Council Minutes

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

MILFORD CIVIC CENTER

 

President Rusas called the meeting to order in the Milford Civic Center at 7:30 p.m. President Rusas led the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

PRESENT

 

President Theresa Rusas; Councilmembers Jerry Aubry, Jennifer Frankford, Michael Glagola, Elizabeth Heer, James Kovach, Kevin Ziegler

 

ALSO PRESENT

 

Becky Jacques, Village Treasurer; Ann Barnette, DDA; Tom Connelly, Legal Counsel; Arthur Shufflebarger, Village Manager

 

APPROVE CONSENT AGENDA

 

CM-10-171-09 Heer moved, Glagola seconded, to approve the October 19, 2009, consent agenda. Motion CARRIED.

 

Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of October 5, 2009

 

Council Approval Direct Debits

 

Council Approval Payroll 10/13/2009

 

APPROVE REGULAR AGENDA

 

CM-10-172-09 Heer moved, Glagola seconded, to approve the October 19, 2009, agenda as revised. Motion CARRIED.

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

Approve 2010 Criterium Date

 

CM-10-173-09 Glagola moved, Heer seconded, to schedule the 2010 Criterium dated on Sunday, August 1, 2010. Motion CARRIED.

 

Joe Dolan, Race Director, spoke to Council regarding the success of the 2009 Criterium. Council wanted to make sure the MBA had been notified of dates. Several downtown merchants had been asked and they did not have a problem with the Crit, but preferred the event be held on a Sunday. The Presbyterian church will need to be contacted.

 

 

Mr. Keith Vandenbussche, 356 Mill Pond Lane, was seeking support from the Village Council, as well as Milford Township, to look into a plan to try and finish the sidewalks on N. Milford Rd., from Rowe Rd. to Summit. He hoped for the Village/Township to retain an engineering consultant to look at the area, generate a plan and cost estimates, which would enable Milford to apply for grant money. Mr. Vandenbussche asked for the Village to share the initial engineering consultant’s cost with the Township to initiate a plan.

 

Mr. Shufflebarger suggested to first start the discussion administratively, specifically budget and possible grants. Council agreed with Mr. Shufflebarger’s suggestion and asked Mr. Vandenbussche to work with Administration, the DDA and Planning Commission to review the status of the corridor and consider a plan to address its needs.

 

Discuss Sidewalk Request from Atlantic St. Residents

 

Angel Pronger, 1041 Atlantic St., along with several other Atlantic St. residents, spoke to Council regarding sidewalk repairs on Atlantic. She inquired why each resident would need a separate permit. Mr. Shufflebarger stated the permit is attached to the residence and each resident is responsible for their own repair. He added that if the job was done at several addresses at the same time, by the same contractor, only one inspection fee would be required.

 

Ms. Pronger also inquired about the consistency in the marking of defective sidewalks. She felt if sidewalks were marked that may need repair in the near future, the residents could get a better price through a contractor with more sidewalks to repair. Sidewalk grinding was also mentioned as an option for some sidewalks.

 

Roger Clapp, 909 Atlantic, felt the resident should not be stuck with the bill to fix their sidewalk, the cost should be spread Village wide to all residents.

 

 

CM-10-174-09 Kovach moved, Heer seconded to adopt Ordinance No. 231-138, Cash Bonds, Deposits and Earned Interest. Motion CARRIED.

 

Adopt Ordinance No. 231-139, Zoning, Definitions

 

CM-10-175-09 Kovach moved, Heer seconded to adopt Ordinance No. 231-139, Zoning, Definitions, Carports. Motion CARRIED.

 

Consider Milford Trail Rules

 

Mr. Shufflebarger stated helmets are required on the Township portion of the trail and recommended the Village signage should indicate this, but not enforce helmet usage in the Village. He stated that the Metro Parks has the helmet requirement as a result of a Township ordinance which came about from an accident that occurred several years ago. Council agreed it would be hard to enforce the helmet requirement without having an ordinance on file.

 

Skateboarding is not allowed on the Metro Parks trail and Mr. Shufflebarger felt this should be enforced on the Village portion as well.

 

Kovach, Ziegler and Frankford felt skateboarding should be allowed on the trail. Heer felt enforcement should be consistent throughout the trail.

 

Ric Mueller felt not allowing skateboards on the trail was another reason a skate park was needed.

 

Council did not wish to require helmets or prohibit skateboards on the trail, therefore no motion was made.

 

Approve 2010 Meeting Schedule

 

CM-10-176-09 Kovach moved, Heer seconded to approve the 2010 meeting schedule. Motion CARRIED.

 

Council Meetings 1st & 3rd Mondays with the following exceptions:

Monday, January 11, 2010 (Joint meeting – Boards & Commissions)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 (Village offices closed – M. L. King Day)

Monday, February 8, 2010 (Budget)

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 (Village offices closed – President’s Day) Wednesday, April 14, 21, & 28, 2010 (Budget)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 (Village offices closed – Independence Day)

Tuesday, September 7, 2010 (Village offices closed – Labor Day)

 

Approve 2010 Holidays and Office Closings

 

CM-10-177-09 Heer moved, Kovach seconded to approve the 2010 holidays and office closings. Motion CARRIED.

 

Friday, January 1, 2010 (New Year’s Day)

Monday, January 18, 2010 (Martin Luther King Day)

Monday, February 15, 2010 (President’s Day)

Friday, April 2, 2010 (Good Friday) Monday, May 31, 2010 (Memorial Day) Monday, July 5, 2010 (Independence Day)

Monday, September 6, 2010 (Labor Day)

Thursday, November 11, 2010 (Veteran’s Day)

Thursday & Friday, November 25 & 26, 2010 (Thanksgiving)

Thursday & Friday, December 23 & 24, 2010 (Christmas)

Thursday & Friday, December 30 & 31, 2010 (New Year’s Eve Day)

 

Discuss Liquor Licenses

 

President Rusas stated the Village has been asked by the restaurant owners to stop giving out liquor licenses. Administration and the DDA has requested a 90-day moratorium, to allow for a committee to review the policy and set-up criteria for approving/disapproving future liquor license requests. Rusas suggested a subcommittee consisting of two Council members, two DDA members and a Planning Commissioner.

 

Kovach, Glagola and Aubry agreed with forming a subcommittee, however did not agree with setting a 90-day moratorium.

 

CM-10-178-09 Kovach moved, Glagola seconded to create a subcommittee to review the liquor license ordinance and appoint Council member’s Heer and Ziegler to this committee. Motion CARRIED.

 

Approve Police Department Holding Agreement with Village of Wolverine Lake

 

CM-10-179-09 Kovach moved, Glagola seconded to approve the Police Department prisoner holding agreement with the Village of Wolverine Lake. Motion CARRIED.

 

CALL TO THE PUBLIC

 

Rusas asked if there was anyone who wished to address Council on an item that was not on the agenda.

 

Anthony Raimondo, 638 N. Main, Apt. B, spoke to Council regarding the current Waste Management contract, specifically the recycling and composting section. He inquired why this service was not being provided to the residents and offices in the downtown district. He requested copies of the quarterly reports showing the volume of recycling. He asked if the downtown residences and offices were included on the published map referenced in the contract.

 

Mr. Shufflebarger stated the map is actually a list of which streets are picked up on each day. Mr. Shufflebarger stated the downtown residents and offices are entitled to do recycling. He added that Mr. Raimondo has approached him with a plan to include commercial collection and recycling. Mr. Shufflebarger stated the proposal submitted by Mr. Raimondo did not address financial responsibility. The Village is not able to take on additional financial responsibilities at this time.

 

Jim Crane, Attorney representing the Lee Home, 215 E. Commerce Rd., presented a Wade Trim letter dated 9/22/09 to Council. The letter addressed two options for the use of the old St. Mary’s Church at 219 E. Commerce. Option 1 provided language allowing a Cultural Arts center in the Office District. Option 2 would require rezoning to business district and requiring Special Conditional Use. He inquired why the Planning Consultant was spending so much time and money working for the “ghost” applicant, stating there is not an applicant at this time for the St. Mary’s Church. He didn’t think the Option 2 was requested by the Planning Commission.

 

Mr. Shufflebarger did not feel the Planning Consultant was creating the interest, rather reacting from an expression of interest from the Planning Commission based on a presentation made at the property for a potential use of the property.

 

Mr. Crane asked to be included in any future meetings regarding this property. Mr. Crane asked for a legal opinion on what the new office district language would allow, specifically would it allow liquor license and food establishments in the office district.

 

Council agreed to have a legal opinion ready for the Planning Commission’s Public Hearing.

 

Ric Mueller, Chairman of the Friends of Milford Skate Park, questioned who would have ownership of the skate park once it was built. He stated he needed a resolution to submit with the grant application.

 

He was asked to meet with Mr. Shufflebarger to work out this detail.

 

MANAGER’S REPORT

 

Mr. Shufflebarger stated the Council meeting for November 2, 2009 will be held in the Police Department conference room.

 

Crack sealing and sewer repair projects have started.

 

COUNCILMEMBER REMARKS

 

No comments this evening.

 

ADJOURN

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:58 p.m.

 

Deborah S. Frazer, Clerk Village of Milford