I am now calling to order a regular meeting
of the City Council, Tuesday,
October 28th, 2025 at 7:00 PM Please
stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance all 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.
Roll call Madame Secretary Councilwoman Roy. Here.
Councilwoman McGee. Here. Councilman Dwyer? Here.
Councilman Bochy. Present. Councilman Lafferty? Here.
Councilman Nunan. Here. Councilwoman Moore is present.
We have a quorum. Next item.
Next item is adoption of the agenda
or the consent agenda. So moved.
Support Lafferty. Discussion,
hearing and seeing none.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Boye? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. Mcg D?
Yes. Rogan C is a Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is five. Adoption of the agenda.
So moved with discussion support,
Lafferty. Discussion
Ms. Moore.
Um, first off, we're adding as item eight A,
which will be right after audience participation resolution
authorizing notice of intent
and declaring intent to reimburse capital improvement bonds.
Um, I think
we everybody 10 A is approving Ms.
Mike, Ms. Um, camp the note on 10 A.
This is just approving the special assessment role.
So 10 A is approving the special assessment role.
And I think, and then 12 a, let me see.
Sorry Madam Secretary 10 A.
There is a public hearing existing. Yes. Yes.
But that is, that is required.
But it's just a notice that you guys are approving
the assessment of fees to the
So do I need to have a full public hearing?
Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
And then, um, 12 B
is the ordinance
and 12 B one
is the pilot program.
Yeah. We have it that way. Right? Okay. Okay.
I think that's it. Any other discussion?
Madam? Madam Chair? Mm-hmm.
Uh, Madam Secretary, uh, what was 12 A?
1212 A
is a legal update. Legal
Update, okay.
It's on there already. Okay.
Oh, I thought you added something.
12 B is just clarifying that, that is the ordinance.
And 12 B one is the pilot program. Got it. Thank you.
Okay, just clarification. Not moving.
Anything, Anything further
Hearing and seeing none.
I'll call the question Ms. Moore.
Everybody has the update from Mary Michaels
as she said this, the capital improvement?
No, no, no. Not on
The agenda. Correct.
13 F is not on the agenda. Correct?
We're adding it. Okay.
So we're adding 13 F
and that is the addendum
to the police commissioner agreement.
And 13 E was updated
and I think everybody has that was forwarded all
of counsel the update?
Mm-hmm. Okay.
I think that's It. Okay. Yep.
Any other discussion, Hearing and scene? None.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is? Yes. Motion passes.
Next item. Next item is six.
A uh, calendar of pending matters.
Motion to receive and file with discussion Support Ty.
Discussion Ms. Moore? Uh, yes.
Um, um, on 10 14, uh,
we requested a, uh,
all the documents including drafts relating
to the Compensation Commission, uh,
elected officials commission, um, the list of the names
personal, um, information not required.
Uh, also, um, we said not
to send the per mayor Mayor's personal notes.
We have received nothing that was due. 10 24.
Um, the mayor is in violation of a court order that orders,
uh, all documents to be provided to counsel within 10 days.
Um, so we'll have to deal perhaps with a show cause hearing
or something for those items.
They were due on 10 24.
Any other discussion, hearing, and seen on all?
Call the question. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed?
Motion carries. Next item. Next item is seven.
A approval of the bills of the General Revenue Fund.
So moved. Support Lafferty.
Discussion, hearing, and seeing none.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Newnan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is seven B.
Approval of the bills of the water and sewer systems.
So moved. Support D. Wire.
Any discussion, hearing, and scene? None.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes.
Uh, Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Noonan? Yes.
Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is audience participation for agenda items only.
Members of the audience who would like
to address City Council this evening may do so
by filling out an audience form located at
the right side of the stage.
You have three minutes. This audience is
for agenda items only.
There is additional time at the end of the meeting
for general audience.
First is, um, Mr. Watts.
I,
Mr. Mr.
Lux. You're after Mr. Watts. I'm sorry.
You're after Mr. Watts.
He's gonna go first and then you'll have three
minutes. I'm up first in here.
Next. I heard my name called. That's all I need.
Good evening. Um, I won't take long.
I just, I was hoping that, uh,
deputy Commissioner Rushton would've been here
'cause I'd like to wish him a happy retirement.
I am, uh, very disappointed.
He should have been the commissioner.
With all due respect to Commissioner Hawkins.
He's a good man. But, you know,
the DC spent his whole career here and he,
and he acted in that position.
He should have had it. But, uh, time goes on.
And, um, I want to say congratulations to, uh,
captain Dillon Beck as his promotion goes through.
So thank you.
Thank you. Next is Mr. Glenn Lux.
Who do you think, Oh, you've gotta push the button on
the microphone.
Okay. There you go.
That was a little Embarrassing. Nope.
Still can't hear you. Hold on.
Hello. That's okay.
Looks like Patrick is working on it now. It should work.
Or that one works too. Thank you.
I am here to address the situation with the a DA
so organization that sponsors Regional Transit.
And if you name every city around us in a circle,
they all have a DA support.
When I found out that I couldn't get a ride for me
and 130,000 people that live in Warren,
I started a compan campaign, campaign
and research the situation.
Asked for the city council's help,
and wrote a lot of letters.
After doing documentation on my
abilities, I got a letter from them saying that I was
able to take a DA rights, which means as of right now
out the 130,000 people live here.
I'm the only Warren resident that has access to this.
The council is well aware of my acts
and I'm here today to encourage them
and others to find the ways to bring
what was should be ours to us.
Period. That's it. Thank you. Any questions?
Thank you. That is the end
of audience for agenda items.
Next item, Madam Secretary. Next item is announcements.
Madam Chair. Uh, Ms. Moore. Thank you.
Um, first off, I did wanna, um, mention
that last night we had a committee meeting the whole,
and we discussed the Van D**e corridor plan.
Um, we are going to be adding that at the, uh,
council meeting in two weeks.
We'll do a slight presentation. I just spoke with Mr.
Uh, Wirth. Um, we don't need a public hearing again,
but we should have a, a presentation that'll give us time,
then two weeks to get all the people
that need to be here for that.
So we'll be doing that in two weeks.
Um, also, veteran's Day is coming up
and, uh, for the last, uh, well, six years probably,
council Office has organized a small, uh, service at the,
uh, Memorial Park, veteran's Memorial Park.
And, and we would like to invite everyone, uh,
to join us Tuesday, November 11th
at 11 o'clock at Veterans Memorial Park.
And that is at 27,400 Campbell Road, uh, in Warren,
of course, um, we'd, uh, we'll gather to honor
and service the sacrifice
of our veterans and their families.
Please, uh, bring a friend, uh, wear red, white, and blue,
and show your support.
Um, as keeping with what we did for many years.
Last year I was ill and did not plan an event.
And in 23, um, time didn't allow us
to plan something in time.
Or maybe we, I think we did Something was very small.
Uh, but in the years past, we had invited, of course,
anybody in the city, we invite the police
and fire as probably many of you know,
there are many veterans in both
of those organizations, police and fire.
And, um, I, uh, sent an invitation to, um, um,
commissioner McAdams.
I sent an invitation to Commissioner Hawkins
and copied, um, soon to be,
or I guess, new, uh, um, DC Uh,
Matt Dill back sent a copy to, um, captain Paul Hodis.
And, um, um, they usually will send a car or a truck.
I was informed a little while ago that the mayor got wind
that the, that I had invited the, um, um,
fire and police department without asking her permission.
So this is my asking the mayor, mayor,
I'm inviting everybody in the city, police and fire invited.
Um, I didn't think I needed your permission
to invite someone to event events,
but if that's, you're gonna stop people from attending
because of that, I'm asking for your permission to please
invite anybody in the city that would like to come
and join us to honor the veterans.
So everybody heard that, right? Yep.
It's a very big deal for the mayor to be asked permission
for us to do anything, send an email
or anything else in the city.
Um, today, October 28th is
National First Responders Day, a day set aside
to recognize the extraordinary people
who run toward emergencies when the rest
of us are running away in Warren.
That includes our police officers, firefighter paramedics,
and critically, our nine 11 dispatchers
and call takers who are the true first, first responders
to our dispatch professionals.
You are the calm in our communities. Most chaotic moments.
Your voice is steady, frightened callers.
Your questions gather lifesaving details,
and your guidance gets help.
To the right place fast, we see you
and we thank you to our firefighter paramedics from
structure fires to medical emergencies,
crashes, and severe weather.
You meet every call with skill, courage,
and compassion to our police officers
sitting back here.
We appreciate you. You protect our neighborhoods,
investigate crimes, and build relationships
that make our city safer and stronger.
To our cert, volunteers
and partner agencies, you extend our reach
and resilience when it matters most.
We also recognize the families of our first responders,
those who endure missed dinners, sleepless nights
and anxious moments, so their loved ones can serve ours.
On behalf of the Warren City Council, thank you
for your professionalism, your training, your teamwork,
and your heart for service.
Your work saves lives, protects property,
and holds this community together On our hardest days,
I'd ask everyone here to join me in a round of applause
for our first responders.
Andy, if you see a first responder
or dispatcher this week,
please take a moment to say thank you.
Your appreciations means more than you know,
to all our first responders and our nine 11 dispatch team.
We honor you today and every day stay safe
and know that this city, city stands with you
Here.
Um, I have a little something
to say about Captain Rushton.
Um, and I said much of this before,
but I'm gonna say it again.
Um, it's on the, our agenda, this, this evening to, um, um,
approve his retirement once again under the age of 50.
Um, it is with much gratitude
and respect that the Warren City Council recognizes
and honors Deputy Commissioner Charles Jeff Rushton,
affectionately known to many as flounder
upon his retirement from the Warren Police Department.
Throughout his distinguished career,
deputy Commissioner Rushin has demonstrated exceptional
leadership, integrity,
and unwavering dedication to the safety
and wellbeing of the residents of Warren, known
for his calm presence, tireless work ethic,
and ability to bring order
and stability to the most challenging situations.
He has earned the respect
and admiration of his colleagues, city officials,
and community members alike.
At a time when the department was in flux due
to the unceremonious firing of the then police commissioner,
captain Rush and stepped in as acting commissioner,
although we don't have acting positions in the city.
But nonetheless, he was acting,
bringing much needed stability
and professionalism to the department.
While he served in that capacity,
but was never officially appointed as commissioner
a circumstance that could have been deeply demoralizing, he
nonetheless carried out the duties of the office with honor,
humility, and dedication to his team and the community.
Deputy Commissioner Rush was known
for being a hands-on leader,
often attending scenes personally.
And returning to Warren, even
after his shift had ended, his visible presence
and unwavering commitment to his officers
exemplified the very best of public service and leadership.
By example, deputy Commissioner Russian Service reflects the
highest traditions of public safety and professionalism.
His commitment to mentorship, fairness,
and teamwork was,
has left an indelible mark on the department
and on the city of Warren as a whole.
As he concludes his remarkable career.
Here, we wish to extend our heartfelt appreciation
for his years of outstanding service.
His friendship and his con contributions
to making Warren a safer, stronger community.
We wish him health, happiness,
and continued success in the next chapter of his life.
Thank you. That is all for me. Any other announcements?
Madam President, Mr. Lafferty?
Thank you. I'd like to extend congratulations
and a warm welcome to Sammy's Shwarma, uh,
Councilwoman McGee
and I attended their
grand opening this afternoon at noon.
And, uh, what a, what a feast.
So I'd like to congratulate, uh, ammo Sammy and his family,
and Rami Yusef, uh,
and her family, who, uh, proudly opened up this ery Today.
Uh, these individuals
and their families represent an economic rebirth
in the Mound Road area, uh, just north of 6 96.
And whether or not you're gassing up a vehicle
or you need to cool beverage on a hot day to, uh, uh,
cool the heat, the gas stations there at the corner of Mound
and Martin and the BP across the street, uh, on Mound Road.
There it now features Sammy's shawarma
and some delicious food.
Uh, was enjoyed by all of the attendees today.
And, uh, we had a very nice time welcoming everybody.
Uh, I was presented with a sweatshirt, uh, melody.
Did you get one of these as well? Mm-hmm.
And so it was, uh, very nicely, uh, presented.
And so I've got a large here
and quite a, quite a nice event.
And so a warm welcome to them as they continue their,
their business ventures here in the city.
They've long time, you know, over 20 years
of investment in the city, and they continue to grow
and invest in the city.
And we're very proud to be there
and support them as they continue to grow in the city.
And, uh, Ms. Moore and I and Mr.
Nunan, uh, was there in the audience this weekend
at the Warren Symphony Orchestra's Spooktacular,
and what a terrific presentation
by the Warren Symphony Orchestra, uh, this weekend.
So a lot of, uh, a lot of great music was enjoyed.
And so certainly, uh, look forward
to the Warren Symphony Orchestra's, uh, uh,
schedule all throughout the year.
If, uh, you have not experienced the orchestra,
I strongly recommend, go to the Warren Symphony website
and check out the, the wonderful calendar of classical music
that, uh, the director has, uh, presented
for this calendar year.
It is, uh, a schedule you do not want to miss,
So thank you.
Thank you. Any other announcements?
Just one sec, just one second chair.
Um, just to follow on what Mr.
Lafferty said, the schedule
for the Warren Symphony are on book marks there on the
stage, if anybody's interested.
And Madam chair, we need to go back
to eight A that I missed.
Oh, yes, sorry. Mr. Fox eight A is, uh,
resolution authorizing notice of intent
and declaring intent to reimburse capital improvement bonds.
Thank you, Ms. Camp. Uh, motion to approve
support Lafferty discussion, Madam Chair Discussion.
Ms. Moore, if Mr. Fox could explain what we're doing, please
and introduce our esteemed bond council. Yep.
Good evening Counsel. Richard Fox, city Controller.
So tonight what we're doing is we have a resolution
to authorize intent to sell the bonds.
So we'll have a 45 day referendum period, um,
and also an intent to reimburse.
So we actually, if you go to the last page
that lists the projects.
And so some of these projects are already on the,
already moving forward with, uh, engineering.
'cause they're doing the road and we're doing, uh,
water mains underneath the road.
So this resolution will authorize it to be reimbursed
because we'll be paying the contractors
prior to selling the bonds.
Uh, the bond issue will probably
be looking at selling bonds sometime in late
January, early February.
Um, and given the fact that, you know, we're looking forward
that the, uh,
fed Federal Reserve will probably be lower in rates, uh,
a couple times before the end of the year, um,
I think we should get a, a decent rate
in early, early next year.
And I also have Ron Comb from Miller
Canfield, pat and Stone.
Um, if you have any other questions,
Mr. Fox, for those of us that might wanna buy some
of these bonds, how do we go about that?
Certainly. Um, so what, uh, good evening, Ron Comb
with Miller Canfield, uh, pleasure to see everyone again.
Um, so we are planning to sell these
through a competitive sale process.
So essentially because the city has a very good credit
rating, essentially what you do is just publish notice
that you're selling bonds
and different underwriting firms will, um, uh, put in bids,
uh, basically what's the best interest rate
that they are willing to buy the bonds for you,
and then resell them to investors.
So average retail investors can certainly contact, you have
to have a brokerage, so you can certainly contact your,
your broker, uh, and, uh, negotiate the sale of, um,
or the purchase of municipal bonds.
They're, they're great investments. Yeah.
Um, particularly with the city, with a great credit rating.
Um, I do have a note here from Steve Burke,
your financial advisor.
Uh, the estimated rate,
if the bonds were sold today would be about 3.88%,
which is really good in the environment for the past year.
Um, that's, you know, the best rate I've seen, frankly,
in, in quite some time.
So, um, we are expecting the Fed to continue cutting.
Uh, so I think we'll be in good position to get you,
you know, uh, a, a good rate for these bonds.
How long is the, what is the process?
I, I probably knew this at one time.
How long does it take to sell those bonds?
What's the process usually?
So what you're approving tonight is the referendum period.
Mm-hmm. So under the Revised Municipal Finance Act,
which is the statute that authorizes this type of bonds,
you have to publish notice to taxpayers
to give them an opportunity to, you know, look at it
and see if they, you know, want to object to it.
Um, that period runs for 45 days.
Uh, and if no petitions are filed in that time, you can,
you're free to move forward with the bonding process.
Running concurrently with that will be going
through the rating process.
Um, again, you have outstanding ratings, so
that will usually be a relatively accelerated process.
Uh, then we put together the marketing materials,
what are called the preliminary official statement.
And, uh, after the sale, the final, uh, uh,
official statement, um, you publish notice that needs to be,
uh, published for seven days under Michigan law
for a competitive sale.
So all in, uh, with the referendum period,
you're looking at, you know, probably three to four months.
Okay. Yeah. So not, not too bad,
Right? I, I just
had no idea. Yeah. We've done this many times.
I just didn't know what the actual process was.
Thank you for explaining that. I appreciate that.
Thank you. And thank you for being here,
Madam Chair. Mr.
Lafferty. Thank you. Good evening, sir.
Good evening. The, and I, I know
that this detail will be in the coming months.
What are you looking at? The debt retirement service?
Are we looking at a 25 year, 30
Year period? So,
um, also from Steve, uh,
I think we are targeting a 20 year 20, um, mm-hmm.
And the estimated debt service,
if sold today, would be
roughly a million and a half a year.
And these are what's called limited tax
general obligation bonds.
So they are, uh,
repaid from your existing tax taxing authority.
So no tax increase,
I'm sorry, the, that last part?
Yeah. So these are what's called limited tax, uh,
general obligation bonds.
Mm-hmm. So they're paid out
of your existing taxing, uh, authority.
So there's no tax increase associated
With it? No, no.
I, I wanted to make sure everyone heard that.
No tax increase. No tax increase. Okay.
That's the part I wanted to ensure we heard. Alright. Very
Good. Thank you.
I have a quick question, Mr. Fox.
Uh, when we met about the new court,
we talked about the bonding capacity of the DDA
and how all of that fits in.
Do you look every year at what we should be bonding out
and make those decisions from a financial perspective versus
what we're gonna pay out of the general fund
for and so on and so forth?
Right. So, and, and I do,
and so these particular bonds are gonna be split up between
Joseph Coast housing, water, and the water and,
and sewer departments.
So, um, really not the city's full faith
and credit is behind it,
but when we do the accounting, uh, Joseph Close will pay
for its share of the bond issue, which is
almost 6 million, and then the balance
of it will come out of the water department.
Okay. Thank You. And then we,
and we've, these are all items that were in the budget.
Mm-hmm. So we, the rates were established based on these
items and that we were gonna bond for
'em. And you just decide
internally which ones you're gonna
associate bond bonds to based on cash, available cash
and revenue and timing
and all, I assume all the things That's correct.
Okay. That's what I thought,
but I thought I would confirm. Thank you. You're
Welcome.
Any other discussion?
No. Okay. Seeing and hearing none, I will call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is? Yes.
Motion carries. Next item. Next item. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Next item is 10 A,
which is a public hearing request to approve the demolition
of a house and garage located at 14 2 17 Marshall
through the nuisance abatement program consideration
and adoption of a resolution.
This is placing the on, um,
this is approving the special assessment rule number 5 45
for the demolition of the house and garage.
Okay. Uh, anyone from the city want to speak on this?
I don't see Mr. Lizza.
Dave, do you have anything interesting to add?
No, we don't usually have
This special assessment.
Good evening counsel. Uh,
this house has already been demolished.
It's just an SRA Thank you. Special assessment role.
Thank you. Yep. Uh,
anyone from the petitioner here to speak?
Okay. I will open the public hearing.
Is there anyone from the
audience who'd like to speak on the matter?
I Okay.
So close the public hearing
and turn it over to counsel for action.
Motion to approve support. Lafferty.
Any discussion, Hearing, and scene? None.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Newnan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 11 a proposed ordinance amendments
to chapter two, article six, division four,
purchasing second reading.
So moved with discussion support Lafferty. Discussion.
Madam Secretary. Uh, thank you Madam Chair.
Uh, we had a committee meeting the whole last night
to go over some of the details of, um, this ordinance.
Um, it's been in the works for a long time.
We passed it in, um, 2023,
I believe, early in the year.
Um, uh, it was then, um, we didn't really have enough time
to do all the work that needed to be done
to finalize it at that time.
So we, um, put a moratorium on the ordinance, um, in,
I don't know, early 24 or late 23.
I can't remember what, which,
but everybody's kind of weighed in on this.
Um, labor unions have weighed in
and the purchasing department,
everybody's kind of worked together.
So I think everybody is pretty satisfied with
where we're at at this point on this.
I don't know if Mr. Schroeder has anything to add.
Um, based on the feedback from last night's, um, meeting,
um, I did talk with, uh, Ms.
Michaels today from the attorney's office, um,
about the appeal process
and the concern that we're bringing these public hearing
appeals to counsel, something that should be administrative.
And I think our conclusion was, and Ms.
Michaels can interrupt if she thinks I'm misstating it,
but the conclusion was that this is not necessary.
So if counsel wants to just leave the admin,
let the administrative decision stand without creating a
layer of appeal in public hearings,
then my recommendation be to strike the section on appeal,
um, which is section two dash 3 4 0
subsection I, and then subsection J would then move up
and become subsection I.
Is that fair, Ms. Michaels?
If I may, Madam Chair? Yes.
Um, after speaking to Mr. Schroeder, I agree in concept
that the appeal should be a little bit more,
less, um, formal.
But I spoke to Ms. Caitlyn, the, um, author
of this ordinance, and she thought
because of the magnitude of the contract amount
and what's at stake, there should be some form of appeal.
So is recommending an administrative appeal to the Director
of public Service if counsel is amenable?
I would certainly be amenable to that.
Yeah. I would accept that amendment.
Thank you to the ordinance.
Anything additional? Okay.
Mr. Lafferty, do you accept that amendment too? I do. Okay.
Uh, hearing and scene, then I'll call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 11 B.
Consideration and adoption
of a resolution approving an agreement between the city
of Warren and the Salvation Army Mats program.
So moved. Support Dwyer.
Discussion, hearing, and seeing none.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore. Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Boye? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 11 C.
Recommendation of the RFP on climate change to approve
and award to Blue Strike Environmental, Inc.
For furnishing a climate action plan for the city
of Warren in an amount not to exceed $150,000
consideration and adoption of a resolution.
I make a Move that we accept support Motion by Newnan.
Support by McGee. Discussion.
Madam Chair, is there a presentation for this evening?
Not that I'm aware of. Um,
At least no one notified me.
I'm sorry, Ms. Michaels, no one notified me.
I think they're
Oh, yes. If
I may. Madam Chair. Mm-hmm.
Um, there was an RFP committee for a climate action plan,
and the results of the committee
and Councilman Nunan was present.
Blue Strike Environmental was this chosen proposal.
And actually they're doing, I mean, negotiated a contract
with them, and they were very good to work with.
They were very, they gave an excellent presentation on
what they'll be doing is producing an action plan
for the city to try and improve the environment.
Whatever changes the city could make, um, to infrastructure,
the way we process our sanitation,
they'll make recommendations.
What they'll do is provide some free services to the city
as part of the proposal.
Um, they'll offer what's called a dashboard
and then offer training at no cost.
They'll attend, they are not local, they're out of state,
but they will make their first meeting in person at their
cost and also have biweekly meetings
for the city at no cost.
And for one year after,
after the plan is presented to council to planning,
commission and council,
they will still provide services at the rates,
the lock in the rates that they gave in the proposal.
So if we need them for an, an hourly basis,
the rates are locked in.
And Mr. Wirth, Ron Wirth will serve
as the city's administrator
and walk the city to walk the contractor
and coordinate services, coordinate the administration
of their services between the city and the,
and the, and the Blue Strike.
Madam Chair, Mr. Ative. Thank, thank you, Ms. Michaels.
Uh, I'm, I read through the, the project approach,
and I, I guess I was, I understand this is an RFP award,
but I really, I really was expecting a little bit more
detail and, and all respect to you and, and to Mr.
Wirth. The, uh, if, if we are going to award to them,
I would expect to have some sort
of additional walkthrough presentation,
understanding exactly what are we getting from them.
Uh, but it, it left me with some, some additional questions
and, and I appreciate the, the metrics and the dashboards
and, and all of the, what we're calling free services
for $150,000.
But I'm, I'm very curious,
and I had conversations with, with other department heads,
what are we already doing?
And I don't know, Mr. Nunan, if, if you are aware,
what are we already doing with respect to some of the,
the KPIs and the metrics
that they're suggesting that we improve?
And I'll give you an example.
One, one of them was to, uh, reduce mileage
through, or reduce emissions through reducing mileage.
And that's something that, uh, between city departments
that we could do by leveraging online meetings.
So somebody from, let's say Ms.
Doki is participating in a meeting instead
of driving from the wastewater treatment plant to city Hall,
and maybe Mr.
Elli is at the DPW garage, the three,
maybe they're meeting with the mayor instead
of holding an in-person meeting, they're meeting virtually.
That's an instant emission savings.
That's an instant reduction on travel.
That's, that has a number of, of savings.
I don't need a, a company to tell me for $150,000.
That's how we save money.
And the, the other proposals that, that I've read
through here, the installation of solar panels
and solar energy, uh, I question where we would,
we are a developed city.
Where would we install such a solar farm that would provide
the required amount of energy to power, even one building.
Uh, and then state standards,
they reference state standards throughout.
And Ms. Michaels, I'm not expecting you
to have an answer for anything.
I'm, I'm saying, okay. I wrote
The Contract, I'm, I am making Yes.
I'm, I'm making, you know, making it known.
There are quite a few questions that
I'm not sure have been answered tonight.
And I'm not saying I'm not in favor of something like this,
but for $150,000, they better be coming
to us with a lot more than we're going to help you reduce,
you know, mileage and emissions, uh,
solar farms in a well-developed city.
And, you know, you've mentioned Mr.
Wirth is going to be the plan administrator. Mr.
Wirth has quite a heavy plate of, of work already
as the director of planning.
And so I'm curious, do we need a staff ad, uh,
I know in comparison to Mr.
Elli and the work they're doing on a DA compliance,
that takes up quite a bit of time on, on his team.
Does Mr.
Wirth have the capacity within the planning department
to take on the administration of, of this additional work?
And would that be something that we should expect as part
of the, the planning director's budget
for the fiscal year 26 27 to be added?
So it's not just $150,000
one time cost with free services.
This is longevity cost that we also have
to consider going forward in the administration,
in the administration of the program.
What does that look like in comparison to what we're,
we're aiming to save?
And, uh, Mr.
Noonan, I'm, I'm very interested,
you were on the RFP committee
and were some of these questions addressed, answered.
I'm, I'm interested to hear,
since we don't have anybody here to really discuss this.
Sure. So, uh, through the president, um,
I think those are good questions.
I wouldn't mind having more of a presentation about this by,
um, perhaps, uh, blue Strike come in
and give, you know, because they, they're much better on,
um, what all they've done in other cities.
But, uh, if we take an example of the LED streetlights,
which the city has already done, um,
the savings just for the Martin Pilot project
was a hundred thousand dollars in one year.
And then the city is saving, um, money on all the street.
Pretty much all the streets have been led, uh, lit now.
And, uh, that's, that's huge.
Well, they're looking for opportunities like that.
And there are more that we can expect what exactly, exactly,
which ones are gonna pan out the most.
Well, they have, in order to really answer like how
that would be likely to pan out,
they would need to do the project.
They would need to do the, the plan.
And, um, so, um, I would be eagerly looking forward
to all the good things that happen on that.
But also, for instance,
what's happening in Jamaica right now?
Uh, hurricane five, one of the strongest hurricanes, um,
for the Atlantic ever is,
is doing a lot of devastation there.
Things like, not that,
but things like that can happen in, in our area.
And there are things that citizens
and businesses can do as well.
And that's part of what they're planning on helping us to,
um, prepare for what's coming
based on science and what's known.
And, um, to go blindly forward would be a mistake.
Um, but, uh, this, they, they will provide help
to provide us with the best science.
Um, I'm not a trained presenter on that.
Um, I, I could go through different things
that I found of particular interest in,
um, let's see, the, uh,
Uh, What was, what did they call the project approach?
And they have, um, some estimates of, uh,
value, uh, costs of different things already.
But, um, adaptation measures,
financing mechanisms, community outreach, uh,
having a climate action tracker
And, um, being able to follow up with, with further, uh,
further studies of progress and, and results metrics.
Um, altogether,
I would say it was extremely well thought out.
Um, this was the one that I, I liked the best out of all
of the, um, the con con consultants that asked
to be considered.
And, um, I believe it'll, it'll be, uh, a very good
thing for a city.
So, um, I suppose we could ask
for Blue Strike to come in and give a presentation.
Um, if you have specific questions that you'd like
to have them ask that they could probably better
prepare in the meantime.
Um, But in the grand scheme of things,
150,000 for good insight on this
would be a small price to pay,
since it's probably there probably are, are savings
of millions of dollars that the city could have,
or mistakes that we could avoid, um,
working smarter rather than harder.
And, um, also when it comes to, um,
the most vulnerable people who are in floodplains,
the people who don't have well insulated houses, um,
or the money to, uh, afford a air conditioning,
when there's a heat wave, um, people are likely
to die or more, more people will die, uh,
than if we had good planning in this category.
So it's a public safety thing.
Um, there are, uh, lots of extra benefits, which I,
I'm sure Blue Strike would like to tell us about.
Uh, uh, if, if, uh, if you will, Mary, um,
do you think that we could arrange
to have Blue Strike come in?
Absolutely. I mean, during the course of the project,
they are anticipating ranking presentations to council.
If you want them sooner,
we could inquire into their availability.
Availability. Um, they are not local, I'll say that,
but they will be here for a kickoff meeting.
That might be a good time to present
or make an introduction to council.
Well, the kickoff meeting would be if
we, if we accepted their,
If Absolutely, yes, Mr. Lafferty.
If, if Mr. Nunan is done. Oh, sure.
So I'm, I'm concerned
$150,000 is, is a lot, uh, of,
of taxpayer dollars that I'm not sure
what we're getting in return.
It's, it's outlined that it's very generic as to
what they're proposing,
but we don't get to decide whether we get
to decide if it's a good end product or not at the end,
after we've written the check.
And, and that's, that's kind of
where I have some heartburn here.
And I can appreciate Mr.
Noonan, your work and the work of the, the RFP committee.
What I would ask, and in I look at this
as a project, this is a city project.
And in a typical project, the methodology would call
for a discovery period and then implementation.
Could we, instead of buying the whole,
the whole show up front, go back to them
and ask, would you be willing to provide a,
a discovery first what, you know, look at Warren
and present your case.
Don't give us examples from other cities and,
and generalities that may apply to us.
Uh, the other things I, I saw that they want,
they're suggesting that we have the ability
to enforce standards on businesses that operate in the city.
I'm not sure we have the jurisdiction to do so.
And, and you know, Mr.
Uh, Mr. Schroeder, I, if you wanted to, to comment on
that, or, or Ms.
Michaels, I'm not sure we have, I don't need $150,000
spent on that to tell me, here's
what you should tell the businesses
that operate within your city, how they should reduce their,
their gas emissions.
And it's a suggestion. Okay, well, Ms.
Barra, gm, you occupy a significant footprint,
reduce your carbon emissions.
Thanks for the tip.
Alright, I just saved $150,000.
So perhaps they could have a,
a metered proposal that would be
relative in the na in the number of 25,000, uh,
a smaller discovery project.
And then if we decide, hey, this is good material, we can,
this is something we can work with
and it exceeds what we're already doing,
then we go to phase two.
There's a, there's a another phase
that we would then have the opportunity
after meeting with them, instead of, you know, going all in
all at once, perhaps we,
we bring this back and, and part it out.
That would be something I'd be more, uh, you know, more
of a, of a proponent for.
But I, at the, the way this is structured right now,
I'm not sold on, on what they're,
they're presenting versus the cost.
Madam Chair, Ms. Moore, and then I have something.
So I, outside
of the, one of the things Mr.
Um, Nuna mentioned was, you know,
something catastrophic
and homes not being built to standards that would
with withstand something, right?
Mm-hmm. Okay. So we find that out.
So what, there's nothing we can do about it, right?
There's some, there's only so many things
that we can find out about.
So the plan, they go through it and find things.
There's only, there's so many, you know,
you're talking about, you know, you don't drive as much.
You have virtual meetings and you save money.
This is not a cost savings.
This is not an efficiency study, which we truly, truly need.
Mr. Fox, I think you'll agree with me.
This is not a way of saving money.
This is in a climate action plan.
Now, there's certain things that could save us money,
but there's probably many, many more things that are going
to cost us a lot of money.
So that's what I'm concerned about. It's okay.
Okay, let's find out.
But where's the money gonna come from
to fix all those things that we're told we should be doing?
That's, that's, I just don't understand
really the whole concept.
I mean, I understand it, but it doesn't make
sense to me that we're doing it.
But I, uh, you finish Ms. Moore, sorry.
Um, I am supportive of the plan.
I think it will to Mr.
Newnan's, uh, point will likely yield some,
at least it will be a net neutral item.
There'll be something that allows us to save money.
Um, I agree with Ms. Moore.
It's not, it, you know, the intent is to try
to make the community, uh, likely safer,
our infrastructure safer,
and making sure we're addressing some
of these changes in climate.
Um, one, one thing that I thought of Mr.
Lafferty, one of the, this is an example,
I don't think we would do it here, but one
of the suggestions they may make for businesses like
ban plastic bags, which we could, by ordinance,
we could say, Kroger, you can no longer use plastic bags.
Right? I'm not saying we would do it.
I'm just saying that that is one suggestion they could be
making that would make an impact on the community.
That would be, that we wouldn't necessarily legislate here,
but they may have a ton of samples of, of legislation
that would allow businesses
to be more environmentally friendly
and be more mindful of, of the climate.
So I would be anxious to hear what they're saying.
I'm happy to support them coming in
and giving us a presentation,
but I'm very supportive of this
and think that it will only yield more information for us on
how to best protect from the, you know, storms
and weather and permeable concrete
and all these other things that are possible
that other communities are doing.
That would be helpful for us to know
how we would get to some of those places.
So in, in LA for example, I have a,
a colleague on LA City Council, granted different climates,
but one of the things he's tested in his, uh, district is
that his district is the hottest of, um, LA And
so he experimented with a pilot of painting the sidewalks,
uh, of specific type of paint that absorbs heat.
And the temperature in that area has dropped significantly,
um, because of this pilot.
And they're expanding this pilot in other places.
Obviously I would only know about this having talked to him,
but I think there's probably lots of ideas
that we would get from, uh, a plan like this.
So those are my, my thoughts. Mr.
Nan, and then Mr. Lty. Mm-hmm.
Uh, yes. Uh, uh, I'd like to have, uh, Mary
through the President, uh, it looks like you wanted
to respond to what he was saying.
Did you have some other thoughts you wanted to give us?
Just a couple thoughts.
Um, I think the whole, I, one of the premises of the plan is
to actually try and save the city money.
I, I mean, obviously there may be some cost to,
in the long run, improve the environment,
but it's also to improve efficiency
and make our processes more cost productive.
And I'll be taking a look at how the city operates,
and they can include trees and open areas
and identify areas where we draw,
we would yield the most benefit for the environment.
And I don't pretend to be an expert on the
subject, I just did the contract.
And one thing I could say in the contract is
whatever target, what milestone there to reach, it has
to meet the satisfaction of the city.
And they agreed that they would make adjustments
to each product along in the project.
And that includes the final action plan.
I, I agree with that.
It, it seems to me that the, uh,
the conversation's largely been about
how the city can save money through, um,
either energy efficiency or renewable energy.
If it saves money, then we would be likely to do it.
If it doesn't, we would not be likely to do it.
And that's just the sentiment of the city itself.
From what I've been able to, uh, get from the,
the committee meetings.
Um, obviously the,
the finance has to be there in order
to do projects that cost money.
Some, some projects they pay back, they put, uh,
cash in your pocket after you've done them.
Uh, those would probably be the ones
that we would be heading for.
Um, but also we can avoid doing things that are going
to cost us money by
not seeing what's, what's coming at us.
And, um, to not have that, to have not access
that knowledge for ourselves and our citizens.
Seems odd to me, but I could see
how you could turn it down on a, on what I would call,
I'm sorry, a, um, penny smart
dollar foolish, um, basis.
Um, I don't know whether I, I,
No, With all due respect, Councilman Lafferty,
I don't understand how we would switch from
the RFP we've had to something like
what you're talking about, it seems like it might be easier
to get them to come in if they were willing.
They, uh, they would have to, I guess, bear the expense of
that, if that was gonna happen anytime soon,
unless we got them to tell us how much their cost,
their cost of travel was.
But if you're planning on, on, um,
turning down their offer in the end anyway, then
that would be a waste of money.
So I don't really know where to go from here.
Um, uh, I guess we could just do the vote and,
and, uh, and if it goes down, then, uh, we'll just,
We'll just pass on it.
Mr. Lafferty. And then Mr. Bokey,
I'll yield to Mr. Bokey.
He hasn't spoken yet.
Adam Chair, thank you. Through the chair to Ms. Michael.
Uh, before I ask the question, uh, I,
I just wanna make a statement.
I've been listening to everything here.
Um, I look at this as a climate action plan,
but we're talking about saving money.
I'm hearing about hurricanes in, in Atlantic
and painting sidewalks and warrant.
What is this? I mean, is this about saving money
or saving the, that, uh, environment
or a combination or both?
I don't know. I'm, I'm, I'm confused.
I don't know how our hurricane in Atlantic affects us here.
Is there a climate problem?
I'm sure the federal government's looking into that.
It, that has nothing to do with us.
My question is, this is probably an OUTTA
state company, correct?
Correct. When they bid,
and I've seen some of the bids, proposals come through,
not on this particular, but you asked for past references
or, you know what, what they do?
My laptop, unfortunately I can't get it
because they told me to update my password
and I don't have time right now.
But did they provide any information what they did
for another community by name?
What they saved that community in, in their, in their bid?
Yes, they did represent, they served other communities,
I believe two in Michigan.
Does that sound pardon? Correct.
Councilman Nun, I believe two other communities
In Michigan. And what was the advantage
to the city?
Did they name the city?
Yes, they did. I believe Ann Arbor was one of them.
I'm sorry. I believe Ann Arbor was one of them.
One of them. And does
that sound Ann Arbor used as company?
That's my recollection from the RFP meetings.
But I believe some other communities have been doing
climate action plans.
This isn't novel as to Warren. It's a growing trend.
Mr. Boe, it looks like in here, it's Kent County.
So I'm just reading this.
So, you know Kent County, and they did a strategic plan.
They did capital area sustainability partnership, Lansing,
east Lansing, Meridian Township,
and then Southeast Michigan.
Council of Governments Regional Greenhouse Gas Cemetery.
But was it for climate or was it for savings to the city?
'cause I'm here, we're gonna save a million dollars
on this, on this plan.
I, I don't, I am just, I'm just reading that.
Just reading. Yeah. Strategic plan for Kent County,
capital Area Sustainability Partnership, Lansing,
east Lansing, Meridian Township,
low Carbon Infrastructure Planning,
and then Southeast Michigan Council
of Governments Regional Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
Okay. But they don't say exactly what, say again?
They don't, they don't say exactly
what they did for the city, though. The savings.
Oh, they, yeah. That it's not here.
I'm just so you know, that dates were
There. Well, see, that's the problem with
the bids sometimes is if
we get them and they put that information down
and you, you don't get to see what it was accomplished.
You don't get a chance to verify it.
And, and it's, it's, it's easy to do, basically.
And I'm sorry, there's four other ones.
Not in Michigan, Scranton, Pennsylvania,
climate Action Plan, Fairfield, Ohio Sustainability Plan,
orange County, North Carolina, climate Action Plan,
Glenview, Illinois Sustainability Plan.
So, just wanted you to have that.
Well, my question was, like I said, was what
did they do for those cities?
What was the city's satisfaction
or dissatisfaction? We don't know that. Yeah.
Fair question. Yeah. Oh, you are back.
Madam Chair. Mm-hmm. Alright.
My, my, I guess my final questions,
and I'm, I'm looking at section two of, of the contract
that, and this is, uh, paragraph one, that a,
a solution paraphrasing, an implemented solution,
will be completed in all form that meets
with the satisfaction of the mayor
and Warren City Council within 12 months of the agreement
without understanding what target objectives
have been set by the mayor.
Is this something that is on her agenda?
It wasn't spoken about during the state of the city.
It wasn't spoken about in the last state of the city.
And I know of no objectives set by her office
directing her department heads to reduce in this space.
I think we're under prepared to take this on at this moment.
I, I think it's, I think it's, this is a good
thought starter.
This is a catalyst,
but I think we're, we're ill prepared to ask them
to come in when we haven't done our homework
and are prepared to answer their questions.
If the mayor thinks this is a priority,
then she should be directing her department heads to
establish goals
and objectives, list out everything they're doing in
this space already.
And then once we have established that,
and are we able to measure which we should be able to
metrics and KPIs against those objectives.
If we need additional help, we can bring them on.
And perhaps we do, you know, a discovery ourselves.
I'm, I'm just not in favor of, of, you know, giving them a,
a check for $150,000 and hoping for the best.
I'm really Madam Chair. Thank you. Welcome
Ms. Moore.
So, I mean, I'm not gonna lose my mind over $150,000.
It's a lot of money. It's paying somebody's salary
for a year, but in the scheme
of our budget, it's not a lot of money.
Um, one of my concerns is, this is another study.
Um, we, we've been studying a DA compliance
for how many years now?
Since 2021. Since 2021.
So four years we've been studying it. Mm-hmm.
We put, we've budgeted money.
And I mean, I don't wanna say nothing has been done,
but nothing has been done.
So my, I'm a little concerned about implementation
of any study we do that we just do study, study, study.
And then is it not gonna be implemented?
Who's gonna decide which of those things we implement?
That's kind of my, I don't have a problem
with having the study and pointing out things,
but what I'd like to know is our focus, the, our city
itself, the government, the parts of the city that we own,
or are we gonna be focused on residential?
I mean, I know we need more trees.
I don't need anybody to tell me that. We know that, right?
But where are we gonna get the money to do it?
So I, I can come up with that. And that's simple.
I know we can get grant money,
but I'm, I'm not so sure the grant money world isn't gonna
dry up here pretty quick.
Um, but I don't have, I I, I don't have a problem
with the one fi the study going forward.
I just don't have confidence
that anything they recommend will get done
because we've not been very good at
implementation on our plans.
Thank you, Mr. Newnan.
Madam President, I'd, I'd like to, uh, call, um,
director Wirth forward if, if you would,
Uh, let's let all us hold guys.
Stand up for a minute, Ron. I was too much.
I was wondering what, what, uh, thoughts you have for how
to resolve the questions
that the council's bringing forward.
It seems like it's good dialogue.
I I can totally understand
where everybody is coming from by what they're saying.
Um, I believe that, for instance, working out
what the goals were is part of the plan,
and they have a good plan for how to figure, figure that out
with the help of the city with a lot of public, um,
in comment and input.
Um, what, what's your take on this, please?
Alright, uh, my take on this is this, the, the,
there's the, the RFP group, the committee
that gets together, right?
We had a number of people, uh, in that group.
We established parameters that, uh, all of these, uh,
businesses who, uh, put forward, uh,
their quotes and what they felt, uh, they could do
for us according to those parameters.
And, uh, they're pretty strict.
Frankly, I can't label 'em right here.
I don't have that information.
I actually didn't expect to have to talk about it too much.
But, um, but, uh, and Hal, you know, this
and anybody else who was on that,
and Mary, you know, this, who was on that board, we came up
with that criteria.
And, uh, this was the best one. Frankly.
We worked hard looking at it. Uh, we, we reviewed it.
What'd we have? I think we start, we, we
brought it down from, I don't know how many, 20
or something down to six.
And then we, uh, from there we brought it down to four.
We weren't easy about this, uh, with any of these people.
Uh, once we hit four, then we had the discussion, uh,
via, uh, uh, zoom.
And that was on all of 'em. By the way.
It didn't matter whether they were, uh, in Michigan or not.
And, uh, you know, I wanted, I wanted
to tend toward a Michigan group,
but these people were the best.
Otherwise we wouldn't bring it before you.
It's as simple as that.
Uh, I don't know quite what else to say.
And, um, they have
to do an investigation like anyone else does.
That's why we're hiring them to find out
what we can do.
They're gonna advise us.
They're not gonna tell us right off the
bat, here's what it is.
It's not, you're not gonna get that, uh, that quickly.
It's not that easy.
It is involved, you know, you've got the, the,
the so-called, uh, footprint that people talk about.
And this subject, uh, isn't
necessarily that well understood,
but they understand it and they've been doing it.
And the president called out all these locations.
Now, we didn't un
unless Hal, I don't know if you looked into the background
of, of those, uh, uh, particular, uh, plans,
but we probably could have spent months reading those
to see what their results were.
But I tell you this, every community has a difference.
And the most, and, and the last community near us,
uh, who had a climate action plan, uh,
approved, and that's Sterling Heights.
And not that it matters,
but over the, over the last week, I attended a
Michigan Planning Association conference in which
that particular plan actually, uh, won, uh, the, uh,
uh, the award for a sustainability plan,
except that they actually were one of the,
one of the, uh, groups that, uh, wanted to,
uh, work with us.
Well, I'm glad they won the award.
Doesn't matter, because we felt that Blue Strike had more
to give us than even what they got.
So, uh, you know, we weren't just, uh,
twiddling our thumbs on this.
We were working hard. We, we were having meetings.
Uh, you could talk to, uh, uh, the public service director.
He was part of that group.
And, uh, and he understands already what we're doing,
climate action wise, if you will, with, uh,
with our buildings.
There are things we're trying to do without being advised.
I mean, we can pick up on some
of those things, but not all of it.
And that's where they come into play.
And, uh, my guess is
because we have such a large industrial base,
there's gonna be some issues with, with, uh,
some of those buildings.
And we're gonna find out what we can do if,
assuming there are things to correct, uh, statewide
and what the laws are.
But that's all gonna be reviewed,
reviewed, reviewed, and, uh, until we, they, excuse me,
come up with that plan and implementation.
Yeah. Uh, uh, that's probably one of,
one of the toughest parts, frankly, is implementation of any
of these plans that we're going through.
And we talked about that pretty heavily last night,
the implementation of the Van D**e Court or, uh, plan.
And, um, it's a beau I think it's a beautiful plan,
that particular one.
And, uh, but costs a lot of money.
Of course, that particular thing, that's a whole nother, uh,
different, uh, issue on improvements to this city.
But climate action,
they're gonna sh they're gonna hand it to us.
Okay. Something that, uh, you know, we,
we can feel and understand.
And, and Councilman Bokey, I understand your,
your concern about that.
Councilman Lty, same thing. I clearly understand that.
And when we started out this whole thing,
I wasn't quite sure about it myself,
but I became convinced over time what the fact, what we,
what there needs to be done.
And that's when we came up with a pretty long list of,
here we want you to do this, this, this,
this, and this, and this.
It wasn't just, we said, here go,
go give us a climate action plan.
There was criteria, and they met it
and then went farther than, uh, actually with
what Mary talked about with the additional training that,
uh, can pro provide us.
And that's staff.
They'll give training to the staff
to identify these concerns in the future.
And we didn't see that in, uh, these other, uh, plans.
So Director with that, that's
Director w Um, when it came to Councilman Lafferty's point
about possibly needing, uh, more staff, at
what point do you think the planning department might need a
sustainability to hire a sustainability person?
Well, I actually, I think
that that's what, that is something you just,
that will come out of the plan.
We, we don't have a su a true sustain sustainability, uh,
uh, uh, committee or person who can, who can lead it.
Um, you have to get someone who's trained in it,
who understands how to implement the plan.
That would include, that's gonna be one
of the recommendations, uh, hopefully.
Uh, and, and we'll see how that goes.
And in my reading of what they have to offer, part
of it is help in grant writing. And so,
Well, that Too. I,
I think it was, it was the most well-rounded view
for moving us ahead.
And, um, I really, I really liked that, that part.
I know that, uh, it's sometimes hard to move things forward.
Um, uh, unless Mr.
Elli would like to say something, I think I'd like to ask
to just table this for the time being until we can, um,
maybe come up with more understandings.
I know Mr. Lafferty, um, had some, a note.
And Mr. Bokey, could
You hold Madam President through the chair?
Mr. Dwyer, If you could just hold for Mr.
Wir, this climate action plan. Hold
On. Mr. Mr. Dwyer.
One second. Mr.
Yon, if you could just hold your table in motion Sure.
So that these folks can provide, uh, Mr.
Dwyer, go ahead, then Mr. L about that
Uhhuh. Yeah.
One question. Was this climate action plan part
of the master plan, or no?
It is actually. It is, yes.
There was, it was mentioned in, uh,
a section in the master plan about, uh, the climate
and the issues re regarding climate action.
So we keep following the master plan,
and we keep bringing up working on plans
and, uh, and moving forward.
I mean, uh, historic preservation that that plan came up.
That's one of the first ones that came out of, um, uh,
the master plan and what to do
because we felt we could, uh, work on an ordinance, uh,
that would work for historic preservation in the village
area and the entire city.
So that's an example of, uh, what we found.
And, uh, Councilman Lafferty you on the historic
preservation, uh, uh, commission.
Uh, you know, you're there for that.
And, uh, they're doing amazing things
because now you identify what to do.
There wasn't, there was, there wasn't a whole lot
of knowledge there to, uh, with the historic, uh,
preservation people.
I mean, they're great people, but they needed guidance.
Now we have an ordinance, uh, that we're working with in
that particular thing.
That's an example of what we need, is some guidance.
We don't, to my knowledge, uh, we don't have any
true experts on staff who can guide us about, uh,
climate action planning
and, uh, sustainability, that type of thing.
We need that.
Okay. Thank You. Thank you. I yield
Mr. Lafferty. And then
Mr. Bokey.
Thank you. One, one last, uh, thought and, and Mr. To Mr.
Noonan, the full-time employee that you're referring to,
that would be a sustainability officer.
And many, you know, large corporations have not only a,
a director of sustainability,
but they have a team that, you know, helps move,
move in that direction.
The, I guess, through the chair to Mr.
Wirth, from what you're saying, you've had, you and, and Mr.
Nunan and, and others have had considerable time
with the content that we have not yet been afforded.
And I just want to pull an example from last night.
We had, over the course of an hour
and a half at yesterday evening's committee of the whole,
we had a thoughtful, articulate, uh,
provocative discussion about the plan for Van D**e,
for the business, for the economics, for the,
for middle housing, for filling the gaps.
And I think all of us came away
with a much better understanding
and a much more thorough, uh, consideration for
how we're going to move forward.
I think you can probably predict how that's going
to go at this moment.
The only thing, and I would agree with Mr.
Nunan, if perhaps Mr.
Nunan would agree to move this to a committee of the whole,
where we could have a similar discussion.
We, if we table this, we have a committee of the whole,
we discuss it in more depth, let's answer these questions,
let's understand the scope,
and then bring it forward at a later date.
I'm much more willing to, to do that
because I, I agree in many,
many dimensions of this proposal.
I'm just not sure. I, I agree with the entire concept,
how it's articulated. Thank you,
Mr. Bokey. And then
I'll go back to Mr.
Nen. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, Mr.
Wirth, you, you mentioned just one simple question.
Uh, you mentioned, uh, when our, uh,
Madam Chair read off the companies, uh, they were referenced
to cities rather they were referenced.
Yes. Did you or anybody you worked with in your office
or on this, ever contact any of those, uh, cities
and asked them if they were satisfied
or dissatisfied with the company?
I personally did not.
I did look online to the ones in,
uh, Michigan, Kent County.
It's pretty big over in, uh, west side of the, uh, state.
You've got LANs, east Lansing did theirs.
Um, and, uh,
I did some reading on the fact, just the fact
that they were very satisfied with the work that was done.
Uh, I didn't get into the, the meat of those, uh,
uh, particular plans, you know, to, to see.
I feel that, you know, what their concerns
Were. I feel that's important
to know.
Um, so maybe
before the committee a whole, if you could contact these,
uh, some of, some of these, a handful of these co cities
and see what they say about, I mean, we're awarding a bid
and we really don't know nothing about 'em other than they
put a city down as a reference. That's
Fair, councilman.
That's fair. There's no doubt about it.
And that was going through my mind to, to take another,
you know, a more careful look at, uh,
what they've done here, just here in Michigan.
Uh, we can look in the other ones too, for that matter.
There are big places that they, they worked with.
They're well, well known in, uh, uh, in this,
this type of work,
So to speak. I know
in the writeup, they,
they talk about emissions a lot.
Yeah. Um, I know it's very premature,
but is that gonna affect any
of our auto plants here in this city?
Are we trying to enforce them to comply
with whatever we come up with?
Mm-hmm.
It, it, no force, I, I can't really address that.
Well, I, I kind of hinted at that.
I guess I'd have to say that if, um, you know,
over time they, they get better at what they, how they want
to measure emissions.
And, uh, and I, we gotta find out how to do that. Are
Those emissions monitored by the state right now?
Um, I can't answer that. Oh, they are.
I, I mean, I, I am assuming In fact, St was
Cited if they're not st Was cited for by the state.
Yeah. So it'd be a duplication of services, basically.
Uh, well, the, the state has their levels of,
uh, monitoring.
I can't say that they're, we can't be more the worst. We,
We can't be more severe to them. Correct.
So, and They're
Monitoring. You can't
answer that one.
Okay. Alright.
We'll find out at the committee of a whole,
but thank you, Madam Chair. You Chair.
Chair. Just one. I, Mr.
Ruth, I just wanna make a comment to you.
It's got nothing to do with this,
but I'm gonna use this spot.
I've had, uh, several today that the Land Bank
and several other, uh, steering committees where Ms.
Amanda Micah has been present. She offers very good insight.
She seems to really be settling into her role in planning.
And, um, she's very pleasant to deal with.
I know we, the past administration, we, you know,
we were on different sides of things,
but I just wanna make that comment.
She seems to be doing a really good job.
And off, she has a lot of really good suggestions in some
of the meetings I've been.
So, just wanted to make that comment. Um,
Thank you very much. Yep.
And I'm very happy to have her, uh, on my staff.
Uh, she's, uh, she, she adds, uh, to everything that we do.
There's guidance there. She's had experience.
I've worked with her all these, uh, years,
uh, in a different way.
But, um, uh, no, uh, it's, uh,
it's working very well.
Uh, Councilman Lafferty sees her on the, uh,
historic Village Comm Commission, uh, uh,
that she's working on that.
And they're, they're coming up with things.
And, uh, so anyway, just a few comments there. Yeah.
She's doing a great job. Good. Very happy.
Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Worth. Thank you, Mr. Newan. Thank
You. Yeah. So,
to, um, Ron, to the point that, uh,
Gary is making, um,
it would be particularly useful to know
how other cities have saved money, um, as well as
what damage
and destruction they're, they're hoping to avoid.
Yeah. Um, having, or have better responses.
As I'm reading what their, uh, plan is when it comes
to, we have control.
There's, there's very specific, we have control a lot
of control over the city.
We don't have much control over the residents or companies.
Um, on the other hand, when we can offer ideas
that the, that are, uh, very much in the,
in the self-interest of our residents
or the companies, then that would be something
where we would try to interact with 'em to help them,
um, adopt them.
Where, where they find it agreeable.
It, I don't, I didn't see anything about
forcing anybody to do anything.
So I'm a little bit, I'm a little bit, um,
No, but I'm a little bit taken back.
It's, oh, you never know. You never know what's going to be,
I don't think we're kings
where we can just order them to do anything.
This is still a democracy as far
as I know. Maybe,
Yes.
Mr. Newton can We'll, what
Happens? We'll, so can, can you, can you,
uh, when,
when you're calling them, if you could ask,
if you're calling other cities
that have used their services, blue Strike Services,
if you could find out how they've, um, actually been able
to save money or how they plan on saving money,
I think that would be great.
It would certainly be, uh, my, one of my main intents. Okay.
Uh, whether, whether the mayor agrees
or not, I don't think the mayor necessarily has any
specific goals, though I think she agrees in general
principle that it's a good idea to, uh,
look out for this. She's
Ms. Full in support
of this.
She filed this from the beginning, by the way.
So she is, she is very involved in it.
Thank you, Mr. Worth. Mr.
Nunan, to your tabling motion, please.
Sure. Thank You.
I, I moved to,
uh, table this, uh, motion
Support. Okay.
Mr. Bokey was your support, did you say support?
I say support. Oh, support. Sorry. Okay.
Um, I will call the question. Mr. Newan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Ms. Moore? No. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer?
Yes. Mr. Bokey? No.
Rogan C is a yes. Motion is tabled.
What about next item?
Next item is 11 D.
Request of Oza Cafe LLC, located at 28,829 Hoover,
Warren, Michigan, for approval of a tavern license for beer
and wine sales on premises, on premise premises
consideration, and adoption of a resolution.
So moved. Support Dwyer.
Discussion, hearing scene? None. I'll call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Newnan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is?
Yes. Motion carries. Next item. Next item is 12.
A legal update.
Um, motion to receive and file
Support Lty in anticipation.
Mr. Schroeder,
Uh, the legal update today, I counsel, uh,
secretary Moore asked that I speak to what is on the ballot,
uh, next Tuesday, known as proposal two.
Uh, proposal one is of course, the police
and fire mill renewal.
Uh, proposal two is a proposal to authorize the mayor
to make interim appointments
and extend those appointments
with approval from City Council.
Um, this is a city charter Amendment.
Of course, Ms. Warren City Charter was written in 1956.
It's been amended over the years.
It can only be amended by a vote of the people.
And, uh, the council, um, has a charter review committee,
and this committee is met several times
and is considering updates to the charter as time goes on.
Uh, we're finding gaps in the charter.
We're finding areas where there's, um, something missing
or areas where there's a conflict
with state law or other laws.
In this particular case,
the charter does not specifically authorize the mayor
to make interim appointments to appoint of,
or administrative offices.
Um, the mayor has the authority to make
permanent appointments, but we notice over time there's been
a lot of these acting or interim appointments,
and that they're not going through the process
of actually being appointed in the charter under section
7.6, which means the mayor files the appointment,
the clerk, it comes to council.
And depending on the position, the council has
to either confirm that individual
or has to be notified of the appointment
and have an opportunity to reject it.
So, um, this is creating a process
where the mayor can make interim appointments where,
you know, you're doing a search.
So I just heard there's a vacancy
and a major administrative position.
We've had vacancies,
and the mayor can make an, uh, an interim appointment,
but it has to be an existing appointee
or an existing city employee to be appointed to
that position for a three month period.
It can be extended another three months
with the consent of the council.
But the idea is if this person's an interim appointee,
that they're searching to have a permanent replacement
for this person, it could be the interim appointee
or anybody else that, uh, the city
or the mayor decides to appoint.
So, um, the question
before the voters is, should the mayor be able
to make interim appointments of appointive
and administrative officers for three months with the option
to extend the appointment, additional three months
with council approval, thereby allowing
for interim appointments to be recognized
by charter, uh, which it is not. Now,
I asked Mr. Schroeder to update us on that
because I was, uh, the mayor was at a, a function,
and people were texting me
that the mayor had said this was shortsighted
and it was going to interfere with the union and,
and commission appointments.
And I don't think the mayor understands what the, um,
uh, proposal actually is.
This is actually helping her.
Um, it's giving someone
that comes into office that doesn't come in.
Most people come in with a team of people.
This mayor did not.
And it takes, apparently a long time to fill positions.
So we are actually giving whatever mayor,
it's not just this mayor, but it happened to come up.
'cause this was the first mayor
that didn't come in with the team.
And it could happen again.
There could be somebody that is not familiar with government
and the employees
and people more, and that could happen again.
We just don't know. This allows the, a mayor
a chance three months to make an appointment.
And then if the, at the end of that, there's none
city council could approve another three months.
That's just so that nobody takes advantage of over and over
and over, just, you know, doing the, the 90 days.
And, you know, we are really trying to help somebody
to come into that position so
that they're not in violation of the charter.
We right now are very capable.
Um, Mary Michaels is being called the Acting City Attorney.
There is no acting position, um,
after four months for the city attorney.
It is under the UAW contract, 35,
I believe it's for four months.
Ms. Michael, you can be acting while
there's no city attorney.
90 days. Okay. So 90 days.
I've said four months is less than that.
So, but there is no provision at all in the city
for acting anything.
Um, so this will allow for 30 days.
Of course, Ms. Michaels won't fall under that,
because this has been over a year or more, two years.
I don't know how long. But it's, it's, Ms.
Michaels should be appointed.
And, um, city council's not being afforded the opportunity
to confirm our city attorney.
The city attorney reports directly to city council,
and we've not been given the opportunity to confirm anyone.
And that is just not fair. It's against the charter.
So this would actually give the mayor 30 days,
or, uh, three months.
So anyway, uh, I think the mayor was very confused about
what, what this proposal actually does.
So, continue, Mr. Schroeder, sorry
to interrupt, but I wanted to clear
Just, um, we just didn't sort of come up
with this idea at the Charter Review Committee.
Uh, I did survey a number of other municipalities,
both in Michigan and outta state.
Um, and this is a common charter provision to
have some guidelines and guardrails on interim
and acting, uh, appointees.
Otherwise, someone could just be named an acting
or interim department head.
You don't go through the process.
And, um, it really skirts the charter's intention, which is
that administrative officers are appointed in a certain way
and some need council approval,
and others are subject to council rejection.
So this is trying to close a loophole.
Again, it's up to the voters if they think this is a good
idea or not, and we'll find out.
Next item is, uh, 12 B,
consideration of an ordinance to create chapter 33.7
of the Warren Code of Ordinance relating
to workforce housing Second reading.
So moved with discussion support. Laborative.
Discussion Ms. Moore. Thank you, Mr. Schroeder.
Do you wanna, and I know we
Have some folks, there's, there's an update
presentation from the developer.
If you want to, uh, suspend the rules now and hear that,
or if you want to hear about the ordinance first.
Uh, that's up to council. I
Have a couple questions.
That's so motion mo. Motion to suspend the rules.
Support Lafferty,
we vote
All in favor?
Aye. Any opposed? Rules are suspended.
Thank you for the munch, whoever. That was
Great. Um,
thank you counsel.
Um, so thank you
for the opportunity in the second reading of the ordinance.
Um, in addition, so this is 12 B,
and then our presentation tonight is really around 12 B one,
but they're, they're linked together.
Do you want me to go ahead and just make that jet? Yep,
You're fine to proceed.
Can you speak louder, please? He's so tall.
Sorry about for him to get to
The microphone.
Okay. Uh, we'll just have to say next slide.
So, So, um, this is in regards to the,
uh, our specific resolution around our test parcel.
So should the council adopt the ordinance tonight on the
second reading and adopt our resolution, I wanted to walk
through the parts of the resolution that, uh,
pertain to our test run.
So, um, couple questions that emerged.
First of all, the, the test pilot,
the pilot project will be on the two test
parcels on Maxwell Avenue.
We hope to have those under construction
and in the ground by mid-December.
We're also asking for, um,
an evaluation period on the other vacant lots
that are in the southern part of Warren.
So just want to talk about that a bit. So next slide.
Um, what this will allow us to do is really
evaluate each of these vacant lots
and kind of a no, um, pressure period
for us and for the city.
And we are going to go lot by lot
and ev do conduct a parcel by parcel, uh,
feasibility analysis
and then share the results of that analysis
with economic development at the city.
Um, should, should we either pursue those, uh,
for future come to council and ask to purchase those
and redevelop them or should we not?
We are gonna share all that information with the city.
So the size, the permit history,
whether we think there's a potential basement
or crawl space underground still
that would limit development, large trees, uh,
problem adjacencies, anything like that.
Um, so, so next slide.
Um, also, uh, council member, new, new maybe you asked about
how does the pilot impact tax returns.
I just wanted to address that again.
Um, that wasn't,
Oh, I asked about, uh, uh, rent to buy
and formaldehyde.
Yeah. And you answered the formaldehyde really well.
And the rent to buy.
Uh, you said it wasn't part of your business plan,
Correct? Correct.
Um, I think you, one, um, maybe it wasn't you,
another council member asked about how the pilot,
uh, affects tax revenue. So just, I, I believe,
Um, president, either way.
Go ahead. Okay. Thank you. Sorry.
Apologize for my It's okay. Recollection. Yeah.
Um, next slide please.
So, um, the city, just to highlight,
the city is currently collecting no taxes
on the vacant lots.
So those are owned by the city, don't pay tax, um,
and actually spending money.
So we, based on our own estimate, we didn't verify this
with city finance, but based on what was in the city budget
for snow mowing,
and by control of all the vacant properties throughout the
city, we estimated roughly $2,000 a year on
that within in the South Warren.
So right now you're at negative 2000, we think af So
after the pilot, roughly positive eight 50, I mean, that's,
that's the, the rough math there.
And that eight 50 is distributed, uh,
according to the current law.
However, those mills are distributed to the city,
to the county, to the school district.
So it, nothing about the distribution
of the millage changes, just the amount goes up.
Um, next, next slide please.
So, um, in our pilot resolution for our test, uh, parcels,
we're asking for a 4%, uh, service charge.
So that's four.
What the tax, basically the charge we pay
that gets distributed in lieu of the valorem sales tax
or, um, property tax.
It would be 4% of our rents, basically.
So why that, why that amount?
So if you go to the next slide, there's two reasons
we settled on in our exploratory phase here.
One, uh, just a nearby neighbor, Ferndale adopted a 4%, uh,
service charge with their workforce pilot recently with a,
with a resolution on a multifamily.
This was passed in Novo, November of 2024.
So that's just a benchmark
that doesn't obligate you to do anything.
That's just a help, a reference point.
But for us as a developer, if we go to the next slide, um,
really it's about the math.
So you can, so if you follow me on this chart from left
to right on the left is just a visual representation
of the current return that is achievable
for new construction in South Warren.
That's really unacceptable to private capital
because if you look, it's only slightly above
what the current tenure treasury is with a risk free rate,
that's just not enough risk adjusted return
to attract private capital for new construction development.
We know that from being in the market.
But as we move along to the right,
when we do introduce the pilot service charge,
the workforce pilot, that's a,
a large increase in the return that's very substantial.
So that combined with the maintenance reduction
for the new construction, that gets us to something
that's much more attractive
and really achieves what is required for a private, uh,
capital return to build new housing.
So that allows us to do that without any public subsidy
to do that into the private market.
And the, I think, um,
Mr. Schroeder made a point in his package that, um,
the mayor of Detroit last year when he was advocating
for this program in Detroit, said,
this is about competitiveness.
We agree. We think that given that this is a state law now,
and other jurisdictions, um, grand Rapids, Ferndale,
others in southeast Michigan may begin adopting this, it's,
there will be a competition, uh, for capital.
And we, we think that Warren can win that
by having a competitive service charge.
Obviously we're interested, self interested in that
because of our project, but we just wanted to highlight
for the council, this is the math we see.
This is the logic behind the 4%.
I think that's it for now,
and take questions if we, we have it.
Thank you. Um,
given that the rules are still suspended,
can we do a q and A at this point?
Or do we go back on and then we can do it now?
We can do it now. We can do q and a during this.
Okay, great. Ms. McGee had some questions.
I know first, if anyone else has discussions. Oh,
Go ahead. Thank you.
Um, my question is really, um, to, um,
maybe Mindy can answer this Secretary Mindy.
Um, I don't know the process as far as, um,
when you get investors
or those that are for land banking, what is the process of
choosing an investor?
Um, I don't know what that process is with land banking.
I just, um, I, I've been contacted by other contractors.
Say, I would like to get on a land bank
and what is the fair process in doing so?
How do I get on this list?
Well, we, so we started
a little in with this project,
but our land bank has no money.
Okay. So we are not able
to do any investments at this point.
We can work with the state
and we can be sort of a conduit for grant money
and we can do some things with Brownfield
and we're gonna be able to do things like that.
But at this point, um,
there's really nothing we can do except grant some sort
of brownfield once we have our own committee.
And, and maybe Mr. Sch Schroeder could answer
Better. I,
I had not met spare. Right. Don't get me wrong.
You seem like a good person and doing the right thing.
But I had not met you up until last,
the last city council meeting.
I don't know if you were part of a list of other investors
or you were just chosen just
We like, this is different.
They came to us. Okay.
They were ready to, to, we were an out looking for anyone.
So somebody that comes to us with the money
and the great reputation that these people have,
they already have a really good reputation in the city.
They've got 90 properties. Okay.
They pay their taxes, they take care of their properties.
Uh, we were there one day and I think I made the joke
that they were brought, bringing us tax payment.
They said they had to get a wagon to carry in the money.
So, because they had so many.
So they, and, um, spear is, um, uh,
um, highly financed.
And, you know, we knew that going in, that was,
that was done, you know, through the, so he,
He, uh, he contacted the Land
Bank? No, they
contacted the city. The city I got, you know, Mr.
Baer. Right. I can give a little bit of history
'cause this has been going on for a little while.
I think they were in contact
with the city administration and Mr.
Bato. Correct. And, um, so we started working with them.
This is not, per se, a land bank project. Okay. Okay.
It was inspired in part by the Land Bank,
but the Land Bank is not involved in these two parcels at
this moment that are being put as a test run project.
The Land Bank took some action earlier this afternoon
that will come to council probably in November.
That might allow others to use the Land Bank
to take advantage of some incentives in the Land Bank.
Not money that we have in the account for the Land Bank now.
'cause like, uh, the Land Bank chairperson,
Ms. Morris said here that there's not much money there,
but, uh, we were contacted by the State Land Bank last week.
They wanna work with us. That's gonna be coming next month.
But what's before the council tonight?
There's no official land bank involvement in this.
This is an ordinance that's going to allow
for this pilot payment in lieu of
this development team has met with the legal department,
the assessing department, the planning department.
I may be missing some, I know Mr.
Elli has, uh, looked into them
and gave a report late this afternoon.
That was very positive.
So, um,
and as far as how they choose investors, um, you'll,
you can ask them how they choose their investors,
but they are investors themselves.
My understanding is, and they are also managers
of their company that do a lot
of interfacing with City Hall.
So we felt comfortable, I felt comfortable recommending it,
knowing that they're a well-known commodity in the city.
They've been around for 10 years in this market.
And, um, uh, in fact, Mr.
Elli emailed me late today that, uh,
they had a great reputation and checked on their properties
and so on and so forth.
But that's sort of the background in how they got here.
We started working on this and it required a lot of work.
So this is, we have a whole new ordinance here.
We have a resolution.
Um, I know they also worked with economic development.
I see Hunter is here. I know Hunter's been very involved.
Hunter put together a, a large list of vacant properties
for the, um, uh, land bank in July.
A very long list of the city has a lot of scattered,
vacant lots throughout the city.
We were a little bit overwhelmed.
So it was really, uh, great timing to have, uh,
the spear development partners knock on the city's door at
this time and say that they have a viable plan
to develop infill housing, affordable infill housing,
workforce housing in this part of the city.
And so they've worked with all these departments.
They've worked with the administration,
the Land Bank, the council.
And so, um, I think at this point there's
very low risk in trying out two parcels right next
to each other on Maxwell.
See how it works. And we'll come back after this.
If council approves it tonight, we'll come back
and you see there's a long list of properties here
at the end that, uh, they will have an option on.
But keep in mind, we're not just holding these
properties for, for this group.
They're gonna be doing due diligence
on this properties, properties.
They're going to be checking and seeing
if these properties can be developed.
They're gonna invest in some, uh,
engineering work on these properties, civil work
to see if there's obstacles to building.
And they're gonna share all of their findings with the city.
Okay. And if there's some properties
that can't be developed,
then maybe we can put those properties in the Land Bank and,
and get grants or find land bank money
or resources to, um, overcome those obstacles.
Whether it's a blight problem, an underground, uh, issue
that, uh, would need a Blight Elimination grant
from the state to take care of.
So, um,
and this is 120 day period
that they're gonna look at these
properties and we can come back.
Is this, would this list be available
for other investors to look at?
Well, yes. 'cause Yes.
Other investments said they could not get this
list, but yet,
Well, I don't know who that would be, but we have Who
Would they go through to get this list?
Well, this list is a public record.
It's all the city owned vacant properties. Okay. Okay.
So they can go through the, the,
the office administrative office.
Well, this, first of all, let's take a step back.
There's a large list of, I don't know, three
or 400 vacant properties in the city.
Mm-hmm. Okay. This is from that larger list.
Anybody in the public can get a copy of that list.
These are homes that may be developable
for single family homes.
There's 120 day period here.
If there's somebody that wants one of these homes,
and it's right in the resolution.
If a qualified buyer seeks to purchase a parcel, um,
we can release that to them.
This is this, it's right in, uh,
paragraph four of the resolution.
Um, so I I, I'll
Give some, I got a couple more questions you, if I may.
Sure. Um, my biggest concern is that these are properties
that are going to be built in the South end.
And I know we talked about this on the before
because I remember, um, when Councilman Lafferty said
to Faye Baker on her project, what, what can we do to assure
that these are not rental properties?
Mm-hmm. As we know in the south end, they're looking
to own a property.
This is going to be rental properties. Mm-hmm.
And so, according to this statement here,
whereas these vacant parcels are located within the
neighborhood enterprise zone, so they get the, the,
the abatement for the properties.
But this says homes for own occupant, occupation,
parking, occupation, occupancy.
So will there be a separate nas, um,
um, abatement for rental properties created?
Um, these are not owned properties.
These are rental properties. Correct.
He's not turning from rental to buy.
No. Well, these are vacant properties right now.
Yes. They're vacant.
So, but they're rentals. They will be rentals.
He's getting an abatement based on you this saying
that you have to own them.
They're gonna be owned property, so he's going
to be the owner as the investor.
Well, someone has to own it.
They're gonna develop the property.
They're going to own the property.
They're gonna invest and bring the property, you know,
build a home on the property.
Right. And they will own that home.
And this workforce incentive, this is from a state law.
It, the state law is requiring them to be rentals. Right.
It's the workforce housing state statute pilot program.
It's for workforce housing rentals.
Workforce housing is for those,
as we explained at the last meeting, is for those who,
there's a lot of people out there, they make money
and they make too much money to qualify
for subsidized housing,
but the money that they make isn't enough
to get affordable housing.
So it's called the missing middle.
And this particular project will allow the missing middle
to, to get these brand new homes and, and pay rent.
Yes. It's a rental. And we are working
with the State Land Bank to help people like Ms. Baker
coming up, um, to be able to take advantage
of something similar through tiff.
But that's coming next month. But that's a separate issue.
Some of these things are new that are, are just allowing
developers that have just come from Lansing
because they know we need to deal with this workforce,
workforce housing.
So somebody that's a police or, uh, fireman would qualify.
That's the income level that it addresses much
More than that's, I'm concerned about it going from rental
to why can't we go from rental to buying?
Because that's not what the law, what, why,
where they're giving the incentives right now.
'cause right now nobody can build anything at market rate
unless they're given incentives.
And one of the things I learned at the Land Bank,
I had my own opinions about things, uh, about rentals.
And I realized and was told
by many people across the country
that there are a great many people that don't want
to buy a home.
They want to be in a rental home.
And for this being an absolute brand new home,
granite countertops open concept, I think
that's very exciting for somebody that's running a home
to walk into a brand new home.
And our problem with rentals here in the city in many
instances, have not been renters or the process of being,
or the, the term rental home.
But we've had bad landlords
and we've had properties that are in absolute disarray.
And we're starting now with a whole new housing stock.
And I think, and I think that's what the state recognizes,
and that's what they are trying to promote.
Now, at the end of the pilot,
whenever that ends, the property can be sold.
But during that period
where the state is giving these incentives, it's a rental.
But after that, it is something that could be sold
as I understand it.
Yeah. Am I correct? We,
We, we could sell it to an owner at any time.
And, and we would love to do that.
We would love for that to make business sense
for our business plan and
for our investment thesis at some point.
And that would be great. And if at the point that
that happens, we will pivot and do that.
But right now, the way the market is,
we've been investing here for well over a decade, 12 years.
You know, we've been waiting for that for a long time.
That hasn't happened yet.
But when it does, it may make sense for us to exit out
of the rental housing and sell to owner occupants.
That's my concern, is that we have,
we will have on the south end.
I know on the south end, a lot of people are looking to own.
Yeah, absolutely. It may not be everywhere,
but on that south end of warm, most
of the people tell me they're looking to own a home.
I don't want a bunch of, uh, rentals in that area.
And they, in which they cannot purchase.
They want to purchase a home.
And I think it's better for the city.
It makes us look better for us to try to bring an investment
property to the people born.
Um, and it helps us as a city.
So I hope it can work out that way.
I just don't want a bunch of,
I understand we can be in great rental properties,
that looks great, but do they own it? Yeah.
We, we agree that owner occupant housing is,
is very stabilizing for the community and want to do that.
Um, right now, the market for,
for sale housing does not exist in south,
in the south end without subsidy for new construction.
We've looked at it at, at every angle.
And in order to do it without subsidy, it just doesn't work.
So our hope is we, what it's been great
because there's been this confluence
of a lot of different factors.
One, the Land Bank formed
and kind of sent up the bat signal to developers
and investors that Warren was ready to do something about.
The, about that.
Area two was this new pilot law in 2022
that really has just started to become adopted
around the state that allows
for this workforce housing pilot for rentals.
Three was the vacant lots.
That list has been available for many years.
We've, we've watched for many years.
We bought the a hundred parcel auction property in 2015.
Had two years to fix up those properties.
We often wondered what was gonna happen to the vacant lots
that's been on the website for many years with the NEZ.
That, that, that has been a growing problem.
And then the last thing has been the modular innovation,
driving down construction costs by 30%.
So when all of those things combined,
we came back to the same group.
We did the 2015, uh, for, uh, tax foreclosure auction deal
with, which was Tom's office and Mary, and reached out
and said, Hey, are, what are you, what's the city's plan?
We saw the Land bank, what's the city's
plan for the vacant lots?
We'd like to take a crack at underwriting,
putting new construction rental housing there.
So that's, that's really how this came about.
Okay. Any additional questions? Ms. Wiggy? Um, Mr.
Newnan and then Mr. Lafferty? Cool.
Uh, yes. So, um, councilman, uh,
McGee was pointing out,
and I guess this would be a question for, um,
Mr. Schroeder in the resolution authorizing workforce
housing pilot test run project, um,
the third paragraph, whereas many
of these vacant par parcels are located within the
neighborhood enterprise zone, Nez known as Patriot Place,
a program through which the city offers parcels for 150,
do dollars to buy buyers who construct new homes
for owner occupancy
and provides up to eight years of a valorem tax abatement.
And, but this is for owner occupancy,
but what they're saying is it's gonna be renter occupied.
So is there a conflict there or isn't there? If there isn't?
I, I, I don't, I like the project
That's a separate program. I'm
Not against the project Separate.
It's a separate program that overlaps this.
So we just did that for background
because there's an NEZ zone in the city.
Okay. And this, and,
and that's a neighborhood enterprise zone.
Okay. Yeah. And it's called Patriot Place.
That part doesn't apply to them.
No. Oh, okay. Great. No, I'm sorry.
It's, it was just part of the background of what area
of the city we're talking about.
Yeah. Okay. Yes. This was the thank you.
I just wanted, this is sort of the recitals
as we're leading into the re the conclusion here.
Thank you. It's a good question though. Okay. Yeah.
Yeah. Because this is just, so this doesn't apply to,
No, not, not Exclusively.
It does not apply. This is another program
that's available in the same area that's separate from this.
It's just describing
that these are parcels located within that zone.
Okay. Known as Patriot Place.
There has been a pilot program available
in Patriot Place in the NEZ zone since 2017
or 18 with a 6% pilot payment.
Zero homes have been built zero since 2017.
This pilot ordinance has been on the books.
It's like a, a forgotten ordinance
that nobody's taken advantage of to build these homes.
So this is pivoting to something different.
So we're changing the amount of the, the proposed amount
of the pilot payment,
and we're going to a 2022 state law that updated, um,
this type of incentive, a pilot to, for workforce housing.
So the reason that's in this resolution, um,
and if you wanna strike it,
you can strike it from the resolution, is just a background,
uh, piece of information to let you know
where these vacant parcels are located
and what other incentives are available in that area.
What it didn't point out, and I'm sorry about that, is that,
you know, this other pilot, uh, ordinance,
which is still in our code of ordinances, has not been used
by anybody, uh, to build a home in that area.
Zero since 2017.
So a shame, we're trying to do something, pivot
to something different with a new state law,
um, that was passed.
Keep in mind, 2018 to 2022,
the world changed a lot with respect to housing.
So,
Okay.
Um, Mr. Lafferty and Yes. Anyone else?
Thank you, Madam Chair. The,
and to, through the chairman, Ms. McGee, the, there's
language in here that refers
to the restrictive covenant deed.
And Mr. Schroeder, correct me if I'm wrong, that is
our standard template that we engage with anyone
that is purchasing a lot from the city,
and it has our restrictions on that, what you can
and cannot do with that property.
And part one of the, uh, the provisions of that deed is
that you cannot rent for less than 12 months.
And so, Okay.
Some, something to, to that effect is,
and we, we had that change.
It was, uh, with Ms.
Michael's help for other projects that we wanted to ensure
that we weren't turning over brand new homes,
brand new properties that were constructed
into short term Holiday Inns.
Okay. Alright. Nobody wants a Holiday Inn next door to them.
So we didn't want to have somebody, somebody renting
for a month, and then the next
renter comes in, the next one.
It was geared towards ensuring even if there was a rental,
there was some stability in who was renting,
because you would have to sign up
for nothing less than a one year period.
Now, in this case, maybe, maybe the, the covenant deed will,
will be modified,
but in, in that case, I, I wanted to bring
that, bring that out.
The, the other part, and I, I brought this up
before when CDBG has talked about building a home,
and I've got the vacant lot up here on, on the screen,
we're getting nothing out of it right now.
We're, we're absolutely collecting no tax.
If we bought this lot and per
and built a home, we would automatically lose.
And this is, this is his business case.
We would automatically lose 25% off the top.
It's the equivalent of me asking Mr. Schroeder
to write me a hundred dollars check
and I'll give him his investment back of $75.
You can make that check payable to me at any time,
by the way, and so this, this is much different.
Now, my question, Mr. Schroeder,
where are we establishing the 4%,
uh, pilot fee?
So this is a recommendation. Okay.
And, uh, the 4% basically came from talking
to the developer, looking at what other communities did.
Um, the city of Ferndale landed on 4% last November, uh,
for a 72 unit, uh, multi-family, uh,
housing building with commercial on the first
floor near their downtown.
That spurred a $23 million investment in Ferndale. Mm-hmm.
And they went to 4% of the rents.
Um, for, for that pilot payment, Detroit has gone
as low as 2%.
Um, our existing ordinance in Patriot Place had 6%.
It resulted in no investment.
So, um, we're trying to find, uh, a sweet spot here
that will spur the investment
and still bring money to the city.
Um, I let the developer,
I think they explained in their presentation about the
economics of this, and, um, you know, what type
of incentive it's going to take to get them
to spend the money to build these homes and, um, rent them.
And, you know, they're, they're gonna be audited too.
So part of this process is the ordinance will,
they will be audited, um,
and ensure that they're following the ordinance,
the restrictive covenants and the resolution.
Um, and, you know, we talked to Grand Rapids, Detroit,
other cities, we had online, uh, zoom meetings.
We didn't burn a lot of gas hell
and drive across the state
to Grand Rapids to have a meeting.
Thank you. So we had a great meeting
with Grand Rapids and we, we learned a lot.
And what we learned from some of the other cities was, um,
that we wanted to streamline this process
and not, we wanted to regulate, but not overregulate.
We wanted to create an incentive,
but we also wanted to make sure that the city
is getting money for its services and police and fire.
And we also wanted to take these vacant lots off
of the city, vacant rolls.
I mean, there's hundreds of vacant properties.
They're sitting there. It's a charge on the city, um,
you know, to cut the grass
and, you know, do other maintenance
and respond to issues there.
So, I mean, it's really a proposal, the 4%.
So the developers here, if you have further questions, um,
we went back and forth, um, you know,
there was a negotiation here to get it to council.
Um, and, you know, I, I feel comfortable with it.
Um, and, uh, you know,
certainly the council, it's up to council.
And Mr. Schroeder, just, just for clarification, what I,
what I was asking is what the, what the 4%?
It's under the resolution.
So the, the ordinance is establishing the ability for us
to create the workforce housing exemption.
The resolution establishes the criteria
for the exemption, establishes the term
and the service charge.
And the Patriot Place was set up the same way.
The service charge is in the Patriot Place resolution.
The, the service charge is not in ordinance. Okay. Alright.
That is what I wanted clarification on.
I have no other questions. Madam Chair.
What, just Mr. Councilman Lafferty, just to be clear,
this ordinance is gonna enable anyone else in this area,
not just this group, anyone else in this area that wants to
come forth, uh,
can get their own resolution like we have here?
So each project is going to have its own resolution.
So if someone comes forth with a, with a viable project,
the city can review it
and council can pass a resolution, uh, creating
a workforce housing pilot project, um, similar to
what we, we are asking council to approve today.
Um, so we're also aware of there,
there may be a few others in the works
where it's not a percentage, there's different ways
to negotiate this fee.
There may be another one coming
that we're negotiating a specific amount
over a certain number of years.
So there's different ways to do it.
The most common way is this percentage,
and this is what we've benchmark in
other, other communities.
And that's how we came up with the 4%.
Um, we were glad
that we had some other benchmarks to look at.
So, um, it gave us sort
of a comfort level in coming forward.
I'm sorry, I did have one more question. Go ahead. Mr.
Lafferty. The 15 year term,
how does the assessing office know, how do,
how are they going to track that the term has expired?
So in, in 15 years from now, how will they know, okay,
we're done collecting the pilot charge, it's time
to start collecting ad war room taxes.
I think that the assessing department has all
capabilities to do that.
We do brownfield, we do other types
of tax incentives all the time, 15 years
as a common, uh, timeframe.
My understanding is they have the capability in their system
to set this up and monitor it.
And on the 15th year, um, I'm sure that, um,
you know, that the system will know that,
that that is expired. Okay.
So 2040, set your calendar
Manager. Thank you,
Ms. Moore.
Um, just to respond to ms, um, uh, uh, Councilwoman McGee,
we do have a program that should be starting,
I'm surprised it's not already started,
but that the down payment assistance, we've got $5 million
for that that'll be offering, um, based on income,
$25,000, um, for down payment assistance.
And those are non-real, those are owner occupied.
Um, one of the things that, you know, I've learned
what other land banks are doing around the country,
and, uh, one of the things I would like to do,
and a lot of people are doing,
and it's really a, um, to me, one
of the best things you can do is they're building duplexes
and only selling to one person.
So then the person that buys has an income already,
and it works out that it ends up paying about three
quarters of their mortgage.
So they're building equity
and it not just they have a business,
or sometimes it's a family member,
somebody's got an ill family member,
they want close or whatever.
So I think that's gonna fill a, a need in a lot of places,
and that's what, uh, many of the land banks are,
are trying to do.
But the fact is, um, nobody is building, um,
in these areas where these vacant properties are.
They've been vacant for a long time.
Um, we haven't even put any
of the vacant property in the Land bank
because there just may be no point
because nobody's interested in all
of those properties there.
And you can't make somebody build a house
that they're gonna lose money on.
And right now, I haven't talked to one builder developer
that can build a home
and not lose money in this market, in,
in the area we're talking about.
It's just can't be done.
CDBG, every time we build a house, we have to sell it for
less than it's, it's worth or what it costs.
The Land Bank will be able to do
that at some point once we have the finances, that is,
that's one of the beauties of a land bank.
We can spend $200,000 on something
and we can sell it for 150, but developers
and people are in this to, to make money, can't do that.
So we're looking at, we do have a lot of good things.
We have, you know, I think there's
what three maybe prop three, four projects right now
that are going to, um, be very, very positive
for the city coming forward.
And each one is a little bit different.
We have to offer different incentives for each one.
We have to look at our zoning.
We have we tiny lots that I wanna see tiny houses
that I think the Land Bank could do, and that would be fun.
So, I mean, there are a lot of opportunities.
Not everything's perfect. We're doing the best we can.
Um, and trying to get these properties built on,
because a bunch of vacant properties,
it just is not good for the city.
So, thank you.
If, um, may say one thing, um, if, if we're successful
with, um, all the construction that we'd like to do,
we'd like, we have grander plans than the two.
Um, that combined with phase project, I really think is,
could reshape values down there.
I think we'll have a potential for a self-reinforcing cycle.
If we put a lot of new construction, whether it's rental
or not down there, you're suddenly gonna have comparable,
uh, sales
and new construction that is really gonna uplift
that South Warren market, which may help us achieve,
you know, the, uh, an owner occupant exit,
if you will, uh, in the future.
So when you start to build new, it starts to change things.
And I think Faye's project's gonna be transformational.
We just talked to her before
and I would say, um, I know we're having this list.
We, we talked to Faye, um,
last week again, right before the council meeting.
You know, if she wants to, uh, we will coordinate
with her if she wants some of those, some
of those properties to, uh, develop in the future.
Absolutely. We're gonna work with her to do that.
Um, really supporting her cheerleading, her,
her project's gonna be a big anchor
for, for the neighborhood.
And so, um, I guess that's the point is that all
that new construction's really gonna create a cycle
of positive cycle.
Thank you. We're counting on that.
Thank you. Uh, any other discussion?
Okay. I will call the
question the rules.
Okay. We're back at, yeah, I was, I was gonna say, do I need
to, it was a discussion that bled from suspension rules.
Do I need to go back on? We're Oh, we're good. Okay.
Um, so Ms. Moore and Mr.
Lafferty had made the original motion in sport for 12 B, so,
uh, I will call the question
One Sec. Yep.
12 B is the ordinance, Right?
Um, we just, we, we had a couple minor changes that,
Okay. Do you wanna restate them Mr.
Schroer and turn your microphone on? Yeah.
From the first reading for the ordinance,
this is the second reading.
Um, we had a couple of additions, um, which included, um,
on the restrictive covenant, um,
that each property is developed in compliance
with all applicable billing codes, permits and ordinances.
And each property is maintained in accordance with the city,
city of Warren Property maintenance codes.
No short term rentals must be the tenant's primary
residence, no growth cultivation or distribution
or processing of marijuana on any
workforce housing property.
And in addition to that, um, uh,
we added a provision, uh, this is Ms.
Michaels. Thank you, Ms. Michaels.
Notwithstanding this ordinance
or the restrictive covenant, the city reserves its police
powers under the city of Warren Court of ordinances
and may pursue its remedies
and penalties for violations at any workforce housing unit,
including the right to issue VI violations,
blight violations in chapter 2.5 of the city code.
In fact, all of those, uh, changes came with working with,
uh, the city attorney's office.
Uh, thank you for that.
And I know that, um, um, these are all good changes.
So, um, we will, th this is for the second reading
of the ordinance, and then for the resolution, uh,
there will also be, uh, minor change
or addition as well. Okay.
Excuse me. We have a picture
of you guys up here talking,
Mr. Luxe,
unfortunately you can't yell from the audience.
Um, it's against the rules. We talk
Before. Your face
is slow on the screen. Who is looking at re
It? Sure. Thank you.
If you could have a seat out, certainly.
Um, see if Patrick, I can't see the screens,
but, um, if there's anything that can be done.
Uh, sorry.
Uh, now I'm, I've lost my place. Here. Just call the votes.
I think it call, uh, sorry.
Makers of the motion, comfortable with Mr.
Schroer's amendments. Yes, that's where I was at. Thank you.
Without objection. Thank you. I will call the question.
Ms. Moore. Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Noonan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 12 BA one consideration
and adoption of a resolution authorizing workforce housing
pilot test run project.
So moved with discussion support Lafferty.
Discussion Ms. Moore? Yeah. Mr. Schroeder?
Uh, again, uh, thank you to Ms.
Michaels for some, uh, revisions to this resolution.
And that would be under resolved. Paragraph three.
Entry upon a, this is an addition entry upon a property
and conduct conduct
of evaluation shall require the developer to indemnify
and hold harmless the city for any injury
or damage, restore any damage to original condition,
and add the city as additional insured
and written undertaking that meets satisfaction
of the city attorney's office.
And then under paragraph four A, um, Ms.
Michaels recommended, uh, striking one, uh, phrase,
partial reimbursement of documented costs.
Thank you. Makers of the motion.
Comfortable with those amendments? Yes, sir. Mr.
Lafferty, where is the partial?
That, that is in four A,
I don't see,
was that already taken out?
Yeah, this one. Yeah.
I, I sent a red line version
and I think what got printed was, um,
this was red lined out in four A,
so you're not seeing it on your copy,
but in the, in the original version that's published online
that the council had, there's a phrase in four A
that says partial reimbursement and documented costs.
Okay. So what you have is the version
where the red line was, um, eliminated. So
Without objection.
Okay. Fantastic. Thank you Mr. I will call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes.
Motion carries.
Can I, uh, make a motion for a five minute recess? Sure.
Uh, support. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Five minutes.
Thank you.
Okay. Did you see all Yeah.
What I'm,
but the way Jeff said it, this was only
but I
down there's where,
don't care property.
They say they don't care.
These are,
I live that way and I'm telling,
are you still in Bed
West?
Yeah. What's the out there?
I didn't miss what you wanted to have,
what you wanted to say.
Good. It's, uh,
yeah.
Need help. No,
I dunno.
Performance. You did? Yeah.
Yeah. All right. We are back.
Council secretary. Next item.
Next item is, um, 12 C Council member Gary Bokey.
Discussion Ray Aada, a grant. Um,
Madam Chair, um, there was a lot of confusion
of the a DA grants, uh, that was appropriate
through John James, Congressman James office.
And I was, I've been trying to get information on it.
Uh, late this afternoon,
I received a couple phone calls from department heads,
and now we're, I'm gonna sit down
with 'em within the next couple of weeks
and go over the paperwork.
Uh, it's confusing.
Uh, I think we can get it straightened out.
And I like to table that to, to the next meeting.
Okay. Okay. Supports a table.
So, so a motion by Mr.
Bokey and support by Mr. Lafferty to table.
I will call the question. Mr. Bokey?
Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Ms. Moore? Yes.
Mr. Newan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes.
Item is tabled to the next meeting. Thank you. Madam
Chair? Yes. And
you had an announcement,
Correct? I had an announcement
earlier,
but I didn't want to cut you off when
we went to the next item.
If it's possible, I'd like to say it quickly right now. Go
For it. Okay.
Uh, last week, uh, Councilman Lafferty
and myself attended the trunk retreat that was put on
by the Parks and Recreation at the community center.
Uh, we had a great turnout.
Um, kids were very excited.
Uh, I think along with, uh, Councilman Lafferty
and myself, the, uh,
prevailing costume, I believe was a princess.
And between the police
and firemen, I think there was 2 0 1 police, oh, uh,
costumes over fire.
This year there were a lot of Spiderman,
and our engineer's office came as the Adams family,
which was pretty unique.
I'd like a special thanks to Casey, Denise
and Leslie for their participation in putting that together.
I'm sure there are other employees that,
uh, uh, were involved.
I'm sorry, I don't have your names,
but thank you all, all the Well, same.
And, uh, also, I don't know if Captain Beck wants
to say anything, but would Halloween approach you?
I know there was some articles in the paper.
Do you wanna say anything about the scanning
of candy or anything?
Or just,
just quickly?
Yeah, we got a Problem. It'd be the
last time I call you captain. Anyways,
It's Ms. Mr.
Bokey. We can't, it's not really an agenda item. Okay.
So we can maybe take some suggestions from
Mr. Dillon, but if you wanna text.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry about that. Okay.
Thank you Mr. Bokey. Next item. Next item is 13.
A request of the legal department
for an increase in budget appropriations in the amount
of $75,193 to add a new position
titled Court Legal Administrative Clerk Consideration
and adoption of a resolution.
So moved. Support Lafferty.
Discussion, hearing scene. None. I'll call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries.
Next item 13 B, request
for re appropriations from the fiscal year 2025.
DDA capital funds to fiscal year 2026 for items
and services not completed
by June 30th, 2025 in the total amount
of $8,021,253.
Consideration and adoption of a resolution. So moved.
Support Lafferty. Discussion,
hearing, seen none?
I'll call the question Ms. Moore. Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item 13 C.
Request of the police department
to approve the require retirement
of Charles Rushton prior to age 50.
Support Dwyer. No, you'll have to make the motion
'cause I certainly will not make it.
Uh, so motion by Mr. Dwyer. Support anyone.
Support, support. Ms. McGee. Discussion. Discussion.
Um, this is the second time we've done this a couple
of years ago, Mr. Rush was gonna retire, which would,
his would've been his optimal time to retire,
as I understand it, but chose to stay
because he loves this city.
He grew up here. His heart is here.
He gave everything he had for this city.
I don't think anybody, um,
in a command position has ever worked harder, um, on the,
and certainly at that level.
Um, you know,
so many times I heard him on the radio at night.
Um, different situations.
You know, I was told about many, many instances
where he was able to calm situations down.
He just had that way about him. Mr.
Bokey, you will remember, we had a little, uh,
controversy up here in the last, uh, uh, term.
And he came up on the Diaz
and everything was handled in a very calm
and orderly manner.
He just had that way about him.
Um, I, um, think
that Matt Dill Beck will do a, a great job.
Um, you know, I've watched him.
I think he's a wonderful police officer.
I don't have any qualms about that.
Anything I say about Jeff Rushton has,
is no bearing on how I feel about you
and the job I think you'll do.
But I think we should have done everything we could to keep
rushton here in this city where he belongs.
Um, we're bleeding police officers.
Um, and it's very difficult to hire them at any level.
And I, I really think it is a,
it's a shame that we didn't do everything we could
to keep him here.
And there were some ideas floated
that I think it could have been done and it wasn't.
And I think that is a f extreme failure on the part
of the administration, not to make that happen.
We cannot afford to lose good police officers.
We just can't. So, um,
that's all I have to say about this.
Thank you. Any other discussion?
Madam Chair, Mr. Laffy,
Uh, through the chair to Mr. Schroeder.
Is, uh, the vote on this particular motion,
does it have complete force and effect tonight?
Uh, or is this eligible for reconsideration
And, uh, I defer on that
and check the reconsideration rule?
It's not coming to me. Um, immediately.
I think it's not considerable. Um, is my instinct on that.
I think he could take his pension money.
I think his pension has been approved
by the pension board already.
Um, whether he is taken the money out, I suppose it's a,
would've been a done deal.
So once a done deal, we can't reconsider.
So, 'cause I would reconsider Well, I'm, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna be in the minority,
so I'm not gonna reconsider, but,
So this would be an ideal opportunity
to say you have three days to, you know, reconsider,
come back, we'd welcome you back.
Uh, I, I feel the same way as, as, uh,
Councilman Councilman Moore, uh, so eloquently stated.
So, uh, if there's an opportunity
to bring him back at in some capacity, I strongly urge
the mayor and the administration
to make every effort to do so.
Uh, he, that is a, this is a loss
to the community for certain. Uh, thank you.
The record. Thank you.
Any other discussion, hearing and seeing none?
I'll call the question. Ms. Dwyer?
Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty?
Yes. Ms. Moore? No. Mr. Noonan? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 13 D.
Notice of appointment of Matthew Beck to the position
of Deputy Police Commissioner
and the appointment of Gregory Putin to the position
of police, captain of Investigative Services
Bureau. So moved.
Support Lafferty. Discussion.
Discussion Ms. Moore,
I am very excited about these appointments.
I think they're very good appointments.
Um, deputy Commissioner Beck,
I think you'll do a fine job.
I've gotten to know you over the last few years.
I have the utmost respect for you, captain.
Well, you're Captain Booton now, right?
I, I don't know you as well as I do.
Um, uh, um, deputy Commissioner Dylan Becks,
it's hard to get used to saying that.
Um, but I hear great things about you
and I'm sure you're gonna be very successful.
Uh, we wish you, uh, both, uh, success
and we hope you're safe every day.
'cause I think about that. Every time I hear something goes
on, I worry about all of you.
So I just hope you're safe and, and very successful.
And congratulations. Any other discussion?
Okay. Hearing and scene. None. Congratulations, gentlemen.
I will call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Newan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 13 e.
Consideration and adoption
of a resolution approving the memorandum of understanding
regarding benefits
and employment terms for Deputy police Commissioner
Matthew Dillon Beck.
So moved. Support Lafferty.
Discussion, Hearing, and scene then I'll call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Noonan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 13 F.
Addendum to memorandum of understanding
regarding employment benefits in terms
of a police commissioner.
So moved. Support Dwyer.
Discussion, hearing and seeing none.
I will call the question. Ms. Moore. Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes.
Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Buki? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next I, um, Madam chair, if I might,
before we start the next item, we are three weeks
for council meetings.
Our next meeting is canceled because it's election day.
Our next council meeting will be on November 17th.
18th. Eight, 18th.
18th, 18th. I'm gonna see what you wrote.
It's the 18th. It's not the 11th.
Mm-hmm. No. 11th we're closed. It's Veteran's Day.
It's the 18th. Okay. Thank you.
17th, The 18th, whatever that Tuesday is.
Next item is audience participation for general topics.
Members of the audience who would like to address, uh,
the city council this evening may do so
by filling out an audience form located
on the right side of the stage.
Uh, you have three minutes. Uh, this is for general topics.
First up is Gary Watts.
Mary did, Mary gave it down. Mary
Got a couple things this evening.
I, first of all, thanks to Ms. McGee about no more rentals.
When I was on council for four years, all
of the blight complaints, all the crime
complaints was from rentals.
We should learn lessons from surrounding communities
where rentals destroyed the communities.
So, you know, the more home ownership we got,
like hearing tonight that there's some down payment money
for people if they want to buy a house.
That's all good. Um,
Secondly, they've been working on Common Road between Hayes
and Shaner since March.
There's been weeks at a time that nobody's working, period.
The last two days they could have been landscaping.
Nobody's been out there. Last week there was three days.
There was nobody there. It should
have been done the end of September.
And here we are going into November
and all I get is snippy answers when I send
an email to engineering.
So, uh, we probably need
to tighten up on these projects a little bit.
And lastly, since you guys can't really say anything up
there, uh, remember everybody vote Yes.
Ignore all the negativity out there. Vote yes. Thank you.
Thank you. Next is Mr. Glenn. Looks.
Is it looks.
LUC.
Sir, can you pronounce your last name for me?
Uhhuh. I'm Siri.
Siri, sorry. I don't know why Siri heard me.
Can you pronounce your last name for me?
Yes. It's Laos. Laos. Thank you. Apologize.
OUW is, it's like used to be Fouts.
Got it. Okay. It's la You have three minutes. Mr. Laos
Lion Circle West is a part of a projection.
Over seven years, they paved three quarters of the circle
and did not their ours
because we didn't, we pa couldn't pass the pacer test.
Two years later, they came back
and said, okay, we're going
to pave your portion of the street.
And we found out that it was gonna do it in asphalt.
So we had a petition and we did that petition
and we wanted it and we brought it to the board and,
and they decided that we could do it if we
waited two more years.
And so we waited two more years.
They'd just done that project three years ago today.
And within one week
after the concrete was poured, it started deteriorating.
So now I've initiated a note petition that will go
to the mayor this week
for all 40 participants in our neighborhood to give us
Ballot to them, to her to make sure
that this happens this time.
Because when you pour down that kinda cement
and you have a little bit on top that doesn't make it,
they're gonna have to rip off the whole darn road.
And that's gonna cost a lot of money and a lot of heat.
I asked the council to make sure
that they asked the mayor about these petitions
that are being mailed in today from all 40 of us residents,
so that this happens this time for for good rather than
for something that lasted two, two or three days
before it fell apart.
Thank you for the time.
Thank you. Next is Joel Vander Lenin.
And after Joel Vander Lenin is David Metzler.
Joel Valen, longtime worn resident.
We need something like when they have these, uh, speeches
by the different, uh, political groups.
You have someone that comes on after the president or
after someone and speaks about all the lies,
mistruths and stuff like that.
We had a mayor stay at the city address.
Besides treating all the citizens like their third graders,
we should have someone on there saying, no.
That's a lie. No. That was done by the FS administration.
No, she had nothing to do with this. No.
She had nothing to do with the fire stations. No.
She had nothing to do with the uh, uh, the water thing.
I mean, it was one thing after another.
She's taking credit for s**t.
She had no hand part of whatsoever.
It's really why have a state of the city address
if you can't talk about anything you've done,
I mean, why not be truthful?
I sat at my desk, I ate peanuts
and I didn't do a damn thing.
We lost more businesses than I put in
and I'm not worried about it.
I collect $150,000 a year and new suckers are paying me.
That's the state of the city address.
Let's cut through this stuff Now.
We had, uh, spent an hour last week
and an hour this week on these houses
about the, my wonder is, are they in uh,
40 foot lots?
Are they in 60 foot lots?
You know, 'cause we had an ordinance not too long ago
about the lot size and stuff and it was, uh, one
Minute. Mr. Mandolin,
Ms. McGee, you, you surprised me.
I thought your, uh, comments
and questions, whatever were spot on.
I know we don't see eye to eye on many things,
but I thought your comments were spot on,
especially about the ownership.
Now, I did a study when I was a director
of property maintenance in 2017
that went into the fact of can you know about uh, uh,
rental homes and own homes that are owned, whatever.
And you could always tell a home that was owned
because there was pride.
There was hardly any property maintenance issues.
And if there was one little write up to them to remind them
and it was taken care of
and we didn't have the problem for the rest of the
Year. 10 seconds.
What? 10 seconds
On these homes that are rented out, there's problems
with the backyards,
all the high weed grass and stuff like this.
And it's not on the contract.
Who can go in the backyard and cut it.
You're at time. Mr. Vander Lennon.
Nice job. Well done.
Thank you. Have a good evening. David Metzler.
David David
Metzler. Uh,
district five. I had some comments.
First being Lori Barnwell has the right to appoint
new employees to her office.
She has been in office for 10 years.
She has run her office brilliantly.
Saved the city a ton of money
and established new investment accounts that
previous treasures hadn't even thought of ever.
So I just wanna make sure that's stated.
Second reason I'm here tonight is
because of my city center square neighborhood.
There are, uh, pieces of debris from the staging area
that's currently in our courtyards.
And basically it is joints, spacers,
whatever you want to call them.
They are there and it's
becoming blight to our properties.
I've tried to be very patient with the city. Uh, Mr.
Lafferty, you know, you and I have talked about this issue,
but this staging area is not zoned to be a staging area.
I understand that 13 mile construction needs to get done
and Lord knows I favor it.
But having equipment running all the time,
disrupting my neighborhood, you know,
the worker started at 6:00 AM this morning.
You know, people trying to get to sleep.
I have health conditions that make sleep difficult
and this is only exacerbating my issues.
Uh, there are pieces of concrete that are left at this site
that have been torn up and not removed.
And it's blight and it needs to stop.
So I am begging
and pleading on behalf of my neighborhood
that this debris gets taken care of.
Final reason I'm here
and I know that a lot of people will not agree
with me on this, but I am against this
police and fire millage.
I think it's time to stop
the Warren's wildest police chases.
And we need to confront the fact
that we've had record lawsuits in the city.
And voting yes only
assists in the mismanagement
that's going on in the department.
And now there's embezzlement with the explorer group.
I don't know if, I'm sure all
of you have read it in the news,
but I am tired of the mismanagement
and the abuses within the police department.
It's embarrassing sometimes when I tell people
that I'm from the city of Warren
and there needs to be something done.
So I'm begging the residents. It's okay. You can vote.
No, I'm voting. No. Have a good evening.
Thank you. That is the end of audience.
Next is council response to audience
hearing and seeing none.
Next item. Motion to adjourn. Support.
All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Okay. We are adjourned.
A thank you.