St. Ignace City Council Meeting Minutes

Council

Proceedings

(Official)

The regular meeting of the St. Ignace City Council was held on Tuesday, September 5, 2006 in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building.

The meeting was called to order at 8:03 p.m. by Mayor Grondin with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Councilmember Wyse gave the invocation.

Present: Councilmembers Della- Moretta, Fullerton, Gustafson, Wyse, Mayor Grondin.

Absent: Councilmembers LaLonde, Tamlyn-Massaway.

It was moved by Councilmember Gustafson, seconded by Councilmember Wyse to excuse Councilmembers LaLonde and Tamlyn- Massaway from the meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

Staff Present: Eric Dodson, City Manager; Prentiss M. Brown, Jr., City Attorney; Renee' Vonderwerth, City Clerk; Eugene Elmer, Assessor/ Treasurer; Les Therrian, Superintendent of Utilities; Tim Matelski, Chief of Police; Paul Sved, Bldg. Insp.

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of August 21, 2006 were approved as presented.

Additions to the Agenda:

8. Mayor Grondin - Taxi Cab Driver approval.

1. CITY MANAGER EVALUATION:

Mayor Grondin stated that the Negotiation Committee met to review the evaluations with City Manager Dodson, and informed City Council that it was a unanimous consensus to rate the City Manager's performance satisfactory.

After further discussion and comments, it was moved by Councilmember Gustafson, seconded by Councilmember Wyse that it be noted that the City Manager's performance was rated satisfactory from all Councilmembers and that the evaluations will be placed in his personnel file. Motion carried unanimously.

2. CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT:

At this time, Mayor Grondin requested Council to approve the appointment of Councilmember Fullerton to fill the vacancies that would be created by his removal from the following committees: the Audit Committee, Ambulance Committee, Insurance Committee, Investment Committee and Land Trust Fund Committee.

It was moved by Councilmember Gustafson, seconded by Councilmember Wyse to accept Mayor Grondin's recommendation. Motion carried unanimously.

3. SKI HILL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:

City Manager Dodson stated that the ski hill committee met with Steve Dufresne to review the ski hill agreement and informed Council that the committee will present them a revised agreement clarifying the working relationship between the ski hill project and disc golf project for their approval.

At this time, Councilmember Gustafson stated that the lease agreement between the City and Moran Township for the ski hill has been recently renewed, and it did not refer to or discuss the disc golf project and so there will be an addendum added to the agreement that refers to the disc golf project.

4. ZONING DISCUSSION - MOTOR HOMES:

City Manager Dodson stated that this issue is being revisited in order to receive a legal opinion from the City Attorney on how to proceed. City Attorney Brown stated that he is willing to proceed and go to court on the basis of the existing ordinance but Council has to determine whether to enforce the existing ordinance, take necessary steps to eliminate the ordinance, or start the process to make changes.

After a lengthy discussion, it was moved by Councilmember Gustafson, seconded by Councilmember Wyse to accept the City Attorney's report and have the City Attorney, the Building Inspector and City Manager proceed. Motion carried unanimously.

5. BUS STATION UPDATE/RECOMMENDATION:

City Manager Dodson informed Council that the Real Estate Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday at 4p.m .and will bring a recommendation to Council at the next meeting.

6. MDOT SIGN POSITON:

City Manager Dodson informed Council that MDOT's policy is to remove all slogan signs, including state championships signs, after one year. After discussing the issue, it was the consensus of Council to contact the local legislators and see if they agree with the policy of their departments. City Manager Dodson stated that he would seek an official letter from John Batchelder from the Newberry TSC and Ray Roberts from the Escanaba TSC in addition to contacting the local legislators.

7. BUDGET REPORT/WATERSEWER UPDATE:

City Manager Dodson distributed a water and sewer financial statement to Council and reviewed the status on the actual cash number. Also at this time, City Manager Dodson requested Council to inform him of any project or priorities that they feel need to be considered during the budget process and that forms are available in his office for that purpose. In addition, City Manager Dodson asked Council if they would like to schedule a session to set priorities. It was the consensus that they would meet with the City Manager individually to review their concerns. Lastly, City Manager Dodson asked if Council would like to have more than one work session to review the budget. It was the consensus of Council to have only one work session; however, it would be beneficial to receive budget information early for review.

At this time, Councilmember Gustafson inquired about the letter from Moran Township regarding hydrant rental, asking if there has been a response to the letter. Les Therrian stated that he has been in contact with the township supervisor who is satisfied with the explanation presented inthe letter and will present it at the township meeting.

Consideration of Bills:

Councilmember Gustafson inquired on the bill from UIS Programmable in the amount of $4,000.00 for an emergency call on sewer lines. Les Therrian explained that there were problems at the Reagon Street lift station which had to be addressed by UIS. In addition, Councilmember Gustafson inquired on the bill from Belonga Plumbing in the amount of $100.00 for camera sewer inspections. Les Therrian explained that a line had to be located and the use of Belonga's camera system was more beneficial financially than digging.

8. MAYOR GRONDIN - TAXI CAB DRIVER LICENSE:

Mayor Grondin presented Council an application from David Lee Martin for a taxi cab driver license, for their approval.

It was moved by Councilmember Gustafson, seconded by Councilmember Della-Moretta to approve the taxi cab driver license for David Lee Martin. Motion carried unanimously.

Public Comment:

Gene Elmer stated that it appeared to be a very busy weekend and added that he noticed several tourists using the tennis courts, so the need to repair them is justified. In addition, City Manager Dodson stated that he received several positive comments from the vendors at the Arts Dockside, adding that the golf course had an outstanding day on Sunday.

The following bills were presented to Council for payment:

All Phase Electric Supply Co. 43.32 Alltel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.02 Belonga Plumbing and Heating . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100.00 Cellular One . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135.56 Chemsearch . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255.67 Cintas-729 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33.40 City of St. Ignace Water Dept. . . . . 2224.66 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Collegiate Pacific . . . . . . . . . .506.35 East Jordan Iron Works, Inc.402.08 Edison Sault Electric Co. . .5551.70 Energenecs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152.55 Ginop Sales, Inc. . . . . . . . . . .569.67 Green Seal Corp. . . . . . . . . . .734.19 Hyde Equipment Co. . . . . .2056.58 Hydrite Chemical Co. . . . . .1281.63 Kimball-Midwest . . . . . . . . . . .17.33 KSS Enterprises-Petoskey . .749.70 McGregor Oil . . . . . . . . .42,199.04 Mid American Research Chemical .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1086.23 OMS Compliance Services . .207.00 Pitney Bowes . . . . . . . . . . . . .163.10 Pumps Plus, Inc. . . . . . . . . .4950.10 Sault Printing Company, Inc.153.42 SBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1194.93 SBC Long Distance . . . . . . . . .70.64 Scaletron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127.55 Straits Area Glass . . . . . . . . .145.83 UIS Programmable Services4060.28 Valley Truck Parts . . . . . . . . .500.00 W S Darley and Co. . . . . . .1580.92

Grand Total . . . . . . . . . $ 71,282.45

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:22 p.m.

Mayor Paul Grondin Renee' Vonderwerth, City Clerk