MINUTES
Spring Lake Village
February 7, 2005
7:30
P.M.
Barber
School Meeting Room
102 West Exchange
Spring Lake, Michigan
I.
Call to Order
President
Keller called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
II.
Pledge of Allegiance
III.
Roll Call
A.
Present: Filber, Fischer, Holland, Keller, Palma
& VanStrate
B.
On
a motion by Fischer, support from Filber, Council member Hall was excused from
the meeting.
Yes: 6 No: 0
President Keller asked Manager
Cotton to discuss with Councilmember Hall what his intentions were in regards to staying on the Village
Council.
IV.
Reports and
Statements of Citizens:
No reports or statements of citizens were
presented.
V. Consent Agenda
A.
Approved the payment of the bills in the
amount of $193,521.79.
B.
Approved the minutes of the December 20,
2004 and January 3, 2005 regular Village Council meetings and the December 29,
2004 and January 10, 2005 special meetings.
C.
Set
a public hearing for March 21, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. to add a new chapter 12.A to
the Village of Spring Lake Zoning Code to create a new zoning district, CBD-1,
representing the Central Business District – Core, and amending other chapters
to be consistent.
D.
Approved
a resolution of appreciation to George D. Goodman for his services to the Michigan
Municipal League as executive director for twenty-two years.
E.
Approved
use of downtown public parking lots and Jackson Street for the annual Memorial
Day parade beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30, 2005, as requested by the
AMVETS.
F.
Approved
a contract with the County of Ottawa for the Sentenced Work Abetment Program
(SWAP) to increase the hourly rate to $4.00 per hour from $3.75 last year and
authorized the Village President and Clerk-Treasurer to execute the contract.
G.
Reappointed
William Bissell to the Historic Conservation District Commission Board for
another three-year term commencing on February 1, 2005 and ending on January
31, 2008.
H.
Set
a public hearing for March 7, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. to amend the Groundwater
Ordinance, Chapter 30, of the Spring Lake Code of Ordinances to add the area
south of Savidge Street and west of Park Street to the restrictive zones as per
section 30-217 of the ordinance.
I.
Approved
the new Harbor Transit Advisory Committee bylaws to include a new partner,
Grand Haven Township (for Meijer Inc.) and authorized the President and
Clerk-Treasurer to execute the required documents.
J.
Approved
amendment no. 1 to the agreement between the Village of Spring Lake and Fleis
and VandenBrink Engineering, Inc for professional services for the Village of
Spring Lake Savidge Street/Rotary Drive streetscape in the amount of $34,100
for final design and bidding services.
K.
Approved
an 8% increase in rates for Tanglefoot Park for trailers and dock rentals for
the 2005 season.
L.
Approved
closure of Church Street on Thursday afternoons from 12 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
from June 2, 2005 to October 6, 2005 for the Spring Lake Farm and Garden
Market.
On a motion by Fischer, support from VanStrate,
the Village Council approved the Consent Agenda as presented.
Yes: 6 No: 0
VI.
Report By the Village Manager
A. Heard a report from the
Heritage Festival Committee on a request to use public parking lots and Jackson
Street south of Savidge Street for two Heritage Festival events and authorized
a sidewalk sale and designated the Spring Lake Heritage Festival Committee as
the sidewalk sale coordinator, if desired.
Subject: The Festival was contracting with a
basketball tournament company. Use of
selected spaces behind the stores on Savidge Street and next to the post office
was requested for Friday and Saturday or Sunday if rained out. One block of Jackson would also need to be
closed from 6:00 p.m. on Friday until after the event.
Matt Pohl, the planner
for the group, contacted affected merchants and was present to report on his
findings. By permitting a sidewalk
sale, the Village Council would enable merchants to reach out to new customers
in the area. By designating the
Heritage Festival as the coordinator, the sidewalk sale products could be geared
to the event and a fee could be charged to participating businesses to defray
the Heritage Festival’s expenses.
Secondly, the group would
like to move the Craft Festival back downtown to be located north of Savidge
Street in the parking lot to the west of Jackson Street and use the property
adjacent to the Lakeside Trail. This
event would run on Friday and Saturday of Heritage Festival Week. A number of precautionary requirements were
included in the recommendation to follow.
Council member Filber
expressed concern about the availability of portable restrooms, litter control
and security. Festival committee
member Michelle Yasenak said that she was handling obtaining the port-a johns
and extra trash pick-ups and Matt Pohl was handling the security for the
basketball event. The committee is
trying to recruit high school juniors to help out with the festival as part of
their community service graduation requirement.
Council member Holland
was concerned about parking. Matt Pohl
said that maps would go out to the participants of the basketball tournament
showing where parking in the Village would be available.
President Keller asked if
Harbor Transit could have a special stop at Exchange Street and Jackson and if
a few bike racks could be borrowed from the schools.
Michelle Yasenak asked if
the DPW could mark where the irrigation was along the bike path to prevent any
damage during the craft show.
Council member VanStrate
asked how traffic would be affected on Savidge Street.
Manager Cotton said he
didn't know, but would be out there taking notes and assessing the situation.
Council member VanStrate
suggested getting the churches to make their parking lots available or to block
them off if they didn't want parking in them.
Business owner, Ned
Silverman, stated that he was in favor of the events being held, but was
concerned that interrupting the flow of traffic on Jackson Street would be a
major detriment to his summer weekend sales.
Manager Cotton stressed
that there was a one-year trial period and that because of the increase in foot
traffic downtown, it would be a perfect time for the merchants to showcase
their wares at the sidewalk sales.
On a motion by Filber,
support from Fischer, the Village Council approved of the basketball tournament
in the designated public parking lots and on Jackson Street for an initial
trial period during the 2005 Heritage Festival event as long as: 1) a certificate of insurance naming the
Village as an additional insured was received at least a month prior to the
event; 2) the neighborhood and
merchants received face-to-face notification and a letter at least one month in
advance; 3) no damage to the irrigation
system or other public property goes unrepaired; and 4) sufficient deposits were put in place to pay for any
potential irrigation or parking lot damage.
Yes: 6 No: 0
B. Approved renewal of a
nonexclusive 2004 cable television franchise agreement with CC Michigan, d/b/a
Charter Communications for a term of fifteen years and authorized a cable modem
side letter and approved a resolution resolving the franchise fee audit process
and authorized the Village President and the Clerk-Treasurer to execute any
necessary documents.
Subject: The group cable franchise negotiations were
done. A public hearing was held on
January 3, 2005. No members of the
public attended the hearing. This
agenda item was provided to memorialize this new franchise agreement.
Most of the Village’s
protections and requirements stayed the same in this “round,” except updates mandated
by preemptive state and federal statutes/regulations.
The overall gains
were: better insurance provisions, the
potential to get grants to support school or Village channels, improved contact
information, continuation of one free modem service for the Village, conclusion
of the audit, continuation of the 5% franchise fee and three (PEG) channels,
along with modest funding if desired.
Significantly, the
“bundling” clause was different, given the advent of cable modem for internet
users. The change ensured that a
“package” of services that included television could not be sold under the
larger umbrella of “cable modem internet” services and franchise fees thereby
be escaped. Without this change, the
cable company would have the right to offer cable modem via the internet and
theoretically reduce the Village’s 5 % franchise payments under new Federal
Communications Commission’s regulations.
This provision would stem such possible loss in the 5% and ensured that
it was prorated appropriately.
On a motion by Fischer,
support from Holland, the Village Council approved the renewal of a
nonexclusive 2004 cable television franchise agreement with CC Michigan, d/b/a
Charter Communications for a term of fifteen years and authorized a cable modem
side letter and approved a resolution resolving the franchise fee audit process
and authorized the Village President and the Clerk-Treasurer to execute the
necessary documents.
Yes: 6 No: 0
.
C. Authorized Driesenga and
Associates, Inc. of Spring Lake to design the Lakeside Trail Gap completion
project for a not-to-exceed fee of $18,500 and authorized the Village President
and Clerk-Treasurer to execute a contract as approved by the Village Attorney.
Subject: The Village Council designated a committee
to work with Village staff on selection of design professionals for the East
Savidge streetscape, the Lakeside Trail Gap completion project and the Grand
River Greenway. The group met several
times last fall and selected Dreisenga to accomplish the Lakeside Trail Gap
engineering work.
Even though the granting
agencies had declined to fund the project based on uncertainties in land
ownership between Cutler and Christman, it was recommended that Driesenga be
authorized to begin design on at least the portion of the path west of
Christman Street. Funding had been
encumbered in the TIF fund for this design and construction project once the
Village would choose to go forward.
Since the parties were
still working on ownership issues for the area between Cutler and Christman,
the Village would revisit resubmitting the grant for this portion when
resolved. If resolved before April 1,
the Village would make the deadline and probably get the grant funds to build
it this time. This process assumed a
hibernation of TIF, instead of a sunset since the construction would extend
beyond the 12/31/05 sunset deadline. It
was unfortunately fruitless to re-submit the grant until a path right-of-way
was secured. The Parks Board urged
Council to wait and re-submit.
On a motion by VanStrate,
support from Fischer, the Village Council authorized Driesenga and Associates,
Inc. of Spring Lake to design the Lakeside Trail Gap completion project for a
not-to-exceed fee of $18,500 and authorized the Village President and
Clerk-Treasurer to execute a standard contract as approved by the Village
Attorney.
Yes: 6 No: 0
D. Authorized Moore and
Bruggink of Grand Rapids to design the Grand River Greenway project for $37,000
and authorized the Village President and Clerk-Treasurer to execute a contract
as approved by the Village Attorney.
Subject: The Village Council designated a committee
to work with Village staff on selection of design professionals for the East
Savidge streetscape, the Lakeside Trail Gap completion project and the Grand River
Greenway. The group met several times
last fall and left it open between the following two bidders on who to select
for the Grand River Greenway project:
Preliminary and Final
Design Engineering Services:
Fleis
and VandenBrink: $49,900
Moore
and Bruggink: $35,000
Since Coastal Zone
Management made it official that the $30,000 grant was approved, the Village
was free to move forward. Another
$30,000 was budgeted from the Village’s TIF funds as the local match, for a
total of $60,000.
Moore and Bruggink was
the lowest and best bidder having worked with them on previous projects of this
kind. They were recommended also to provide a feasibility analysis to
potentially bridge the Village Cove property so as to connect directly to the
Marina Bay boardwalk, instead of going around the inlet. They proved their ability to design
innovative solutions to similar technical design problems when devising the
“connector bridge” portion of the Tri-Cities Bike Path up to the Grand River
when previous studies showed that a tunnel was the only possible option. This feasibility analysis would add $2,000 to the contract total.
Council member VanStrate
said he was not against the project, but didn’t think that the village could
afford the project.
On a motion by Palma,
support from Holland, the Village Council authorized Moore and Bruggink of
Grand Rapids to design the Grand River Greenway project for a not-to-exceed
cost of $37,000 and authorized the Village President and Clerk-Treasurer to
execute a standard contract as approved by the Village Attorney.
Yes: 5 No: 1(VanStrate)
E. Approved a one-year
agreement with BDO Seidman, LLP for audit services for fiscal year 2005 for
$18,250 and authorized the Village President and Clerk-Treasurer to execute the
letter agreement.
Subject: The Village’s three-year agreement with BDO
Seidman was concluded. The last year
was difficult due to the computer conversion, running parallel systems, GASB-34
and numerous Village projects.
An inordinate amount of
time was needed to make last year’s audit successful. Manager Cotton requested BDO Seidman to sharpen their approach
this year to provide assistance similar to experienced elsewhere at only an
inflationary cost increase. The key
difference was they would prepare the schedules that appear in the audit report
based on the Village’s adjusted trial balances.
Attached was a letter
from BDO proposing to provide extra effort that saved a week or two of the
treasurer’s time for $18,250, or $650
additional. The Village paid $17,600
for the standard services last year.
It was not proposed to ask the marketplace
for other proposals at this time given the need for a year to ensure stable
finances after the recent accounting changes.
A year from now it would be recommended that we conduct a pre-qualified
bidding process to ensure we are getting marketplace pricing.
Council member Holland
asked if the new proposal would save time.
Village Clerk/Treasurer
Lawrence said it would save approximately two weeks of her time.
On a motion by Palma,
Support from Fischer, the Village Council approved a one-year agreement with
BDO Seidman, LLP for audit services for fiscal year 2005 and authorized the
Village President and Clerk-Treasurer to execute the letter agreement.
Yes: 6 No: 0
VII.
Reports by the Village Council:
VIII.
Statements of Citizens:
Ms. Michelle Yasenak, 505 E. Savidge, asked if any Council member would
be interested in working with the
Heritage Festival and the AMVETS on the Memorial Day parade and possibly allowing the local businesses to participate in
the parade. Ms. Yasenak questioned why the sidewalk
blower doesn't shoot the snow to the left when going east to west on Savidge Street.
Council member Fischer thought that MDOT
wouldn't allow putting the snow on their right-of-way.
Manager Cotton said that he would get back to her on the reason
why.
IX.
Adjournment
On a motion by VanStrate, support from
Palma, the Village Council adjourned at 8:56 p.m.
Yes: 6 No: 0
______________________________________________
Daniel Keller,
Village President
_______________________________________________
Marie
Lawrence, Village Clerk/Treasurer