Approval of Agenda

Mayor Gunderson requested to add Halloween Street Closure as Item C and Halloween Lot Closure as Item D of the Consent Agenda.

Council Member Scheid made a motion to approve the agenda as amended, supported by Council Member Feehan.

The question on the motion was called and the result of the voting is as follows:

            Ayes:               Council Members Miller, Meyers, Scheid, Feehan and Gunderson

            Nays:               None

Public Comments

There were no public comments.

Presentation

A.    Fleis & VandenBrink – SAW Grant update

David Bluhm, Fleis & VandenBrink, stated they are nearing the end of the program.  DEQ needs deliverables by the end of the month.  One of the key deliverables is the summary reports for the storm water collection system and the waste water collection system.  They will prepare a summary report for the city.  The executive summary that goes to the DEQ requires submission by the end of the month.  He did a recap of the last three years of work and reviewed the Level of Service Statement for the storm water collection system.  Assets were itemized, a risk analysis was done, a capital improvements plan was developed and a utility rate study report was done for wastewater.  The grant provides GIS equipment purchases and training.    

For storm water, a risk analysis was done.  There are approximately 1500 assets, with 10 assets in need of rehabilitation.  There are a very low number of needs with the structures, and more with the manholes.  There are 100 manholes to be addressed with rehab in the short term.  There is a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan for 2018-2022.  The assets were divided into local and major road areas.  Operation maintenance is the last part of the continued assessment with cleanings and televising.  It would be about $140,000 a year to maintain the system.  Brian made a storm sewer network map. Funding is limited to make repairs and do maintenance.  These recommendations are for a perfect world.  It will be pieced together as funds become available.

They are also working on a Water Asset Management Plan to be completed by January, 2018.  The Water Reliability Study update was done.  The second part is the Asset Management Plan, but not of lot of detail is needed.  They will bring it to the November or December meeting.  That also requires looking at the rates for water.    

Max George, Survey Group Manager, stated that funds were provided through the grant for the Geographic Information System (GIS) that the city will have.  It uses readable software.  There are different levels of security from the Homeland Security perspective.  Assets and documents are tied to a location.  It organizes the information.  They used an aerial photo from the county.  They will do more extensive training.  He reviewed the information that is available through the GIS.  The city will have a handheld GIS device.  Repairs will be updated on the GIS.  It will also be used for Miss Dig locations. He reviewed some televising films.  It will include access to street plans that will be linked by individual street segments.  Rental properties were identified.  It can do an analysis quickly.  They also included road conditions and it ties in PACER information.  Training will be oriented to the users, including office staff and the field aspects for the DPW.  DPW will collect more data.  It can also keep track of fires, crashes, etc., anything they wish to have tied to a location.  There will be multiple training sessions for the staffs, tied to real information in the field, not just in the office.         

B.     Denny Craycraft – Veteran’s Memorial – Veteran’s Day Plans

Denny Craycraft stated there are now six new flagpoles behind the Vietnam Wall, at a cost of about $8,000.  The flagpoles will be dedicated on Veteran’s Day, November 11, at 1 p.m.  He raised the money through the businesses in the community, as they sponsored a flag pole.  The American flag will be lit.  By next Memorial Day, they will be working on the back of the wall.  That will be the final phase.  It was very rewarding this summer with people coming from out of state, from Alma, and a group of 150 on motorcycles.  There is a pedestal with the brick order forms and paper for tracing under the tree.  On the south wall all names will be in alphabetical order, with panel and line numbers.  The north wing will be done in the spring.  He thanked Betty Jenkins for working with him from the library.  He will not need a road closure for the event.  He will keep things within the confines of the park.      

Consent Agenda

Reports by Council Liaisons

Council Members Feehan, Miller, Scheid and Gunderson had no reports.

Council Member Meyers stated the Rec Board met on October 9 and discussed the grants for the Greenville Community Foundation.  They discussed what they would ask from the ICCF.  The pickleball court was updated with markings and possibly the nets will be added next year. 

Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

New Business

There was no new business.

Public Comments

Jenny Bennett, 1125 Kenwood, the coordinator of the Belding Beatnik Bazaar/Farm Market, thanked the city, Ernie and DPW for the overwhelming amount of work to get the market going this year.  She used a prime piece of real estate.  The market doubled in size to 50 vendors.  She was very proud of the community in supporting them.  There was a lot of community involvement and that did not go unnoticed.  She looks forward to working with them again.  A farm market is a priority in the long term growth of the city.

City Manager Comments

City Manager Niemela stated he attended an asset management meeting in Marquette, which is an ongoing process for municipalities to do. Asset management for roads has been out there a lot longer.  They offer programs to do identification of all roads using PACER ratings.  The roads are rated from 0 – 10.  It would project improvements and the estimated costs so they could be budgeted properly and they could make decisions on fixing the roads and fitting it within the budget.  Staff will also look at property and buildings, so there will be asset management for  everything.  If funds are available, they will know how to spend it, as it would be documented.   

He and Ernie met with the power company doing the environmental cleanup.  They wanted to use the storage area in the Lion’s Club building.  They were going to fence an area for the equipment, but they will put the equipment inside.  They are willing to make repairs to the facility at their cost in exchange for using the building.  They will be painting.  The city does not have a need for the storage area, so they will remove the walls of the storage area and put a ceiling in the whole building at their cost, so no one can climb into the ceiling area.  They will power wash the concrete floor.  They sent a draft of the agreement of what they would do. 

He had a meeting last Friday with MEDC and The Right Place to talk about expansion on a property.  Both are willing to do a lot to help the business out with financing and training of staff for the new equipment.  They can have those services for other perspective businesses.

For an update on recreation, he received an email from the GACF and they will fund the rebuilding of the basketball courts in the amount of $58,000.  That will be a spring project. 

There are two parts to the lawsuit with a former employee, FMLA and OMA.  In August, there was a finding in favor of the city by the District Court of Appeals on the FMLA case.  On November 2, 2017, the Michigan Court of Appeals will hear the OMA case in Grand Rapids. 

Council Comments

Council Members Feehan and Miller had no comments. 

Council Member Meyers stated there would be a Housing Commission meeting on Thursday.

Council Member Scheid thanked everyone for coming.  He is glad the Beatnik Bazaar worked out this year. 

Mayor Gunderson thanked everyone for coming and for the reports that were given. 

Adjournment

Council Member Scheid moved to adjourn the meeting, supported by Council Member Feehan.

Ayes:               Council Members Miller, Meyers, Scheid, Feehan and Gunderson

            Nays:               None

The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:11 p.m.