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City of Muskegon
Work Session
Minutes
April 10, 2023, 5:30 pm
Muskegon City Hall
933 Terrace Street, Muskegon, MI 49440
Present: Mayor Ken Johnson
Commissioner Rachel Gorman
Commissioner Rebecca St.Clair
Commissioner Eric Hood
Commissioner Michael Ramsey
Commissioner Teresa Emory
Absent: Vice Mayor Willie German, Jr.
Staff Present: City Manager Jonathan Seyferth
City Clerk Ann Meisch
Deputy City Clerk Kimberly Young
1. Call to Order
Mayor Johnson called the worksession meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
2. New Business
2.a Animal Ordinance, Chickens - Planning
Staff will be presenting on how other municipalities regulate the keeping of
chickens. Many municipalities that allow chickens have a limit of four. Some
municipalities require a permitting process while others do not. Some that
require permits also require approval from neighbors.
The Planning Department reviewed ordinances from other cities with regard to
the ability to keep chickens in the city and presented it to the Commission.
Discussion took place regarding revision to our current ordinance, which only
allows one chicken. Commissioners have received positive feedback from the
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public when posting on their personal Facebook page about this topic. There is
consensus to not allow roosters. It seems that somewhere between four and six
chickens is the appropriate amount. Neighbors don't need to be asked for
permission but should be notified. There will be a permit process. After the first
year, they may be able to receive a permit for a longer period. There would be a
need to reduce the minimum lot size as there are some lots in the city that are
only 3,000 or 4,000 square feet. The City of Grand Rapids has an ordinance that
looks like a good place to start. Planning staff will use this feedback to create a
revision to our ordinance and present it at a future meeting for consideration.
2.b Muskegon Social Equity Program – Education Funds - Planning
A representative from “Mediation & Restorative Services” will be presenting
their proposal to provide education and harm reduction services.
The MSEP fund allocated $13,720 towards education and harm reduction in
2021 and the funds were spent on billboard advertisements and marihuana lock
bags.
The MSEP fund allocated $47,420 towards education and harm reduction in
2022 but the funds have not been spent yet. After discussions at the December
2022 work session, staff reached out to some agencies that could potentially
assist in education and harm reduction programs and was impressed with the
potential services that Mediation & Restorative Services could provide.
Mike Franzak, Planning Manager, spoke briefly about Mediation and Restorative
Services, the organization has provided community conflict resolution services
for 29 years and restorative justice services for 21 years. The funding would be
used to provide community prevention and education services as well as family
and youth directed services. Jackie Hallberg, Executive Director of Mediation and
Restorative Services, and Sara DelaRosa, Program Manager of Exit Program -
which is a prison re-entry program, spoke more about how their organization
can work with and for the city to provide education and harm reduction services
relative to marihuana.
2.c Marihuana Excise Tax - Planning
Staff would like to have a discussion on how to allocate this year’s marihuana
excise tax revenue as it pertains to the Muskegon Social Equity Program.
Discussion took place regarding the best allocation of the dollars received from
the marihuana excise tax. Part of the discussion was about the potential of
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having a single point of contact at the City for all things related to marihuana and
marihuana businesses. It was suggested that there could be someone that
manages the social equity programs, works with marihuana businesses, and
participates in other marihuana related activities. The Planning Manager will
take this into consideration and see what the dedicated staff in other cities are
responsible for.
There was discussion about allocating a percentage of the tax to other budget
funds. Some could go to Parks & Rec, Street Fund, Public Safety, etc. Perhaps the
percentage of the tax that is allocated can be redistributed. Staff will work on the
budget regarding these funds and have some proposals for Commission
consideration.
2.d MSEP – Expungement Clinics - Planning
Staff has received three proposals in response to the RFP for expungement clinic
services.
Each of three vendors presented an overview of their proposal to provide
Expungement Clinics for the city in response to an RFP. Discussion took place
about which vendor or vendors to use for expungement clinics. In essence,
Commissioners support the proposal from GUNNS for three clinics, would like to
contribute to/partially fund the clinic for Stash Ventures, and would like to see
more sponsors and revised budget from Cannas Capital and potentially
contribute to/partially fund a clinic for this vendor. The Planning Department will
formalize this for a future meeting for the Commission to vote on.
2.e ARPA Community Grant Program Update - Manager's Office
Staff update on the City’s ARPA Community Grant Program as well as the
creation of the Grant Review Committee.
On February 14th, the City Commission authorized the dedication of $1.6M from
the City’s remaining allocation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal
stimulus funds for the creation of a city-sponsored ARPA Community Grant
program. https://muskegon-mi.gov/cresources/ARP-001-Grant-Application-
Program-Guidelines.2.16.pdf
An ARPA Community Grant Review Committee is to be established to review
eligible applications and submit recommendations to the Commission. The
Commission will review and make funding decisions at a Regular Committee
Meeting.
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The Review Committee is comprised of (6) members: one representative from
each of the (4) City Commission Wards, the City Manager and the Director of the
Community and Neighborhood Services Department. Two representative(s) from
local Community Based Organizations will also be included to act in an advisory
role only which will include the United Way of the Lakeshore and Community
Foundation for Muskegon County.
Pete Wills, Strategic Initiative Director, provided an update on ARPA Allocations.
60 applications were received for a total ask of 7.9 million dollars of the 1.6
million dollar allocation. 31 applications were from non profit organizations. Four
applications were from Neighborhood Associations, 19 applications were from
Small Businesses. Applications will be reviewed by the committee (manager,
CNS Director, one member of the public from each of four wards - United Way
and Community Foundation will act in an advisory capacity). It is expected that
the committee to be able to review the applications by mid-May. Staff worked
with organizations to ensure everyone that wanted to could apply.
2.f Parkland Marina Development Purchase Agreement Amendment - Manager's
Office
Staff has worked with Parkland Properties to update the current purchase
agreement for the Parkland Marina Development. This update was made
following feedback from Commissioners. This is only for discussion during the
work session with possible inclusion for approval on the April 25th agenda.
Jonathan Seyferth, City Manager, presented amendments to the Third Street
Pier Development Agreement. John Rooks, owner and developer, answered
questions from the commission about the project, mostly as it relates to public
access. This item will be on the agenda at a later meeting for consideration.
3. Public Comment
Public comment was received.
4. Adjournment
The Work Session meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m.
_________________________
Respectfully Submitted,
Ann Marie Meisch, MMC - City Clerk
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