Hamtramck Star

Klein asked for a resolution congratulating Robert Cornwell who was given the Pilgrim Degree of Merit by the National Order of Mooses. The resolution passed unanimously.

Algazali asked to recognize the Bangladesh Association for the community event held the previous weekend. The resolution passed unanimously.

Public comment

Bob Zwolak said he had a question about the resolution to ask the ZBA to reconsider a curb cut. Zwolak thought the ZBA had resolved the issue. Majewski interrupted him to say that they would deal with it when it came up on the agenda, and that he should ask his question. Zwolak asked if council could do it. Majewski said they would discuss the answer to his question later.

Follow up:

John Justewicz said there are many ZBA opinions that he doesn't agree with, and "forward thinkers" think that houses shouldn't have driveways because it is dangerous. However, the business on Caniff has never had a driveway, and there is a business on Conant and Commor that has been using an illegal parking lot for 10 years.

During the recent flood in Hamtramck, some people were affected worse than others because the retention pond at Joseph Campau and Holbrook was filled. Majewski interrupted him to ask if it was on the agenda. Justewicz said that they never have anything on the agenda that pertains to the city.

Public hearing

There were no comments from the public during the public hearing on a city-wide PILOT ordinance.

Unfinished business

PILOT ordinance: Gordon asked why the ordinance was presented and if it was required. No one would answer her question. She asked who put it on the agenda. No one would answer. She asked the city attorney's representative. He said he didn't know.

Cooper explained that the ordinance was to cover the whole city. Individual projects would still have to go before the city council, but they could be passed by resolution rather than ordinance.

Gordon said that Colonel Hamtramck homes pays a PILOT of 10%, and R-31 housing pays 6%. She asked why the new ordinance was approving 4%. Cooper couldn't answer why that was. Gordon asked if the city would loose money by lowering PILOT rates for HUD and R-31 housing. Cooper thought it would only apply to new developments. Gordon asked if the ordinance was meant to pertain to the MSHDA project above the proposed Aldi. Cooper wasn't sure.

Gordon asked for an opinion from the attorney. The attorney said he would have to look into it. Gordon asked how the ordinance could be approved if no one could answer her questions. The attorney said it was placed on the agenda and could be voted on. Gordon asked if Allen Brothers drafted it and what it would apply to. The attorney did not know who placed it on the agenda.

Gordon voted to table the ordinance until her questions are answered. Ahemd, Algazali, Gordon, Shulgon, and Stackpoole voted to table it. Only Klein voted to continue the discussion. The resolution was tabled.

Consent agenda

Gordon was not allowed to remove items from the consent agenda. She asked if she could motion to suspend the rules; Majewski told her it was too late. Gordon and Algazali voted against it. Shulgon abstained because he is a former employee of Kowalski Companies. Klein, Stackpoole, Ahmed, and Majewski voted for it and the consent agenda passed.

New business

ZBA reconsideration: Klein and Ahmed put forth the resolution. Algazali said they should table it and research the process.

Gordon asked who put the agenda together. Cooper said he and the city clerk put it together. Majewski said she received it the same time as Gordon. Gordon pointed out that the charter calls for the agenda to be set by the city manager and the mayor.

Gordon said that the issue was about a curb cut that she was approached about in January. She asked someone on the Zoning Board, and she was told that there wasn't an appeals process. Crawford told her that he wouldn't put it on the agenda because there is no appeals process. On January 9, the MML sent her an e-mail that says the ZBA decision is final, and the appropriate venue for appeals is the Circuit Court. The Michigan Zoning Enabling Act states that all ZBA decisions shall be final, and all appeals are to be made to the Circuit Court. An attorney general opinion states that no official can appear or speak before the zoning board on any individual variance. Gordon asked how the council could pass a resolution ordering the ZBA to reverse their decision. The decision was made in November, and was now being brought to council 9 months later.

Cooper said he was not aware of the state law. The resolution was requesting reconsideration and not demanding it, and the wording was chosen carefully because the council cannot order the ZBA to do anything. The ZBA is a separate body, totally separate from the city council. If it can't be done, then it should be pulled off, but he didn't see anything wrong with it.

Algazali motioned to table it. No one seconded the motion. Gordon said that she would table it, but it isn't legal. She spoke to the Attorney General, and the MML and State concur with his opinion, so she would not vote for it. Gordon has no problem with the curb cut, but the ordinance should be changed. Majewski said Gordon's statement didn't make sense because the reconsideration is prohibited by state law and not the ordinance.

Gordon asked what happened between January and July that the item was put on the agenda. Majewski asked what she meant. Gordon said it was never brought up at a council meeting, and the variance was denied last year. The business is operating and construction is finished. Majewski said she didn't understand why that was an issue.

Shulgon said that children play in the alley, and cars have to go through the alley to use the lot. He said the driveway would improve safety, and agrees it should be reconsidered. He is also concerned about the building on the corner of Caniff causing car accidents. The business owner also asked him what could be done, and Shulgon thinks they have the "power and authority" to ask the board to reconsider.

Ahmed said the owner also spoke to him, and kids play and ride bikes in the alley. They were just asking the board to reconsider, and businesses should have more chances to do business in the city.

Algazali wanted to table the resolution to research it, because it has to be done legally.

Gordon said they talked about children who use the alley, but not about the children who walk home from school, the bicyclists on the street, and the old ladies using walkers on the sidewalk. She asked if they wanted to risk people being hit by cars coming out of the driveway.

Gordon asked how many tickets the business owner bought for Majewski's fundraiser three weeks ago. Majewski said she didn't know. Gordon said he was there and bought at least two tickets. She thought it was odd that the issue was placed on the agenda 9 months after the decision, and after buying tickets to Majewski's fundraiser.

Gordon tried to second Algazali's earlier motion to table, but Majewski said the motion was no longer being considered.

Klein admitted to putting the resolution on the agenda, and said that Chris Cornwell asked him to. He said that he talked to Kalogerakos of Allen Brothers and was told that it was okay to put on the agenda as long as the resolution expresses an opinion and doesn't give an order. Klein said that the Attorney General's opinion uses the term "improper" and not "illegal", which he claims is a substantial difference because "illegal" actions are crimes, while "improper" actions are just things that they probably shouldn't do.

Klein said that on hearing the situation of someone trying to open a grocery store on Holbrook, and without campaign donations, he "persuaded the Economic Development Director to place a motion to reconsider" on the ZBA agenda to reconsider variances. He also "facilitated" other meetings about that project between city officials and others "to make sure it went forward".

Klein said he resented Gordon's comment about things being done for donations, and claimed that he had heard that said about her. Gordon laughed and said, "Prove it." Majewski said that was enough.

Shulgon said Gordon had brought up and interesting point about children walking, and suggested that the block the entrances to the city parking lot on Caniff. The party store across the street has driveways, as does a car wash, and the city could block up their driveways and put those businesses out for the safety of the children.

Gordon and Algazali voted against it, but the resolution passed.

City manager reports

Cooper said that there were many phone calls about the flooding, and city personnel and contractors were out clearing drains and some sewer lines as best they could. Since the flooding, they've implemented a program to inspect the sewers and clean lines in the worst areas. Some had no flooding while others had 3 feet in the basement. Some lines were clogged, and one sewer line had collapsed. The program will assure that the lines are cleaned, inspected, and repaired going forward. The process will be costly and time consuming, and the city will have to be done in zones over the next 2 to 3 years. The ideal fix is a sewer separation. The state mandates it and the city wants to do it, but it will cost between $30 million and $40 million. Separation would also require access to Detroit's storm water runoff system and solving of potential problems with that, or our own line to the river, which is about 5 miles away and another $4 million to $5 million to build. It may have to be done in the future, and the city will maintain sewers better to avoid flooding.

There were questions at the previous meeting about a house on Danforth. The city replaced sidewalk that was damaged, but the resident is asking for more.

Illegal curb cuts were discovered during street projects. One resident complained to the DPW director about the blocking of a curb cut that went to an illegal driveway. The director offered him the alternative of going through the process of obtaining a curb cut legally. The owner also owns the property next door.

Cooper said that a resolution at the last meeting to hold a public hearing about an alley vacation behind 9800 and 9808 Joseph Campau was handled properly by the council, but there was an oversight by the administration. Four weeks notice has to be given before a public hearing can be held. He said the public hearing would be rescheduled for August 5.

Klein said the sidewalk replacements by DTE construction crews around the city is substandard, and he wants to pursue full restoration from DTE because they do not do this in other cities. Cooper said he would schedule a meeting with DTE. There are certain standards DTE has to meet, but those standards are far below the standards that were set when the work was done on Joseph Campau. They have done proper restoration in other communities, and he will try to get it here.

Algazali asked if the work between Caniff and Evaline was on the sewer. Cooper didn't know. Klein said it was DTE.

Algazali said there was a problem with a stop sign on Dan or Berres Street.

Gordon asked Cooper and Nazarko if accounting was being done for the $15,000 loan that the council gave to the EDC. When she asked Nazarko about it, he wasn't aware of it. Nazarko took the podium to explain that the money for the EDC is coming from the general fund, and he doesn't have to create a separate fund for that. Gordon asked if accounting is being kept to be sure that they don't overspend, or if they could just keep spending. Nazarko said that they could keep spending up to $15,000, and that it is put through as an account in the economic development department. Gordon asked if she could see it. Nazarko said she could, but not right then. Algazali asked if the EDC would have to go back to council if they needed more money. Nazarko said they could scrutinize the bills on the fund warrant list and he would give them a heads-up if the money is exhausted.

Public comment

Steve Shaya agreed that Joseph Campau looks horrible. The city should do everything possible to have the washed aggregate restored that cost the city $2.2 million.

Mike Davis of Wyandotte Street had 2 1/2 feet of rain water and human waste in his basement. This is the second time it has happened in 3 years, and the second insurance claim he has filed. At this rate, he will be uninsurable in another 3 years. The damage this time is far more than he will be able to claim on insurance. He hopes cleaning works, but going to a separate system is necessary. He can deal with rain water in the basement, but not the raw sewage.

John Justewicz said the discussion of the retention ponds on Holbrook and Joseph Campau showed the council had no knowledge about them. As a councilperson, he had concerns about the retention pond the Henry Ford clinic was supposed to put in and never did. The city water department also bulkheaded the sewer on Wyandotte, which was not supposed to be part of that project. The water in the area can only go West. The pond on Holbrook was there to relieve the pressure after a dynamic rain. During the flood of 1976, when the truckers had to sit on top of their cabs on the freeway, some people in Hamtramck had flooding where there were plugged lines, but the majority did not have water in their basements. He had 40 inches of water in his finished basement. That has never happened before. It happened because the city filled the retention pond. There is a formula based on the area of the parking lot and amount of rain. When the ponds were built, the neighborhood no longer had flooding. It is a loop system, and all the water goes to Joseph Campau, St. Aubin, or Lumpkin. He questioned how Ford was allowed to bulkhead two sewer lines. The clinic bought the land as-is, and he questioned that as a member of the EDC. The land was part of the former site of Hamtramck High School. Wyandotte and Brombach were never vacated by the city, yet the property was sold to the clinic. A previous mayor told him that the clinic was greedy, but the city attorney had taken care of it. They acquired 14 lots on Wyandotte and cut off the sewer. Now there is a dead spot in the loop system.

Justewicz asked what kind of a moron would fill in the retention pond at the parking lot, and said the council always has the same dumb look, not listening to people. His mother was on the council 25 years, and she always answered their questions. He lost everything in the basement, including most of the history of his family. When they filled the pond, he said this would happen and that he hoped it didn't happen to him. Klein said it would look good, and that the retention pond was not maintained. The retention pond behind Glory is still not maintained. Engineers said the pond was needed. People are talking about suing the city, and he'll be with them. There was no reason to use $13,000 of city money on private property to fill the pond. There was no oversight of the Ford project and bulkheading of the sewers. There aren't many homeowners left, and it is a waste of time going to council meetings because the decisions are made before the meeting.

Shulgon said Justewicz isn't the only one with a problem, and every time it rains, he gets water in his basement. He had 3 feet this time around, and in 1976, he almost had water coming out his basement windows. The whole city had water in their basements.

Justewicz said they should go out and find where the sewer is plugged.

Algazali said the parking lot was like a swimming pool, and he was right to vote against the pond filling project.