REGULAR MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NOVI

MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2008

COUNCIL CHAMBERS – NOVI CIVIC CENTER – 45175 W. TEN MILE RD.

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

ROLL CALL: Mayor Landry, Mayor Pro Tem Capello, Council Members Crawford, Gatt, Margolis, Mutch, Staudt

ALSO PRESENT: Clay Pearson, City Manager

Pamela Antil, Assistant City Manager

Tom Schultz, City Attorney

Kathy Smith-Roy, Finance Director

Benny McCusker, DPW Director

Mr. Cassis stated he was reapplying to the Planning Commission as it was his way of contributing to the community. He noted he and the Planning Commission had worked well together along with a professional staff and he was honored to have been elected as the Chair three times. He said they had a great process in putting the Master Plan together and Council had been supportive.

Member Staudt asked Mr. Cassis what he thought the challenge of the Planning Commission would be in the next two or three years as the City grew and used up the final 20 or 30 percent of its open space. Mr. Cassis believed they had conducted themselves with a very restrained but empathetic way of trying to help businesses establish in Novi. He said they had held fast to things held dear in this community, but thought they had helped businesses come in, and sometimes had helped them restructure their applications.

Member Crawford said the City Administration was always trying to work smarter, be more effective and become more customer friendly. She asked if there were ways the Planning Commission process could be streamlined, and was there anything Council could do to improve on that. Mr. Cassis thought they had come a long way in the past few years and could do more. He said the permit process had been shrunk by requiring fewer drawings, materials and the number of times they had to come back. He said they had been so proactive with the applicant they had been speeding up the process for them, and Mr. Pearson had received praise for their efforts.

Member Gatt said he couldn’t imagine a Novi that Mr. Cassis was not a part of. He said both he and his wife had been pioneers in Novi; he thanked him for his service and said he had his full support.

Member Margolis echoed the previous comments and said she appreciated all his work.

Member Mutch echoed the previous comments about Mr. Cassis’ efforts and service to the community. He asked Mr. Cassis what he saw over the next couple of years as being areas in the Zoning Ordinance or Master Plan that needed more attention. Mr. Cassis said they charted a course about ten years ago aiming at having more industrial and more office. Now, with Providence Hospital, he thought they had a great opportunity for satellite businesses to come in and provide services, or supply places to provide the medical needs of the hospital. He thought, as far as the planning of that corridor, Grand River west of Novi Road had been a little neglected. He thought they needed to concentrate on Grand River to provide the kind of incentive to those who wanted to come in and support Providence Hospital. Mr. Cassis said he chaired the Grand River Corridor Committee and they had completed a nice document, and felt they should pull it out and see what the Council would like to do with it. Member Mutch agreed and encouraged him to move forward with those kinds of efforts.

Mayor Landry thanked Mr. Cassis for offering his talents.

Ms. Iszler, Licensed Landscape Architect, said she had worked on a variety of projects from urban revitalization, commercial, residential and park projects. She had worked on pocket parks, urban greenways, rural greenways and city parks. Ms. Iszler thought it was important to protect green space, design it well and had the opportunity to do that in her profession, and she was interested in having a part in being involved with it in her own community.

Member Crawford asked if she had a suggestion that they might pursue, or possibly something she thought they should do more of. Ms. Iszler replied that she was also a LEED accredited professional and a lot of what she did involved sustainable design and practices. She thought an obvious place to keep implementing and working on that would be the parks and green space. Ms. Iszler said she was also on the Storm Water Committee and thought it was another place they could continue to work on implementing bio-swales.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello asked what parks she had designed. Ms. Iszler replied she had designed pocket parks within City limits and greenway work. She said she had been in this area for three years, in Cleveland for 8 years and had done the Toe Path Trail within the Cleveland Metro Parks. She noted she had also worked on an environment education center within a National park there.

Member Gatt said Parks, Recreation and Forestry did more than just parks; one of their duties was to take care of the Senior Citizens and their recreational needs. He asked what she could contribute to enhance the programs that were already in existence for a population that was growing so quickly in Novi. Ms. Iszler thought a big part of it was the accessibility issue, making sure that the variety of parks Novi had were available and easily accessed. She thought there were a lot of programs that could be added. Ms. Iszler said she had also done camp planning for about 8 years, which was also expanding between younger to older people.

Member Margolis asked Ms. Iszler what she thought Novi did particularly well and one thing she thought they could work more on. Ms. Iszler said she lived near Lake Shore Park and thought it was a great park and was an asset for the City. The one thing she would like to work on with her greenway experience was the connection north of I-96 and south of I-96. She felt it could be connected a little more cohesively, so people and kids could get from the north to the south.

Member Mutch asked what trends, other than sustainability, she saw going on in terms of either facilities or service to communities in communities across the country that Council should be aware of. Ms. Iszler said spray parks were gaining in popularity from the standpoint of staffing because they didn’t have to have life guards and you could have zero water. Also, climbing walls, skate parks and dog parks seemed to be the most popular.

Member Staudt asked what she had in mind to do other than her expressed interest in the trails. Ms. Iszler responded it would be nice to have a signature park.

Mayor Landry asked if there was a particular recreation program that the City had that she thought should be enhanced, or was there any particular group of people that she would like to see more activities made available for. Ms. Iszler said Novi Parks and Recreation had arts and culture within it and she thought expanding that would be interesting and would cover all age ranges.

Mr. Larson said he had never held a political office before but thought the Planning Commission would be interesting and he would bring a fresh and open mind to the process.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello said hopefully the Planning Commission was immune from politics and its pressures and decisions could be made on good planning business judgment. He thought Mr. Larson would be a good candidate because he would bring business judgment to the table.

Member Gatt said Mr. Larson was a giver of his time and talent to the City. He thought Mr. Larson’s judgment would be well placed on the Planning Commission and he had his support.

Member Margolis stated she was very familiar with Mr. Larson and his business background. She said his home town business had been in the Main Street development since the beginning; she felt it made him a great perspective to have on the Planning Commission. She asked what kind of perspective he could offer to the City that another candidate could not. Mr. Larson said probably the fact that he had no agenda, he was willing to learn, and he would go into it with an open mind and common sense.

Member Mutch asked, from his experience and interaction with the City, what he saw as the biggest challenge to businesses who wanted to locate in Novi, in terms of what was done at the City level. Mr. Larson said the biggest complaint he had heard was just trying to get plans though City Hall and Council. Another problem seemed to be the ordinance that people had to adhere to and the hoops they had to jump through to get from concept to building.

Member Staudt noted Mr. Larson’s family had always been extremely generous to the many groups in the City when he was involved in Parks and Recreation and he appreciated that.

Member Crawford said she was somewhat surprised at the amount of reading and extra meetings there were on Council. She asked if he had looked at the time commitment that would be involved sitting on the Planning Commission. Mr. Larson responded that he had looked into it and was willing to give it his best shot.

Mayor Landry said Mr. Larson had been in Novi for 23 years, knew the City and had seen a lot of changes. He said he appreciated people like Mr. Larson and their willingness to step forward and help the City out, who not only does business in the City but participated in how business was done. He thanked Mr. Larson for stepping forward.

Mr. Meyer stated he had lived in Novi for 26 years and had served on a variety of boards, ZBA, Homeowners Association and had been on the School Board for a number of years. He said he had learned and grown a lot being on the Planning Commission for the past three years. He felt he had learned a lot about the Master Plan for Land Use and a lot regarding the ordinances that controlled what went on in the City. He said he was honored by the Planning Commission by being appointed Secretary for this past year, and believed that it was only when you had the respect of peers that you got such a nod. He felt that he had added a vision and understanding to the Planning Commission that might not otherwise be there with his background in philosophy and theology. Regarding law, he said having had some wonderful teachers in seminary they had taught him that it was an ordering of reason for the common good promulgated and established by those in charge of the community. He thought that every now and then he could bring a little additional perspective to the issues they faced. He said he loved the City and would be honored to be reappointed.

Member Gatt said he had seen Mr. Meyer grow in his seat on the Planning Commission over the past few years, and he brought a calming sense to that board. Member Gatt said the application for this board said "please indicate the reasons for desiring to serve" and Mr. Meyer wrote "my professors in college told me that when I get to be an old man I should give back to my community for all it had given me. I do this to honor their memory and to hopefully make a bit of a difference in Novi". Member Gatt said he was not an old man but was truly making a difference in the community and he thanked him. Member Gatt asked what he thought was an area that the Planning Commission working in conjunction with Council should pay more attention to. Mr. Meyer believed a five lane road was needed east of Novi Road on Grand River and there were so many areas around the Town Center that could be much more user friendly just paving it. He agreed improvement was needed west of Grand River also.

Member Margolis stated she was very familiar with Mr. Meyer’s work on the Planning Commission and his involvement in the Novi Theatres. She said he definitely had her support.

Member Mutch said with the new Planning Commission appointments, Mr. Avdoulos would no longer be on the Commission as he decided not to reapply. He noted that anyone who had watched the meetings had come to appreciate the knowledge and attention to the architectural elements that he brought to the discussion. Member Mutch thought it was a level of expertise that the Commission benefited from. He asked Mr. Meyer how he saw the Commission continuing to have that level of attention to that important area with Mr. Avdoulos’ absence from the Commission. He said in order to somehow fill that gap the Commissioners would have to do their homework even more. Mr. Meyer said he read the material but he was a dreamer and an idealist and was not a nuts and bolts kind of guy like Mr. Avdoulos. He said he would have to pay even closer attention and was sorry that Mr. Avdoulos wouldn’t be with them, as he served his City well.

Member Staudt said Mr. Meyer brought a very good element to the Planning Commission. He asked what he saw as the issues they would face during the next two to three years and how should they grapple with them as a City. Mr. Meyers said the City was obviously in a very challenging economic time yet, hopefully, this too would pass. He felt the City should stay focused on the fact that the primary gem in the City was its citizens, plot the course and do a good job making sure that people continued to come to the City.

Member Crawford said she was familiar with the many years of service Mr. Meyer gave to the City, and always had confidence in whatever committee he was on because he always approached it as a student, to learn and become educated. She knew he tried very hard to understand all the ins and outs of the Planning Commission and would continue to do that. She commented she was happy that he reapplied and thanked him for his many years of service. She asked if he had found anything that surprised him about the Planning Commission. Mr. Meyer said he had heard things over the years that the Planning Commission was sort of like the fireworks in the City, and the Council was the quiet and steady group that took care of things. He noted he was pleased to discover that these were really good people that he got to work with, and he was in awe of the different positions they hold in their personal lives and the devotion they brought to the Commission. Mr. Meyer said another was what City staff and the others had done trying to eliminate as many of the hurdles that developers had to jump to make this more user friendly. He believed they were making progress in that area.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello asked if there was a particular area of the ordinance that he saw as a major hurdle that should be corrected. Mr. Meyer thought that when the individual developer came to the City there should be a way in which they were met, and knew upfront what was expected; there should be no surprises and no additional hurdles. He felt it should be done in such a way that it was a really welcome package that said Novi really would appreciate their business, and active involvement in the City through volunteer work. He thought that whatever was expected should be right there.

Mayor Landry said he had the pleasure of participating at Albion College in a seminar for high school students on local government. He said he was there with 200 students grappling with several ethics questions in public service. Mayor Landry said he thought to himself that it would be great if Michael Meyer were involved in this because he knew Mr. Meyers was not only a student but also a professor of ethics in government service and politics. Mayor Landry said he admired that about Mr. Meyer and that he was always able to bring that to the table in whatever capacity he was serving; he always focused on the ethics and emphasized that above all else. Mayor Landry commended him for that and thanked him for bringing that aspect to the City of Novi.

Mr. Policicchio said he had been a resident of Novi for 32 years and had a sense of the history of the community. He commented he had four sons who had benefited from the programs and he appreciated what the Commission and the City did for its residents. Mr. Policicchio said he was of the baby boomer age and represented that point of view and felt it was important for someone of that age to be on the Commission. He noted he had completed his first term on the Commission, had gone through the learning curve and had a little sense of what it did, which was a lot more than run baseball programs and sports programs for the community. Finally, the City’s reputation was based on the quality of life it provided its residents and everything spun off of that, property values and everything else. He said the quality of life in Novi was one of the best in the State and one of the exemplary ones in the Country.

Member Margolis asked Mr. Policicchio if he could tell Council about something he had learned and was hoping to apply as he moved forward, if reappointed. Mr. Policicchio said Novi, just like all the rest of the communities in Michigan, was going to be faced with difficult times in terms of the economy, fuel prices etc. He said they had seen that the Department had moved toward trying to gain some self sufficiency by soliciting sponsors for parks and using non tax revenues to continue and expand the programs. He thought that was essential for this community to provide the quality of life it had in the past. A lot of the things this department did had to be interrelated to the other departments because the synergy and everything fed off of each other. He said business would feed off of its accessibility to the residents, etc. Mr. Policicchio said what he had learned was what it had done, was doing and to continue and expand in those areas.

Member Mutch asked Mr. Policicchio what he saw as the top issues he wanted to make a lot of progress towards or complete as a Commissioner. Mr. Policicchio said he and his wife rode their bikes to a restaurant because they could go safely on the bike paths the City put in. He thought that the City, through Parks and Recreation, needed to connect any subdivision in the City to any business in the City and not only by car, but by a transportation system as well as through walking and biking.

Member Staudt asked what types of things he would like to accomplish and whether he had any frustrations with his responsibilities on the Commission. Mr. Policicchio thought everything was a challenge as there were monetary limitations on what they could do and there had to be priorities. However, he thought the Parks and Recreation Department had looked outside the box to get funding sources and naming rights had brought some money in. He commented that the only frustrations were that they needed to move as quickly as possible to address the needs of the community, not just for today but in the future, and find the wherewithal to do that. He thought there were a lot of areas that could be tapped for non taxed resources because there were beneficiaries. If they did something in the community that a business would benefit from, then he didn’t think there was a problem with asking them to help develop this or that. He also thought residents might be willing to share in some of the responsibilities too, if something was done in their area.

Member Crawford asked if he thought senior citizen programs and cultural arts should be a focus of Parks and Recreation, as there are many Parks and Recreation Departments around the State that didn’t include these programs. Mr. Policicchio replied that he had learned that all seniors couldn’t be classified in one group because as they aged there were different interests based on physical capabilities and other things. He thought the programs that were non physical would be essential for the baby boomers and older seniors. In that respect they couldn’t group the programs together, they would have to examine the constituency so there was something for everybody.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello said all his questions had been answered and thanked him.

Member Gatt thanked him for his enthusiasm and for volunteering and said he had his support.

Mayor Landry said Mr. Policicchio had been around a long time in Parks and Recreation and had coached a lot of teams. Mayor Landry thanked him for offering his time and talents to the City.

Ms. Zyczynski said her time on this Commission had been a wonderful experience, she had a lot to learn and it took her about six months to get into the groove of things. She said she felt privileged and would also like to continue in her role on Parks, Recreation and Forestry. Ms. Zyczynski said she had been the liaison to the Greenways Pathways Committee and had been thrilled to be a part of that. She said she lived in Novi but her children went to Northville Schools and the people in her community really aligned themselves more with Northville than they did with Novi. So, in an effort to bring them into Novi’s parks and recreation community, she initiated an email plan working with the president of her homeowners association, where she would send out blurbs highlighting upcoming events. She said she made an effort to talk with them and invited them to try out Novi’s theatre productions. Ms. Zyczynski said her family moved to Novi in 1971 and her children participated in Novi’s Parks and Recreation Department. She felt privileged to be a part of that illustrious group.

Member Mutch asked what she saw as the top issue they needed to tackle. Ms. Zyczynski replied she had sat in on a discussion about what to do with the property on Ten Mile and Taft Rd. She stated she was very interested in what people had to say and what their priorities were, and out of that came a consciousness of the interest of people in the community in a central recreational facility and an enlarged senior center facility, which had always been in the back of her mind. She said she would like to see exercise classes offered for people 50 and older.

Member Staudt asked Ms. Zyczynski what she saw as the role of the Park Commission and how should they do it. Ms. Zyczynski said after having worked with Member Staudt she found him to be a creative, out of the box thinker who had tons of ideas. She believed that the Commission had several roles. One was to act in an advisory capacity, another was to generate fresh ideas and to support the Parks, Recreation and Forestry staff in their endeavors and help where ever needed.

Member Crawford said she saw the new Engage brochure and it was divided into certain components such as camps, leagues, healthy active community, creative opportunities, lifelong activities and parks. She asked Ms. Zyczynski what was the most critical of those components. Ms. Zyczynski said Parks were hugely important; she believed that Novi’s parkland and the activities that went on there, whether active or passive, enriched the lives of her and her children. She felt if cuts were needed they should be across the board instead of totally cutting any one program.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello asked, personally, what was the most exciting accomplishment of the Commission other than the ITC contribution. Ms. Zyczynski thought the Foundation was a wonderful concept and the Greenway Pathways project, which was underway but it would take time to make all those connections.

Member Gatt asked what the biggest problem had been. Ms. Zyczynski replied it was money, because the State Revenue Sharing was decreasing and finding money to get the jobs done that the community demanded was difficult.

Member Margolis said her questions had been answered and thanked her for her willingness to serve.

Ginger Barrons, Glenda resident, noted she found had information about the Fuerst Farm that needed to be shared with the City. She was unaware that Oakland County provided historical plans to the City free of charge. Also, she noted that the Rochester Hills Museum had things for children and seniors at their museum that was very exciting. She said they couldn’t raise funds for the City’s property but would like to sit down with someone at the City who could advise them where the group could go from here. She said there were several hundred people in their group.

Doug Curry, South Lyon Resident and candidate for the State Representative, noted that Novi was a model city for others. He said he served on the South Lyon School Board and would also like to be involved in things happening in Novi. He stated he would like to help Michigan work for its citizens and would put Michigan’s residents first. Mr. Curry distributed material to City Council and the City Manager about his candidacy, and noted he would be very visible by attending Novi City Council’s meetings quarterly.

Rudy Walsh, Varsity Lincoln Mercury, spoke about Consent Agenda Item E related to towing services for the City, and said they had been providing this service to the City without any complaints. Mr. Walsh said Varsity’s bid was 20 minutes late getting to the proper person, and he asked that the Council remove the item from the Consent Agenda for additional consideration. He noted they greatly valued the partnership they had with the City and greatly valued the contract.

Ken McMachen stated he worked for Varsity Towing and noted Varsity had been a member of the community for a long time, supported the City whenever possible and had the contract with the City for 3 years. He said they realized they should have gotten their bid done but didn’t and missed the bid deadline by 20 minutes. He wondered if they could be considered as a third choice because the City was growing; they would keep the same pricing, etc.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello removed Item E.

Member Mutch removed Items F and J.

Nays: None

A. Approve Minutes of:

1. May 19, 2008 – Regular meeting

B. Enter Executive Session immediately following the regular meeting of June 9, 2008 in the Council Annex for the purpose of discussing pending litigation, labor negotiations and property acquisition.

C. Approval of payment to Midwest Claims in the amount of $14,500 to settle remaining claims and adjuster expenses regarding Island Lake Sewer Backup.

D. Approval of Resolution seeking reimbursement of expenses associated with Mosquito Control projects in the amount of $19,000.

G. Approval to renew Dispatch Contracts with the City of South Lyon and Lyon Township beginning July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2011.

H. Approval to purchase election equipment in the amount of $20,972.00, from Election Systems and Software for additional precincts.

I. Approval of a one year Personal Property Assessment Contract with Oakland County Equalization, at a cost of $13.80 per parcel, for an estimated annual cost of $40,000.

K. Approval of contract extension with Municipal Web Services to host and maintain the City of Novi's two public websites (cityofnovi.org and investnovi.org) and employee website (eWeb) to December 12, 2008 for an estimated amount of $30,000 during this period.

L. Approval of the final balancing change order and final payment in the amount of $40,174.05 to Midwest Power Systems, Inc. for the Lanny’s Sanitary Sewage District Relief Sewer/Pump Station Project, located on the west side of Beck Road off of Providence Hospital's southeast entrance drive.

M. Approval of the final balancing change order and final payment in the amount of $15,486.00 to Summit Transport, Inc. for the Taft Road Reconstruction Project (Nine Mile Road to south city limits).

N. Approval of final balancing change order and final payment to Action Target, Inc. in the amount of $64,700 for the interior gun range equipment and control system at the Novi Police Department’s Firearms Training Center located at 26350 Delwal, Novi, MI 48375.

O. Approval of Claims and Accounts – Warrant No. 770

Mr. Pearson said at 2 P.M. this afternoon the City, assisted by Bond Counsel and Financial Advisor, opened competitive proposals for the $16,000,000 bond issue. There were five firms that responded, which was a very good indication of the demand for the bonds. He said the process was very smooth and positive for the City of Novi, and the City had a lower interest rate to pay over the course of 20 years, which encompassed a lot of different issuers. Mr. Pearson said the interest was lower than the 4.6% benchmark number for bond issues at the market. He thanked Ms. Smith-Roy and her team for providing this. He said Mayor Landry went to Chicago and made a presentation to both the rating agencies and the fruits of that were that the City received a two increment upgrade. The City’s Financial Advisor said the upgrade was very important because of the way the credit markets were and it was realized in the lower interest rate the City had to pay. He said they should be very proud of this because it was an endorsement of a lot of things the Council had done.

Member Margolis thanked the staff and the Mayor for the trip to Chicago. She said to have that kind of upgrade in the bond rating in this kind of market was outstanding, and especially for a Michigan city. She said they had to overcome a great deal to do that.

Member Staudt said during the budget discussions they had some different opinions about the direction they were taking. Obviously, the major rating agencies didn’t share those opinions and saw a bright future for the City of Novi, and they did that by improving the bond rating. He appreciated the efforts made by the Mayor and staff and looked forward to the next step.

Member Gatt thanked everyone involved in this process. He thought the bond rating was a big kudo for Novi and just went to show that amid all the doom and gloom around the State and cities nearby Novi was an oasis. He thought Novi was very fortunate and prudent. He thanked the staff for going to Chicago. He thanked the Mayor, who was a volunteer, most of all from

Bob Gatt the citizen, as he thought Mayor Landry was the best Mayor the City ever had or ever would have.

Mayor Landry congratulated the staff. He said Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s were very impressed with the Finance Department and City Administration and that was very encouraging. They were very impressed with the reserve policies, Fund Balance, and the fact that as a City they raised the goal for Fund Balance to 12 to 18%. They were impressed with Council’s stewardship and that there were policies for everything and they didn’t invest money, etc., without a policy and that things were done in a reasoned manner. He thought all of that hard work and effort was what got the bond ratings improved and it was because of the work of the Administration, Mr. Pearson, Ms. Smith-Roy and the Finance Department. Mayor Landry said this was how it paid off; it was cheaper for Novi to get bonds now to build things in the City because of these kinds of efforts; everybody wins and should be congratulated.

Member Mutch asked Administration for the increase in costs on the Walled Lake Plant and if there was any rationale from Oakland County on what was driving those costs. Also, the amount the City was tacking onto what was received from Oakland County on that specific facility. He said the rate from Oakland County in 2001 was $40.40 and was now $66.62 and on the City’s side it had gone from $42 to $76 in the same time period. He said he wanted to get an idea of where Oakland County costs were going up and where Novi’s costs were going up and what was driving that.

Ms. Smith-Roy, Finance Director, said, regarding the rates that Huron/Rouge was charging Novi, primarily the increases were related to their operations, maintenance and Capital Replacement Program and were what they were keying in on. Ms. Smith-Roy said they received a rate from DWSD that had a lot of that built into it, so it was actually a three tiered system from DWSD to them, to Novi. She said Novi’s increases were relatively small given the size of the system that Novi had and the primary things driving that were the items that came out of the CMOM Program. She said in order for those to be completed to get the engineering studies and move forward with some of those programs, they had to increase Novi’s rate to accomplish that. She said from last year to this year they were not proposing any additional increase in the City’s proportionate share percentage wise. Member Mutch said he understood more on the Oakland County side because he knew it was next to impossible to get numbers from Detroit in terms of those costs. However, he was looking at the facility on West Road that Oakland County ran because the information provided by Oakland County provided no indication and just said inflationary increases with no explanation. She said their increase was, like Novi’s, less than DWSD’s and they indicated it was related to the maintenance and operations and very little Capital improvement. Member Mutch said he would be interested in seeing from Oakland County’s side because their costs were similar to Detroit, but for a much smaller system. He said the Walled Lake Plant serviced parts of the north end of Novi, parts of Commerce Township, Walled Lake and parts of Wolverine Village, and had fairly significant cost increases over the past several years. He asked if she was indicating that on the City’s side, there was really no rate increase from the City’s costs on that particular segment. Ms. Smith-Roy said on any of the sewer proposals before Council they had maintained their percentage and they would adjust the CMOM program accordingly to fit within the percentage. He said there was no control or say on the cost involved with the Detroit system. However, the Walled Lake system was very different and because Novi was one of the primary users and funders of that facility, he would like to take a closer look at those increasing costs and what Novi could do to hold those. Member Mutch said the water and sewer rates on both systems going up the way they were was not something the public looked forward to each year. He said without better explanation from the County, he didn’t know how to explain to the residents where the costs were coming from.

Mr. Pearson said this came as an individual request for an alleyway vacation and they had expanded it to look at several to vacate them all.

Member Margolis said most of the property owners polled, except for one, were in favor of this vacation. She said if this was vacated, it would be split equally among the adjoining property owners. She asked what would happen to the person who objected to this process. Mr. Schultz said from the City’s perspective the Assessor would treat it under the statute as if there were an action to vacate that alleyway in the Circuit Court. He said a clear statement about what happened if a lawsuit was filed to vacate it, was as a property owner they would get half. He said if just vacating by resolution of City Council, it would be treated as if there was a quiet title on it and it would be assigned to adjacent property owners. If there was an objection, what might help next time was to have Mr. Lemmon talk about whether or not it was a real impact on the property owner to have a little bit of extra property. Mr. Schultz said they would treat it as going to each of the property owners for assessment purposes, and whether that had a big financial impact could be answered next time. Member Margolis said she would like to see more from the Police and Fire Departments. She noticed there was one concern from the Fire Department for one area that they were not going to vacate just to make sure when it came back for public comment that it was clear. Member Margolis said in order for them to vacate a public road there had to be public benefit; she would like to know what that was when it came back too.

Member Mutch said in terms of the location of this, he would not be in support of vacating it because he thought it had potential as a walkway location especially for those homes in the Vista’s subdivisions. If the City developed the Landings property into a park or some use, the opportunity for people to go from south to north was limited in that area. He thought this was a

good place for the City to put a sidewalk through and they would eliminate that opportunity if the street was vacated, especially since half the segment would be left in place because of the concerns of the Police and Fire Departments.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello said he had the exact same thought Member Mutch had. He said it appeared that there was no potential for a walkway or bike path to go through on the property of the vacation. He said looking directly to the east there was a sidewalk system going from Old Novi Road to Whistler Drive to Thirteen Mile Road, so he didn’t have that concern. He said he had looked at it and would in the future when there was a vacation like this.

Mr. Pearson said this was referred by Council to the Ordinance Review Committee. He said if a property tax payment was a day late, there was a 4% penalty the next day. He said everyone understood there needed to be a penalty for equity reasons, practical reasons and how they handle cash flow. However, there was a special different kind of case when there’s a contracted SAD payment and the person that had the liability was paying the City to repay those bonds. He said there was a time issue as long as the City had the money in good time to make the debt service payment, the City was not in the same position as other kinds of general property tax liabilities. So, he was suggesting they maintain the penalty but for those kinds of cases where it was contracted SAD, as long as the City received the money in time to make the debt service payment that a 2% penalty would be appropriate to consider.

Matt Quinn was present on behalf of the applicant and Jim Clear, General Manager of the Town Center Mall, was also present. Mr. Quinn said they were present for two reasons. First,

there was an ordinance requirement that a structure could not abut a sidewalk, and they had two boulder walls that ranged from 3 to 8 inches from the sidewalk. He said they were trying to promote a downtown, and to do that everything was brought together as close as possible. He said for that purpose, they were asking for a variance from the Design and Construction Standards. He said the solution would be to rip out the two boulder walls and redesign the wall and they felt a boulder wall was a lot less hard and intrusive than another brick wall.

The second issue was the 4 inch sewer lead coming out of the building versus the 6 inch. He said there was some confusion there. The 4 inch was shown on the plan, and the 4 inch was there on the ground as the inspector watched it, and acknowledged that perhaps it should be a 6 inch but said "go ahead and cover it up". He said to uncover it now and redo things would cost about $10,000 and it just didn’t seem worth it. He noted he provided Council with documentation to say the 4 inch lead could handle everything the building could put through it, and there was plenty of safety margin there. Regardless of that, the Town Center was willing to enter into a Hold Harmless Agreement with the City that said if there were ever continued and repeated problems with the 4 inch pipe plugging, it would be redone at that time. Mr. Quinn said they had the support of all the City departments and asked that the variances be granted.

Mayor Landry asked if two motions would be needed and Mr. Schultz said yes. Mayor Landry said they would start with the path.

Member Mutch asked Administration if the issue with the boulders adjacent to the path, was because this was a public sidewalk against a public road. He asked if it would come up if it was an interior sidewalk. He thought Mr. Quinn made a valid point in terms of the downtown concept. He said obviously, with the Main Street project, landscaping or physical structures next to the sidewalk had not come up and he wanted to know how it came up in this situation. Mr. Pearson said the boulder wall was not shown on the site plan but was installed; so this was a way to correct that issue without making them go back through site plan etc. The Ordinance was there to provide that added measure of safety even though it was on private property. However, by the same token, it was on private property and it was their issue. He said they didn’t have a big problem with it as it looked nice and was in keeping with the rest of the development so they were suggesting approval. Member Mutch said in this situation he didn’t think the ordinance standard as applied made sense for the reasons Mr. Quinn addressed. He asked if they needed to look at this differently in Town Center; he didn’t understand the application of this in this environment where it didn’t seem to work with what they were trying to accomplish. Mr. Pearson said some of the structures, guard rails, etc. on bridges were on public property so the Design and Construction Standards wouldn’t apply the same way. He thought this ordinance needed to be tweaked. Member Mutch said if they could give the applicants a clear understanding of what the City wanted, then they wouldn’t run into this situation again in the future.

Mayor Landry said he assumed that the maker of the motion was suggesting a motion because the provisions of Sec. 11-10 of the Ordinance had been met, that was that a literal application of the substantive requirements would result in exceptional practical difficulty to the applicant. The alternative proposed by the applicant shall be adequate for the intended use and shall not substantially deviate from the performance that would be obtained by strict enforcement of the standards and that the granting variance would not be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare or injurious to adjoining and neighborhood properties. Member Gatt agreed.

Mayor Landry said next was the 4 inch sanitary lead variance.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello said one 6 inch and one 4 inch were required by print and one 6 inch and one 4 inch were installed. Mr. Quinn said as he understood it there was only supposed to be a 6 inch lead coming out of a building. He said he had understood they were using one 6 inch and he thought one 4 inch, but they were using one 4 inch. Mayor Pro Tem Capello asked if there was still a six inch there if needed, and Mr. Quinn said there was one at the far end of the building.

Member Mutch referred to a memo dated May 14th to Mr. McCusker from Mr. Sikma regarding concerns the Water and Sewer Department had with this particular variance request. A couple

of things noted was the potential of restaurant waste that included fats, oil and grease and the impact of that on the lines going out of the building, and the desire to have a grease interceptor in place to address that. Member Mutch said the summary of the memo was the variance should be denied. He asked Mr. McCusker if he still had the concerns expressed in the memo, and if so how could they be addressed, or should it be denied. Mr. McCusker replied they had met with the Engineering Department and the 6 inch had a grease trap on it and the 4 inch took care of a restroom facility separate from the oil and grease setup. He said their concern was if the use of the building changed in the future, but at that point the City would have a Hold Harmless Agreement and would be OK. Member Mutch asked Mr. Quinn what the uses were presently and he replied there was a Pot Belly Restaurant, Ink Stop and Biggby Coffee. Member Mutch said then there could be a change in use. Mr. Quinn said that was why he could say the maintenance of that pipe would be watched very carefully.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello asked if a grease trap was required to be installed every time a restaurant came in. He said if there was a change of use with the Building Permit, they would be required to put one in anyway in their own facility.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello said he had two concerns and that when he originally looked at this item he wondered why it would go out for a bid; they weren’t trying to obtain the lowest bid to get the work done. They had set prices and asked who would want to do work for this amount of money, or agree to charge fees for the towing. He said one of the bidders was coming from Farmington and the other was a Novi business and would keep the money in Novi. He tried to look at that every time they awarded contracts. He asked Mr. Schultz if they had to put this out like other bids where they were trying to get the lowest price, or because they were soliciting people to enter into contracts for a price that the City wanted them to work for. He asked if they could just offer it to Novi businesses and not open it up for full bids. Mr. Schultz said it was a policy determination whether to go out to bid and how Council determined who the City would be in a relationship with. He noted the legal issue was that there were clearly competitive bidding requirements that ran through the Charter and the Ordinance; Council would not want to not use those unless it was particularly important to them. He said it was a professional service and it was an appropriate bid, which was Council’s purchasing policy and they followed what had been adopted when doing this. He said it was a different kind of question whether they could change that but here they followed what they considered and adopted as a policy. Mayor Pro Tem Capello said in the future, they wouldn’t have to put this through a bid process if there were two Novi businesses, and they were going to award two contracts. Mr. Schultz said if they made an obvious shift on how they wanted to do that, and made it clear in the policy so the staff would know to treat it differently, they could do it. He said he was not commenting on the policy implication on whether they wanted to do that because that would be up to Council. Mayor Pro Tem Capello said coming from a construction background, he understood the importance of bids being submitted on time and why there was a deadline. He thought this was a little different situation, but Varsity was late. He asked if there were any exceptions within the Ordinance that provided for submitting late bids. Mr. Schultz said not in the Ordinance and the policy said "late bids are not accepted".

Mayor Pro Tem Capello said the other issue he had was the amount of money they allowed the towing companies to charge. He said gas had gone up double in the last year and diesel fuel exceeds gas and had more than doubled. He said he would have hoped since it was no cost to the residents and the towing companies provided a good service to the City, that the cost they were allowed to charge would allow them to make up some of the increase of the cost of the fuel they had to spend to provide the same service they provided over the last couple of years. He said perhaps they could look at that the next time the contract was up.

Mayor Landry said what was proposed was a one year contract with an option of two one year renewals. He said Varsity was 20 minutes late and he understood the equities there. However for him, the bid process was something that was pretty sanctimonious and he could not see messing with the bid process. Mayor Landry said when in Chicago the rating companies told them that the reason they increased the rating was because they had policies and they stuck to them. He hated to see this happen but there was a bid process, it’s advertised to the world that this was the way the bidding was going to be and they had to stick to the bidding process. He also agreed with Mayor Pro Tem Capello that he would like to see the rates increase.

Mayor Landry suggested they approve the motion but it’s a one year contract with the option of two one year renewals. He said they should just make a commitment that they would not renew this contract next year, would look at it, increasing the price and going out to bid again in one year. He suggested they pass this and give direction to the Administration that they wanted to look at it closely next year.

Member Margolis said she did not want to mess with the bid process and had no problem going out to bid again. She knew things happened but felt they would just be going down a slope. She said increasing the fees, when they had three responsible bidders at this price, told her it was a decent price. She said if there had been no bids, it would be an indication that no one could make money doing it. She didn’t know if she would be in favor of just unilaterally increasing the rates.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello said only two of the bidders bid at these rates; the other two were much higher.

Member Mutch thanked staff for the additional information on this issue regarding allowing Cell Tower Telecommunication providers to install their equipment in an outdoor enclosure versus a brick structure. He appreciated that the provider’s preference was not to do that. He said the only rationale he saw was the equipment they wanted to use didn’t fit those structures and had some performance issues. He thought Mr. Wrobel addressed that at the Planning Commission level and noted that it was a matter of selecting the right equipment for the correct structure. He said he didn’t see a strong argument for allowing that exception; he still had the concern that opening that door for providers would result in their coming forward with a request to not do the enclosed structure because of the greater cost. He said the trade off to that cost was an improved community visibility in terms of the equipment. He thought it was clear from the photos that those cell tower structures were the same as the ones going up all over town with AT&T. He said with AT&T there was no choice, but in this case the ordinance required the equipment to be enclosed and they would have to select equipment that would work within those structures. He noted he removed this from the Consent Agenda so if Council chose to go in that direction, he wanted the opportunity to not vote for that change.

Member Margolis thought some of the structures were a lot more imposing than just the small box.

Member Mutch said his understanding of the entryway signs was that they would do the three now and pay for them out of the current budget. Then they would have the alternative, which would be approved separately by Council at the first meeting in July. He had questions about the locations and said the 12 Mile and Haggerty sign would be adjacent to the light to Cabot Dr. He had expected that sign to be closer to the Farmington Hills border, and asked what the thought was behind that. Ms. Walsh said that location was correct and was a little west of the actual City limits. She said there were a few reasons for that pointed out by Engineering, which were utilities in the right-of-way and sight obstruction. She said they didn’t want it too close and conflicting with the new Henry Ford facility. Then there was the Michigan left turns there which would create a sight obstruction for those looking to go east bound. Member Mutch asked if the sign would be facing the exit ramp at east bound I-96 on the south side, of the freeway. Ms. Walsh said those two, when exiting I-96 going east or west bound at Novi Road sat in front of the old Too Chez restaurant and the one east bound sat a little north of Famous Dave’s. He asked if they were single faced, and she replied they were all single faced. He said the Grand River/Haggerty sign was quite a ways west and didn’t show the sign at the gas station being replaced. She said that sign would be removed and was a little west of the other sign and on the north side of the road.

Mayor Pro Tem Capello asked where the sign at 8 Mile and Haggerty would be going. Ms. Walsh said it would be going between the sidewalk and the hedge in front of Chili’s. She said it was the north west corner. He asked if that would face so the drivers on 8 Mile would see it, and she replied if heading north bound or west bound into the City it would be set on an angle. He said it looked too far back and Ms. Walsh said it would sit not much further back than where the sign originally sat and it was substantially larger than the previous sign. He asked if there was a Chili’s sign there, and she said it would be to the north and the east of where the City entryway sign was. Ms. Walsh said she had several discussions with the General Manager at Chili’s, who was aware of where the sign would go and had no problems with it. He asked about the sign at 8 Mile and Napier Roads and how that would affect the ITC sign. She said it was quite a distance away and the sign would face south west; so those traveling east bound on 8 Mile or north bound on Napier would see the sign. She said there was a retention pond there and it would sit in front of that; they were not anywhere near each other and they were designed with very similar elements. He asked if the 12 Mile Road sign would be in the median, and if it would be two faced. Ms. Walsh said it would be in the median and would not be a two faced sign, as all of the signs were single faced, and there would be landscaping behind them with Pine trees etc., so the back would not be visible. Mayor Pro Tem Capello said that one was situated between two turnarounds, and asked if that area was already landscaped with Pine trees. She said there were no Pine trees but there were some street trees that might need to be relocated; they were working with Parks and Recreation on the landscaping of the signs. He thought if they were closer to the turn around, they would be more visible and it would make more sense.

Member Mutch asked why they were illuminating the sign at 8 Mile and Napier. He said the traffic volume through there at night was very low and with energy costs high, he thought that would be unnecessary lighting. She said the power was there, Novi owned the park, it was accessible and the actual energy cost was very minimal to supply electricity to that location. She said when they looked at what signs were going at various locations that was a factor.

To approve to award a contract for fabrication and installation of three City entryway signs (Eight Mile and Napier Roads, Eight Mile and Haggerty Roads, and Twelve Mile and Haggerty Roads) to MLS Signs, the low bidder, for $37,631.

There being no further business to come before Council, the meeting was adjourned at

9:12 P.M.

________________________________ ________________________________

David Landry, Mayor Maryanne Cornelius, City Clerk

________________________________ Date approved: June 23, 2008

Transcribed by Charlene Mc Lean