Highland Park City Council

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Workshop just ended. Council is taking five min before meeting.

All Council members present.

Meeting called to order at 7:07 PM.

Motion from Ash-Shafii to add Robinson’s resolution to tonight’s agenda. Resolution is to rename Rhoda Island St to Martha G Scott boulevard to honor her contributions to HP over the years. Resolution added to agenda and agenda approved with this amendment.

Minutes from May 19 regular meeting approved.

Mayor McDonald making her remarks virtually:

-Expresses excitement for Robinson’s resolution.
-July 12 is annual city wide rummage sale starting at 11am on California and Woodward
-June 21 is city wide clean up
-Coffee and Conversation on June 11 at 5pm at Justice Center with gifts for grads

Starting citizen participation for agenda items only:

-Block club president comments on bid for street sweeping services. He thinks the businesses, not the city, should be responsible for clean up.
Also concerned about lack of accountability and transparency regarding agenda items 7 and 8.

Bids open.
One received from Priority Waste at (4500 River Ridge Dr, Clinton township) for 3 yr contract for residential trash pick up.

Manager of Municipal Relations from PW says HP needs to give residential unit count to get total price of contract.

Motion to move bid to admin. Motion passes

Bids open for street sweeping services. No bids received.

City Clerk application for Vending License from Roni LLC Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice. Motion from Martin to approve application with questions. Martin’s question is essentially “weren’t you here last year?” Answer is yes because license needs to be reapproved every year 😆

License is approved.

Motion to pass Robinson’s Resolution to honor Scott with secondary street name. Motion carries. Discussion about needing to set a precedent to ensure that “not just anybody gets a street.”

Ash-Shafii makes motion to table Resolution to approve the Revised Comprehensive Safety Action Plan and endorse Vision Zero—needs more time with it. Deadline is July 1. Original plan introduced to Council in Sept 2024. Only new info is regarding survey answered by 62 residents and Council notes.

Revisions made to 3 sections:
-Section 5.1: Added results from additional survey responses (residents main concerns: unsafe streets, lack of lighting, unmaintained roads)
-5.2: USDOT wanted equity considerations in report
-4.6: More research on peds involved in car crashes

Motion to table item VIII. Motion carries.

Item IX. Requesting authorization for Water Dept to prep a vulnerability assessment for HP Water Treatment Plant.

Discussion:
Plant abruptly shut down in 2012. Main concern is unsecured premises leading to trespassing. Report would cost $7,000.

Motion to approve Item IX. Motion carries.

Citizen Participation 🗣️

-Woman concerned about rental ordinance that was paused during last meeting. Says she thought it had been repealed in February, so putting a moratorium on it doesn’t make sense.
-Granddaughter of Scott thanks Council for approving secondary street name to honor her.

Citizen Participation 🗣️
-Commissioner Scott’s son thanks Council too.
-Woman reminds Council that they work for HP citizens. Also says she saw a video showing water running through water plant. Concerned about implications for residents if this is true.

Council Affairs:

Ash-Shafii declines to comment because he “doesn’t want to ruin this night”. It has been a refreshingly positive meeting so far.

Martin praises Martha G Scott’s story and her contributions to HP.

Thomas took a moment to remind folks that council members are all human with busy lives who are doing their best.

Meeting adjourned at 8:28 PM.

What an exhilarating feeling to end a half hour early!

This concludes my live coverage of the Highland Park City Council meeting. For more info check out the link below.

If you believe anything in this live coverage is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.