I am calling the meeting to order at 3:02 PM.
We need somebody to-
Roll call.
Mayor Stone?
Present.
Mr. Zamora?
Present.
Gina Cavalier?
Here.
Michael Wiegand?
Here.
Tom Petzel?
Here.
Hank is excused. Mr. Vicari? Mr. Vicari is here?
Mr. Vicari is here.
And Mr. Jackson, I believe, is on his way.
Okay. Can I get a motion to excuse absent members?
A
motion.
Michael.
Second.
Support from Oscar. All in favor?
Aye.
Any opposed? Motion carries. Adoption
of the agenda.
I am going to motion to amend, or can I get a
motion to amend that we move 7D, we're going to go into
closed session,
back and move items eight and nine up, which are
the approval of list of bills and good of the order, so that
once we wrap
closed session, we can move to adjournment.
Any discussion or questions on that?
I'll make the motion.
Thank you, Michael.
Support.
Support by Oscar. Yes?
This is closed session?
Yes.
I'm writing the agenda so that the commission board recognizes
the closed session is scheduled for after the
meeting.
Gotcha.
We may go into open session.
So we'll adjourn the
regular meeting and open closed.
Correct.
So everything else stays in order.
Correct.
Okay. Can I withdraw that motion? Or Michael, will you withdraw that motion?
That's right.
Okay.
Can I get a motion to adopt the agenda as
is?
Michael?
Make the motion, yes.
Thank you. Support?
Support.
Oscar. All in favor?
Aye.
Motion carries. Audience participation.
Anyone who is joining us that would like to speak to the body,
please step to the microphone.
Seeing no community participation,
moving on. Approval of the minutes.
Can I get a motion to approve the May 6th, 2026 DDA meeting
minutes?
Motion to approve.
Motion by Oscar.
I second.
Second by Joe.
All in favor?
Aye.
Any opposed?
Motion carries.
Old business, fiscal year 2027 budget.
We started having these conversations.
We had some very nice presentations on what the needs are and what the
asks were. Tom, would you like to speak to where we're at?
Yeah. Everything went really well, and council
essentially adopted the budget we sent them. Mr.
Jackson is here. I'll make sure we make a note of that. Thank you, sir.
So basically, the
budget that we adopted was, for the most part, approved
by council. There was a couple of small changes.
You can refer to page 33.
Tiffany just outlined what the few changes were.
I can go through them really quick, but I think they all kind of make sense.
The one was an increase in contractual service of $10,000.
We had a little bit of a contingency. We have a little bit more, I guess.
We had requested a reduction in community outreach from
$150,000 to $50,000, and they approved that.
We originally asked for $500,000 to be transferred to the
TIFA for parking lot improvements and so forth.
They lowered it to $425,000, so we'll deal with that
budget.
Under the capital outlays,
we originally asked for $15,000 for some work on the sauna and
the pool lift. And
before the budget got approved,
Parks and Rec came back with some further quotes, and it was
$27,000, so they funded that, so we could do that.
At this point, they don't see putting the
money into the
sound system for this room and out there, so
they took that out at this point.
Window replacement in this conversation, originally, we had talked
about $75,000. When Mr. Masarelli came, he said really to
do the whole job, it was closer to $150,000 or so.
We recommended $175,000, and council approved that as well.
The HVAC, originally council thought this was a library
cost. I brought it to you saying, "I think it's a library cost." We took it
out, they found out maybe the library doesn't have the money.
We own the building,
so we put it back in.
So overall, these are relatively minor on
a $14-some-million budget,
very minor changes.
Any questions or discussion on the changes as
adopted by council?
Seeing Gina.
Are you looking for a motion to approve the budget consistent
with the council-adopted budget?
Yes.
I'll make that motion.
Okay.
Motion by Gina. Second?
I'll second it.
Second, Tom. Thank you.
Okay.
Roll call.
Ms. Cavalier?
Yes.
Mr. Petzel?
Yes.
Mr. Vicari?
Yes.
Mr. Jackson?
Can I ask a question?
Certainly.
On the community outreach-
Mm-hmm
... can I ask what was reduced
on the community outreach from
one50 to 50. What was the $100,000 at?
So,
well, the previous budget, that was zeroed out.
Anything that we wanted to
use for community outreach, we would have to approach them for each item.
So we listened to the feedback from the hearing
and said that there might be an appetite for something in the
middle. And so
in agreement we said,
for what we're doing, it's more than we've had-
Mm-hmm
... and it gets us closer to where we're going.
Were there any specific items
though, that were taken out?
No.
Annually, we would have a line item, and there was
some consternation under the old administration and some of the ads
had the mayor in them, and
that was a problem. And so it slowly got to the
point where every time we put any amount in, they would just zero it out.
So for the last couple of years it's been zero.
So this year, when I originally
asked for 150, when I met with council over the budget,
they said they would like some more deeper dive on what we would do
specifically with it, and rather start lower.
Okay.
And so Tiffany and I made a outline of
specific things we thought we could use that 50 with, and we would ask
for that.
Okay.
So they approved it at that point.
Okay.
Yes.
Thank you.
Thank you for the question.
Mayor Stone.
Did-
Or Mr. Zamora.
Did, well-
Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Jackson. Yes.
Answer?
Yes.
Okay.
I'm sorry, Mr. Zamora. Yes. Mayor Stone.
Yes.
Okay. Adopted.
I don't
think you have Mr. Wiegand.
Uh-oh.
Did I leave you off? Yes.
Uh-oh.
You know what? I'm so excited that we have all the players here today.
This is awesome. Thank you. I'm sorry, Mr. Wiegand? Yes. Yes.
Okay.
Adopted.
Warren City Center irrigation repairs.
Jason,
can you talk about
where that will go?
Yes. Good afternoon, DDA board. My name's Jason Spiller,
Director of Parks and Recreation.
Parks and Recreation is requesting the DDA to
authorize repair for the irrigation systems at Civic Center Square.
The system has not been operational for almost five years now, and we
are seeing a lot of wear and tear on this grass.
It's not up to our speed. The project currently involves
replacing four irrigation valves and two leaks that were
identified during the startup.
Once these repairs are made, they're going to really assess the system to see if
there's any other irrigation problems that we have to fix to get this thing going.
This quote from Tech 7 involves replacing the
labor, the valve replacement, leak repairs, cable, a key, and
pipe materials for a total of
$4,252.58.
I'm here to answer any questions you may have.
And this is for work out-
Civic Center. This is for the outside grass area, and if you
see from above, from City Hall, from the fourth floor, and you look down, you
can see the wear and tear on this grass is not to where it should be.
And it's starting to really show, and trying to get it back to where it's supposed
to be, especially with our events coming up this summer.
Especially tonight, being Street Fair, the first one.
Thank you for that. And the flowers look lovely.
Thank you.
Committee got it.
Thank you.
Yes.
The DDA as well.
Any questions or discussion on this item?
Motion to approve.
Thank you, Os.
Second.
Second by Greg.
Roll call.
This is second?
Greg.
Mr. Jackson.
Jackson, yep.
Okay, Mr. Zamora? Yes. Mr. Jackson? Yes. Mr.
Vicari?
Yes.
Mr. Petzel?
Yes.
Mr. Wiegand? Yes. Ms. Cavalier?
Yes.
Mayor Stone?
Yes.
Thank you.
Reimbursement for summer workshop for MEDA?
Yes.
MEDA.
This is for the Michigan Downtown Association summer
workshop.
It actually starts tonight, but the workshop is
really all day tomorrow in South Haven.
So with approval, I'll leave after the meeting and head to
South Haven for the workshop tomorrow.
Very good. Questions or discussion on this item?
Any highlights on the agenda?
Well, my target right now is we've been talking about updating
our DDA plan-
Mm-hmm
... and maybe extending some of the boundaries and whatnot.
And so all of the
high-powered consultants that typically do this stuff
for DDAs will be at this conference.
So my goal is to find some of them, pick their brain, and get good
information on putting the RFP out so we can start that
process of updating our development plan here.
Very good.
Can I get a motion for reimbursement for travel expenses?
Motion.
Thank you, Gina.
Support.
Support by Tom.
Roll call.
Ms. Cavalier?
Yes.
Mr. Petzel?
Yes.
Mr. Wiegand? Yes. Mr. Vicari?
Yes.
Mr. Jackson? Yes. Mr. Zamora? Yes. Mayor Stone.
Yes. We didn't miss anyone this time, right? Okay.
Birthday Bash fireworks.
Mary, can you speak to the contract?
This is for the Birthday Bash-
Mm-hmm
... the fireworks again. We don't have a final report from General Motors
on whether we could launch from General Motors' property, but in
anticipation of success, we're asking for the board to approve, first the
Birthday Bash
fireworks contract, and a license agreement if needed by
General Motors. Birthday Bash, same terms, except the price
this year is $31,500We're asking for a
little housekeeping.
We have a free rain date of August 29th,
but beyond that, Zambelli will charge a postponement fee
of 25% or 50% of the contract price.
So if my math is correct, in that purchasing's request for housekeeping,
we're also asking for a contingency, if needed, of
$8,000 if Parks and Rec wants to host
fireworks at a different time other than August 28th or
29th.
So typically, fireworks are Friday night. Is that right, Jason?
Correct. We want to do it on a Friday.
Okay. And with the 8,000, does that bring us to
39,500?
It does.
Okay.
But the base price is only-
Up to
... 31,500. Yes, correct. Up to.
Why would it get changed 8,000 more? I didn't hear. What's the reason?
If there's a rain out
and we couldn't launch from that date for any reason, we
couldn't move it and reschedule.
It's free in the contract for the next day.
Yeah.
So we're paying for the 28th. That's what we've reserved.
Right.
It won't cost any more if we do it on the 29th, but if we can't do
it that day and they decide to do it in September, it's $8,000
to come back and
set up again.
Yeah.
I think-
Yeah, fair enough. It's a lot of work
... Madison Heights, their carnival, the first day got rained out
Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.
So it's a real thing that we could have that
contingency plan ready to go.
It's almost like insurance and the 31.
Right. Yeah.
Does the
General Motors permission cause any issues?
I know it's anticipated, but
what's the thoughts there?
In the past, General Motors has cooperated.
We've never received a hard no. This year, I think it's just a
matter of maybe Tom and I
prompting our contacts.
Okay.
Yeah.
I don't anticipate a problem. And we put in the contract a contingency plan.
And they're-
If we have to find a different location, Zambelli will
accommodate.
Okay. That wouldn't cost any more?
Mm-mm.
And they're anticipating this. We
have quarterly meetings now with the people from the
tech center. And so Randy, who's kind of the guy that
leads the charge on the permission,
had already asked. He needed our formal request, which we
sent him the email a while back, and so he's working on getting...
But I did find out secretly that there's a handful of departments
at the tech center that look forward to it because they have their own little
office parties over there, and so it
works for everybody. But it makes it cleaner.
I can tell you that in the early days, we did them off the deck here,
the parking deck, for a few years, and you have to have a
bigger fallout zone, and a bunch of the stuff falls here.
It's a much better deal out of their deck.
And we still pay to clean their
whole area afterwards, but there's no people there,
and so it's a much better deal to do it across the street.
Any other questions or discussion on this item?
Seeing none, can I get a motion to approve our agreement for
fireworks?
So moved.
Thank you, Greg.
I'll second.
Support from Joe.
Mr. Jackson?
Yes.
Mr. Vicari?
Yes.
Mr. Petzel?
Yes.
Mr. Wiegand?
Yes.
Ms. Cavalier?
Yes.
Mr. Zamora?
Yes.
Mayor Stone?
Yes.
Okay. Notice of closed session.
We have an update.
Do you want to speak to it, Mary?
I may. It's-
What the motion is
... ongoing. At a prior meeting, the board had a closed session to
discuss an attorney-client privileged communication.
It's ongoing.
We're requesting another closed session after today's regular meeting.
We have an update.
Correct. There's an update.
So if the board would please just vote to schedule, approve the closed
session
at today's date following the regular meeting.
So moved. We have to vote to approve it?
You're right.
Okay. Yeah.
I'll support.
So Jackson-
Support by Michael
... supported by Wiegand.
Oh. Is this roll call still?
It's definitely roll call, please.
Okay.
Okay. Mr. Jackson?
Yes.
Mr. Wiegand?
Yes.
Mr. Petzel?
Yes.
Mr. Zamora?
Yes.
Mr. Vicari?
Yes.
Ms. Cavalier?
Yes.
Mayor Stone?
Yes.
Okay.
Okay. Let's move to list of bills.
Advance resolution.
Page 58.
Sorry.
Short list today.
It does feel a little lighter than usual.
Any questions or discussion on any of the list of bills?
Did all our research.
That's right.
Sorry. Sorry.
Sorry, take it back. Oh, good.
I have a question on the Eckstein Park restrooms.
Yes.
Does that complete the project then?
Jason,
are you asking if the bathrooms are ready to use,
or if this is the last payment?
Is that the last project we have with the skate park?
The restrooms at Eckstein?
They're done.
They're done. So this payment is final payment?
Final payment, yes.
Yes.
They are
closed down. They're open and ready for use.
Beautiful.
I believe that there may be some projects in the future, once
funding is secured for an additional shade element
or some additional
art.
Yeah. Can you hear him, or do you need him to step up?
No, I'm all right.
Okay.
Repairs for PD have completed their entrance
repairs to improve accessibility.
One
question.
Yes, Gina.
Is everything on the list of bills for
expenditures that occurred within the DDA boundaries?
Mark?
Well, with the exception of the Facilio-
Yes
... contract, which before the end of this year,
before June 30th, I need to go back through those and make the
distributions to the other funds,
so that it
will only be DDA properties that are included in the cost.
I should've qualified my question with that.
Okay.
Thank you for-
He knows what's coming
... being very diligent about that.
Yeah.
Does it belong to Mark? Any other questions
or discussion? Can I get a motion to approve the June 3rd,
2026 list of bills?
Motion to approve.
Thank you, Gina.
Support.
Support from Oscar.
Ms. Cavalier?
Yes.
Mr. Zamora?
Yes.
Mr. Wiegand?
Yes.
Mr. Patzelt?
Yes.
Mr. Vicari?
Yes.
Mr. Jackson?
Yes.
Mayor Stone?
Yes.
Approved.
For the good of the order, announcements.
Who's got something to share?
Well, I'd just like to say that
from our house on Chicago Road, the
foot traffic of the kids going up to the skate park is incredible.
It's really seeing a lot of use, and I can't wait for the rest of the
vegetation to fill in, but from the looks of it now, it's just getting a ton
of use, and it's well-deserved, too. It's very nice.
And you don't have to be a skater to enjoy it.
Anyone can go walk the paths, and it is quite
entertaining.
Yes.
Anything else happening around town?
I will share. Oh, go ahead.
Lots of graduations this weekend.
How did First Robotics go?
They made it to Worlds.
Congratulations.
Which is very exciting.
And unfortunately, there is a sad announcement in that Mr.
Mike May, who has been the mentor, lead teacher of
the First Robotics team for Warren Con since 2012, passed
away last week.
Oh, I'm sorry.
What a legacy to leave.
Yes.
Yeah, I can't think of a more-
Inspired a lot of-
... wonderful man.
Has inspired a lot of future engineers, robotics.
Absolutely. Well, and a lot of current engineers were inspired by him,
and come back and volunteer. So, it's a great legacy.
Would you like a moment of silence?
Would you like a moment of silence in his memory? Of course. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing that.
Mayor, I'd like to mention that I
attended the commissions meeting of commission-
The Council and Commissions dinner
... dinner.
Thank you.
Dinner. And
even though I wasn't able to stay as
long as I wanted to toward the end,
and my friend here was trying to get me to give up and give a speech, I
apologize.
I had to run out at the end, but I just want to say how much I
enjoyed it. And I actually got an opportunity to meet five, six, seven people
that I hadn't met.
Mm-hmm.
And I wasn't aware of all the
commissions that were in the city.
So it was a little bit of an eye-opener for me, and the food was pretty good,
too.
Appreciated the hospitality.
The food was pretty good. Yes.
Thank you. Yeah. At the gazebo.
Wonderful.
So, thank you.
Oh my God.
Very good.
There is a lot happening this coming month.
We have the opening of Concerts at the Square tonight,
7:00 PM, with Under Pressure with Rock
right here at City Square. Thank you to Cultural Commission.
They organized that event.
Empowering Civic Engagement, we just finished rental.
It was eye-opening and interesting.
Coming up next, we are revisiting the mayor's office.
So, we kicked it off almost a year and a half, and here's
another chance to come and find out a little bit about what we
do. Community check-in will be at Shaw
Park, June 25th, if you want to come
learn a little bit more about what's happening in the city.
You want to take Garden Club?
Okay.
Or is this the rummage sale?
There it is, yes.
Friday and Saturday, June 12th and 13th, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM,
the historic Village District Old Village Hall will be the site
of the Garden Club's
rummage sale. They do this every other year.
One year they will have a
garden walk, and one year they have a rummage sale.
This year is the rummage sale. And I went over and helped
do a little bit of set up with my wife.
And I'll tell you, the building is pretty much packed, and they're going to be
getting in a few more things. And saw a lot of desirable items in there.
So,
don't forget to come out and
buy something you need or buy something you don't need.
And the proceeds go to scholarship funds, so-
Yes
... continuing the tradition in the next generation. And you know what?
I've been getting a couple calls since Memorial Day weekend about bringing back the
citywide garage sale. So, I'm going to start
sending them to you.
Our next Annual Hazardous Waste Day is Saturday,
September 12th. We had robust participation
at sanitation, and thanks to the help from DPW.
8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Usually, in the past, we've had
only one hazardous waste day. We had such overwhelming demand
to get some of these things out of homes and make sure that they are
properly disposed of, that we have invested in a second.
So mark your calendars. Come on out.
That's all I've got. Last call?
Congratulations to all of our grads.
We have a graduation season.
Okay. Our next DDA regular meeting is scheduled for
Wednesday, July 15th. Allows everyone to enjoy the holiday
however they may observe. We'll be back here at 3:00 PM on the
15th. Adjournment, can I get a motion to adjourn?
So moved.
They all yell at once. Tom, supported by Joe. All in favor?
Aye.
Motion carries.