[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.