City of Ferndale City Council Meeting 07-28-2025

Rise for the pledge of allegiance if you're able. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America,

and to the republic for which it stands, one nation,

under God,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Johnson? Here. Kelly?

Here.

Mikulski? Here. Polica? Here. Leakes May?

Here. Of the agenda.

Madam mayor, I move we approve the agenda with one, amendment. The proclamation, recognizing disability pride month was inadvertently left off of this meeting's agenda, so I would move that we add this to the agenda. I presume this could just be seven in, as item seven in on the consent agenda.

Consent agenda.

So I move approval with that, amendment. Support.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Alright. We have a presentation, this, this evening.

Ferndale Arts and Beautification Commission for their July 2025 Beautification and Coneflower Awards.

Welcome. Good evening, mayor, council members, and Ferndale residents. My name is Suzanne Janek, and this is Susan Fisher. And we are and Dean Smith and Mary Anne Wessels, we are part of the Ferndale Arts and Beautification Commission. We are here to present the July Beautification Awards and also the Coneflower Awards for 2025.

On your desk, you have, coneflowers collected from commission members gardens around the around the city. The coneflower is the official flower of Ferndale. Some of the commission members know we took them, some of them don't. This month, we were we picked all four all four quadrants as well as the cone flower, the commission members, and also our council liaison, Rolanda. He helped us notify all the members.

Rolanda and her partner Jess rode their bikes around the city and had a great time chatting with the homeowners and getting to know them and collecting information. So we're gonna start out we're gonna start out with the Northwest section Northwest section, which is 323 West Maplehurst. This is Faye this is Faye

Doohu and Jim Wilson.

They've lived there for forty four years, and they love gardening. Faye has inherited a green thumb from her mother and is a master gardener. Their yard blooms throughout the year and joins them brings them both joy and peace. They have a large backyard filled with a wide variety of plants and even a Japanese pond. Faye loves to meditate there, and she described gardening as a lot of work that changes each year, very scientific and always evolving.

They're not gonna be able to come out to council, so we would drop their sign off to them when they're back in town when they're back in town.

For our Southwest quadrant, we have thirteen ninety six Albany, David Ackroyd and Jose Rosario Jose Rosario. They've lived in the home for twenty six years, and their garden journey began in 2012. 2010, I should say. It's ever evolving. It could be a challenge.

Sometimes things things grow a little too well. David says his favorite plants depend on the season, and he loves how the garden transforms throughout the year. It all started when the lawn was mostly dirt, and it's grown into what you see today. They mulch every three years, a 130 bags worth bags worth, and say one good rain a week or every ten days is like liquid gold. They will be attending council tonight.

They're not tonight. Oh.

They're not here.

Sorry. They're not here.

For our Southeast section, we have, Julian Apfelba. He has lived in the house for twenty seven years, and he said after nine eleven happened in 02/2001, he started feeling a necessity to connect with the dirt. He was helped along with, he was helped along with with design by Dean Smith, one of our commission members. And he said that a psychic told him back at a coffee house a long time ago that he would be gardening, and he thought that they were crazy. But we are very impressed with the art.

So, Julian, would

you like

to come up and get your sign? Susan's gonna we're gonna take we're gonna take photos of

the oh.

Oh, would you like to talk about your garden? Okay.

For our Northeast quadrant, we have 619 East Drayton. After over fifty wonderful years in Ferndale, my husband and I decided to completely reimage our garden this year. It all began with a beautiful 100 year old oak tree come down, an unexpected moment that sparked a new beginning. We tore everything up and planted a variety of flowers and pumpkins, which have now taken over in the most delightful way. Our neighbors stopped to admire our yard, passersby smile, and the buzz around our yard has been exciting.

It's been fun and rewarding adventure that is everyone talking everyone talking. And we can't wait until the fall to have our grandson pick the pumpkins. And that's by Thomas and Patricia Sims.

Right

here. Right here. You like

to talk about your guard? No.

Okay. It's all good. Okay. Thank you so much.

Laura, I'll do coneflower. And our coneflower award this year goes to 1307 Pinecrest. This is Matt Sherman's home. Matt has lived here for four years. He started the perennial garden in the backyard a couple of years ago after becoming single.

It became a new hobby. All of the plants were started from seed and come from various places, though mostly natives. It brings him joy and helps him create community as it sparks many conversations with neighbors neighbors. He noted that the front yard is much more social than the back, of course.

Madam? Madam? So in addition to that, we have our upcoming events. After we have our August beautification awards that our nominations are now open. Keep your eye out for a think tank fall event fall event.

And we also have the nine on nine concert series that's right now is in mid swing. Next Sunday, we'll have the big jazz collective, Dietschy. And on August 10, there'll be a dog day at the Shiffer Park, which will be part of the nine on nine. On September 7, it'll be kids day. And between August 17 and September 7, Detroit Curling Club will be on-site to play and teach curling play and teach curling.

So and we also have fall right around the corner. Started to start planning your Halloween display for our beautification awards. So thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Congratulations to all of the awardees.

Suzanne, Suzanne, do they wanna get a picture on the podium?

Ayes. Ayes.

Your commission should come up too. Come on. Alright. Why not? Alright.

We are now coming up on call to audience. I'm opening up call to audience at 07:11PM. I invite anyone in the audience to come up to the podium to speak on anything on or off the agenda. You have three minutes, and please state your name and your address. And it's open right now.

Alright. Hello. Good evening, everyone. My name is Kevin Roach. I live on West Marshall Street.

And, last meeting, I actually, said this, last meeting that I actually thought that the vote for my, I guess, acceptance and approval was at that mean, but it's actually this mean. Mhmm. But, for those who weren't here or didn't see the recording or livestream, I am looking to be approved as part of the accessibility and inclusion commission for the, say, Ferndale, and, look forward to, working with everyone. That's what I got.

Thank you. Thank you for the introduction.

Hello. I am Tiffany Perkins. I'm actually a resident of Royal Oak. I am here today, to ask for an amendment to be adopted for Ferndale's existing humane pet sales ordinance. We already have one in Royal Oak, and this to include all Ferndale businesses, pop up events, and sales commission for showcasing puppies as inventory in any Ferndale business or temporary event that is not actively collaborating with a municipal shelter or five zero one c three rescue.

The current precedence has been communicated that puppies can be sold by businesses in Ferndale as long as their on paper primary business model is not categorically a retail puppy store. This minimizes the intention

of the

ordinance. By adopting the proposed amendment, it will prevent unlisted breeders from leveraging misleading sales tactics and predatory sourcing. For businesses currently conducting sales, I have a few ideas. We could share, make it mandatory that they're sharing the breeder names and facilities. We should ask that their licensure be required for events if they're temporary pop up events.

We should ask that their inventory records, show the puppies were vaccinated. And these will ensure that viruses are not being spread through the handling of puppies at these events, such as par parvovirus, a deadly and very prevalent puppy virus with a very low survival rate, which can actually be carried home to owned pets, at home through handling with hands, clothing, and it can actually be carried on bottoms of feet. So your bare feet in these yoga classes can actually track these diseases home to your owned pets. Currently, while doing research, the shell company called Furry Pet Funds, that's the contact for the yoga pop up. When I searched, there was actually no website, no social media.

There was no list of USDA or state credentialing for breeding. So my ask today is community. Community is the core of care. We appreciate your consideration for this amendment. Thank you.

Hi. Good evening. Lauren Delega. I'm actually a resident of Franklin. I am also here to support an amendment to the pet store ordinance that's already in existence, clearly defining the restrictions about selling dogs and cats in any space in Ferndale.

Just wanna say that I am such a huge supporter of local business. You guys in Ferndale do such an amazing job cultivating and supporting and growing your small businesses in the city, and I just don't wanna see these certain businesses find a loophole within the existing ordian ordinance to sell and promote puppy mill dogs and backyard breeders when there are so many other businesses that have adopted a humane model and have been following the ordinance as it was intended to be. The ordinance was obviously put into place to protect not only the welfare of animals, but also to protect the consumers against predatory sales tactics. And, unfortunately, those tactics and the lack of transparency are currently taking place at a lucky a local puppy mill or puppy yoga studio. So I just asked you to consider adding the amendment as soon as possible, so we can stop the further sale of puppies in this location and then prevent this in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else for call to audience? K. Alright. Closing call to audience at 07:17PM.

And now we're moving on to the consent agenda, which I will read each item in its order. Seven a, approval of the 07/14/2025 meeting minutes. Seven b, approval of the listed appointments and reappointments to the city boards and commissions. Seven c, approval of the Ferndale Dream Cruise Rockin' Live Entertainment performance agreement for August 2025. Seven d, approval of the resolution to approve qualified licensee for Ferndale Social District.

Seven e, approval of the memorandum of other understanding with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office for the team and distribution of high intensity drug trafficking area grant funds. Seven f, approval of critical repairs to the three dump truck d three dump truck beds from MC Dustless Blasting in an amount not to exceed $40,000. Seven g, approval of payment to Oakland County for cost associated with the May in the amount of $11,260.53. Seven h, approval of critical repairs to the vector by Jack Doheny Company in an amount not to exceed $9,000. Seven I, approval per approval of the purchase of thermal weeding systems for the MK Rittenhouse and Sons in the amount of $3,374.96.

Seven j, approval of critical repairs to two leaf vacuums from Rhodes Welding Company Inc in an amount not to exceed $20,000. Seven k, approval of critical repairs to fire suppression system at the Curling Club by Fire Systems of Michigan in the amount of $12,716.56. Seven l, a purchase of Play Safe Mulch and Installation at Oppenheim Park in the amount of $3,800. Seven m, approval of bills and payrolls as submitted by the finance director and subject to review by the finance committee. And seven n, approval of the proclamation issued to honor to, Recognize.

Recognize July 2025 as disability pride month and a celebration of the thirty fifth anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act.

I move we approve the consent agenda as presented.

Support. All

in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. And if you'd like to read the proclamation.

So a proclamation of July 2025 as disability pride month and a celebration of the thirty fifth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. At a regular meeting of the city council of the city of Ferndale, Oakland County, Michigan held on 07/28/2025, the following resolution was moved and supported. 07/26/2025 marks the thirty fifth anniversary of the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, a milestone for accessibility and civil rights for people with disabilities, and whereas disability pride month strives to destigmatize disability as a negative, unnatural aspect of life and foster understanding and acceptance of that part of our identities, and whereas disability pride month is a reminder that we are more than our disabilities and that disability intersects with other celebratory characteristics of our identities, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other factors, and whereas, for those who are not affected by disability, disability pride month promotes full inclusion and accessibility of people with disabilities and highlights the value people with disabilities bring to our communities, workforce, academic environments, voting polls, and overall society. And whereas the city of Ferndale also proclaims action wherein we take time to reflect on different disabilities and how the city and our community continue can continue to improve and remove barriers to be a place of choice to live, work, and visit for all persons with disabilities, and whereas the city of Ferndale created the accessibility and inclusion advisory commission to study the challenges related relating to barriers for persons with visual, hearing, cognitive, or mobility disabilities and their interaction with the community and to advise the city council on its findings, and whereas the city of Ferndale vision as the benchmark for a modern community that embraces the richness of diversity and brings inclusive hospitality to life includes a strong commitment to serve all members of our community, And whereas, the City of Ferndale affirms the principles of equality and inclusion for people with disabilities as set forth by the State of Michigan and as embodied in the ADA, the laws of the State of Michigan, and the ordinances of the City Of Ferndale, Now therefore be it resolved, the Ferndale City Council hereby extends greetings and best wishes to all observing July 2025 as disability pride month and the thirty fifth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, adopted unanimously on this day.

Thank you.

Alright. We are now moving on to the regular agenda. City clerk, we will all of, the items on the agenda will be item eight a, approval of the special event permit for the DIY street fair on September 19 through the twenty first twenty twenty five.

Good evening, council. Good evening. At our last city council meeting, there was the d DIY street fair was on the agenda requesting approval for a special event permit for September. However, it was asked to be tabled until tonight, based on the event planners, concerns over the 9PM requirement on Sundays to shut down sound systems, whereas he is requesting it to be extended until 10PM. For that in particular in particular, I wanted to bring to council's awareness that on 05/14/2018, city council supported the special events committee recommendation to shut off all sound systems on Sundays at 9PM.

At that time, during that council, it was a unanimous support of recheeping at 9PM and that was based on we had some concerns from local residents local residents who expressed that being that it's a Sunday night, they either have to go to work early in the morning or their children have to get up for school and that they would prefer that music not go beyond 9PM beyond 9PM. And so that's why the special events committee, made the motion, to recommend to council to move it to 9PM. At that time, the event planner did appeal at council and council still supported the special events committee to keep it at 9PM. March 10, when we revised our special events policy guidebook, we specifically had written in the policy that sound amplification shall be limited to 9PM on Sundays. As for there were expressed concerns about the cost of special events that, the city, that that that are incurred on a special event.

And here I wanted to break down from 2021 to 2025 the estimates versus the actual cost of the different specific departments that help that help provide city services to a special event to a special event. For example, the police department in 2021, the act the estimates and that is based on how many they're they're, recommending of staff, police staff to be present. Whereas whereas based on, the police department and even the fire department, even DPW, a lot of that is, where police officers will elect themselves to, work that weekend rather than being told they have to work that weekend. So the estimate was 10,000, $148, but after the amount was completed, the actual was $84.31 31. And then the same goes with the fire department and also with the DPW.

And you'll see that the majority of estimates are always higher than the actuals that are actually charged. And the special event planner is provided this information prior to going to city council so they are aware of what cost it might incur to do an event in Ferndale. So that that way when they budget, they are able to understand where they their expenses are gonna come from when it comes to city city fee concerns. And so you also notice that they've been pretty stable pretty stable in how we've been charging been charging actuals. You will notice that there was an increase in 2022 from there all the way up to this this point.

And the reason for those increases, we because in 2022 is when the city, required sustainability practices. So they're required that, recycling and food waste was part of the special event depending on the class level they were. And so there's this that's what we call sustain sustainability services that are provided by a third party. So a third party is hired, they come in, they do the services, the city gets an invoice from the service and then we turn around and we put it into the invoice to the special event to the special event. And that that same year also is when the city council approved the purchase of Meridian barriers.

In that level, we were able to purchase 16 barriers and we were able to get a grant to pay for 50% of it, but another 50% of it, the city had to pay through general funds. And at that time, then the city approved a city council approved not only the purchase, but also that we start charging a fee to eventually reimburse the city back the $40,000 that was spent. So there is a an annual charge, a charge per event if there is a use of our barriers. So that's roughly, we can see here on the next page of sustainability. For example, in 2022, the services for a three day event was $4,341 $41.

And, you'll see that in 2024, the the fees for sustainability were reduced because because DIY and Funky Ferndale are on the same weekend and now they share those costs because we used to allow because Funky Ferndale did not have any food services on their side of the event, of the two events. But they weren't able to maintain keeping the, recycling and the trash. So instead of the event doing the service themselves, they agreed to share in the cost of sustainability. And, so you'll see that. And then, of course, you all can see, DPW services also where there's the estimates versus the actuals.

And in 2024, the estimate was $6,400, but the actual was $34.34 3,452.

Michael, so if the estimates and the actuals are obviously different, are we just for clarity and for public clarity too, are we charging at the so at the end of the event, after we've tallied up our actuals, are we then truing up with the event host and that's what they're that's the actuals or what they're actually paying?

Yes. In fact, you'll see here in the last one, this is the actual final invoice after the event's completed where police, fire, DPW, and all the other the barriers, the, sustainability sustainability. These are the charges that are actually they they, are incurred at at the end. Now, prior to the event, when we go through the special events policy, we do invoice them for the application fee, which is $400. If, the liquor license fee.

There are also, dumpster fees, which is a $175 per dumpsters because we gotta put the trash in the recycling somewhere. And then if there's an oversized tent, anything that exceeds a 20 by 20. And, so those fees will always be changed or you gotta understand too that, let's say that there's an event that happens and and something unfortunate happens where there's, you know, grease stains on the on the pavement and they need to be power washed, EPW comes in, does a service, and the time they do that service, the event has to be charged for that to so that the city does not eat those costs does not eat those costs.

And

and if you have any questions for me, and if not, the event planner, Chris Johnson, is here for any questions for any questions.

So considering that we have to vote on this tonight, is anyone on council opposed to, hearing from the event planners at this time so that we can and then discuss it at the dice after the dice? Anyone else oppose?

No objections. No objections. Alright.

Thank you. Chris Johnston. Chris Johnston. And there are differences for sure between the, estimated and the actual numbers. I have a feeling based on my recollection, a lot of that depends on weather.

We've had many festivals that a whole day or whole night can be rained out, and I'm guessing that that really cuts down on the number of, personnel that are needed for that. I love seeing the police and fire and everyone at our events. I think it's a great asset to have. It looks great for the city of Ferndale, and I'm very appreciated for the job that they do. They're always super conscientious and very welcoming to guests, and I know everyone loves seeing them there.

One of the things I mentioned before is just like I couldn't imagine going to the Dream Cruise and not seeing police and fire helping out there and working, I couldn't imagine them not being an event. The difference is Dream Cruise, Brindale Market Days doesn't get billed for those things, but our events do. And that doesn't seem fair to me that, you know, as far as a big event goes that you're charging us but not yourselves. And I think there should be fairness there that doesn't sit well with me. You know, like I said, I've been in business in Ferndale for twenty seven years.

DIY is a Ferndale business. I can't imagine ever getting a bill at the end of a weekend for police and fire because it was crowded that weekend. And I think that if the city wants to have large events like the Dream Cruise, and the Dream Cruise probably it's already budgeted to lose $30,000 if I read the budget correctly this year. That's without having to pay for police and having to pay for fire. So a big event just couldn't sustain itself on its own, and I feel like the city of Ferndale, should have some skin in the game for events if they want events like this to happen.

If they don't, that's fine. But, you know, we took a big chance this year with, DIY by making it a dry event for the first time ever. So we're not selling liquor there, and social districts are open. And I thought that when we did that that our cost for police and fire would come down about to where Ferndale Funky Ferndale was, but really they were the same. And that doesn't make sense to me either.

That's really how the only way that we're going to make money or break even at this event and pay for things. So I don't know how we will continue without some support from the city in the future, and I'm surprised that we haven't gotten it so far. But, it's just hard to put on an event like this on our own. It just doesn't work. And if if it was so easy, then there'd be more events.

There really there aren't a lot more, and you can't do much without finances. So if you have any questions or and I guess I should talk about the 10:00 thing, the music. Sorry. Yes. That was brought up years ago because there was a survey that was done asking businesses and residents what they thought about festivals.

And one of the questions was, are festivals too noisy? And the answer was yes, some people said. But it it was a question about a lot of festivals. It wasn't a question about just DIY or just Ferndale Dream Cruise. Who knows which ones they thought were noisy?

I don't know. And we were told that instead of going to eleven, which is what we used to go to on Sunday with music, it would have to be at ten and then down to nine, all without giving us a chance to try something different. No one said, hey. We've gotten some complaints. But really, I was always asking the police chief if there were any, and there was very few every year.

But even so, there was never an option for us to do a different kind of programming for the last hour or do something a little quieter. And I didn't think that that was fair. We were just told that it had to end earlier. And we found since then, you know, I went along with it, but we found really quickly that when the music ends, the event ends and everyone goes home. And this year, the economy is as tough as ever.

I've already explained it's gonna be hard for us to break even, and every hour that we can get, really helps the event and helps all the the artists who have put a lot of money and work into being there to be successful. So that extra hour could make a huge difference, especially as you know with the weather. We could have a total rain out on Saturday, on Friday, and that Sunday is when they need to help try to break even. So I think it's good for us to have that option, and I would like to see it, back to where it was, closer to where it was and try that and see if there are problems with it. If there are, how can we fix those instead of just changing it for no reason?

That's all I got. Alright.

I'll put it up to council so we can discuss the approval of the special event permit.

What do you think? Madam mayor, before we get into the discussion, could we take these as two voting items? I think the permit I think the appeal for the extension should be voted on first because the permit that would issue after that would necessarily have to reflect whatever the vote of the appeal is.

Break it up. Okay.

I think so. Well,

alright. Shall we, discuss the permit first? Is there any discussion regarding the permit?

Did you wanna Through the chair.

Okay. Go ahead.

What are you calling the permit? Or or Thing that we're voting on. Well, they're asking for a amendment to the permit.

That's why I recommended that we take the appeal of the extension for the time because the permit that was an issue would have to reflect the result of the appeal. Because the permit will either be issued with nine or 10PM as the authorized date time.

Through the chair,

it seems like you wanna address the timing, the length of the permit first, and then Okay.

And the final permit.

Okay. So we're talking about the timing. I have some questions of Michael. So DIY and Funky Ferndale happen at the same weekend. Yes.

Two different events, two different promoters. What time does the Funky Art Festival in a place? Is it the same times?

No. That there's, the West Side Of Woodward, Funky Ferndale would be over at seven. On Sunday? On Sunday, actually, five 06:00. 06:00 on Sunday.

Okay. Saturday Friday and Saturday, it would be seven. Okay. Wow. Really?

That Yeah.

And they don't have music.

Oh, I know that. Yeah.

This year, I believe believe that, they have extended it till 09:00 on Saturday this year.

Okay. And within the the permit as it exists today, the sound levels are different than they would be just on a regular day. So we allow for a louder event to occur during those hours. Correct. Okay.

So And that was the recommended, back in 2018 by the, the the then police chief.

Yes. Yes. I I recall that. I recall a lot of this. So normally at 09:00 on any given day, the sound levels would be at a normal level, not at the raised level.

Correct.

Just for some clarity, did you say the the Funky Ferndale Art Fair is asking for an extension on Friday and Saturday till 9PM now?

No. No. Because they were approved last last, last council, but their hours of operation, they're adding a little bit more because they wanna be closer to what, DIY. DIY is not is is runs till eleven on Saturday, but Funky will be over by nine on Saturday.

On Saturday only? Friday and Saturday. Friday and Saturday. Okay.

Through the chair Yes. A couple things. I I appreciate the presentation because, you know, I'd had a little bit of res reticence back when we changed the guidelines earlier this year, moving everything to nine and making that official. Obviously, I wasn't on here, back in 2018 when the discussion was had about Sundays at 9PM. Where where things get sticky for me is that if we look at the actual language of our code, we look at Ferndale's noise ordinance, specifically section two dash one zero two and section two dash one zero three, it already provides both general and temporary exemptions for festivals, concerts, cultural events approved by this body.

So we already have the authority to set reasonable limits for sound pressure for hours, for frequency through the approval of the events. I am hesitant to have blanket restrictions that could unintentionally undermine the current success of public gatherings. Additionally, when I looked further into the code I'm trying to find the section in the code. Our ordinance defines nighttime as starting at 10:00. So the proposed 9PM curfew is more restrictive than our baseline of what we consider to be the nighttime hours when people go to sleep.

So I I realize that this is substantially louder than, like, somebody mowing their lawn. We're not talking about backyard DJs. We're not talking about rogue sound trucks. But that does lead me to believe that since these are cities sanctioned, festivals with established logistics, with security, and infrastructure, that we could find some sort of path forward to allow for it, maybe just with better decibel monitoring, maybe with different programming, maybe with some sort of adjustment if the if the organizer was amenable to that. I don't know.

Can you do, like, acoustic Sunday and make it a little bit quieter so that it's not just blaring out through the city? I am I'm obviously very sensitive to our our residents, and I don't live at Ground 0 like like you do, Greg. I will say I can still hear it on Hazelhurst, on West Hazelhurst when the nights are clear and quiet and, you know, everything's in the right conditions. I can hear a little bit of thump thump and some some crowds cheering. But because I'm down by the Coolidge Center, I'm certainly not feeling the impact that others would feel.

So I guess I guess my ask is this feels like it's not much of a lift. It feels like there's a way that we could find a path forward, but that we just put the the 9PM in place and kind of washed our hands of it. And it sounds like the event promoter is interested in finding a path forward. And if he is, could we do it? If if, again, there was a a way that we could make this a little bit smoother, for our our neighborhoods, maybe a little bit quieter.

I'll just add on that I have to second that. I think that's I think it there's a path forward that's reasonable. I think, you know, if if the event organizers are, you know, willing to, you know, have a conversation about, okay, what kind of music is going to get played? Maybe we don't have a hard, you know, EDM rave, from nine to ten, and instead we have something a little more mellow to wind down the event. Because by nine to ten, you're winding down anyway, the event.

So maybe you're using the music as a mechanism for winding down the event to bring people to, like, that logical closing point of thank you for coming. It's been an amazing event, you know, playing people off. I think if we found that kind of path forward, I mean, anybody can curate a good playlist that can do that. Right? So I think to me, that seems like a very reasonable compromise that would preserve the sound concerns from residents while also, you know, allowing the event organizers to, you know, have that extra hour and and do that.

I think I think there's a path forward. I think there's a reasonable compromise here.

Through

the chair. I I respect those those comments, and I think that the there's a lot of residents that feel that the compromise was moving it from eleven to nine on a Sunday. That, after twenty five hours of music for three days, you know, that boom boom booms their house, that they feel an hour less on a Sunday night to let them finally relax and be able to get themselves prepared for a week of work is was and is a comfortable compromise.

So I'm going back to, council member Johnson's suggestion about the kind of easing and slowing things down. You know, the music's still happening, but slowing things down. And I'd like to hear, the organizers take on that. You already you obviously have a lineup already. Is there a lineup that could support do in your lineup, could that something like that be supported during the nine to 10:00 hour?

Sure. And the noise that any band, no matter what they're playing, makes on the stage is really not that much. It's what's amplified from there on out that is what people hear. And regardless of what it was, there's a knob that can turn that up and down to make it more tolerable too. It it so regardless of whatever style it was, but, it would be easy to program something that I would consider more listener friendly from nine to 10:00 on Sunday night, and I think most people would.

I can't speak for everyone, but, you know and, at least if there was music going, what you would hear is you would hear a band playing, however loud you heard it, and then it would the song would stop, and then you would hear people cheer and clap, and you'd think to yourself, okay. Well, that's happening for a reason. It's just not noise that's just there. And then maybe after twenty five hours, that means less to someone. I could understand that.

But there's a reason why that that noise is there. And to answer your question, I think it could be programmed more. It'd be something that would hopefully be more tolerable. I think some people might not like it no matter what it is. I understand that, but, we would certainly do our best.

And just just for a little bit of clarity, DIY and Pig and Whiskey, those two festivals are a little different from a lot of other festivals with music downtown in that you are on a side street, your music, your stage faces right into the residential area. There's really unlike having a downtown, like, on the West Side, it goes down a corridor. So it's not as blaring, I think, for a lot of residents as it is for having it right there on Troy Street. I don't know if it would make a difference if it was on 9 Mile, if you had it facing down 9 Mile. I know that, from my experiences, the stage that's set up for, for Dream Cruise, is not as loud as, the Pig and Whiskey and DIY.

But, you know, even Pride, you know, they have two stages. One's a DJ and the other one's not the I can hear that from home, but it's the volume. It's the intensity. And that type of event is a one day event. It's it's not three days of constant music, you know, even Dream Cruise is one day.

Yeah. But your bands and music, I don't think is I mean, technically, Dream Cruise is three months, but

Well, I lived at the loss on 9 for a while, and, I mean, the music coming out of Como's was as loud as anything that I could ever hear. Yeah. At the time, I don't know what it's like now.

But

And they had a lot of calls. Yeah. You know? The police can confirm that. They would get calls all the time from people from the lofts.

I don't thinking about the Como's patio.

I don't wanna disrupt any residents. I wanna, you know like I said, we're a Ferndale business, and so we don't wanna anger people. That's not what we're looking for. Never has been.

Under the chair. Maybe some lullabies on Sunday. Just a little bit of lullabies to ease us on out. I as a follow-up to to counsel, I I appreciate you at least entertaining this. I guess my question is, if if this is something that we could potentially be amenable to allowing that extra hour, but only under the the guise of it's going to be quieter and we are going to sue it on out, how do we do that?

What's the what's the mechanism? Could we

Through the chair. I I think there has to be a level of trust with the promoter that, you know, we're asking them to do that. We hope that they do that. You know, this is a a one time contract. Next year, you're gonna get a contract again.

It's gonna be based off of the existing rule, which says 9PM. If they want it changed again, if you're not happy with what happened last this year, you could say, sorry. You know, it was just too loud.

Yep. Through through the chair, you can,

you know, ask the police department and staff to provide a report to counsel with respect to any complaints on that issue too, which would allow for meaningful consideration of it for next year. But I think with respect to the actual time period of the proposed event, you there is gonna have to be a level of trust because the ordinance says certain thing and you're either going to allow it to the extended time that the applicant wants or the recommended time in the packet.

Through the chair, I, I think for me personally, I'm comfortable pushing it, you know, another hour and seeing how it goes, and I like the idea of, you know, getting the feedback provided, from the police department, etcetera, if there's any complaints and assessing how we move forward next year. I'd like to see us have a better working relationship with our, events and a more respectful relationship both ways. So if this is the start to that, then I'm amenable to that and see how we can move forward.

And, also, I guess I would like to understand kind of the transition from so between the nine and ten, I mean, I know that residents will be listening, so it would have actually be like a hard stop at ten. So I'd like to know if that's possible. I mean, I know there's some ease downtime, but is that possible, a hard stop at ten?

We've always had hard stop times.

More discussion for coming up from council.

Through the chair, not not a discussion about the the timing, but I do think that I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I I think we need a little bit more clarity on how these get estimated. I appreciate city staff for providing me with the breakdown based on staffing and hours associated. What I'm looking for is something a little bit deeper that helps substantiate why the staffing is necessary and and especially those quantities of staffing. I was I was a little bit taken aback when, the event producer mentioned that they have a a booth for the police on their side, but we don't have an equivalent booth on the Funky Ferndale side, and that their cost had not really gone down in terms of their estimate when they eliminated alcohol sales within the, you know, the footprint of the festival. So it was just surprising, and I feel like there's there's something there that we can talk about, but I don't have the data points to be able to talk about it.

So are we moving forward with what's in front of us tonight, or do you want those fees?

I don't think we're capable of negotiating this.

Okay. You're right.

We're not I wasn't sure when he was talking about all the fees where we're

I think it's something we're gonna have to work on in in advance of the next event season. Yeah.

I can tell you from Ferndale Pride, which is a one day event, our bill this year was 21,000. So to see a three day event at 22,000, I think that's a pretty good deal.

And just one final thing for me as well. I I I really will be reopening the conversation about who is being levied these fees. I mean, Dream Cruise is wildly disruptive, and I don't think we are getting what we should be getting out of the event. I think there should be fee more fees assessed for that. I think they should be treated like any other event.

And I will be bringing this up again for an extended conversation in advance of next year's stream crews. But that being said, I'm going to move that we approve the appeal for the extension of the sound system operating hours to 10PM on Sunday, 09/21/2025.

So let me ask you this. Mhmm. So we're using we're you we're going with one motion for everything.

No. No.

A motion. Support your motion. Thank you.

Alright. And then I'll move to the permit.

So approving the appeal for the extension of the sound system operating hours to 10PM on Sunday, 09/21/2025. Can we have an individual roll call?

Would sorry. Through the share.

Yes.

Would you like to include any special requests of the promoter for that last hour as part of your motion?

I No. Think we're going a little too deep with that. If they say that they can I mean, we will hear about it and we will know about it if the if it's something that's not workable?

Okay. Alright.

So okay.

Johnson? Yes. Kelly? Yes. Mikulski?

Yes. Polica? No. Leaksmay? Yes.

Now madam mayor, I move that we approve the special event permit for DIY street fair to be held on September 19 through the twenty first twenty twenty five, as amended to reflect the 10PM, extension for the sound system operating hours? Support.

Johnson? Yes. Kelly? Yes. Mikulski?

Yes. Polica? Yes. Leaksmae? Yes.

That motion passes. And we're moving on to item eight b, which is a contract for the interim finance department services. And I guess our assistant city manager is presenting. Thank you.

Yes. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. So as everybody's aware, a few weeks ago a few weeks, our, finance director, Phil Whitfield, announced that he was transitioning away from the city. Just to kick this off, I wanna do a quick tour through the finance department and their services.

You know, they liaise with the assessing services prior to, our new assessor was with Oakland County. They are in charge of the water billing, whether it's it's actually running the bills or handling the customer service, people who have, high water usage or high bills and wanna understand what's going on. The financial reporting. So financial reporting and compliance, the, annual financial statements, for example, the quarterly, grant reporting and, financial financial serve services requisitions, the FSRs the FSRs, that go to the state agencies to get us payment for grants. One of the most underrated things, the finance department is kind of the the heartbeat of our front counter service, and and the customer service when you walk into City Hall of them along with Kathy in, community and economic development.

But they also handle the accounts payable, making sure our vendors are getting paid on time. And then most recently, some of us have discovered how extremely important the customer service side of this is with the property taxes. Handling the being the local office to handle all the property tax payment questions, billing questions. It is an extreme task that the finance department, undertakes, especially this time of year. And then, of course, the thing most most of us think about with the budget.

So there's a lot going on there. But along with our finance director, moving on, we also have some other significant transitions within the department, which is leaving the department kind of, kind of kinda short staffed at the time. These transitions have created quite a need created quite a need. So we are currently not in a position where we'd be able to promote somebody from within the handle, the the duties of an interim finance director. So we started looking for a financial consulting firm.

It has the capacity to serve us quickly, be able to jump right in, and help us through this. The willingness to be on-site for services at least sixteen hours per week. Having a decent decent enough size, agency that there's redundancy to ensure consistency levels throughout, the period the period. Also, we were looking for somebody with prior experience in directly managing finance department staff and operations and operations, the ability to take a hands on approach, to get into the workflow process in BS and A, which is our for those who aren't aware, our our financial reporting system. And then also the ability to help us, with staff recruitment, onboarding, and also some experience in, restructuring finance departments.

So that experience in organizational restructuring was key. Looking at what was available, Watson e ace Yates was one, that just absolutely checked all the boxes. While they are a relatively new firm that, brings with it a staff with over twenty years of municipal finance finance experience from municipal level, large municipal level, as well as state level state level. They bring experience in budgeting and financial reporting, staff recruitment and development, and an ability to work through these organization department changes and restructuring, that we are facing over the next few months here next few months here. So the proposal in front of you tonight is for a term that will expire 12/31/2025.

There's an estimated cost of $80,000. This cost is gonna be offset by the personnel savings during this period. They are expected to be in the office sixteen hours per week. There's potential additional charges for additional services. But, that's what we have for you tonight.

We do have, Steve Watson, one of the partners of the firm here to answer any questions you might have about the firm, about their experience. But with that, this is something, we're looking to do so that we can do start getting, the next chapter going for the finance department finance department.

For purposes of disclosure, Steve Watson was my boss, for a number of years and my predecessor as budget director for the city of Detroit. And Jananie Yates was, my boss when I was associate budget director, and she was the deputy budget director. And Katrina, one of their staff members, was my summer fellow last year and then my employee on a part time basis after her fellowship ended. So I have a very close relationship with this firm, so I will be abstaining, from the vote unless there's a tie, in which case I am ethically allowed to vote, but only in that case. Only in that case.

I think that that, before council goes through discussion, shall we hear from mister Watson to to introduce himself and tell us a little bit about his experience that we haven't read here.

So good evening, honorable city council. It's great to be here. First time in Ferndale City Hall, but I live just down the road in Detroit, so very familiar with the area. So as assistant city manager Chris Anne just mentioned, our firm is new. We're about a year old.

We recently hired our first employee, Katrina Whelan, as council member Johnson just mentioned. We're actually recruiting for another one, so we're growing very fast. But while our firm is new, our experience isn't. As the presentation mentioned, we have decades of experience directly working in, all levels of government, federal, state, and local. So we've been in your shoes before.

And so most recently, as, member Johnson mentioned, I was the budget director and deputy CFO for the city of Detroit. I worked in a variety of rules, on the financial restructuring after Detroit's bankruptcy for about, nine years, including, implementing new policies and procedures, staff staffing and recruitment, identifying opportunities for not only all of the staff to work better together, both within the finance department, but across all city departments, working with the finance department, implementation of new technology and systems and business process improvements. As I'm sure you can guess, you know, very challenging and interesting work, that continues to this day. Before that, and before moving back to Michigan, I worked for the state of New Jersey for eight years in their central budget and accounting office, working, primarily first as a budget analyst and later as a manager. That office is responsible for not only the annual state budget, but also, centralized accounting and financial reporting.

And so while most of my experience has been as a, government budget professional, all of my roles have touched directly on all areas of financial operations and very specific to the the city of Ferndale, assessing property taxes, treasury functions, procurement, grants management, and the like. And so, you know, we we, would come to this engagement, already, you know, ready to go with, the you know, meeting the needs of the city. And as we discussed, our you know, first and foremost, our role would be to jump right in and serve, an interim management support role. You know, I understand, the city has already posted for the deputy finance director, and, hopefully, that will be a speedy recruitment, and will certainly be, helpful along the path of this transition. And we're ready too to support the city in recruiting a, full time permanent finance director in the months ahead.

You know, really, the kind of benchmark for success for our firm is a smooth and and speedy transition to a new finance director for the city who's set up for success. You know, again, right right away, we'll, you know, kinda fill in any immediate gaps from a management leadership level working closely with city administration and staff. But we'll also take some time to look at existing business processes and systems and and identify opportunities for, modernization and improvements working with, you know, city stakeholders across the board. You know, while this transition, you know, will undoubtedly be, challenging with the, with the departures, it's also an opportunity for change, and one that, you know, we're here to support you with. Our firm, in addition to providing services such as interim management support, I'll also provide services to local governments across the country in financial analysis and strategy, again, business process modernization, and even developing, software tools that can cover some of the gaps that traditional, public sector kind of big enterprise level systems don't necessarily cover.

I think we all know that, local governments, have a number of unique needs that aren't necessarily common in the private sector. And with our experience and in our efforts, if if this engagement is approved, again, we look forward to, helping the city navigate this transition and, and set up the next finance director for success.

I'm gonna open it up for council discussion.

Under the chair, what's the smallest city that you've worked with?

So, right now so, if this engagement were approved, Ferndale would be the smallest. We have worked with a number of larger counties, both here in Michigan as well as, my my partner used to work for Arlington County, Virginia. And we've also been working with a number of school districts. So far, they've been, medium to large sized ones. Milwaukee Public Schools, is one recent example as well.

But certainly, you know, we've, you know, been potential you know, we've been working on some potential engagements with similarly sized municipalities in Michigan as well.

What sort of unique challenges do you think you'll find with a city our size versus a significant larger city.

So one of the biggest challenges, which is a big part of this transition, is necessarily the city of Ferndale finance staff is relatively small. I mean, it's, you know, it's a it's a smaller budget, smaller operation, but then that has, you know, led to a situation where, leadership in the department is, you know, necessarily doing a lot of the work, and that's perfectly fine. But when there's a transition such as this one, you know, as the assistant city manager mentioned, it sort of leaves, the department, you know, with a kinda significant gap in in operations and to cover them. And so part of what we'll look at during this engagement as well is, are there opportunities to, you know, rethink how the staffing is organized, and how do we sort of ensure that if there was a future departure at a leadership level that the city is well covered and doesn't necessarily need to bring in outside services to help cover a gap. I know a big part of that will be the, what council already approved, I believe it was two weeks ago, with the conversion to a a sort of true deputy finance director, someone who is, set up that if a finance director left, they could, fill those shoes on an interim, if not, maybe later permanent basis.

But, certainly, a a big part of this engagement will be looking at how do we, take a a department of this size and make sure that it has the resiliency so that when there is staff turnover, which is always going to happen in any government, and we're certainly we're seeing across Michigan at state local or local governments, county governments, small and medium and large are, you know, continuing to face this challenge. You know, in the city of Detroit, we had, well, obviously, it's a much bigger budget, complex organization. We had the luxury of a pretty deep bench, a lot of staff. And so when, vacancies occurred, there was a lot of folks around to sort of pick pick the ball up even if it was still challenging. Government of this size, it's a different situation and one that, you know, will work very closely with, the city administration on opportunities to, further safeguard the operation.

Through the chair. So you mentioned a lot of municipalities that you've worked with. You've been in business for a year? Yes. Okay.

In that year, how many, municipalities have you contracted with?

So so far, we have active engagements with, Milwaukee Public Schools. So not a not a city, but a a local government. We have a an engagement that is just now beginning with the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan, so a local government type entity. Alright. As well as a another school district in Florida, Brevard County Schools.

We're in active negotiations with another local government, so that may be coming on soon as well. And and again, we've been in discussion with a number of other, municipal level, prospective clients in the region. But right now, being a new firm, and right now with three people, our plate's pretty full. And that's why, certainly, if this, contract were approved, we would, you know, focus our resources and attention on successfully navigating. And as assistant city manager mentioned, you know, committing to, you know, at least sixteen hours a week on-site.

Certainly, at peak times, that may, that could grow, you know, if the need is there. But being local here in Metro Detroit, you know, being on-site is by no means an issue. It's just a short drive up by seventy five. And and, again, looking forward to working directly with the staff and not just doing a purely remote engagement.

What you mentioned, the sixteen hours on-site, how many hours do you anticipate, supporting it off, off-site?

So, so on average, it would be about sixteen hours per week throughout the engagement, principally on-site. But but, again, as needs, arise, it could be more, in any given week, and I would work closely with the city manager team. I'm certainly willing to come on-site more than that if if the need arises, especially as as the city works through the coming, year end close audit, there will undoubtedly be peak times where, you know, all hands need to be on deck a little bit, a little bit more in a given week, and maybe there'll be slightly lighter weeks. That was just an overall average. But, also, again, committed to being here at least that much per week, if not more, working in coordination with the city man or city administration team.

And as mentioned, so I would be, the the the primary, individual from our firm, working on this engagement and being on-site. My partner, Jenny Yates, would be effectively my backup. Like, if if I were unavailable and someone needed to be here, she would come at my place. And then our other staff member, our managing consultant, Katrina, can provide additional support, you know, again, as we work on individual participate. But, again, I'll be the sort of the familiar face, around city hall during this, during this engagement.

K. I think in one of the slides, it talked about, kind of flexibility in, working the account. But I think you specified that you're looking at really just one person. You're probably gonna be the dedicated person on the account.

Yes. Council member, that's correct. And and I think that's one thing that kinda sets our firm apart too. In a lot of engagements, someone at the partner level may oversee the engagement, but wouldn't really be as directly involved with the work. And, as part of this engagement, you know, a big part of the need is not just someone to come in and provide the additional leadership, but to really be hands on.

And throughout my career, whether it was as an analyst or all the way up to, deputy CFO for Detroit, every day was a pretty hands on day, as member Johnson can also attest. And so, certainly, you know, working directly in the systems, reporting, working directly with the the auditors and, the rest of the accountant staff to to get the work done and get get the audit done on time and additional, work streams, throughout the coming months.

And my last question is actually for, assistant city manager. So was there an RFP done on this, or is this being recommended by a particular person? How how did, Watson and Yates come to us?

Colleen handled the the search. There wasn't really, an RFP. There just simply wasn't the time to be able to get an RFP together, get it out, have it in, to properly vet all of it. Colleen vetted the potential. She she sought out I think there were three or four different firms that she spoke with, before landing on Watson and Yates.

And for the record, because I wanna dispel any potential myth on this, Colleen had previously received a bid from Watson and Yates when she was the city manager at Celine. So she was already familiar with them being in the industry. So before anyone asks, no. I did not push for this contract, though I very much support it. And, you know, I can tell you one thing about Steve, and it's that he is a superhuman.

There's I've never worked with one person who can do as much as Steve does. His brain is on another level, And, you know, the city of Detroit did not achieve 100,000 $100,000,000 surpluses without Steve being a absolutely critical and militant, voice behind making that happen and making the processes work. So, you know, since Steve left Detroit, I've always thought well, my my my scheme was for him to be the finance director of Verdot at some point in the future. But But since he and Jenny decided to go into business in a different way, that's fine. But, you know, if again, I think you will all love working with Steve.

That I can say for sure.

Any other questions, comments? Through the chair, just one.

Okay.

Is this 100% overlap with what Phil was doing for us, or are there still going to be gaps?

We'll have some gaps just on time, and Colleen's been stepping up for some of it. I'm stepping in where I can. We're kind of taking an all hands on deck approach like we've been with most of the transitions we've been dealing with over the last six months or so. But, this puts us in a good spot for sure.

Do we anticipate with I know our audits are typically pretty good, but do we anticipate, again, over the sixteen hours, so actually increasing the cost at all?

It likely could happen if we're running into issues getting documents together and finding all of it, but, we're starting audit prep already. So, I anticipate having a a smooth audit as we have in the past.

So we'll make a motion to approve the contract with Watson and Yates for interim finance department services through 12/31/2025 for amount not to exceed 80,000 as submitted by the city manager.

Support.

Kelly? Yes. Mikulski? Yes. Polica?

Yes. With explanation.

Leaks may. Yes.

Did we on the call? And just for the record, Donnie, I've seen Yes.

Alright. And you had an explanation.

Yes. So I do not like approving a budget a a a expense this high, without having an RFP. But I do understand that we're in a situation where we don't have a lot of time. There's been a lot of turnover very quickly in the in the department. And, given that we've had all of these issues with the billing of the taxes, mailings, I I we really can't wait for a six week process of going through RFPs, receiving them, talking to them, etcetera.

So I hesitantly voted yes.

Well, with that, the motion carries, and, we look forward to working with you. Alright. We are moving on to item eight c, authorization of the summer tax grace period. Who's speaking on that?

Well, it Yeah.

Just just briefly. Don't have a presentation put together for this one, But, as we just were talking about with the transitions in the finance department over the last, few few months, really, we had some issues getting the physical tax bills out to residents at the time that most were accustomed to receiving them. So with that, we are asking counsel to authorize a grace period, which works out to two weeks to allow us to accept tax payments without penalty or interest, two weeks after the normal due date to allow for that couple week, couple week lag of getting the physical copies. Though, I'll mention that they were available. We met our statutory timeline of having tax bills available, ready to be paid by July 1.

The physical copies were the ones that were delayed. So with that, we'd we'd love to have an approval for the grace period.

So I just want some clarity. So the grace period would be for and all, the the grace period would be for whether or not individuals are paying by way of coupons or they're paying by way of the full tax bill. Correct?

We are still trying to iron iron out the mechanics of how it's gonna work with the installments, but that is our intention.

Through the chair. I guess that goes into my question, which is how are we going to handle, communicating the, the coupon, issue to the residents because there's a lot of residents that pay, what do you call it? The payment plan.

Yeah. The the well, we yeah. The installment coupon.

The installment. Thank you.

And yes. You are absolutely right. We have a significant, number of our residents who pay by the coupon, and I've met quite a few over the last week or so via the telephone. Yes. We're gonna, put out we already have we've been working on a message that was gonna go out tonight after, assuming this was gonna be approved that we're gonna put out.

And we've been starting to mention, today to everybody that we've been talking with that we are, asking for this approval tonight. So we are getting the word out as best we can.

Yeah. I I guess I worry about people who don't hear the word, because they really rely on the the tax bill coming in and may not know what really to do.

No. Absolutely. And I'll say, in the last about ten days, we've had, I think we counted at least 291 recorded calls, not e not including the ones that we've answered quickly and and moved on with without having a voice mail from. So we have been certainly getting the calls, from the residents about this and these issues. So I think there are a lot of people out there who who, to your point, weren't sure what to do, and so they came by by way of phone calls and coming into the office.

Is there is there an opportunity here for us to just send out a small little postcard that, you know, within the next week or so, letting people know of the issue and what they need to do. Doesn't have to be really complex. You know? Payments have been extended to, you know, August 13. If you normally pay by coupon, contact the city, to to get your information.

Just something that gets to all of the residents so that they're aware and and have something in their hand that they know this is what who I need to contact, how I need to contact.

Can I ask Riley, our communication specialist here?

A lot of you.

Oh, no. I mean, this is a crisis. There truly is a crisis. So that is what I'm here for, and it's my priority. Yes.

I think, ironically, we may be able to do a letter or a mailer, which I will see through. It would be, you know, separate mailing, company. Or, yeah, we can do a postcard. I'd happily look into that as well. I agree.

I think the print medium is something that should be very valued and taken as seriously as, as the electronic stuff. But, just that timing is just what I get concerned about with print. But I do think, given this extension, we would be able to make that work.

Yeah. Well and that's why I think, like, a postcard, that usually will go a lot faster. Right. It's cheaper.

Yeah. Absolutely. And then regarding, like, the the other side of things, myself and James as well as other members of our staff have been calling and getting, email addresses from people. So I could definitely see us also doing it by email in addition to social media and the website, just to make sure we're covering, you know, all the bases. And, of course, I will make updates to both of those platforms and then our, community forums as well.

So

I feel like we wouldn't necessarily need to to send a a mailer to absolutely everyone. So thinking of, like, residents, like, folks who are escrowed, the escrow companies had done their thing. You know, they they weren't affected by this. Anyone that was dealing with the electronic side of things really weren't affected. So, you know, we might be able to do this mailing to a a smaller subset of the affected folks,

which would be

well, to my mind, less expensive.

And to

your point, are we able to identify, people who pay in full than people who just make the payment plan? Or I mean, because really, those are the people you wanna target. Yeah.

Well, I think to to your point, everybody, I think we should be able to, pull out everybody who's done who who pays by escrow. We should be able to eliminate them off of a report, and then anybody who still has an outstanding who has yet to make a payment. Yep. Because I don't know that we can exactly identify everybody who pays by the the payment option because it's not it's not something we have, like, a a list of. Right?

Everybody usually, in most years, everybody gets the the payment coupons if they pay, not through escrow. So we should be able to narrow the list down, to something fairly manageable. Just take running some reports and maybe a couple phone calls with BSNA.

How soon could we get that mailer out if we were to do that?

Oh, I mean, beginning of day tomorrow. Absolutely. First first thing tomorrow. Excellent. Yeah.

Excellent. Yep.

Any other questions regarding extending the grace period?

I move to authorize a summer tax penalty grace period through 08/13/2025 as submitted by the city manager. Support.

Olica? Yes. Mikulski?

Yes.

Johnson? Yes. Kelly? Yes. Leaksmae?

Yes.

Right. That motion carries. Thank you, Riley. Yes. Alright.

So now we are going on to call to council where I will refer to the assistant city manager regarding department head updates.

K. Well, as you see, we're, pretty light as we're hitting high time for vacation season. Yeah. But before we get into any, I do want to take a minute and acknowledge, first off, filling his service for the city of of Ferndale the last few years. Phil, it's been a pleasure.

Thank you. But also, I wanna acknowledge, couple people within the office, Herman and Juliana in the finance department who have been kind of the the heartbeat, as I said earlier, of the customer service. And they've been dealing with a lot the last couple weeks during this tax billing season, and they've been really doing a great job. I also want to thank, city clerk Dean Lent, HR director Dan JC who has stepped up and helped, as I've been kind of the intake source for all of the tax billing, phone calls, and then trying to triage them, as we we can and then getting these coupons out. But the those two really helped a lot last week in trying to get us caught up.

We had a a, you know, as I said earlier, about 300, voice mails over the course of the last ten days. And then today, Riley stepped up and helped out quite a bit with that as well. So, with that, based on our chat tonight, we're pretty quiet, unless, assistant clerk Dave would like to make his quick election announcement.

Oh, yeah. Just a quick announcement. All candidates that, dropped off their submitting, their nominating petitions were approved. So we have one candidate for mayor and three candidates for city council for two positions on city council.

So with that, we'll turn it back over to you.

Alright. So now we're going to call the council. We're okay. I started up here last time now. Yes.

This time. Okay.

I have nothing this evening now. Alright.

Nothing from me either.

Mayor for Temakalski. Also nothing here.

Just wanna say, another great job to our DDA and AB Committee for our, music on 9 Mile. It was the third week and, another good jam band. And, I encourage y'all to come out. You're it's some good music. They really did a good job picking these bands and a lot of fun.

It was it's hot. It was hot. Hot. Hot. Hot.

But, we man you know, there's Shane there, and, we did it, and it was fun. So, you know, it's every Sunday at 09:00. There's six more weeks, so make sure to make it out to one of them.

04:00.

Did I say?

Yes. I was like, wait a minute.

What did okay. 04:00. Sunday at four.

Alright. Hour? Two hours?

One hour, Plannanbaum Park on 9 Mile, right there on 9 in

Plannanbaum. K. Well, I want to close out tonight by saying thank you to everyone who's answered those tax bill questions. I mean, I I know that we've all been getting the calls well, the text calls Emails. Emails across the board.

So thank you to everyone that's kind of answered the questions. And again to everyone who's, made the phone calls returned the phone calls. Oh, super important because there are actually people who have yet to be, receive clarity regarding the tax bills because I'm still seeing some of those inquiries, but I think it's slowing down. Am I can any everyone agree with that it's slowing down a lot? Okay.

Alright. Alright. In my inbox, it is. Yes. Okay.

And, also, I want to take this moment. I feel I've already emailed you, my sentiments, but, I wanna thank you for all the work you've done for the city. And I wish you and your family the best on your new endeavors, And, don't be a stranger to Ferndale. Okay?

You're always welcome back. So

With that being said, this meeting is adjourned at 08:30. Thank you, everyone.