City Council Study Session

City Council Study Session Monday, November 24, 2025, 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. Headlee Results Councilmembers, City Administrator Greene, and Attorney Baker discussed:  The Southfield Library contract, and waiting to find out if the Library Board will let us out early, and if LV Residents can buy memberships  The library year cancellation clause, effective July 2027, unless we can get them to let us out early  The penalty fines that we give the Library that we get back from the County, that if we cancel the contract we would get them back  Eliminating chipping services, if we can do it before the contract expires  Would Christmas trees get picked up?  Outsourcing the Police Force  Not backfilling open Police Department positions  Having only 1 Officer on shift at a time during some shifts  Eliminating City Administrative Staff and hiring all new part-time employees  Elimination of the Tree and/or Parks & Recreation Committees  Other future things  Seeking Annexation from Southfield  The annexation is a multi-year process, and the steps to annexation B. Study Session Recordings Councilmembers, City Administrator Greene, and Attorney Baker discussed:  Utilizing a service like LVTV  Using a City cell phone and a mic to record Study Sessions  Whether it would be a livestreamed or a recorded session that would be uploaded  The cost of uploading the recorded meetings  Moving to two formal meetings a month and eliminating Study Sessions  If other Communities are recording their Study Sessions  Possibly using Zoom and storing the recordings, and the legality and cost of recording the meetings through Zoom  Who would record the meetings if not through LVTV  Looking into other options for recording the meetings C. Children & Community Garden Councilmembers, City Administrator Greene, and Attorney Baker discussed: 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org   Both Boards are stepping down  The aisle weeding and setting things up for the Bed Rentals  The City contributes to the Community Garden  If we can ask the Nature Group to maintain/manage the Gardens  If we can put a posting for help in the Newsletter  The source of revenue from the rentals for the Community Garden  The Children’s Garden is a 501c3 D. Community Promotion Councilmembers, City Administrator Greene, and Attorney Baker discussed:  To have the CC discuss Community Promotion across all boards/committees that promote across the City, like the DDA, the Chamber of Commerce  A sense to coordinate these groups for collaboration as to what the other groups are doing, coordinated, not Ad Hoc  Possibly informing DDA Director Colson about what each group is doing, or a designated person  Having Chairs/Heads of the Committees meet  Wanting the Council to head them  DDA, Chamber of Commerce, Tree Committee, Nature Group, Parks & Recreation, and potentially partners like the Women’s Group, the LVCF too  Some Committees are on the CC Regular Meeting agenda and don’t always report, and they should, with the CC liaison having something to say every time  Park & Rec. minutes are under Documents on the City’s Website E. Regular Meeting Agenda Items Councilmembers, City Administrator Greene, and Attorney Baker discussed:  DPS building - will cost spiral, this will buy time, to prevent the mold from coming back  Currently, a 9-inch gutter; proposals were for 6 or 7-inch gutters  Appointment to the DDA Committee, we can discuss it now; historically, the recommendation comes from the Mayor  Is there a conversation about candidates for the positions?  Mayor Garrett recommended appointing Tracey Williams, due to her work at Oakland Thrive, and we have been working with her, and she has been involved  Someone who has an interest in City, who has the time to do the work, is what we were looking for in a DDA candidate 3. Public Comments Christina Schindler expressed in part: spoke in support of keeping the library, and that ending the contract will cause anger, and asked if we have exhausted other efforts, and supports a study of outsourcing the Police and finding out how much we can save through that information. Timothy Hillman expressed in part: thanks to Mayor Garrett and Sisters at AKA for the food drive for people in need at City Hall, and that compromising the library will be a mistake, and he looked at other communities that do not have access to libraries, and there were none, and hopes we can find another way. 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org Cora Morgan expressed in part that it would be a huge mistake to cut the library contract; she found it offensive that it was said that we need to cut that, and thought maybe a library millage could be considered. Ian Zitron expressed in part that he objects to cutting the library budget, he does not want us known as the least educated or intellectually curious City, and that one quarter of our residents have library cards. Timothy Hillman expressed in part: a potential option sharing that the City of Pleasant Ridge contracts with Huntington Woods, and that he is curious if we could engage other places for their Library services and explore other cities’ libraries. Jonathan Tara expressed in part that he is against eliminating chipping services and paying a company, suggested that we do what San Diego has done for trash, and charge more money for a second container, and if you have a refrigerator, to pay someone to pick it up. Ellen Greenia expressed in part that in her home, they get 40-50 books a week, talked about people coming to Lathrup Village having to pay a separate fee, and hopes that we are not dropping the Library contract altogether. Karen Harris expressed in part that she voted for Headlee because she did not want to see anything cut; the information that people are reacting to was out there, and now something has to be cut. Autumn Sousanis expressed in part: about library penalty fines, disagreed that residents weren’t informed if they didn’t vote for Headlee, and about combing over the financial disbursements, money spent on Giffels/Webster, and Flock Cameras. Laurie Kunz, expressed in part; that she does not want to see anything cut, fighting to control the spending and wished that Council would have listened and adhered to their requests and not spent money on things the residents don’t want, and the camera in the corner has been recording them for years, can you put it on YouTube, and use camera we have already paid for. 4. Mayor and Council Comments Mayor Garrett:  Personally uses the library, but in a situation where we have to do something  Fred Zorn at Southfield did not know we were considering this  Helpful to table it until we find other options  Not negating outsourcing the Police, but strongly against that, and losing Community Policing Mayor Pro Tem Kantor:  MPT Kantor and Attorney Baker discussed the status of the JMS Company Lawsuit o That is done o We are right back where we were in January of 2021 o They are refusing to provide tenant information o Areas in the buildings are not up to code; they were originally office use, then a different use with public intensity vs office use o Timetable for them to implement these things 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org  o Start by inspecting these properties and finding a pathway to compliance o We will probably be in district court for a lot of these things o Hopefully, by next month find where they stand  Changed the sign ordinance and put in a delay for it, sending notes out to Businesses  Having Code Enforcement Officer Colliau swap out a few hours to do a nighttime patrol after Jan. 1st, CA will check with his schedule to see if it is a possibility; it gets dark early now  Asked for the fund balances on the sheet Councilmember Jennings:  Can you look out for larger cities for Library contract information? CA Greene replied that the City of Troy charges $200 a year Councilmember Sousanis:  Look at big blocks off the top (for budget cuts), can we look at small parts like 10% here and there with line items  If Council has an attitude regarding wanting Headlee to pass  Bridge the gap and not just in giant blocks Mayor Pro Tem Kantor:  Replied to CM Sousanis that they were very specific, there was a list of things we would be choosing from and discussed in every Town Hall that could be cut if the Headlee Override did not pass, and they did do a line-by-line budget analysis, to try to find a little bit of money City Administrator Greene:  Looking at the budget, some big-ticket items are going to have to go Councilmember Sousanis:  Is this Punitive or arbitrary 5. Adjourn at 7:08 pm 27400 Southfield Rd | Lathrup Village, MI 48076 | 248.557.2600 | www.lathrupvillage.org