We will start off tonight with prayer from Mayor Pro TM Garcia and the pleas led by Councilman Astay.

If you would like to participate, please bow your head.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this gracious day.

Um Lord, be with us leaders at the table to guide us in the right direction and brings all four.

Uh please pray for our city as we're mourning the loss of a loved one.

Um great advocate in our community nine uh for her and her family during this time and for the city for healing in comfort and strength.

Um thank you, Lord, for the statement.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance.

Roll call, please.

Councilmember Young.

Present.

Councilmember Seals isn't with us this evening.

Councilmember Balls.

Present.

Mayor Potem Garcia here.

Councilmember Astah.

Present.

Councilmember Braddock.

Present.

Councilmember Wiggins isn't with us this evening.

Councilmember Hammond.

Present.

And Mayor Moore.

Present.

You have seven present and two acts.

Good evening again.

I'd like to welcome everybody to tonight's city council meeting.

We ask, we're gonna do a little housekeeping.

Council questions.

Will you please put your computers and your phones on silent as well as the audience, please?

I ask that we have no booing, no clapping.

This is this meeting is being televised.

So we want to be decent and in order.

Madam Clegg, do we have any announcements?

Mayor, I don't have any announcements this evening.

We will move into public hearings.

Okay.

The public here is a single lot.

Assessment tax row.

This public hearing is for property owners to object to a single lot special assessment.

Begin by clearly stating your name and the property address.

Speakers must limit their remarks to the reason for their objection to the bill.

You will have three minutes.

Objections will be submitted to the appropriate department for reviews and recommendations, which will be which will be reported back to the council.

After supporting document must be handed all, I'm sorry, all supporting documents must be hand hand over to city clerk.

Public hearings are not a question and answer period.

You will receive a letter advising you of the outcome of the objections by March the 23rd.

They'll receive the letter after March 23rd.

They will receive a letter.

I'm sorry, after we will open the public hearing for the 2026 single lot assessment tax roll.

Okay.

I can hardly hear you.

Can you step to the podium, state your name and your address, and please speak louder?

Maybe it's just me, but I can't hear you tonight.

Well, my name is Bill Waterman.

The property address is 1912 Lincoln Street, Saginaw, Michigan, 48601.

Um I am a interested party in this.

I had sold this property on a land contract back in 2020, and so I have an interest in it, but was not the person residing there or the person with the property tax exemption.

Um the notice was not sent to me as I felt it should have been because under the city's own code.

Um I'm looking for the uh for that code, sorry.

In 94.066 and 94.067.

It does require a letter to be mailed ten days prior to any trash removal.

Um that should have been mailed to all interested parties.

They had my record that I still hold the deed on that property as a land contract holder, and I was not properly notified under the city's own code, and also under MCL 211.246, which states at a state level that all parties with an interest must be notified for tax assessments.

Um and I was not notified, and as I stated, I did not have control of the property.

Um so I'm getting assessed for something I took back on February 10th of 26.

Um this occurred in March of 25.

So they had control of that property.

We had to file three times with the court system in order to get this one cleared up because they refused to be served.

Um as the city found.

In fact, the city blighted the house in I don't have it right in front of me, but the city blighted the house.

Um we had talked to them about it, and they did a blight for broken windows and a door being open, and we're the ones that went over and fixed that immediately.

Um so the building department's very aware that we're extremely active on any property that we hold an interest in.

And uh for those reasons I feel that the assessment should be removed.

And I also just as a last thing on February 18th, and also today I talked to the inspections department on both days.

On the 18th, they did not return my call today.

When I talked to them, I asked for an email showing pictures of what was removed and all of that, and all they were able to provide for me was the letter they had sent to the previous person.

Um there's no pictures, they they either did not want to provide those or did not provide those or do not have those of what was removed and why I'm being charged 537 dollars.

So I can't even see what they remove to see if it's even a reasonable charge or not to argue on that point.

So if you have any documents, please leave them with the clerk.

Um I don't have any documents with me.

Did I need to fill anything out or no?

No.

Some people come in there pictures and documents, and I just wanted to make sure it got in so that we can.

I can provide them if they call me.

I gladly provide them a copy of both contracts and everything.

I have those with me, but I only have my original, so I would want to turn those over tonight.

Thank you for your time.

I appreciate it.

Do we have anyone else?

I see a hand in the back.

Come to the front.

The air address that the bill was for, I believe it was 1185 East Auto Drive.

Um, I've been that's my mother's address.

She's in a nursing home.

She's been in a nurse home since 2018.

She has dementia.

Um they I never they sent this letter to my home, but they never sent me a warning letter.

I was going over to my mom's house every two weeks cutting the grass myself.

So I'm not I'm unclear on how they feel they cut some weeds and want to charge money for that.

And again, I've been going over there every two weeks cutting it myself.

I need some pictures.

I never got a warning letter because they sent me this, they should have sent me a warning letter, so I could have gone over there.

Um this is the second time a few years ago, so I want to make sure that if they do have some pictures, it's not the pictures from 2023.

And like I said, I've been going over there, so I don't understand why they claim they cut weeds.

And if I'm going over there every two weeks myself with having somebody take me over there with my rider to cut the grass.

And again, my mother is she's in um the nursing home.

So in the nursing home is taking all of our money except for like a small portion.

So how is she supposed to pay this bill?

And I didn't get a warning at all.

And I think it's unfair.

And I'm going over there cutting the grass.

Thank you.

Please hand them to the clerk.

But you didn't have anything else.

You just had that.

Well, I just got I got this Friday.

Okay.

So I didn't have any time to um get documents.

Like I said, I've been I've been going over there every two weeks cutting it.

I'm cutting the grass myself.

So I need some pictures, and like I said, nobody gave me a warning.

They sent this, but they didn't say anything else.

Okay, gotcha.

Thank you.

Do we have anyone else who'd like to speak to this subject?

Do we have anyone else who would like to speak to this subject?

For the final time, do we have anyone else who'd like to speak to this subject?

I need a motion to close this hearing.

So moved.

Second.

It's been moved and second.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, nay.

Madam Clerk.

Mayor, would you read your next public hearing rules?

Thank you.

The purpose of the public hearing is for the public to address counsel as a whole and for counsel to hear the comments from the speaker regarding a specific issue being requested.

Speakers must limit their remarks to the subject of the public hearing.

Please state your name and say if you are in support or opposition of the public hearing.

The main speaker or the designated speaker has 10 minutes.

Every speaker after that has three minutes.

This is not a question or answer period.

Again, this is not a question or answer period.

So please don't direct specific questions to council people because we cannot answer.

Madam Clerk.

This public hearing is regarding the request from Saginaw County Real Estate.

LLC to create an obsolete property rehabilitation certificate at 1413 Graschett Avenue.

Do we have anyone who'd like to speak to this subject?

Can you go to the podium, please?

Thank you, Mayor.

Guys, my name is Fahad.

I represent Saginaw County Real Estate.

So a little background on me.

I'm a physical therapist by occupation.

I say when I was born, my dad raised me like Simba and said you're gonna be Medicare certified.

I've been uh CEO for a healthcare business for over ten years now.

We primarily service uh patients that come out of hospitals and nursing homes.

They're home, they're homebound, can't get any care over there.

So we send out doctors, nurses, physical therapists to their homes.

As we started doing that, working with the hospitals and all your major hospitals.

They continuously complain that they have substance abuse patients that they're discharging to the streets.

I was shocked.

I'm like, what do you mean to the streets?

There has to be something.

And unfortunately, there aren't enough bets that they're able to staff.

When you call around the facilities that are catering to these types of population, they're completely full.

Right?

So that's where and I like to solve problems.

So that's where I started looking into different types of programs.

This specific facility used to be a nursing home back in the day.

Then after that it turned into an assisted living.

To this was back in 2020 when the sub the boilers in the building went bad.

And because of COVID, the parts weren't able to come in fast enough.

It being midwinter, we had to relocate about 80 some patients at that time.

Which we did within 24 hours.

Right after that, we shut the facility down, and I wanted to do something different than just your average assisted living.

So back down in Wayne County, we've done a very good job by keeping these folks out of the hospitals.

Currently, we're running a lower than national uh hospitalization rate.

Our nurses do a really, really good job.

We're very proactive when it comes to the care.

So now we want to extend that service over here to Saginaw County and help your folks also stay off the streets.

And that's where I'm requesting the Oprah waiver to see, you know, help you guys or find you guys can help us close that bridge so we can actually make this project viable.

It's going to be providing about 90 plus jobs.

We're going to be pouring about four million dollars into the facility.

It's a really good program, guys.

It's an inpatient program, so you're not gonna see a lot of these people outside if that's you know, like the outpatient programs are.

This is completely indoor where we're gonna have nurses, therapists, counseling sessions, all different types of services you can imagine that these folks need to get back into reality.

Right?

It's not as simple as oh, just go get a job.

They want to get a job.

Unfortunately, they're all caught up in this cycle that they're unable to go get a job or hold a job when they get the job.

So that's where we provide them a lot of trade support, a lot of education, a lot of resources to be able to graduate into reality.

Any questions?

Or it's not an open air.

I'm sorry.

Guys, thank you for your uh time.

Appreciate the support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do we have do we have anyone else who'd like to speak to this matter?

Good evening, Mayor Moore, Mayor Pro Tim Garcia, uh, City Council members and manager Morales.

Uh my name is Steve Hensley.

I'm the community and economic development director of Saginaw Future.

I'm here speaking before you this evening uh in favor of the request uh for a 12-year pro obsolete property rehabilitation certificate regarding the 1413 uh Grashet Avenue in the city of Saginaw.

As uh Fahad has just detailed, he's planning to renovate the building for use as a substance abuse and mental health services facility with the state of Michigan obsolete property rehabilitation certificate.

This is a tax incentive uh that is designed to encourage redevelopment of outdated commercial properties that allows a property owner to freeze the taxable value of the building for up to 12 years after the substantial rehabilitation that he's posing.

Therefore, the building's taxable value is frozen at its pre-herrelate re pre-rehabilitated level.

Cities often utilize the Oprah to encourage redevelopment of aging buildings, help attract private investment, and support job creation.

If approved, the current taxable value will remain, and after the 12-year term ends, the property is reassessed at its full value.

I thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else who'd like to speak to this subject?

Is there anyone else who'd like to speak to this subject?

Last and final time.

Is there anyone else who'd like to speak to this subject?

I need a motion to close this hearing.

So moved.

Second.

It's been moved and second.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, nay.

Madam Clerk.

Our final public hearing is regarding the official intent to reimburse project expenditure with bond proceeds and authorizing publication of notice of intent to issue water supply system revenue bonds through the state of Michigan drinking water revolving fund program.

Is there anyone who'd like to speak to this subject matter?

Good evening, Council.

My name's Mike Green here.

I'm your director of water and wastewater treatment services.

Uh, what this is is the public hearing with our intent to issue bonds.

Uh, we were qualified in for the drinking water uh state revolving fund.

Uh what that is is a series of points.

You give them the projects you want to do, they score it out, do a bunch of bunch of goofy math, and then uh tell you whether you're qualified or not.

So we we qualified very strongly on this.

Um, so we're seeking uh up to nine million one hundred and fifty-four thousand dollars for water main replacement, dead end looping, and lead service line replacement.

Um, what this does will do is it ties in.

There's a road project coming up on Perkins, um, and that'll let us change the water main at the same time, which is what we should do.

Um tying those two together.

Also, and it's kind of points and kind of a way to score a little bit higher.

There's a couple little dead end loops on the other side of the river uh that'll bud into the railroad tracks, so we're gonna go ahead and loop those in.

Um, just connect those, keeps nice fresh water in there, so that's part of the thing.

And then we're thinking we'll be able to do approximately 250 lead service lines through this project.

But that's essentially what it is, and it the reason that the SRF program is important for us gets down to forgiveness on the water main replacement portion.

Um, we're looking at 23 percent forgiveness, which would be uh just over 1.5 million dollars.

That's money we don't have to pay back, and then on the lead service line bonds, uh that's 50 percent forgiveness.

So we only have to pay half.

Thank you, sir.

Is there anyone else who'd like to speak to this subject matter?

Is there anyone else who'd like to speak to this subject matter?

Last and final time.

Is there anyone else who'd like to speak to this?

I need a motion to close this public hearing.

So moved.

Second.

It's been moved and supported.

All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

All those opposed, nay.

Madam Clerk.

That takes us to public input.

Speakers, you will be called by the clerk up to the up to the podium.

We have a clock, you have three minutes.

Please stick to the subject matter and please get all of your points in within those three minutes.

This is not a question or answer period as well.

Council will not be answering your questions as you talk.

Madam Clerk.

Our first speaker is John Bowen.

I don't think he'll thank you.

On to Hurley Coleman.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, good evening.

Council, Mr.

Manager, City Staff, and Community Residents.

My name is Hurley J.

Coleman Jr.

I'm the pastor at World Outreach Campus.

My home address is 1587 Delta Drive and Saginaw.

Location of my church is 2405 Bay Street in Saginaw, Michigan.

And I'm a member here.

I'm here representing a committee that I am happy to say was one of the fine recommendations that I participated in by our city manager.

I appreciate the opportunity to serve with the restore SAC and our citizens tax cap removal committee, which has been meeting consistently for the past two years, and I've been participating with them.

I was invited to hear their thoughts at the first meeting, and I felt compelled to commit to the cause, primarily because I have significant history with the city of Saginaw.

I was away in college when this tax cap was first enacted and became law, but on my return home, my second job in my career was as recreation superintendent for the city of Saginaw.

And from 1985 to 1989, I watched the recreation budget shrink annually because of this tax cap.

And now we have been 30 years without a municipal recreation program in this community, one of the few communities in this in the state that have that's like that.

Morales for being able to do an incredible job of managing with this immense burden.

Several weeks ago, the committee sent a request to the city council asking that they put a question on the ballot before the citizens to remove the existing tax language that limits the city's opportunity to capture all the tax revenue available to it.

All the tax revenue that is available to it in the present formula is limited.

Removing both the tax millage cap and the dollar amount limits will enable the city to level up levy up to the allowable mounts that every other municipality in the state has available to it.

There's only one other city that we found in the country that has this kind of burden.

I came on behalf of the Citizens Committee to ask the council to please respond to our request, and the city that the committee is committed to do everything we can to promote and make sure that the public knows that this is their time to change this and get our city in a place where it can be much better improved.

Thank you for this time, and I hope that we can work together to make this happen.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Evelyn McGovern.

Good evening, council and the citizens of Saginaw.

Again, my name is Evelyn McGovern, and standing next to me is David Jarz Kabowski.

And I know he can't speak, but he's here for support.

And I wanted to talk about my husband, who also retired from the city of Saginaw.

And in the early 1990s, he served Pat McGovern as the superintendent of streets and bridges.

During that time, he was instrumental in getting the compost site built and launching the city's recycling program, both of which are still operating and serving our community today.

Jars here worked as street foreman during those years.

And he knows firsthand the dedication and hard work it took to sustain these programs.

After my husband's past passing Christmas Eve 2024, Jar suggested honoring his legacy and honoring him with the plaque at the compost site.

Since this this is Black History Month, I felt it was good to recognize him and his accomplishments and to make the community aware of his plaque now displayed at the Compost site located at Highway M13.

I also want to express my sincere gratitude to the city manager Tim Morales and my former boss Phil Carwat and staff for their support.

And you should have a copy of the plaque.

But it reads as follows in honor of Patrick Pat McGovern, environmental pioneer and community visionary, June 20th, 42, 12 to 1224-24 in 1994.

Pat played a vivid role in establishing one of our region's first compost sites.

His dedication to environmental stewardship led the foundation for responsible waste management and healthier soil soil practices.

Pat's innovative work not only addressed immediate challenges, but inspired a movement, one that continues to nourish the land.

The composting site stands today as a lasting testament to Pat's vision, leadership, and commitment to the environment.

His legacy remains deeply rooted in the earth.

He helped renew from a grateful community with lasting appreciation.

And I also want to thank Jars for supporting my husband when he worked for him until the day he passed, and even now in his passing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I'm not gonna take too much of your time.

Um, I know that a lot of community members really want to see the island reopen.

Um I was looking at pictures, and my son is 25, but I saw pictures of when he was little just learning how to walk, and we would have picnics there all the time.

When you talk to the residents, we think about the memories, right?

I have grandkids now, and it's just too too much to like bring grills and coolers and all of those things without it being open, and so that really is a detriment.

I understand that we say that it's open, but the road isn't open, and that causes a lot of difficulty for people being able to spend time.

Um a lot of us feel like as residents there's memories, there's good times.

This is like really the heart of Saginaw for so many of us, but it seems like it it's just problem after problem for the council.

Um we understood when like COVID happened and it had to be shut down, like that's understandable.

Um we waited and then we heard about the repairs that needed to be done for safety issues.

A lot of those things have been done, you know.

Um I understand that, like there's tons of problems with maintaining it, but the thing of it is is like we need a parks department, I understand why it was taken away, but it needs to be looked at again.

Um and at the end of the day, like we elect you guys to figure these things out, how to make it work for community.

You know, i it's not up to us to like say, well, this is a good idea or that's a good idea.

Like we look to you to do those things.

And I think it's really important that if we want to get back to having community and shared space and shared values, that opening that park would be the best way to do it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Anthony Pruitt.

Hi, my name is Anthony Pruitt, 1635, North 24th.

Um calling um in attentions officers coming to my home, my granddaughter home, uh, without a warrant, uh violating disrespect and say prosecutor gave him permission to search our home, go in our home, terrorize my family, brutalized, and I reached out to the chief and still no response back.

And I'm trying to figure out how could the prosecutor tell them to go into the home without a search warrant.

There's nothing was found anything, or whatever they could play words, they never got back with us, and we still looking for answers, a violation of our constitutional rights was violated, and not only that time over and over.

So we're looking for answers for that.

Can anyone help us, please?

Because now me and my primary is afraid.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We got all that.

Our final speaker is Melanie Velasco.

Hi.

Melanie Velasco it is.

Well, first of all.

You want to remember him?

Take a moment.

A great wonderful man has passed.

One I would have truly voted for for president of the United States.

I guess at the time, who's running for vice.

Um, there's only a few wonderful gentlemen in the world that are strong and powerful, and uh truly given the gift of religion and faith.

That would have been Jesse Jackson.

We have this candle, enlightenment of the passing of Jesse Jackson.

Thank you for that moment of peace.

Again, once again, there's too many marijuana distribution sites all over this town, and I just think it's just too much, too much, too much.

Talk to Miss Seals, she'll tell you all about it.

She's done all the research on it.

We have too many abandoned homes that are looking like major crap.

So like we're looking into these species places that there are being places for homeless people to shelter in, and they're probably gonna end up dying if they don't find a home.

And I truly hope that we get these little homes established some kind of way.

Because I myself was homeless for homeless a year and a half.

And I wanted to make a prayer and testimony that I've saved and I'm loved by God.

And um, I had reside with a beautiful home that we got, and uh no pretraditions in any of this home.

It will not be allowed.

And once again, God bless America.

God bless us, and let's hope Sagano becomes better and grander, and we show other cities that we can be beautiful.

Amen.

Thank you.

That takes us to remarks of council.

Council members, you have three minutes as well.

We will begin tonight with councilman young.

Uh hello everyone.

Uh thank you for uh coming here.

Um I just want to speak on there's been some um very impactful people in our community and our lives that has you know passed on.

And um it's unfortunate, you know.

I knew one of them personally, you know, that just happened abruptly, and that's actually graduating the same year, same age, so that kind of makes you, you know, you can't take you know each day for granted, no matter what age you are.

So, but when you're friends and people that you grew up with pass, it kind of you know, kind of sits you down a little bit, which you know that's what I've been reflecting on this weekend.

Um, haven't had a chance to get any um new updates on the city business that I've been taking care of.

But I know that um I spoke with the chief, and uh there's something I'm trying to address.

You know, the weather's gonna break, and you're gonna have like a lot of parties and things like that.

And uh with me having a nightclub, a former nightclub, having a banquet hall, just over the years I've been in touch with a lot of the party promoters, venue owners, the DJs, and things like that.

And um, what I'm trying to do is just foster like a round table, and we have to include those DJs and venue owners because people are gonna have an outlet of entertainment, especially when the warm weather happens, and uh but the DJs understand that in those nightclubs, they can kind of control the tempo.

They they're right there on the ground, they can see when the violence is about to erupt.

And also the police, they know what they like to see, what problems are out there, and I think having a round table talk with the venue owners, the party promoters, the DJs, and we sit and we have that talk together and share some ideas.

We can have more successful outlets of entertainment in the city, and I think that will cut down on a lot of the crime.

And if you have more sanctioned venues having good events, that'll kind of cut back on the revolving gas station parties.

I think it'll have a good impact.

So that's something I'm personally working on, and I'll give you an update on that when I have a further information.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we have councilman balls.

Thank you, madam mayor.

I don't have a lot to say today.

I don't have any prepared statements, but uh, you know, I was just thinking about the uh February uh Black History Month, the uh coldest, shortest month of the year, and uh the things are gone.

I was thinking about uh Martin Luther King, you know, he said in his famous speech on Washington.

He said he would hope that his kids would grow up in a society where his children would not be judged by the color of their skin, but but by the content of their character.

And um looking at things today, uh I can't say that they improved a lot, but they have proved some, but we still going through these same situations today where people uh skin color have a lot to do with uh what happened to them and what don't happen to them.

Um unfortunately, um I think about the character of some of the people that made us close down the uh Jue Island to car traffic, and it hurts my heart, and I'm sure it hurt Martin Luther King's heart too, that some people's character has not improved enough where we can keep this park open for everybody.

I would love to see this park open back up.

I met my wife at that park over 40 years ago.

Uh I'm not gonna tell you what she thinks about dropping me back off.

But I can't say that it was a blessing for me to meet that lovely lady and for her to become my wife and make me a father of two young boys that she had.

And it's an honor in my life to be able to be uh part of those kids' life today.

But um, you know, we got some issues that we need to look at, and we just can't open this park up for everyday traffic unless we make sure that the people that come there that their character is right to be at the park.

I mean, we can't have people smoking marijuana out in the open, driving all the way across the park, uh, gun playing out there, different uh so-called gangs and stuff like that, meeting out there, and that's where they meet out to uh settle their differences, and we can't have that.

So I hope the community give us enough time to figure this out so we can't open this park up to some traffic, but we know we can't open it up to all traffic all times of the day.

We know in the evening time when it gets to be dust outside, a certain element come out, and that's when they want to do what they want to do.

I mean, and it's just not fair.

I mean, it's not fair to the park not being open to traffic, and it's not fair that some people make it bad for other people.

So give us, please get a city council and a city manager opportunity to uh work this situation out so we can make this park a better place for everybody.

I mean, let's think about it.

The Indians had their park, maybe the first place that they lived at come here and put up tent and homes and all that kind of stuff.

Now we arguing about situations like this today.

You know, so I just hope that we all pray and find some kind of way to open his park back up for everybody.

Thanks, let me share it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we have Councilman Nostage.

Thanks, Mayor.

Welcome everybody tonight.

Um the public input, uh, folks that came out to speak.

Thank you.

And uh Hurley Coleman, yes, the tax cap.

I support that.

We've looked at that.

Um there's a some timing issue, so it gets on the right ballot.

So staff have been working on that, some more to come with that.

Uh also to um Evan McGovern, thanks for coming out tonight.

Um, when you emailed me about this in the first time, and I sent it to staff, and they were receptive, so it's I it's exciting to see this is finally taking place, and it's a beautiful plaque.

So thank you for coming on.

Thanks for your husband for starting that program.

I'm a heavy recycler myself.

Uh and then Chris Demann, um, Councilman Balls was just talking about the the reopening of the park, and we are looking at different things to make that happen and to open it back up for vehicle traffic at some points for certain times.

Um, it will require some additional staff for safety reasons and for the maintenance parts of it as well.

We have also uh in the budget this year.

We started to uh we've actually kind of rebirthed our parks and recreation by funding some of that because we understand that Phil needs folks here to help take care of those parks at any moment as well, especially with the new park that's coming on the riverfront, which which is part of the medical diamond.

So there are some things that are going on there right now that have to have the park closed for the construction of the um the erosion control and things that we're doing there, so there's a lot of heavy equipment moving back and forth, and then we'll have to repair the road when we're done.

And then the uh there have been some projects that we're looking at where uh for safety reasons as well, again, where we are going to place boulders all the way around the park.

So we're getting prices on this right now, and that'll keep the that'll keep the cars off the grass.

Um we have had other situations too that were fatality uh have has happened with young a young child there too because somebody decided to cut across the grass.

So we are looking at all different possibilities.

I agree with my colleague.

Um I want to see it open again too.

Um so more to come on that.

But thanks for coming out and speaking tonight.

I appreciate it.

Just an announcement uh that the primos Koyunder Awards are going to be Saturday, March 21st, 2026 at the Horizon Center.

So if anybody is interested in that event, I went to it a few times, it's excellent.

Um tickets are available to Michael and his Facebook page.

Thanks.

That's all I have.

Thank you.

Next, we have Councilman Braddock.

Hey, uh thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh good evening, everyone.

Um, first of all, I'd just like to just mention Aisha Clark Young.

She was a pillar in our community.

Um she impacted a lot of people.

Um all different ages and generations.

Um, I had the opportunity to be part of her artwork, and I would just like to say the work that they put in at the Black Museum.

If you haven't seen it, um, that it's tremendous, and it's it's it's a uh great place to be.

I like walking around there looking at the different arts and the creativity that they have.

And so I'll just say a big void is going to be missing in that realm of art for sure, and I know in their family as well.

So my condolences out to that family.

Um moving on, um, Mr.

Hurley, yes, far as the tax cap.

It's going to be important that we educate our community on this tax cap if we wanted to move.

Um and I think it's time now to start getting out there and educating the community on the tax cap.

Um moving on to um Miss Evans.

I'll just say a congratulations on the plaque.

Um very well native with the honor of Mr.

Patrick McGovern.

Didn't know that about him, so it's good to hear that from me.

Good to hear that and rec and be recognized for that.

Um then I'll move on to Old Zipway Island.

I say, you know, they said everything uh Michael Boss, like you said, just give it time.

We want it open too.

You know, I'm ready to ride through there myself.

And so um, we're looking to make sure that it is safe, like um Ostaff says.

Um just give it time though.

We do want to do um, and also too, I just want as far as in the community, the people that we work up here.

I just I have confidence in a lot of these confidence in the people at this table.

Um, some forward thinkers up here, people are very involved in the community at this table.

And so those concerns that we have in our community, we are listening, and we are looking to make those changes.

And so keep them coming, you know, come up, speak out, spoke well today about O Jill Way because we all feel the same way.

But we gotta ensure that our public is safe.

We gotta make sure that it's we want it to look nice too.

Because I think really go once it's done.

I think y'all are really going to appreciate how the park is looked, the accessibility of it and everything.

And so not just about safety and everything, but uh re beautifying it too and making it more accessible, and so that that everybody can enjoy it, okay.

And so that's that's the thing that's going on with Jibway.

So just be patient, y'all.

It's still it ain't even 40 degrees yet.

So just give us some time.

All right, give us some time.

And um, and so um with that though, but that that's all I have, Mayor.

And um, I'll see y'all later.

Thank you.

Next we have Councilwoman Hammond.

Thank you.

Um thank you to the speakers who came out tonight.

Um Ms.

McGovern, I remember I I actually didn't even know about the compost availability for citizens until I got on council and we had an update around it, and I said, what?

There's free screened soil for distribution, because we're talking about legacy contamination that's been a problem in this community.

So I I'm so excited that that we have a resource in our community, and I'm so happy to hear the stories of people who advocated for it.

Because it's true that without advocacy, we don't make those changes.

Without advocacy, without presence, without leadership, we don't have those changes.

So thank you so much.

Um also I worked with Naisha.

Um I don't I still don't I still don't even know what to do about her passing.

I she she was she was she gave so much to Saginaw.

Her and Saginaw were synonymous with each other.

Um and she was somebody that filled the world with a lot of beauty and light and leaves behind a legacy that is difficult to um difficult to measure.

Um Ojibway Island, I believe that clarity is kindness, and I believe that we are elected to lead.

I also believe that actions speak louder than words.

It has been five years since the park has been closed to vehicular traffic.

I think that it is a great opportunity for us to have plans in place for security features based off of the most recent communications I have seen.

We have security features that are planned to go in and completed by July.

I think that is a phenomenal opportunity to hold ourselves accountable, to be transparent in this process, and put a date on reopening the park to vehicular traffic.

And if we want partnerships, if we want safety guidelines, I think that the five months in between now and July is a perfect time to make that happen and to make those connections.

Um I will be introducing a motion on miscellaneous business today to hold ourselves to that deadline and hold ourselves accountable on that measure.

Um and I look forward to having the discussion on that motion later today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have Mayor Pro Tim Garcia.

Good evening, friend citizens of the community.

Thank you for all our public speakers um for coming and making us aware of what's going on in our community because we can't always be visible all the time, but a lot of the times we do get contacted behind closed doors, they can't there's a problem, and then we're able to bring it to the staffing that are great about helping us with that.

So thanks again, Mr.

Coleman, about the tax cap.

We gotta keep her editing and getting out in the community that this is something that we need to get lifted off and that's hurting the city of Saginaw and keep educating the community and have on those table talks about that.

Um also to Miss McGovern.

Sorry for your loss of your husband.

That was a beautiful tribute that's there, and um that's really awesome that they were able to do that for him and his memory for leaving such a dedicated job here in the city.

Um Melanie, thank you for always coming.

Um, you're one of our top tier ladies that comes and talks, and yes, thanks for um bringing about Jesse Jackson.

He was a pioneer along with Martha Luther King and those remember that I looked up to um being a minority woman to be into politics.

Um, you know, it's not always an easy task putting yourself out forward in front of the community and stuff, and um also at Jibway Island.

Um we hear you, we hear the the the noise.

Um we would like to do what's best, you know.

Safety's always the most caution, you know.

There's so much violence that they say about Saginaw, so we want to make sure that things are done right.

Um there's always a time and place, and I always do my research, and I hear mixed um reviews, some want it, some don't.

Um, I would like to see it open as well, and there's a time and place for that.

Um, are we ready for it?

I'm not really sure.

I wasn't on council when it did get shut down, and I knew it was due to COVID.

Um, I think we just need it to, as a council decide, you know, what's best for the community and hear the surveys that are gonna be taking place.

Um I've talked to citizens that don't live in the city and they don't want it open, they don't utilize it probably as much as the residents, but our feedback is good feedback, whether it's positive, negative, it helps us make those decisions here at this table.

And we want to make sure we're doing the right thing for everyone.

Um, I hear the concerns for the seniors, the disabled.

Um, I know myself, I have a bad ankle, so walking far periods of time, I get it, the limited parking spot.

I haven't been down there in a while, but I know my daughter was utilizing it, um taking my grandkids for walks.

And you have to remember 20, 30 years ago it's not what it was like now.

Um, the picnic tables and that I've heard people saying that there's um broken bottles, there's needles.

I don't want my grandkids getting in that.

And so we just want to make those right decisions, and I do say if we do open it, I would like to see like we do, mayor does in the spring in the fall, let's do a clinical cleanup.

Um, because that seems to be a problem over there.

There are blunt wrappers, broken bottles, and me and um councilman Osash, we go over here by the river, and there's a lot of debris, so let's let's set something up.

Thank you.

By the time it gets to me, everything is said.

Miss McGovern, you look beautiful.

You look beautiful.

I I am so excited because I do utilize the compost.

Um for a while I didn't know what it was, but now I know what it is.

Um the last couple of days, I'm gonna say weeks have been trying and testing losses.

Um I guess for me today.

We need to forget all of the hatred that might be in us.

We need to learn how to love.

Saginaw has gotten to the point now where it's it's a fight against each other, and we shouldn't be doing that.

I I hear you very clear about Ojibwe.

I really do.

But I think the truth needs to be told.

The island has a lot of work that needs to be done.

And I understand we are trying our best to get it open, and at least maybe limit the days that that we have it open.

Sunday is a day that we heard that.

I mean, that's our key day.

That is gonna be our day that we shooting for, ma'am.

We're shooting for that Sunday, so that you can go out there and pig nick, barbecue, whatever.

But then we still gotta clean it up.

So I I don't know what the answer is.

I wish I did.

I keep saying y'all, if I would be rich, I twiggle my nose, and all of our problems will be gone.

But they just uh Zagina is in the uptick right now.

There are a lot of things that are happening in our city.

People don't understand, and I hate that for some reason misinformation is always being told.

You gotta be careful who the messenger is sometimes.

Don't worry, Bishop.

We own that.

We haven't reacted or responded to your request because it was too early.

We wasn't ready to present it.

But it is going to be presented.

And when it gets presented, I want everyone to pay attention and to look at the difference that it may make.

My lady called and she talked about the parks.

Maybe in a few years, if we get that money back, we can get proxy recreation back, or we can work on that.

But for now, we can't work on nothing.

All we can work on is being a better city and trying to understand one another.

It gets so disturbing to me when I'm in a room and people give out wrong information and I just sit there.

Because everybody got their own opinion.

And you know what they say.

Your opinion can sometimes be okay.

So with that being said, I want everybody to go home and love on their family today.

Just love them.

Love them.

Madam Clerk.

Mayor, that takes us to reports from the manager.

Oh, and I'll steal teams.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

A few items for update today, and then we do have a presentation this evening.

So as you all likely saw the state budget introduction, the uh Governor Whitmer's eighth and final executive budget was presented on February 11th.

The proposal totals 88.1 billion dollars, including 13.6 billion in the general fund and 21.4 billion for school aid.

For local government, statutory revenue sharing is held flat at 333 million dollars.

Constitutional revenue sharing is uh projected at approximately 1.045 billion dollars.

While overall sales tax collections are increasing, changes made last year under the road funding plan reduced the amount available for distribution.

As a result, Saginaw is projected to see a revenue sharing reduction of about $110,000 or roughly 1% of our current allocation.

Our Office of Management Budget is uh aware of this issue and accounting for it in the 2027 budget development process.

The governor is also proposing an ongoing property tax credit for seniors, uh, which would be funded by the state of Michigan, so it would not impact our uh tax dollars as we understand it currently.

Of course, this proposal is in the first step of the process.

The House and Senate will release their own budgets and negotiations will follow.

So we'll stay engaged through Representative O'Neill and our contacts in the governor's office.

So the next uh I wanted to provide this update that I did uh give to council regarding Ojibwe Island, and I think um council has uh, as several of you said, you you have a commitment to parks.

You had that in your strategic planning session, the extra uh hundred thousand dollars in funding for parks.

That will be in the upcoming budget as we plan that for the 2027 budget.

Um staff has taken that to account.

We know that's one of your strategic planning uh goals and initiatives.

Um, our next citywide meeting, we'll have some updates on the play dates.

We're looking at expanding those, utilizing some of those funds uh to expand those for for the kids and the youth in the community.

Those were very popular last uh summer, and as you know, a lot of them have giveaways, so it's a great opportunity for the kids to learn more.

Um as several of you stated, the island has been open to pedestrian traffic all along, uh except for 2025, it was closed to all traffic for pretty much the whole summer.

That was related to the construction projects with a limited budget previous to that.

We did not have funding to do the necessary projects uh to make the island safer, and uh most of these projects have been funded through ARPA, the ARPA allocation.

Umpled projects that we have done so far are the floating docks have been rehabilitated.

We did that, um, city staff did that at a cost of about sixty thousand dollars.

Uh that was funded by the that one was actually funded by the general fund.

Um looking at that, the costs that we received uh from a bid was a million dollars.

So we did save a lot of money.

We have those repaired, so those will be out.

We had stage rehabilitation, including electrical upgrades, and that was uh through the general fund and the county gave the city an ARPA allocation to do that project, and we do already, as we said, we anticipate completing the current construction work by July or sometime in July.

We currently have several project or several projects, I'm sorry, we have several events for the island already scheduled, special events after opening.

So we are planning on having those events.

West bank shoreline stabilization that's been completed.

We have no additional sites or uh identified at this time.

So these will begin this spring, weather permitting the date, the exact date, but we are repaving the circular drive and the existing parking lots.

We're reconfiguring the entrance lot to increase parking capacity.

We'll be paving the gravel parking area in the park.

We're adding an accessible path at the front of the park, and we are looking at that will be funded by ARPA or a Sparks grant.

We're adding a new parking lot on the east entrance of the east side of the entrance.

We're installing boulders and landscape barriers to protect the central lawn, adding new benches and seating areas.

And those are the projects that will be done this spring and early summer.

So additionally, you know, we understand the desire to have vehicular traffic as several council members members have stated, but we do want to do that as safely as possible, and we do want to gather input from the community.

We're finalizing a survey to send that out because we understand that vehicular traffic is something that people want to have, and I understand, especially for seniors and people with any disabilities and families that do need to take coolers and grills and things to have the family picnic.

But we also have individuals who do enjoy the non-motorized part of the island where they maybe don't feel safe jogging or walking or different things.

So we did we hopefully can have a mix of that, and we want to get that input from the community and what they'd like to see there.

Some potential additional projects, we don't have funding identified at this time, and this would be where we would really ask for additional support from council to help us allocate these funds.

Additional security cameras on the island.

Right now we have I think probably about six.

So that would be helpful for security.

Additional lighting, and we would like to include these in our survey too to make sure this is something that is supported, but additional security lighting.

We don't have a cost for that.

We'd like to add a north end trail loop.

That doesn't have anything to do with the security, but adds additional walking pathways on the island.

As you know, if you travel northward on the island, there's only one trail that goes to the footbridge.

We'd like to loop that to increase the walkability there.

And on that end, then there would not be any vehicle impacting pedestrian traffic.

And also, as I think one council member did mention the parks maintenance crew.

So if you saw before, and I know several of you probably notice now in all of our parks, sometimes there can be trash that takes a while to get picked up and different things, and there definitely was on Ojibwe Island before, and sometimes now still.

So we'd like to add an additional parks maintenance crew to that as well.

So all of these things do add costs, so that'll be something we'll be talking about at upcoming council meetings.

But we're we plan to proceed with these projects in the spring as planned, and council direction will be needed on the additional items that I mentioned, and we'll uh use survey feedback to help inform those decisions.

Our CDBG process is also beginning.

The Saginaw Human Planning Commission will have ESG and home presentations on Tuesday, February 24th.

That's tomorrow at 5:30.

This will take place in the boardroom on the first floor of the Morley building, one Tuscola Street within the community foundation office area.

The meeting is open to the public, and it's an opportunity to listen to the presentations and review of the applications.

City Council gives final approval on all human planning commission funding recommendations, including ESG, CDBG, and home grant funding.

These meetings provide a chance to learn more about each applicant and gain a better understanding of the process.

And finally, we have an update and presentation this evening.

Now I do want to mention this though to uh at a recent strategic planning session.

We had all the updates from outside organizations, and but we do have a project here that the city staff and our contractors are working on.

The city has more than 33 million dollars in projects underway are planned in the medical diamond to improve infrastructure, prepare development ready sites, and construct a new riverfront park.

And tonight, Phil Carwat, our public services director, along with Joe Primo from Spicer Engineering, and we'll Tahiji from Scape are will provide us an update.

And before they start, I do want to mention this because my Michigan Health has been involved in these projects too, although they didn't present at our our strategic planning session and Covenant did, but my Michigan Health also contributed approximately 20 million dollars to the CMU College of Medicine to make that a reality in the city.

And I I did want to point out that they have added 134 new jobs in the city since they took over from Ascension.

And that's a start.

I know I remember I met with them when they purchased that.

They want to get the hospital back up to the operation that we saw several years ago.

They told me they still have 200 that they want to fill.

So some opportunity there, and they do help with, I know they do help with medical education as far as nursing and therapy.

So hopefully people can contact them and look for their everything that they're doing there.

So with that, I'll ask uh Phil to get us started.

Thank you, Mr.

Manager.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, City Council, City Manager, City Staff, and the public present.

I'm Philip Carwat.

I'm the public services director of the city of Saginaw.

And one of my tasks as the director has been to oversee the design and ultimately the construction of the medical diamond improvements.

As Tim mentioned at the most recent uh strategic planning session, you've heard from several different groups who plan to develop in the area.

And our team has been working with most of the groups that have already committed to uh begin uh possible construction within this medical diamond area.

Um tonight I'm providing an informational update regarding the medical diamond infrastructure and riverfront improvements project.

I'll review the project boundaries, uh funding secured to date, status of the utility and infrastructure work, the riverfront park design, overall financial position, and next steps moving forward for the city.

And I know you're all well aware because you've seen it many a times, but basically for those that aren't, the project area that we're talking about here encompasses a significant portion of our downtown riverfront corridor.

Specifically, its boundaries include the all the space from Washington Avenue west to the Saginaw River, and then from the South Meredith Street north to the ATT building.

These improvements are foundational to supporting the medical diamond development and preparing the area for long-term investment and activation.

Beginning in 2023, the City of Saginaw secured funding to initiate one of the first critical components of this effort, the burial of the overhead consumers energy electrical lines.

Removing these overhead lines was necessary to make the site development ready and improve both functionality and aesthetics within the corridor.

The city issued a purchase order to consumers energy for just under $9 million to complete this work.

The burial of these utilities is substantially complete at this time with final completion anticipated in late spring or early summer of 2026.

To date, the city has secured just over 34.6 million in state and federal funding sources to support this overall initiative.

Agreements are in place, and purchase orders have been issued to several vendors for design permitting and preparation of bidding documents.

This represents a significant investment secured from outside funding sources to advance this transformational project.

The city has assembled a strong consultant team to move the project forward.

Scape landscape architecture with offices in New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco is leading the riverfront park design.

Scape is a collaborative landscape architecture and urban design practice that shapes beloved places that are socially vibrant and ecologically restorative.

For two decades, Scape has pioneered an immersive vision of living within nature and helping cities thrive in the gradient between land and water.

Along with SCAP, we have Spicer Group, headquartered here in the city of Saginaw.

Spicer Group is leading the engineering design for the infrastructure improvements portions of the project.

Spicer Group was established in 1944 in Saginaw, Michigan as a civil engineering and surveying firm and have since incorporated community planning and architecture into their core areas of service.

Spicer Group continues to grow and has expanded offices and services throughout the state of Michigan, Ohio, and Georgia.

Additionally, I'd like to uh acknowledge Wade Trim as well.

Although they haven't been involved in the design and permitting, they have been very uh helpful in securing um grant dollars and federal resources uh for the city of Saginaw.

We've been working with Wade Trim for several years now.

Um and Wade Trim was established in 1926 in the Greater Detroit area and have since expanded its services throughout Michigan and other states.

As part of the design process, both Scape and Spicer Group have participated in and facilitated several public engagement sessions to gather input from residents, stakeholders, and community partners.

These engagement efforts have helped shape the overall design, direction, amenities, and priorities reflected in the plans that you will see tonight.

Uh Spicer Group is currently leading the design of all the infrastructure improvements within the city's right-of-way.

Uh this work includes water main replacement, combined sewer improvements, storm sewer upgrades, roadway reconstruction, and lighting improvements.

Um, as you all have been told before, this area has substantially older infrastructure, uh, water mains from the 1920s, sewers from that same era.

So, in order to accommodate the development, the replacement of those that infrastructure is necessary.

Uh plans for this portion of the project are 90% complete and permitting is currently underway.

We are hopeful to have all permits secured and project ready to be bid this summer with targeted construction starting in late summer or early fall of 2026.

Completion of the infrastructure improvements is anticipated sometime in 2027.

The estimated cost for construction and construction administration for the infrastructure portion of the project is approximately 11.2 million.

These improvements are intended to activate the riverfront and create a high quality public space that complements the medical diamond development.

We are targeting a late fall or winter 2026 bidding for the riverfront park portion with construction anticipated to begin and conclude in 2027.

The estimated cost for the construction and construction administration of the park portion improvements is approximately 14 million dollars.

When combined with the with the electrical burial work and associated engineering and administrative cost, the total estimated project costs are approximately 38 million.

With 34.6 million in secured funding.

The project currently reflects a funding gap of about 3.4 million.

At this time, we are actively working to close that gap in partnership with Wade Trim.

We are preparing applications for several additional funding opportunities, including the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Outdoor Recreation and Legacy Partnership Grant Program.

The Michigan Department of Transportation Economic Development Fund Category A, and those of you that don't know, category A grants promote increased economic potential and improve the quality of life through the support of job creation.

We're also looking to apply for some Michigan Department of Natural Resource Trust Fund grants and any other potential state and federal funding opportunities.

Our objective is to secure the remaining funds necessary to construct the entire project as designed without reducing the scope.

Again, this dollar amount currently is estimated at around 3.4 million.

If permitting and funding proceed as anticipated, most of the construction activity will occur throughout 2026 and 2027 with full project completion anticipated in 2027 and possibly early 2028.

This project represents a coordinated effort to modernize infrastructure, activate our riverfront, and support long-term public and private investment in the Medical Diamond Corridor.

The work completed to date demonstrates measure measurable progress, and staff continues to actively manage schedule permitting, funding strategy, and community engagement to maintain momentum.

At this time, I'm going to be turning the presentation over to our project partners, both Scape and Spicer Group.

Unfortunately, Scape wasn't able to participate in person today, but it's more uh economical as well.

Anyway, they have provided a video, uh, so you're going to be seeing a video presentation portion of the riverfront part from Scape, and then following the video presentation, Joe Primo from Spicer Group is here tonight, and he'll be giving you a PowerPoint presentation on the infrastructure portion of the project.

Once uh both those presentations are complete, um, we'll be we'll be hopefully able to take some comments and or answer some questions related to the presentation.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Brad Howe.

I'm a landscape architect and principal from Scape, the lead park design team.

I'm very sorry that I could not be there in person tonight.

But we are really excited to share our team's updates on the riverfront park design with you tonight.

And so we last presented to you a year ago where we were wrapping up our schematic design process in public engagement.

Since then, Scape and Spicer have worked with the team at the city to refine the design.

We've incorporated your comments and comments from the community and worked to finalize the project's construction documents.

And so we shared this slide with you last time and since then, and during the time we were there last in February, we also held a public meeting and did another education and outreach event at the high school.

In addition to that, we did have the online survey that had 235 responses and held a couple open table events, one at the SVRC marketplace and one at Trunk or Tree.

And from that process, we heard that many people would like to see park amenities like walking and biking paths, more seating, a playground, and quiet spaces to look out on the river, as well as public art.

And at the last council presentation and community meeting a year ago, we heard a lot of excitement about the various ways to access the river, a lot of support for boat access to the site, some concerns about available parking and accessible parking in the area, a desire for restrooms in the park, and a few concerns about park maintenance and subsequent management of the previously proposed community garden.

And so tonight we'll share how we've incorporated that feedback into the park design and present the final design for the riverfront park.

So just as a reminder to orient everyone where the site is, it is about a six-acre riverfront parcel along Water Street, just south of the SVRC marketplace and ATT building.

Our design goals focused on creating a park for everyone that supported active recreation and movement, education, and more habitat at the water's edge.

And you know, the site today only really has a few walking paths.

It does not have many places to sit along the water or many active park amenities.

But it does have a few nice trees that provide shade, and it does have the Iron Bell Trail that moves through it.

And so our final park proposal actually widens the Iron Bell Trail and reroutes it to create more space for active park amenities, including an outdoor fitness court, a picnic area, and a playground.

A great lawn is situated on access with Thompson Street to support community use and programming.

And the flexible plaza has stone amphitheater style seating for performances, or just looking out onto the river.

Where the community garden was once proposed, we added an overlook lawn instead that's perched a little bit higher above the Great Lawn so people can sit on the grass or on benches at its edges and look out onto the river.

Framing all these areas, we were able to preserve about 14 of the trees on site now that are in good health and are proposing to plant almost 300 more trees to create shade over time, improve biodiversity, and create habitat.

At the water's edge, river axe, a river access point provides direct access to the water for kayak and ice fishing.

There's a pier and a waterfront walkway that has seating and tables, and a floating dock along that walkway for boat access.

In response to community feedback, a restroom was added close to the playground and picnic area, and ample parking is planned along Water Street, Point Avenue, and Thompson Avenue.

And the city has actually allocated a portion of the parking lot that's there today for the park, which is currently being used by ATT.

These small black squares here, which are probably hard to see, but if you can follow my cursors, indicate where ADA accessible parking spaces are planned near the park.

And so this image shows the stone seating at the flexible plaza area with the pier going out over the river.

And this next image shows how we've designed the playground to encourage different types of movement for children of all ages to learn about the history of the area while having fun.

Areas of the playground for younger children encourage exploration across different surfaces, like the spheres you see in this photo.

While areas for older children are a bit more challenging, and they include climbing elements inspired by the logging history of Saigona.

So, like I said, kids can learn about a unique part of the city's history and have fun while doing it.

We've also been working hard with the city team to select materials and fixtures that are durable and will last over time.

This shows a selection of a few elements planned for the park that include some stone seed elements, benches and picnic tables that can actually be anchored down into the pavement and are made of galvanized steel and recycled plastic lumber, and an outdoor fitness court that's similar to the court at Celebration Park to enable movement for residents of all ages.

The bathroom we're proposing is called the Portland Loop.

It's a modular design that has been developed with safety and durability first.

And it includes features to maintain privacy, but also improve visibility for safety.

It's lockable and it's accessible.

And it can come with baby changing features as well.

And so this image just shows how it all comes together from a bird's eye view.

So what's next?

Our team's current construction cost estimate is 13.9 million.

And over the next year, we will be focused on obtaining the required permits for the pier and river shoreline work with the intent of starting construction in 2027.

Concurrently, the team is working on a federal grant proposal due this summer to ensure that all funds are secured for the park.

So with that, thank you.

And I'll hand it over to the next speaker to share updates.

I'll hand it over to the next speaker to share updates.

Good evening.

My name is Brad Adams.

I'm a line.

All right.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members, everyone present.

Really happy to be here today to talk about this medical diamond infrastructure project with y'all.

Brad's slides are a little more exciting than mine, though.

He gets all the cool stuff at the park.

So yeah, my name is Joe Primo.

I'm a civil engineer and project manager at Spicer Group here in Saginaw.

I've been working with Phil and his team for the last two years on infrastructure improvements related to the Medical Diamond Project.

And then we're also on the design team escape for the park, uh, supporting some of the site civil work there with them.

So today I'm going to go over a few things.

Um I'd like to start just kind of showing some images of the existing conditions out there in the project site.

We'll go over the four main components of the project of the medical diamond project as a whole, um, how we've integrated the design of the roads with the park improvements that Brad just shared and the infrastructure improvements that are going to take place.

And then we'll close with last step.

Next, excuse me, next steps.

So just to give some context, I know a lot of folks in this room probably are very familiar with the site, but this is on Water Street looking south.

Um the park that Brad was just talking about is on the right side of the of the page there.

Um it's a little difficult to see, but the road's not in great condition.

There is not continuous curb line throughout uh sidewalks kind of um uneven.

Moving down Thompson Street, kind of more the same.

You've got kind of hit or miss sidewalk, streets not in great condition.

And you also know to notice all of the electrical poles, the utility poles that are seen.

Um Phil mentioned that those are getting taken out too by consumers.

We'll have some more slides on that as we go.

Here at Hoyt Street, we've got kind of some broken up existing pavement, but we also have two types of pavement.

We've got the concrete on Hoyt, we've got the asphalt and water street.

When we're done with this project, it's going to be all brand new HMA asphalt paved roads.

And here's Water Street and Emerson.

Um, Emmer Street is a concrete road that's very uh beaten up, a lot of cracks, and it also runs right next to the railroad with no real separation there, only a couple feet between the driving lane and the railroad itself.

And then, yeah, water again, same kind of thing.

You can see the um utility poles there.

And then Meredith, this is right so outside of our office.

Um got these pictures kind of early in the morning.

It's a little uh looks like dawn, but uh you can see it's all broken up concrete again, lots of patching.

So these are all going to be either removed or improved as part of this project.

So the overall project components, there's kind of four main ones, and and Phil touched on a lot of this, but we've got the city infrastructure improvements that are taking place in the red highlight there and the road right-aways, so that's gonna be our roads, um, the utilities, lighting, things like that.

The green area is the park area that uh Brad just shared on.

We've got the consumers um transmission line that's going underground.

It's a little difficult to difficult to see on this slide, but it's an orange highlight there going down Water Street, and then it cuts down Thompson to the east to Bomb Street and connects to their existing substation.

And then I've highlighted the pink areas as the lot the lots that are available for the private development.

So this is another just blow up of the consumers line relocation.

Um this one, the pink lines are the new underground duck banks.

So those were installed last year.

Uh there's a lot of coordination with consumers between the city, Phil's team, and um us as we're designing the utilities that are going to ultimately be underground.

We made sure that when they were designing where they're at, their depth that they're at, that we're gonna be able to get over that with new water main, new sewers, anything that we need to put in the ground out there.

So yeah, their new route goes down Water Street, Thompson into the substation there that's highlighted.

And it's again a little difficult to see, but there are red lines that show all of the overhead lines that are out there today in the site that will be removed and make it a lot better for uh views for the for the river.

So the city infrastructure, this is the main thing that we've been working on design for for the city.

Uh we're reconfiguring some roads out there.

This overview or overhead shot shows the proposed roads and kind of a light gray, and then you can see the park improvements sketched in there in black as well.

Um you'll notice not all the roads are going back.

So water street is kind of segmented along the along the river, and part of that was early on for the development so that they can have this access kind of right out from their new developments into this brand new park that's getting built.

Uh on Hoyt Street, it's kind of the L shape there.

So that is going to connect to water still.

There's two city facilities down there, the CSO basin facilities that need to maintain access.

So those are gonna have the road.

Here's a zoom in on that area.

Um, so you can see where this road configuration allows access to both those buildings, but then also provides access to the park.

We're looking at parking, having parking on both sides of Hoyt Street coming in, and then Water Street on the east side.

Um, the full way, the west side will have room for about three parking spots before we get to that driveway that needs access for the city building.

This is a zoom in of the park and the interaction of it with Thompson Street and the end of Water Street, which both are gonna end in in the cul-de-sac.

Uh Thompson, we've coordinated with Scape extensively to make sure that we have our sidewalks and road design there to come into their plaza.

So that's a that's gonna be a great entrance into the park and and access to the Iron Bell Trail and the pier.

I should have mentioned too, along with the roads, um, we're also designing drainage, so storm drainage for this whole new area that's getting developed and permitting all that so it can be discharged into the Saginaw River.

Um moving in onto utilities.

So the water main design.

Phil mentioned some of these utilities are from the 1920s.

I think I saw some 1873s in there on Water Street.

So there's there's some pretty old water main out there that we're gonna be replacing.

The dark blue line shows all the brand new water main that'll go down Water Street and then cut across on almost every um side street into Washington.

I had a question on the uh the road on Thompson and Water Street to the north.

Why is the street?

What is that?

Why has it got the squares in it?

What is that?

Oh, yeah, kind of the the checkered there.

Yeah.

So that portal um that part of Water Street is gonna be overlaid.

Uh they're gonna mill off the top couple inches and then repave it back rather than reconstruct the entire road.

Okay.

Where the other roads just that have the light gray, those are all brand new construction full depth.

Thank you.

Yep.

So yeah, we'll be connecting the new water main down uh water street into the existing water main.

I believe it's a 12-inch in in Washington Street that MDOT installed in 2000.

So we're gonna have this whole area will be looped, and there we're gonna be upsizing from what's out there today.

There's some six and eight-inch pipes.

We're gonna be doing mostly 12 with some eight inch that's going to remain.

Uh, so there's gonna be plenty of capacity for all the private development coming in.

Overall, it's about 3,900 feet of water main in the project.

Um sanitary sewer.

So the big thing with the sanitary sewer on this project is the red line on um kind of the right side of the screen.

That's an existing brick sewer that runs in the Millard Street right-of-way that's been vacated by the city, but it's an active sewer today.

So for that lot to develop over top of that, that sewer needs to be relocated.

Um so we did a uh modeling and such to make sure that the flow that's coming down Millard Street today can be moved over to Thompson Street where it will be picked up again and then reconnect into the system.

Uh with the colors on the screen, all the green is existing sewer that's gonna stay, and then the blue is any new sewer that's getting replaced, and red is sewer that will actually be removed.

Overall, we've got some pretty large sewers.

Uh, there's about 200 feet of 78-inch sewer that's gonna be installed, um, and then 500 feet of 42-inch sewer and 700 feet of 12-inch sewer.

The 12-inch sewer will be more to directly service the private development.

All right, so construction costs and next steps.

Uh we're at 90% design in the permitting process right now.

Our 90% cost estimate was uh 11.2 million for the infrastructure portion of the project.

And I didn't have a slide for it, but that includes the lighting as well.

Um lighting improvements throughout all the roads that are going in.

Um schedule wise, we're in that permitting phase, kind of the start of this year through June.

We're hoping to have permits in in place by the end of June, and then be bidding out for construction early summer with construction beginning this fall and wrap up at the end of next year.

That's all I have.

Right.

That's a lot of work.

We tried to get through that quick for everybody.

So I know probably it probably wasn't as fun as all the the developments that were shown to you, but with that, I guess if there's any comments or questions, we'll do our best to address them.

Yes, council.

Thank you.

Um, my question is uh that uh during our strategic planning session, we got a presentation from MDOT regarding the Washington corridor in the road diet plans that I think a lot of us would really like to see implemented.

Um considering the improvements that are currently slated to be done by what well that we're looking at right now from Spicer, is any of that going to conflict with any of the road diet plans presented from MDOT?

No, and they're still in the planning process.

I think they gave three or four different options, so they're still gonna work their way through that, and I think it's between MDOT and the city, it's to pick which option we want, and then what funding source can we have because right now there's no funding for any of that.

So none of this will conflict with it, and we are working with MDOT along with our designs, not only for our streets, but also for the development, as they're gonna need curb cuts onto Washington Avenue.

So I would anticipate probably most of that coming after this is done.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Any other questions?

Yes.

Um, I had a question about the cul-de-sacks.

Uh I just I couldn't really tell the size from the um from the rendering.

Are those for parking or just for driving and turning around?

Yeah, for turning around, it's a radius for turning around.

Okay, so there's not going to be any parking at the edge of those.

I don't believe not on the call to section.

No, like on Thompson Street, there's parking on both sides of the street up to the cul-de-sac, and then that's for maneuvering around.

It'll be the same on Water Street too.

Thank you.

And I'll just rapid fire another one.

Um, I question about electrical outlets and electricity in the park plans.

Um is there plans to have you know the the functional spaces being used, like uh outlets for amplification equipment.

I didn't see a lighting plan.

Um, I know that if we're hoping to make it a usable space lighting is something we're looking at implementing you know, Jibway.

Is that something that is considered in this current park?

Yeah, I believe there is a there's a both a lighting plan for both the street portion of it and the park portion, substantial lighting plan.

And if I'm correct, I believe there are electrical outlets designed within most of those poles.

And I'll and and for the uh where there may be potentially the amplifying equipment necessary needed for um where the amphitheater area was shown.

Thank you very much.

Would I be speaking properly, Joe?

Yeah, that's right.

Yes, Councilman Block.

Yeah, um east east of the park.

Uh we got some private land is uh do we have any developers that have to pose anything to put into those areas right yet?

Um I I'm not really that involved in the the development portion of it.

I'd have to defer unfortunately maybe to the city manager or somebody else as far as it goes to who who has the ownership and of any private land uh east of the park area, councilman between Washington and the park, yeah.

Then land in there, you see you got private development.

I'll wonder we have any uh permit for anything anybody that's seeking to put anything in there?

Yeah, so the city has if you look at the the block that's bordered by the park in Washington, where currently the only thing is Nelson Electric and the Lee Mansion.

Yes, the city has a development agreement for that parcel with uh Shaheen Development.

Okay, and then the next parcel where the old farmers market used to be, that's a split parcel between the city of Saginaw and the County Land Bank.

We don't have a development agreement on that yet, but that's one of them we're talking uh to uh SVSU about.

Remember their presentation, and then the next lot north of that is currently privately owned.

Um but I'd expect there to be development on that as well.

And then the next block south of that property where um across the street from Nelson Electric, that's land bank property.

I don't know what they have going right now.

Previously that they were talking to SCSU.

I don't know where they are with their discussions or or what that's gonna be.

It's it's likely available.

And then as you cross the railroad tracks, that that block is privately owned.

Currently, um Tri-Star is that's will be the site of their building.

Okay, and that will probably take half of that property, and then the other half is available.

That's my understanding.

Now we did in the uh strategic planning session, we did talk about someone putting uh some condos right on the river.

If I'm mistaken, is that true?

Right by the bridge?

By the railroad bridge?

No, by the uh Genesee Bridge.

That area right there where that building is torn down at are they putting anything there?

Oh, where Captain's Cove was?

Is that uh no, no, on Genesee?

The old parking structure that was.

Yeah, okay.

Yes, yeah, that's all parking structure.

That's actually um the plan as an event space.

Is that right, Cassie?

That that's the mayor's been in anything yet.

They haven't submitted okay.

Yeah, the brown field was approved, and they've talked about an event space there.

Okay, but they haven't submitted a any uh document.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Thank you.

Thanks.

Thank you, Phil and uh Joe, and our video.

Will uh Madam Mayor that includes the management update?

Do we have any questions for the city management?

Yes, I got a question for the city management.

Was you aware of the uh um I know we put our money invested with the help group with the uh help CBI conference that they had this weekend?

I'm sorry, the help CBI community Biden's intervention uh conference that they had this weekend.

This weekend, yeah.

I was wondering I was one of you aware of because I know uh Amos O'Neill was there and uh the uh governor was there, and the Congressman uh River was there, and um you know it was a pretty good conference.

I just want to know if you knew about it.

Uh because it was an excellent conference, a lot of people were there, and uh a lot of children was there, and a lot of vendors was there, and it was an excellent conference for the city of Saginaw.

And uh our representative is gonna even give money to uh help out with community Biden's intervention here in the city of Saginaw, you know, the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So I think it's gonna be a great thing for our community to have these dollars in uh proactive uh areas so that our keys don't get in trouble.

Yeah, they've done some really good uh projects in the city, so that's great to hear.

Uh I think they have more stuff coming up, right?

Yes, sir.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you.

I forgot.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Yes.

Tim, I'm so sorry.

This kind of relates to the presentation I had written it down on my other page.

Um, but I I heard it mentioned between Scape and uh I don't want to call it Spicer because that's not really well.

I mean, sure, that's those are the planners for each of those projects, but between the park and and the um infrastructure, uh we're looking at a 3.4 million dollar funding gap, but I did not see specifically where that those funding gaps are currently sitting uh or where they may have to be realized.

I think so from the funding of the project, all of the infrastructure that's our first priority, so that we don't have to to dig anything back up.

It will be the park features that could be phased in.

Um you know, for instance, Phil will correct me if I'm not being accurate, but the sign a significant uh part of the uh cost for the project is the the restrooms, and those were a lay ads, so those are probably in a later phase.

Um the pier that's going out to the water.

I leave it to Phil if we're gonna get that if you're gonna get that permitted.

I'm like 99.9%.

I'd like to be optimistic, I think is that we're gonna get the funding, but the answer to your question is all of the infrastructure stuff has to be completed to support.

But it would be a matter of how we would scope the bid for the park portion before we did it, so then when they price it, we'll what's the most makes more sense for us to put in and what might have to come out if you only get another three point.

And Tim is right.

The beer is probably at least 1.5 to 1.8 million out there, 3.4 million.

So that helps.

Yes.

Yes.

Is the water fund gonna be uh used for any of this construction?

No, no.

Uh well, no, it's all through these the state funding.

All through the federal state funding that we got.

I was wondering, could we use the water fund for any of that?

No.

At this point, I'm not playing.

Oh, because we're releasing the water.

That's why I'm that's why I'm asking.

You know, they're gonna be able to do that.

So technically you could use water and wastewater funds for the new lines.

I'm gonna find the money here.

Okay.

I'm just saying that may be an area you might want to look at.

If I have to offense to you, Mr.

Waterman.

Okay.

Yes.

Thank you.

Um, Tim, could we make sure we get that video from Scape posted independently on the website?

Because I don't think that you could hear it through the presentation setup today.

Yep, we'll we'll clip that and get it on the website.

We'll put all of the presentation separate from the council meeting on the website, but we'll make sure that one's easily accessible too.

Thank you very much.

Yes.

Tim, I um I'm concerned about the ARPA funds, the money that we call back and anything like that.

I want to know can we get a report of uh how much money that we think that may not get spent so we can reallocate it before you're over with?

Yeah.

Yeah, we'll get you a status on all of the projects.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

And if there's any extra funds in there and who's available to get those funds?

We vote.

Yeah.

Vote recreation and that housing project.

The fundices and the rules.

Okay.

We vote.

Thank you.

Anything we call back, that's where it goes to.

I will I will mention that the I think we I don't think we even with the current with the previous callback, we have gone through the entire list of uh the home project.

Is that right, Yolanda?

Yeah.

We have eight eight uh houses still on that list that we don't have funding for.

Okay.

Um, just to think about and um that that program I think has been really popular.

I'll tell you we still have people coming to knock on our doors in the office asking to sign up now.

So it's been it's been really successful, but we'll I think one thing I was thinking we want to get you a report on that project in particular because that's been all city run, and I think it's had a significant impact on people's ability to stay in their homes.

I'm just gonna make sure we don't send none of this money back.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Any other questions?

Thank you, Mr.

Manager.

On to the consent agenda.

The agenda has been available on this at City Hart and on the city web page.

I need a motion to approve the consent agenda leaving room for exceptions.

Can you waive it, man?

Thank you.

So moved.

Second.

Do we have any exceptions?

Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

All right.

All those opposed, nay.

Madam Clerk.

Our next item is board commission and committee reports.

Does anybody have any uh meetings that pertain to SAGMA that they'd like to express it this time?

Madam Clint.

On to resolutions.

Our first is recognizing the help yourself recover project as a nonprofit organization for the purpose of obtaining a charitable gaming license.

I need a motion to adopt.

So move.

Support any questions?

Any concerns?

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, nay.

Madam Claire.

Our second resolution is approving the obsolete property rehabilitation certificate for the property at 1413 Grashett Avenue.

I need a motion to adopt.

So moved.

Support.

It's been moved to support.

Any questions?

Yes.

Thank you.

Um just a uh comment.

I believe that this original so we're we're passing an Oprah certificate.

Usually we have an Oprah designation and Oprah certificate.

I had noticed that this Oprah designation was granted back in 2006, I believe.

And I just was wondering if it's the same owner as it was in 2006 when it was originally designated.

No, this is a different owner.

It's my understanding.

Okay.

And then my second question would be um, do we have any encumbrances on ensuring that this work gets completed on its projected timeline or at least someplace close to it?

The certificate has a timeline in a application that is okay.

No, it's Rob, can you step up so we all can hear you?

Please thank you.

Thank you.

I believe there's a timeline on the application and certificate to be granted that if the work isn't complete, then the certificate would be revoked.

Okay, thank you.

You're welcome.

Any other questions?

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed.

Madam Clerk.

Her third resolution is declaring official intent to reimburse project expenditures with bond proceeds and authorizing publication of a notice of intent to issue water supply system revenue bonds through the state of Michigan drinking water revolving fund program.

I need a motion to adopt.

So we'll move.

Second questions.

No question.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Alright.

All those opposed, nay.

Madam Clerk.

Our final resolution is adopting the Safe Streets for Saginaw Safety Action Plan.

I need a motion to adopt.

So part.

It's been moved and supported.

Any questions?

Yes.

Thank you.

Um I really appreciate all the work done and put into getting this Safe Streets for Saginaw Safety Action Plan to us.

Um I did have a chance to review it.

Um I thought it looked um uh I I was I was very happy with with a lot of the um presentation of the material.

Um I encourage residents to go check it out.

Um, I also appreciated there was a page on public transit.

Um that was a concern that I had shared about you know, making sure that as we're mapping changes, we're thinking about what physical infrastructure we can see for our um public transit stations because I think I speak for a lot of people when I say it breaks my heart when I have to drive by somebody standing next to a sign um and there's three feet of snow or it's raining and it's somebody in a vulnerable state who is waiting for a bus.

So I'm I was glad to see that there was a whole page about um specifically mentioning stars and collaboration there, and I would just continue to encourage that collaboration to be um fostered and fomented and when we when we revise the plan after we go through a couple iterations of it to continue to expand that relationship.

So I appreciate the effort put in.

I know this was I just wanted to say so because this was really a momentous effort, so I really appreciate it.

Um thank you.

That's all any other questions.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

All right, all those opposed, nay.

Madam Clerk.

On to miscellaneous business.

Our first item there is the consideration of a FOIA appeal filed by Meredith St.

Henry.

I need a motion to uphold this response as mentioned.

Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to uphold the response as amended associated with Meredith St.

Henry's FOIA appeal.

Support.

It's been moved to support any questions.

All those in favor signify by saying I.

All those opposed, nay.

Madam Clerk.

Our next item is consideration of a FOIA appeal filed by Joshua Monroe.

Again, Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to ensure a written notice to Mitton Crime Network upholding the partial disclosure denial.

Support.

It's being moved in support.

Any questions?

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Are there any other motions to be put on the table now?

Yes, council.

I have a motion to direct staff through the city manager to fully reopen Ojibwe Island without any accessibility or vehicular barriers immediately upon completion full of construction work currently slated for July 2026.

Any delays beyond July 2026 shall come before council for approval.

It's a motion on the floor.

Do we have a second?

Second.

It's your second.

Any discussion.

I just want to make sure if yes, I'm sorry.

No, you're fine.

I just want to make sure that the uh I don't want to put any mines on the city to open it up on that particular date, knowing that we don't know if everything else is gonna be in place.

I mean, I don't mind having the park open, but I think that we should have uh some discussion on what time the park is gonna be open instead of this free willing and letting it be open all the time.

So uh I I appreciate your motion.

I want that park open back up, but I don't just want to throw a blanket out there and say we're gonna open it back up to vehicle traffic and just let everybody roll through there as they please.

You know, so I would like for us to have the committees to continue to meet and bring up a time, but not out at this time.

I don't want to bring uh that on the city to see it's gonna open up that particular day.

I can't support that motion one because again, like my like my council colleagues said, I don't want to put restraining on it.

But I'm gonna make sure that it's done right, and if we say July and something happens, we don't open in July, then what?

Then what?

It's like this whole venture has started because it's like people are on the hunt.

We we have been talking about opening up what OG way.

It wasn't something new, but now we got everybody that wants to tell us, open it up, and it's not that we don't want to open.

I mean, I want to see it open.

You know, I want to see it open.

However, it got closed when we were sitting in City Hall, and all of a sudden it got Ramshacked.

And I'm not saying it's the Sunday crowd, it got Ramshacked.

And so now we got a little money, we're trying to fix it up, and I don't think we should put a ribbon around a July.

The city manager, Councilman Balls, Councilman Braddock, because y'all sit in the group, y'all been in the room, and Councilman Oste, you've been in the room with me and the streets and the people who have been trying to work it.

We've been transparent.

The problem is is we have people telling different stories that need to get their facts straight.

Because when you tell somebody something, for example, if we say July, how many people are gonna hold us accountable until July?

I would.

So I'm I'm not I'm not against opening the pot at all.

I'm not against it.

I just want to open it up with everything intact.

Yes, Councilman.

I just like to say, far as the reopening of uh Jill Way Island, we started this process a year ago uh trying to get this um, I know when I first came on board, and one thing that I really tried to do is try not to be try to make the reopening of J Way political.

Um it can create some division.

We all know that um, you know, there are so many different narratives of why it closed, but that's that's not important right now.

What's the most important is how we move forward, and I think that uh we're not showing any resistance on this park.

We all want it open, we all want vehicle or traffic, okay?

And so I just didn't want this process for the me personally for the reopening of J Way to be a political process because we are doing the road.

We are doing the work, and I think the conversations, we are doing the same thing going down two different roads.

We are gonna get the public input from this.

There hasn't necessarily been no major decisions from the board to say this is what we're gonna do with the park.

We all coming up with the ideas and looking for the community input.

So I think this process, if we're gonna be hold anything accountable, not the timeline, but the process that we're doing to get this to get this OJ way open to get this park open and the other parks.

We got the whole city to manage.

So let's not make this OJ reopening a political process.

And so I'm I'm against the motion myself.

You make yeah, um, beginning to concur with my colleagues because I'm on this committee that we've been talking about this, and um even one step further, we've talked about uh public safety pieces of it too.

So we're looking at you know, having our police department on the island when it's open as well, and that's gonna be for community engagement, just to be out there talking to the folks that are in the park, um, engaging with them, whether they're having a picnic or or not.

So we've been looking at that too, which is gonna take some funding overtime.

So there's a few things that we're working on.

Um, then like you said, the community engagement part will be good too, because I'd like to see what comes into the city, and we also just got a an email here from the second on camp group because they did a survey too.

So I kinda like to see how their survey is gonna line up with what our folks are saying.

And by the way, to you folks, we're engaging the public and we want you to take advantage of this.

We want to hear from you, and so that's gonna be important.

So thank you.

Yes, councilman Barthes, Councilman Young.

Just um I think that was important.

Uh me supporting the motion allowed us to discuss it as a group right here together, and I got a chance to hear everybody's uh feedback.

So, and um, I am a supporter of opening it too, but just like everyone else stated too, it has to be open the right way.

But um to Hammond's um a point that we just I guess that was just a way of making sure that it's transparent so that we know when the construction process, because I know when you're uh doing construction, you know, things fall behind, so I agree not being pent to the date, but also, you know, having the request of keep us in the loop and let us know what's going on because we're interacting with the community and we want to have to to be put in a spot where we don't have the answers that we should have when we engage with the community.

So, you know, we just wanted to have an update on the process if that timeline is gonna be met or if we have to push it back, but just being forthcoming with the information so we can share it with the public in a timely manner.

Well, one of the things we talking about was they're actually doing a four-day session where citizens could come in and give us their how they want to see the park, what their suggestions are, and that type of stuff.

We are really trying to be transparent.

It appears to me that I say it all the time.

Sometimes we got moles in the camp who don't always tell everything.

So what we need to do is really want us to do what we talked about in our last meeting.

Well, we bring in the community and do a whole day session just like we did with the ample just like we did with the park, and I hope that participation is better because we ended up winning what is it, the downtown market, and then we ended up taking it because the participation was so low.

We end up taking it to trick a trunk.

And we got more people to trick a trunk because we was trick or treating.

So when we say there's going to be an open discussion, please, please, please come out and tell us what you want.

Don't talk about it when it's overwick, because when it's over week, a decision is gonna be made.

So I don't need to give any answer.

Therefore, I understand we are in the process of doing our own survey.

However, instead of doing it separate, why aren't we working together?

It's all about common interests, it's all about collaboration.

If we go work together, let's work together.

Yes.

Council Woman.

Um, I'd like to reiterate the language of my motion.

Um, the first time I had received communication with specifics about work that was going to be done this spring.

Again, I wasn't a part of the ARPA vote, so it may have happened there was about uh week and a half ago via email, which was confirmed tonight, that we have several construction projects going on concerning the road and also safety measures like barriers between the grass and the roadway, which address a majority of the safety concerns that were belayed up until tonight at this table.

Um those are going to be completed in July.

That's five months from now.

Five months to meet with the community to decide tactics and strategy for specific safety measures, to vote on budget allocations, whether or not we want more secure, more safety features, more lighting, five months.

If that is not long enough for this council to get together a plan that yes, the citizens will hold us accountable to for reopening this park.

How much longer do we need?

And to be honest, I how effective of a council are we if we say that five months is not long enough for us to do this work?

So what I also want to say is that um council received a survey put on by Saginaw Cat that received 647 responses.

The one earlier from Scape that they had out for months had 235 responses, just for comparison.

And looking at the percentages of the question, do you support reopening the park to the public, including vehicles throughout the park?

647 responses, 85.3% of those responses say strongly support, another 8.3 say support.

You have about 5% neutral.

Less than 1% said oppose, and 1.5% said strongly oppose.

This has been something that I believe the citizens have communicated loudly and persistently and clearly.

It has been almost a year since I voted, and we had a unanimous vote to support Councilman Braddock's motion, which said a committee to reopen Ojibwe Island.

That committee was never established.

The committee that is mentioned at this table is a work group.

The difference between that is that a committee has a specific formula, it has bylaws, it meets publicly.

It's compliant with the open meetings act, and it's allowed to report back at this meeting.

A work group is a private construct of people chosen.

I was not chosen, I was not invited.

The public is not invited to participate.

There's no meeting minutes, there's no votes, they can't make decisions.

They can only advise the city staff.

So I don't know what kind of commitments or decisions or transparency is involved in that process.

And it is frustrating.

It is frustrating to have been here a year and hear that we're in the process.

The park was closed to vehicular traffic in 2021.

I think that the community has made their voices clear many times over.

And I think that a vote on this motion means yes, we are holding ourselves accountable.

We are holding ourselves to a standard.

We are saying we have five months to figure out how we're going to safely open this park.

We are putting a commitment, we're looking the citizens in the eye, we are holding them with respect and we're holding ourselves in respect and saying we believe that we can do this as the productive council that we are.

That is what this motion is today.

Thank you.

Okay.

But things happen within a time frame.

It could happen like during COVID, the wood, furniture.

Things happen.

So yes, if we say six months, it's very broad.

There's like you said, no days, no times, hours of operation.

Are we gonna have curfew for the teens like we did before when we had issues?

Like what is what does that look like?

That's something that I can support, but just saying a day and a year, it's not definite timeline for me.

It's too broad, and I would like to see something maybe stating our hours of operation, um, things like that, the lighting.

Um we just can't open it and not feel safe about it, you know.

It seems like a lot of people at this table are for waiting.

Um, and it seems like you're in a rush.

I'm not really sure what's going on with that, but we want to do it the right way.

That's all I got on this.

Wait down this place first.

Oh, I'll shoot.

No, go ahead.

Go ahead, Courtney.

Go ahead.

Uh I just wanted to say that as far as the um the surveys and the input from the public, uh we're not against bill for traffic.

And I don't know why that everybody's thinking that we're so against not opening this this park.

We're not against open the park, we're not against the bill for track.

We once to open it, we want the same thing that everybody else can.

And the survey that's it's great.

We're gonna add that the survey we'll have like Osta said, we get the two surveys, we can bounce it off off, we get some more participation.

So we got a good start from there.

And so we do listen.

I know I do we I think at this table, we do listen to the community, the public.

Um there wasn't nor as far as that group, we're just overseeing the process so we can get the information out.

And so most of the things that we're going through right now is just all construction work.

And so if you cannot obviously see cranes and vehicles on the way doing work, it's not safe for people to be out there at this time.

So just give us some time and let's not make everything in this community political.

We can come together more so, and could that create some type of division?

But I'm just saying though, we I think the group is we're working in there in that in that phase of what we uh phases of what we need to do for this park.

Well, I think the city is working in the phase of what they need to do for this park, and so the public import will be important for us to move forward, and that's what's going to be important, the public import.

So there's nothing moving forward without the public input.

Okay, y'all.

So we're not moving forward without the public import.

I say it again.

So I don't know what everybody's searching for.

It's it's it's not even 40 degrees outside.

We're talking about parks.

We got people that's homeless outside, freezing.

So let's let's let's let's prioritize in the park.

We got our attention on the park.

So I'm done with the park.

No, I I mean I we I'll hate to put a date on it because we maybe open it up sooner.

Who knows?

We maybe open it up sooner.

You know, so I don't want to put a date on it because I don't know what type of vehicle traffic we're gonna have.

So we need to discuss what type of vehicle traffic we're gonna have.

I'm telling you, man, it's I don't want to see what I saw before.

You know, guys out there, pistol plan and all that kind of stuff like that.

I mean, it was terrible.

Riding across the park, you know, doesn't care.

There's right across the crowd.

You go by there on a Saturday morning, see something liquor bottles out there, it really is terrible.

A lot of people, they probably want to see the park open up, probably have not seen the way the progress operating before they closed it.

It was terrible, it was terrible.

And nobody out there to police them.

Uh I just don't want to open it up.

I don't want that blood on my hands saying we open up this park without putting any ramifications on how we're gonna open it up.

Because I guarantee you we just open it up, it's gonna be some bloodshed out there.

The way things are going here in Zaganal right now, I just believe I just believe that.

So it's a lot and I don't want to see that.

I don't want that blown on my hands.

Yes.

Thank you.

Um, I respect, I respect and I appreciate uh the discussion and the commentary.

Um I hear you.

I'll refer to the motion, direct city staff through the city manager to fully reopen Ojibwe Island without any accessibility or vehicular barriers immediately upon upon completion of construction work, currently slated for July 2026.

Any delays beyond July 2026 shall come before council for approval.

That leaves room for if there's a delay, we can clearly communicate it to the public by having a vote on it.

I think that if again we're saying we support vehicular traffic reopening, there's nothing in this motion that says we are stopping ourselves from having certain hours.

But it does say without accessibility or vehicular barriers.

What that means is when the construction work is completed, that construction work right now.

That's that's about that's going to be done in July, specifically, is designed to alleviate the vehicular safety problems that were had in the park.

So I I I hear the comments uh particularly from Councilman Balls and Braddock.

I agree with them, but that is exactly the things that are going to be addressed between now and July.

So if we want additional conversations to happen, all this motion says is we're committing as a council to do them and implement them by July.

And if we need more time, we can vote for more time.

But what I would like and what I think this community deserves is a date is something to hold us accountable to question yes.

I'll just add one more comment on that there.

Um I think it's more than just the construction, because I still wouldn't support open the if the construction is done, but they don't have the security cameras up that they are seeking uh improvements on.

So then I don't even want to, I wouldn't want to do that, you know.

So it's fine, the barriers are up, but there's also security upgrades too, so there's more of a timeline than just construction and having the roads.

It has to be you know secure properly too from from what I'm hearing.

That's a part of the upgrades too, which will be needed, you know, when you open it up fully, you know.

I think that should be in place as well.

Yes, councilman.

Yep.

Um councilman, you make a good point about cameras and Tim.

When we had we're having issues at Potter Park, which is down over in the medical diamond area, and um Mayor Pro Tem heard she's seen it down there too with all the the bottles and stuff in the trash.

When we put the camera up, that that kind of went away.

So we do need to put more cameras there so that people know that they're not literary or in and actually have trash receptacles for them to put the stuff in too, because that was always that was an issue with the other part.

We added more uh voice cans in too, and then they started to use it.

I mean, even in my park that I adopted, I put a trash can up there and they're using it.

So yeah, these are things to consider the question.

Yes, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Yes, okay, sorry.

I will second.

Yeah.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

All those opposed.

Nay.

Roll call vote.

Councilmember Young.

All right.

Councilmember Balls.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Yes.

Councilmember Astash.

Yes.

Councilmember Braddock.

Yes.

Councilmember Heyman.

Nay.

And Mayor Moore.

Yes.

You have six yes and one no.

So now you go immediately to the vote on the motion.

Now we go to the vote on the motion.

Can you reread the motion for me, please?

The motion was to direct staff through the city manager to fully reopen Ojibwe Island without any any accessibility or vehicular barriers immediately upon completion of construction work currently slated for July 2026.

Any delays beyond July 2026 shall come before council for approval.

Okay, everybody's heard it.

We've had discussion.

We've got them for the vote.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed.

No.

Councilmember vote.

Councilmember Young.

Maybe.

Councilmember Balls.

Nay.

Mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Nay.

Councilmember Astash.

Councilmember Braddock.

Nay.

Councilmember Hammond.

Aye.

Mayor Moore.

Nay.

You have one yes and six no.

That motion is denied.

You are still under miscellaneous business.

Sure.

Are there any more motions?

Hearing then, I need I need I need a motion to adjourn.

Second.

It's been moved and second.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those voted.