Meeting Minutes for March 17, 2008

OFFICIAL COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
MARCH 17, 2008

A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Harbor Beach was held on Monday,
March 17, 2008 at City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Swartz.

Present: Burkhard, Goniewicha, Kleinknecht, Wood and Mayor Swartz
Finance Officer Youatt

Absent: None

Council added a presentation from DTE plant manager Tim Kerry to the agenda. Also, a proposal for a fire alarm system for the Grice Museum and a letter of resignation from Tom
Grates, DPW Light Equipment Operator, all under New Business. It was moved by Kleinknecht, seconded by Burkhard to approve the agenda with additions. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Burkhard, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve minutes of the March 3, 2008 Council meeting as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Goniewicha, seconded by Burkhard to approve minutes of the March 5, 2008
Negotiating Committee meeting as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Citizen Comment: Wendall Koehn informed Mr. Youatt that Lou LaPonsie has retired as City Manager of Sandusky and that the citizens of Harbor Beach would give him a good recommendation if he applied for the job.

Jennifer Hornbostel inquired if City Council would be interested in purchasing an ad in a brochure promoted by the Tip of the Thumb Heritage Water Trail Committee. It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve an ad in the amount of $ 100 for the brochure. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

John Firtzgibbon inquired about the high speed calling system the City has and how it works if no one answers the phone. Councilmember Wood replied that the City would receive a printout from the company which indicates the number of calls to residents in the calling area.

Jack Kriete asked about how the system works when a recording answers the call. Councilmember Wood stated the system would indicate no contact.

Bill Duerr asked if you aren’t called, how does a person know if they are on the list. Youatt stated during a test, if anyone knows they haven’t been called, they should report their phone number to City Hall and we would make sure their number is added to the system.

Pam Semp stated many people have cell phones. Youatt stated those people should contact City Hall to have their numbers put into the system.

Council discussed running a test of the CAN system this Spring and to advertise notice of the test in the paper ahead of time to let people know that it is only a test of the system and also to notify the City if they are not contacted during the test.

Lee Elliott asked if the City Council would be advertising for a new City Administrator since Mr.
Youatt will be interviewed in West Branch. Youatt replied his status with the City has not changed and there is no need to advertise a position when it is not open.

Lee Elliott also inquired about when the Zoning Administrator position changed from Mr. Youatt’s responsibility. Youatt stated it was some time ago and that the job description for the Finance Officer/Clerk position has not been updated in recent years.

OLD BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS: It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve renewal of the water tower maintenance agreement with CORRPRO at a cost of $ 1,205. Motion carried
5 yeas.

Tim Kerry, DTE site manager, reviewed a DEQ program called Neighborhood Environmental Partners and proposed the City partner with DTE for this program. A meeting will be scheduled soon to go over the program with DTE.

Council reviewed a proposal from Thumb Alarm to install a fire alarm system for the Grice Museum at a cost of $ 370, plus $ 32.95 per month for monitoring, for a three year contract.
It was moved by Kleinknecht, seconded by Wood to approve the proposal as submitted.
Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Goniewicha, seconded by Burkhard to accept the resignation of Tom Grates,
DPW Light Equipment Operator, effective March 17, 2008. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Engineer Report: Wade Trim engineer Cory Davis was present and reviewed progress on the Sanitary Sewer Retention Basin project. He also reviewed Change Order # 2 for the project, resulting in an increase in the contract of $ 10,272. It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve Change Order # 2 in the contract with RCL Construction in the amount of $ 10,272. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Finance Officer Report: Ads have been placed in the “Thumb Blanket” and on the Michigan Municipal League website for City Assessor services, with a deadline of March 28th. Provided Council with suggested mediation dates for the Police Union negotiations. Council suggested April 9th. Youatt will contact the Union to set up the mediation session. A meeting with DTE
street lighting group for the Sanitary Sewer Retention Basin is scheduled for tomorrow at
11:00 a.m. A meeting with water operators, Wade Trim and DEQ is scheduled for next Monday,
March 24th at 1:00 p.m. at City Hall. A Negotiating Committee meeting is scheduled for this
Wednesday, March 19th at 3:00 p.m.

Council Reports: A construction progress meeting with RCL Construction is scheduled for
March 26th at 3:00 p.m .

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Tom Youatt, City Clerk