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St. Ignace City Council Meeting Minutes Council Proceedings (Official) The regular meeting of the St. Ignace City Council was held on Monday, January 15, 2007 in the Community Room at the St. Ignace Public Library. The meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. by Mayor Grondin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilmember Gustafson gave the invocation. Present: Councilmember Della- Moretta, Fullerton, Gustafson, La- Londe, Tamlyn-Massaway, Wyse, Mayor Grondin. Absent: None. 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; Deb Evashevski, DDA Director; Paul Sved, Bldg. Insp; Bucky Robinson, Fire Chief. Minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 3, 2007 were approved as presented. Additions to the Agenda: 9. Councilmember Gustafson - Inquiry. At this time, Mayor Grondin, with the help of the City Attorney, noted that this is one of the first times in the history of the City that a Council Meeting was not held in the Council Chambers at City Hall. In addition, Mayor Grondin stated that the Library Board is interested in showcasing the Library tonight and introduced Linda Monville, president of the Library Board, who welcomed the Council and the public to the Library and introduced other Library Board members and staff present. Also at this time, Mayor Grondin moved agenda item number four to the first item on the agenda. 1. APPOINTMENT LIBRARY BOARD: Mayor Grondin requested Council to approve the re-appointment of Jean Nitz to the Library Board with term ending 2012. It was moved by Councilmember Gustafson, seconded by Councilmember LaLonde to approve the Mayor's re-appointment of Jean Nitz to the Library Board. Motion carried unanimously. 2. FORT deBUADE REQUEST - MICHILIMACKINAC HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND KEITH MASSAWAY: Mayor Grondin introduced Keith Massaway, who on behalf of the Michilimackinac Historical Society, requested Council to consider purchasing the Fort de Buade museum and its contents through 2% funding which the Sault Tribe has already approved by resolution. After a brief discussion, Mayor Grondin requested Council to approve the appointment of Councilmembers LaLonde, Fullerton, and Gustafson, along with the City Manager and City Attorney, to a committee to research this offer and bring a recommendation back to Council. It was moved by Councilmember Wyse, seconded by Councilmember Tamlyn-Massaway to approve the committee appointments. Motion carried unanimously 3. TREE PLANTING DISCUSSION - PAULA MCNAMARA: Mayor Grondin introduced Paula McNamara who presented a proposal for Council to consider purchasing a $15 membership through the Arbor Day Foundation and receive free tree saplings. In addition, she proposed that the pond area be designated as a special tree planting area and have Council coordinate their planting efforts with the school children in this area, stating it would be a very proactive situation for getting the Council involved with the school. 4. LIBRARY ANNUAL REPORT: Mayor Grondin introduced Librarian Cindy Patten who reviewed the annual report included in the packet, adding that the programs are being very well attended, and it's nice to have the community room for these activities. In addition, City Manager Dodson commended Cindy and the Library Board for the success of the St. Ignace Library and the incredible job they have done in making it a "Pillar of the Community". Mayor Grondin also commended John Monville for all of his efforts in making this project a reality. 5. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REQUEST FOR REPORTS TO COUNCIL: City Manager Dodson stated that in an effort to increase the communication and involvement between the Chamber of Commerce and the City, he is encouraging Councilmembers to attend the Chamber meetings which are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30 a.m. 6. CAN SMALL TOWNS BE COOL? SEMINAR REPORT: City Manager Dodson reported that it was an excellent seminar sponsored by the Chamber and MSU Extension, which encompassed innovative ways to be a "Cool City" through communication and working together with the different organizations and business within a City. At this time, Councilmember Tamlyn- Massaway asked City Manager Dodson "if they came out of that seminar feeling that it's now time for St. Ignace to start moving forward, adding that she feels the need to start meeting as a Council and different committees to decide what our long term plans are. We also said that these things don't happen overnight and if we're going to see St. Ignace move forward, we need some smaller committee type meetings that start to look at different aspects of our City. There are four or five Councilmembers that can write grants and we need to start exploring other things that we as a city council can do; we don't just have to be the infrastructure for the City. I'm going to recommend that you and the Mayor decide on what type of committees and come back and give us some leadership on where we need to go. For instance, we went to the MML conference, learned about financial modeling, and came back to council with the recommendation to have a budget committee work on a five-year plan and we've done absolutely nothing with that. We need to be a little more proactive and start moving forward starting in 2007." 7. PLANNING COMMISSION SCHEDULE UPDATE: A. PUD REQUEST B. SIGN ORDINANCE REFERRAL City Manager Dodson encouraged Councilmembers to attend the Public Hearing on Wednesday, January 24 at 7:00 p.m. to consider an application for a PUD by a local developer. 8. LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE SIGN UP: City Manager Dodson stated that included in the packet is the information on the legislative conference to be held on March 21st in Lansing. City Manager Dodson encouraged all the Councilmembers to attend this conference as it updates cities and villages on what's happening in state government and how it impacts them. 9.COUNCILMEMBER GUSTAFSON - INQUIRY: Councilmember Gustafson inquired about the correspondence included in the packet from MDOT, regarding roadwork they are going to be doing between Marquette Street and north to Antoine Street, inquiring if there was any indication of a time line for completion. Les Therrian stated that the project is scheduled for completion by June 7th. Councilmember Gustafson recommended that sufficient notification be given to the residents prior to the beginning of the project. Consideration of Bills: Councilmember LaLonde inquired into the bill from Mackinac Sales regarding work done on a motor for plow lights and wondered why our mechanic didn't do the work. Les Therrian stated it was electrical and had to be hooked up to a machine that the city doesn't have. Councilmember Gustafson inquired into the bill from National Office Products regarding the purchase of an ink cartridge in the amount of $500. City Manager Dodson explained that it's six ink cartridges not just one. Secondly, Councilmember Gustafson inquired into the advertisement for the marina listed in the Waterway Guide for an amount of $2120.75. Eugene Elmer stated that the Waterways Guide covers the whole state of Michigan, and he felt it was a wise investment. Thirdly, Councilmember Gustafson inquired if the permit fee from MDEQ has significantly increased this year. Les Therrian stated that it is about $500 over last year. Lastly, he inquired into the tee shirt uniforms purchased for the police department. Chief Matelski stated that there are times that the department will wear the tee shirts, but not in lieu of the uniforms. Public Comment: Dawn Nelson stated that she is here in support of Paula McNamara's proposal for tree planting and wondered if the Mayor or any of the Councilmembers were interested. Mayor Grondin stated that he thinks it's a great idea and at the next meeting, he will ask Council to approve the reestablishment of the tree committee. City Manager Dodson added that as part of those efforts, the Arbor Day Foundation provides grant opportunities for cities that attain "Tree City USA designations. Councilmember Della-Moretta commented on Councilmember Gustafson's inquiry regarding advertising for the Marina, stating that he would like to reestablish that in a difficult economy the first rule of marketing is when business is down advertising goes up, so he feels it is a great thing to advertise in a major publication.
The following bills were presented to Council for payment:
Mayor Paul Grondin Renee' Vonderwerth, City Clerk |
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