The meeting was called to order by Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo at 7:32 PM.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Cub Scout Pack #50 represented by Steven Jacobs

and Brandon Pence

ROLL CALL: Mayor Clark-absent/excused, Mayor ProTem Lorenzo, Council Members Bononi, Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche-absent/excused, and Kramer

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo presented Member Csordas with a plaque and read a Resolution in recognition of his service on the Planning Commission.

Lisa Willard announced that Bob Hinbern who is on the Novi Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is the Vice President of the Novi Community Credit Union was selected to receive an award from the Sam Walton Foundation.

Mr. Kriewall said he had a meeting with County Commissioner Kay Schmid regarding the interchange projects I-96 and Beck Road and Wixom Road. Concern had been expressed by M.D.O.T. that the County Road Commission commitment to widening Grand River from Beck Road to Wixom Road might be slipping in the project time table. The meeting was to see if she could reinforce or get the county commitment back on track. Mr. Kriewall said M.D.O.T. was about ready to award bids for the actual final design of the projects and they have expressed some time table concerns also.

Mr. Kriewall said Novi Township had contacted Chief Shaeffer and wanted to open discussions to provide Novi Township with police protection. Fire protection services have been contracted for several years and they are now interested in police protection.

Mr. Kriewall said the proofs for the service cards, suggested by Member Csordas, have been reviewed and approved and are at the printers and should be available and in service in about a week.

Ms. Smith-Roy said the ice arena is pretty much on track. She said Council had a report from Suburban Arena, which showed a comparison of their budget of where they projected to be through November 30^th. They are favorable by about $13,000. The actual profit for the time period through November 30^th is about $66,000. Ms. Smith-Roy said they would be writing a check to the City for about $50,000 during the next week that would help repay the loan that is outstanding. She said they anticipated that during December they might not have met their budget expectations because there were some commitments in December that were a result of the prior management company.

Member Bononi said it was her understanding that the amount owed to the General Fund had increased and asked why it has increased.

Ms. Smith-Roy said there was a large debt service payment that was due December 1^st and that is the primary reason for the increase. The principle and interest relating to that debt service was about $300,000 so it increased the loan owed to the General Fund.

Member Bononi asked what the total loan was?

Ms. Smith-Roy said it was $688,000.

Member Kramer asked how often Council would get updates regarding the ice arena?

Ms. Smith-Roy said the budget information would be included on a monthly basis.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said she had had some concerns regarding the increased loan amount. While it is very commendable Mr. Anastos seemed to be doing a very good job in terms of revenues but the loan from the General Fund seemed to be ever increasing. She asked that in the future Council be given a break down from the start in July 1999 of how much the loan from the General Fund was at that time and then the next month and so on and why. What the reason was and what the amount was so that Council could track it.

Ms. Smith-Roy said she would provide that as a supplemental report in the monthly statements.

Mr. Watson said the City along with Farmington Hills and Farmington are involved in negotiations for the renewal of the Time Warner Cable TV Franchise. In addition to that negotiated renewal process there is also an administrative process which has commenced. In effect it is an administrative hearing whether Time Warner had met the terms of the existing franchise and whether the proposal they have made would be sufficient for the future cable needs of the communities. The three cities have each appointed individuals to serve on the administrative tribunal that is considering those administrative issues. He said the tribunal had their initial meeting last week and have done the preliminary ground work. There was a representative of Time Warner there and they set a schedule of how they would go forward with the administrative process, set time deadlines for the submission of pleadings, for discovery, for the submission of written testimony and for the hearing itself. Hopefully it will spur the negotiations to some sort of conclusion.

Mr. Watson said in Council’s packets, under communication, is a letter concerning the

S & Z Inc. case. It was a Zoning Board of Appeals case, which was turned down so the landowner appealed it to the court system. It arose originally out of a rezoning attempt. A Consent Judgment was brought back to the Council several months or half a year ago to resolve the case. Basically, they gave up on the Commercial zoning and what was agreed to was they could have two single family residential lots that would front on Lindhart. They have attempted to submit building permits for those and have run into additional problems. The technicality in the Zoning Ordinance they had not anticipated was that when fronting on a corner, the side yard that is adjacent to a street is treated like a front yard. So given the fact that these are very limited side parcels they have had problems. They have submitted a method to try to resolve that. Basically, building envelopes for a couple of houses. He did not expect Council to make a decision on it tonight. He proposed to take that, work with Mr. Arroyo and Mr. Saven to see if there are any alternatives that would be better and need less relief and bring it back to Council.

Mr. Korte had called Mr. Watson with some ideas he had that would reduce the amount of relief needed even more. Mr. Watson would like to work with those people and the property owner and perhaps bring something back that might resolve this issue. If the Council would rather that the property owner simply take anything they want to do to the Zoning Board of Appeals and not approach the City Council with this he would like to know.

Member Bononi suggested establishing a process wherein anytime Council looked at land like this Council could establish building envelopes and make sure when Council approves lots that they would be compliant with the underlying zone. Member Bononi said she would support this.

Member Kramer asked if the current applicable ruling on the property is related to Consent Judgment? Mr. Watson said it is. Member Kramer said the next appropriate action would be an amendment to Consent Judgment not really an initiative to the Z.B.A.

Mr. Watson said that is what he would bring back to Council. Mr. Kramer said he would support any reasonable measure he could come up with. Mr. Watson said they were looking for something that would fit in with the rest of the neighborhood.

Member Crawford asked Member Bononi if her suggestion should go to Ordinance Review?

Member Bononi said it might be a positive thing to do.

Member Crawford asked that it be made an item at Ordinance Review.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said there is consensus to bring the process to Ordinance Review and for Mr. Watson to proceed as he presented this evening.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked what the time line was on the Time Warner matter?

Mr. Watson said it would probably go on into the middle of the summer. The submission of written testimony would probably be in June and an actual verbal testimony would probably occur in the middle of August. The representative from Time Warner thought that a hearing would take two weeks of time and that is probably correct.

Member Crawford thought that both sides were hoping that this could be solved informally. He felt they were pretty close but not close enough so that was why these directions were being pursued. Also, A.O.L. and Time Warner have merged which might have some sort of bearings on where this goes and how.

Member Csordas said there was a letter dated 12-22 from Bob McCann in the packets and it did not look to him that he was encouraged that things were moving along. He asked Member Crawford if, in his opinion, it was fairly close to resolution?

Member Crawford thought there were only two or three major items that are keeping both sides apart. If those can be resolved this might be able to be done informally.

James Korte, Shawood Lake, regarding the attorney that used to be the Lindhart properties the reason he became involved was because he was instrumental and mouthy at the Z.B.A. and told the man they would help him get 2 residential building sites. He thought the houses should be as far away from the existing neighbor as possible. He would push the southern house closer to the lot line because of several acres of untouchable wetland and woodland and that new house would never be encroaching on anyone. Mr. Morrone spoke of the one 50 foot lot being new and it is 10 foot and 15 foot side lot lines. All of Howell’s Walled Lake Subdivision is a rehab of the original plat and when it was redone the whole subdivision was done with ten on ten. He did not understand why in the same subdivision the ten and ten rather than ten and fifteen would not work because the ten and ten has been the rule even with new building. His configuration was the same as what has been done on the Thirteen Mile Corridor and twenty some years ago to the whole subdivision. In this situation, with a little creativity, there could be two nice houses. This would fit the subdivision, similar/dissimilar could be dealt with easily, it should solve the building department and neighbor problems and it would give the builder a viable approach to sell and develop his property.

Mr. Korte said the empty property opposite the party store is 200 feet which gave a break down of three 60’s which are easily buildable and the extra 20 to the corner allowed for the Erma corner to fit ordinances also.

Mr. Korte said he has been dealing with Ms. Conley regarding illegal curb cuts on Erma. He has been dealing aggressively with Ms. Conley for three weeks because we are now using the T turn around that has never functioned as a through turn around going in and around the wrong direction. He felt if someone got hurt the City would not win the lawsuit. Ms. Conley has decided that this is a police matter. Mr. Korte wants a fence and wants it immediately. On the south side of Erma a split rail fence was put up by the Jacob family because of the trespass from the road upon their property. Why is there a problem with putting a fence up on the other side where some kid is going to get killed?

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked Mr. Kriewall to look into this.

Chris Janik, 22340 Mill Road, is one of the Directors of the Whispering Meadows Homeowner’s Association and was present speaking for the board of directors. The minutes from the 11-22-99 Council meeting indicate that a resident of his subdivision, Mr. David Ingmire, addressed the Council during Audience Participation. He expressed his concerns regarding dumping on the common area behind his home. The minutes stated that "the association does not want to prevent its members from dumping." Mr. Janik informed the Council of the actions that they had taken and continued to take this area. Over the years they have used the association newsletters to remind residents of their policy regarding the common areas. This issue was addressed in their newsletter of June 1999. On October 13^th Mr. Ingmire brought this issue to their board, it was discussed at length and he was told what was being done regarding this issue. One week later Mr. Ingmire sent the board a letter threatening legal action if he was not paid for the time he had spent on this issue. The board had not hired Mr. Ingmire to investigate the use of the common area. He did this on his own initiative. On November 15^th a letter was mailed to every resident of the subdivision that addressed this issue of dumping. In that letter it was clearly stated that dumping in the common areas was not allowed and provided specific examples of what is and is not dumping. The letter included attached letters to Don Saven of the Building Department from the consulting firms Linda C. Lemke and Associates and J.C.K. and Associates. All of this information is available at their website at www.geocities.com/chrisjanik. When complete, a procedure policy regarding this would also be available on their website and provided to all residents.

Mr. Janik said the board of directors is striving to fulfill its obligations to the association as described in the bylaws of the association. Although, it is their responsibility to maintain the common areas it is not their responsibility to enforce City of Novi Ordinances. City Officials and consultants have reviewed this particular situation and to their knowledge have not found any violations of city ordinances.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said that the City was still looking into this matter and Council had not discussed this matter yet and has not looked into whether the ordinances are or are not being enforced.

Suzi Binkley, representing Life Time Fitness, is the department head of the massage therapy department. She said it had been three months since they had been before Council requesting a business license for the massage department and were denied at that time. She wanted Council to be aware of the tremendous effort they had put forth and continue to put forth at this time. They have tendered all fees and provided all financial information with an impeccable and continuously growing financial status. They have complied with all building, health and zoning regulations and built the rooms to comply with the ordinance. All seven of their therapists have been approved by the police department after background and financial investigations. All proved to be impeccable, upstanding citizens as well as massage therapists.

There are fifteen clubs statewide and all except the Novi facility have massage departments and all have been issued appropriate governmental authority to run those departments. None of the clubs have had any type of problem at all. She felt that the moral character and the reputation of Life Time Fitness was beyond reproach. She said they were a family oriented club.

Ms. Binkley appealed to Council to do both the First and Second Reading of the Ordinance. It is on behalf of her staff that she would like to make this plea. She urged Council to consider the people who have been affected by this overlooking of what would be necessary to get the department running. The staff has suffered serious financial loss because of this and they have been forced to accept a job that is well below their education and chosen career or they could leave and appear disloyal to a company that has stood by them for years.

Ms. Binkley asked on behalf of the hundreds of Novi residents who signed a petition and many of the 7,000 current members who were told massage therapy would be offered to them. They are paying membership dues with the expectation of being able to receive massage therapy to reduce stress as well as to repair physical injury and muscle damage they have suffered.

Ms. Binkley asked Council to consider completing the entire process of passing this revised ordinance. She recognized and appreciated the efforts already exhibited in helping them to resolve this matter.

Sarah Gray, 133 Maudlin, referred to a memo she faxed for the 10-18-99 meeting. It had to do with Consent Agenda Item G and E regarding savings from the road bond money. She asked for a response on what the status was of Items 4 and 5 on that specific Item marked No. 1.

Secondly, regarding the Fisher wetland clean up. She said the property has been cleaned up and she asked if Council was going to proceed with the Ivy Leaf walk?

Thirdly, had to do with a lot split in her subdivision. Lots 57, 58, 59 of Idlemere Park have been in common ownership for years. When the water main went in it was given one tap and considered one property. Then the assessor split the property into two 60’s at the owner’s request. She found out about it when she received a letter from the Z.B.A. that it was on the agenda for a variance. The Z.B.A. turned this down because a new house could not be built without variances. She asked if this was deemed to be one building site a year ago by the engineers and assessor’s office why it now deemed to be two. There is no water tap and did that mean the S.A.D. would be recertified from 30 participants to 31?

If the lot split is granted it would make one conforming lot and two non-conforming because what ever went in would require variances. She asked for a determination on this and if the lot split was indeed not correct someone should notify the owner and the person who is purchasing subject to being able to build.

Ms. Gray asked that Item 2 under Matters for Council Action Part 1 regarding mandatory weekly refuse collection be approved. She said it is a health, safety and welfare issue and it would also address commercial aspect. There is nothing in the commercial ordinance that says a commercial business has to have a dumpster.

Member Csordas removed Item C.

Member Bononi removed Items E, F, and G.

Approve Minutes of:

December 18, 1999 Special Meeting

December 20, 1999 Regular Meeting

December 23, 1999 Special Meeting

Schedule an Executive Session for Monday, January 24, 2000, at 6:30 PM, in the Council Annex, to discuss Pending Litigation, Property Acquisition and Union Negotiations

D. Approval of Change Order No. 4 for the Beck Road Sanitary Sewer Project.

H. Approval for renewal of Massage Business License for The Sports Club of Novi, 42500

Arena Drive

I. Approve Claims and Accounts:

Warrant No 561

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said the petitioner’s representative has requested that Council consider First, Second and adoption.

Member Crawford asked if this had been discussed in Ordinance Review? Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said that is correct.

Member Kramer advised Ms. Binkley of Life Time Fitness that the reason their initial request was not acted on was not do to a questioning of their motives but the fact that their situation did not dovetail with the Ordinance. He stated he would support the motion and apologized that it caused them loss of time.

Member Crawford asked Mr. Watson if the motion needed to state that this needed to be implemented?

Mr. Watson said it would take effect in 15 days if all that is done is the First and Second Reading.

Member Crawford said he wanted it to take effect immediately.

Mr. Watson said if a provision is added to make it an emergency ordinance giving it immediate effect then it should be a part of the motion.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if the second on the motion agreed? Member Bononi said she did.

Member Crawford stated that is what he wanted.

He commented that he had received a call from the Police Department. One of the provisions in the Ordinance is determining that the massage portion of their business is 5% or less of their revenues. They are required on an annual basis to submit financial information and the Police Department would like some involvement with the Finance Department in reviewing that information. Mr. Watson wanted to insert in the very last sentence where it indicated that they are "required to annually submit an income statement to the Police Chief" and then Mr. Watson would insert "for review by the Finance Department".

Member Crawford said this has been through Ordinance Review and has had input from citizens and asked that the Second Reading also be passed and that it be made effective immediately.

Member Csordas said Ms. Gray questioned whether this would apply to commercial property also. He said this would cover commercial and residential and that was the intent. Mr. Watson concurred.

Member Kramer would not propose either motion. He felt the proposed motion was on the right track in the intent of what Council was trying to do. However, he did not think it was fully thought out and reasonable. He said it is too simple and did not think it was reasonable. He said sometimes Christmas Trees, bags of leaves, etc. are not always picked up in a week, if on vacation and miss a week then they would be in default of the ordinance. He supports the intent and would support it as a First Reading but it needed additional thought on how to provide for foreseeable inability to perform up to the Ordinance requirements.

Member Crawford said this is a step in the right direction. It needs to be put into place and tested and if Member Kramer’s concerns are valid they can be addressed at a later date.

Member Bononi concurred with Member Crawford and felt that the simplicity of the Ordinance was the beauty of the Ordinance.

Member Kramer thought that Council should be writing quality Ordinances and if they were going to write an Ordinance it should be done right. He did not feel there was an intent here.

Member Bononi said this particular project would primarily benefit absentee property owners in a disproportionate burden to the citizens of Novi. This would include increased traffic, polluted storm water run off, destruction of site wetland absorption area, increase of impervious of surface, unknown increased volumes of run off downstream, inward net traffic and predatory effect on existing retail business.

To adopt Resolution No. 6 for SAD-155 with Public Hearing to

Member Kramer asked Mr. Kriewall to explain the attached letter.

Mr. Kriewall said significant negotiations and discussions have taken place with regard to this project. Mr. Kriewall and Mayor Clark had been advised Ramco-Gershenson would absorb 100% of the cost for this SAD and that cost has been elevated to $8.7 million to cover any unforeseen extra expenses that might arise. A meeting was held with the bonding attorneys, the City attorney and the attorneys for Ramco-Gershenson to draft this resolution and any amendments therein for this evening. The only thing the developers, Ramco-Gershenson, had asked for is contained in paragraph five of the resolution. Paragraph five said, "Subject to the provisions of State law, if special assessment bonds are issued pursuant to the special assessment roll, they are anticipated to be issued with substantially level debt service payments and with no debt service reserve". This was reviewed by the bonding attorney and they had no problem with it. It was just a matter of how the bond sale was structured and since it is 100% cost to the proponents of the SAD the bonding attorney was comfortable with these provisions. Mr. Kriewall said this is all their money and they would recommend that a Public Hearing be set for February 7, 2000.

Member Kramer said previous hearings dated back to why the property was rezoned, why the site plan was approved and the hearings and discussions on the SAD to date had been supported and are reasonable proposals and approaches to the construction of the project.

Member Kramer said this particular proposal that is moving forward to a final Public Hearing is even better than the previous ones. It addressed the major issue the City has had with the SAD. It supports the continuation of the project and he thought the Resolution was additionally beneficial to the City and would support it.

Member Crawford said it was not part of the resolution but asked if the City Manager could brief everyone on the last paragraph of this first page, which is the infamous gap?

Mr. Kriewall said as Mr. Nowicki pointed out in his memo he has had some recent discussions with the Oakland County Road Commission and they indicated that they were going to facilitate the construction of the gap on Twelve Mile Road. They will also pursue the necessary federal funding.

Member Bononi said it was amazing the cooperation one could get from the Oakland County Road Commission by motivated administrators when at other times with regard to maintenance of the roads that are county roads and snow removal Oakland County Road Commission seemed to be the adversary. She was sure that after hearing this that the citizens and taxpayers of Novi would expect the same benefits not only for Twelve Mile Road but for all the county roads they travel day to day. She stated she was not impressed.

Member Csordas said it was good to see a commercial resident, Ramco-Gershenson, contribute and pay for this entire project and it is great to see Oakland County get involved. It is also disappointing that the owners of Twelve Oaks Mall did not contribute. Kudo’s to Oakland County for stepping up to the plate and thank you for the commercial residents that would bring additional revenue to the City.

Member Crawford concurred completely with Member Bononi and hopefully this is an indication of what they might do in the future. He hoped this was a new direction for the county and that with continued pressure from business and citizens that they expect nothing less, maybe some of the other county roads would be taken care of.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if everything was going to be paid for by the developer of this project including administration of a SAD, inspections, etc.? Mr. Watson and Mr. Kriewall said that was correct. She asked how the proposed bond structure differed from the standard structure of a SAD?

Mr. Watson said usually the payments are structured so that they are larger at the beginning of the fifteen year period and reduce as time went on. He said regarding how great that ratio changes he could not tell him. Also, in most of the special assessments there had been a debt reserve of 10% of the total SAD amount.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said in making this deviation then Council could potentially see other requests coming forward for similar structure of a bond payment from other property owners who are going through the SAD process.

Mr. Watson said that was always a possibility.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo thought everyone would be treated uniformly. She asked on what basis were they deviating? Was it simply the request and was there any criteria for this?

Mr. Watson could not speak for bond counsel but thought among the considerations was the extent to which this is secured by the underlying property that is being developed for the shopping center.

Mr. Kriewall said that is the main reason. He said some of the projects such as Main St. and others they were a little concerned about how much value there was inherent in the property.

In this case, the property value was substantial.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked about residential property assessments when people are coming forward with SAD’s? Is it handled in this fashion?

Mr. Watson said there is typically a debt reserve and if there were to be an exception then bond counsel would look on it on a case by case basis and see what the property values looked like.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo requested language in the establishment of the SAD that would protect the City and the developer from similar litigation as experienced with SandStone Vistas. She would be looking for a tentative construction schedule, the process for delays and unforeseen circumstances, changes in size or scope of project and that it all be spelled out ahead of time.

She stated she wanted this to be as air tight as an agreement could possibly be before she would consider moving forward with this. She said she would support this. Even though she is opposed to the project she felt they did have a right to ask for this particular request. She said whether she supported Resolution #7 would depend on what she saw in terms of protection for both parties.

Nays: Bononi

Asa Smith, 1294 East Lake Drive, commended Council on their hard work, negotiation and obtaining County participation on S.A.D. #155. He believed it gave the residents great faith in their Council that they do truly believe in the residents. He said if they can keep up this same effort with Council there could be great harmony. He hoped when Resolution 7 came forward that they would give the best deal with the S.A.D. proposals.

James Korte, Shawood Lake, thanked Council for the trash collection ordinance.

Greg Nelson, Pioneer Meadows Homeowner’s Association, present regarding Items F and G on the Consent Agenda. He said there were a number of homeowners who expressed a desire for City water and service. The water quality in the subdivision is terrible. The water tables are very high making the functionality of the septic systems difficult and a lot of them are failing. He said they had a petition with 61% of the homeowner’s signatures to move ahead with the S.A.D. He asked Council to support these items and move ahead.

Member Csordas asked Chief Shaeffer if this was a normal procedure that vehicles are replaced on a regular maintenance schedule.

Chief Shaeffer said yes by contract police vehicles are replaced 80,000 miles and it is budgeted for in the yearly budget cycle.

Member Crawford said there is a substantial savings by doing this joint purchasing through the county. It is a "bulk" purchase and Novi gets a piece of the pie.

Mr. Pargoff said Novi has a maturing urban forest and there are situations in some of the older subdivisions such as Meadowbrook Glens, Orchard Ridge, Dunbarton Pines and Cedar Springs where they could no longer reach the branches that need to be removed in order to create stronger and hazard free trees. Mr. Pargoff said they do not have any type of equipment like this now.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if he had checked into leasing such a vehicle.

Mr. Pargoff said leasing is almost as expensive as purchasing and there is no leasing of new equipment. It is used equipment and limited in scope.

Member Bononi asked if he did a benefit analysis with regard to the numbers of such tasks that he undertook in any given year that would require this type of equipment?

Mr. Pargoff said the benefit analysis was more on an empirical level and the fact that we had funding for subcontracting and it was not as time efficient as what could be done with an in house piece of equipment.

Member Bononi said she was looking for justification of how many tasks a year in this urban forest to justify such an expenditure of money and asked to see it in writing. She would not support this until she had this information. She wanted him to prove that he needed it based on the activities of the past and also a comparison towards outsourcing this work.

Mr. Pargoff said some of that information was given at the time of the budget hearing when this was approved. It is currently in the budget for purchase.

Member Bononi asked Mr. Pargoff to bring that information forward and she would look at it.

Member Csordas asked about the letter from Kevin Polockivich regarding his concern about the bid not going to the lowest bidder.

Mr. Pargoff said the additional benefits that would be received from Altec was the guarantee, the backup support that they would possibly receive from Detroit Edison. They have made their supply of parts and their mechanics available to our mechanics so that there is a base of knowledge to draw on rather than looking at it as a totally new piece of equipment. He said our mechanics have been invited to their facility to look at their equipment and draw on their expertise.

Member Csordas asked if the value added equated to the $2,000 or $3,000 difference.

Mr. Pargoff said absolutely.

Member Crawford said this was thoroughly discussed with seven Council members and staff at the last budget session. This is here now to be implemented. He asked if there were other uses for this?

Mr. Pargoff said it could be used to put up banners, decorating for Christmas, etc.

Member Crawford asked what the life expectancy was and Mr. Pargoff said 10 years but with good care could go 20.

Member Kramer concurred with Member Crawford. Member Kramer said this aerial lift was talked about at the budget meetings in conjunction with the hire of an additional employee to work the program and the equipment. He said he would support this.

Mr. Pargoff said that person was hired in November.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said she would have preferred having this matter postponed not because Mr. Pargoff could not justify the purchase but because she could not recall the discussions that took place and would have liked to get all that information together.

CONSENT AGENDA REMOVALS FOR COUNCIL ACTION: (Consent Agenda items, which have been removed for discussion and/or action)

Member Csordas questioned memo dated December 28^th to Mr. Kriewall from Mr. Nowicki. The second line said "our consulting engineers state that the work was completed in substantial compliance". He asked what substantial was and what impact that had?

Mr. Potter said the reason substantial compliance was used when finaling out a project was because there were seasonal activities done as part of the project that we are really not sure whether or not its been performed in full compliance. After final payment is made the contract stipulates that the project goes into a one year maintenance period and that is the reason why the term substantial is included.

Member Csordas asked if this was a standard practice and if he was confident that the City was protected?

Mr. Potter said absolutely.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said this was a very disappointing project. She thought that Council cut a much larger swatch through a natural area than was necessary and other than seeding the area she did not see anything being done to mitigate the damage that was created. She thought the City should be doing more than throwing down sod or seed. She felt they should be re-vegetating this area with some native vegetation or trees and shrubs to enhance the area and the function of the project. She would vote in favor of this because money was owed and it is an approved project but with reluctance.

Member Bononi said she just wanted to know about this particular negotiation with the Kassab Kids, LLC.

Mr. Potter said because of the right turn lane an easement was needed to widen the lane so the City initiated the contact in order to acquire the easement. It was initiated in the Planning Department and once the grant was received it then was turned over to the Department of Public Services.

Member Bononi said then this matter was never referred to City Council or the Planning Commission?

Mr. Potter believed it did go before City Council and Member Bononi asked if anyone could verify that?

Mr. Kriewall said it was discussed a couple of times in executive session.

Member Bononi asked what the costs were to accomplish the sanitary sewer relocation? They are not included in this.

Mr. Potter said it was included in the total.

Member Bononi pulled this item because there were no numbers.

Mr. Potter said they received a copy of the estimate. The State of Michigan bid this job and they actually have the tabulation of bids prepared by M.D.O.T. Mr. Potter said they had to request this information today. The engineers estimate for the job was $153,815 and the low bidder, Success, was $139,939. He said it was his understanding that they still had not awarded the contract to the low bidder. They are still reviewing insurance and bonding.

Member Bononi did not understand why this item was brought forward with no dollar value on it and asked what it was Council was to decide?

Mr. Nowicki said the City of Novi did enter into a contract with M.D.O.T. for this project. With respect to the actual dollar amount, the Kassab Kids Family Trust is providing the easement and the right-of-way at no cost other than what is listed in exhibts B.

Member Bononi said the trade off for this in relocating the sanitary sewer is $139,939.

Mr. Nowicki said no. The sanitary sewer issue was raised by the City of Novi. Now the Big Boy is on a line that is a dead end line and only serving the Big Boy and the Water and Sewer Department has to routinely go out there and jet it because with low flows they have problems with it. What this is doing is relocating their lead into a sewer that already has existing flow thereby reducing the maintenance potential and requirements.

Member Bononi asked why they are not paying for it?

Mr. Nowicki said because they are providing the right-of-way for the roadway. Member Bononi asked what the right-of-way was worth. Mr. Nowicki said about $200,000.

Member Bononi said if she were given the numbers she would look at them but she would not vote in favor of this without knowing what the evaluations and cost are.

Member Kramer said the action that is requested by this document is to accept the construction easement and the easement is offered as a gift.

Mr. Nowicki said it is offered as a gift but exhibit B requires certain actions on behalf of the City.

Mr. Nowicki offered to go over each exhibit if requested.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said the concern is, and she shares that concern, while the Kassab Kids are gifting the right-of-way for $1.00 it comes with special conditions attached whereas the City is responsible for a list of things. The question was what was the right-of-way worth. Would it have been easier and less costly to give them a fair market value for it than it would be for the City to do all these various items under special conditions. She was not satisfied that there is enough justification for this either. She would rather pay for the property instead of horse trading and making deals. She would not support this.

Mr. Crawford did remember discussion on this on several occasions in executive session and he would not want to classify it as horse-trading. It was conditions that were suggested back and forth and some of the conditions are reasonable.

Member Bononi pulled items F and G because they are important large-scale projects that deserve to have at least a very brief presentation before Council. This should show the scope of the project, the implication it might have and relevance to the Master Plan of development. Secondarily to be used as a tool so that those persons who have not signed these petitions could get another bit of information on how this project might relate to or affect them.

Mr. Jerome said the reason there is no formal presentation at this time is Resolution #1 is the mechanism that authorizes the engineers to prepare the preliminary documents and the cost estimates. At the time they receive approval for Resolution #1 then they move forward with formal plans and specifications. They come back at Resolution #2 with a formal presentation for the Council. Prior to coming back to the Council they routinely have public informational meetings with the residents and property owners within the affected area. At this point there have not been any costs incurred and it is a resident initiated special assessment. Twelve to eighteen months ago Mr. Jerome met with some of the homeowners within the subdivision and they talked about the special assessment process. He provided them copies of the Ordinance that dealt with special assessments. He routinely provides an outline of the process and at that time, they discussed what the fixed cost were, the connection charges and the estimated actual cost of construction. At this point they really do not have a formal presentation.

Member Bononi said Mr. Jerome knows the approximate numbers and the route of this project as per what the residents are requesting. They know that but this Council does not know that. She said she was not asking for a formal presentation. She asked for a brief outline of the scope of the project, kinds of dollars that he is talking about and if he is saying that no cost has been incurred, a lot of time has been spent already. Therefore, cost has been incurred. She was asking for that same information from the get go. Council should know what he knows.

Mr. Jerome asked if she was proposing to authorize engineering the first time someone comes in with a petition? Resolution #1 gives the authorization to go to the engineers.

Member Bononi is asking for the same information that he already has. Mr. Jerome said that information is in her packet.

Mr. Jerome said what she is asking for on the water might be quite simple but on the sewer, because of elevations and issues of flow, they did not know exactly where it would be located and was real preliminary in the project.

Member Bononi said what she was looking for was conceptual stuff.

Mr. Jerome said the properties along Eleven Mile are already provided access to the water main so they would not be included in the special assessment project nor are the properties that front on Beck Road because they also have access to a public water main.

The water main SAD would only include the interior lots within the Pioneer Meadows Subdivision. The sewer SAD could, and it is unknown because the preliminary engineering has not been done, be expanded to pick up eight lots on Eleven Mile and also provide access to properties on the north side. The properties on the north side are currently Master Planned on the Sanitary Sewer Master Plan to go to the north but more realistically if they develop the single family Eleven Mile would service them. The property along Beck Road including two Metes and Bounds parcels at the southwest corner of the Pioneer Meadows Subdivision is the service area that they are looking at.

Member Bononi said what the property could also be served with a sanitary sewer; how many additional acres would be able to be served by what is proposed?

Mr. Jerome said it is two existing single family parcels that equal one-acre.

Member Bononi said it is Pioneer Meadows and this parcel and that is it.

Mr. Jerome said there are platted lots in Pioneer Meadows that front on Eleven Mile. Also, existing single family residential uses on the north side of Eleven Mile which is Master Planned in a different sanitary sewer district to go to the Lanny’s sewer which is about 1200 feet north of there. It is not practical for a single family home so most likely it would include 8 or 10 parcels on the north side of Eleven Mile.

Member Bononi asked if he was saying that would not be included with this proposal?

Mr. Jerome said when they get into the engineering, it most likely would be included if those residents are interested in being serviced by a sanitary sewer.

Please see comments above, F, as these were addressed together.

Member Kramer said this is the first and beginning step to an SAD where the City recognizes that the citizens have achieved greater than 51% interest in a project. The entire process is a seven-step process. Member Kramer asked Mr. Kriewall to explain the seven steps.

Mr. Kriewall said the seven-step process starts with:

Resolution #1 - asks for development and preliminary cost and specifications by consulting

engineers and a service district

Resolution #2 - Sets a public hearing on the preliminary costs and service district. It is the

first public hearing where the necessity of the improvement is assessed.

Resolution #3 Orders final plans and specifications

Resolution #4 Sets a public hearing for final plans and specifications

Resolution #5 Orders the preparation of the special assessment roll based on the final

Plans an specifications

Resolution #6 The third and final public hearing on the review of the special assessment, if the roll is in order and acceptable by the Council and they get a favorable

Response from the audience then Resolution #7 would be passed at the

third and final public hearing.

Nays: Bononi

Laura Lorenzo, Mayor Pro Tem Tonni L. Bartholomew, City Clerk

Transcribed __________________________

Charlene Mc Lean

Date approved: January 24, 2000