City Council Study Session

City Council Study Session Monday, September 23, 2024 at 6:00 PM 27400 Southfield Road, Lathrup Village, Michigan 48076 1. Call to Order by Mayor Garrett at 6:00 pm 2. Discussion Items A. Finance Review Committee Recommendation Mayor Pro Tem Kantor explained the goal of the Finance Review Committee was to figure out how to get enough revenue to cover expenses incurred by the City of Lathrup Village. He mentioned deferred Capital needs, like trucks, building repairs, and road repairs are among the biggest expenses. Mayor Pro Tem Kantor explained that Proposition A, the Headlee Amendment, and the market crash all impact the City’s revenue. A long-term goal would be a Headlee override, to be on the 2025 ballot, and to collect about 3.1 mills, for operating, refuse, and trash. Recommend that we put a lock on the mileage, when we restore it, it stays for a time, which prevents Headlee from reducing the millage again for a while, which allows us to restore our millage rate. Short Term goal for the City’s budget, would be using Public Act 33, where the council can make a levy specifically for Public Safety, including the Police contract increase. He suggested a maximum of 3.1 mills. Councilmember Hammond asked about the estimated budget amounts and asked what would happen if the Council didn’t go along with that plan. Mayor Pro Tem Kantor said that the Council can approve a different amount and that there will be cuts to City services if the revenue problem isn’t fixed. B. Communication Plan Councilmember Hammond reviewed Berkley’s plan and made notes that he gave to City Administrator, Mike Greene, to take some of the framework from it, for our Communication Plan. He would like one in place before Christmas if possible. Councilmember Hammond stated that he wanted the plan to be clear and concise, professional, and a living document, that will be adjusted as necessary, and the resident’s input is welcome in the creation of the plan. The Communication Plan will make it clear what channels are available both in and outbound, it will state expected response times. Councilmember Hammond said that the City of Berkley has 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org  a Communications officer, who is ultimately responsible for the implementation of their communication plan. Mayor Garrett said she thought that the City staff should do the first draft. Mayor Pro Tem Kantor, Mayor Garrett, and Councilmember Hammond, all said that they would like a flow chart, to visually show the communication path and that it would be good to have it presented at the second study session next month. C. Town Hall Scheduling - Plans & Priorities Feedback Councilmember Hammond wants to schedule one to get residents and business owners feedback about what they want the Council to focus on, to bring people together, and to provide a more informal way to find out what is important to them. Mayor Pro Tem Kantor thought there should be some structure to the Town Hall meeting. Mayor Garrett thought it should be more structured, with different topics, and with high-level topics already suggested. Councilmember Hammond thought there should be break-out rooms, and see which are the highest priorities to residents, and that the residents can select the topics. Mayor Garrett asked if it could be ready at the next meeting, and Councilmember Hammond suggested it could be ready at the Study Session in October. D. Short-Term Rental Enforcement Mayor Pro Tem Kantor, said there have been complaints about short-term residents, and trash, to which a resident of Lathrup Village, Karen Green, asked what the City code is regarding Air BNB’s. Ms. Green said there had been two back-to-back Air BNB renters of the house next to her’s that used it as a party house, and there was a high amount of traffic to and from the house and lots of trash around the house. Karen Green asked if there is a restriction on the number of Air BNB’s rentals, in a residential area, and Lathrup Village as a whole. She also asked if there could be a restriction on the amount of a short- or long-term rental to possibly 3 to 4 months. Mayor Garrett asked Ms. Green, what her suggestion would be, and Ms. Green responded, what do you think is a good, she suggested, that it possibly be based on the number of complaints, police calls, and times that neighbors of Air BNB’s and other short term rental houses, must contact the owners of those rentals. Councilmember Hammond thought all rentals should be registered with the City. There was a discussion from Councilmembers and the Attorney, about abiding by our ordinances, having mechanisms in place to keep track of complaints/citations, and then revoking the Rental license. Mayor Garrett wanted to make sure that there would be checks and balances in place to make sure someone, could not call in complaints, due to a vendetta against someone. Councilmember Hammond said with long-term rentals, there is usually a process that includes a background check, before renting the property, and Mayor Garrett, said that insurance companies, place people in short-term rentals. 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org  E. Eastbound 11 Mile Paving Project City Administrator, Mike Greene, said Oakland County and M-Dot are ahead of schedule, and think they can do this project in the spring of 2025, so we are looking for a budget amendment since this will happen before the time that we expected and planned for in our budget. Councilmember Jennings asked about the cost, and City Administrator, Mike Greene, said that it is $375,000 for the project, with $212,000 funded by the federal funds, and that we will pay $163,000 and engineering costs to Giffels Webster, for an all-in cost of $220,000. F. Service Line Marketing Agreement Amendment City Administrator, Mike Greene, explained that in 2018 Council entered into an agreement with Service Line Warranties of America. They are expanding their offering and this marketing agreement amendment would allow them to offer these new services to residents. Councilmember Hammond asked about the expiration of the agreement, Mike Greene said the original agreement was for three years, but it auto-renews unless the Council ends it. Mayor Garrett said it is a good service and you can call several times. 3. Public Comments Rick Wisz, commented that having water line companies that are vetted by the City would be helpful, and said that at City Administrator, Mike Greene’s Town Hall meeting, he had them come up with broad topics and then list what their concerns were. Kim Hodge expressed her support for Karen Green’s concern about short-term rentals and gave Kudos to Mike Greene, and Alisa Emanuel for good communication. Jonathan Terra asked if Lathrup Village has any hotels. He said that in California they have a transient occupancy tax, and in San Diego, they have it on the bills for hotel rooms and short-term rentals. He mentioned that Air BNB collects the tax and remits it to the Cities. 4. Mayor and Council Comments Councilmember Jennings thanked the audience for constructive conversation with the Council. Mayor Pro Tem Kantor said that the State of Michigan, is looking into adding a small tax, and it passed one house but not the other. 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org  Mayor Pro Tem Kantor asked if we addressed a letter that came into the City, and Attorney Kimberlin said that the residents hired an attorney, because they thought they should not have to pay their water bill. Mayor Pro Tem Kantor asked and City Administrator Greene answered the following: Are any back water bill payments coming in? CA Greene noted some have been received and others are entering into payment plans. Any updates on the towers? CA Greene said Crown Castle and Alliance, are in progress. Has Steve from Code Enforcement, had any success with culverts? CA Greene noted that there has been limited substantial rain since our recent rain events. The best time to review these matters will be during the winter snow melt. 5. Adjourn 7:17 pm 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org