City Council Minutes

CITY OF GRANDVILLE

REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2010

The Grandville City Council Regular Meeting of February 8, 2010 was called to order by Mayor James Buck at 7:00 pm.

Present were Council Members Randal Gelderloos, Steve Kauffman, Steve Maas, Joshua Meringa, Carole Pettijohn, Dick Richards and Mayor James Buck. Absent: None

Also attending: Matthew Butts, Assistant City Manager; Tammy Hopman, Treasurer/Finance Director; Randy Kraker, City Attorney; Ken Krombeen, City Manager; Dennis Santo, Police Chief; Dan Steere, Deputy Police Chief; Harvey Veldhouse, Fire Chief; and Todd Wibright, CWP Superintendent.

Rev. Tom Pier-Fitzgerald, Grandville United Methodist Church, gave the invocation; and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Motion made by Council Member Maas, supported by Council Member Pettijohn, to approve the February 8, 2010 agenda as presented. The motion was APPROVED.

Motion made by Council Member Richards, supported by Council Member Pettijohn, to waive the reading of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 25, 2010 and to approve as presented. The motion was APPROVED.

Motion made by Council Member Maas, supported by Council Member Pettijohn, to waive the reading of the minutes of the Combined Meeting of City Council and DDA on January 14, 2010 and to approve as presented. The motion was APPROVED.

Motion made by Council Member Maas, supported by Council Member Gelderloos, that bills for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 totaling $164,574.93 as presented by the City Manager, be allowed and authorize the Treasurer to pay the same. The motion was unanimously APPROVED by roll call vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Thomas Kosmak, 3223 Chestnut, asked the City to become more efficient and to re-assess where funding is coming from.

Tim Lynch, 4348 Red Stone, feels the economic crisis will get worse and asked what could be been done to make it better for Grandville.

Russ Ripma, 3965 Johnson Lane, extended an invitation to the Senior Neighbors pancake breakfast on Saturday, February 20.

COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS OR PETITIONS

Chief Santo provided a memo to City Council re: the City’s dispatching services. The City of Wyoming has been dispatching for Grandville since July 1, 2006. In 2009 they informed Grandville that they would be consolidating dispatch services with the City of Grand Rapids tentative effective date of January 1, 2011. The City of Grandville could be a member of the partnership but the cost would be approximately $99,000 more than the current cost plus start up costs. The Kent County Sheriff’s Department was contacted re: dispatching services. The County has dispatched for Grandville in the past and provided excellent service. The annual and start up costs were determined to be less than the costs to use the Grand Rapids/Wyoming partnership group. Chief Santo and Captain Michelle Young from the Kent County Sheriff’s Department were in attendance to respond to questions re: the arrangement. A contract will be brought to Council at a later date for approval.

The City of Grandville has received a request from PRDA to establish a Commercial Rehabilitation District and to approve a Commercial Rehabilitation Exemption Certificate for 2900 Wilson Ave. Senior Meals Program, Inc. is working with PRDA to rehabilitate a portion of this former industrial site. Representatives on behalf of the project were in attendance to discuss the request. Dawn Baetsen, Atlas Insight, explained the proposal and the process. The Commercial Rehabilitation Act of 2005 is similar to an industrial tax abatement. Senior Meals Program, Inc. is proposing to locate in a portion of the building. Paul Beebe from Senior Meals indicated they would use 5,000 sq. ft. for administrative and office space, 8,000 sq. ft. for the congregate center, and 15,000 sq. ft for a kitchen. Cost of the project is $800,000. The property is located within the DDA area and will freeze the amount the DDA will collect on this property for a period of up to 10 years. Motion made by Council Member Kauffman, supported by Council Member Gelderloos, to refer the initial review of the Commercial Rehabilitation request for 2900 Wilson Ave. to the Business Relations Committee. The motion was APPROVED.

ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS

Motion made by Council Member Richards, supported by Council Member Pettijohn, approve Resolution No. 2916, approving the MERS defined contribution plan employee contribution to 4% and City contribution to 10% for the Environmental Unit, effective April 1, 2010. The motion was unanimously APPROVED by roll call vote.

CONSENT AGENDA

Items presented under the Consent Agenda included:

1. Reports: Fire/EMS (January), Treasurer’s (January)

2. Minutes: Downtown Development Authority (January 21)

Library Board (January 28)

Resolution No. 2917: Election Receiving Board
Proclamation: National Ambucs Month

Motion made by Council Member Meringa, supported by Council Member Pettijohn, to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. The motion was APPROVED.

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Assistant City Manager Butts indicated that an application was received from Ground and Pound Promotions for special liquor licenses for six dates in 2010. The events are mixed martial arts events to benefit the non-profit Ellison Mixed Martial Arts Foundation. Tom Burge was in attendance on behalf of the applicant. Motion made by Council Member Richards, supported by Council Member Kauffman, to authorize the Police Chief to approve the special liquor license for Ground and Pound Promotions for February 27, June 5, July 24, September 18, November 6, and December 18, 2010 subject to the necessary finger printing and background checks. The motion was APPROVED by a 6-1 roll call vote (Yes: Buck, Gelderloos, Kauffman, Meringa, Pettijohn and Richards. No: Maas).

COUNCIL COMMENTS

· Community Survey of 2005

· State Economic Revenue and Budget Update

· Written statement from Council Member Kauffman re: Planning Commission approval of expansion to paintball facility

· Congratulations to Carole Pettijohn on the birth of a new grandchild

· Chamber Business of Year nominations

· Library Board meeting update – upcoming events

· BRC meeting

· City Manager’s performance evaluation

· Mayor Timmer’s passing

WORK SESSION

City Council moved into a budget work session at 8:50 pm. City Manager Krombeen and Finance Director Hopman presented some options to deal with the projected deficit. Possible approaches to dealing with the projected deficit and balancing the budget include: (1) cut General Fund expenditures to match the revenue; (2) raise the millage rate to eliminate the deficit; or (3) combination of cuts and revenue enhancements totaling the deficit. Suggestions for reductions in Capital Expenditures, Operating Expenditures, and non-union employee benefits were provided to Council. Discussion of possible solutions including cutting expenditures, wage and benefit concessions, fund balance, and millage increase. Motion made by Council Member Richards, supported by Council Member Maas, to schedule a special meeting for March 15, 2010 at 6:00 pm to continue working on the 2010-2011 budget. The motion was APPROVED.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion made by Council Member Kauffman, supported by Council Member Gelderloos, to adjourn at 10:28 p.m. The motion was APPROVED.

Mary L. Meines

City Clerk

Approved by City Council: February 22, 2010

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