Fiscal Committee Meeting of the Grand Rapids City Commission - October 7, 2025
Fiscal Committee Meeting of the Grand Rapids City Commission - October 7, 2025
The Fiscal Committee of the Grand Rapids City Commission met on October 7, 2025, from 8:30 AM to 9:08 AM, to consider nine agenda items including contract extensions, utility agreements, budget substitutions, and a proposed fiscal disclosure policy for elected officials. All items were approved, with notable discussion on the Lime scooter contract extension and the fiscal disclosure policy.
Consent Calendar
The following items were approved unanimously without further discussion unless noted:
- Resolution authorizing extension of contracted services with Ovell Rome and Associates (d.b.a. Ask OVEL) for interim human resources leadership – Authorized an amount not to exceed $100,000, bringing the total authorized contract amount to $200,000. Assistant City Manager Matthew noted the ongoing search for a permanent HR director, with initial candidate interviews scheduled for the following week.
- Resolution authorizing a joint use agreement with AT&T for shared utility pole infrastructure – Formalizes a long-standing cooperative arrangement for shared use of 2,207 city poles on AT&T lines and 1,086 AT&T poles on city lines. The agreement mirrors a similar 1980 agreement with Consumers Energy and streamlines billing and operations.
- Resolution authorizing the city treasurer to do business with RBC Capital Markets LLC as a broker dealer – Allows the city to participate in larger municipal bond issuances, such as a recent $575 million social housing bond issued by the State of Michigan.
- Resolution authorizing a budget substitution of $1,596,115 for the city match portion of four Drinking Water Revolving Fund (DWRF) capital projects – Transfers city cash to cover expenses ineligible for bond proceeds issued in July 2025.
- Resolution authorizing a budget substitution of $700,000 for phase two of the grit tank improvements at the Water Resource Recovery Facility – Transfers funds from sewer capital projects with no impact on the sanitary sewer budget.
- Bid list resolution for October 7, 2025 – Included a contract extension for Neutron Holdings (Lime) for mobility scooter services at no cost for one year, while a request for proposals is prepared. A commissioner noted concerns about helmet safety raised by Commissioner Purdue, but the committee voted to approve the bid list as part of the consent agenda, with the understanding that the item could be removed from consent at the 2:00 PM Committee of the Whole meeting for further discussion. The motion carried.
Discussion Items
Proposed Fiscal Disclosure Requirements for Elected Officials (Policy 100-106) Deputy City Attorney presented a proposal to add annual financial disclosure requirements for elected officials, mirroring state-level requirements but with higher thresholds (e.g., assets over $10,000, spousal income over $5,000, liabilities such as mortgages and loans). The policy does not replace existing real-time conflict disclosures. Discussion included:
- Commissioner Knight expressed opposition, arguing that the current system is sufficient and that the city’s scope is different from the state; she noted commissioners already recuse themselves when needed and have high integrity standards.
- Commissioner Kilgore voiced strong support, citing the state’s "F" grade for transparency from the Center for Public Integrity and viewing the policy as an opportunity to model ethical leadership. She noted concerns about elected officials being beholden to special interests and developers.
- The Chair supported the measure as a way to build public trust and transparency, while clarifying that appointed officials are already covered by existing conflict policies and union contracts could complicate further expansion. The committee voted 2-1 to refer the proposed changes to the Committee of the Whole for further consideration. The next steps include refining definitions and possibly developing a sample disclosure form.
Routine Reports
- Controller's Warrant Report (Sept 9–22, 2025) – $27,748,482.62 in cash payments released, including $5.9 million for payroll and $122,000 for income tax warrants. Monthly travel report for July 2025 showed $56,000 spent against a $2.3 million annual budget. Received and filed.
- Treasurer's Report (Sept 10–23, 2025) – Reported a 0.25% reduction in the federal funds rate and noted uncertainty due to the federal government shutdown delaying economic data. The city’s investment portfolio stands at $788 million earning over 3.49%. The committee discussed potential impacts of a prolonged shutdown on federal grant reimbursements, with CFO Claren noting that beyond two weeks, the city would need to cover expenses from grants. Received and filed.
Key Outcomes
- All nine agenda items were approved. The Lime scooter contract extension was included in the consent agenda but may be revisited at the 2:00 PM Committee of the Whole meeting.
- The fiscal disclosure policy proposal was referred to the Committee of the Whole with a 2-1 vote; a final draft is expected to be presented by November 2025, with the first reports possibly due in May 2026.
- The committee will receive a fiscal update in November addressing the potential federal shutdown impacts.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good morning, everybody. It is 8 30. We'll go ahead and get our fiscal uh committee meeting here underway. We've got um nine different items before us, one of which will um probably have some discussion that came to us um from committee of the whole. So uh we'll have our interim city attorney share some more information once we get to that. But um kicking things off, item number one. We've got a resolution asking uh an extension of contracted services with Ovell Rome and Associates doing business as uh ask OVEL for interim human resources leadership and an amount not to exceed 100,000 uh for total authorized contract amount of 200,000. Support. All right, support Matthew Well, assistant city manager. Uh you know, normally this is an item we'd have the HR director bring forward, but uh under the circumstances, here I am. Um as you all know, we've been in the process of finding a new permanent human resources director during that interim time. Uh Oval Barbie has been serving in the role and doing an extraordinary job. We anticipate uh let's see, we're gonna be seeing those uh initial candidates next week. So we're hoping to be able to have somebody on board at the beginning of the year. This will provide ongoing leadership as well as some transition time in between the new person coming on board where um he'll be able to share what he's learned over the time that he's been here. Awesome. Thanks. Any questions or discussion, colleagues? All right, hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye, those opposed, the motion carries. Item number two, we've got a resolution authorizing a joint use agreement with ATT regarding shared use of the utility wood pole infrastructure. So moved to support. All right, moved and supported. Morning. Morning, Commission. Uh, want to take an opportunity to kind of tee this one up for our new ELC manager, uh, Ryan Timmer, who was recently promoted into that position. He's gonna talk about it, but I wanted to introduce you all to him. Thanks for being here. Congrats on your on your new role. Thanks, appreciate that. Good morning, all right. Um we're seeking approval for a resolution, uh joint use resolution with ATT for the shared use utility infrastructure that we share with them in the right-of-way. Um Grand Rapids and ATT. We both own polls in the right-of-way, and we've been using each other's polls for many years now. Um the city has two thousand two hundred seven polls that we attach on ATT and and ATT has one thousand eighty-six polls that they attach to the city. So this proposal of uh this agreement um establishes a collaborative work for the shared use of the utility pole infrastructure. Um we have something similar with consumers energy that we passed in 1980. And uh this proposed joint use agreement will streamline operation and formalize formalize a long-standing cooperative relationship between the city and ATT. Great, thanks. Any questions or comments, colleagues? Commissioner, could I add additional? Yep. I really appreciate Ryan and his work and Bruce, along with that, and the city attorney's office. This has been a long-standing issue of just chasing bills back and forth when we both share a facility. This is an outstanding agreement that mirrors the other ones that we have with utility providers, and I'm fully supportive of this because it it really was a burden on us trying to fight back and forth, trying to collect monies that really we shouldn't have built in the first place because this is a really a partnership agreement with our utility companies. Awesome. Nope, thanks for adding that. All right. Uh hearing and seeing no other comments. All those in favor say aye.
openpublica.com