Approval of Agenda

Council Member Feehan made a motion to approve the agenda as presented, supported by Council Member Miller.

Council Member Meyers asked to separate Item D of the Consent Agenda, to add to the Business Agenda

City Manager Niemela asked to add an executive session at the end.

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

            Ayes:               Council Members Miller, Meyers, Scheid and Feehan

            Nays:               None

Public Comments

There were no public comments.

Consent Agenda

Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

New Business

A.                Limited English Proficiency Plan

The City Clerk read the preamble to the resolution.

Council Member Feehan moved the passage of the resolution and the motion was supported by Council Member Miller.

City of Belding

A RESOLUTION ADOPTING LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (LEP) PLAN

B.                 First reading – ordinance amendment – Library Board terms of service

The City Clerk read the preamble to the ordinance.

Section 54-26 of the City Code is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:

Sec. 54-26       Composition; appointments; terms; oath of office; responsibility; compensation.

The Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library shall be administered by a library board which shall consist of five directors.  Such directors shall be appointed by the mayor with the approval of the council to serve for a term of three years.  Each member of the present library board, and each director hereafter appointed, shall serve until his successor is appointed and qualifies.  Within ten days after appointment and before entering upon his duties as a member of the library board, each appointee shall file a written acceptance with the city clerk and subscribe and file with the clerk the oath of office.  The library board shall be responsible to the city council for the administration of the library.  All library directors shall serve without compensation as such.

Section 2.        Severability.

The various parts, sections, and clauses of this Ordinance are hereby declared to be severable.  If any part, sentence, paragraph, section or clause is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this Ordinance shall not be affected thereby. 

Section 3.              Effective Date.

This Ordinance becomes effective ten (10) days after its adoption and upon publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

C.                Construction Board of Appeals reappointment – Dave Mierendorf

The City Clerk read the preamble to the resolution.

Council Member Feehan moved the passage of the resolution and the motion was supported by Council Member Miller.

Public Comments

Lisa Ratliff stated she sent the answers to the questions from the last meeting to Mayor Gunderson to share with the council.  They had eight events total, have placed ads in the paper, and they are not sure what else to do.  There has been no major negative information.  She asked that council please let them know if there is anything specific they would like.  They will miss the bubble if it is saturated.  The State is now giving out licenses. 

Council Member Feehan stated no one is coming to council with their opinion. 

Ms. Ratliff stated they have advertised dates and times, so she doesn’t know what to do with that. They can keep putting ads in the paper if it is on the agenda.

Council Member Meyers stated they have done a good job getting information out there.  The city advertises council meetings.  He has heard nothing negative.  He has not attended the meet and greets, but he got positive feedback from those who did.

Ms. Ratliff stated people filter in and out.  They need pride in the community.  They want to be a part of the community and she has positive ideas to share. 

Council Member Meyers stated he talked to 15-20 people and received no negative. 

Ms. Ratliff stated people wonder how recreational will affect them.  They can have education sessions for people.  She has a master’s degree and will interact with people.  It will take time for the U.S. to embrace this.  Coke is talking about adding it to their product as it is an anti-inflammatory.  Grand Rapids has designated areas in the city for grow facilities.  She doesn’t know about dispensaries.  The licenses have been extended until December 31 for those that want to have a license, those that were growers prior.  She described the different types of licenses.  They would just grow and send the product to Ann Arbor. 

Bobby Gavitt, 910 W. Ellis, stated she is concerned about the sidewalk, as they live on Ellis.  Oaks line the street.  She is on a limited income.  $4,000 to $15,000 is being tacked on property taxes.  They should take into consideration the people that cannot afford this.  Why does she need sidewalk when there is a walking trail nearby?  It is really insane with all the problems the town is going through.  According to a prior newsletter, the city doesn’t have money for streets, can’t budget for sidewalk, can’t remove dead trees, can’t maintain buildings, can’t encourage business coming in and can’t control drug problems.  The city does not need sidewalks.  She would be in jeopardy of having to move.  She went to the meet and greet and thought they (council) should have.  The Ratliffs are college educated and smart beyond compare.  They know what they are doing.  This has nothing to do with bringing drugs into town.  This oil will help people, and children.  They should stop the good old boy club, narrow mindedness and reefer madness.  Marijuana is not a problem, heroin is.  The little junkies walk past her house.  Police have them dump out the stuff in their backpacks.  This should have been put in front of the people of town to decide.  Once she seen it and researched it and talked to them, this is a good thing and will make jobs in this town.  This is about a medicine to help a lot of people.  Support them – the people of the town need to decide.  It is coming up on an election year - food for thought.

Roger Scheiern, 908 N. State, stated he was here to support the grow operation proposed.  He asked why it has not been on the agenda?  It is taking a lot of time to get it on the agenda.  It is about a facility and product, and he can’t understand why it would not be put before the public or on the agenda.  If someone wanted to grow 20 acres of mums, or soybeans for restaurants, there would be no problem.  Those would not have near the amount of rules. The effluent is cleaner that the water we drink.  The soil has been discussed and what they do with that.  It is certified organic and it must be inspected to maintain certification.   For a grow processing operation, the amount the State does with regulations is ridiculous.  There is an opioid epidemic.  There ae needles on N. State and Godfrey Rd.  This is not contributing to the drug portion of society.  The medical uses of marijuana include PTSD, epilepsy and cancer.  He gave the example of a woman with cancer, that with medical marijuana had an excellent quality of life and she died with the life she wanted to have, instead of 11 kinds of pills and not feeling well.  He gave statistics on the support of medical marijuana.  They have a very small window in which to act.  In four to five years, the big farmer will take it over.  The little growers need their foot in the door right now.  They should take advantage of the jobs and taxes.  The window will close.  They should put it on the agenda and act on it.  It will not go away.  In November, recreational marijuana will open a new can of worms for everyone. 

Jeff Hunter, Zahm Rd., stated they have been talking for over a year now.  He asked if they knew how many houses in town grow, and they have no problem with that?  He can smell it up on Ellis when he has been working.  Let these guys do what they want to do.  They have their shit together.  He doesn’t know why council is putting it off.  They are fine with the people growing in their houses.  Make the ordinance tonight, vote on it and do what they need to do.

Amy Boyd, 227 E. Liberty, stated she didn’t know until recently.  She got involved and posts things on Facebook.  She has had a lot of positive responses.  She is all for this facility and would love more people in these chairs.  Everyone has been positive except three people.  She has talked to 100 people and business owners.  She has been to the American Legion and VFW and doesn’t run into negative comments on this.  Those with a negative response, they understood.  She hopes they can get more people to show council that they are interested in this. 

Demitria Gavitt, 910 W. Ellis, stated she has a college degree in Ag from Northwest University.  She is 29 years old.  She thinks of the jobs and medicinal plant medicine.  They don’t have a jobs maker for the city now. Put it on the agenda.  Bring Belding back to life.  Appeal to millennials. 

Sally Quartermiles, 812 Pearl, stated she is against the facility coming and has lots of questions.  She does not have a packet on what is going on.  She gives CBD oil to her dogs for arthritis and it stops seizures.  They are debating if they want a facility manufacturing in Belding.  Belding tries to be a bedroom community.  Grand Rapids is being selective on where facilities are.  They try to remove blight to make Belding attractive and the city is growing.  She is concerned about what stigma attaches to our community.  What kind of people will it attract?  Grand Rapids is selective on placement.  What will it do to the water?   It would be nice to have a packet available to say what it is.  Employers have job openings here, so she is not concerned about jobs.  She has taken her kids to the park when it is 90 degrees, and these people are passed out next to the slide.  The police take care of it.  If they report drug use, the police find the grow houses.  There is an excellent police force that is more than accommodating, and a great dispatch. They are talking about a grow facility to make CBD oil.  On the college degree issue, she has one and is a stay at home mom.  Her husband does not have a degree, but does maintenance and they have a great living. 

Council Member Feehan asked Ms. Ratliff to get information together for her specifically.

Sharon Carlson stated she serves as chair of the Ionia County Advisory Board, and they work with the Health Department and focus on prevention of substance abuse.  They are interested in the topic of medical marijuana.  It might be beneficial to have the Health Department officials come as well. 

City Manager Comments

City Manager Niemela gave an update on the street overlay program.  DPW started last week and have paved 13 blocks out of the 30 listed.  He did a map.  It is unlikely they will get the entire list done this fall.  They have one or two weeks left before they move on to other projects and the paving plants wind down.  They will pick it up in the spring.  At a meeting in October, there will be budget amendments to put the new funding in place.  The city will get $80,000 from the State, that was allocated to Local Streets after the city budget adoption.  The county wide millage vote provided $85,000 to $87,000 additional dollars for Major Streets.  50% of Major Street funds can be transferred to Local Streets.  There is quite a list on the local street system.  The projects will be done before the new fiscal year.  The city is $120,000 to $150,000 short for doing the whole list of local streets.  They are looking at the Major Street fund and would still have money for paving major streets, with Capital Improvement funding.  The designated streets are based on where the city was spending money on pothole patching every spring 

Council Member Meyers asked about the status of State funding?

City Manager Niemela stated they would plan on that for just this year.  The $90,000 from the county millage would be for five years.  He has the tonnage on each street.  They will look at additional streets in conjunction with water and sewer improvements next fiscal year

He has been meeting with the owners of Brentwood I – Hope Network, and they are planning a significant amount of renovations to the 50 units and will add another 6 unit barrier free building. They wanted to submit the application to the State by October 1, but will now apply in April.  There must be two readings of the ordinance for the PILOT.  The Planning Commission must do a site review for the new building.  A variance on parking will be considered by the ZBA.  They are looking for investments within a one mile radius over the past five years.  They need $5,000,000 and they have identified $4,400,000. 

He got the sign off from DEQ for language in the deeds for the Belhaven project conversion. It will move forward when they complete identifying the property, with a 200 foot circle around the well.  Everything inside the sidewalks on N. State, Kenwood and Belhaven may have restrictions, to make it cleaner. 

Grand Rapids has delayed medical marijuana.  A peer group meeting was scheduled for tomorrow, but has been cancelled.  He will keep council posted if it is rescheduled.

He has been examining the City Council and Planning Commission minutes from 2015 – 2017, highlighting activities with sidewalks, to determine where they are today.  Sometime in October he would like a joint session with the City Council and Planning Commission.  It would be the informational gathering piece. 

He will reach his first year as permanent city manager in December.  He would like council to consider an evaluation at the second meeting in October.  At the next meeting they can determine how to proceed and how formal it will be. 

He will be attending the MML Annual Conference sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 

Council Comments

Council Member Feehan had no comments.

Council Member Miller stated there is an innovation curve of acceptance for a community, a bell curve.  For medical marijuana, they look at communities who are early adapters.  That is where a community needs to be, or they become a lagger on the back side of the curve.  There are shark or minnow sides.  The early adapters and innovators in big cities must attract the correct individuals into the community to be successful and grow the community.  They need to be on the front side of the curve.  For some there is the inability to make a decision and they wait for peer pressure.  Council should be leaders and make the decisions for the community.  He struggles with that piece.  They have known about this for a year, have had legal opinions, questions answered, with no decision.  He is concerned.  They need to look at it as a business and determine if they accept the business in the city or they don’t.  They don’t do this with a car dealership.  They approve it.  They don’t go through the community on other businesses.  When is it enough?  They got signatures and then the signatures were questioned with the zip code.  He sought out the knowledge and got involved with the gatherings.  They should make a decision.  In a Harvard review, 88% are in favor of medical marijuana and 60% plus are in favor of recreational marijuana.  They aren’t the same thing.  They should make a decision on a business that wants to come into the city.  In Battle Creek they were celebrating as they were poised perfectly on the corridor.  It is allowable and they went after it.  Belding has given them one mountain after another to climb.  They need to make a decision.  The world has changed and they must understand what is going on.  The market has bloomed.  Big corporations are investing – it is here to stay.  It is the way of the future.  It is up to them to be knowledgeable. 

Council Member Meyers stated there are two words that are used in big business, lean and agile, or you will be left behind.  If you wait for 100% of the information, it will pass you by.  His most frustrating part of two years on the council is at times, they are very slow at making decisions.  It is a big responsibility to be on council.  They are to represent the people.  He doesn’t mind gathering the facts, and they should do that.  Find out the opinions of the people.  After that is done, stand up and say this is the way I vote.  Then people can decide if they want to support that. Government is a slow process everywhere.  Council asked them to jump through a lot of hoops, and there are also a lot of issues that face the city today.  When he went door to door campaigning, people said do something.  Council doesn’t make a whole lot of decisions and that is unfortunate.  Do what is right for the city and move on.  They go very slow sometimes to do what is right for the city.  It is frustrating.  He would commend council member Miller.  He doesn’t like people to assume things that are not true.  Mr. Miller made a motion to put it before council and he commends that.  He has listened to what Brad said.  He has two children and they look at what he does.  If he supports something with marijuana, it will affect his kids and he needs to explain it to them so they can understand it.  Brad opened his eyes.  It is very easy on any board to just use your own thoughts, but you have to not just use your own thoughts, but go out and understand and stand on the principle that you think is right.    

Council Member Feehan stated this is the first time there are people in the audience.  He was waiting for this. 

Council Member Miller stated it is their responsibility to go out there.  He wished the people came here.

Council Member Meyers stated he likes people to express opinions.  He would commend everyone on expressing how they feel.  It is not easy.  They may not always agree.  It is a council responsibility to educate themselves.  Go out and search for answers and make your decision and move on.

Mayor Protem Scheid stated they had very valid points, both of them.  They don’t get enough input from citizens.  They have to make decisions.  They will see what happens on this one.

Closed Session

– strategy and negotiation session connected with the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement if either negotiating party requests a closed hearing.

Council Member Feehan made a motion to enter closed session at 8:18 p.m., supported by Council Member Miller.

Ayes:               Council Members Miller, Meyers, Scheid and Feehan

            Nays:               None

Council Member Feehan made a motion to return to regular session at 8:28 p.m., supported by Council Member Miller. 

Ayes:               Council Members Miller, Meyers, Scheid and Feehan

            Nays:               None

Council Member Feehan made a motion to approve the proposed language for the part-paid firefighter’s contract, supported by Council Member Miller. 

Ayes:               Council Members Miller, Meyers, Scheid and Feehan

            Nays:               None

Adjournment

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

Ayes:               Council Members Miller, Meyers, Scheid and Feehan

            Nays:               None

The Mayor ProTem adjourned the meeting at 8:36 p.m.