I am now calling to order a regular meeting
of the City Council Tuesday,
December 16th at 7:00 PM Please
stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance 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 Madam Secretary
Councilwoman.
Here. Councilwoman Councilwoman McGee. Here.
Councilman Dwyer? Here. Councilman Bokey? Here.
Councilman Lafferty? Here. Councilman Newnan. Present.
Councilwoman Moore is present. We have a quorum. Excellent.
Next item. Next item is for adoption of the consent agenda.
So moved with discussion.
Support, Lafferty. Discussion. Ms. Moore? Yes.
I would suggest moving item four D,
four N,
and four O to the regular agenda.
I'll support that Without objection.
And just to get a little ahead of us.
Those will be items 13,
H, I and J.
It'll be G. Oh, yeah. I It'll be I, j, k.
Any other discussion, 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? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is the, um, oh, wait a minute.
Wait a minute. We gotta go back to four.
Yeah, we, we, we didn't vote on it.
We just voted on adding the, adding the items. Yes.
Um, motion to table
Support to table.
Table. The consent? Yes. Uh, I will call the question.
Ms. Moore. Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. To table. Mr. Dwyer? Yes.
To table. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Newan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Thank you for catching that, Ms. Warren.
Mr. Lafferty. Next item. Uh, next item is five.
Adoption of the agenda. So moved with discussion
Support, Lafferty.
Discussion Ms. Moore? Yes.
Uh, just to reiterate, what was four D will now be 13.
I What was four N will now be 13.
J What was four O will now be 13 K.
And adding, uh, as a council, uh, item as,
um, 12 e.
Discussion regarding, um, overnight
homeless shelters and warming centers.
Any other discussion? Hearing scene?
And 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 carries. Next item.
Next item is six. A calendar of pending matters.
Motion to receive and file
Support Lafferty
Discussion, hearing, and scene.
Then I'll 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 funds. So moved.
Support Lafferty. 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 a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is seven B.
Approval of the bills of the water and sewer systems.
So moved. Support Dwyer.
Discussion, hearing, and seen none. I'll call the question.
Ms. Moore. Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is eight.
Audience participation for agenda items only.
Members of the audience who would like
to address city Council this evening relating
to items may do, say, may do so
by filling out a form on the left side of the stage.
First up is Mr. Vander Lenin
Van. Okay,
Go ahead, Van.
Oh, Mr. Vander Lin. And turn the microphone on.
Okay. You're good. Okay.
Joel, Len, longtime one resident.
Uh, happy holidays. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah.
So, all of you. Uh, I wanted to start with the, uh,
thing on, uh, uh, the money going to, uh, the park.
I think it's $400,000, 40,000.
Anyways, what, what the mayor having, uh, uh,
letting everybody know that, uh, we're in the red
and we don't have all this money and all this other stuff.
Uh, I recommended that we turn it down.
Maybe the, uh, public needs the money more, uh,
to keep city Hall running.
Then we do need to put in, uh, play equipment
or whatever at that park, haw Park.
I think it would behoove you to double check everything
that's going on with that,
because, uh, if we're not getting free money to build it,
we shouldn't build it at all.
Not now, not in this economic climate.
And that's all I have to say. Thank you.
Thank you. That is the
end of audience.
Next item. Madam Chair. Yes. Um, a little sad news.
Um, canine Officer Alpha,
whose handler is Officer Todd Bankowski is being put
to sleep on Thursday,
and his funeral, um, will be in the afternoon.
Um, we would like to thank Officer Alpha for his
service to the city.
Jesus. I know this is really,
really hard on the officer and their family and his family.
So our thoughts are with, um, Todd and his family
and, uh, other people are stepping in,
um, to help with this.
And, um, huh. Just very sad. The dog's been through a lot.
So a sincere condolences to his handler
and everybody in the canine unit and pd.
Thank you. So onto
some positive.
Very positive. Um, at this time, I would like to recognize
and thank the members of our community Emergency Response
team, commonly known as cert.
Our CERT volunteers give countless hours
of their time in service to the city of Warren.
They respond when called upon assist during emergencies
and public safety events,
and help protect scenes alongside our first responders.
Importantly, they do this using their own vehicles,
their own fuel, and often while idling for extended periods
of time to maintain safety and security at active scenes.
Their commitment reflects the very best
of volunteerism and community service.
These men and women step forward not for recognition,
but out of a genuine desire to support our residents
and to stand with our police
and fire personnel when help is needed.
Tonight, we are pleased to present our cert members
with gas gift cards as a small token of appreciation
for the personal costs they absorb in order
to serve our community.
These gift cards were made possible
through generous donations from the Warren Professional
Firefighters Local 1383, commissioner McAdams,
the Warren Police Officers Association,
the Warren Command Officers Association,
the Warren City Council, and the City Council Office.
On behalf of the Warren City Council, thank you
to our CERT volunteers for your dedication,
your reliability,
and your unwavering commitment to public safety.
Your service truly makes a difference,
and we are grateful for each and every one of you.
If the CERT members could come forward,
and I believe Joe Shear is here
and maybe someone else from fire, um, if you come forward,
I think, uh, captain Hodis maybe if you wanna come down.
Good evening, Mike Riley.
I'm the Director of the City Warrener team.
Um, we have many of our members here are Deputy
Director Mike Rose, deputy director of Bill je,
and just a small sampling of some of our team members
that perform all the tasks you just described.
So thank you very, very much for the recognition.
We appreciate it. As you said, we don't do it
for recognition, we do it for the residents.
And any of you are familiar with the serve team.
Our motto is, do the most amount of good
for the most amount of people.
Excuse me. And that's what we always try to do.
You know, we, we gotta traffic people,
but we try to get everybody back to, uh, normal
as soon as possible.
So thank you very much. We appreciate it.
So, I'd just like to introduce Sean Miller on VP Bill TRO
treasurer, just on behalf of the Warren Firefighters.
I wanna say a couple of things. Just some,
some background for the communication.
You don't know what the CERT team is.
These men and women go out when we have emergencies like
wires down, large incidents,
that there's no way we could manage all of that traffic
and all those additional resources.
We just don't have enough apparatus and personnel.
These brave men and women
are out in the community doing that.
So if there's a wire that's down in a, in a community
that we need to go to the next run, these folks come out,
secure that scene, wait for DT to come relieve them,
or we're keeping it secure to keep the public safe.
That's just a small piece of what they do.
We opened two fire stations this year.
These men and women were out there
with us the entire day making sure there was good traffic.
People can get it out safely.
Again, just small, small pieces of what they do every day
on their own time serving the community.
So again, on behalf of Warn Firefighters, thank you to all
of you for everything that you
do, we couldn't do without you.
So again, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
You're welcome. Thank you.
And I will just speak, um, Mike Sawer from, uh,
Warren Police Officers Association.
They are out doing Shop with A COP tonight,
and they have about 70 kids that they're buying gifts
for tonight at Meyer.
And, um, uh, he wanted me to express
how grateful the police officers are for everything you do.
Uh, it was actually police officers and fire.
That was their idea. You know, we,
they talk every time we have an event, you know,
we really need to do something for cert.
They do so much. And this is just a small token
of our appreciation.
We know how much you do. You wanna say something? Sure.
Captain Tis,
I don't know if I could add anything
to what's already been said.
Um, the biggest thing I can say is
thank you for never saying no.
Uh, we, we call these folks in the middle of the night
and some of the worst weather out there,
and I don't think they've ever told
us, no, we can't do that.
Uh, you are the essence of community policing.
Um, uh, thank you for what you do for your community.
Um, I hope, uh, I wish we could do more for you.
This is a small token,
but, um, for everything you give back, thank you.
Thank you very much.
Turn left. Ask
Does Anyone else have
You? Do I have one?
Any other announcements? Madam Chair, Mr.
Lafferty? Thank you.
Ms. Moore mentioned Shop with a Cop taking place, uh,
right now at the Shaer Meyer.
And last week shop with a cop.
Also took place at the Meyer on 12 Mile last Tuesday
during our previous meeting.
And I managed to get over there for a couple of quick photos
and shook hands with the officers that, uh,
are participating this evening.
Uh, and then shop with a firefighter.
And the, uh, took place on Wednesday.
This is, uh, labeled as Shop With a Hero.
And the heroes do the hard work of taking the children
around the store, helping them find the right gifts
and filling the void.
Uh, in partnership with Meyer
and the Van D**e Public School District,
it is an absolutely heartwarming experience
to see our first responders out there with the community
that they serve each and every day.
Just giving yet a little bit more
of themselves to the community.
It's a beautiful experience.
So it's, uh, uh, honored to participate in that every year.
I look forward to that experience. Thank you.
Thank you. Hearing
and seeing No further announcements.
Next item, Madam Secretary.
Next item is 11, a request of Lori Barnwell, city Treasurer
for the authorization to open a money market account
with Comerica Bank, entitled City
of Warren Police Counter Payment Money Market
account. So moved.
Point of order. Madam Chair. Yes.
I would like to ask the council for a motion
to excuse me from this item.
I am employed by Comerica Bank
and I have a conflict of interest. So
Moved.
Support. Uh, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed?
Okay, you're excused.
I have a motion on the original item from Ms. Moore.
Support. Anyone? Support. Support Dwyer Support. Mr. Bokey?
Thank you. Uh, any discussion,
hearing and seeing none?
I will call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Uh, Mr. Noonan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 11 B.
Request to approve the updated
or revised prop poverty application
and a change of venue
for the Assessing Board of Review meetings. So moved.
Support Lafferty Discussion,
Madam Chair. Mm-hmm.
Discussion.
I don't recall having done this in the past
and was hoping that we had someone from assessing
or controllers to briefly touch on this.
Good evening, counsel. I'm your new deputy
assessor, Thomas Ach.
Nice to meet You. Nice to meet you. Good evening.
Good evening. This is a poverty exemption.
It's part of the broader context of property exemptions.
This is required to be adopted
by the local legislative body under 2 11 7 U.
That's the General Property Tax Act section
that allows the Board of review to grant poverty exemptions
for people that cannot afford the property taxes.
And the state tax division does recommend
that the legislative body review those
and adopt them annually.
And the staff has reviewed them from one year
to the next and made some significant, um, streamlining
suggestions to us.
And we presented those with the 26, uh,
guidelines that are before you,
Sir. Uh, just a couple
of of questions.
The, the backup material for, for this particular item
is a bit sparse.
So could you take us through, uh, what those streamlined,
uh, amendments are?
Sure. Uh, for the, the main thing
that we were trying to accomplish was
to make it easier on the applicant.
One of those things that we eliminated was the requirement
for an in-person person appeal to the Board of Review
and the furnishing of a credit report by the applicant
to the Board of Review so that that could be reviewed.
Staff had indicated that the credit reports were,
in some cases valuable, but very volumous
and did not really benefit a very large return on the time
investment from the applicant and the reviews of the staff.
Um, the
other thing was the adoption of the state
published federal poverty guidelines.
That is in, in the 26 guidelines, we have delineated the,
um, individual household income
and two tiers, one at 50% exemption,
one at a hundred percent exemption based on the level
of income for each household.
Um,
Let's see.
The change of venue was to make it easier for the
property owners that are appealing to the Board
of Review when they have questions
for the assessing department to get the records
for the property owner as opposed
to the first floor coming up to the third floor.
Is there
Yeah, I have no objection, uh,
to the, the change of venue.
I think that's, that's very reasonable.
The, the anticipated changes though that you are,
that you're proposing, and I should say rather, the changes
that you're proposing, do you anticipate that there is going
to be an uptick in the number of exemptions
that are granted in the, in the following year?
Oh, your mic chair.
Sorry, my, my chair. Apologies. My chair bumps into this.
Oh, okay. Thing. Go ahead.
As far as the projections for 2026, that is something
that each individual case is gonna be
evaluated on its own merit.
Okay. So that depends on who applies the household, um,
circumstances for finances and the documents received.
Alright. And how are these, last question,
how are these changes communicated
to the members of the Board of Review?
The statute requires that the city, if we have a,
an internet website, that those are placed on the website.
And for the organizational meeting
that occurs at the beginning of March, they'll be presented
to the Board of Review.
And I anticipate that we'll probably push them out
to the Board of Review members prior to that
after we get approval from the council.
Okay. So you've got, they have an opportunity to review,
ask questions, and understand the material prior
to receiving, uh, appeals?
That is correct, yes. Okay. Alright. Very good.
Thank you, sir. Pleasure to meet you.
Thank you. Any other first question? Discussion. Okay.
Seeing and hearing, 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, thank you. You're welcome. Thank you.
Nice to meet you. Welcome.
Uh, item 12 A is legal update from Mr. Schroeder.
Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Schroeder.
Um, the council's secretary has asked me to address
this ongoing issue of the, uh,
council made a formal request in October
for some public records, uh, available at City Hall related
to the elected Officer's Compensation Commission.
The council in a formal motion that was transmitted
to the mayor's office, requested documents related to
the elected Officer's Compensation Commission,
which would include applications
and any draft documents that were prepared,
but excluding any personal notes, observations,
or interview notes that the mayor or may have had.
Um, this is put
and put on this body's agenda, uh,
for every meeting for the last two months.
Um, and the mayor is refusing to
disclose any documents.
And it has led to, uh, some
of the issues we see with the consent agenda.
And over the last few days, uh,
the council members have forwarded to me a flurry
of correspondence from the mayor to the council office
expressing legal opinions about what the mayor has
to disclose and what the mayor does not have to disclose,
including a email on letterhead.
Actually, a letter on letterhead that was emailed today,
the mayor signed her own legal opinion saying
that she's exerting executive privilege over
these documents that are in the mayor's office.
And that is beyond the legislative authority
of the city council to ask these things.
And reading over these legal opinions, which are not signed
by a licensed attorney or not signed by any attorney.
Um, I find that the conclusions are incorrect, uh,
and that it appears that, uh,
the mayor may be using this tool called artificial
intelligence or AI to write legal opinions.
And, um, it's really being a lawyer at a large law firm.
Um, we've been mourned for the last five years about
this powerful tool called AI
or artificial intelligence that, you know, it can help you,
it can assist you, and I'm sure
people use it in their daily life.
But when you start asking it to write legal opinions,
a joke I make is that AI is much like your dog.
It wants to please its owner.
So if it knows that you want a certain conclusion,
it can write that conclusion for you.
In fact, early in this meeting, I went into my own AI
and I asked the AI to make an argument
that the earth is flat.
And it's given me this long argument
that I can make, that the Earth is flat.
Now, anybody who's had a science class knows that
that's not true, but it will make the argument for you.
And so what we're getting is we're getting these arguments
asserting executive privilege, saying,
the mayor doesn't have to disclose this.
It's an intrusion into the executive branch of government.
And nowhere in here is there any citation
to authority saying that there is some sort of exemption
because these are public records.
And, uh, I I can just tell you that
I've litigated this issue before we went to court.
And it was found that the city council has the
right to these records.
In fact, the very records that are subject to this request,
any resident of the city or of the state
or of the country, any person really an international, uh,
visitor, could submit a FOIA and ask for these records.
And there's no exemption under FOIA to say
that these records wouldn't be disclosed.
Again, we're not asking for the mayor's personal notes when
she interviewed people for this commission.
But if someone filled out an application on a city form
and there were appointments prepared
but not sent over, those documents are city records.
In fact, if you direct your,
you can read the charter, you don't even need to ask ai,
you can go to the city charter section 2.1.
All records of the city shall be public unless otherwise
provided by law, and shall be available
for inspection at reasonable times.
Section 2.3 papers, books
and records required to be kept
by city departments are public records.
These provisions set a clear default.
The city records are public and accessible.
Um, there's no executive privilege.
The council has a right under the charter section 5.3
to compel attendance of any officer or department head
and make them produce records or documents.
Um, the mayor must report to the council concerning the work
of the several administrative officers in departments
and secure information
and report back to the council
as the council may deem necessary.
So I can go on and on.
We have a lot of citation that these are public records,
but I keep getting these legal opinions signed
by an non-lawyer telling us
that there's some executive privilege.
You know, and I go back to history
and, you know, president Nixon
cited executive privilege when he didn't wanna turn
records over to the Congress.
We've heard this over and over.
The city of Warren is a creation of the state of Michigan.
And we have a charter voted on by the voters approved
by the State of Michigan that outlines what the authority
of the officers are of this city.
There is no executive privilege.
Now, there are plenty of documents
and records that may not be disclosed if there's a
specific exemption.
An employee's social security number, an employee's date
of birth, health records Attorney, client privileged
materials, documents about the purchase of property
before the city purchases the property.
And that makes sense. If the city's
considering purchasing property,
you may not want the purchaser to,
or the seller to know
that if the city's purchasing the
property, the price might go up.
There's a long list of things that may not be disclosed
or there's delayed disclosure.
In some cases, there is no executive privilege
to prevent these documents from being disclosed.
And, um, I don't know how more firmly to make that point.
I think I have. So, um,
I can answer any questions related to that
Mad president, Uh, Mr. Nunan.
Sure. Um, Mr. Schroeder, um,
isn't the, um, let's see, the court order,
I believe it is, uh, I don't know exactly how, how
to describe this, but from, um,
January 13th, 2021.
Uh, isn't that relevant to this too,
Councilman? Thank you.
Um, you're absolutely correct.
There is a court order from, uh, January 13th, 2021.
This is a lawsuit where the taxpayer's warrant already had
to pay both sides to argue this case.
And it essentially set forth a process
by which the city council requests records from the mayor's
office or the administration
and the process of, so how those documents are produced.
And it essentially requires the council
to pass a formal resolution, meaning as a body,
you're passing a resolution
and that is transmitted to the administration.
What that prevents is individual council people from showing
up at city hall at the counter
and demanding records without a formal process.
Okay? That was to prevent that.
Then once it's, uh, turned over to the mayor's office,
um, there's a copy.
Um, there's a 10 day period
for the administration to respond.
But if they can't do it within 10 days
because it's a voluminous request,
or there may be other pressing matters
that mayor's office works with the council secretary, um,
to work out an extension
and have a reasonable time to produce those records.
Um, and that's it.
I mean, other than the fact that there was a, a,
a stipulation in the court order that, you know,
the production, you can't, counsel can't use this as a means
for, uh, you know, constantly, um,
badgering the administration
and making records requests that are voluminous
and just giving them work to do.
In this case, that's not the case at all.
There was a dispute over the election elected Officer's
Compensation Commission, and we've seen all
the other cities in the area.
Their commission met this year
and they made their determinations.
In some cases they gave raises, in some cases they didn't.
But there was a dispute over that.
And then the council had a legitimate interest in finding
out who's applied, what's going on.
These are public records, as I stated before,
and we've already litigated this
fight and there's a court order.
So thank you for bringing that up.
Madam Chair. Just one, one, uh, Mr.
Nunan still has some floor. Sorry. Mm-hmm.
Um, what was I gonna say?
So, in this case, um, the documents that we would expect
for, that we requested, um, should have been
provided within 10 days because there's nothing particularly
volumous about it.
It's should have been straightforward. Here, here you go.
And why? I don't, I don't, I guess it's just so weird.
Why, why wouldn't they just be handled over?
We can only guess, right?
Councilman? I can't really answer
that question other than say I agree with the,
the presumption behind your question,
which is this should be very easy.
I have to assume that if the administration wanted a,
an extension beyond the 10 days,
that it would've been considered.
Right?
Yeah. We didn't get any requests for an extension, did we?
No. We've received these repeated, um,
unle opinions from a non-lawyer making these conclusions
that there's some sort of privilege
or exemption that doesn't exist. And so,
So there's no, no, it's really hard to, there's no show
of, of attempt to work
with us according to the court order.
No. No. Okay. I'm just, yeah.
So if we, if we had to sue, for instance,
which I guess is the next step one
that I have vociferously said I do not want, I
then we, I guess we have pretty good grounds
for doing so at this point.
I would say the council has very
good grounds for doing this.
Uh, like I said earlier, if a resident, not even a resident
of Warren, submitted a freedom of information requests,
these documents would be disclosable.
Why wouldn't they be to the board of directors of the city
who are elected in districts
and at large to represent the citizens?
That makes so much sense to me. I yield
Thank you, Ms. Mark.
Thank you. I do wanna step back, just, um,
when we were elected to this term, um,
there was a little confusion about when we took office.
You know, the dates were moved a little bit,
but when we had our, um, swearing in,
I went to the mayor
and said, you have very short time period
to have the elected compensation commission meet.
It has to meet in 23. And this was November.
And there were members of the commission at that point.
How many there were, I don't really know.
But they had to meet.
And I, I explicitly told the mayor they had to meet in a,
in the off, and that was ignored.
So I let it really let it go,
although it should have been done, um, because she was new
and, you know, quite frankly, she didn't have a team
with her and I anything would be difficult
to accomplish when you walk in with nothing.
Um, so we let it go.
She was told time and time and time
and time again all the way last spring.
I think Ms. McGee was standing right next
to me when we had a conversation, um, at the Defense
Initiative, you know, and I'd brought it up
before then as well, and said, it,
that commission has to meet this year.
It's, it's the state law, it's in the charter.
And that wasn't done. So I think this is showing me a sort
of a pattern of sort of snubbing her nose at the charter,
at the laws and the rules.
And this cannot continue.
We cannot run a city this size with this responsibility,
with the person at the top not following the law.
It's dangerous.
And it's a, certainly a waste of all of our time.
We're putting way too much time into this, waiting
for something that could have taken a half an hour in her
office for people to put this together.
I, I think it's, it's reprehensible this sort of behavior,
and we shouldn't have to deal with this.
I don't know what we're gonna have to do going forward.
I don't want to go to court. So I guess we'll just keep on
doing what we're doing, um,
and see how things, see how that, while that goes
for the mayor's approval ratings.
Thank you,
Madam. Madam Chair.
Madam Chair. Um, Ms. McGee, then Mr.
Bokey, then Mr. Lafferty.
Okay. According to the letter that I, um,
that we're reviewing, it looks as though she's saying
that we, um, do not have a right to appoint.
All we're asking for is to review the documents of those
who were appointed.
We're not trying to make any changes.
What we're saying is we wanna review those
who were appointed to this compensation,
Who, who applied, Who applied.
That is correct. And, and we're not,
and according to this letter, it's as if we're trying
to make changes to the appointees.
And we're not trying to do that.
We're not trying to do that.
So I wanna make sure that's clear.
Thank you, Mr. Bokey.
You can, uh, Ms. Moore, do you, if you remember at the,
uh, defense Initiative, uh, we had a conversation
with Demer there, and we talked about the applicants there,
and she said, we have some good applicants,
and you replied, yeah, I know one of them.
And that was long before the deadline.
It's the same thing over and over, over again.
Nothing's being done.
Uh, my question to Mr. Schroeder,
rather than reading these AI emails, which I chuckle,
you know, when I'm bored, I read 'em.
But can we subpoena the mayor here
and ask those questions on record
and get an answer from her directly?
What's going on? Would that be a wise thing to do?
The answer is under the charter, yes.
You can subpoena the ma whether it's wise
or not is the subject to the collective wisdom of this body.
Okay. But it,
but it can be done if,
if the council approves something like that.
Yes. Okay. That's fair enough. I chair eo.
I just wanna respond. Sure. You can respond to Mr. Robert.
Yeah, go. I just in response to that,
I think the charter says if this body approves it,
this council secretary has the ability to issue subpoenas,
but it's, it's only, uh, with your approval.
So if you so direct me, then
that would come outta counsel office a subpoena.
But it's just a thought.
Yeah. Yeah. And we kind
of never wanted to do that in the past.
Um, we didn't wanna be, you know,
but we were trying to do things the easy
way. But I suppose,
But you don't know who, when you're reading these emails,
you don't know, you don't know where they're coming
from. I don't, they
Don't make sense to, To me, executive privilege.
I, I kind of confused. Yeah, I, I, I got the charter out.
I just thought that they were executive privilege.
They're very reading.
The emails are very confusing at times,
and it circles around.
And I, I really don't know where any of it comes from, but,
Well, thank you. Thank
you, Mr. Lafferty.
Thank you. I would entertain
establishing a deadline as we have in the past.
Ms. Moore, you spoke to a pattern
of behavior with the mayor.
Uh, every time we've dealt with this, we've had to, uh,
essentially lay down the law as written
as it's plainly read to clearly indicate
that she is in the wrong
and she has no legal grounds to oppose.
Uh, the first time we did this with the Land Bank,
so a year, what was a year ago at this time,
and we set the deadline,
and I think Mr. Schroeder was at the steps at the
courthouse ready to file.
And we got, I'll, I'll give you the info.
I'll sign the, the Land Bank deal, I'll sign it.
And we got the signature, uh, we saw this most recently
with Treasurer Barnwell.
And we offered an alternative one,
what was it, 10 days of, of mediation.
And we got a resolution
because at the, if the carrot on the end
of the stick was going to court, so
I would be more than supportive
of establishing a deadline.
And Mr. Schroeder, you, uh, drawing up the,
the proper paperwork to, uh, reiterate the, uh,
the establishment of not only the charter,
the authority under the charter,
and the, the 2021 court case that establishes our,
uh, legal authority, uh,
that the mayor absolutely must abide by the resolution
of council and give her a deadline.
And if she does not by her own lack of action,
she will drag this to court
and she can explain to the taxpayers why she wants to go
through this unnecessary expense
after it has already been litigated.
That's, that's the thing here. We're not, Mr.
Schroer, correct me if I'm wrong, we are not venturing into
untested waters.
We have a court case. We have a, a judgment,
and we know what the outcome is.
And she's once again, revisiting
what does not need to be revisited.
Mr. Lafferty, I'm happy to make a motion to
whatever date this body chooses, just out of principle.
Um, we're a coequal branch of government.
We are a transparent body. Mm-hmm.
This, there is virtually very few things in the city
that are private to anyone.
Um, and so, like out of, simply, out of principle, I'm happy
to make a motion to set that deadline
to pursue court action if that's what's necessary.
February 3rd, um, I'm open to whatever
that day may be, but I'm happy to,
Our next meeting would be Tuesday, January 13th, 2026.
So by then, that's fine.
Actually, I can't make the motion. Oh, yeah.
I guess I can make the motion. Yeah. Yeah.
Just picking up where Councilman Bokey
left off a little bit here, um, maybe
council could consider under section 2 43 of the Court
of Ordinance is a subpoena for the production of the records
by a date and time.
Certain, if the records aren't produced by that time,
then authorization to, um, get enforcement of the subpoena.
Um, which is, it says in the charter, I mean, the ordinance
by petition, the council, um, may invoke the aid
of the Circuit court in requiring the, um, production
of all books, papers, and documents.
So we could go down that road.
Uh, we've already done subpoenas in the past.
It'll be very easy to assist the
council secretary in doing that.
Um, and, um, just give a deadline
for the production of the records.
It'll be placed in the subpoena,
and, um, hopefully we can just have this resolved.
If not, then authorize the, uh,
legal counsel to seek the aid of the circuit court
after a certain time.
Does, does that make sense?
Yep. And one more, I'm amenable to that. Absolutely.
Don't, don't we have the ability also
for violations of the charter.
I mean, I think there's up to a $500 fine
for each violation of the charter.
We're up to like three or four now. So
This, it's, it's in the, um,
it's in this ordinance section.
It's, uh, okay, $500 fine.
Maybe we should start doing that.
Mr. Schroeder, could you cite that in the charter?
What section? Okay, well, I'm looking at actually
the code of ordinances.
It's section 2 4 3.
Um, it starts at section two dash 41
of, of the code of ordinances.
So it's actually based on the authority of the council
to compel attendance of members
and other officers under the charter.
So the charter section is 5.3 H, the,
that's the enabling section of the charter, the ordinances,
um, in chapter two, article two,
division two subpoenas to appear before council.
And it outlines the authority of the council secretary
to issue subpoenas with a vote of the full counsel.
How the subpoenas are served.
It applies in this case, it applies to all kinds of things,
including books and records, which is really the issue here.
And, uh, designates in section 2, 4 3, um,
that it's a misdemeanor for violating this
and up to a $500 fine, um, for failing to comply
with the subpoena, and that the counsel can seek the date
of the circuit court and requiring the, um,
production of all books, papers, and documents.
So, I mean, there's a clear path here on how
to get this done, um, in the charter
and the code of ordinances.
So Madam Chair. Mm-hmm.
So I'd be willing to amend, uh, the,
my previous statement saying, uh, pursuant
to section two dash four one, the authority
of council secretary to issue subpoena, that we, uh,
we received these documents that have already been, uh,
resolved by counsel from the mayor's office, uh,
or any city office, uh, at that, up to that point.
And if those documents are not
provided for by Tuesday,
January 13th, 2026, we can enact
this, uh, this authority,
Fully support that.
And Ms. McGee is gonna call the question,
since all the question I made the,
since I made the motion, she had the motion.
Is there any more discussion? Okay.
All the question. Uh, Councilman? Yes.
Uh, Councilman Laverty?
Yes. Councilman Bokey? Yes. Councilman Dryer? Yes.
Councilman Moore? Yes. And Council Councilman Newman.
Thank you. And Mel? Yes. Councilman McGee? Yes. Okay. Motion
Caries. Thank you.
Uh, next item.
Next item is 12 B, approval of the minutes
of December 9th, 2025. 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. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 12 C.
Council member Gary Bokey, discussion
and rate, consideration and adoption
of a resolution demanding reappropriation of funds
to remediate water pollution.
Discharging from Oakland County, George w Kon,
drainage into the city of Warren.
So moved.
Support, Support, Mr.
Bokey and I assume discussion Mr. Bokey?
Uh, Yes. Okay. Floor Shores,
The resolution was prepared to show alliance
to other Macomb County communities that we're not going
to sit back and, um, let Oakley County, uh,
dump storm water when it reaches a certain level,
opening up the gate to the red run river, uh, drain,
which is causing a lot of erosion, uh, flooding basements
and wor, uh, flooding damage to General Motors plant,
uh, tech center
and to the military installations we had here.
There are some in administration
that think it's a Maco County problem.
Uh, it, it is, but it's also ours
because of the damage that's causing.
And the resolution is calling, uh,
to notify our state representatives, uh,
the county representatives Candace Miller's office,
that we stand by 'em, uh, in support.
And we're asking that the Eagle, uh, regulate, uh,
granting them the permits to discharge exorbitant amount
of water, uh, through the drain, uh,
to our wastewater plant.
Uh, doing a great job.
We're spending over a hundred million to bring it up
to date, to state of the art.
Our water department, uh,
instituted a cross connection program
to keep our drinking water, uh, educate the residents, uh,
on the cross connection to keep our drinking water safe.
Uh, we had the opening of the retention pond on nine Mile.
We're doing all that. Oakland County's doing nothing.
So we're asking the, to our, our state to look at us
and recognize us that we could use some of the money too,
uh, so that we could, uh, make sure
that the drain operates properly.
And, um, we're not getting contaminants.
It's coming down through our city.
And basically that's what the resolution is.
Uh, Ms. Moore, if you could read it into record,
or, I know it's a lengthy one, but
I can if you Want. Okay. I appreciate it.
Whereas the city council for the city of Warren would like
to address the adopted resolution dated December 9th, 2025,
indicating the need to eliminate combined sewer overflows
and decrease inflow and infiltration in communities.
Contributing to George w Kon,
drainage district overflows into City of Warren
and Macomb County, whereas for decades,
the George w Kon drainage district, consisting
of 14 communities in Southeast Oakland County,
has repeatedly allowed combined sewer overflows,
which have discharged enormous quantities
of lightly treated sewage,
including particulate matter into the red run drain
through Macomb County, Michigan.
Whereas when the volume is too great for the GWK to store,
it discharges into the red run drain in Warren,
which then ultimately flows into Clinton
Township and the Clinton River.
The concern about the volume
and force of discharges from Oakland County into Macomb
County contribute to flooding
and severe erosion of the banks of Red run Drain
and Clinton River,
whereas the GWK has discharged on April 3rd, 2025,
820 million gallons of partially treated CSO
and 1.2 million gallons of sanitary sewer overflow, SSO.
Whereas when GWK discharges, it sends a wall
of water cascading down the red run.
According to Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candace
Miller, GW K's wet weather discharges have contributed
to documented flooding of thousands of basements,
critical Military and Defense Department installations in
Warren, such as Tecom
and Tar Deck, the General Motors Technical Center,
and the IDC Power grid.
Whereas the City of Warren has also invested more than
$38 million in underground infrastructure projects
that will reduce combined sewer overflows into Lake St.
Clair from the Stevens Road Detention Basin.
Whereas the City of Warren on September 23rd, 2025,
awarded a bid in the amount of 110,300,000 for a dewatering
and incineration improvement project.
The award provides the construction of a new dewatering
and incineration building installation
of three new dewatering screw presses,
solid dryer incineration
and air pollution control equipment, new sanitary sewer,
new storm sewer, and a storm water detention basin.
Whereas the City of Warren in October of 2025
instituted a cross connection control program
for residential properties.
This program aims, aims
to protect our public water distribution system
by eliminating potential sources of contamination,
whereas we urge the Michigan Department of Environment,
great Lakes and Energy known as Eagle
to implement strict enforceable requirements while reissuing
the GW K basin's expired National Pollution Discharge
Elimination system, the N-P-D-E-S operating permit,
Oakland County communities should increase their storage
and eliminate infiltration
and inflow, including separated
combined sewer overflow systems by separating the sanitary
and storm drainage systems.
Whereas we urge Eagle
to enforce conditions within the GWK basins,
N-P-D-E-S permit, requiring timely notification
of discharges to the McComb County Public Works office,
so they can timely alert the downstream
communities in McComb County.
Whereas Oakland County communities contributing
combined sewer overflows into the red run drain should be
prohibited from receiving state grants for projects
with any such funds available being instead
redirected toward financing improvements
to eliminate combined sewer overflows in such communities.
Whereas such communities should be required
to enter into state administrative consent orders
with established deadlines for implementation
and completion to eliminate combined sewer overflows,
including requiring appropriation of sufficient resources
to enact and implement as soon
as reasonably practical remediation efforts be.
It resolved that the city
of Warren City Council adopts this resolution
and requests that it be distributed to elected state
and federal officials representing the city of Warren Eagle
and County Commissioners representing the city of Warren,
urging strict enforceable requirements in the GWK basin's,
N-P-D-E-S permit, timely notification of discharges
to MCP Ws o that legislative action be undertaken
to restrict grant appropriations in the matter
as set forth in the preamble,
and required that administrative consent orders be entered
into or amended in order to eliminate
combined sewer overflows
and decrease inflow into the city of Warren
and surrounding communities.
Resolution declared adopted this 16th day of December, 2025.
It was longer and he made it shorter, just
so you know. Thank you.
Uh, uh, just a little bit more on that.
Uh, I want to emphasize
that Oakland County's not doing nothing illegal.
Uh, their discharges have been granted by permit
through Eagle, but with all the communities, uh,
uh, protesting that
and bringing it to Eagle's attention, I understand
that Eagle's reevaluating, um, their,
their permit process
and how much water could be, uh, discharged
through the drain.
So it is working, uh, something
that's overdue for, for us here in Warren, we the last city
to, uh, enact, uh, a resolution like this.
And that's why we're here.
Thank you. Any other discussion?
Hearing and seeing none, I will call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Newan? Yes.
Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries.
Next item. Next item is 12 B Council Secretary Mindy Moore.
Discussion in right animal control.
Motion to approve for discussion
Support lap Madam Chair.
Discussion, Ms. Mark. Thank you.
Um, just very quickly, uh, we've been discussing this
for over a year now.
We have a problem with animal control. They're out of space.
Um, we'll see on social media
that don't call animal control.
We don't have any more room to house animals.
Um, I think we're short of staff.
We're having a, I think we have a hard time, uh,
keeping people employed.
We probably aren't paying them enough,
so we need to look at that.
We've talked about options of, uh, involving nonprofits
and, um, um, other, um,
groups to help us volunteers.
And the perfect spot I think we've all decided
is station one.
Um, it won't take very much.
The state has come in, I believe, and Mr.
Elli, do you wanna butt in or not? Okay.
You can if you want, but the state has come in
and sort of said what we need to do to make it compliant.
We have to do some things in the bays and stuff.
And I don't think it's an exorbitant amount of money,
about a hundred thousand give or take.
Um, that's a really good spot for it, I think.
Um, I mean, I'm, and I'm guessing, uh, once we get up
and running, we could even help other communities so
that we are sharing our facility
and we'll be sharing costs perhaps,
but I think we really need to get moving on it.
I know we're not moved into station one yet.
I think that's, I don't know how soon it's gonna be.
Oh, early January. Okay. Thank you. Um, uh, commissioner.
Um, so let's, let's really get rolling
and whatever council needs to, we need to commit a meeting.
The whole, we need to discuss finances,
we need an appropriation of funds.
Whatever we need to do. I think we need
to do this sooner than later.
Um, you know, people are nice enough when they
find a dog to keep it.
I mean, I would maybe do the same
thing depending on the breed.
There's some breeds I'm a little leery of
because you don't know a dog's background.
And I really give people credit that are willing
to house a dog.
And, you know, people post all over the internet trying to,
you know, on social media trying to find the owners.
So I really do think it's imperative that we get rolling.
And I think everybody on this council is pretty, uh,
supportive of, um, doing something to, in,
to help the situation.
So I just wanted to make those comments.
And certainly anybody else is welcome to say what they want.
But I just wanted to impress upon everyone that's,
this is pretty important to get done quickly.
Thank you. Uh, Mr.
Mozza, you might be able to put the goats
and the new, the new animal control.
Any other discussion? Okay.
Hearing and seeing, then I'll 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. Thank you.
Next item is 12 e discussion Ray, um,
homeless shelter and warming centers.
So moved. Support Lafferty. Madam Chair, Ms. Moore.
Thank you. Um, last week, to my surprise,
I saw a notice on social media that came from the city
of Warren announcing that, uh, Trinity,
I believe is a Lutheran church on Chap was reopening on
December 21st.
Um, and along with that, that the
city libraries were being, um, advertised
as being warm warming centers.
Um, immediately I contacted members
of the library Commission
and found out that the library Commission
did not authorize the use of the libraries for that purpose.
Uh, last year we had a tremendous amount of problems
with the chap facility, um, police, fire,
um, the neighbors and the businesses in the area.
What I further found out was
that apparently this is being advertised on the county's
website as well, which means we are going to be
receiving folks from all over the county.
And this is one of the things that created a lot
of problems last year
because police cars were coming from, you know,
Sterling Heights or other cities bringing their unhoused
or homeless people to the neighborhood.
And I heard from police officers in other cities
that the neighbors would yell at them, take 'em home to your
city, don't bring 'em to Warren.
So what happens? We have people that are at in Trinity
and that closes at seven 30 in the morning,
and then, you know, they, people have just been dropped off.
So now they're just left to wander around
and go into the businesses.
Um, there were reports of, um, urinating
and defecating in the properties around, check
around the facility, um, garbage
in the residents, um, properties.
Look, we have a problem that we have to solve.
This is not the solution at all.
And I, um, Mr. Gonzalez is here,
and I have grave concerns about the staff at the libraries
being confronted with this situation.
Um, and if I could ask for a suspension of the rules
and ask Mr. Gonzalez to come up and speak
Motion to approve suspension of the rules.
Support. Uh, all in favor? Aye. Aye.
Any opposed?
Members of council? Good evening.
Can you introduce yourself?
Uh, my name is Art Gonzalez. Thank you.
I'm the President of the General Employees Union,
which includes our dedicated library employees.
Thank you. Our members are deeply committed
to serving residents every day,
but the administration's sudden unannounced decision
to use our libraries as warming centers without any policy,
procedure, or coordination with our union is unacceptable.
And let me be very clear.
We do not believe our
libraries should be used for this purpose.
Libraries are designed to be safe, quiet,
educational, community spaces.
They're not equipped, staffed,
or structured to operate as warming centers.
This change not only places our employees in potentially
unsafe situations,
but it also discourages families, seniors,
and everyday residents from using our libraries.
They rely on entrust.
This is not about lacking
compassion for people in need of shelter.
It's about ensuring the city uses appropriate facilities.
Ones that are properly staffed, trained,
and funded for that specific function.
Libraries were never meant to fill that role.
And forcing that responsibility onto untrained staff is both
unfair and unsafe.
We are asking the city to immediately halt this practice
and begin a transparent collaborative planning process
to identify suitable locations for warming services
without compromising the mission, safety,
or integrity of our libraries.
As the representative of our hardworking library staff,
I can say with confidence
that our members take pride in serving the public.
They deserve a safe workplace.
And our residents deserve libraries that remain safe,
welcoming, and focused on their true purpose.
Thank you. Okay,
Mr. Gonzalez, last year, some of the problems,
um, were the bathrooms.
Um, people were bathing and other things in the bathrooms.
Um, necessity, necessitating cleanup.
Um, there was one instance that we were told
that in employee had to clean up, um,
bloody vomit outside.
Um, that's correct. Of the library.
I think that is unacceptable.
Um, there, and one of the things that probably every,
not everybody's aware of,
but when there, last year anyway, when there was a call
for EMS services to chap,
a police car was dispatched at the same time
because it was unsafe for the firefighters
to be there without protection.
So how can we let
that same population come into the libraries without
protection for our, uh, library workers?
And dare I say, uh, they are not the same kind of people
that our firemen are.
Very true. Very true.
And you know, there at the very least, there should be.
There would have to be somebody there, some outside agency
to keep the bathrooms clean
and somebody there to make sure there's no, um, fights
amongst whoever's in there.
I I, I, I just think this is the whole thing is bad.
We had committee meeting the whole last year.
We talked about all these things
and, you know, tried to come up with an answer.
And here we are a year later, no talk.
And all of a sudden the same things are instituted.
That created problems last year.
It shows an absolute lack of compassion for the employees
and lack of insight
and, uh, foresight on dealing with things.
We had a year that we knew
and we kind of let the toll chap thing go
because they were closing.
And it was kind of the end.
Do you remember the, we all, the gentleman
that stood here mm-hmm.
Just beside himself. Mm-hmm.
But what he had to face, and that's not fair.
And, and maybe this is, you know, not for today,
but maybe we need to have some sort of zoning
or ordinance that we did request it.
Request it. Oh, that we have a Or we requested
that a year ago to have an ordinance to um, deal with that.
Well, I guess we'll have to have Mr. Schroeder write it.
He can't write his zoning ordinance.
He can't write his zoning ordinance. Okay.
We'll, we'll, we'll work on that
because I don't think it's a, um,
an overnight housing facility is appropriate
in the middle of a neighborhood.
Um, and you know,
I'm sure I'm gonna hear from Sue from Regal Tire here pretty
soon, if this starts up again,
because the residents will be starting
to come into their businesses
when they're released in the morning.
'cause they have nowhere to go. It's not their fault.
But there's gotta be a better answer than this.
Um, I I'm, I, I just read that I was just beside myself.
'cause I thought, why are we doing this again?
And I, I'm sure, I mean, if I were confronted with
that situation, I worked in a library, I'd walk out
and I, I don't know.
Um, I don't know what the answer is, but this is not it.
And it's a recipe for disaster.
Adam Chair. Uh, yeah. Mr. Bokey,
I'm gonna put my union hat on now
since you're the union rep.
I know OSHA doesn't cover warming centers, uh,
shelters, but they do, uh,
cover the conditions the employees have to work in.
And they're very strict about it.
And you're very right that
employees have to be trained on that.
I'm very concerned about
the people that come in there.
They're off the street.
They don't have medical, they're sick.
Their colds, uh, they need to be treated.
They, that's why they come there.
They're clothes are soiled.
Uh, you know, we have the, uh,
fire commissioner here
and we have a representative for the police department.
They'll tell you the medical condition.
A lot of times these people are in,
so here they are in the library sitting around, warming
around, milling around, coughing.
And then you got a family bringing their children in there.
It'd be a cold day in town that I bring my kids in there.
I'll be honest with you.
And I, I, I am totally against this for the libraries.
Um, I'm, I'm for helping the homeless.
We, you know, we start the, the shelter on Nine Mile.
A gentleman by the name of, first name of Ray runs,
he does a very good job.
The police department compliments him.
Uh, but not for our libraries.
Uh, I, you know, if someone's sick
and they vomit, who's gonna clean it up?
Your, your people? I don't think so. I wouldn't.
So, uh, I'll, I'll wait
to see if there's any recommendation here for the council.
And I'm, I'm willing to send a letter to the administration
to close it down that we're against it
or something like that, because we don't need that there.
I'll make a thank you. I'll make a we'll re resume.
I'm gonna resume the rules.
Mr. Gonzalez, you can have a take a seat. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. May make sure I make a motion.
I would sure. All yield number one.
I would make a motion that, um, until it's closed down, that
that other cities be, they should forbid any other cities
dropping off people at this shelter.
Unless they're gonna come pick 'em up at
seven 30 in the morning.
That's just not right.
We shouldn't bear all of the expense
and trouble of housing people, police,
fire right there.
That, and it, and we, I can go back
and I'm sure I can get the numbers from, um, fire
and police, but it was hundreds of, of calls
and, you know, I'd, I'd call too if I was cold,
I suppose, and had nowhere to go.
But, you know, a lot of, you know,
difficulty breathing when it was time
to be let out in the morning and things like that.
Um, so I would make a motion that
that absolutely not be allowed.
And number two, that the, um, library should not be used,
um, for this warming center purpose.
The, um, atrium is being proposed at City Hall.
Now, if they wanna remove that furniture that, uh, Mr.
Melli just spent a hundred thousand dollars on,
and, uh, you know, make appropriate provisions
for people in the atrium, have the, uh,
correct supervision.
And like all the shelters, when people come in, they,
there's an intake and they check, you know, things.
So there's gotta be procedures,
how they're dealing with this.
And there's no help for anybody, right?
There's no further help, like, you know,
just pop in the library.
Well, if, you know, use the atrium
and have outreach people down there, mayor has outreach,
people have 'em go down there
and help 'em find somewhere to go if they need to
actually offer a service to help the situation.
And, but there's gotta be a procedure. You just can't, okay.
Go in this place with no plan.
So I would, I would ask that there be a plan put in place,
um, that if the atrium is gonna be used,
appropriate furniture is put in there and accommodations
and perhaps people there to manage that,
uh, whatever is there.
The library should absolutely not be used.
Um, maybe Owen Jacks is a, uh, uh, an option.
I don't know, maybe Fitzgerald Rec Center is, I don't know
what the situation is there,
but the libraries are just not the, um, place
and they're not the appropriate staff to be dealing
with this situation.
So those would be my motions.
If anybody else wants to jump in. Madam Chair, yes, Mr.
Ty, I will support those, uh, those motions.
But I do want to ask, uh, through the chair, too,
Mr. Schroeder, if there's any provision in the charter
that would, uh, prohibit library facilities
or establish restrictions for non-library use of
special revenue funded facilities?
The, uh, city Charter created the library commission at
section 7.23.
The charter is one of those carve out commissions
that appoints its own director, um,
the Library Commission by Charter.
And I'm gonna read from section 7.23, subsection C,
the Library Commission shall have the power
and authority to make such rules
and regulations as may be necessary for control
of the Warren Public Library and shall approve
and appoint the city librarian.
So if there's any rules or regulations
or procedures regarding this,
the commission would have to approve it.
It's not clear to me if this went to the commission or not.
I'm hearing no, if it didn't go to the commission,
it's not in compliance with the charter.
This would have to have been presented to the commission
as a plan, and then the commission would have to debate it
and decide whether or not it wanted to approve or reject it.
And so, procedurally it's flawed.
Thank you, Mr. Madam. President. Mr. Schroeder.
This, you know, the email that we received
this afternoon from the mayor, claims legislative overreach.
It sounds like this is executive office overreach into a,
the library Commission's area of jurisdiction.
And so I believe we're going to send a letter of resolutions
to the mayor's office indicating that, uh, we oppose this,
that the Library Commission should be directed
to send their own correspondence saying
that they are not in favor.
Maybe they need to have a special meeting to address this
and say, we are not going to be using our library facilities
for this purpose and inform the mayor of, of that,
uh, of their decision.
I can't speak for them. I'm assuming that, uh, everyone
that I have heard from, uh, is equally opposed to, to this.
I would not take my, if there were, uh, I'm sorry,
I am compassionate for all people,
but if my local library had
dozens of homeless people in it,
and I've got experience with the homeless, I've volunteered
for mcress, I've worked in, in those, uh, in those projects,
I understand what they're dealing with.
And I would not want my children
to be in a shared space with that.
That is not the intent here. Absolutely not.
And, you know, I'll, I'll speak to Trinity afterwards,
but I wanna get to Ms, uh, Ms.
Moore's motions,
If I may, Mr. Nunan. Go ahead.
Um, just like the libraries don't have appropriate staff
and, uh, they, the staff has a right to be
trained and treated in a safe way.
Also, the city doesn't have staff as much as
the, you know, the atri m could possibly be a location.
We don't have staff to staff such an operation.
And, and the city council's blindsided.
I don't recommend that we try to have, um,
the mayor set up something in the atrium.
Um, and I,
I aghast, I, I, someone was just saying,
is Trinity reopening?
And I said, no, according, you know, as far
as I knew, it wasn't.
I, I, according to what I knew, Trinity was closing
and was being up for sale.
So, um, my constituents in that area,
I feel very bad for, including the business owners on, uh,
van D**e who are, uh, know what happened before.
Like you were saying, people were congregating, um, anywhere
they could, um, lay down on private property
and then, um, doing anything, any human, um, excrement
and so forth that they needed to do right there.
And it's very unfair, I think.
I think we were, we were started last year on an emergency
basis of figuring out what to do,
and then the ball got dropped.
And to the degree that I might have had anything to do
with that, I apologize.
But I am, I am feeling very shocked
and blindsided right now.
Um, I don't recommend that we try to offer a solution,
um, except that I, I believe the mayor should rescind
any, uh, statements, um, to the county.
You know, if, if she's suggested to the county that we're,
we're, uh, have our arms open to everybody who's, uh,
un unhoused, I, I don't think that's a good idea.
And I, I think that should be rescinded.
I, I think she sh if she says that the libraries are open
to everyone, I think that should be rescinded.
I think that should be a council thing.
I remember last year she said, well, no, no, no.
The libraries have to accept anybody.
They're all citizens, which is a point.
But, um, they're not, unfortunately,
they're not just ordinary citizens.
They're, they're, uh, they require a very high degree
of maintenance that we're not actually prepared for.
If we want to prepare something in the future, maybe that
that could be worked out,
but right now, we're just not ready for it.
So, uh, I would, I would be voting against something
where we were gonna use the atrium.
Um, I don't think we're ready for, for that.
We don't have any staff that would, um,
be ready to do that at this time. So, thank
You, Mr. Um,
I that I guess that I'm flabbergasted and,
and I'm, I'm unusually speechless.
Thank you, Ms. McGee.
Um, my biggest concern is this, um, we're coming up
to some bad winter months here.
Yeah. Um, DTE has already sent out a notice that, you know,
every chance they get that the weather is getting worse.
Okay. And I mean, we should expect this every year.
I've been to the shelters. I visit them, I go by them.
Gary, Ben, and you guys also been, um, father, friend
of the father is usually packed with people
overflow, um,
and asking for financial assistance to, to help 'em.
He provides services to them.
Um, and then the other shelter,
Trinity is usually sending people their way.
I agree with you.
I just don't know how we can stop it,
because we have to have a plan as far as the library.
You're gonna have people out there in the winter months come
January, supposed to be Michigan,
worst month coming up here.
Where are they going to go?
If friend of the father is packed
and the rest of the shelters are packed, they're gonna go
to the libraries.
And so we have to come up with an immediate plan in order
to stop them from coming into the library,
or they're gonna be coming.
I didn't know about different loads getting dropped off
at the shelters, because I've been to the shelter
where I've seen it as, um, I've seen teenagers
who are homeless, living there, trying to come in
and, um, they need assistance.
I know friend and a father is begging for assistance
because he's getting so many people, um,
and they're coming from all over, all over, not just, um,
in Macomb County, every county, because they're all full.
And as the, when the months get even more,
more Kohler, it's gonna get worse.
And we need a plan immediately.
Thank you. So what I'm hearing is, Ms.
Moore's original motion is to, uh, send a letter
specific to prohibiting drop offs from other communities
for the spaces not utilizing the libraries,
and then if the atrium is being proposed
and would be used, that there be appropriate
resources dedicated to that space.
Mr. Nunan, is that a, would you support
that third space, or the
Third? Can, can you expand
on what appropriate resources would be?
It's,
I don't know, but somebody, you know, police
security guards, um, a nurse, um,
Ms. Moore, what about following the plan that we followed
for, I'm sorry to interrupt.
It's okay. We followed a plan last year in running Owen
Jacks as a warming center, an emergency warming center.
We had a plan. I,
I don't think anybody disagrees with what Ms.
Ms. McGee said. Mm-hmm.
We need a, we need a plan,
and we need a place to, to send these people to.
It's just not the libraries.
Well, maybe they need to send a van at, at, uh,
checkout time to Trinity and move the people somewhere
and mass so that they're not, you know, you know,
just scattering out and trying to find somewhere.
Maybe they need to be transported somewhere.
I don't know where that would be. Maybe it's
Owen Jackson. Maybe it's,
If I, to, to, uh, Councilman Lafferty.
What was the plan for Owen and Jack's?
How, how would that run, please,
Mr. Nunan? Last year,
we had a committee of the whole,
we discussed this ad nauseum, right.
And Mr. Za and the team came up with, with a plan.
They had it staffed,
and there was a warming center established during the times
that Trinity was not in operation.
So it covered the gap, those daytime hours. Okay.
And then they had a place to go from one to the next during
that cold to snap that we had last year, that
That was actually implemented.
It was, Yes. Oh, I'm glad to hear that. Okay.
So, uh, okay. So I, I can go for that.
I'm, I'm the same as you.
I don't understand why all
of a sudden we're doing something different than we were
last year, and, you know, this is mm-hmm.
I'm just as, uh, frustrated as you are.
Mr. We say something We did. Yep. Hold on one second.
Mm-hmm. So, Mr. Lafferty, Mr.
Newan, you're okay with what Mr. Lafferty stated?
Yes. I amam Ms. McGee, you have a question?
I wanna know why that plan didn't work,
that we had to go to the library.
Can Mr. Masella, can you tell me,
tell us why it didn't work?
Mm-hmm.
Good evening, counsel.
We did open it up for a while.
That was a temporary solution until front
of the father got going.
Um, it was staffed by these men and women back here.
It was staffed by volunteers after their work shifts.
Um, and it was staffed by a minimal amount
of parks and rec employees.
Um, but we didn't have the resources
to commit a full-time staff there,
or full-time police officers there.
Um, we just, it wasn't viable until we,
but it was, uh, a good short-term fix.
Mm-hmm. I think we stayed open for two weeks,
the coldest part of the year.
It was that those two weeks where it was like two degrees
outside, and it was a viable solution
to get them through that time.
Um, I'm not opposed to opening up Owen Jackson,
those emergency situations like that.
Um, I think Trinity does serve a purpose,
although a very flawed purpose.
We do have a meeting with them coming this Friday,
public service as well as fire
and police are meeting with them, uh, to address some
of the concerns that we had, um, about last year's,
how it was ran and about them kicking the people
out right at seven o'clock.
Um, so they had those, the, the issues.
Uh, my property maintenance guys have been fantastic about
going there every day.
After we were made aware of those issues,
cleaning up the property, getting the, the church
to clean up with the property, the church was sold.
Um, the new pastor guess is working very diligently
with Wave Project to keep everything in in guidelines.
That's why we want to meet with him on Friday
to make sure everything is gonna run smoothly this year.
Um, uh, a friend
of our fathers does an amazing job anytime we've called them
up, where we've had, uh, an emergency situation, families,
uh, gentlemen, living under the, a bridge or anything.
Ray has been out there in his van and picked them up
and helped talk to people through laundered their clothes,
giving them a shower, giving them a place to sleep,
three meals a day.
Um, and, you know, he does a fantastic job.
Uh, you know, and our guys go there every day
to check on 'em and making sure that they're right.
And, you know, we're doing the best we can out there,
but this, this unhoused situation is not going away.
Mm-hmm. And two shelters is not as many beds as they have,
is not enough when it's just not gonna go away.
Madam Chair, Uh, Ms. McGee, you finish? Yes. Mr.
Dwyer? Yeah. Just a couple questions.
Um, in the two weeks that we utilized Owen
and Jack's, um, did we, uh, have many problems there?
Or did things seem to run pretty smooth?
Uh, I believe we only only had one little minor dust up,
but other than that, uh, I don't think we have very,
very little problems.
And what kind of capacity were we set at?
Uh, I think we had, we were set up for like 45,
and I don't think we ever actually reached full capacity.
Okay. Thank you. That's it.
So the staff that was there, was that a,
a just a volunteer staff or paid staff
At, at Owen Jacks?
Uh, we, um, I believe we had two members from the Parks
and Rec staff there.
Um, and then the rest was cert
and volunteers from the city that were taking days off
and going and sitting there.
Um, I know members of the mayor staff took
days off to go sit there.
Um, I went down there a couple days myself, um, you know,
and the rest was trying to, we're helping, um,
a friend of our father get open.
Okay.
This, Mr. Lafferty.
Thank you. Uh, Mr.
Mozza, the project, the Waive project, uh,
emailed correspondence.
I think all council members were, were copied on it.
I'm going to forward that message to you.
And I had penned a response to Mr. Gordon
outlining a number of concerns,
and he did come back with, uh, a response,
although inadequate,
and I spoke to, I'm, I'm not going to read all of my,
my comments to him,
but I did call out that they must provide a plan
for monitoring the activities
of the individuals leaving the facility in the morning
and prohibiting them from entering
or loitering on the properties
of the businesses along Van D**e.
And the same attention to
actively monitoring the neighborhood,
especially those properties directly adjacent
to the church property.
I think a big problem they had last year from
what we've been told is they were, um,
just kicking 'em out right at seven o'clock.
They weren't allowing 'em to use the bathroom or anything.
It was just get up, you're out the door.
So they weren't allowed to wake up, clean up,
do their morning rituals.
So that's why we had the big problem with the,
that was mentioned earlier. Yeah.
My expectations are that there,
and he, he did admit that they have a, a feedback process.
And it seems that there was a serious disconnect from the
reality of what this council heard last year.
And your, your response was immediately,
I remember from Absolutely.
Last year, the next morning, you and the, and Warren Police
and the building department were on the property at
8:00 AM Absolutely.
And you were, you were looking, albeit it was
after the fact, but we, you,
you did take a proactive approach to address
the remaining issues.
We thought this was, this issue was over
because Trinity had sold,
I didn't know they were reopening
until about two weeks ago.
Myself. I was told that they,
they had no intention on reopening.
So, um, I will send you, uh, his response
to my correspondence.
This and Wave is a county project.
I expect our leadership from the county Board
of Commissioners from Mark Hackle office to, to
give any and all assistance to the city
that, you know, as Ms.
Hore, you spoke about the, the drop offs.
My only other concern for the use of Owen Jacks is
that it is clearly communicated to other municipalities
that may be dropping someone off,
although that we're not, we're asking them to,
to handle it themselves.
If they are dropping off, they have to ensure
that the center remains open.
The Warren Civic Theater
and other groups are still using that facility
and they were being dropped off.
And there's hundreds of kids.
And these people are asking,
where do I go for the warming center?
It wasn't in operation any longer.
Right. And I think if, if, if we do open it up,
it's gonna be under extreme weather conditions.
And I think maybe at that point, maybe we have to forego
civic theater or move it over to possibly this building.
Absolutely. To, to make way for our, our unhoused.
Um, I do think that we, we, we have a good plan.
Unfortunately, I'm not gonna be here on Friday,
but Mr. Campbell, who did a lot of the research last year
with, with the Wave Project,
and worked diligently with the police department, uh,
he's gonna be at that meeting.
I, I think that they'll, they will be able
to come to some solution.
Alright. I'd like
to have counsel representation at that meeting.
Thank you. Anything further? I
Have no other question. Ahead chair.
Thank you, Mr. Mozza.
Um, Mr. Boe, I can have Mr. Campbell,
and then I'm gonna call the question, Mr. Boy, go ahead.
Very quick. I want to commend you on your generosity, uh,
helping out the homeless shelter on Nine Mile.
You're like Santa Claus.
They're always coming in your with food.
They know when you're coming. So appreciate that.
You're know. But, uh, getting back to Trinity,
I heard some information today,
although it hasn't been confirmed,
but you have that meeting Friday.
I'm being told that the old management is out of there
and it's a completely new team.
I won't, I won't know until Friday. Well,
I'm glad that what I'm trying to say is, I'm glad
that you're involved and, uh,
if it isn't new management team, we have to set the,
We're gonna set the bar high.
Thank you. Beck.
Are we able to attend the meeting Friday? I'm sorry. Even
I can have Mr. Campbell reach out to you. Okay.
I thank you. I'd like to know too. Mm-hmm.
I am going to call the question based on Ms.
Moore's three items that she had requested. Yeah.
Uh, let's see. 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.
A request of the fire Commissioner
for an additional appropriation of funds in the amount
of $1,280,646 to cover the cost
of purchasing one custom PA 12 body pumper fire vehicle
from S Corporation.
Consideration and adoption of a resolution. So moved.
Support Dwyer. Discussion,
hearing, and seeing none.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore. Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Ms. Mr. Nunan? Yes.
Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C as a? Yes. Motion carries.
Next item. Next item. MS. 13 B.
Consideration and adoption of a resolution
to purchase a new custom PA 12 body pumper complete from SU
incorporation in the total amount
of $1,280,645 96 cents.
So moved. Support Dwyer
discussion, hearing, and scene?
None. I'll call the question. Ms. Moore. Yes. Mr. Dwyer?
Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Newnan? Yes.
Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 13. Thank you. Merry Christmas.
Skip, uh, 13 C, consideration
and adoption of a resolution
to approve contract modification number six,
to the city contract P 22 7 58 20 22.
Large concrete pavement repairs ITBW 0 5 7 7,
increasing the current contract amount by 325,000,
resulting in an amended contract amount
of $6,389,880
to Great Lakes Contracting Solutions,
and to approve payment number 23
to Great Lakes Contracting Solutions in the amount
of $401,626 65 cents.
So moved. Support Lafferty discussion,
hearing, and seeing now I'll call the question Ms. Moore.
Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr.
Newan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C as a? Yes.
Motion carries. Next item. Next item is 13 D.
Request for additional appropriation in the amount
of $5 million in creation of a special revenue fund,
home down payment and qualified home repair assistance
program consideration and adoption of a resolution.
So move with discussion. Support Lafferty.
Discussion Ms. Moore. Um, thank you.
Um, um, this will cover the next item as well.
Um, I am tremendously excited about this
and very, very proud of the prior council and this council.
Um, when we received ARPA funds, we used some of those funds
for infrastructure and, you know, different things.
But we always had in our minds that we wanted
to do something to help homeowners in Warren.
Um, and we kept that money, the 5 million,
um, unallocated.
And then, um, was it last year's budget?
You know, we talked about that again
and agreed that's what we were gonna do.
Um, last was the year
before last, um, November, um, I, um,
had a meeting scheduled with Gary Torgo, who is the CEO,
is he the CEO of Huntington,
or chairman, chairman of the board.
And I went down to have a meeting
and thinking I was meeting with him
and he had assembled people from all over the country in a
round table because, you know, we had the idea
that we wanted to do something
and we just didn't know how to get there.
And they had the people around the room with the expertise
and the experience that you can do this, you can do that.
Um, we, we brought it to the administration
and we started working.
Um, we spent months and months
and we now have, um, um,
someone that's going to, um, uh,
be the administrator of the program.
And this is really, really exciting.
I think there will be 25 up to $25,000
for qualified homeowners to make repairs to their homes.
And there's also an opportunity, uh, based on income
for down payment assistance.
And, um, and this is something
that probably we should had a press release
and, uh, a big fanfare about,
because I think this is one of the most positive things
that's happened in the city for years.
Um, we wanted to make people's lives better.
And I think this will do it, you know, in,
in many ways the money won't last forever.
It's not, it seemed, I mean, it's $5 million,
a tremendous amount of money for all of us,
but it'll go fast.
Um, because there are a lot of people, there are,
there are seniors all over the city that need
to repair their, to replace their roofs.
A new roof is ask Mr. Fox how much roofs cost.
Um, but, you know, I think I paid, you know, 25,
almost $25,000 for the last roof we put on our house.
I mean, that's a lot of money for someone to be able
to come up with that's on a fixed income.
And, um, so I think this is,
this is really exciting program.
I I'm sure it's gonna help people and be exciting.
And I brought in our discussions.
I brought up that, um, I wanted that while we're going
through this process, I wanted the people's stories.
And I, people looked at me like I was crazy,
but now I found out being involved in the Land Bank things,
that, that's an important thing
to do when you're taking on projects like this,
is you want the story.
You want the story of the people coming
to you for this help.
And we need to have those stories so that we can share them.
And it's, you know, it gives everybody hope
that there are things out there
to help them when people feel they're desperate for things.
I can imagine what it would be like if I've got my roof
leaking and I've got three kids to feed
and, um, trying to make ends meet.
And, you know, looking at this,
what would seem insurmountable to most people.
So I, I have a lot of hope for this program.
You know, I'm sure I'll be disappointed
because I wanna help the world.
And this won't help that many people when you, you know,
take 25,000 that'll go really, really fast.
But I wanna, um, thank the administration and everybody, Mr.
Elli was involved quite a bit.
Mr. Fox was involved from the beginning
and wanna thank everybody that was involved.
Uh, Mr. Schroeder, Mr. Lafferty was at the first meetings.
And then Ms. Um, I actually, the mayor brought you in.
Um, and, uh, I wanna thank everyone for their cooperation,
um, um, to get us to this point.
It took longer than I wanted it to,
but we're gonna start it now.
And I think that's a very, very positive thing for the city.
So thank you to everyone.
Mayor, president, Mr. Nunan.
Um, if I could to, uh, Ms. Moore, um,
so this would be for low interest
loans, for home repairs?
Or would it be three? It'd be outright grand Yes.
To keep help people, people stay in their homes Yes.
Who have low income. Yes.
Yes. That's tremendous. Oh my goodness. And
There are certain things that, um, you know, it's not, um,
aesthetics, right?
It is, um, foundational, pardon me? Foundational. Yeah.
Electrical heating, like porches,
porches are a huge problem.
Right. In some areas of town.
Everybody that walked door to door knows that Sure.
It's a problem for our police and fire.
So, you know, this is a way Um-huh to get things like that.
There's not enough. Um,
and of course we'll be inspecting all the homes, um,
to see what needs to be done.
There might be homes that it's not worth putting in the
money and we just couldn't do it.
It won't be enough. But, um,
When it comes to, um, down payment assistance,
did I hear you say down payment assistance? Yes.
$25,000.
And usually in situations of the down payment assistance,
the lenders oftentimes will also contribute up to 10,000
because banks, Jonathan can explain Mr.
Lafferty better than I,
but banks have an obligation to invest
and give to the community.
Mr. Maybe even Mr. Schroer
Knows that it's the Community Reinvestment Act.
The banks are required to participate
and there's certain, uh, thresholds
that are established per community
and the banks are, are obligated to fulfill those.
Oh, okay. So does there have to be a certain amount
of money from the home buyer?
Well, they have to meet certain requirements.
They have to be able to pay the payment. Right. Okay.
So there'll be some sort of, um,
and I forget what is our AI up to 80%
and I think it was a thousand down
maybe something like that.
And, and, and there'll be some things attached.
They have to go to like homeowner school to, to, to know how
to handle a home budgeting and things like that.
Um, and one of the plans is also to maybe work
with the building trades or to do give education.
We need to do that in the city now, not just
for this program, but we need to better education
for property maintenance and things like that.
I'm sure Mr. Elli would agree with me on that.
We just have to figure out a plan to do that.
But I think that's something we should think about for sure.
Okay. Alright. Thank you so much. That's great.
Sounds really exciting.
And one of the things they talked about is the new library
at Underwood Park is, we have so much space there.
'cause it's in a park that some
of these things could be done there
that they could teach residents certain things, um, how
to do, because you could be outside
and do them how to change a tire or things like that.
Or, you know, beyond a home repair, but
Library of things Yes.
Could have all sorts of stuff. Things
to help people maintain their homes, uhhuh.
Right. Okay. If you know how to caulk teaching somebody how
to caulk, can, you know, preserve some
of the surrounding areas and,
and prevent leaks and things like that.
And it's a very simple thing, but most people don't know.
But that's something that could be taught very easily
and it's very inexpensive.
So there's, there's a a thousand things we could do.
Thousands of things we can do. But this is
a, I think a great start. Thank
You Madam Chair. Oh,
Sorry. Yeah. And
then Mr. Dwyer
Of, of the many benefits
that Ms. Moore has already covered,
I think one very unique benefit that, uh,
we will never see
because it won't end up on the council desk for action,
are the abatements that would have happened.
Right. Had they not applied through this program. Yeah.
We've talked how many times, if only this person had put a,
a roof on this, uh, particular home 10 years ago,
we wouldn't be here today demolishing a home
because the, the home wasn't properly weatherized.
Mm-hmm. And it's a program like this that
with sufficient funding can save those homes from ever going
down the abatement path. I
Wanna live in Warren.
It's, it's a great program. Uh, a lot of credits. Ms.
Morrissey's spoken about this for a number of years,
and when we received the ARPA funding,
it was the perfect opportunity
to capitalize quite literally.
Actually, I do live in Warren and just, I want, sorry,
I was going to skip by that comment, Mr.
Nunan. But this,
If you're my councilman, I wanna move the Warren.
But, But yes. To, to Ms. Moore and, and to the council
and the administration's credit, we did it.
Yeah. Thank you Mr. Dwyer.
Yeah. And the other thing is it, um, this $25,000
in assistance to purchase a home.
Yeah. It, it encourages people to go out and buy a home.
And I believe it will reduce the rentals
that we currently have in the city.
Great. So I think that's definitely
a good thing as well. Yep.
Thank you. Okay.
I will, um, 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 13 e.
Request to award the administration
of a home down payment assistance program
and a qualified home repair assistance program
to national faith home buyers for a two year period
with options to extend for four additional two year periods
with mutual consent of both parties consideration
and adoption of a resolution. So moved.
Support Lafferty. I need discussion,
hearing and seeing 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 as a? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 13 F proposed resolution.
Accepting Michigan National Resources Trust Fund grant
of 400,000 for Shaw Park playground
and accessibility upgrades and new cricket playing field.
And increase matching funding by 200,000
to 585,000.
I think our numbers are wrong here. 585,200.
Consideration. Adoption of a resolution.
So moved. Lafferty, You can come up
With discussion. Thank
you. I think, uh, who made the motion?
I did. You did. Jonathan. Mr.
Lafferty, you supported that. Good evening. Good
Evening. Members of council.
This is, uh, we, we did this, uh,
back in, uh, April of 24.
Um, we did the pass a resolution,
but we did this when we, first time we did it, we did it
for 585,000 hours.
The 59% matching grant from the city is 5,580
5,200 hours.
So we just need to proof. 200 hours. 200.
It does say 200 there,
but I'm not used to dealing in those numbers here
with so few zeros.
So we're short 200? Correct. Okay. Thank you for clarifying.
Any other discussion? You understand my
Confused? Yes. Madam Chair.
Uh, Mr.
Spiller, I have one question for you.
We had, we had talked about this at the original, uh,
grant funding time and so we've rec we've received it.
This is, this is going to be cash in hand, correct?
Correct. Alright. We have
been, we've been awarded the grant.
Wonderful. So what is, what is your expected timeline?
Uh, well, once we get all the paperwork
and we're working on it right now, we'll,
we get the resolution, the grant will be mashed with us.
And then I already talked to the engineering.
Most of the, uh, bathroom at Shaw has been upgraded.
So it is, uh, uh, 88 compliant as it is.
So this is some upgrades we're gonna start
working on right away.
Uh, going out for the playground, getting some of the, uh,
a DA, uh, accessible, um, fixtures in the park.
Uh, I would like to get that going
and get that, uh, project hopefully started
by the spring of this year.
Alright. Do you have site plans ready to go to planning,
uh, planning department?
Uh, we getting in the boundary lines right now.
Together we get a boundary map put together first
that's required by the state first off.
So once we get approved by all this grant,
then we can go ahead
and, um, get all the specs in
for everything we learned through out
There. Wonderful.
Thank you, sir. Thank
You.
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. Noonan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries Next item. Thank you.
Thank you.
Next item is 13 G,
which was tabled 12 9 20 25.
Request of the police department to award bid ITBW 1685
to BMW motorcycles of Southeast Michigan for the purchase
of four new BMW Night Black motorcycles in the total amount
of $154,577 4 cents.
Consideration and adoption of a resolution motion
to remove from the table.
Support. Uh, I will call the question
to remove her from the table.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Uh, Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes.
Item is off the table.
Uh, motion to approve with discussion. Support Dwyer.
Discussion Ms. Moore? Um, yes.
Um, as you know, last meeting, I made my feelings clear
that I wanted us to buy American.
Um, and, uh, subsequent to that time, I did speak with, oh,
several motorcycle police officers who explained to me, um,
why they felt the BMW was superior to, for instance,
Harley Davidson.
Um, and I ex told them that I would support the purchase,
but I still felt that, um, the patriotic thing
to do would be to buy American.
And I still stand by that.
Um, but I won't stand in the way of them getting the, um,
equipment they feel they need.
They're the experts, not me.
Um, I just have opinions about it.
So anyway, I'm in favor of it.
Any other discussion, hearing scene?
Then I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan. Oh, sorry. Mr.
Nunan. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries.
Next item. Next item is 13 H.
Request to confirm the appointment of Sharon Rose
to the Senior Healthcare Commission with a term set
to expire July 1st, 2027. So moved.
Support Lafferty.
Any discussion, Hearing and seeing none?
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Uh, Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C as a? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Um, next item is 13 I.
What was item four on the consent agenda,
which was tabled 1125.
2025.
Consideration and adoption of a resolution approved
contract, modification number one
and final to city contract P 25 8 43 Federal Avenue,
pavement and reconstruction, ITBW 1 4 4 1 4.
Decrease to the original contract amount by
$4,650 6 cents, resulting in a final contract amount
of $328,124 34 cents.
And to issue payment number three
and final in the amount of $62,241 84 cents.
Motion to re move from the table.
Support Lafferty.
I will call the question
and remove the item from the table.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Newnan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Item is off the table. Motion
To approve Support.
Uh, any discussion, hearing, and scene? None.
I call the question Ms. Moore. Yes. Oh, sorry. Mr. Lafferty.
Yes. Then Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes.
Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion.
Carrie, sex item Next item is 13 J.
What was item N on the consent agenda?
Consideration and adoption of a resolution
to approve contract modification number one and final
and payment number eight
and final to city contract P 22 77 0.
Ryan Road, nine Mile Road
to 10 Mile Road pavement replacement,
increasing the contract amount with Zuniga Cement Company
by $576,028 76 cents,
resulting in a final contract amount
of $4,859,406 12 cents
and approved payment number eight
and final to Zuniga Cement Company in the amount
of $626,208 57 cents.
Motion to approve of discussion.
Support Lafferty Discussion Ms. Moore.
I mean, it's, it's just amazing these increases that for
that kind of money, $576,000.
It's like our bids mean nothing anymore.
You know, and, and, you know, I think we really need
to start looking at bids from the quality of the work
and not think about so much of the exact lowest price.
Because in the end, we're adding here is a half a million,
more than half a million dollars.
So I think we need to change our procedures a little bit
and, uh, think about quality over price
sometimes that's all.
Any other discussion, hearing, and scene?
And 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 as a? Yes. Motion carries.
Next item. Next item is 13 K.
What was item O on the consent agenda?
Consideration and adoption of a resolution
to approve a cost sharing agreement
between the Michigan Department of Transportation
and the City of Warren
for the HSIP traffic signal improvements at the intersection
of Common Road and Hoover Road.
MO contract N 25 55 12. So moved.
Support Dwyer.
Discussion, hearing, and scene? None.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is? Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is audience participation on general topics.
Uh, members of the audience who'd like
to address city council this evening may do so, um,
by filling out an audience form on the left side
of the stage, we have three minutes.
This is for general topics. First up is Joel Vander Linen.
And then second is Jerry Burden.
Joe Valen, longtime worn resident,
talking about items that have, uh, popped up before
and then faded away and nothing was done.
Uh, Uh, a big talk now on the east side of Warren,
I'm sorry, the west side of Warren is Airbnbs
a large tendency of, uh, people want to make their homes
and Airbnb.
Now, it used to go be when I was in property maintenance
that we would look for houses
that had more than one families
and we would turn in the information and something was done.
But people don't know what a single family home is anymore.
And let me explain.
You have a thousand foot home, a thousand foot square home.
You have a front room, you have a, uh,
bathroom, you have a kitchen.
These are designated as non-living spaces.
You have a master bedroom,
which is usually a hundred square feet or larger.
Then you have two bedrooms.
Boys and girls call you what you want.
If it's only one person that's 70 square feet,
if it's more than one person living in there, it has
to be a hundred square feet.
There cannot be bedrooms in the basement.
And I don't think people are really understanding.
No basements are allowed to be a bedroom
unless they got a, uh, specialty window
for the fire department can move the grading,
jump into the hole, go into the, the,
the basement that way.
One minute, Mr. Vander
And an escape route for the people there.
Or they have a stairs going down with a door
where the people can escape.
But if we don't do something about Airbnbs,
start working about, uh, how we're going handle it,
what we're going to do, how we're gonna inspect them,
you're gonna have the whole west side of Warren,
the massive Airbnb.
You already have two or three families in there.
That's illegal. Why are we not prosecuting
or taking the proper steps?
Thank you. Have a happy holiday. Merry Christmas.
Thank you Mr. Burden. After Mr.
Burden is Lori Harris.
Good evening, Madam President
and Honorable Council members.
I'd like to speak about our seniors
when they have a meal.
We get Meals on Wheels five days a week at Joseph Coates
Stillwell on holidays.
They don't appear because our facilities are not available
to the Meals on Wheels people.
Therefore, one of our residents decided to have
pizza and salad for the non
meals available people.
They went to Sean, our director,
and he said, let's have a potluck.
So we got together with many of our residents, with many
of our staff, with you, fine people,
and all my other friends.
And we got donations.
And we had a tremendous Thanksgiving meal on Thursday.
We fed over 40 people
and we had doggy bags for Friday.
So we had 40 people that ate on Thanksgiving.
We had 40 people that ate on Friday.
Many of these people don't have family
or no one else close by.
So I want to thank all of you
and everyone else who participated.
Uh, Judy and Rhonda from the mayor's office came
and actually served for the entire period of day.
So I want to thank everybody that participated.
And one, the bad part about it is they looked at me
and said, what are you doing next year?
And I looked back at 'em and I said, I think it's your turn.
Mm-hmm. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank your turn.
Uh, next is Lori Harris and then Jeff
Dukowski.
How may I
Hi Lori Harris.
I have a couple things I want to, um,
ask the council to consider.
I am, uh, concerned that if we don't, uh,
proactively address some issues, we're gonna be
behind the eight ball and it won't work.
And the issues that I see are, uh, making sure
that we, um, have an ordinance in place,
outlawing Sharia Law,
and also outlawing, um, call
to prayer in our community.
We have a lot of mosques and we have you, um,
and I, and I understand, I've, I've heard
that then we can't have church bells ring.
I don't think that's totally, I don't, I don't think
that's has to be that way.
Church bells ring maybe once a week.
Um, called to prayer five times a day is not acceptable.
So I'm not sure if that would go through planning or zoning.
Um, in terms of having loud speakers on their
buildings, on their mosques.
The other thing I wanted to bring up
that I was hoping the council would look at is the,
um, food trucks.
And I, I'm not sure where this all ended up.
I thought there was supposed
to be an ordinance on food trucks.
And there's a food truck in my area that, uh,
had a very, very large propane tank sitting outside.
Well, now it has a honey, uh, honey wagon.
And if you're a camper, you know that, that's
the little wagon that takes your waist out of your trailer,
is sitting up outside this, uh, food truck
and other random things.
And I'm, I'm just concerned that, uh,
we don't have an ordinance.
Right? Someone shake their head, do we have an ordinance?
We do not have an ordinance.
So I'm wondering what it's gonna take.
Um, and, uh, you know, I did let the,
um, 45, I did let the um
hmm, someone in the fire department know about this huge
propane tank because it was sitting right
where someone came off the road into this
little tiny parking lot.
So I'm wondering what, what, uh, our plan is to,
to make sure that they're safe
and, um, uh,
they've gotta be guidelines, you know?
So those are my things. Merry Christmas to everybody.
Um, treasure the moments you have with your families.
Um, for those that don't have families to celebrate with,
I hope that you have some joy
and comfort in whatever you're doing.
Thanks.
Thank you, Jeff.
You are next.
Uh, good evening. City council.
Um, I'm calling about,
or talking about a tree I have in the
neighbor's house across the street.
The city came out and looked at it
'cause the neighbor two doors down,
branches were falling out of his tree.
And I'm talking branches.
The tree across the street from me is about 75
to a hundred foot tall.
There are two.
And they didn't want to cut down till they realized
to the neighbor across the street, there are two huge
branches coming from the bottom up
that have holes in them.
And when the city came out to look at it, he agreed
and immediately put an X on it.
Back in. It was either June or July.
And he said it would be done by August. It's still there.
But these two branches, if they come down,
one will hit my house, no ifs, ands, or buts about it,
and the other one will hit their house.
Now that the city knows about it,
who's responsible if it falls?
That's the only question I have.
Thank you. Is that the location?
Uh, that is the end of audience. Next item.
Next item is, uh, council response to audience.
Madam Chair, Ms. Mark.
Um, in, in response to Ms. Harris,
we don't have an ordinance,
but, um, many cities do require,
um, the food trucks to be inspected
by the fire department at a bare minimum.
So we probably should have that.
Especially places where,
and they're inspected by the health department.
Yeah. And they're inspected by the health department.
So we, we probably need to look at that.
Um, I'm, I'm people like 'em, especially in a city
where we don't have that many, um,
restaurants anymore like we used to.
Um, but anyway,
that's something we can look at at the, at the next year.
But you're right about that. There does
need to be at a minimum.
Um, uh, fire inspection. Thank you.
And Merry Christmas everyone.
Madam Chair. Mr. Lafferty, uh,
To Mr. Burden.
You did such a fine job at Thanksgiving.
Are you doing anything? Should we expect a call about, uh,
a potluck for Christmas to prepare a dish?
We, I don't have.
Alright. Let us know. Thank you, Mer.
Merry Christmas everyone. Seasons. Greetings.
Happy New Year.
I have another question. Um, we did receive, um,
additional requests for the seniors Thanksgiving.
I posted the information
and people were saying, how come we didn't know about it?
I wanted to also, I could have brought food
or anything like that.
So maybe next time we can market it a little bit
more. That's
All I have. Any other
responses? Okay.
Hearing and seeing none. Next item. Motion to adjourn.
Support Dwyer. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed?
We are adjourned. Happy holidays everyone. This is a wrap.