. Pray any discussion. Roll call. Council member. Webb. Yes. Councilmember Williams. Yes. Council member. Clark. Yes. Council member. O’Neill. Yes. Yes. Councilmember. Pray. Yes. And mayor. Swift. Yes.
122 authorize first reading by title only and proposed adoption of ordinance. An ordinance to amend the Riverview Court of Ordinances by the addition of section 38266. Possession and use of drug paraphernalia prohibited to chapter 38 offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions to prohibit the Use and Possession of drug paraphernalia in the City Council’s pleasure. So moved..
Is there a support.? Support Councilman? Pray any discussion. Roll call. Councilmember Williams. Yes. Councilmember. Clark. Yes. Councilmember O’Neill. Yes. Councilmember. Pray. Yes. Mayor Smith. Yes. And Councilmember Webb. Yes. Ordinance number 761. An ordinance to amend the Riverview Code of Ordinances by the addition of section 38266.
Possession and Use of Drug paraphernalia prohibited to chapter 38 Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions to prohibit the Use of possession, use, and Possession of Drug paraphernalia in the city. Is there any other business that Council wants to bring up at this time? Mayor. Councilman Webb.
Uh, if I may, I know I brought this up last week, but I just again wanted to thank the community and the first responders for coming out to our National Night Out for the Neighborhood Watch on Tuesday the fourth. Um, beautiful weather, beautiful event. Um, had a great time. Looking forward to doing again next year. The first it’s always the first Tuesday in August.
So next year it’ll be August 3rd between 6 and 9 p.m.. Uh, if I may, just another quick moment. I forgot to mention somebody to thank, um, last week, not only Akron Systems for their generous donation, but also go big multimedia for their donation. And I noticed the, uh, the article from Zoe Kasper in the paper this week.
So I wanted to thank her for taking the time to write that up. And also, uh, our party rentals Carry and Clown Caravan and Serendipity Cake and ice cream shop. And by the way, serendipity does have ice cream. So if you enjoy ice cream all year long indoors, you can go there as well. So thank you.
Thank you Brian. Anybody else with that? I’ll look for a motion to adjourn from Councilman. OOP. Okay. Gotta speak up. I can’t hear you. Uh. Um, I just wanted to, uh, when we talked about Mad Jack’s earlier today, I wanted to say thank you to Councilman Webb. His organization. Be well.
My friends made a donation to, uh, Victory Gym as well as several other Riverview community families. Um, from the bottom of my heart, I wanted to say thank you. That’s all. Thank you. You guys did a great job. Hey. Anybody else with that? I’ll look for a motion to adjourn from Councilman O’Neill. So moved. Is there support? Support? I support by Councilman Webb.
Any discussion? Roll call, please. Council member Clark. Yes. Council member. O’Neill. Yes. Council member. Pray. Yes. Mayor. Swift. Yes. Council member. Webb. Yes. Council member. Williams. Yes. Let the record show. We adjourned at 727. Thank you.