OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Grand Rapids City Commission Meeting – August 26, 2025

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, August 26, 2025
BodyGrand Rapids, Michigan
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, August 26, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:31:26

Transcript — Verbatim
0:09

City Clerk, if you can call the role.

0:12

Commissioner Kilbar.

0:13

Present.

0:14

Commissioner Knight.

0:15

Present.

0:15

Commissioner Balchak.

0:16

Present.

0:17

Commissioner Purdue.

0:19

Present.

0:19

Commissioner Sasi.

0:20

Present.

0:21

Mayor LeGrand.

0:22

Present.

0:22

Are we expecting Commissioner Robbins?

0:24

Uh I have not heard from Commissioner Robbins.

0:26

I don't know if anyone else has, so I I hope he's on his way.

0:29

Yeah, uh I haven't heard from him, but he did say he'll be back tonight.

0:32

Okay.

0:34

Uh and for the first time in my tenure as mayor, I'm going to remember to uh invite the interpreter up before I'm prompted to or after I just try to do something else.

0:42

So if the interpreter could uh please come up and introduce themselves.

0:46

Uh we provide interpretation services, uh Spanish to English and English to Spanish, but no other language live.

0:52

So my name is Victoria.

0:54

I'm going to be interpreting Spanish to English, English to Spanish.

0:58

So my nombre is Victoria.

0:59

We start interpretando inglés, Espanola, Spanola English, estamos a la ordin.

1:03

Thank you.

1:04

And uh with that, I would uh ask invite anyone who has public comment on agenda items to please come forward and um speak with us.

1:12

And Mr.

1:13

Jones certainly knows the rules.

1:15

So Mr.

1:15

Jones, you're first in the Lord.

1:21

I hope it's not the broken.

1:24

How y'all doing?

1:25

I'm D.

1:26

Jones, passionate entrepreneur and visionary.

1:28

Uh first off, I want to speak on the resolution of David appointing people to the uh economic development and uh Brownford Authority.

1:38

Uh I'm not saying anything negative, but I hope in the future I can uh be on one of those boards to be able to give some good feedback to push the city for uh if you guys seen I gave you guys a handout, uh print out.

1:50

I spoke to uh David and you guys have an amendment also about the uh budget amendment, and uh you guys are also contracted with um Ed Hard Construction for the Oxford Trail.

2:02

Um what I'm speaking on is basically the handout that I gave you guys is a handout for uh from Brian Kilpatrick.

2:09

I actually got him to speak to the company that actually 3D print houses, and as you guys see, there's actually a real progress being made to 3D print houses here in Kent County in our city.

2:20

So uh what I'm asking for is if you guys ever have an amendment or a budget amendment or you guys go back and redo some policies, that you guys uh be sure that the policies include being able to invest into uh 3D printed housing or housing.

2:34

We have a housing crisis here, and I've been able to go to uh Mayor Le Grand's mayor Mondays and speak to him about affordable housing and uh 3D printing housing.

2:43

So you guys see that Brian Kilpatrick has actually spoken to Lee, and we're looking to get that early uh 2026.

2:50

So hopefully uh this is a future invite and also an invite for the future for you guys to actually come uh to the through groundbreaking of the 3D printed housing because we have a housing crisis here.

3:00

We need to be innovative to be able to attack the housing crisis.

3:03

So I ask you guys as you guys do these uh as you guys legislate for our city uh as we think about innovation, as you guys look at amendments and different things and looking at policies.

3:14

I ask that you guys uh change some of those policies so we can invest in the 3D printing houses.

3:19

You guys see it firsthand.

3:20

I gave you guys a printout.

3:22

I told you last time that I'm gonna have an update, and uh uh I'm very passionate about this.

3:27

I've been uh I've done my due diligence and uh is this is real, this isn't fake.

3:32

Uh this is reality, and this is gonna be a reality here in King County to attack the housing crisis.

3:38

So as you guys are giving these huge uh seven-figure contracts to these construction companies for trails for bikes, I asked that you guys look into do this for 3D printed housing and attacking the outer housing crisis.

3:50

There is an amendment on there, so and you guys do have it on for Air Hard uh construction to actually where you have the Oxford trails for uh nine million.

3:59

So I'm asking that you guys, as you guys have the amendment too, that you guys also change your amendments and look into those to the investing in 3D processing.

4:06

I know that's it is cool.

4:08

I know as I'm a black person that's gonna solve the housing crisis, and as I was actually footing it here, walking here from where I live at, I seen people sleeping under the bridge.

4:16

So beautiful things are coming to Kent County, and this is a future invite to come to the groundbreaking because I'm not gonna stop.

4:22

I'm gonna be passionate and fears and pears and fierce until I get this housing crisis thinking we see 3D printed houses here.

4:28

Thank you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Engagement█████████████████17%
Procedural██████████████14%
Public Safety█████████████13%
Personnel Matters█████████9%
Community Engagement████████8%
Affordable Housing███████7%
Zoning Policy█████5%
Labor Relations████4%
Homelessness████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Grand Rapids City Commission Meeting – August 26, 2025

The Grand Rapids City Commission met on August 26, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. with Mayor LeGrand presiding. Commissioners present: Kilbar, Knight, Balchak, Purdue, Sasi, and later Robbins. The meeting included public comments, a tribute to retiring City Attorney Anita Hitchcock, rezonings, budget amendments, labor agreements, opioid settlements, and a litigation settlement.

Consent Calendar

  • Approvals of minutes, petitions and communications (including support and opposition letters on the climate action plan, comments on drone parking, and others), treasurer’s and comptroller’s reports (comptroller warrant report: $48,170,885.79 for July 22–August 11, 2025), and a city manager update on CAP implementation. Item E4 (appointment of interim city attorney) was pulled for separate discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • D. Jones spoke twice: first on agenda items, urging the city to invest in 3D-printed housing to address the housing crisis and invited commissioners to a future groundbreaking; later in general public comment he reiterated his support and thanked the retiring city attorney.
  • Mark from Grand Rapids suggested moving the Art Prize event to September 18–October 4 for better weather and increased revenue.
  • Aiden Wysackey thanked City Attorney Anita Hitchcock for her service.
  • Amy Brock criticized city policies on homelessness, urged empathy, and asked the commission to commit to no kickbacks from federal orders targeting unhoused residents. She also cited the need for rent control and expansion of services.
  • Austin McFarland called for greater city support for STEM education, noting a 17.3% proficiency rate in Grand Rapids Public Schools for math and science.
  • Sydney Deans raised concerns about river pollution and proposed a new burner for the landfill/waste plant.
  • An anonymous speaker made unrelated remarks but also thanked the retiring city attorney.
  • Lisa Griffin advocated for a police-community mentorship task force to improve communication and trust.
  • Stephanie Hall, representing residents affected by the June 2024 flood, asked for fair treatment and said previous pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Discussion Items

  • Tribute to City Attorney Anita Hitchcock and Appointment of Interim City Attorney: All commissioners expressed gratitude for Hitchcock's 26 years of service, highlighted her leadership and integrity, and welcomed Deputy City Attorney Philip Strom as interim city attorney. The motion to appoint Strom passed unanimously by voice vote.
  • Rezonings (two ordinances):
    1. Rezoning the southerly 40.5 feet of 1362 Leonard Ave NW to MCN-LDR (low-density residential) to allow Mount Calvary Cemetery improvements; passed 7-0 by roll call.
    2. Rezoning 1,916 square feet of 1364 Leonard Ave NW to TNTBA (traditional business area) to resolve a cemetery encroachment; passed 7-0 by roll call.
  • Budget Ordinance Amendment (2025-11, Amendment 1): Included debt service for soccer stadium/amphitheater bonds, police generator replacement, parks environmental justice grant, Roosevelt Park/Plaza grant, 61st District Court drug court grant, violence intervention grants, police COPS hiring grant, and city commission meeting streaming indexing/captioning. Also included elevator repairs. Passed 7-0 with immediate effect.
  • Police and Fire Retirement System Ordinance: Amended pension escalator to 1.5% compounding benefit after five years for retirees on/after July 1, 2025, per the GRPOA collective bargaining agreement. Passed 7-0 with immediate effect.
  • Salary Ordinance – Emergency Communication Supervisors (Teamsters 406): 5% wage increase effective July 1, 2025, 4% July 1, 2026, 3% July 1, 2027. Passed 7-0 with immediate effect.
  • Salary Ordinance – Association of Public Administrators (APAGR): 5% first year, 4% second and third years. Passed 7-0 with immediate effect.
  • Collective Bargaining Resolutions: Separate resolutions approving contracts with Emergency Communication Supervisors and APAGR for July 1, 2025–June 30, 2028. Both passed unanimously.
  • Opioid Settlement Resolutions:
    1. Settlement with defendants (Elegant Inc., new pharmaceuticals, etc.) for estimated $128,877.87 over 15 years for abatement/prevention. Passed.
    2. Settlement with Purdue Pharma and Sackler family for estimated $824,818.39 over 15 years. Passed.
  • Litigation Settlement – AB2 LLC v. City of Grand Rapids: Settlement for alleged breach of lease; city to provide parking validations (up to $3,000/month for Aug–Oct), hood parking meters on Ottawa Ave, and a one-time $5,000 rent reduction. Passed.

Key Outcomes

  • All votes were unanimous (7-0 when all commissioners were present).
  • Philip Strom appointed interim city attorney.
  • Two rezonings approved to resolve cemetery encroachment.
  • Budget amendment and immediate effect adopted.
  • Police/fire pension escalator amended.
  • Wage increases approved for emergency communication supervisors and APAGR.
  • Two opioid settlement participation agreements approved, funds restricted to treatment/abatement.
  • AB2 LLC settlement approved.
  • Commissioner Purdue requested formal full-body briefings on federal and state policy changes (e.g., National Guard deployments, health care, housing). City Manager Washington acknowledged ongoing committee discussions and affirmed commitment to local control and constitutional policing.
  • Mayor LeGrand and City Attorney Hitchcock offered closing remarks on resilience and values-driven governance.
  • Meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

City Clerk, if you can call the role. Commissioner Kilbar. Present. Commissioner Knight. Present. Commissioner Balchak. Present. Commissioner Purdue. Present. Commissioner Sasi. Present. Mayor LeGrand. Present. Are we expecting Commissioner Robbins? Uh I have not heard from Commissioner Robbins. I don't know if anyone else has, so I I hope he's on his way. Yeah, uh I haven't heard from him, but he did say he'll be back tonight. Okay. Uh and for the first time in my tenure as mayor, I'm going to remember to uh invite the interpreter up before I'm prompted to or after I just try to do something else. So if the interpreter could uh please come up and introduce themselves. Uh we provide interpretation services, uh Spanish to English and English to Spanish, but no other language live. So my name is Victoria. I'm going to be interpreting Spanish to English, English to Spanish. So my nombre is Victoria. We start interpretando inglés, Espanola, Spanola English, estamos a la ordin. Thank you. And uh with that, I would uh ask invite anyone who has public comment on agenda items to please come forward and um speak with us. And Mr. Jones certainly knows the rules. So Mr. Jones, you're first in the Lord. I hope it's not the broken. How y'all doing? I'm D. Jones, passionate entrepreneur and visionary. Uh first off, I want to speak on the resolution of David appointing people to the uh economic development and uh Brownford Authority. Uh I'm not saying anything negative, but I hope in the future I can uh be on one of those boards to be able to give some good feedback to push the city for uh if you guys seen I gave you guys a handout, uh print out. I spoke to uh David and you guys have an amendment also about the uh budget amendment, and uh you guys are also contracted with um Ed Hard Construction for the Oxford Trail. Um what I'm speaking on is basically the handout that I gave you guys is a handout for uh from Brian Kilpatrick. I actually got him to speak to the company that actually 3D print houses, and as you guys see, there's actually a real progress being made to 3D print houses here in Kent County in our city. So uh what I'm asking for is if you guys ever have an amendment or a budget amendment or you guys go back and redo some policies, that you guys uh be sure that the policies include being able to invest into uh 3D printed housing or housing. We have a housing crisis here, and I've been able to go to uh Mayor Le Grand's mayor Mondays and speak to him about affordable housing and uh 3D printing housing. So you guys see that Brian Kilpatrick has actually spoken to Lee, and we're looking to get that early uh 2026. So hopefully uh this is a future invite and also an invite for the future for you guys to actually come uh to the through groundbreaking of the 3D printed housing because we have a housing crisis here. We need to be innovative to be able to attack the housing crisis. So I ask you guys as you guys do these uh as you guys legislate for our city uh as we think about innovation, as you guys look at amendments and different things and looking at policies. I ask that you guys uh change some of those policies so we can invest in the 3D printing houses. You guys see it firsthand. I gave you guys a printout. I told you last time that I'm gonna have an update, and uh uh I'm very passionate about this.

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