City Council Regular Meeting

City Council Regular Meeting Madison Heights, Michigan December 11, 2023 A City Council Regular Meeting was held on Monday, December 11, 2023 at 7:30 PM at City Hall - Council Chambers, 300 W. 13 Mile Rd. PRESENT Mayor Roslyn Grafstein Mayor Pro Tem Mark Bliss Councilman Sean Fleming Councilman William Mier Councilor Emily Rohrbach Councilman David Soltis Councilor Quinn Wright ALSO PRESENT City Manager Melissa Marsh City Attorney Larry Sherman Deputy City Manager/City Clerk Cheryl Rottmann The invocation was led by Mayor Pro Tem Bliss and the Pledge of Allegiance followed. MEETING OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: Andy Meisner, CEO of Community Unity Bank, stated Community Unity Bank specializes in lending for small businesses. He noted that sometimes small businesses have difficulty in getting loans and they are designed to meet that need. He shared some financial management tips for 2024 including: make sure you place your deposits in a depository insured by the FDIC; if you still are writing checks, do so with a gel pen because that is harder to alter; always use multi-factor authentication; use a password with numbers, letters (upper and lower) and symbols; and don’t open or click on any links in any emails or texts from anyone you do not know or if their email address looks suspicious. He also offered his condolences on the passing of Commissioner Gary McGillvray. CM-23-314. Consent Agenda. Motion to approve the Consent Agenda with the following correction: Item #2 should read: "Approval of the City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of November 27, 2023." Motion made by Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Seconded by Councilor Rohrbach. Voting Yea: Mayor Grafstein, Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Councilman Fleming, Councilman Mier, Councilor Rohrbach, Councilman Soltis, Councilor Wright 1  Motion carried. CM-23-315. 2024 Council Meeting Calendar. Motion to approve the 2024 Council Meeting Calendar as presented. Motion made by Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Seconded by Councilor Rohrbach. Voting Yea: Mayor Grafstein, Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Councilman Fleming, Councilman Mier, Councilor Rohrbach, Councilman Soltis, Councilor Wright Motion carried. CM-23-316. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of November 27, 2023. Motion to approve the City Council Regular meeting minutes of November 27, 2023, as printed. Motion made by Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Seconded by Councilor Rohrbach. Voting Yea: Mayor Grafstein, Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Councilman Fleming, Councilman Mier, Councilor Rohrbach, Councilman Soltis, Councilor Wright Motion carried. CM-23-317. Elected Officials Compensation Commission - Salary Order Resolution. Motion to receive and file the Elected Officials Compensation Commission Salary Order Resolution as follows: ORDER OF THE ELECTED OFFICIALS COMPENSATION COMMISSION WHEREAS, the Elected Officials Compensation Commission met on Monday, December 4, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. in the Madison Heights Municipal Building, pursuant to Ordinance 454 of 1972 consisting of six members. Commissioners present: Bessler, Brunke, Geralds, Marentette, Wright Commissioners absent: Fortune-Heiligh WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 454 of 1972, Section 2-214 provides as follows: “The Commission shall determine the salaries of elected officials in the City; which determination shall be the salaries unless the Mayor and Council by resolution adopted by 2/3rds of the members elected to and serving shall reject them. The determinations of the Commission shall be effective 30 days following the filing with the City Clerk of such determination unless rejected by the legislative body. In case of rejection, the existing salary shall prevail.” 2  WHEREAS, after due consideration by the members of said Board, having been furnished with current salary statistics and after full and complete discussion of all pertinent matters, the recommended decision of the Commission is as follows: RESOLVED, IT IS ORDERED, that the salary of the Mayor shall be increased 4% from the current sum of $9,498 per annum to $9,877 per annum effective January 2024; and increased 2% from $9,877 per annum to $10,075 per annum effective January 2025; and, IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the salary of the Mayor Pro Tem shall be increased 4% from the current sum of $7,321 per annum to $7,613 per annum effective January 2024; and increased 2% from $7,613 per annum to $7,766 per annum effective January 2025; and, IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the salary of the City Council members shall be increased by 4% from the current sum of $6,653 per annum to $6,919 per annum effective January 2024; and increased 2% from $6,919 per annum to $7,057 per annum effective January 2025. Yeas: Bessler, Brunke, Geralds, Marentette, Wright Nays: None Absent: Fortune-Heiligh Motion carried. Motion made by Councilor Rohrbach, Seconded by Councilor Wright. Voting Yea: Mayor Grafstein, Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Councilman Fleming, Councilman Mier, Councilor Rohrbach, Councilman Soltis, Councilor Wright Motion carried. CM-23-318. Policy for City Council Personal Electronic Device Stipend. Motion to approve the Policy for City Council Personal Electronic Device Stipend as presented. Motion made by Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Seconded by Councilor Wright. Voting Yea: Mayor Grafstein, Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Councilman Fleming, Councilman Mier, Councilor Rohrbach, Councilman Soltis, Councilor Wright Motion carried. 3  CM-23-319. Mental Health Co-Responder Team Interlocal Agreement. Motion to approve the Mental Health Co-response Team Interlocal Agreement establishing a partnership with the City of Ferndale, the City of Hazel Park, the City of Royal Oak and the Oakland Community Health Network and contract full-time mental health clinicians to work within the four communities and approve a budget amendment in the amount of $30,625. Motion made by Councilor Wright, Seconded by Councilman Fleming. In response to Councilor Rohrbach, Manager of Justice Initiatives Siiri Sikora stated the original communities are tracking repeat calls and are looking at a variety of different outcomes. Since August 2021, between the four co-responders they currently have in place, 2,826 individuals have been served. Those are all individuals that had been called upon by the police. Out of those, 52% have remained in community-based service, approximately 39% transferred to emergency rooms or crisis centers for a higher level of care, and only 2.5% were arrested. In response to Councilman Soltis, Ms. Sikora responded that this program is for all ages; however, they do tend to deliver more services to adults. Of those served since 2021, approximately 500 were children. Ms. Sikora also stated that they can refer to Carehouse and if there were a need, they would utilize their services. Voting Yea: Mayor Grafstein, Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Councilman Fleming, Councilman Mier, Councilor Rohrbach, Councilman Soltis, Councilor Wright Motion carried. CM-23-320. Purchase of Police Tasers. Motion to approve the purchase of twenty (20) Taser 10 models, including training and equipment, for a total of $130,420 payable over five years to Axon Enterprises, Inc., the sole source provider for this type of technology. Motion made by Councilor Wright, Seconded by Councilman Fleming. Voting Yea: Mayor Grafstein, Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Councilman Fleming, Councilman Mier, Councilor Rohrbach, Councilman Soltis, Councilor Wright Motion carried. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilman Mier wished everyone a Happy Holiday if you celebrate. If you are struggling this holiday season, please reach out to Common Ground. Have a safe and Happy New Year, see you in 2024. Mayor Pro Tem Bliss stated that he is thankful to his peers for their enthusiasm at the last meeting that he had to miss due to unexpectantly having to go out of town. He wished a Happy Birthday to his daughter, Ariel. He wished everyone who is celebrating a Happy Hanukkah and to those 4 who will be celebrating, a Merry Christmas and hopes that everyone has a Happy New Year with a lot of positivity and joy. Councilor Wright thanked the Texas Roadhouse for supporting Madison Heights Youth Assistance and noted that tomorrow, a percentage of their proceeds will go to them, and he encourages all to participate. He wished everyone Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year. City Attorney Sherman wished everyone Happy Holidays and Go Blue! City Manager Marsh wished everyone Happy Holidays. City Clerk Rottmann wished all a Happy Holiday season. Councilor Rohrbach wished all Happy Holidays and those that celebrate Festivus, she hopes that they are victorious in their feats of strength. Councilman Fleming wished all Happy Holidays and noted that you can go downtown Detroit and see the largest Kinara in the United States celebrating Kwanzaa. He stated that he is happy for the approval de-escalation items including approval of the police tasers for use of less than lethal force and for the mental health co-responder program. Councilman Soltis wished everyone Happy Holidays and Go Lions! Mayor Grafstein stated that the Santa stage was very crowded this year and hopefully, we will be able to greet Santa at the new band stage next year. She congratulated her mom on being recognized for establishing Manic Depression Association of Toronto thirty-eight years ago. She stated that she is happy that the Council approved the co-responder program and noted that this is one step closer to bringing the needed resources to our community. She wished everyone celebrating Hannukah a Happy 5th day and Happy Holidays to all. To all our residents, staff and Council, she wishes all a safe and Happy New Year. Next City Council meeting is on January 8th. ADJOURNMENT Having no further business, Mayor Grafstein adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Roslyn Grafstein, Mayor Cheryl E. Rottmann, City Clerk 5