City Council

City Council Meeting Monday, August 28, 2023 A regular Eaton Rapids City Council meeting was held at City Hall, 200 S. Main Street, on August 28, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. 1. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Colestock called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL: Mayor Colestock and Councilpersons Steele, Politza, Robison, and Nicholas were present. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. INVOCATION: Pastor Steve Laginess with Thrive Church gave the invocation. 5. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Steele moved, Politza seconded, PASSED to approve the meeting agenda. 6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF AUGUST 14, 2023, CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING: Steele moved, Politza seconded, PASSED to approve the August 14, 2023, City Council Work Session meeting minutes. 7. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF AUGUST 14, 2023, CITY COUNCIL MEETING: Steele moved, Politza seconded, PASSED to approve the August 14, 2023, City Council meeting minutes. 1 8. APPROVAL OF CHECK DISBURSEMENTS TOTALING $255,504.83: Steele moved, Politza seconded, PASSED to approve the check disbursements totaling $255,504.83. 9. CITIZEN COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS: none 10. UNFINISHED AND SPECIAL BUSINESS: a. Public Hearing – Proposed resolution establishing regular elections in November of each even year commencing with the City Election of November 2026. The Public Hearing opened at 7:06 p.m. Rocco Buysee, 117 Frost Street, strongly supports moving the City Elections to even years and considers it a wise use of taxpayer dollars, as it will save them over $30,000 per election. Mayor Colestock thanked Mr. Buysee for his remarks. With no other public comments, the Public Hearing closed at 7:08 p.m. 11. ITEMS OF BUSINESS: a. First Read of Ordinance 2023-09. An Ordinance to Amend Sections 22-153 of Division 2 of Article IV of Chapter 22, Water Billing and Collection, and to Amend Section 22-163 of Division 3, of Article IV of Chapter 22, Billing and Collection of the Codified Ordinances of City of Eaton Rapids, Eaton County Michigan. b. Adopt Resolution 2023-27 to adopt 80%/20% Employer/Employee Health Care Cost Option as set forth in 2011 Public Act 162, the Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act. Steele moved, Politza seconded, PASSED to adopt 80%/20% Employer/Employee Health Care Cost Option as set forth in 2011 Public Act 162, the Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act. Roll Call Vote to adopt Resolution 2023-27: Name Vote Stacee Robison Yes Suzanne Politza Yes Ken Nicholas Yes William Steele Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes c. Approval of Special Event Application. Approve Special Event Permit Application for Eaton Rapids High School Homecoming Parade. Robison moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the Special Event Permit Application for the Eaton Rapids High School Homecoming Parade. 2 d. Approval of Service Agreement. Approve Service Agreement with the Eaton Rapids Senior Center. Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the service agreement with the Eaton Rapids Senior Center. Roll Call Vote to approve the service agreement with the Eaton Rapids Senior Center: Name Vote Suzanne Politza Yes Ken Nicholas Yes William Steele Yes Stacee Robison Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes e. Approval of Master Equity Lease Agreement. Approve Enterprise Fleet Management Master Equity Lease Agreement between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the service agreement with the Eaton Rapids Senior Center. Roll Call Vote to approve the Enterprise Fleet Management Master Equity Lease Agreement: Name Vote Ken Nicholas Yes William Steele Yes Stacee Robison Yes Suzanne Politza Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes f. Approval of Full Maintenance Agreement. Approve Enterprise Fleet Management Full Maintenance Agreement between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the Enterprise Fleet Management Full Maintenance Agreement between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. Roll Call Vote to approve the Enterprise Fleet Management Full Maintenance Agreement: Name Vote William Steele Yes Stacee Robison Yes Suzanne Politza Yes Ken Nicholas Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes g. Approval of Maintenance Management and Fleet Rental Agreement. Approve Enterprise Fleet Management Maintenance Management and Fleet Rental Agreement between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. 3 Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the Enterprise Fleet Management Maintenance Management and Fleet Rental Agreement between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. Roll Call Vote to approve the Enterprise Fleet Management Maintenance Management and Fleet Rental Agreement: Name Vote Stacee Robison Yes Suzanne Politza Yes Ken Nicholas Yes William Steele Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes h. Approval of Company Owned Vehicle Service Agreement. Approve Enterprise Fleet Management Company Owned Vehicle Service Agreement between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the Enterprise Fleet Management Company Owned Vehicle Service Agreement between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. Roll Call Vote to approve the Enterprise Fleet Management Company Owned Vehicle Service Agreement: Name Vote Suzanne Politza Yes Ken Nicholas Yes William Steele Yes Stacee Robison Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes i. Approve Agreement to Sell Customer Vehicles. Approve Enterprise Fleet Management Agreement to Sell Customer Vehicles between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the Enterprise Fleet Management Agreement to sell customer vehicles between Enterprise Fleet Management, Inc., and the City of Eaton Rapids. Roll Call Vote to approve Enterprise Fleet Management Agreement to sell customer vehicles: Name Vote Ken Nicholas Yes William Steele Yes Stacee Robison Yes Suzanne Politza Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes j. EATRAN Board Appointment. Appoint Yvonne Ridge, City Manager, to the EATRAN Board to complete Former Clerk Boomer’s term. Politza moved, Steele seconded, PASSED to Appoint Yvonne Ridge, City Manager, to the EATRAN Board to complete Former Clerk Boomer’s term. 4 12. CITIZEN COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS: Mr. Nathan Foote, 4670 Eaton River Trail, commented on the State Street Dam. He shared the history of the purchase power agreement between the dam owner and the City, the purchase price per kilowatt hour for the energy provided by the dam, and the establishment of the River Property Owner Group. 13. REPORTS: a. Fire Chief - none b. Police Chief – Applied for a grant for academy/training expenses. The current grant does not include wages as an allowable expense. The grant amount is $11,000. Wages will be an allowable expense in future grant years. Next year’s grant amount is $24,000. c. City Manager – We are interviewing candidates for the City Clerk position. We made an offer to one of the four individuals interviewed. The Department of Public Works assisted Potterville with mutual aid to get them back up and operational. Director Pierce worked to get the Potterville wastewater treatment plant back online. The City will help citizens with brush clean up. Details will be forthcoming. d. Council Members: Councilperson Robison thanked DPW Director Pierce and the crew for quickly restoring the City’s electricity. She recognized City Manager Ridge and the Department of Public Works Director Pierce for their work with Enterprise. Councilperson Robison believes the Enterprise Lease Agreement will provide the City employees with reliable transportation while, at the same time, saving taxpayers money. Councilperson Nicolas concurred with Councilperson Robison’s comments. Councilperson Politza thanked the Department of Public Works for their hard work during and after the storm. Councilperson Steele thanked the Department of Public Works employees. We are lucky to be in a place to provide mutual aid to neighboring communities. Recently, Councilperson Steele participated in a golf outing with Parks, Recreation & Events Director Cagle, Police Chief Weeks, and Fire Chief McNutt. He thanked City Manager Ridge and Director of Parks, Recreation & Events Cagel for their work applying for and receiving an Eaton County Community Grant funding the Outdoor Recreation Center’s project for a pavilion, tables, trash cans, and a Cubic Feet per Second (CFS) gauge for the river. e. Mayor Colestock thanked the Department of Public Works employees, the Fire Department, and the Police for their hard work during and after the storm. Within 24 hours, the power was restored for citizens inside the City. Mayor Colestock also thanked the citizens of Eaton Rapids for their cooperation and positive support of the DPW crew as they got us back up and running. She is pleased to hear the City will help with brush cleanup. While Mayor Colestock appreciates Mr. Foote’s passion for the State Street dam, she cannot speak to the history of payments made to the dam’s owner for electricity provided to the City. The dam owner agreed to the rate he is receiving right now. Mayor Colestock wished everyone a happy Labor Day weekend. 5 14. ADJOURNMENT: Politza moved, Steele seconded, PASSED to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. _______________________________ _________________________________ Pamela Colestock, Mayor Yvonne Ridge, Interim City Clerk 6