City Council

PROCEEDINGS OF THE MANISTEE CITY COUNCIL – August 8, 2012 A regular meeting of the Manistee City Council was called to order by her honor, Mayor Colleen Kenny on Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 70 Maple Street, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. PRESENT: Colleen Kenny, Sid Scrimger, Robert Hornkohl, Ilona Haydon, Catherine Zaring, Beth Adams, and Alan Marshall. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager – Mitch Deisch, City Attorney – George Saylor, City Clerk – Michelle Wright, Community Development Director – Jon Rose, and DPW Director – Jack Garber. CITIZEN COMMENTS ON AGENDA RELATED ITEMS. None received. CONSENT AGENDA.  Minutes ‐ July 17, 2012 ‐ Regular Meeting  Payroll ‐ July 9 – July 22, 2012 ‐ $ 113,913.75 ‐ July 23 – Aug. 5, 2012 ‐ $ 115,498.03  Cash Balances Report ‐ June 2012  Notification Regarding Next Work Session – August 14, 2012 ‐ 6:00 p.m. A project update bus tour will be conducted; and such business as may come before the Council.  Consideration of Annual Disabled American Veterans Forget‐Me‐Not Sale. The Manistee Salt City Chapter 43 of the Disabled American Veterans have requested authorization to conduct their annual Forget‐Me‐Not sale on August 16, 17 and 18, 2012. Funds raised go toward state and local DAV service projects.  Consideration of Second Annual Labor Day Bridge Walk. The Non‐Motorized Transportation Committee is requesting authorization for the Second Annual Labor Day Bridge Walk on Monday, September 3, 2012. The event will start at 9 a.m. at the Fifth Avenue Beach House and crosses over both the US‐31 Bridge and the Maple Street Bridge. The walk will take participants through Historic Downtown Manistee to First Street Beach and back by the Riverwalk. This is another event that promotes healthy activities for people of all abilities to enjoy. City Council Minutes August 8, 2012 Page 1 MOTION by Hornkohl, second by Zaring to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. With a roll call vote this motion passed unanimously. AYES: Kenny, Scrimger, Hornkohl, Haydon, Zaring, Adams, and Marshall NAYS: None UNFINISHED BUSINESS. None. NEW BUSINESS. None. A REPORT FROM THE WATER DEPARTMENT. Mr. Bruce Banks reported on the activities of the Water Department and responded to questions the Council had regarding their activities. MAYORS EXCHANGE DEBRIEFING. Council and staff reviewed the recent Mayors Exchange Program conducted with the City of Big Rapids. Comments included: ‐ Liked the public arch and dwarf trees on their Main Street ‐ really stood out; does the referendum on our streetscape still prohibit trees or was there a time limit? ‐ Cleanliness and neatness of storefronts, even if they were vacant. ‐ Their city provides more support to downtown / DDA. ‐ Impressed by the library at the university; businesses they attract are because of the university; how can we utilize the college students here? ‐ Liked the tables and chairs available in downtown area; building we had dinner in was a MSHDA project – are there still funds available to do more MSHDA projects? ‐ Would like to have a Council work session with the DDA to come up with ideas. ‐ How can we improve the mayor exchange program, is two days better, need better information, or learning experiences? ‐ Should do more one‐on‐one with departments; how do they conduct their meetings, budget issues; we see just the outer shell of the city, not the inner workings – that’s the purpose of mayors exchange. ‐ Likes the idea to have the department heads that go break out with their respective departments to learn. ‐ Liked the public art, street trees, and cleanliness; their DDA is set up completely different than ours – receives 2 mill operating instead of the TIF funds; our downtown falls under the Historic District Commission – would be good to include them also in a meeting; MSHDA funds are still available; looking forward to more conversations on this; ‐ Never did like the DDA being funded by TIF, when it sunsets, their funding goes to zero; TIF is hard on the City though; consider a 2 mill funding to get us back to the TIF amount when City Council Minutes August 8, 2012 Page 2  it sunsets. CITIZEN COMMENT. None received. OFFICIALS AND STAFF. Deisch congratulated Councilman Marshall on his election victory of the 7th district County Commissioner seat. COUNCILMEMBERS. Marshall thanked all the people that got out to vote yesterday. CONSIDERATION OF ADJOURNING INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION. City Manager Mitchell D. Deisch has requested an Executive Session this evening as permitted by the Open Meetings Act, Section 8 (a) for the City Manager’s annual evaluation. MOTION by Hornkohl, second by Haydon to adjourn to Executive Session. Time: 7:48 p.m. MOTION by Haydon, second by Adams to return to Regular Session. Time: 9:07 p.m. ADJOURN. MOTION to adjourn was made by Haydon, second by Adams. Meeting adjourned at 9:08 p.m. Michelle Wright MMC / CPFA, MiCPT City Clerk/Deputy Treasurer City Council Minutes August 8, 2012 Page 3