[0:00] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[0:10] » Thank you. Roll call. Madam clerk. >> Mayor Vagel,

[0:12] » present. >> Council member Barman,

[0:14] » present. >> Council member Gota

[0:16] » here. >> Council member Gland Fox

[0:17] » here. Council member Kennedy >> here.

[0:20] » Council member ODay >> here. Council member Simmons

[0:23] » here. We have quorum. >> Perfect. Changes or additions to the

[0:27] agenda as presented tonight? City manager is not here tonight. Assistant

[0:31] city manager Benson. Do you have any? >> I have none, sir.

[0:33] » Any from the DIS? Council member Barman. >> Uh, your honor, can we add just a

[0:40] discussion on the U Metro U internet being installed throughout our

[0:46] community? Um, we can, but um, I just want to make

[0:52] a statement that, um, I was looking into this today as myself

[0:56] as well, and the city attorney is actively looking into this, and once we

[1:00] have more information to discuss, um, we'll have more discussion in probably

[1:06] in a future meeting to discuss this further. Do you still want to talk about

[1:09] it tonight or would you like to wait till we have all the information?

[1:12] » I'd like to still discuss it this evening.

[1:14] » Very good. We'll add it under new business number two.

[1:16] » Thank you. Anybody

[1:21] else?

[1:24] All right. Approval of minutes. We have one set of minutes to approve tonight

[1:28] and that's from the regular city council meeting of December 16th, 2025. Do I

[1:32] have a motion? >> Move to approve.

[1:34] » Support. >> Any discussion?

[1:37] I got move approval and support to approve the minutes of the regular city

[1:43] council meeting of December 16th, 2025. All those in favor, please signify by

[1:47] saying I. >> I.

[1:48] » I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh correspondence. We

[1:53] have one piece of correspondence tonight. That's the 2025 police

[1:57] department review. Um does anybody have any questions for police chief about

[2:01] that? Okay. Council member uh Grenella Fox.

[2:05] » I don't have a question. I just wanted to say thank you so much for providing

[2:08] that. A lot of great information. >> Thank you.

[2:12] » Anybody else? Very good. That brings us to the first

[2:16] call to the public. I'll read the rules to the call to the public. They are as

[2:20] follows. The public shall address the council during call to the public. What

[2:23] shall be included on the agenda immediately after correspondence and

[2:26] again immediately after new business. The first call to the public immediately

[2:30] after correspondence shall be limited to agenda items only. A person shall not

[2:34] address the council in excess of 5 minutes unless the time is extended by a

[2:37] majority vote of council present. Persons wishing to address the council

[2:41] shall identify themselves and their place of residence and shall state their

[2:44] reason for addressing the council and all comments by the public shall be made

[2:48] directly to the council. Do we have anybody of the first call to the public?

[2:56] Seeing none, I'll close the first call to the public. We'll move on. City

[2:59] managers report. We have the fire report from November 2025. Any questions?

[3:07] All right. And we have the police report from November 2025. Any questions?

[3:13] All right. Consent agenda. All items listed under the consent agenda are

[3:18] considered routine by the city council and will be enacted by one motion.

[3:21] There'll be no separate discussion of these items unless the council member

[3:24] sole requests in which event the items will be removed from the consent agenda

[3:28] and added to the regular agenda at the end of unfinished or new business. Do I

[3:32] have a motion? >> So move. to support.

[3:36] » I got motion of support to approve the consent agenda as presented tonight. All

[3:41] those in favor, please signify by saying I.

[3:43] » I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. We have no

[3:47] unfinished business tonight. So, we move on to the first item of new business and

[3:51] that's a recommendation to adopt the charter uh city council rules of

[3:55] procedure in accordance with city car charter section 4.15H.

[4:00] Do I have a motion? >> Very good.

[4:05] Um this is just a um clear and professional way to introduce this item

[4:10] to council out loud. It's written as a short script you can read or paraphrase

[4:15] and it's following a recent municipal election. The city council has been

[4:19] newly constituted with the seating of newly elected members. As part of a new

[4:23] council item, it is important for the council to formally adopt a city council

[4:27] rules and procedures that will govern how meetings are conducted and how city

[4:30] council conducts its business. Adopting the rules ensures that all members share

[4:34] a common understanding of meeting conduct, order of business, roles and

[4:39] responsibilities and procedural expectations in accordance with the

[4:43] applicable laws and best practices. For that reason is recommended that the city

[4:47] council approve consider approval of the city council rules and procedure at this

[4:51] first official meeting. Doing so establishes a clear and consistent

[4:56] framework for conducting meetings efficiently, transparently, and fairly

[4:59] throughout the new council term. >> [snorts]

[5:02] » And uh attached are the uh current city council rules of procedure which were

[5:06] last adopted on March 12th, 2024. Any questions, discussion, council

[5:13] member? Um gotcha.

[5:17] » Thank you. Um I did notice on page eight of the document there is an issue um

[5:24] where the subheading standing boards and commissions of council is. It wrote over

[5:30] other language relating to like the residency requirement for board members.

[5:37] So that should probably I mean I know what the rest of it said but that's not

[5:43] written in the document. Okay. >> Um so I don't know if we want to add

[5:47] that now or just have it adjusted. >> It's just a typo. Is that what you're

[5:52] saying? >> It's not a typo. Like words are missing

[5:54] because they were deleted when the heading got put in. Okay.

[6:00] » So yeah on page eight like the very top paragraph

[6:05] » it says reading it the last sentence it says if the reason for appointment of a

[6:10] particular individual then it has [clears throat]

[6:12] co and then it jumps into standing boards of counsel. Um it should probably

[6:18] read based on what I recall appointment of a particular individual is considered

[6:24] oh what was the wording considered pertinent

[6:27] » pertinent. Yeah, we're on a business level like something like that.

[6:31] » I'll see that's fixed. >> Yeah. So, I think we can approve that

[6:34] with just that with that correction. >> Yep.

[6:36] » Very good. Any other discussion, questions?

[6:41] [clears throat] >> All right. I got a motion and a second

[6:43] to approve the uh recommendation to adopt the city council rules of

[6:48] procedure in accordance with city charter section 4.15H.

[6:52] All those in favor, please signify by saying I.

[6:54] » I. Opposed. Motion carries. New business item number two is a discussion uh

[7:00] concerning the uh metro net connections. Um council member Barman, floor is

[7:06] yours. >> Thank you. Um

[7:09] first and foremost, uh I'm I we took some pictures today and I distributed

[7:13] them to everyone just so they could see what I wanted to talk about. Thank you

[7:17] council um and Gil for taking these pictures. But um

[7:22] I I noticed this this uh installation a couple weeks before or going in before

[7:28] Christmas and I reached out to city manager's office then to try to get some

[7:31] more information on it. And then since then I've uh heard that they've also

[7:35] installed one on Pontiac Trail on back and then since then I've also u realized

[7:41] that it's the same company that's going up and down Lon Lake Road now. Um, and

[7:46] uh, I'm glad that the city manager's office has decided to get the city

[7:50] attorney involved in it. Um, but I want to, at least myself, uh, reiterate that

[7:57] I I mean, anything we can do to stop these installations from going in,

[8:01] especially in our downtown where we're, you know, spending so much money on

[8:05] beautifification and landscaping and bearing power line power lines. to have

[8:09] something like this installed um which with almost no notice to the city I find

[8:16] uh crazy. This piece of property that has been listed for sale since uh I

[8:22] moved to the city is probably on marketable now with this installation

[8:25] right out front. Um, and I guess where I that's where I wanted to have the

[8:30] discussion tonight is just to make sure that all of you are on the same page

[8:34] that I am that like to direct our admin administration to do anything possible

[8:40] to to stop these installations and particularly this one downtown to have

[8:44] it removed. >> Yeah. I as far as uh removing it, I

[8:49] don't know. I'm not a you know it's it's unsightly and I do believe correct me if

[8:54] I'm wrong assistant city manager that the uh property owner was aware of this

[8:58] before they um put this in >> uh no actually um in both cases both the

[9:05] Pontiac trail installation and the Wixom Road installation no they did to our

[9:09] knowledge they did not receive any prior notice um we have been in contact I've

[9:14] spec I've personally been in contact with the owner of the uh Pontiac Trail

[9:18] Plaza um and he's had conversations with the road commission for Oakland County.

[9:23] Both of these are in their right [snorts] ofways. So, they take the the

[9:26] kind of primary place on permitting for um their right ofways as we do for

[9:30] city-owned road rightways. Um I've been uh I've been trying to get a better

[9:35] handle on a downtown property owner. I've talked to their real estate broker.

[9:40] They're aware of it. um we're bringing it to their um and you know trying to

[9:43] get in front of the property owner as well to uh you know add to kind of the

[9:47] the the push back against this installation. You know at a minimum

[9:53] can can it be located in a more appropriate location? Can it be screened

[9:56] better? Um under the the Metro Act that is a state law that preempts local uh

[10:02] jurisdiction over some aspects related to telecommunications.

[10:06] Um and this is what we need to work out city attorney. We may not be able to

[10:10] fully prevent telecommunications installations, but we believe that there

[10:14] are things that we can do to push them to approve them to screen them better

[10:17] for better location. So, that's what we're actively working on is uh, you

[10:22] know, being in contact with MetroNet, the city attorney's office, the road

[10:25] commission for Oakland County, and the company that's installing these to see

[10:28] what mitigation we can do. and most importantly, you know, helping these

[10:32] property owners understand, you know, how to uh, you know, lodge their

[10:37] complaints and and really have their their voices heard in this process, too.

[10:41] And I think one of my bigger concerns is just going up and down all of Wixom

[10:45] Road, basically from this installation down to Lunick Road is all flagged right

[10:50] now. So, how many more of these are going in? Um and I and and

[10:56] anything we can do. When talking to the city manager this morning, he seemed to

[11:00] think that uh they did need his approval. Uh at least one of the

[11:05] requirements he saw was they needed city manager approval in which he's going to

[11:09] get confirmation from the attorney on. I just wanted to throw my support and

[11:15] hopefully all of council support behind giving him whatever authority he needs

[11:19] to attack this thing head on. Anybody else? Council member Gotcho.

[11:26] » Thank you. Um, I do want to thank Council Member Bman for pointing these

[11:29] out to me. I haven't been out a whole bunch and usually it seems like when I

[11:34] am driving through these areas, it's during night in winter, so they haven't

[11:38] caught my eye until um, Council Member Bman pointed them out, and I

[11:42] wholeheartedly agree. Um, not what our plans call for in the downtown area. Um,

[11:48] it definitely makes that parcel very difficult to market, if not impossible

[11:53] and worthless, which is a bigger issue between them and the property owner if

[11:58] they never gave notice. Um, you had mentioned RCOC

[12:04] and this being permitted are both of them, the Pontia Trail one and this one

[12:09] across from Reton, those would both be in within county rightway.

[12:14] » That is correct. Have we spoken directly with RCOC about

[12:20] whether permits were obtained for these and what that process looked like?

[12:25] » I have personally had conversations with some members of their staff. That is my

[12:28] understanding. I haven't seen copies of these permits. Tim might be able to

[12:31] speak to that a little bit better, but yes, my understanding is that they've

[12:34] been granted permits through the road commission

[12:37] » and they have to like submit what this will look like when they do it and the

[12:43] road commission still approves it. >> That that is my understanding.

[12:47] » All right. Yeah. We're going through a year-long process trying to get ballards

[12:54] to protect like pedestrians and cyclists.

[12:58] a very like we've had a few accidents there. We have the data behind it. This

[13:04] is a nuisance and they're just whatever. Do it. Put up. How many are there?

[13:09] » Eight. >> Eight ballards that look like crap in

[13:12] the middle of a property. >> Not even level.

[13:14] » Yeah. So, I like I don't know what conversation we need to have with RCOC

[13:19] because it seems to be like one project after another that doesn't meet our

[13:24] standards or what we're hoping and they just keep passing it through. So, I

[13:28] don't like I feel like we need to have a meeting with them to really bring up a

[13:33] municipality's concerns about why they're permitting projects that are

[13:37] going to be a detriment to county municipalities because that's kind of

[13:41] where it's at. They put 5 in of asphalt over Pontet Trail and now every time you

[13:47] try to come to a meeting westbound on Pontia Trail, the manholes are a big

[13:51] seat area. it like there are giant issues that RCOC just continues to push

[13:58] down the road quite literally because they don't care apparently. Um I know

[14:03] they're a little distracted with other ethical issues but hopefully they can

[14:07] start caring about the cities that are in the county. Thank you.

[14:10] » Council member Regal Fox. I >> I agree as well. It's an eyesore. I mean

[14:14] it's it is it's an eyesore. I don't know that there's a whole lot we can do about

[14:19] it. Just um I mean I hope there is, but I I'm not real confident that there is,

[14:24] but I I look forward to any other information that you bring forward and

[14:29] advice we get from our council. >> Absolutely. It is it's our full intent

[14:33] in talking to city manager Brown. He would have he would have preferred to

[14:36] have been here tonight. He is he's really not feeling well. Um, I I fully

[14:41] expect within, you know, the next meeting or two meetings, you know, we'll

[14:44] be giving you updates as we go. Um, to your point, we're not 100% sure what

[14:48] exactly we can require them to do, what they may agree to do, and and to council

[14:53] member Gotel's point. Um, you know, having a conversation with the road

[14:56] commission's permitting department and having a better line of communication,

[15:00] that is also a priority for us here. Um, you know, in general, we like to think

[15:04] we have decent line of communication, but clearly on right-of-way projects

[15:08] specifically, um, you know, there there's room for improvement there. So,

[15:11] that's on that's part of this conversation as well.

[15:17] » Yeah. And I and I know that um as assistant city manager Benson has has

[15:22] said um our city manager, assistant city manager Benson and our attorney are

[15:29] actively pursuing this and uh meeting with uh the road commission to see what

[15:34] we can do and to see if we can um have some type of alternative where we can

[15:40] put these somewhere where they're not so uh not so much of an eyesore. So, like I

[15:45] say, this is going to be an issue that's going on for a couple of weeks and

[15:48] hopefully at the next meeting we'll get some type of update on this. Very good.

[15:54] » I guess my only other followup would be is are

[15:58] given Lon Lake is our road, would they have to ask for a permit to put one of

[16:02] these on Lon Lake from us? >> If yes, they would.

[16:08] » And have they? >> They have. They've asked to put these on

[16:13] Link Road. >> No, those are the only two large ones

[16:16] like that. The other ones will be little little irrigation boxes. That's all that

[16:21] will go in by.

[16:26] » Okay. So, administration has a direction on how

[16:31] council feels this should move on and we'll go from there.

[16:35] » I just had one thing back. >> No, you've already you've already spoke.

[16:39] » Council member Gotfield. >> I missed a few meetings. I have some

[16:41] talking to make up for. [laughter]

[16:45] » Um, Mr. Sigma, will the ones that are are

[16:50] going to be on like will those have any of the Ballards as well or they're just

[16:56] boxes? >> Okay. Thank you.

[16:59] » All right. Any further discussion? >> Nope. Thank you.

[17:02] » You You're very welcome. All right. That concludes the new business portion of

[17:06] the meeting tonight. We move on to the second call to the public. I will not re

[17:10] read the rules to the call to public with the exception of you can come up

[17:13] and speak whatever is on your mind. Somebody would like to come up. Anybody

[17:16] from the audience? Second call to the public. Speak whatever's on your mind.

[17:22] All right, I'll close that. Move on uh to assistant city manager comments.

[17:26] Assistant city manager Benson. Thank you, mayor. Uh just a couple notes from

[17:30] uh city manager report. First and foremost, uh just a reminder that we

[17:34] have the upcoming MML on-site training session for new elected officials, board

[17:38] and commission members, and HOA board members, the uh everything's meeting uh

[17:42] this Thursday, January 15th, starting at 6:00 p.m. Credit to uh city clerk Palco

[17:48] for getting that all set up. Uh let us know if you're planning on attending. I

[17:52] believe we're up to nearly 40 anticipated uh participants. This is

[17:56] open to other communities, too. Uh so, Commerce, Wald Lake, and others. So,

[18:01] should be a nice event and we encourage you to attend. Uh, one other note is uh

[18:05] just giving an FYI to council about the retirement of Nancy F with HRC. Uh, some

[18:11] of you I think some of you have met her before. She's attended some meetings.

[18:14] She's been uh retiring as a vice president. She's been involved in a lot

[18:18] of infrastructure projects here and uh really been an influential member of how

[18:23] Wixon has grown. So, we just wanted to give you all that heads up and

[18:26] congratulate her for uh her time. Um, replacing her will be Karen Stickle. U,

[18:31] so you'll likely see her alongside Mike Darot at future meetings related to HRC.

[18:36] Um, and then the last thing is, as you may know, uh, the city of Wixom is

[18:40] sponsoring is a sponsoring community for the Lakes Area Youth Assistance and uh,

[18:44] or Leia or Lia and they recently met they recently sent a very nice thank you

[18:49] letter to our DPW for sponsoring a child under the adopted child uh, event for

[18:54] Christmas. So kudos to DBW for everything you guys are doing and uh uh

[18:58] being a part of the community. The last thing I'll say is uh just an update.

[19:03] City council had previously made a motion to direct city administration to

[19:06] work with the planning commission on our regulations relating to data centers. I

[19:10] did want to give you an update that the planning commission uh discussed the

[19:14] topic at their December 16th 16th. Yeah, December 16th meeting. Um we anticipate

[19:20] having draft language in front of them at their meeting on the 21st. So, you

[19:23] all will likely see a recommendation coming from the planning commission on

[19:26] some proposed ordinance amendments in the coming months. Um, just given public

[19:30] hearing notices and those kinds of things. Um, it does take a little bit of

[19:34] time, but wanted to give you an update. They're active, they and we are actively

[19:37] working on it and um, we'll have updates as part of my monthly reports and if you

[19:41] have any questions, I'm happy to try and answer them.

[19:44] » All right. Any questions? All right. Seeing none. Thank you. Uh,

[19:50] city council comments. Council member Kennedy.

[19:54] » Um, I'm honored to be sitting up here and I

[19:57] look forward to serving the community as best I can. Thank you.

[20:01] » Okay, Council Member Simmons. >> Yay. Well, uh, I am excited to be here.

[20:08] Um, I did want with this being uh, uh, my first meeting as I've been to

[20:13] several, but being on this side of the table would like to just I think it'd be

[20:18] nice to share some fun facts about myself. Um, so my husband and I have

[20:23] lived uh in Wixom for a little bit over nine years. We have two kids. Uh, one is

[20:27] a senior at Walt Lake Western uh who just got his acceptance letter to

[20:31] University of Michigan. So, go blue. And uh we have a a uh seventh grader at

[20:38] Sarah Banks Middle School who just made the basketball team. So, good for her,

[20:41] too. Um, I uh have owned and run a business, a small business in uh

[20:46] Commerce Township now for the last 18 years. Started in Wixom. uh moved to

[20:49] Walt Lake and now in Commerce Township and I've served on the library board for

[20:54] the last six years. So, I'm excited to be here. Um I'm looking forward to

[20:58] serving with uh everybody here. Mayor, thank you for all of your support. And

[21:03] lastly, just want to uh from this side of the table say thank you to uh our

[21:10] previous council uh for uh Tom Resnik and Peter Sharp. So, thank you, Mayor.

[21:15] You're welcome. Little bit different view from that side to this side, right?

[21:19] » Different. [laughter] >> Council member OD.

[21:22] » Um, welcome to our two new members. I look forward to serving with you now and

[21:27] I'm so happy to no longer be the rookie. So, um, and just wishing everyone a very

[21:33] happy new year. >> Good. Council member Barman.

[21:37] » Uh, just welcome to, uh, House Member Kennedy and Simmons.

[21:42] Nice to have some some new people up here. and I I I too am looking forward

[21:47] to serving with both of you. >> Okay, Council Member Gotcha.

[21:53] » Thank you. I um first wanted to also thank Chief Langmire for the annual

[21:58] report. It's always nice to kind of get a year in review and looking ahead. Um

[22:03] it's nice um that we're kind of promoting with it and a able to maintain

[22:10] like educational opportunities for our officers and our staff. um adding

[22:15] cadetses and putting them through the academy and hopefully but I know we've

[22:20] had a lot of turnover the last few years and those were folks who were with the

[22:25] city a very very long time almost their entire careers if not their entire

[22:29] career and I think by providing those opportunities that we are hopefully

[22:33] it'll turn the current batch of officers into the same sort of people who are

[22:38] around and I think that helps the city they get familiar with our neighborhoods

[22:43] and our neighbors and residents and build that rapport and I think it helps

[22:46] keep us safer and hopefully that's a part of the uh statistics that you're

[22:51] seeing as well that were alluded to crime being down in the city which is um

[22:56] phenomenal news. I know um Nancy isn't here from HRC but I hopefully we can

[23:01] share our thanks as well. I know she we've had a lot of growth with HRC over

[23:07] the last few years. Um wastewater treatment plant, roads, all sorts of

[23:12] projects and um they've always been very helpful um with us and I know Karen has

[23:18] been um a part of their team with Wixom as well for a long time. So um

[23:23] congratulations to her on her increased responsibilities. So, um I also wanted

[23:30] to thank our um newly retired members even though they left from photos

[23:35] already. Um I was sad I wasn't at the the last meeting and also welcome our

[23:39] new council members. I look forward to working with you. Thank you, Council

[23:43] Member Marin Fox. >> Thank you. I too would like to welcome

[23:46] our newest members, um Kennedy and Simmons. I look forward to working with

[23:50] you and if you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to any of us

[23:54] because we'll help you in any way we can.

[23:58] And then uh under the consent agenda, the senior commission meeting minutes, I

[24:05] just wanted to just say they were talking about one of the issues was

[24:10] space for donations and it would be great if we could find some space

[24:15] somewhere for those donations because I think it's a good program.

[24:19] I'm hoping we can find I don't maybe even if I don't know I don't want DPW I

[24:24] don't know if they have space but we can just find a little bit of space

[24:28] and then um regarding the Lakes area adopt a family adopt a child.

[24:36] I didn't know that we did that here and I know we do it in my day job. Um, so

[24:42] it'd be great if we could get maybe some families if council wanted to do that or

[24:48] just get more information as we get closer to the holidays.

[24:52] And [clears throat] then lastly, just happy new year to everyone.

[24:56] » Thank you. >> Very good. All right. And I, uh, want to

[25:00] welcome our two new members to city council as well, and I'm really looking

[25:03] forward to, uh, working with them throughout the next two years. Um,

[25:09] and [laughter]

[25:12] uh I want to congratulate Nancy F too uh uh on her uh congratulations and wish

[25:18] her the best of luck on her retirement. Uh I've been up here for 15 years now

[25:22] and I've worked with her for that long and she's always professional. She's

[25:26] done a lot of good for the uh city of Wixom and I appreciate that. And um just

[25:31] a couple of housekeeping issues uh in the next couple of weeks. Look, uh,

[25:35] we're going to be doing the evaluation for the city manager. So, look for that

[25:39] in your, um, email or I may just distribute it at the next council

[25:44] meeting. And then um if you guys could get with me uh fairly soon for the the

[25:51] last two weeks of February, the first week of March um days that you're

[25:56] available so we can have a goal setting meeting and that way we can uh do the

[26:00] goal settings which will be one or two to three items of that you would like to

[26:05] see um in the city enacted and that'll give us time to go over those in a

[26:10] meeting and then forward those to the appropriate uh department managers. and

[26:15] they'll be able to um look at that, try to implement it in the u in their budget

[26:20] before we start the budget session on in April. And so with that, do I have a

[26:24] motion to adjurnn? >> So support.

[26:28] » All those in favor, please signify by saying I

[26:31] » opposed. Motion carries. Thank you everybody. Happy New Year.

January 13, 2026 City Council Meeting

Transcript