VILLAGE OF ARMADA
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008
7:30PM
Pres. Ballard called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. All rose for Pledge of Allegiance. Present at roll call: Ballard, Boelke, Clark, Stork, Coenen, Guse, and Wolak. Also present: Clerk Poulos, Treasurer Adair, Jeff Bahorski, Karl Krueger, David Stork, Richard Weinand, Matt Fahr, Kevin Moreau and David Dupuis of Earth Tech, Michael Stirrett, Susan Bertram (Rowe, Inc.), Nancy Parmenter, Jim Cuneo, and Dan Sutherland.
AGENDA, APPROVAL OF
MOTION by Stork, seconded by Guse, to approve agenda as presented.
All Ayes CARRIED
CITIZEN COMMENT
Monica Job asked Council how long the Teitz Street Bridge has been out and was told that it has been since the year 2000. She also asked when and how long the West Main Street Bridge will be out and Street Administrator Stork told her this has not been determined yet. Jim Cuneo of East Main Street asked Council several questions about the 2007/2008 Street Project proposals which included where the estimates came from, are the bids available for view, is the Village Council confident in the numbers supplied.
GENERAL BUSINESS
MOTION by Clark, seconded by Wolak, resolved to approve the Consent Agenda, as amended.
All Ayes CARRIED
Approval of RCM Minutes of 4/28/08 approved as presented.
Payment of Bills pulled added as Agenda Item #6.
Treasurer's Report approved for filing.
Departmental Reports received from Building, approved for filing.
Correspondence approved for filing:
2. EARTH TECH REPORT
Kevin Moreau gave a brief summation of the Monthly Operating Report for April, 2008 (on file).
MOTION by Coenen, seconded by Guse, to accept the April, 2008, Earth Tech Report as presented and place on file.
All Ayes CARRIED
3. CREDIT CARD POLICY
Treasurer Adair submitted a resolution and guidelines for usage of purchase/credit card (on file) for the Village credit card for Council’s consideration. The guidelines define the appropriate usage procedures for use. She explained that this is necessary for any municipality that holds a credit card used by employees.
MOTION by Stork, seconded by Boelke, to adopt the resolution for the proposed Purchase/Credit Card Guidelines as a policy for use of Village owned and issued Purchase/Credit Cards and that the proposed Policy be recognized as following the Michigan Compiled Laws Annotated Chapter 129, Public Funds Credit Care Transactions 19556 M.C.L.A. 129.243.
Ayes: Stork, Ballard, Boelke, Clark, Coenen, Guse, Wolak
Nays: None CARRIED
4. DDA BUDGET RESOLUTION
The DDA Board approved the budget for the Fiscal Year 4-01-08 through 3-31-09 and signed a resolution stating such at the May 6, 2008 regular meeting of the DDA. Treasurer Adair asked the Council to approve the DDA 2008-2009 Operating Budget.
MOTION by Stork, seconded by Coenen, to approve the resolution to accept the DDA 2008-2009 Operating Budget of all revenues and expenses.
Ayes: Wolak, Stork, Coenen, Boelke, Guse, Clark, Ballard Nays: None CARRIED
5. RULES OF PROCEDURE
At the April 14, 2008 regular meeting, the Council postponed action on amendments to its Rules of Procedure. The Council directed the Village Attorney to address the grounds for excluding a citizen from a public meeting and designating who is allowed to exercise that power. A brief description from the Attorney and President Ballard outlined the amendments which included seven (7) reasons for a citizen to be excluded from a meeting for breach of the peace and also a section regarding the Citizen Comment portion of the Agenda. The Attorney has submitted a revised Rules of Procedure for Public Meetings (one file) for Councils approval.
MOTION by Guse, seconded by Stork, to adopt the policies and rules of procedure for public meetings, as amended.
Ayes: Boelke, Coenen, Stork, Wolak, Clark, Guse, Ballard
Nays: None CARRIED
6. PAYMENT OF BILLS
President Ballard explained that he pulled this item from the Consent Agenda; a Rowe Engineering bill was placed in Local Street Fund but should have been placed in the General Fund. The invoice amount was $209.25.
Payment of Bills totaling $102,167.05 approved for payment as follows:
1. General Fund $ 49,375.46
2. Water Plant Fund $ 0
3. Water System Fund $ 12,377.37
4. Sewer Plant Fund $ 25,547.88
5. Sewer System Fund $ 4,980.19
6. Major Street Fund $ 3,634.59
7. Local Street Fund $ 4,028.77
8. Municipal Street Fund $ 2,432.04
9. DDA $ 0___
Total $ 102,376.30
OLD BUSINESS
1. EMPLOYEE INSURANCE OPTION
The Village Clerk was directed at the January 28, 2008 Regular Council meeting to explore health insurance options for the Village employees. The Clerk informed Council that she has found an alternative that would save the Village about $16,000.00 a year in premiums. She explained that this proposed plan keeps the employees insurance through Blue Cross with the current 100 % coverage currently offered, adding deductibles of $1,000.00 (single) $2,000.00 (family) and adding $20.00 to office visits, all of which will be covered by the Village through an HRA (Health Reimbursement Account) to be handled by an outside, third party company. She informed Council that she had met with the employees and Mike Arsenault (Cardamone Insurance), the Village’s current Insurance Agent, to explain the plan and answer any concerns of the employees and that, overall, the employees were receptive to the proposal, as it will save them about $1,600.00/year since, according to their contract, they pay 10% of the Blue Cross premium through payroll deduction. The third party company that was recommended by Cardamone is Basic and the representative handling the Village account located in Washington Township. The Clerk and Treasurer will set a meeting with Basic and talk with the Auditor and bring the information back to Council at a future meeting and the Clerk encouraged Council to contact her with any questions or concerns.
2. 2007/2008 STREET PROJECT
Street Administrator Stork submitted three options (on file) to Council for the proposed 2007-2008 Street Project. According to Stork, these are the same three proposals submitted at a prior meeting with a couple of changes made after a meeting between Treasurer Adair and Richard Weinand, who prepared the numbers with Stork. Stork explained the options, the changes and the common assumptions between them, which she submitted with the options prior to the meeting and are also on file. She stated that she had spoken to Eddie Trice at ACT 51 who told her that there are no plans to eliminate ACT 51 monies at this time. Treasurer Adair asked what will happen if the gas tax is eliminated this summer as reported, Stork stated that there are no plans to eliminate the gas tax. According to Stork, the options were changed as follows:
Option One, Two Year Reduced Tax: This plan includes an accelerated payment schedule which reduces the total interest payment to $160,225.00.
Option Two, Three Year Reduced Tax: Requested by Treasurer Adair, this plan includes an accelerated payment schedule which reduces the total interest payment to $160,225.00.
Option Three, No Bond: This plan requires waiting until Fiscal Year 2016/2017 until the second phase of Hollweg and Colonial Street could begin.
Stork stated that bonding actually saves money according to her proposals. A very lengthy discussion followed with Trustee Guse questioning the proposals, assumptions and changes, since he was out of town for the previous workshop. He questioned the reduced tax rate revenues, noted that the home values are down 7% and pointed out that homes are selling far below previous years; therefore the taxable values will continue to fall. Stork stated she had spoken to the financial people at Macomb County and they are projecting two years of decreased taxes throughout Macomb County and a complete “stay-the-same” across all of Northern Macomb County, because Northern Macomb County fares better that other portions of the County. Treasurer Adair stated that we’ve reduced our collections by approximately $780,000.00 on taxable value and that it will only increase. Trustee Stork stated that her figures are actual figures from the Township Tax Assessor. Guse feels we have not seen the full magnitude of these economic times, Stork responded that is why she projected the decrease in taxable value for three years. Guse stated that he appreciates the amount of work Stork has put into each of her proposals, but he is concerned that it could create financial destruction to the Village. Stork disagreed. John Paterek stated that the road value directly affects the home values; President Ballard agreed and stated it is up to the Council to decide what the Village can afford to do. Ballard recommended another workshop meeting to go through the proposals line by line to verify the data and the assumptions. Stork stated that she has spoken to the experts to verify the date submitted that workshops have been held and all of the figures have been discussed. Treasurer Adair questioned the short fall in the Municipal Street revenues, from Fiscal Year 2009/2010 through 2015/2016 the plan shows no prior year funds, in the Municipal Street Fund which subsidizes both Local and Major Streets. Stork agreed, and stated that even the no bond proposal show the same. Guse stated he wants to see all the roads fixed, but is not comfortable justifying a $750,000.00 project in today’s economy, does not feel another workshop is needed and that Council must decide the direction of this project. Stork stated that she put forth three feasible options that the Village could afford to do, and if the Village does not bond, a road cannot be done until 2016, Treasurer Adair stated that the Municipal Street Fund is out of money before then. Stork agreed, stated that the only way to keep up with the upkeep of the roads is an eventual road millage increase, which is not proposed at this time, but will eventually happen. Discussion continued.
MOTION by Guse, seconded by Wolak, to explore only street improvement projects that are afforded with our current street fund balance with no new bond being issued. This would be the proposed Franklin Street Only proposal submitted by President Ballard during the streets workshop.
Ayes: Ballard, Wolak, Coenen, Guse
Nays: Stork, Clark, Boelke CARRIED
MOTION by Guse, seconded by Wolak, to have Rowe Engineering prepare the Franklin Street Only proposal
Ayes: Ballard, Wolak, Coenen, Guse, Stork, Clark, Boelke
Nays: None CARRIED
No further business.
Meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
Minutes submitted by:
Michelle Poulos, Armada Village Clerk