Mayor McLallen called the meeting to order at 7:36 PM.

PRESENT: Mayor McLallen, Mayor Pro Tem Crawford, Council Members Cassis, Clark, Mitzel, Mutch, Schmid

ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Edward Kriewall, Assistant City Manager Craig Klaver, City Attorney David Fried, City Clerk Tonni Bartholomew

Mr. Adams indicated the Lake Property Study Committee was formed in December, 1992 and began meeting in May, 1993. He stated the committee consisted of 3 residents at large, a LARA member, member of the Planning Commission, member of Parks & Recreation, two Council members, City Manager, and other representatives.

Mr. Adams said their goal was to retain the site for City ownership. We felt the best use for this property was a community building on the site. He said there was the desire to keep a majority of the site as parkland. He said Parks & Recreation was also concerned in terms of the Budget that this be a self-sustaining project.

Mr. Adams began his presentation and pointed out the logical location for the building. Features would include a boardwalk along the water, a gazebo and possibly a fountain. He said in terms of making this a self-supporting community building, we looked at a number of options such as concerts and art fairs which would provide a stable revenue. One of the things that seemed to provide good revenue was basically through food sales. He also pointed out a banquet facility and a restaurant.

Mr. Adams said the committee felt comfortable with the direction for this site and he would like to know how the Council feels about it and to also take it to the public and hold public hearings to solicit the input from the residents.

Councilman Mitzel said back in November the Council asked the committee to explore the possibility of incorporating more park activities, specifically a play structure on the site and Mr. Adams outlined the area of the play structure.

Councilwoman Cassis asked is it possible that some projects smaller in nature could move forward on this site in terms of the play structure in the area that is vacated right now, and Mr. Adams said he believed so, but before the City can open up this site to the public, there are a few problems with the site that need to be cleaned up.

Councilwoman Cassis asked if the committee has looked at the possibility of a site for play equipment that would remind us of Tim Pope’s contributions to this community.

Mr. Adams said the idea that the play structure could be dedicated to Tim Pope was discussed but not at length. His reservation was he didn’t know if there were other specific sites to do that, but this would also be a perfect site.

Councilwoman Mutch asked about supplementing the information they have as to what is envisioned for that area. Mr. Shaw commented the building is frequently booked solid and adding a site that isn’t right next to here, spreads it out a bit so it is easier access for the other parcels in the City. He said the problem in building a facility supplement like this is they feel it should be self-supporting such as combining it with the banquet facilities could help support the site.

Mayor McLallen thanked the Committee and urged the residents to contact Mr. Adams with any comments.

Mr. Sheeran said in August of 1995 a Resolution was adopted by City Council to appoint a committee which was charged with the responsibility to research conceptual design, location options and financial implication of a municipal Aquatics Facility. The committee was to issue a report and recommendations to Novi City Council by March 31, 1996.

Mr. Sheeran said they have made every effort to keep the public informed of the work of the committee. He indicated there were two public hearings and he provided the Novi News with information on the progress of their committee and all notices of their meetings were published.

Mr. Sheeran said after the facility was decided, another sub-committee worked on the location options for potential sites and in looking at this, we tried to determine what size a facility like this would require and what utilities were needed. From the information we gathered, we determined 7 acres would be adequate and that sewers would be required for the facility. We also looked at where this facility should be located, a new piece of land or an existing piece of land. He said due to the cost constraints that would be added to the project on a new piece of land, we looked at 9 existing park lands and of the 9, only 3 met the requirements of 7 acres or larger with available sewer.

Mr. Sheeran said the three were the Novi Tree Farm at 12 1/2 Mile and Dixon Road, the Northeast corner of 11 Mile and Wixom Road, and Ella Mae Power Park, south of the Novi High School. After input from the first public hearing, we narrowed it down to two sites, the Power Park site and the 11 Mile and Wixom Road site. He indicated there are advantages and disadvantages to the Power Park site and the 11 Mile Wixom Road site.

Mr. Sheeran said some of the advantages of Power Park are they are centrally located, and complementary uses are already in place and it is located on the bike path and could open earlier than the Wixom Road 11 Mile Road site.

Mr. Sheeran said some of the disadvantages would be that the smaller site would limit the facility configuration and possible future expansion. He said some citizens expressed concern about the Taft Road access to his location. We investigated access to the site via Ten Mile Road and determined that the topography of the site does not allow access. There is an area of wetlands which would require being filled in or bridged in some way. Neither option was seen as practical, therefore access would only be from Taft Road.

Mr. Sheeran said the advantages of 11 Mile and Wixom Road, were the possible joint parking and adjacent recreational facilities with the Novi Schools. The 40 acre site would allow for alternate facility configuration/location. Also there are limited residential developments currently around site.

Mr. Sheeran said the disadvantages were that it was not centrally located, not located on the bike path, and because facility construction should be coordinated with construction of the school, opening would be somewhat delayed.

Mr. Sheeran said it is the Committee’s recommendation that on the sites, we conduct soil boring tests in both locations and prepare a traffic study for both locations.

Mr. Sheeran said a subcommittee was also formed and they reviewed 14 aquatic centers to obtain information, which were the Troy Michigan Aquatic Center, the City of Southfield Sports Arena, Westerville Ohio Parks and Recreation Department and the Hinsdale, Illinois Parks & Recreation.

Mr. Sheeran said the Projected Revenue Sources of this center would come from lessons, open swimming, rental, snack bar and miscellaneous programs. He said the Projected Expenses would include personnel, pool supplies, maintenance, general and administrative. He said based on the experience of other communities, we have concluded that an outdoor facility can be programmed to support its operating expenses. He indicated they have obtained a preliminary cost estimate from Paddock Pools to build a facility of 4 million dollars and the Committee would recommend a bond issue of $4.7 million and this would allow for future needs as they arise without going back to the voters at a later date.

Mr. Sheeran said in conclusion, there is clear support in this community for a facility and it is our recommendation to construct a facility based upon the contract you have before you at either Power Park or 11 Mile Road.

Mr. Sheeran said the Committee recommends the following action steps: (1) Begin traffic studies and soil borings of the Power Park and 11 Mile/Wixom Road sites immediately and based upon the outcome of that data, select the preferred site. (2) Ask the voters on the next available ballot to approve a bond issue of $4.5 million dollars so that a facility can be constructed as soon as possible. (3) Assign the Parks & Recreation Department the responsibility for final design and programming of the facility. (4) Assemble a citizen board to oversee the operation of the facility, similar to that proposed for the ice arena.

Mr. Sheeran said the members of the Committee wished to thank the City Council for the opportunity to work on this project. In addition, we thank the members of the community who attended our meetings and in general provided us with their insight.

Mayor McLallen thanked Mr. Sheeran for an outstanding report that was on time with clear and precise direction.

Councilman Crawford asked what would be the projected yearly revenue. Mr. Sheeran replied approximately $400,000-$450,000. Councilman Crawford asked what would be the season this would be open and Mr. Sheeran replied 100 days.

Councilman Schmid said he assumed Mr. Sheeran did some mathmetical work on this anticipating the number of memberships and so forth and Mr. Sheeran said yes, and Councilman Schmid asked if that information was available and Mr. Sheeran said we have quite a bit of information that could be provided. Councilman Schmid said he would like to see how many members it would take to generate $450,000.

Councilman Schmid also asked if any serious thought was given to closing the pool at the school and Mr. Sheeran said yes a great deal of thought was given to it, but it went down because one, the existing Novi High School pool is indoor and because two, the costs of closing a pool were substantial and would more than double the costs.

Councilman Clark added his thanks to the fine job that has been done by the Committee on this proposal. He had some concerns with reference to the revenue and operating cost projections portion of the report. He noticed that all of the facilities with the exception of one, are not breaking even, and he noticed the one in Westerville Ohio indicates in 1995 they had a surplus of approximately $80,000. He asked if he had the figures for the two preceding years, 1993-94 and Mr. Sheeran said he didn’t know if they had those figures, but he would try and get them. Councilman Clark said he would appreciate it if we could see those and also if you are able to get a break down on their budget for 1995 to see where the income came from to generate the $80,000.

Councilwoman Cassis thanked the committee also. She had a concern about the diving boards and we visited the facility recently and they omitted diving boards because of the liability and has that been discussed.

Mr. Sheeran said they did talk about the insurance aspect of diving boards and the information we obtained is that the insurance industry is a pool and they all take on the risk and it is available and it costs a little bit more but it is available. He said the diving boards were an important part of their proposal.

Councilman Mutch said she would be interested in seeing some of the information from the other facilities. She also asked how the Westerville size compared to Novi.

Councilman Schmid asked if they have sufficiently discussed this with the neighbors and Mr. Sheeran said at the Powers Park site public hearing, quite a few people had expressed concern about that location and wanted to know if there would be an access road coming off Ten Mile Road and we looked at that and the lay of the land doesn’t allow an access road off of Ten Mile Road. He added there were some concerns about the noise and we took away some of the features that were more of a concern in the past such as towers and such.

Councilman Crawford added under Item #5, Matters for Council Action Part II, Property Acquisition and then Item #6 he requested to change, To Schedule a Special Meeting from April 21 to March 28, 1996. He also added Item #7, Election Resolution. Councilman Mitzel added Item #8, Ordinance Review Committee Membership under Matters for Council Action Part II.

Sarah Gray from LARA indicated she was here a couple of weeks ago concerning the dewatering concerns in the southwest portion of the City and the effects on the aquifer. She asked Council to seriously consider the impact of the de-watering on the lakes area as they are all on wells.

James Korte of Shawood Lake referred to Matters for Council Action, Item #2, Refuse Ordinance, and voiced support and urged the Council to adopt the Ordinance.

Frank Brennen, 23876 Hartland, referred to his letter included in the Packet (Correspondence Number 16) regarding the northwest corner of 10 Mile and Beck. He said the horse farm has been sold by Max Sheldon to the Toy based development company, Frankel Development. He said it has been made clear that Frankel Development intends to pursue the Sheldon plan of developing the site for a Kroger shopping complex. He asked that no consideration be given to the rezoning of land for a Kroger store.

Harry Avagian echoed the remarks of Sarah Gray. He would hope the remarks Ms. Gray made at the last Council meeting would be taken into consideration and at least it be studied whether or not we have a problem to deal with. He also indicated he has received at least four inquiries and there were some concerns about the fourth precinct where many of us were voting at Novi Village by the lake. Many of the senior citizens who live just across the street have been asked to go to Beachwalk Apartments to vote, which is a couple miles around the lake and it has created some concern and interest and comment. He asked if Mrs. Bartholomew could address a letter to the LARA Association indicating to the membership the rationale behind the division of people living in the north area with regards to their voting precincts.

Phil Koneda, Recreation Commissioner, responded to a few things brought up during the Special Presentations. He noted that consideration has been and is being given to a play structure in memory of former Councilman Tim Pope. He said there were several sites being considered. Concerning the development of the Lake Property Study, he said the concern that Parks & Recreation has was we would not have jurisdiction to do any Master Planning on that site as it was a City initiative to look at what is best for that facility or that site. He said they were concerned that if we start to implement a park and make it look like a park, that it be used as a park. He also said he was concerned that the proposal presented that night did not appeal to a wide majority of the population of the City. He also asked regarding the Aquatic Facility, could a tot facility be considered.

Dan Harfoot of 25742 Buckminister Drive, informed Council of a recent contact with Bruce Jerome in regards to one of their activities. He stated Mr. Jerome was most helpful and he wished to publicly acknowledge his contributions to a successful event.

Mr. Kriewall said the vacation of Iva Street was talked about several years ago but it did not happen for various reasons. Since then, there has been construction underway of a large veterinarian clinic, which was doing good for the area in terms of some shared costs regarding storm sewer installation. Apparently the neighborhood feels good about this particular vacation at the present time, and had recommended to Council that they bring this matter back for consideration at a public hearing. The Administration supports the vacation and the only issue is the option of doing a half vacation, in other words, to be vacated from Novi Road half way back to the property lines or to cause a full vacation of Iva Street all the way from Novi Road to Shawood Drive.

Mr. Korte of Austin Street said first of all, Shawood Drive is the wrong corner and Shawood should be Austin. When this started eight years or so ago, it was closed to Novi Road because of health, safety and welfare reasons and that was the first time it was closed. The second time it was up, the petitioner brought in a situation to shut the street in the middle which would be between residential and commercial, open to Novi Road for the four residences to gain entry into the area and that didn’t fly because the road was closed for health, safety and welfare reasons. We now have a situation that the four residences are no longer there and the Veterinary Clinic has purchased that property and developed their building in conjunction with the Planning Commission and it is a lovely project.

Mr. Korte said without the houses to gain access, there is absolutely no reason for this road to exist. It has been a wash-out when South Lake, Novi Road, and Thirteen Mile were redone, and they raised the level of that about 3 feet and then all hell broke loose with a big gush of water and it was impossible to drain.

Mr. Korte said if you don’t vacate, we are going to have the mud hole we always had and in this situation, it is a win situation for four owners to gain deed with easement and it will allow egress and ingress to the garage of 1917 Austin and family and will give 25 feet of parking to the two. He then added the enhancement of that little greenbelt in the landscaping can only be achieved when it is totally vacated.

Sarah Gray, 133 Maudlin said the vacation would make a difference and would be a great improvement for the neighborhood.

Mayor McLallen closed the Public Hearing.

1. Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 11, 1995 - Pulled by Councilwoman Cassis.

2. Adoption of Ordinance 96-40.03 - Amendment - Section 8-4 - to revise the application requirements for Business Registration - II-Reading - Pulled by Councilwoman Cassis.

3. Adoption of Ordinance 96-45.21 - Amendment - Subpart 4.04A1(b) of Ordinance 77-45 to amend the standards for the extension of proposed subdivision streets to subdivision boundaries - II Reading.

4. Adoption of Ordinance 96-81.14 - Amendment to Section 33-155 Requirements for Traffic control Devices on Private Property - II - Reading.

5. Approval of Budget Amendment 96-16 - City Clerk (Other Services and Charges - Conferences and Workshops).

6. Approval of Budget Amendment 96-17 - Personal Services - Police Department.

7. Adoption of resolutions of support for grant application for the construction of sidewalks on Twelve and Ten Mile Roads.

8. Approval of Change Order No. 4 - Main Street Roadway Project.

9. Award bid for 1996 Street Tree Planting to Tom’s Landscape and Nursery in the amount of $83,217.

10. Award bid for softballs parts I and II to Dee’s Sports Shop in the amount of $5,418.75. Award bid for softballs parts III and IV to Service Sports, Inc. in the amount of $1,256.00.

11. Approval of Assessment Center proposal for ISPS, Inc. for Fire Department for promotional testing in the amount of $4,500.00.

APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION TO VACATE ALL OF OR A PORTION OF IVA STREET.

CM-96-03-105: Motion by Mitzel, Seconded by Crawford, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To support the Iva Street Vacation.

ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE AMENDMENT 96-88.03 - AMENDMENT TO CLARIFY THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF BOTH THE PROPERTY OWNER AND PROPERTY OCCUPANT WITH REGARD TO THE PROPER HANDLING OF REFUSE AND THE MAINTAINING OF A PREMISE FREE OF LITTER - I - READING & II - READING.

Mr. Fried said the purpose of the amendment is in the letter and he thought the Ordinance now reads clearly. Mayor McLallen said the issue here is who is responsible for maintaining private properties free of litter and refuse and is it the owner or the occupant. She said the way the Ordinance reads, it is both the responsibility of the owner and the occupant and Mr. Fried said that was correct.

CM-96-03-106: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To adopt Ordinance 96- 88.03 Amendment to Section 16-19 and Section 15-57 and also approve the I and II Reading.

Randy Mazur, Austin Street, thanked the Council for their action on the vacation of Iva Street. He stated he was a new resident and wanted to meet the Council

MATTERS FOR COUNCIL ACTION - PART II

Mayor McLallen said Warrant Number 459 was in the amount of $3,822,465.93.

CM-96-03-110: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To schedule an Executive Session for Thursday, March 28, 1996 at 6:30 PM for Pending Litigation and Labor Negotiations and a Special Meeting immediately following that Executive Session for Goals and Objectives.

CM-96-03-111: Moved by Mitzel, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To cancel the Executive Session that was previously scheduled for March 21, 1996.

Mr. Klaver indicated the Consultant Review Committee meeting scheduled for March 21, 1996 at 5:30 PM will be moved to March 28, 1996 at 5:30 PM.

Mrs. Bartholomew said this matter came up in the very recent past and it is due to Senator Honigman’s resignation. The Governor has called for Elections, one for May 13th and one for June 4th and they are mandated and the costs will go to the local government. Mrs. Bartholomew estimated the costs to be about $50,000 per Election for a total of $100,000.

Mrs. Bartholomew said because of the extreme costs and the availability for the elections to be moved to August and November, she would request that the Council consider adopting a Resolution asking for the State to reimburse the Election.

Mayor McLallen said we were also contacted by the Mayor of South Lyon expressing similar concerns regarding this mandate and what it is doing to municipal government. Councilman Crawford added there are also members of the City Council and Administration in Farmington who support the resolution.

Mayor McLallen asked Mrs. Bartholomew if she was recommending different language and Mrs. Bartholomew said she altered it slightly because she knows the Elections at this point in time have been called. They were assuming the Elections were going to be called and they were encouraging that the Governor not call the Elections as well as asking for reimbursement. At this point in time however, they have been called and it was a done-deal and they would just like to be reimbursed. She referred to the City of Farmington’s Resolution and also a letter directed to their Council and a letter drafted to Governor Engler by the City of Farmington Hills. She would ask that a similar letter be drafted as well and mailed to all of the communities within the district.

Councilman Mitzel said currently he was the alternate for the committee and that committee meets on Thursdays but for the next few months, he will be back in class so he will not be able to attend those meetings and he wished to resign as alternate. He would ask that another member of Council take his position.

Councilman Schmid indicated he would be willing to serve as Councilman Mitzel’s replacement as alternate.

Mayor McLallen stated Council accepted Councilman Mitzel’s resignation.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION - None

Councilman Mitzel indicated that SEMCOG will meet this Thursday and Council has yet to appoint a SEMCOG representative and he was the alternate so he will be attending. Councilwoman Mutch indicated she would be the delegate.

Councilman Mitzel discussed the warrant approved and had questions concerning Line Items 47, 49, 144, 167 and on the original they are scratched out and marked void and it was approximately $75,000. Mayor McLallen said the City Manager will research the issue and they would move on to the next item.

Mayor McLallen explained the Northville Post has a very large tower which has strobe lights on it and there was a meeting in the Township on Wednesday evening, March 14th and the report received back is that the contractor who built the tower did not build it to specifications so they are readdressing the lights.

Mayor McLallen said there was also the issue of whether this Council wanted to take a position or offer any advice to the City of Farmington Hills regarding their rezoning request on the east side of Haggerty Road and Nine Mile Road, from Office to B-2. She also indicated Farmington Hills sent a public hearing notice regarding an application for permit for drilling of an oil and/or gas well on property east of Haggerty Road, west of I-275 north of Eight Mile and south of Nine Mile.

Councilman Schmid expressed concern with the activity of Farmington Hills along the east side of Haggerty Road and Nine Mile Road area. He said there was residential there and to put a Kroger or any type of an intense use across the street from residential was not in the best interest of the City of Novi and he would encourage Council to take the position to send someone to the Farmington Hills meeting and express our concern.

Councilwoman Mutch supported and would go further to say that it is in the best interest to the residents of Novi that we have representation wherever we can get it. She said besides having some expression of Council, we might have a stronger impact by having some statement of interest from the Planning Commission as well.

Councilman Mitzel concurred and was willing to have Council send a communication to the City of Farmington Hills expressing our concern that they consider the land use on the west side of the border and consider the residents to the west.

Councilman Clark echoed the comments already given and would support a resolution or a statement of concern on behalf of the Council to the City of Farmington Hills.

Councilwoman Cassis said her concern about taking a formal Council action and a formal Planning Commission action would be she did not feel they have enough information. Also she felt it could be construed as interference.

Councilwoman Cassis felt it was up to each community to decide the impact and if individuals feel strongly, they should individually go and express their concerns. She was uncomfortable given the very good working relationship they have with Farmington Hills to intervene at this time without more information. She felt this matter would require more scrutinity to be sure we are representing our community in the best fashion. Although there is maybe some concern about the use there, she believed it was rightfully in the hands of Farmington Hills.

Mayor McLallen would offer a compromise regarding this letter. She said we do not want to tell them how to run their business, but we should tell them that this will have an impact and what we are looking for is how to make this functionally work and to support both communities. She said Novi could offer them any information that we have to make their information more confident and at the same time, what they are projecting. Her position would be to send them a letter saying nothing more that we have concerns and that this use is different and not what we expect on our side of the street and what you are doing on your side of the street is going to have an impact.

Councilman Mitzel felt a general letter saying that whenever Farmington Hills is considering zoning along that corridor, to please consider what is on our side of the road. He felt they should not state anything specific or to indicate opposition or support for the site, but to keep us in mind and keep our zoning and Master Plan in mind and how their decision would effect us. He felt they should keep the communication channels open.

Councilwoman Mutch echoed Mitzel’s comments and she would be encouraging but not to tell them what to do.

Councilman Schmid felt the City of Farmington Hills and any other City that borders us often times encourages us to come forward with our thoughts and he was not suggesting to dictate to them but to suggest what the zoning is on the other side of the street and to take that into consideration when they are thinking of rezoning a property. He felt if they don’t take a stand, we are closing our eyes to a very serious situation.

Mayor McLallen said it was the consensus of Council to direct Administration to send a friendly letter informing Farmington Hills of the residential zoning on the west side of Haggerty Road and encourage sensitivity to our residents in that area.

Mr. Kriewall discussed the history of the water main project along Novi Road and what they need to do to fix the situation that exists. He said back in 1976 when the water main was under construction in the area of about 12 1/2 Mile, they ran into a large peat deposit in that area and had to make some field decisions as to how to cross this particular area. In 1976 they took out a certain amount of peat and deposited large rocks and boulders and arched the main up in the air slightly.

Mr. Kriewall said the water main was installed and everything has worked fine since then, but along came the Novi Road widening project between 12 and 12 1/2 Mile Road and they had to cross that main to accomplish the road improvement. In the designing of the Novi Road widening and the crossing of this main, they had visually planned for light weight fill to go over the top of this main The design developed and along the way there were reoccurring concerns regarding the stability of that which were pursued by the engineers and Department of Public Services and soil borings were conducted to determine the status and condition of the base that had been built underneath the transmission main.

Mr. Kriewall said concerns continued to mount about building this improvement over the transmission main because even if you were successful on the initial construction, how long could you count on this water main servicing this community.

Mr. Kriewall said MDOT got involved in the discussion in terms of looking at alternatives in dealing with the situation and replacing the main or paralleling the main, etc. He indicated that Mr. Nowicki was successful in negotiating participation from MDOT and Federal Funding to build a parallel section to the troubled section of the 36" water main so they could take the section out of service and actually replace it.

Mr. Kriewall said the discussion and engineering investigation and development has been reported to Council over the last few months. He said it is developed now to a series of engineering analyses that the most cost-effective solution to this problem is to not do a surface bypass of this main and lay it right on Novi Road, but to build a permanent by-pass down 12 1/2 Mile Road and Dixon Road. We have been successful in bringing MDOT through this process and we have had to submit some plans to MDOT to keep this project on target. He said they have some timetables to meet in terms of delivering this project this year and they were on target now that they are able to maintain and it appears they could accomplish this project this year.

Mr. Kriewall said there is still something up in the air right now, which is the sizing of the main and earlier discussions over the past 60 days with the Health Department and Detroit Water Board had indicated they may need as much as a 24" main to make this loop to provide interim community pressures. They have had recent discussions with the Detroit Water Board trying to get them to boost their pressures during this critical period of time when this by-pass takes place and reduce the water main size down to a 16". This has been a challenging project and he wanted to bring Council up to date as to how this is progressing. He said if they miss the April deadline, we may not be able to do the Novi Road widening this year.

Mr. Nowicki estimated the Novi Road Water Main Bypass to be 1.3 million dollars. He said when they started subtracting costs such as the 12 Mile Road Project, we estimate that cost to be about $390,000 which brings the costs down to $930,000. We managed to have Federal funding for this particular project and they are providing us approximately $288,000. He said this will provide us a permanent main that would handle the pressures of the system and would extend the system to certain areas and help us further our Master Plan goals along 12 Mile Road.

Mr. Nowicki said the total project cost is $641,000. He said he has talked with Mr. Les Gibson who has assured him that our water sewer funding is sufficient to handle those costs and he also discussed it with the engineers and they feel it is also pretty much in line.

Mr. Nowicki said the problem they are faced with is the 24" main and we are working with the City of Detroit to increase pressure which would allow us to reduce that to a 16" main and drop the costs by approximately $200,000.

Mr. Nowicki said it was a two-fold approach we have with Detroit, not only with this particular project, but for the duration. We feel Detroit now is in a position to work with us to increase the pressures that we have to the south, thereby helping us during periods of peak demand that we experienced last summer. The majority of our water comes from that main north of 14 Mile Road and if we are successful with Detroit and reduce the pressures, that will allow the southern water to come up further, allowing us to have higher pressures throughout the entire system. He indicated that was being worked on now and JCK is providing the City of Detroit with analysis.

Mayor McLallen asked what decisions were required that evening. Mr. Nowicki said they were not looking for decisions that night and this was just a status report. He indicated in a couple of months, they may receive a copy of the contract from MDOT outlining the costs and the figures tonight were preliminary.

Councilwoman Cassis asked if it would be possible that when this is returned to Council, to have in writing the rationale for the project and the benefits and the costs and Mr. Nowicki replied yes.

Councilman Mitzel asked if the main along Novi Road would be reconnected and Mr. Nowicki replied it would be reconnected. Councilman Mitzel also asked that information be brought forward on the detour when it takes place.

Mr. Nowicki said the detour is tentatively scheduled to take 12 Mile and Haggerty and then up to 14 Mile. He also added the other thing we are working on is that the City of Detroit will be relocating the water main along 14 Mile Road and may be dialing down the pressures so we have a very small window in which to accomplish this project. He said that is why we are working with Detroit to move some pressures to the south and he believed that may be occurring April or May of 1997 so our project has to be completed well in advance of that.

Councilman Schmid asked if they are suggesting to tear up 200 feet of existing water main and Mr. Nowicki said correct and to replace it. Councilman Schmid said originally you had planned to put another water main somewhere near that Novi Road area and he asked why two mains.

Mr. Nowicki said they have to take that existing 36" main out of service and put a temporary in while they fix this and we will shut down the existing 36" main and remove the peat and backfill with the same material and reconstruct the pipe.

Councilman Schmid asked if Decker Road wasn’t there, would they do it the same and Mr. Nowicki said if Decker Road wasn’t there, we would still do it the same way he is recommending.

Councilman Schmid asked why did they in 1976 put in a pipe that would float away some day. Mr. Nowicki didn’t know the rationale of what happened then, but he could expect that the engineers did the best they could with the materials that were available and their knowledge.

Mr. Kriewall then discussed another item, which was an experience they had at the Expo Center with picketing by unions of about 150 people. The Novi Police Department assembled about 50 police officers and dealt with the situation very positively.

Councilman Schmid also asked Mr. Nowicki about the update in the packet regarding Phase One of the GIS and when this is brought back to Council, he would like information brought back as he had trouble spending well over a million dollars. His suggestion would be to bring back information such as actual costs and phases and advantages in layman’s language.

Mr. Nowicki said he would present as much information as possible. He also indicated he would like to set out a display in the lobby and have our representatives from Wayne State and the software company demonstrate the system so if Council could come a few minutes early, we could go through that demo and then have the discussion at the Council meeting.

Mr. Fried indicated he had a request from Mr. Joe Galvin to waive any conflict of interest that might arise with him representing Mr. Sasson and the Solomon Group in connection with the Solomon Group’s project at 12 1/2 Mile and Novi Roads. He explained the potential conflict of interest arises out of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone being the Bonding Attorney for the City of Novi and under our Ethics Rules, if there is a conflict by way of the Miller firm representing the Solomon Group who has any matters dealing with the City, those parties have to waive that potential conflict. He noted Mr. Galvin is asking the City to waive that potential conflict.

Councilman Schmid expressed concerns that this could result in a lawsuit.

Mr. Fried said he could see nothing that could be learned that would aid the Solomon Group in a rezoning issue. He said information that the Miller firm might learn as our bonding attorney in handling this financial affair would not aid the Solomon Group or the Miller firm when representing a rezoning and it is up to the Council if they wish to waive it.

Councilman Clark said he found it interesting that Mr. Galvin is asking for a waiver now when he has already been before us on one occasion on behalf of Mr.Sasson and perhaps it is a recognition on his part that he does see a conflict there and is attempting to resolve it. He supposed the easiest way for him to resolve the conflict is to refer the matter to a separate firm who has no contact with the City and possibly Mr. Galvin should consider this.

Mr. Fried said if the Council would take no action on this, he would advise Mr. Galvin that there is a conflict of interest, so Council doesn’t have to take any action on it and the only action Council can take if they so desire, is to waive it.

No action was taken by Council.

Councilwoman Cassis said Page 41 of the Minutes, Paragraph 6 should read, "Councilwoman Cassis...go forward and look at other options and as she recalled, it was difficult to seek out grants and also to look into and entertain the possibility of public/private funding to restore those buildings until the property was in hand."

Councilman Crawford said he wasn’t sure what that accomplishes and his second point is these are virtually verbatim minutes and how can we insert something in verbatim minutes.

Councilwoman Cassis pointed out she was just taking, "until the property was in hand" from the third line and putting it at the end of the paragraph. She added she had stated those words at the meeting.

Councilwoman Cassis said this had to do with the amendments to the Business Registration Ordinance pursuant to their compliance with the Hazardous Chemical Ordinance. She said it is a streamlining of the process especially on reapplication of a business on a yearly basis.

Councilwoman Cassis said there was one area that she felt was not covered which has to do with if a business has made changes to their operation between the last time they registered and the time when they are registering, that those changes would then force them to submit a Revised Hazardous Chemical Survey. She said perhaps Mr. Fried could speak to the language. Mr. Fried indicated he understood her point and it was a good point and he could redraft the Ordinance.

CM-96-03-115: Moved by Mitzel, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To postpone action on ordinance until the April 8, 1996 meeting to allow the Attorney to make the recommended changes.

Councilman Crawford asked if this is also addressed someplace else in this Ordinance or another Ordinance and Mr. Fried indicated they would look into that. Mayor McLallen said Councilwoman Cassis had contacted Mr. Conn who didn’t think it was addressed anywhere else.

Vote on CM-96-03-115: CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Mayor McLallen said Councilwoman Mutch just brought up that a petition was received from the children of the Novi Middle School, indicating a proposal for a sidewalk program and that the City needs more sidewalks on dangerous roads. She indicated to the school that she appreciated this information and that it would be reviewed.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:22 PM.

_________________________________ ______________________________

Mayor City Clerk

Date approved: _____________________

Transcribed by Sharon Hendrian