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

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

ALSO PRESENT: David Molloy, Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police

Tom Schultz, City Attorney

Mayor Landry said this and the following presentations were a testament to Catholic Central, their Administration, parents and students. He said, speaking to the athletes, this was not only a reflection on the effort they had put forward but a reflection on the parents, coaching staff, school and community. Mayor Landry said Council was going to recognize their commitment and what they had done for the community. He asked that they take from this the example that when they achieved something like this, they raised everyone with them. He said the Council would recognize their efforts and how they had made everyone around them a better person for it. Mayor Landry said he would read the certificate and their names and ask them to stand before Council. He asked everyone to hold their applause to the end as he would then recognize the Hockey and Wrestling Teams. Al Bridges, Head Coach of the Bowling Team, thanked Council and said he was very proud of the athletes.

Mayor Landry said the City congratulated the athletes, recognizing their outstanding accomplishment. He read the team members names. Mitch Hancock, Head Coach, thanked the City for recognizing their team and honoring them this evening. He commented the team members had worked extremely hard and were very grateful and thankful to Detroit Catholic Central and the City of Novi.

Mayor Landry said the City congratulated the athletes, recognizing their outstanding accomplishment. He read the team members names. He also recognized Doug Itami and Mark Johnson, Assistant Coaches, Tom Nugent, Goalie Coach and Mike Jordano, General Manager. Coach Johnson thanked Council for the presentation and recognition. He said they worked hard to put together a program that not only the student body but also the community could be proud of. Mayor Landry asked Principal Father Richard Ranalletti and Father Elmer to join him at the podium where he congratulated them. Father Ranalletti thanked Council for honoring them and said they were doing their best to continue to bring positive recognition of young people to Novi. He said they appreciated Council’s response. Father Elmer said someone once said that "the greatest reward for people’s labor is not what they get for it but what they become by it". He said athletics at Catholic Central was certainly making fine young men for Novi, the community, Church, Catholic Central and their parents, and he thanked them all.

Mayor Landry read the proclamation for Arbor Day and declared Saturday, May 1st as Arbor Day and invited all community members to take full advantage of this special occasion by joining in the tree planting and festivities at Lakeshore Park from 10 a.m. until noon. Wendy DuVall, Recreation Supervisor, thanked Council and invited everyone to come out on Saturday. She said there were a lot of events planned and lunch was included.

Mayor Landry asked each candidate to approach the podium where they would be asked why they felt they would be a good candidate and what goal did they hope to achieve or what they would like to take away from this experience.

Mr. Boyd felt he would be a good candidate to the Novi Youth Council because he had worked with volunteer organizations at his school. He said he had a sound head and good ideas to help out the City and incorporate the private corporations and the youth because that was what the Youth Council was for. He said he would be a good candidate because he recently completed his eagle project, which taught him the responsibility of taking on projects, documenting them and seeing them through until the end. Presently, he didn’t have a goal he wished to complete as he didn’t have any problems but he wished to take away from this the experience of working with other people. This would help him to work with fellow employees later on to see big projects through to the end and to be sure they were done properly.

Ms. Cornellier thought she would be a good candidate because she was passionate about helping others and bettering her community. She said she was a leader and set a good example for other students by being a role model everyday. Ms. Cornellier said she was trustworthy, easy to talk to, organized, timely and worked well with others. She said she could contribute to group activities and projects. She noted that as the sole student representative on the Novi Education Council, she could share ideas and opportunities across the two councils. Ms. Cornellier noted she would like to take away from this experience the feeling that she helped someone else. She said she worked with the St. James Parish Food Pantry to help pack food boxes for families in need in Novi but wanted to be more involved with the community. She commented she wanted to create a garden for the community where they could grow vegetables and flowers. She said they could find volunteers through a segment in the Novi Community Education handout that was sent home to everyone in Novi to help the Youth Council start the garden. Ms. Cornellier hoped they could have a wide range of volunteers from active seniors to young kids and that it would help struggling families in Novi to get nutritious fruits and vegetables at a low cost, in addition to food donated by parishes and other charities. She commented she would also like to start a teen column in the Novi News that would get more students interested in volunteering and participating in activities throughout Novi. She said she would look forward to working with Council on the Novi Youth Council.

Ms. Goyal thought she would be a good candidate because she had served on the Beautification Commission for two years, and had learned a lot about plants. She said she realized that Novi was more than just pretty scenery and that it took an entire team of dedicated members to put together what they had. She noted, through her commission, it took hard work, leadership qualities and dedication to put her time in to help others. She noted she had a dedicated passion for volunteering and helping others knowing that two or three hours of her time could make a difference in someone else’s life. Ms. Goyal said it really made her feel good about herself and she wanted to give back to her community in other ways, such as joining the Youth Council. She thought the community should be more aware of what the boards and commissions did. She mentioned Toll Gate Farms had tours to show the different examples of gardens and felt these kinds of places deserved more recognition. She hoped that she could have another year to share her ideas and contribute more to Novi.

Ms. Huang, a sophomore in Novi High School, said since moving to Novi she had been introduced to many new opportunities and experiences that had shaped her to become a better citizen in society. She said among these experiences were volunteering weekly at Walton Woods Senior Community, where she learned positive thinking and patience could go a long way. Also by being a team Captain for a Relay for Life team, and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity; she understood the importance of unifying for a common cause. She said she had experienced interacting of local businesses and learned what it took to be an effective leader. Ms. Huang said on top of her academic work load, she was an officer of the Art Club, National Honor Society member, Quiz Bowl and the girl’s tennis team. Ms. Huang said by knowing the importance of time managing and prioritizing, she had maintained her 4.0 GPA at school. Many of the programs currently sponsored by the Novi Youth Council had been successful at delivering important messages to the teenagers in the community such as, Addicted to Movies not Drugs, Addicted to Games not Drugs, Youth Hope Convention and Project Sticker Shock. However, one issue that she felt was very personal to her and that she believed many young adults didn’t appreciate the full portions of was diversity. She said when she arrived in Novi she had come from a predominately Caucasian community. In the past five years Novi’s extensive cultural diversity, one of its most commendable traits, had broadened her global perspective and made her more open minded. Ms. Huang said she would be forever grateful to Novi for giving her this gift as it would be valuable to her as she went through life. If the City of Novi were to select her as a representative, she would wish to propose an event promoting Novi’s unique cultural and ethnic heritage in their diversity so other teenagers would appreciate it as she had.

Ms. Jain said she would like to represent the youth of Novi on the Youth Council because she believed she could be a great leader and make a positive difference in the community. She said it took a team effort to work toward a common goal, and she was ready to be dedicated and take action. Ms. Jain stated she would work as hard as possible to contribute her perspective on how to make Novi a better place. She said they must work through differences and be organized, while still making the experience fun. She said, through the Youth Council, she would be able to represent the citizens and propose ideas that would expand the voice of the youth. Ms. Jain said by communicating her ideas in a fun and creative way, she would leave a lasting impression on Novi and give back to the community that had provided so much for her. She stated volunteering at the nursing home had helped her respect the senior citizens and realize there were many people in need that she could help. She said interacting with them had taught her that hard work and dedication was key. Ms. Jain said even little kids at the daycare she volunteered at had opinions and were learning to become tomorrow’s leaders. By expanding to meet the future needs of Novi, young children could be helped to have better opportunities for a safe future. She said perseverance had taught her to never give up and she would like to bring all her qualities to Youth Council and be a dedicated member, if given a chance. Ms. Jain said it would be a top priority and she would commit to improving Novi. She said through participation in Novi Youth Council, she could learn leadership skills that would be important for the future and learn to communicate better with people. It would also give her insight into what made a government work and what made up the structure of society. She said, if given a chance, she would be dedicated and work her hardest to be a positive addition to the Novi Youth Council.

Ms. Jie said if time and energy were spent to help a community grow, members would feel a sense of ownership cherishing the wonderful home that Novi provided. The Novi Youth Council was a perfect chance to further fulfill her role as a member and to help write a chapter in Novi’s story. She said she was so thankful for the safe home, clean environment and effective school system that Novi provided. Ms. Jie said her wish was to not only preserve these fantastic qualities for future generations, but also to make the City an even better place by participating in events such as Project Sticker Shock. She said it would be a wonderful feeling to know that she saved Novi from just one more drunk driving accident. Ms. Jie said helping the community was something she found great joy in. She noted that, since last fall, she had been tutoring a third grader in mathematics. When she first started tutoring him he doubted his abilities in math and frequently felt discouraged, and she helped him see that he could solve those math problems and that nothing was impossible. Soon he was driven to develop more skills in the subject; skills that could later return to benefit Novi. She said she was also a team captain for a Relay for Life team and led the team to raise almost $1,000. Ms. Jie said she experienced something so powerful and moving as a whole community became one to take steps towards a Cancer free world. She said there was nothing more incredible than making a difference in someone’s life. She thought serving on the Youth Council would give her a chance to touch the lives of the whole community, to motivate the people to work together to make this community an even better place. The Novi Youth Council provided the chance to spend time serving the City, take part in its growth and to truly feel a part of the community. She said she would be honored to serve on the Youth Council and help write the next chapter in Novi’s story.

Mr. Kakar believed he would be a good candidate because over the extracurricular activities he had been involved in, like robotics and Destination Imagination, he thought he had built up a creative mind, which enabled him to give Council creative input about anything that was offered to him. He noted that he had also volunteered at Deerfield Elementary and helped out at Gleaner’s Food Bank giving food to the poor. He said he didn’t think of volunteering as work but thought of it as an opportunity to learn. He said it was a fun experience to be with friends and to help people out and to be a good cause.

Mr. Lee said as a Taiwanese American, he could offer a different look at things and he felt it would be very valuable for the community. He said he was born in Novi and had been here all his life. He noted he had always been an informed citizen and wanted to participate in the decision making process in the City. Mr. Lee said his goal was to look back in a year and be proud of what he accomplished.

Ms. Maliekal said she believed she had the qualities that Council was looking for in a City of Novi Youth Council member. She said she was a responsible student, volunteered at church and school and led many youth organizations at her church. So, she had experience with the leadership skills that Council was probably looking for. Ms. Maliekal said what she wanted to get out of this whole experience was to acquire new skills that could help her in her future careers in life. She stated she would like to meet new friends who would teach her new skills.

Mr. Murray said he was currently Chair Elect of Novi Youth Council. He felt he would be a good candidate because he had the experience to lead the Council again. He said he had learned that making a plan with Ms. Walsh in the Community Relations office, and actually having that come to life in an event was harder than it seemed. He said they had great plans to pull off Addicted to Movies at 2 a.m. but that plan might change. He felt he had the ability to work with the Council again to better Novi. Another goal would be to provide more events for the City and to bridge gaps with all community schools. He said this year they had worked with Catholic Central, Walled Lake, Northville and Novi and he wanted to see that expanded into all the schools that served Novi. He asked Council for the opportunity to serve Novi again.

Ms. Parikh thought she would be a good candidate for Novi Youth Council. She said three of her qualifications were her history with the City, community service and her team work with others. She said, as a child, she participated in Girls Scouts and one of her award projects was to learn about the City of Novi and its history. She noted she learned a lot about the Fuerst Farm and Fuerst sisters, which showed her dedication to the community and her involvement. She commented she had done over 100 hours of community service in the previous year, whether it was volunteering at the community Library or helping out at school Science Fairs. She said Novi Youth Council was one big team that worked together with the City and its people. Ms. Parikh said she had been doing Destination Imagination for six years with the same team, which showed her dedication to her team. She said once she started something she put 110% of effort in everything she did. She said through Destination Imagination she had gained many characteristics that had shaped her identity to who she was today. She said in Destination Imagination she learned about working together as a team through good times and bad, and they were able to problem solve and be creative while still working together. She said she was able to work in groups and also be a leader while sharing her ideas. Ms. Parikh said a goal was having her ideas heard by others and something she wanted to take away from this experience. Many people always have something to say but they never share their ideas and a goal for herself on Novi Youth Council would be to share her own opinions and have them heard by the community. She said she would be honored to serve and felt she would be an asset to the Novi Youth Council.

Mr. Raina said he liked to make things happen. He said a few months ago he was standing before Council speaking about no idling. In the meantime, he met with Senator Cassis to get the wheels turning in Lansing for anti idling legislation to be passed in Michigan. He said this meeting was published in the Novi News a couple of weeks ago. Mr. Raina said he raised money for no idling signs to be put in the middle school and planned on meeting with the Novi School Board to request signs be placed in other schools in Novi. He noted he was also instrumental in making Novi Middle School an official Michigan green school for two years in a row. He said, last year, because of his diligent work in the Volunteer Club at the Novi Middle School, he had received an award from Novi Youth Assistance. Mr. Raina noted he was also named the outstanding student of the year at the Novi Middle School last year because of his exemplary grades. He said he would be representing the State of Michigan in the National Math competition in Florida. Mr. Raina said today he stood before Council to be selected for the Novi Youth Council. He thought it was a great idea that the City of Novi offered this opportunity to young students as the insight and ideas that students brought to the table were really unique. It was a wonderful learning experience to see first hand how the government worked at a local level. He said whether it’s Addicted to Movies not Drugs or the Sticker Shock program, kids know what kids need. He felt that the City was moving in the right direction by starting a green page and had many new ideas in that area for students, community members and local businesses to participate in. Mr. Raina said he didn’t want to be just a passive observer on the Novi Youth Council, but wanted to leave a footprint of achievements and accomplishments. He said he had accomplished many things in the Novi Middle School and would continue his volunteer activities at the high school and beyond. He had many unique, creative and innovative ideas to make Novi an even better place to live. He said one way to accomplish this was an even greater community involvement, because there was strength in numbers. Mr. Raina stated he was a leader, quick thinker and a very good listener. He said he would give Council his word that if selected for the Novi Youth Council, he would work his hardest and do his very best.

Mr. Ram stated he would like to be a member of the Novi Youth Council. He said, as captain of the JV tennis team and mentor to a junior robotics team, he had learned many skills, such as listening to various ideas presented, making tough decisions and acting as a role model for his team. These experiences taught him key qualities such as responsibility, because Council members needed to be dedicated and committed, team work, because they needed to work together to find a solution, patience, because everyone’s ideas must be heard and leadership, because Council members needed to voice their ideas and have their own opinion. He thought these were four traits that Novi Youth Council members should have, as well. Mr. Ram said he wanted to introduce fresh ideas and make a positive difference in the community and he felt that being a member of the Novi Youth Council was the best way to do it. As a member, it would provide him with an enriching and unique experience that would let him deal with City matters. Mr. Ram said he looked forward to serving in this honorable position and strongly urged Council to consider his appointment as a Novi Youth Council member.

Mr. Shinkel stated as a student of Catholic Central they learned three things goodness, discipline and knowledge, which were things he tried to live daily, it was also how his family raised him and to take an active role in the community. He thought giving back was the essence of what each citizen was and it all came down to what he had learned through his live, "love thy neighbor". He said this must be done in all capacities of daily lives and he hoped one of these functions in his daily life would be to be a member of the Novi Youth Council. Mr. Shinkel thought he would be a good candidate because he felt the Novi Youth Council was made to give a voice to his fellow peers in the affairs of the City, and what could be done to meet the needs of his peers. One of the needs he hoped to accomplish, on the Youth Council, was a public entertainment gathering place for his peers. He noted he would give the Youth Council his honest hard work and just determination of what could be done.

17. Francesca Sovis

Ms. Sovis felt she would be a good candidate because she was a very good role model. She felt she was responsible and would be able to contribute her creative ideas to promote youth involvement in the community. She hoped to take away the feeling of making a difference in her community.

Ms. Srinivasakrishnan thanked Council for the opportunity to interview for the Youth Council position. She believed she was very lucky to live in a City that allowed the youth to take an active role in civics and government. She said she would be a good candidate for this position because of all the things she was involved in. She noted she was a freshman mentor for the freshmen in her high school, a leader on the tennis team and a manager of the boy’s tennis team. She said she had been a committee member on the Emily N. Griffin Foundation for raising money for children with mental disabilities and a troop member of Awkward Pause. She said all of those things had allowed her to learn ways to connect with younger and older people and to be an effective student voice, which she believed was the most important qualification for being a Youth Council member. Ms. Srini said as a committee of the SAD club and Awkward Pause, she knew that they were all interested in expanding the Youth Hope Convention because this year because of time constraints and not enough exposure, Awkward Pause wasn’t able to participate in that convention. However, she believed it was so important to get those ideas across and they needed to expand it, get more exposure and get more people involved in that convention. Another goal she would have would be a program to stress the importance of volunteering at a younger age. She said she had completed 300 hours of community service in the past two years but she didn’t think it was as easy before high school to complete those kinds of hours when students didn’t know what was available. She said things like a web site or a column in the newspaper would be an easy way to get those goals accomplished. Ms. Srini hoped to take away a sound basis in civics and government as she hoped to pursue a career of public policy in the future.

Ms. Yechoor thanked Council for the opportunity to interview for Novi Youth Council. She said she had attended the Novi Public Schools and noted Novi was a great community with an excellent school district. She believed that the Novi Youth Council would be a great platform for her to finally give back to a community that had given her so much. She said, if selected, she would love to take back the experience of being on city government and the ability to represent her peers in the government and give them a voice. She said qualities she had to bring to the Novi Youth Council were good organization and communication skills, as well as hard work, motivation and a lot of enthusiasm for the betterment of the community. She noted she had served on the Personal Electronics Device Committee at the Novi High School, which was a group of students, teachers and Administrators. She said they worked to update the current technology policy at Novi High School to reflect the current technology that had been released. She believed that it gave her a lot of experience that she could bring to the Novi Youth Council to work with all ages to achieve a common goal. She commented she was also a member of the Teen Advisory Board for the Novi Library and was very interested in the Novi Public Library. She believed working together with the students on that board to bring the events and volunteer opportunities at the Novi Public Library as well as raise awareness for the new library had given her a lot of skills that she would love to bring to the Youth Council.

Kim Capello, County Commissioner, 24406 Nantucket, was present and said over a year ago he started a program for young adults with alcohol and drug problems. He said in his practice as an attorney, he would represent kids in minor in possession matters attending parties where alcohol was present. He said, fortunately, in this community every child he represented the parents were involved. He said the child was his client but the parents wanted to understand the process and what was going on, and almost 90% of the time follow up calls were from the parents asking what more could they do, what should they be watching for, etc. Commissioner Capello said he worked with Chief Molloy at the Police Department, John Lawrence at the High School, Peter Dion, and Novi Youth Assistance. He said they did that for seven or eight months and still weren’t making enough progress. He said last June with the help of Father George at St. James Catholic Church, they started a young adult AA program on Monday nights. He said that had taken off phenomenally and the next step would be to give assistance to parents. Commissioner Capello said he and the young adults were putting on a program at St. James on May 7th and parents were invited. They would have a short introduction, explaining what drugs were out there and how kids were getting and hiding the drugs. He said they would have round table discussions and the young adults would sit at the tables and one on one answer questions that parents might have. He noted that none of the kids in recovery now ever thought they would become addicted and it all started with recreational use and attending parties and then snowballed. He said he was inviting all the parents to come out the last Thursday in April when Chief Molloy had a program at St. James where they were going to do a mock bedroom to show the parents places where kids hide their drugs and alcohol and what signs to look for.

Commissioner Capello said he wanted to talk about the District Court in Novi. He said years ago they had fought hard to get the District Court in Novi when it was moving from Walled Lake. He said he was on the Novi Planning Commission then and they bent over backwards to get that process approved quickly. He said it was owned by a private developer and leased to the County. He said the County was trying to avoid all leased property and were trying to either acquire or construct facilities. He said they had constructed a new Court House in Rochester Hills and in Clarkston and Novi was next on the list to be constructed. However, because of the economic times construction had been delayed indefinitely. He said for the last nine months he had been trying to get upgrades in the current building as they had out grown the facility, it needed new carpeting and the heating and air conditioning was abominable. He said the building had been sold and the County had been negotiating with the landlord to get these improvements, but the landlord was not willing to do anything. So, the County was looking for another lease facility trying to keep that facility in Novi. He said there were a lot of vacancies and Wixom wanted the court and Walled Lake would like to get the court back. He said they were trying to keep it in Novi and had two buildings they were looking at which would satisfy the County’s concerns better than the current facility. Commissioner Capello said they wanted to keep the Court House in Novi because they wanted to keep the revenue generated from the customers of the Court House here. Also, it would be a great savings because the Police Officers wouldn’t have to drive outside of the City whether on or off duty, with the overtime, etc. He said it did look like they would be able to keep the Court House in Novi.

Bob Darr, 148 Arvida, Walled Lake, was present regarding the Lake Improvement Board and their proposed tax roll or special assessment. He assumed that the Council had seen the Novi News top item "Budget Cuts for the City of Novi" and how many people had been laid off in the last year, including police officers, police dispatchers and City employees. Mr. Darr found it outrageous that the City was willing to donate $45,000 to a Lake Improvement Board for the improvement of Walled Lake when the Lake Study didn’t deem it a problem. He asked why they would pay for some of the back lot residents and their benefit when it didn’t benefit all the citizens. He said he understood Council paying for parks and stub ends because they were a City roads. However, the minutes said they were paying for the back lot owner’s on Novi’s end of the lake and the rest of the City people were not gaining benefit from the money they were proposing to give to the Lake Board for weed control. He said if they read the reports, the weeds were not that bad in Walled Lake. He said no matter what they do, they harvest them, cut them up and they float around and grow in new places and blow up on the shore. He said it was not an answer and the people were complaining that the weeds blew in on the shore and made the shoreline smell. He asked what they thought would happen when they harvest and started poisoning the lake with chemicals; these weeds would end up on their shore. Mr. Darr said the benefit that the back lot owners received on Walled Lake from Novi’s contribution was actually cheating their lakefront owners. Yes, they had to pay a smaller portion but they still had to pay for the same benefit that the back lot owners were being paid for. He said the benefit from the project had to be determined before the project continued. Obviously, someone saw there was a benefit to the project and he would like to know where it was, what it was and who benefited from it. He said it would cost him X amount of dollars a year, if this went through, to pay for the cleanup and he didn’t see a direct benefit. He said they had not improved his property value and he couldn’t sell his home. He said he was a back lot resident, so as far as the value of improvement it was 1/70th of what a lakefront owner got because there were 70 homes in the subdivision. Granted they were deeded over seven lots, but he said he didn’t get sole discretion, decision or benefit from his lakefront lot such as a lakefront owner. He said that led to the equalization of the taxes that they were being charged, assessing some and not others for the benefit received. He said at the Lake Board meeting they said they didn’t have time to pursue all the back lot owners in Novi and Walled Lake and they were just going to pass the tax roll. However, they had our properties as unidentified and wanted to tax them three or four times the rate of a lakefront owner. He asked Council to explain how that was just as far as assessing all properties within the SAD, not just some. He said they could not just dole out the benefit. He said they couldn’t say they wanted to tax some of the people and not all the people when all the people deeded to the lake were to receive this benefit. He asked how they could expect him to pay for someone else’s benefit. He said either everybody paid an equal and proportionate value or nobody paid. He said this board should be dissolved because of the way they were going about it. He said at their March 25th meeting they were ready to vote on the special assessment roll and they had half the information they needed. He said this board was formed by resolution and was not a 2/3rd legal petition or anything else that put the board in place and the City of Novi and Walled Lake thought it was a good idea to form this improvement board. However, no one seemed to be keeping tabs on them. He hoped Council would take action against the Lake Board before it became a liability for everybody.

Jay Holmes, 1533 Paramount, said he was one of those back lot people and the Lake Board was created without contacting them or allowing them to have a say one way or the other. He said he also agreed with the previous speaker. He said there was no weed problem in the lake and he had not had the time to undertake a study but would be shortly against the Oakland Water Authority. He said if they lowered one side of the dam five inches and were draining that water off, and then took it back to where it should have been and where the other two had always been they would be taking down the water level and allowing more light to get to the weeds. He thought that was the biggest part of the problem. He said he wanted to see when they had lowered and raised the dam over the past five years because they didn’t have a problem until a couple of years ago. He said he knew the lake and last year and this year he didn’t think there was or would be any problem at all. He said he kayaked the lake and had already done it ten times this year without problem. He said he took pictures of the dam and could show that on April 30th on the side closest to the road, it was down a good four to five inches from where it was at now. He also had pictures after April 1st when it was raised back up. He wanted to know why it was drained down, why they drained off the water early and then put it back up just about the time they were putting in the docks and boats. He thought the only time they had a weed problem a couple of years ago was for the same reason. He said there was something about this that just didn’t seem right and this was not the time to be spending all that money when it was not needed. He said for people who were retired these extra hundred here and hundred there hurt and it was really not necessary. He said he was better off than most because he was retired Air Force and a retired police officer, but there were people who lived on the back lot who were retired on fixed incomes a lot less than his and they don’t even use the lake. He thought the board was created in a manner that wasn’t quite kosher and the things they were doing were not going to benefit the people of the lake it was going to benefit that board.

A. Approve Minutes of:

1. April 5, 2010 – Regular meeting
2. April 10, 2010 – Special meeting

B. Approval for the purchase and implementation of the OnBase Verity software module from ImageSoft, the City’s document imaging integrator, in the amount of $19,206.

C. Approval to adopt Ordinance Amendment No. 10-120.11, an ordinance to amend the City of Novi Code of Ordinances, Chapter 20, "Massage," to add a definition of "Chair massage" and to revise regulations for "outcall massages." Second Reading

D. Approval of Resolution to close Ten Mile Road from Karim Blvd to Taft Road from 9am to 12pm for the Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 31, 2010.

E. Approval to award an amendment to the engineering services contract for construction engineering services related to the 2010 Roadway Capital Preventative Maintenance Program, to Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc. (OHM), for a not-to-exceed fee of $40,697.

F. Approval to award an amendment to the engineering services contract for construction engineering services related to the Novi Way/Ten Mile Intersection Improvements, to Anderson, Eckstein and Westrick, Inc. (AEW), for a not-to-exceed fee of $24,730.

G. Approval of Claims and Accounts – Warrant No. 817

Mayor Pro Tem Gatt asked for clarification regarding access to the meter and said the way he read it was that "any authorized City employee shall, at all reasonable hours, have the right to enter the premises where such meters are installed for the purpose of reading" etc. He asked if that meant by force, no matter what or if the homeowner’s not home. Mr. Schultz said not by force and if access was denied, they would not go on the property without a warrant or whatever. On the other hand, denying the ability to do that would be a violation of the ordinance and they would deal with that in an ordinance violation way. He said if there was an emergency, they had all the Constitutional things in mind when they prepared the ordinance. Mayor Pro Tem Gatt said he would like to see that clarified for the second reading.

Chief Molloy said this was an updated reiteration of what Council saw on April 5th backing out the $21,000 and change for Library Signs, which were approved by the Building Authority.

3. Approval to award a construction contract for the 2010 Roadway Capital Preventative Maintenance (CPM) Program, to Florence Cement Company, the low bidder, in the amount of $371,138.70.

Member Crawford said she went to Lansing and attended the Legislative Governance Committee where they decided on the core legislative principles for the Michigan Municipal League. She said one of them was Economic Vitality because "healthy communities were essential to the economic viability and attraction of jobs to Michigan". Also, Environmental and Infrastructure Sustainability; "the regulations had to be appropriately funded to adequately protect public health", which was one of the main portions of it. She said the next was Ethical Conduct and that "it is essential that all government elected and appointed officials abide by a code of ethical conduct". She said Local Control was another issue, "preservation of Constitutional power given to the people of Michigan’s communities must be carefully preserved" and so home rule was what the discussion revolved around. Also discussed was Municipal Finance, "improvements to the Municipal Finance System are needed to provide fiscal stability and flexibility and they are necessary components of a vibrant community". Another principal was Municipality Services, "they must be able to offer appropriate and desired municipal services that their citizens want and need". Member Crawford noted there was a great deal of discussion around Transportation and "improving the quality of life in Michigan’s communities via multi modal transportation infrastructure".

Member Crawford said she also attended the Michigan Municipal League Capital Conference and most of the conference was about transportation. She said one of the sessions she enjoyed the most was a session entitled You Complete My Streets. She said it focused on all the various different components of transportation and to build a desirable community they needed a variety of ways of transportation. She said new roads and not only the concrete, but all of the other parts of it such as the walkability was an important feature and a study had been done that people behaved better on great streets. She said they talked about streets as a destination, bicycle paths, walking paths and complete streets was now going to be what the government would be focusing on and funding. It would not just be money to patch streets and roads, as they wanted City’s to prove that they were considering all aspects of even non-motorized transportation along with motorized transportation. Member Crawford said there was considerable discussion that the current roads didn’t work well for older adults, and since Novi was an older community and all communities in Michigan were aging, incomplete streets don’t work well for older adults. She said 47% of the people said this was not only the older adults but many adults pushing strollers and a variety of things because they could not cross a main street safely in Michigan. Member Crawford said she noticed this when people crossed Novi Road from Twelve Oaks to West Oaks. Also, at Novi Road and Grand River the signal timing had to be right to allow people who had less mobility or were pushing strollers to cross. The signal timing needed to be changed. She said she learned a lot about transportation and it made her think differently about the streets. She said when they paved streets maybe there were other things they could do at the same time without it costing a lot more money.

Mr. Darr said, regarding the Lake Board, it was a subject that was very close to his heart and these people were going about it half heartedly. He said their plan was that they had all these different rates that they wanted to tax everybody in this district. He said it would be OK if it was equitable, but when they talk about lakefront owners at one unit, back lot owners at a different unit, condo at a different unit and apartments at another unit, it made these people pay all different rates for the same lineal footage of lakefront. He said, for example, his property would pay twice the rate of a lakefront homeowner. The condos would pay five or six times the rate of a lakefront homeowner and they didn’t have lake access, except a dock where they could sit and put their feet in the water. Again, if this was a good plan they wouldn’t be rushing it. He said their major goal on the agenda of March 25th was to hurry up and get a vote in at the end of the meeting, so they could put it on the tax roll by July’s bill. However, they didn’t have all the information and had only half the facts. They wanted to charge 6% on the payments and according to their figures that 6% was figured out if they were late or not to make their budget balance. Mr. Darr said someone asked if they could pay their bill in full for the five years, and not pay any interest and they didn’t know. He said County Commissioner Potter asked how they could charge 6%, what was the actual loss that the City of Novi had when it loaned money to the board to cover assessments they don’t collect, what was it costing the City of Novi. How could they charge 6% if Novi was only gaining 1.5% or 2% if the money was in the bank, or some other plan. Mr. Darr said they were supposedly working on the budget and he hoped someone on Council had the concern or foresight to oversee what they were doing. He said he was afraid that it would open Novi City Council and his own City Council up for putting these people in a position to have this authority and then not regulating them. He said if it wasn’t for Commissioner Potter and Mrs. Warren, who sat on the board, the tax roll would have been passed on the 25th, and they would still be hammering out the details and sending bills when they don’t know what they’re billing for or who they’re billing. He said they were very confused and undecided about who owned the property. He said there were eight lots in Walled Lake that they didn’t know who owned them. He said the Mayor of Walled Lake offered to help them but they had yet to show up at the City office to look at the plats and deem who was responsible and who was not. He said many citizens in Walled Lake felt that they had been misinformed and misled, now that this was so out of control.

James Pembroke, 312 Elm Ct., said he had been around over 64 years and knew about Walled Lake. He said this was nothing but a bunch of hooey. He felt that if they were going to take care of Walled Lake, they had to take care of Shawood Lake. Shawood Lake, when there was a big rainfall, drained into Walled Lake because they opened the dam at the end of the lake. He said there was a lot of pollution and nutrients back there that went right back into Walled Lake, which went right back to the seaweed, so they weren’t doing anything but fixing one problem and creating another.

There being no further business to come before Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:18 P.M.

__________________________________ ________________________________

David Landry, Mayor                                           Maryanne Cornelius, City Clerk

__________________________________ Date approved: May 3, 2010

Transcribed by Charlene Mc Lean