City Council Meeting - 2023-04-17

Detailed briefing

Harbor Springs City Council Meeting — April 17, 2023 ATTENDEES: Roll call identified Matt Bughera, Jamie Melky, Nancy Rondell, John Leo and John Cox as present. • Council approved the consent agenda with minor grammatical changes. It also adopted a policy establishing recruitment, qualifications and application guidelines for city boards and commissions. Discussion stressed that board membership should remain diverse in background, geography, age, economic segment, opinions and interests—not limited to people with professional credentials. • Colonial Inn asked to continue its directional sign on city property along M-119. Staff said a prior agreement dating from a 2003 settlement expires this year. Council members generally supported retaining the long-standing sign but raised concerns about precedent and the city providing a free service to a private entity. Staff will work with the city attorney and Colonial Inn on a modified agreement and bring it back to council. • The Noise Committee presented proposed changes to the noise ordinance after six months of meetings and review of survey responses. Recommendations include a 55-decibel nighttime limit for radios, amplifiers and musical instruments from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.; revised exemptions for city whistles, social clubs and church bells; and shorter hours for louder lawn equipment and resident construction work. Council discussed making Saturday limits more like Sunday limits and asked staff to return with revisions. No code amendment was approved at this meeting. • Council selected Mark Boudet/Bluebird Day for Option 1 architectural services for the Harbormaster Building project. The planned work converts existing public bathrooms into laundry and mechanical space and adds new public bathrooms on the west side facing Marina Park. Staff said the city hopes to have final designs by late summer and seek construction bids in late fall or early winter. • A proposed 2023-2028 clerical union agreement was reviewed but not approved. Highlights include expanded wage classifications based on seniority, annual wage adjustments tied to CPI with a 5% cap, revised PTO rules, elimination of post-retirement health benefits for employees hired after June 1, and proposed City Hall public hours of 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Staff will return with a final version after clarifying the police administrative assistant's bargaining-unit status. • Staff announced an MEDC technical-assistance application that could cover up to 75% of professional costs for a zoning-code update; recruitment for a seasonal marine enforcement officer; plans to reinstall playground equipment at its original location with an ADA-accessible surface; and boardwalk construction beginning with wood work, weather permitting. Worth watching: • Draft terms and safeguards for the Colonial Inn sign agreement. • Final noise-ordinance language, including Saturday and city-maintenance scheduling issues. • Final clerical union contract and the unresolved bargaining-unit placement. Upcoming: A joint Council, Planning Commission, DDA and Chamber economic-development forum is planned for May 22 at 6 p.m. at Holy Childhood Community Hall. Why it matters: The meeting advanced city facility, governance and workforce decisions while leaving key policy details open for public follow-through.

No open public follow-ups are linked to this meeting yet.