Mayor McLallen called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M..

ROLL CALL: Mayor McLallen, Mayor Pro Tem Crawford, Council Members Cassis, Clark, Mitzel, Mutch, Schmid

ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Edward Kriewall, City Attorney David Fried, Director of Public Services Tony Nowicki, Deputy City Clerk Nancy Reutter

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Mayor McLallen said Item 7 on the Consent Agenda should read as Koster, not Koester.

David Fried asked to add Pending Litigation to Item 7 under Matters for Council Action - Part II, Executive Session.

Ed Kriewall asked to add Repeal of Water Emergency - Resolution as Item 4A under Matters for Council Action - Part I.

Councilwoman Mutch asked if the Mayor would like to move Special Reports up? Mayor McLallen replied Special Reports are typically done first and it was an oversight on her part. Mayor McLallen said the format will be Presentations, Special Reports and then Audience Participation.

Mayor ProTem Crawford asked if Council was going to remove Items c, d, and e under Committee Reports for a report? Mayor McLallen said the committees will provide a report.

Nay: None

SWEARING IN OF POLICE OFFICER: Mark Broody

Novi Police Chief Shaeffer introduced their newest officer, Mark Broody. He reported Mark came to Novi after graduating from Ferris State University where he obtained an Associate’s Degree in Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. While attending Ferris State, he also served as a campus police officer and has previously completed an internship with the Michigan State Police at the Ithaca Post.

Nancy Reutter, Deputy City Clerk swore in Officer Broody.

PRESENTATIONS

1. PROJECT N.O.V.I. - Employee Suggestion Award to Stacey Hunter

Mayor McLallen advised that the City of Novi has an employee program that welcomes suggestions from those who perform the job about ways to perform them better, cheaper, faster, and more productively. Mayor McLallen is pleased to present a monetary award to Stacey Hunter in the City’s Assessing Department. Stacey designed a card to hang on residents doors who are not home when they visit their homes. The cost savings to the City for this idea was more than $5,000 in time, motion and people being on the road.

SPECIAL REPORTS

1. Receive JCK Report on the Nine Mile Road Sewer Service Extension

Mayor McLallen reported Tony Nowicki from the Department of Public Services is responding to a request made from Council’s April 22 meeting about an up to date overview of sewer and utility extensions in western Novi.

Mr. Nowicki said Council commissioned JCK & Associates to develop a report based upon a series of questions and concerns that they expressed at previous meetings. Subsequently, Mr. Nowicki said they have presented this to Council and have received approval to proceed. Further, what Council has in their packet is a compilation of the research that JCK has conducted. Mr. Nowicki said they are not asking for in depth questions or an extensive presentation because they would like to do that at another time. Essentially, they would like to distribute this report to Council and residents for their review. After that, they would like to meet with residents to address their concerns and then bring it back before Council for an in depth analysis.

Councilman Schmid asked if this is a preliminary report to a more detailed report? Mr. Nowicki said this is the report that answers the questions which Council raised at the April 22 meeting. Councilman Schmid thinks it is a good report, but they slanted it toward the pros of constructing sewers which is expected when engineers provide the report.

Councilman Schmid asked what is the feasibility of constructing the sewer from a cost standpoint with the present zoning because the writer of the report indicated that she could not determine whether there would be challenges to the zoning. He added that the report does not address whether they can afford the construction of a sewer in a RA zoning which would be different if it were in some other type of zoning because more people would be paying for it. Mr. Nowicki replied they did not include the economic viability.

Councilman Schmid said the cost and the pumping stations are the most important issues. Mr. Nowicki said the economic viability of the sewer extension is normally reviewed and paid for by the developer who plans to sell his lots. Mr. Nowicki referred to the draft agreement presented to Council in and around April 22 which lists all the questions Council had asked through a review of the minutes by JCK & Associates. Further, that agreement was presented to Council and those were the questions they had intended to answer. Mr. Nowicki agrees that he doesn’t believe that the discussion of the economic viability of the sewer extension is in there, but it wasn’t part of the initial agreement. Councilman Schmid knows that he discussed this at length and it should have been in the minutes. In fact that may be one of the most pressing questions they should be asking themselves. Therefore, Councilman Schmid said the report is not complete and it must include a cost to have any significance.

Mayor McLallen said as Mr. Nowicki has already pointed out, the presentation is a beginning point of assembling whether it is physically feasible. Further, she agrees the crucial question is whether it is economically feasible. The Mayor said at this point, the report needs to be given to all of the major landowners in the area with a statement advising that the zoning question is not the question, but whether it is economically feasible. Further, they should circulate this through the homeowner’s associations, the library, and City Hall so that within sixty days a pool of questions and responses can come forward so that the type of conversation Councilman Schmid is seeking can take place with some substantiation.

Councilman Schmid thinks it is a simple task to look at the zoning in the area, counting the probability of the lots, and multiplying that into the initial cost of the sewer. Further, he is certain that the City’s Administration and/or the engineers who provided the report could provide an addendum to the report as to the cost.

Mr. Nowicki said it would not be an addendum, but they would make it a part of the body of the report and that is exactly what they are trying to do tonight. He added there is a lot of interest and inquiries from individuals who want to review the report. However, in as much as it was commissioned by Council and paid for by Council, they wanted to distribute it to Council first. They will then transmit it to other individuals and seek comments.

Mayor McLallen reported that she would like to see this report back before Council within sixty days.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Tom DeWard - Farmington Hills, advised he believes they have a common interest in the Time Warner Cable rights. Mr. DeWard reported he has done quite a bit of work in Farmington Hills on cable and stated he has analyzed his own bills. He reported in February of 1992 the rates increased $1.50, in February of 1993 the rates increased another $1.50, in September of 1993 the rates increased $2.87, and in January of 1996 the rates increased $1.88. Mr. DeWard said rates have increased a total of $7.75 per month over a five year period. He said there are approximately 35,000 cable subscribers in the Farmington Hills, Farmington, and Novi areas. This would equate to an additional $3.2M to Time Warner and is money that they remove from the community. Mr. DeWard said there might not be much that they can do about this because the federal government passed the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. Further, in February they passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which has taken away much of the government’s authority. However, Novi like Farmington Hills, has their own code which directs what the cable company is supposed to do. He advised there are certain requirements in Novi’s code which provide financial statements one hundred and twenty days after the end of the fiscal year which would have been at the end of April of this year. Further, it requires that an officer of the company must certify the statement. Farmington Hills requires that the financial statements be audited by an independent certified public account. Mr. DeWard reported that Time Warner has yet to provide those statements and when they presented the initial statements, they had an audited report behind its unaudited statements, no certification by any officer and the report was only for the last nine months of 1995. They tried to claim that they made a mistake when they switched over from Metro Vision to Time Warner. Mr. DeWard believes this is of interest and he would be happy to come back to discuss this matter further as a separate agenda item.

Luis C. Mejia - 41720 Eight Mile Road, advised his comments are also about the financial statement from Time Warner which he presented in a letter to the Mayor. The Mayor advised a copy of the letter is in the packet and that the meeting for SWOC is scheduled for the fifteenth in Farmington Hills. Mr. Mejia said Time Warner has presented two financial documents. The first document shows a difference of $4M and shows only the gross revenues. Mr. Mejia said it does not include expenses or marginal profit. He believes the Commission should not accept the statement because it does not meet the requirements of the CATV Novi Code. He asked the Mayor to see to it that they enforce the ordinance violations. In addition, he would like this issue added to an agenda because three minutes is not enough time. Further, the members of the Commission who live in this City are not protecting the public’s interest. He advised they had many questions at the last cable meeting, but the two members who sit on the Commission didn’t have one question between them and he would like to know why if they are supposed to protect the citizen’s interests. In conclusion, Mr. Mejia reported that last year Time Warner had a profit of 48% and at the beginning of 1996, they raised their rates more than 10%. Mr. Mejia explained for the first nine months they advertised their revenues for about $4,700. In the recanting of their statement, they have advertised their revenues for $743,000. He asked how can anyone explain this difference? In addition, he asked why don’t they sign their statements? Mr. Mejia believes the answer is that no certified public account would sign such a statement.

Mayor McLallen advised Mr. Mejia’s letter is in the packet with a comment from the staff that the meeting where this issue will be broadly discussed by SWOC is scheduled for October 15 at 4:30 in Farmington Hills.

Dan Love - said he has some concerns about Item 5 on the Consent Agenda because he has a rental house at 315 Duana which Felix Godlewski is trying to take. He doesn’t understand what is going on with that matter.

Mayor McLallen advised that it is a consent item that they can pull and because it is early in the agenda, Mr. Love can discuss the matter with the City’s attorney in the hallway.

Bill Bowman, Sr. - 30180 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills, advised the purpose of his appearance is to address the first reading of the OST Ordinance. Further, he would like to compliment the Planning Commission for bringing an ordinance that from analysis, would not work to one that will. He said there are a couple of very subtle, fine tuning items that he believes should be addressed. He said he covered these items in a memorandum that he left with Council and are issues relating to the regulation which would require berms between similarly or same zoned properties. The OST, high tech, high tax-based ordinance would require berms which would be awkward to do in the future. He thinks there are responses and approaches that could be used not to any detriment of any residential use. He knows that they have given much attention to the protection of the residences, but he thinks they will find that in all of the candidate locations for the OST there are only a few exceptions which impact residential.

Mayor McLallen advised Council that there is a letter dated October 7 from Mr. Bowman addressing his position on this issue in greater detail.

Sarah Gray - 133 Maudlin, believes Item 5 on Consent Agenda is wrong and that Council should pull it. She does not believe the City has any right to waive its interest rights in Lot 40 until the residents resolve theirs. Further, as president of SES, speaking for herself, and for four members who are present tonight and who also attended the Northern Novi Master Plan for Recreation, Ms. Gray said they have some major problems with the plan. She said everyone seems to forget the dam JCK is proposing for the Northern Novi Detention Basin at Twelve Mile Road will increase the water level by five feet in the wetlands where they are proposing a park and golf course. Topographically, she understands that Twelve Mile is only three feet higher than South Lake and they have some major problems and she thinks they need to address the higher water level. She said the wetlands that are now dry part of the year may now be wet all year. Further, she is demanding an environmental impact statement before they go any further because they cannot impact their watershed and lake which at one time were the jewels of the City.

Ken Paul - 613 S. Lake Drive, reported he is now president of the Lakes Area Residents Association. He did not intend to speak before Council tonight, but after attending the Parks and Recreation and Council joint meeting, he thinks that making some kind of comment is necessary for him. He was very concerned about hearing there was a lack of participation at the public hearing. He reminded Council there were several people at that public hearing and every person, except for perhaps one, spoke negatively about the golf course. He added that Council has chosen to ignore that and put their opinion ahead of the people. He said if there was that much support for a golf course, those people should have been present to support it and they weren’t. Mr. Paul said it is interesting when Dennis Archer visited Novi for the Mayoral Exchange they took him to Walled Lake and the tree farm. Mr. Paul thinks that would indicate that those are important "jewels" to the City. Further, progress doesn’t always mean bulldozing and substituting artificial features like a golf course. Mr. Paul said a municipal golf course will add nothing more to the community than a private course would. If it is more economical, it will be either a substandard course or it has to be competitively priced and the economic factor would then be lost.

Gary Zack - 359 S. Lake Drive, said from the perspective of the Taft Road Committee he asked who would know what their decision would have been if they had not listened to the environmental consultants when they went through the deliberation process. He reminded Council that it weighed heavy on many of their minds that they would be destroying the environment in the Walled Lake area. Some environmental issues considered in their decision were the impact on the egrets and the division of the habitat. Further, the DNR would never allow a road or a golf course in that location. He finds it surprising that either the consultant’s have changed their minds or they are not listening to them. Mr. Zack said if they thought it was worthwhile to keep when a road was being considered, they should feel the same way about a golf course. Further, a friend residing in Northville advised him that Northville’s policy is to purchase properties to keep development from destroying the environment.

Maureen Zack - 359 S. Lake Drive, is also against the golf course for reasons mentioned earlier.

Ruth Mejia - 41720 Eight Mile Road, said she would like to speak for the citizens of Novi concerning the Cable Commission and Time Warner. She has watched her husband attend the SWOC meetings for the last year and a half and she believes he is doing a great service unheralded by the community and commission. However, she knows he is on the right track because there are some things that are wrong with Time Warner’s books. She feels they are not getting the representation for the community from the City’s representatives on that commission. She said she has attended many meetings, read the minutes and she believes the commission yields to Time Warner. She said this has been in the newspapers and there are experts like Mr. DeWard who are willing to help straighten this out. She would like some auditors called in by either the Commission or the City to protect its citizens to be certain that they are not overcharging them. She asked Mr. Kriewall and Mayor ProTem Crawford to go to these meetings and speak up for Novi residents. Further, Mr. Kriewall’s job is even more than that because the City pays him to audit them because ordinances are being broken. She further suggested that they not move forward with the October 15 meeting.

Mayor McLallen said the issues that the two earlier speakers and Ms. Mejia raised are on SWOC’s agenda.

CONSENT AGENDA

Mayor ProTem Crawford removed Item 5. Council member Schmid removed Item 15.

CM-96-10-352: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To approve consent agenda as amended.

16. Approval of 1995-96 Bituminous Paving Program Change Order No. 2 for work associated with the 1990 Roadway Bond Program-Eleven Mile Road Paving Project (Beck to Wixom)

Councilwoman Mutch asked if it is possible to notify the Mayor prior to the meeting about removing an item so that they can make the announcement at the beginning of the meeting? Mayor McLallen replied she could do it, but it tends to move very quickly.

Mayor McLallen said the motion is for approval of the Consent Agenda except for Items 5 and 15.

Nay: None

Mayor McLallen reported they passed the Consent Agenda items for all of those issues except for Items 5 and 15.

1. Ord. No. 96-123.06 - To Amend Section 32-51.5 of the Novi Code of Ordinances to Revise Standards for the Approval of Development Names - 1 Reading 

Mayor McLallen said this issue is about similar sounding names and the specific issue is with companies that have nationally or regionally recognized names that they use outside the community. However, when they come into this community, that name conflicts with the way the ordinance is currently written. Further, Council asked to have the Ordinance Review Committee minutes brought forward for a chance to look into this further. Mayor McLallen said the criteria for Novi’s Street Naming Committee is that they should not have streets with similar sounding names for emergency response purposes.

Councilman Clark commented that this boils down to the question of whether the concern for public safety is going to be paramount over a concern for corporate identity. With that in mind, he moved not to approve the first reading of the proposed ordinance with the suggested changes. Councilman Clark is very concerned about public safety and in his mind whenever there is a contest between that and the concept of corporate identity, the corporate identity will lose the contest.

Mayor McLallen advised there is a motion on the floor and reported it died due to lack of support.

Mayor McLallen asked for further comment and advised this item is before Council for a first reading and Council may approve the first reading. Council may then take another two weeks to reflect and make further recommendations or approve the first reading.

Councilman Schmid reported after sitting on the Ordinance Review Committee for at least one meeting, he agrees that safety is paramount. However, he believes there has been a sufficient case made when there is this type of facility, there is ample opportunity to distinguish between them from a safety standpoint the location of a major facility such as this and a street. He is not one to overly react to the corporate world, but he believes when they have invested thousands of dollars in a corporate name that the City should give it careful consideration and that is all this ordinance does. He said it does not make an absolute determination that it will be allowed, but gives another opportunity for the developer to appeal.

Councilwoman Cassis did not see input from the fire and police departments. Given the nature of safety and the confusion that might occur, she would need that input to make a final determination. Like Councilman Clark, Councilwoman Cassis would not like to see any time lost in some confusion over a name during an emergency situation.

Mayor McLallen asked if Councilwoman Cassis is then recommending the first reading? Councilwoman Cassis replied she is recommending the first reading with a report for input to be brought back to Council from the fire and police departments regarding the issue of possible confusion.

CM-96-10-353: Moved by Cassis, Seconded by Schmid, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To approve the first reading with a report for input to be brought back to Council from the dispatchers and the fire and police departments regarding the issue of possible confusion of similarly sounding street names and developments.

COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Councilwoman Mutch believes Council members, including Councilman Mitzel have previously made a good case for the public safety aspects and the concerns that similar names could result in confusion which could impact life and death situations. Therefore, she is hesitant to make that change. However, she said Novi is also attempting to attract businesses that are successful with established track records. Businesses of that type, whether they are residential developments or developments large enough to have public streets, are the kinds of businesses most likely to have a problem with already established names. She believes if they are going to have police and fire input, alerting the development community about this in some way is reasonable because they need their input as well. Further, she thinks they will also recognize the need for public safety. She stated there are ways developers can preserve their corporate identity and the marketing of their project, while minimizing the potential conflicts in the street naming and signage. Councilwoman Mutch said they have this problem already, without realizing it. She said Novi has an apartment complex named Fountain Park which also exists in other communities and it may be when people dial 911, which covers several communities, the caller may have to further identify the community they are in.

Mayor McLallen said the motion on the table is to approve the first reading and send it back for the second reading in two weeks. Meanwhile, there is a request that the development community, fire and police bring any issues before Council they may have pursuant to this ordinance.

Nay: None

2. OST Office Service Technology District Ordinance - To add a definition of "Business Motel" and to add an OST Office Service Technology District to Section 2400 - 1 Reading

Mayor McLallen advised that this item came to Council from the Planning Commission to bring Novi into a competitive marketplace and to avail land in Novi to the development community in a usable fashion for research and development initiatives.

Greg Capote, Senior Staff Planner asked Council for their approval of the OST District. Mr. Capote said the Implementation Committee, the Planning Commission, and the Department worked hard on the creation of this district. Mr. Capote explained the sole reason for the creation of this district is that the OS-2, with an underlying PD-4 Option is not a usable plan development option. Mr. Capote said as the City’s Economic Development Coordinator, brokers, companies, and realtors have asked him when changes will be made to the PD-4. He added although they can live with the uses, the approval process is difficult to work with. Mr. Capote reminded Council that the PD-4 has never been used during the ten years it has been on the books.

Mr. Capote advised approximately 32% of Novi has been developing as a commercial/industrial tax base and added there is a potential for high tech industrial along the M-5, Twelve Mile and Haggerty Road corridors. He suggested that the Master Plan and Zoning Committee, with the Planning Commission address where the OST will be placed.

Mr. Capote said tonight’s objective is to get Council’s recommendation and approval to creating an OST District. He reported Wixom, Farmington Hills, and Plymouth Township have those types of development. He further reported Glenn Lemmon, Novi’s Assessor and the City of Farmington Hills’ assessor advised the impact to the community as far as city services is minimal as compared to residential development. He added another plus

for this type of development is that the total taxable value of the property is an asset for the city’s economic vitality.

Mr. Capote added that Bill Bowman of Thompson Brown has raised additional issues in his letter to Council. Mr. Capote believes in their zeal to get the ordinance before Council, they did not have an opportunity to speak with Mr. Bowman ahead of time and believes that addressing the three issues he raised may be helpful. Mr. Capote said as he works with the development community he needs something to bring to the table and the OST is a sellable item.

Mayor McLallen said as Mr. Capote has already pointed out, this is a unanimous recommendation of the Planning Commission. The only issue that has changed from their recommendation is the proposed changes that add greater flexibility in Item 8.

Councilman Schmid disagrees with Mr. Capote’s comment that the PD-4 Option does not work. Councilman Schmid said there was a great deal of Planning Commission discussion about Paragraph 8 and therefore, it is not a minor item. He believes it is an area that the Planning Commission should review again because there might be some controversy about it. More important, Councilman Schmid asked if they could tell him the difference between the ordinance before them and the PD-4 Option? According to what he has heard at the Planning Commission meeting, it seemed as if they had site specific areas in mind when they discussed the ordinance. Councilman Schmid said site specific discussion may have some merit if they are discussing concerns about the rezoning of a particular piece next to residential. He further asked why are they adding motels to the ordinance because he would not like to see a motel near residential. Further, he is curious about Section C which states at least 10% will be office. He said although they talk a great deal about manufacturing in terms of high tech experimental development stages, is that really what it means or is this really a manufacturing ordinance?

Mr. Capote replied some major differences are that the office ratio will become less and there is a difference in the amount of land banking. Further, the biggest change in his mind is that it doesn’t require a rezoning and a preliminary site plan to be submitted simultaneously. He said if someone is looking to enact the PD-4 Option they would think they are an allowable use and would fit into the category. However, the way the planned development option process is set up is something they cannot live with because perhaps they cannot expose whom they are. Therefore, they would then get into this market by selecting a site in Wixom or Farmington Hills. Mr. Capote reiterated that the applicant would still have to go through the site plan process, but they would not have to go through it with a rezoning and a public hearing. In addition, the Planning Commission has the option of asking the developer to bring the project back after preliminary site plan approval. He said during discussion there may be some minor modifications and the Planning Commission may want to make changes. Mr. Capote advised there is no special land use provision in the OST as there are in all of the other districts.

Councilman Schmid asked if the land would be master planned OST? Mr. Capote replied it would be zoned OST. Mr. Capote added they would handle it like most of the zoning districts, but it would not have a special land use.

Councilman Schmid asked if this will increase the potential for additional manufacturing? Mr. Capote replied it does not.

Councilman Schmid asked if they could construct a motel in an OST? Mr. Capote said motel was added because the City’s ordinance did not address the issue of allowing a business motel. Councilman Schmid said they could be in B-3. Mr. Capote replied that is true, but when companies bring people in for training it is easier to keep them in one nearby hotel which caters to the high tech area. Councilman Schmid asked what would qualify them to dedicate a motel to high tech because a motel could accommodate anybody? Councilman Schmid thinks it is a nice gesture, but opposes building motels near residential because they could abuse them from a zoning standpoint.

Councilman Schmid said when they state, "when there is planned or multiple building development, not less than 10% of the initial building on site shall be utilized for office and/or laboratory use" it tells him that 90% could be used for storage and manufacturing.

Mr. Capote thinks Mr. Rogers should answer questions about specific percentages. Mr. Capote said the last question Councilman Schmid asked was, "Was the OST District designed for any specific site?" and he responded that it was not.

Councilman Schmid asked where would Mr. Capote anticipate these sites to be? Mr. Capote repeated that he anticipates them to be on Twelve Mile Road, on M-5, and on Haggerty Road. Councilman Schmid said M-5 is zoned RA, one acre lots and asked if Mr. Capote is suggesting that they have already decided that they will change the zoning? Councilman Schmid said that zoning has been sacred and he is disappointed that one planner is already suggesting that it be changed. Mr. Capote thinks the master plan calls out OS-2, PD-4. Mayor McLallen said it is zoned RA to a certain extent, but the entire area is not zoned RA.

Councilman Schmid said he talked about ordinances for a long time in this City and would like to maintain as much quality as possible by not infringing on residential development. He then asked Mr. Rogers to address the 10% issue.

Mr. Rogers believes the 10% was higher in an earlier draft. He then referred to Item 4 on Page 2 which states the permitted use is research, testing, design and development, technical training and activities which include medical, computer, and so forth. He added the uses are subject to the following conditions, "a. Manufacturing and assembly line operations shall be permitted when adjunct to research and development activities occurring on the same site., b. Limited warehousing or storage of products for distribution shall be permitted only if such is an accessory use from the products created or used in relation to the principal use for products used in research, testing, design, technical training or experimental product development. Warehousing, storage and distribution activities shall not be permitted as principal uses." Mr. Rogers added that they would not permit manufacturing as a principal use. Further, the figure of 10% is arbitrary, but he thinks a limit is reasonable and the intent was not to open this up to a manufacturing or a pure I-1 warehousing district.

Councilman Schmid asked Mr. Rogers to give him an example that would not allow those uses and yet only 10% of it would be office? He further asked what else could they put in the building besides storage or manufacturing? Mr. Rogers said 10% is a minimum and it could be as high as 60%, but explained that he cannot tell them what the exact percentage is.

Councilman Schmid asked Mr. Rogers to define high tech because he pictures it as a developmental type operation for distribution. Mr. Rogers replied an example in Novi would be Meadowbridge Park Development which has just recently been built-out. Mr. Rogers said there is also a technology building at Meadowbrook Road and I-96. Councilman Schmid asked how much manufacturing is done there? Mr. Rogers believes it is fifty-fifty. He said the American Isuzu Building is next door and is currently under construction. He added there is also Hovingas. Mr. Rogers said that project is a site condominium with one common owner, REI in an I-1 District. Mr. Rogers explained that many of those uses could fit in an OST District.

Mr. Rogers read Item 5 on Page 3, "Hotels and business motels when such are designed to be an integral part of a mixed-use development" and submitted that they would have to have some permitted uses other than a hotel or motel before they could review it as part of a mixed use development. Councilman Schmid referred to the site near the Hilton and Mr. Rogers said that area includes the Extended Stay American and the Ramada Ltd. He added the forty four acre balance is in its initial 60,000 square foot phase as a planned office park with a linkage into Orchard Hills Place Drive. Mr. Rogers advised it is an OSC District which permits hotels and motels.

Mayor McLallen advised that she would like to concentrate on the issues with this ordinance. Councilman Schmid said he is trying to see if this ordinance would fit and if it is site specific because the Planning Commission was talking about a site specific area. Mr. Rogers said presently there are three areas that are OS-2, PD-4. One is in the area south of Twelve Mile between M-5 and Haggerty. The second area is along the north side of Grand River between Taft and Beck. That area is already zoned OS-2. The third area is the north half of Section 18, the south side of Twelve Mile Road between Wixom and Napier Roads. Part of that site is already zoned OS-2. There is also a fourth area which is on the north side of 96 between Taft and Beck Roads which have freeway visibility. In Mr. Rogers opinion, those areas to be zoned OST should be identified on the Master Plan for Land Use and all of those areas are so designated.

Councilman Mitzel asked why is the ordinance written so restrictively in terms of the types of research, test and design uses that can be had? He said it doesn’t mention automotive, aerospace, telecommunications, etc. Further, he asked why do they have to list what type of research they permit and how will they know that only medical, computer, electronic, and robotic research is what will be there in the future? He believes Council should have already learned that they can’t be so micro-managing if they really want it to work.

Mr. Rogers has no objection to adding those types of research and development activities and added they took the current listing from the PD-4 Ordinance. Councilman Mitzel asked why would they even want to limit it to begin with? He added that the first paragraph makes the ordinance very restrictive. Mr. Rogers replied it is a permissive ordinance and the uses listed are permitted. Mayor McLallen thinks they are having a semantic difference. Councilman Mitzel said his question is if it’s not listed is it permitted?

Mr. Fried advised that Councilman Mitzel’s interpretation is correct.

Mr. Rogers said Item 7 on the next page states "other uses similar to the above uses" and believes it was added to include anything that they may have forgotten.

Although Councilman Mitzel supports the direction that they are going in, he believes they should write the ordinance so that it would actually say, "uses similar to" or "but other uses not excluded" instead of trying to guess what high tech research uses are going to be for the next five to ten years. Councilman Mitzel thinks applicants shouldn’t have to get special approval if they don’t fit under the listed uses. Mr. Fried said they can handle that.

Mayor McLallen said this is a first reading of this and obviously there have already been several comments about strengthening the language and making it clearer. She asked if there are any further comments and questions or a recommendation?

Mr. Fried said there is a technical correction on Page 6 under (m). The last item should read, "a minimum setback of one hundred feet."

Councilwoman Cassis said this ordinance has been a long time in coming. Many individuals inside and outside the community have worked very hard to try to come up with an ordinance that would be flexible, efficient, and economical enough to attract high tech to Novi. She thinks this ordinance goes a long way in doing that and she would like to congratulate everyone who worked on it. Further, it is an opportunity to move toward office service technological parks which she believes will benefit the community. She said they have talked about them for about fifteen years and this might be the mechanism to attract high tech. She added this is the direction the entire country is going and perhaps Novi can be on the cutting edge. It not only provides for a mechanism, but it also gives protection in those limited areas where it might abut residential. She thinks they have included the proper safety precautions and she supports it. She also agrees with Councilman Mitzel’s comment that they may not be able to and trying it to macro-manage an ordinance would be inappropriate if they are looking toward high tech to try attracting those uses that they cannot even anticipate will be for the next ten to twenty years.

Councilwoman Mutch remembers when this first came before the Implementation Committee. She said the two areas that got much discussion from the beginning were the two that they raised tonight. She would like to commend those who have continued to serve on the Committee for addressing them well. One is the business motel and as she recalls, they brought it in to provide the kind of flexibility that might encourage the development of high tech parks. They debated it so that they would not get freestanding motels. The other issue was trying to deal with the impact high tech would have on areas which are master planned residential and those that are currently zoned residential. She said if they overly restrict large vacant areas which they perhaps zone as RA, it’s more restrictive than they need to be. She believes they have also addressed that challenge.

Mayor ProTem Crawford asked if Mr. Bowman’s letter and comments are going to be considered? He explained he favors the ordinance, but he thinks there are some points that need to be explored further by staff or a meeting with Mr. Bowman. They could then come back at the second reading with some options or concerns to consider then.

Mayor McLallen said they have moved and supported that the ordinance notice OST is forwarded on for a second reading. Further, they will address the issues which they brought up this evening, the language changes that were recommended will be incorporated and consideration will be given to the pros and cons of the recommendation that Mr. Bowman brought forward will be addressed before it comes back before Council.

Councilman Schmid asked if they could clarify "business motels" further? He read, "A building or part of a building, as to which the primary form of access to at least seventy-five (75) percent of individual rooms is through a common entrance or entrances, and in which there is a series of attached, semi-detached or detached rental units containing a minimum of a bedroom, bathroom and closet space." On the one hand, Councilman Schmid thinks it could say that it should be attached to part of the research building, but it doesn’t really say that. As a result, it could be a freestanding motel with a couple of entrances.

Mr. Rogers replied that is correct. Councilman Schmid can see how the areas with expressway exposure would be desirable. However, he is looking for some restrictions where a developer couldn’t come in and just buy ten or fifteen acres to build a motel. He said if they are going to do that, they should change it to RA and decide that they want motels in these areas, but he would like some assurances that they could not do that.

Mr. Rogers said they could add to Page 3 where they discuss hotels and motels, "when such a design to be an integral part of an existing mixed use development." He added the intent was that it would be "integrally part of." Councilman Schmid thinks that has merit, but he is fearful of a motel row.

Mayor McLallen said the motion is to send this forward to a second reading.

Nay: None

3. Vacation of Erma Street - Schedule Public Hearing for Monday, November 4, 1996 and Introduction of Proposed Resolution

Mayor McLallen reported this is a request to schedule a Public Hearing for Monday, November 4 for the vacation of Erma Street and the resolution is before Council tonight.

CM-96-10-355: Moved By Crawford, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To schedule a Public Hearing and Resolution for the vacation of Erma Street on Monday, November 4, 1996.

Nay: None

4. Approval of City Clerk Working at Home During Maternity Leave

Mayor McLallen reported that the City Clerk is a recent hire and had a baby before having adequate time with the City to have paid maternity leave. Consequently, she has been working without compensation. The Mayor reported the City Clerk did perform certain work pursuant to her job and is asking for compensation. Further, the City Clerk’s position is a fairly unique one in that she is a direct hire of the Council and while similar to many other functions performed in this City, it is unique unto itself. Mayor McLallen advised there is a further request that perhaps Council would like to initiate a policy concerning this type of issue.

Councilman Clark said as he understands it, the City Clerk is basically asking to be compensated for twenty four hours for services which she performed for the City at home. He personally does not see a problem with this because she has performed a serivce which was a benefit to the City. Further, because she has a unique position which she has taken very seriously and has seen that the duties that she performs were taken care of instead of sitting there until she returned. Therefore, Councilman Clark is comfortable with seeing that they compensate her for her twenty four hours of time. He also thinks it is an excellent idea for Council to initiate a policy to address this type of situation in the future.

CM-96-10-356: Moved by Clark, Seconded by Crawford, MOTION CARRIED: To compensate the City Clerk for twenty four hours of work time which she performed on behalf of the City while on maternity leave and that this issue be referred to the appropriate committee to establish a policy for future situations.

COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Mayor ProTem Crawford said he is concerned that there was no policy and Council is acting after the fact. However, as he understands the circumstances correctly, he thinks it is justified in this case, but he would have preferred that they did not have to act after the fact. Mayor ProTem Crawford does not know who would establish the policy, but he thinks such a policy would affect only administrative employees. One prime reason for that type of policy is that it could benefit the employee and the city under the right circumstances. He said they also need the right policy and they need to look at this very closely. In addition, with today’s technology, he believes this policy is long overdue.

Councilman Schmid reminded Council that he is highly supportive of the Clerk and thinks she does an outstanding job. However, he asked who authorized the Clerk to work at home and then submit a bill for twenty four hours of work without any permission? Because there is no policy, Councilman Schmid thinks that paying it would be foolish.

Mayor McLallen replied they did not authorize it and that is why it is before Council.

Councilman Schmid said this may be the first time in the history of Novi or any other city where someone takes it upon herself to work at home during a pregnancy or illness and submit a bill without any policy. Like Councilman Crawford, Councilman Schmid would have preferred to have had a policy in place first. He thinks it would be an error to honor the request without a policy. Secondly, Councilman Schmid has a great concern about establishing a policy for working at home during a pregnancy or an illness. He agrees that the computer world is coming and there is a great deal of home employment and perhaps there could be a policy written, but it would have to be carefully written. Once there is a policy with one department, it isn’t long before the unions want the same policy. He said they are treading on dangerous ground if they start allowing for work at home unless they could restrict it by which it would be a decision of the Administration. However, that would also become cumbersome. Councilman Schmid said the City Clerk is a wonderful lady, but she knew very well that she did not have medical leave. Councilman Schmid believes it is a mistake to pay her and it is a further mistake to make a policy that would permit this unless it is very carefully written.

Councilman Mitzel said they raised this issue during the midyear evaluation of the Clerk and it’s probably as much the fault of the review committee and the way that the reporting was delayed that it came before Council so late. It was their full intention that they would bring it forward for policy first, but there was some unclearness about who was going to bring it forward and unfortunately, it ended up coming before Council at this time and in this manner. Councilman Mitzel said the fact is that it is before Council now and he supports the motion in the sense he believes it is appropriate. He said corporations do have work at home policies which are tightly restricted and carefully written. He believes when they adopt a policy it should be written in that manner. He thought that the first step would be to just adopt a policy for the Council direct hires. Further, mechanisms used for formulating this policy should be drafted by Administration and then reviewed by Legal. They would then bring it before either the Manager’s Review Committee, the Ordinance Review Committee, or Council. Councilman Mitzel said he will take some responsibility for a policy not coming before Council first because he was the one preparing the reports for the Clerk and Manager Review Committee.

Councilwoman Mutch agrees with the comments that it would have been better to have a policy first or a request for a decision from someone as to whether it was necessary for the Clerk to carry out these particular tasks. However, as Councilman Mitzel pointed out, that is not what has happened. Councilwoman Mutch said there was no policy and the Clerk did the work. She asked what is the Clerk to do, say it is a contribution to the City or take her chances by submitting a payment request? Councilwoman Mutch is certain the Clerk realizes that’s a risk, but it still brings them to a point of developing a policy. Councilwoman Mutch thinks if they look at the twenty four hours of work, Council should ask if they are willing to compensate her regardless of the circumstances. They should then develop a policy so they do not face this issue in the future. Further, she has no problem with employees working outside the confines of the building, but thinks there has to be some accepted standard about when they do that and what type of work should be compensated. She will vote to support compensation.

Councilwoman Cassis agrees with Councilwoman Mutch in terms of there seems to be three questions. There is a question of policy, a question about whether they establish a policy or not, and then the issue of compensation of twenty four hours of work. She thinks there is a solution, but she would like to move to table the matter until they can bring it back with a policy or whether Administration feels a policy is in order because there is no information from them. She would like to table it until the first meeting in November.

Mayor McLallen said seeing no support for Councilwoman Cassis’ motion, it dies of lack of support. Mayor McLallen said the main motion on the floor is to compensate the City Clerk for her twenty four hours of work and to begin the process of establishing a clear policy covering this type of incident. She would also add that it would be fair to all and that they clearly delineate it so that this situation will not reach this level again.

FURTHER COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Councilwoman Mutch commented that she hopes between now and when the Clerk returns that the policy will be in place. Further, she asks that the Clerk not take on any more tasks unless she realizes that Council may not give the same vote.

Mayor McLallen suggested that in the absence of a policy that the Clerk not perform any more tasks.

4A. Repeal of Water Emergency - Resolution

Mayor McLallen advised the City Manager brought this positive item before Council and it is a resolution to repeal the water moratorium.

Ed Kriewall reported Council received a packet this evening from Tony Nowicki, the Director of Public Services and it indicates that they have constructed the 24" bypass which allowed them to shut down the 36" water main for repair. Further, they have monitored the pressures prior to making the switch over and all of the agencies involved are satisfied with the monitoring results. With that, the department is recommending along with the blessing of the Department of Environmental Quality and JCK that Council hereby repeal the water supply emergency and return to an alternate day lawn watering.

CM-96-10-357: Moved by Schmid, Seconded by Crawford, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To repeal the water supply emergency and return to an alternate day lawn watering.

COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Mayor McLallen would like to thank the staff and the supporting engineers for bringing this in on time because it was a concern of the citizens that this does not become a protracted issue.

Nay: None

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION - None

BREAK

Mayor McLallen said Council will adjourn for a short recess.

Mayor McLallen asked for Council’s indulgence to move matters on the Consent Agenda above Matters for Council Action - Part II because there are guests in the audience.

CONSENT AGENDA

5. Approval of Stipulated Consent Judgment - Felix Godlewski vs. Judson D. Taylor, et. al. - Lots 40/41 of Walled Lake Shores Subdivision

David Fried, City Attorney asked Council to recall they brought this matter forward after Mr. Godlewski began his litigation. Mr. Godlewski claimed that he has the ownership of Lot 40 and the City claimed that they have the ownership of Lot 41. Mr. Godlewski has put some personal property on Lot 41 and to resolve this matter, the City entered a stipulation with Mr. Godlewski’s attorney to allow the City to have whatever interest Mr. Godlewski has on Lot 41. Lot 40 would then quit claim that interest to Mr. Godlewski. One of the citizen’s concerns is what is going to happen with Lot 41. They expressed the desire to have some uses of Lot 41 when the City has full ownership of it. Mr. Fried suggested that they send a letter to the City Clerk setting forth what uses they might want to make of that property. The Clerk would then place the matter on the agenda as an action item or a discussion item and Administration would then discuss the matter so that the citizens can have a full understanding about what the City is going to do with Lot 41. As to their interest in Lot 40, their own private attorney represents them and Mr. Fried suggested that they should rely on their attorney’s advice. Mr. Fried’s recommendation is to proceed on this and if the citizens have an issue with the City’s decisions, they should address it with their attorney.

CM-96-10-358: Moved by Schmid, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To approve the consent judgement.

COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Councilman Schmid asked if Mr. Godlewski has agreed to remove items from Lot 41 prior to any agreement signed? Mr. Fried replied that they will have ninety days. Councilman Schmid reminded Mr. Fried how often people do not comply with those types of stipulations. Mr. Fried said if they don’t do it, the judge will again order them to remove it and if they still don’t remove it, the City can remove it at a cost to Mr. Godlewski’s. Further, Mr. Fried advised if they request that the items be removed before entering the judgement, they say that the City owns the items and he asked why should the City remove it from their own property? Mr. Fried agreed with Councilman Schmid that they very often do not live up to their agreement.

Nay: None

15. Approval of Change Order No. 2 to Leavenworth Regional Storm Water Basin Contract for Eleven Mile Road Drainage Improvements

Councilman Schmid advised he is satisfied with the City Attorney’s response to his question.

CM-96-10-359: Moved by Schmid, Seconded by Mutch, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To approve change Order No. 2 to Leavenworth Regional Storm Water Basin Contract for Eleven Mile Road Drainage Improvements

MATTERS FOR COUNCIL ACTION - PART II

CM-96-10-360: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by Clark, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To schedule an Executive Session for 6:30 P.M., November 4, 1996, Re: Pending Litigation, Property Acquisition, and Union Negotiations

Nay: None

CM-96-10-361: Moved by Mutch, Seconded by Schmid, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To schedule an Interview Session for 7:00 P.M., Thursday, November 21, 1996

Mayor McLallen advised this interview session is for all boards and commissions.

Councilman Mitzel asked if that would also include the list of the ones that their new policy would interview in November? Mayor McLallen replied that he was correct.

Nay: None

7. Schedule an Executive Session to follow the meeting, Re: Property Acquisition and Pending Litigation

CM-96-10-362: Moved by Mutch, Seconded by Crawford, MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To schedule an Executive Session to follow the meeting, Re: Property Acquisition and Pending Litigation

Nay: None

8. Planning Commission Vacancy

Mayor McLallen said they have just scheduled the Interview Session and announced that they will postpone the appointment for anyone who wishes to apply for this vacancy.

Further, Mayor McLallen reminded Council Members about Saturday’s bus tour which will travel around the City of Novi to get a first hand view of many development issues.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION - None

COMMITTEE REPORTS

e. Creation of Council Committee to develop City Manager succession process

Councilman Mitzel explained he had the task of compiling the midyear status report of the City Manager Review Committee which he received a week ago Friday. In addition to that report, they are also submitting the normal evaluation for the year end and they will be meeting to discuss those evaluations with Mr. Kriewall and Mrs. Bartholomew. Therefore, tonight’s first order of business would be setting a time and date for those meetings. The procedure calls for second meeting which would be the twenty first, but they have already filled that with an Executive Session and a regular Council Meeting. Further, Councilman Mitzel believes they will need more than one hour to discuss both positions. He suggested Thursday, October 24 at 7:30 P.M.. Further, he believes the Clerk will be back by that date.

Mayor McLallen said it is her understanding that Mrs. Bartholomew is due back on October 21. Mr. Kriewall replied that is correct.

Councilman Mitzel believes it is a good date because it is before the general election.

Nay: None

FURTHER COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Councilman Mitzel said the other issues on the agenda were issues that the Committee felt should be brought before the whole Council for direction. He added that they provided details within the supporting reports and he doesn’t want to discuss them in detail. The first issue is about the task for tracking Council issues and the follow-up for postponements that should come back before Council. He said the Committee believed this would be more of a function of the City Clerk’s office than the City Manager’s office. He said at last years Goals Session they asked the City Manager to take on those responsibilities because they were in the transition of hiring a new City Clerk. Now that they have a new Clerk in position, the Committee recommends that this task be assigned to the Clerk’s office and a date was set for six months from now.

Mayor ProTem Crawford asked if they could act on this tonight? Further, if that is what Councilman Mitzel is expecting, then he would move that they transfer that responsibility but asked what is the Committee’s reasoning for the date? Councilman Mitzel said he believes the date was selected because October 21 would be her first date back and because of the responsibilities associated with the upcoming election.

Mayor ProTem Crawford added January 1997 as the implementation date to his motion.

CM-96-10-364: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by Mutch, MOTION CARRIED: To transfer responsibility of Tracking Council issues from Manager’s Office to City Clerk effective January 1, 1997

COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Councilman Schmid asked if they brought this issue before either the Clerk’s or City Manager’s office yet or is this recommendation simply the Committee’s thoughts? Councilman Mitzel said it was not brought before the Clerk or the City Manager.

Councilman Schmid asked who else serves on this Committee? Mayor McLallen replied she and Councilman Clark are the other members. Councilman Mitzel said after the midyear evaluation they discussed the issues with them and then they had another meeting to discuss reporting, which he said Councilman Schmid has seen the report.

Councilman Schmid is not sure what is meant by "council issues." Councilman Mitzel replied if Council moved to postpone an item for sixty days instead of having the Manager track that item, the Clerk would track it. Councilman Schmid asked what would happen if they postponed an item because they need additional information from a department? Councilman Mitzel said it would be the same thing. Councilman Schmid will not support the motion because it is the Manager’s responsibility to talk with his department heads to get reports back for Council because the Clerk has no authority over those people. Councilman Mitzel clarified that the Clerk would maintain the list, but it would be up to the Manager or the person assigned to do the work to bring it to Council. The Clerk’s responsibility would be to maintain the list so that nothing would fall through the cracks. Councilman Schmid thinks that the City Manager’s secretary could handle that task as effectively. Further, they are now asking the City Clerk, who is appointed by Council to go to the City Manager, who is appointed by Council and direct him to comply with Council’s request. He asked why wouldn’t Council request the City Manager to do the task they pay him to perform and keep his own calendar?

Councilman Mitzel replied the City Charter requires that the City Clerk give notice of all the meetings, attends all the meetings, keeps a permanent journal of their proceedings, and keeps a record of all ordinances, resolutions, and actions of Council. Councilman Schmid said that is true, but it does not necessarily include the tracking of requests for the City Manager. Councilman Mitzel said postponements and Council requests are a part of Council action and it seemed appropriate to package it under the Clerks direction.

Councilwoman Mutch said although both the City Manager and the Clerk are at all of the meetings, the clerical responsibilities are with the Clerk’s office and this list only serves as a tracking device.

Councilman Schmid asked Council to consider what would happen if Mr. Kriewall did not comply and would it be the City Clerk’s responsibility to follow up? Councilwoman Mutch replied if Council wants to see something done by a certain date, Councilman Mitzel is the one who currently tracks these items and often reminds Council about them. She asked if Council should take on this responsibility or should someone else track this? Further, although Councilman Schmid may be saying it is more the City Manager’s job, she does not believe the Manager is asking to have that job.

Councilman Schmid said it also bothered him that three committee members made this decision and thinks common courtesy would have been to get input from the City Clerk and the City Manager. Further, he said he has a problem of who is in charge of the City and it is not the City Clerk, it is the City Manager. The Clerk has more of a record keeping responsibility with no authority and she should not be held responsible for postponed items or reports. However, he would agree that she could be responsible for providing a listing of missing items that are due. Mayor McLallen said what Councilman Schmid just said was the intent and obviously the authority is elsewhere.

Mayor ProTem Crawford said this is not a matter of who is in charge. All the City Clerk’s office will do is compile a list and pass it out to the appropriate people.

Vote on CM-96-10-364: Yeas: McLallen, Crawford, Cassis, Clark, Mitzel, Mutch, Nay: Schmid

Councilman Mitzel said they are not looking for Council action for the next two items at this point. He advised the remainder of the report concerns transitional issues that came up because the City Manager is eligible for retirement and because there was no policy in place when they had to replace the City Clerk. He added although they had plenty of forewarning, their first step was to develop a procedure to replace the Clerk. Councilman Mitzel said the Committee thought it would be more pro-active for the Council to start saying that there are some policies and procedures that should be written down right now so that when they go into a transitional mode, they are there and well understood. The Committee thinks they should spend time now to develop a succession process so that it is ready on the inevitable day that Mr. Kriewall will accept retirement. Councilman Mitzel said Mr. Kriewall is an excellent City Manager and their desire is to be prepared when he decides to move on. Councilman Mitzel asked if the City Manager’s office could provide a copy of current policies for City Council appointed or direct hire employees which would describe how they report vacation and report expenses.

Councilman Mitzel said Item e should include three Council Members who are not currently serving on the Manager’s Review Committee. Further, their assignment would be to research how other cities have gone through the process to replace Council direct hire employees and bring back a report for Council discussion in ninety days. If Council decided that it is a process that could work, they could bookshelf it until the day they can use it.

Councilman Schmid thinks it is a good idea, but asked if it would be simpler to make that request to the City Manger who could bring back procedures from other cities for Council’s review. It seems to him that they are creating a lot of committees, when they have already paid people that can retrieve that information relatively easy from the City’s departments.

Councilman Mitzel said as the Chair of the Manager’s Review Committee he is just forwarding the report, but thinks Councilman Schmid has a good idea.

Councilwoman Cassis said having served on the Manager’s Review Committee, this particular set of recommendations goes beyond what they have looked at in the past. In addressing the last item, she believes the creation of a Council Committee to develop a City Manager’s succession process is premature. She is not certain that this is something that they should start when there is a very able, active, and competent City Manager. Secondly, there is a process in place in the City Charter and it seems to her that Council could spend its time developing through a committee some guidelines that would never be utilized by a Council when the appropriate time came. Further, this Council does not make policy for any Council to follow and it would be up to that Council at that time to look at the policy.

Councilman Clark agrees with Council Member’s Schmid and Cassis’ comments and adds that Mr. Kriewall has indicated that he has no plans of leaving any time in the near future. The point that Councilman Schmid made about going to Mr. Kriewall first makes a lot of sense because they may then find they will not need a committee.

Councilwoman Mutch agrees, just as reassuring everyone that Mr. Kriewall has given no indication of leaving is important. At the same time, Council should remember that Councilman Mitzel is only the chair of the three member committee and he is only reporting their discussion. Now he is looking for broader input from Council and from this they have provided that kind of input. She agrees there are some alternatives to the creation of a Council committee to get the kind of information that the Review Committee was looking for, but it also makes sense to look forward. She is not certain the best time to establish a policy on replacing someone at that level of city government is when they are making a change. She reminded Council that Novi’s City Manager has committed his professional career to Novi. Further, she suggested that perhaps now is the better time to establish a policy because it is free of any other implications. If those policies don’t sit well with that Council at the time they need it, they can amend the policy.

Councilman Schmid said Council seems to be getting into a mode of making requests of the City’s staff. He said the staff has a lot to do to run the City other than trying to satisfy every Council request. Councilman Schmid believes if Mr. Kriewall gave his resignation, they could set a policy in a few hours to determine how they would replace him. It is not a big deal. He thinks that setting a Committee is foolish and would create a lot of havoc in City Administration.

Mayor McLallen would like to point out that the City Manager Review Committee asked Mr. Kriewall if he would stay and he sincerely replied that he will stay as long as they will keep him. This issue was brought up by how difficult the process was in finding a City Clerk. Further, they thought they need to do this better for the person coming in, for the person leaving, and for the City. Mayor McLallen said Novi has been fortunate that their leaders have given them their whole careers and she feels it is important that they are part of the process of where the City is going from here. Councilman Schmid’s point is that these are suggestions and that they are here to get a consensus which is there is no need for a committee. It is now closed and they can move on. Like Councilwoman Mutch, she believes they do need to move ahead and be prepared. Further, she believes they should do it in a consensus for the greater good of the City.

Mayor ProTem Crawford asked that they contact the Michigan Municipal League or the National League of Cities for information about hiring a City Manager. The City Manager Review Committee could then make a recommendation based on that. He said if they need some direction to do that, then he would ask for Council consensus that the City Clerk or City Manager contact those two bodies.

MAYOR AND COUNCIL ISSUES

1. Councilman Mitzel’s Request to List Committee Meetings

Councilman Mitzel suggested that they list the committees that have met between the last meeting and this meeting to serve as a reminder. Councilman Mitzel said there was an HCD Committee meeting between the two and he forgot about it. He thought if it is not too much work that it would be a useful tool.

Nancy Reutter replied she does not know what committees Councilman Mitzel is on and she doesn’t know who handles the committees he is on. Further, of the committees he listed, there were several other committees that were missed. She added the committees are from different departments and there is no effective system.

Mayor McLallen said it seems like a good idea, but implementing it may be difficult.

Councilwoman Mutch said if there was someone on the committee who could be responsible for submitting that to the Clerk’s office, they could compile a listing. The listing would let Council know what committees have been doing, it would give a greater understanding about the amount of time Council members put into doing the work of the City beyond attending just meetings, and it would serve as a reminder.

Mayor ProTem Crawford said it sounds like a good idea, but thinks logistically it may be a long list. He thought they had a policy that said Council was to receive minutes of these committees on a timely basis. He thinks they should try to implement the policy that is already there.

Mayor McLallen said there does not seem to be a majority consensus at this point.

2. Selection of a Council Member to Serve on the Futuring Steering Committee

Mayor McLallen said the Resolution for the Futuring Steering includes a position for a Council member and she asked for a volunteer.

Mayor ProTem Crawford said he would volunteer.

Councilman Mitzel would like to discuss the Lake Property Committee. He reported in view of communications indicating that a banquet facility may not be likely, he spoke with some Council members that were on the committee and asked if they could meet to discuss an alternative. He suggested that the alternative would incorporate the other components of that plan without the banquet facility. He advised that he has photos of some parks near water that he will forward to the committee. Further, some committee members felt that it would be possible for the property committee to look into this and report back to Council at the first meeting in November.

Mayor McLallen asked if he is requesting a special meeting with the Lake Property Study? Councilman Mitzel said no, he is asking if the Council members who were on the Lake Property Committee and the staff to ask the committee meet to discuss a recommendation without the banquet facility.

Councilman Schmid clarified by stating that Councilman Mitzel was interested in at least presenting a proposal that makes this a more passive park. Councilman Schmid thinks it is a reasonable request and he hopes Councilman Mitzel will also be prepared to discuss financing because as he understands it, there is no money available for parks.

Mayor ProTem Crawford concurs with Councilman Mitzel, but thinks the time frame may be short. He said the committee has pretty much accomplished their charge by coming up with a recommendation. He said the committee and meeting process have been on hold waiting for the development of some of the other projects. He agrees that he thinks it is time to reconvene that committee, but thinks the first meeting in November is too soon. Further, perhaps they should ask Greg Capote, who was the staff facilitator, to schedule a meeting. He believes they may need at least a couple of meetings before they can be ready to come back with what Councilman Mitzel is suggesting.

Councilman Mitzel said he received the time frame from Mr. Capote.

Mayor McLallen said they cannot answer these questions at this point and asked Administration to address them.

MANAGER’S REPORTS

Ed Kriewall said the Senate reported it has approved the additional funding for Novi because of the Mid-Decade Census Supplemental Funding in Lansing. He further advised that the House will not consider it until January, but the feedback is fairly positive from Senator Bullard. Mr. Kriewall said once this passes, it would mean an additional half million dollars per year for the next four to five years.

Mr. Kriewall said he received notice from the Liquor Control Commission that based upon the mid-decade census, the City is immediately entitled to five additional Class C Liquor Licenses.

Councilman Mitzel asked when the landscaping for MetroCell would be completed? Mr. Kriewall said MetroCell has not completed the landscaping on the western portion of the building because there is a pending site plan in the Planning Department to allow for a roadway access to the nearby shopping center. He said it would not make any sense to complete the landscaping until they resolve that issue. However, he understands the process is moving rapidly.

Councilman Clark said the weeds on that site were about four times in excess of what the ordinance permits. In addition, when he drove by there over the weekend it looked like a used car lot because there were several cars with "For Sale" signs on them.

Councilwoman Mutch asked if there is a procedure in place for residents who are going to be named to the Futuring Steering Committee or are they already selected? Mr. Kriewall believes they have been selected. Mr. Wahl said the committee is meeting tomorrow and he believes one of the principal items on the agenda is to determine the resident appointments. Mr. Wahl added it will also be on the cable network channel.

Councilwoman Mutch reported they have toured the Fuerst home, but she would like some further clarification from Council about the amount of authority that the Fuerst Committee Task Force actually has to proceed with the Council responsibilities that Councilman Mitzel raised during the budget session once it becomes City property. She asked if they should be setting a work agenda for themselves as a committee so that some of that stabilization effort can take place when it becomes City property?

Mayor McLallen confirmed that Council did budget funds for stabilization and asked if Council is comfortable with them developing a plan and making a recommendation? Councilwoman Mutch said they would make the recommendation back to Council, but asked if they should be working on a timetable that would allow them to recommend that soon or should they luxuriate in having twelve months?

Mayor McLallen said Council consensus seems that the committee should make a recommendation.

ATTORNEY’S REPORTS - None

2. Letter from Joan Papciak, Re: Wixom Road Speed Limit

Councilman Mitzel doesn’t believe Council passed an official traffic control order for the new part of Wixom Road for speed limit and he asked if the City Manager could come back with a recommendation. He tends to agree with the resident that a thirty mile per hour limit seems very slow for a road that they just spent a lot of money on to make it a main north and south corridor.

6. Letter from Bruce Jerome to Robert Harris, Re: Boy Scout Troop 54 Car Wash

Mayor ProTem Crawford noted that this correspondence is a thank you letter to South Hill Construction Company for coming to the aid of the Boy Scout’s car wash effort because of Novi’s water ban. He thinks it is a perfect example of a Novi resident’s "Team Novi Spirit" even though it is a Wixom Company. Mayor ProTem Crawford would like to personally thank Mr. Harris and make note of it publicly.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business before City Council, the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 P.M..

Mayor Deputy City Clerk

Transcribed by Barbara Holmes