Village Council - July 14, 2026

0:03 Good evening. Welcome to the July 14th, 2026 council meeting for the village of Holly. >> Clerk, please call the role. >> Well, our our clerk didn't get a haircut, but but she's going to need to be asked to be excused. Um, and I'll do the best I can on short notice. Uh, Wine Burner >> here. >> Wendell >> here. >> Ryan here. Costa >> here. >> Cole >> here. Kyer >> here. >> Brandon >> here. We have a quorum. I will entertain a motion to excuse the clerk. >> I'll make the motion to excuse excuse the clerk. >> I'll second that motion. >> We have a motion by Wendell. We have a second by Wein Bunner. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. All oppose say nay. Motion carried.

0:52 If you are willing and able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> This brings us to the approval of our consent agenda. All items listed under consent agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the village council and will be approved by one motion. There will be no separate discussion. If discussion is desired,

1:37 that item will be removed from the consent agenda and discussed separately in new business. Do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> I'll make a motion to approve the uh consent agenda. Second. >> We have a motion by Weiner Brunner. We have a second by Ky. >> Will somebody please call the role? >> I will do that. >> Thank you, Tim. >> Wendle, >> yes. >> Ryan, >> yes. >> Costca, >> yes. >> Wineburner, >> yes. >> Cole, >> yes. >> Ky, >> yes. >> Brandon, >> yes. Motion carried. At this time, I will open up discussion on the consent

2:23 agenda. Tim, I believe you also needed to add an item to new business. >> That is correct. And you'll also notice that we are doing our consent agenda a little differently than we have in the past where we're actually now separating out all of our reappoints and appointments to be it's a whole different category for us to easily identify um those as well. But I would like to add an emergency work order to the agenda under new business which will now be item G. However, due to the closed session, we'll hear after item E, this agenda item should read, village council consideration of approval of the emergency worker order with peerless Midwest for water distribution system pump repairs in an amount not to exceed $14,83344. I have a council action request in front of all of you as well as the invoice and

3:09 when we get to that item, Danny will be prepared to talk more about it. >> So, this would go after E. You said >> yes. >> Okay. >> But it will be item uh new business item G. >> Okay. So G to go before E. >> G to go after E but before F. >> Go after E before F. Okay. Do we need a motion to accept that amendment? Yes, it should be to approve the consent agenda as amended. >> I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended.

4:00 >> Unless you don't want to attend to these emergency services. >> I will make the motion to amend the consent agenda. >> I'll second that motion. >> We have a motion by Kyer, second by Wein Brener. Call the role, please. >> Ryan, >> yes. >> Costla, >> yes. >> Wine Burner, >> yes. >> Cole, >> yes. >> Ky, >> yes. >> Wendell, >> yes. >> Brandon, >> yes. Motion carried. >> This brings us to reappointments and appointments to boards and commissions. Similar to consent agenda, all reappoints and appointments will be approved by one motion. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from

4:47 the consent agenda and discussed separately in new business. I would like to take item J and place it after our new G. >> I think we should have a motion uh beforehand to uh approve and then we can discuss that during it. >> Okay. >> As we do with consent as well. Correct me if I'm wrong. >> Well, yes, but the motion with that amendment. Correct. >> Uh I I think you should have a motion as it is and then during discussion we would change it and then amend it. >> Okay. I will entertain a motion to to approve. What portion of the agenda are we going

5:32 to call this? The reappoints. >> The reappoints and new appointments. >> The reappoints and new appointments portion of the agenda. So, I'll make the motion to approve the reappoints and the appointments of the agenda. Motion by Cole. >> Second. >> Second by Ky. All in favor say I. I. >> I. >> All oppose say nay. >> Nay. >> Motion carried. >> I would like to pull item J. and move it to after G before F. I will entertain a motion to approve this amendment.

6:18 >> I have another amendment I'd like to make. >> What do you have? >> Um to move all the new appointments to new business to give the public a chance to talk on them just because it's a new procedure we're starting that goes against our current rules of procedures. So we would go I will entertain a motion to move items J A and B to after G. So it would go GJ A. Is there a motion to accept this amendment? >> I'll make the motion to accept this amendment. >> Motion by Ryan. >> I'll second the motion. >> Second by Wendell. All in favor say I. I. I. All oppose say nay. >> Motion carried.

7:14 Okay. So, for the remaining appointments and new appointments, do I hear a motion to approve those? Well, no, it's not the new appointments now because we moved those. >> Just all the reappointments. >> Yeah. So out of the remaining reappointments, do I hear a motion to approve? And that would be Gary Okonsky, Jared Hopper, Cherylyn Everly, Kirk Cross, Nancy Rebar, Larry McGaw, Joe Hutchkins, Timothy Turpin, Mike McKenna, Raza Hamilton, Gail Pelton, Sarah McKenna, Cara Cuxy, Holly Heric, and John Winger. I'll make the motion to approve all reappointments that have not been amend amendment on item six for reappointments

7:59 to the boards and commissions. >> Motion by Ryan. >> I'll second it. >> Second by Wine Brener. Any discussion? >> Um is it safe to assume that all these states are what would have been the corresponding dates if they didn't have to redo the oath? >> Uh yeah, >> that's correct. >> Yep. >> Okay. Thank you, >> council. Anything else? Any public comment on the reappoints? Seeing none, hearing none. >> All in favor say I. I. >> I. I. >> All oppose say nay. >> Motion carried. I would also like to amend

8:48 item J of reappointments seven sorry item 7B of new appointments to be from Seth Sans to Loganlair and the reason why there is Seth Sans rescended his interest Loganlair owns Willards. So for that item which is now at the end from Cess Sands to Loganlair I will entertain a motion to accept that amendment. >> I will make the motion to amend 7B from Seth Sans to Logan. >> Motion by Ky. >> I'll second it. >> Second by Weinbrunner. All in favor say I. I.

9:36 >> All oppose say nay. >> Motion carried. >> This brings us to tonight's first presentation. Our presentation is a recognition of our honor guard from American Legion Post 149 and the Veterans of Foreign War Post 5587. So, first I'll say a little something and if a representative from the Legion and a representative from the VFW would want to come to the podium, please do so. No pressure. The Honor Guard was established in 1948 and is operated by the Veteran of Foreign Wars BFW Post 5587 and the American Legion Post 149 here in Holly.

10:21 Established in 2005, Holly's own Great Lakes National Cemetery serves as a place of honor, remembrance, and gratitude for the men and women who served our nation and the families who stand beside them. The Honor Guard serves at places such as Great Lakes National Cemetery, where they provide military funeral honors, including rifle volleys for soldiers, both known and unknown. They also participate in flag retirement. They present colors at different functions. They raise new flags, participate in parades, at school functions, memorial ceremonies, and anywhere a tribute to our fallen take place. Although membership was once limited to veterans, the honor guard is now open to

11:07 members of the public who wish to serve in these important roles honoring our military. On behalf of a grateful community, I would like to extend our deepest thanks to the honor guard for your service. What you do matters. Through every salute, every folded flag, and every moment of precision and respect, you ensure that those who served our nation are remembered with dignity and honor. You stand watch not only for the veterans whose families gathered here today, but also for those whose names have faded from memory and whose loved ones are no longer able to visit. Because of your service, none of them are forgotten, including the nameless soldiers who have been returned home after making the ultimate sacrifice. In some of life's most difficult moments, your present provides comfort to

11:54 grieving families and serves as a visible reminder that our nation remembers the sacrifices made in its defense. Your commitment requires sacrifice, discipline, and countless hours of volunteer service. Yet you continue to answer the call, ensuring that every veteran receives the honor they have earned, rain or shine. Thank you for preserving these traditions, for honoring our fallen heroes, and for standing as guardians of their memory. Through your service, the stories of those who came before us continue to be told, and their sacrifices continue to be recognized. Please join me in thanking the honor guard for their dedication, professionalism, and unwavering service.

12:39 I would now like to recognize the members of Holly's honor guard. Some are veterans who continue serving their country long after their time in uniform has ended. Others are community members who have chosen to give back by ensuring our fallen service members receive the honor and respect they deserve. Together, they represent the very best of service, sacrifice, and commitment to others. Those members are Joel Blford, Bob Brumler, Warm Bud Mendes, Don Wanglemmyer, Jack Montgomery, Leo Boner, Frank Valon, Frank Allen, Edams, Fred Schwarz, Palmer Downing, Mel Carl, Charlie Swiggles, Frank Owen,

13:25 Dwayne Hlet, George Hewlet, Noel Eastridge, Jim Waller, B Bill Miller, Les Adair, Les Clinger, Ken Weedrock, Maurice Pearson, Bruce Drier, Jeffrey Zelish, Brian Glock, Mark Moowski, Juan Villerel, Josh Pearson, Eric Toth, Ronald Applegate, Lloyd Bigum III, Mike Patterson, Art Ingram, Erie Walden, Rory Fuller, Rod Fuller, Steve Stgal, Eddie P, Carrie Lovejoy, Breeden Lovejoy, that's our young one, that's our young bugler, Linda Young, Carl Clark, Ana Golden, Jim Golden, and finally they asked I give a special

14:10 shout out to Resa Hamilton for sewing so many patches on their uniforms for them. The list has been compiled to the best of our current member members recollection. If we have unintentionally admitted anyone, please know that your service is equally valued and honored, and we sincerely apologize for the oversight. As Michael Patterson said, to the best of my memory, what memory? Some of these folks have passed away. Let's take just a moment in silent reflection as we honor them all. Okay, now the pressure is on and I would

14:57 like one representative from American Legion and one representative from VFW. First, I will read aloud the distinguished service award. The village of Holly proudly recognizes the Joint Honor Guard VFW Post 5587 for your outstanding service in honoring our nation's veterans, preserving military traditions, and ensuring that the sacrifices of those who served are remembered with dignity and respect. Presented with gratitude on behalf of the Holly community. With sincere appreciation, will that representative for the BFW please step forward.

15:48 The distinguished service award, the village of Holly proudly recognizes the joint Holly Honor Guard, American Legion Post 149, for your outstanding service in honoring our nation's veterans, preserving military traditions, and ensuring that the sacrifices of Those who served are remembered with dignity and respect. Presented with gratitude on behalf of the Holly community. >> If any of you would like to say anything, take a microphone. >> We don't have one. >> Oh, can we have a microphone? >> I can talk. We've got a mic right here for you.

16:41 >> We would like to thank the village of Holly for this recognition. Um, some of us have been on the honor guard longer than others, but from the very beginning, we have one purpose, and that is to honor the vet veterans that have gone before us and make sure that when a veteran dies, he gets the proper sendoff. So, we're there to play taps, fire the salute, and send him off. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else from Honor Guard or American Legion? >> Okay, >> she's

17:29 good evening. Thank you so very very much for the award and I particularly appreciate you recognizing those of us who are not veterans. I think there are a lot of people who don't know that as a community member, this is a place where you can stand in. I am a proud granddaughter, daughter, and niece of service members. And um it's amazing to be in a community that welcomes civilians into this position. So, thank you for recognizing that. Thank you for all of your support. And special thanks to Ray Fenning for um pulling me in. So, thank you, gentlemen. if there's anyone else.

18:16 All right, we're going to take a uh 10-minute break. Council will reconvene in 10 minutes. You can do photos, say your hellos, and give the honor guard your thanks if you like.

26:58 Council will be reconvening. This brings us to public comment. Members of the audience may address council on any item that is not on the agenda. Those addressing council will be limited to three minutes of speaking time. After each agenda item, there will be an additional two-minute public comment period to speak to that item before council votes. Council will hear

27:44 all comments for future consideration, but will not have a response at this time. Prior to addressing council, members of the public shall state their name and address for the record. Any public comment? Yes, please. If you don't mind, please state your name and address for the record. >> Well, I don't think I need this. I have a big voice. My name is Miriam Moore and I've lived at 105 Clarence Street on Lake Simson since 1985. I would like the council as they're looking forward to uh what might happen next to just think about the ecosystem of Lake Simson. The last time the village owned property, they sold it to people that turned it into storage bins.

28:32 Those owners, those new owners, this is my view of the lake when I look at the sunset. They bulldozed every cattail, every tree, every bush, everything that you're not supposed to do in a wetland. And they put up a fence. And what I see now are broken down trucks and uh SUVs that are stored and all kinds of weird stuff that's over there. And then the village wanted to raise my taxes. And what I came back with is you actually devalued my property by by having that be the view on Lake Simson. The other piece of Lake Simson is it does not have a um designation as a no Wake Lake. It's very small. it should have that uh

29:19 designation. I'm not sure all my neighbors I'm pretty sure not all the neighbors um maybe the majority but not all of them would maybe want that. Um but please think about that. Um it it's a treasure in our city uh in our village I should say. Um in that it's not like the other two lakes. It's different and um I'm hoping the character of that lake can stay no matter what happens uh with property on the north end on Elm Street. Um the DNR and maybe it's DEEQ and I can't keep track of all those. They keep changing. Actually, if you wanted to put a dock on

30:06 that lake, they require a permit. Several of my neighbors have no clue and have done all kinds of strange things on that lake and pulled things in. And for example, the year that some renters had um jet skis, they brought in zebra muscles and those are now part of our ecosystem that were not there in 1985. So, as you're thinking about what to do, um I mean I myself, I'm 73 years old. I love this lake. I would love to have maybe a senior living condominiums on the north end or you know something wonderful but I hope that we're mindful of the treasure that we have and of what is legal to do there and what is not

30:52 legal and um you know how we would go forward in a wise direction. So that's what I have to say. >> Thank you and great timing. Any further public comment? >> Yes. >> Anna Matson, 15091 Western Valley. At the last council meeting, Councilwoman Shannon Cole made a comment about Councilman Daniel Wendell that luckily for her was hard to hear in the recording, but that luck runs out now because I was here and heard the whole thing. She suggested that Wendell did not know what he was doing when he called a special meeting back in December and she took issue with that.

31:38 Let me explain the significance of this comment with some background. On December 9th, 2025, this council entered a closed session without following the requirements of the Michigan Open Meetings Act. The motion was not properly made and the village president even asked if a motion was needed at all. it was Michigan law and court president are very clear about how to go in close session and the village violated both. The reason those requirements matter is because closed sessions are one of the few times government is allowed to hide from the public. When the proper procedure is not followed, it not only breaks public trust, but the village also breaks the law, making this council a liability. Wendell was not even present when the December 9th close session occurred. My understanding is that Councilman Ryan

32:25 later approached Councilman Wendell and asked him to join in calling a special meeting so the council could revisit the matter and attempt to correct the council's unlawful actions. The special meeting was held and instead of taking the opportunity to correct those actions and take accountability, the rest of council distracted from the topic at hand and tried to accuse Wendell and Ryan of wrongdoing through a foyer request. I even obtained audio of the village manager Tim Price threatening Wendell with perjuring himself as if he has any legal authority to make that determination. Instead of criticizing Councilman Wendell for calling that special meeting to correct a mistake he didn't made make, rather Miss Cole made and the rest of the council at the time, a more appropriate response would have been to

33:10 thank both Wendell and Ryan for taking the issue seriously and for attempting to correct the council's mistake. Instead of doing that, you went on to participate in two more illegal closed sessions where there were not uh proper made motions and decisions were not made public. So, I will do what you and the rest of council failed to do. Thank you, Councilman Ryan. Thank you, Councilman Wendell, for trying to correct the unlawful actions this council made on December 9th. Unfortunately, the rest of our representatives do not have the capacity to take the same accountability and to course correct like you two do. Any further public comment?

33:57 >> Jan. >> Good evening, council and staff. I'm Jan Vanzki, 15226 Weller Court. I really don't think I have anything that's super newsworthy to say, so I really hope I don't see myself on TV this week. I don't have time or energy for paparazzi. Yay. The camera is not even on me. Um, I'd first like to say, um, thank you for the lovely Independence Day celebration. Um, I saw many of you out serving our community and it was a great event. I really appreciated the live music that was added this year. Um, now on to business. I also want to comment about municipal analytics. The council approved municipal analytics on November 12th of 2025. I believe municipal

34:45 analytics said that they would have their project complete by March of 2026. Don't quote me on that. I went through all of the minutes and I could not find exactly what date they said, but I did ask for them to come give a presentation and um they did do that uh April in April. I'm not sure of the date. I think it was like the 25th or something. It's unclear to me if they've completed their contractual agreement. I haven't seen any like actual document that they've produced. Um just a couple of the PowerPoint presentations that they that they did for us. I am disappointed that the village did not have a full report for municipal analytics before the 2026 2027 budget was passed. Or maybe you did and you just didn't share it with residents for some reason. I did hear a

35:30 remark from one of the council members that we may not like what the report has to say. Um I understand that it's just a model to help us to help guide us uh into the future of how to handle our finances, but I would like something in writing, something that I can actually hold in my hands, a final report for uh municipal analytics. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jan. Jarrett, did I see your hand up? That's where we're going. Jarrett Hopper, 309 Cog Shell Street. Uh, just a couple topics. First, just wanted to say thanks to everybody here and everybody in the room for the service that you provide. We know this is a difficult

36:15 job. Everybody disagrees agrees, but at the end of the day, everybody cares and thank you for for caring and going above and beyond to do that. Uh, second, just on the 400 Elm Street property. I mean, based on what it looks like here, I mean, with the credits, $70,000 seems like a really good price for property. Guess my biggest concern with that would be, is there a major cleanup being it's an industrial workspace? The Jo old Joseph Pontiac building stayed vacant for years from before and after we moved out west and came back. So just making sure that that 70,000 is actually 70,000 and not something more. Third is just a request

37:03 from Chief Narsh and the police because I'm Cog Shell Street's biggest speeding advocate >> is the people are really running the stop signs on Cogell. It seems like they're fully ignoring everything that's going on over there. I promise I wasn't the stop sign camera guy for everybody that thought that I was. Um, but anything you guys can do, there's a lot of young families there. There's a lot of pets and no one is abiding by those rules for for speeding on cog show. So, anything you guys can do to help would be very appreciated. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jared. Any further public comment Ellie? >> Good afternoon. I do want to thank you for getting me out of work early today

37:50 um to be here. Um, just a couple of quick things. Um, I I just learned of the uh Elm Street development probably last night and and I would just say this. Um, not everything that looks free is free or is a good gift even for that matter. Um, my concern is that it's a risky investment. It's a complex development. Um, there's liability to the community. financially. There's also um lawsuit potentials when you're developing a brownfield. That's a complex project. And I think about the PY development, which is a 101

38:38 stamp development. And look where we sit all these years later with the PY development and the residuals from the most basic development that's done across the country with one of the biggest uh builders. We are not those people and we have failed in the past. We are not qualified. I believe this is the same um attorney that got us into that contract. >> Direct your comments to the president, please. I believe we retain the same council that drafted and approved the agreement we made with PY that we still pay for today. Lastly, I want to talk about the water bond. Um, this is the third meeting in a row, second meeting, I'm requesting

39:24 something in writing from this council or from the clerk about where we stand with these bounds. I I read on Facebook today, two of them were paid off in 2025. One's paid off this year. That's not coming from the government. That's coming from a citizen who's done some research with Foya. Why aren't you sharing with us where we stand? My water bill this month, $82.39. Okay. Who's they got that low of a water bill? And Holly. I got yelled at for using the water the other day. So, but out of the 82 39,

40:09 $37 was for our water and sewage debt and $35 was for water. I want my money. That's $444 a year. I might be a little more supportive on mill increases that cost me 700 a year if I could get my 444 back. some of these bonds have been paid off. It's really um becoming a really bad look for you folks and I know and I I know you're wonderful people up here. Let's give the information we've been asking for and this will be the last time I ask because it's no longer an ask. It's a requirement to do your

40:54 >> Thank you, Ellie. Is there any further public comment and Angela Wallace, 709 Beard Street. Um I just uh was not able to make it to last month's meeting because I had a pre-existing um commitment, but I wanted to let the community know that on um June 3rd um the Fraternal Order of Eagles um their ladies um auxiliary, that's an um they gave a significant donation to the Holly Police Department food sharing pantry. Um this donation is allowing us to um serve the people in our community. We have a lot of and you don't know how

41:40 much of a need we have right now for food insecurity and how many people we have coming through daily at all hours. 24 hours a day we're open and food is leaving the pantry every day and it's being taken because we have so many people in our community that are in food in insecure. So I just wanted to let you know that that did happen and I wanted to thank the Fraternal Order of Eagles um ladies auxiliary in public and I'm sorry that I could not do that last month. Um, also I agree with Jarrett on the cog shell and um it is a drag strip from the trailer park in Rose Township all the

42:27 way down Cogshell. People are not stopping at all. They're not even slowing down at the stop signs coming down Cogell. They just blow through them and hope that nobody is coming at them. And I'm hoping that there's no children riding their bikes across the street because this is a everyday issue. Um, I wanted to thank the village manager and our police chief for making sure that the no parking signs did get put up on um the one side of Baird so that we don't we will not have the issues with the venue parking um that we have had in the past. So, I just want to thank you for that update. And I also just um want to take a moment to let you all know that I pray daily for your safety, especially this week.

43:12 after all the things that have come out and um for all of our staff, for our council, for our commissioners, for our board members. We all, I'm hoping most of us want you to be safe, secure. You should feel very safe in your own homes and not feel threatened despite members of our community who are continually and daily stirring the pot and that are bringing harassment and making it so that our elected officials, our appointed officials are not feeling okay and safe in their own homes. So, I do pray for you and I and if I can do anything to help you,

43:57 please let me know. >> Thank you, Angela. Yep. Any further public comment? >> Yes. Good evening. Reagan Rockwell, 836 Holly Bush Drive, Holly, Michigan. Thank you, Councilman Wendell, for being here. So glad to see you again. Thank you, Councilman Ryan, for your for continuing to represent your constituents and for your transparency. Thank you, everyone else, for your time. I ask and I plea that you would actually represent your constituents.

44:44 I feel like there is a lot of being out of touch with the actual community. Having worked in this community for seven years, I found that a lot of people worked here or a lot of people chose to live here because of the affordability. Moving forward in cityhood, I have concerns that and actually we'll get to see next month what's that what that is actually going to bring. But I have a feeling it's not going to cheap. The special assessment has not been cheap either. When I thank Councilman Ryan and Councilman Wendell for their transparency, it's just such a far cry from what we've seen put out by our village president on Facebook. It's false propaganda about how financially strong the village of Holly is. One of the most important

45:30 factors in building a strong community is being able to trust those who dictate the municipality's financial future. And we're not seeing that. We're having a very hard time trusting things when we're seeing lies put out on Facebook. If we were financially strong, there wouldn't be a need to renew a special assessment at a rate of 4%. There could have been like some a good faith gesture maybe of reducing it to 3.5% or less. We shouldn't see dirty streets along with this repair in our roads and fire hydrants that don't work. Those things should have been fixed over the last year. You guys have had an entire year with a 4% increase in the special assessment. Um,

46:16 I can't help but think about those on a fixed income in this community, those who are struggling. And I feel like there's just been such a blatant disregard. Um, you say that you care, but I don't see it. Our businesses are struggling. We've had businesses leave the dirty roads. Don't leave a good first impression of Holly if somebody's been here for the first time. I took a couple of pictures and put them on Facebook today because we want transparency. This isn't about anybody attacking anyone. It's not about harassment. >> Please don't Please don't address him. You address the the president time. You take your time. >> Order. >> So, it's really about what what's fair and what's transparent. It's not about a

47:02 witch hunt just because somebody is bringing bringing attention to accountability and transparency. And even Miss Cole, I I saw your behavior towards Mr. Wendell too and it wasn't >> any further public comment. Hearing none. Seeing none. This moves us to old business. Consideration by council of maintaining Simon Faggera Parker PLC as village legal representation. Do I have a first to consider item A of

47:48 old business? make a motion to uh what is it table or delay so we can put it off till the next meeting >> postpone >> postpone for one more meeting to uh hopefully form a committee to actually interview the people that are in the packet um I just don't know anything about we can read a few pages but until we actually talk to them um I think some of them have uh experience taking villages to cities that might be beneficial for our residents to have too We have a motion by Cascella to postpone. >> I'll second the motion. >> We have a second by Wendell to postpone.

48:36 Council discussion. Madam President, >> so I think our our current representation um based off the information that uh we received and the spreadsheet of what they're all working on, they do have a lot of irons in the fire. So I don't I don't know if it would be the best interest just to say goodbye. But I also think it would not it would be a bad idea if we do not at least talk to these other companies uh to see what they offer. We know what we get with our current representation. Um there some other mun municipalities what they'll do is they'll have a a three-person committee. They can come up with questions. You can direct all the questions to the representation and then the committee can report back

49:24 >> council. >> I mean I kind of like that idea because we have interviews for like our village manager, village clerk treasurer and our other appointed officer is the attorney. So, it only makes sense to also interview who we might want to be sitting up here with us during our meetings or interview the company that might be up here. In this case, like even Gilner is not here every single time, sometimes someone else. So, as long as like a representative from each of the groups that are being considered if they're willing to. >> Uh, respectfully, I disagree. We're not interviewing for a vacant position. We're talking about firing our current attorney. I don't I had all the information I needed in those packets,

50:12 but pleasure of councel. Anyone else opinions discussions questions? >> Uh, manager Price, did you interview any of the applicants or did you just solicited bids? >> We we just solicited bids. We reached out to several different firms across the state or at least within the area and we did not do individual interviews with them. It's not it's not my appointee. It's the counc. >> If that's all. >> Tim, please call the role. >> And this is the for the motion to postpone. Correct. >> For the motion to postpone. Please call the role. >> Yes. Weinber. >> No. >> Costcella. >> Yes. >> Ker.

50:59 >> No. >> Wendle. Yes, >> Ryan. >> Yes, >> Cole. >> No, >> no. Motion denied. >> I will entertain a motion to consider item A of old business. Do I hear a motion? >> I'll make the motion to consider A of old business. >> Do we have a motion by Cole? Second. >> We have a second by Ky. So just to repeat for those gathered, this is for the consideration by council of maintaining Simon Fagira and Parker PLC as village legal representation.

51:48 Uh Tim, would you like to introduce this item? >> Sure. This is already an item that we postponed previously. Um we had submitted RFP. Uh we had it out for about six months to get different bids. Um, tonight you're being asked to consider an appointment of legal counsel following the bill uh request for proposals process. We received proposals from three qualified firms, each offering different levels of municipal experience, staffing, fee structures. After reviewing the submissions and considering the village's current future leg and future legal needs, uh, I recommend that we retain council with Simon Faggera and Parker PLC as village attorney. The firm has represented the village for over 20 years, providing municipal legal services, and it has demonstrated a strong understanding of our operations in ongoing legal matters. Their proposal also offers a competitive

52:34 hourly rate of $170 an hour. Maintaining this relationship will preserve institutional knowledge, continuity, and responsiveness while avoiding the disruption and added expense of transitioning to new council. For these reasons, I respectfully recommend that we maintain our current legal counsel. I'll also mention as it is a council appointee, it is a super majority vote to replace excuse me five votes to to place. >> Thank you for that reminder. >> And could you say that one more time please? >> The super majority is for >> it's within the charter. Um so any appointee so the clerk village manager the attorney you need at least five

53:21 votes um in order to to remove them from their current position >> to remove them. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Okay. Um any public comment on this item? Miss Matson, >> Anna Matson, 15091, Western Valley. I have watched this attorney give this council poor legal advice for years now, and it should be met with termination of his service, not an extension. In my limited time, let me give you a few examples. Number one, in this very meeting, you are considering a FOYA appeal past the statutory time frame. The law is very specific that it needs to be responded to in 10 business days

54:06 from the last regular meeting. It was received. We are past that. After two foil lawsuits, I would think the attorney would brush up on these basic requirements. Number two, from my memory, I believe there have been four illegal committees. In just the past couple of years, he has allowed or even justified and sat here um and allowed. When I first raised this issue, he said it was like picking a paint color for your wall. No, Mr. Gilner, whether or not you follow the law, is nothing like picking a paint color. It's the difference between getting sued and not getting sued, which is essential when you're dealing with a financial crisis. Number three, Mr. Gilner allowed you to go in several illegal closed sessions. He justified the excessive use of close closed sessions by saying, quote, I

54:52 could write you a privileged communication that today is Tuesday and that would enable us to go in close session. Then an attorney from his same office came here and said, quote, "The whole point of it is, referring to the Open Meetings Act, is that they don't want councils or boards just to be able to go into session just for any written legal opinions." End quote. Those are just a few things, but I couldn't but I could sit here and list more. Let's face it, Mr. Gilner is a liability and does not serve the village of Holly any further. You can't blame past administrations for failures when you have consciously kept him here this entire time. Thank you. Any further public comment

55:38 hearing? None. Seeing none. Council, any discussion? I just want to say like I'm not against I don't disagree with the fact that we probably should have had interviews, but it's it's the 10th hour at this point. We've been waiting six months to do this. I don't know that that is when we should be bringing up another procedural question actually been a year. I also don't see right now we are involved in lawsuits. Um I don't see changing legal counsel as an optimal time to do that when we

56:24 are in the middle of some legal issues. Um contrary to public misconception, Gilner has not led us astray. I've yet to hear a judge say otherwise. council. >> So, I think he has led us astray. Now, whether or not there's been damage to that, I don't know. For instance, the one that comes right off the top of my head is the uh DDA difference in opinion where we all fought for it and then I brought it up that no, we received a different opinion and then opinion was changed later. So, that that happened. Another issue I think is starting in January we had uh uh well year ago but uh I know in January we had a a

57:10 conference with uh Mr. Gilner, Mr. Mr. Price and I did regarding water and sewer bond, how stuff was set up. Still haven't received word back. That's January. And then at the I think it was the March meeting I said private publicly, hey, we're waiting for Mr. Mr. Gilder to come back for us trying to get us some more information on this. And that's the meeting that his associate was here. And after the meeting, the associate came up and said, "Hey, Mr. Gilder might not be here. What are you waiting for?" So, I told him what we were waiting for. And now we're way past that. And I think the responsiveness is part of the issue that that we're seeing here. So, we can only do so much. and and we want to talk about other things that have happened. The the difference of opinion with PA33 we had

57:57 it was his opinion one thing and then I said hey why why don't we have to do this and why are other legal firms saying this and that wasn't addressed at all. So I think there there are things that have been brought up. There have been issues. And as far as us being in active litigation, is there some way we can work with that? Would his firm only represent us for the active litigation stuff? Don't know. Um all the files that they have is are the property of the village. And I have to imagine that municipal attorneys are able to say this is all the information. We might have two attorneys for a while and they say, "Here's the information.

58:43 This is where we're going with it." If they don't want two, if we if we did want to have two or if the our law firm didn't want to have two. >> Thank you, Jim. Anyone else? >> Um, I have more of a procedural question >> because of you said supermajority, but your right says it right there in the charter. Um, if the attorney doesn't doesn't have the oath to be with the village, would they still be considered an appointed official or are they contracted through their company that we hired at that point? So, would it still need a super majority or would it just be a majority for any other contract? >> I think it would be again I have to it should be we are hiring the attorney. So, Mike is just a representative like

59:28 all of the contract says Simon Um it's not just for attorney. So it is our our agreement with the attorney agency. >> So the agency be an appointed official. It's whatever be a contractor need four votes instead of five votes to switch or >> I think I'd have to review the charter you have right now. But I mean I'm pretty sure it says that that includes that person who needs to replace >> right the person not the company. >> Yeah. And that's that's the same argument we had previously that which is why they didn't need to take the >> taken off. Yeah. >> So I'm just wondering like >> it's whatever we agree. >> If we don't agree then

1:00:14 >> there you go. >> But if it came down five or four votes today that's all questioning different. Okay. Well, if that comes to play, we will have to make sure to look at that. >> I mean, me personally, I agree with some of the stuff Jim said, not like all the different opinions. Um, I did like one of the other companies because it seemed like they had an army of attorneys at our disposal that are all experts in different areas. So, if we had questions about specific things, that person should be able to answer us probably relatively quickly because they should hopefully be an expert in it. Um, so that's where I'm kind of standing with

1:01:00 it is the Bloom Slugget PC counselors and attorneys just because it seems like for very similar price, we can get like more bang for our buck with it. And I don't necessarily see it as a firing of someone. It's more switching contracting companies for this case. It's just an attorney versus construction or whatever it might be, which we should be reviewing all of our contracts regularly anyways. >> Thank you, council. >> Okay. Please call the role.

1:01:48 >> No. >> Ker, >> yes. >> Wendle, >> no. >> Ryan, >> no. >> Cole, >> yes. >> Winber, >> yes. >> Yes. Motion carried. Mike, I meant to offer you an opportunity to speak and I know we already did the vote, but was there anything that you wanted to say? >> Oh, I I was happy to address any and all, but at this point in time, um I >> no need to drag out the meeting. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thanks. We all appreciate that.

1:02:35 Item B of old business, consideration of the approval of awarding the audited services contract to Lauderback in Amen for $49,500 for the fiscal year 2026. Do I have a first to consider item B of old business? >> I'll make the motion to consider item B of old business. the consideration of approval of awarding the auditing services contract to Lauderbach and Amen for 49,500 for the fiscal year of 2026. Well, that's Yeah, >> I hope I didn't. >> Thank you. We have a first by Ryan and a second by Kyer and I hope I didn't botch that pronunciation. >> Um,

1:03:21 so we don't have Lisa here to introduce this item. Tim, do you know much to do about anything? >> Yeah, about some things. Not much about this, but this is this is Lisa's area. She was the one that reviewed these, made the recommendation. However, I'll read her car and say a couple things. >> Uh, at the June 24, 2025 village council meeting, the council requested the village solicit bids for auditing services. The village office solicited bids for the services with the quotes due by March 31st, 2026. Only two firms submitted bids and are summarized as follows. Raymond Robson LLC 54,000 Lauderbach Amen 49,500. Both firms were recommended by other municipalities within the state of Michigan via a list serve through the Michigan Municipal Treasures Association and all had good reviews and so the recommendation is to sign a contract for auditing services

1:04:07 with Waterbeck Aean for 49,500 for the fiscal year 2026. I will say that I would recommend not t like if we are confident with Lisa's recommendation I'd recommend not tableling it because usually our audit should be starting in August. So I would hate to be get to August have to do the contract already late starting another audit. >> Okay. Any public comment on this item? >> Is the new news guy raising his hand? >> Hearing none. Seeing none. Council discussion. >> I agree with Tim. We should try to get this started because even if we hire them, we

1:04:53 not might not be able to get on their schedule for a few months. So, we should move on it. >> Thank you, Jim. >> I think it's a good thing we got fired by our last company. We've not saving 50,000 bucks, so I think they they probably figured out once we started taking bids. So, this looks good. >> Anyone else? Okie dokie. Please call the roll. >> Ky, >> yes. >> Wendell, >> yes. >> Ryan, >> yes. Cole, >> yes. >> We burner, >> yes. >> Costa, >> yes. Brandon, >> yes. It's unanimous. >> Motion carried. Um item C, consideration of resolution

1:05:41 2026-032 to submit a village road millillage proposal to the electors of the village of Holly. Do I have a first to consider item C of old business? >> I'll make a motion to consideration of resolution 2026-032. Submit a village road millillage proposal to the electors of village of Pollock. >> I'll support that. We have a motion by Weinbrunner. We have a second >> by Cole. >> Tim, would you like to introduce this item? >> Uh, sure. This is another item that was postponed from our last meeting. Council is being asked whether to place a dedicated road to prove a village on the

1:06:27 November 3rd, 2026 ballot. Proposed ballot language would authorize up to two mills for 10 years if approved by the voters beginning in fiscal year 2028 and is estimated to generate approximately 335,150 in its first year. The revenue would be restricted to road construction, resurfacing maintenance drainage engineering, and other related street infrastructure costs. While staff is prepared to resolution council's consideration, I recommend that the council uh carefully evaluate the proposal before taking any file final action. We need to ensure the legal authority ballot language, DDA capture, financial impact and permitted uses of the revenue have been fully reviewed. U since we did this last the village attorney's office has gone through and uh we there was a slight change language from the previous uh versions to this one that they've updated some of those things so that review has happened.

1:07:13 Council should also consider whether the anticipated revenue is sufficient to support a meaningful road program and whether the public safety public clearly understands what this millillage can and cannot accomplish. Um because the ballot submission deadline is August 11th, council has limited time to complete that review and determine whether the proposal is ready to be placed before the voters. I personally I I have uh although I think we need to do something, we need to start um I'm worried that we have a road millillage like $335,000 a year um is a drop in the bucket for our needs. And I have I fear that if we do a millage, they're going to expect all the roads to be replaced right away. But we have about $20 million of road repairs that need to happen, not to include the sewer and water infrastructure and all the things that need to happen. And so I'm just I I want

1:07:58 to have be very clear with expectation management of management of this. Even if we did not spend a dime and we just saved this for 10 years and spent it all that time, it still wouldn't I mean it would it would just barely touch our needs that we have right now. So um I we need to do something. We need to start. We'll talk a little bit more about this uh with municipal analytics next month at the meeting. However, we need to make a decision so we can get it on the November ballot. >> I I agree. Oh, sorry. >> It's okay. We'll we'll be back to us soon. Uh first, any public comment on this item, >> Jane?

1:08:46 Good evening, city council. My name is Jane Bistasa. I'm a resident of the village of Holly. I live on East Holly Road. I concur with what the manager has just said exactly. It is not going to bring sufficient funds. I've done many roads myself. To do just a complete reconstruction of a small onem road will cost over a million dollars. with the cost of gas and things of that nature going up higher, this is not even a drop in the bucket. With all due respect, uh again, um respectfully, you did in you did and we uh with the fire um or police millage, I should say, the four mills people still remember that. and to add another millillage. I ap I I not that I

1:09:33 want to apologize, but I I don't know how the the villagers would feel about adding another mill or so to do this. I I I'm sorry. Um many people uh were here to talk about the the uh police millage and to add this right now for something that you you won't be able to do anything. I concur with the city manager completely. It's it's a very small amount and we won't we need to find another way. But thank you for allowing me to speak. >> Thank you, Jane. Any further public comment? Thought I said hand waving. Nobody. Okay. Hearing none. Seeing none, >> council. Uh,

1:10:19 >> I was just going to say I I agree with uh Manager Price's analysis of this. I if anything yeah I would wait to do this until after but unfortunately we're just under a strict deadline but I would want municipal analytics report before we moved towards this because as a finance committee we met with municipal analytics and as manager price has reiterated we have massive infrastructure as well as roads that need to be done and we have to figure out a way to make that all work together. There's no sense in putting down a new road over pipes that are 50 years old and are going to need to be dug up in two years. >> So, I'm going to piggyback off of Amber

1:11:06 on that. I also agree. I have been looking at the traffic counts through simcog.com. If anybody else would also like to pull those up, you can see that they have data all the way from just July 12th where we are averaging in a week span 7 to 6,000 vehicles just down Sagenoff Street which is one of our main thoroughares by all means. It is um a huge part of our DDA. It is a huge part of just Holly on its own and even that one chunk of road is about a mile long. We are going to be looking at far more than we're act actually capturing. If we can look at the amount that we were proposing, it's the same as the or

1:11:52 roughly the same as the special assessment. So, I'm not sure we're going to bring in very much in that first year or after that would even touch some of these roads. Um, as difficult as it is to address misconceptions, especially when they run wild, and they will, I think it is really important that we do address those and make certain that we're clear about what this village is, and leave it up to the voters. If this had been done 40 years ago, we'd be sitting on some savings that could have taken care of a lot of this. I think it's irresponsible to not start saving as soon as possible. And even if the voters chose to do this, we wouldn't start saving for it until 2028. Um, I know that we've got a little feedback from Municipal Analytics. Their

1:12:39 presentation, by the way, will be in August at the August meeting. Um, and yeah, this isn't going to do, but not even half a road at a time if we did it that way or we save it until we have more. We look for matching grants and I think if I remember right, Tim, you said that we'd be able for infrastructure to use some of the water enterprise funds. >> Yeah. For for the for the infrastructure underneath the streets that would need to be replaced >> underneath the streets. So that piece could be handled while we're already under there with the water enterprise funds. So, but yeah, it still wouldn't be but each each mill per year wouldn't be but maybe a third of a road a piece. But it's still it's still still something to start saving for something. I I I feel like we can't not save for

1:13:27 any longer. And also leave it up to the voters. I say put it in their hands. If they don't want it, they don't want it. But I know that I think we all know. How many flat tires did each of us get on the way here today just coming down your own side street? I know I got five. >> Yeah. >> Council, your thoughts? >> Um, first I'd like to apologize, Mr. Price. I told him I'd have questions for him. I just got so busy I never got a chance to send the email. Um, so instead of asking all those questions, I'm just going to summarize my thoughts on it. Um, like you guys are correct, we need to also use grants and all these other funding sources to pay for them over time, but we also should have a plan moving forward on how we're going to use the

1:14:13 funds before we ask the voters for more money. So, if we have those plans in place and we can show autonom like, hey, these are the streets we're working on in order before, and you guys may already have that. I don't know. I think having that presented first before we go to an election form and be like, hey, we're supporting them on this. I think we should have all of our ducks in a row first saying, "Hey, this is how we're going to do it. This is our improvement plan for the roads. We're going to start with these streets and repair them first with this first group of money from this year. We're going to couple it with these grants or these water funds. But even then, our water funds are still finite. Like we have how many pump stations that need to be replaced with it? >> We have 13, but what four million

1:14:58 >> and how much are those and how much money do we have? >> Million dollars. >> So, we're not really going to have much water funds either for that infrastructure. So, I think before we send this through a vote that may or may not happen, we should have our plan made and if it comes down to it, special elections are dropping a bucket compared to that, we can have a special election for that if we need it. It's sooner. I think we should just have the plan in place first before we ask for more money. >> Tim, do you want to speak to that? >> Yeah, I can I can talk a little bit. So, um, John from Municipal Analytics, we've been, you know, we've been plugging away at the capital improvement plan portion, which part of that is the roads. We've had a pace rating that kind of has outlined our roads since 2018. We've seen that they've degraded. One of the

1:15:44 missing pieces to that was that matching it to the water infrastructure that we have because again, we don't want to replace road and then the, you know, six months later have to tear it up to replace a pipe. And so, um, we previously, uh, had a saw grant to, um, to get some of the conditions of the, uh, infrastructure underneath. Um, this was older, but that information wasn't, you know, put it into GIS. And so Danny and I are now having the process of going segment, not road by road, segment of road by segment, road, pairing up the condition information, and then racking and stacking all of these things. And so that's what he and I are working on right now, exactly what you're talking about. So that if someone looks they can say where does my road sit like if I'm on looking at Sherman you know where

1:16:30 does Sherman sit on or this segment of Sherman sit on the priorities and that's part of where we're adding our the capital improvement plan we're working on is more robust than a lot of others where it actually would say ideally like this section would be like allocated for you know 20 2029 uh that would do it 2037 replacement or whatever you know um that's the aspiration um they know what we're working on. Um the problem is again getting the matching funding for it. But I I agree that it's hard because yes, we need to start saving. We Danny is we have um a local road improvement uh grant that we approved for that we've you know we've been looking at doing smaller segments and we need matching funds for those things. But I I the the expectation management thing is really

1:17:16 what scares me in this because again if they approve a road mill village um you know because the financial impact that can have on them they're going to expect uh quantifiable changes in the roads and I just don't realistically seeing that happen um to the extent that it would feel justified to them even though we need to start saying we need to start doing something. Um yeah it's a hard it's a hard one. What um to have a special election or election uh instead of putting this on November what would it cost? >> Um I would you know I think usually special elections are $40,000. I can't remember. That's just me pulling a number out of the air. I'd have to ask the clerk treasurer. They do it, you know, more on the election side. Um and but we'd also have to coordinate that

1:18:02 with the township because you know they do our elections. So >> you said 40 treasure of the township that probably could help us out, you know, with those numbers. So >> you said 40,000 is what you're thinking. >> I uh do you know off the top of your head any like >> I thought it was 20, but I could be wrong. I thought everything was 20,000. >> I thought it was 10. >> I I thought >> I thought it was 16. >> We don't know. >> Yeah, we don't know. >> And and it could be a lot lower. I thought with rental rental of equipment, all of those things in an off election cycle. >> Um >> Google say. Yeah, that that was me just usually anything a municipal government is 30 to $40,000 at that point. So like >> council anything else before we >> I think it's a messaging issue like we had a speaker this morning or this evening say they would like to see a

1:18:48 decrease in our special assessment staff has said they want it to go up. It's it's not like there's there's money sitting around. So, if we put something out that says only for 300,000, like manager Price is saying, we're going to have issues with the communication. We're going to have problems. People understanding that no, this isn't going to fix everything. We need a ton more money. I I would ask I mean I'm not sure if could I Danny did you have any thoughts or based on our discussions with this on the road side um because he's the one that's been looking at a lot of I want to make sure you give all informed opinion. >> Good evening council. So I uh I have our

1:19:34 >> Can you put the microphone up please? >> I have our newly uh formulated budget in front of me. Um, and I can tell you that my entire local road budget, and this includes wages, overtime, retirement, operating supplies, engineering services training contractual equipment rental, uh, equipment and vehicle charges, and project costs is $116,000. My project costs for the year are $30,000. That's going to get you patchwork. I can't do anything further with no more money. I do agree with this that, you know, we ran the numbers at an astronomical millage rate and it still is a drop in the bucket. Um, even with uh grant matches and everything else,

1:20:20 there's there still really isn't a whole lot of money available through the state and federal government. It it it it's just not there. And so this is where we we really need to figure out how we're going to start saving for some of these projects. That's that's really what that's really where we have been >> at three time even if it was three times this we're talking about about a half mile of road we can do if that >> um for per year so >> and we have 27ish miles of road in the village >> correct >> half mile a year so we could maybe have our roads done in >> 50 years if we go three times >> that's if we three times what you guys are proposing >> yeah oh okay so 150 years we could have our But then there constantly

1:21:06 >> we'd be back to the beginning again. >> Um but you know at some point during that 150 years maybe the cost of materials and labor would >> that's generally what happens. Things don't happen >> typically. >> Okay. I appreciate the discussion. Um I I think I've made what my votes going to be clear. I don't believe in kicking the can down the road and but I also think putting it in the voters's hands isn't a bad thing. And um misconceptions, fears of misconceptions. All we can do is education. Any last words, councel, before we vote? >> I one last thing. It's my opinion that once uh once we're able to bring parody with the township um with our water rates, the water rates for the normal average residential user

1:21:51 should go down in the village aisle and a couple other figures too. And I think if we had more data and we could educate the residents, maybe it flies past November, after November. >> Oh, you mean if we did a special one? Okay. >> Do a special one. >> Our current vote on the table is to consider a village road mill proposal to the electors of the village of Holly for the November ballot. Please call the role. >> Ryan, >> no. >> Cole, >> no. >> Web burner, >> no. >> Costa, >> no. >> Ky, >> no. >> Wendle, >> no. >> Brandon,

1:22:37 >> yes. >> Motion denied. Okay, moving on. New business. Consideration of approval of a real estate purchase agreement for the purchase of the property located at 400 Elm Street in the amount of $278,250 subject to applicable credits for acred village fines and appraisal costs. Court approval, title review, due diligence, and final review and approval by the village attorney. The estimated purchase agreement expense to the village after the credits have been applied is $70,550. Do I have a first to consider item A of

1:23:22 new business? >> I will make that motion. >> I will support that. >> We have a motion by Costco. We have a second by Cole. Tim, would you like to introduce this item? Sure. Um, probably the the I've mentioned before that the two economic development questions I get asked most over the last year and a half since I've been here. First one is when is Holly Hotel development? That's what everyone asks. And then the second one is from locals asked about $400. Like what are we doing about that? Why haven't we, you know, stepped in as a village to do it? In the past, we and as you look through the documents, you'll see that we went to court with them in the past and we did nothing with it. We just kind of let it sit. Um, so over the

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