City Council Meeting - 2023-06-05

Detailed briefing

City Council Meeting — June 5, 2023 • Council approved the consent agenda. The recorded roll-call vote showed five yes votes and no stated opposition. • Council renewed the operational agreement with the Historical Society to help run and staff the Andrew J. Blackbird Museum. The approval was subject to staff adjusting the contract dates to better reflect museum operations outside the originally listed June-to-December period. Staff said the expense had already been approved at the budget level. • A Historical Society representative said the organization had completed its first-phase agreement and was ready to open the museum once the new agreement was settled. The group said it would continue using staff with historical knowledge and would add complementary display panels telling more of Andrew J. Blackbird’s story and the Native American culture of the community, rather than replacing existing displays. • During the museum discussion, a representative stated that the Andrew J. Blackbird House was built in 1858 and, based on the group’s research, is the oldest standing building in the community. That statement was presented as the Historical Society’s current finding, not as a Council determination. • Council approved a request related to driveway paving at 1035 Washington Street. The applicants sought a wider paved area within the city road right-of-way at the dead end of Washington Street. Staff said the requested width was about 36 feet, compared with a 20-foot width that could be approved administratively. Applicants cited the property’s slope, winter driving conditions, snow storage, drainage washout, and a need for safer parking. • City staff said the requested driveway work would improve the site and that the police chief, fire chief, and another reviewer reported no concerns. Council discussed, but did not adopt, a possible future restriction on additional driveway access if the property remained a single parcel. • Council voted to enter closed session under the Michigan Open Meetings Act to consult with the city attorney on trial or settlement strategy in pending Robin Johnson litigation. The public meeting ended for closed session at 7:27. Worth watching: • Staff and the Historical Society must settle the revised dates for the Blackbird Museum operational agreement. • The Historical Society said it will provide or resend supplemental update materials to the city manager as discussion of the museum’s future continues. • The outcome of the Robin Johnson litigation discussion was not announced in the public portion of this transcript. Upcoming: No future public meeting date was announced before Council entered closed session. Why it matters: The meeting advanced museum operations, approved a site-specific access improvement, and shifted a pending legal matter to confidential attorney consultation.

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