Agenda and documents

Meeting Highlights

Council candidate hopeful makes comments to the board

During the public comment session, Craig Waddell stood to address the council. Waddell put his name forward for the council seat vacated last year by Dan Salo and intends to run in the May election for the seat, too.

Among the items Waddell spoke on was what he felt was an unwillingness on the council to address suggestions from the public.

At the end of the meeting, Councilor Mike Needham addressed some of Waddell’s comments. He said comments and suggestions from the public are not ignored, but not all of them are accepted after consideration.

Editor’s Note: Councilor Joan Suits also addressed Waddell’s statements, but is unable to be heard clearly on the recording. This is due in part to an inadvertently changed setting on the recording microphone.

AT&T line location hangs up pier project

Due to “fuzzy” rules on easements for utility cables, the city hasn’t been able to get AT&T to locate the lines that run under the construction area for the new city pier. The city is now considering the possibility of altering the construction design to work around the unlocated lines to avoid breaking them.

Councilor Mike Needham asks some follow-up questions on the situation later in the meeting.

City update on Fire Station Co sign on Sharon Ave

I recommend either watching the video or reading this quite thorough write-up from the Detroit Metro Times which includes interviews with both the owners and City Manager Eric Waara.

Houghton officers grow beards for Project Lifesaver

If you were stopped by a hairy Houghton City police officer late last year, it was part of a fundraiser they did for “No Shave November”. The fun activity raised $180 for the local Project Lifesaver fund to help families enroll in the project to find lost wanderers quickly.

“From here on out, they need to shave,” Chief John Donnelly said.

Administrative subcommittee presents on suggested rules change

Councilor Mike Needham, as chairperson of the Administrative Subcommittee, presented their opinions on rules of order changes that have been suggested to them. He mostly defended how the council currently operates but did accept three suggestions, at least in part. One of them he said a slight wording change. Another confirms that the mayor has the power to call other councilors to order. The council also now plans to formalize how correspondence to the council is limited when read aloud.

The council took no immediate action on the rules changes but intends to take the matter up after the next November election.

Capitalization limit raised to $5,000

The council, under advice forwarded from their auditor, raised the capitalization limit from $500 to a more standard $5,000 limit. This limit is the monetary dividing line between an expense and an asset when something is purchased by the city.