Mayor Clark called the meeting to order 9:15 PM.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CUB SCOUT PACK 54-DEN 7

Mayor Clark presented Citizen Activity Badges to Cub Scouts Gordy Hao, James Lang, Benjamin Maynard, Anthony Minissale, Evan Reynolds, Jacob Riedel, KevIn Slawinski, Ian Young and Alex Zabinski.

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

Mrs. Cornelius, City Clerk, requested that Item 21, Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make an offer to purchase real estate to Twelve Mile and other Roadway Improvements Project (SAD 155); Deborah Bundoff, be removed from the agenda per Ms. Bundoff’s request.

Mayor Clark asked if that was a problem. Mr. Fisher said yes, we are on a very tight time schedule to acquire these properties and the action this evening was not an action to move forward and take property. The purpose of this action was to authorize the extension of an offer, which would not jeopardize anyone’s property interest whether present or not.

Member Kramer asked that # 8 & 9 under Matters for Council Action – Part I be reversed.

Also, add under Mayor and Council Issues #1, Joint meeting with Farmington Hills, #2 Kreiger letter follow-up.

Member Crawford added Item #26, appointment of Council Representative to the Cable Commission under Matters for Council Action – Part II.

Member DeRoche scheduled under Mayor and Council Issues, #3 Tower Automotive – possibility of rescheduling to a later date.

Mayor Clark presented to Member Crawford a Proclamation of Congratulations with pleasure for his 15 years of faithful service to Novi and with sadness that he would be leaving his position as Council Member for his new position as the Oakland County Commissioner of the 17^th District.

State Representative Nancy Cassis reflected on Member Crawford’s service over the last 15 years. She noted that during Member Crawford’s first campaign, his slogan was not wanting to be a part of the problem but wanting to be a part of the solution. Truly he had done just that.

State Representative Cassis presented a special tribute to Member Crawford from the House of Representatives signed by Senator Bullard, herself and Governor Engler. She read a portion of the tribute, which was "Hugh Crawford has helped mold Novi into the renowned place that it is today through his work on the Community Education Advisory Council, the Town Center Steering Committee, Parks and Recreation Committee along with many others. He has used all these experiences and leadership skills to shape Novi. At our time in our history in which local officials face many challenges and changes Hugh Crawford has responded with energy, common sense and a heartfelt concern for the residents, businesses and institutions of Novi. We know you are ready to move onto the challenges that are before you and we look forward, Hugh, to working with you just as much as we have all these years."

Member Crawford read, for the audience, the letter of resignation he had given to Council and thanked everyone for their service to the City and said he was looking forward to taking our message to Oakland County.

Congressman Knollenberg presented Mr. Hurley with a China Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia Clasp, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, Philippine Presidential Citation and the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with two silver and two bronze stars. Also, awarded were the European/African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the American Campaign Medal and the Honorable Service Lapel Pin.

Mr. Hurley was in the U.S. Navy and went through the Great Lakes Training Center and was commissioned to the U.S.S. Bell, a destroyer, made a passage to England with troops and then was diverted to the Pacific. Mr. Hurley first saw action in the Solomon’s continued thereafter to see action until the end of the war on a regular basis.

Mayor Clark commended these gentlemen because what we enjoy today, tonight and everyday was because of their sacrifice for us.

Congressman Knollenberg congratulated Member Crawford and wished him well in his new position.

Mayor Clark reconvened the special meeting of Council interviews back to order at 8:40 PM.

Sarah Gray, 133 Maudlin, asked what the final assessment would be and why there was a difference of $8,000 between the $111,000 cost in 1998 and the $119,000 being shown as the cost now?

The Public Hearing was closed.

Ms. Smith-Roy said the additional costs were related to the engineering fees because they had to reformat the bid so that it would go with another project. There were also a few miscellaneous costs related to right-of-way issues so the actual costs did come to $119,000. Mayor Clark said this project had, however, come in significantly below the original cost estimate. Ms. Smith-Roy said that was primarily due to the fact it was added to a much larger project.

2. Public Hearing on Special Assessment District (SAD) 151 Austin Street

Water Main

Jim Korte, Shawood Lake, stated he had five properties in this SAD. He had commented prior to this evening that the assessor’s roll was incorrect and was shocked when he received information regarding this in the mail that the 47 taps had become 44 taps. After questioning that, he found there were two taps within one sidwell number and so the number should be 46 taps. He had two phone calls regarding this and was promised that the information would be correct in the Council packets, however,on exhibit A, it was still incorrect. He thought the water main had to be put on Austin from Old Novi Road, under the berm to South Lake.

He commented he had filed a complaint with the Clerk’s office and would be at the Michigan Tax Tribunal. Three of his properties had not been replaced to the condition they were when this was started. In a letter of March 16^th, Mr. Nowicki made comments about a tree base that was destroyed at 2211. The insurance company refused to take the claim. A March 10^th letter from JCK said this had all been addressed and it had not, it had not been restored and he would not suffer any of the financial, therefore, he would not pay the bill. He said at 2030 Austin the asphalt had to be redone twice and it was now in a bigger mess than it was the first time it was repaired. There was still a piece of broken concrete holding the gate shut because the latch had never been properly installed. The front driveway of 2022 where a slab of cement had to be replaced was acceptable, but he had to move in the gravel so his garage would not flood. He asked if they were being charged for the things that had to be redone because they did not do them right? Were they charged for the six times they had to redo the side of the road because it was not done right five times?

Ms. Smith-Roy said the financial issues had all been addressed and they were very comfortable with the dollar amounts that were presented. In terms of the construction issues, the contract had been closed; she wanted to defer those to Mr. Nowicki through the complaint process.

Regarding changing Attachment A, that legal description came out with the first resolution and she asked Mr. Fisher to answer the question.

Mr. Fisher said the exhibit and the description was intended to provide notice in connection with the establishment of the assessment district rather than for the purpose of describing the project after the fact. His assumption was that there was an as-built plan that described the project as it had been built and would be the key document to be relied upon for the project description rather than the exhibit that was intended to described the planned financing of the project.

Mr. Potter, JCK, said Mr. Fisher was correct and the final estimate and balance in change order did reflect the final quantities on the plan so if Council wanted that description revised it was a simple process.

The Public Hearing was closed.

REPORTS

1. CITY MANAGER - Snow Emergency (Basic Services and High Expectations)

Mr. Helwig noted the Snow Emergency Ordinance had been activated twice last week. He said he was very proud of our people and how they performed with the resources they had. They worked numerous hours and yet we could do better. He commented that the Road Commission of Oakland County did not serve us well. They did not service Grand River for 20 hours and it was unacceptable. However, a winter maintenance service agreement could be entered into with the Road Commission, which would provide a higher level of service, more control over the allocation of resources and their deployment. There would be reimbursement of a fixed rate per lane mile on the County Roads serviced regardless of how much service the local community had to provide. He asked that Council allow to pursue a proposal regarding this to be presented to Council on January 8^th. This proposal would allow Novi to experiment for the remainder of the winter with this proposal, as it would pertain to Novi Road, Grand River and Ten Mile Road. The County would still service Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen Mile Roads and the perimeter roads of Haggerty and Napier. He anticipated it would be a money loser for the City but a benefit for the residents. He felt equipment would have to be leased because there was only one of the larger vehicles in our fleet of 13 trucks. Mr. Nowicki was researching costs on that. He asked for Council authorization to pursue these options.

CM-00-12-413 Moved by Lorenzo, seconded by Crawford: CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY:

To support the exploration of an Oakland County Road Commission maintenance agreement.

DISCUSSION

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo was outraged with the lack of service and thought it was time they found out who the road commission was accountable to and who Mr. Bair was accountable to. The County Commissioners appointed the Road Commission members to six-year terms and she felt it should be three-year terms and Council needed to talk with legislators. She felt the community at large needed to contact these people and demand they get what their taxes paid for. She supported Mr. Helwig’s request.

Member DeRoche concurred with the previous speaker.

Member Bononi hoped that Mr. Helwig would also provide Council with a definition of what was an acceptable level of service to the community was regarding response times for different levels of storm events.

Mayor Clark concurred with comments made. He commended the City employees and said a lot of the men working during the storm worked 16 hours straight without stopping. When there is that kind of dedication, it said something about their commitment to our City and the fact that they wanted to do the best job possible with the resources available. He thought with the snowfall we had, they had done an outstanding job.

Member Kramer also supported Mr. Helwig’s request.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-413 Yeas: Bononi, Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche, Kramer,

Clark, Lorenzo

Nays: None

2. DEPARTMENT REPORTS - None

3. ATTORNEY

Mr. Fisher said regarding the SAD 155 project, there were ten items on the agenda this evening, #15 through #23 that were intended to provide funding and improvement of Twelve Mile Road. This would be privately financed and was not part of the road bond. The documentation would be tweaked and in final form before it went out.

Sarah Gray, 133 Maudlin, commented some fire hydrants in her area were buried by snow and she would e-mail Mr. Helwig about this. She was disappointed that no one represented the City, or from JCK to represent the City, to protect the wetland along the Shawood Canal during the DNR Public Hearing on December 8^th. Also, she felt when the City made arrangements with an outside governmental body, they should notify the residents in the area even though the DEQ would publish a notice.

Jim Korte, Shawood Lake, felt it was unacceptable that no one was at the DEQ Hearing from the City. He informed Council that snow was dumped at 2211 Austin on the same 40 ft. tree that was 16-18 feet in diameter and that the water main people decided to tear up and it was on his property. It also blocked his entry to the garage.

Keith Tappan, representing the Novi Chamber of Commerce, stated 10 years ago he wanted Blair Bowman to take over the Novi Expo Project. He has done an excellent job with the Expo Center and felt the relocation and tax abatement were a win/win situation for everyone.

Paul Sherbeck, Simmons Orchard Subdivision, commented he appreciated the Mayor’s commitment to citizen participation during Council meetings. He felt that concerning tax abatement and the Novi Expo Center. the citizens had not been told the whole story. He asked why they had not been told about the rest area; it was not in the application but was in the fine print of the legal description. It might appear to reasonable citizens there was a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. He asked what other facts were withheld and was there a plan to later increase the boundaries of the Industrial Development District and would there be a district north of I-96? He asked if there was a plan for a district bounded by Grand River on the north, Eleven Mile on the south and east of Beck? Some of these properties have had zoning changed from RM-1 to OS-1 during the same time abatements had been considered. One change indicated in the June 19, 2000 Council minutes was carried out as part of a Consent Agenda. He asked if this unusual rezoning was a part of a sweetheart deal with a developer? He asked that Council vote down the proposed development district and replace it with a policy of reducing taxes for everyone at the local level and working to reduce taxes at the State level.

Bud Scott, Chairman of the EDC of the Novi Chamber of Commerce, reiterated the Chambers support for the Novi Expo Center and urged Council to keep them in Novi. The economic benefit the Center brought into the City was very important to the business community as a whole. The hotels, restaurants, retail stores all benefited from these dollars.

Lou Martin, represented Providence Hospital and Medical Center, was present to show Providence Hospital’s support in the Expo Centers bid to move into an Industrial rezoned area and subsequent tax abatement. They were in favor of granting the abatement and felt it was a unique opportunity with a unique business. He asked that Council accept the Expo Center’s application and tax abatement.

James Chen, Main Street Development, spoke on behalf of rezoning request along the Trans – X Drive. He supported residential zoning but reminded Council that Market Street was intended to extend to Trans X Drive in order to have traffic circulation.

Joe Evangelista, owner of property on Trans X, offered Mr. Chen that he would pay his half to come through and do what he had wanted to do and he did not want to do it at the time. He said now he had the deal sold and was working with the Planning Board and every time he wanted to build something there he was told no they wanted something different. They wanted to put it into the Master Plan with the Town Center theory. He had not seen a city that could have a downtown district without the density. He did not appreciate Mr. Chen saying this did not follow the Master Plan. Mr. Evangelista had never been approached on the Master Plan and now he wants someone else to pay for it and that is not right.

A. Approve Minutes of:

1. November 27, 2000, Regular Meeting
2. December 4, 2000, Regular Meeting

2. Approval of Final Pay Estimate No. 9 and Final Balancing Change Order No 3 for the Novi Commerce Sanitary Sewer Project.
3. Approval of East Lake Drive Right-of-Way License Agreements.
4. Award Bid for a T-Shirt Contract to All Star Graphics, based on unit pricing.
5. Award Bid for Playground Equipment/Lakeshore Park to Engan, Tooley, Doyle l& Assoc, in the amount of $36,750 (Community Development Block Grant Funds).
6. Award Bid for Lakeshore Park Restroom Building to Cates Carpentry in the amount of $85,216.00 (Community Development Block Grant Funds).
7. Award Bid for Smart Trailer to Kustom Signals, low bidder, in the amount of $9,770.
8. Approval of Bid Award for In-Car Video System to Mobile Vision, low bidder, in the amount of $74,490.
9. Approval of Bid for Assessment Center/Sergeant to Empco, in the amount of $16,900.

J. Approval of claims and accounts: Warrant No. 587

Blair Bowman, 43700 Expo Center Dr., represented the Expo Center Inc., and offered to answer any questions Council might have on this item.

Mayor Clark said a letter of support for Mr. Bowman and the proposed project had been received from Holly Diamond, Campus director of Welsh College and also from the Glen Healey, president of the Sports Club.

Member Csordas asked Mr. Bowman to discuss the rest area situation.

Mr. Bowman showed an overhead of the rest area property along I-96 and said the area that was un-hashed in the district description was under their control either by ownership or binding contract in a private sector manner. The hashed area is the State owned rest area and is currently active in operation. He said they had received, after the first public hearing, contracts from the State of Michigan for the rest area and they had executed those contracts, provided the proper deposit and sent them back to the State. They also provided Council with a legal description of the property they controlled and received from the State the property they were willing to sell. This was an excess piece of property and the existing ramps of the rest area would conflict with the new ramps of the Beck Road Interchange and it would be closed in any event.

Member Csordas asked if they would own the hashed area in the future? Mr. Bowman said yes, the property consisted of nine acres and the State reserved an additional 50 feet for future lanes and there would be a little bit of a carve out in what would be a Conservation Easement situation of some of the nicer trees off the expressway. Member Csordas asked if they were seeking a tax abatement on that property? Mr. Bowman said it would be placed on the roles and not abated.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo would not support the motion because the only tax abatement policy she would support was one with a very high threshold and one that would be cautious. Unfortunately, the tax abatement policy approved by a majority of this Council allowed practically any developer to request tax abatement. She saw this as a policy issue and a land use issue for the City. She did not think that a $12 million investment and the taxes generated by that should be considered for abatement. She felt the tax abatement policy should be closer to the Troy policy. Troy’s policy requires a $40 million investment, 500 jobs and that the business would be eligible for a MEGA grant. She said because the threshold was so low, on what basis did the Council plan on denying abatements to any number of investors, etc.? What would Council say to the next OST person who wants their abatement too? She felt it was a question of fairness and consistency. Novi Research Park made a larger investment and pay $37,996.09 in taxes per year and they did not ask for abatement. They invested in this City. She felt OST was ready to come to Novi without abatement. These properties were designated because we wanted the high tax revenue and then we cut them in half. She would not consider any one under $40 million. She asked Mr. Fisher if Council had to act in a fair and reasonable and consistent manner with tax abatements or could Council say yes to Mr. Bowman and no to Mr. OST when he comes in?

Mr. Fisher said as a government entity they had to act fairly and rationally. Properties could be treated differently but there had to be a rational basis for distinguishing. He said the facts and circumstances would have to be looked at between different cases and judgements would have to be made and if unfair or inconsistent, there could be litigation

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo felt the question before Council was premature. She thanked Mr. Mutch for bringing to the Council’s attention the fine language in the Act that established the abatements and how much authority the State Tax Commission had in the whole process. She wanted more information on what kind of development this location would attract, how much more traffic and what would the impact would be on Taft Road. She asked who it would serve and who would it benefit? She asked Mr. Fisher if what they were doing was unorthodox with regard to the zoning question not being addressed?

Mr. Fisher responded that the City would have to clarify in the issuance of the Industrial Development Certificate so that everyone understood zoning was a separate issue. It is a public hearing before the Planning Commission and then a recommendation back to City Council. Then the public has full input on the zoning issue and it was a different set of circumstances that was considered. He did not think it was unorthodox but it had to be clear that they were separate issues.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if they had the language of the resolution before them?

Mr. Fisher said the language in the Resolution indicated that if Council saw fit to adopt it, that if the district was established, the City would consider an application for issuance of an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate relative to industrial property. The operative language was "Industrial property". In order to place Industrial property on this land a rezoning would be required. The more detailed language would be in the next resolution approving an Industrial Development Certificate and that was where it had to be clear that there was a separate and distinct hurdle to be mounted with regard to zoning.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked isn’t the City Council by doing that giving the perception to the public that the rezoning question is really mute. Mr. Fisher said there was the potential appearance but it was our burden to clarify that they were separate issues.

Mr. Helwig said in terms of being sensitive to how we conduct our business and the order and process of things, in his experience, it was quite common for a community to set up an enterprise zone and go through the process we are going through now. Then the individual rezoning and projects come along. It was not unusual to have a project, which stimulated the creation of the enterprise zone larger than what that one project would entail. That was usually what brought the notion to the attention of a city government. It was not unorthodox, in his opinion, or unusual to go through this step of the process before rezoning started to come in with individual projects.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if in the communities he had served before was the language and authority so vested in the State Tax Commission and not in the municipality he was in?

Mr. Helwig said that was a different twist. To be at this stage considering a district or enterprise zone was not unusual.

Member Kramer said there was a time to study and to act. He felt a lot was lost when Textron was delayed and they walked. This City lost $700,000 a year, a beautiful campus development, re-paving Meadowbrook Road and a corporate citizen. We have to conduct business, as business needed to be conducted and to do what we have to in order to be prepared. We spent months developing a policy and agreed as a Council to a policy that would be applied to proposals. We now need to apply this policy. He felt good things were created when the Expo Center came to Novi and now it would give the area an economic benefit and would pave Grand River. He was ready to step up and do what was right, to handle this appropriately and move forward.

Member Bononi said two planners she discussed this with both asked the same question. Do you want this project? She commented that yes she wanted the project because it was better placed where proposed than where it is now. However, in looking at the Resolution establishing the Industrial Development District the thing that became most important was the paragraph toward the bottom of Page 1 that said "the attraction of an exceptional project to the City without creating high demand for City services and City funded infrastructure improvements." She had concerns about not only the tax abatement but also the additional extraneous costs that had not been addressed and if only left with a situation considered a defacto zoning she did not know when the costs would be addressed. She asked Mr. Fisher with regard to any and all traffic controls serving this site, who would pay for them?

Mr. Fisher said if the traffic control was part of the site plan the developer would pay it for. If the improvement becomes a greater distance from the site the likelihood that the developer would pay for it dwindles. However, there could be negotiations with the developer so they pick up that type of cost. Grand River is a County road and we would have the county pay for it or it would not be done or it would be a part of a grant project or some of the funding that had been contemplated in connection with this project.

Member Bononi said in most cases there would still be a local participation in that funding? Mr. Fisher said that does happen. Member Bononi asked who would pay for storm water capacity to accommodate this site if we were not talking about a situation where it was possible or offered by the applicant to provide an extensive metered on-site detention system?

Mr. Fisher’s assumption was that if a site plan was presented for this type of construction the burden would be on the developer to contain the water on site unless some offsite facility was available and the developer would participate financially on that off-site. That does not take into consideration road drainage, which would go into the category of the Oakland County Road Commission.

Member Bononi asked if participation in such an off-site situation would be voluntary on the part of the applicant? Mr. Fisher said if the drainage went into the city’s regional system he believed if there was a cross arrangement structured, that the developer would pay a portion of the capital costs that had been advanced for it.

Member Bononi asked who would pay for road improvements such as a Taft Road improvement? Mr. Fisher responded it would not be an SAD arrangement unless something similar to what was on Twelve Mile Road for Fountain Walk could be developed. For City owned roads it would be a City burden. She said in the event those SAD payments were not paid, the responsibility for repayment rested with the full faith and credit with the City of Novi.

Mr. Fisher said that was correct. Member Bononi said there were many auxiliary, ancillary or unknown costs that we do not know about that and she believed the City would have the responsibility to provide and the applicant would have the opportunity to participate in them or refuse. She was concerned for the citizens of Novi that they might have to foot the bill for all of these unidentified costs. Also of concern was the nature of events to be held in the facility particularly if the City was to help subsidize taxation. She expressed concern about lapses in judgement and the effect they have on the community. She had reservations about the benefit often claimed would go to the applicant and other businesses that serve that business.

Competition and job rate was also a concern. She asked where employees would come from, where would they live and could they afford to live in Novi. There was concern about traffic and all of the social considerations and what those costs would be. She felt the Resolution made presumptions that she was not willing to answer. In her discussions with as many Novi residents as possible regarding tax abatement so far she had only one approval.

Mayor Clark concurred with Member Kramer and respected the opinions of other members. He asked if they thought the $700,000 from Textron would have bought some snow removal equipment? When their abatement was up their tax bill would have been in excess of $1 million a year to the City. The more taxes generated from Commercial, Industrial and High Tech property meant $1.00 less that had to be looked for from the residents and every dollar lost had to be picked up by the residents. That $700,000 would have been enough to pay off the deficit on the Ice Arena twice. We have to look to the future and live in the world we are in now. We are in a global economy and we either compete or the future will run right over us. We have a policy and it would be applied fairly to every applicant that came forward. No one would be treated differently or receive special treatment. There are no hidden or backroom deals. There is open and honest government; that is what the community deserved and it was what they would get. We know that the State entered into a contract to sell the rest area to Mr. Bowman as part of this proposed project. That property generates not one dime to this City but if Mr. Bowman becomes the owner of the property and it becomes part of the Expo Center it would and would benefit every resident. The property, even after abatement, would generate more tax revenue than it did now. The State of Michigan would contribute $5 million to upgrade a substantial portion of Grand River to five lanes.

Mayor Clark said there is this pension to bash the business community. These are the same people who make up our Rotary, Lions Club and contribute to various charities in our community and live in our community and are our neighbors. He thought this project made eminent sense for every resident of this City and for Mr. Bowman and he would support it.

Member DeRoche did not feel the floodgates would be opened because he had a strong aversion to tax abatement and had a clear philosophy on them. He was still opposed to the policy because he felt that everyone should be treated differently. He thought that the Novi Expo Center should be talking to Council and they should be treated differently because there are no situations where they are exactly the same. Everyone should be judged on their own merits and what they bring forward. He said most of his opposition to abatement was that everyone should pay the same rate and therefore reduce the taxes for everybody. He opposed the MEGA Law of 1995 because it allowed for an 8 member appointed board to set policy interpreting a State Statute that was inflexible and created a huge burden for the City to provide flexibility for these businesses. His opposition remained but he would support the Resolution and the tax abatement for the Novi Expo Center was because it was a good business decision for the City of Novi. He concurred with Mayor Clark that this proposition had a lot of merit.

Mayor Clark asked Mr. Bowman if he understood that depending what further action was contemplated on January 8^th he would still have to go through the rezoning process? Mr. Bowman said yes it was and they had many other processes to go through and he thought that would be where Council would have a tremendous input and protection and public input to come.

Mayor Clark stated Item #3 should be:

Member DeRoche had asked Council to reconsider the Matter for Council Action – Part 1, #5 from the meeting of November 27, 2000. It was not placed on the December 4^th meeting and Council issued the opinion that rather then reconsidering it, which Member DeRoche asked for, since a meeting had elapsed Council should vote to rescind the previous motion and then vote on the actual motion itself again. Mr. Fisher said that was correct. Member DeRoche did this because of the discussion initiated by Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo, which he agreed with, and continued to agree with that the City administration should evaluate the value of City property prior to vacation. Member DeRoche evaluated this situation himself and came to the conclusion that any value the City would get on this would be so nominal it would not be worth holding the petitioner up. He felt the City would get enough of a benefit by having the area developed in the manner they wanted and maintaining the distance for possible expansion of the road and getting that area onto the tax rolls.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo would not support the motion because she would have appreciated the information coming from the staff as to what the value would be and secondly what the value was to the applicant. This applicant wanted the property and it should have been negotiated and they would have given something for it. She would not give up $1.00 to anyone else that should be in the City’s bankbook.

Member Kramer asked that the need to develop a policy in regard to City property be put on the agenda. He felt right-of-way might end up with different consideration than intact pieces of property. The trade off here was the practically of a small slice of property that we would own and the maintenance and liability of that property versus the tax received from it. He would support the motion.

Member Bononi concurred with Member Kramer and suggested including in any such policy study the results of road realignments and how they tend to bring these newly created unusable areas and look at those areas during the course of those alignments.

Mayor Clark supported the motion and commented he had always been an advocate of the City getting its due. However, he was also a realist and a pragmatist and if we have to spend $5.00 to get $1.00 it is not practical. Negotiation was not done in a vacuum and was not done for free and in this instance the land generated nothing to the taxpayers, had potential liabilities that could be costly so it made sense be rid of the liabilities and put it on the tax rolls so everyone would benefit. He also supported a consistent citywide policy regarding this.

Mr. Fisher endorsed pursuing a policy on this and had some legal input to provide to the study.

Member Kramer asked that the City provide Mrs. Gray the financial answer to her questions.

5. Approval of Supplemental Resolution #7 for Special Assessment District (SAD) #151

Austin Street Water Main.

CM-00-12-420 Moved by Csordas, seconded by Bononi; CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY:

To approve Supplemental Resolution #7 for Special Assessment

District (SAD) #151 Austin Street Water Main.

DISCUSSION

Member Kramer asked Mr. Fisher if Mr. Korte’s dissatisfaction with the completion of the job and his intent to take it to the Tax Tribunal was an appropriate process and was there anything Council needed to address within this motion?

Mr. Fisher said these were actually separate matters. The completion of the project was not part of the SAD establishment.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-420 Yeas: Clark, Lorenzo, Bononi, Crawford, Csordas,

DeRoche, Kramer

Nays: None

6. Request for approval of Zoning Map Amendment 18.591 B from Singh Development to

rezone 9.7 acres in Section 23, north of Trans-X Drive and east of Novi Road from

Light Industrial District (I-1) and General Industrial District (I-2) to High Density, Mid

Rise Multiple-family Residential Districts (RM-2) or any other appropriate zoning

district.

Mr. Galvin said tonight Council was faced with was the ability to provide a residential component in the Town Center Area. The City Visioning Committee had recommended the City have additional residential in this area and plans for this area have historically included a more intense residential use. The City Consultants, the Planning Commission and the Town Center Study Committee had recommended approval. Therefore, he was asking that Council approve this rezoning request.

Member Csordas stated this was a very productive zoning change and made sense. He agreed that the success of Main Street was contingent upon residential surrounding the area.

CM-00-12-421 Moved by Csordas, seconded by Kramer; MOTION CARRIED:

To approve Zoning Map Amendment 18.591B from Singh Development

to rezone 9.7 acres in Section 23, north of Trans-X Drive and east of

Novi Road from Light Industrial (I-1) and General Industrial District (I-2)

to High Density, Mid Rise Multiple-Family Residential Districts (RM-2)

or any other appropriate zoning district.

DISCUSSION

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked Mr. Arroyo what allowed higher density RM-2 or TC-1? Mr. Arroyo said RM-2. He also explained what uses would be allowed. She also asked him to address the traffic concerns. Mr. Arroyo said this property had the ability to have access from more than one location because it provided for multiple ways in and out.

She asked Mike Kahm if he had any intention or if it was feasible to connect the roadways beyond Potomac from Phase I and II. Mr. Kahm said no because it was across a regulated wetland. She appreciated Mr. Chen’s concerns but unfortunately if the two parties could not agree there was nothing Council could do about the land use issue. She would support the motion because she felt this piece of property could use this type of development.

Member Bononi asked what the historic use of the parcel had been? Mr. Evangelista said it had been used as a construction yard. She asked if there had ever been buildings on the site and what their uses were? He said there were none to his knowledge. She asked if an environmental assessment done here? Mr. Kahm said a Level I was done, an abbreviated Level 2 and a DEA was prepared. She asked why there was a Level 2? He said it was because there had been some truck storage and was a discretionary measure on their part. She asked that Mr. Arroyo or the Planning Department receive a copy and Mr. Kahm agreed.

Member Bononi had personal knowledge about complaints in that area of chemical smells that emanated from one of the uses in the area and asked if the situation still existed? Mr. Arroyo did not know. Mr. Kahm said only in hearsay there was a facility across the street on the south side of Trans-X, which had been the source of some complaints but he was not aware of the details.

Member Bononi agreed the area needed as many people there as possible to give the area life and a vibrant sense of community participation. However, she believed there were so many adjacency issues with regard to this site that it is not a site she could propose for that kind of density of housing. She had concerns about quality of life as a result of the odors emanating and whether people would know about it when moving into the area and what their concerns about it would be. Also, regarding the daily activities, she felt the density was not appropriate and that a lower density with a more specific planned use would be more appropriate. She would not support the zone change.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-421 Yeas: Lorenzo, Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche, Kramer

Clark

Nays: Bononi

7. Adoption of Policy Resolution - Short Term and Long Term Goals.

CM-00-12-422 Moved by DeRoche, seconded by Bononi; CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY:

To adopt the Policy Resolution – Short Term and Long Term Goals.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-422 Yeas: Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche, Kramer, Clark,

Lorenzo, Bononi

Nays: None

9. Approval of Communications tower contract – Sprint.

Mr. Klaver said on May 15^th the Council approved a prior proposal to locate a 150 foot monopole tower made by Sprint on the ice arena property. There was a condition placed on that approval that the City would try to negotiate a favored City status which would provide protection in the event that Sprint signed a lease for a higher amount with another community. Also Council expressed concerns regarding some of the elements of the proposal involving the fact that the City would own the tower, liability issues and questions about the City being responsible for obtaining leases for the co-locations. He said communication towers are required to have co-location sites available so they decided to open negotiations with Sprint and resolve these concerns. They also tried to maximize the financial potential of this opportunity. The favored City status did not prove to be practical and we are looking at a long-term lease. As protection for the City they looked at making co-location revenues on a percentage basis which would provide the same type of protection they were looking for. He believed this proposal was good for the City. The revenue received directly from Sprint for their one location was very competitive and there was protection with guaranteed minimums and percentage basis for the co-locations.

CM-00-12-423 Moved by Crawford, seconded by Crawford; CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY: To approve the communications contract with Sprint.

DISCUSSION

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo was previously opposed to it because she did not think they should be

placed on public property. She said a lot of her concerns had been answered and the fact is,

particularly on this piece of property, we could use the additional revenue and she would support

it.

Member Kramer was concerned about auxiliary building, screening, etc. It was not clear that

the ordinance applied to small structures and he wanted to add a stipulation to the agreement

that the buildings have compatible architecture for the surroundings and that the structures are

appropriately landscaped and screened.

Mr. Klaver said this would require re-review because of the revisions in the site plan so it would

go back and Mr. Arroyo and other consultants would take care of it.

Member Bononi asked Mr. Fisher to explain his letter with regard to "instead of removal to require ownership of the tower to be turned over to the City". She said why would this be an advantage to the City if it were obsolete and had to be taken down? Mr. Fisher introduced Mr. Dovre from his office to respond. Mr. Dovre noted there are six companies licensed to provide this service and the thought is they might not all survive. On the outside chance Sprint was one of them they wanted to make sure the City had the option to acquire ownership of the tower and enjoy the revenues and benefits from the co-locators that remain. She asked what likelihood would there be that we would be more competitive then someone like Sprint. Mr. Dovre said owning the tower would not require us to do anything other then collect the rents and maintain the property. It would not put us into the business and we would not have to use their facilities. Sprint would post a bond for $25,000 in case the tower ever had to be removed.

Mayor Clark wanted the revenue from this initially generated to be dedicated to debt elimination for the ice arena.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-423 Yeas: Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche, Kramer, Lorenzo,

Clark, Bononi

Nays: None

 

 

8. Approval of deficit elimination plan for Ice Arena

Member Kramer thought it would be wise to replace the numerical chart with words. He felt the numbers were conservative and did not include other tenants on the tower. He wanted the words to say the income from the tower would be applicable to elimination of the debt.

Mayor Clark assumed the reason this was done this way was that the State had mandated that a deficit reduction plan be in place and normally they want it dealt with in hard numbers. Mrs. Smith-Roy said he was correct. Her cover letter would include the wording Member Kramer described and she would also include a copy of the agreement for waiver, which showed the income would be dedicated to the ice arena debt.

11. Approval of Resolution requesting participation in the RCOC 2001 Tri-Party Program;

Grand River Avenue Bridge Project

CM-00-12-226 Moved by Bononi, seconded by Csordas; CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY:

To approve the Resolution requesting participation in the RCOC 2001

Tri-Party Program; Grand River Avenue Bridge Project.

DISCUSSION

Member Kramer asked for information from administration on how this would impact the local streets program. Mr. Helwig said he had an e-mail from Mr. Nowicki that answered this and he would give it to Member Kramer.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-226 Yeas: Kramer, Clark, Lorenzo, Bononi, Crawford,

Csordas, DeRoche

Nays: None

12. Adoption of Resolution declaring taking – 10 Mile and Wixom Road for Fire Station

#4 (50-22-30-200-002) Norman Steel Inc., and others.

CM-00-12-227 Moved by Csordas, seconded by DeRoche; CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY:

To adopt Resolution declaring taking – 10 Mile and Wixom Road for

Fire Station #4 (50-22-30-200-002) Norman Steel Inc., and others.

DISCUSSION

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked what the property owner’s thought the just compensation was? Mr. Helwig said they did not know. At Council’s urging there was a second appraisal and felt better about our circumstance given how close the two appraisals were. We won’t know unless we have to go to eminent domain. Her concern was if the owners thought it was a million dollars. The discussion then was if this went to litigation what they would do was split the difference. Are we going to end up paying legal fees and possibly $500,000? Would the money come from the bond? Mr. Helwig said the money was programmed from the bonds. She said the question then becomes how much would we pay for this and could those bonds, without compromising the function and design of the building, be accomplished. How do we know that? Mr. Helwig said we don’t and he could not give a 100% guarantee. At Council’s urging he talked with Mr. Fisher and they thought it was a good case. We hope this can be negotiated and be resolved. This let the property owner’s know that the City was serious. Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if they had talked to the property owner’s? Mr. Fisher said if the property owner wants to come up with a number they can do so but they have no obligation. Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if the City had asked the question? Mr. Fisher did not know. Mr. Helwig said many times at this state they don’t give a number. She asked if it included water and sewer or is it as is? Mr. Helwig said it was as is. Mr. Fisher said once we receive their appraisal we could make an independent analysis and if Council concluded that we just did not have the budget we could walk away from the case but would have to pay their expenses to that point in time. Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked how far into the case would we be at that time? Mr. Fisher said it should be soon and it was likely they would get an appraisal because they know the City would have to pay for it.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo was not sure the City really needed this and asked if they could do without it?

Mr. Helwig commented it needed to be done right. Water and Sewer was coming to the site which was better then the original plan which was going to be well and septic in a wetland/woodland area. As far as ingress and egress to line up with the T intersection of Wixom and Ten-Mile was the right way to do it. They looked at having it on the eastern portion of the site but it crowded the building and the fire apparatus base, etc. could not be designed to the maximum extent they wanted. This had to be done right and for the long term. She said she would agree to that but if it got to the point it was a lot of money she would want to know where that money was coming from.

Member Crawford called the question.

Mr. Fisher said the legal description in the declaration had to be modified slightly to correspond with the resolution and they already have a substitute resolution prepared for that.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-227 Yeas: Clark, Lorenzo, Bononi, Crawford, Csordas,

DeRoche, Kramer

Nays: None

13. Approval to purchase Five (5) Patrol Vehicles from Shaheen Ford Mercury through

Oakland County Joint Purchasing Program in the amount of $103,090.

CM-00-12-228 Moved by Kramer, seconded by Lorenzo; CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY:

To approve the purchase of five (5) Patrol Vehicles from Shaheen

Ford Mercury through Oakland County Joint Purchasing Program in

the amount of $103,090.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-228 Yeas: Lorenzo, Bononi, Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche,

Kramer, Clark

Nays: None

14. Award of Beck Road Sanitary Sewer Project to SBG Construction (low bidder) in the

Member Bononi asked when the concept for this project was initiated? Mr. Potter said it was initiated about a year or year and a half ago and was part of a separate project. However, for a variety of reasons it was deleted from that contract. He said it had come before Council.

Member Csordas asked Mr. Fisher if the second Item #21 would in no way impede her rights and that it was just an offer to purchase. Mr. Fisher said the intention of excluding it was to discuss it separately.

Mr. Fisher noted a correction on Item #19. The agenda and the cover sheet indicate that the amount at stake was $44,735 that would be offered and the actual number is $4,200 which included a $100.00 added driveway grading permit.

15. Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make an Offer to Purchase Real Estate

for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway Improvements Project: Gorman/Oaks

Corner, Inc. (50-22-14-100-063) for $223,100.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

 

16. Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make an Offer to Purchase Real Estate

for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway Improvements Project (SAD 155): Bloom &

Bringman (50-22-10-400-035) for $32,296.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

 

17. Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make an Offer to Purchase Real Estate

for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway Improvements Project (SAD 155) SSS & G

Michigan Company Partnership (50-22-15-126-010) for $78,775.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

18. Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make an Offer to Purchase Real Estate

for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway Improvements Project (SAD 155): Carlton

Properties LLC (50-22-10-400-033) for $57,094.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

19. Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make an Offer to Purchase Real Estate

for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway Improvements project: Carlton Properties,

Inc. (50-22-10-400-037) for $44,735.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

20. Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make an Offer to Purchase Real Estate

for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway Improvements Project: IEM Ltd. (50-22-10-

400-053) for $14,475.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

21. Acceptance of Option Agreement with Jamil D. Hakim and J. Julia Hakim, Norma

Hakim Revocable Trust and Rosemary H. Bannon Revocable Trust (50-22-15-126-

008) for the Twelve Mile Road and Other Roadway Improvements Project (SAD 155)

and authorization to exercise the Agreement for $52,476.00.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

21. Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make and Offer to Purchase Real Estate

for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway Improvements Project (SAD 155): Deborah

Bundoff (50-22-10-400-048), for $44,735.

Mayor Clark asked everyone to bear in mind there was no binding aspect to this proposed resolution it only authorize the City to make an offer to purchase real estate which the property owner could act accordingly on to either accept or reject.

CM-00-12-231 Moved by Crawford, seconded by DeRoche; MOTION CARRIED:

To adopt the Resolution and authorization to make an Offer to

Purchase Real Estate for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway

Improvements Project (SAD 155): Deborah Bundoff (50-22-10-400-048)

For $44,735.

Roll call vote on CM-00-12-231 Yeas: Csordas, DeRoche, Kramer, Clark, Crawford

Nays: Lorenzo, Bononi

22. Adoption of Resolution and authorization to make an Offer to Purchase Real Estate

for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway Improvements Project (SAD 155):

Zimmersman (50-22-10-300-008), for $32,420.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

23. Adoption of Resolutions accepting property being conveyed by Ethan Allen and

Cellular One Sales and Services Co. for the Twelve Mile and Other Roadway

Improvements Project – SAD155.

APPROVED BY CM-00-12-230

24. Reschedule meeting date for Board and Commission Interviews.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo suggested the interviews be done in two phases.

Council consensus was an interview meeting on January 10^th at 6:30 PM and another January 18^th at 7:00 PM.

CM-00-12-232 Moved by Lorenzo, seconded by DeRoche; CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY:

To schedule Board and Commission interviews for January 10, 2001 at

6:30 PM and January 18, 2001 at 7:00 PM.

 

Vote on CM-00-12-232 Yeas: Clark, Lorenzo, Bononi, Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche,

Kramer

Nays: None

25. Authorization of Agreement with Maples of Novi individual homeowner associations

Mr. Klaver thanked all the association representatives for their patience. These associations have expended considerably more money then was being released because they could not wait for this to be resolved. They resolved some of their own problems already and he thought this was a good settlement and recommended Council’s approval.

Mr. Fisher said essentially the developer posted a cash bond to undertake specified projects and what we are doing is providing some of those monies for purposes other than for which the bond was posted. As a result of that he wanted to send the developer, who had abandoned their obligation to complete various tasks, a notice of our intentions, give them a reasonable time to respond and if there is no response they would make the distribution as proposed.

CM-00-12-233 Moved by Csordas, seconded by Lorenzo; CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY:

To authorize Agreement with Maples of Novi individual homeowner

associations.

 

Roll call vote on CM-00-120-233 Yeas: DeRoche, Kramer, Clark, Lorenzo, Bononi,

Crawford, Csordas

26. Appointment of Council Representative to the Cable Commission - Member

1. Joint meeting with Farmington Hills – Member Kramer

Member Kramer proposed a joint meeting with the Farmington Hills Council be scheduled during the first quarter of 2001. He suggested administration set this up. Member Kramer felt there were four areas to have fruitful discussions such as their Youth Council, youth participation at NLC, they are going to implement round-abouts and four lane boulevards. He thought they could exchange ideas back and forth and build an agenda of mutual interest. There was no consensus of Council and Member Kramer asked that it be added to the next agenda under Mayor and Council Issues.

2. Kreiger letter follow-up – Member Kramer

Member Kramer asked that administration follow up on the letter from George Krieger that was in Council packets.

3. Tower Automotive – possibility of rescheduling to a later date – Member DeRoche

Member DeRoche said things had changed with work with MEGA and it materially changed what they were doing. He asked Mr. Fisher what to do to bring them back for reconsideration. Mr. Fisher said nothing because it would be a new proposal and new agenda item.

1. Letter from Glenn Healey, President of the Sports Club, in support of the Novi Expo Center’s Tax Abatement Application
2. Letter from Novi Community School District Re: Cable Franchise renewal.
3. Letter from Jim Korte Re: 2214 Austin (Formerly: 170 Erma)
4. Letter from Jim Korte Re: Complaints
5. Letter from the Oakland County Drain Commissioner’s Office regarding Disinfection System Improvements at the Walled Lake-Novi WWTP
6. Letter from Richard Schultz regarding exceptional staff efforts.

There being no further business to come before Council, the meeting was adjourned at 1:19 AM.

____________________________________ ________________________________

Richard J. Clark, Mayor Maryanne Cornelius, City Clerk

Transcribed by: _____________________________

Charlene Mc Lean

Date approved: January 8, 2001