Bellaire Village Council Meeting Minutes November 2, 2011 1. Call to Order: President Schulz called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 2. Roll Call Attendance: Present: Officers Dave Schulz, Butch Dewey, Brent Nelson, Anne Wendling, Trish Drollinger, Dennis Balon & Helen Schuckel. Absent: N/A Staff Present: Cathy Odom, Treasurer, Janet Koch, Clerk, Ken Stead, DPW Supervisor & Bill Drollinger, Police Officer. Also Present: Colette Stanish, Betty Hoover, Dan Bean, Don Lash, Rachel Krino, Brad Kik (Island) & Dan McKinnon (East Jordan Family Health Center). 3. Approval of Agenda: The agenda was approved. President Schulz noted that East Jordan Family Health Center needs to be added to the agenda and moved to be the first item of new business. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Schuckel, to approve the agenda with the additions of new business item h, adding Gaming Resolution to the Letter of Support & item g, East Jordan Family Health Center-Letter of Support. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 4. Conflict of Interest: None presented. 6. Consent Agenda: The consent agenda was approved. Motion by Balon, seconded by Nelson, to approve the consent agenda as presented. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 7. Public Comment on Agenda Items: None presented. 8. Old Business a) Resolution #12 of 2011, Fire Board Appointment: The representative of the Village is appointed by Council to serve on the Fire Board. Roger Rainey is currently serving and would like to be reappointed. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Drollinger, to approve Resolution #12 of 2011, reappointing Roger Rainey to the Fire Board with a term expiration of April 2014. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. b) Property & Building Recommendations: Volunteer Energy: The committee recommends that we switch the Village gas supplier to Volunteer Energy. No term contract is required and switching back if problems arise can be done with just a phone call. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Schulz, to switch the Village natural gas supplier to Volunteer Energy. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Museum Request-Flat Panels: The museum would like to place flat panels on the wall downstairs for a display celebrating the 75 th year of the community hall. They have also asked for a copy of the blueprints of the building to use as a backdrop for the display. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Schuckel, to allow the museum to place flat panels on the wall downstairs for a display celebrating the 75 th birthday of the community hall and to use a copy of the building blueprints as a backdrop for the display. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 1
Museum Lease Addendum: Kearney Township has moved to their offices and this addendum will remove them from the contract with the museum. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Balon, to approve the addendum to the lease with Bellaire Area Historical Society changing any references of Kearney Township to the Village of Bellaire. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Additional Cleaning: Discussion of cleaning the restrooms in the basement during busy weekends was addressed at committee. The committee would like to recommend cleaning them up to 5 more times during the year at a cost of $25 each time. This will include Rubber Duck weekend and Harvest Festival with the other times being decided as needed. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Schulz, to approve the cleaning of the community hall restrooms during special events up to 5 more times during the year at a cost of $25 each time. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Internet Access: The museum and Parkside Arts Council would like to use our internet connection and security issues were discussed by Council. Clerk Koch noted that a PC company said that we should not have any problems but nothing is 100% secure. She also noted the Parkside lease states that they will be responsible for their own phone and internet connections. Drollinger mentioned putting in some clause that will allow us to choose if they can continue having access if something happens. Nelson noted that each entity should have separate passwords. Odom asked if that was possible because the code to gain access is the same. Bill Drollinger noted that it depends how the router is set up. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Wendling, to allow ISLAND, Parkside Arts Council & the Historical Society access to our internet code for wireless internet use with three separate passwords if possible. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Parkside Arts Council Requests: Dewey stated that they would like to move the cork board from inside the gallery to the hallway. They would like to change the front office window to a full glass panel door and change the other doors to nicer solid core doors. They would like to use the stage area for storage and for a workplace. The committee expressed safety concerns so is recommending that it be used for storage only. They would like to replace the lighting in the gallery area with track lighting at their expense. Discussion occurred about the cost of the track lighting compared to what is currently in place. If they move to a new location they will remove the track lighting and put our regular lighting back in. They would like to mount a vertical gallery sign onto the museum s sign bracket. A design will have to be submitted and follow zoning regulations. They would also like to place two sets of flat files in the north side of the Council chambers. It was noted that other group s use the chambers for events. Betty Hoover from the museum also noted that if they used the chambers for an event, they would not like to take responsibility for other groups items. President Schulz noted that a way to lock them could be found. They would also like to hang a removable stained glass panel above the community hall entryway. Scheduling events was also discussed and it was noted that scheduling would have to go through the Village offices. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Schuckel, to approve the Parkside Arts Council requests of moving the cork boards out into the hallway, changing the first door, currently a window, to a full panel glass door, use of the stage area for storage only; changing gallery space lighting to be track lighting with Parkside to pay for the permitting & electrical contractor installation; a vertical gallery sign above the museum sign bracket; use of chamber space for storing two flat files with the provision that they are lockable to safeguard contents; to use Council chambers pending scheduling with the Village offices and placement of a stained glass panel above the community hall entryway. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 2
c) O.I.L. Energy: This was tabled at the last meeting for further information. It is a final calculation of the exact share of interest we will receive. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Nelson, to authorize the Village President to sign the O.I.L. Division Order as presented. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 9. New Business a) Planning Commission Appointments: Clarence Bennett s seat on the Planning Commission expires at the end of the month. He is interested in serving another term. President Schulz recommends his appointment. Motion by Balon, seconded by Nelson, to reappoint Clarence Bennett to the Planning Commission with a term expiration of November 30, 2014. Motion carried by voice vote. b) ZBA Appointments: Two seats on the ZBA occupied by Butch Dewey and Lori Smalley will expire at the end of the month. They both are interested in serving another term. President Schulz recommends their appointments. Motion by Drollinger, seconded by Nelson, to reappoint Butch Dewey and Lori Smalley to the ZBA with term expirations of November 15, 2014. Motion carried by voice vote. c) Community Mental Health-Community Hall Use Request: CMH would like to use the Community Hall on a Tuesday or Wednesday for client meetings once a week for about a year at approximately 2 hours a week. President Schulz noted that at this time of year, there may not be a problem, but in the summer months with the museum and Parkside Arts Council wanting to expand their programs, this space may not be available as often as needed. He asked for this to be tabled to find out if they have already asked for space at their current location. d) Casualty & Property Terrorism Coverage: Our liability insurance carrier has sent information about the availability of coverage for terrorism. Cost of the coverage and what is considered an act of terrorism was discussed. It was noted that an act of terrorism can only be named by the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Treasury. The consensus was to reject the coverage. Motion by Dewey, seconded by Balon, to authorize the Village President to note the rejection of terrorism coverage on the policy holder disclosure notice of terrorism insurance coverage as presented by the Municipal Underwriters of Michigan. Motion carried by voice vote. e) Letter of Complaint: We received a letter dated October 4, 2011 from Mr. Spillane, a property owner adjacent from Captain s Choice Marine. He is doing some construction work on his property and has brought attention to the Village about concerns of discharge of gas, antifreeze, oil and bilge discharge and how it is being handled by Captain s Choice Marine. Clerk Koch has checked with legal counsel and they state this is a civil issue. President Schulz noted that he is treating this as a complaint that the Village is being made aware of. At this point there is nothing that needs to be addressed by the Planning Commission or by zoning. The Village doesn t have to be involved in this issue at this time. Clerk Koch noted that she spoke with the attorney and he asked if the section discussed in Mr. Spillane s letter was in the ordinance at the time Mr. Lash s business was created and she noted that it was not similar at all to what is currently in the zoning ordinance. She also noted that he is not in violation of any zoning, which again makes it a civil issue. As far as the contamination issue, this is not handled by the Village, it is handled by DEQ and recommends that this letter be sent to them with a cover letter explaining the situation. Motion by Wendling, seconded by Schulz, to submit, with a cover letter, Mr. Spillane s letter dated October 4, 2011 to the DEQ with a copy of that correspondence to Mr. Lash for his files. Motion carried by voice vote. 3
f) Letter of Support & Gaming Resolution-ISLAND: is requesting a letter of support for a grant application pursuing cultural programming in the form of films and concerts. Brad Kik from ISLAND explained that the group offering the grant supports art in rural communities. This is a $4000 grant to provide a film series, a music series and workshops. Motion by Schulz, seconded by Dewey, to authorize the Village President to sign a letter of support for ISLAND s grant submission to the Laura Jane Musser Fund for a concert & film series to be held at the Bellaire Community Hall. Motion carried by voice vote. ISLAND is also looking at raffle fundraisers. To do this they must apply for licensing and part of the process requires a resolution approved by the local governing body. Motion by Wendling, seconded by Schulz, to approve Resolution #13 of 2011, a local governing body resolution for charitable gaming for the ISLAND group. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. g) Letter of Support-East Jordan Family Health Center: Dan McKinnon from the East Jordan Family Health Center would like to apply for a grant that will allow the construction of a new facility. The current building is not designed very well for the flow of patient care and there is not enough space to operate effectively. He stated that since 1999 they have received federal funding to help provide patient care for low income families. They have the opportunity to apply for a federal grant for a new location. They will present the idea to the full board of the County at their next meeting for approval of a new facility on County-owned property behind the EMS garage. One of the parts of the application is support from the surrounding community. He would like a letter of support from the Village of Bellaire. If the grant is received the new facility would supply the area with approximately15 more jobs. Motion by Wendling, seconded by Nelson, to allow the Village President sign a letter of support for the East Jordan Family Health Center for the relocation of their facility. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 10. Discussion Items: None presented. 11. Department/Committee Reports a) Committee Reports: None presented. b) Clerk/Planner: received a report from the 13 th Judicial Court if anyone is interested in reviewing it. c) Deputy Clerk/Treasurer: None presented. d) Department of Public Works: A written report was presented. e) Police Department: None presented. f) Planning Commission: None presented. 12. Closing Member/Public Comment: David Schulz: noted that some of trees around the village are being trimmed or removed. Brad Kik: stated he knows there is a wide spectrum of films and music. There are family oriented films to very extremely offensive ones and it is not their desire to do anything controversial and would like some feedback from Council about where they could go with this. President Schulz stated that Meadowbrook dealt with this issue. The family wanted a stripper for a family member that was a resident. The facility was supportive, it 4
was done privately, and it was known that those with issues with it were not in the room. He stated that what one person feels is art, someone else may not feel that way. He stated that as long as there is some sort of standing signage at the steps explaining the content, then those finding it offensive can choose not to attend. It was noted that we have an ordinance that may address this in some way so it should be reviewed. 13. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 8:20 P.M. Compiled by Cathy Odom Minutes are subject to approval. Approved: Date: 5