REGULAR MEETING OF COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NOVI
 MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2005 AT 7:00 P.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS-NOVI CIVIC CENTER-45175 W. TEN MILE ROAD

Mayor Csordas called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.

ROLL CALL: Mayor Csordas, Mayor Pro Tem Landry-absent-excused, Council Members Capello, Gatt, Lorenzo, Nagy, Paul

ALSO PRESENT: Richard Helwig, City Manager

Clay Pearson, Assistant City Manager

Craig Klaver, Chief of Operations

Tom Schultz, City Attorney

Rob Hayes, City Engineer

Benny McCusker, Director of Department of Public Works

Kathy Smith-Roy, Director of Finance

Sheryl Walsh, Director of Community Relations

Member Nagy added to Mayor and Council Issues, #6, City Manager search.

Member Paul removed #3 Traffic Signal on Twelve Mile by Fountain Walk from Mayor

and Council Issues.

John O’Brien thanked Mayor Csordas and Council for their support of Youth Assistance.

Mr. O’Brien recognized four young people from the Novi Middle School for posters they submitted regarding the dangers of drinking and driving. The winners of the contest were Paul Ghannam, Robby Laney, Katie Samuelson and Kylie Meyer and each received a gift certificate.

Matt Quinn noted that what is being attempted by the development community is what the City has asked for over the last 20 years. Prior to this, Mr. Chen of Evergreen Development bought

the Main Street property from bankruptcy. He was an engineer who had foreign investor money and was trying to find a place to put it. He was not a developer in the sense that Triangle Development is, who has professional developers with the knowledge to make the project successful. There are 50,000 residents in the City with a developing residential

community and this project would bring more residential community to Main Street. We now have the basis and organization to have a Main Street project really work. Also, local businesses and all of the people in the downtown area are supportive of this plan and have waited for this type of development to make their economic dreams come true. This project will increase the City’s tax base by approximately $120 million and will take 6 to 8 years to build out.

The project will bring about 120,000 sq. ft. of retail, 80,000 sq. ft. of medical space and office space and 380 residential for sale condominium units. Main Street buildings will be about five stories with the first floor being retail and four stories of for sale loft condominiums. There will be additional brownstone condominium developments that are better than but similar to Gateway. A Downtown Development Authority is being looked at for two parking decks of approximately 400 cars each. Brand new streets will be constructed and will add 500 new on street parking spaces. All of the infrastructure will be privately invested.

Mr. Quinn said there is in excess of 200 DDA’s that have been created in Novi and most go to the development of a private-public partnership. You will hear about economic development, how you get the mass of a project together and why you can’t have a sea of parking.

Mr. Quinn noted they would look to Council for further direction and would like Council’s ideas and approval of the overall plan. They would request further direction on the DDA proposal and whether it would go to a sub-committee or to Triangle Development and City staff. Mr. Quinn said they have the wherewithal to make the DDA happen, and present it to City staff for review so that the City would not have the significant costs associated with preparing a Downtown Development Authority.

Mr. Quinn presented Alexander Bogaerts whose architectural firm is the lead firm in developing the concept. Mr. Bogaerts noted they have several projects of a mixed use nature and what makes a development thrive is the residential units within the development. This is an extension of what the Master Plan is and what the TC (Town Center) District asks for. He said they are creating a very strong image for a Main Street community and giving an opportunity to have a very central core area for the development of this type of mixed use project.

Mark Abernatha said they’ve worked with McKenna & Associates on this project. He believed they were carrying through what the City had looked at as a development for this area. He said there would be strong entry monuments to draw pedestrian and vehicular traffic into the site from Grand River and Novi Road. They want to establish a strong urban grid plan for the project. The focal point will be a Main Street Park that will come off the main road and intersect Main Street and mirrored architecture will frame the park. They are proposing a fountain and cross walks in the Main Street area and would like it to be a gathering place for many events like the 50’s festival, ice sculpture, ice skating, band shell, etc. These things would give pedestrians a reason to come down to Main Street and enjoy outdoor dining, shopping, etc.

Mr. Abernatha said there will be two roundabouts for traffic calming and focal points. The parking for the project will be along the streets, as there will be parallel parking with angular parking on secondary streets and two parking decks. The parking decks will service the buildings for their sites and impact what goes on along Grand River and potential future

development. The residential units and their parking will be below grade as well as street parking and each unit has a two car garage.

Mr. Abernatha advised that one of the key components of this project is the term critical mass. It is a term used to balance all the elements of the project such as building heights, scale, mass of the buildings and how close they are, etc. All of this has to work together to be a successful development. This is a mixed use development, and along Novi Road they are proposing an option for various types of flex spacing with a potential hotel with retail on first floor and a restaurant to service the hotel. Another building would have retail on first floor with a medical office above. Other buildings have retail on the first floor and residential above and there is a small one story retail with restaurant dining on top. There are buildings that are residential with parking below grade and at grade and buildings that are residential brownstone buildings.

Mr. Abernatha said for this to be successful the residential has to balance with the retail, the retail and office have to balance and the parking has to balance. If there are no decks and you don’t have that mass the project will not be successful. He noted that McKenna and Associates would speak about the DDA.

Member Nagy noted she appreciated the work done but her first concern about the DDA is that it is not an elected board and would not be accountable to the taxpayer. The DDA would use City, County and Oakland Community College taxes and would reduce the 10.5416 mills we currently operate at. She said the City would be liable for the parking decks and the maintenance and repair costs. Member Nagy stated she would like to take care of the residents and their roads first. The Fiscal Analysis keeps the Council from operating in a vacuum when doing the budget. There is a section about strategies for the future with regard to various departments or basic services that would be provided to the residents. We would need to go to the taxpayer and request bonds for future Capital Improvements, additional staff, DPW, repairs of roads, Parks and Recreation, etc. The DDA analysis provided by Member Lorenzo for the City of Northville, mentioned that the layout of Northville wasn’t working well for retail and needed to be changed. It said an anchor store was needed, the parking situation was not good and the regional shopping that Novi has is a great competitor of the smaller retail stores. Lastly, the concept plan would require a lot of variances from City ordinances. She said within a half mile of this area there are already four hotels and she was concerned that this DDA Board wouldn’t be accountable to anyone, especially the taxpayers. She felt the financial limitations would preclude this from coming forward. She knew that Royal Oak is currently experiencing about five million dollars worth of problems and she didn’t want to financially obligate this City for up to 20 years. She didn’t think that the economic times warranted this project at this time.

Member Lorenzo noted the Fiscal Analysis shows that the City is at a pivotal point and this Council is leaving a legacy that future Councils will follow. They will avoid the pitfalls of Livonia and Royal Oak and realize that municipalities can no longer afford DDA’s. Member Lorenzo said the City of Royal Oak has a $5.1 million deficit. The DDA takes $750,000 from the City of Royal Oak that would normally go to them. Royal Oak is thinking of selling their City Hall,

laying off employees and cutting back services. Last year they used their fund balance to balance their budget. She was interested to see what Royal Oak would do to balance their

Budget this year. Member Lorenzo said the City of Novi must avoid the pitfalls of getting into the DDA business. She said residents ask for improvements to roads, public safety, snow plowing, etc. If it wasn’t for the DDA, she could support it. She felt this was the wrong plan for the City’s future.

Member Lorenzo was interested in Mr. Nona’s plan because it didn’t involve a DDA and asked Mr. Nona if he had any information regarding that.

Mr. Nona of Triangle Development stated he did not, but they have been concentrating on developing this plan as it would meet the vision of the City. If the plan isn’t accepted, they would have to come up with an alternate plan. They’ve been approached by several different groups to purchase a parcel to build a medical building and housing and by a dealer who wants several acres. Conceptually the site can be developed along those lines but they haven’t developed any final plans in that direction. He said this is the plan they have committed their time to. If this plan is not approved they will consider other options or sell the property to someone who may have other uses for it. Mr. Nona said they do have a plan but it isn’t going to be a downtown, a Main Street or the vision for the City. The City needs to decide whether they want to proceed with the established vision or develop according to the present zoning. Member Lorenzo agreed and stated it would be a good plan without a DDA but if it’s not feasible then it is impractical for the City of Novi. She wanted to pursue the other plan and felt it would have been advantageous if Mr. Nona had brought forward an alternative plan because it would clarify the issue.

Mr. Nona stated a DDA does not take taxes away from the City that are already accruing. He said they would appreciate the opportunity to make the presentation and introduce the concept of the DDA. The main purpose of the presentation was to introduce the City to the concept and the concept to the DDA; it was not to talk about other options. Mr. Nona said this is the concept now and his focus is on the DDA and they have brought their consultants to provide information. He said John Jackson was present and would like to talk about the DDA and Jay Detloff, who used to be with the Royal Oak DDA, was present and would like to respond. Mr. Nona asked her to give them the opportunity to expand a little on the DDA. Member Lorenzo noted she had done a lot of research on DDA’s and received information from Troy, Farmington, Commerce, Rochester Hills etc. She said Troy’s Tax Increment Financing Authority gives $1.5 that would normally go to the City of Troy to their DDA. This is Troy’s 50^th year in operation and they had to cancel their Troy Daze Festival parade to save $17,000. If they had that $1.5 they might not be in that situation. DDA’s take the additional growth revenue and captures it. We would be left with what’s there now but would not receive anything additional and the City can’t afford that. It would be on the backs of our tax payers or we would be taking away services and selling our City Hall. She would not support a DDA.

Mr. Jackson of McKenna and Associates stressed the fact that there is an assumption that there is going to be increased revenue if there is no DDA and the fact that the reason the DDA’s were started was to encourage new development. The other misconception is that the City would only be collecting what it is currently collecting. If looking at the scenario they have developed, Council will see that the City would capture $25,000 to $30,000 a year in taxes from the site with inflation. Under this scenario, they are proposing to redevelop the site at a larger degree then would be available without the DDA, because they couldn’t pay for the

parking structure and improvements necessary to get the type of development that is being presented. In doing that, they would contribute back to the City’s funds so there wouldn’t be a

flat line stream of revenue and revenue would be increasing significantly. He said at the end of the 20 years the City would be gaining about $400,000 per year. The City would gain the same amount with the contributions under this scenario. The loss in tax revenue would be insignificant compared to what the City is getting now. He emphasized there were over 300 successful DDA’s. Northville is considered a positive and successful DDA and they would like to attract an anchor tenant but that can’t be done unless there is a DDA in place to pay for the improvements. Regarding competition, the downtowns or other developments that have a mix of land ownership are at a significant disadvantage. Shopping centers have common management and the DDA gives the ability to manage those facilities. A DDA accomplishes many things but most importantly, even with a DDA, revenue will not be frozen and the City will continue to increase its revenue at approximately the same level as a lower scale development on this site. They are proposing contributions back to the City to make them whole.

Gerry Detloff, Downtown Management Strategies, said Royal Oak’s fiscal and financial problems are not the result of having a DDA. It has one of the strongest downtown areas in the State and possibly in the region. National recognition was gained for their mix of entertainment, restaurants, office, retail and residential. It takes a true understanding of the purpose of a DDA. The bottom line is that the City doesn’t lose, it is an opportunity to move forward and at some point in time he would like to answer questions related to this.

If looking at downtown Royal Oak, over the last 6 years, over $53 million of investments have come into the downtown community. A strong core filters out into the community and a weak core has the same affect. Over the last 10 years, property values in Royal Oak have increased as a result of a strong downtown. In reality a DDA is an investment in the community and in the future. Royal Oaks financial issues are not a result of a DDA; if anything the DDA has contributed to their success, and without the DDA he’d be concerned with what the financial situation of Royal Oak would be today.

Member Capello disagreed with comments that a DDA would take tax dollars away from the community as it depends on how the DDA is structured. He was hoping the administration, under Council’s direction, had brought back how a DDA was created and ways it can generate additional income for the City. To say, using a previous example, that with a DDA there is $1.5 million going out and that may be but as a result of development there may be $750,000 on top of the $1.5 million coming in. Member Capello said a DDA can be created so that it generates additional income and 2/3rds of that can go out and 1/3^rd can stay in. The money that is going out is not necessarily City money, its money from the County and Community College and is not the City’s anyway. He thought that without the DDA Novi might not see the growth and there would definitely not be any additional money. It is not always a cost to the City.

Member Capello noted he had a problem with the way the presentation is being made. He felt there would never be a downtown for Novi. It is going to be another unique shopping district. We can’t help one private individual developer over another. He is in favor of the DDA and is in favor of a DDA for that entire quadrant but the Council had not seen Taubman present saying they would bring Nordstroms in if the City would give a DDA for a parking structure. He would like to see something more of a public benefit then just a parking structure. He said he needed to see a large portion of development in place before looking at a DDA and that DDA has to be more than just a parking structure. He wished there were more time for them to explain the DDA because there is a lot more going into it than some of the Council members have said tonight.

Member Gatt stated Novi doesn’t have a downtown and will never have a downtown and to compare Novi to Royal Oak is comparing apples to oranges. He is leaning toward voting against a DDA. Member Gatt said he is very interested in seeing Main Street thrive and grow. After hearing Mr. Nona speak, he knows there is a plan B and was sure it would be a wonderful thriving business and the City would capture all the tax dollars. He said on the other hand, if they don’t build it there won’t be any tax dollars. Member Gatt stated the way he understood it was if Council agrees to a DDA, Triangle Development would capture all the tax dollars for the businesses in that area and the City will be left with nothing in that area, but we have nothing now. However, with the growth created as a result of a DDA, would add to the tax dollars. He would like to see more information about the plan for the DDA and some proof it will be better for the citizens.

Member Paul appreciated the time and investment that went into the conceptual plan. One thing they had very little control over was what happened before they were elected to Council. The malls and a partial Main Street were already put into place. She would like to see thriving businesses on Main Street instead of empty store fronts. She has enjoyed their Gateway development but has to look at all the different components before Council. To just say there will be more commercial, residential and office space when there are vacancies in those areas is difficult for her to say she would give them a portion or all of the taxes. Member Paul felt another hotel would be a bad plan because there are capacity problems in the existing hotels already. Member Paul felt the Fiscal Analysis is just one tool and is one portion of the components she looks at. She noted she was looking at the idea of moving the fire station and replacing it with parking structure; then more land would have to be purchased and another station built and that is a very big investment for the City. The parking structures being $5 million each and $10 million for the City to actually build the structure is a lot of money in itself. She has a difficult time with that whole concept from that point alone. The people living there would like to have more than the 50% of their services paid for by their taxes and with the affluence of the community, they would expect to have the full amount. Member Paul would be interested in looking at plan B and different alternatives to the parking structure. She would not mind some zoning flexibility to impact that area. There is a lot of commercial in this area with a lot of vacancies. She asked that some of the other parcels be looked at in another way. She said she looks at it from the taxpayers view and hoped that they could come up with a better plan.

Mayor Csordas thanked everyone for considering doing business in Novi. He noted the vision of the City has evolved and with that Novi has never had a downtown. This is a very nice project but he couldn’t support a DDA. He said his perception of a DDA was something in an area where there is a certain amount of decline and you’re trying to redevelop and brings things back around. The City is very strategically located at the intersection of 275 and 96 and enjoys some success. Mayor Csordas believed that if Council continues to do what they are doing all the way out to build out that this will evolve into a very nice built out community. The Main Street area is another shopping district and he thought of it as another Fountain Walk or other shopping centers in Novi. They are all very nice and he appreciates them being in Novi. He wouldn’t like to see the City take on liability for parking structures and believed that revenue and tax dollars would be taken away from the City. He understood the charts and numbers and how that worked and they were right there would be additional revenue coming because

there would be addition development. However, for non-elected officials to control taxpayers money makes him uncomfortable.

Mayor Csordas asked about a car dealership in that area. Mr. Helwig believed it was allowed.

Mayor Csordas asked if the tax collecting entities would have to agree to relinquish their tax dollars. Mr. Helwig said no they could opt out.

Member Nagy said this plan would be over a twenty year period and would be a phased development. Mr. Quinn said that is wrong and it would be built out in six to eight years.

She said during the budget session Council considered the exceedingly high cost of health care, which is impacting the City.

Matt Quinn thought Council was operating on misconceptions of the DDA’s and asked for a study session. Mayor Csordas replied he would like all accurate information and would talk with Mr. Helwig to see if a special session could be scheduled. The agendas are very full with a lot of City business and this is not going to be built overnight. Mr. Quinn responded that Council didn’t have $150 million worth of City business in front of them tonight. This is the only $150 million project Council would have in the City from here on out.

Member Gatt stated he couldn’t support the motion because he wants to hear more information.

Member Capello stated it’s only on the agenda as a presentation and felt a motion was not in order. He thought the developer had received whatever direction they needed from the discussion. He felt Council needed to move forward and get more generic information on DDA’s before they appeared before Council again.

Mayor Csordas asked Member Lorenzo to reconsider because he didn’t know if he could support the motion. Mayor Csordas stated that what he knows of a DDA, he is opposed to it. It would take a lot of different information for him to support a DDA. However, he would like to hear more information and have considerably more information on it. But this commitment financially to the city would be worth hearing more information.

Member Lorenzo withdrew the motion but felt it was something that needed addressing in the near future and taken off the table once and for all. Mayor Csordas agreed and said he would talk with Mr. Helwig about this.

Mr. Helwig addressed Council and informed them that they had been provided staff recommendations for the first receipt of Federal Drug Forfeiture Funds and would like Council’s direction on how to process them. A budget must be adopted for these funds and have made such a proposal to Council. It could be an agenda item at a regular Council meeting or a work session, etc. Mr. Helwig said their approach in this first round is that they are dealing with basic needs that were not dealt with in the general fund budget.

Mayor Csordas said he wanted it to be an agenda item at a future meeting. Mr. Helwig asked about July 2^nd and Mayor Csordas and Council agreed.

Mr. Hayes updated Council on the proposed plan for Chattman Drive. He said it is an asphalt street with a PASER rating of 3 on a scale of 1to 10 with one being the worst. The rating was 3 in 2001 and 2004. Relative to the other streets that will be done this year with a PASER rating of 3 it is in the same condition as the others. It is an uncrowned street, which means relatively flat, it has no curb or gutters, has several cracks that run across the roadway and some alligator cracking at the edge of the pavement. The main deficiency of the road is that at the most it is three and a half inches thick in asphalt and there is no adequate base beneath it. It was laid directly on a sandy, silt material. Mayor Csordas asked if this was similar to problems at Village Oaks and Mr. Hayes said he thought so. Their plan is to use the existing pavement as the base; they will remove cracked pavement, fill it in and pave above it. Towards the west end of Chattman there will be a four inch lift of asphalt and on the east end a six inch lift as we approach Meadowbrook Road. Mr. Hayes said the road had to be raised because in order to address these conditions it would be at least twice as expensive to do a full reconstruction and that’s the only other option. Then benefit of doing this the way the engineers proposed will give a good crown so the water can drain and make its way to the ditches and will give almost the same benefit that would be achieved by a full reconstruction, but at a much lower cost. The original design included gravel shoulders to protect the edge of pavement from cracking and ponding of storm water run off. However, based on aesthetic reasons, the nature of the subdivision and the Design and Construction Standards that does require gravel shoulders, it was decided to delete it from the design.

Mayor Csordas said it was deleted even though it would be better and provide a longer life for the road. Mr. Hayes said it would prolong the life of the road and it was hard to quantify that because it would add a benefit. Mayor Csordas asked if it was deleted because of the pressure of people in the subdivision who wanted grass up to the road. Mr. Hayes said no, they looked at the benefit of spending the money and it didn’t make sense to spend that amount of money to add the gravel shoulders. Mayor Csordas said engineering thought it make more sense to do gravel. Mr. Hayes said yes, but it is not in

the Design and Construction Standards. There are other residential streets in the neighborhood that have the sod up to the edge of pavement. Another set of concerns is the drive approaches and how they will be accommodated because the road is being raised four inches at one end and six inches at the other. Our engineers provided design details to address both conditions. For asphalt driveways, the road is 20 ft. wide so we are taking from the center line ten feet over the lifted asphalt paving will be added and then an asphalt wedge will proceed from the edge of pavement to the point of intersection where the existing driveway is. The most that would extend is eight feet into a resident’s driveway. Regarding concrete streets it is a similar fix. Again a maximum of eight feet and they have a separate table that show the length of each approach that will be elevated to match the existing grade. This will allow a smooth transition from the pavement to the approach onto a person’s driveway. Another concern was how it would drain. The engineers included in the design a 2% pitch or slope to allow for cross drainage from one side of the approach to the other. In addition to that the consultant was directed to take spot elevations of each of the 27 driveways that are on Chattman so that they’d know exactly how long the approach elevation change would be.

Finally some citizens have expressed that there might be a four to six inch lip on the side of the pavement and that won’t the case because they would have compacted soil shoulders on each side of the road that would extend at the most six inches high and three feet out on each side of the pavement. Timing for this project would proceed after the Meadowbrook Lake dredging is done and after the bridge reconstruction project is done and would run concurrent with the Nine Mile construction project. We are looking at an August start time and completion before school begins in September.

Member Lorenzo said she was very skeptical about doing it with this method. She didn’t know what the homeowners believe but if they want it done this way, she would not stop it. However, if it were her street, she would not want to be raising the road four to six inches. She thought they were asking for trouble. This is very good in theory but she still has a birdbath in front of her house that she didn’t have before. She thought they should spend the extra money and do it the right way. If the residents came to her and wanted it done the right way she would be the first one saying do it the right way.

Member Nagy noted she had received e-mail from residents about doing it this year period because of all the construction in the City. She was concerned about the compacted shoulders and felt that asphalt shoulders were better. She would rather delay this project and see that it be done correctly. She didn’t think she would want an eight foot asphalt extension on her concrete driveway. Also, when it came time to replace the concrete driveway who would pay for the extension.

Mr. Hayes said it would be an asphalt approach on an asphalt driveway and a concrete approach on a concrete driveway.

Member Nagy said too often in the past things have been done half way and when things aren’t done right she thought it was costly in the long run. She would like to see this done properly and she would like to poll the residents in that area to see if they want it done now or delayed until next year. It should be a vote of the residents to see what they want.

Member Gatt said he wouldn’t support this and was surprised that the City would attempt a project that was not a 100% the way we normally do things. They took Penton Rise down to the base a couple years ago and did it the right way and he thought all the streets should be done correctly. In the long run it would pay off.

Mr. Hayes spoke to the engineer regarding the design life of this proposal versus doing a full reconstruction and he said they would get essentially the same design life out of this road as we would a full reconstruction and it would save half the money.

Mayor Csordas asked who the design engineer was and Mr. Hayes said Professional Engineering Associates out of Troy. Member Gatt said he would not support it.

Member Paul stated she lived on a road with no base and even with repairs, it cracks and when repaired it cracks again. We have no other road in the community that was raised 4 to 6 inches and the timing of this project is unfair. These people are enduring so many problems and challenges now and she is concerned with that factor. She has streams on her driveway and the whole base of it is gone and she has to replace it after nine years. She won’t endorse a half way job and she asked to wait until April 2006 to do this project so these people have a chance to have a little peace.

Mr. Hayes said the existing cracks would be addressed so they won’t reflect through to the new pavement above. The engineer specified that they will be milled out and replaced with new material before any repaving is done. Member Paul would still like the residents to have a base and asphalt according to our road standards. She thought enough was going on in the City so she would like to see this done in April and hear the resident’s comments during Audience Participation.

Member Capello asked what the additional cost for compacted shoulders was compared to putting in the concrete curb that is typically seen in subdivisions. Mr. Hayes didn’t the have cost as the gravel shoulder cost wasn’t separate, but he could get it. Member Capello thought underground sewers to run the water off to the storm drains might solve the problem with the integrity of the road. He said he would rather have the construction now and make it more difficult for the people to cut through there and get it over with. He suggested asking the residents to see what they wanted to do.

Mayor Csordas stated this sounds a lot like Village Oaks and he thought Council was sold a bill of goods in Village Oaks. He said the statement was made that the design life would be essentially the same as a reconstructed road and he found that interesting. Mr. Hayes said the engineer said it would essentially be the same but it might last a year or two longer, 20 years compared to 18 years. Mayor Csordas asked what the cost is to tear it out. Mr. Hayes stated he didn’t have those figures and Mayor Csordas said he would be interested in knowing that. He said he didn’t think he could support this. He thought Member Capello had a good point, if Nine Mile and Meadowbrook are being done do it all, and it would also be a disincentive for people that are cutting through the subdivision. He wanted to know the cost of redoing the whole project correctly. It amazed him how many roads in the City didn’t have a base. Mr. Hayes stated the proposal is to use the existing pavement as the base, which would be more than adequate. It would be fantastic because it would be 3 ½ inches minimum of pavement, some areas are thicker, the cracks will be fixed and it would be an outstanding base for

the road. Mayor Csordas said he had full confidence in the fact that Mr. Hayes was making a very good recommendation but he had a bad feeling about it. Mr. Helwig noted there was no desire to not do things in the right way. He was surprised to see this proposal too, and had discussed the Village Oaks project and how it was torn up and nothing was there. There was a huge change order as a result of that. That was before road bond proceeds and it really came out of our flesh in terms of the budget. Mr. Helwig said they would instruct the engineering firm to obtain costs for full re-construction so Council would have the comparative information. There is another meeting with the Meadowbrook Lake subdivision and they can get further input from them. Mr. Helwig said an update would be given at the next Council meeting.

Member Paul commended Mr. Hayes on his pro-active approach and also appreciated his preparation for this meeting and getting the engineering proposals to Council by the July 1 deadline, when the new budget would be implemented. She commended and thanked Mr. Hayes and his department for doing a good job gathering the information and helping the residents understand. Those are really big improvements in the department and she appreciated it.

Mike Barton, 41635 Chattman, said their feelings echo the comments of the Council as they are not in favor of this plan. He said their understanding of the plan is to replace brick pavement with concrete and decorated concrete with plain concrete and neighbors are upset with that and want to keep their concrete as is. Mr. Hayes said the PASER rating in 2001 was a 3 and if you go on the City web site it shows Chattman Drive as a six on the east end and a 7 on the west end. Mr. Barton said the residents did not see the road as in immediate need of repair and have not complained about the condition of the road. He said they were willing to wait to get the full reconstruction. There is an old bridge on Chattman and it has crumbing concrete and re-barb protruding from it that is broken and rusted out. He believed someone should be thinking about having repaired or replaced. He didn’t want to see the road repaved and then have it shut down and torn up to repair the bridge. He thought the two projects should be coordinated.

Mayor Csordas said if these brick pavers are on a City easement then it is not the obligation of the City to replace them with brick pavers. Mr. Helwig said Mayor Csordas was correct and it has been City policy. It’s a decorative extra over and above asphalt or concrete. Some City’s don’t even do the concrete but that is a standard here. He said they would be happy to look at those situations and bring them to Council. Mayor Csordas said he would not support brick paving if it is City owned; he didn’t think the tax payers should have to pay for it.

Annette Duva, 41644 Chattman, stated she was disappointed with the communication that has come out from the City regarding this. She said she received a letter stating they were going to be repaving Chattman and it was brought up in the same fashion as Penton Rise. Penton Rise was just a repaving issue and aesthetically it was put back in the same fashion.

She was disappointed with the information she received from Clay Pearson and Rob Hayes in the last meeting and discussion she had with them. Even tonight the information is changing again and she is confused as to what the City is trying to tell her. She agreed with Council that

if people do improvements to their property it is their responsibility. She said she had just put in a new driveway on Chattman and now the City will be cutting it up. She had many concerns about this project and thought they needed to look at it again. She noted she would like to see the study. She asked Mr. Pearson and Mr. Hayes what has happened in the last six months and what the enhancements would really bring to the residents. Most residents don’t feel the street is in dire need. She said they need to look at the timing, at the base and what the enhancements are really going to do. The entire north side of Chattman Drive recently received information that they might need to have flood insurance and asked what the extra six inches would do. She requested further investigation.

Lynn Kocan, 23088 Ennishore Dr., said she wasn’t sure curbs would work in a subdivision that has no sidewalks and no existing curb.

Lisa Barton, 41635 Chattman Drive, thanked Council and the Mayor and echoed their sentiments and appreciated their feelings on Chattman Drive. She thanked Mr. Helwig and Mr. Hayes. Ms. Barton said she spent a half hour on the phone with Mr. Hayes who was very patient and she also talked with Mr. Helwig about her concerns and appreciated the time they gave her. She said they are really happy with their neighborhood. They don’t have sidewalks and they don’t complain about that. She appreciated Mr. Capello’s concerns and his interest in a curb but didn’t think it would be a good option. There are a lot bikers and walkers and it would be hard because there are no sidewalks and people tend to step off the road onto the grass. She felt this worked really well for the residents. All they want to do is maintain the feeling and nature of the road as it is now and they want it done right. Ms. Barton said no other road is repaired this way and asked that Council not make them the first. She thought there would be real issues with drainage as some people already have ice and water at the end of their driveways. She thought this kind of repair would increase that and make it worse.

Andrew Mutch, 24740 Taft Road, said he had questions about Liberty Park and Items 1 and 2. He reviewed the plans but saw no indication there would be sidewalks along Dixon Road and he felt they were needed. He said this came up with the Twelve Mile frontage when there was some question as to whether sidewalks were required or not. He saw no information that addressed that and hoped it would be required. Mr. Mutch said it is a portion of what used to be North Novi Park or Lake Shore Park but there are no connections shown from this development to the park. If looking at the trail system in that park, on both the northern border of Phase III and the western border of Phase II, the trails run in that area. These new homes are proposed to be built on 4,500 sq. ft. lots, so if anyone in the City needs access to a park it will be these residents. He would hate for that amenity not be accessible to the residents because time wasn’t taken to add a connection to those trails from this development. If that could be accomplished it would benefit those residents and open up more access to the park.

A. Approve Minutes of:

1. May 23, 2005, Regular meeting

B. Enter Executive Session immediately following the regular meeting of June 6, 2005 in the Council Annex for the purpose of discussing pending litigation.

C. Approval of the request of Mirage Development for approval of the Final Plat for the Orchard Hills West subdivision. The subject property is located in Section 26 to the west of Meadowbrook Road and south of Ten Mile Road and is zoned R-4, Single Family Residential. The applicant is proposing a 42 lot single-family subdivision.

D. Approval of an amendment to the engineering agreement with JCK and Associates, Inc. to add the rehabilitation of Sunrise Boulevard (south from Ladene Lane) to the 2005 Additional Neighborhood Streets project for a not-to-exceed design fee of $9,950.

E. Approval of Archonix Maintenance and Support Agreement for one (1) year for Police Department software in the amount of $40,528.

F. Approval of Churchill Crossing Homeowners Association Street Name Sign Agreement as requested by the Churchill Crossing Homeowner Association.

G. Approval of resolution to authorize the purchase of additional service credit by a City employee.

H. Approval of Resolution for Charitable Gaming License requested by Novi Goodfellows.

I. Approval of Temporary Water Service Agreement for the Churella Property located at 21705 Cambridge Drive.

J. Approval to renew Massage Business License for Salon Agape’, located at 43155 Main Street-Suite 310.

K. Approval of Resolution Number 4 for the Connemara/Galway Water Main Extension – Special Assessment District Number 173, receiving the roll and setting the second Public Hearing for the project for July 11, 2005.

L. Approval to award bid for miscellaneous concrete repairs to Centro Construction, Inc. for a one (1) year contract with one (1) renewal option based on unit pricing.

M. Approval of Claims and Accounts – Warrant No. 698

Member Nagy thought Mr. Mutch had a good point and asked if there would be any sidewalks along Dixon and if it was part of the Consent Judgment. She would like to see sidewalks and access to the park. Mr. Helwig said there was no requirement for sidewalks or for paving of Dixon, which is going to happen.

Member Capello said there was a notation on the plans that says "all sidewalks are proposed two feet inside the proposed right-of-way line". It might be something standard that is printed out on every plan, but maybe there are sidewalks.

Member Nagy said she realized it was not part of the Consent Agenda but it is a point well taken.

Mayor Csordas asked for Mr. Schultz’s legal opinion. Mr. Schultz echoed Mr. Helwig’s comment that these are not things that we can require. Maybe the developer can address them from a planning standpoint but it is not part of the concept plan and not part of the review.

Member Capello said sidewalks are shown in Phase III. Kevin Christiansen, Pulte Land Development Corporation, was present and said sidewalks are shown throughout their plan on both sides of the street in every phase of the development. There is also a sidewalk along Twelve Mile. He said If Council recalled in the Phase I discussion, they agreed to provide for that and actually agreed to put money into escrow for the City to put sidewalks in at their convenience. Mr. Christiansen said however, they felt that for the City’s best interest and the best interest of the residents to go a head and construct that sidewalk in Phase I. One issue that has to be dealt with is a bypass to the wetland area and that will be worked on.

Mr. Christiansen said Council might know if they had a chance to look at the plans in

detail and looked at the park area around it. He appreciated the comments of Mr. Mutch and what Council was indicating in terms of connection to the park, and had talked about that with City staff extensively. They are providing the sidewalk on Twelve Mile and it provides a level of linkage to a portion of the trail system that exists to the west. He said there is no connection of any outside properties to the park. One

concern they talked about was linking a private development with a public facility, the liabilities that exist and the concern of people using the trails and coming into the development by access points. Also, any issues with the homeowners association and any liabilities. In the end, he said they would do whatever it took to work with the City. They would put the pathways on the exterior and it would be a linkage to the trail there. They also had the ability through consent to do some work in the park area, to put a detention basin in, which was done in Phase I. In doing that work there was concern by Parks and Recreation about how that would be accommodated and disruption to the trail area. They helped Parks and Recreation facilitate that to make sure that it worked. Mr. Christiansen said they had a lot of discussion about this and felt it was in the best interest of the City and the development not to have that linkage.

Mr. Christiansen said on Dixon it was not their intent to place a sidewalk along Dixon because they have no linkage to Dixon other than the collector road. There is no street frontage to those units in the development and it is all rear yards and there are homes along that area.

Mayor Csordas explained the City is passing along the rate increase the City received from the Detroit Water and Sewer Department. The City of Novi does not tack on any markup to the water that is provided to its citizens from the City of Detroit.

Member Paul said this engineering firm employs the father of one of the employees of the City of Novi, and she would not support this firm for that reason. Also, the City of Detroit has had several engineering contracts with this company that has gone into overruns. There were several times that they have brought the proposal back and it has failed. The project needed readjustments and overruns were accrued for the contractor and the City. She checked this out and it was confirmed, so she would not support this firm for those reasons. They have a lot of good amenities and she was impressed with their tracking method but Wade Trim has the same or similar tracking method.

Member Gatt stated he would not support Spalding DeDecker for the reasons Member Paul mentioned. He suggested that the City do more interviewing involving the Consultant Review Committee and that Mr. McCusker, Mr. Saven and Mr. Hayes be involved in the interviewing because they deal daily with engineers.

Mayor Csordas advised that Mr. McCusker, Mr. Saven and Mr. Hayes did make their recommendations to the Consultant Review Committee.

Member Capello said he didn’t know much about Spalding DeDecker but he did know that when he was a Planning Commissioner Dave Bluhm worked with him for several years. Member Capello was very impressed with Mr. Bluhm’s quality of work and dedication and whatever problems someone had with Spalding DeDecker, he would not assume the City would have those same problems with Dave Bluhm. He did have a concern about the location of their offices. He thought the construction inspection field services was very important because that’s where the chosen firm would have direct contact with our residents affected by the construction. He was concerned whether the further offices of Spalding DeDecker would be able to have a daily hands on contact with the residents when they have inspection problems. Member Capello said he would like to give them the engineering services but had concerns over the construction inspection services.

Member Lorenzo said she made the motion as a compromise because she knew several members had concerns. She thought they are very reputable and would rather give them the benefit of the doubt and see how they perform. This Council has been of the opinion that if they don’t perform, they don’t get the work again. She thought it would be an incentive to give the firms the benefit of the doubt. If it is a company that hasn’t worked with the City before, she would rather not listen to hearsay and see how they work out.

Member Nagy agreed with Member Lorenzo but also believed in learning from mistakes of the past. We had a great deal of cost overruns regarding South Lake and there were ongoing problems even after it was done. There was a perfectly good design and

construction done by JCK on East Lake but there were all kinds of problems regarding South Lake. She is not comfortable with the relationship of father and son and thought it was a conflict of interest. We have some good engineering companies on board with the City, and thought Council should negotiate and expand the scope of their contract and negotiate a price. If we have good experiences with someone like Wade Trim or OHM then we should be negotiating with them. She thought the inspection part of the contract was exceedingly important and that was one of the failures on South Lake. She would not support the motion.

Mayor Csordas said as one of the members of the Consultant Review Committee, he was one of the people that recommended this group. He appreciated everyone’s opinion and good points were made. The opinions of staff and the majority of the opinions of the Consultant Review Committee supported this and he would continue to support this particular firm too. He thought Member Lorenzo’s recommendation of one year made a lot of sense. While on the Planning Commission, he had the opportunity to work with two employees of this company and he thought they both did good work.

Member Paul asked Mr. Hayes to come up and said the Consultant Review Committee was discussing different firms; one of the things discussed was the fact that we have two engineering firms that are mainly overseeing things now. We still have JCK who is overseeing a few projects and are finishing out from more than two years ago. Mr. Hayes agreed. She said currently Ayers Lewis is serving as our engineering consultant. Mr. Hayes agreed. She said when changing over to a firm for one year, the impact of changing to another firm is it takes time to finish out their projects. Mr. Hayes agreed. Member Paul said she won’t support one year because of comments the Building Dpartment made that they are hoping to move this to early spring because so many projects were happening. We are past that time and through a lot of the spring projects, and if we have to take two plus years to change over from JCK to this firm she didn’t want to just try to live with a firm for a year and try them out. She noted she appreciated the compromise but could not support it for that reason. They said it is very difficult in the Building Department to work with so many different engineering firms and she didn’t want to make it anymore cumbersome than it already is. Secondly, she didn’t have a problem with Ayers Lewis, so the compromise was to go to another firm, but she wanted to make sure it is the right firm. She had issues with an employee of Novi and an employee of the engineering firm being father and son. Member Paul stated changing firms is not a light weight ordeal for our City employees. Every one in that department that shared their comments was very concerned with the timing of this project. She would be looking at what Council wants to do for another engineering firm but she would not support this one.

Mayor Csordas noted Wade Trim also interviewed and their costs and the fees were significantly higher and their qualifications were quite good and equal to this firm. He asked Council what they wanted to do.

Member Capello said he has been extremely satisfied with the construction inspection services of JCK, particularly Lori Kapelczak, and has been happy with the work of Dave Bluhm. He would like to see Spalding DeDecker as the engineer and JCK for all the construction inspection services.

Member Nagy asked if Council could rehash this with Wade Trim and whoever else. Mayor Csordas said the bids are already submitted.

Mr. Helwig said the Consultant Review Committee has received proposals and he thought opened cost proposals of three firms. There are more there that the Consultant Review Committee could work with or function as a Committee of the Whole. He said they could all be opened if Council desired, but the qualifications are reviewed first and then it goes on from there. He said it sounded to him like this has moved to the Committee of the Whole. Perhaps, all the information that has been received should be provided to Council so they could have a policy discussion. He said staff should not make a recommendation because that would compromise the work of the Council committee.

Member Capello asked Mr. Schultz, with the continuing phases in Churchill pulling building permits, will the builders have to pay the new financial guarantee because the streets have been accepted. Mr. Schultz said the new ordinance technically doesn’t apply by its terms. The language at the end of the ordinance talks about which developments it applies to, and exempted out projects that are under way. Our position is that if they are seeking, under this ordinance, acceptance with the payment of the bond it does bring the development into the ordinance and that $5,000 bond would apply. It would be made clear that if this is the acceptance they are asking for, they are under the ordinance and all the provisions apply.

Member Capello said this isn’t the provision where the building permit is pulled on the City owned street but it has to do with building in the second or third phase where we accepted previous phases that are now City streets. Mr. Schultz said he was correct. Member Capello asked if the developer and builder knew they would be affected by this. Mr. Schultz said he would make sure that was the case. They have been told that this is the calculation and the application by the City of that new financial guarantees chapter. Member Capello noted he knew there was a $5,000 figure if the property abuts a City street and asked if there was a figure in there if it was phase to phase. Mr. Schultz said we have the $66,000 bond that will guarantee the condition of Phase I as Phase II and III develop.

Member Paul was concerned that there would be a stretch of road ridden over by all the concrete trucks for the basements, etc. She said 350 feet for Westmont Village had cost several hundred thousand dollars, $66,000 doesn’t cover much. We are talking about the same thing with Chattman Drive, there isn’t enough money to do the project to the standards that we normally would by doing the base. She asked why Council would accept Churchill Blvd. and Cavendish Avenue East when all of this section still has to be developed in another phase. Her understanding, while on the Financial Guarantee Committee, was that Council would accept roads after 90% build out and there is not 90% completion of this site. She was looking for the DPW’s review on the catch basins and there was nothing from them. She will not support this proposal because she didn’t think it would be fiscally responsible.

Member Nagy asked Mr. McCusker if his department inspected this situation. Mr. McCusker said they started last Friday and he and Mr. Hayes met today on a couple of problems that they thought the maintenance bonds would cover. There are some catch basin failures, the silt screens are still on, most of the sumps are still full debris and there are a couple curb cracks. He said they had not gone through the whole .99 miles but he and Mr. Hayes have talked about it. She asked the administration if it was premature to accept these roads if there are problems and the DPW is not done with their inspection. She definitely thought $66,000 was not enough money. She wanted to table this item until all the information was available, the DPW was done with their inspection, the financial guarantee is revisited, and $100,000 is added to it.

Member Paul said she would be in favor of tabling this but did not want to just say $100,000. She wanted to hear what the amount would be for covering the .99 miles. Member Paul said she wants full coverage, and her understanding was that it should be 1.5 times the amount of what the road repair would be. If .99 miles costs $100,000 it is going to be 1.5 times that amount or $150,000. She would like to hear from Finance Review and have the Finance Department come back with a number that would cover this.

Member Nagy amended her motion to delete the $100,000 figure and Member Paul accepted.

Member Lorenzo supported the postponement and thought the figure was very low. She said Member Paul said that 90% is not built out, wasn’t the ordinance just changed and wouldn’t this fall under the changed ordinance.

Mr. Schultz said the ordinance contemplated exactly this situation where Phase I is 90% done and they are seeking acceptance of that Phase. As they improve Phase II and III the guarantee is to protect Phase I streets. Member Lorenzo said the concern is that the amount

is to low, and if the streets haven’t been inspected yet she didn’t know how they could be looking at this.

Mayor Csordas said they are talking about roads, sewer and water. He said common sense says that Cavendish Road East and Churchill Blvd. are going to be torn up. He didn’t think construction traffic would be using Thatcher or Cavendish Courts or Cavendish West. However, he thought they might use Thatcher Drive. He asked if the water and sewer has been inspected.

Mr. Helwig asked that Council table all of this and get the departments conversing with each other. He said everyone signed off on this last Tuesday in the Leadership Group; now things have changed and he needs to get on top of it.

Member Capello said with the guarantee of $66,000, and there is damage to the road, and they are still under construction, could Council require them to do the repairs and then replace the guarantee. We are not maxed out at the $66,000. He said Mr. Schultz could answer that, but from what he remembered it was a moving target. They do damage, they fix it, replace it and there is always the $66,000 on top of the repairs.

Mr. Schultz said he would be happy to address that when this came back, but from a general perspective to the extent we can show damage relating from Phases II and III, we would certainly expect to point to the developer and builder for that.

Member Lorenzo asked how much expenditure over revenue this included? Ms. Smith-Roy said she was not able to get the comparison requested for this evening between the excess of

revenue over expenditures for a new estimate. Member Lorenzo asked if Council would still be relying on the old one and Ms. Smith-Roy said yes. Ms. Smith-Roy said they still felt that

they were within the numbers they projected as estimates when the budget was presented to Council. She said most of the line items line up item for item with that estimated column. Member Lorenzo said $438,000 of that is the new pumper engine and Ms. Smith-Roy said that is correct. Member Lorenzo wanted to bring to everyone’s attention that more money had been spent this year than was taken in and that is a concern. She thought Council needed to get a handle on this. One of her concerns was the request for capital outlay in the Community Relations Department for $20,400, which was not budgeted. She could support the data processing for $9,400 but could not support additional communications equipment for $11,000. She had talked with Sheryl Walsh and she thought they could get by with replacing one piece

of equipment for $3,000 or $4,000. Member Lorenzo said if it was essential she could support it. She felt she had to practice what she preached. She said she could not say new communication equipment should be bought when spending is over what was taken in. If that stays in this amendment she would not support it. She reminded Council that a lot of money has been spent for communications over the years and she had always supported that. However, times are changing in terms of our financial situation.

Ms. Walsh, Community Relations Director, said this is a necessity that was brought to her attention very recently by the playback coordinator, Dave Reinhardt, who said the time base corrector is in desperate need of repair. Member Lorenzo asked what it did. Ms. Walsh said it syncs all the cameras together, their colors, coordination and the line adjustment so when the viewing audience at home sees one picture it looks seamless when they cut to another shot. Member Lorenzo asked what the cost is to repair the equipment. Ms. Walsh said if it can be repaired, they are estimating $3,000 to $4,000, and that does not include any labor charges. Member Lorenzo asked what the cost was to replace it. Ms. Walsh said they didn’t look at that because they were hoping to repair it, because the equipment is older and cameras can now be bought that include a time base corrector. So the recommendation to her by Eric Angott was instead of putting $4,000 into a piece of equipment that’s five years old, take the two security cameras in Council Chambers, and buy cameras that are similar to the other cameras that have a time base corrector. Then we can eliminate spending $4,000 on a piece of equipment that would be included in the cameras and solve all of the problems. Member Lorenzo said except that the equipment cost is $11,000 and that is the problem. She would rather find out what it would cost to replace that piece of equipment instead of buying more cameras. If the equipment is essential she didn’t have a problem with replacing it. She does have a problem with getting two more cameras at double the price or more. We are over budget and she will not approve anything that is not essential. There are a lot of items here that she did not argue but with the items that Council has a choice on she can’t support. She will support looking at the alternatives. If this is taken out of the amendment she would support it.

Member Nagy said that the packet material indicated there were sufficient funds, since one of the staff left and with the $11,000 in surplus cable production. She understood Ms. Walsh’s point that now they could buy something new and thought that at times, we can be penny wise and pound foolish. Member Nagy thought it was time to do this and she would support it, because she felt it was money wisely spent. As a resident, if she wanted to watch the meetings she would not want to be frustrated with the problems of a camera, the way things look and the non-functioning of certain things.

Member Paul said to repair this type of equipment is almost as expensive as buying new so she would support the motion. She asked if the cameras were the same quality as the present ones or have they improved. Ms. Walsh said the two cameras in Council Chambers are very low quality security cameras and they would not be replacing with them. They are looking for something very similar to the Hitachi’s, the other three cameras, so the viewers will see a seamless picture. Member Paul said there are a lot of complaints that the picture is fuzzy and she would support purchasing the cameras.

Absent: Landry

Member Nagy would like to do the same thing for the 50’s Festival as they did for businesses during Christmas, which was waive the sign ordinance. She also wants to make sure there is better directional signage to Fountain Walk and possibly signage off the freeway. She suggested a 2 week waiver to all businesses. A policy resolution will be brought back to Council and Administration will investigate a banner on the bridge.

Member Gatt asked if the waiver would include all businesses in the City or just those by the 50’s Festival location. He thought it would be only fair that all businesses get the same consideration. Member Nagy and Member Lorenzo accepted the amendment to the motion. Mr. Helwig said this came up during the holiday sign waiver and it had to

be done City wide because there was no basis to only allow a certain area or particular businesses. This would need to be done City wide.

Mr. Schultz said last time a policy resolution was prepared it talked about what kind of signs, when signs are to be removed and what happens when they are not removed. He wanted Council to follow the same kind of protective measures so that if there is an enforcement problem, the City would have an explanation for the court as to what the waiver was. Member Nagy asked if signage could be put along I-96 or possibly a banner on the bridge. Mr. Helwig said he would explore that.

Member Paul said there is still a problem with the light east of Eight Mile and Haggerty on Eight Mile. It comes off of the freeway and there is a red light there. It is quite long and that delay is causing a lot more cars to get through than what the left hand turn lane can support. Also, almost every other light in the City, both directions turn at the same time but this one doesn’t. Mr. Helwig said the Oakland County Road Commission is working on this and owes him a response by June 18^th and that he would check in with them.

Mayor Csordas noted he would like the Human Resources Department to research this and bring it back to Council. He wanted to make it effective January 1, 2006 that all new hires receive availability of a 401 K Plan and consider a matching contribution from the City with a good offering of benefits they can select from. Also, take a look at health benefits and restructure for all non-union new hires effective January 1, 2006 where the City would pay for the single person premium and the employee’s would be responsible for premiums over that for college students and families. Also, retirees that are eligible for Medicaid would no longer be eligible for health care benefits from the City. That would stop the City from writing checks into the future that the tax payers will have to reimburse.

Member Gatt said the majority of employees of the City are union employees and their benefit packages are governed by contracts. He didn’t think Council could say that on January 1, 2006 a new police officer would be given this benefit. Their contract covers what they receive. Maybe the motion should be amended to cover all non-union employees and administrative employees with direction given to Human Resources to

try to negotiate benefit changes with our unions. Member Lorenzo was agreeable to the amendment.

Member Paul said she had a discussion with Tia Gronlund-Fox, Human Resources Director, and asked if they have a union employee and they are a new hire can they be hired in under a separate contract or different contract. Mrs. Gronlund-Fox said that would have to be negotiated, but they would not be under a whole different contract. The changes would have to be negotiated into their present contract and then it would just be in effect for new hires effective a certain date. There would still be only one contract but it would have different language in the contract for people hired after a certain date. Member Paul said then we could look at the union contract and make changes for new hires, and Mrs. Gronlund-Fox said yes, at negotiation time.

Mayor Csordas noted there was discussion about this property a few months ago with the people from Town Center who had some projects they wanted to talk about. The northeast corner of Grand River and Novi came up in conversation and he asked them to consider purchasing that corner. He said they liked the idea and the City could use the money and the taxes. Mayor Csordas said they have come forward with an offer of $100,000. Mr. Helwig noted the offer for the property was a good figure and we could go out for appraisals. It is a third of an acre and we could talk with the City Attorney. Normally cities have to go through competition when they are disposing land. In this instance, we could put this on a Council agenda and it would require five votes of the City Council. He said it would be acceptable for the disposition of this land. He said they thought it made sense and would like Council direction to place it on the agenda of June 20^th.

Member Paul said there was a gas station at the corner of Novi Road and Grand River and asked what the cost of the remediation of that project was. Member Nagy said that needed to be answered later, and Mr. Helwig was not sure who would have that information. Member Paul said she wanted clarification of the cost and if we had to move a business to another area and have land acquisition she wanted to know that cost also. Member Paul noted she wanted to be sure there were no more curb cuts on Grand River and that they would go through the existing traffic plan that we already

have in Novi Town Center. Mayor Csordas said there would definitely be no curb cut in that area.

Member Nagy noted a search will take time and in order for the City to find someone of Mr. Helwig’s caliber, the search should be started. It will take months to perform the search and wait for the results.

Dave Lakin, Municipal Department Manager and Vice President and Corporate Secretary

for Spalding DeDecker Associates, and also David Bluhm’s supervisor. Mr. Bluhm would have been the project manager overseeing the Novi account for Spalding DeDecker and Associates. Spalding DeDecker is an employee owned firm that has been in the metropolitan area for over 50 years. We represent many high profile municipal clients such as Macomb Township, Clinton Township, City of Troy, West Bloomfield Township, White Lake Township and other communities in Oakland County. Mr. Lakin said they would not have gotten to be a 50 year old firm representing such prestigious clients if not doing things the right way.

Also, regarding Detroit Water and Sewer Department and remarks made about cost overruns. To reflect what DWSD thinks about Spalding DeDecker, when there was a 15 Mile Road sewer collapse in Sterling Heights, which devastated the entire corridor for 15 Mile Road, they were part of the consultant team that DWSD called in to take care of it. It came in at less time then was allotted and it will open up this week for traffic. They must have thought a lot about us to put us on their consultant team to address that situation.

Dave Potter, Construction Engineer Department Manager, Vice President and member of the Board of Directors for Spalding DeDecker, regretted not having the opportunity to speak when this came before Council. He felt they were not given justifiable time to respond to some of the comments made about his company. He said he would challenge them to find any firm that has not had any cost overruns on their projects. He was disappointed that they didn’t get a chance to address which projects were being discussed. Mr. Potter said he was very excited to get short listed, it was a pleasure and he was thrilled to be present. He said it was unfortunate that they didn’t get the nod tonight but he wanted Council to know they appreciated being considered for this work. He said he and Mr. Bluhm had put many good years in Novi and they work for a great firm in Spalding DeDecker and he looked forward to responding to Novi proposals in the future.

There being no further business to come before Council, the meeting was adjourned at 10:03 P.M.

_________________________________ _____________________________

Lou Csordas, Mayor Maryanne Cornelius, City Clerk

_________________________________ Date approved: June 20, 2005

Transcribed by Charlene Mc Lean