City Council

APPROVED 11/06/2017 SPECIAL QUARTERLY ROUNDTABLE MINUTES OCTOBER 23, 2017 THE SPECIAL QUARTERLY ROUNDTABLE OF THE RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL WAS CALLED TO ORDER AT 5:30 P.M., ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2017, BY MAYOR RIX. ROLL CALL Present: Allen, Greene, LaFore, Misteravich, Reindel, Rix, Warn Absent: None Others: City Manager Moore, City Clerk Stagl Visitors: Police Chief Teske, Fire Chief Garant AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Fire Chief Garant updated Council on the progress the Department is making on the replacement of the ladder truck that was totaled. The Department formed a team of 8 Firemen that worked on designing the Department’s truck of choice which is a quint. The Committee has met with the grant writer. The grant writer had several questions for the Department and the Department has already provided about 85% of the information requested and is working towards gathering the remaining information needed. The deadline for the grant submittal has not yet been released. Once the grant is submitted we do not expect to get an answer until the next summer. If the grant is approved it will take about one year for the truck to be built. The proposed new truck is expected to cost approximately $700,000 - $800,000. Fire Chief Garant indicated that it has been a very positive experience working with the grant writer. Discussion on the course of action if the grant is not approved. The Fire Department would need to come before Council for authorization to move forward with options on the purchase of a vehicle. Other options will be discussed through the budget process so that the City and Department will be ready if the grant is not successful. CCM: 10/23/2017 Page 1 of 5  APPROVED 11/06/2017 ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion by Warn, seconded by Greene, to adopt the Agenda as presented. All yeas Motion passes ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Discussion of Items of General Concern Council Goals and Objectives City Manager Moore presented Council with an updated Goals and Objectives based off of the changes made at the July quarterly roundtable. No changes were made at this meeting, but the following items were noted: - A meeting needs to be arranged with the new owner of the Kmart complex, Speedway and Bob Eisenhardt to discuss a mutually beneficial access to both developments. - Regarding Code Enforcement, Council requested an updated report from our part-time code enforcement officer. - Discussed the possibility of having the schools contribute more funding towards the Cable Coordinator’s wages, since he now teaches two classes. The additional funding could be used to pay for part-time help which would allow the City to have additional programming produced. Police Department Staffing Discussed staffing levels/issues at the Police Department. During the budget workshop, the Police Chief had requested to hire two additional full time Police Officers. Council was provided with information on Department Demographics, Department scheduling, the costs associated with the proposed additional staffing and potential part time wages. Chief Teske stated that currently the Department was doing reactive policing. An additional full time officer would enhance their policing efforts. Increased police presence deters crime. The turnover of part time officers makes scheduling difficult. Finding part time officers that can provide enough hours is also a challenge. When other communities were researched, the City’s current part-time wage is more toward the bottom of the wage scale. Capac and Utica currently pay their part-time officers $20.00 per hour. CCM: 10/23/2017 Page 2 of 5  APPROVED 11/06/2017 Because of the difficulty finding and keeping part time Police Officers, Chief Teske was proposing to add two additional full time officers. One full time officer would work during the day shift Thursday through Sunday, the second full time officer would be scheduled to work the midnight shift Monday through Wednesday. Council was in agreement that the wage for the part-time officers needed to be increased. Council discussed possible alternatives to hiring two full-time officers. Questioned if hiring a department secretary and one full-time officer could be looked at. Discussed if increasing the part-time wage would allow the City to hire and retain part-time officers. Discussed the possibility of going for a public safety millage. Rix stated that he would not be opposed to using some of the City’s fund balance to pay for the cost of adding back in the traffic control car. Council directed Administration to determine costs to bring back a traffic control car. Council wants this traffic car added as soon as possible. Council did inform Administration that they were willing to look at all options to provide solutions to the Department’s problems, but they also wanted to see results from all police officers. Council recessed at 7:46 p.m. Council reconvened at 7:56 p.m. Golf Cart Ordinance Council was provided Golf Cart Ordinances from the Village of Milford, the City of Albion, Clay Township and St. Clair County. Administration was requesting direction from Council on whether this was something that we should be looking into. Rix stated that he feels allowing golf carts within the City makes sense for the Community. They would be easier to park. This would be an enhancement to the Community. If it doesn’t work, the ordinance could be repealed. Reindel and LaFore were in support of creating a golf cart ordinance. Police Chief Teske informed Council there was a difference between a golf cart and other low speed vehicles (ATV’s and UTV’s). The ordinance from Milford only allows golf carts – not Gators or ATV’s. A yearly CCM: 10/23/2017 Page 3 of 5  APPROVED 11/06/2017 registration is also required along with a certificate of insurance showing the Village listed as an additional insured. Councilors were in support of allowing golf cart only and directed the Administration to develop a draft golf cart ordinance. Council will review this issue again at the January Roundtable. Old City Hall/Request for Proposals City Planner Troy Jeschke has prepared a Request for Proposals (RFP) for old City Hall. Council was asked to review and approve the RFP, prior to Administration sending it out to the Public. Discussion on whether Council wanted to establish a Committee to look at the RFP’s submitted and recommendations provided to Council or if the whole Council wanted to review the RFP’s at special meetings. Discussion on whether the sale of property could be handled in a Closed Session – if so, no need for a committee. Council did request that a local real estate agent confirm that the deposit amount was appropriate. City Manager Moore informed Council that he would have local real estate agents and the City Attorney look over the RFP. The Aud In 2009, Kelley Osterman approached the Richmond Community Schools about youth programming. Kelley, as the ”Regional Youth Initiative”, entered into a 10 year lease agreement with Richmond Community Schools to provide youth programming through the Aud. The lease between the Schools and RYI ends in the fall of 2019. Kelley has informed the City that she would like to remove herself from the running of the Aud and suggested the possibility of the City’s Recreation Department offering programs underneath the umbrella of the Regional Youth Initiative. The School Board will be discussing their lease agreement with the Aud at their November meeting to determine how they want to proceed with the building in relation to the Regional Youth Initiative. Kelly has supplied a list of suggested renovations and maintenance needs, which Kelley feels are necessary to keep the building functional. CCM: 10/23/2017 Page 4 of 5  APPROVED 11/06/2017 Council discussed what they would like to see happen with the building. Discussion on whether the City could afford to maintain the building. The consensus of Council was that it would be cost prohibitive for the City to maintain the building. Wait and see what the schools decide to do with the building. See if the townships and school would like to discuss the future of the building. COUNCIL COMMENTS Reindel – Questioned the outcome of the auction on the Mini-mall. City Manager Moore informed Council that the building sold and there were no immediate plans for the building. Rix – We need to have discussions with Casco Township regarding the PA425. - Need to move forward with filling the Administrative Assistant/Bookkeeper position. Council directed the City Manager to get moving on this position. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Misteravich, seconded by Greene, to adjourn the Special Quarterly Roundtable Meeting at 9:43 p.m. All yeas Motion carried Respectfully submitted: Karen Stagl City Clerk CCM: 10/23/2017 Page 5 of 5