7:30
P.M.
Barber
School Meeting Room
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, Keller & Palma
B.
Absent: Hall
& VanStrate
C.
Tardy: Holland
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 $123,799.35.
B.
Approved
the minutes of the November 1, 2004, regular meeting.
C.
Approved
the dates of Village Council meetings for the 2005 calendar year.
D.
Approved
a resolution to purchase harbor dredge sediment material from blended topsoil
stock located at VerPlank’s, if cost effective.
E.
Approved
amendments to the Ottawa County Hazardous Team agreement and by-laws to permit
the executive committee to enter into mutual aid agreements and fee-for-service
agreements with municipalities outside the service area.
F.
Approved
the acquisition of a sidewalk easement from Van Pelt for a sidewalk section on
the north side of Exchange Street.
On a motion by Fischer, support from
Filber, the Village Council approved the consent agenda as presented.
Yes: 4 No: o
VI.
Report By the Village Clerk
No report by the Village Clerk was presented.
VII.
Report by the Village Manager
A. Tabled approval of the
transference of on-premises, Class C, liquor license from 2065 Lake, Holland
Michigan to 909 West Savidge, Spring Lake (the former Blimpies).
Subject: Chad Storey would create a Mexican
restaurant at this location to be named “Senioritas”. They would like to offer beer and wine and needed permission of
the Village Council. Heather Storey was
present to answer any questions. They
hoped to close on the building around the New Year and would begin renovation
shortly thereafter.
This request was
forwarded to the Village of Spring Lake/City of Ferrysburg Police Chief DeYoung
and he found no reason to deny the transfer.
Heather Storey explained
the concept of the new restaurant to the Village Council. Ms. Storey said that there was a possibility
they would add a deck on in the future, but would not be expanding the building
itself.
Council member Fischer
wondered how the Michigan Liquor Control Commission would feel about the
building having a single unisex bathroom.
Manager Cotton said that
the commission usually had all this checked out before this point in the
process.
Council member Filber
hoped this wouldn’t be an open door for more liquor licenses in the Village.
A motion by Fischer, to
approve the transference of an on-premise, Class C, liquor license from 2065
Lake, Holland Michigan to 909 West Savidge, Spring Lake failed due to a lack of
a second.
Council member Palma
asked if the Village Council would have an opportunity to review the issue
after the Storey’s received answers back from the Liquor Control Commission.
Manager Cotton said the
council would be able to review it again.
Heather Storey said the
Liquor Control Commission normally follows the recommendation for approval from
the council. Ms. Storey asked the
council to explain their concerns. She
added that if it was just the bathroom issue, they would add an additional
bathroom to the building.
President Keller
suggested that the Village Council go over their concerns with Manager Cotton
and have him get with the Storey’s on November 16, 2004 and possibly put this
item back on the December 6, 2004 agenda.
On a motion by Fischer,
support from Holland, the approval for the transference of an on-premise, Class
C, liquor license from 2065 Lake, Holland to 909 West Savidge, Spring Lake was
tabled.
Yes: 4 No: 1
(Keller)
B. Approved a real estate purchase and
development agreement with Oosting, Inc of 15657 View Drive, Spring Lake and
authorized the Village President and Clerk to execute the agreement.
Subject: The Development Agreement was ready to be
reviewed and approved by Village Council for execution.
The key variables
were: the property would be used for
offices; closing would be by December 15th; the agreement required the start of
renovation by March 1, 2005; a letter of credit or performance bond was due at
the time of the building permit; and the Village retained the right of first
refusal if it was ever sold.
The renovation plans were
subject to review and approval of the Historic Conservation District Commission
as a historic landmark.
Mr. Oosting showed the
Village Council the renditions for the remodel of the old DPW garage and
explained what his plans were for both the interior and exterior of the
building.
On a motion by Holland,
support from Fischer, the Village Council approved a real estate purchase and
development agreement with Oosting, Inc of 15657 View Drive, Spring Lake and
authorized the Village President and Clerk to execute the agreement and any
closing, lot-split and other related documents.
Yes: 5 No: 0
C. Approved a standard
agreement for contracted building inspection services and authorized a fee schedule
amendment effective December 1, 2004.
Subject: The Village Council discussed the cost of
building inspection services not being covered by fee revenue during the budget
last spring. As a result, the building
permit fees were adjusted and we concluded it was important to look at the
contracted services also. The contracted services were covered differently
depending upon the contractor. These
special contractual services included electrical, mechanical and plumbing
inspections.
The amount of fees
charged for the entire Building Fund last year was $ 54,046. The Fund had expenditures of $71,220 for an
operating loss on the year of $17,174.
As a result, the cash balance was projected to be close to zero in the
FY 04 audit. These numbers included a
one-time transfer from the General Fund of $28,000 to pay for the Building
Fund’s share of the Village office renovation.
This transfer needed to paid back over time.
For these reasons, a
future operating deficit could not be sustained. This revenue/expenditure differential problem would need to begin
to be addressed by our fee structure in the next month or so.
Two steps were proposed
in last year’s budget and were included in this agenda item:
1.
Standardize
our contractual inspectors’ fees. Some
inspectors were getting more than others for similar effort. This was due to long-standing practices
that were not looked at comprehensively before.
2.
Increase
the contractual fees to reflect the costs to the Village of such
inspections. (The fees for other
non-contractual permits were already adjusted in former budgets.)
With
significant additional time and expenditures associated with new developments,
it was important to ensure that the Village’s costs were covered.
On a motion by Filber,
support from Fischer, the Village Council approved a standard agreement for
contracted building inspection services and authorized a FY 2005 fee schedule
amendment effective December 1, 2004.
Yes: 5 No: 0
D. Set the annual goals of
the Village Manager.
Subject: The Village Council considered an annual
list of goals at the work session on November 1, 2004. Attached to the agenda was the revised list
based on comments made at the meeting.
On a motion by Fischer,
support from Holland, the Village Council approved the annual goals for the
Village Manger.
Yes: 5 No: 0
E. Approved a formal policy
on water and sewer readiness-to-serve fees and authorized the Village
administration to distribute the policy when requested.
Subject: This policy was written to clarify the basis
of the fee for those who question it during payment of water and sewer utility
bills. The policy statement was drafted
to reflect past practices that have been in place for at least fifteen
years. The reasons for readiness-to-serve
fees were to help offset the fixed costs that existed whether any water or
sewer services were actually consumed in any given quarter.
The Village Council would
want to review this past practice and rationale to see if any amendments were
desired.
President Keller asked if
this formal policy was the result of a FOIA request.
Manager Cotton said that
staff member, Kristie Mills, to aid in explaining the charges to customers, had
suggested it.
President Keller asked if
all members of NOWS had readiness to serve charges.
Manager Cotton said yes,
that the voting members of NOWS had the readiness to serve and debt reduction
charges, since they are burdened with the debt of the NOWS system. Manager Cotton added that only two out of the
five Sewer Authority members charge readiness to serve charges.
On a motion by Filber,
support from Holland, the Village Council approved a formal policy on water and
sewer readiness-to-serve fees and authorized the Village administrative staff
to distribute upon request.
Yes: 5 No: 0
F. General reports by the
Village Manager: Given that there were
no items for a work session where late-breaking status reports would normally
be given, this agenda item was provided for this purpose. No Village Council actions were proposed.
·
A
key item for discussion was the potential lease of the Village Hall extra
office. Mr. Ted Dimke was an investment
manager who lived at 17549 Park Place Circle, Spring Lake. He would like to use the room for his office
and the conference room upstairs for meetings and the EOC room for potential
Saturday morning and evening seminars.
A letter offering rent and other terms was provided to the council for
review.
Village
staff reviewed these terms and discussed the following changes: Rent would increase to the budgeted amount
of $420 per month after the initial six months at $350 -- rent would be
discussed annually thereafter; the effective date would be the next council
meeting; the common area maintenance fee of $3.00 per square foot would apply;
one flat sign per building side would be permitted; internal directional
signage to fit with the existing building interior signs, except on the wall
outside the front northwest office being rented; and no designated parking.
Mr.
Dimke was a personable individual who would fit in well with the Village
staff. The key system anticipated this
rental office and would enable appropriate security for all.
If
the Village Council concurred, a lease would be prepared, reviewed by the
Village Attorney and brought back for review at the next Council meeting.
·
The
Groundwater Ordinance still needed to be tweaked. It would come back to the Village Council with a public hearing
for the amendments.
·
The
Village received official notice that the Grand River Greenway Project had been
recommended for funding through the Michigan Coastal Management Program for an
amount of $30,000 for the fiscal year 2004-2005.
·
A
new resident coffee would be held on November 18, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.
·
The
West Michigan Regional Planning Development Corporation (MPO) had asked for
input on long-term planning and Manager Cotton had responded in writing
concerning a second bridge crossing at or around 148th Street in
Spring Lake Township in the future to address the problem of traffic on M-104
within the Village.
VIII.
Reports by the Village Council:
No report by the Village Council was
presented.
IX.
Statements of Citizens:
No statements of citizens were
presented.
X. Adjournment
On a motion by Palma, support from Holland,
the Village adjourned at 8:31 p.m.
Yes: 5 No: 0
_______________________________________________
Daniel Keller, Village President
_______________________________________________
Maribeth Lawrence, Village Clerk/Treasurer