REGULAR MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
VIRTUAL MEETING
7:00 P.M.
A meeting of the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan was convened in open and public session via a virtual meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4, 2020.
Mayor Brad Miller called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
The Acting Clerk, Shelley Mosher, took the roll call:
Members Present: Brad Miller, Doug Feehan, Mike Scheid, Jerol Davis, and Bruce Meyers.
Members Absent: None
Approval of Agenda
A motion to approve the agenda as presented was made by Council Member Scheid, and 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, Feehan, Scheid, Davis, and Meyers.
Nays: None
Public Comments:
None
Guests: Tim Lubitz, Fire Chief
Tim said they are hoping to get a vote for the replacement of current fire apparatus we have. The three apparatuses they have are twenty-five to twenty-eight years old. They are also looking to replace their front running engine that is twenty-five years old and has the most wear and tear on it. They are working on a CPI to get all the equipment they have listed and get it to Mr. Niemela. For it to go to the Rural Development Authority for the purchase of a truck, they need a vote from this Council. It takes about a year to build a fire truck, so it would be in the year 21 or 22 before we’d start any payments on it. We do have a bond that closes in June of 2021 which would free up some money which would allow us to afford something like this. He has some preliminary numbers for what they are looking for on the truck, and he does have some more detailed plan. The cost on a new truck at this point is roughly six hundred ten thousand dollars; that is from one manufacturer. He will obtain multiple bids to see if he can get that price down a bit. That cost amounts to one payment of fifty thousand dollars every year for the next fifteen years. The truck would be capable of everything we currently have plus it would carry twice as much water as the current truck does. It would also be a tanker and would double for additional things. That would provide us the ability to look down the road to do some changes with our apparatus fleet, and things the City could potentially benefit from.
Mayor Miller asked Tim if he is looking for a vote today or something for the next meeting, and getting the process going. Tim said he has the specifications written and they are ready to go out for bids. Potentially then having the number to take to the RDA for pricing. He doesn’t believe that anyone will be serious about giving us a bid until we have a commitment to the purchase of a truck.
City Manager Niemela said that he hopes they can at least take an action about moving forward at the next meeting. He wants the appropriate wording.
Mayor Miller asked the Council Members if they have any questions. Council Member Feehan said that he has some questions but wishes to talk to Tim in person. He said that he has no problem in getting a truck as he feels it is needed. Council Member Davis wants to be clear that what we are voting on is proceeding with getting bids for a truck. He wants to know if the Council is approving getting a truck, or approving getting bids. Council Member Scheid had no questions at this time. Council Member Meyers stated that if the current trucks are between twenty-five and twenty-eight years old, what is the life expectancy of those fire trucks? Tim said that the governing agency suggests that prompt run truck is fifteen years, and in backup service after that, it can go to twenty-five years. He said that currently the City has three trucks over that. He feels we need to start a replacement schedule. He explained the tentative timeline and the ages of the trucks. Council Member Meyers asked if when the resolution comes back to Council in two weeks, would that resolution be to gather quotes or to start the purchase process? What he feels Tim is asking for is the purchase process, as it would greatly help him as far as trying to bid on that six hundred ten thousand. Tim said that what he would like is a vote to proceed to obtain bids with the intent to purchase a truck. That would likely allow vendors to give honest bids. Council Member Meyers asked about that fifty thousand, to which Tim indicated that he believes the bond they are currently paying for would be more. Council Member Meyers asked if the specs have been shared with the Council and Tim said he can share that. Council Member Meyers would like to have the specification sheets given to Council Members prior to the next meeting and have Tim go over that with them.
Mayor Miller said that his understanding is that they were potentially looking at some grant money to assist with that. City Manager Niemela said that if they go to the RDA, perhaps they might be able to provide a portion of the cost. Mayor Miller said that a proposal would be drafted of what this potentially looks like, and then it can be added to the next meeting’s agenda and the Council can then vote on the resolution.
Consent Agenda:
A. Approve Independent Bank Checks 74511 to74573 in the mount of $49,246.31
B. Approve Minutes. Regular scheduled meeting, July 21, 2020
Moved by Council Member Scheid, and supported by Council Member Feehan to bring it to the floor.
The question on the motion was called and the result of the voting is as follows:
Ayes: Council Members Miller, Feehan, Scheid, Davis, and Meyers.
Nays: None
Council Liaison Reports:
Council Member Feehan reported on the Museum and that they have decided to stay closed until the first of the year, 2021. The programs they had planned are now postponed until the first of the year. Information will be on their website.
Mayor Miller stated that he is on both the Library and the Planning Commission and neither has had any meetings so he has nothing to report.
Old Business
There is nothing.
New Business
A. Temporary Street Closures & Resolution - Labor Day.
B. Temporary Street Closure & Resolution – Veterans Memorial Park
C. Declaration of City Owned Property as Surplus & Resolution
D. Designation of Voting Delegate for MML Business meeting & Resolution.
A motion to bring Item A. to the floor was made by Council Member Scheid, and supported by Council Member Feehan.
Chief Nelson reported that the decision was made to bring Labor Day down to one day. The fireworks have been cancelled due to the Covid threat. Currently they are looking at a car show, a corn-hole tournament, a dedication at the Veteran’s Park, a road rally, a virtual 5K run, and September 4 through September 7 they will do judging for the best decorated residence in the Belding area with a Labor Day theme. There are now concerns since the latest Executive Order issued by the Governor; ten people inside, and one hundred people outside, social distancing, etc. Just with the car show, if there are a hundred cars and two people per car that is two hundred people. That doesn’t include the spectators viewing the cars. With that, they are asking for closure of the south portion of the east Mall lot. They are planning to have some food trucks/vendors in that area to service the event. Originally they asked for the closure of Bridge Street, but that is part of the detour route for Long Lake so we moved it over to the south portion of the lot.
Council Member Davis said as much as he would like things to be as close to normal as possible, he does have hesitation to allow the City to put on an event to violate those rules.
Council Member Meyers asked how the Police Department currently handles the Governor’s orders. Have we enforced those or just kind of allowed it unless there is some kind of complaint? Chief Nelson responded that complaints are looked at and resulted in explanation of the masking and stay at home order; that we are compliant that way. Since this has started, Belding was one of the first jurisdictions in the County to actually charge someone with the Stay Home Stay Safe portion of the early part of the Executive Orders. Moving forward, he believe businessess are working hard to stay within the Executive Order. Some individuals do have medical issues and businesses are dealing with that. Dial-A-Ride is dealing with the mask-up order. Council Member Meyers then commended Chief Nelson as it has been a tough situation. We want to keep our entire city safe, and he doesn’t want one event to ruin that.
Council Member Feehan said that his concern is the number of spectators and he feels it would lead to a big problem.
Council Member Scheid said the only way that he sees it could work is to turn it into a cruise instead of a downtown car show. They could set up some kind of a route and let people drive through with people being able to social distance. Mayor Miller feels that how we’ve always done things is no longer how we can do things. The Executive Order that came out today is probably one of the strongest ones that he’s personally read that gives enforcement back to the State Police. He then paraphrased part of the Governor’s Order regarding social distancing. He feels that we should enforce Covid laws. As opposed to looking at it as a cancellation, we just need to pause and say that this is not the year for this to happen for the benefit of the community. Maybe we can engineer things differently so that we can all remain safe. Council Member Scheid then said that they also have the road rally from twelve noon to six p.m. It would have to be set up as a car cruise. He wonders what their plans are when they come back into town. Chief Nelson said they would do their registrations on-line, and they would get their clue packets at the first destination. That would keep groups in their vehicles social distancing, by keeping them from gathering ahead of it. The 5K is a virtual race and they do it on-line and they report what their times are and then awards are given at that point. He would hate to see congregating of people watching the cruise, so it would have to be arranged so that people can see it from the confines of their own homes. Manager Niemela suggested that maybe the cars could go to different lots that are separated by enough space so that people could go see them.
Amber Rood, representing the Labor Day Committee, said the planning committee is looking for doing it safety first. They do not want to keep it just for residents. They had talked about the gathering place would give more distancing with fewer cars. Some fundraiser activities might need to be cancelled. The virtual race shouldn’t present any problems. Road rally participants can be encouraged to stay in their vehicles. They are looking at safety events and encouraging residents to decorate their houses.
Mayor Miller said that the actual resolution is for street closing. It wasn’t designed to approve the car show or the corn-hole tournament. It was basically to look at the street closings. If we are not going to do those two events, would we still have the street vendors? Ms. Rood said that there wouldn’t be the draw because of the cancellations. Mayor Miller said there would be three events: decorating residence, the road rally, and the 5K run. He wondered which roads we would need to close. Chief Nelson said that if we restrict it to those three events, there would not be a necessity to close any roads. Ms. Rood added that she wonders if we could be open to having food trucks in there for a certain time frame. Because it would encourage people to walk downtown, and maybe we could limit the number of food vendors. Chief Nelson said that it would be similar to our restaurants. Ms. Rood said they could be spaced out, but we still wouldn’t need any street closures. Mayor Miller said that he understands that we do not approve the street closures as we are eliminating three events. We need to amend the Resolution as follows: Whereas the Belding Labor Day Celebration Committee requests permission from the City of Belding to use the south section of East Mall parking lot for food vendors beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 5, 2020, until 8 pm., therefore be it resolved.
Mayor Miller called for the vote:
Ayes: Council Members Scheid, Miller, Feehan, Davis, and Meyers.
Nays: None
The Resolution is as follows:
CITY OF BELDING
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELDING, MICHIGAN GRANTING PERMISSION TO THE BELDING LABOR DAY CELEBRATION COMMITTEE FOR THE USE OF CITY STREETS, CITY PROPERTY AND TO APPROVE EVENTS, GRANT A NOISE VARIANCE AND GRANT A WAIVER OF ORDINANCE #424.
The following preamble and resolution were offered by Council Member Scheid, supported by Council Member Feehan.
WHEREAS, the Belding Labor Day Celebration Committee requests permission from the City of Belding for the use of the south section of the East Mall Parking Lot for food vendors beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 5, 2020, and the Gathering Place to accommodate a corn hole contest and car show from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Saturday, September 5, 2020; and
WHEREAS, permission is requested to close Main Street, between Bridge and Ashfield Streets and Alderman from Main to just north of the post office driveway from 7a-10p for the Drum Line Car Show on Saturday, September 5, 2020.
WHEREAS, permission is requested for a noise variance from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, 2020; and,
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan that the preceding requests are hereby granted in their entirety.
AYES: Council Members Scheid, Feehan, Davis, Meyers and Miller.
NAYS: None
THIS RESOLUTION DECLARED ADOPTED THIS 4TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2020.
Item B. was brought forth.
Chief Nelson said he received a request last week from Holly Noble for street closure on Saturday, September 5, 2020. Again we have to raise our concerns regarding Covid. We have to consider the numbers and he has concerns moving forward. Council Member Scheid said it is a little vague and feels we should go over it with her to determine exactly what she is planning to do. Chief Nelson agreed, and he can talk with her for more information and bring it back to the next meeting. He had expressed that closer to Veteran’s Day would be better. City Manager Niemela said that when he first talked to her, she thought there wouldn’t be enough people if it was a stand-alone event. Council Member Feehan agrees to postpone until the next meeting. Council Member Davis said that he agrees as well, but one thing he would suggest to Holly is doing on-line registration only so she will know numbers on day of. Council Member Meyers said he has concerns for that event as he has for the others. Mayor Miller feels the same and he wonders who will be responsible to handle the issues. He suggests tabling this until the next meeting so that Chief Nelson has an opportunity to speak with Holly. Chief Nelson will suggest maybe by invitation only.
A motion to postpone this item until the next meeting was made by Mayor Miller, supported by Member Scheid.
Mayor Miller called for the vote:
Ayes: Council Members Miller, Davis, Feehan, Scheid, and Meyers.
Nays: None
A motion to bring forth Item C. was made by Council Member Scheid, supported by Council Member Feehan.
City Manager Niemela shared that we received two new buses which meant we took two buses out of service. We would like the Council to declare them surplus so that we can put them up for sale.
There were no questions by any of the Members.
Mayor Miller called for the vote:
Ayes: Council Members Miller, Feehan, Scheid, Meyers, and Davis.
Nays: None
The Resolution is as follows:
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELDING, MICHIGAN DECLARING CITY-OWNED PROPERTY AS SURPLUS PROPERTY.
A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Belding, County of Ionia,
Michigan was held in said City on the 4th day of August, 2020.
PRESENT: Council Members Mike Scheid, Doug Feehan, Jorel Davis, Bruce Meyers and Brad Miller
ABSENT: None
The following preamble and resolution were offered by Council Member Scheid and seconded by Council Member Feehan.
WHEREAS, Section 2.392 of Chapter 2 of the Code of the City of Belding states that City Council may declare city-owned property that is no longer needed as surplus; and,
WHEREAS, the surplus property may be sold through an online bid process.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council that the City-owned property listed below be declared as surplus and sold through an online bid process:
VIN # 1FD4E45S38DA50766
2008 Eldorado Aerotech lift-equipped bus
VIN # 1FDFE45S79DA90651
2010 Eldorado Aerotech lift-equipped bus
Upon vote for the adoption of said resolution, the vote was:
YEAS: Council Members Scheid, Feehan, Davis, Meyers and Miller
NAYS: None
RESOLUTION WAS THEREUPON DECLARED ADOPTED THIS 4TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2020.
A motion to bring forth Item D. was made by Council Member Scheid, supported by Council Member Feehan.
City Manager Niemela said that every year the Michigan Municipal League has their annual conference, and there will be a virtual meeting held Sept. 30 thru Oct. 3. A portion of that meeting, even though it’s virtual, is their annual business meeting. They ask that each municipal government that attends to send a delegate to that meeting. It should be a representative who can vote for the municipality on any action they bring before their annual meeting. He would like the Council to approve him going.
Mayor Miller called for the vote:
YEAS: Feehan, Scheid, Meyers, Davis, Miller
Nays: None
The Resolution is as follows:
CITY OF BELDING
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELDING, MICHIGAN DESIGNATING JOHN NIEMELA AS VOTING DELEGATE TO THE MML ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING.
A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Belding, County of Ionia, Michigan, was held in said City on the 4th day of August, 2020.
PRESENT: Council Members Mike Scheid, Doug Feehan, Jorel Davis, Bruce Meyers and Brad Miller
ABSENT: None
The following preamble and resolution were offered by Council Member Scheid and seconded by Council Member Feehan.
WHEREAS, the annual meeting of the members of the Michigan Municipal League will be held from September 30 – October 3, 2020; and
WHEREAS, the annual business meeting of the members will be held on September 29, 2020; and
WHEREAS, it is requested that the governing body designate an official representative to cast the vote of the municipality at the annual meeting.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan that John Niemela be designated as the official representative to cast the vote of the City of Belding at the annual meeting.
Upon vote for the adoption of said resolution, the vote was:
YEAS: Council Members Scheid, Feehan, Davis, Meyers and Miller
NAYS: None
THIS RESOLUTION WAS THEREUPON DECLARED ADOPTED THIS 4TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2020.
Public Comments:
Dale Nelson, City of Belding, said the Beatnik Bazaar/Farmer’s Market will occur on Saturday, Augusts 8 at the Gathering Place. At last month’s event there was very little social distancing and use of masks during that event. Ms. Bennett has been advising people to use PPE. He is alerting the Council in case the Police Dept. has to address the issue at the event moving forward. The next Bazaar will be Sept. 12. He is hopeful that she is successful in encouraging the use of PPE at their event. Council Member Scheid asked how much of the lot do they use. Chief Nelson said they had about 25 vendors. Tim Lubitz attended and said that even many of the vendors weren’t wearing masks. Council Member Scheid asked if they were spaced apart and Chief Nelson said that he couldn’t answer that. Tim Lubitz said they were six to eight feet apart and they only occupied the upper part of the property closest to Main Street. Council Member Feehan suggested to Chief Nelson that maybe he should talk to her of the situation, and if they don’t wear masks or space out, then, shut them down. Chief Nelson had planned to do that.
City Manager Comments
Niemela said that at the last Bazaar things were different than they are now due to new orders. Also, last week he applied for a couple of grants. One grant was for reimbursement of expenses for the months of March and April. They did acknowledge that we got that application in. The other was for the possibility of getting funding to do some essential hazard for police and fire. The application was submitted on time and they did receive it. There are two more areas he is looking at right that might provide some additional funding for the City. One in particular is a grant out of the Michigan State Police that could be for out of pocket expenses for Covid-related items for the police department. The other possible one has something to do with the Water Assistance Program. There wasn’t very much available at the time of the last meeting. There were conditions that he was a little concerned about. It was quite elaborate with several conditions. If we participate we would have to go through Eight Cap. We would have to provide them with our residential water customers. They would then look to determine if they qualified for the program. If there were customers eligible, they would send the names to the City. The City wouldn’t be out anything, and we would probably be eligible. They provided the information to us. He is still looking into the program.
Council Comments
Council Member Feehan asked about hiring an aide/maintenance person and Manager Niemela said there wasn’t enough money in the budget. Council Member Feehan then asked about the City Hall phone service and Manager Niemela said they have updated their phone system and are still learning.
Council Member Scheid said that he hopes we can get back to normal soon; there are a lot of people out there needing help and caregivers aren’t comfortable now.
Council Member Meyers asked about the state revenues that Manager Niemela mentioned. He thought it was about seventy thousand; was that right. Manager Niemela said it was in that ballpark. Council Member Meyers said that when looking at a maintenance person, what was the cost for that? Manager Niemela said for part-time it would be in the thirty to forty thousand dollar range. Council Member Meyers then asked if they ever went ahead and purchased the loader and Manager Niemela said that they haven’t yet, but it will be soon. Councilman Meyers asked if the Council could be provided with a list of things that were in the budget that we talked about doing that are being held off on because of that lack of seventy thousand and Manager Niemela said he can do that. Also, Council Member Meyers asked about the road overlays with the County mileage as to whether that has started yet and Manager Niemela said it will probably be in another month or so. Council Member Meyers then asked about the removal of the trees along the new path and overlook, as to whether it has been done. Manager Niemela said he looked at it and some trimming has occurred but he feels there is a lot more needing to be done.
Council Member Davis thanked Chief Nelson and Tim Lubitz for their information and contribution, and doing their best in keeping us informed and keeping us safe through this Covid, and for properly working equipment. He also thanked Manager Niemela for looking into that water program. He also talked about phone systems and training and wondering if the City could have that, and Manager Niemela said he thinks that is part of the plan once we are up and running. Council Member Davis asked if after talking to the engineers whether there is a deadline. Manager Niemela said the big thing not done is the tree planting along the trail.
Mayor Miller said that he had looked at the trees but he doesn’t know if trees can be cut down because of erosion. Manager Niemela said his expectation is that there can be more trimming. Mayor Miller offered kudos for Tim and Dale for coming to talk, and invited them to come anytime they want to talk because they offer a lot of information. He also thanked Shelley for being on tonight and kudos to Janae because there is a huge amount of absentee votes and all the work involved, and kudos to Shelley for filling in. He said he has seen a lot of comments on social media and has been cornered at Leppinks and people are having general discussions of what’s happening. It’s good for the Labor Day Committee to get the information of what is being done early. Ultimately he feels people can handle it if they know. He appreciates everything the Labor Day Committee has done.
Council Member Scheid talked about a man at Hubbardston American Legion who hands out equipment that military is not using and maybe there will be some stuff that will be of use to us. It’s free and he will give the phone number to Manager Niemela.
A motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Scheid, supported by Council Member Feehan.
Mayor Miller called for the vote:
Ayes: Council Members Scheid, Feehan, Miller, Meyers, and Davis.
Nays: None
Meeting adjourned at 8:40pm
Respectfully submitted,
| Shelley Mosher, Acting Clerk |
|
