CITY OF
MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN
REGULAR
COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
JANUARY
16, 2006
A
regular meeting of the Menominee City Council, City of Menominee, County of
Menominee, State of Michigan, was held Monday, January 16, 2006 at 5 p.m. in
the Municipal Complex Council Chambers.
The
Honorable George W. Krah called the meeting to order and led the pledge of
allegiance to the flag.
PRESENT: Mayor
Krah, Council Members Hudon, Jasper, Mick, Organ, Pintarelli, and Sorensen
ABSENT: Council Members Fernstrum and Schloegel
(both excused)
PRESENT: 7 ABSENT: 2
A
motion was made by Council Member Hudon and seconded by Council Member Organ to
excuse Council Members Fernstrum and Schloegel from the meeting. This motion was carried unanimously.
A
motion was made by Council Member Organ and seconded by Council Member Hudon to
approve the agenda for the meeting dated January 16, 2006. This motion was carried unanimously.
A
motion was made by Council Member Mick and seconded by Council Member Sorensen to
correct the minutes of the regular meeting of December 19, 2005 and the
Judicial and Legislative and Public Safety Committees report regarding the
Automatic Aid Agreement to read “with the city manager reporting the final
policy to city council” in place of “with their recommendation to be made to
city council”. This motion was carried
unanimously. There being no further additions
or corrections to the minutes of the regular meeting of December 19, 2005, the
minutes stood approved as corrected.
PUBLIC
COMMENT:
Mayor Krah opened the public comment session called
for the purpose of hearing citizen comments on agenda items only.
No one was heard.
A motion was made by Council Member Jasper and
seconded by Council Member Hudon to close the public comment session. This motion was carried unanimously.
Regular Council Proceedings
January 16, 2006
Page Two
REPORTS
OF OFFICERS:
City Manager Anthony Furton submitted the following
report:
CITY ADMINISTRATION
ANTHONY D. FURTON, CITY MANAGER
Financial Summary
The
City continued to face many challenges in its’ finances during 2005. State shared revenue distributions were
lower than last year, and employee benefit costs are keeping the City in a
tight financial situation. Even with
these tough challenges the City was still able to maintain its positive
financial condition during the past year.
The
General Fund undesignated fund balance at the completion of the fiscal year was
$881,464. This is a $35,089 increase
from the previous year. Substantial designated
reserves were used during the past fiscal year to balance the budget. The total fund balance decreased by $568,208
last year. The city did not use reserve
balances to balance the budget this year.
The
financial condition of the General Fund remains stable at this time. It is presently at 18 percent of the
operating budget which is the same percentage as last year. The low end benchmark for this fund is 15
percent as a guideline.
The
Water and Wastewater Utility Funds had a combined net income of $316,365. The Water Fund had a net loss of $57,099 and
the Wastewater Fund had a net profit of $397,464, which is mostly allocated to
principal debt reduction. Reallocation
of rate charges between the two funds will be necessary to adjust for the loss
in the Water Fund operation.
The
Major Street Fund, which is the fund that supports the City’s main roads,
completed the year with a fund balance of $76,922. This is an increase of $24,577 from the previous year.
The
fund balance of the Local Street Fund increased by $24,854 and how has a
balance of $55,379. Even though both of
the street funds realized increases in their fund balances, both need to
continue to increase to provide for future unforeseen expenses and construction
projects.
The
Cemetery Fund completed the year with a total fund balance of $5,051. The undesignated fund balance has a deficit
of $7,799. A transfer from the General
Fund will be required to eliminate this deficit. In the future the General Fund is going to have to budget additional
funds to transfer to this fund for operational purposes.
In
summary, the City’s financial position remained stable and positive at fiscal
year end 2005. All City funds completed
the year again with positive fund balances.
The City continues to be in a challenging financial environment. Being prudent with our resources remains a
necessity and not an option. Our
mission continues to be to provide valued services to the taxpayers of the City
of Menominee at a reasonable cost.
Regular
Council Proceedings
January
16, 2006
Page
Three
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The Finance Committee reported
that they reviewed the claims for the month of December 2005 and they
recommended that checks be drawn on the treasurer in payment of the bills as
follows:
General
Fund $ 643,087.73
S/FINANCE
COMMITTEE
A
motion was made by Council Member Sorensen and seconded by Council Member Organ
to adopt the foregoing report. This
motion was carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The Finance Committee reported
that they had reviewed the audit for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005
as prepared by Kerber, Rose and Associates and they recommended that the audit
for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2005 be accepted and the financial
statements be published as required.
S/FINANCE
COMMITTEE
A
motion was made by Council Member Sorensen and seconded by Council Member Organ
to adopt the foregoing report. This
motion was carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE
REPORT:
The
Finance Committee reported that they had reviewed the Marina Management Group’s
proposed budget for 2006 expenses and they recommended that it be
approved.
S/FINANCE COMMITTEE
A motion was made by Council Member Jasper and
seconded by Council Member Organ to adopt the foregoing report.
AYES: Jasper,
Mick, Organ, Sorensen, Krah, and Hudon
NAYS:
Pintarelli
This motion was carried.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The Finance Committee reported
that they had reviewed purchasing a 1992 Ford F350 dump truck from Mark
Kwaterski at the cost of $19,075 and they recommended that the truck be
purchased and that the bid process be waived due to the nature of the
product.
S/FINANCE
COMMITTEE
Regular Council Proceedings
January 16, 2006
Page Four
A
motion was made by Council Member Sorensen and seconded by Council Member Mick
to adopt the foregoing report. This
motion was carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The Judicial and
Legislative/Personnel and Labor Committee reported that they had reviewed the
police union pension increase to a 2.75% multiplier and they recommended that
city council approve an additional 3.14% contribution by the employees
beginning on July 1, 2006 to fund the increase, which will bring each
employee’s contribution to 8.44%.
S/JUDICIAL
AND LEGISLATIVE/PERSONNEL AND LABOR COMMITTEE
A
motion was made by Council Member Sorensen and seconded by Council Member Hudon
to adopt the foregoing report. This
motion was carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The
Judicial and Legislative/Personnel and Labor Committee reported that they had
reviewed the Committee Function Guidelines and they recommended approving these
as follows and adding Community Relations to the Special Projects Committee.
CITY OF MENOMINEE
Committee
Function Guidelines
Finance
Committee:
The
Finance Committee works with the City Manager on matters of budget, approves
bills, and other issues concerning financial matters, related to taxes and
budget, revenue sharing, etc.
Judicial
and Legislative/Personnel and Labor Committee:
This
committee will work with the City Manager and City Attorney and handle problems
on items of a legal nature. (Except
traffic orders, etc.). Changes in
ordinances, changes in the Charter, and other matters of legal nature are its
responsibility for review. Also, the
committee should be aware of Federal, State and County legislation that could
affect the city and be prepared to make recommendations of support, opposition,
etc.
This
committee works with the Personnel Director (City Manager), and may review
problems that may arise from city employees, department heads, and elected
officials. This committee shall devise
a department head evaluation which is conducted by the city manager
annually. It will be involved in
negotiations, and can recommend personnel policy changes, etc.
Regular Council Proceedings
January 16, 2006
Page Five
Parks
and Recreation/Buildings and Grounds Committee:
This
committee works with the Public Works Director and Recreation Director and
handles items relating to the operation and use of the City parks and the
planning and implementation of city recreation programs.
This committee, although, not
working with any specific department head, in reality works with many of
them. This committee is charged with
overseeing all City land and buildings, from Henes Park to the Cemetery, and
every city owned lot and building in between.
Public
Safety/Public Works Committee:
This
committee works with the Police and Fire Chiefs, and handles matters related to
those department operations.
This committee works with the
Engineer, Street Commissioner, and Public Works Director and is involved with
the operations of these departments.
Special
Projects/Community Relations Committee:
This committee works with
several different department heads. It
handles projects such as rehab programs grants, community recognitions
and other miscellaneous items as set by the City Council.
All
committees are expected to make regular reports and recommendations to council
for action. It is expected that items
to be acted on by that committee with a report and/or recommendation be
returned to council.
S/JUDICIAL AND LEGISLATIVE/PERSONNEL AND LABOR COMMITTEE
A
motion was made by Council Member Jasper and seconded by Council Member
Sorensen to adopt the foregoing report.
This motion was carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The
Parks and Recreation/Buildings and Grounds Committee reported that they had
reviewed the vacant City owned property located at 1508-17th Avenue
(#2106-000 legally described as Stephenson’s 3rd Addition, Lot 8,
Block 3) and they recommended that the City Clerk/Treasurer be authorized to
solicit bids for the sale of the property and they further recommended that the
minimum bid amount be set at $8,000.
S/PARKS AND RECREATION/BUILDING AND GROUNDS COMMITTEE
A
motion was made by Council Member Organ and seconded by Council Member Hudon to
adopt the foregoing report. This motion
was carried unanimously.
Regular
Council Proceedings
January
16, 2006
Page
Six
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The
Parks and Recreation/Buildings and Grounds Committee reported that they had
reviewed Certificate for Payment #5 in the amount of $12,506.53 and Certificate
for Payment #6 in the amount of $12,442.47 to Monosso and Son, Inc. for cornice
replacement at Spies Public Library and they recommended that they be approved
subject to receipt of proper lien waivers and closing documentation.
A
motion was made by Council Member Jasper and seconded by Council Member Organ
to adopt the foregoing report. This
motion was carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The
Parks and Recreation/Buildings and Grounds Committee reported that they
reviewed Application for Payment #8 in the amount of $65,215.86 and Change
Order #4 increasing the contract amount by $4,143.23 to Kakuk Construction,
Inc. for Contract 03-PK-04 Spies Field expansion/renovation and they recommended
that they be approved.
A motion was made by Council
Member Organ and seconded by Council Member Hudon to adopt the foregoing
report. This motion was carried
unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The
Public Safety/Public Works Committee reported that they had reviewed an
amendment to the agreement with Ayres and Associates for material testing on
the 10th Avenue reconstruction project and they recommended approval
of the amendment increasing the contract amount by $15,788.55.
S/PUBLIC SAFETY/PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
A motion was made by Council
Member Jasper and seconded by Council Member Mick to adopt the foregoing
report. This motion was carried
unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The
Public Safety/Public Works Committee reported that they had reviewed an
amendment to the agreement with Ayres and Associates for additional inspection
hours on the 10th Avenue reconstruction project and they recommended
approval of the amendment increasing the contract amount by $10,223.24.
S/PUBLIC SAFETY/PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
Regular Council Proceedings
January 16, 2006
Page Seven
A motion was made by Council
Member Mick and seconded by Council Member Jasper to adopt the foregoing
report. This motion was carried
unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The
Public Safety/Public Works Committee reported that they had reviewed the
request from Sommers Construction Company, Inc., who was a subcontractor to
Barley Excavating, Inc., for compensation in the amount of $6,460.00 for the
installation of detectable warning field tile on the 23rd Avenue and
15th Street reconstruction projects and they recommended that the
request be denied.
S/PUBLIC SAFETY/PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
A motion was made by Council
Member Mick and seconded by Council Member Jasper to adopt the foregoing
report. This motion was carried
unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The Planning Commission reported that they had
reviewed a request from Bellisle Motorsports, L.L.C. to vacate an alley and
they recommended to city council that they vacate all that part of the alley
located in Block 1 of Taylor’s First Addition to the City of Menominee,
Menominee County, Michigan, lying East of Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and lying
between Lots 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of said Block 1, and waive easement
retention requirements due to no utilities being in the alley.
S/PLANNING COMMISSION
A motion was made by Council
Member Jasper and seconded by Council Member Sorensen to accept the foregoing
report and place it on file. This
motion was carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
The
Economic Development Corporation reported that they had reviewed the draft
Brownfield Redevelopment Plan for the Bellisle Motorsports, L.L.C. project
located in the 3700 block of Tenth Street and they recommended that the plan be
approved.
S/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
A motion was made by Council
Member Jasper and seconded by Council Member Organ to accept the foregoing
report and place it on file. This
motion was carried unanimously.
Regular Council Proceedings
January 16, 2006
Page Eight
MOTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:
The
following resolution was next on the agenda:
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS,
the City of Menominee has received a request from Bellisle Motorsports, L.L.C.
to vacate an alley; and
WHEREAS,
the legal description of the property is as follows:
All
that part of the alley located in Block 1 of Taylor’s First Addition to the
City of Menominee, Menominee County, Michigan, lying East of Lots 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5 and lying between Lots 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of said Block 1.
WHEREAS,
the alley that is being requested to be vacated will not contain utilities; and
WHEREAS,
the City of Menominee Planning Commission has reviewed and approved this
request;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of
Menominee by its City Council approve the alley vacation request and the City
waive its policy of retaining easements for utilities.
A
motion was made by Council Member Sorensen and seconded by Council Member Hudon
to adopt the foregoing resolution.
AYES: Hudon, Jasper, Krah, Mick, Organ, Pintarelli,
and Sorensen
NAYS: None
This
motion was carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Council Member Organ and seconded
by Council Member Hudon to schedule a public hearing on establishing a
Brownfield Redevelopment Zone and Tax Increment Financing District in the 3700
block of 10th Street for Bellisle Motorports, L.L.C. This motion was carried unanimously.
PUBLIC
COMMENT:
Mayor Krah opened the public comment session.
A motion was made by Council Member Hudon and seconded
by Council Member Organ to reschedule the regular city council meeting
scheduled for February 20, 2006 to February 13, 2006 at 5 p.m. This motion was carried unanimously.
Regular Council Proceedings
January 16, 2006
Page Nine
A motion was made by Council Member Jasper and
seconded by Council Member Sorensen to close the public comment session. This motion was carried unanimously.
ADJOURN:
A motion was made by Council Member Hudon and seconded
by Council Member Jasper to adjourn the meeting. This motion was carried unanimously.
Thomas F. DeNike, City
Clerk/Treasurer
/skj