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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Livonia City Council Study Meeting - April 8, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, April 8, 2026

BodyLivonia, Michigan

SessionCity Council

DateWednesday, April 8, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Unassigned speaker

5:04

Oh, but we've got to find out that we're not going to look at the biggest thing.

Speaker 1

10:01

Welcome to the April 8th, 2026 study session of the Lavonia City Council.

10:05

Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Honorable Brandon McCullough.

Speaker 2

10:21

Indivisible with the C and Justice Forum.

Speaker 1

10:30

This meeting sets the agenda for the 2039th regular meeting, which is a voting meeting that will take place on Monday, April 20th, where tonight's items will be officially voted on.

10:40

We have all seven council members here tonight.

Speaker 3

10:52

Good evening, Kathleen McIntyre, Fairway Street Lavonia, Michigan.

10:56

Uh President Reid, Honorable Members of Council.

10:58

Just wanted to address two things that were mentioned in the last meeting.

11:03

First of all, um, after the passage of the FTA and FTA Act in 2015, municipalities lost their ability to charge more than a thousand dollars for anything on a cell tower, and also lost their ability to regulate those things.

11:19

So the the discussion about the city should do more, we should have more control, we should extract more fees.

11:25

That's preempted by the federal government.

11:27

And it was buried in uh it was buried in something called the middle class tax relief and job creation act of 2012.

11:35

That's where it first got going.

11:37

And so you can imagine a lot of municipalities weren't paying attention to something named that, looking for limitations on cell tower um fees and lack of that they could no longer regulate.

11:47

The other thing to address is our golf courses.

11:50

Um those are special funds, as many of you know, they're they're designed to operate on a breakeven basis.

11:55

We contract with TJW Enterprises to run those courses.

11:58

They do an exceptionally good job with the money they have.

12:02

And so the, you know, when bridges get rebuilt and things are addressed, cart pass, those are because they have their priorities list every year and they know what needs to be done with the golf courses, and they do an excellent job working with our city to prioritize the repairs and again to do it within the funds that are available.

12:18

So thanks.

12:19

And uh we're lucky to have them running our courses.

12:22

Thanks.

Speaker 1

12:22

Thank

Unassigned speaker

12:23

you.

Unassigned speaker

12:23

Good

Speaker 1

12:24

evening, sir.

12:24

Name and address for the record, please.

12:26

Yes, Kane

Speaker 4

12:26

Coventry Gardens.

12:27

I know everybody's a hero.

12:30

And uh we actually looked at our cell towers in 2012 and made that adjustment, by the

Unassigned speaker

12:35

way.

Speaker 4

12:35

All right.

12:37

Unbelievable.

12:38

I wanted to address the uh housing commission meeting.

12:41

I attended the housing commission meeting, and it this would meeting was back to normal, it's not like the dog and pony show that you saw, Carrie.

12:48

Um there was two officers, two officers at that meeting.

12:54

And I'm last council meeting, I think there were three officers here.

12:59

Um we have an officer here at City Hall all day and all night.

13:02

I've been to four other city halls, and there's no officer there.

13:05

So I think we need to start thinking about how we spend our money and how we staff.

13:14

Okay, back to the housing commission.

13:16

Three seniors were in attendance, not a single resident.

13:19

There was an agenda thanks to Lynn Mills, who mentioned she came before you and said, hey, they and so now there's an agenda.

13:28

And it was posted again because a citizen came forward to push you forward.

13:34

It happened.

13:36

All right.

13:37

The meeting was posted on the bulletin board, which is open meetings act, you gotta post it.

13:42

Unfortunately, the commons area is still locked out.

13:44

The residents cannot use their commons area.

13:47

It's locked.

13:48

And you got I can't believe you sit here and you're okay with

Unassigned speaker

13:50

that.

Speaker 4

13:51

All right.

13:52

So they talked about financials.

13:54

All the numbers are shown.

13:56

There is a large flat screen right behind the president.

13:59

It was not turned on.

14:00

All of those numbers could have been up there for all of us to see.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Engagement█████████████████████21%

Engineering And Infrastructure███████████████████19%

Public Safety████████████12%

Procedural█████████9%

Public Health Awareness█████████9%

Personnel Matters███████7%

Water And Wastewater Management█████5%

Technology and Innovation████4%

Cannabis Regulation████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Livonia City Council Study Meeting - April 8, 2026

The Livonia City Council held a study meeting on April 8, 2026, at 8:01 PM in City Hall Auditorium to review agenda items for the regular meeting scheduled for April 20, 2026. All seven council members were present, along with city staff. The meeting included audience communication and discussion of 15 agenda items.

Public Comments & Testimony

Kathleen McIntyre of Fairway Street discussed the impact of the 2015 FTA Act on cell tower fees and praised TJW Enterprises for managing golf courses effectively.
Steve King of Coventry Gardens criticized the housing commission meetings, claimed agendas were not properly posted, and noted white buckets catching water at municipal buildings. Councilmember Persiconi refuted these claims, stating agendas are posted online and in common rooms, and key fobs are used for security.
During second audience communication, Laura Wojcik of Brookfield shared personal experience with Hashimoto's disease, linking it to fertility struggles.
Jerry Karasinski of Bainbridge Avenue suggested standardizing housing commission website links and supported the assistant library director position.
Denise Mika of Livonia raised concerns about conflict of interest and confusion in paperwork for the library director position.

Consent Calendar

Items directed to the Consent Agenda of the April 20, 2026 Regular Meeting:

Noise Ordinance Waiver for St. Mary's Festival: Motion by Councilmember Persiconi to approve with conditions limiting live music on Saturday to 11 PM and applying decibel limits similar to the St. Rafka festival.
ALS Awareness Month Proclamation: Motion by Councilmember Budzinski to designate May 2026 as ALS Awareness Month.
Carnival by Wade Shows: Sponsored by the Livonia AM Rotary Club, approved as requested.
Gas Station Redevelopment: Site plan approval for 36300 Five Mile Road, with recommendations to extend brick and remove LED band lighting.
Employee Clothing Benefit: Extension of a $125 clothing allowance to non-represented employees and department heads.
Hazard Mitigation Plan Approval: Resolution to adopt the Wayne County Hazard Mitigation Plan for five years.
Bridge Repairs at Idyl Wyld Golf Course: Award of $40,900 bid for repairing three bridges on holes 11, 15, and 16.
HVAC Replacement at Sandburg Library: Award of $121,922 bid to Guardian Environment.
Temperature Controls at City Hall Annex: Waiver of formal bidding and contract award for $43,312, with 98.4% recoverable through an EECBG grant.
Sidewalk and Pavement Replacement: Award of $284,583.52 contract to Joe Rotundo Construction for water main break repairs.
Proclamation for Autism and Hashimoto's Disease Awareness: Designating April as awareness month; a resident provided extensive testimony about Hashimoto's disease.

Discussion Items

Items directed to the Regular Agenda for further consideration:

Capital Grille Liquor License Waiver: Mark Taormina explained the need for a waiver due to proximity to another licensed establishment. Council received the update but will discuss further at the regular meeting.
Axe Parlor Liquor License Waiver: The applicant seeks to relocate and requires a waiver for separation requirements from a church and restaurant. Discussion centered on required parking lot repairs and bonding options. Councilmember McCullough expressed support but wanted more information from the building owner.
Assistant Library Director Classification: Jeannine Laible requested renaming the vacant branch librarian position to Assistant Library Director, with no budgetary impact. Several residents expressed confusion, suggesting it might be a new position. Council requested clarification in documentation.
Myrna Avenue Water Main Replacement: City Engineer Todd Zilincik recommended awarding the $689,000 contract to Breco Excavating for replacing 2,800 feet of water main. Councilmember McDonnell requested placement on the Regular Agenda due to the dollar amount.

Key Outcomes

All items were directed to either the Consent or Regular Agenda of the April 20, 2026 Regular Meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 9:16 PM.
No formal votes were taken; directions were unanimous on all motions.

Meeting Transcript

Oh, but we've got to find out that we're not going to look at the biggest thing. Welcome to the April 8th, 2026 study session of the Lavonia City Council. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Honorable Brandon McCullough. Indivisible with the C and Justice Forum. This meeting sets the agenda for the 2039th regular meeting, which is a voting meeting that will take place on Monday, April 20th, where tonight's items will be officially voted on. We have all seven council members here tonight. Good evening, Kathleen McIntyre, Fairway Street Lavonia, Michigan. Uh President Reid, Honorable Members of Council. Just wanted to address two things that were mentioned in the last meeting. First of all, um, after the passage of the FTA and FTA Act in 2015, municipalities lost their ability to charge more than a thousand dollars for anything on a cell tower, and also lost their ability to regulate those things. So the the discussion about the city should do more, we should have more control, we should extract more fees. That's preempted by the federal government. And it was buried in uh it was buried in something called the middle class tax relief and job creation act of 2012. That's where it first got going. And so you can imagine a lot of municipalities weren't paying attention to something named that, looking for limitations on cell tower um fees and lack of that they could no longer regulate. The other thing to address is our golf courses. Um those are special funds, as many of you know, they're they're designed to operate on a breakeven basis. We contract with TJW Enterprises to run those courses. They do an exceptionally good job with the money they have. And so the, you know, when bridges get rebuilt and things are addressed, cart pass, those are because they have their priorities list every year and they know what needs to be done with the golf courses, and they do an excellent job working with our city to prioritize the repairs and again to do it within the funds that are available. So thanks. And uh we're lucky to have them running our courses. Thanks. Thank you. Good evening, sir. Name and address for the record, please. Yes, Kane Coventry Gardens. I know everybody's a hero. And uh we actually looked at our cell towers in 2012 and made that adjustment, by the way. All right. Unbelievable. I wanted to address the uh housing commission meeting. I attended the housing commission meeting, and it this would meeting was back to normal, it's not like the dog and pony show that you saw, Carrie. Um there was two officers, two officers at that meeting. And I'm last council meeting, I think there were three officers here. Um we have an officer here at City Hall all day and all night. I've been to four other city halls, and there's no officer there. So I think we need to start thinking about how we spend our money and how we staff. Okay, back to the housing commission. Three seniors were in attendance, not a single resident. There was an agenda thanks to Lynn Mills, who mentioned she came before you and said, hey, they and so now there's an agenda. And it was posted again because a citizen came forward to push you forward. It happened. All right. The meeting was posted on the bulletin board, which is open meetings act, you gotta post it. Unfortunately, the commons area is still locked out.

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