LIVE Reporting of the Dec. 7 Saline City Council Meeting

The following is live reporting from the Dec. 7 meeting of Saline City Council.

Environmental Assessments.

The meeting began with a work session on the environmental assessments of properties being considered for wastewater treatment plant upgrades and expansions.

There are soil and ground water issues on the Adient properties on both sides of Monroe Street, according to Patti McCall, of Tetratech. There don't appear to be significant issues on the wastewater treatment plant property.

Councillor Dean Girbach said it appears the west side Adient property appears to be a "no go" for plant expansion.

Councillor Jack Ceo asked TetraTech's Brian Rubel if the city had room to expand in place. Rubel said the city does have room, but that it would put processes closer to homes and affect more homeowners.

Ceo asked McCall if the city might one day have the ability to expand on to Adient properties. McCall said she had concerns with how long it would take for soil clean up. She there may be liability issues if the city takes control of the property.

Ceo asked if Adient may be responsible for PFAS that's migrated to the wastewater treatment plan. McCall said Adient could be if it can be demonstrated PFAS migrated from the Adient property.

Councillor Christen Mitchell asked if the processes closer to  homes that already exist. Rubel said they would be on the north, near Crestwood Street and Monroe Street.

Councillor Janet Dillon asked if any of the data would have changed?  McCall said the PFAS data is new.

Councillor Jim Dell'Orco said 232 Monroe Street was a "bit of an albatross" of which the city should street clear. He asked if there was evidence of groundwater contamination coming from the city's site. He asked if the city might be responsible from the "uncontrolled" city dump on the east side of the road from the 1940s or earlier. McCall said the dump had closed by the time the industry opened across the street.

Dell'Orco asked if there was a risk of unleashing contaminants during wastewater treatment plant construction. Rubel said there was a slight chance.

Dell'Orco asked if the city should remediate contaminants before construction. Rubel said he wasn't concerned construction would release contaminants.

Mayor Brian Marl asked McCall if the city should do a phase two environmental assessment on these properties. McCall said it depends on what the city wants to know. If the city wants to know about the former city dump site, it can be useful. McCall said it would cost about $10,000 for the phase two study with a few weeks turnaround.

Councillor Mitchell said a phase two study would be "money well-invested." She asked council members what should be done to protect the Saline River. She suggested a work meeting on environmental contamination and more information to the public on what the city faces.

Councillor Dillon talked about investigating to see how this might impact neighboring properties, including Salt Springs Park, and the river. Dell'Orco agreed, saying it was troubling there's a 10-year gap in data collection and called for a phase two study. 

Marl said council with revisit the issue at a subsequent meeting before Jan. 1.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Financing

Attorney Roger Swets and bond counsel Warren Creamer talked to council about borrowing money for wastewater treatment plant upgrades and improvements.

There are cost savings with using the SRF (state revolving fund) to borrow, but it takes considerably more time to plan. On a 30-year bond issue, the SRF is more than $2 million cheaper. The city might also receive principal forgiveness using the SRF loan, Swets said.

Councillor Girbach asked how the city would receive SRF money. Swets said availability is based on a points system.

Dell'Orco said the city needed to weigh the cost savings against the ability to move quickly.

"We have a lot of failing infrastructure we need to address fairly quickly," Dell'Orco said.

Council will discuss the issue next Monday at 6 p.m.

REGULAR MEETING

The regular meeting began at 7:03 p.m.

Councillor Kevin Camero-Sulak was absent.

Public Comment

Clerk Royal said there were no comments received prior to the meeting or in the Zoom chat function.

Consent Agenda

Dillon asked to remove the community events item to the regular agenda. Her request was approved and the consent agenda passed.

GBA Lot 20A Extension

Interim City Manager Mike Green said GBA is seeking a 120-day extension on its purchase agreement with the city for Lot 20A. Councillor Girbach moved to acknowledge receipt of the motion.

GBA has proposed a grocery store, retail a restaurant and senior living for the East Michigan Avenue site currently owned by the city.

Swets said the city is phrasing it as a new agreement because of the timing of the renewal. Swets said there is nothing substantively new in the agreement.

Councillor Girbach asked Swets to reiterate nothing was changing except the timeline. Swets said the timeline for closing was Sept. 1.

Girbach asked how the financing was reviewed. Greene said the city received a letter of intent from GBA's financers. Swets said he has not reviewed the document but believes attorney Tom Forshee is reviewing it.

Councillor Mitchell asked the timeline. Greene said there is a 120-day due diligence period. Mitchell asked "what else is there to prove?"

Mitchell asked if council was being asked to review something attorney's haven't answered.

Mitchell said she wanted to prevent a situation like the hotel standstill from happening again.

"Why are we in due diligence for two years," Mitchell said.

Swets said the developers needed time to find tenants.

Marl said he would not have an issue postponing the motion until Dec. 21 attorneys can review the documents.

"I'm not enthusiastic about granting another extension, I think the change in the types of businesses and enterprises on site, added with the fact that we were facing a global health pandemic and had an economic shut down, it makes it reasonable in my judgment to approve one additional extension," Marl said.

Councillor Dillon said she wanted to hear from Fire Chief Craig Hoeft on the suitability of an assisted living process in that location.

Matt Attard, from GBA, said capital markets retracted, so GBA lost a financial backer. A new backer is offering $15 million to develop the property done at once, Attard said.

"We're more than ready," Attard said. "There's a process to procuring $15 million."

The motion to acknowledge receipt of the memo was passed. Girbach moved to  postpone until Dec. 21.

Mitchell said she said she was displeased the matter appeared in front of council with information gaps.

Community Events

Councillor Mitchell said she thought 2021 events money could be invested in the community if the money wasn't spent on events.

Dillon said she thought the budget should be rounded up to give council be more flexible.

The issue will be discussed Dec. 21.

Girbach asked for clarification about how general fund dollars can be used to support business.

North Maple Rezoning Request

Planning commission approved a conditional rezoning to rezone six acres of land at 7181 North Maple Road from I-2 to R-3 multifamily residential. The request was made by Danny Veri.

A previous request for storage request was denied by planning commission.

Girbach said the conditional approval means that if the project is not complete, it will fall back to industrial. He said there have been other rezonings in the area. He said redrawing the masterplan would be tedious.

Girbach said the housing would be similar to the apartments at Saline Waterworks and Ann Arbor Saline. Girbach noted the planning commission was divided, with some commissioners wanting to maintain industrial zoning.

Jack Ceo motioned to approve.

Danny Veri said his other project has been at 100 percent capacity since before construction was completed. He said his clientele is largely the senior population. He said this would be his fourth project in the city and "I would do more if I could find the dirt."

Mitchell said rezoning does  not match the city's master plan.

"I don't personally see a compelling reason to do something that is very different from our master plan when we haven't elsewhere. This is a piecemeal approach," Mitchell said. She said she could not support the project.

Girbach said Maple Road has become more residential. The only industrial project left on the street is Lectronics, he said.

Dillon said she was conflicted. She's excited to bring more rentals to the city, but said the master plan was only three years old.

"I'm a little concerned we are making so many changes to a relatively new plan," Dillon said.

Girbach said this seemed like a reasonable way to develop the property.

Dillon said she had trouble with the plan for the property to revert if the construction doesn't begin within five years. She said she felt the city had been burned by previous similar agreements.

"I feel it opens the city to have blight right in the middle of the city," Dillon said. "I would rather see a much tighter parameter."

Veri said he planned to start the project within three years, but didn't want to commit to one year due to all the uncertainty he witnessed this year related to COVID-19.

Attorney Tom Forshee said if the applicant voluntarily offered the change, it could be be approved. Attorney Swets asked if "build foundations" would be more acceptable than "start construction."

Dillon said it would, but also said she wanted to see five years reduced. Swets and Forshee said changing the years would be a more substantial amendment.

Veri offered to change the definition of starting construction to include the installation of foundations  and vertical construction.

Marl said this was not a "perfect fit" for the parcel, but said he didn't think there was a perfect fit.

"I do think this is a good enough fit for this parcel and I do think this is in keeping with precedent that's been established in recent years with changes at Maple Oaks and the district court site," Marl said.

Mitchell asked why the city would want to revert the property if city leaders felt this was the correct use for the property.

Girbach said this kind of change allowed for quicker action.

Mitchell said she wondered about setting a precedent by granting special permission. Forshee said it wasn't granting special permission and that rezoning was a policy change.

Veri reminded people that Livonia Builders did Torwood during the great recession, before the Houghton School property and Cascade Pointe.

"I can assure you the other projects (of other developers) failed because of financing. We don't borrow money," Veri said.

The rezoning passed 5-1, with Mitchell dissenting.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Position

Mark Fechik, deputy superintendent for the water treatment plant and wastewater treatment plant superintendent, was made interim director. Council voted 6-0 to approve the appointment. Former director Steve Wyzgosksi has resigned for another position.

Councillor Ceo said Fechick has been in the position for many years and that he fully supports the hiring.

Design Engineering for a New Sludge Pump

Council approved a request to pay $19,500 to TetraTech for design engineering services for the installation of a wastewater treatment plant final clarifier waste sludge pump. Brian Rubel took council through the wastewater treatment process. The clarifiers remove the solids.  

Girbach asked for the final cost of the pump. Rubel said it would be over $100,000 but probably less than $200,000. The pump would work for any upgrades.

It was approved 6-0.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Reports

Girbach said the risk management task force was nearing a report.

Dell'Orco said the environmental commission chair is moving, creating a second vacancy. They will be looking for new members.

Mitchell said the Historic District Committee meeting was postponed.

Dillon said the parks commission is reflecting on the year and working on goals. Upcoming events include the family scavenger hunt. Go to SalineRec.com to sign up. This Thursday is the Jingle Fest.

Reports and Other Announcements

Marl asked if there was feedback regarding downtown's reopening. Greene said there has been no initial feedback. Three businesses have requested permits for fire pits. Marl asked if more action was needed from the city.

Marl said the community recruitment and retention team has met three times this month. It recently sent out a survey of businesses owners. 100  business owners responded. 

Ceo said he thought the city should soon begin plans for further action to help downtown businesses.

Dillon reminded people they cannot burn leaves in the City of Saline.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Update

Green said the bioscrubber is running. The PH level is higher than optimal he said.

Ceo said he heard complaints from residents saying the odors have been particularly bad. Greene said the bioscrubber should solve the problem. Ceo said residents should contact him to let him know whether the issue has been resolved.

Closed Session Protocols

Swets spoke to council about what can and can't be shared with the public. He said confidential action cannot be shared to released without a majority decision of the council.

Councillor Mitchell said this issue came up because some council members voted not to go into closed session. 

Mitchell said Mayor Pro-Tem Girbach suggested there was an investigation into the divulgence of public information.

Marl said confidential privileged negotiation was shared publicly, which undermined city negotiations, which he said was the true issue.

Mitchell said she had no information any information was every shared with anyone. 

"What information do you have information was indeed disclosed?" Mitchell said.

Marl said he'd prefer to have the conversation offline.

Marl said sharing information in a closed session is a violation of statute.

Girbach said he voted not to go into executive session because he had concerns about trust.

"I did not feel we could go into executive session and discuss information that was not going to be released," Girbach said.

Girbach asked Swets what kinds of penalties a council member could face for divulging confidential information.

Swets said there's a statute that requires confidentiality and there are penalties. A council member could be censured for releasing confidential information.

Swets suggested training to help council understand the Open Meetings Act.

Public Comment

Police Chief Jerrod Hart told council the police department's strategic planning committee is surveying the community as it develops its strategic plan. He encouraged people to take part in the survey and share it with residents.

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