Mayor McLallen called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m.

ROLL CALL: Mayor McLallen, Mayor ProTem Crawford, Council Members DeRoche, Kramer, Lorenzo, Mutch, Schmid

Mayor McLallen advised there is a request to add Re-approval of the Darcey Subdivision Plat as Item 1.(a) to the Agenda.

CM-99-03-077: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by DeRoche, CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To approve Agenda as amended.

Vote on CM-99-03-077: Yeas: McLallen, Crawford, DeRoche, Kramer, Lorenzo, Mutch,

Schmid

Nays: None

Dan Tarant – Nottingham Woods Subdivision, stated he is before Council to ask that the Dinser and Delmont Drive paving improvement be included in the next road bond. He explained this road improvement was one of the last projects to be cut from the previous bond. He added although they are not major roads, they do service three large subdivisions and explained even with occasional grading the roads quickly deteriorate. Consequently, he believes improving these roads would make it safer for residents and emergency vehicles. Mr. Tarant advised they have collected nearly 100 signatures in favor of paving these roads.

Mayor McLallen reminded the audience the purpose of the meeting is for Council to set a five to twenty year road priority listing for the community. She explained Council is trying to combine five different plans into a more manageable program and consider the various funding sources.

Jean Jacques – Thornbury Drive, advised she is also petitioning Council to consider including Dinser and Delmont Drive in the Road Bond Proposal. Ms. Jacques noted the road has six separate intersections which means it is a big connector. She explained the road receives a lot of traffic from the three different subdivisions and from the residents that live on it. She added the road also serves as a commercial route for Dinser’s Greenhouse and it is also a school bus route.

Ernie Aruffo – 41772 Broquet, stated he represents the North Central Traffic Committee. Mr. Aruffo reminded Council this particular committee has met for the last eighteen years regarding concerns about the arterial movement of traffic in the City of Novi and they have supported each of the road bond issues that have come forward. Mr. Aruffo advised they have included their list of priorities in Council’s packet and noted the committee would like to approach this issue somewhat differently because they are primarily interested in the arterioles and the quality of life for the entire city. Mr. Aruffo noted they added Ten Mile Road because they believe it carries a major amount of east-west traffic in the city. Mr. Aruffo advised the committee hopes after all the planning and study, that Novi develops something similar to what was accomplished by Farmington Hills for Twelve Mile and Haggerty Roads.

PURPOSE OF SPECIAL MEETING: Road Project Update and approval of Warrant 540.

CM-99-03-078: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by DeRoche, CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To re-approve final plat for Darcey Subdivision, SP95-34H, property located north of Nine Mile and east of Beck Road

Vote on CM-99-03-078: Yeas: McLallen, Crawford, DeRoche, Kramer, Lorenzo, Mutch,

Schmid

Nays: None

1. Request for approval of Claims and Accounts – Warrant 540

CM-99-03-079: Moved by Crawford, Seconded by DeRoche, CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To approve Warrant 540 as submitted

Vote on CM-99-03-079: Yeas: McLallen, Crawford, DeRoche, Kramer, Lorenzo, Mutch,

Schmid

Nays: None

2. Road Project Update

Mayor McLallen advised the purpose of tonight’s meeting is to discuss the prioritization for the top ten 1999 Road Bond Program projects.

Mr. Kriewall advised the rationale behind the Administrative Top Ten Road Projects was approached from the standpoint that those projects that were already underway and required some city share funding should be listed near the top of the program. Mr. Kriewall advised they have been working on the Beck Road and I-96 interchange project actively with a citizen’s committee, a committee of business owners and developers, Providence Hospital, City of Wixom, Oakland County Road Commission, and Novi’s state representatives. Mr. Kriewall reminded Council that this project has been a major effort for along time because they understand that in the long term traffic access to western Novi will be very critical with the advent of the anticipated increased traffic on Beck and Wixom Roads from M-14 to I-96. Consequently, Mr. Kriewall advised the local share required by MDOT to fund reconstruction of the Beck Road and I-96 interchange in the City of Novi is at the top of their list. Mr. Kriewall noted Providence Hospital has donated several million dollars of real estate for the future right-of-way of one of the interchanges for this project. Further, Mr. Kriewall reminded Council that this project remains as one of the Governor’s highest priorities on his road programming and the state has indicated they are going to break ground for this project in 2001 and therefore, he restated that the city needs to be ready with their local share in this next cycle of bond issues.

Mr. Kriewall advised that the same is true with making Novi Road a grant eligible project. He explained they have been working on this for many years and they have finally moved Novi Road as a grant eligible project into the qualified que. He added preliminary engineering has been funded on this project. Mr. Kriewall recalled the latest Road Commission timetable on construction of the widening of Novi Road from Ten Mile to Grand River Avenue is 2001. Mr. Kriewall believes the city’s share is approximately 10% of the total cost and the Road Commission is offering another 10%. In addition, Mr. Kriewall advised they have also worked toward qualifying the bridge over the CSX tracks as part of this project and it will be included.

Mr. Kriewall advised Twelve Mile Road east of Novi Road to west of Dixon represents the local share should Ramco-Gershenson come forth to fund a good portion of this project. Mr. Kriewall advised they are hopeful the Ramco-Gershenson project will continue to move forward, but noted that the city’s funding level represents what they would normally spend if they waited for federal funding. However, he added the problem with federal funding is that there is not enough dollars coming from the federal and state governments for these kind of projects. He continued by stating that at the time Farmington Hills was ready to improve segments of Twelve Mile Road, they were in the right place at the right time in terms of the grant funding and eligibility, and were able to parlay those funds into the widening of Twelve Mile Road. Mr. Kriewall advised the City of Novi has reached the same priority level as Farmington Hills did, but explained the funding levels are much less and the projects waiting county-wide is huge. Consequently, Mr. Kriewall reported there must be a high incident of accidents and traffic congestion to get a road project near the top of the funding list.

Councilwoman Mutch understands the improvements for Twelve Mile Road east of Novi and west of Dixon are two different road segments. Mr. Kriewall replied that it would be treated as one project.

Councilwoman Mutch understands that, but noted Novi Road is on the east and Dixon is on the west. Therefore, if they are talking about east of Novi and west of Dixon, she asked where do the two-road segments end? Mr. Nowicki replied it is actually between the two and pointed to the segments on the map.

Mr. Kriewall added the missing piece between east of Novi Road and the existing widening of Twelve Mile Road (west of Meadowbrook Road) is the segment that they have been trying to convince the Taubman Company to fund. Mr. Kriewall reported Taubman has not come forward for this improvement at this point.

Councilwoman Mutch asked what is the timetable for the Twelve Mile Road improvements? Mr. Kriewall replied Ramco-Gershenson has proposed to begin construction in 1999, but he believes because of the wetland issues that date may be moved back an additional year.

In regard to the Beck Road widening (Grand River to Ten Mile Road), Mr. Kriewall reported with the advent of the reconstruction of the Beck Road and I-96 interchange there is going to be a tremendous pressure on the city to improve Beck Road. Mr. Kriewall explained they must eventually widen Beck Road to five lanes throughout the community. However, Mr. Kriewall added their approach to this entire line up of projects is to try to visualize what they really need to do immediately over the next two or three years. He believes they need to begin to widen Beck Road from Eight Mile to Grand River Avenue and the first phase would be the widening of Beck Road from Ten Mile to Grand River to match the new MDOT interchange.

Mayor McLallen stated one of her long-term concerns about Beck Road is that it is wholly the city’s responsibility. She explained all the other roads mentioned to this point are roads under different jurisdiction and control that the City of Novi has a requirement for matching funds. Mayor McLallen understands Beck Road is a regional artery and questioned the city’s responsibility to have to bear the entire burden of servicing everyone traveling on Beck Road from surrounding communities. Mr. Kriewall replied they could wait for federal funding, but this project would fall behind improvements for Twelve Mile Road, Novi Road, and Ten Mile Road. He believes if they could get federal funding, it would be at least ten years out.

Mayor McLallen asked what can the city do to move this responsibility to a regional responsibility because the road functions as a regional road? Mr. Kriewall replied that the regional responsibilities are addressed as part of the parceling out of federal funds. However, he restated they must still get into the same funding que and compete for the same dollars as Twelve Mile, Novi and Ten Mile Roads. Mr. Kriewall added there is a sophisticated formula in place that was developed by the Road Commission.

Mayor McLallen’s point is that the townships to the north and south of Novi do not pay for road funding and they are asking Novi residents to pay so their residents can travel through Novi. Mayor McLallen believes they must find a way to change the formula.

Mr. Kriewall advised the gasoline tax and weight receipts are returned to the Road Commission and they are appropriated by a formula fraught with unfairness. Mr. Kriewall continued by stating what happens on the political agenda at the state level is that the out-state townships line up with the City of Detroit and they control the funds. He noted the formula has not been amended since 1951 (Act 51) and although they are going to attempt to amend it, the politics are just not there. Mr. Kriewall advised that metropolitan ring communities and suburban growth areas primarily pay for the majority of road improvements throughout Michigan. He restated the formula is written to the advantage of the City of Detroit, and all of the out-state townships and counties throughout the state. Mr. Kriewall advised Act 51 expires in 1999 and although he plans to lead the fight on this, there is a political problem at the state level and there is not much they can do about it tonight.

Mr. Kriewall advised the next improvement is Crescent Boulevard East (located from Grady’s American Grill to Grand River Avenue near the Country Epicure restaurant). Mr. Kriewall reported the city funded the right-of-way acquisition for this road improvement in the city’s last bond issue. Mr. Kriewall advised because they are currently feeling tremendous pressure to develop in this area, he believes they need to include this road improvement in the next road bonding issue. Mr. Kriewall believes the time has come to relocate the DPW garage and develop this area. He noted Trammel Crowe has recently optioned the property located west of the DPW site to a large office developer. Consequently, Mr. Kriewall believes they need to know what the city’s road plans are for this area. Further, he believes they need to build this segment of road within the next series of road construction projects from a tax base standpoint, from a community development standpoint, and from a traffic movement standpoint.

Mr. Kriewall reminded Council the city has commissioned several design studies over the past three to four years to determine a route for the Main Street West roadway that would travel from Novi Road to Grand River Avenue. Mr. Kriewall noted there will only be a small piece of property left once the roadway cuts through and it is their opinion, there is really no potential to fund this from a special assessment standpoint as they were able to do with the Main Street project. Mr. Kriewall believes this improvement will remove a significant amount of traffic pressure from the Grand River Avenue and Novi Road intersection. He added the improvement would also permit them to move ahead and develop the last remaining quadrant in the ring road area.

Mr. Kriewall reminded Council that the school bus drivers and other residents have continually complained about traffic signal improvements at Ten Mile and Taft Roads. Mr. Kriewall reported Mr. Nowicki believes the intersection needs a leading left turn green arrow to move more traffic through the intersection more safely and that this improvement is a fairly high priority.

Mr. Kriewall advised city-wide pavement rehabilitation projects are estimated to cost $3.5M. Mr. Nowicki added they are currently proposing to improve Village Oaks, Country Place, and the rest of Willowbrook.

Mr. Kriewall advised they have known for some time that the one mil road fund is insufficient to carry out the rehabilitation and restoration projects that the city must continually perform in the community. He noted before the Don Young Charter Amendment that prohibited special assessments for resurfacing subdivisions passed, most cities would typically assess 80% of the cost to the subdivision for the resurfacing and the city will assume 20% at large. Mr. Kriewall advised Don Young personally understood that amendment shifted the burden to the general obligation approach and general fund to make those improvements. Mr. Kriewall continued by stating Mr. Young supported the last city-wide bond issue for paving improvements because he knew when his charter amendment passed that the entire burden of resurfacing streets within the City of Novi will always be upon the general community at large. Consequently, Mr. Kriewall believes because they cannot rely one hundred percent on the one mil road fund, they need to always have some measure of pavement rehabilitation and resurfacing within the city’s bonding programs.

Mr. Kriewall reported the last two projects listed by Administration is the Delmont Drive and Dinser Drive paving. He explained they proposed this improvement for the last bond issue and Council removed it. Mr. Kriewall added they still support those projects because they are maintenance headaches for the city and it is their plan to pave what amounts to the half mile roads and mile roads throughout the community so they can spend less time maintaining gravel roads.

Mr. Kriewall advised the obvious road missing is the Ten Mile Road widening project. Mr. Kriewall explained they have assessed that project internally and it appears funding for construction of the Ten Mile Road widening is projected out to 2003. He continued by stating they would expect that the city would have to provide for the local share in the next round of bond issues, which from a phasing standpoint would occur in 2001 or 2003 for a subsequent bond issue.

Mayor McLallen understands the amount of the proposed bond should these projects be accepted will be $27M+. She further understands the money would be available for expenditure in the year 2000 for the smaller projects and 2001 to 2002 for the matching grants for the large coordinated projects; Mr. Kriewall agreed.

Mayor McLallen understands the improvements in Administration’s proposed list would start in the building season of 2000; Mr. Kriewall agreed.

Mayor McLallen understands there are other projects in need, but this funding cycle is addressing only those projects that can be share matched or constructed between funding approved by voters in the fall of 1999 and construction to occur in 2001, 2002, and 2003; Mr. Kriewall agreed.

Councilman DeRoche recalled he was one of the Council members to suggest this meeting when Administration initially came forward and presented their recommendations for a road project schedule. Councilman DeRoche explained it was frustrating to him that this Council or previous Councils did not set their own priorities. Councilman DeRoche believes Council should always have a coherent plan before them that can be changed as often as they want. Councilman DeRoche stated he believes they need to know what is a priority to Council because they are the policy making body. Councilman DeRoche hopes the focus of tonight’s meeting is that Council continues to commit to their priorities because although Administration continually makes them aware of their priorities, Council should determine the priorities as the decision making body.

In regard to the Dinser and Delmont Road improvements, Councilman DeRoche believes the top ten priorities are those projects that would be the top ten items in terms of magnitude (i.e., the largest volume of cars, the largest problems) if Council voted for a bond issue. Councilman DeRoche anticipates that Council will identify what is most important to them (i.e., Twelve Mile road segment between Meadowbrook and Novi Roads).

Mr. Kriewall advised the only road on Council’s list that is not on Administration’s list is Grand River Avenue from Haggerty to Novi Roads. He explained the reason it does not appear on their list is because they believe in the long term that Grand River should be federally funded. He further explained although they may have to wait five years, once the improvement is in the que, that 80% of the $10M will be federally funded.

Councilman DeRoche does not believe that makes the Grand River Avenue improvements any less of a priority from a policy making standpoint and that it should get accomplished at the level they think it is a priority.

Councilman Kramer does not have any significant issues with the list in terms of priority. However, he does have an issue about whether they should be in this year’s road bond funding. Councilman Kramer believes the two Grand River improvements should be removed and although he believes they are a high priority, he reminded Council there is a potential for the establishment of a DDA and federal funding. Consequently, Councilman Kramer does not think they should be in the bond at this time. He added if Ten Mile Road does not go forward until 2003, they still have a lot to go through to get to that point. Councilman Kramer advised they could remove $21.0M from the $42.0M.

Councilman Kramer stated he would like to reorient the priorities. He believes they need to first resolve the issue of five lanes versus four lane boulevards. Councilman Kramer advised he strongly favors four lane boulevards where the roads travel through residential districts (i.e., Beck Road) but noted he would support five lanes in commercial areas (i.e., Grand River or Novi Roads). Councilman Kramer restated he believes they should establish a policy before they solicit estimates for road designs.

Councilman Kramer believes there is one important element missing from the list and that is solving issues for current Novi citizens. He explained there are a group of items that are minor in nature which total to approximately three quarters of a million dollars. He explained these improvements would correct local intersection and control problems. Councilman Kramer continued by stating that fixing problems for Novi citizens should move to the top of the list.

Further, Councilman Kramer believes the city-wide pavement rehabilitation and the Civic Center parking lot should also appear on Council’s priority listing.

Mr. Kriewall understands there is a problem with mixing those kinds of improvements with road improvements. Councilman Kramer disagreed.

Councilman Kramer also believes they should also add a small project that includes sidewalks to fill in the gaps. Councilman Kramer understands these items are rather low in their total amounts, but he will work toward having them included in this year’s road program. Councilman Kramer supports the major items, but he restated he believes they need to address local issues. He added he would also support the improvement of Delmont and Dinser Roads of the amount fits within the total.

Mr. Kriewall noted that the parking lot is in the upcoming city budget.

Councilwoman Lorenzo agrees local road improvements should be their top priority and added that intersection improvements should also appear at the top of the list. Further, Councilwoman Lorenzo would also add the Delmont and Dinser Road paving and suggested they should also include the Garfield Road paving in addition to the improvements that are listed under some of the more local categories. Councilwoman Lorenzo believes these items are the real issues with Novi’s residents.

Councilwoman Lorenzo asked who is driving the Beck Road widening? Mayor McLallen replied to her knowledge they do not have anything yet. However, she explained the reality is that there is a right-of-way already designated on all of their thoroughfare plans. From a planning standpoint, the Mayor advised once the interchange is open and the volume of development that is going on in communities north of Novi as well as the intense development that is occurring south of Novi, the volumes on Beck will increase. Consequently, Mayor McLallen believes they do not want to experience the same time lag that occurred with the Haggerty Road improvements because the reality is Beck Road will not remain a country lane.

Councilwoman Lorenzo is interested in knowing what the citizens believe is important in the City of Novi and unless the citizens are telling them they are having a difficult time traveling on Beck Road, she does not see an urgency in this improvement. She continued by stating if the Beck Road improvement is being driven by development to the north and south, then why would they upset the balance of the quality of life for the citizens of Novi so that people from other communities can travel through the city faster. Councilwoman Lorenzo does not see this as Novi’s burden. Councilwoman Lorenzo would agree Beck Road is in need of a third lane for turning because of the safety issues. However, she reported she would not support a four or five lane proposal for Beck Road without the overwhelming support of the citizens of Novi.

In regard to Administration’s priority listing, Councilwoman Lorenzo would remove the Beck Road widening, Crescent Boulevard East and Main Street West. Councilwoman Lorenzo would like them to substitute these proposed improvements for all of the intersection improvements and the completion of the Garfield Road paving. Councilwoman Lorenzo does not believe they should include the Civic Center parking lot because she views it as a maintenance item that they need to budget for.

Mayor ProTem Crawford believes there are only two to three improvements on both lists that citizens have actually proposed. Consequently, he believes it is incumbent upon Council to set priorities, look into the future and plan. Mayor ProTem Crawford explained they know for certain that Beck Road will not remain a small country road. He reminded Council Beck Road is a major connector between I-96 and M-14, and therefore he believes they need to make it a priority. He agrees they need to establish a list of priorities and although they may not be able to fund some of them, they still need to establish the priorities. Mayor ProTem Crawford added he believes they need to include local projects (i.e., Delmont and Dinser) as well as larger projects (i.e., Beck Road and Grand River Avenue) in their final list of priorities.

Councilman Schmid understands the final decision will not be made this evening. However, he believes they need to include the Twelve Mile Road segment between Novi and Meadowbrook Roads because of the proposed commercial development west of Novi Road. Councilman Schmid believes they need to be innovative and construct divided highways (i.e., Beck Road) to make the roadway as attractive as possible. Further, Councilman Schmid is not convinced Ten Mile Road is a low priority on the federal and state listing. He believes the majority of Council has made a decision about Ten Mile Road (east of Meadowbrook Road) in that they do not want five lanes. Councilman Schmid would like to make a final decision within the next few months instead of waiting for a new Council or new Administration to change the decision. Councilman Schmid believes the road should be at least three lanes or possibly a four lane divided highway.

Councilman Schmid believes Administration has done a good job in prioritizing. He added he does not favor parking lots and he is not thrilled about including traffic signals because there are other means for funding them. In addition, he would like to see a break down of the one mil funds to see where the money is going and to explain why they have to add over $3.5M for the resurfacing of streets.

Councilman Schmid recalled one of Don Young’s arguments was that subdivision streets are really streets for all citizens. However in recent years, Councilman Schmid believes because subdivision streets are all becoming individual streets with no stub streets, they no longer move traffic throughout the city.

Councilman DeRoche explained he referred to the city’s Roadway Projects Prioritization Rating form created by Rod Arroyo as he selected the priorities. Councilman DeRoche reported there were thirty items for Council to rank, sixteen of which could be characterized as local turn signal or city rehab projects. Councilman DeRoche believes if the local and rehab projects were combined and appeared as one or two items, then he would have ranked them as item one or two on his prioritization list. However, by ranking the sixteen items, only one or two of the sixteen were selected. Consequently, he believes Council shared the same view by focusing on the larger projects as they prioritized them.

Councilwoman Mutch agreed the priorities were a compilation based upon individual priorities from a list of thirty. Therefore, Councilwoman Mutch believes the list of Council’s Top Ten Road Projects is not a list that Council has already determined to be the top ten. She explained if Council were to work on a top ten list again, they might not come up with the same ten items.

Councilwoman Mutch’s concerns regarding Beck Road is two fold. She agrees that unless they find some other partnership or another way to share in the funding, this improvement will carry a heavy cost that Novi will have to take on as a community. She continued by stating whether they like it or not, Beck Road connects M-14 with the new interchange and it will not just service out of town motorists that are passing through Novi. Councilwoman Mutch believes there are many residents who welcome the fact that all they have to do is travel on Ten Mile to Beck Road to easily travel south to the major employment centers that are not Novi. Consequently, Councilwoman Mutch believes the widening of Beck Road will also benefit many of Novi’s residents. Further, Councilwoman Mutch believes they must rely upon Administration’s recommendation that they should not wait until they get to the point where the interchange is constructed for people to complain about all of the traffic exiting onto Beck Road. She continued by stating they will then experience the delay of getting funding and the residents would complain that they did not plan ahead knowing this interchange was coming forward.

Councilwoman Mutch advised she lives in an area that connects to Ten Mile Road and most of the places she travels to are located on Ten Mile Road (i.e., library, school, Civic Center, churches). Consequently, improving Ten Miler Road is a great priority to her and a priority for all the residents that live in that area. Councilwoman Mutch added she does not have a particular preference in terms of the number of lanes, but believes they must listen carefully to what the funding options are. She explained if it appears they can accomplish the project at less cost to the community and improve it in a way other than keeping it as it is or making it a three lane road, then she will be very open to that.

Councilwoman Mutch believes they must improve Twelve Mile Road between Novi and Meadowbrook Roads no matter what happens in that area because this stretch is already creating major problems. Consequently, she believes it must be addressed now and the improvement does not have to be tied into anything else that happens on Twelve Mile Road.

Councilwoman Mutch believes Council can establish long term priorities and believes the list can be as specific or as general as they wish. She continued by stating they should then rely on Administrative advice as to the timing based upon funding availability and the funding cycles so if Council states these are general improvements that they want to do, she does not know why they can’t have the same sort of system that Mr. Kriewall has referred to in terms of the federal and state’s que. She explained federal and state funds are made available on the basis of how well a project rates based upon a number of factors. Therefore, Councilwoman Mutch does not understand why they can’t view their projects in the same way. She believes Council can provide a list of those projects they want to see done and then Administration can provide their recommendation based on funding cycles and Council’s priorities on a shorter term basis. She added they must also keep in mind as to how the projects fit into the overall transportation network for the city (i.e., advantageous connections, intersection improvements, traffic flow improvements).

Mayor McLallen believes it appears all of the projects have a priority depending on the individual viewpoints. However, the Mayor believes those who are in decision making positions must attempt to maximize their options. Mayor McLallen believes Council has clearly stated the local priorities as their number one goal and noted they are the least expensive projects on their list. Consequently, the Mayor believes they can deliver these projects.

Mayor McLallen believes it would be helpful to determine how does their priority list compare with the federal, state and county priority funding rankings. Mayor McLallen believes they also need to know what the time frames are for the funding cycles and determine what their potential share is in any given year. Mayor McLallen also believes they need to have more definite construction dates (i.e., CSX bridge). Mayor McLallen also believes it is time to make a funding decision about the city’s non-motorized transportation system by deciding whether this small amount of funding should be included in this bond issue. Mayor McLallen added they must decide what projects should go before the voters for funding. Mayor McLallen asked staff to bring this information back to Council so they could have a clearer picture about what they should request from the voters next fall.

Councilman DeRoche believes Council should provide Administration with their top ten priorities so they can come back with their input in terms of whether the priority is realistic. Consequently, Councilman DeRoche would like to know whether there is a consensus of Council about their priorities so when funding does become available, they will have already identified the improvements they would like to see done.

Councilwoman Mutch believes part of the problem is that they have assigned numbers to each improvement that suggests they are ranking them by importance. She suggested that Council come to some consensus as to which group of projects have top priority.

Mr. Kriewall believes the Mayor has already outlined that. He explained they will come back to Council with a subsequent report that shows the federal funding probabilities of anything on the list. He continued by stating Council has already provided their priority list. However, he continued by stating that Administration cannot necessarily support some of the priorities (i.e., Grand River) because they know the funding for that improvement may be ten years down the road.

Councilwoman Mutch advised they arrived at these priorities by reviewing a list of thirty plus projects and when they look at it in that way it is somewhat of a distorted view. She explained she agrees the Dinser and Delmont project should be on Council’s list and would support removing some of the things on the list were not on her list.

Councilman Kramer agrees in principle that Council took a broad look at things to set their priorities and believes if they redid the listing after this evening, they might get a slightly different list. However, he also thinks that is somewhat separate from what they want to move forward for a road bond program. He explained the reality will say that there may be some high or middle Council priorities that are not reasonable to fund in that time period. He agrees they have somewhat set their priorities, they have indicated the issues, and now they are back to working on that so they can come back for further discussion. He believes they have good guidelines, but he does not believe that is necessarily the definition of their road bond program. He explained they must work from these to that.

Councilman DeRoche restated Council must do it, not Administration.

Mayor ProTem Crawford believes their list of top projects may not necessarily be the same list that they go out for a road bond for. He added he would like to see Grand River improved from Haggerty to Wixom Road, but he agrees the funding may not be available for several years. However, he believes they also cannot ignore this improvement if it becomes a major problem and they may have to ask for bonding to improve certain sections of Grand River. He reminded Council Grand River is a jewel through the center of the city that provides alternate transportation routes and provides an economic base that has not been developed because of the condition of the road. Mayor ProTem Crawford believes they are discussing two different lists. He explained they are talking about a bond list and they are talking about a list of projects that they see as important.

Councilwoman Lorenzo agrees and believes there is a distinction between what the road bond may be and what the top projects may be. Councilwoman Lorenzo also favors a three lane road improvement for Ten Mile Road and would be reluctant to go to a four lane boulevard. She explained she would be concerned about displacing residents and if residents were displaced, she is concerned about the cost to the city for having to purchase property.

Councilwoman Lorenzo believes if they were to include sidewalks they would have to put some kind of a maintenance program in place during budget sessions. Councilwoman Lorenzo restated she is more inclined to support the Administrative top ten that would exclude Beck Road, Crescent Boulevard East and Main Street West.

Mr. Kriewall reminded Council they have decided to relocate Fire Station #1 to Eleven Mile Road and Crescent Drive. He explained if they want the fire station to operate properly, they must keep Crescent Drive in the upcoming bond issue.

Mayor McLallen believes there is a Council consensus and that they have given staff clear direction to bring further information back before them. Mayor McLallen reminded Council they also need to be very clear about including boulevards, trees, gutters, curbs and so forth in the financing. Further, the Mayor believes they must further pressure Oakland County to participate fully in the economic development of Novi by supporting road improvements in Novi.

Councilwoman Mutch noted that economic development on Oakland County’s web site stops at Farmington Hills and Novi is not included. Consequently, she believes it is easy to see why Novi does not get a higher priority because they are not getting the necessary political support.

Councilwoman Mutch believes when they are talking about three lanes for Ten Mile Road that they must be talking about the section between Meadowbrook and Haggerty because most of Ten Mile between Meadowbrook and Novi Road is four lanes.

Mayor McLallen reminded Council the are moving into the April budget sessions where they will probably have a clearer picture of what will go into a road bond and whether that road bond will go on the ballot in the fall

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business before City Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m.

_____________________________ ____________________________

Kathleen S. McLallen Tonni L. Bartholomew

Transcribed by:

_____________________________

Barbara Holmes