January 28, 2008 Council Minutes

1. CALL TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

3. ATTENDANCE

Present: Kucinich, Kirklin, Bemer, McLean, S. Smith, Markle, P. Smith

Others present: Chief VerHage, Attorney Graham, Ruth Goheen

4. WELCOME TO THE PUBLIC

5. ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING BEING RECORDED

6. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

Under Old-A. Update on Deal Mobile Home Park
And B Sale of police vehicle was added and Law Enforcement and Communications meetings were added under board and committee reports as A & B respectively.

7. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Motion by S. Smith, support by Markle, to approve the agenda with the additions. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

8. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 14, 2008

Motion by Kucinich, support by Bemer, to approve the minutes with the correction of changing I-24 to I-94 under communications. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

9. BILLS TO BE APPROVED IN THE AMOUNT OF $ 50,512.34

Motion by S. Smith, support by P. Smith, to pay the bills in the amount of $50,512.34. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

10. LIMITED PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.
11. BOARD AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

A. LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING JANUARY 28, 2008

Chair McLean stated the Committee met earlier in the evening to discuss the sale of a police vehicle and that topic is on the agenda for tonight’s meeting.

B. COMMUNICATION MEETING JANUARY 28, 2008

Chair P. Smith reported the Committee met that afternoon to approve the newsletter and discuss some on site Council training from MML.

12. STAFF REPORTS

A. POLICE REPORT – CHIEF VERHAGE

Chief VerHage reported there were 70 calls for service in December and 42 citation written.

Member Bemer asked Chief about a blight problem on 25th Street for a resident that the Village had taken to court once before over tall grass. She stated she did not want to let that resident get to that point again because it also was a breeding ground for mosquito’s and she asked that Chief stay on top of it as it was starting to look bad again and she didn’t want a repeat of the last time.

Chief stated he would keep a check on the residence.

B. ENGINEER’S REPORT – KARL FREED

Freed was not at the meeting.

13. OLD BUSINESS

A. DEAL MOBILE HOME UPDATE

Attorney Graham stated he had talked with Inspector Butch Cirino regarding the status of the trailers at Deal Mobile Home Park. Deal feels that Attorney Graham and Inspector Cirino are giving them conflicting comments on what they can and can’t do. Attorney Graham stated he has talked to Butch Cirino and they are definitely on the same page as far as Deal is concerned.

Deal has two types of units, pre and post HUD. The pre units do not have to comply to the building codes, however, the post units do and that is simply what they are asking for from Deal, that the units they moved into the park almost a year ago that are post units have a HUD sticker that matches an identification number that are typically on the inside of the electrical panel. There is a way to go on line and verify the numbers.

Attorney Graham stated there were three options at this time for Deal.
1. They let the units sit
2. They produce evidence of a HUD sticker
3. They Sue the Village for unfair treatment.

Attorney Graham stated the Village could give them some time line in which to either comply or remove the trailers from the premises.

Motion by S. Smith, support by P. Smith, to have Attorney Graham compose a letter to Deal giving them until April 15, 2008 to comply and produce the appropriate HUD stickers or remove the units from the park or face possible legal action from the Village. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

B. SALE OF POLICE VEHICLE

Chief VerHage has stated at the Law Enforcement meeting that he would like to sell the 1997 Crown Victoria. He would like to keep the 2002 as a spare car for when they have a car out of service or a Village employee needs a vehicle for training or classes.

The DPW 1991 truck also needed to be included along with the police vehicle.

Motion by Markle, support by S. Smith, to advertise the sale of the 1997 Crown Victoria and the 1991 DPW Chevy pick up truck, on a sealed bid with the right to reject any bid, to be opened by the Finance Committee at a time appropriate time. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

C. ON SITE COUNCIL TRAINING

Member P. Smith stated she would like to set up some sort of on site training from the MML and was looking at possibly a Saturday in March and invite other Villages to participate. The cost was around $800 plus travel expenses. There was some discussion and it was decided that P. Smith would look into possible dates and find out how many would be needed for them to come on site for training.

14. NEW BUSINESS

A. PERMISSION FOR THE POLICY AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE TO INTERVIEW FOR NEW PART TIME POSITION.

Motion by Kucinich, support by Kirklin, to grant permission to the Policy and Personnel Committee to interview for the part time position vacated by Kim Tembreull. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

B. ADOPT RESOLUTION FOR MICHIGAN MOTOR VEHICLE CODE AND
UNIFORM TRAFFIC CODE

Motion by S. Smith, support by Kirklin, to adopt the resolution for the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code and Uniform Traffic Code as presented. Roll call vote. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.

C. SET PUBLIC HEARING DATE OF FEBRUARY 11TH FOR 3 MILS TO PROVIDE
SUPPORT FOR POLICE OPERATIONS AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

Member S. Smith asked why we had to go with 3 mills, why not 2 or 2.5. Smith stated that many companies and businesses and families are tightening their belts in light of the economy so he thinks the Village should do the same.

Chief VerHage stated he has not heard one negative comment or complaint about the 3 mils, stating that the Village at 7 mills is still the lowest in the State of Michigan and he did feel this was not hurting the Village in any aspect. Chief stated he feels the Village is very financially prudent and does not waste money. S. Smith disagreed with that statement. Chief VerHage stated his department has been very conscious of how the money is spent. Chief stated we have cut back, we have no manager and we are also down one police officer. Smith stated he did feel the Chief did a very good job with his money.

Member Bemer stated she thinks we should stay with 3 mils for now and if things look like we need to tighten up we can. Bemer stated she has not heard of any complaints of adding the 3 mils from any residents and some day who knows we may need to add back that officer that we are short now.

Member Markle stated she felt the 3 mils was a great idea to help support the police department.

Attorney Graham stated the Village should leave it at the 3 mils for the public hearing. We can always lower it but once you have the public hearing you can’t raise it. So his advice was to leave it at the 3 mils for the public hearing.

Motion by Bemer, support by P. Smith, to set the public hearing date of February 11, 2008 for the 3 mils to provide support police operations and capital improvement. Roll call vote. Six members voted in favor. S. Smith voted no. Opposition noted. Motion carried.

15. COMMUNICATIONS
a. MML Legislative Link for January 14, 2008

16. COMMENTS FROM VISITORS

There were no comments from visitors.

17. COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL

There were no comments from Council

18. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 PM