Village of Constantine
Regular Council Meeting
April 19, 2010
Village Hall 7:30 P.M.

President Weiss called the regular Monday, April 19, 2010 meeting of the Constantine Village Council to order at 7:30PM at the Village Hall.

ROLL CALL
Present at Roll Call: Trustees Mark Brown, Robert Brewer, Willie Harder, Cindy LaFluer, Gary Mathers and Sarah Moore, and President Patricia Weiss. Other elected officials present: Treasurer Donna Strawser and Clerk Ruth Strawser. Village employees present: Manager Mark Honeysett and Administrative Assistant Diana Lammott. The pledge of allegiance followed Roll Call.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion by Brewer, Seconded by Moore, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 7- 0.

MINUTES - APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion by Brown, Seconded by LaFluer, to approve the Regular April 5, 2010 meeting minutes as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 7 - 0.

MINUTES - NEWSLETTER PRINTING OF APPROVED MINUTES Clerk Strawser informed President Weiss that she had provided abridged minutes for newsletter printing approval for March 15, 2010, had reminded the office upon learning they were missing from the packet, and so could not account for their absence from the meeting packet. She said she would re-submit them and an abridged version for the minutes written by Administrative Assistant Lammott for approval at the first meeting in May.

PAYMENT OF BILLS
Responses to raised questions: AXA Equitable retirement contribution costs (11 persons) are for the 2009-2010 year, the mid-month payments needed to be added to the bills total, and J&J Carpet Cleaning for Incubator will come from DDA funds.

Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brewer, to pay the bills and make the necessary transfers totaling $48,334.04. Motion passed by Roll Call 6 – 1. Voting YES: Brewer, Harder, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and Weiss. Voting NO: Brown.

PUBLIC HEARING – DRINKING WATER REVOLVING FUND (DWRF) WATER IMPROVEMENT
President Weiss opened the Public Hearing on the DWRF Improvement at 7:38PM.

No one rose to speak.

President Weiss closed the Public Hearing at 7:39PM.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
No one rose to speak.

MANAGER’S REPORT
Manager Honeysett listed the meetings that he attended in March 2010. He said the Village closed on MEDC SBI building purchased by Rhonda Mullins on March 31 st. Manager Honeysett also spoke directly about:

• The Village plans to purchase $6500.00 of 4 th of July fireworks from Night Magic.
• The 4 th of July parade will take place at 2:00PM and the route will be around Falcon Drive (the high school).
• The Little League will use two (2) portable pavilions instead of their preferred permanent structure since the latter could not be placed over water mains at the field.
• An assessment and report of administrative and departmental liability risk from the Michigan Township Participating Plan’s Pam Baker is available for review.
• The Value of Parks and Recreation to the Community seminar he and Diana Lammott attended in Lansing for improving the Riverview Park grant application.
• Meeting with MSHDA representative re: Rental Rehabilitation grants nd a subsequent public meeting on rental Rehab, Façade and Signature Building Initiative grants.

POLICE REPORT
Trustee Brewer read the police department spreadsheet of activities for the month of March 2010. The majority of citations were for speeding. Police Chief Bedell praised his officers’ good work.

DPW REPORT
Trustee Harder listed the DPW activities for the month of March 2010. He read a letter from the Village of White Pigeon thanking our Village/DPW for help with a March 16 th water break.

FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT
Trustee Moore listed the fire department activities and training for the month of March 2010, including training on the new SCBA air packs (received through grant).

Motion by Brewer, Seconded by Moore, to accept and file the Manager’s and Commissioners’ reports as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 7 – 0.

DWRF WATER IMPROVEMENT
Jon Moxey, Fleis & Vandenbrink, asked President Weiss to re-open the Public Hearing, citing the need to follow procedures.

President Weiss re-opened the Public Hearing on the DWRF Improvement at 7:50PM.

Jon Moxey spoke about the DWRF Water Improvement Project, the history of Village activity with the program (there was discussion whether there was a committee or not), and answered questions from the Council and audience including:

• The estimated project costs - $1,955,000 (est.)
• Anticipated water bill increases - $11.30/monthly minimum increase needed to pay back the project loans
• Revenue loss and water usage drop, especially when Rexam leaves (reducing the number of paying customers and the need for the project)
• The need - the Village is currently in compliance, but if the Village should grow, it might cause reliability concern under current State law
• Possible 30% principal forgiveness through federal stimulus funds (or other funding mechanisms)

The Council was assured that they were not approving a project, but selecting an alternative for future direction (future project plan); there is no obligation even after applying, response expected in early fall 2010.

President Weiss re-closed the Public Hearing at 8:23PM.

Motion by Brown, Seconded by Moore, to approve the Resolution [No. 10 – 03] (DWRF Water Improvement) as corrected, resolution number to be assigned. Motion passed by Roll Call 6 – 1. Voting YES: Brown, Harder, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and Weiss. Voting NO: Brewer.

Resolution No. 10 - 03

WHEREAS, the Village of Constantine is seeking low interest loans for water supply,

storage and distribution improvements under the State’s Drinking Water Revolving Fund; and

WHEREAS, a draft project plan has been prepared that has reviewed alternatives to address the water demands of the Village’s service area over the next 20 years; and

WHEREAS, the draft plan has been available for a 30-day public review/comment period and a public hearing was conducted on April 19, 2010 to solicit public participation.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that based on the costs and environmental evaluation of the alternatives, the Village has chosen Alternative D1/E1/F1 as the selected alternative for the final project plan. Alternative D1/E1/F1 includes a new 8-inch water main crossing of the St. Joseph River, a new 200,000-gallon elevated storage tank, a new well on the Village’s existing well site, increased filter capacity and maintenance of the Village’s existing elevated storage tank.

SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL
The final meeting for the Safe Routes to School Design Initiative meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at the Constantine High School LGI room at 6:30PM.

NEW BUSINESS

PARKS & RECREATION
Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brown, to release funds in the amount of $4,500 to the Constantine Parks and Recreation Board. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0. Voting YES: Brewer, Brown, Harder, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and Weiss. (This is a regular budgeted contribution.)

F.O.P. CONTRACT
Motion by Moore, Seconded by Brewer, to approve the proposed bargaining agreement between the Village of Constantine and the Fraternal Order of Police dated April 16, 2010. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0. Voting YES: Brewer, Brown, Harder, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and Weiss.

Changes to the current F.O.P. contract:

• Four-year contract beginning April 1, 2009 and terminating March 31, 2013
• Salary increase for full-time officers of %1.5% effective April 1, 2010
• Salary increase for part-time Officer Cerny from $12.00 to $18.00 per hour
• No salary increase for other part-time officers
• Enrollment in the Michigan Employees Retirement System (M.E.R.S.) with the employer contributing 4.36% and the employees contributing 5%. Any change in the contribution, up or down, will be shared by the employer and employee at the same rate (employer bearing 43.6% of the increase and employees bearing 56.4%)
• Wages and insurance benefits will be subject to negotiation effective April 1, 2011.

FLOODPLAIN ORDINANCE & RESOLUTION
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) are now requesting communities participating in national flood insurance adopt a resolution and ordinance to continue in the program. Clerk Strawser asked that any questions regarding the proposed resolution and Ordinance be cleared up prior to publication of the Public Hearing Notice since all documents have to be available to the public at that time. Manager Honeysett said he would speak to the Village attorney.

Motion by Brewer, Seconded by Moore, to set a public hearing for the purpose of receiving public comment on the proposed ordinance addressing floodplain management for 8:05PM at the Regular May 3, 2010 Village Council meeting. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0. Voting YES: Brewer, Brown, Harder, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and Weiss.

SOUTHERN MICHIGAN BANK ACCOUNT AGREEMENT – SIGNATORS
Kushner & Company, Portage, MI, will oversee the Health Reimbursement Insurance Account for Village employees’ deductible expenses, necessitating a third party administer agreement.

Motion by Moore, Seconded by Mathers, to adopt the Southern Michigan Bank & Trust Account agreement and Kushner & Company, 2427 W. Centre Avenue, Portage MI 49024 for the purpose of formalizing a bank account to reimburse employees’ deductible expenses, and deposits in the account will only be made as necessary to cover expenses incurred by the employees. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0. Voting YES: Brewer, Brown, Harder, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore and Weiss. (Health reimbursement insurance account; Kushner Company, Portage.)

TIME CHANGE – COUNCIL MEETINGS
Council was reminded that regular meetings begin at 8:00PM May 3 rd through September 2010.

Diana Lammott handed out flyers regarding the downtown merchants’ earth Day activities.

TR WATER BILL/MARCH 2010 CWP ACTIVITY REPORT
Clerk Strawser asked if the suspended solids were in violation and if so, by whom and at what charges, and was the usage higher than normal. There were complaints about the format of the report and questions as to its coverage. Manager Honeysett said that any increase in sewage flows was due to spring thaw and water infiltration prior to ProForm sewer lining. Treasure Strawser handed out the TR sewage bill, saying it was for information only since she had just received it the same day and it would be presented at the next Council meeting. When President Weiss asked if the Council wished to vote on the payment, Trustee Brown said he was longer going to approve any last minute bills. Several trustees also expressed frustration at the number of such instances.

ADJOURNMENT
Adjourned meeting at 8:52PM.

Ruth Strawser
Village Clerk

Included in the packet, but not formally discussed: March 2010 Revenue & Expense Report.