City Of Ferndale City Council Meeting 01-12-2026

Alright. Everybody ready? Yep. Good evening. I'm calling this e meeting to order at 07:00PM.

If you're able, please rise for the pledge of allegiance. 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. We will start off tonight with the inauguration of the fiftieth Ferndale City Council of inauguration. The oath of offices will be administered by an honorable honorable judge Joseph Longo of the forty third district court. And that was the first.

Okay. I'm ready.

You raise your right hand. Do you, Raylan Leach, may solemnly swear or affirm that you will support the constitution of The United States, the constitution of this state, and the charter of the city of Ferndale, and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of mayor according to the best of your ability. I love you. Congratulations. Thank you.

Do you, Lauren Mikulski, solemnly swear or affirm that you will support the constitution of The United States, the constitution of this state, and the charter of the city of Ferndale, and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the city council member according to the best of your ability. Congratulations. Do you, Eddie Sabatini, solemnly swear or affirm that you will support the constitution of The United States, the constitution of this state, and the charter of the city of Ferndale, and that you will playfully discharge the duties of city council member according to the best of your abilities. I will. Congratulations.

With that being said, I will open it up to the city clerk to roll call the fiftieth Ferndale City Council.

Johnson? Here. Kelly? Here. Mikulski?

Here.

Sabatini? Here. Leaksmaier.

Here. Thank you. And now I'd like

to take this opportunity for I'd like to give a few moments for friends and family to get some photos and for us to take just a little bit of a break to allow that to happen before we start to conduct business. And those who and those who do not wish to remain for the actual meeting, that would be your opportunity to kinda duck out if you wanted to. So we'll we'll recess for about ten minutes.

Get Rylan. She'll get her family first and then go get them.

Okay.

That's right. Enjoy

it.

Out of the way. I'm gonna move closer so that we're not in the

I wanna make

sure that

Okay.

Got time.

Oh, wait. Let me get a picture. Sarah, here real quick. So close. Let me get a picture of him signing.

No. I said Rolanda jinxed us.

Almost there. There you go. Perfect.

Alright. So quintessentially for new. Mhmm.

Alright. I'm just gonna say a quick congratulations. Congratulations, Adel. You know what I mean. Alright.

Alright. Okay. I call the meeting back to order at 07:12PM. And now, we are going on to item number four, which is the approval of the agenda.

Madam mayor, I move we approve the agenda as presented.

Mister Clark.

All in favor? Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Agenda is approved. We have a presentation tonight. Our Ferndale Arts and Beautification 2025 Holiday Lights Award.

Hello, city council, residents, and everyone attending. We had our holiday lights for twenty twenty five judging takes place on December 18. I'm not where we took a we had 56 houses nominated in the four quadrants of the city, and we went around and judged, and these are our winners. In the Northwest quadrant, we have nineteen fifty five Catalpa. This corner house was lit from stem to stern, from corner to corner, including the playhouse in the background in the backyard.

It's a great example of cheery holiday lights and, great use of color, And it was even decorated for the daytime. We do not have anyone attending today, I believe. In the Northeast section, we had a tie. We had two houses, including 10801801 Annabelle, which was decorated, with jolly candy canes all the way up the, walkway. The roof line was done and it bought it also included many, daytime decorations for the, on the house.

Sorry. Northeast second winner was 2,145. It is one of the newer houses in the section. It was decorated, with rotating lights, a lit up deer lit up deer family in the front yard, as well as daytime decorations on the front porch. Our Southwest winner was 407 Saint Louis.

This is houses that this is their second time winning in seven years. They put up the holiday arches, as well as have continued to add to their, group of inflatables. And this tiny little tree in the front yard has free candy canes for all that come by. So I don't know if the rices were gonna be able to make it today. Our Southeast winner was one five one zero Jewel.

This house had its own arches up the driveway. It also had five different decorated trees out front. They did the roof line. They were nominated by 14 different people on their street. They also have this cascading row of, poinsettias that lead up the driveway.

So they would, they also did the pergola that comes over their their, sorry, their driveway. So we would like to congratulate all the winners. These signs were dropped off, and we hope that everyone has a great 2026. And we look forward to having a lot more, nominations in this year. Thank you very much.

Congratulations.

Alright. We are now coming to the call to audience where the audience has, three minutes to speak on anything on or off the agenda. I ask that you hold to those three minutes. If you go over, I will politely interrupt you because there will be people behind you wanting to speak as well. But I'm opening up call to audience to speak on anything on or off the agenda at 07:16PM.

Please state your name and you just have your addresses on record. That's fine.

Otto Massey. 281 West Maplehurst. Good evening. First, I would like to start by establishing that my appearance here today is in no way intended to imply any animosity toward the Ferndale Police Department, police chief Emmy, city council, or even Axon Enterprise. However, with that being said, I am resolutely opposed to any ALPR camera usage.

This debate is not inherently an issue of company choice, funding, or regulation, rather it is one of fundamental freedom and community expectations. While I appreciate that ALPR cameras have historically been effective in solving crimes, the Fourth Amendment concerns surrounding the usage of these cameras are frankly insurmountable. The Supreme Court established the reasonable expectation of privacy test in Katz v US to denote areas of contention under the Fourth Amendment. While the expectation of privacy per se is not enforced to the same extent in public spaces, the average person does not operate under the assumption that the local government is able to view a substantive portion of their day to day public activities. The expectation of privacy in this instance is from digitized and widespread government surveillance, not from an unknown peer.

Because the average person does not expect to be surveilled in public, particularly by cameras that would need to be placed in high volume areas, their warrantless surveillance is constitutionally dubious. Even if facial recognition is not being used at this moment in time and Axon itself cannot access the recorded data, I emphasize that the future is patently unknowable. Local politics, corporate policy, and goals all can shift, and these cameras still offer the opportunity to track individual movements and personal associations in near Orwellian fashion, no matter the safeguards put in place. Our fundamental rights should not be predicated on positive political wins or corporate decisions, and it would be increasingly difficult to put the genie back into the bottle as ALPR cameras increase in prevalence. Police chief Emmy expressed his wish not to waste time in making this decision because the A LPR technology.

It is precisely because of that potential of A LPR technology that we must be extremely careful in deciding our collective path forward. Police chief Emmy also argued that emerging technology technologies and policing should not be abandoned and that the department and he together must hold ourselves accountable. But any system that relies largely on self auditing is not one that can be fully trusted with the constitutional rights of Ferndale residents. With regards to the previous vote on Flock as the ALPR provider, mayor Pro Tem Mikulski explained her vote to cancel the agreement as being born of concerns for future shifts in company policy and privacy rights. While I appreciate that there are different safeguards being leveraged against Axon, the core nature of the technology cannot be fundamentally altered, and that nature is patently invasive.

Because of all the aforementioned reasons, I ask that the ALPR cameras be removed. Thank you for your time.

Hello. I have a, nonprofit, choir, and we're gonna be holding a performance at Zion Lutheran Church in February. And I'm simply looking to have you guys sign a charitable license for we've already turned in our license.

I'm sorry. What is your name?

My name is Linda Brinkett. What else do you need? Anything? Okay. Sorry.

And I'm from Good Trebel Chorus. And I I'm supposed to bring this here for someone to fill out for me and approve or deny. We've already sent in the license, but apparently, we to to be legal, we have to get you guys to approve it as well. Does that make sense?

So what I would have you do is I'll have you give it to our city clerk here.

Okay.

And, you might not get that tonight, but, it's something we'll have to review. Okay? Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Do you need my phone number on there at all?

Yes. Okay.

I'll put it on this piece.

Nonprofit.

Okay. When it's ready, you can let me know. Thank you.

Thank

you.

Dennis Augustine, 1550 Spencer. I, looked at this, agenda here, and I do notice that since the last time, mayor, I hope that you learned a lesson by not categorizing black and white. In the Oakland press, you did say you were gonna be the voice of the black people, and that was what was quoted in the Oakland press last time you were inaugurated. Okay? What we need is a mayor who's going to be the voice of the people regardless of color.

You're talking to someone who was at that high school during the racial riots of the early '60s, early '70s and that, And remembers 1967 too. Okay. We need a mayor like that. And I hope you learned your lesson the last time because I did not hear you state anything, and I don't hear anything on this here that would clearly state that you would separate black people from white people. Okay?

I hope that you're when you speak this time around, the attorney that you got up there in city council and judge Longo who swore you in, all the legal profession, city council, people like me and all the rest of the people in the city of Ferndale, you speak to us. You talk to us regardless of color. Okay? Your your face was on that Oakland press paper a few years back. You clearly stated that you were gonna be the voice of the black people.

Okay? I hope you change that. I really do. And I hope you learn a lesson from that. If somebody talked to you, I hope you learned that lesson.

Me, I I, approve of those cameras being put on the post out there and stuff like that. You know, anything to make it easier for the police to to, do their job and make it a safer community.

Thank you. I one minute before you speak, Chris. I just want to respond to that. I would like to state that, I'm not a voice for the black people, but what I am is a representation that, if someone of color wants to be involved in local leadership, they have an opportunity to do so. I will tell you that whereas do you feel like it's a sub a divis divisive thing, there have been many people who are extremely proud of the fact that the city has elected its first black mayor.

And I will also state that I am a voice of the community and never have I separated the between blacks and white. I speak on behalf of all the community and represent the entire community. And I believe that we had this conversation a couple years ago where I emailed you and and and shared that information with you. So to me, it's not an issue. It's not something I need to be elected lectured about because I know exactly why I'm here and who I represent.

But I thank you very much for your comments.

Well, then what you need to do is, get that quotation Thank

you very much.

Straightened out with, Oakland Press because that was on in the Oakland press.

I will have, the next person's tweet. Thank you.

Christopher Hall, 1845 Syme Street. I just wanna say congratulations to everyone who was sworn in today, and congratulations to our mayor for her second term as a African American woman for the city of Ferndale. And just for the record, no man should tell anyone or a woman what she should or should not say or do. I just wanna put down the record.

We'll open for call to audience.

Congratulations to everybody. Good evening. Nicole Massey, 281 West Maplehurst. I just wanted to add a few other comments about the proposed cameras, the flock, and the ALPR. I remember being a teenager and driving on 9 Mile and looking at the cameras after reading Nineteen Eighty Four and going, that will never happen.

I cannot believe that you guys are considering this. On my way to one of the No Kings rallies, one of my neighbors tried to stop me and said, you shouldn't do that. They will have cameras on you that could affect your job. They will be recording you. I'm like, what?

That's not here in Ferndale. We invite everybody. We're not trying to keep an eye on the citizens and spy on them in public. I was really disappointed to hear about all of this. But I do wanna highlight a couple of things that I'm not sure you guys have thought about.

Ferndale hosts, a lot of adult recreation activities. I think we can be proud of those. It's businesses, You know? But when you have people going, do I wanna go to a dispensary in Ferndale where I'm being recorded versus one in another city where I'm not? Yeah.

They're gonna pick a different one because people don't wanna be spied on. They don't wanna have their movements monitored. And without a warrant, this is very invasive. I don't wanna drive down my streets going, are they clocking me? Did I go five miles over?

Am I gonna get a ticket? No one wants to live in that kind of Orwellian community. It's just unconscionable to even consider it. And to give this kind of public nod, when we have a current administration who is trying to look at people's Facebook pages to decide whether they're gonna let them come into the country. We don't wanna be on that side.

We wanna be on the side of good and protect the people's rights to privacy. So thank you for your consideration. Congratulations, and have a great year.

You'll open for public comment comment if you okay.

Hello. Jim McCloughkey. 903 Emil Street. Just wanted to congratulate and welcome Eddie to city council. Congratulations to Laura and Raylan Meeks Leakes May on your, reelection.

Look forward to working with you all, on Ferndale's future. I also, I guess, while I'm up here, wanna, register my discuss towards ALPR technology and, l car wash, so vote no on those. Thank you.

Then I will close public comment at 07:28PM, and we will move on to the consent agenda. Now, this is easier for me to do it like this. Consent agenda item eight a, approval of the 12/15/2025 meeting minutes. Eight b, approval of the Ferndale fiscal year ending twenty six second quarter budget amendment. Eight c, receive and file the fiscal year twenty five retirement system annual report.

Eight d, approval of passport contract amendment for merchant of record credit card processing for Park Ferndale transactions. Eight e, approval of the quote of quote for replacement network switches in the amount of $7,409.16. H f, approve of strategic planning services with Bridgeport Consulting in the amount of $13,250. Eight g, approval to purchase fence privacy screens for the Southwest Storage Yard in the amount up to $13,000. Eight h, approve of near map aerial imagery subscription and software in the amount of $7,055.

Eight I, approve award of the contract for the 2026 pavement joint and crack sealing program in the amount of $70,990. Eight j, approval of contract with Watson and Yates for finance project services in the amount not to exceed $91,120. Eight k, approval of downtown maintenance service agreement between the Department of Public Works and the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority. Eight l, approval of open purchase order with Madison Electric for decorative streetlight poles in the amount up to $35,000. Eight m, approval of ClearPath weather software for winter maintenance decision support for calendar years '25 to through 2026, and the amount of $10,307.30.

Eight n, approve of the annual payment to Enviso Solutions, and the amount of $5,788.13. Eight o, approve of glass cleaning services at city facilities in the amount of $9,234.50. Eight p, approval of the agreement with Liturgical Publications in Inc to provide sponsorship services for the senior newsletter publication. Eight q, approval of bills and payrolls as submitted by the finance director and subject to review by the fine council finance committee.

I move to accept the consent agenda as presented. Support.

All in favor? Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Consent agenda passes. We are moving on to the regular agenda item, item nine a, which is the appointment of council members to city boards and commissions. And just to kinda give a little bit of a history, every every every two years, we have reappointments to city boards and commissions. And I have actually, working with the city manager, have made some suggestions and recommendations as as to who was going to serve and as a liaison to specific boards and commissions.

Sent that information to council, and that is something that we'll be voting on tonight. So what I'd like to do first is we'll entertain a motion to accept the boards and commissions as presented and then we'll discuss. Just to kinda have it on the table for discussion.

I move to confirm the appointment of the recommended council members to city boards and commissions.

Support. Okay. Now, I open up to council for discussion. Otherwise, if there is no discussion or if they have any or if questions you have any questions, I will read out the commissions, who is assigned to those commissions, and then we will have a vote if, it's supported. So I'll open up for discussion first if there is any questions.

Okay. Alright. So I will read the recommendations of the boards and commissions and then we will have a vote. Accessibility and Inclusion Advisory Commission. Oh, just a minute.

I need to make this a little bit larger. Recommended to go to council member Eddie Sabatini. Arts and beautification commission recommended to go to council member Rolanda Kelly. Board of zoning and appeals recommended to go to council member Kelly. Downtown development Brownfield Redevelopment Authority recommended to go to council member Johnson.

Downtown development authority, recommended to go to and mayor serves mayor and alternate serve on that, Recommended to go to myself and council member Kelly. Employee pension board, which is also mayor and one other council member. Recommend myself and council member Sabatini. Environmental Sustainability Commission recommended Council member Johnson. Liquor License Review board recommending myself.

Parks and Recreation Committee Commission recommending council member Sabatini. Planning Commission recommending Council member Mikulski. Police Fire Punching Board, which is the mayor and one of the council member recommended to myself and council member Sabatini. Sidewalk Hardship Committee recommended to council member Sabatini. Agenda review committee recommended, it's the mayor and one other council member, myself and council member Johnson.

Capital improvement plan policy team recommending council members Mikulski and Johnson. Special events committee recommending council member Kelly. Finance committee recommending council members Mikulski and Johnson. Incentives Committee, which is the mayor and one other council member recommending myself and council member Johnson. Ordinance Committee recommending council member Mikulski and Johnson Johnson.

And then there's some external organizations. The eight model eight Mile Boulevard Association Committee Association. Which is, typically the mayor sits on that, so I'm recommending myself. Historical Society recommending council member Johnson. Pleasant Ridge Fire Contract Committee recommending myself and council member Mikulski.

And the Southeast Council of Governments recommending council member Kelly. Hearing those recommendations, I will I will actually, I'll leave it up to someone to make a motion to approve. No. Actually, we have a vote now on the council members on the on the commissions and the and liaison positions. What I didn't mention here is that I also would recommend, alternates for the liaison positions.

And I've paired up, based on the kind of the boards and commissions that you're on. I recommend that council member Sabatini and council member Kelly be alternates for one another. I also recommend that council member Johnson and council member Mikulski be alternates for one another, and I am the overall alternate should I need to be called in. With that being said, and if there are no questions from council, may we have a roll call?

Kelly?

Yes.

Mikulski?

Yes.

Sabatini? Yes. Johnson? Yes. Leaksmaier?

Yes. And with that being said, the boards and commissions, council liaisons and alternates have been assigned. Now we're going to item eight nine b, which is the appointment of the mayor pro tem. And give me one moment before I go to that. Okay.

A little bit of history regarding the mayor pro tem. Also, typically, because the mayoral term is every two years, the mayor appoints someone to be the mayor pro tem and that person will preside over the meeting should I not be able to preside over that meeting. And also, should there be any events or anything in the forefront that I'm unable to attend, that council member will attend on my behalf and as a representative of the city. So typically, I've made my consideration for that my recommendation for that for that position. Two years ago, I recommended, Mayor Pro Tem Mikulski for that position.

And just so you know, it's this and the purpose of the position is really a ceremonial thing. Again, for individuals to experience being the Mayor Pro Tem and to have that opportunity, something that has been afforded to all council members on council for decades, really. My my recommendation is for council member Donnie Johnson, who has not served, to be the mayor pro tem, for the next two years. And now I will open it up to, council member Johnson. For first of all, why don't we have a motion to confirm the appointment of set of a council member to the position of mayor pro tem and second it, and then we will have discussion.

I make a motion to appoint, mayor pro tem Mikulski. That's actually position of Mayor Pro Tem.

It's, to appoint a council member and then we're going to have discussion.

I think it's a name.

It hasn't? Okay. Okay. Alright. Alright.

Well, what we will do is we will have a second. Is that correct? I just wanna make sure this is the correct

Yep. If there's a if there's a first and a second, we can open discussion on that topic. If an amendment is made later, that would have to come in the form of a motion to amend.

Well, we do need a second so we can open for discussion. Okay. And now I am going to open it up to the individual in which I've recommended to as the selected appointee to state some words.

Thank you, madam mayor. I am honored to be nominated to be the next mayor pro tem, continuing this council's tradition of rotating the pro tem position through the council members so that I'll have the opportunity to serve. As we gather here for the fiftieth Ferndale City Council having just welcomed our newest member, I'm reminded that public service is both a continuum and a calling. Cicero wrote that those who preside over the state must watch for the well-being of their fellow citizens in whatever they do, caring for the whole body politic. Public service has always been my calling.

It remains so today, and I stand before you today with that commitment renewed and deepened. One of the most iconic people in my sort of world that I appreciate their history is Senator Margaret Chase Smith, Senator from Maine, who was the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress. Dedication to the people. That dedication guided me when 2,680 Ferndale residents chose me two years ago. I remain grateful to those folks.

They place their trust in someone with years of government and financial experience. They believe that expertise matters in government and I truly do take that trust seriously every day. The path of public service isn't always smooth or easy to walk. When you care deeply about serving over 19,000 residents, each with their own unique constellation of needs, sometimes that passion translates into vigorous debate. Sometimes it means asking difficult questions about how we allocate limited resources.

Sometimes it means challenging assumptions to ensure that we're serving the interests of the community as a whole and not any one constituency. So yes, I am passionate. Yes, I ask tough questions. And yes, sometimes I engage in spirited debate. Ferndale's voters did not choose me despite my plain spoken approach.

They chose me because of it. They wanted someone who could read a budget like the back of his hand, but who didn't talk like a politician, but just a resident like anyone else. They wanted someone who understood that competence without passion is sterile, and that passion without competence is unsustainable. As mayor pro tem, my priorities will be clear. Genuine collaboration with my colleagues, active support for their initiatives, continuing to find budget efficiencies that lower the cost of government, and identifying cost effective human services programs worthy of city investment.

Some of those commitments will be sponsoring a resolution to enroll Ferndale in the Rx Kids program by using $280,000 of our existing surplus, which will unlock another $750,000 in state funds. Prenatal cash prescription, and then $500 per month for six months after birth. This isn't charity. It's investment, and it's investment in child healthy child development, maternal health, and family and economic stability. The return on this investment isn't just financial.

It's measured in healthier babies, reduced health care costs, and stronger families. I hope council member Sabatini will join me in fundraising efforts to reduce the city's direct contribution and in outreach efforts to ensure all eligible friend aliens know about and can access this program. Additionally, I've studied our audit and identified sufficient fund balance in our sanitation fund to finally purchase standardized trash bins for all residents, a long time priority of council member Mikulski. This is collaboration in action. I bring the financial analysis, she brings the policy vision, and together we deliver for residents.

Third, I want to establish and strengthen relationships with organizations supporting residents facing financial hardships. FernCare Free Clinic for medical care access, Forgotten Harvest for food insecurity, Helping Women Period for menstrual product access, and the Metropolitan Detroit Diaper Bank for critical baby care products. These partnerships multiply our impact without multiplying our costs. Fourth, I stand ready to support council members Mikulski and Sabatini with their work on the center reactivation. They have a vision and lots of passion for this project, and I look forward to seeing it come to fruition under their guidance.

Fifth, I'll work with council member Kelly and the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority to establish a business improvement grant fund for our downtown businesses. Our commercial corridors are assets worth investing in, and small strategic grants can make all the difference in the world to a small business. In recent meetings, residents have spoken about the need to address the root causes of crime and intergenerational poverty, and they're absolutely right. My focus needs to be answering the question about whether we should be tougher on crime or smarter about its prevention, and the residents have made it clear, and I agree with them, it should be about smarter prevention. What residents understand and what research confirms is that addressing gaps in prenatal care, postnatal care, food insecurity, childhood health care including dental care, and access to enrichment programs doesn't just help individual families.

It transforms entire communities. I will dedicate my time as mayor pro tem to addressing as many of these root causes as Ferndale can financially and legally manage. To imagine a Ferndale that doesn't just provide excellent core services, which we do, and that actively works to break cycles of poverty, to create opportunity, to lift up those struggling at the margins. Good government isn't about efficiently collecting trash and fixing potholes. Good government is about seeing the whole picture and creating the conditions under which all residents can thrive.

I will bring every ounce of my professional skill, every bit of my institutional knowledge, and yes, every measure of my passion to this role because Ferndale deserves nothing less and because to be a true public servant demands nothing less. Lot from our conversations at the end of last year and gave a lot of thought through the holiday season about how I would serve my last two years on in this term. And this is how I would like to change my focus. I would like to have a focus on human services and lifting residents up in not just the technical bread and butter government waves, but in those ways that affect them in those gaps in their lives that aren't always met by the baseline government services. So I thank the mayor for nominating me, and I look forward to serving this council in whatever capacity, I move forward serving this council.

I open it up for other council members for their discussion and the reason behind their recommendations as well, if they choose to state that.

Sure. I nominated, Mayor Pro Tem Mikulski. It is a council decision, as far as who is in the mayor pro tem, which was historically nominated by the mayor, but it is ultimately a council decision. And, I named nominated council member Laura Mikulski for mayor pro tem because this council urgently needs stronger communication, collaboration, and, relationship building. And Laura consistently, demonstrates those skills.

We have a divided council which represents a divided community. And, I think we need to bridge that gap and bring people's voices to the forefront. And other council members have engaged, with the members in the audience. And I just don't think that's what we're looking for right now. We need somebody who's gonna bridge that bridge that gap and bring us together.

I've been clear that we are experiencing real communication challenges on this council. I have a difficult time communicating, with our mayor. I've had nine requests to speak to her about issues, and I have not been able to get a response. And I feel like our

I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is a this is not an opportunity for personal attacks or anything.

Well, I'm explaining. I'm just

but I would like to state that, that the if there's an issue regarding a council member between the council member and myself, that's something that we can discuss outside of because that is what I've done previously, with you, council member McColt

council member Kelly. Three weeks ago and you didn't respond. You said this is my decision and that's

We don't need to go back and forth. I just wanted to know your reason

why This is why I'm nominating the recommendation. I'm nominating Laura because we need somebody that can communicate with the entire council and bridge that gap and that is willing to listen to our community members and move us forward in the direction that our community would like us to. Thank you.

You've been heard. And I'll open it up to other council members for their recommendations and their comments.

Yeah. I I appreciate council member Johnson's thoughtful remarks. I appreciate him extending the invitation to collaborate on Rx Kids. Some great programs that he described there. I would be honored to collaborate with you on that.

This is the the the first I'm hearing of it, but I doesn't mean it doesn't mean that we, can't figure out how to communicate more perhaps going forward. I I think that's necessary for good governance and getting projects done. I seconded, council member Kelly's motion, because I appreciate council member Mikulski's leadership and communication style. That said, I look forward to working with both of them in as well as council member Kelly and and Mayor Leakes May, on council in whatever our, titles, end up being by the end of tonight.

Once a member Mikulski, you've been nominated. So Yes.

I'm the last one here. Council member Johnson, I want you to know that I greatly appreciate you as a team member. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, to to walk through things. I know we discussed this prior to this meeting. I support all of your initiatives even even if I support our council member Kelly and Sabatini in their nomination.

And I think all of us can work together. This is we don't have to be a divided council. We are a unified body and we represent our citizens well, and we will continue doing so. So I look forward to working with you.

With that being said, my recommendation has been heard. It is precedent that a council member who has not had the opportunity be allowed this role, but, again, this is at the will of the council, the vote of the council, the majority of the council. And so with that being said and seeing as to how I can see how this vote is going, I will now, recommend that, someone changes the appointment, to well, confirm the appointment of council member Mikulski, and I would recommend that it be a five person vote in favor of it to show that we are not as divisive as was has been accused previously. So will someone make the recommendation again to, we have a first and second so you can take it. Then we will have a vote, and it's an individual vote.

Kelly?

Yes.

Sabatini? Yes. Johnson?

Yes.

Mikulski?

Yes.

Leaksmaier?

Yes. And with that being said, council member of now mayor pro tem, mayor ma Laura Michalski will serve as a second term as mayor pro tem. And now, we are moving on to item nine c, payment in lieu of taxes, resolution, and community benefits agreement with 1200 West 9 Mile Road.

Good evening, mayor and council.

Good evening.

So it's my understanding that this action item has been, postponed. Correct?

Will be the recommendation to postpone this to our meeting on January 26.

So we wanted to just provide you with an update of where staff is, where we are in the process, and every of everything, and we'll be sure to, you know, expand on tonight's presentation a little bit more in two weeks. So, just a reminder of where we're speaking of, this is 1200 West 9 Mile. This is the current site, just west of Savvy Sliders and just South of Gary Park. And this is what is proposed, a 56 unit, 100% attainable housing development. And, just to tell you where we are today, staff and developer have completed a request made by council, which is adding an additional 80%, AMI unit.

And the terms are finalized, but are currently refining the community benefits agreement contract language. We have not lost any of the community, benefit agreement, items. These are still exactly the same as the previous, presentation aside for the increased 80% AMI, housing unit. So the mix is 17 units at 80% AMI, 18 at 100% AMI, and 21 at 120% AMI. We still have the $160,000 in nine mile road, improvements, three ADA accessible units, a public art mural, bike share station, the $30,000, contribution to, Gary Park, $25,000 contribution to Renaissance, Renaissance, Vineyard Church and for the, decorative fence, and the, $25,000 a year plus increase annual, by 3%, municipal service agreement, the clawback provision and the 10,000 administrative fee totaling at about, $300,000.

I just wanna touch base on what this tax incentive doesn't do. It does not cut a check to the developer. It does, it also does not eliminate taxes for the developer. What it does is that it lowers tax payments for them, allowing them to pass those savings on to renters in the form of lower rent. It also caps housing costs based on income level over the period of the agreement, which is fifteen years, which we will be sure to dig dig into a little bit more, at the next meeting.

And it also provides the opportunity for fifty six fifty six residents to live blocks away from our downtown. And below, I have a chart here which provides the, one person household income breakdown, for each 80 through a 120% AMI units. So they range from $56,560 all the way to $84,800,140 dollars And this is housing for construction laborers, machinists, carpenters, school teachers, plumbers, pipe fitters, and steam fitters. That's it. Keeping it real quick.

Just a nice light overview of, where we are today. So.

And I will just add, we're very appreciative of the developer being so willing to exchange comments with us, particularly over the holiday season. It just, wasn't sufficient timing for us to have a completed contract in front of you by this date. And I obviously don't wanna ask any of you to approve contract language that you haven't already reviewed in full before having this conversation. But certainly, most of you have submitted your questions already to me. But if you have additional questions or comments at this time, we welcome that.

I move we bring this back. We table this to be, considered at the January 26 meeting of this council. Support.

Individual roll call, please.

Johnson?

Yes.

Mikulski?

Yes.

Kelly?

Yes.

Sabatini? Yes. Leaksmay?

Yes. So this will come back to the an upcoming council member meeting where we will discuss the payment in lieu of taxes resolution and community benefits agreement. I'm now opening it up to Colorado Council where the city I'm opening up to the city manager to, instruct department head department heads regarding department head updates.

I'd like to welcome up DPW director Jamieson.

I just have a couple quick, program announcements. So both new programs, bagged leaf dumpsters. There's probably a better name for that, but we haven't came up with one yet. Kulick Parking Lot, Martin Road Park Lot, similar to the Holiday Heave, we're gonna put dumpsters in place. There's a lot of leaves that got snowed in.

The end of the season was rough. We wanna help residents by having something local that they can deposit instead of taking them to the Sacra transfer station in Troy on Coolidge in case you do wanna go there. And then number two, something that council has been asking for, assault for seniors program, for seniors and low income residents. That's not quite a rhyme, but it's better than, bagged leaf dumpsters. Nominal fee for a bucket.

So they'll come to DPW. They qualify for the program. They'll fill out an application. We'll give them a bucket with a sticker filled with salt, and then they can bring it back. We'll give them another bucket throughout the year to help them, maintain clear sidewalks.

And that's it.

Thank you. With

the chair, real quick question. Is there any chance that we can have, some street sweeping now that there's there's not a ton of snow on the ground? Could that potentially help with the the leaves throughout there?

So we actually have. Oh, okay. And with the with the nice weather, we put both in service for Thursday and Friday. When they go out of service, it isn't as easy as just starting them back up and going out. They basically get winterized, so it does take about a day just to get them both back in service.

We ran them today. We plan on running them, throughout the city until Thursday when temperatures get too low.

Through the through the chair. Will we when and where will we get details on the, the SALT, program?

We can communicate, with counsel if you're interested. We'll solicit your feedback, but we have the materials, we have the stickers made. We're just kind of, talking to communications on how to roll it out, how to announce it, and then we're discussing with finance how to take money and get that back over to DPW or city hall because we do want people to come to where they're getting the salt because it just be confusing if they have to go to two different locations to pick it up. So we're just kinda working on those potentially, next week, as early as next week.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good. Thank you.

CED. Good evening. So, next meeting, the conditional rezoning for Iron Ridge Estates will be, coming to city council, and then we will be having a planning commission meeting, this month, for LifeLab Kids. So, that's all.

Communications?

Good evening, mayor and council. So potentially this Friday, if not next Friday, myself and the IT team are going to completely update our phone tree as discussed. So, we're kind of completely changing the structure. We're going to reorder the prompts so they reflect the most called or most dialed prompts. So that way it's easier for people to probably get what they need right up front.

We are changing the phrasing of the menu items. So instead of it being half topic, half department, they're all going to be topic based. So hopefully that allows people to find what they need quicker. And then we are also going to add a communications, extension after every menu item or rather the list of items. And that extension is going to go to both myself and our specialist who started today.

I'm very excited. So that way there's double the chance of us, you know, picking up the call and hopefully, in general, we're gonna avoid transfers and drop calls and voice mails. So I really hope this will make a huge difference. We are targeting Friday just because City Hall will be closed, so we're not gonna worry about any conflicts there. DPW is the only facility that will be open during that time.

So I did speak with Jim just to let him know that there might be a delay in the system, in terms of them trying to go through DPW from our phone system. So I don't know exactly how long that delay will be. It kind of depends on the update. I would imagine maybe a couple of hours. Of course, I will communicate with you and the public and staff and, I think that's it.

But, yeah, I will keep you updated and please give it a listen afterward and let me know what you think. Our goal is to not really update this all the time. We want this to be, you know, an update that we keep for a while.

So yeah. If I may Sure. Riley, when do we get to meet the the new addition?

I I was hoping to maybe introduce her, like, another meeting or two. I'd like to provide you actually with an entire communications update, just like a check-in. So I would love to introduce her there. But

yeah.

Marks?

Alright. Good evening, mayor and council. Just a few updates from the parks and rec department. First, we wanna make sure that everyone is aware that a registration is open for our little princess dance, which is set to take place on Saturday, February 7 from six to eight at Ferndale High School. There will be music, dancing, photos, treats, and we'll also have a visit from Elphaba and Glinda from Wicked.

I got the names right, right?

Okay.

The tickets for that will be $15 per person for residents and $20 per person for non residents. That is until January 30. At that time, the tickets were raised by $5 for each category. And for more information or to register, you can visit the registration site or you can contact us at the parks and rec department. We also wanna announce that soccer registration youth soccer registration will be opening up on Monday, January.

We have leagues that will range from u four to u fourteen, and we anticipate that games for those leagues will begin in late March and run typically until, late April to early May. And, we also wanna announce that there are still, some available openings for the Grand Experience trip, which is set to take place, on May from May 12 to May 15. This is a trip that is designed for seniors and their families to visit Mackinac Island and stay at the, Grand Hotel, accompanied by several, games and activities and different leisure, things to do. The cost for that trip range from $990 to, $1,310 depending on the occupancy type. These, fees can be paid in installments, but the $150 deposit is due by January 23 in order to secure a spot.

For more information on that, you can contact Alicia Pardo at a pardo, at ferndale m I dot gov. And then finally, wanna make sure that the community is aware that we have heard all of your, clamoring for the registration for the summer camp program to open. We are planning to open it up at the January. That's a little bit earlier than we typically do this year because we will have an expanded program, that will accommodate a lot more people, this year than we have in previous years. So more information on that will be available, on our Facebook page as the, date approaches.

And if anyone has any specific questions or anything about the program, they can contact me at ejohnson@frindalemi.gov. Okay.

Alright. Through through the chair. Thank you for the update. Is the twenty twenty six parks and recreation program needs survey available?

Yes. We, posted that today, on our Facebook page. There was a little bit of an issue with the link, so we got that worked out too.

Okay. Okay. Thanks. That's a good one. Please, take that.

Absolutely.

That is it for department updates, but I would just like to share my congratulations to the fiftieth Ferndale City Council. I am very honored to be working with all of you.

Now, this is the opportunity again for call to council. So what I would like to do is, I will start to my, to my left. Council member Eddie Eddie Sabatini?

All the way to the left. Yes. In between. No. No.

No. No. I was yeah. Thank thank you, mayor. So I guess I I'd like to first, thank the community.

I'm honored in the the trust that you've you've placed in me. I will work hard to to earn that that trust. I I'd like to there's a lot of people that helped me. There's several folks, who believed in me from the very beginning. My family, Sarah, Ruby, and Stella, Chris Hall, and, council members Mikulski and, Kelly.

Thank you, to our incredible city staff for the warm welcome, and your generosity with your time and knowledge and guidance. I look forward to continuing to learn from you all and and working alongside you. Thank you council member Johnson and and mayor Leakes May for for welcoming me. I look forward to being your colleague, collaborating with you, and developing a productive and respectful working relationship. And, Mayor Leakes May, I just would like to say that I'm I'm proud to have you represent us as Ferndale's mayor.

Thank you for your service. Finally, I just wanna say that I'm honored to serve, as a liaison to the boards and commissions that that, the mayor has recommended me to serve on. I had I've had the opportunity to sit on two of the meetings so far. One for the Ferndale Accessibility, and Inclusion Advisory Commission and for the Parks and Rec Commission. They have dedicated staff liaisons in James Curzan and Lorena Wheeler respectively, and excellent community members who drive them.

Those who volunteer their valuable time and expertise on these boards and commissions should be commended. It's no small undertaking and it's greatly appreciated. I'm excited to support them in their missions. I've got a couple of updates from each of those, meetings just to wanna get them on the the the city's the the resident's radar. First from the Ferndale Accessibility and Inclusion Advisory Commission, FAIAC for short.

The Detroit Curling Club is hosting an adaptive curling clinic on Sunday, January 18 from 10AM to noon. The event is free, but space is limited. There was only 13 spots available when I checked last night. Registration and events are available at the club's website. I will share links to my social channel and I've been told to dress warm if you attempt.

Preparations for autism awareness month are also underway. I appreciate that work being done to plan inclusive and meaningful programming. I'm very much looking forward to that. I've also had a few accessibility concerns raised to me from residents, around sidewalk issues, including at Withington and over at Bigby Coffee. I understand, James, our associate, city manager.

I think I got your title wrong. I apologize. The council liaison for FAIAC. I understand that Big B has been working to address some of these issues, which which is great. I appreciate you communicating that with me and I'll follow-up with that and and with residents.

And and I just appreciate when residents and staff bring these, concerns to my attention, so please keep bringing them forward. And then parks and rec, we heard that the the survey is now open. Please everybody take some time to fill that out. It'll help, that, parks and rec department continue to plan incredible inclusive programming for everybody. And finally, I want to, just mention that Harding Road Park in line rink improvements, is something that we're trying to do.

And there's a crowd funding and sponsorship opportunities in order to financially support them. So, just wanted to to to mention those things. And and again, thank you to, everyone for their support. I'm excited to get to work. Let's get to work.

Thank you, mayor.

Council member Johnson.

Happy new year. Excited to be here. Looking forward to working with my, new, some of my new, boards and commissions. Looking forward to continuing on a number of the committees, that I currently serve on. Thank you to the mayor, for those appointments and thank you for your service as mayor.

It is definitely an honor to serve with you. And that's really all I have. Let's have a good productive new year. Get a lot done for residents of Ferndale.

Alright. I'm going down the line to Mayor Potemaculski.

Jeez. I don't have much tonight, but I did want to take a moment to welcome Eddie Sabatini to council. I I'm so glad to see you up here. And I do wanna sincerely thank my fellow council members for your support in selecting me as Mayor Pro Tem. I don't take the trust lightly.

I I know that we we had a good discussion about it. And again, I'm I'm so grateful to you, Donnie, for taking the time to talk to me, and to to basically put forth what is what is important to you for the next two years. I think that we're going to be very focused. We're gonna be respectful. We're gonna move forward together, and I think all of us are going to identify our few key priorities.

I think mine's very obvious. My continued work around Kulik, making sure that we're honoring the investment that our community has made and the trust that they've put in both myself as well as our council member Sadatini, during the last election. I also have two other items that I wanted to mention that I think are pretty important to the public. We are currently working on some loopholes in our ordinance language, particularly the gaps that have allowed certain bad actors to undermine the intent of our pet sales ban. So when we pass ordinances, they should do what they say they do.

And I think that I think with a few tweaks, that have been sent over to our city attorney, we will tighten that up. And I'm also looking forward to continuing the work on our tree ordinance, strengthening the protections for urban canopy while balancing practical implementation. We are currently going to work on a subcommittee setting with our environmental, sustainability committee and work through some of the details on that. And again, I I just appreciate all of you. All of you up here as well as everyone in the audience and beyond.

I I appreciate the trust that you placed in me and I'm grateful to be up here doing the work.

And council member Kelly.

I wanna congratulate Eddie. Congratulations. I'm looking forward to working with you. Council member, Johnson, I didn't acknowledge, all of the great things you talked about in that speech. First, I've heard of a lot of them and look forward to, seeing that come to fruition and continuing to work together.

And same with, mayor. I look forward to, bridging that gap that you said you'd like to. And congratulations, Mayor Pro Tem, on your, appointment. Looking forward to working with you all.

Alright. And I like to say Happy New Year to everyone. I just want to express my gratitude for your having faith in me and allowing me to serve a second term, as your mayor. And I'd also like to state that, I look forward to working with council member Sabatini, mayor Pro Temakulski, council members Kelly and Johnson, and city staff to, continue to pursue our efforts and initiatives in the upcoming year. I also hope that we are able to come together, as a council.

We're all we're all different. We all have different perspectives, but I'm confident that we're all here for the right reasons and that we will all come to some sort of consensus and to to the consensus to do what's best for the community. So I appreciate that. I look forward to 2026. And I also, because I think, we're a good group.

Everyone's here for a reason. To serve on a to serve and run for an elected office is not for the faint of heart. And it's a it's a lot of work and I respect each and every person that takes the initiative to do that. I also want to, some information that was sent to me is that as of 01/05/2026, smart services changed their 461 and 5 462 route. Fast Woodward will now be, have an improved weekday frequency of every twenty minutes as far as their their pickups and commutes and the ones in, down in Detroit, will also and Pontiac will actually, they'll run every 40 as well as they will some of these routes will have later times in which they remain, en route and then main active.

I recommend that you go to smartbus.org for the full schedule, but it is a it is a start. And, those who utilize public transportation, I thought it'd be important to let you know that there have been some changes and just please check out the route. With that being said, again, I thank you all. I thank you all for for continuing to serve. I look forward to working with all of you and 2026 will be a great year.

With that being said, this meeting is adjourned at eight