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Record of Proceedings

Study Meeting of the Livonia City Council - October 20, 2025

City Council — Monday, October 20, 2025
BodyLivonia, Michigan
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, October 20, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:02

Session at Lavonia City Council.

0:04

If we waited another 10 minutes, it would have been the 21st, but we're close.

0:08

Let's go.

0:08

Would everybody please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Honorable Terry Badzinski.

Speaker 2

0:22

For which he stands

Speaker 3

0:25

under God in the visible with Christian justice fraud.

Speaker 1

0:30

All right.

0:31

Thank you, everybody.

0:32

Um, so this is this meeting sets the agenda for the 2028 regular meeting, which is a voting meeting that will take place on Wednesday, November 5th, where tonight's items will be officially voted on.

0:46

Um we are missing our vice president.

0:48

She had a family emergency.

0:50

And I'm gonna jump right into audience communication.

0:52

The council set aside 30 minutes for items that are not on the agenda.

0:56

If you'd like to speak, make your way to either podium, name address, or your favorite city, and you got three minutes.

1:03

I got you there.

Speaker 4

1:04

Well, you you certainly did uh Christopher Martin and uh always my favorite state.

1:09

Great state of Michigan.

1:11

And uh just like to make a few chemists here.

1:14

Um Christoph, I'm sorry to hear about uh uh Jim Jolly's mom uh passing away.

1:21

But uh I uh I'll remember though that when he was council president, he was the one that re-established free speech in the city, and when you uh took over, Brandon, I asked you if you were going to continue with that, you said that you would.

1:39

Uh people that uh spent a long night, but people that might want to uh look back at the uh seven o'clock meeting, you'll see that two council members tried to stop me under free speech at that particular audience communication time, and that was uh let's say overruled by Carter Fisher over there.

1:57

Okay, and anyone who can read can look up stuff.

2:02

You don't have to be an attorney to know what the law is about.

2:08

Um I had mentioned too about uh uh campaign literature, and I will do it again.

2:18

When someone is not here to speak at this podium, this woman has never spoken at this podium.

2:27

Never.

2:28

And the end result is you can pay for these flyers, you can have them passed out.

2:32

Doesn't mean you're ever gonna do a good job.

2:34

The end result is that sitting home at your convenience, watching a council meeting on the computer is a whole lot different than getting your ass in here, standing at one of these podiums and speaking on a particular subject.

2:48

So we're all the difference.

Speaker 3

2:50

Okay, and one last thing.

Speaker 4

2:52

One of the things that keeps my sanity after uh watching some of you, okay, is that maybe four times a year.

3:01

I go on a computer

Unassigned speaker

3:03

and

Speaker 4

3:03

I look up the integrity when I see stuff like this.

3:06

Integrity.

3:08

Look up Hugh Thompson Jr.

3:11

and read his story.

3:13

Maybe four times a year I read that just to kind of get me back to reality when I do see what goes on in the way some people act.

3:22

This guy didn't follow the crowd.

3:24

He did the right thing.

3:26

He paid a price for that.

3:28

Hugh Thompson Jr.

3:30

Thank

Unassigned speaker

3:31

you.

Speaker 1

3:31

Thank you, Mr.

3:32

Martin.

Speaker 4

3:34

Good evening.

Speaker 5

3:38

Denise Micah, great city of Lavonia.

3:41

Okay, so um, I just want to.

Unassigned speaker

3:47

Now,

Speaker 5

3:47

if you can see this.

3:49

No.

3:50

You can't.

3:50

Okay, here we go.

3:52

Here's a picture of the sign at Silver Village closing the community room.

4:00

Because the last meeting, um I guess I was not believed that the rooms was closed.

4:10

And it was closed for at least a week.

4:12

I'm not sure if it's still closed, but I know definitely it was closed for a week right after the housing meeting.

4:19

So it's a community building is locked.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety███████████████████████████████31%
Public Works███████████████15%
Procedural██████████10%
Public Safety█████████9%
Historic Preservation█████████9%
Cannabis Regulation██████6%
Economic Development█████5%
Zoning█████5%
Community Engagement████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Study Meeting of the Livonia City Council - October 20, 2025

The Livonia City Council held a Study Meeting on Monday, October 20, 2025. Originally scheduled for 8:00 PM, the meeting was called to order at 10:33 PM following a lengthy Regular Meeting and adjourned at 11:58 PM. This Study Meeting sets the agenda items for the Regular Meeting on November 5, 2025. Council President Brandon McCullough presided. Councilmembers Rob Donovic, Carrie Budzinski, Lynda Scheel, Scott Morgan, and Laura Toy were present. Vice President Kathleen Ptashnik was absent.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Christopher Martin (Resident): Spoke about free speech and integrity, praising former Council President Jim Jolly.
  • Denise Mica (Resident): Displayed a photo of a sign at Silver Village closing the community room, stating it was locked for a week following a housing meeting.
  • Steve King (Coventry Gardens / Council Candidate): Commented on the closure of community rooms at senior housing complexes. He discussed his campaign and urged civic engagement.
  • Council President McCullough requested the City Attorney provide clarification on the closure of community rooms at Newburgh Village and Silver Village.
  • Public Testimony on Clean Express Car Wash (Item 2): Multiple residents and local experts (Kathleen Bilger, Cindy Fleming, Barbara Glover, Betsy Calhoun, Ray Whitney, Jim Biga, Neil Morouski, Eileen McDonnell, Laura Janika) spoke in opposition or with deep concerns. Key themes included the fragility of the adjacent historic Livonia Cemetery (limestone markers, chemical runoff, historical significance), severe traffic congestion in the Quakertown and Six Mile area, the overabundance of car washes in Livonia, and a request for an independent traffic study.
  • Public Testimony on May Breeze Spa (Item 3): Landlord Marshall Isso spoke in favor of the applicant, confirming a 10-year lease was signed and that the tenant had already invested financially in the space.

Discussion Items

1. Request to Extend Waiver Use Approval (Omorfia Esthetics)

  • Applicant: Wenli Parsons, purchasing the existing massage business in the Burton Hollow Shopping Center. She currently owns another business in Pontiac.
  • Council Reaction: Favorable. Councilmember Toy moved to place the item on the Consent Calendar for the November 5 Regular Meeting.

2. Waiver Petition: Clean Express Car Wash

  • Proposal: Demolish the former Buca di Beppo restaurant and construct a 14,230 sq ft auto-wash at 38888 Six Mile Road, adjacent to the Livonia Cemetery and Trinity House Theater. The site would feature right-in/right-out restrictions and a new traffic signal at Fox Drive funded by Schoolcraft College.
  • Applicant Position (Jacob Rilett, Rob Doer): The property owner stated no viable national restaurant chains were interested without significant subsidies. The applicant argued the car wash generates fewer new trips than a restaurant (estimated 70 peak hour trips, with a 75% pass-by traffic rate they considered a low-ball estimate).
  • Council Positions: Councilmember Budzinski moved to send the matter to a Committee of the Whole to discuss strategic concerns about the saturation of car washes. Councilmember Scheel moved for both Approving and Denying options. Councilmembers Donovic, Toy, and McCullough raised questions about traffic congestion, the impact of nearby development, lighting on vacuums, and the need for updated traffic studies.
  • Outcome: Three motions will be on the November 5 Regular Agenda (Approve, Deny, Committee of the Whole).

3. Waiver Petition: May Breeze Spa

  • Applicant: Zhaofang Yang, moving her business from a 900 sq ft location in Westland to a 3,000 sq ft space in the Plymouth Place Shopping Center. She plans to shift her focus to facial services.
  • Council Questions: History of operations, an unsubstantiated past complaint, and advertising methods.
  • Outcome: Councilmember Donovic moved to place both Approving and Denying options on the Regular Agenda.

4. Fire Station 3 Floor Repair

  • Deputy Fire Chief Wade Clay presented the award of bid to Gator Guard for apparatus bay floor repair and replacement from budgeted funds. Moved to Consent Calendar.

5. Small Business Grant Technical Assistance

  • Jacob Uhazie (Assistant Planning Director) presented the third and final round of COVID-19 relief funding for technical assistance to 20 businesses ($120,000 award to Proxy LOC). Moved to Consent Calendar.

6. Pole Barns for Parks

  • Doug Moore (Assistant Director of Public Works) presented the award of bid for two 40x60 prefabricated pole barns at Ford Field and Greenmead parks for equipment storage ($230,000 total for buildings and concrete pads). Moved to Consent Calendar.

7. HVAC Units for Fleet Garage

  • Doug Moore presented the award of bid for two rooftop HVAC units to replace the existing heating and swamp cooling system ($123,248). Note: The transcript suggests a Consent placement, but the official minutes record the final motion and direction as placement on the Regular portion of the Agenda.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Calendar (November 5, 2025): Items 1 (Omorfia Esthetics), 4 (Station 3 Floor), 5 (Small Business Grant), and 6 (Pole Barns) will be voted on as a consent bloc, expected to be approved unanimously.
  • Regular Agenda (November 5, 2025): Item 2 (Clean Express Car Wash) with options to Approve, Deny, or send to Committee of the Whole. Item 3 (May Breeze Spa) with options to Approve or Deny. Item 7 (HVAC Units) will also be on the Regular portion.
  • Administrative Inquiry: Council President McCullough directed the administration to review and clarify the closure of community rooms at the Newburgh Village and Silver Village senior housing complexes.

Meeting Adjourned: 11:58 PM

Meeting Transcript

Session at Lavonia City Council. If we waited another 10 minutes, it would have been the 21st, but we're close. Let's go. Would everybody please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Honorable Terry Badzinski. For which he stands under God in the visible with Christian justice fraud. All right. Thank you, everybody. Um, so this is this meeting sets the agenda for the 2028 regular meeting, which is a voting meeting that will take place on Wednesday, November 5th, where tonight's items will be officially voted on. Um we are missing our vice president. She had a family emergency. And I'm gonna jump right into audience communication. The council set aside 30 minutes for items that are not on the agenda. If you'd like to speak, make your way to either podium, name address, or your favorite city, and you got three minutes. I got you there. Well, you you certainly did uh Christopher Martin and uh always my favorite state. Great state of Michigan. And uh just like to make a few chemists here. Um Christoph, I'm sorry to hear about uh uh Jim Jolly's mom uh passing away. But uh I uh I'll remember though that when he was council president, he was the one that re-established free speech in the city, and when you uh took over, Brandon, I asked you if you were going to continue with that, you said that you would. Uh people that uh spent a long night, but people that might want to uh look back at the uh seven o'clock meeting, you'll see that two council members tried to stop me under free speech at that particular audience communication time, and that was uh let's say overruled by Carter Fisher over there. Okay, and anyone who can read can look up stuff. You don't have to be an attorney to know what the law is about. Um I had mentioned too about uh uh campaign literature, and I will do it again. When someone is not here to speak at this podium, this woman has never spoken at this podium. Never. And the end result is you can pay for these flyers, you can have them passed out. Doesn't mean you're ever gonna do a good job. The end result is that sitting home at your convenience, watching a council meeting on the computer is a whole lot different than getting your ass in here, standing at one of these podiums and speaking on a particular subject. So we're all the difference. Okay, and one last thing. One of the things that keeps my sanity after uh watching some of you, okay, is that maybe four times a year. I go on a computer and I look up the integrity when I see stuff like this. Integrity. Look up Hugh Thompson Jr. and read his story. Maybe four times a year I read that just to kind of get me back to reality when I do see what goes on in the way some people act. This guy didn't follow the crowd. He did the right thing. He paid a price for that. Hugh Thompson Jr. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Martin. Good evening. Denise Micah, great city of Lavonia. Okay, so um, I just want to.

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