City Council

City Council Meeting September 11, 2023 A regular Eaton Rapids City Council meeting was held at City Hall, 200 S. Main Street, on September 11, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. Call To Order: Mayor Colestock called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll Call: Mayor Colestock, Mayor Pro-Tem Steele, and Councilpersons Politza and Nicholas were present. Councilperson Robison was absent and excused. Roll call for the members of City Council: Name Vote Suzanne Politza Yes Ken Nicholas Yes William Steele Yes Stacee Robison Absent Mayor Pam Yes Colestock Pledge of Allegiance: Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Invocation: The invocation was given by Pastor Jenny Rouble from the First Congregational Church. Approval of the Agenda: Steele moved, Politza seconded, PASSED to approve the meeting agenda. Approval of the minutes from August 28, 2023, City Council Work Session Meeting: Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the August 28, 2023 City Council Work Session meeting minutes. 1 Approval of the minutes from August 28, 2023, City Council Meeting: Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the August 28, 2023 City Council meeting minutes. Approval of check disbursements totaling $580,329.66: Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to approve the check disbursements totaling $580,329.66. Citizen Comments and Questions: • Rebecca Ely, 1306 Hall Street, commended the Department of Public Works for their rapid response to the storm. She recognized and appreciated their efforts, from the restoration of power to the debris cleanup. • Rocco Buysse, 117 Frost Street, thanked the City Council for moving the elections to even-numbered years. It was a wise and prudent move. Mr. Buysse suggested outfitting the crosswalk in front of City Hall with lighted signs. Another possibility is a red sign, like the one on South Jolly in Lansing. He also suggested a left turn light at the corner of Main Street and Knight Street. Mr. Buysse also asked about the progress of the new recycling center. Mayor Colestock will provide an update in her Mayor’s report on the recycling center. She thanked Ms. Ely and Mr. Buysse for attending the City Council meeting. Unfinished and Special Business: none Items of Business: Adoption 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. Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED the adoption of Ordinance 2023-09. Roll call vote to adopt Ordinance 2023-09: Name Vote Ken Nicholas Yes William Steele Yes Stacee Robison Absent Ken Nicholas Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes This ordinance will go into effect 21 days after it is posted in the newspaper. 2 Approval of Budget Amendment: Approve Budget Amendment for Bridge Inspection Repairs and Bridge Load Rating Study. Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED approval of Budget Amendment for Bridge Inspection Repairs and Bridge Load Rating Study. A budget amendment for the fiscal year 2023-2024 of $103,100, using the 202 Major Street fund balance to cover the cost of the $90,300 design fees for the West Knight Street and the State Street bridge rehabilitation project and $12,800 to complete and update the MiBRIDGE Bridge Load Ratings analysis. Approval of Special Event Application: To approve the Special Event Application for 2023 Main Street Trick-or-Treat to be held on October 25, 2023 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Steele moved, Politza seconded, PASSED approval of Special Event Application for 2023 Main Street Trick-or-Treat to be held on October 25, 2023, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The event will occur on October 26 if it rains on October 25. Approve Resolution 2023-28: Establishing regular elections in November of each even year commencing with the city election of November 2026. Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED approval of Resolution 2023-28 establishing regular elections in November of each even year commencing with the city election of November 2026. Roll call vote to adopt Resolution 2023-28: Name Vote William Steele Yes Ken Nicholas Yes Stacee Robison Absent Suzanne Politza Yes Mayor Pam Colestock Yes Citizen Comments and Questions: County Commissioner Barbara Rogers’ report: • The County’s budget hearing for 2023-2024 is Tuesday, September 12 at 7:30 p.m. • Ben Dawson is the new Human Resources Director for the County. • Melissa Ballard was promoted to Finance Director. • Logan Bailey is the new Communications Director for the County. 13. Reports: a. Fire Chief: none 3 b. Police Chief: • Accreditation: The Police Department hired the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies to help the department meet modern-day policies and procedures for law enforcement. This effort will show the community how the police department is openly conducting itself. Also, it shows the community the City is committed to policing in a professional manner. The accreditation process takes two years. • Staffing Issues: The Department currently has two cadets. One will graduate in December, the other in March. They will face three months of training in the field after graduation. A possible new employee has one more test to get into the academy. Two officers are leaving the city. c. City Manager • The MERS conference is on September 28 and 29. • The annual financial audit begins Monday, September 25. • The City will close on the Clean Water Revolving Fund (CWSRF) bond on September 28. • The new city clerk will start on September 18. d. Council Members • Mayor Pro-Tem Steele recognized Patriots Day and our City’s fire, police, and other first responders for all they do for our community. The Eaton Rapids Conservation Club open house is Sunday, September 17, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. e. Mayor • Mayor Colestock thanked the Eaton County Emergency Management Director Ryan Wilkinson for all the communications regarding the August 24 th storm. He was very quick to respond and provided a lot of updated communications to all communities affected, and it’s greatly appreciated. • Quick update regarding the recycling center. The committee continues to work towards establishing the details required for the center, including what kinds of materials will be collected. We have meetings scheduled with Metro and Granger in the coming weeks and hope that will provide the necessary information to move forward. City Manager Ridge and Director Cagle will be attending a NextCycle meeting on Oct 23 rd, where they will make a presentation to a group of companies that can offer grants for infrastructure and equipment. We learned this past week that we were not awarded an EGLE grant from the State but will be able to apply again next year. Right now, estimated costs for the infrastructure are $450,000. We are working on getting those costs down by tweaking what is needed but these meetings with material vendors will help us do that. We had really hoped we could break ground this fall, but at this time, it’s looking more like 4  sometime in 2024. We will be updating the townships at the next COG meeting, on October 19th. • MDOT continues to work with the city regarding pedestrian crossings. We are scheduling a meeting with them to discuss another option they proposed last week. If council remembers, we declined the pedestrian island that was proposed, but MDOT is still pushing for some kind of crossing midway between Hamlin and State St. We also want to see if they have an option for crossing at Main/Hamlin. • DDA has approved an idea for a Winter “farmers” Market. Black Dog Coffee owner Lisa Barna, who has been managing the farmers market this summer has had a lot of the vendors asking for this. She is looking at utilizing space at Union Street School and will bring the full details to the next DDA meeting in October for full approval, but right now we have the board’s approval to move forward in this direction. The summer market has been a huge success! Adjournment: Steele moved, Nicholas seconded, PASSED to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m. ___________________________ ______________________________ Pamela Colestock, Mayor Yvonne Ridge, Interim City Clerk 5