City Council Shows Appreciation
for Automated Inspection Results
and Requests Hotline
 
9/11/07 by Sami Khan

Ever since the Automated Inspection Hotline went live on July 18th of this year, it has helped clerical workers in the Building Department find more time to attend to their customers instead of dealing with the mounds of paperwork they are accustomed to.

They are not the only ones who approve of the new hotline; billing inspectors applauded the system for allowing data entry straight from the field. Surveys of customer satisfaction have made it clear that homeowners appreciate the convenience of expedited inspection scheduling. This new system has already logged over 27,000 calls.

The Community Development Department thanked City Council for their support in establishing the hotline, and City Council members seemed equally appreciative. Council Member Margolis commended the Community Development Department for its commitment to better serving the city by being responsive to their consumers' needs. Mayor Landry echoed her sentiments, congratulating the department for their ingenuity.

However, the laudatory tone that characterized the beginning of this Novi City Council meeting was fleeting. It had come time to discuss Ordinance No. 07-157.04, an ordinance that AT&T has shown their disapproval of. They feel that this ordinance will hinder their ability to speedily establish themselves within our community. They have suggested changes to the ordinance that they feel would allow them to more readily render their services to our community.

The ordinance was unanimously approved as is. Council Member Mutch pointed out that this rule is not discriminatory, and it is essential that the company abides by it. All previous private companies that have established themselves in our community have had to conform to the standards and ordinances of the time; AT&T simply has to comply with a different set of rules because of current right-of-way standards.

Mayor Landry contends that this ordinance is at its heart a public safety issue. He indicated that he does not want to approve of any right-of-way modifications that may potentially prove hazardous to motorists, children, and other members of our community.

The meeting progressed to Mayor and Council Issues, the first of which was Council Member Mutch's proposal to look into grant opportunities for a bike path on Nine Mile Road. Mayor Landry agrees that this project is worthy of pursuing in the future, and is interested in seeing projected costs. The bike path is planned for construction between Haggerty and Meadowbrook Roads.

Finally, discussion turned to the acquirement of Active Parklands. Council Member Mutch explained that currently, the city simply does not have enough parkland to keep up with the community's recreational needs. He suggested looking outside the city's borders for affordable, available residential land. He stresses the urgency of doing so, emphasizing the importance of acting before this land is claimed.

Council Member Paul explained, "[The land's] not going to be there forever."

Council Member Nagy was absent from the meeting.

CONSENT AGENDA:  Items C and D were removed.  C was tabled; D was approved.

A.         Approve Minutes of:
1.  August 27, 2007 – Joint Special meeting
2.  August 27, 2007 – Regular meeting         

B.         Enter Executive Session immediately following the regular meeting of September 10, 2007 in the Council Annex for the purpose of discussing pending litigation, labor negotiations and privileged correspondence from legal counsel.                                                   

C.        Approval to award a contract for design and construction engineering services for the Meadowbrook Lake Dam Modifications project to URS Corporation for a not-to-exceed design fee of $39,885 and a construction engineering fee equal to a fixed 6.0% of the estimated construction cost (estimated to be $17,100) for a total of $56,985. 

D.        Approval to extend the Photography Contract (2nd renewal) for a twelve (12) month period to Princeton Studios at the same terms, conditions and pricing as the original contract of September 2005.

E.        Approval of Traffic Control Order #07-03 for the installation of a Do Not Block Intersection sign for northbound Beck Road motorists at Sierra Drive. 

F.         Approval of Traffic Control Order #07-04 for the installation of a No Parking sign on the south side of Brownstone Drive from Holmes Road to 100 feet east. 

G.        Approval of Traffic Control Order #07-05 for the installation of No Parking signs on the east and west sides of Garfield Road from Eight Mile Road to 500 feet north. 

H.        Approval to award the 2007 Chip Seal Maintenance Contract to Highway Maintenance Construction in the amount of $ 44,878.50. 

I.          Approval of Claims and Accounts – Warrant No. 752.

MATTERS FOR COUNCIL ACTION

1.         Consideration of Approval of form of Agreement Regarding Transfer of Land, involving City-owned property on the north side of Twelve Mile west of the CSX Railroad (parcel nos. 22-09-451-008 and 22-09-451-009) and other property located on Nine Mile Road adjacent the City’s Rotary Park (parcel no 22-35-200-016).  APPROVED 

2.         Consideration to purchase eight (8) 2008 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors for the Police Department Uniform Patrol Division from Gorno Ford of Woodhaven, Michigan through the Oakland County cooperative bid purchase program, in the amount of $164,152.  APPROVED

3.         Approval to award a contract for engineering services for Capacity Management Operations and Maintenance (CMOM) Phase III activities (sanitary sewer pilot program, cleaning and televising, and flow monitoring) to Orchard, Hiltz and McCliment for $96,100.  APPROVED