City of Macomb Committee of the Whole met Oct. 12.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
The Committee of the Whole, of the Macomb City Council, met in the City Council Chambers at 5:15 p.m. located in City Hall at 232 East Jackson Street, Macomb, IL.
Mayor Inman called the meeting to order.
Roll call was taken and the following were present: Aldermen Mike Wayland, John Vigezzi, Annette Carper, Gayle Carper, Tammie Leigh Brown-Edwards, and Dennis Moon. Alderman Tom Koch was absent.
In addition to the Mayor, Deputy City Clerk Renee Lotz and Aldermen, others present were: City Attorney Lisa Scalf and City Administrator Scott Coker. Also, in attendance were Police Chief Curt Barker, Public Works Director Alice Ohrtmann, and Community Development Director John Bannon.
Public Comment: Deputy Clerk Lotz read the following public comments, (4) emailed 10/12/2020.
1). Macomb City Council, The silence of the WHITE majority of this council is complicit. It’s time you set your white fragility aside, stop centering you white feelings, and acknowledge the harassment and intimidation of black residents and protesters in Macomb. You’re not being “lambasted”, or “berated”, you’re being educated by members of the public since you have remained unwilling to discuss the escalating racism in the community. I want each of you on this council to ask yourselves these questions:
What are you afraid of losing by publicly advocating for racial justice? How can you shift from a place of fear and anxiety, to a place of reception of critical feedback that will help us improve Macomb and become a better community for us ALL? How can you be better at interrupting yourselves when you say, do, or think something racist? Instead of burying it deep down, how can you bring it to light, examine it, and figure out where that came from and why? This way you can shore up the lies and false narratives you have carried with us in our bodies, passed down from our ancestors, and heal that part of us that keeps us in a dehumanizing, disconnected reality.(1) White supremacy negatively impacts all of us by the way we keep up our facades and our decorum. We aren’t our authentic selves and we worry more about keeping up with white codes of conduct than actually connecting with one another. (1) Healing and deep connection are on the other side of interrupting white supremacy. The more you practice, the better you will get at sitting in the discomfort of it. And you might even get to a place of feeling less discomfort when interrupting white silence because you see clearly that the silence is what is truly uncomfortable and unbearable. (1) White Silence is Violence. Black Lives Matter. Do Better.
Samuel Richardson
2). Macomb City Council, The audacity of the white members of this council to demand respect, after your continued abuse of power to silence and marginalize the voices of your residents is abhorrent and inexcusable. Assuming your white feelings and white fragility will get in the way—of you taking the time to truly interrupt yourselves when you say, do, or think something racist—I will provide you with some examples of your reprehensible behavior. For months now you have refused to put a discussion on the agenda about the hate incidents in this community, and what you intend on doing to address these issues. You have refused to investigate, let alone acknowledge any harm done. We demand an investigation into the police department. Specifically, “Chief” Barker, whom this council has repeatedly time and time again refused to hold accountable for his continuous failures to protect the black community as well as other marginalized members of this community as well. I shall also remind you that there is a petition currently STILL circulating that calls for the removal of “Chief” Barker and for the investigation of the Macomb Police Department, this petition has over 12 THOUSAND signatures and counting.
The link to this petition is https://bit.ly/3dkngnw, I highly encourage Macomb residents watching to please take the time to look at this petition. Again, the link is https://bit.ly/3dkngnw. Black Lives Matter. White Silence Is Violence. Barker Must Go. Investigate Macomb PD. Silence Is Complicity. This Isn’t About
White Feelings. Hold The Police Accountable. Do Your Jobs. Black Lives Matter. White Silence is Violence. Barker MUST Resign Now. Investigate Macomb Police Department. White Silence Is Complicit. Stop Centering Your White Feelings. With respects ONLY to Alderwoman Tammie Leigh Brown-Edwards,
Lafe Ryder
3.) Good Evening, Tonight I wish to address the City Council Women Gayle and Annette Carper.
As I have been active and observant of this City Council for over a year, I have noticed the manner in which you work against Intersectional Feminism in this community. I’m confused as to why that is, don’t you claim to be Feminists? Being a Feminist is fighting for Equality of All People! Feminism allows people to think, not how it is, but how it should be. An Intersectional Feminist believes in no exclusions based on gender, race, socioeconomic status, ability; or sexual orientation. Think of it as a prism for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. Now let’s talk about the disproportionate injustices to those in this community who are without the class, privilege, or correct gender or race. Shouldn’t it be your job to stand up for these rights? Where is your morality?
As white women with Class and Educational Privilege, you are in a position to help our women who are being mistreated by the hateful men at our protests. Yet you say nothing! Apparently, you are fine with mistreatment of women if you don’t like them? What about the others? The others you neglect to speak out about? The racial injustices here are escalating yet you do nothing to speak out against them. Watching you give great reports and say nothing every week as Alderwomen Brown Edwards speaks out of the truths within this community is heartbreaking! How can you, as Feminists just look away and turn on deaf ears? My question is, are you thinking of how it Should be in Macomb, or are you stuck in how to maintain where we are now? Please do some personal reflection on your goals. The transparency of them currently is not favorable.
Becky Danner
4). Dear Macomb City Council, At last week’s city council meeting, several white council members complained about “the tone” from citizens you have chosen to ignore week after week as they appeal to you for redress of concerns. You are elected officials. You should expect criticism from your constituents as a result for your ongoing obstruction and refusal to hold city employees and police officers accountable for wrongdoing. It is unacceptable for privileged white city council members to engage in gaslighting as you misuse power and authority to silence expressions of serious (and as yet unaddressed), concerns about the Chief, the police department, the complaints against officers, and the other issues with structural racism and bias here in our community. Ignoring the many concerns brought to you by our organization for over a year and a half is a silencing tactic you have used repeatedly against those speaking up on behalf of already marginalized voices, and smacks of white class privilege. Refusing to address the many concerns brought to you on behalf of our citizens is a betrayal of your duties as elected officials to serve all of your citizens, not just those who are willing to appease your desire for photo ops, public positivity, cheerleading of the status quo and patronage. You are missing your time up as elected officials when you are complaining about the manner in which frustrated citizens address you on the record by using the ONLY venue/manner your obstructionist rules have allowed. Doing so is victim-blaming. Check your privilege and start listening to those living here without it. They are people too and need your help. White city council members, stop making your time on the council about your feelings. Work on the issues. Stop wasting our time and deal with the problem of systemic and interpersonal acts of racism, intolerance and bigotry in this community. Hold your Mayor accountable for not doing his job overseeing the Chief and police department. We need our city leaders to ACT on these issues. Hold a Town Hall discussion about racism in this community before things get worse. Investigate the police department, make the policies transparent, create an independent citizen’s review board to deal with the complaints. It’s time to set aside your personal feelings and get to work.
Verna Parkins
The following Public Comments were made in person:
Heather McMeekan, Mayor Inman give us a town hall to discuss race issues in this community. Its long past time for you, our elected officials, to provide the oft requested town hall for community members to share express concerns about the racism in our community. Since you refuse to put the discussion about it on the agenda, despite multiple requests to do so, we will continue bringing up our concerns in the only format you white city council members and Mayor have allowed, this 3-minute public comment. I’m going to give a content warning for racial trauma here, if somebody needs to turn off the video or turn off the sound so you’re not re-traumatized, now is the time to do so. This past weekend some white republicans allegedly celebrated a birthday by hanging some democratic signs from a tree in their yard, extensively as some kind of sick twisted joke. We hope our fellow white people in the community listen up. Displays, jokes, comments, references etc. regarding hanging or lynching of human beings are never okay. Such behavior triggers historical racial trauma and creates new racial trauma here and now, which harms our black community members. It demonstrates profound ignorance and or indifference to the pain of those who live in this community and have had ancestors hanged by white folks. This event and the many racist, hateful comments continuing to be posted on line by a social media by community members, yelling at BLM protesters, demonstrates that the structural racism in our community is not confined to any particular agency, institution, process, policy, it’s our local culture, it is pervasive, it lives in the hearts of our white community members, including all of us; and its expressed on a tragic hurtful spectrum of racial trauma ranging from indifference, silencing, to deliberate acts of hatred and even violence. Our black community members have reported many, are experiencing racism in housing, employment, education, health care, financing and even religion. Lack of representation, transparency and over sight in white designed and white led agencies, allows these problems to persist. You have the power to work on these structures. Please step up in your humanity and serve as elected and appointed city officials and take on this work now. Silencing, centering of white feelings, misusing power to thwart transparency and accountability is what structural racism looks like in the north. Mayor Inman we are your citizens too and we need you to do your job and schedule a town hall to discuss these problems before the quality of life for our black people and other people of color, gets worse.
Ms. McMeekan submitted a complaint form against a police officer.
Maya Isabel, Today is Indigenous Peoples Day. I would like to start my public comment by holding a moment of silence for our Indigenous Ancestors who have lost their lives to colonial violence. Silence.
I would also like to do a land acknowledgement to honor the original peoples of the land we’re currently on. According to the Native Governance Center, Indigenous land acknowledgement is important in understanding the long-standing history that has brought you to reside on the land and to seek to understand your place within that history. Land acknowledgements do not exist in a past tense or
historical context. Colonialism is a current and ongoing process and we need to build our mindfulness of our present participation when we talk about land, our past, our current, and our future. We carry our ancestors in us and they’re around us, as you all do. So, in closing; my comment, I would like to ask the city council to stop bringing honor to a man who allowed mass genocide against indigenous peoples by observing today as Columbus Day. I would instead, as council to begin observing Indigenous Peoples Day and make a commitment to support Indigenous Communities.
Mr. Chuck Wrenn, Thank you Mayor Inman and Members of the City Council. I had the distinct pleasure this last weekend of celebrating my 80th birthday. Specifically, what happened at my house; we did have a birthday party and un-be-known to myself, because I was not there at the time, someone came and put a bunch of signs-democratic signs in my yard. As soon as we saw them, we immediately took them down. So, there was no “intent”, I didn’t steal them, any signs. Most of you know I’ve been in politics for a long, long time. I’m not dumb enough to go around stealing signs and putting them in my yard. What I was faced with was an onslaught; we were visited by the Macomb PD, whom I have the highest regard for, in addition we were also slandered on Facebook and I will be referring that matter to my private attorney, which of course is not your issue, nor your problem. I wanted you factually know what happened; signs were placed in my yard, I did not do it, and they were taken down immediately. Thank you for your time.
Marcial, Earlier this week I was driving around and I saw somebody who tried to use the Public Library. They pulled on the door and they saw it was locked and they left. Um, it was around mid-day, so I would have expected it to be open, normal business hours, should it have been opened. Um, so, I wanted to ask Mayor Inman, for a status report, basically like have you talked to anybody, either the CDC, someone at WIU or Danowski, as far as trying to open up the Public Library, since the last time I brought this up to the public council, city council? Uh, so, if you could, just at the end of today’s meeting, just make a few comments, letting us know if you sent an e-mail out or if you talked to somebody on the phone. As shown from last week, people on your side of the podium are able to make comments after everyone else, or other things on the agenda are taken care of. Um, and you can do so uninterrupted, so, I know that you have time to just mention anything. That brings me to my next thing; now that I have established that everyone gets an uninterrupted amount of time to speak, much like how I get 3 minutes, and y’all get time to speak um for however long, actually I don’t know how long you get to speak. I don’t know if you’re limited to 3 minutes. But, now that that is taken care of, I would like to express my consent, my thorough enthusiastic consent to have a conversation about racial injustice here in Macomb. I feel like if you all consent, and any other citizens consent, then there’s nothing that will stop us from having an open dialogue on the record at city council meetings. I know that it would do much better, especially for y’all in building faith with the citizens because, we don’t, nobody trusts, those in power to tell the truth when they’re not on the record. People can lie and things like that. If you want to grow that trust it helps to put yourself in a position where you can be held accountable. Because if you are just and right, there won’t be any problems, we’ll have it on record, everyone will tell the truth and we’ll have a good conversation and we can actually get somewhere. So, I consent to that, I’m willing to have that conversation, I know some other people are willing to have the conversation. At this point the ball is in your court, and we can all kinda figure something else out.
End of public comment.
The first item on the agenda for discussion was a presentation from Dr. John Hallwas on two historical figures who were raised in Macomb. Alderman Brown-Edwards asked for this to be placed on the agenda. Dr. Hallwas presented a drawing of two signs he was suggesting be placed on posts at the entrance to Macomb. One to commemorate Dr. C.T. Vivian and one for Dr. Ruth Tunnicliff. He gave descriptions of the tremendous accomplishments and contributions of both these citizens to this community and on a much higher level, the nation. Dr. C.T. Vivian a Civil Rights Activist alongside of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dr. Ruth Tunnicliff an accomplished M.D. and Bacteriologist, writing a hundred articles on disease.
Alderman Brown-Edwards thanked Dr. Hallwas for coming to speak.
The second item on the agenda for discussion was on the following R.I.S.E. program applications: 603 W. Adams, 511 W. Adams and 521 N. Albert Streets. CDC Bannon explained that these have been recommended by the Committee that had met prior to tonight’s meeting. The two on Adams Street have been submitted by Scott Collins d/b/a STC the other submitted by Mike Parker Construction. He stated there was a revision in that the greening portion of Mike Parker’s bid, the paperwork was provided as requested by committee.
He explained the 511 W. Adams property was in the process of ownership from a trust to Mr. Collins and didn’t foresee any issue. Staff would ask to proceed contingent upon receiving the paperwork from that trust.
Alderman G. Carper asked for a timeline on demolition.
CDC Bannon stated that Mr. Collins was ready to move forward promptly on 603 W. Adams, 511 W. Adams depends upon the signatures, he would prefer to commence soon, however we would not sign off on a demo until the paperwork is signed.
Mr. Parker stated he would begin this fall and hopefully get it demoed. He stated the greening by spring.
There was no further discussion.
The third item on the agenda for discussion was a presentation on Police Reform and Racial Justice by Police Chief Curt Barker. Chief Barker reviewed his power point presentation as he gave in Public Safety Committee meeting, it was recommended to come before the Committee of the Whole. He received the guidelines from Mayor Inman from the United States Conference of Mayors. Chief Barker stated the focus of the report was based on Trust and Legitimacy, working with and seeking approval from the public. They hold officers accountable, but do distinguish between legitimate mistakes, and intentional misconduct.
He highlighted “Don’t Defund, Reassess Needs, and Strategically Deploy Resources:
We will need to advocate for funding at state and national level.
He stated that the concept was that Police should not be responding to everything; looking at other ways to accomplish help for issues of mental health, homelessness and domestic violence, incorporating Social Workers assistance in solving these issues. This would be a major change because at this time they’re a referral agency. In the report, they would assist us initially upon response, as well as case managers. We’re working hard at doing that. The bolden areas in each section of the report are areas that he felt needs work.
Sanctity of Life:
Officers trained in CIT-7 trained.
The core of a police officer’s responsibility is the duty to protect human life and physical safety. We embrace that as we have signed the Ten Shared principals in 2018. We brought them forward again recently inviting all law enforcement agencies in McDonough County to join.
He explained that Illinois was in many areas ahead of other states. In 2015-16 they passed the Police Improvement and Community Relations Act. That put a lot of things in place that were suggested here in this report. Example: Choke holds banned, shooting at moving vehicles banned, Use of Force/Deadly Force policy in place, De-escalation policy in place, First-aid to be administered after use of force,
Use of Force reporting in place, Officers trained in CIT-7 trained. (Crisis Intervention Training) We have seven officers trained, but we would like to have more. This is a 40-hour course.
Equity and Due Process:
Policies/training in place for impartial and bias free policing-Exceed ILETSB Standards.
Traffic/pedestrian stop study in place. Need to assess other arrests.
Compliant policies in place for bias reporting
Assign a chief diversity officer- May be able to assign as additional duty.
Need to develop a recruitment/outreach plan that is continuous.
He stated Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board (ILETSB) requirements are that we have Cultural Competency Training every 3 years. This include the bias free in policing. Our officers get additional training because of our mobile training unit in the Quad Cities. Officers received anti bias policing last month.
We need to assess our other arrests. We’re looking and working with individuals on current numbers now.
He stated the complaint form has been revised. They’re working on assigning a chief diversity officer. They’re working on improvement in recruiting. They would like this to be a continuous outreach process.
Community Relationships with the public:
Work with community leaders- Schools, unions, community centers, religious groups to identify common goals and challenges.
Work with NAACP and One Human Family
COP programs, Explorers, BBBS, Shop with a Cop, Fishing Contest
Require community service efforts.
He stated they do very well in these categories, and they’ve never had difficulty getting officers involved in community service.
Addressing Protests: Need to schedule training on 1st Amendment for officers and supervisors with scenarios.
Emphasize importance of de-escalation and open communication prior to event.
Supervisors are trained in ICS 400 or Command and Staff levels.
ILEAS-Agreement in place and we maintain control of personnel. (Mutual Aid Program)
He stated they have all had first amendment training, but they are missing the scenario portion which is new training.
Transparency and Accountability
Final disciplinary authority is assigned to Chief
Public complaint process in place
Policy on conducting complaint investigations in place
ILEAP has us reviewing officer actions to ensure policies are being followed
Need to implement BWC policies requiring use
Early intervention system- So few complaints.
He explained that they’re an accredited agency and policy must be followed by officers and actions must be reviewed and followed up on. They have an accreditation manager to assure officers follow policy. Files are kept on all accredited policy, assuring it’s followed. He stated that Illinois has put out an Act for the (BWC Policy), these requirements must be followed. Soon to be in place.
Early intervention system, this is something very large departments invest in, software data base system for tracking complaints for use of force.
Collective Bargaining and State Law:
No issues with CBA for officer investigation and discipline.
Officers are required to cooperate with and investigation unless we are seeking criminal charges against them.
Final disciplinary action already given to Chief.
He stated everything here was very good and in place. He stated that if an officer doesn’t like the Chief being the final disciplinary action, they have the choice to appeal to arbitration or to the commission.
State Certification Boards:
Illinois officers are certified. Talk of licensing.
We do background checks and would look for prior de-certification.
Officers terminations are reported to the ILETSB.
ILETSB maintains a database of terminated officers.
ILETSB does have civilians on the board.
He explained there was not much difference between certifications and licensing. Illinois officers are certified. There’s talk of licensing through the IL Dept. Financial and Professional Regulations. Illinois
certification process is more stringent. We have mandated training in place. Also, officers can be de-certified.
Alderman G. Carper asked how many officers had a degree from a University.
He was guessing at least 90% have a Bachelor’s Degree.
She asked how long and how much training was involved in the 1st Amendment training.
He stated they have done two trainings, 30-40-minute video with a quiz at the end.
She asked about the traffic/pedestrian stop study, was it just his department.
He stated it was every department in Illinois and it’s managed by the IDOT. They get various information; the reason for the stop, if there’s a search, racial profiling data.
She asked what the anti-bias policing consisted of.
He stated it encompassed a lot. This falls under cultural competency, diversity, not being bias in your actions, identifying one’s own internal bias, all included in this training. The video took approximately 1 hour. These are also built into all other training, under many titles.
She requested an identification of the training in the monthly report, rather than just the number of hours spent.
Alderman Brown-Edwards asked what was his vision for an assigned chief diversity officer.
He stated he would like to see someone that would help with recruiting, its key to diversity. They could also assist with training, policies and how they’re written, there were many things they could help with.
She asked if they would be an officer and was there training for that type of officer.
He stated he did not know; he would have to research it.
She asked if he hoped that person would be a person of color.
He stated that would be important.
Alderman A. Carper asked about who scheduled the trainings and topics.
He stated the state and they seek out their own. He stated due to budget cuts they do a lot of in-house virtual training.
She asked about how the accreditation worked.
He explained there’s an accreditation manager that reviews and keeps record, every 5 years the Illinois Chief’s Association comes to recertify officers. Officers have to prove they’ve followed and documented all policy and practices.
She asked for explanation of use of force.
He stated any time you use hands on, that starts the use of force. Passive resistant or active resistant. First and foremost, de-escalation would be practiced with verbal communication. When that doesn’t work, we may go hands on. This is when it may graduate to pepper spray, baton, taser etc. Every time this is used, an officer files a report. This is what you see in the annual report.
Mayor Inman asked for information on the outreach for diversity in recruiting.
Chief Barker explained that he met with Bob Moore, State NAACP Criminal Justice Committee Chair, he also was with State Police at one time, he has excellent background in recruiting and he gave us recommendations on what to do. We have started to implement those recommendations, to remove some barriers and improve the recruiting process.
He stated they’ve reached out to universities with a new program called Hand Shake, to many universities in our area as well as historical black colleges and universities in our area. Including the states of Missouri and Arkansas. There’s been a big push in the social media, newspapers in larger surrounding areas. One of Mr. Moore’s recommendations was to do a lot more mentorship.
There was brief discussion on making the Explorers Program more diverse.
Alderman G. Carper pointed out that diverse applicants have to be sought out from different pools.
Alderman Brown-Edwards appreciated the new methodology for finding diverse recruits.
The fourth item on the agenda for discussion was a presentation on the Body Worn Cameras. Chief Barker explained that he was requesting authorization to move forward with the purchase of the body worn cameras. The group “Because We Care” has met their fund-raising goal of $33,000.00. It’s now our turn to move forward with the purchase order.
CDS Bid Total was $66,983 which includes the vehicle installation. He stated he was waiting on dollar amounts from TimbukTech for the storage/server upgrade.
He explained the reasoning for purchasing Panasonic was due to the current system in the police cars, mobile data computers and cameras are Panasonic. These systems can be tied together, where others may be difficult to sync and integrate software.
City Attorney Lisa Scalf addressed the single source purchase. She stated that we are safe with this for the reasons the Chief stated; and we’re adding to an already existing system.
Alderman Vigezzi moved, seconded by Alderman Moon to approve of the purchase of the body worn cameras and place it on the consent agenda for Monday night meeting, all Aldermen voting “Aye” by voice, Mayor Inman declared the motion carried.
The fifth item on the agenda for discussion was on submitting the South Johnson Street Road and Water Main Improvements project to IDOT as our bond money funded project. This recommendation came from the Public Works Committee. PW Director Alice Ohrtmann explained the State of Illinois had sold bonds and Macomb Municipality received $1.4 million dollars. She was seeking permission to notify IDOT of the project choice. The project meets requirements for bonding and completion. This project was slated to use STU monies along with Infrastructure Sales Tax, however this $1.4, supplemented with only $1.6 from the STU fund rather than $2.5 million. The water main portion of the project was also eligible to be combined in this project rather than it being a separate project, due to the widening of the road and the necessity to relocate the main.
Alderman Moon moved, seconded by Alderman G. Carper to approve the authorization to allow Public Works Director Ohrtmann proceed with the letter to IDOT submitting the South Johnson Street Road and Water Main Improvements project as our bond money funded project and place it on the consent agenda for Monday night meeting, all Aldermen voting “Aye” by voice, Mayor Inman declared the motion carried.
The sixth item on the agenda for discussion was on soliciting “Request for Qualifications” to conduct a sewer study for the Lawndale and Pearl Streets area. This recommendation came from the Public Works Committee. PW Director Ohrtmann was seeking permission to reach out for engineering firms to do a study on the area. She explained the sink hole that had developed on Compton Parkway between two homes; they attempted to televise, but because of the poor condition were not able.
Alderman G. Carper moved, seconded by Alderman Moon to approve to authorize PW Director Ohrtmann to send out Requests for Qualifications to engineering firms to possibly do a storm sewer study for the Lawndale and Pearl Street area and place it on the consent agenda for Monday night meeting, all Aldermen voting “Aye” by voice, Mayor Inman declared the motion carried.
The seventh item on the agenda for discussion was on the proposed design engineering agreement with IMEG Corp. for the water main replacement at University Drive and North Lafayette Street in the amount of $11,725.00. This recommendation came from the Public Works Committee. PW Director Ohrtmann explained that a leak detection study was performed earlier this summer and a large leak was detected under the intersection at North Lafayette and University Drive, a 16” water main in a casing. This main has been on our facility plan for some time. Due to location options are limited, and the casing start and finish is not known. We must obtain IEPA Permitting in order to replace the main. The main would be downsized to a 12” main.
Option 1, is to lay it parallel to the existing main but on the north side of the intersection, making tie ins on either side of Lafayette. Option 2, is using the existing 16” pipe as casing for new pipe, requiring finding the start and finish of the casing to assess conditions. IMEG Corp. design covers either option.
She was requesting approval for the design engineering agreement with IMEG, Corp. for $11,725.00 which includes surveying, permitting, design, bidding process.
Alderman Moon moved, seconded by Alderman Vigezzi to approve the design engineering agreement with IMEG, Corp. for $11,725.00 for the water main replacement at University and North Lafayette and place it on the consent agenda for Monday night meeting, all Aldermen voting “Aye” by voice, Mayor Inman declared the motion carried.
The eighth item on the agenda for discussion was on an ordinance to authorize the issuance of a Special Use Permit to establish a Place of Worship in a B-3 Downtown Business District at 18 West Side Square. This ordinance had first reading last Monday night.
Alderman G. Carper asked legal counsel if granting this special use would override any claim of religious discrimination; if at any point in the future, they’re told to move and they don’t want to.
City Attorney Lisa Scalf stated no, because we’re permitted to put conditions on the granting of the special use; and the applicant has indicated he has no objections to the conditions. Places of worship are allowed on the square by special permit only, not by right.
The petitioner Mr. Nick Dugal was present and thanked council for their consideration. He’s an ordained UPC Minister who moved to Macomb with his family one year ago. They have been meeting of late, in his home, restricting the number of attendees. They would like to begin holding services as soon as possible.
There was no further discussion and Mayor Inman stated it would be placed on the agenda for second reading and final action at Monday night meeting.
The ninth item on the agenda for discussion was on an ordinance adopting an altered speed zone on Burlington Road program. This ordinance had first reading last Monday night.
There was no discussion. Mayor Inman stated it would be placed on the agenda for second reading and final action at Monday night meeting.
Mayor Inman announced the following items:
Trick or Treat to be held October 30th and 31st from 6-8 pm, please follow CDC guidelines.
He has reached out to the Public Library, Mr. Danowski, whom he spoke with and also exchanged electronic emails with regarding the Library being closed during the pandemic.
Alderman Vigezzi moved, seconded by Alderman A. Carper to move into executive session to consider information relative to: a). Appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of an employee of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, pursuant to Sec. 2 (c)(1) of the Open Meetings Act., on question being put, Aldermen Wayland, Vigezzi, A. Carper, G. Carper, Brown-Edwards, and Moon being all Aldermen voting “Aye” on roll call and no “Nay” votes, Mayor Inman declared the motion carried and they moved into executive session at 7:03 p.m.
Alderman Vigezzi moved, seconded by Alderman A. Carper to move back into open session, all Aldermen voting “Aye” by voice vote, Mayor Inman declared the motion carried and they moved back into open session at 7:50 p.m.
Mayor Inman announced on the record, Happy Birthday to Attorney Lisa Scalf and City Administrator Scott Coker.
There being no further business, Alderman Vigezzi moved, seconded by Alderman Moon to adjourn the meeting, all Aldermen voting “Aye” by voice vote, Mayor Inman declared the motion carried and they adjourned at 7:51 p.m.
https://cityofmacomb.com/11-09-2020-committee-of-the-whole-minutes/
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