Village of Constantine
Regualr Council Meeting
February 15, 2010
Village Hall 7:30 P.M.

President Weiss called the Regular February 15, 2010 Meeting of the Constantine Village Council to order at 7:31PM at the Village Hall.

President Weiss appointed Manager Honeysett as recording secretary.

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

AGENDA
Motion by Brewer, seconded by Brown, to approve the agenda as set forth. Motion passed by affirmation 7- 0.

MINUTES
Motion by Brown, seconded by Mathers, to approve the Regular February 1, 2010 meeting minutes as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 6 – 0. President Weiss abstained having been absent from that meeting.

NEWSLETTER PRINTING OF MINUTES
Motion by Harder, seconded by Brown, to approve the abridged version of the Regular February 1, 2010 meeting minutes as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 6 – 0. President Weiss abstained.

PAYMENT OF BILLS
Trustee Brewer questioned squad car repair costs of more than $1,000. Manager Honeysett explained that most of the cost was for a new fuel pump and tires for (police) Patrol Car #41. Honeysett explained that the car will be used primarily for non-patrol activities including a car for the police chief to use when neither of the marked cars are available, and for use for transportation to court, training and other non-emergency activities. The car will also be available as a back-up in the event that one or both of the marked cars are out-of-service.

Trustee Brewer also asked about a bill for Core Technologies. Manager Honeysett explained that Core replaces LABTUD as the source for and technical support for the police department records software. LABTUD’s owner and primary technician passed away so a new vendor had to be located. Chief Bedell also told the council that all of the smaller police departments in St. Joseph County are contracting with Core.

Trustee Mathers asked about the status of the roof repair at the incubator building. Honeysett explained that the repair is a work-in-progress since the leak has not been completely stopped but that the cost of repair is to be borne by the DDA.

Trustee Mathers asked about the sewer bill from the City of Three Rivers. The bill listed lab analysis in the amount of $10,911.87. After some discussion both P. Weiss and M. Brown suggested that payment of the Three Rivers bill be postponed until questions can be resolved. M. Brown moved, seconded by G. Mathers, to pay the bills in the amount of $39,166.78, omitting the bill to the City of Three Rivers in the amount of $44,603.11 until clarification is received. The vote passed by roll call 7-0. Voting Yes: Brewer, Brown, Harder, LaFluer, Mathers, Moore & Weiss. Voting No: None. No abstentions.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
President Weiss welcomed the CHS students in attendance. No one rose to speak.

CONSENT AGENDA
Manager Honeysett listed the meetings that he attended in January, 2010. There was a second page included in the manager’s report that included expanded information on the Cool Cities, the United Way and S.O.S.A.C. meetings.

POLICE REPORT
Trustee Brewer listed the police department activities for the month of January, 2010, noting that the ratio of warnings to citations has changed. He gave the police department a “pat on the back” for that statistic. Trustee Brewer also noted that the arrest statistics don’t include the types of arrests and asked if future reports could include a breakdown of felonies versus misdemeanors and other details. Chief Bedell said that will be done.

DPW REPORT
Trustee Harder listed the DPW activities for the month of January, 2010.

FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT
Trustee Moore listed the fire department activities for the month of January, 2010, including a breakdown of the location of fire and rescue responses. She also included information on the approval of a Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant to replace up to 5 Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (air packs) with a 50% match. The matching funds will come from memorial money. Two bids have been received and the fire board approved ordering two new SCBAs which were ordered from Argus-Haxco at a cost of $17,964 and should arrive in about three weeks. Chief Haydon is still awaiting a response on the AFG grant from FEMA.

Trustee Brewer moved, supported by Trustee Moore, to accept the consent agenda. The motion passed by affirmation 7-0.

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

CONSTANTINE PARKS & RECREATION FIVE-YEAR PLAN
Manager Honeysett announced that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources & Environment has approved five-year plan that was recently submitted by the Parks and Recreation Board. The approval means that we are eligible to apply for grants from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. Honeysett announced plans to re-submit a grant application for improvements to Riverview Park, after approval from the council.

2010-2011 BUDGET WORKSHOP
Manager Honeysett asked for permission to schedule a budget workshop for Saturday, February 27 th at 9:00 a.m. Permission was received and the workshop scheduled.

Included in the packet but not discussed was a memo from Manager Honeysett to the council that details events at an accident that the fire department responded to on January 28 th, 2010, an article from Time.Com on the topic of “Saving Michigan”, and the Revenue and Expense Report for the period from April 1, 2009 through January 31, 2010.

Adjourned meeting at 8:01PM.

Mark Honeysett
Recording Secretary