CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m.

ROLL CALL: Mayor McLallen, Mayor ProTem Crawford, Council Members Cassis,

Clark, Mitzel (absent/excused), Mutch, Schmid.

PRESENTATIONS

1. George and Caroline Giese were presented with the Margaret Whitehead Senior

Citizen of the Year Award and Mayor McLallen presented them with a Proclamation.

2. Resolution of Appreciation - Paul Black for Service as a Member of the Library

Board - Mr. Black was unable to attend.

3. Resolution of Appreciation - Gerald Harris for Service as a Member of the Zoning

Board of Appeals

SWEARING IN OF POLICE OFFICER - Rebecca Rathje was sworn in as a Novi Police Officer by City Clerk Tonni Bartholomew.

Arnold Surlin, Developer of Bristol Corners, referenced Consent Agenda Item #18. Approval of the conceptual design of the Commerce Township Sanitary Sewer and authorization to prepare final design plans, specifications and right of way/easement documents. He stated he is opposed to the proposed location of the sewer and noted that it intruded into the woodlands at the rear of their property. He noted that they were not allowed to develop in that environmental sensitive area and they felt the City should not be allowed to intrude either. He asked the Council to discuss and study the matter thoroughly before approving the request.

Jim Korte, Austin Drive, issued complaints regarding the erosion and parking problems created at the Veterinary Clinic. He asked the Council to look into the problems and correct them.

Laural Brandon, Meadowbrook Glens, stated she recently married and would be moving out of Novi after 17 years. She asked for consideration of the people who still reside along Ten Mile Road when it came to the Ten Mile improvement consideration.

John Adams, 24630 Taft Road, informed Council of a water retention problem he has had since the development immediately south of his property. He indicated he had talked with Mr. Jerome and received no resolve to his problems. City Manager Kriewall indicated the situation was currently being reviewed and he would have a report to City Council at their next regular meeting.

UNANIMOUSLY; To grant approval to all items on the Consent Agenda with the exceptions of 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 26.

1. Approval of Claims and Accounts - Warrant Number 465.

2. Appointment of Glenn Lemon as City Assessor.

3. Approval of Parade Permit - Grand River Cruise.

4. Approval of Agreement for Traffic Control Device - Ten Mile and Civic Center Drive.

5. Approval of Councilwoman Cassis as Council Representative on the Tim Pope Memorial

Committee.

6. Approval of Community Development Block Grant Three Year Cooperation Agreement.

7. Approval of B-3 Package for Appointed Officials.

8. Adopt Resolution, Re: Appointment of firm Fried, Watson & Bugbee, P.C. and David

Fried as City Attorney.

9. Approval of Consultant Agreement - Allied Communication

10. Approval of Final Pay Estimate No. 12 and Final Balancing Change Order No. 5 for the

Nine Mile Road Paving Project - Taft to Beck

11. Approval of Agreement between the City of Novi and Hughlan Sandstone Limited

Partnership for the Meadowbrook Road Sanitary Sewer Extension - Pulled by Councilman Schmid

12. Approval of Resolution authorizing the installation of RCOC Fast-Trac Signal System

along Twelve Mile Road from Novi Road to Haggerty Road - Pulled by Councilman

Schmid

13. Approval of Agreement between the City of Novi and Aetna Life Insurance Company for

work associated with the Crescent Boulevard Improvements Project.

14. Approval of updated Agreement between the City of Novi and the Holtzman & Silverman Realty Company for the Munn Landfill Ditch Enclosure/Embankment

Stabilization Project.

15. Authorization for Attorneys to draft Agreement between the City of Novi and Technology Applicants Group, Inc. For the development of the Novi Public Information

Kiosk System - Pulled by Councilman Schmid

16. Authorization to allow the City Attorney to draft Agreements to award the GIS Hardware

& Software bids to Microcad Solutions and Environmental Systems Research Institute

respectively in the amounts of $104,259.00 and $105,589.00 - Pulled by Councilman

Schmid

17. Approval of conceptual design of the Taft Road Extension and authorization to prepare

final design plans, specifications, and right of way/easement documents - Pulled by

Councilman Schmid

18. Approval of conceptual design of Commerce Township Sanitary Sewer and authorization

to prepare final design plans, specifications, and right of way/easements documents.

19. Approval to purchase eight hundred feet of 4" supply hose from Westshore Services, Inc.

in the amount of $3,120 - Pulled by Councilman Schmid

20. Approval to proceed with analyzation of Code Implementation/Implementation of Code

Changes with Municipal Code Corporation in the amount not to exceed $3,375.

21. Permission to Proceed with the sale of a 1977 Ford/Pierce pumper tanker.

22. Award bid for Janitorial Services to Four Star Building Services, Inc. in the amount of

$78,120 (annually) for the Civic Center and Police Department.

23. Award RFP for Computer Training to Training Express in the amount of $11,250.

24. Adopt Resolution, Re: Bank Signatories with Michigan National Bank.

25. Adopt Resolution, Re: Rate Increase to Detroit Tempature Engineers - HVAC

26. Approval of Budget Amendment Number 96-19, Year-End Budget Clean-up - Pulled

2. Approval of Water Rate Increase

Mayor McLallen stated the Detroit Water System had increased their rates. The Finance Department advised Council that the last time the City increased its rates was in April of 1992. The proposed rate is approximately a 10% increase or 15 cents per 1,000 gallons of water.

Les Gibson, Finance Director, said the only thing above the out of pocket costs that is being covered is approximately 10% for working capitol which covered replacement of the shorter life equipment like trucks, etc. The amount generated to cover this is $78,000. In addition, there is approximately $60,000 in penalties that are collected and that should be enough to cover the working capitol needs.

Councilman Schmid asked Mr. Gibson to explain the increase in costs that was experienced in the past year.

Mr. Gibson said over the last couple years there had been several increases. The actual Detroit Water increase amounted to 15 cents per 1,000 gallons. In addition, our own local costs have increased due to contract settlements, etc. but because of economy of scale the local costs basically got spread further. So, as the volumes increase the cost per gallon went down on the local costs. In reality the increase was mostly attributed to what had to be paid to the City of Detroit to purchase water.

Councilman Schmid asked how much money was presently in the working capitol fund?

Mr. Gibson said it was an annual number that was not accumulated.

Mr. Kriewall said it did not go into the Debt Fund that was used to build new systems. These were more expendable costs for replacement of trucks, etc.

Councilman Schmid stated he continued to be concerned with the City of Detroit and thought that Novi paid one of the highest rates of any community.

Mr. Kriewall said that was correct and on the other hand internally from an operating standpoint it is the lowest mark up of any community in the metro area.

Councilman Schmid asked if there was any activity that was being pursued for great reductions from the City of Detroit?

Mr. Kriewall said there had always been an attempt to regionalize the Detroit Water System which might be the only way to overturn and lower some of the costs. In terms of an actual rate challenge, it was attempted several years ago through the City Attorney. A lawsuit was filed and the City did not prevail. The City of Detroit is a standardized AWWA approach to rate determination which is accepted around the United States and no one wants to deviate from that norm.

Councilwoman Cassis asked if any other alternatives were considered?

Mr. Gibson said that was the only resource available. These are strictly the operating costs per customers that are on line.

Councilwoman Cassis said it was for capitol purposes, correct?

Mr. Gibson said no. This just covered the normal operation, the purchase of the water from the City of Detroit, meter readers and their equipment and office staff. One of the reasons the quarterly charge is reasonable, in comparison to other communities, was because the capitol charges were completely separate. Once bonds are sold to put pipe in the ground anybody connecting to the system would pay a connection charge which is apart from the operation.

Councilwoman Cassis stated she knew that Novi had one of the most healthy Water & Sewer Funds and wondered if the City needed to go the full route of 10% because Detroit is increasing rates.

Mr. Kriewall said the operating portion of this account and the capitol account could not be mixed. The tap charges that the developers and builders pay is set aside in a fairly substantial fund but it is needed to build the rest of the system and to maintain and extend service.

Mayor McLallen stated the figures were based on residents using 30,000 gallons per quarter. She asked if that was a typical estimate?

Mr. Gibson said this was reviewed 3 years ago and 28,000 gallons per quarter was the average throughout the year for a residential customer.

Mayor McLallen said this would raise the cost by $5.20 a quarter or $20.80 annually.

Mr. Kriewall advised Council that the auditors alluded to making these corrections. The City had actually absorbed a couple Detroit Water increases over the past couple of years and they had recommended that the increases needed to be passed along.

Councilwoman Cassis said she would like an opportunity to discuss this and to look at other alternatives and the absolute need for this pass through at this time.

Mr. Kriewall said there were no other alternatives.

Mayor McLallen asked what the detriment of taking another year and not passing this now and is the deadline the first of July to pass this?

Mr. Kriewall said that was the deadline and also when the Detroit rate was effective and the system would probably operate at a loss next year if the City absorbed the increase again.

DISCUSSION

Councilwoman Mutch said it appeared this could be done gradually as the auditors had advised or take a big hit later.

Councilman Clark said he agreed with the comments made so far. He said the increases of the water and millage increases add up and felt it was a problem that most citizens could appreciate. He stated he would like to see a mechanism in place in the next year so Council could look at it on an annual basis so that Council would not have to come to the citizens every four or five years and tell them that their water rates were being increased by 10%. He thought it was easier for residents to understand a 2% increase rather than hitting them with 10% because they are being hit from every direction, property tax, water rate increases, sales taxes, income taxes and felt that Council had to drawn the line somewhere.

Regular Meeting of June 3, 1996

Mayor McLallen said this was clarification on the motion that was passed concerning the hiring of Frank Gilbert from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to give recommendations concerning the Fuerst property. Member Cassis had made a motion that Mr. Gilbert be approved but it would not take place until the property had actually come into the hands of the City Council. When the motion was passed that portion of it was not stated. Mr. Kriewall has met with Mr. Koster of the School Board to get exactly where this was with the transfer of the property.

Mr. Kriewall said Mr. Koster had provided a letter to Council for their information. He said as far as the transfer the environmental issues had been resolved on the site and the major outstanding issue was that they had discovered more extensive wetlands than predicted and there would have to be some re-orientation of the proposed school buildings and recreational facilities on the site. The next step was to replan the site so that they could work around the existing wetlands and be more comfortable in terms of usable property. He said the culmination and transfer of property would not take place until the School District and the City were satisfied with the impact of the wetlands and the usable property on the site. Mr. Kriewall felt that they were within 60 days of closing on the property.

Mayor McLallen stated Mr. Koster concurred with Mr. Kriewall that the closing should take place within 30 to 60 days.

Mr. Klaver said they had been in touch with Mr. Gilbert and while his proposal had a schedule where he would be in Novi looking at the Fuerst property beginning on June 24th for a 2 1/2 day period and would proceed with a study based on that visit. He would not, if we held off until the property situation was clarified, be available until after Labor Day. This would significantly delay this study should Council decide to retain the provision in the original motion.

Councilwoman Cassis said her motion was a procedural and process question at the time. She said it was good practice and policy to have things in hand before beginning to make certain operations on it. Yet, Council has communication from Mr. Koster of the School Board and there’s very good reason to believe that this is going to happen and some information with Mr. Gilbert. She said the sooner there was an opportunity to find out how, structurally, all of this could be maintained and the uses to which it could be put it was Council’s hope that the private sector would become involved in finding means of restoring, refurbishing and maintaining these properties.

DISCUSSION

Councilman Schmid said he did not support the motion the last time and didn’t feel it was proper to spend $4,500 for the study since we already had a study that probably said the same things this new study would say. He stated when he agreed to trade this property to the City he made it very clear that he would not spend taxpayers dollars to restore the buildings until such time that the private sector came forward. They have not come forward. He felt the study would result in nothing and would not result in any monies.

Bond Program(s)

Mayor McLallen advised council of the contents of the packet regarding this item. She advised council that the total bottom line for road needs projected in the next six years appeared to be in combination $28 Million.

Mayor McLallen said roads were a never ending challenge to this community as it continued to grow, as the region continued to grow and development initiatives increased. The burden on our roads especially because we are a flow through community that was bordered by three of the major arteries in our region, M-14, I 696 and 275 we bear the brunt of a lot of flow through traffic. Added to that we are a community that is growing internally and traffic and road base and maintenance demands are enormous.

Mr. Kriewall said Road Bonding Program 3 would be the third major effort on building roads in this community. A general obligation approach to road bonding was used wherein bonds would be sold for several road projects and the debt would be retired by the tax base in the community over the next 15 to 20 years. Fortunately for Novi in its current growth phase we really qualify for federal funding on several major projects. We are already qualified for the Novi Road improvement between Ten Mile and Grand River, the widening of Ten Mile Road between Haggerty and Novi Road and Twelve Mile Road from Meadowbrook Road west to Dixon Road. Those projects are moving through the phase process of funding that is typical throughout the metropolitan area.

Mr. Kriewall said to compete for federal funding on roads we have to compete against all of the other growth communities in the metropolitan region such as Troy, Auburn Hills, Sterling Heights and any other community that was experiencing substantial growth. They are all in there fighting for road dollars and we have been quite successful in the past five or six years in capturing federal road dollars. It is our time. Farmington Hills has been fairly well completed in terms of their road building program on Twelve Mile Road and the widening of Orchard Lake Road from Grand River north to I-696. Those were major projects .

Mr. Kriewall said we are at a point where we need to continue our road building because we are right in the middle of our growth heyday at the present time. One of the most obvious needs in our community is the lack of transportation corridors and they are going to be exacerbated in the next five to ten years. As we know from experience in road building if we do not start the process now we cannot deliver the product within three or four years. We are talking about roads that this community will need in the next five to six years. These programs are not a surprise. We knew when the second road bonding program that we would have to move immediately into road program number three.

Mr. Kriewall said with the acquisition of critical property for the Taft Road Extension at West Road by the City Council a few months ago we really exhausted the second road bonding program. Everything was completed in that program except the Taft Road Extension and that project is now considerably more expensive than originally talked about because it seems that the only way to do it acceptably would be to build a bridge over the CSX tracks and provide for a viable traffic corridor from West Road down to Twelve Mile Road.

Mr. Kriewall said the needs before us have been identified and the first list of projects had been communicated to city council back in January. These needs have been studied additionally and a November Bond Issue is being targeted. The extent of the needs of over the next several years is so great that the more they talked about it they thought there ought to be a phased approach to bonding for this program and address the most immediate construction projects right now in November and put off the remaining needs to possibly an election a year or two from now. This would depend on how some of the projects moved along.

Mr. Kriewall said this process needed to be kept going. There are a lot of trouble spots in the community such as Ten Mile, Twelve Mile and Novi Road all the way from Eight Mile to Grand River. Council knows that the road program is the most time consuming of all road programs because of the need to capture and buy right of way and the design and construction process is also quite lengthy.

Mr. Kriewall thought that in the next 30 to 45 days council would need to adopt a bonding resolution for placement on the November election. The latest deadline is August 26. The sooner the program can be crystallized and formalized the sooner the needs of the community can be discussed in terms of presentations to homeowners and civic groups, etc.

DISCUSSION

Mayor McLallen said her position to Mr. Nowicki was that there were no sidewalks addressed in the program and she felt that council had heard from the citizens and the children the dire need for connections, in a safe way, around the city. She thought council would be remiss to not include that cost in road bonds. Particularly roads that are Novi roads. Her other major concern was many of the roads that are proposed and affect the community enormously are Oakland County roads under Oakland County road jurisdiction. She asked council to join with her in inviting the Oakland County Road Commission to hold a session and explain to us why we are not getting any more support particularly for our major corridors Novi Road and Grand River. Also, why we as representatives of our community should go to our citizens and ask them to pay for the lions share for roads that are not ours.

Councilman Clark stated he joined in her last comment about inviting the Oakland County Road Commission here. He would ask that it be done as a special meeting in the evening so it would be televised so that the residents could see who was making decisions in Pontiac and why they keep sending substantial tax dollars to Pontiac and feel that they get little if any thing in return. He felt it was time for answers and suggested the meeting be publicized as heavily as possible to afford the resident who time and time again expressed serious concerns about the traffic problems in the community so that they have the opportunity to attend. Perhaps if the appropriate officials from the Oakland County Road Commission could feel a little heat maybe they would be a little more responsive and we could get some definitive answers.

Councilman Clark said there was some federal funding already approved for Twelve Mile for the next portion. He said he probably received one call a month for the portion that’s already done on Twelve Mile Road. The question was always the same, why does the portion in Farmington Hills look so beautiful and Novi looks like a disaster area. When will something be done and before doing the next phase what about putting some appropriate landscaping in the phase that’s already completed?

Mr. Kriewall said that issue was before city council when we let the project for the Twelve Mile Road improvement from Haggerty to Meadowbrook Road and we were conscious of what was done in Farmington Hills. That was costed out and presented to city council and the cost was substantial and the council decided not to spend those additional funds. It is a county road and it is difficult to spend local dollars. He thought when council brought the road commission out they had a standard approach to these kind of discussions that they are broke. Mr. Kriewall said the critical debate in the newspapers lately that there are bills that were introduced that would eliminate county road commissions because by the time they fund their internal maintenance crews and operations, administrative staff, planners and engineers, etc. there’s nothing that trickles down to road building. It originally was the road commission’s responsibility to maintain that boulevard because it is a county road and they do not cut grass any where in Oakland County so we are stuck with that responsibility and have agreed to pick it up.

Councilman Clark asked if there were federal matching funds for Grand River?

Mr. Kriewall said there was nothing pending except the bridge replacement.

Councilwoman Cassis said Mr. Kriewall really identified one of the major goals that council brought forward during their goal session earlier this year along with safety and recreational needs are road needs. She thought he captured it when he said the time is now. Before proceeding with development of projects and getting into all the costs, design, right of way and the construction schedules she wanted to propose a study session sooner than later because there was kind of an open window before the August 26 deadline. The council could sit down and talk about some of these matters and perhaps with the engineers and Mr. Nowicki present that council could take a look and be well informed. Also to provide feedback to administration. She noticed that 14 projects were outlined and many had been on the books and are in need. She had concerns about some of them and might even propose others that might be a possibility.

DISCUSSION

Councilman Schmid said he would vote for the motion. He asked Mr. Nowicki if the federally funded roads are Twelve Mile, Ten Mile, Beck and I-96?

Mr. Nowicki said they were Ten Mile, Twelve Mile, Novi Road grade separation and I-96.

Councilman Schmid asked how much federal money there was for Ten Mile?

Mr. Nowicki said approximately $1,750,000.00.

Councilman Schmid asked how that related to Novi’s share?

Mr. Nowicki said that would be Novi’s share.

Councilman Schmid said the total road project would be several million more than that.

Mr. Nowicki said that’s correct.

Councilman Schmid said so you are proposing that these items be placed on the election for a road bonding program.

Mr. Nowicki said he had provided council with a list of potential projects and the ultimate selection of projects was up to council and through debate and that was why they were bringing it to council at this time. He wanted to get it out to the public and start to solicit input so there was no real proposed program. What they had was a list of possible projects that could be included and they’re also looking for additional projects that council might think would be warranted in a possible bond program.

Councilman Schmid asked how long the federal money would be available? If council decided not to do any one of those three or any of them how long would that federal money be available?

Mr. Nowicki said the federal money was only appropriated or obligated in parts. Right now we are obligated for preliminary engineering on Twelve Mile Road. We have to go back to the Oakland County Funding Task Force and have the next phase approved for funding which would be right of way. Each project on that funding level is broken into three phases there’s preliminary engineering, right of way and construction. So each phase needed to be approved through the funding committee.

Councilman Schmid said let’s take Twelve Mile Road for example from Meadowbrook to Dixon Road. Why would that be to Dixon and not to I-96?

Mr. Kriewall said that was so we could bring it back down to two lanes west of Novi Road.

Councilman Schmid said let’s take Twelve Mile Road it would go out for federal funding for right of way. Are we assured then for federal funding for all the phases if we start?

Mr. Nowicki said we are not.

Councilman Schmid said how do you start a project if you don’t know what you’re gonna get?

Mr. Nowicki said it went into a rating process and it depends on the availability of dollars.

Councilman Schmid said so the comment that the time was right just meant that the opportunity was there and we may or may not be successful.

Mr. Kriewall said we were scoring very highly with obvious projects like Ten Mile Road, Novi Road and Twelve Mile Road. Across the county those have been identified as major needs and we compete fairly well against the other communities. If you were to try and get funding for an Eleven Mile Road project you’d probably score so low you wouldn’t get funded. Once you’re qualified for engineering and right of way, which we are for these three projects, it’s more a matter of funding after that because we have scored high enough to be accorded preliminary engineering. That is usually the indication that you will get funding in a couple years.

Councilman Schmid asked why Grand River was not considered in federal funding?

Mr. Kriewall said it was not experiencing the backups that even Ten Mile Road is so it’s functioning at probably not a very high level but it’s doing the job.

Councilman Schmid said to follow up on Twelve Mile Road as Mr. Clark said that seemed to be a difficult issue because of the beauty in Farmington Hills. He said Farmington Hills put out a bonding issue and said they would landscape it and spent millions of dollars on landscaping. The citizens did it and it had nothing to do with anybody getting something for nothing.

Councilwoman Mutch said the Mayor raised the question earlier of sidewalks and Mr. Nowicki had not responded.

Mayor McLallen said sidewalks came under the same issue of the beautification. Mr. Nowicki would probably be willing to come up with those figures. The question is are the citizens of this community willing to support and at what level. She said council could direct Mr. Nowicki to come up with a figure with trees, sidewalks and roads, with sidewalks and roads or just roads. The proposal council has before them is just roads.

Councilwoman Mutch said she would be one that would like to see the numbers. She thought the one thing that the council could do in taking this information to the public was to offer them those alternatives and get some feedback in the early process. She would rather hear from people now whether they did or didn’t want it so a ballot could be fashioned accordingly.

Mr. Nowicki said in all of the federal projects where there is federal participation we have been including non motorized transportation facilities and he thought it was up to the community to decide what type of funding and amenities they wanted to see in a road project.

Councilwoman Mutch felt that they would find support.

Mr. Nowicki said he would put the numbers together for the study session.

Councilwoman Cassis said she was looking and had been looking at improvements to Grand River where we do have easements. Some of the other roads we did not have easements and would have to acquire them. She said if she would have had a preference it would have been to put greater emphasis and priority onto a major business traveled road throughout which is a major east/west connector. She thought the traffic would go where the improvements were made and she had some serious reservations about Ten Mile going to five lanes and would like to see other opportunities explored especially Grand River.

Mr. Nowicki asked if she would like some numbers for improving Grand River on a typical mile section for the study session.

Councilwoman Cassis said she would.

Councilwoman Mutch agreed that traffic would go where it was easiest. She also thought when citizens were asked to pay for roads what they would look at was the road that they use and so while improvements on some roads would lead to easier flows of traffic for those who are going to a business district, it’s a business road, that would ease congestion for people traveling that route with those destinations. But for people who are basically in a residential area who are traveling to other destinations along that particular corridor they would be more willing to pay for improvements on that corridor than one they are not as likely to use.

Councilman Clark said with reference to Grand River, we have the easements there and there is plenty of room along Grand River. He felt they would find if Grand River was improved tomorrow, by and large the traffic that creates and the backs-up on Ten Mile Road, would disappear because the majority of those people who are going west would take Grand River and if need be, come up to Novi Road and go down Novi Road or go further to Taft.

Councilman Clark felt if you improve it, you are just going to make it that much better and by and large, the residents of the community will support it because it will have the least impact of all upon the residential component of this community and there is the real benefit to be gained. He also felt it helps in terms of the business community along Grand River.

Mr. Kriewall felt this will receive a lot of debate as we deal with the Ten Mile Road project probably at the next meeting. He tended to disagree somewhat in that probably the most major problem in our community today is the rapid growth of South Lyon and Lyon Township and he found it very difficult to predict that people are going to take Grand River to South Lyon and Lyon Township if we widen it to 20 lanes. He felt they would still try and go down Ten Mile Road, but the traffic experts will have to deal with that issue and probably have to have an extended discussion over that particular matter in the future.

Mr. Kriewall also added that the Grand River Corridor Study which Council has commissioned is also going to shed some light on the future improvement plans to Grand River Avenue and maybe that is why we commissioned that particular study to try and see where we are going over the long pull, and he believed they did need to make improvements to Grand River Avenue, but he didn’t feel that would necessarily solve our problems in this community.

CM-96-04-215: MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Mayor McLallen asked Mr. Nowicki if could he bring on a board, the scoring criteria that is used for the selection of the roads for funds, the accident rates, travel rates and Mr. Nowicki said he will provide the forms and the best we can. He stated it was a lengthy process and he will get them everything he could. She said he should hit the highlights and she would prefer that they be on boards so people could look at them. Also, she would request the flow of funding steps, who has to start when and where, and where, when it exceeds the local ability, does the next level kick in and what are the typical time frames from study, right-of-way acquisition, construction and completion.

Bonding Program

Mayor McLallen said this also needed to go on the ballot in November, language has to be prepared by late August and the proposal has stemmed from the Police and Fire Needs Citizen Committee. The personnel had been taken out and would be addressed by Council at a later date. This was only capitol, meaning only the physical plants and buildings and it was a two part bond issue for Police and Fire.

Mr. Kriewall said the Citizens Committee had developed a thorough analysis of personnel and capitol needs for Police and Fire. Council had authorized a study to look into the response capability of the Police Department so the personnel issue had been temporarily set aside. He thought, based on City Council’s earlier discussions based on the Police and Fire Committee report, it was a general consensus that the capitol needs of both departments were obvious. They were debated long and hard by the Committee and there was a development of specific recommendations that had been passed on to City Council.

Mr. Klaver stated there were five components to the recommendation that the Committee presented on Capitol and two of them, the Police Station and Fire Station #4 were before Council this evening. One that was deleted was the upgrade of the Fire Department radio system which was approved in this year’s Budget process through a trade off of the personnel proposal that the Fire Chief had made and that would be addressed in next year’s Budget.

Mr. Klaver said the second component consisted of a computer system for the Police Department and that was being addressed as a large part of the Computer Committee’s entire work and they were looking at the possibility of a lease/purchase arrangement. It was decided it would be more appropriate to deal with that on a package basis so it had been deleted.

Mr. Klaver said the third component had been deleted because he and Mr. Kriewall had reviewed it and did not administratively support it. This component was the replacement of Fire Station #3 located on Nine Mile adjacent to the railroad tracks. He said it was landlocked, it would be impossible to expand it and the Fire Chief made a recommendation that Station #3 be replaced. It was reviewed by the Committee and they decided not to act on it. Subsequently, it came up at a Council meeting recently, a motion was made and it was approved. In retrospect, a little more study could have been done. Mr. Klaver said it was their recommendation that that particular component of their recommendation be looked at in more detail and perhaps Council could come back to it in the future.

Mr. Klaver said they thought the need for a new Fire Station #4 and the Police Station were self evident. The proposal by the Chief was to replace the fifth Fire Station which was scheduled in the south west corner of the community and would complete the Master Plan which originally included five response districts for the Fire Station. He said having employees in the station they were not as dependant on the paid on calls, a little longer response is possible. By relocating that the Chief could combine the majority of what was previously to be District #5 and #4, and with some reconfigerations of the others we could eliminate the need for a fifth station. However, it would require a relocation of the existing Station #4.

Mr. Klaver said the other part of the program consists of including in the Station a training facility. They had been using the old Fire Hall on Novi Road which is scheduled to be demolished. This would give them an area where they could stage training which required a little more property and a few training facilities. The total of that program, a report was included by architect Lee Mamola, was two and a quarter million dollars.

Mr. Klaver said renovations to the Police Station fell into four different areas. One was compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act. The station was built about 15 years ago and ADA didn’t exist and there are a significant number of changes that need to be made to bring the building into compliance. Additionally, there has been some normal repair work that needed to be done but there are some extraordinary problems that we are experiencing with settling. There are sections where there is water and sand seeping through a few walls. This needed to be dug out, resealed and other preventative measures taken or that wall would fail before too long.

Mr. Klaver said the last area was renovations and expansions. He said training was a problem and there was no training facility. The plan suggested shows a multi purpose room that would be used for all kinds of training and vehicles could be brought in for training and they thought it would be an excellent addition. He said the locker rooms needed to be expanded because there was very minimal provisions made for female officers. The Station was built for 50 Police Officers and there are more than that now and the growth will continue so more space needs to be created for the employees.

DISCUSSION

Councilman Schmid asked if there was an indication of property available at Station #4?

Mr. Kriewall said that was Station #5.

Mr. Klaver said Station #4 was basically landlocked and he was not aware of any property.

Councilman Schmid said he was talking about the Station on Beck Road.

Mr. Klaver said that is the proposed #5.

Councilman Schmid asked if they were proposing to move that?

Mr. Klaver said actually replace that. He said Districts 4 and 5 would be reconfigured and combined eliminating the need for a fifth station.

Mr. Kriewall said Station #4 would probably be turned over to Parks and Recreation.

Councilman Schmid said he wanted to see Budget Session discussions regarding utilizing the existing sites and that was not included in this report and he thought there was a lot of property available around Station #4. He asked if Mr. Klaver was proposing that Council accept everything that was in the Needs and Assessment Study for the Police Station?

Mr. Klaver said yes, for purposes of preparing the bond proposal. He believed there would be time to review it and make modifications. He said they were within a month of needing to initiate the process to allow for time to place it on the ballot.

Councilman Schmid said it should be done and didn’t care if it was done in a Council meeting at a future date but he wanted the Chief present to answer questions relative to the Fire Station and the Police Station. In that interim time, he thought Council should visit the Police and Fire Stations to find out if some of the recommendations were an absolutely necessity.

Councilman Schmid said it bothered him that there would be a half a mil for Police and Fire, a mil or more for the Road Bonding Issue, swimming pools and on and on. He thought Council had to stop, look and listen and make sure the right things were being done and it was what Novi could afford. He said the millages are beginning to pile up.

Councilman Crawford asked what the time table was. He thought something needed to be done with the Police Department, it needed expansion and it needed to be refurbished. We’ve been told the Fire Station was not big enough to properly serve the western portion of Novi. It needed to be enlarged and needed new training facilities and thought that the property was not big enough to enlarge and put training facilities on. Therefore, it needed to be abandoned as a Fire Station and relocated some place else. He felt the information received from both Chiefs, Budget Sessions and reports was accurate information and felt we needed to get on with this and if some people need additional information then that meeting should be set quick.

Councilman Crawford said he was assuming that Council would go ahead with the Bonding Issue and it needed to be promoted to bring the public up to speed on this.

DISCUSSION

Councilwoman Mutch said she would be out of town but appreciated the need to move along with it.

Mayor McLallen said the Mr. Kriewall had requested any refinements be given to him. Mayor McLallen said she would like the actual acreage and square footage of all the buildings to be noted and then the proposed requirements and what is actually owned on the adjacent land.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Councilwoman Mutch said she had been working with Mr. Klaver with the expectation that eventually they would be having meetings with Mr. Gilbert. She asked if there was anyone on Council who would like to comment on how to organize those or who should be included.

Mr. Klaver said Mr. Gilbert would come in June 24th with all day meetings the 25th and 26th. There will also be an evening meeting on the 26th and he would leave the 27th.

Councilman Crawford said the Community Club group meets weekly. Officers were elected and Bob Shaw, Parks and Recreation Commission, was elected Chairman. They were also continuing to review from the Community Clubs perspective the Tri-Party Agreement and there is concerns of Members over certain portions of management contract and a few other contracts.

Most of them kind of minor and it would be coming back to Council for review and approval once they get it finalized. He thought it would be at Council in a couple of meetings for Council’s approval of the changes and reaffirmation.

1. Fire Department Staffing Discussion

Councilwoman Cassis said this was a revisiting of what was proposed at the last Council Meeting, which was that the Fire Chief would provide to Council information regarding a proposal for three Fire Officers that the Chief had recommended at Budget time. The intent was to move the money in Contingency for the Chief’s request into the budget proper. She thought there was information that Council Members wanted. She had the information that she requested including the minutes, with one proviso, on Page 10 of the May minutes, at the very bottom has to do with the Fuerst property which was misspelled and she asked that it be corrected. Member Cassis wanted to be sure that Council’s direction was that they would have all this information and a decision either at the July 1st meeting or the July 15th and that any of Council’s comments be forwarded to the Police Chief.

Councilman Crawford said since a July 15th meeting with the Fire Chief has been proposed that might be the appropriate time to get further information and take action. However, he hoped they wouldn’t confuse the issues of personnel with what was proposed to be presented the 15th because it really was similar but a separate issue.

Councilwoman Cassis said it could be separated by way of Agenda items.

Councilwoman Mutch said there were two Members of Council who specifically asked this to be put on the Agenda so we could get additional information and in light of the information received she wondered if they had the specific information they wanted. Otherwise, aren’t we at the same point we will be then?

Councilman Schmid said the information received was merely the minutes of the Budget Session Meetings and absolutely no additional information whatsoever. There was a lot of discussion as to the need of the additional three firemen. That was brought up at the very last night of Budget Session by a couple Council Members who went to the Chief and encouraged him to come forward. It was not recommended by Administration. It was recommended only by Council people. The Administration still has not recommended additional Firemen. He referenced the City of Troy runs their Fire Department with very few full time Firemen. It’s all volunteer and they have the equipment and Firemen that show up when needed. He said to suggest Novi could not run on a paid on call part time Department was not accurate. He asked the Chief to come forward with facts on why Troy could handle it without full time Firemen and Novi can’t. He asked that Administration make a recommendation one way or the other.

DISCUSSION

Councilwoman Mutch said the last time this was discussed there were two people on Council who specifically said they wanted to put this off until they had more information from the Chief. She said if additional information was still needed maybe that should be mentioned now. What she was concerned about was Council would get to the 15th of July and Council would have the same discussion they already had and there would be votes that are the same and maybe different as a result of the information that Council had now. She asked if the Members had the information they needed if so she would rather make a decision now.

Councilwoman Cassis thought because Budget Meetings were not televised and there were certainly needs in the community that the Fire Chief could attest to she would be very happy to come forward, provide the background in a public meeting so that all people could hear it and if there were any questions Council would like to place to the Chief that would be advisable. In addition, if the Chief would like to provide any background to Council before that meeting he should be able to do that. She said that was why she was in favor of the July 15th meeting and it also served the purpose that July 1st is the start of the fiscal year and it is a timely matter at that time to look at the situation of moving it from Contingencies into the Budget Proper.

Councilman Clark said he joined in the comments of Member Cassis and would like the Chief to clarify on the record at a public meeting some of the concerns or questions that Council had that were not clarified at the Budget Meetings.

Mayor McLallen said the Chief did appear before Council in public meetings on the record and they were not closed meetings.

MANAGER’S REPORTS

Mr. Kriewall briefed Council on the mid decade census. He talked with Pat Loder and she indicated the areas that had to be recounted were completed. The only outstanding issues were some rechecks of areas in other parts of the community that they had to tie up some loose ends with. Ms. Loder is working with the State on extending the deadline on the census. Mr. Kriewall said it appeared that by the end of the week there would be a complete census count to the State of Michigan and City Council should have a tentative count within the next four or five days.

Mr. Kriewall stated next item was a DNR Access Grant Application. He said he was given this morning a copy of a grant that the State had filed with SEMCOG. It was a notice of intent to pre-application and it had been done before but this was a grant for boating access, site acquisition for a million dollars for various sites around the State. He said there was a list by County of various sites they had targeted for access. In Oakland County they listed Commerce Lake, Sherwood Lake, Walled Lake and Lake Angelis. The deadline for responding to the application was June 26th so if Council wanted any comments made to SEMCOG that was the deadline and direction would need to be received this evening. Walled Lake had been targeted before and we’ve taken prior positions recommending against that but he thought Council should think about it and give direction if they wanted to oppose a site on Walled Lake.

Councilman Clark felt the same position should be taken that was taken in the past which was to oppose this. He said the residents have expressed concern about the number of boats and vehicles on the lake now and to open it up to a public launch would be a gross disservice to Novi lake residents and Walled Lake residents. He didn’t see any good, valid reason to change their position.

UNANIMOUSLY; To direct Administration to send a letter to SEMCOG voicing strong opposition to any public launch with in the City of Novi and/or Walled Lake to be signed by the City Manager and the Mayor.

Mayor McLallen stated she would contact the Mayor of Walled Lake to see if we could issue a joint letter under our signatures and send two letters.

Mr. Kriewall gave Council an update on Senior Housing. He said we’ve had some very serious site deliberations in Executive Session with City Council and City Council had asked several questions about a couple of particular sites in the community. He said they were doing additional investigation on those sites and the process is moving. They were evaluating at least two sites at the present time.

Councilwoman Cassis asked if Mr. Kriewall would prepare feedback and research regarding the questions that Mr. Adams had provided to Council this evening of the standing water that had been more so this year than any other time and what factors might be involved in that and what might be done. She asked that this be back by July 1st.

Mr. Kriewall said yes, the process was already under way.

Councilwoman Cassis questioned the Garfield Road Ground Water Study. She asked if the rises and increases were in keeping with past years and would Council continue to monitor through the summer and the fall regarding the levels and comparisons of the levels.

Mr. Kriewall thought the evaluation should be continued because from what he had seen in the packet it was inconclusive. He felt an extension of data collection probably through November or so would be appropriate.

CM-96-06-220: Moved by Cassis, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY; To direct that the Garfield Road and Nine Mile

DISCUSSION

Mayor McLallen asked if there was any significant funding costs with the extension of this?

Mr. Kriewall said not really because once the benchmarks are established, which they are, it is a very simple process for the engineers to go out and take shots.

Councilwoman Cassis asked that the City Manager provide some information back regarding the concerns that were raised by Mr. Korte.

Mr. Kriewall said they would.

CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT - None

Partnership for the Meadowbrook Road Sanitary Sewer Extension

Councilman Schmid asked if Novi was presently in a lawsuit with Sandstone Limited and what it was regarding?

Mr. Fried said we were in a very lengthy lawsuit involving the SAD for the construction of the road and the validity of when the road would be constructed and its connection with Novi Road.

Councilman Schmid asked if it had caused the City to expend any dollars?

Mr. Fried said lots of dollars.

Councilman Schmid said now we are going to enter into an agreement with them for a Sanitary Sewer which is not connected. Are we confident that this agreement might end up in a lawsuit or not?

Mr. Fried said he could not tell if it would or not.

Councilman Schmid said he thought Council would go through with the agreement but thought it was ironic that Council’s bending over backward building them sewers and they have us in the court of law that is costing the City thousands and thousands of dollars.

System along Twelve Mile Road from Novi Road to Haggerty Road

Councilman Schmid said this was the same system that was put in on Novi Road and the cost to the City was $24,000. He asked who was paying part of the $120,000? He asked if it was before Council and had they agreed to put this system on Twelve Mile Road?

Mr. Kriewall said no, it came up as a result of the County installing a system on Haggerty Road and Mr. Nowicki thought it should be linked together with whatever we were doing on Novi Road from Grand River to Twelve Mile.

Mr. Nowicki said that system was being installed on Novi Road from Grand River to Twelve Mile Road. The Oakland County Road Commission is installing that system all along Haggerty Road from Eight Mile to Pontiac Trail and that provided two north/south corridors. He said we didn’t have any east/west connecting corridors to that system. As they are going through and modernizing Haggerty Road some of the work they will be doing is on Twelve Mile and so it appeared to be opportune if we wanted to participate in that particular type of a project to connect the other signals we had.

Councilman Schmid said there are continued rumors that they are not satisfied with the system. He asked if the system on Novi Road was operating yet?

Mr. Nowicki said it was not activated yet.

Councilman Schmid said if Council is sufficiently confident that this system works are we now going to spend an additional $24,000 before we know if it is going to work on Novi Road. Some say it is a useless system.

Mr. Nowicki said perhaps those who say it is a useless system have unreasonable expectations at certain times. The system was not intended to totally relieve gridlock. When the roadway system has reached capacity no matter what type of signal system you have it will not work. What it is intended to do is even out the peaks and valleys that you have in the traffic flows in particular areas. Where you have high concentration at one intersection, the signals automatically change their time to allow a continuous progression up through the subsequent intersections.

Councilman Schmid said there must be some maximum times they allow obviously and he was thinking of Twelve Mile Road coming off the expressway and today it happened to look like I-696 at 8:00 in the morning. Mr. Nowicki said there had been an accident on I-96 near Wixom Road.

Councilman Schmid said these systems allow for maximum times before they change and Mr. Nowicki said there are significant event overrides, which is what they call them, and they would have to sit down with our Police Department through the dispatch and work and train our dispatch people to be able to handle specifically on Novi Road some of the Christmas time shopping, the Expo events there and as well, we may have a system here that would allow us to do that work. He added the Road Commission also would have the capabilities of executing that program, the timing changes.

Councilman Schmid asked if Mr. Nowicki was sufficiently educated with this system that he felt comfortable that we are expanding its use on another major road before we have a test on Novi Road.

Mr. Nowicki said he felt comfortable with the Road Commission right now and the technology that is available. Technology is rapidly changing and there is always going to be a system that is better somewhere and at the point that we are at right now, this appears to be the best use of the technology that we have that the Road Commission is installing throughout Oakland County.

Councilman Schmid said he probably will not support this and not because it was not a good system. He said he has heard sufficient bad stories about the system and he would prefer to see Novi Road be successful or unsuccessful before expending additional monies. Notwithstanding, he was sure Council will act as they see fit.

DISCUSSION

Councilwoman Mutch asked if we don’t approve this, what is the significance of that. Mr. Nowicki indicated the system will remain as it is. Councilwoman Mutch asked if it was something they could come back and do later and Mr. Nowicki said they could do it later but it could not be included underneath the Fast-Trac Grant and we would have to approach the Federal Agency or the Road Commission at a later time and seek funding through an alternate method. Councilwoman Mutch said if it turns out to be very successful and we haven’t done it now and if we were to do it later, it is very likely we would be doing it at our own expense and Mr. Nowicki said yes or seek grant funding from another source, but we could not fall under the Road Commission for Oakland County’s Program right now.

Councilman Crawford said this does not operate in isolation and it would operate in conjunction with the Novi Road system and the Haggerty Road system and Mr. Nowicki replied yes and that is why we began the discussions to allow a connected corridor, an east-west link.

Councilman Schmid said he did not believe the system has been sufficiently tested and there is a great deal of information that the suggested system does not work and until such time that it has a better track record, that is why he was reluctant to spend the additional monies.

Councilwoman Mutch said she could understand if people want to wait before expending additional money for something that enhances the system that should work on its own, and she asked Mr. Nowicki in his opinion, that the system when it is in place, if we don’t do this part of it, is sufficient to be worth spending money on.

Mr. Nowicki said the system that we have that will be going on Haggerty and Novi Road is beginning to be sufficient for its limited use in those particular areas, specifically north-south corridors, but we don’t have an east-west link utilizing a scat system, and that is what this would do. Councilwoman Mutch said so it not only would improve that, but it would enhance what is already planned otherwise and Mr. Nowicki said yes.

15. Authorization for Attorneys to draft Agreement between the City of Novi and Technology Applicants Group, Inc., For the development of the Novi Public Information Kiosk System.

Mayor McLallen said the Council had previously directed the Staff to go out for bids and the successful bidder is Technology Applicants Group, Inc., who is present that evening.

Councilman Schmid said this should not have been on the Consent Agenda and the authorization was to go out for bids and the minutes clearly indicate that there was no consensus as to whether or not we would go forward. He felt it was a matter for further discussion.

Mayor McLallen said $70,000 has already been appropriated and it went to bid and apparently there were two firms that came in when the bids were opened and Mr. Nowicki has recommended the Technology Application Group bid at $69,000 and at this point, is requesting permission to draw up an agreement to proceed.

Councilman Clark expressed concern also. He indicated the very next item that we have tonight deals with authorization to allow the City Attorney to draft an agreement to award the GIS system hardware and software bids, the total in excess of $209,000 and at that time, he had indicated that at least as to the City itself, the employees within the City would see the benefit to that system. He said as far as this Information Kiosk and having a Kiosk out at the mall so someone could find out what the traffic conditions were like, anyone who has driven out to the mall will know what the traffic conditions are like and even if we were to punch the buttons on the Kiosk at the mall, traffic conditions can change.

Councilman Clark still felt this is a luxury item and it is a want, not a need. He said we have potholes under our feet, but we are concerned about whirling around in cyber-space. In our packet tonight was a publication from SEMCOG based on a survey they just did throughout the area, and one of their great concerns were the roads and the traffic in the community and not only this community, but several communities in this area and in this county and adjoining counties. He said there was a comment stated initially when this proposal was made that we would be one of the first communities in the county to have this, but when it comes to spending the taxpayers’ dollars, he wasn’t concerned about keeping up with the Joneses, and not to the tune of $70,000.

Councilman Clark said also tonight we have had another citizen where the City has allowed something to be done on adjoining property and just from the photographs he saw, it certainly diminishes substantially the value of his property and turns a large portion of his property for certain times of the year basically into a lake. He felt rather than spending this, he would rather see it called a rainy day fund and take that $70,000 and start addressing some of these other problems. He would rather address the bread and butter issues, the potholes in the road, and the residential communities that seem to continuously have water problems after these sites have been engineered and approved and there shouldn’t be these problems, than spend the $70,000 so someone at the mall can push buttons on a Kiosk.

Councilman Clark said this is not the end, but just the beginning and there would be more money spent after this just for this portion of the project. He felt it was ill-conceived and ill-timed and a disservice to the citizens in this community and we shouldn’t be spending their money on this portion of it and he had no problem with the other portion, but this is strictly a luxury. He felt they should reconsider this.

Councilwoman Cassis asked Mr. Nowicki if any of these systems separate, for example, if we again go ahead and approve the next item which has to do with providing all information available within the City as a service to the public, would this be a separate thing and would be just the Kiosk over in the mall.

Mr. Nowicki said the Kiosk System is a distribution mechanism for the information that the Geographic Information System has compiled and put together and it would provide access for the people of Novi to the information that we have, via the touch-screen Kiosks, as well as we have written into the proposal the ability to eventually create our web-page on the Internet and allow people access to some of this information via that means.

Mr. Nowicki said we find everyday that people are interested in the information we have and they come to us at the counter and they want information and they need information and today is a day of information and so will be tomorrow and the next day. He didn’t think we should deny these people access through the most convenient means. He said people thirst for information and they need information and that is what we would do for them through this means.

Mr. Nowicki said it was approximately $100,000 and if you recall, this proposal was put into the Budget through Council’s direction and included there. We were directed to put together the program, put together the proposal and we did and he felt it was the best proposal and program that we have available to us at this time and place.

Councilwoman Cassis said she saw this as a service to the public for youth, school children, as well as adults who are seeking information and yes it is pricey to some extent and it has its own cost associated with it, but as time goes on, we as a major City need to provide our consumers and customers with the kind of information that is up-to-date and available and she was in support of it.

DISCUSSION

Councilman Schmid is amazed at how the Council is spending the dollars. He said we are dealing with a system that Mr. Nowicki has grown up with the last several months and it is used probably in one or two other communities in the State of Michigan and he didn’t know if it was used anywhere else and it hasn’t been tested once again and so the City of Novi is going to be out front spending $100,000 and that is the beginning and it would cost much more than that to have these so-called devices perhaps in the Lobby.

Councilman Schmid said some Council members are suggesting that we won’t have this information for the school children and the citizens of Novi and it will be on every computer in this building and it will be available. He said it would be used by a small percentage of the citizens of Novi, yet we are going to expend the dollars for all the citizens of Novi for a toy. He said it wasn’t the right time and it wasn’t proven technology and he would like to see some of the other communities around us experiment and we will take the advantage of their mistakes rather than having to expend our dollars.

Councilwoman Mutch said to Mr. Nowicki the Kiosk is just basically a delivery system, a way to tap into information and Mr. Nowicki said basically it is utilizing the infrastructure that we will be putting into place with this system, the Internet that people dial in from their homes to access information . He said it is really nothing new and it is proven technology, in fact, it has taken Government awhile to catch up with the private sector and it is pretty well in use with the private sector through the automobile companies and they use it as training tools.

Councilwoman Mutch felt information is power and by providing access to the information and providing the data base that people can access, we are empowering the people of this community and yes we are using their tax dollars to do it, but it is a good use of tax dollars. She felt they just need to be comfortable that we don’t get too focused on the hardware and we don’t get too focused on the single way in which it can be delivered.

Mr. Nowicki said if you notice, the system we are putting together, yes we are on the leading edge in certain areas, specifically the technology, we are not because that technology is there and it has existed and it has been in existence for many years. He said where we are on the leading edges are visioned what we hope to provide the community and that is the access to all of the information that we have through a number of means.

Councilwoman Mutch indicated she would support it.

Councilman Crawford concurred with Councilwoman Mutch’s comments and also emphasized that if this was a $100,000 stand-alone toy, he wouldn’t vote for it, but it is not and it is a means of access, particularly when our citizens can access this via their own computers in their own homes through their own modems and the Internet, etc., and he didn’t think we can even envision how valuable this service would be to our citizens and business people in the community.

Councilman Schmid felt it was a toy in his opinion, and the information they are talking about can be got through other systems within the City. It is a toy that will sit out in the Lobby and all it will give is the information that is available up in the Clerk’s Office and all the other departments we have. He said it was one of the first systems to go in the State of Michigan, and it is way ahead of its time.

16. Authorization to allow the City Attorney to draft Agreements to award the GIS Hardware and Software Bids to Microcad Solutions and Environmental Systems Research Institute respectively in the amounts of $104,259.00 and $105,589.00.

Councilman Schmid said he pulled this item to vote against it and had no comment.

17. Approval of conceptual design of the Taft Road Extension and authorization to prepare final design plans, specifications, and right-of-way easement documents.

Councilman Schmid said he pulled this item. Mr. Kapelczak then explained after the last session we had with the Council as to the Taft Road alignment across the railroad tracks from 12 Mile to the West Road area, we went out and did extensive soil borings and found some poor soils in the area and the red line on the board is our best location as to the consistency of the soils through the area. He said at the southern terminus there, we are approximately halfway between the railroad tracks and Beck Road and it is really very close to the half mile point and just east of the south quarter corner of Section 9. He indicated we showed two locations there, and there is a house on that lot, 002 and if, in fact, the City was able to negotiate a price for that home, then the road would go straight and really end up at the south quarter corner which is a half mile east of Beck Road.

Mr. Kapelczak said we could not successfully negotiate that small curve and it would be approximately 225 feet east of that south corner quarter and that is an empty area and nothing is located there this evening, and to go any further east with the location at 12 Mile Road with Taft Road, really interferes with site distance and the future bridge that one day we expect will be a grade separation at the railroad tracks.

Mr. Kapelczak said so by the topography of the land today, we feel what will happen there in the future, is you see approximately the best location for the southern terminus of the extension of Taft Road. He said as it sits on the railroad track up towards the northern end, that is where all the soil borings were taken and that is where the best area is according to the soils in the area. He said anything beyond that, you would then spend many many dollars either in excavation of poor material or you are going to spend it in some type of foundation for that road.

Mr. Kapelczak said as you know, this will be a crossing that will go over the railroad tracks and if you look in the report, we are feeling very comfortable that the railroad will accept a design that is known as a multi-arch design and if they do accept that design, that saves a substantial amount of money and brings it down to the 4.6 million dollar cost estimate.

Councilman Schmid said he brought this up because at the last discussion he thought there was considerable talk that we would try to get this road further east and he was talking about the entrance onto Twelve Mile Road closer to the railroad track. He said Taft Road is east of the railroad track, so he didn’t know why we are calling this Taft Road extension.

Councilman Schmid thought Mr. Kriewall had suggested that we could possibly get that much closer to the railroad track, and he was talking going east now for that road, however, you brought up tonight that someday there may be a grade separation on the railroad track and is that the reason we didn’t pursue.

Mr. Kriewall said yes that was the first reason and the second reason was if we can purchase that house that exists just to the west of the alignment, we almost have a straight alignment for that road, from West Road to 12 Mile Road, which is the most ideal alignment and it would be more conducive to moving traffic and taking it off South Lake Drive, so quite frankly, we found the ideal alignments and it has taken a long time to get there, but this is a very attractive alignment for us and based on the topography and the grade separation needs in the future, we really can’t go any further east anyway, so we have moved it as far east as we can and we have ended up with a straight alignment between 12 Mile and West Road. He felt they have gotten the best alignment available for the community and we are very happy with it at this point.

Councilman Schmid said the Council didn’t like this alignment initially and they have changed their minds because of the cost to go further east and this road should be east of the tracks if it is going to serve the purpose that it is designed for and not less than a half a mile away from Beck Road and the new Interchange that will be going there so he would wonder if it is another road going nowhere. He indicated he wouldn’t support the alignment tonight but he understood the reason for it.

18. Approval of conceptual design of Commerce Township Sanitary Sewer and Authorization to prepare final design plans, specifications, and right-of-way/easement documents.

Councilman Schmid said he pulled this item solely based on the comments made by the developer and he felt Council should look at this. Mayor McLallen asked Mr. Nowicki and Mr. Kapelczak if they were here when the representative of Crystal Corners spoke and stated he had to comply with the City wetland and woodland issues and had stayed out of those areas and now he is feeling justifiably offended that this sewer is going to go through these woodlands that he spent time and money to stay out of.

Mr. Nowicki said we met with the developer earlier today and he expressed his concerns to us. The route that JCK had recommended makes the most sense engineering-wise, and if you notice, we have recommended alignment #2 based on the engineering. However he indicated should that alignment no longer be feasible, then we recommend the alternate, which is #4 to the west.

Mayor McLallen asked if that alignment stayed out of the developer’s property altogether and Mr. Nowicki indicated his parcel is not part of that and further, he felt they avoid some of the developed areas such as Portsmouth Apartments, and actually it addresses some of the other concerns with the other routes. Mayor McLallen asked the cost and Mr. Nowicki replied alignment #2, which was the one opposed by the property owner is 1.233 million dollars and alignment #4 which would be the alternate, is 1.3 million dollars.

Councilwoman Cassis said some time ago when she was previously on Council, an agreement was made with Commerce for exchange of sanitary sewer. Mr. Kriewall explained that particular agreement was studied for a long time by Staff and by our Consulting Engineers and it provided for an equivalent exchange of sewer capacity between Commerce Township and Novi and they were going to give us the equivalent amount, about 2500 taps on the easterly side of Novi into their existing treatment plant which is just north of 14 Mile near Welch Road. In exchange we actually purchased all the excess capacity in the Walled Lake Treatment Plant from Walled Lake as they didn’t need all the capacity that they were entitled to, so we purchased their capacity and we in essence resold that excess capacity to Commerce Township in exchange for 2500 taps on the other side of our community. He said it was an even exchange and both communities were required to make a connection point available to the border at the time that the capacity reached a certain demand.

Mr. Kriewall further explained over on the east side of Novi, there is really no development taking place that will access this property yet, but as part of our future Master Plan, we will go into the Commerce Treatment Plant. He said the trigger point was a certain amount of taps in this area. He indicated we have limited capacity existing in the existing sewers along 14 Mile Road and Pontiac Trail. He said the Westgate Six Apartments and all those other projects in there used up a considerable amount of our capacity mains and when Commerce Township came into the system at a trigger point wherein they knew that they were going to increase the capacities substantially, we were required to make this sewer extension to that area and ideally we will service undeveloped lands in Novi along the way and pick up additional taps also, so it was a win-win situation for both communities.

Mr. Kriewall said we came out of it in good shape because we made sure that there was a requirement in the agreement that our residents would pay no more on the easterly system that goes back into the Commerce Township Treatment Plant than our existing rates in our community.

Councilwoman Cassis said the amount that is going to be earmarked for the plans and specifications of right-of-way and then ultimately to build this, is going to be brought back to the City and the monies will be repaid to the Water & Sewer Fund and Mr. Kriewall said it was a trade-off in taps and there is no exchange of monies for the 2500 taps, but when we build this line, anyone that connects into it, we will make that money and it will go back into the system.

Councilwoman Cassis said so you are saying there would be no net loss to the City of Novi and Mr. Kriewall said we should actually return some profits to the sewer fund in this total transaction.

CM-96-06-226: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: For approval of the conceptual design of Commerce Township Sanitary Sewer and authorization to prepare final design plans, specifications, and right-of-way easement documents - APPROVAL OF ALIGNMENT #4 AS PRESENTED.

Mr. Kriewall added we are asking that any of the property owners in that area, as we go through this, are also going to contribute to that cost of the project, so we will end up spending even less money than we are portraying to you this evening.

26. Approval of Budget Amendment Number 96-19 - Year-End Budget Clean-Up.

Councilman Schmid said to Mr. Gibson he was somewhat surprised at the dollar figures here, so could he explain what they were doing here, for example, for the Assessing Department Personnel Service category, we are increasing $9,922 due to Teamsters Contract settlement. He asked what were these figures.

Mr. Gibson explained when we get down to this stage of the game where we have approved a new Budget for the next year, we have included in that process, an estimated column for the current year and that number really becomes key because that is how we forecast what is available to carry-over into the next Budget year, so as soon as we can close up the year, we will be back to the Council with a report comparing line item by line item where we estimated where we actually finished up and we will give you a new Fund Balance number as far as a carry-over.

Mr. Gibson said what this basically does is with 13 days left in the year, we are basically adjusting to those estimated numbers. Councilman Schmid said these are adjustments to the estimated numbers and you have asked each department to tell you what they need and Mr. Gibson said yes, but we also took into consideration the Union Contract settlement which we had not previously. Councilman Schmid said these do not necessarily go over their Budget items, their Budget for 1995-96 or do they.

Mr.Gibson said yes they would and that is why we are amending. Councilman Schmid then said the City Attorney needs an increase of $50,000 and that is attributed to litigation matters and that was over-Budget and Mr. Gibson said that was their estimate.

Councilman Schmid said the City Police Department requires $160,400 and these are over-Budget from 1995-6 and Mr. Gibson said correct. Councilman Schmid asked the total, and Mr. Gibson said that total is being covered out of interest earnings. Councilman Schmid asked if this was somewhat unique because it seems to be expensive dollars over and above Budgets and it is because of the Teamsters contract primarily and Mr. Gibson said yes and also the Council has a memo from the Police Department indicating their overtime situation. Mr. Gibson said it was basically because of contract settlements and this overtime situation and also some routine maintenance of the major Street Fund, and those are really the only items that are a little bit over of where we had estimated them.

Councilman Schmid said so we are talking almost $300,000 over Budget and Mr. Gibson said yes and they were able to cut back within their own Budget to accommodate some of it.

Councilman Schmid asked if this was a unique year and Mr. Gibson said it was typical

Mayor McLallen said to Mr. Gibson the $300,000 that essentially was not budgeted, while not budgeting for the expenses, we did not budget for the revenue either and regarding the revenue, our new City Treasurer seems to be doing an excellent job with our investments, so he was capable of producing a higher revenue there and Mr. Gibson said correct. Mayor McLallen said we were fortunate to have further sources to cover the shortfall.

Council Schmid said normally if you have a department that has a Budget, doesn’t he expect them to come with their Budget and Mr. Gibson said yes. Councilman Schmid said you are telling me that it is not unusual for each department to exceed their Budget by as much as $50,000 or $150,000. Mr. Gibson said he was telling him that basically if you exclude the Teamster Contract settlement, which we had not gone back and amended the Budget for previously, you are basically seeing it in primarily the Police overtime.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business before the City Council, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 PM.

Mayor City Clerk

Date approved: August 26, 1996