REGULAR MINUTES
PERE MARQUETTE DEPOT
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
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, September 3, 2019.
Mayor Miller delivered the invocation.
The Mayor led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The City Clerk took the roll call:
Members Present: Council Members Mike Scheid, Jorel Davis, Bruce Meyers, Douglas Feehan and Brad Miller
Members Absent: None
Approval of Agenda
Council Member Scheid made a motion to approve the agenda as presented, supported by Council Member Feehan.
The question on the motion was called and the result of the voting is as follows:
| Ayes: | | | Council Members Scheid, Davis, Meyers, Feehan and Miller |
| Nays: | | | None |
Public Comments
There were no public comments.
Consent Agenda
- Approve Independent Bank Checks 72757 to 72795 in the amount of $68,675.89
- Approve Minutes: Regular scheduled meeting, August 20, 2019
- Approve Minutes: Special meeting, August 28, 2019
- Construction Board of Appeals reappointment – Robert Gasper
- Property Maintenance Code Board of Appeals reappointment – Robert Gasper
Council Member Scheid made a motion to approve the consent agenda, supported by Council Member Feehan.
The question on the motion was called and the result of the voting is as follows:
Ayes: Council Members Scheid, Davis, Meyers, Feehan and Miller
Nays: None
Following are the resolutions contained in the Consent Agenda.
A. Construction Board of Appeals reappointment – Robert Gasper
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELDING, MICHIGAN REAPPOINTING ROBERT GASPER TO THE CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF APPEALS.
WHEREAS, the term of office for Robert Gasper on the Construction Board of Appeals will expire on September 6, 2019; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gasper has indicated that he is willing to continue to serve on the board; and
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan that Robert Gasper be reappointed to the Construction Board of Appeals with a term to expire on September 3, 2022.
B. Property Maintenance Code Board of Appeals reappointment – Robert Gasper
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELDING, MICHIGAN REAPPOINTING ROBERT GASPER TO THE PROPERTY MAINTENANCE CODE BOARD OF APPEALS.
WHEREAS, the term of office of Robert Gasper on the Property Maintenance Code Board of Appeals will expire on September 6, 2019; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Gasper has indicated his willingness to serve another term on the board.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan that Robert Gasper be reappointed to the Property Maintenance Code Board of Appeals with a term to expire on September 3, 2022.
Reports by Council Liaisons
Council Members Scheid, Davis and Feehan did not have a report.
Council Member Meyers stated Rec Board will meet on September 9 at 6:30 p.m. The Housing Commission will meet on September 19 at 6 p.m.
Mayor Miller stated he did not make the Library meeting last week and there was no Planning Commission meeting.
Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.
New Business
A. Jacklyn Apartments PILOT – first reading
Council Member Scheid moved to bring the ordinance to the floor for discussion, and the motion was supported by Council Member Feehan.
AN ORDINANCE TO AUTHORIZE THE PAYMENT OF AN ANNUAL SERVICE CHARGE IN LIEU OF TAXES FOR RESIDENTIAL UNITS SERVING LOW OR MODERATE INCOME PERSONS AND FAMILIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, ACT 346 OF THE PUBLIC ACTS OF MICHIGAN OF 1966, AS AMENDED, AND MATTERS RELATED THERETO
THE CITY OF BELDING ORDAINS:
Section 1. Purpose. This Ordinance authorizes and approves an annual service charge in lieu of taxes for residential housing developments that: (a) serve Low or Moderate Income Persons or Families (as defined in the State Housing Development Authority Act, Act 346 of the Public Acts of Michigan of 1966 (1966 PA 346, as amended; MCL125.1401 et seq, “Act 346” or the “Act”), and this Ordinance); (b) are financed with a Mortgage Loan or assisted by the Authority in accordance with Act 346; (c) are located within the City of Belding; and (d) comply with this Ordinance.
Section 2. Title. This Ordinance shall be known and cited as the “City of Belding – Jacklyn Apartments Tax Exemption Ordinance.”
Section 3. Preamble. It is acknowledged that it is a proper public purpose of the State of Michigan and its political subdivisions to provide housing for low income citizens and to encourage the development of such housing by providing for a service charge in lieu of property taxes in accordance with Act 346. The City is authorized by Act 346 and this Ordinance to establish or change the annual service charge to be paid in lieu of taxes by any and all classes of housing exempt from taxation under Act 346 at any amount it chooses not to exceed the taxes that would be paid but for Act 346. It is further acknowledged that housing for low income persons and families is a public necessity, and as the City will be benefitted and improved by such housing, the encouragement of the same by providing certain real-estate tax exemptions for such housing is a valid public purpose; further, that the continuance of the provisions of this Ordinance for tax exemption and the service charge in lieu of taxes during the period contemplated in this Ordinance are essential to the determination of economic feasibility of housing developments which are constructed and financed in reliance on such tax exemption.
The City acknowledges that Truverse Belding Limited Dividend Housing Association Limited Partnership (the “Sponsor” as defined in Section 4 of this Ordinance) has committed to rehabilitate, own and operate a housing development identified as “Jacklyn Apartments” on certain property located at 1250 Kenwood, Belding, Michigan, which is legally described in Section 4.G. of this Ordinance, to serve Low or Moderate Income Persons and Families, and that the Sponsor has offered to pay and will pay to the City, on account of the Housing Development, an annual service charge for public services in lieu of all taxes.
Section 4. Definitions. The terms used within this Ordinance shall have the following meanings:
A. “Act” means the State Housing Development Authority Act, being Act 346 of the Public Acts of Michigan of 1966, (1966 PA 346, as amended; MCL 125.1401 et seq).
B. “Authority” means the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
C. “Annual Shelter Rents” is defined as the total collection during an agreed upon annual period from or paid on behalf of all occupants of a housing project representing rent or occupancy charges, exclusive of Utilities.
D. “Mortgage Loan” means a loan that is Federally-Aided (as defined in Section 11 of the Act) or a loan or grant made or to be made by the Authority to the Sponsor for the construction, rehabilitation, acquisition and/or permanent financing of a housing project and secured by a mortgage on the housing project.
E. “Housing Development” means a development which contains a significant element of housing for persons of low income and such elements of other housing, commercial, recreational, industrial, communal, and educational facilities as the Authority determines to improve the quality of the development as it relates to housing for persons of low income. For the purposes of this Ordinance, “Housing Development” means Jacklyn Apartments located on the property legally described as:
Jacklyn I/II
City of Belding PT NW ¼ Section 10 T8N R8W Com SE Corner Lot 122 Demorest’s Addition, thence north 142.0 feet along east line lots 122 & 137 SD Plat to place of beginning; thence north 353.0 feet along east line SD Plat to northeast corner Lot 138.0, thence east 726 feet to north west corner Lot 121, thence south 23 feet along west line Lot 121, thence west 460.0 feet, thence south 330 feet, thence west 100 feet, thence south 20 feet, thence west 66 feet, thence north 20 feet, thence west 100 feet to place of beginning
Parcel: 34-401-250-000-037-00
Jacklyn III
A parcel of land situated in the northwest 1.4 section 10, T8N, R8W, City of Belding, Ionia County, Michigan, being more particularly described as follows: Commending at the southeast corner of Lot 122 of Demorest’s Additon to Belding as recorded in Ionia County, Michigan; thence easterly 266.0 feet along the north line of Kenwood Avenue ot the place of beginning thence northerly 472.0 feet parallel with the east line of the Lot 121 of said addition; thence southerly 472.0 feet along the west line of Lots 121,105 and 104 of said addition to said north line of Kenwood Avenue; thence westerly 460.0 feet along said north line to the place of beginning
Parcel: 34-401-250-000-005-00
F. “Low or Moderate Income Persons and Families” means persons and families eligible to move into and reside in the Housing Development.
G. “Sponsor” means person(s) or entities which have applied to the Authority for the Tax Credits to finance a Housing Development. For the purposes of this Ordinance, the Sponsor is Truverse Belding Limited Dividend Housing Association Limited Partnership.
H. “Tax Credits” means the low-income housing tax credits made available by the Authority to the Sponsor for rehabilitation of the Housing Development by the Sponsor in accordance with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program administered by the Authority under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
I. “Utilities” means fuel, water, sanitary sewer service and/or electrical service, which are paid by the Housing Development.
Section 5. Class of Housing Development. It is determined that the class of housing projects to which the tax exemption shall apply and for which a service charge shall be paid in lieu of such taxes shall be housing projects for Low or Moderate Income Persons and Families that are financed with a Mortgage Loan. It is further determined that Jacklyn Apartments is of this class. This Ordinance shall apply only to the Housing Development to the extent that the Housing Development provides housing for Low or Moderate Income Persons and Families and is financed or assisted by the Authority pursuant to the Act.
Section 6. Establishment of Annual Service Charge.
A. The City acknowledges that the Sponsor and/or the Authority have established the economic feasibility of the Housing Development in reliance upon the enactment and continuing effect of this Ordinance and the qualification of the Housing Development for exemption from all ad valorem property taxes and payment of an annual service charge in lieu of ad valorem taxes in an amount established in accordance with this Section. In consideration of the Sponsor’s offer to rehabilitate, own and operate the Housing Development, the City agrees to accept payment of an annual service charge for public services in lieu of all ad valorem property taxes that would otherwise be assessed to the Housing Development under Michigan law.
(1) Effective upon the adoption of this ordinance and subject to the receipt by the City of the “Notification of Exemption” (or such other similar notification) by the Sponsor and/or the Authority, the annual service charge shall be equal to ten (10%) percent of Shelter Rents.
B. The Housing Development, and the property on which it is constructed, shall be exempt from all ad valorem property taxes. The Sponsor or the Authority shall file the certified notification of the exemption with the assessing officer before November 1 of the year preceding the tax year in which the exemption is to begin.
Section 7. Limitation on the Payment of Annual Service Charge. Notwithstanding Section 6, if any portion of the Housing Development is occupied by other than Low or Moderate Income Persons and Families, the full amount of the taxes that would be paid on those units of the Housing Development if the Housing Development were not tax exempt shall be added to the service charge in lieu of taxes.
Section 8. Contractual Effect of Ordinance. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 15(a) (5) of the Act to the contrary, and subject to the terms of this Ordinance including, but not limited to Section 11 herein, this Ordinance constitutes a contract between the City and the Sponsor to provide an exemption from ad valorem property taxes and to accept the payment of an annual service charge in lieu of such taxes, as previously described in this Ordinance. It is expressly recognized that the Authority and HUD are third party beneficiaries to this Ordinance.
Section 9. Payment of Service Charge. The annual service charge in lieu of taxes shall be payable to the City in the same manner as ad valorem property taxes are payable, to the City and distributed to the several units levying the general property tax in the same proportion as paid with the general property tax in the previous calendar year and as provided by the Act. The annual payment shall be paid on or before May 1 of each year for the previous calendar year. Collection procedures shall be in accordance with the provisions of the General Property Tax Act (1893 PA 206, as amended; MCL 211.11, et seq.
Section 10. Duration. This Ordinance shall remain in effect and shall not terminate for so long as the Housing Development remains subject to a Mortgage Loan and any regulatory or restricted use agreement and so long as the housing development submits the required annual notification of exemption pursuant to M.C.L. 125.1415a(1), as amended but not more than 50 years. The term of this Ordinance shall commence upon the issuance of the Notification to Local Assessor of Exemption as issued by the Authority.
Section 11. Filing of Annual Audit. The Sponsor, or its successor, shall file a copy of any and all annual audits required to be provided to the federal government, the State of Michigan, and/or the Authority simultaneously with the City. The audit shall include detail with respect to occupancy of the Housing Development, Shelter Rents received from the Housing Development, and the cost for utilities during the audit period.
Section 12. Publication; Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective 10 days after publication of a summary of its provisions in a newspaper of general circulation in the City.
Section 13. Severability. The various sections and provisions of this Ordinance shall be deemed to be severable, and should any section or provision of this Ordinance be declared by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid the same shall not affect the validity of this Ordinance as a whole or any section or provision of this Ordinance, other than the section or provision so declared to be unconstitutional or invalid.
Section 14. Repeal. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this Ordinance are repealed to the extent of such inconsistency or conflict.
Section 15. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective on September 30, 2019 as provided in the City Charter.
Mayor Miller asked, referring to page 21, on the proration on limitations on annual services, if someone is a regular rent payer, is it prorated or for a full year?
Mikke Droste stated that is about units that are not income restricted. None of the apartments are market rent, so there will be no ad valorem taxes.
Council Member Davis asked if the 10% in lieu of tax payment was based off a formula or best practice?
City Manager Niemela stated 10% is the max permitted by law.
B. Sign Policy
Council Member Scheid moved the passage of the resolution and the motion was supported by Council Member Feehan.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELDING, MICHIGAN APPROVING A SIGN POLICY FOR THE ELECTRONIC SIGN.
WHEREAS, an electronic sign is located in the downtown area; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the city council to have a sign policy in place to regulate the information being displayed on the sign.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan that the sign policy is hereby approved for the electronic sign located in the downtown area.
City Manager Niemela stated he could report on all the applications for a three month period. The form will be posted on the website.
The question on the resolution was called and the result of the voting is as follows:
| Ayes: | | | Council Members Scheid, Davis, Meyers, Feehan and Miller |
| Nays: | | | None |
Public Comments
Shelley Gladding, 1021 Pleasant St., thanked the city for all their help with the weekend, and the city council as well. It was a great weekend. Overall, the weather was great and everyone had a good time. They brought some things back. She appreciated the help for the weekend.
City Manager Comments
City Manager Niemela stated DPW will be paving Main Street tomorrow, weather permitting, from Bridge to Hanover Streets. The street will be open for traffic on Friday about noon. The asphalt must cure and harden. They will repaint the parking spaces. He reached out to all the businesses fronting that. He left a letter to Mueller Brass to detour their drivers. He hopes there are funds left. They had wanted to do Orchard Street, but that will be done in the next fiscal year in July. With any money left from Main Street, the funds will be transferred from Major Streets to Local Streets. There are some local streets to do, including James, from M-44 to Division. That will be done toward the end of September. There will be a couple of other streets from the list. There is quite a bit of brush. DPW got behind with the brush due to Labor Day preparations and then a storm came along with more brush. Because of the paving, the brush will be out there a couple more weeks. There are three watermain breaks to be fixed. Brush will be picked up the third week of September. Our policy is to limit each location to ten yards, but they will take more because of the storm. He hopes a rep from the Labor Day Committee can come to a staff meeting and do a wrap up, with lessons learned, and what can be done better. There is caution tape on the trail going into East Riverside Park, as a pole came down. The trail is closed temporarily.
Council Comments
Council Member Feehan thanked the Labor Day Committee and DPW for their hard work.
Council Member Scheid stated Labor Day went off really good this year and he was pleased. There was no problem at the beer tent. The large crowd had a lot of fun. The downtown went real well. The carnival people were very nice. It got cleaned up in a hurry. He thanked everyone for showing up.
Council Member Davis stated the beer tent was great. Everyone there had a good time, and there was such a diverse crowd. No one was out of control and it was a nice event. Everyone had something to do over the weekend. He saw a ton of people during the parade, which was really nice. He would not be afraid of walking next year. It was really a fun weekend. This is the most he has been involved, and it was nice to be a part of it. He thanked the committee and everyone that supported it.
Council Member Meyers commended John and the group on the progress on the roads over the last couple of years. The city hasn’t raised taxes to do it. It was commendable. He looks forward to seeing the plan for next year. He asked if they could see the percentages done on major and local streets the last couple of years? Labor Day was fun. He was pretty impressed. He knows how much work it is. They did a really good job. It was fun to participate. He was glad to help and enjoyed the weekend. After John meets with staff and the Labor Day Committee, he can give an update.
Mayor Miller stated there was a great note from the Housing Commission to the Gardeneers. There was a contest for the residents at the Housing Commission to showcase their talents. That was absolutely great to do as a community. A couple meetings ago there were concerns about communication. He typed in his thoughts about the last meeting and it is on the city website. This will be a place for all of them to share their thoughts. They should celebrate the successes and positive things. It would be a good place to say if we are behind on brush pickup, or John could continue the communication. It will create additional communication to get to the public. City council can also participate. A lot of great things went on with the Belding Labor Day. He expressed sincere appreciation to everyone involved. The beer tent was really a nice time. There was a cross section of individuals. He cannot say enough about DPW, as Ernie was cleaning up and they were resetting. We make it happen. He would volunteer next year at the beet tent, to card or whatever is needed. They should be proud as a community. He thanked everyone for coming out.
Adjournment
Council Member Scheid moved to adjourn the meeting, supported by Council Member Feehan.
| Ayes: | | | Council Members Scheid, Davis, Meyers, Feehan and Miller |
| Nays: | | | None |
The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 7:43 p.m.
| | Brad Miller, Mayor |
| Kareen J. Thomas, City Clerk | |
