Village of Constantine
Regular Council Meeting
November 16, 2009
Village Hall 7:30 P.M.

President Weiss called the Regular November 16, 2009 Meeting of the Constantine Village Council to order at 7:30PM at the Village Hall.

ROLL CALL
Present at Roll Call: Trustees Brewer, Brown, Harder, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and President Weiss. Also present: Manager Honeysett, Chief Bedell, Treasurer Strawser, Administrative Assistant Lammott and Clerk Strawser. The pledge of allegiance followed Roll Call.

AGENDA
Motion by Brown, Seconded by Harder, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0. Amendment: Moved IX. New Business A. Audit Report to immediately following IV. Minutes.

MINUTES
Motion by LaFluer, Seconded by Mathers, to approve the November 2, 2009 Regular Meeting minutes as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 7 – 0.

Motion by Brown, Seconded by LaFluer, to approve the abridged version of the November 2, 2009 Regular Meeting minutes for newsletter publication. Motion passed by affirmation 7 – 0.

AUDIT REPORT
Rick Strawser, of Norman & Paulsen, led the Council through a cursory review of the annual audit report. He said the Village’s fund balance was on the low end of the recommended amount, but commended the Village’s fiscal responsibility of spending less money than budgeted. He said the DDA is operating in the black for the first time in a long time due to the capture of tax dollars through TIFTA. Auditor recommendations:

• the Council review the sewer rates to reduce the loss to the sewer fund and cover the expense of contracted usage fees from Three Rivers. Manager Honeysett said the Village is looking into a sewer and water rate study and is working to reduce water infiltration in the sewer system.
• the Manager review the payroll journal weekly
• speedier transfer of monies among appropriate funds and investments, amending the budget before the end of the fiscal year, to stop negative balances
• staff make weekly deposits of utility bill payments
• provide the Council with actual-to-budget comparison monthly to better track revenues/expense to stay on top of budgets, especially in the face of State budget cuts
• administrators keep an eye on the health of the banks where Village funds are currently housed in order to reduce risk.

Manager Honeysett said he will do an audit cost review before suggesting an RFP for audit services.

PAYMENT OF BILLS
In response to questions, Manager Honeysett said the Billy Goat Sidewalk Vacuum was a DDA purchase for downtown sidewalk cleaning; they purchased replacement computers from Mapletronics for the Village Manager and the Utility Billing Clerk (computer server); the audit cost an additional $400 this year, and that he would seek samples of RFP’s for auditors; Clerk Strawser offered to share information re: same from the MMAC ListServe. Treasurer Strawser pointed out the November 5, 2009 TR Clean Water Plant Sewer Services Bill showed a noticeable decrease in usage for September.

Motion by Brewer, Seconded by Mathers, to approve the bills and make the necessary transfers totaling $76, 283.39. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
President Weiss welcomed the CHS students in attendance.

Bruce Caswell spoke as a candidate for the 16 th District State Senate seat.

In response to Treasurer Strawser’s questions, Manager Honeysett said that despite repeated attempts, they have not received a response from the State on the original MSHDA building grants’ completions.

Treasurer Strawser thanked Officer Sherer for his years of service; he has resigned from the Police Department.

Administrative Assistant Lammott invited everyone to help decorate the downtown and Shelby Park evergreen for Christmas, and announced the tentative dates for “Christmas in Constantine”.

CONSENT AGENDA

Manager Honeysett read the list of meetings he attended in October 2009, expanding on some items as per performance review request:

• Met with Bob Jackson, Jackson International, prior to insurance claim closure.
• The energy-saving decorative lamps for a proposed downtown lighting grant application are unavailable, so the Village cannot meet the grant application deadline.
• The SW City/County Manager’s Association monthly meetings allow Manager Honeysett to share ideas and discussion in the administration and problem solving of local government.

Police Commissioner Brewer gave a synopsis of the October 2009 Police Department report. While tickets issued are up from last month, they are still below yearly averages, due in part because the department is two men short.

DPW Commissioner Harder gave a synopsis of the October 2009 DPW report. Much time was spent with the leaf program and getting ready for winter.

Fire Commissioner Moore read the October 2009 Fire Department report. Eleven firefighters were trained on flashovers; there was additional in-house training. Chief Haydon attended the MI Emergency Management Conference for homeland security as well as major event and natural disaster response.

Motion by Brewer, Seconded by Moore, to accept and file the Manager’s and Commissioners’ reports as presented.

UNSAFE BUILDING – 557 OSBORN STREET
Roberts Brothers Excavating received State permission to begin demolition of the buildings at 557 Osborn Street; demolition expected to be complete before December.

SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL GRANT
The November 9 th Safe Routes to School meeting at the high school was a brainstorming session attended by 20-25 people. The remaining two meetings have yet to be scheduled.

CURED-IN-PLACE SLEEVING and SEWER AD HOC UPDATE
Manager Honeysett said ProForm was informed of their bid approval and are scheduling the work. In response to questions, Manager Honeysett said the Village will provide the contract for their signature. Sewer Ad Hoc Chairperson Mathers thanked the DPW’s Hamminga and King, and Fleis & Vandenbrink representatives for their ongoing expertise on sewer and water issues. Discussion followed on Sewer Ad Hoc business conducted at the October 29 & 31, 2009 Sewer Ad Hoc Committee meetings.

Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brown, to authorize the Village Manager to contract with ProForm Pipe Lining of Mishawaka, Indiana to install cured-in-place lining in a 350 foot section of 8-inch sewer line in the Garden Street neighborhood at a cost of $15,225 in conjunction with the West water Street project. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0. (By doing the additional sleeving, based on Page 8 bid specs, in conjunction with the previously approved work, the Village avoids the staging and mobilization fees.)

Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brown, authorizes the Village Manager to work with Fleis & Vandenbrink Engineering to develop a Request for Proposals (RFPs) for the purchase of two flow meters. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0. (The specifications for the flow meters will conform to the recommendation of the sewer engineer.)

Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brown, to authorize the Village Manager to contract with Clean Earth, Grand Rapids, MI for camera work of 175 feet of 6-inch sewer line on the 100 block of East Water Street at a cost not to exceed $200. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0.

Trustees were asked to set carpooling arrangements following the meeting for the Newly Elected Officials training in Kalamazoo.

Clerk Strawser announced that the new digital recorder was working well, but an additional two (2) microphones needed to be purchased for optimum performance, as well as a laptop to download accompanying software to burn meeting proceedings to storage media, as she was not comfortable at the increasing use of her personal computer for Village business.

In response to questions, Manager Honeysett said he would provide an explanation regarding the large amount of money in line item #694.000 Miscellaneous in the quarterly Revenue/Expenditure Report at the next meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 8:51PM.

Ruth Strawser
Village Clerk