REGULAR MINUTES
PERE MARQUETTE DEPOT
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
A meeting of the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan was convened in open and public session at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, 2014.
Council Member Lallo delivered the invocation.
The Mayor led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The City Clerk took the roll call:
Members Present: Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.
Members Absent: None.
Approval of Agenda
Council Member Jones made a motion to approve the agenda as presented, supported by Council Member Feuerstein.
The question on the motion was called and the result of the voting is as follows:
Ayes: Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.
Nays: None.
Phyllis Jenkins gave the annual Museum Advisory Board Report.
Public Comments
Katherine Henry, 806 Wildlife Trail, stated regarding the approval of the minutes from the last meeting, she had a concern. The whole reason why she stood up to speak the last time, was because of the manner in which she was shut down making an inquiry about the matter being discussed on the last agenda and she did not know that she would have those concerns until she saw how the meeting was going. The minutes do not have that interjection or any of her or the mayor’s comments, and she believes that should be in there. The other comment on the agenda is in reference to having items discussed at the line item. The agenda still has public comments right now for items on the agenda for anything that is discussed by the council and so she would ask that that would be reviewed by each of them before the next meeting so that people can fully participate in the democratic process, which is what the public policy of this state is under the law.
Consent Agenda
A. Approve Independent Bank Check 61693 in the amount of $32.90, Checks 61694 to 61763 in the amount of $302,237.61 and Checks 61764 to 61771 in the amount of $9,335.89.
B. Approve Minutes: Regular scheduled meeting, March 18, 2014
C. Appointment of Gary Knowlton to the Planning Commission
D. Appointment of Ken Krueger to the Planning Commission
E. Acknowledge receipt of FOIA Appeal Request from Kimberly Orlich for FOIA REQ CIRCUIT COURT LEGAL REPRESENTATION dated October 17, 2013
F. Acknowledge receipt of FOIA Appeal Request from Kimberly Orlich for FOIA REQ E-mails McFadden/Thomas second set February dated October 18, 2013
G. Acknowledge receipt of FOIA Appeal Request from Kimberly Orlich for FOIA Req E-mails between Thomas and Mullendore first set October 1 – Oct. 18, 2013 dated October 18, 2013
Council Member Scheid made a motion to approve the consent agenda, supported by Council Member Lallo.
The question on the motion was called and the result of the voting is as follows:
Ayes: Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.
Nays: None.
Following are the resolutions contained in the Consent Agenda.
C. APPOINTMENT OF GARY KNOWLTON TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION
RESOLUTION NO. 2014-04-20
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELDING, MICHIGAN APPOINTING GARY KNOWLTON TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
WHEREAS, the term of office for Gary Knowlton on the Planning Commission will expire on May 3, 2014; and
WHEREAS, Gary Knowlton has indicated that he is interested in serving another term on the commission.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan that Gary Knowlton be appointed to the Planning Commission with a term to expire on April 1, 2017.
D. APPOINTMENT OF KEN KRUEGER TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION
RESOLUTION NO. 2014-04-21
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELDING, MICHIGAN APPOINTING KEN KRUEGER TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
WHEREAS, the term of office for Ken Krueger on the Planning Commission will expire on June 7, 2014; and
WHEREAS, Ken Krueger has indicated that he is interested in serving another term on the commission.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan that Ken Krueger be appointed to the Planning Commission with a term to expire on April 1, 2017.
E. ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF FOIA APPEAL REQUEST FROM KIMBERLY ORLICH FOR FOIA REQ CIRCUIT COURT LEGAL REPRESENTATION DATED OCTOBER 17, 2013
MOTION #1
Motion to acknowledge receipt of FOIA Appeal request from Kimberly Orlich for FOIA req circuit court legal representation dated October 17, 2013.
F. ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF FOIA APPEAL REQUEST FROM KIMBERLY ORLICH FOR FOIA REQ E-MAILS MCFADDEN/THOMAS SECOND SET FEBRUARY DATED OCTOBER 18, 2013
MOTION #2
Motion to acknowledge receipt of FOIA Appeal request from Kimberly Orlich for FOIA req e-mails McFadden/Thomas second set February dated October 18, 2013
G. ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF FOIA APPEAL REQUEST FROM KIMBERLY ORLICH FOR FOIA REQ E-MAILS BETWEEN THOMAS AND MULLENDORE FIRST SET OCTOBER 1 – OCTOBER 18, 2013 DATED OCTOBER 18, 2013
MOTION #3
Motion to acknowledge receipt of FOIA Appeal request from Kimberly Orhich for FOIA req e-mails between Thomas and Mullendore first set October 1 – October 18, 2013 dated October 18, 2013.
Reports by Council Liaisons
Council Member Jones stated the Rec Board had a meeting on March 12, 2014 and they discussed the dog park and had a skate park update. They had a gentleman from Lowell that is involved with the dog park there and there is interest in a dog park in Belding, either at Central Riverside Park or Lightning Bend. There will be a booth set up at the expo and if anyone is interested they can stop by and talk with them about it. They have been quite successful and are happy with it in Lowell. It is right on the river, adjacent to the public park. They have pretty much settled on a design for the skate park and depending on how the weather finishes breaking, they hope to get started shortly on some of that.
Council Member Feuerstein stated the Planning Commission met last week and there was discussion over the Master Plan, which has to be done, one way or the other, by amendment, approval of what they have, or start and do a new one again. There will be an advertised public meeting on it.
City Manager Mullendore stated it would be advertised two weeks before.
Council Members Scheid stated the Housing Commission is having the sprinkling system repaired at Woodhaven. Fire Pros is coming in to do it. They will do it in three phases, because it is expensive and they don’t have the money to budget to do it all at once. They will start with where the problems are at and put in new fittings and run the lines differently so the lines are tipped and can be empty when the system is not in use. There are several openings for family units and single units.
Council Member Lallo stated the Museum would host Spring into the Past on May 3 and 4. They will highlight their fishing display, silk mill display, Burris paintings, and sketches by Jim Thomas. Painting and floor improvements will take place from April 7-11, 2014. The kitchen has been painted and new counter top will be installed. Floor cleaning and sealing will be done by Liberty Cleaning Service.
Mayor Gunderson stated the DDA would meet on the 3rd of this month. The Friends Group for the Fred Meijer River Valley Rail Trail is at the depot on the 14th at 7 p.m. On March 24, 2014 the library met to go over the budget to present it to city council. The board approved a trip for Deb, the head librarian, to take some seminars on Mackinaw Island.
Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.
New Business
The Mayor called for New Business Agenda Item A – AFFIRM DENIAL OF FOIA APPEAL REQUEST FROM KIMBERLY ORLICH FOR FOIA REQ CIRCUIT COURT LEGAL REPRESENTATION DATED OCTOBER 17, 2013
Council Member Scheid made a motion to affirm the denial of FOIA appeal request from Kimberly Orlich for FOIA req Circuit Court legal representation dated October 17, 2013, supported by Council Member Lallo.
Council Member Lallo asked if the FOIA was submitted when she was incarcerated?
City Manager Mullendore stated no, it was submitted prior to, it was processed while she was incarcerated.
Council Member Lallo asked if it was responded to within five days?
City Manager Mullendore stated they have five days to respond, or during that five day period, to request a ten day extension, pursuant to the legislation. They are in conformance with the time constraints that are applicable.
Ayes: Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.
Nays: None.
The Mayor called for New Business Agenda Item B – AFFIRM DENIAL OF FOIA APPEAL REQUEST FROM KIMBERLY ORLICH FOR FOIA REQ E-MAILS MCFADDEN/THOMAS SECOND SET FEBRUARY DATED OCTOBER 18, 2013
Council Member Scheid made a motion to affirm the denial of FOIA appeal request from Kimberly Orlich for FOIA req e-mails McFadden/Thomas second set February dated October 18, 2013, supported by Council Member Feuerstein.
Ayes: Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.
Nays: None.
The Mayor called for New Business Agenda Item C – AFFIRM DENIAL OF FOIA APPEAL REQUEST FROM KIMBERLY ORLICH FOR FOIA REQ E-MAILS BETWEEN THOMAS AND MULLENDORE FIRST SET OCTOBER 1 - OCTOBER 18, 2013 DATED OCTOBER 18, 2013
Council Member Scheid made a motion to affirm denial of FOIA Appeal request from Kimberly Orlich for FOIA req e-mails between Thomas and Mullendore first set October 1 – October 18, 2013 dated October 18, 2013, supported by Council Member Lallo.
Ayes: Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.
Nays: None.
Public Comments
Mayor Gunderson read a statement from the city laws that persons addressing the council should make a responsible comment and should refrain from making personal, impertinent, slanderous and profane remarks. The chair may call to order any person who is being disorderly by speaking when not recognized by the chair and is otherwise disrupting the proceedings by failing to refrain from speaking longer than the allotted time or by speaking vulgarities. If the person so engages, the presentation will be called out of order. He or she shall not be permitted to speak at the same meeting, except upon special leave by the council. If a person shall continue to be disorderly and disrupt the meeting, the chair the may go to the police department to remove the person from the meeting. It has been read in the past, and it was advised that it be read again.
Denny Craycraft, 11692 Youngman Rd., stated they now have six benches for the park. Belding Tank bought two benches and gave a very sizable donation to the WWI bricks. Lake Design and Gerref Industries gave donations, too. Please visit their website at www.beldingveteranspark.com They add to it weekly, and any comments, get with him. Hopefully, it will be very informational to all the people in the community.
Katherine Henry, 806 Wildlife Trail, Belding, Michigan, stated she was addressing concerns that in the original agenda that was posted on line for the public to prepare for tonight, nothing in regard to FOIA requests was on that agenda. Everything handled with the FOIA requests has been in total violation of the statute and she has a big concern with that because she would like to believe that each and every one of them are doing their best to uphold the law, the laws of the state. It is very important to note with any FOIA request for Kim or any person in the future that an incarcerated person – basically, a person is allowed to make a request under FOIA. It only excludes those individuals, quote “serving a sentence of imprisonment under the statute.” Now, in the situation they have, where Kim was in jail, she was never serving a sentence of imprisonment. She, by definition, does not fit the definition of the class of people that can be denied on those grounds. Moreover, the denials that were given to Kim were only two sentences long. At least the ones that were available for the last city council meeting, in that packet. She doesn’t know if any of them were worded differently. Those denials were only two sentences, and neither of those sentences inform Kim of her right to appeal, either to city council or to the circuit court judge which was legally required under MCL 15.235 (4)(d). The statute is also very specific that Meg, as the FOIA Coordinator, has to also advise Kim of her remedies should she prevail in the appeal, which are available to her under MCL 15.235 (4)(e), and none of the information has been made available to the public or have any of these FOIA requests been denied in the proper fashion. Furthermore, the statute specifically calls for an appeal to be available to her at the city council level or at the circuit court level of her choosing. She can choose to do either one, but when you have the FOIA Coordinator, no matter what position they are in, when the FOIA Coordinator puts the agenda together and words it to affirm the denial of the FOIA request, that is not a neutral appeal put before a governmental body. That, in fact, in having that self serving action item of affirming a denial of a FOIA request wasn’t what the legislature proposed. Then, in a sense, they would be condoning having only a façade of an appeals process.
Mayor Gunderson stated that her time was up.
Ms. Henry said OK, but she would ask them to please take careful note of the document that was put in front of them that also explains the way the FOIA statute was violated.
Dan Blunt Jr., 1120 N. State Rd., stated he wished to clarify a few things. One of them, there was a summary of minutes read at the last Planning Commission meeting regarding sidewalks for Belding Tank. The ZBA minutes were being reviewed and a summary given by Shelley Gladding and during that meeting Meg made a comment that the variance was only good for Merrick Street, and not Gooding.
City Manager Mullendore said correct, that was incorrect, but the minutes had not been published and they had not had an opportunity to rectify that.
Mr. Blunt stated the minutes he had clearly stated that from the get go.
City Manager Mullendore asked, from the last Planning Commission meeting?
Mr. Blunt stated from the first one. Also, a signed copy.
City Manager Mullendore stated she made the statement at the last meeting. Prior to that, it was not brought up.
Mr. Blunt said, no, it was not brought up, but the minutes clearly stated that it was sidewalks on all sides of the property abutting a public street.
City Manager Mullendore stated that was the first Planning Commission meeting they have had since the ZBA, correct?
Mr. Blunt said yes, the minutes have been out. His point is the minutes have been out and it hasn’t changed. The minutes have always stated it is all sides abutting a public property. The minutes were three or four months old, since January.
City Manager Mullendore stated she was sorry, she does not have those. She knows that discussion was at the last one, and yes, that was her statement. However, she did review that earlier and it will be clarified at the next Planning Commission meeting, that that was inaccurate on her part and that the variance was for the entire property.
Mr. Blunt said OK, alright. When they got involved in this, there was $4,000 in attorney fees spent from the city in regards from the ZBA hearing they had. It went that route because he was told he was two days past the 30 day window for a variance request. Is that correct?
City Manager Mullendore stated yes, and she talked to his attorney about that. What it was is when there is an appeal to the ZBA you have a specific amount of time.
Mr. Blunt he was showing at the last meeting that she made a comment to one of the people that they ……
Mayor Gunderson asked that he address the council.
Mr. Blunt stated he was just asking a question, they are only 20 out of 5,000 people. If just one is speaking and the facts are true, and they speak for themselves, it shouldn’t matter if it is one or 5,000. The facts are the facts and the truth is the truth. And speaking of character and professionalism, a house warmer party at your house and they were smoking dope. Just sayin.
Mayor Gunderson stated they were not going there. Sorry.
Mr. Blunt stated regarding the Master Plan, they had a private individual, board member, donate $50 because they didn’t have enough in the budget for advertising. Was that true?
Mayor Gunderson stated the statement was made that if anything needed to go out to the public, being printed, this person would pay for that. The statement was made there was nothing in the current budget, however, it doesn’t mean that it won’t be in the budget coming up.
Mr. Blunt stated the facts are the facts and if something is not done and you guys approve of what is going on here, you are just as guilty as the individual that has caused the issue, plain and simple.
Dan Blunt , 910 N. State Rd., stated he was appalled at the attitude of the city council and namely the mayor and the restrictions that he puts on the people that are here to express their opinions and he is really surprised that other council members don’t speak up and say they want to hear this. How in the world, as he said in the last meeting, could they possibly even begin to do their job without listening to the people that put them in their seat they are sitting in at this moment? He doesn’t even know what to say, he is just so disappointed. He has lived in this city his whole life and he has never seen the city in such a disarray. Why is that happening? One person can’t do it by themselves, it has to be allowed to happen. Come on guys, let’s get with the program.
Mike Henry, 806 Wildlife Trail, stated he wanted to add to what Mr. Blunt brought up, a situation at the Planning Commission last week where a member of the Planning Commission thought it was so important that the public be involved with writing the new rules. Joe, what was that called?
Council Member Feuerstein stated it was the Master Plan.
Mr. Henry stated it was getting that amended, approved or a new one written. He thought it was important that the public was involved so he or someone else brought up the idea of putting an ad in the paper. Meg didn’t want to put an ad in the paper so he volunteered his own money to do that. He believes there are more than enough facts to justify Ms. Mullendore’s removal. One more fact is that his wife, who is new to the city, who is very intelligent and very educated, she wanted to be a part of things in this town in moving forward. She wanted to be a part of the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission at the time was missing one member, had five members and they were supposed to have six, or seven. She had put in to apply for that at the end of last summer, he believes, and didn’t hear anything back and what they found out was that the commission members never heard about her application for the position and from what he hears and understands, that should have been given to the commission members by Meg or someone else at city hall, and it was not. Although this may not be the whole town here tonight, this is still a group of the most concerned and informed citizens and he believes they need to know where they stand. He asked - all in favor of city council removing Ms. Mullendore from office say aye. Any opposed? He stated that is all he had to say.
Ralph Brecken, Cedar Springs, stated he had a question for city council. He does not have the city charter here with him, but he has a question regarding the charter. Is there anywhere in the Belding City Charter that allows a formal council investigation of the serious allegations that were presented tonight by the public, from their testimony, or the facts that Ms. Henry spoke of earlier regarding the FOIA requests? And with the handy dandy little internet so available on every phone, he was able to look up and confirm that she was telling the truth, as far as being incarcerated, so he is asking the council whether or not they are going to formally investigate this and see if there are inaccuracies in the city manager’s claims? He asked last time and made mention that this seems to be a gray area and the public body should lean always toward the open and transparentness and so once again, they deny the FOIA request on a very gray rule, it appears on a wrong interpretation by the city manager. Do they know if there is a formal inquiry process for the city council in the city charter to look into this?
Council Member Scheid stated he did not know, but he knows the city attorney has approved what they do here.
Mr. Brecken asked the city manager if she could recite that portion of the FOIA that she was referring to when she advised the council?
City Manager Mullendore asked if it was Section 15.231, Subsection 2?
Mr. Brecken noticed it was one paragraph when he looked it up. Could she recite it so the council members do know what it is?
City Manager Mullendore stated they have it in front of them.
Mr. Brecken asked if she could recite it for the public, since that is the ruling she is taking when denying the FOIA request?
City Manager Mullendore stated it is the public policy of this state that all persons, except those persons incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility, are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and public employees consistent with this act.
Mr. Brecken said it does say while they are incarcerated. Was this lady or this person who filed the FOIA request, was she incarcerated at the time when she applied for the FOIA?
City Manager Mullendore said no.
Craig Gill, owner of Short Stop Power Sports, 240 Covered Village Mall, also the president of the Belding Covered Village Mall, stated he expressed some concerns at the last meeting. Once again he expresses the same concern that our city manager is able to make comments that have been made in a public forum about an establishment like the mall closing and offers absolutely no apology. City council appears to him to back her by not providing any kind of comment to the public, to the owners of the mall. He is very disappointed as a business owner to deal with what he is seeing some very poor attitudes in the way things are being handled. It really doesn’t encourage him as a business owner to want to really do business in Belding. His experience, since he has been here in Belding, and attempted to perform business and take the right steps is that Belding doesn’t encourage business. He has heard city council say they do encourage business, they like to have business here. He, as a business owner, does not see that. Especially when comments are being made about him personally, about his business personally, and there are no facts to back that, no apologies, she has done nothing wrong. He does not understand it, so he guesses silence is golden. He is very disappointed.
John Francis, 264 Diesel Point, Belding Michigan, stated he was a first time up here a couple of weeks ago. He doesn’t know Meg. He doesn’t know any of them. He wanted to see how the council runs and everything else. He comes up here and sees a packed room that is a little bit smaller than he is normally used to. He does see some very intelligent people sitting up there. He does. He sees the way they carry themselves, the way they go to the meetings and stuff, the way they give they give full detail on what is going on so people are well aware of it. Like he said, he doesn’t know Meg, but all he knows is when he showed up a couple of weeks ago at the meeting, there is a lot of concern out there from the public on what is going on. All it does is create animosity down the road. He doesn’t think they can heal it real quick. As far as the animosity, as far as the public, he has a lot of family and a lot of friends. As a matter of fact, some of them had businesses in the mall there and one of them has gone out of business and is trying to sell it. If it is on the street that the mall is going to be closing, how are those people supposed to get out from underneath it? They can’t. If you have people showing up at meetings that are telling them there is something wrong, he doesn’t believe they are turning their heads. He thinks they are discussing it. If they can’t tell the public, who is supporting them to have them sit up there, to make decisions for them, something needs to be addressed. Either they are happy with what she is doing and how she is doing it, or it is time to cut their losses and say, you know what, it is just not working out. Because all this is going to do is keep filling this room with more and more people, who are going to get upset, that are going to bring more people to the point that they cannot go on to your Planning Commission and everything else to get their jobs done that they were elected to do, because they are going to spend 99% of their time trying to figure out what is right, what is wrong, what did she say at this meeting, what did she say at last meeting, which puts more of a strain on them to get their job done that they were elected to do. He thinks they are very intelligent. He does. He sat back there the first time he showed up to listen to them. He doesn’t think they are turning their eyes at some point. Maybe they are waiting for something else to happen. But, if they don’t fix it right now, it will create more animosity down the road and they won’t have time to do anything else, but deal with it. Thank you.
Kevin Hall, 930 W. State, stated, as most of them know, he is one of the co-owners of a business here in town. There is no question they get no support from the city. Furthermore, they are making the city a laughingstock and he works out of town and that is all he hears. It is a joke, it’s a joke. And it doesn’t help their business in the least. His son is a freshman at Michigan State and do they know what he comes home and tells him? He read the Sentinel last week. He comes home for the weekend for his dad and says he can’t come back to this town, because look what they are doing to it. He has to leave Belding because he has an education? Nothing goes on, nothing moves forward, dealing with businesses is five years down the road. That is a quote from the city. They will deal with businesses five years down the road. They won’t have businesses in town five years down the road, folks. The city is disgusting, it is disgusting. And they are allowing it to go on. And Jerry, they supported him and they put his sign out and he hasn’t stepped in their store since the day he walked in there campaigning. He is ashamed. Mike …
Mayor Gunderson asked him to stop.
Mr. Hall stated that one council member comes in their business frequently to see how they are doing. Why, why? He told Meg he has never met her in his life, except out to the restaurant. She has never stepped foot in their business.
City Manager Mullendore stated that she had.
Mr. Hall asked when?
City Manager Mullendore stated when they did the spring clean-up and when they were doing the weeding.
Mr. Hall asked if she introduced herself? None of his employees every saw her there.
City Manager Mullendore stated she did not, she just went in and made a purchase.
Mr. Hall stated that are a lot of businesses that have not been visited by the city, you know, and they put their heart and soul in this town. You know, it is somewhere to shop. And he is sure when the paper comes out tomorrow, when he goes to work at 7 o’clock, they will be the laughingstock again. And it is over, and over, and over. Get it together folks. Get it together. Support the rest of them in this town. Thank you.
Becky Baker, 180 Pineview Dr., stated she has only been to a couple of meetings. She was here for one a couple of months ago and a couple more. She is very embarrassed by what goes on here. It is ridiculous. She thinks there are people that have intelligent things to say, they should listen. That is what they are there for. That is all she had to say.
John LaClear, 415 E. State St., stated that Meg has done some good things. He thinks some things have gotten mixed up and screwed up. But, that happens. He thinks this gang mentality that has been at this council meeting the last two times really disappoints him. He thinks some of the people need to look in the mirror. He does not think it is all her fault. He is really disappointed in one council member from last meeting’s comment. He has lost a little bit of respect for him. That’s all he had to say.
Dan Blunt, 910 N. State Rd., stated he thinks the general consensus of the public is well known. He stated he was not going to reiterate that at all. What he wanted to say is these people are coming here to talk to them, each and every one of them and they have found ways to stifle their comments, shut them down and not listen to what they had to say. They should have welcomed them with open arms and said OK, let’s embrace this problem and let’s solve this problem. It is not you against them, it is not us against you, they are all trying to collectively solve a problem. Is that something new to you, Mr. Mayor? He is really shutting people down. He had a perfect opportunity to say come and tell him their problems and let’s fix them. And, he has not done that.
City Manager’s Comments
City Manager Mullendore stated the Main Street Bridge has been let presently. The documents were delivered today by DOT. They are available online. They will start having contractors prepare the specifications. They close on May 2 at 10:30 a.m. She believes within no more than a week they will know who the low bidder was and who DOT will award that to. Due to the weather and the frost laws, the projects will be delayed. Those that were supposed to start this week are being pushed back. They are hoping it will only be a two week delay but it could be longer than that. They will work with the schools relative to how it will impact them with the bussing situation if the projects go into early September.
Council Comments
Council Member Feuerstein stated he would like to apologize to Dan Blunt, Jr. In the agreement when he voted to give him that tax cut, he was wrong with what he thought he read. What he read was the company agreed during the term of the certificate, which was 12 years, they would be in full city compliance of all city codes. He thought it was all the time, not just the 12 years.
So he apologizes.
Council Member Scheid stated he would like to thank everyone for showing up tonight. He realizes they have concerns and stuff and they are talking about it, so bear with them a little bit.
Council Member Lallo stated to Katherine, regarding the FOIA’s, they are looking into that. The city attorney will be out of town until April 11, because he did try to contact him. That will be looked into. He did some research as far as the amount of time they allow for comments. They do nothing different from most other cities and he has researched quite a bit. He has City of Lowell, City of Ionia, City of Portland. They limit to three minutes. They do nothing different than any other cities regarding the allotted time they give to individuals to speak. And as far as the Open Meetings Act, they are not in violation of that. They value their input. There are some cities that do not even give time for citizens to speak, because that is not what these meetings are for, but they do that out of courtesy. It is not a violation of your First Amendment. He did quite a bit of research on that. They do nothing different than a lot of cities in the area and they can look for themselves. There are agendas on the websites for the cities regarding the amount of time that they give their citizens. They can look up the Open Meetings Act, and if they find anything different, he is willing to listen, but as far as the Open Meetings Act, he doesn’t think this council is doing anything wrong in violating the Open Meetings Act.
Council Member Jones thanked everybody for coming. That is the reason they have the open meetings. When he first came on the council a year ago, or almost a year ago, he did make the one comment about having the public comments for agenda items before the agenda item is there. He has been on the school board, he has been on church committees, church school boards. He prefers to see the citizen’s comments for the agenda items done when the agenda item comes up, because he thinks, as Mrs. Henry said, they don’t always know what the council is going to comment on. As for the three minute rule, he would say the same thing Jerry did, most councils allow a three minute time period. Should it be three minutes, four minutes, five minutes? He guesses it just depends on how much somebody has to say. If there is something important that has to be said, they should ask for a variance or ask the chairman or the mayor if there is another point they would like to make, but sometimes he has seen at meetings a number of people come up and actually make the same point. Not that they don’t need their input. He would like to see it changed, but he is only one vote on that part.
Mayor Gunderson stated he has been digging in to the past meetings that they have had. It is great to have everyone here and have a packed house. He looked at the last 45 meetings that he has set into, of which he took a count at, and the average was 16 people so to see these numbers here is great. That is what this is all about. He doesn’t appreciate threats being made to him for recall but they have that choice, and if they wish to follow that path there are proper procedures to go that route. If any of them want to set up here at any time, they can put their name on the ballot when that comes up, however they want to do it. But he doesn’t appreciate it. He doesn’t know about the other council members but he was put into place by 400 200 (corrected in 4/15/14 minutes by Mayor Gunderson) votes, and he knows some of them have told him, point blank, that they have voted for him and they could take him out. They could do a recall. And yes, they have that right, but quite frankly, if they are going to do it, do it, because sometimes it is not a pleasure being up there. He is pretty sure he could speak for past council members that have set up there, and they are probably really glad they are not setting up there right now. As far as not listening, they have passed packets around that have gotten to every one of the council people. They have listened, so to say that they are not listening is not true. They have heard this over and over and they know what they are talking about. He would ask that they please keep that in mind that they are working and listening and they are not sitting idle. This is not a pleasant position to be in and he would love to say they have all this money to spend for the city, but those days are gone. They don’t have that luxury, so they have to do what they have to do. That is not on their (audience) back for what is going on now. He is making the statement that in the 70’s and 80’s it was a lot easier when everyone was having a good time up there because the money was there and the government was doling it out. Now they are going into another budget, so now they have to look at things again, because as everyone knows that is setting out there, everything goes up in cost. The only difference between their check book and the city’s check book is the amount of money that goes out and the bills that are paid are a heck of a lot larger. He would ask that they would keep that in mind and let them do their job. Continue coming to the meetings, and continue speaking their mind if they wish to, that is up to them. He appreciated everyone coming tonight.
Adjournment
Council Member Scheid moved to adjourn the meeting, supported by Council Member Lallo.
Ayes: Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.
Nays: None.
The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:04 p.m.
| | Ronald Gunderson, Mayor |
| Kareen J. Thomas, City Clerk | |
