Meeting Minutes for May 21, 2007

OFFICIAL COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
MAY 21, 2007

A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Harbor Beach was held on Monday,
May 21, 2007 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

Corrections/Additions to Agenda: Citizen Comment was added after Approval of Bills and Beautification Award program was added under Old Business. It was moved by Kleinknecht, seconded by Burkhard to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve the minutes of the May 7, 2007 Council meeting as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Goniewicha, seconded by Burkhard to approve the minutes of the May 9, 2007 Police Committee meeting as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

A bill from Wade-Trim in the amount of $ 1,263.60 for IPP Management Assistance was presented to Council. It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve payment of the bill as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Citizen Comment: Jack Kriete thanked Al Kleinknecht and Tony Burkhard for their work on the Kayak/Canoe Watertrail event this past weekend.

Jennifer Hornbostel commented on feedback from the East Coast Paddlers kayak group on their website, which was very complimentary of the City.

OLD BUSINESS: Jennifer Kerry informed Council of the Beautification Award For Citizens of Harbor Beach program. There are three categories for the program, including Most Improved,
Continued Excellence and Most Festive. Forms can be obtained at City Hall.

NEW BUSINESS: Resolution # 2007-14, “MERS Health Care Savings Program,” was presented to Council. The Resolution would approve a Health Care Savings Program Participation Agreement by adding the following groups of employees for Sick Leave Conversion at Retirement, only: General, Police, Finance Officer/Clerk and Police Chief. Following discussion, it was moved by Kleinknecht, seconded by Wood to adopt Resolution # 2007-14 as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Resolution # 2007-15, “Storage Space Lease Agreement,” was presented to Council. The Resolution would approve an agreement with Brad Essenmacher to lease storage space at the old City Hall building, located at 149 North First Street, at a cost of $ 225.00 per month, or $ 1,800 for the 8 month lease period of April 1, 2007 to November 30, 2007. It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to adopt Resolution # 2007-15 as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Engineer Report: Engineer Bergdolt reviewed with Council the completion of the Part III application for the MDEQ State Revolving Loan Fund program. By mid-June the construction contract, bonds and insurance issues with RCL Construction should be completed and a pre-
construction meeting should be held as well. The exterior finish of the sanitary sewer retention basin for the concrete walls needs to be selected soon and Wade-Trim will provide samples for Council to review. Mr. Bergdolt also discussed progress on the City’s Industrial Pre-treatment
Program (IPP). A meeting with DEQ was held in Bay City on May 10th to review the current status of the approval process. The DEQ is working on recalculation of plant limitations regarding conventional parameters, such as BOD, TSS, Phosphorous and Amonia which have been requested by Dow AgroSciences to maximize their operational capabilities.

Finance Officer Report: Attended the annual MML Region V meeting in Sandusky on May 18th with Mayor Swartz and Councilmember Goniewicha. Work continues on the 2007-08 budget which should be completed and ready for Council review this week. The Negotiating Committee continues work on new employment agreements for the employees. The Watertrail Kayak/Canoe event this past weekend was successful. Discussed with Council a recent Letter to the Editor of the “Harbor Beach Times” which appeared to criticize Council for approving a resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds for construction of the sanitary sewer retention basin not to exceed $ 4,600,000, which was a $ 400,000 increase from a previous bond resolution of
$ 4,200,000. Youatt stated that if Council had not approved the increased bond authorization, the City could have lost a significant amount of funds by delaying the project. Youatt stated that, in approving the increased funding, the Council made a fiscally responsible decision.

Council Reports: Councilmember Kleinknecht reviewed the successful Watertrail event this past weekend with Council. Councilmember Goniewicha stated the MML Region V meeting in Sandusky was very educational. Mayor Swartz stated the City has received a Default Judgement on the dangerous building located at 403 Lytle Avenue. Also reminded the public of the Memorial Day parade and service on May 28th.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:47 p.m.

Tom Youatt, City Clerk