Village of Constantine
Regular Council Meeting
March 15, 2010
Village Hall 7:30 P.M.

President Weiss called the Regular March 15, 2010 Meeting of the Constantine Village Council to order at 7:30PM at the Village Hall.

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

AGENDA
Motion by Mathers, seconded by Moore, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 6- 0. (Absent: Harder.)

MINUTES
Motion by Brown, seconded by Mathers, to approve the Regular March 1, 2010 meeting minutes as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 6 – 0. (Absent: Harder.)

NEWSLETTER PRINTING OF MINUTES
Motion by Brown, Seconded by Mathers, to approve the abridged version of the Regular March 1, 2010 meeting minutes as presented for newsletter printing. Motion passed by affirmation 6 – 0. (Absent: Harder.)

MINUTES
Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brewer, to approve the February 27, 2010 Budget Work Session minutes as corrected. Motion passed by Roll Call 4-1. Voting YES: Brewer, LaFluer, Mathers and Weiss. Voting NO: Brown. Abstain: Moore, due to absence. (Absent: Harder.)

Corrections: Paragraph 2, Line 2 -- Manager Honeysett led the discussion on how to compensate for the loss of Rexam revenues (taxes) expected to be approximately $26,000 in 2010 and $180,000 in 2011 as well as cuts in Revenue Sharing (information from the State website) and other possible deficits due the economy . – to read – Manager Honeysett led the discussion on how to compensate for the loss of Rexam revenues (taxes) and State revenue sharing.

NEWSLETTER PRINTING OF MINUTES
Motion by LaFluer, Seconded by Brown, to approve the abridged version of the February 27, 2010 Budget Work Session minutes for newsletter printing. Motion passed by affirmation 5- 0. Abstain: Moore, due to absence. (Absent: Harder.)

MINUTES
Motion by Brewer, Seconded by LaFluer, to approve the March 8, 2010 Budget Work Session minutes as corrected. . Motion passed by Roll Call 3 -2. Voting YES: Brewer, LaFluer and Weiss. Voting NO: Brown and Mathers. Abstain: Moore. (Absent: Harder.) Corrections: assorted typographical errors and - Page 1, Paragraph 2, bullet point 1, Line 2 - Manager Honeysett said that the DDA might assume a larger portion of Diana Lammott’s total compensation since most of what Ms. Lammott currently does for the Village is DDA-related. – change to - Manager Honeysett said that the DDA might assume a larger portion of Diana Lammott’s total compensation since much of what Ms. Lammott currently does for the Village is DDA-related. Page 1, Paragraph 2, bullet point 2, Lines 1 & 2– Police Sgt. Studebaker may agree to either take early retirement or move to part-time while maintaining full benefits. Any lost man-hours would be filled by Chief Bedell (who is currently spending his time on the Parrack investigation and administrative functions versus patrol) or reserve officers. – change to – Police Sgt. Studabaker may agree to either take early retirement or move to part-time while maintaining half benefits. Any lost man-hours would be filled by Chief Bedell (who is currently spending his time on the Parrack investigation and administrative functions versus patrol) or part-time officers.

NEWSLETTER PRINTING OF MINUTES
Motion by Harder, Seconded by Brown, to approve the abridged version of the March 8, 2010 Budget Work Session minutes as presented for newsletter printing. Motion passed by affirmation 6 – 0. Motion passed by affirmation 5 – 0. Abstain: Moore, due to absence. (Absent: Harder.)

PAYMENT OF BILLS
Questions raised and responded to re: the bills

• Bush &Bush (legal) charges are for the retainer and yearly cost
• Byler Electric decorative street light repair costs will be reimbursed by the DDA
• Richland Machine & Pump costs are for repair to the Patterson pump caused by grit damage
• City of Three Rivers charges are for two months sewer service; Three Rivers’ miscalculation of metered service charges in mid-2009 resulted recently in adjusted costs to the Village.
• Repairs were made to two (2) police squad cars, one being put back into patrol use and the other sold to Chicago Auto Sales for $1,400.00.

Motion by Brown, Seconded by Weiss, to pay the bills and make the necessary transfers totaling $153,956.46. Motion passed by Roll Call 6 – 0. Voting YES: Brewer, brown, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and Weiss. (Absent: Harder.)

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Diana Lammott invited everyone to participate in the Downtown Brainstormers’ Chili Throwdown.

CONSENT AGENDA
Manager Honeysett listed the meetings that he attended in February 2010. There was a second page included in the manager’s report that included information on a Rental Rehabilitation Site visit to Dowagiac with DDA President Piper and a short training on grant writing for the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant.

POLICE REPORT
Trustee Brewer listed the police department activities for the month of February 2010.

Chief Bedell posited explanation for the ratio of tickets v man-hours, crediting his officers, and mentioned instituting some restructuring of citation breakdowns.

DPW REPORT
Manager Honeysett listed the DPW activities for the month of February 2010, correcting an error re: sewer line repairs to Station Street. He said that stopgap repairs by the DPW to the interior of the DDA apartment would be paid by the DDA.

FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT
Trustee Moore listed the fire department activities for the month of February 2010. Chief Haydon explained the process and his working with the Village bookkeeper and auditor on the AFG Grant (FEMA) to replace all firefighting gear from helmets to boots, with any cost differences already covered in the Fire Department budget. Trustee Moore commended the Fire Department for their reaction at several serious accidents.

Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brewer, to accept and file the Manager’s and Commissioners’ reports as presented in the consent agenda. Motion passed by affirmation 6 – 0. (Absent: Harder.)

SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL
Manager Honeysett reminded everyone of the second meeting for the Safe Routes to School Design Initiative at Constantine High School for March 24 th, 2010. The public and the council are strongly encouraged to attend.

2010-2011 BUDGET
Clerk Strawser stressed that she be informed of any public notices published bearing the imprint of her office prior to their publication, citing possible legal issues arising from the premature publication of hearing(s) not yet set by the Council. She said that she did not appreciate that earlier assurances were violated; especially since public notice requirements were mentioned at two recent meetings.

Motion by Brewer, Seconded by Moore, to set a special meeting and public hearing for Monday, March 22, 2010 at 7:3PM, and the public hearing for 7:35PM, at the Village Hall to receive comments on and to consider for approval, the proposed 2010-2011 budget and year-end budget adjustments. Motion passed by Roll Call 6 – 0. Voting YES: Brewer, Brown, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and Weiss. (Absent: Harder.)

DWRF WATER IMPROVEMENT
Motion by Mathers, Seconded by LaFluer, to set a public hearing for the regular April 19, 2010 meeting at 7:35PM at the Village Hall, for the purpose to receive comment on the proposed Drinking Water Revolving Fund.

MDOT SIGNAL UPGRADE
The Council declined MDOT’s offer to upgrade the pedestrian signals at North Washington and Broad Streets, and South Washington and West Sixth Streets to countdown signals, citing the added cost. MDOT has/will upgrade the pedestrian signals to LED lights. Manager Honeysett said he will confirm previous financial arrangements made between the Village and Constantine Public Schools re: maintenance of the Sixth Street signal.

President Weiss referred trustees to the Revenue/Expenditure Report, asking for questions or comments. In response to Trustee Mathers’ questions, Manager Honeysett said the large Miscellaneous line item figures were partly due to monies not yet being spread to the appropriate funds.

Adjourned meeting at 8:25PM.

Ruth Strawser
Village Clerk

Included in the packet, but not formally discussed: February 2010 Pipeline Activity Report.