Taylor City Council Regular Meeting Summary – August 7, 2024
Taylor City Council Regular Meeting Summary – August 7, 2024
The Taylor City Council held its regular meeting on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, at 6:30 PM in the Taylor Municipal Building. The meeting covered a wide range of items including first reading of an ethics ordinance amendment, a public hearing on Judge Martha Snow, rezoning of a parcel, numerous departmental contracts and purchases, and open business discussions on the towing RFQ and FOIA requests. All seven council members were present: Charley Johnson, Angie Winton, Douglas Geiss, Jill Brandana, Lindsey Rose, Tina Daniels, and Angie Winton (Chairwoman Pro-Tem). The meeting adjourned at 9:17 PM.
Consent Calendar
- Agenda and Minutes: Approved unanimously.
- Motion to approve the agenda carried 7-0.
- Motion to approve the minutes of July 16, 2024 carried 7-0.
- Mayor Communications – Ethics Ordinance First Reading: Motion to approve first reading of amendments to Chapter 2, Article 3, Division 3 (Standards of Conduct) carried 7-0. Discussion included changes to gift limits, complaint filing process, and board appointment voting from unanimous to simple majority. Amendments to be drafted before second reading.
- Second Amendment of Purchase Agreement – SOAR Restaurants, LLC: Approved unanimously to extend due diligence period by 120 days for parcels on Telegraph (expected to be a Sonic restaurant).
- Police Vehicle Repairs: Several motions for police vehicle repairs (Chevy Tahoe #X-4, #231, #210) approved unanimously after discussion about high repair costs and future vehicle fleet changes.
- Proclamation – Fire Medic James Zuber: Approved unanimously honoring his heroic rescue of an autistic child on July 28, 2024.
- Planning Department Conference Attendance: Approved $1,024 for one employee to attend Planning Michigan 2024 conference.
- Fire Department Items:
- Ambulance assignment from Kodiak to MacQueen Equipment (approved).
- Three members to attend Fire Inspectors Society Fall Conference ($3,393).
- Additional turnout gear from Conway Shield ($3,035, sole source).
- Gas alert monitors from Industrial Safety Products ($5,326, low bid).
- SCBA maintenance refresher training from Hatman Consulting ($2,000).
- Police Department Items:
- CDW Government for mobile printers ($6,618, state contract).
- Allie Brothers for academy uniforms ($2,324).
- Four officers to Hostage Negotiators Conference ($1,714 plus expenses).
- Public Works Items:
- Dump truck outfitting from Truck & Trailer Specialties ($57,005).
- Compost site loader repair from Alta Equipment ($39,059, sole source).
- Camera truck from Jack Doheny Companies ($438,661, Sourcewell bid).
- HVAC maintenance contract from De-Cal Inc. ($220,000) – passed 5-1 (Councilman Johnson dissenting, arguing work should be brought in-house).
- Intergovernmental agreement with Wayne County for Heritage Park improvements (pickleball courts, $40,242 county funding).
- School District transportation services for city events ($21,000, SMART grant).
- Clerk’s Office: One employee to attend Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks Education Day ($300).
- Legal Notices: News Herald designated as official newspaper.
- IT Services: Data National for AS400 programming support (200 hours, $25,000).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public Comment on Ethics Ordinance: Mary Susa (26640 Beverly) asked why the ethics board appointment requires more votes than a council seat, advocating for a simple majority.
- Public Comment on Towing RFQ: A member of the public (unidentified) referenced the committee's work and questioned the disappearance of certain towing service numbers, and later raised allegations about a convicted felon's picture still hanging in city hall.
- Public Comment on FOIA: A resident (Martin Juilliard, 6708 Beach Daly) questioned the use of a contractor whose owners are reportedly indicted for bid rigging and asked about FOIA deadlines.
Discussion Items
- Ethics Ordinance First Reading (Item 6.1): Extensive discussion led by Corporation Counsel Ed Plato on three changes: (1) aligning gift exceptions with the donation policy, (2) allowing alternative complaint filing routes (to council chair or ethics board) if the corporation counsel is the subject, (3) changing board appointments from unanimous to simple majority. Councilmembers raised concerns about $50/day food gifts potentially allowing $18,400/year without reporting, and about vacancies being filled by the board rather than council. Several amendments were proposed for second reading: tighten food gift limits, ensure council approval of board vacancies, and consider a two-thirds vote instead of simple majority. The first reading passed 7-0.
- Public Hearing on Judge Martha Snow (Items 7.1-7.2): Chair Geiss called the public hearing under Charter Section 6.16 after Judge Snow was subpoenaed to appear regarding her June 12, 2024 order for the entire city council to appear in her courtroom. Judge Snow did not appear; the council received a letter from Wayne County Corporation Counsel asserting the subpoena was invalid. Chair Geiss outlined his intended questions about potential Open Meetings Act violations and separation of powers. Councilmembers expressed frustration that the judge coerced the council into appearing, particularly after a 3-3 tie vote on a settlement. A motion passed 7-0 to close the public hearing and proceed to the next item.
- Rezoning – Cornell Street (Item 7.4): First reading for rezoning 0.11 acres from R-1C to P-1 for off-street parking adjacent to businesses on Van Born Road. Discussion included concerns about a property line dispute with a neighboring homeowner whose fence may be partially on the applicant's land, and the potential for a brick wall to be placed within a foot of her home. Planning Director Lora Fell noted that the issue would be addressed at site plan review. The motion passed 4-2 (Ayes: Johnson, Winton, Brandana, Geiss; Nays: Daniels, Rose). Rose was temporarily excused but later returned.
- Towing RFQ Committee (Open Business): Councilwoman Daniels reported that the towing RFQ committee (formed in February) has not produced a final document. She expressed frustration with lack of progress and stated she would submit her own version based on the 2016 RFQ. Councilman Johnson argued the committee should work collaboratively and not have a single member craft the RFQ. Daniels resigned from the committee. Chair Geiss set a deadline of Tuesday before the next meeting (August 20) for proposals to be submitted.
- FOIA Request Discussion (Open Business): Councilwoman Daniels noted she had been waiting since March for access to certain emails between Mayor Woolley and others. Mayor Woolley explained that the request is extensive and the clerk's office is handling it; it was delayed due to the election. City Clerk Bower confirmed the documents are ready to be reviewed, subject to attorney-client privilege review. Mayor Woolley stated that future investigative requests from individual council members would require council approval.
- Park Issues: Councilwoman Daniels raised concerns about vehicles driving on grass at Northwest Park. Police indicated that new flock cameras with motion tracking have been deployed and that patrols will be increased at identified times.
Key Outcomes
- Ethics Ordinance: First reading passed 7-0; second reading scheduled for next meeting with potential amendments.
- Judge Snow Subpoena: Motion passed 7-0 to close the public hearing. A separate motion to submit a complaint to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission passed 7-0, with direction to include transcript evidence of the judge's comments.
- Rezoning (Cornell St): First reading passed 4-2; second reading expected in two weeks.
- HVAC Contract: Approved 5-1.
- Towing RFQ: Councilwoman Daniels to submit her proposal; council to discuss at next meeting.
- FOIA: City Clerk to arrange review with Councilwoman Daniels.
- All other consent and regular agenda items passed unanimously unless noted.
Meeting Transcript
Supported by Councilwoman Witten. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all is in favor say yes. Yes. Yes. All is opposed to say no. Yes, is have it motion carried. Item 5.2 is a motion to approve the acceptance of the minutes of the meeting held July 16, 2024 and dispense with oral reading. Motion. Motion by Councilwoman Witton supported by Councilwoman Brandana. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all is in favor say yes. Yes. All is opposed, say no. Yes, the seven motion carry. That brings us to mayor's communication. Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Item 6.1 is a motion to approve the first reading of the amendment to the code code of ordinances, chapter 2, administration, article 3, division 3 standards of conduct. Is there a motion? Motion. Support motion by councilwoman Brandana supported by Councilman Johnson. Is there any discussion? Chairman. Councilwoman. Can we give an explanation of what the changes are? Mr. Plato? The Chair. Yeah, back on January 25th. I sent uh a memo to all the council members explaining what the changes are. There basically the changes are in three areas. The first is to be consistent with the donations policy that this council approved sometime last year, I think. Um there are certain gifts we didn't know we don't we don't want to be considered an ethics violation. For example, if the rotary um gives a scholarship to somebody uh in the rotary is doing business with the city that could technically be considered an ethics violation. So we we created those exceptions that are to be consistent with the uh city donation policy that's already been adopted. The other change was had to do with the process for filing an ethics complaint. Um the old ordinance said well the ordinance that's currently existing says that any complaint against uh anyone, any elected official in the city would come to the corporation council. Um what happens if you know the mayor or the administration or the corporation council is the one somebody wants to make an ethics complaint? Don't anticipate that ever happening, but um assume that's a possibility. Um I put in there to have an alternative method by which uh someone wants to file a complaint instead of coming through the corporation council, they can either go directly to um chair of the city council, Mr. Geis, or they can go to the ethics board, assuming we have one in place. And then the last change, which we talked about previously, is changing that part of the ordinance that currently requires there be a vote, a unanimous vote of the city council to place anybody on the ethics board. Uh the change would make that uh to be a simple majority of the council to appoint people to the ethics board. Um that's the way it's done in most other cities. Um Allen Park does that, Lavonia does that, um, and there's really no need to have unanimous approval of the entire council to appoint somebody to a board, and we obviously that's been an issue, and we need people to serve on the ethics board. Um, so we're trying to correct that situation. Thank you.
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