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CITY OF MUSKEGON
CITY COMMISSION MEETING
OCTOBER 8, 2013
CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS @ 5:30 P.M.
MINUTES
The Regular Commission Meeting of the City of Muskegon was held at City Hall,
933 Terrace Street, Muskegon, Michigan at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 8, 2013.
Mayor Gawron opened the meeting with a prayer from Bishop Nathaniel Wells,
Jr. from the Holy Trinity Church after which the Commission and public recited
the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
ROLL CALL FOR THE REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING:
Present: Mayor Stephen Gawron, Vice Mayor Lawrence Spataro,
Commissioners Willie German, Byron Turnquist, Lea Markowski, and Eric Hood,
City Manager Franklin Peterson, City Attorney John Schrier, and City Clerk Ann
Marie Cummings.
Absent: Commissioner Sue Wierengo.
2013-83 CONSENT AGENDA:
A. Approval of Minutes. CITY CLERK
SUMMARY OF REQUEST: To approve minutes of the September 24th City
Commission Meeting.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: None.
BUDGET ACTION REQUIRED: None.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval of the minutes.
B. Policy Change to “Policy for Sale of City-Owned Residential Property”.
PLANNING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SUMMARY OF REQUEST: To approve the changes to the “Policy for Sale of City-
Owned Residential Property” to remove the reference of the Land Reutilization
Committee (LRC) from the policy on pages three and four as this committee no
longer exists. Plus the removal of “whether appealed or not” on page four.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: None.
BUDGET ACTION REQUIRED: None.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: To approve the resolution and to authorize both the
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Mayor and the Clerk to sign said resolution.
C. Sale of the Property at 1035 E. Laketon Avenue. PLANNING &
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SUMMARY OF REQUEST: Staff is seeking approval to sell the vacant, buildable,
industrial zoned lot at 1035 E. Laketon to Newkirk Electric at 1875 Roberts Street.
The property is 2.6 acres and has 116 feet of frontage on Laketon Avenue. The
company will utilize this space for storage and it will allow them to combine with
their other property at 1975 Vulcan Street.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Staff recommends a sale price of $29,000.
BUDGET ACTION REQUIRED: None.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval and signature of the purchase agreement,
resolution and deed.
D. Approval of Building Contract for 2169 Hudson. COMMUNITY &
NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES
SUMMARY OF REQUEST: To award the Building Contract for the construction of a
new home located at 2169 Hudson Street to Holden Construction, in the amount
of $112,800, for the City of Muskegon’s Homebuyers Program through CNS.
CNS received three bids and the cost estimate from our spec writer was
$140,300.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The funding for this project has been secured through the
HOME program 2013 grant allocation.
BUDGET ACTION REQUIRED: None.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: To award Holden Construction the contract for the
construction of 2169 Hudson Street, in the amount of $112,800, for the
Community and Neighborhood Services Department.
E. Community Relations Committee. CITY CLERK
SUMMARY OF REQUEST: To accept the recommendations from the Community
Relations Committee made at the meeting held on October 7, 2013 as follows:
Accept resignations of LeighAnn Mikesell and William Parker from the Planning
Commission.
Accept appointments of Bryon Mazade to the Board of Review as Citizen; Kim
Burr to the Citizen’s District Council Commission as Citizen representing Ward 3;
Kim Burr to the Local Development Finance Authority as Citizen/Interest in
District; Virgie Jackson to the Local Officer’s Compensation Commission as
Citizen; and Bryon Mazade and Steve Wisneski to the Planning Commission as
Citizens.
Accept the removal of Lori Rasmussen from the Citizen’s District Council.
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FINANCIAL IMPACT: None.
BUDGET ACTION REQUIRED: None.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: To concur with the Community Relations Committee
recommendations.
Motion by Commissioner Hood, second by Commissioner German to approve
the Consent Agenda as read.
ROLL VOTE: Ayes: German, Turnquist, Markowski, Gawron, Hood, and Spataro
Nays: None
MOTION PASSES
2013-84 NEW BUSINESS:
A. Police Cruisers. PUBLIC WORKS
SUMMARY OF REQUEST: Rescind your authorization for staff to purchase the six
Chevy Caprice cruisers from Betten Chevrolet for $167,003.16 which was
granted on September 24, 2013. Betten notified staff on September 30 that a
mistake was made when submitting the bid using a 2013 module rather than the
2014 requested. Betten’s revised figure on the 2014 caprices is $169,003.16, an
increase of $2,000.
Furthermore, it is requested that staff be authorized to purchase the six cruisers
from Shaheen Chevy, the state’s dealer, who submitted the low bid of $166,608
originally which he is willing to honor.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: A total of $166,608.
BUDGET ACTION REQUIRED: None since the proposed purchase is within the
budgeted amount.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Rescind prior authorization of September 24, 2013
and authorize staff to purchase the six cruisers from Shaheen instead for
$166,608.
Motion by Commissioner Markowski, second by Commissioner Hood to rescind
prior authorization of September 24, 2013, and authorize staff to purchase the six
cruisers from Berger Chevrolet of Grand Rapids for $166,608.
ROLL VOTE: Ayes: Turnquist, Markowski, Gawron, Hood, Spataro, and German
Nays: None
MOTION PASSES
B. Water and Sewer Connection Fees for Farmers Market. CITY MANAGER
SUMMARY OF REQUEST: To waive the water and sewer connection fees and
water meters cost for the new Farmers Market.
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FINANCIAL IMPACT: $27,200 for the water and sewer connection fees and
$2,900 for two meters.
BUDGET ACTION REQUIRED: None.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: None.
Motion by Commissioner Turnquist, second by Vice Mayor Spataro to waive the
water and sewer connection fees and water meters cost for the new Farmers
Market.
ROLL VOTE: Ayes: Markowski, Gawron, Hood, Spataro, German, and Turnquist
Nays: None
MOTION PASSES
C. City Commission to Petition LCC to Revoke Elk’s Club License. PUBLIC
SAFETY
SUMMARY OF REQUEST: The Director of Public Safety requests that the City
Commission review and consider petitioning the Michigan Liquor Commission to
revoke, suspend or amend the Elk’s Charity Lodge “Club Liquor License”,
through a hearing process.
The Elk’s Charity Lodge has been involved in many violent incidents over the
past several years, with the last being a mass shooting incident that claimed the
lives of three individuals and wounded four others. Other serious weapon
offenses/shootings have occurred at this location over the summer, which has
led to the temporary closing of this establishment.
The Muskegon Police have been summoned to the Lodge countless times,
investigated and compiled a list of complaints/crimes for the Commission to
review. In addition to the calls for service, police/LCC investigators have noted
numerous administrative violations that have/are occurring at the lodge
contrary to Michigan administrative law that governs alcohol establishment. I
have outlined the criminal events and rouge business practices that have led to
this important request.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Negative – the murder investigation to date has caused
over 100 hours of Detective Bureau over-time, which doesn’t include other staff
time to mitigate this matter.
BUDGET ACTION REQUIRED: None.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: “To notify the Liquor Control Commission to maintain
the Emergency Suspension Order until notice is provided and a hearing is held
before the Liquor Control Commission to suspend, revoke or amend the liquor
license held by Charity Lodge #1397 of I.B.P.O.E. of W. and appoint Robert
Chessman as a hearing officer to take testimony and make a recommendation
to the City Commission as to whether the City Commission should recommend
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to the Liquor Control Commission to revoke, suspend or amend the liquor license
held by Charity Lodge #1398 of I.B.P.O.E. of W.”
Motion by Vice Mayor Spataro, second by Commissioner Hood to notify the
Liquor Control Commission to maintain the Emergency Suspension Order until
notice is provided and a hearing is held before the Liquor Control Commission to
suspend, revoke or amend the liquor license held by Charity Lodge #1397 of
I.B.P.O.E. of W. and appoint Robert Chessman as a hearing officer to take
testimony and make a recommendation to the City Commission as to whether
the City Commission should recommend to the Liquor Control Commission to
revoke, suspend or amend the liquor license held by Charity Lodge #1398 of
I.B.P.O.E. of W.
ROLL VOTE: Ayes: Gawron, Hood, Spataro, German, and Markowski
Nays: Turnquist
MOTION PASSES
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Public comments were received.
ADJOURNMENT: The City Commission Meeting adjourned at 6:12 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Ann Marie Cummings, MMC
City Clerk
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