PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Girl Scout Troop #2309

ROLL CALL: Mayor Clark, Mayor ProTem Lorenzo, Council Members Bononi, Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche and Kramer

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo added Item 7 under Mayor and Council Issues Communication Gaps/Misunderstanding.

Member DeRoche asked if this was information to be talked about tonight or would it be scheduled for a future meeting? The agenda is already full and Mayor and Council Issues should be used for announcements, Council requests for information from administration or to add to a future meeting. Council Members are adding things of interest to them and presuming the entire Council wants to discuss it.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said it is in response to something in Council packets regarding the Cellular Tower.

Mayor Clark said it could be added as an item.

Member DeRoche asked if it could be added as a request for information or clarification of what was in the packet. This is not on the agenda tonight for any action.

Mayor Clark stated he understood that.

Member Kramer added Item 8, Request to refer Rental Home Inspections to the Ordinance Review Committee.

Member Bononi added Item 9, Storm Water General Permit Kick Off on March 29^th and also Item 10, Traffic condition at Ten Mile Road and the High School.

Mr. Klaver asked that Item U be deleted from the Consent Agenda, as it is part of Item 5 under Matters for Council action.

Mayor Clark read a letter received from Mr. Helwig thanking the Council for the courtesies extended to him during the interview process. He stated he was very proud to be associated with the Mayor, Members of Council and the City of Novi. He said beginning April 1^st his address would be 145 S. Glenhurst Dr., Birmingham, MI and he looked forward to the budget meeting on Saturday, April 15^th.

Mayor Clark announced that the City had concluded a contract with Mr. Helwig and the City of Novi has a new City Manager effective April 15^th.

County Commissioner Kay Schmid said Oakland County Parks and Recreation would have on the primary ballot in August a quarter mil that is a renewal mil for Parks and Recreation.

She said the Regional Chamber of Commerce wants to put an Arts Tax of a half a mil on the ballot. She has problems with the Arts Tax because it seemed that the City of Detroit is basically interested in the money of Oakland County. Macomb County and Washtenaw County will not participate. She stated she will work very hard to keep it off the ballot.

Ms. Schmid said on the Environmental Infrastructure Fund that Novi just received $192,000 from for the water main it would be on the Board Agenda for Thursday that Novi could take the full sum of the five years all at once. The exact amount for the first year would be the $192,000 and for the rest of the four years it would come down 6% each year progressively but Novi would get their money now on a big project. She said this will be passed and Council would receive it next week.

She said the State is going to give another judge to 52^nd District Court Division 1. On Thursday a resolution will be presented to the County to combine Division 1 and 2. There is only one judge in Division 2 and they have an extra courtroom.

Mr. Klaver introduced Ian Vernon to fill the open position of Grant Coordinator.

Mr. Klaver reported back on the Customer Reply Cards. Five cards had been returned to the City and were all complimentary; three of the cards were regarding Angela Moncrief commenting on how helpful and courteous she is. Also, a card was returned for Tamara Buswinka for being so helpful and knowledgeable and two cards were sent back for Officers Brown and Wuotinen who handled a potentially hazardous situation they dealt with swiftly and promptly. The employees will get a copy of these cards and a copy will be placed in their personnel files.

Mr. Klaver said the City Manager reception would be prior to the Council meeting on April 17^th.

Council agreed.

Mr. Klaver said regarding the Garfield Road situation the information requested would be back to Council on April 17^th.

Mayor Clark suggested that the information be supplied to the Garfield residents as far in advance of the April 17^th meeting as possible. Mr. Klaver stated he would follow through on that.

Mr. Klaver said the tornado siren placed on Taft Road north of Nine Mile would be moved to Thornton Creek School.

Member Kramer asked Mr. Klaver to make a recommendation on April 3^rd to hold a public hearing on April 17^th. Mr. Klaver said they would aim for that schedule.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo was concerned about how close it would be to residential homes. She was familiar with the area and felt it was important to avoid the same sensitivity issues there were with the previous location. She asked Mr. Klaver if he had found out when Mr. Nowicki and Oakland County Representatives knew they would be moving it from the original location? Mr. Klaver did not know and would report back. She said it was now going to cost the City $4,500 to relocate the pole. Mr. Klaver said she was correct. She asked if it would have cost $4,500 if it had not been preliminarily placed? Mr. Klaver did not believe so; most of the cost was for the relocation of the pole.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo was concerned with the way this situation had been handled. She thought if the installers and the Administrative Department Head went out there they would have had greater sensitivity to the location. She thought that once Mr. Klaver was aware of the situation he should have brought it back to Council. It would have saved $4,500 and a lot of concern on the part of the citizens on where it would be located. She asked that this situation be avoided in the future.

Mr. Davis advised Council that Ms. Smith-Roy was unable to be present this evening but did pass out an Ice Arena Financial Report. He said the arena was just completing a very successful winter season. They are moving into the spring/summer programming which is traditionally a tougher time in the ice arena business so the next few months would be critical. They are working with Suburban and are very comfortable with where they are today as supported by Ms. Smith-Roy’s report.

Member Csordas said he was very pleased with the condition of the arena. He said there is no question that the numbers are looking better and the condition of the facility is much improved.

Mr. Davis advised Council that the Parks and Recreation Commission has announced some special informational meetings that they will be conducting in April regarding the north Novi Master Planning process. They are looking to gain citizen input regarding the future planning, activities and development that might occur. The Commission has scheduled Saturday, April 8^th from 9 AM until noon at the Civic Center to be available to meet with the residents. Also, on April 15^th, Saturday, from 1 PM to 4 PM and again on April 13^th, Thursday, from 6:30 PM until 7:30 PM. He encouraged phone calls or written information from anyone who could not attend the meetings.

Member Kramer asked if the homeowner groups in the affected areas would be notified along with the abutting residents to consider whether a meeting should be held in the Lake Shore Park building?

Mr. Davis appreciated Member Kramer’s comments and said there would also be notifications on cable and the newspaper.

Mr. Klaver asked to amend the agenda to add an Executive Session for April 3^rd after the meeting for property acquisition.

Mr. Watson commented on the background of the Bosco case, which is currently up on appeal. This is a rezoning dispute involving property on the southwest corner of Eleven Mile and Beck Roads. A number of years ago the property owner applied for a rezoning from what is still the current zoning, RA, to R-1. It was denied by City Council. There was a request for variance to the Zoning Board of Appeals and that was denied and the case then commenced in Circuit Court. The City prevailed in Circuit Court and the case went to the Court of Appeals and is still pending there.

Mr. Watson said in the interim the Master Plan has been changed so that the density for that property is equivalent to R-1 Zoning. That does not affect the appeal because the appeal is based on the facts as they were at the time the case was tried. The property owner came to the City and asked if they would like to discuss trying to resolve the matter. It was presented to the City Council and they indicated they would. Since then there has been a series of meetings with Mr. Arroyo, J.C.K., and planners for the property owner. They are very close to having a plan they believe will meet the R.U.D. section of the Ordinance. They are getting to a point where they would like to bring a concept plan back to the City Council for input and feedback. Mr. Watson thought it would be ready to bring back to City Council in several weeks.

Mr. Watson said there is a section in the Open Meetings Act that allows matters to be discussed in Executive Session pertaining to pending litigation and in particular the settlement of pending litigation. The purpose of that provision is so that strategy or negotiation of strategy is not discussed in an open context where it could harm the position of the case. In this instance, he did not anticipate that anything that would be discussed would deal with litigation strategy. It is really presentation of a plan and it was his preference to bring it out as a regular Council agenda item. He asked if anyone on the Council had any problem with it being presented like that?

Mayor Clark said that would be consistent with Council’s policy of openness and anytime there is pending litigation that we might be able to resolve we are always willing to listen. Member Crawford concurred.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked where it fell in terms of zoning?

Mr. Watson said the proposal they have been trying to reach is a proposal that would meet all the requirements of the R.U.D. section of the Ordinance as if the property were rezoned to R-1 zoning.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said it concerned her that there is litigation over a zoning issue. She would hate to get into a situation where we have someone presenting a plan for an alternative zoning. How are we supposed to respond to that? If she felt that the zoning should be maintained in that location does she say that? Mr. Watson said absolutely.

Member Bononi said her concern was they have an applicant who wants to have a foot in each pool. From the standpoint of not rescinding a legal action and then bringing forth an application according to the appropriateness with the underlying zone, that he has a very good chance of getting, she partially understood that. She would be concerned that any comments that any Council Member might make would be interpreted as binding in any way. If she had Mr. Watson’s assurance that Council would not be bound in anyway then she would not have a problem with having it brought forward and being done with it. In this case she would concur.

Member Csordas stated he was confident that Mr. Watson would not make this recommendation at the risk of the City or this Council so he would also concur. He also liked the spirit of open communication in trying to work out something amicably rather than being in court.

David Ruyle, Mill Ct. East, complimented Mr. Klaver and the City staff on the hard work they did to find a new City Manager. He said Council was very open to the citizens of the City, they let them know what was going on, it was telecast and they did a good job.

Asa Smith, 1294 East Lake Dr., spoke to Item 5, Request to explore sources of funding and prepare RFQ for a proposed East Lake Drive Water Main Extension. He also spoke to Item U on the Consent Agenda, Request for approval of East Lake Drive Water Main Extension Engineering Services RFQ and authorization to solicit.

This project should be seriously looked at as a very critical project for the City’s water distribution system. It regards health, safety and fire protection and is of major importance.

The East Lake Drive paving project and the by-pass water loop main extension should be done at the same time and should be coordinated during construction to accommodate the north Novi residents as far as traffic, emergency vehicles, etc. He believed J.C.K. should be used because of their knowledge, familiarity and data readily available for East Lake Drive projects.

James Korte, Shawood Lake, asked that Item V of the Consent Agenda, Water Main for Austin, Maudlin, Eubank and LeMay be pulled and postponed. He said the memo from Keith Uutinen of J.C.K. stated that everything has been solved and that is just not true.

He said there are numerous things wrong with Austin and the major one is the telephone pole that is falling over because the engineers dug too close to it.

Mr. Korte said he talked with the Treasurer’s Department and for the first time they are waiting to compute the actual figures and the residents would be assessed the actual cost rather than the $6,000, in his case, which would be prorated over 30 years. He said the actual cost is $3,200.

He said Mr. Uutinen’s letters are totally misrepresenting exactly what J.C.K. has allowed them to do. He said no erosion control was used and asked what was going to be done about erosion control. He said there was diesel fuel dumped in the Shawood Canal and he asked who was going to clean it out.

Debbie Bundoff, Novi/Twelve Mile Road, asked that Council seriously look at Item 3, regarding the request from Community That Cares Coalition and unanimously approve it.

Mr. Landry was present to echo the comments of Mr. Ruyle. He was against a library bond being placed on the August ballot and felt with the uncertainty of the Sand Stone verdict Council had to be very careful about financial obligations. Personally, he thought everyone would say the roads needed to be addressed; however if Council dealt with the roads the way they dealt with the City Manager they would have everybody behind them. He thought Council should tell the public that no bond issue would come before them unless and until there is a road bond issue that is also before the public. This would show the public that Council means business on the road bond issue, they would get the public behind them and it would pass.

Tonni Nagy congratulated Council on the new City Manager and said they did a great job. She addressed Item 4 regarding the year 2000 Street Tree Purchase. She was concerned because there had been plantings throughout the City of trees that do not belong in this area and were poor specimens. There was an approval for Glenda’s Garden Center to plant over $100,000 worth of trees. She asked why the developer was not responsible for the trees and who would pay the difference between the $225 the developer pays and the $266 that Mr. Pargoff said it would cost to plant. Ms. Nagy was concerned because she did not see a tree list.

Celia Gendloff, representing other parents in attendance, urged Council to renew the grant for the after school program. She said they have a wonderful tutor, Nancy Baziuk, who gives 200% of her time for these children and their homework. Ms. Gendloff stated she and the honor students have helped her daughter significantly raise her grades.

Bryan Mitnick, Glenda’s Garden Center, was present regarding Item 4. He wanted to clarify a couple of things brought up by Ms. Nagy. There is a list of trees available and criteria they are scheduled to meet with the planting by June 1^st. There is a severe shortage of deciduous trees available and these trees are being obtained throughout the United States and they are also absorbing the surcharge for the gasoline crisis. There is a total of 1,300 trees they are providing and out of those, 30 trees are Coffee Trees and the Ginko Trees are males.

Duane Harrison said he has two children attending the after school program and it is a golden opportunity for the children in Novi to be able to attend that type of program. He is actively involved in his children’s education in Novi and there are not very many communities that can produce what this program has shown. He asked Council to support this program.

Lilly Constis stated she has three children in the after school program and her son was doing quite poorly in eighth grade and is now an A and B student in Novi High thanks to Nancy Baziuk. She gives 200% and is needed in this program. Her other two daughters are benefiting as well. She asked that Council keep this program going.

Matt Vickers stated he had one child in the after school program and wanted to echo what the other residents had said. He said Nancy Baziuk is great but there are also a lot of other really great adults and teenagers that participate in this program. He thought it was a very good opportunity for younger children to really deal with quality people of all ages and is a really good program for the community.

Pat Holt, 45459 Addington Lane, said in January she and others approached Mayor Clark about their interest in the City owned property surrounding the high school and the Civic Center. They expressed their desire to study the future needs of the high school, Civic Center and the library and to come up with a master plan to meet the needs of everyone involved. She also spoke with Member Crawford about getting the school district, library and the City to work together to study the future plans of this area. At the March 6^th Council meeting Council Member Crawford suggested a task force and she thought it needed to be acted on very quickly in light of the libraries desire to bring before the residents a library bond in August.

She felt they had to look to the Novi School District to find out what their future needs are. She said soon they would need to expand the Novi High School or build a second high school. If expansion proved to be an option for the high school they needed to have the first option on this land. She also realized that the City and the library would have future needs too. She would be the first to say she would volunteer her time and energy towards this task force study to explore what the needs would be over the next 15 to 20 years and come up with a master plan for the area.

Lisa De Meo said she also supported the after school program and felt there were wonderful people who worked in the program. She stated she had two children in the program and it has helped both of them to raise their grades. She asked Council to support this program.

Sarah Gray, 133 Maudlin, spoke regarding Consent Agenda Item V. She asked that the final pay estimate be withheld. She said there was still no resolution on 30 or 31 taps in SAD 149 and the City attorneys deemed that Mr. Lemmon was appropriate in his grant of the lot split even though it might not be buildable. She would like it withheld and resolved prior to any action being taken.

As far as the Community That Cares Coalition as a Novi resident she thought it was very important and hoped it would extend to Walled Lake, Northville and South Lyon schools.

She congratulated Council for their hard work in hiring a new City Manager. She was looking forward to Mr. Vernon and his abilities to write grants and she hoped the next choice they made for a City Clerk was just as good. She was sorry that Ms. Reutter took herself out of the running, as she would have been a good Clerk.

Mary Moller, 45460 Addington Lane, felt the after school program was one of the most worthwhile things tax dollars could be spent on and encouraged approval.

She felt a task force was a good idea and would go a long way toward seeing the whole picture and she would love to see a new library and thought it was needed. It would be a tough decision for Council to vote on the bond issue because of the timing and differentiating between wants and needs. Perhaps there is some kind of compromise that could be made both in the timing and in the substance of the proposal.

Asa Smith said this ballot issue is premature and upgrading and modernization of the present facility might be more cost effective. He thought the task force was a good idea and that perhaps expansion should be considered for the library and the City Hall.

Ken Wardroph said his son is part of the teen mentor program which is part of the after school program. He felt it was a very valuable program for the teens and the teen mentors and asked Council to renew the program.

Member Bononi removed Item V.

Member Crawford removed Item U.

That Consent Agenda Items A-T and W be approved as presented.

Approve Minutes of:

February 26, 2000, Special Meeting

February 28, 2000 Special Meeting

February 28, 2000, Regular Meeting

March 4, 2000, Special Meeting

March 6, 2000, Regular Meeting

March 8, 2000, Special Meeting

Request to schedule an Executive Session on Monday, April 3, 2000 at 6:30 PM to discuss pending litigation and attorney’s opinion.

Adoption of Resolution two and schedule a Public Hearing for April 3, 2000, for SAD 156 – Henning Street Water Main Extension

Adoption of Resolution six and schedule a Public Hearing for April 3, 2000, for SAD 152 – Shawood Walled Lake Heights Subdivision Water Main

Adoption of Resolution four and schedule a Public Hearing for April 3, 2000, for SAD 154 – Shawood Walled Lake Heights Subdivision Sanitary Sewer

Approval of Ordinance 2000-37.20, Installment Payment of Connection Charges- I Reading

Approval of Ordinance 2000-28.39, Twelve Mile Road Water Main Connection Charges-

I Reading

Approval of Ordinance 2000-28.40, North Hudson District Sanitary Sewer Connection Charges-I Reading

Approval of Ordinance 2000-28.41, Ice Arena Drive Sanitary Sewer Connection Charges

Approval of Ordinance 2000-28.21, Ice Arena Drive Water Main Connection Charges-

Approve request for renewal of Massage Business License-Linda’s Hair & More, 24079 Meadowbrook Road

Approve request for renewal of Massage Business License-Salon Nadwa, 43236 Eleven Mile Road

Award bid for trees for the Maples of Novi Project to Artistic Outdoors and Glenda’s

Request for approval of expenditures for the North end clean-up to be held on April 29, 2000

Request for approval from New Peking Express to transfer ownership of 1996 Class C liquor license with entertainment permit without dressing rooms, located at 56580 Grand River, New Hudson, from Bon-A-Rose Restaurant to 43155 Main Street

Approval of RFQ for City Attorney services and authorize the Consultant Review Committee to continue the process to solicit for such services

Award bid for Aerial equipped Fire Apparatus from American LaFrance Corporation, in the amount of $467,550

Approval of contract extension to Maged Contracting for weed cutting under same terms and conditions (1999 pricing)

Approval of contract extension to Hayball Transport, Inc. for Aggregate Materials under the same terms and conditions (1999 pricing)

Request for adoption of Street Addition Resolution and authorization to submit Mileage Certification in accordance with Act 51 of Public Act 1951, as amended

W. Approve Claims and Accounts:

Warrant No. 568

Arnold Serlin, representative for the Novi Group for the Development of Bristol Corners, stated they were asking for a variance because the Taft Road Extension dramatically changed the character of West Park Drive. It generates significantly larger volumes of traffic and there is a traffic light proposed for that intersection. He said by installing the bike path and the slope requirements for a right-of-way berm, at 4 to 1, eliminates at least two feet of height in the berm, which is needed to screen the homes that back up to the road. He said by eliminating an 800-foot section of bike path they could take the toe of the berm out to the centerline of the ditch and gain approximately four feet of height for additional screening. He asked Council to consider this.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if the homes along the proposed bike path were occupied?

Mr. Serlin said they are in the process of developing the third phase now.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if the difference could be made up on the lots themselves?

Mr. Serlin said they already have a 25-foot easement on the back of the lots that is planned for berming and grading. On their property they could do a 3 to 1 grade which would allow them to raise the berm a little higher. On the street side it is 4 to 1 and if that could be raised that would enhance the potential for the berm but requirements were 4 to 1.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked how many feet would be gained? Mr. Serlin said they would gain about four feet.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said then you would gain the four feet that you are asking Council to grant this evening by the removal of the bike path.

Mr. Serlin said that is correct.

She asked if both could be done with the slope variance? Mr. Serlin said if they had the slope variance they could increase the height of the berm. He said a couple of feet could be gained and the bike path still put in.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked that he explore that possibility.

Member Kramer said the proposal comes to Council with negative recommendations from our engineering and planning consultants. He said the engineers report indicated that placement of the increased berm within the right-of-way is not allowed. Member Kramer suggested that Mr. Serlin discuss the options with Mr. Arroyo.

Member DeRoche agreed with previous Members and felt this was one of the areas in the City that had the most pedestrian activity. Therefore, he felt a sidewalk and a bike path on both sides of the road, where planned and approved, is vital. He said he wanted to work with Mr. Serlin and offer flexibility with variances if necessary but he would be very inflexible in taking the bike paths out.

Mayor Clark concurred with the previous Council Members and appreciated the position the petitioner was in but this is a public safety issue. He could not support it because of the negative recommendations, the safety issue and the fact that he would not want Council to enter into a policy of extending private berms in public right-of-ways.

Kramer, Lorenzo

Chief Shaeffer stated he had been asked to consider police services for Novi Township. The Michigan State Police currently serve the Township. The City of Novi does provide fire protection to the Township on a contractual basis.

Chief Shaeffer said their 911 calls currently come through Novi’s Dispatch Center and are then transferred to the Michigan State Police. The State Police are generally some distance away and in times of emergency they ask for Novi P.D. assistance. Most of the calls are not of an emergency nature and he anticipated about 20 calls per year for service.

Member Csordas said the citizens of Novi are assessed 1.983 mils for Police protection and he would assume that Novi Township would pay no less then that.

Chief Shaeffer said that is correct. He asked the Finance Director to run those numbers and it would equate to approximately $15,000 a year from the Township.

Member Csordas commented he would not support anything that allowed anyone to pay a lesser amount for police protection than the residents of Novi.

Member DeRoche concurred with the previous speaker. He respects the Township of Novi and why they opted not to join the City 30 years ago, which continues to be the opinion of the majority. He struggles with it on a philosophical basis. If they do not want to be a part of our City why should they be allowed to pick the good things from our City and avoid the things they do not agree with.

Member Bononi agreed with the two previous speakers. She asked if there would be additional officers required to do this?

Chief Shaeffer said no.

Member Bononi asked how the cost would be apportioned to those people?

Mr. Watson said Novi and Novi Township would enter into a contract and the total amount would be charged and however they spread it over their citizens would be their responsibility.

Member Bononi agreed.

Member Crawford concurred with the previous speakers. He concurred very strongly with what Member DeRoche said.

Member Kramer said the service is not demand based and is not the appropriate way to look at it. He said he would look at a surcharge in addition to the $15,000 that is accrued to our citizens.

He would look favorably upon a request from the Township to join the City.

Mayor Clark concurred with Council Members.

Member Csordas asked if a clause could be included in that contract indicating that if the millage went up in the future that their portion would also go up?

Mr. Watson said he assumed that these calculations are based on that 1.9837 millage times whatever the SEV is on the Township property so Council would want some sort of escalator as the property goes up.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo accepted the friendly amendment.

Member DeRoche asked if Council was authorizing the Chief to extend Council’s interest in this and if Council would get this back before the Chief contracts on this.

Mayor Clark said that is correct. Mr. Watson can flesh out the perimeters of a contract and if the Township is interested then it would come back to Council for approval and then the Township would have to approve it.

Member DeRoche asked that a Public Hearing be scheduled for the date that Council considers the contract because it is a City service that the residents pay for and they should have an opportunity to comment.

Member Crawford thought if they wanted quality then they need to become part of a quality City. He did not think Council should piecemeal services to any other cities. In the event of an emergency, that is a different situation. He thought they needed to be a part of the City and there could be hidden costs that would equate to a lot more than the $14,900 that it took to provide police service.

Member Crawford asked if Novi Township was charged when Novi P.D. responded because the Michigan State Police were delayed?

Chief Shaeffer said there was no charge because it is part of their reciprocal agreement with the Michigan State Police. When there is a hostage or barricaded gunman situation in the City of Novi the Michigan State Police provide the Novi P.D. with a hostage rescue team, helicopter services, etc. and they do not charge our City.

Member Kramer proposed an amendment to the motion that when the contract is brought back that Council has the information on what the current practice is in regard to Dispatch fees and he would like to consider an appropriate surcharge to the calculated $14,905.

The maker of the motion agreed.

Mr. Watson said discussing this with Mr. Klaver it is not clear that the 1.9837 is all that Novi residents are paying for police services. There might be additional money coming out of the regular millage and not just the police millage. He suggested obtaining more information on what the real costs are.

Mr. Davis said they are recommending and seeking approval from Council for the continuation and renewal of the Title 5 Community That Cares Coalition Grant. He thanked the residents and supporters present.

The Grant itself is a three tier Grant and the one program talked about is the after school recreation program that is administered through the Department of Parks and Recreation. Lisa Dilg is the after school Program Director and is currently on maternity leave. Therefore, he and Marilyn Troschak would be happy to answer any questions relative to the after school component of the Grant.

He said Chief Shaeffer is present to address the other two components, which is the Sting Program for the under age alcohol and tobacco program and the D.A.R.E. Program that is taught in the Novi Schools.

Mr. Davis said this is the third year of the program. The Grant itself requires an application to be submitted through the Family Independence Agency three months prior to the actual implementation, which is July 1^st. Obviously, they would be presenting this information through the budget process also. However, at the present time they need to get this application before Council for their consideration and then submit it.

He said their Grant had gone down in Federal dollars and they have attempted to minimize the actual cost back to the City; they would not be seeking any additional monies from the General Fund. He said they could continue even on the reduced side of the Federal dollars and stay within the budget without seeking any additional monies. Again, there are summaries within the budget documentation in Council packets.

Mr. Davis said Beth Belter, Coalition that Cares Executive Director, was present to answer question regarding activities under her direction.

Member Crawford asked how other school districts participated in this program?

Mr. Davis said currently Novi School children participate in the program and Novi Schools provide transportation from the Middle School and the Meadows Upper Elementary School program. There are ongoing discussions with Walled Lake and Northville School Districts and the question is the need, willingness and participation level that is desired from those residents. Then the question is how do they get to the sites. They want to get these issues resolved by June 30^th so they are in place and ready to be advertised for implementation for the start of the new school year in September.

They had discussions with Walled Lake Schools and they were less than enthused about coming this way. Mr. Davis would like to get the residents who desire a similar program to go to their school officials and indicate that desire.

Member Crawford felt it was important to facilitate residents participation in the Walled Lake, South Lyon and Northville School Districts. They need to be encouraged to come into this program and to understand it is not just for the Novi School District.

Member Crawford said Mr. Davis suggested that he had decreased staff and sites in order to make up for the reduction in the Grant. He asked if it was a site that was important to have?

Mr. Davis said they still might be able to use the site but, as they indicated, it was a matter of staffing. They could balance out having that fourth site available but not on the same days as the other locations. It is strictly an issue of how they can reduce expenditures and live within the budgetary issues before them without increasing the General Fund.

Member Crawford asked if he had explored the possibility of some participation in the expenses by the people that use the program?

Mr. Davis said they do have some revenue dollars that are included within their projections for this years funding cycle and are basically fees that are being charged. They would continue to look at that as an option as they do with all programs and activities. If this becomes a continuous reduction of Federal dollars coming to the City it would become necessary for the Department and the Coalition to seek alternative funding sources either through private donations and grants or the option of charging a fee to participants. He said they were not charging a fee except for some miscellaneous things and special activities.

Member Crawford asked how seriously they were looking at that possibility.

Mr. Davis said it was on the table now. They felt comfortable with what they are presenting for the next funding cycle that starts July 1^st. As they review the challenges in the subsequent years they would be looked at on a more aggressive basis in consultation with the Coalition Board as far as how they are doing on Grants, private funding and things of that nature.

Member Crawford thought this was a very worthwhile program and would second the motion if it were made again. He was involved with this program early on and saw the value of it as the residents have. However, not to minimize the after school program, the City should not be in the business of being an after school baby sitter. He felt there needed to be some financial participation by the users of that program.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo concurred with much of what Member Crawford said. She appreciated the citizen input on how positive and worthwhile this program is. However, with any program or service the challenge to the Council is funding. It is not as much of an issue because most of the programs funds are Federal funds. She was disappointed that they had been forced to eliminate the fourth location. She said the question will be is the community interested enough to pay for the program if need be?

The other issue she has is the equity issue; Novi residents regardless of the school districts should be able to participate in any program that the City is offering.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo’s other concern was the D.A.R.E. program, which the City is totally funding. Once again, there are officers dedicated to drug education and she has to question whether or not that program should be funded by the schools. She said the City is stretched very thin and choices have to be made. This is an education program and obviously the school funding goes to children and she felt both of these programs are suited to schools because they have the funding that just goes to kids. They do not have the infrastructure, public safety and various departments to fund like the City does. It becomes a challenge at budget time. If this program is continued then what line item will not be able to continue. That is the challenge this evening with regard to funding. Regarding the D.A.R.E. program there have been a lot of questions about its effectiveness and the educators are better suited to answer that.

Mr. Davis said the children from the other school districts are welcome in the program it is strictly a transportation issue. There are children from Northville that come to the program by car-pooling.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked how many Detectives were dedicated to the D.A.R.E. program?

Chief Shaeffer said there were three Detectives providing D.A.R.E. in all elementary schools, middle school and the high school.

She asked if that included the previous D.A.R.E. program in addition to the Title 5 program? Chief Shaeffer said it did.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if the program was discontinued what would happen to those three Detectives?

Chief Shaeffer said they would have a lay off in the Detective rank, which would bump down into the officer rank and three officers would be laid off.

She asked if the Council had the ability to reassign those officers?

Chief Shaeffer said two of them are funded specifically for the match for the C.T.C. Grant. If Council did not fund the two officers they would have no way of paying them and they would be the two that would bump down automatically. That would bump two officers out at the bottom end. If Council chose to kill the rest of the D.A.R.E. program the last Detective would assume the rank of officer and again there would be a bump out on the bottom.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked Mr. Klaver to explain the bumping process.

Mr. Klaver said there is a provision in the contract that specifies that if there is an over staffing those officers would bump down to the lower rank and the people who would be laid off would be the least junior officers.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if they could be reassigned?

Mr. Klaver said that could be done if Council did a budget amendment to reallocate the dollars from some place.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said then there would be three additional officers patrolling the streets.

Mr. Klaver said their ranks could be changed and they could keep the same number of employees.

She said the same would be true if some other governmental entity decided to take over the costs; for example what is the total amount paid towards the three D.A.R.E officers? She said this year it is $88,972 and the cost escalates year by year and when this program started it was $73,025. She asked what the total amount of the three Detectives was?

Chief Shaeffer did not have the exact figures but it would probably be in the range of $60,000 a year per person.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said it is not only wages, benefits and so forth but also uniforms, supplies etc. is added into that. If another entity picked up this program then there could be three additional police officers on the streets. She felt the school system was in a better position from a curriculum, education and funding standpoint to support this program.

She asked what would happen if D.A.R.E. was eliminated from Title 5; would the other programs still be able to go forward?

Mr. Davis said they would not. The D.A.R.E. Officers wage and benefits are being used to leverage the Federal dollars coming from Washington. He said the $89,000 she described include additional revenues and supplies. The actual D.A.R.E.Officer amount based on wages and benefits is about $77,000. If that money is not available through this process then they lose their ability to match locally and thus jeopardize the entire grant. In turn that would eliminate the after school program and the sting operations which would cause the lay off of staff.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if the Juvenile Justice System cared who paid for the program?

Mr. Davis said it is required that it be through a municipality.

She thought there were some school districts that paid for D.A.R.E.

Ms. Belter said it varied from place to place and is all worked out from community to community. When Title 5 came up one of the qualifying elements of being able to apply was that all of the programming had to be supported by the municipality.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked supported financially or philosophically?

Ms. Belter said supported both ways so that they know that the community and the local government are in support of the programs that have been developed. All of the programs that came about were based on research of the entire community and took a lot of time to evaluate. The philosophy of the whole thing is that the Coalition is made up of a piece in part of everybody in the community and that all of those pieces play some role in supporting the program which they do. She said there are a lot of people who are supporting this program in various ways whether in kind, volunteer services, buying the stationary that is needed or buying art supplies.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked for a list of who is supporting this in various ways.

Ms. Belter said a list would not be a problem.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said she would like a letter from the Juvenile Justice Department telling Council that this has to be a specific to the D.A.R.E. program.

Ms. Belter said it did not have to be specific to the D.A.R.E. program. When this Grant was first written that was the way they chose to approach this and is the way they continued to approach it in the two years it has been approved.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said then we need to rethink the approach of appealing to the schools to fund the D.A.R.E. program. If that could be done she would support it.

Ms. Belter said that would push them back time wise because this is due April 1^st for the renewal process and if that does not happen they would not get the grant.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo was willing to support this this evening because she knew there was no obligation once the Grant was received to accept it. She strongly urged Ms. Belter to start talking to the schools and getting their financial support for the D.A.R.E. program. She asked why there were no letters from the schools or the Superintendent who support this program? When weighing this program against police and fire needs it places Council in a very difficult position.

Ms. Belter said it is also up to us as a community to educate our children it is not just the schools responsibility, which is what the Coalition is about. Our job is to educate the whole community on the substance abuse issues that we have with our children. Everybody who lives in this community is responsible to help fix that problem because every one of us has somehow contributed to that problem. It did not take over night to get where we are and it is not going to take overnight to fix it. She said if the entire community is working on this issue, schools, city, businesses, corporations, they will get to the bottom of the substance abuse issues.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo agreed.

Member Kramer said the youth of the community is very important; they are our future and our kids. The program is valuable and worthwhile and is supported by the people who use it. He said Novi has many working couples and there is little planned, supervised activity after school so he understands why this is such a valuable program.

However, this discussion is about hard dollars and what the Coalition is going to do in terms of their part of this partnership. He would not support this program in year three if there is not a commitment from the Coalition to raise at least the amount of funds that is going to be reduced in year four. To date the Coalition has not brought any hard dollars to the program. He understood they had achieved their I.R.S. classification, 501, and that is supported and enabling.

Ms. Belter said the Coalition has several fundraisers planned but as a non-profit organization there is no way she could guarantee how much funding they would be able to get.

Member Kramer wanted to set a hard goal, put a number on the wall that says the funding is going down by $25,000 next year and our goal is to raise $30,000 by next April so that administration does not have to shut down another site and the City does not have to be asked for a contribution. If they could commit to that then he could commit to the program.

Ms. Belter said there are several things planned to raise funds for the following year. There will be a Stop to Shop Drug Campaign in October which is a Michigan wide campaign for substance abuse and involves all Kroger, Bush and Farmer Jacks stores. Fortunately, Novi will probably have all three stores by then and the funding that each store obtains will be donated to the Coalition.

Member Kramer said he thought they could reach that goal and challenged Ms. Belter to do so.

Ms. Belter said she was sure they could and they would certainly go for it.

Member DeRoche concurred with Member Kramer and would support the motion to send in the filing application. He asked Ms. Belter for a specific dollar amount for next year as to what they expected from the City before this is approved at budget time.

Member Bononi thought the program and the goals sounded admirable. However, she had a problem with how the program was run. An associate taught her that the minute a grant is received start thinking about the program close out. She said this is in year three and is not funded or self-sufficiently funded and that is what she expected. To say there is a lot of support is great but the idea behind Federal funding is not to create dependant programs that rely on the community to support them. She could not support the fact that every child in this City can not attend without some hardship unless they are a Novi School District student. If I am paying for part of the Grant and my child goes to Northville Schools it is your responsibility to get every child who wishes to attend to this program.

Member Bononi said she understood from this information that they could accommodate 1,000 students. Is that correct?

Ms. Belter said there are approximately 2,000 who are eligible for the program and about 900 attend.

Member Bononi said from the funding they have asked for and the funding that is in place they can accommodate many more students. She has a big problem paying for any program that her child could not attend. She asked if they actually expected the parents to come out of work and get their children to where the program is? That is a fundamental limitation in this program that she did not think they had addressed. The fact that she had to pay for it is fundamentally unfair and it set Novi School District students apart.

She said from the standpoint of what they are doing they are accomplishing wonderful things. She thought for the record and for the benefit of the people who are watching on TV it should be made clear that we are talking about $290,475.00 which in Grant country these days is still big money. She said $187,503.00 of this is the Federal Grant and our local match has already been set as $88,972 and then the in kind of $14,000 which sounds like the biggest amount of that is coming from City donations and contributions. Member Bononi said we are in year three and we still have not made any kind of in road with regard to self-funding and she found that unacceptable.

Member Bononi thought cost per child, regardless of circumstances, needed to be addressed. If you have a family with an income of $200,000 they are getting the same services as somebody that truly needs help. There is a basic inequity in that. This information with regard to the application form gives the opportunity to look at circumstances with regard to financial need and that has not happened either. The biggest inequity here is Novi School District students only and there is no way she could support that.

Ms. Belter said they had taken surveys and the Walled Lake School District was not interested in helping with the transportation issue. All the school districts around us are struggling with their bussing issues because they do not have enough busses and are playing with the schedules. They are negotiating with Northville now and hope to have a solution by the end of June. Walled Lake has not chosen to open the dialogue any further than the 3 or 4 times we have approached them. They feel they have what the Walled Lake students need in their own school district and it is not necessary to participate in this program. However, they have not stopped pursuing Walled Lake.

Member Bononi said it was not clear whether or not the people in the other school districts are aware that the invitation is there. She would watch closely to see how this proposal came back to Council.

Mayor Clark said he was very budget conscious too. However, when getting right down to it and looking around the community and counting our assets there is nothing more important than our children. This is filling a need that the schools are not fulfilling. The real tragedy is the Federal government starts a program because they see a need and then they find that the program actually works and they want to head for the hills. He thought it was deplorable and inexcusable to do something like that when at the same time billions of dollars are given to countries that could care less about the United States. As far as he is concerned our children come first.

He thought the D.A.R.E. program was a good program. It is hard to gage which children are detoured from using drugs when police officers are doing a good job. He would hate to see any program that D.A.R.E was not a part of.

Mayor Clark said he would support it but he too had real concerns. He suggested a community wide annual fundraiser and offered his help. He said some real soul searching had to be done for next year.

Bryan Mitnick, Glenda’s Garden Center, said he has been personally travelling throughout the U.S. tagging Novi trees for bid 2B. These trees are all grade 1 trees. Glenda’s is requesting that the City of Novi participate in providing partial deposit of the $140,000 plus expense for bid 2B over 1,300 trees. He said bid 2B is actually omitted from the specifications on the street tree contracts that we were all provided.

Member Csordas said he was confident the City Forester would be sure the correct trees are planted and that they would flourish in Novi. However, he did not think it was prudent business to provide a $50,000 advance. He asked if this was part of the agreement?

Mr. Watson said not that he was aware of.

Member Csordas said typically when there is an independent contractor there are lines of credit and other ways to fund the project.

Member Crawford asked if Mr. Nowicki would address the pros and cons of this. He generally agreed with Member Csordas but there might be some extenuating circumstances to be addressed.

Mr. Nowicki said the City of Novi pays for goods and services on a unit price basis that is delivered, in place or as constructed. For example, a water main, we pay by the foot but it is in place in the ground. He said as far as he knew the City has never provided anyone a deposit or up front dollar amount in order for them to secure any type of material they needed except for a change order on a bridge. On the other hand he did see Mr. Mitnick’s position. Plant material for the last three years has been extremely scarce, competitive and very difficult to get.

Member Crawford asked why the up front $50,000 would make it any easier to obtain?

Mr. Mitnick said they do have a supply and demand issue; trees grow slower than the progress of building. Because of the supply and demand factor growers are creating their own terms, full payment up front before delivery, which has never occurred before. Mr. Mitnick said they have had to incur the total expense up front rather than upon delivery of the trees. He stated that is why they are asking the City for help.

Member Crawford asked if he had to front the whole $140,000 plus?

Mr. Mitnick said the only way they would get the trees was to pay in full up front before delivery.

Member Crawford said he understood they were not prepared to do that.

Mr. Mitnick said that is correct. They did not anticipate it would be such a burden and the growers had allowed them leeway dealing with a City bid but that is not the case now.

Member DeRoche commented he respected the position Mr. Mitnick was in. He hoped the City would work with him to verify to any bank or vender that Mr. Mitnick does have a legitimate contract with the City and that the City pays their bills. He could not support the request.

Member Kramer concurred with Member DeRoche. He said this request is cost avoidance and if it were taken into account in the bid process it might have swung the bids differently. He would not support the request. He said Mr. Mitnick could also back out of the contract and it would go out for re-bid.

Clark, Bononi

Tonni Nagy did not understand why the practice of the developers putting in their own trees is no longer a part of how the City is run? She did not think it made sense that the City has a Forestry Department and new equipment and is contracting out for the trees to be planted but the money in escrow is not sufficient. What is the Forestry Department there for?

Dave Ingmire asked if the trees were going on private or public property? He expressed concern because he had gone through two subdivisions and the City is chopping 30% of the limbs off the trees that are planted too close to the road. If they are on private property the property owners should be responsible for trimming them. He asked that someone review the process.

Mr. Klaver said a gentleman has been here for several hours regarding Item 6 and he asked Council to address this before the break since the rest of the agenda is staff issues.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said they needed a break.

Member DeRoche said the process the Committee went through was very thorough and took into account what the City’s needs were from a Risk Management concern. The Council asked the Committee to find someone that would help the City handle their risks. This not only meant insurable risks but also other inherent risks that expose the taxpayers and put City assets at risk. The City is not in a position to fund a Risk Management Department so they looked for firms that could provide outsource risk management to the City. They looked at the two largest firms globally; AON was one of them and Marsh Inc., both of Detroit. They invited in the Michigan Municipal League and their partner, which is Meadowbrook Insurance Group, which happens to be the largest Risk Manager in the State of Michigan. Also included was Arthur J. Gallagher. All the firms have employees that specialize in Risk Management for municipalities.

AON was selected based on their proposal. They brought in the Risk Manager who would be handling the account and she won them over with her beliefs in Risk Management as a philosophy that every employee, when making a decision, has to know if City assets are being put at risk. Cory Robinson was present from AON.

Member DeRoche said what the Risk Manager is being charged, initially, with following through on Council’s directive to bid insurance services for competitive pricing for this July 1^st renewal date. Secondly, it is to begin to evaluate our risks and put into place a comprehensive risk management process throughout the entire organization.

Member DeRoche thought it was important to disclose that he worked in the insurance industry and did have one client with AON, which is Lear Corporation. He said he insured many municipal clients and there is not a single broker or risk manager that the City could do business with that does not do business with his company. He said he did not have any accounts with Mr. Robinson or any of the people brought in but felt disclosure was necessary. He would give similar disclosures when brokers are brought in to recommend insurance firms. He said he would be prepared to abstain from a vote if necessary.

Member Kramer said the first task that AON would have would be the insurance quote for July so a decision should be made as soon as possible.

Member Crawford said his intention was to reconsider this and if a motion is in order to reconsider he would make that motion.

Mr. Watson thought the appropriate motion would be a motion to rescind.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo stated she would not support the motion for all of the reasons she stated at the March 6^h meeting; this is a very sensitive project and the City should have people who are professionally expertise in this area. That is why they requested an RFQ as opposed to RFP. She believed it should go out for proposals, questioned whether this is an emergency and J.C.K. should be not be allowed to do this project because it should be bid out. She would not support the motion for all of those reasons.

Member Crawford commented that no where in the motion did he say this was an emergency or that J.C.K. should be allowed to do the project. That is to be determined. His motion was to rescind the motion, which puts the issue back on the table for discussion and action.

Mayor Clark said he would support the motion. He said this has been talked about for a long time and it did not make sense to have to tear up the road and the bike path to put in the water main. The purpose of the water main is as a backup to avoid future emergencies. It is a practical approach to do something once rather than twice.

Member Bononi did not understand anything here to be of an emergency nature and yet Council seemed to be placed in a time frame where there is not too much choice in making this decision. She said there are very real concerns that J.C.K. and Associates is the firm doing this job and she thought the job should be put out for bid. Council should be looking specifically to engineering firms who have riparian experience and have a proven track record. She believed that J.C.K. was in conflict in doing this work and reviewing itself and the fact that anyone should suggest that Council should be monitoring the job of a consultant who earned over $4.2 million from this City is absurd. An emergency had not been proved but it is a matter of expediency so she would not support the motion.

Member DeRoche said on principle this should be a process that is bid out but this one is a situation he believed the wheels were set in motion for these changes to East Lake Road in years past. This was funded a long time ago and these people have waited too long and it was done without bidding out who the engineers would be for this road. We do have City Engineers and we are mid stream on this one and he did not want to wait a year to do something that Council is being advised is needed. The money is there for the roads, the City is saying a water trunk line is needed and he would support the motion.

Nays: Lorenzo, Bononi

Member Crawford asked that Mr. Nowicki and J.C.K. give Council a brief outline of the project. He said formal action is needed and he needed to know what the action is in order to facilitate the project.

Mr. Nowicki said the recommended action would be authorization for J.C.K. and Associates to prepare plans for the East Lake Drive water main. He said with respect to the overall project description Dave Potter could explain that.

Mr. Nowicki said in this budget process they are asking Council to assist them in the modeling of the City and to revisit the Master Plan for the entire water system. It is time now that plans are moving forward for the ten million-gallon water storage reservoir at 14 Mile and Haggerty, the west side service connection into Walled Lake and the proposed main paralleling Haggerty Road.

Mr. Potter, Vice President of Municipal Engineering at J.C.K., said he was previously Director of Hydraulics and Hydrology at J.C.K. and has a strong background in water system distribution design. Mr. Potter is a licensed professional engineer in Michigan with a Master Degree in Environmental Engineering, licensed as a Storm Water Operator in both storm water run off and industrial run off. He revised the Oakland County Soil Erosion Manual so when he is looking at a water main system adjacent to a lake he can guarantee experience in the area.

Mr. Potter gave a brief review of the City’s water main system and why this particular area should be of concern and interest to Council.

Mr. Potter presented an exhibit of the City’s water main system. Last year there were several key water main systems constructed in Novi. In 1995 his firm published the 1995 Water Distribution System Plan for the City. The main purpose was to try to convince Detroit that they should bring a water source to the Novi area. After 5 years of negotiations with Detroit they are bringing a 10 million gallon tank and a water booster pump station to 14 and Haggerty. One of the key issues in convincing Detroit to do this was that Novi was basically receiving 90% of its water through a 36-inch water main coming down Novi Road. It was a grave concern that if it broke Novi would be in trouble because there was no other way to get water to the middle district of Novi. A 24-inch water main was constructed and it ended up serving its purpose when one of the valves in the 36-inch got stuck shut during construction and there was a pass water main to fall back on. During the construction of Sand Stone another water main was further improved by another by-pass through Novi Road. The remaining water main that does not have a by-pass is a portion between 13 and 14-Mile Roads. If it breaks there is no way of providing service to the middle district of the community.

When Detroit constructs the booster station J.C.K. has approval from Detroit to construct a 16-inch connection. They are negotiating with Detroit the final stages of constructing a 24 inch ductile, called the west feed, and hopefully next summer they will be able to construct these two water main crossings of I-96 so that they do not have the one crossing.

This significantly improves the system reliability of Novi because of the three crossings of the freeway system and three feeds in this location.

Mr. Potter said the issue tonight is whether or not Council would like to take the opportunity now that the road reconstruction project is before them to go ahead and construct the water main there for the purpose of having a by-pass to the single feed line.

Member Kramer asked when East Lake Drive and the bike path intended to go in?

Mr. Nowicki said it was supposed to be completed last summer.

Member Kramer said the action last week was to go out for an RFQ and he wanted a definitive answer on how that would impact the ability to complete the three-phase project in 2000.

Mr. Nowicki said they hoped to complete the project this year but if they went through the RFQ there would be a series of tasks that would have to be accomplished in order to get to that point where they would get to the design.

After soliciting they would have to go through the RFQ and typically it has to be published three to four weeks. The proposals have to be sought and evaluated when received, develop short list, seek fee proposals and then everything needed to be approved by Council every step of the way. That could push back the initial beginning of the design time significantly.

Member Kramer asked Mr. Nowicki what he thought the effective date of the three-phase project by this process would be?

Mr. Nowicki said it would not be done this year and some of the underground construction would probably be done next year during the winter and then the final roadwork would not be done until 2001.

Member Kramer did not think the magnitude of the engineering contract is sufficient enough to have this three-phase project postponed for a year. He asked Mr. Potter to address his experience and expertise in the vicinity of a lake.

Mr. Potter said he has worked for the Oakland County Drain Commissioners Office for six years and one of his main functions was Soil Erosion Control Engineer. He is on the Lake Improvement Board and has worked for many lakes in Oakland County. One of the main goals of being on the Lake Improvement Board is maintaining water quality in a lake. He has met with many residents and communities to try to create and implement water quality programs. Walled Lake is one of them.

Member Kramer asked if J.C.K. has designed and built water mains adjacent to lakes anywhere else in Michigan?

Mr. Potter said they have done a lot of work in Novi next to Meadowbrook Lake and there has been numerous private lakes in the southeast quadrant. Their private group does a lot of work in many communities next to waterways.

Member Kramer asked how much of the engineering work would have to be redone if it was bid out?

Mr. Potter said if it was re-bid the engineer might not want to use the survey that J.C.K. collected for liability purposes. There would also be the question of whether or not they felt comfortable with the easement or right-of-way that is out there.

Member Kramer asked what engineering has been done to date on the water main and its relationship to the road, right-of-way and the bike path?

Mr. Potter said nothing more than utility corridors.

Member Crawford said at the last meeting there was a $54,000 Design Package and a $70,000 Construction Administration Services and testing. He asked if they needed to be addressed now because he thought the action last time was to take both these items out.

Mr. Nowicki said one of those was the Design Services and that is what they were asking for.

Member Crawford asked if it was appropriate for J.C.K. to do?

Mr. Nowicki said yes; they have been doing that all along. The other services are more of the support service for the construction end of it and so typically J.C.K. does our construction engineering services.

Member Crawford said are the two together or does that come later?

Mr. Nowicki said that would come later on. The basic service is what they need for J.C.K. to go ahead and start the design work.

To authorize J.C.K. and Associates to prepare plans for a proposed

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked for an opinion from Mr. Watson on whether there is any conflict of interest with J.C.K. doing the whole project. She thought he had given a previous opinion on this and she asked for that also.

Mr. Watson did not think so but would look into it.

Mr. Klaver said they are still trying to schedule this and offered three possible dates, which were:

April 26, May 8 and May 10.

There was consensus from Council for Monday, May 8^th at 6:30 PM.

.8. Schedule Executive Session for April 3^rd meeting.

Mr. Klaver asked to withdraw Item 8 and said they would try to schedule it on the April 17^th agenda

U. Request for approval of East Lake Drive Water Main Extension engineering Services RFQ

and authorization to solicit

This was acted on during Item 5. Mr. Watson said no further action was needed.

V. Approval of Final Pay Estimate No. 8 and Final Balancing Change Order No. 1 for SAD 149 –

Eubank Water Main Extension and SAD 151 – Austin Drive Water Main Extension

To postpone Final Pay Estimate No. 8 and Final Balancing Change

Mayor Clark thought all Council needed was an approximation of when this item might be brought back. There has been the concern expressed tonight that some of the areas where the work was done needed to be stabilized.

Mr. Potter said the items that Mr. Korte has addressed, some of the trans-settlement things, are typical and obviously items that are taken care of during the maintenance period. That is the main reason why in the City contract they have a maintenance bond for that purpose. Some times during final inspection some of these problems are not apparent and will surface later. It depends on when it rains, type of soils and the contractors and when the weather breaks these problems will be taken care of.

Member Csordas said what if the payment of the final $15,000 is authorized what forms of security does Council have to insure that they would come back and make repairs if necessary?

Mr. Potter said they have a one-year maintenance bond, which is 25% of the contract. If they do not respond accordingly we file a claim with the bonding company and they really put pressure on the contractor or they hire their own contractor to come out and finish the work.

Member Csordas commented that that would put a bigger hurt financially on them than the $15,000.

Mr. Potter said absolutely. If their bond rating is jeopardized their rates go through the roof.

Member Bononi believed there were real concerns about this completion. She said she works in the Drain Commissioner’s office and contractors walk away from bonding amounts all the time. That is the reason she asks that this payment be withheld until, at the very least, these improvements can be specified. She is still looking for a postponement until such time the taps can be determined in number and a specific listing of how these items are to be addressed is brought forward.

Mr. Potter said if Council has a better comfort level knowing that they do have some funds, there are State Laws that regulate how much a public agency can withhold. There are minimum standards for that. If that is what Council wishes they can restructure an X progress payment to reflect that and still withhold that money.

Member Bononi said that would be fine.

Member Crawford asked how long it would take for the determination of the tap fees?

Mr. Potter said on Eubank there was one additional tap that was necessary because of a lot split. The issue came up of whether the contractor would be asked to do it or not. The City retains a contractor to do these types of water service taps and it was his understanding that is what the D.P.S. and the Water Superintendent plan to do. There was an issue of whether the tap would be added to the S.A.D. and his understanding is that it would not be and that the resident would have to pay for the tap.

Member Crawford said then it has no bearing on the S.A.D. Mr. Nowicki said it did not.

Mr. Potter said on Austin there was an additional tap that showed up on the final list and it did occur. A man owned a home and had several lots and when the contractor was out doing the water main construction that is typically when they tap the steel water main. They put a steel cork in there and run a water main box out to the property line. It was a field decision to add the extra line because they did not know where this tap would occur. There were two taps that are on the assessment roll because these parcels were going to be assessed twice. There was an extra tap put in because they did not know which way the property would be split.

This has been discussed with D.P.S. and Mr. Jerome and the decision was made to do this so that once the road was restored and the lots were graded they would not be torn up again for a tap. This tap would not be charged to the S.A.D. Mr. Jerome felt that it should be a system charge.

Member Bononi asked how long the charge would be held in abeyance.

Mr. Potter said it would be a system charge and would be paid for by the System Water Fund, which is typical in situations like this.

Member Bononi said then we are paying for it. Mr. Potter said yes; it is out of the Water Fund.

Mr. Nowicki said eventually the property owner would pay for it.

Member Bononi said the restoration items still remain.

Mr. Potter said he had discussions with their inspectors and engineers that have been on this site and Austin Drive is a road that has slowly progressed to being what it is today. He did not think it could be stabilized unless it was ripped out and constructed right. It does not have a good base or drainage. As far as restoration items on the property those items will be restored when the weather breaks or through the maintenance period.

Member Bononi asked him to address the utility pole instability.

Mr. Potter said Mr. Uutinen, Director of Construction Engineering, said the pole is not crooked and he and Mr. Uutinen will look at the pole tomorrow.

Mayor Clark felt that Item 1, To support Senate Bill 781-Regional Water & Sewer Authority, should be discussed.

Member Kramer said he had a letter from Mr. Jerome on the issue stating he did not support Senate Bill 781 and he wanted to know if this was a department position on this. There was also a resolution from Birmingham that they did not support it either. He wanted to know the reason for their positions before he voted on it.

Mr. Nowicki said Mr. Jerome said this is his position with his working knowledge of what the proposals are and what the Senate Bill is. Mr. Nowicki suggested that representatives from Oakland County and Detroit provide Council with a short presentation on this subject. He said there are some positives and some negatives on both sides.

Mayor Clark agreed with Mr. Nowicki.

Member Bononi said she talked with David Fisher in Mayor Archer’s office and Mayor Archer already has his plan in place as a result of his identification of critical items that have to be accomplished. She said this Bill brings up a lot of questions about timing, what plan is attached to hit, cost, would it be effective, what guarantees are there, etc. She would not want to take action until she knew how this would impact Novi.

Member Bononi announced a kick off for the Storm Water General Permit in Novi on Wednesday, March 29^th at 7 PM. There will be a presentation from Dr. Don Tilton of Tilton and Associates about the Rouge River Restoration and protection project. There will be an interactive session for all interested, discussion and question and answer period. She asked that Mr. Klaver be asked to give any kind of support and coordination support to the people who are doing this under Mr. Nowicki to include other Novi Departments.

Member Crawford said this was brought forward to try and eliminate some of the problems with tornado sirens, Garfield Road mitigation, etc. His intent is to notify as many people as Council deems necessary of the adjacent property owners, commercial or residential, of something going on. This would be in addition to what is already required in the Ordinance. He asked for Council consensus to move forward with this so he and Mr. Watson could come up with proposed language. There was Council consensus.

Lorenzo

Dave Ingmire said Mr. Watson was given the opportunity to respond to his questions and he would like that to remain open rather than take up their time. Mr. Watson agreed.

Mr. Ingmire said the building season is coming up and he has depended on the Police Department in the past to force contractors to provide traffic control devices around the City. He requested that all contractors, this year, be notified that if they are not providing traffic control and traffic control devices their jobs would be shut down.

Regarding the J.C.K. work he thought it was bad policy to have a firm design something, construct it and do the quality control. He thought someone else should do the quality control if they are engineering and constructing a water main.

To adjourn the meeting at 12:05 AM.

Richard J. Clark, Mayor Nancy Reutter, Deputy City Clerk

Transcribed by: ______________________________

Charlene Mc Lean

Date approved: April 3, 2000