City Council

MANISTEE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 The Manistee City Council met in a work session on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 at 7: 00 p.m., Council Chambers, City Hall, 70 Maple Street, Manistee, Michigan 49660. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dale Cooper, Lynda Beaton, Roger Zielinski, Robert Goodspeed, James Smith, Mark Wittlieff, Erin Pontiac MEMBERS ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Thad Taylor, Finance Director Ed Bradford, DPW Director Jeff Mikula, Planning & Zoning Director Denise Blakeslee, City Engineer Shawn Middleton, Public, and Media Public Comments on Work Session Related Items. Jim Grabowski — 341 Fourth Street / sidewalk program — asked who carries the liability on the sidewalk; sidewalk replacement program; and is against water& sewer rates. Discussion on Sidewalk Ordinance / Sidewalk Program. DPW Director Jeff Mikula and City Engineer Shawn Middleton made a presentation on the current Sidewalk Ordinance and Sidewalk Program. Sidewalk Program does not mirror the Ordinance. Question is does Council want to enforce the current ordinance which requires adjoining property owners to maintain them, or continue with the status quo? CONSENSUS: Educate the community of ordinance requirement. Staff will bring back something 2nd for the Council to consider possibly at the meeting in October. Discussion on Council Policy CP-3 Sale of City-Owned Property. City Manager Thad Taylor and Planning and Zoning Administrator Denise Blakeslee led a discussion on Council Policy CP- 3. Planning Commission reviewed and established minimum pricing on surplus property. Intend to notify adjoining property owners of the offer to sale the land locked properties; will solicit brokers for the other commercial or residential properties to assist in determining an asking price and marketing them for sale. Review of the current policy will also be done to help streamline the process. CONSENSUS: Proceed as presented by Staff. Discussion on Recycling Center. DPW Director Jeff Mikula presented an update on continued monitoring of the Recycling Center. The area of concern was that things were being placed outside of the containers. When the recycling containers were in the DPW yard, cleanup of these item had to be done daily. With it being relocated to the new area, number of containers available, and the number of times it is collected, it has lightened the work involved about 90%. Cameras are being used and will be relocated to better capture license plates. Page 1 Council Work Session - September 12, 2017 Questions asked regarding the number of times containers are dumped and cost; any increase of dumping since Manistee Township quit accepting recycling; acceptable items in containers; any issues with animals; cost of curbside recycling throughout the community. CONSENSUS: Continue with current mode of operation. Monitor and recommend changes if/as necessary. Find out what the cost for City-wide recycling would be. Discussion on Water and Sewer Rates. Councilmember Lynda Beaton requested an opportunity to discuss water and sewer rates. DPW Director Jeff Mikula, Finance Director Ed Bradford and City Engineer Shawn Middleton gave a presentation and answered questions on the discussion on the rate study by Burton & Associates, SAW Grant, and closing CSO 018 financing, bond issues, and impact on rates. CONSENSUS: No changes requested; asked that the PowerPoint slides be put on the website. Council Comments. Wittlief asked for an update on the painting of the crosswalks by Kennedy School. Beaton asked for a comparison in the Capital Improvement Plan to easily show what has been completed without having to go back to prior documents. Smith thanked staff for presentations and members of the public for attending. Adjourned at approximately 8: 39 p. m. Ak: kjL AtA ( /- Michelle Wright MMC / FA, MiCPT City Clerk/ Chief Deputy Treasurer Council Work Session - September 12, 2017 Page 2