2026-09-22 - Committee on Appointments

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05:41Morning.

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06:08We will call the committee on

06:09appointments to order at 8:00 a.m. We

06:12have a very short agenda. Uh, Miss

06:14Boser, if you could please lead us

06:17through a discussion on the current

06:18board and commission vacancy list as of

06:20September 22nd, 2026.

06:23>> Sure. Um, I did want to mention that

06:25there are two resignations that will be

06:28on tonight's agenda. There were two

06:30members of quarter improvement

06:31authorities who had job changes, so they

06:34no longer qualify. Um, so we'll add

06:37those to the list. And I did want to

06:39highlight just in general, we don't have

06:41many applications for um the South

06:44Division Granville Avenue, which now has

06:46two vacancies.

06:47>> So that's one um I wanted to mention.

06:50And then also I received I was contacted

06:53by the liaison um for the assessor's

06:57board of review that they are have one

07:00vacancy and may have another. there's

07:03term limits on that body. Um so by the

07:06time they meet again next spring, they

07:08were looking to hopefully have more

07:10applicants and so we wanted to get the

07:12word out on that one.

07:14>> Um

07:15and then additionally, we did some

07:16administrative things on the back end.

07:19Um updated our application and added uh

07:23the vacancy list, the residency members

07:26with residency to the vacancy list for

07:27the quarter improvement authorities as

07:29was mentioned at the last meeting. Um,

07:33and then have just been working on

07:35plugging away at the end of year

07:37appointments and getting prepared for

07:39that.

07:40>> Well, thank you very much, Miss Basker,

07:42and thank you to the clerk's office and

07:43all of our uh staff uh for their work on

07:46this and continuing to keep our boards

07:48and commissions running. Uh,

07:50commissioner, any comments, questions,

07:51concerns?

07:53>> No, I don't think so. Oh, sorry.

07:56>> Sorry. No, I don't think so. I think

07:57that's helpful. Um, I'd love to hear the

08:00update about the Granville, you know,

08:01corridor. Maybe if commissioner and

08:03mayor have any thoughts because that'll

08:05be a mayor appointment. Um, but I'm sure

08:07Commissioner Belch will have some, you

08:09know, insight into that. Um, and then

08:12and I might be able to suggest a few of

08:14some folks who've opened businesses in

08:15that corridor in the last 6 months that

08:17I know of. Um,

08:19you know, I think the only other one

08:22that I wanted to look at was um the

08:26urban agriculture and the urban

08:27forestry.

08:31Okay. Cuz the So, this is the one um

08:34Yes, the urban agriculture. Sorry, I

08:35sometimes get them mixed up. We do have

08:38have had this spot for this mayoral

08:39appointment of the farmers market. I

08:41think when I was chair, we talked about,

08:44you know, could the farmers market have,

08:46you know, could it be somebody else? And

08:48at the time, the farmers market shared,

08:50you know, that they just didn't have

08:51anybody that they could appoint. There's

08:53obviously other farmers market. So, it

08:54wasn't just I think initially started as

08:56Fulton Street, but it it is not the idea

08:59is not just Fulton Street. It could be

09:01any farmers market in our city network.

09:04And so, um, I feel like that one's been

09:06open for some time. I don't know how

09:08long.

09:09>> Long. So, this is I'm assuming these

09:11would be bylaws. This is not an

09:13ordinance, Patrick, because this is

09:16>> It is. Yep. It's bylaws. I served on

09:18that committee and as the clerk said,

09:20yes, it's been long cuz I remember

09:22having that discussion and the GRPS

09:24representative session. Those have been

09:27a challenge to get folks at the table.

09:29And you know cuz you were on the body

09:30for for vital streets before you know we

09:33had that same I mean that was more of

09:35there was a lot of people and it was a

09:36reconfiguration but when you get a

09:38little specific it becomes a little bit

09:40harder and so I wonder you know there's

09:43always a lot of stuff to do and I so I'm

09:44not suggesting this is the number one

09:46thing but if we could put a sort of a a

09:48little highlight on this one if we could

09:51go back to the committee talk about what

09:53that would be like should the committee

09:55support that you know and also the

09:57liaison which would be I believe the

09:58parks department, could we do a change

10:01with the bylaws and then just ratify

10:03that so then we're not leaving it up to

10:05a smaller group of people if the farmers

10:08market is not able to you know bring

10:10somebody forth. So that was just the one

10:12that was I was like let me see if

10:15another year goes by and it has and so

10:17just want to make sure that we fill that

10:18seat. Thanks.

10:19>> Well thank you commissioner you are

10:21speaking my language uh with urban a of

10:23course and um uh Mr. Clo, Robert Ky is

10:27the liaison currently for uh that

10:30committee and I know he will be um well

10:33equipped to lead that conversation and I

10:36think the comparison to vital streets is

10:38a good one of I believe that there's

10:40that original organization of a a

10:43committee or a board and then there's

10:45what the current present needs are and I

10:48think current present needs are folks

10:50with diverse voices to add their voices

10:52on uh urban a so um it'll be to add some

10:56flexibility to that board. Um, Mr.

10:59Clerk.

10:59>> Yeah. So, highlighting um local officers

11:02compensation commission because we do

11:04have a vacancy there when Mr. Tucker

11:06joined the city staff.

11:07>> Okay.

11:07>> And then um so we have that one that's a

11:10partial term and then we're at the end

11:12of the month the the current term ends

11:15for someone. So um so we're going to

11:17have two openings and we start that work

11:19um early 20 Yeah. So early um 2027.

11:24So, um, if we can get working on that

11:26and if you notice at one point we were

11:29really high in W two

11:30>> and we had a and we had a flip. So, uh,

11:34if you can think of somebody from W 2

11:37that has a little bit HR

11:39>> would would help. And then, um,

11:41otherwise we I mean the the other

11:44demographics are pretty well spread out.

11:46So,

11:47>> and they need to be this is a resident

11:48of the city and I talked about that.

11:50>> It is a residency requirement. And then

11:53um Becky, do we know who who's is it? Is

11:56it is it Omar coming off?

11:59>> I believe so.

12:00>> I believe so because I think he's been

12:02there for the seven years. So that would

12:03be a Hispanic male from the first ward

12:07coming off. So

12:09>> okay. Yeah, I could definitely think

12:10about that. Um you know, probably have

12:13to get through this election season

12:14because then some people might become

12:16available or not. Uh [laughter]

12:18>> but we can definitely think about that.

12:20>> All right.

12:20>> Thank you. Wonderful. Well, thank you

12:22all so much. Any further questions,

12:24comments, concerns? I

12:26>> think so.

12:26>> Seeing none, we will adjourn the

12:28committee on appointments at 8:06. Have

12:30a beautiful morning.

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36:12[laughter]

36:12>> The time is now 8:30 and we will go

36:14ahead and call this uh fiscal committee

36:16meeting to order. Good um a good morning

36:18everyone. Sorry, I was making it

36:20afternoon. Um we have a number of items

36:22today. The first one being a resolution

36:24authorizing execution of a memorandum of

36:26understanding with Kent County for

36:28fiscal year 2026, the burn memorial just

36:31assistance grant, also known as JAG, for

36:33funds totaling $198,363.

36:37Do you have a motion?

36:38>> So moved.

36:38>> Supported and supported. Miss Boh.

36:40>> Good morning. I'm here for Mr. Tucker

36:43this morning. And [snorts] this is an

36:44annual process that we go through to

36:46receive the um JAG funds from the

36:49Department of Justice. Uh we are

36:52eligible for resources um in a joint

36:55application with Kent County and we've

36:57done this for many years now. Um and the

37:00city uses its its funding or its funding

37:03for our neighborhood um based crime

37:05prevention programs that our

37:07neighborhoods apply for through our

37:08neighborhood investment plan and Kent

37:10County Sheriff's Department typically

37:12uses their share for technology

37:14improvements. Um, these resources will

37:17actually be allocated in the upcoming

37:20neighborhood investment plan process,

37:22which would start in January of 2027.

37:26Oh, and I should note that we also um

37:28off the top since we administer the

37:30grant, we take 10% which is the

37:32allowable amount through the program.

37:35>> Thank you so [clears throat] much, Miss

37:36Bohodge. Uh, questions, colleagues,

37:39a pretty standard item and actually I

37:41think the three of us served on that

37:42subcommittee. So, um, I'm going to call

37:44the question. All those in favor? I.

37:46>> Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you.

37:49Uh, next is a resolution authorizing

37:51execution of $150,000 for an agreement

37:53with Meltder Ministries for the personal

37:55belonging storage program.

37:58>> Motion moved.

37:59>> Support.

37:59>> Moved and supported. Miss Bohodge.

38:01>> Thank you. So, this [snorts] is a

38:03program that we started back in 2021

38:06when we piloted piloted it. Um, and it

38:09was has been very successful. There's

38:10been over 2,000 um individuals who've

38:12taken advantage of being able to store

38:14of unhoused persons who've been able to

38:16store um materials of val value,

38:18personal belongings in a safe and secure

38:21location. Meltrodder Ministries has

38:23partnered with us to um run that program

38:26um and operate it on and it runs Monday

38:29through Friday. Um traditionally we have

38:31used ARPA funds um the total budget

38:34being $200,000. those resources are no

38:37longer available. And so the city

38:39budgeted um in our FY27 budget $100,000

38:43from the refuge fund um to also helps it

38:46also helps us support you know

38:48cleanliness downtown. Um, and then we've

38:51been seeking partners and the Downtown

38:53Development Authority um is contributing

38:55$50,000 and Meltroder Ministries um has

38:59a is anticipating $25,000 from a

39:02philanthropic

39:04um donor.

39:06>> Great. Thank you for that overview.

39:07Questions, colleagues? Commissioner?

39:10>> Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, Miss

39:11Botch, how so in total annually, um, as

39:15this is something I'm hoping that we can

39:17continue to support, uh, for our

39:20unhoused neighbors, what's the total

39:22price point of, um, uh, price for this

39:25program?

39:26>> So, traditionally, we have budgeted

39:29200,000. Okay.

39:30>> Um, we're at 175 right now. Our intent

39:33is that we might find some additional

39:35partners along the way. Um but right now

39:38we're looking at how u I should say

39:39Meltrodder Ministries is looking at how

39:41they might adjust um the times that

39:43they're open um by you know maybe a few

39:46hours a day or something like that to be

39:48able to accommodate.

39:49>> Thank you so much.

39:51>> 175.

39:51>> I think that's important colleagues to

39:53that's good for me to for all of us I

39:55believe to keep in mind um as we uh

39:59think of the budget. That's good to have

40:01a number. I know it was sort of a

40:03challenge with the DDA at first. they,

40:05you know, uh, seuite said it wasn't, you

40:07know, a priority and I'm thankful that

40:09they, uh, did end up coming to the table

40:11to help us with this. It's, um, sort of

40:13a divide and conquer or divide and help,

40:16uh, with this, and I'm very thankful to

40:18hear that we're doing it. Thank you.

40:20>> Great. Thank you. Hearing and see no

40:23other questions, we'll go ahead and call

40:24the question. Um, all those in favor, I

40:27>> Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you.

40:30Next, uh, item number four is a

40:32resolution accepting, um, I'm sorry, I'm

40:35gonna miss you, Laura. Uh, res item

40:37number three is a resolution authorizing

40:38execution of a $100,000 agreement with

40:40MuseGr LLC for design, curatorial, and

40:43project manage management services for

40:45the MLK community center placemaking

40:47project. Do you have a motion?

40:48>> So moved.

40:49>> Supported, Miss Clayool.

40:51>> Morning, fiscal committee. Laura Clayool

40:52with the parks department. Um before you

40:54is a resolution authorizing an agreement

40:56with MUTR LLC for $100,000

40:59um to support the completion of the MLK

41:02community center project. Um placemaking

41:04was identified during the facility

41:07planning process as one of the key

41:09components of honoring the legacy of the

41:11space and then also celebrating the

41:13cultural vibrancy and lived experiences

41:16of the surrounding neighborhood. Um UCR

41:18is a community embedded organization. um

41:21they've been a strong partner with the

41:22city on other projects. Um and they have

41:25a lot of experience in public art

41:26curation, design, and then engagement

41:29with youth. So under this agreement they

41:31will manage the full public art process

41:34including developing a curated art plan

41:36um conducting community outreach

41:38facilitating a public artist call

41:40coordinating fabrication and

41:42installation of the art and then also

41:44ensuring quality standards are um met to

41:47the city's art public art and memorial

41:49policy. So this agreement allocates

41:52$30,000 towards the project management

41:54services and 70,000 for artwork

41:57fabrication and payment to the artists.

42:00And this work advances our commitment to

42:02meaningful community rooted storytelling

42:04in that space.

42:06>> Great. Thank you, Miss Clayool.

42:08Questions, colleagues?

42:10Um, I'll just say we have so much public

42:12art and engagement that is happening

42:14right now and I'm glad to see it not

42:16just certain times a year. We have art

42:17prize and south prize and then we have

42:19the gun memorial work that we're doing

42:21the third ward mural project and so um

42:24when will the time frame be for this

42:26miss Clayool?

42:26>> Uh so the call for artists will go out

42:29yet this fall and we're looking for work

42:31to be completed and installed by the end

42:33of next summer.

42:34>> Okay. I think the only thing I would say

42:35I love this project I love um the space

42:38was able to go to um the

42:40African-American Arts and Music Festival

42:42um is just the timing because there are

42:44a lot of ass out to community

42:46colleagues. So, and I know that, you

42:48know, Stephen is very familiar with, you

42:50know, as you said, he's worked on a

42:51number of projects for us. I just um can

42:54I think sometimes right now it's been a

42:56little confusing because we have so many

42:57sort of call for artists happening. So,

42:59if we could take a look at that to make

43:01sure that this project will get the

43:04focus just like all the other projects.

43:06So, that's just a tiny bit of feedback.

43:08>> Appreciate that. Thank you.

43:09>> Thank you. I didn't call the question

43:12though, did I? Um, all those in favor?

43:14>> I.

43:14>> Any opposed? Item carries. Thanks so

43:16much. Item number four is a resolution

43:19accepting $300,000 grant and authorizing

43:22an agreement with the Grand Rapids

43:23Community Foundation for the integration

43:25of uh the T2C studio to college through

43:28college um services with the challenge

43:31scholars program. Do I have a motion?

43:33>> So moved.

43:34>> Support.

43:34>> Moved and supported. Miss Harris.

43:36>> Good morning. Uh thank you

43:37commissioners, appointed officials and

43:40staff. uh Shannon Harris, executive

43:41director of our community's children.

43:44And this is a renewal grant from our

43:45partners at the Grand Rapids Community

43:47Foundation. This grant will allow our

43:49community's children's staff that work

43:51in the TDC studio Grand Rapids Center

43:53for College Success, third floor of the

43:54Grand Rapids Public Library downtown to

43:56deliver critical post-secary advising to

43:59a subset of the class of 2027 and 2028

44:02at Union High School. Uh these young

44:05people that will receive these services

44:07are called challenge scholars and

44:09they'll receive funding directly from

44:10the foundation that will assist them

44:13with the costs associated with uh degree

44:15attainment.

44:16>> Great. Thank you so much. And I remember

44:19when you were kicking off all this work

44:20with two college through college and

44:23just the excitement of you know having

44:25that public space and so this is a I

44:28think this is a really impactful

44:29connection and partnership and so I was

44:32glad to see it on the agenda. Um

44:34comments, colleagues

44:36hearing and seeing none. All those in

44:37favor? I.

44:38>> Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you.

44:41Item number five is a resolution

44:43approving a three-year contract awards

44:44for health insurance administration

44:46through Priority Health, prescription

44:48drug insurance administration through

44:50Disclosed RX, Vision Insurance

44:52Administration through Bluec Cross Blue

44:54Shield of Michigan, and dental insurance

44:56administration through Delta Dental with

44:58administration costs not to exceed

45:00$6,539,250.

45:04Do you have a motion?

45:04>> So moved.

45:05>> Support.

45:06>> Mr. Osterban.

45:08>> Good morning. I'm my husband, the city's

45:09employee benefits manager, and I'm here

45:11today on behalf of the human resources

45:12department to ask for approval for

45:14three-year contracts for our current

45:16third party administrators for our

45:18health insurance plan. Uh we've been

45:19working with these organizations for at

45:21least the last three years, and we were

45:23able to have a robust RFP process this

45:25year to look for the organizations that

45:27can provide us with the best overall

45:29value. And after the review was

45:31completed, we decided that the the same

45:34organizations that we currently work

45:35with are the ones that we should

45:36continue to work with for the next three

45:37years.

45:38>> Great. Thank you so much. Questions on

45:40this item, colleagues? I know that there

45:43was a lot of work from those three years

45:45ago. So, and you know, sometimes it

45:47makes sense to move, sometimes it

45:48doesn't. So, we will go ahead and call

45:49the question. All those in favor? I. Any

45:52opposed? Item carries. Thank you so

45:54much. Item number six is a resolution

45:56authorizing a budget substitution of 400

45:59$400,47.39

46:02within the capital improvement fund to

46:04align city match funding with the

46:06Michigan natural resources trust fund

46:08grant program for the river edges trail.

46:10This is the Leonard to Anne. Do you have

46:12a motion?

46:12>> So moved.

46:13>> Support.

46:14>> Miss Clayool.

46:15>> All right. Good morning again Laura

46:16Clayool from the parks department. Um,

46:18so this item and the following item are

46:21both related to the Leonard to Anne

46:22Trail. And just as a reminder, um,

46:24that's a 3/4 of a mile connection that

46:27is eventually going to close a very

46:29critical gap from downtown Grand Rapids

46:31up through Riverside Park and ultimately

46:33to the White Pine Trail. Um, so this

46:36first one uh is to resolution

46:38authorizing the substitution within the

46:41capital improvement fund to support um,

46:43segment two of the Leonard to Anne

46:45Trail. This segment is partially funded

46:47through the Michigan National um I'm

46:49sorry, Michigan Natural Resource Trust

46:52Fund Grant, which reimbures 25% of

46:55eligible costs and construction costs.

46:57And so to align our capital dollars with

47:00the MDNR accounting code structure

47:02requirement, um this is just an

47:04administrative swap of one code for

47:06another. So, um it's kind of a cleanup

47:08item so we can move forward and get that

47:11work on the trail wrapped up yet this

47:12fiscal year.

47:13>> Thanks so much. Uh questions colleagues

47:17hearing and seeing none. All those in

47:18favor?

47:19>> I.

47:19>> Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you.

47:21And like you said, we'll be here for

47:23this next one which is a resolution

47:24authorizing a budget substitution of

47:26250,000 for the Leonard uh to Ann Trail

47:29project. Do you have a motion?

47:30>> So moved.

47:31>> Support.

47:31>> Moved and supported. And I'm going to

47:33call that. Um all those in favor?

47:35>> I.

47:35>> Any opposed? Item carries. Thanks, Miss

47:37Clay.

47:38>> Thank you. Item number eight is a

47:40resolution authorizing a budget

47:42substitution in the amount of $770,000

47:45for the Market Avenue sewer abandonment.

47:48>> So moved.

47:49>> Support.

47:50>> Moved in support. Mr. You've been

47:52waiting in that little seat. I love it.

47:55>> Good morning, commissioners and uh

47:56fiscal committee. uh bring before you a

47:59resolution today uh requesting a budget

48:02substitution uh requesting 770,000 from

48:06the sewer IIIP funds. Uh this is to

48:10properly abandon the sewer that was uh

48:13relocated uh for the amphitheater

48:15project. Uh a large portion of this

48:18sewer stretches underneath US 131. Uh

48:22this project will require us to install

48:25bulkheads, remove sludge and flowable

48:27fillet to uh secure that section of 131

48:32and make sure that it is secure.

48:36>> Questions?

48:38>> I just had a question. I know there's a

48:39lot of conversation because I feel like

48:41people have asked me this, you know, the

48:43MDOT's reimagining of 131. I mean, I

48:46think that's probably going to take a

48:48minute. So, it's not like this project

48:50could align to anything that they're

48:51doing with that.

48:53>> Is that correct? Is that is that my

48:55correct assumption to say? Cuz I feel

48:56like that project

48:57>> will align with future projects.

48:58>> It will align with future projects.

49:00Okay.

49:01>> All right. You heard it here first,

49:02people. Okay. Uh all those in favor?

49:05>> I. Any opposed? Item carries. Thanks so

49:08much. Um item number nine is an ordin or

49:11ordinance amending section one of the

49:12budget ordinance 2026-11 for fiscal year

49:162027 amendment number three. Do you have

49:18a motion?

49:19>> So moved

49:19>> support.

49:20>> Miss Claren, is there anything?

49:22>> Uh good morning commissioners. Uh we

49:24just have uh a variety of grants. I'll

49:26go through them quick. Uh the the chip

49:29le hazard control grant. Um Michigan

49:32indivi indigent defense fund. Uh we also

49:36have the drug propriety court grant. Um

49:39number four and five we get into

49:41appropriating our bond series 2026 we

49:43just issued. So we have an appropriation

49:46going towards um the remain remaining

49:49work on Scribner. Um this is not you'll

49:52see future appropriations but starting

49:54to put that money to work. So towards

49:56Scriber and also uh number five is the

49:58fire training center facility

50:00appropriating 11.3 million over there.

50:03Um then we have smart grants like the

50:05Sriiety Corps expansion program. Um

50:08autotheft prevention authority grant. Um

50:12and then uh you know Miss Clay was up

50:14here talking about uh parks and wreck

50:16but we have the Michigan natural

50:17resources trust fund grant appropriation

50:20for river edge trail Leonard an which

50:22was discussed um 61st district court um

50:26substance abuse and mental health

50:27services administration grants. So, um,

50:30all in all, uh, majority of them are

50:33grants and and appropriating bond funds

50:35and then our contingent balance remains

50:36unchanged at 1.5 million.

50:39>> Thanks, Miss Claren. Questions,

50:41colleagues.

50:43All those in favor?

50:44>> I.

50:45>> Any opposed? Item carries. Thank you.

50:48Next is our bid list resolution item

50:50number 10 for September 22nd, 2026.

50:53Do

50:53>> have a motion.

50:54>> So moved.

50:55>> Support.

50:55>> Moved in support. Miss Claren.

50:57>> Uh, yeah. [snorts] pretty

50:58run-of-the-mill um items on the bid

51:00list. Nothing too exciting. If you do

51:02have questions, myself or the

51:04departments are here to answer them.

51:06>> Great. Thank you.

51:08All those in favor?

51:10>> I.

51:10>> Any opposed? Item carries. And next,

51:13that takes us to our reports. And the

51:15first one is our uh comprollers warrant

51:17report for the period of August 25th,

51:192026 through September 7th, 2026 in the

51:23amount of 23,778,75089.

51:28Uh and I'm turning over to our deputy

51:30controller.

51:31>> Good morning, commissioners and

51:33everyone. Uh as shared our payments

51:36issued total 23,778,000

51:39including 6,400,000

51:42for payroll,

51:44127,000 for income tax warrant. In that

51:47were 251 income tax refunds and 1,036

51:52accounts payable checks issues. And

51:54that's our report.

51:55>> Thank you so much.

51:56>> Thank you.

51:56>> Um that report is received and filed.

51:59And next we'll turn over to our

52:00treasures report for the period of

52:02August 26, 2026 through September 8,

52:052026. Mr. Treasur,

52:07>> good morning commissioners. With our

52:09report today, we did see that the Fed

52:11raised the rate by 0.25%. So we're up to

52:143.75 to 4%. Um it was a unanimous vote.

52:17It was a 12-0 vote on that which um was

52:21for me more encouraging that they're

52:23they're actually um settling on things

52:26that are they believe through the

52:29economic data through what's happening

52:31that they're going to start making some

52:32moves. It is now predicted that they're

52:35talking about another one before the end

52:37of the year and possibly two more into

52:382027.

52:40The reason being is that

52:42their midpoint right now of what they're

52:44thinking that the rate should be is 4.1%

52:47or or slightly higher. Of the

52:50participants in this type of pool, the

52:5218 16 of the 18 are looking at 4.125 to

52:564.375%

52:58RIP RIP fed funds rate. So obviously if

53:01they're only hiking it by a quarter of a

53:02point, that means we're probably going

53:03to see two or three more possibly

53:05showing up. But again, they are data

53:07driven. So it all depends on what the

53:08academic data is. It depends on what's

53:10happening in the the global situations

53:12that we're facing as well as what we're

53:14facing at home. Um, one thing I ran last

53:17week is I drove my pass myers on Caloo

53:20in 28 and saw the gas at $4.99.

53:24So, I I I will say there I can give a

53:27shout out to the state of Michigan

53:28because they did something favorable for

53:30us and that is that they fixed the tax

53:32rate on our gas. if they hadn't fixed

53:35the tax rate, that price would have gone

53:37even higher because as the costs go up,

53:39obviously a percentage of something is

53:41going to continue to increase tax amount

53:43that you would pay at the pump. So,

53:45that's something that took effect

53:46January 1 of 2026. So, for our state,

53:49thank you to our state for for examining

53:51that so we're not paying extra on top of

53:53that. Um, but again, it it takes time

53:57for it to get back. There are a lot of

53:58extenduating factors from the fact that

54:00we're switching over from our summer gas

54:02mix to our winter gas mix to the point

54:04that we had a refinery shut down for

54:06[snorts] a week down in in Illinois that

54:10caused a supply shortage. So there

54:12there's some short-term things that are

54:14happening, but it's there's also the

54:16long term. So we're feeling more of the

54:18short term right now as that price

54:20spiked up. Um this morning as I drove by

54:22a different Meer gas station, it was

54:24down to 480 474.

54:27So that's a quarter coming back down. It

54:30just we're going to feel these because

54:32most most of our society is is check by

54:37check, right? So as you get your

54:38paycheck, you're spending it on your

54:40gas, filling the tank, getting your

54:42groceries, paying your rent, paying your

54:44utilities, and there's more and more

54:46pressure on that.

54:48We do see that our CPI is at 3.4%. Our

54:51producer prices are at 5.4%.

54:54And when we look at these numbers, the

54:56Fed target is 2%. Well, we haven't been

54:592% inflation target for 5 years. So

55:03something, you know, something has to

55:05give whether they're going to start

55:06hiking rates more in order to start to

55:09try to bring that inflation rate down.

55:11Um, but there's other economic data that

55:14could potentially impact that. I'm glad

55:16that they're data driven as much as just

55:19listening to people chirping in their

55:21ear because that that causes bad

55:23decisions. Our portfolio stands at $735

55:28million. We're earning 3.26%.

55:31But in a rising rate environment or in

55:34this environment that we're we're

55:36projected to be in, we're analyzing the

55:39assets that we hold to see if there's

55:40something we should be selling and

55:41repositioning. Because right now I'm

55:44looking at three securities that are

55:46about $35 million that if we sold them,

55:48we would sell them at a loss of

55:50$120,000, but we would gain an

55:52additional $750 million $750,000

55:56in annual revenue. So, we're looking to

55:58see what makes sense to reposition some

56:00of the securities we're holding to go

56:02out for a higher interest rate and also

56:04continue to have the safety, liquidity,

56:06and yield our three basic tenants for

56:09our investment program. So, those are

56:11the types of things that we're doing

56:12right now is is looking for options that

56:15we have to reposition some of our

56:16investments to actually earn a higher

56:18rate for us.

56:20>> Thanks so much, Mr. Treasure. um always

56:23good with the bit of the the macro and

56:25and the micro cuz I drove by those gas

56:28stations too and I was reminded that um

56:32I'm like gosh five oh this is $5 you

56:34know and remember driving in Elder

56:37Heights when there was a gas station

56:38where the library was and my grandpa

56:39telling me it's 99 that's that's getting

56:42high [laughter]

56:44>> I know you weren't born Marshall okay

56:46you know

56:48>> your it sounds like your

56:50>> let me relive this

56:51>> your grandfather father and my

56:52grandfather were one and the same

56:54because mine kept a little log in what

56:56the price of milk they did. What was the

56:58price of a gallon of milk, a pound of

57:00ground beef and gas?

57:02>> Yep. So you have that, right? So there's

57:05been these changes in the bond market.

57:07There's been obviously changes at the

57:08gas tank and then you know what's going

57:11to happen is you know we we're seeing

57:13people who have you know continue to use

57:15credit cards those rates will be with

57:18with these changes are going to adjust.

57:20And I think a lot of times people don't

57:22understand, they're like, "Oh, the Fed

57:24meets, but then that's going to be

57:25that." And especially working with small

57:27business owners where we finance, but

57:28sometimes they're also using credit

57:30cards to finance and that they will see

57:32that increase as well, that borrowing.

57:34>> And think of anybody that still has a

57:35variable rate mortgage.

57:37>> Absolutely.

57:38>> Because now you should see that ticking

57:39up again and higher payments.

57:41>> Yep. Absolutely. Well, that report is

57:44received and filed and it is 8:51 and we

57:46will go ahead and adjourn. Thank you

57:47everyone.

58:29>> [music]

58:32>> Heat. Heat.

58:42>> [music]

58:47[music]

58:57[music]

59:07>> Heat.

59:16[music]

59:25Heat. [music]

59:32>> [music]

1:00:06[music]

1:01:00>> Heat. Heat. Heat.

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1:01:26>> Heat. Heat.

1:01:28[music]

1:01:37>> [music]

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1:02:13>> Heat. Heat. [music]

1:02:20Heat.

1:02:29[music]

1:02:34Heat.

1:02:52>> [music]

1:03:00>> Heat. Heat.

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1:03:13>> [music]

1:03:17>> Heat. Heat.

1:03:32>> [music]

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1:04:46[music]

1:04:55>> Heat. [music]

1:05:13Heat.

1:05:19Heat. Heat.

1:05:41[music]

1:05:45Heat. Heat. Heat.

1:05:53[music]

1:05:59Heat. Heat.

1:06:09[music]

1:06:21[music]

1:06:27>> [music]

1:06:32[music]

1:06:49>> Heat. Heat.

1:07:01[music]

1:07:05[music]

1:07:09Heat. Heat.

1:07:16[music]

1:07:24[music]

1:07:30[music]

1:07:31Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat.

1:07:39[bell]

1:07:56[music]

1:07:58Heat. Heat.

1:08:23>> [music]

1:08:33>> Heat. Heat. [music]

1:08:40[music]

1:08:42Heat. Heat.

1:08:58[music]

1:09:05Heat. Heat. [music and bell]

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1:09:26Heat.

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1:09:36[music]

1:09:43Heat. [music]

1:09:52>> [music]

1:10:01[music]

1:10:03>> Heat. Heat.

1:10:11Heat.

1:10:24Heat.

1:10:32[music]

1:10:39>> [music]

1:10:48>> Heat. Heat.

1:10:52[music]

1:11:24>> [music]

1:11:24>> Heat. Heat. N.

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1:11:34Heat. Heat.

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1:12:18>> Heat. Heat.

1:12:22Heat. Heat.

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1:13:00>> Heat. Heat.

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1:13:17[music]

1:13:21>> Heat. Heat.

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1:13:29Heat.

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1:13:43Heat.

1:13:51>> [music]

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1:14:16>> Heat. Heat.

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1:14:45>> [music]

1:14:48>> Heat. Heat.

1:14:52[music]

1:14:57[music] Heat.

1:15:23Hey, Heat.

1:15:27>> [music]

1:15:41>> Heat.

1:15:45Hey. Hey. Hey. [music]

1:16:04>> [music]

1:16:04>> Heat. Heat.

1:16:12Heat. Heat.

1:16:40>> [music]

1:16:47>> Heat. Heat. [music]

1:16:57Heat. Heat.

1:17:05[music]

1:17:18[music]

1:17:22Heat

1:17:27[music]

1:17:36up [music]

1:17:41[music] here.

1:17:49Heat.

1:18:03Heat.

1:18:11[music] Heat. Heat.

1:18:31Heat.

1:18:47Heat. N.

1:19:19>> [music]

1:19:21>> Heat.

1:19:33Heat. [music]

1:19:50>> [music]

1:19:52>> Heat.

1:19:54Heat.

1:20:46>> [music]

1:21:04[music]

1:21:12>> Morning everyone. The time is now 9:15.

1:21:15We are going to get the community

1:21:17development committee started. We have

1:21:20eight items this morning. The first is a

1:21:22resolution accepting the transportation

1:21:25management plan. Is there a motion?

1:21:27>> Supported.

1:21:29Who has our thing? Good morning.

1:21:30>> Yeah, good morning. Um, so this is our

1:21:33transportation asset management plan. So

1:21:36in 2018, the state of Michigan enacted

1:21:38act 325 which amended our um 1951 public

1:21:43act 51. We always talk about act 51 road

1:21:46funding. So one of the requirements with

1:21:48that funding um is that we need to

1:21:50provide an asset management plan uh that

1:21:52guides our investment in our local

1:21:54street system and that has to be updated

1:21:55every 3 years. So um this is the update.

1:22:00Um the last time it was updated was 2023

1:22:03and it covers our streets, bridges,

1:22:06storm water and traffic signal assets.

1:22:11Wonderful. Um what was the process for

1:22:15creating this plan?

1:22:18Um so following the vital streets, so we

1:22:20talk about the previous proceedings,

1:22:22right? In um February of 2014, we

1:22:25adopted the vital street and sidewalk

1:22:26investment guideline. And then in

1:22:28December of 2016, we adopted the vital

1:22:30streets plan. Um, and those were based

1:22:33on asset management. So when you read

1:22:35the transportation asset management

1:22:37plan, we quite intentionally

1:22:39um include in appendices that kind of

1:22:42that history and how we got to this

1:22:44point starting with sustainable streets.

1:22:46We do that for a couple reasons. So that

1:22:48everyone can see the story from

1:22:50beginning to end and how we've evolved,

1:22:52right? So, we built on that past work

1:22:54from 2014 and 2018 and then we brought

1:22:57it into a transportation asset

1:22:58management plan and we pull in a lot of

1:23:00the metrics that we um report out every

1:23:03year about our percent good and fair,

1:23:06our investment strategies, our total

1:23:08miles of road. We currently have 605

1:23:10centerline miles of road. We also

1:23:13regularly inspect our bridges. So, the

1:23:15bridge asset management plan is in

1:23:17there. We do that every two years. Um,

1:23:19and that was something where engineering

1:23:20was receiving that report and using it

1:23:22to develop budgets, but now it also

1:23:25lives in this report, so it's available

1:23:26for everyone. So, it's definitely been a

1:23:29work in progress and growing. And then

1:23:30when we update it, we quite

1:23:32intentionally simply highlight and read

1:23:34the changes, right? Because the plan is

1:23:36the overall vision on how we manage the

1:23:38assets so we don't rewrite it every

1:23:40three years.

1:23:42>> Wonderful. And thank you for that. Um,

1:23:46how will when the mobile GR study that

1:23:49we uh just invested in a few months ago,

1:23:52um, how will that intersect with this

1:23:54plan once that's finished or is that

1:23:57kind of down the road because I think

1:23:58you said every three years?

1:24:00>> Go ahead.

1:24:01>> Sure. Well, I think a couple things. So,

1:24:03traffic signals are one of the assets

1:24:04that are managed. So, there's an asset

1:24:06management section on traffic signals.

1:24:09Mobile GR is also working to do a more

1:24:11comprehensive asset management plan that

1:24:13they kicked off in June. Um, so we do

1:24:16have a lot of traffic signals across the

1:24:18city that are aging. So they're looking

1:24:20at how they're going to invest and also

1:24:22looking at the market and the cost of

1:24:24traffic signals. So they're doing that

1:24:26work right now. And I know that will

1:24:28inform their um their mobility

1:24:33blueprint, but a lot of the mobility

1:24:34blueprint, and Jessica can correct me if

1:24:36I'm wrong, is really talking about our

1:24:39transportation across the city, how

1:24:41we're getting north, south, east, west

1:24:43with different modes, right? And the

1:24:44traffic signals are part of that design.

1:24:47Um and so these are companions and this

1:24:51one really focus on the investment and

1:24:53cost of those traffic signals.

1:24:56Thank you. Anything to add?

1:24:58>> No. Perfect. Okay.

1:24:59>> Thank you, Commissioner Knight.

1:25:00>> Um to add to that conversation then, how

1:25:03does that play into um Is that is that

1:25:06on? Sorry. Pull it closer. Um to add to

1:25:09that conversation, how does that play

1:25:10into some of the areas in our community

1:25:13uh where people have asked for uh

1:25:16increased signage andor traffic signals

1:25:19for areas specifically talking about

1:25:21that Kalamazoo area.

1:25:23>> [snorts]

1:25:23>> um and integrating how those are

1:25:27implemented to make sure that kind of

1:25:29some of those things are addressed. You

1:25:32know what I mean? So like I I understand

1:25:33that this covers, you know, the

1:25:35citywide, right, as a whole and all the

1:25:37traffic signals, but how can that work

1:25:38together with with areas in our city who

1:25:41are asking for uh increased traffic

1:25:43signals to slow down areas uh in

1:25:46community and and then I guess there's

1:25:48some intersection obviously between

1:25:50mobile GR and what this does. Um, so

1:25:53just wondering if if that plays into

1:25:55anything um the the upgrades that they

1:25:58were asking for the traffic signals in

1:26:00that area and would that kind of like

1:26:02move it up on the list a little bit or I

1:26:04don't know.

1:26:06>> Go ahead.

1:26:07>> All right. [laughter]

1:26:09She's she's going to yank me back if I

1:26:11go too far. No, I don't think it I think

1:26:13it's more um Right. Again, these are all

1:26:16companions. So a lot of times right we

1:26:18talk about signal warrants right and

1:26:20traffic studies and safety evaluations.

1:26:23So mobile GR would actively evaluate um

1:26:26intersections corridors for safety and

1:26:29then make design recommendations from

1:26:32that. This plays into if I add a signal

1:26:35what investment am I making in the short

1:26:37term for the capital to install it and

1:26:39for the long term to maintain and

1:26:41eventually replace it. So, so they are

1:26:43companions, but really um safety and

1:26:46those safety evaluations are driving

1:26:48those design decisions.

1:26:51>> Great. And then, um I don't see a I

1:26:56don't actually see a copy of it in our

1:26:57in the agenda packet. I don't know did

1:27:00were you aware, Joel, are you aware? So,

1:27:02there's no red line. There's no

1:27:03attachment of the plan that we're being

1:27:06asked to approve today.

1:27:10That would be a question for the

1:27:11executive office.

1:27:12>> Okay. Um, so I think uh last time we

1:27:15were in a similar scenario. Um, what did

1:27:18we do, Joel? I think we pushed it to um

1:27:21the regular meeting. I don't think we

1:27:23voted out of committee or how did we do

1:27:25it? You tell me.

1:27:27>> So, do you have an answer for

1:27:29>> We typically don't attach the larger

1:27:32plans or legal agreements. So we have a

1:27:35summary of the salient details in the

1:27:37memo, but to save all of the printing

1:27:41and all of the things that happen with

1:27:42packets. We don't typically

1:27:45add that level of detail into the

1:27:47packet. So that would be a bigger

1:27:49conversation about what level of detail

1:27:51to include in the packet on an ongoing

1:27:53basis.

1:27:55So just for reference, the report is 488

1:27:58pages.

1:28:00So I'm sure that's part of the the

1:28:02decision about whether or not to print.

1:28:04Yeah. Um I hear you on the saving paper.

1:28:07Um but because we we access most of this

1:28:10digitally, I think it's important and I

1:28:12guess I would just ask that uh between

1:28:14now and regular meeting this evening

1:28:16that we receive a copy of it or at least

1:28:18an executive summary or or or I think

1:28:20it's important for us to have some eyes

1:28:22on plans that we're adopting and u

1:28:25submitting to the state.

1:28:27Um, chair, does this mean that we're

1:28:29asking to pull this off the consent

1:28:30agenda in order to do that, or do we

1:28:32want

1:28:33>> Um, I'm fine moving forward, but um, and

1:28:36we have a motion on the table. Um, but

1:28:38if you like to offer that, then you have

1:28:40that right.

1:28:42>> Um, I understand that. I just, uh, I was

1:28:45looking for it even online to be able to

1:28:47look at it. So, um, I guess I would like

1:28:49also to see a little bit more. Um, and

1:28:53because this is it sounds like this is

1:28:54more of a fiscal asset management versus

1:28:57a physical asset management, although

1:28:59the two go together, right? It's not the

1:29:01plan for where things are going to be.

1:29:03It's more like the money we're planning

1:29:05to maintain and upkeep and things like

1:29:08that. Am I understanding that correctly?

1:29:09>> That's correct.

1:29:10>> Okay.

1:29:10>> Um, well, I would like to ask that we

1:29:13get something between now and the

1:29:14evening meeting. And if if the the

1:29:17committee here feels comfortable moving

1:29:19forward to approve it, I'm okay with

1:29:21approving it.

1:29:23>> Okay. So

1:29:25So obviously you have a motion to

1:29:27recommend approval. Um so what what

1:29:30could happen is it would still be on

1:29:33consent and then any member can have

1:29:35anything pulled off consent if you

1:29:37didn't receive what you wanted. So

1:29:40>> we good with that?

1:29:42>> I am. I'll call the question. All in

1:29:43favor?

1:29:44>> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item

1:29:47number two is a resolution approving a

1:29:49third-party agreement with ACOM Great

1:29:51Lakes, Inc. to conduct the previously

1:29:53approved fiscal year 26 traffic signal

1:29:56optimization project associated with a

1:29:59Michigan Department of Transportation

1:30:00congestion mitigation and air quality

1:30:02grant with a local spin authorization of

1:30:05$49,000

1:30:07$900.

1:30:08>> So move

1:30:09>> support.

1:30:11Wonderful.

1:30:12>> Good morning everyone. So this is a CMAC

1:30:15grant um through the state which is what

1:30:18we use ongoing and this comes in every

1:30:20year to do signal optimization to be um

1:30:23just to like put it in terms that I

1:30:25understand that's the programming part

1:30:27of running our signals and we use this

1:30:29type of grant to um to make sure our

1:30:32signals are are optimized or in other

1:30:35words that they're super efficient. It

1:30:37also does things um and this is how it

1:30:39helps with our safety for both

1:30:40pedestrians, bicyclists, and for

1:30:42vehicles. Whenever you catch a green

1:30:44light and then you know if you go the

1:30:46speed limit, you catch the next green

1:30:48light. That's what this this is one of

1:30:50the things that that does. Signal

1:30:52optimization helps train the driver to

1:30:55go the speed limit in in what's called a

1:30:57progression with those green lights. So

1:30:59if you keep hitting a red light and

1:31:01you're frustrated by that, check your

1:31:03speedometer. So, so that that's what

1:31:06that's what this is and we um that's how

1:31:08we pay for um this type of task at

1:31:12mobile GR um to program our signals. So,

1:31:15and we have been successful um annually

1:31:18for um I think this is probably our 20th

1:31:21time in receiving this grant to pay for

1:31:24this type of task. Any questions?

1:31:27>> Commissioner Belshack.

1:31:29>> Um I'm glad to see that we are able to

1:31:31do this kind of work. As you know, we do

1:31:33get questions from citizens andor

1:31:35suggestions from them about certain

1:31:37areas. Um,

1:31:40is that going to be included in this

1:31:41work specifically or how could you just

1:31:44describe the process that you use to be

1:31:45able to incorporate that feedback? Th

1:31:48>> this is a this is operational management

1:31:51and so included in the packet is a list

1:31:53of all of the the signals that will be

1:31:55worked on. they're just in a list. And

1:31:57so when we finish, you know, we have 700

1:31:59signals that we take care of. Um about

1:32:02200 for the city of Grand Rapids and

1:32:04then the other 500 are for different

1:32:06partners that we work with throughout

1:32:07Kent County and part of Ottawa County.

1:32:10And so um what happens is once we get

1:32:13through those 700, it's time to do it

1:32:15again. Does that is that answer your

1:32:17question? Okay. So we always list what

1:32:19we're going to be working on with this

1:32:20with each grant and that's included in

1:32:23your packet. But just know that if you

1:32:24don't see a signal that you may be

1:32:27concerned about or something like that,

1:32:29um folks are always, you know, we always

1:32:31take uh feedback. We'd love to hear if

1:32:33you have some challenges and we try to

1:32:34spot check things that may not be

1:32:36working out and we go and check up, we

1:32:38follow up on every um every, you know,

1:32:41complaint or recommendation that we get.

1:32:43But with this, this is this is on a a

1:32:45schedule of updating um a set of a set

1:32:49of signals at a time each year.

1:32:51>> Thank you for that background. Seeing no

1:32:53additional questions, I'll call

1:32:56questions or comments. I will call the

1:32:57question. All in favor?

1:32:58>> I.

1:32:59>> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item three

1:33:02is a resolution approving agreement with

1:33:04the Michigan Department of

1:33:05Transportation for a road safety audit

1:33:08along Kalamazoo Avenue between 28th

1:33:10Street and MLK Street with a total local

1:33:14cost with a local cost not to exceed

1:33:17$2,500.

1:33:19>> So, move

1:33:19>> support.

1:33:22Thank you. So the uh item three and four

1:33:25are the same type of project and grant

1:33:27in different places in Grand Rapids. And

1:33:29so what these are are road safety

1:33:31audits. And I believe that we've heard a

1:33:33lot about the Kalamazoo corridor

1:33:35particularly. So with item three, um one

1:33:38of the things that might be a question

1:33:40is didn't we already do a road safety

1:33:42audit on Kalamazoo? We did an internal

1:33:46um road safety audit and we came up with

1:33:48some recommendations, but we had already

1:33:50applied for this grant which actually

1:33:51covers more of the corridor. So, it goes

1:33:53further north and it goes further south

1:33:54than what we had completed internally.

1:33:56And we had been working with together

1:33:58West Michigan who's really been

1:33:59advocating for this area and this was

1:34:01part of um what we had spoke with them

1:34:04about is we have this grant. We don't

1:34:06you know, we never know if we're going

1:34:07to get our grants or not. have been

1:34:08quite successful for the road safety

1:34:10audits and so um we were excited to go

1:34:12ahead and get this one. We just got a a

1:34:15little bit ahead of the game and um went

1:34:16ahead and did an internal assessment to

1:34:19start working on this um on this area.

1:34:23And I just want to let you all know that

1:34:25um we will still we're still committed

1:34:28to the recommendations and the road

1:34:29safety audit that we work through with a

1:34:31lot of input from Together West

1:34:33Michigan. So this is just additional um

1:34:35and it will be an external third party

1:34:37that will be taking a look and doing an

1:34:39assessment and making other

1:34:40recommendations and our intention is to

1:34:42dubtail those two things together and

1:34:44move forward with continuing um on

1:34:46safety improvements as funding becomes

1:34:48available along Kalazoo. Do you have any

1:34:50questions for me? [snorts]

1:34:53>> See no uh

1:34:55>> no I was just going to say my prayers

1:34:56were answered that quickly.

1:34:57>> There you go.

1:34:58>> Yes.

1:34:59>> Thank you.

1:34:59>> You bet.

1:35:00>> All in favor?

1:35:01>> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Similar

1:35:04item. Um item number four is a

1:35:06resolution approving agreements with the

1:35:08Michigan Department of Transportation

1:35:09for a road safety audit along Michigan

1:35:11Street between the Grand River and

1:35:13Plymouth Avenue with the local cost not

1:35:15to exceed $2500.

1:35:16>> Salute support.

1:35:18>> Moved and supported. Um anything

1:35:19additional? I know you said it's pretty

1:35:21similar. Anything you want to add?

1:35:23>> Similar type of project. I just want to

1:35:24say that we are super grateful from

1:35:26MDOT. These are um these are really

1:35:28impactful studies that help give us a

1:35:30direction on what safety improvements to

1:35:32to put in a corridor and we continually

1:35:35are thankful to to get these. We put

1:35:38aside $5,000 this year in fiscal year 27

1:35:41budget and this is your $5,000 at work,

1:35:442500 here and 2500 there. And we're

1:35:46excited to get started on this work.

1:35:48>> That's impressive.

1:35:49See no questions or comments. Call the

1:35:51question. All in favor? I.

1:35:53>> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item five

1:35:56is a resolution approving the sale of

1:35:58city-owned property located at 835

1:36:01Livingston Avenue Northeast to Wilson

1:36:04Whitman Homes for consideration of

1:36:06$5,000.

1:36:08>> So moved.

1:36:09>> Support. Moved and supported.

1:36:11>> Yes. Thank you, Commissioner. Good

1:36:12morning. Uh this is under the

1:36:13disposition uh policy that allows for um

1:36:17conveyance to adjacent owners uh to spur

1:36:20development. Um so this is um we've got

1:36:23adjacent owners on quite to the east.

1:36:25This is north of quite park just to uh

1:36:28frame uh this part of the city and will

1:36:31help activate an adjacent uh new

1:36:34construction of 12 unit uh multi-family

1:36:37residential building that um the

1:36:38development team has been working with

1:36:40uh the planning department for some

1:36:41time. Um and uh other departments have

1:36:46weighed in uh most uh notably the water

1:36:48department um as there's a sizable

1:36:51transmission main that runs adjacent to

1:36:53this property. Um, but we've gotten uh

1:36:56we were requiring a retaining wall and

1:36:59vibrationless technology and Wayne's

1:37:01here to answer any questions you might

1:37:03have in that regard. Um, and then we

1:37:06also obtained uh an appraisal from the

1:37:09assessor at the time uh because this was

1:37:11last fall. Um, and the the values that

1:37:14you're seeing there between 16 and

1:37:1520,000 are actually for 836 Livingston.

1:37:19So 834 Livingston was carved out of the

1:37:22uh south side of 836. Um and so because

1:37:25it's about 25% that's how we got to our

1:37:285,000 uh sale price. And I am happy to

1:37:31answer any questions.

1:37:35>> Did you want to add anything? Not unless

1:37:37caught upon.

1:37:39>> I just say yeah there there is a large

1:37:40transmission main there. There are dual

1:37:42transmission mains that feed the

1:37:43northeast area from the Livingston

1:37:45reservoir and pump station that are

1:37:47there. Staff did go out and verify the

1:37:49location uh to make sure that it is not

1:37:51on the proximity or not on the property

1:37:53uh as well as you know a fair distance

1:37:55away but the retaining wall will help

1:37:57mitigate uh any any risk to the city in

1:38:01terms of the stability of that

1:38:02particular pipe.

1:38:03>> Vibrationless technology

1:38:05>> we do not want to vibrationless

1:38:07technology. So if they're putting

1:38:09pilings or anything like that in it

1:38:11helps save the joints on the pipe. uh

1:38:13sometimes older pipe can be uh impacted

1:38:16by the pounding repeated piling of steel

1:38:18pile of sheet piling things like that.

1:38:21So vibration technology if they're doing

1:38:22retaining walls can be augercast

1:38:25concrete piles or just excavation.

1:38:30>> All in favor?

1:38:31>> I any opposed? Motion carries.

1:38:35We are on item number six, resolution

1:38:38approving the sale of a portion of

1:38:39city-owned real real property located at

1:38:421911 Fuller Avenue Northeast to Water

1:38:45Tower Place LLC for consideration of

1:38:47$45,000.

1:38:49>> So

1:38:49>> supported.

1:38:51Yes. This is related to the NAP elevated

1:38:54storage tank at um NAP and Fuller. This

1:38:56is the northern 60 ft of that parcel and

1:39:00again is to spark adjacent uh multif

1:39:02family redevelopment with up to 60

1:39:04units. Um the city intends to uh

1:39:09maintain our existing easements for

1:39:11water main access and also um a

1:39:14retaining wall and a fence. We we've

1:39:15made our requirements known. Um, the

1:39:17other thing to to note on this one is

1:39:19that because this site was anticipated

1:39:22to be north of 50,000, the assessor at

1:39:25the time uh requested an independent

1:39:28appraisal and so we that's where we got

1:39:31to the 45,000 uh for a sale price. Happy

1:39:34to answer any questions. Oh, and the

1:39:36other thing that I wanted to mention is

1:39:37we do anticipate down the way

1:39:39>> uh an incentive request under housing

1:39:42tax increment financing on this one

1:39:45>> and a reasonzoning.

1:39:47>> Thank you, Chris. Yeah,

1:39:48>> several departments weighing in here.

1:39:50Thank you.

1:39:50>> Couple things.

1:39:51>> Wonderful. Any questions, colleagues?

1:39:54>> Seeing none, all in favor?

1:39:55>> I.

1:39:56>> Any opposed? Motion carries. Item number

1:39:59seven is a resolution accepting trail

1:40:02and access easements in connection with

1:40:04Oxford Trail Wealthy to Oxford

1:40:07improvements. So

1:40:08>> support.

1:40:10Good morning. So our Oxford Trail

1:40:12project um that's um going basically

1:40:15from Chestnut um and connecting all the

1:40:17way down to Hall. Um we've had two

1:40:20developers who've been fantastic to work

1:40:21with. this developer um that we're

1:40:23coming forward with is south of Oxford

1:40:26and the two items go together. The first

1:40:29one is an easement for the trail on

1:40:31property they own behind their their

1:40:34building and the second easement is for

1:40:36access to drive across their property

1:40:38during construction and access that

1:40:40development. Um but you'll you'll see

1:40:42that we are receiving these um easements

1:40:46for $1. So we really do have a fantastic

1:40:49partner here in the community who views

1:40:51this as another frontage to their

1:40:54property and how people who walking or

1:40:56biking could come onto their property

1:40:59and you know participate in retail or

1:41:01possibly live there and have other

1:41:03alternatives.

1:41:05Thank you.

1:41:06See no questions. All in favor?

1:41:08>> I any opposed? Motion carries.

1:41:14And then a related item

1:41:17Item number eight is a resolution

1:41:19approving a crossing and consent

1:41:21agreement in connection with Oxford

1:41:24Trail Wealthy to Oxford improvements.

1:41:27>> So

1:41:27>> supporting.

1:41:29>> No further question comments.

1:41:31>> Comments. All right. Any from you

1:41:33colleagues? Seeing none, all in favor?

1:41:35>> I motion carries. 9:35 we are adjourned.

1:41:43Heat. Heat.

1:41:50[music]

1:42:50Heat. Heat.

1:43:13Heat. Heat.

1:43:18Heat. Heat.

1:43:28[music]

1:43:39[music]

1:43:49>> [music]

1:43:55[music]

1:43:59>> Heat. Heat.

1:44:04[music]

1:44:04Heat.

1:44:15[music]

1:44:20Heat.

1:44:27Heat. Heat. [music]

1:44:33[music]

1:44:48[music]

1:44:54>> [music]

1:45:03[music]

1:45:07>> Heat. Heat. [music]

1:45:12Heat. Heat.

1:45:24[music]

1:45:35Heat. Heat.

1:46:14Heat. Heat.

1:47:07>> [music]

1:47:12>> Heat. Heat.

1:47:40>> [music]

1:48:00>> Heat. Heat.

1:48:09>> [music]

1:48:57>> Oh yeah.

1:48:59Heat. Heat. [music]

1:49:19[music] Heat.

1:49:25[music]

1:49:33[music]

1:49:39Heat.

1:49:42[music]

1:50:08Heat. Heat.

1:50:12>> [music]

1:50:30>> Heat. Heat.

1:50:35[music]

1:50:35Heat. Heat.

1:50:39[music]

1:50:58[music]

1:51:15Heat. Heat.

1:51:21Heat

1:51:32up

1:51:39[music]

1:51:41here.

1:51:46[music]

1:52:06Heat. Heat.

1:52:11Heat.

1:52:18[music]

1:52:25Heat.

1:52:33[music]

1:52:42>> [music]

1:52:50[music]

1:52:57>> Heat. Heat. [music]

1:53:00Heat.

1:53:06[music]

1:53:14Heat.

1:53:22Heat up

1:53:49>> [music]

1:53:51>> here. Heat. Heat.

1:54:08[music]

1:54:19>> [music]

1:54:41>> Heat. Heat.

1:55:04Heat.

1:55:17Heat.

1:55:23[music]

1:55:25Heat. Heat.

1:55:32[music]

1:55:39[music]

1:55:50Heat.

1:56:07[music]

1:56:15Heat.

1:56:17Heat. Heat.

1:56:34[music]

1:56:42>> [music]

1:56:56[music]

1:56:57>> Heat. Heat.

1:57:03Heat.

1:57:14[music]

1:57:15Heat.

1:57:27>> [music]

1:57:35[music]

1:57:46>> Heat.

1:58:01[music]

1:58:06Heat.

1:58:26>> [music]

1:58:33[music]

1:58:39[music]

1:58:47[music]

1:58:56[music]

1:58:59>> Hey,

1:59:08come on. Heat.

1:59:19[music]

1:59:26Heat.

1:59:34>> [music]

1:59:43[music]

1:59:44>> Heat. Heat.

1:59:52[music]

1:59:53Heat.

2:00:03[music]

2:00:08Heat. [music]

2:00:14[music]

2:00:19>> [music]

2:00:27>> Heat.

2:00:29Heat. [music]

2:00:42>> [music]

2:00:51[music]

2:00:59[music]

2:01:00>> Heat. Heat.

2:01:13>> [music]

2:01:16>> Heat. Heat.

2:01:20[music]

2:01:25Heat.

2:01:31[music]

2:01:37Heat.

2:01:40[music]

2:01:45[music] Heat.

2:01:56[music]

2:01:58Heat.

2:02:31>> [music]

2:02:32>> Heat. Heat.

2:02:48[music]

2:02:53[music]

2:02:59>> [music]

2:03:09[music]

2:03:16[music]

2:03:19>> Heat. Heat.

2:03:26[music]

2:03:35[music]

2:03:51Heat. Heat.

2:04:09>> [music]

2:04:16>> Heat. Heat.

2:04:23Heat. Heat.

2:04:40[music]

2:04:45Heat. Heat.

2:04:48[music]

2:04:54[music]

2:05:01[music]

2:05:07Heat.

2:05:24Heat.

2:05:28[music]

2:05:30Heat. Heat.

2:05:45>> [music]

2:06:08>> I'm going to call this meeting of the

2:06:09committee of the to order. And our first

2:06:12item of business is a proclamation uh

2:06:14for Hispanic Heritage Month. So, I'm

2:06:16going to go to the podium and be joined

2:06:18by uh Mr. Davis and other members of the

2:06:21community.

2:06:40So before I read the proclamation, um

2:06:43I'll point out that one of the things

2:06:44that we continue to have conversations

2:06:46about uh on this commission and in the

2:06:49community is how to be a truly welcoming

2:06:51community and um it's uh our city always

2:06:56continues to change and fortunately we

2:06:58do have new people who join us. Uh, I

2:07:01think our city manager uh found uh did a

2:07:03little research recently and found out

2:07:05that uh about one in 10 of people who

2:07:08identify as black in our community

2:07:11actually weren't born in the United

2:07:12States. So, uh there are lots of

2:07:14communities that were um members of that

2:07:17community weren't in fact uh born in the

2:07:19US and are and are new not just to this

2:07:21community but to our country. Um, our

2:07:24Hispanic community in Grand Rapids has

2:07:26grown uh dramatically. And in fact, um,

2:07:29the most recent stats I looked at, the

2:07:32uh, our our black or African-American

2:07:34community in town is about equal in size

2:07:36to our Hispanic community at this point.

2:07:38So, they're both about 16th of the Grand

2:07:41Rapids population, and that's a number

2:07:42that's really increased. Um, and as my

2:07:45friend, uh, Germa always points out, uh,

2:07:48it's expected to increase, uh, even even

2:07:50more in the in the coming years. So, um,

2:07:53in that context, of course,

2:07:55highlighting, um, the contributions and

2:07:57the, uh, and the value of our Hispanic

2:07:59community is, uh, particularly

2:08:00important, but I wanted to frame that

2:08:02before I made the proclamation. So,

2:08:05whereas Hispanic Heritage Month in the

2:08:07United States is a month-long period

2:08:08that honors the rich history,

2:08:10traditions, and contributions of

2:08:12Hispanics and lat Hispanics and Latin

2:08:14Latinos have made to the United States,

2:08:16including the arts, sciences, education,

2:08:19business, government, and civil rights.

2:08:21And whereas the city of Grand Rapids is

2:08:23proud to uplift the national recognition

2:08:25of Hispanic Heritage Month to highlight

2:08:27the contributions and accomplishments of

2:08:29both the local and national Hispanic and

2:08:32Latino uh community. And whereas the

2:08:35theme for this year's celebration,

2:08:38Pioneers of Change, Shaping the Future

2:08:40Together, celebrates the histories,

2:08:41cultures, and contributions of Hispanic

2:08:44and Latina Americans, and honors the

2:08:46trailblazing spirit of Hispanic and

2:08:49Latina leaders who have made significant

2:08:51impacts in fields such as civil rights,

2:08:53arts, science, politics, and sports. And

2:08:56whereas Hispanics and Latinos have

2:08:58played a vital role in the shaping of

2:09:01our history and identity both locally

2:09:03and nationally from the early settlers

2:09:05to the many who worked tirelessly to

2:09:07build a brighter future for all. And

2:09:10whereas Hispanic Heritage Month offers

2:09:12the opportunity to honor and celebrate

2:09:13the cultural traditions, achievements,

2:09:15and lasting impact of the Hispanic and

2:09:17Latina community. And whereas we

2:09:20celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and

2:09:23our city affirms its contribution to

2:09:26ensure all communities

2:09:29are welcome to live authentically, seek

2:09:32opportunities safely, and remain valued

2:09:34and respected. Now therefore, I, David

2:09:37Lrand, mayor of the city of Grand

2:09:38Rapids, do hereby proclaim September 15

2:09:41to October 15 as Hispanic Heritage Month

2:09:43and invite all residents, businesses,

2:09:45organizations, and educational

2:09:47institutions to join in celebrating

2:09:49pioneers of change shaping the future

2:09:51together through events, education, and

2:09:54recognition that embody the theme

2:09:56spirit.

2:09:59[applause] Mr. Davis, thank you. Thank

2:10:02you, Mayor, City Commission, City

2:10:04Manager. It's my honor to take a moment

2:10:05to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month and

2:10:08more importantly to express our

2:10:09gratitude to the people who make our

2:10:11city stronger every day. To our Hispanic

2:10:14uh Latinx employees across the city of

2:10:16Grand Rapids, thank you. Thank you for

2:10:18your service, your leadership, your

2:10:20talents, and the perspective you bring

2:10:21to our organization. Your work matters,

2:10:24and we're grateful for the ways you help

2:10:25us serve our residents and move our city

2:10:27forward. To our Hispanic and Latinx

2:10:30residents, families, business owners,

2:10:32community leaders, and organizations.

2:10:34Thank you for the many ways you

2:10:35contribute to the life and culture of

2:10:37Grand Rapids. Whether through

2:10:38entrepreneurship, public service,

2:10:40education, arts and culture,

2:10:42neighborhood leadership, or simply

2:10:43investing in your family and

2:10:45communities. Your contributions are an

2:10:47important part of our shared story.

2:10:49Hispanic Heritage Month gives us an

2:10:51opportunity to celebrate that history,

2:10:53recognize those contributions, and

2:10:55continue building a city where everyone

2:10:57has the opportunity to belong,

2:10:59contribute, and thrive. At this time,

2:11:01I'd like to welcome representatives from

2:11:03Michigan Local Government Latino Network

2:11:05or MLGN to share a few remarks, and

2:11:08after that, we will hear from uh Gummo

2:11:11uh from the Hispanic Chamber of

2:11:12Commerce.

2:11:15>> Good morning, everyone. and city

2:11:16commissioners, mayor, and um city

2:11:19manager. I I'm Ismar. I'm with the

2:11:21Michigan Local Government Hispanic

2:11:22Network. Um we're local ERG group here

2:11:24with the city. And I just really wanted

2:11:26to invite you guys. We have an event

2:11:27today at noon um where we're going to be

2:11:29having food to kind of kick off Hispanic

2:11:31Heritage Month, the celebration. So

2:11:32we'll have food, um networking, music,

2:11:35and also we'll have a photo local

2:11:37photographer from Isa Media Studios

2:11:38taking head shots of people that are

2:11:40attending the event today. So I hope to

2:11:42see and see you guys all there. Thank

2:11:44you. Oh, sorry. Calder Plaza.

2:11:51>> Well, good morning everyone. Thank you

2:11:53uh for having me this morning. I want to

2:11:55thank Mayor David Lagrand uh for the

2:11:58warm welcoming and the entire uh city

2:12:00commission of the city of Grand Rapids.

2:12:02And I really want to express my

2:12:04gratitude for recognizing and for giving

2:12:07us this proclamation as Hispanics. I was

2:12:10in Texas uh last week and um every year

2:12:15that we get together at a national

2:12:17level, you know, we hear the numbers of

2:12:19the economic impact of Latinos in this

2:12:22country. This year, uh the numbers

2:12:25presented are that Latinos contributed

2:12:29last year to $4.4 trillion dollar to the

2:12:32economy. [snorts] If Latinos in the

2:12:34United States states were to be its own

2:12:37country, we would be the fourth economy

2:12:40in the world, the fourth economy in the

2:12:44world. As you said, this country was

2:12:48built by immigrants.

2:12:50For the ones that don't know the data,

2:12:5333%

2:12:54of people that work in a in um in sorry

2:13:00I have I have these numbers in my head.

2:13:0350%

2:13:04of people that work in construction in

2:13:07this country are immigrants. 50%.

2:13:1167%

2:13:12of people that work in agriculture in

2:13:15this country are immigrants. 67%.

2:13:18And 27%

2:13:20of people that work in health care are

2:13:23immigrants. What does that tell you?

2:13:26That this country continues to be built

2:13:31by immigrants.

2:13:32So it is a pleasure to be here with you

2:13:36all and to really recognize the amazing

2:13:39contributions that different groups in

2:13:42this community bring to our city, to our

2:13:46counties, to our states, to our regions,

2:13:49to our country. So thank you so much. Uh

2:13:52one more time, city manager, thank you

2:13:55for welcoming us as always for all the

2:13:58support that we have uh gotten from you

2:14:00and from your team throughout these

2:14:02years. So it is it is a moment of honor

2:14:05uh to to be here representing my dear

2:14:08Hispanic community. So let's celebrate

2:14:11today. Thank you. [applause]

2:14:32team. We

2:14:33>> got everybody

2:14:37here.

2:14:58And if you can't see me, try your head.

2:15:24Okay. Okay.

2:15:42One over.

2:15:47>> Close enough. Not close enough. They're

2:15:49close.

2:16:01>> Okay.

2:16:06Our next item of business is uh city

2:16:08commission resolution affirming the city

2:16:10manager's appointment of Steve Hudson as

2:16:12city assessor. Uh as the city manager uh

2:16:14pointed out to me this morning, um this

2:16:17is an uh unique sort of unique situation

2:16:20in that um city manager of course gets

2:16:22to hire um the position, but uh the

2:16:25decision has to be confirmed by the city

2:16:27commission. And uh city manager, I

2:16:29assume you want to tell us who you're

2:16:30hiring.

2:16:31>> Yes. Uh thank you, mayor, commissioners.

2:16:33Uh yeah. Can I have a motion first?

2:16:35Sorry.

2:16:35>> So moved.

2:16:36>> Support.

2:16:36>> Great.

2:16:38>> Thank you, mayor and commissioners, uh,

2:16:40for your work in taking this item up. I

2:16:42want to thank our CFO, Molly Claren, and

2:16:45all the work of our staff and our

2:16:47assessor's office. But after conducting

2:16:49[clears throat] a very exhaustive

2:16:51search, um, the top candidate emerged

2:16:54from the process for our city assessor

2:16:56and is responsible for doing a lot of

2:16:58important assessing of properties both

2:17:01residential and commercial. and we have

2:17:03an excellent uh team, but we now get to

2:17:06add to the team by hiring Mr. Steven

2:17:08Hudson, who is a very seasoned municipal

2:17:11professional with over 40 years of local

2:17:13government experience. He has served uh

2:17:16as assessor for EMTT Charter Township

2:17:19and previously as assessor for Battle

2:17:21Creek and other places in the city. Uh

2:17:23brings a wealth of experience is very

2:17:25excited about coming here being part of

2:17:27community. uh he is uh both degreed and

2:17:31holds a master of public administration

2:17:32from Western Michigan and a master of

2:17:35assessing uh level credentials. So very

2:17:38qualified. I want to thank the team for

2:17:40their work and look forward to his uh

2:17:42start and working for the city. He'll be

2:17:45here September. Uh he'll be here this

2:17:48month.

2:17:50>> Great. Uh

2:17:51>> sorry, I'm sorry. October.

2:17:52>> October 12th.

2:17:54>> October 12th.

2:17:56>> Great. Any questions or discussions,

2:17:57colleague?

2:17:59>> Uh, mo most importantly, he's part of

2:18:02the election commission and we have um

2:18:05public accuracy test that day. So, I

2:18:06guess he's going to jump right in. I'm

2:18:08just kidding. Lindsay can continue with

2:18:11that. But,

2:18:12>> Commissioner Co.

2:18:12>> Yeah, I'm being silly as well. The

2:18:14resume is stellar, but go Broncos. I'm

2:18:16happy to have another Bronco.

2:18:17>> Broncos.

2:18:20>> Okay.

2:18:20>> One second left. One second left.

2:18:25All in favor of the appointment say I.

2:18:27>> I. All opposed. Motion carries. Uh that

2:18:29brings us to our third item of business

2:18:32before uh a request for close session.

2:18:34Uh the um and this is a resolution

2:18:37approving my uh request to transfer to

2:18:42uh pardon me transfer to travel to the

2:18:44Michigan Land Bank Association

2:18:45Leadership Summit. Uh and this is going

2:18:47to be down in Battle Creek. So, uh, it's

2:18:50there aren't really any travel

2:18:51associate, uh, costs associated with it.

2:18:53Um, but it is, uh, there's a there's a

2:18:57dues that has to be paid for my tenants.

2:18:59Um, it's an interesting conference. It's

2:19:01sort of split into, uh, sessions for new

2:19:04land banks, which is us, and older, more

2:19:07mature land banks. Um, lots of

2:19:09interesting things on the agenda. Um,

2:19:11but I [snorts] will recuse myself from

2:19:13the vote. Can I have a motion?

2:19:15>> So moved.

2:19:15>> Support.

2:19:16>> I don't need to recuse myself, says my

2:19:18clerk. Okay. I, you know, just I'm

2:19:20excis. Um, okay. [laughter]

2:19:24So, I got a I get a motion in support.

2:19:26>> Mhm.

2:19:26>> Uh, any discussion? All in favor say I.

2:19:29>> I.

2:19:30>> All opposed. Thank you. Uh finally,

2:19:33before we get to our annual performance

2:19:35report, which is um exhaustive, uh as I

2:19:39would expect, um I have a request from

2:19:43our city, uh attorney that we following

2:19:46this meeting move into close session for

2:19:48discussion of pending litigation. Uh and

2:19:50can I have a motion?

2:19:51>> So moved.

2:19:53>> And that's a roll call vote.

2:19:56>> Commissioner Belchek,

2:19:57>> yes.

2:19:58>> Commissioner Purdue,

2:19:59>> yes.

2:19:59>> Commissioner Asi,

2:20:00>> yes. Commissioner Kilgore.

2:20:02>> Yes.

2:20:02>> Commissioner Knight,

2:20:03>> yes.

2:20:03>> Mayor Lrand,

2:20:04>> yes.

2:20:05>> That brings us to our motion carries.

2:20:07That brings us to our annual performance

2:20:10report. And city manager.

2:20:12>> Thank you, Mayor. It's [clears throat]

2:20:13our pleasure today to give you the

2:20:15report of the organization

2:20:17over the past fiscal year, an account of

2:20:20our stewardship of resources and

2:20:22services. And before we begin, I want to

2:20:25thank um first of all over the first of

2:20:28all almost 3,000 part-time and full-time

2:20:32employees for their work that leads to

2:20:35uh this performance report and certainly

2:20:37for your uh policy work on the dis but

2:20:40also specifically there are probably

2:20:41over a hundred employees that

2:20:43contributed to this report. Um, you'll

2:20:47hear today from me and several

2:20:48co-presenters from my executive team,

2:20:51Miss Barren, Miss Matthews, but I do

2:20:53want to specifically recognize the yman

2:20:56leadership of uh Luke Canfield, who is

2:20:59our strategy officer, as well as uh Eric

2:21:02Shannon, who's our performance uh u

2:21:05management uh person. So, I want to

2:21:07thank both of them for uh their

2:21:09leadership and work. And what we'll do

2:21:12today is try to get through the

2:21:14material. And if [clears throat] you'll

2:21:16indulge us, we'll go as fast as we can

2:21:19and take a pause at halftime, probably

2:21:21around slide 45, and then uh see what

2:21:24questions you have and then uh continue

2:21:27the balance of discussion

2:21:30um through the rest of the presentation

2:21:32and have questions afterwards.

2:21:35So again, this is a report of the last

2:21:37fiscal year ending July 30th. We want to

2:21:40acknowledge, as I said, the good work,

2:21:43but also use this as a platform to um

2:21:47discuss our work for FY28 when we meet

2:21:50in November. I think all of that's on

2:21:52your calendar. As you can see, our

2:21:54prioritization workshop will occur on

2:21:56November the 12th. Elections will be

2:21:58over. Um hopefully we'll have uh a named

2:22:03uh new city commissioner and uh the

2:22:06person certainly will be welcome to

2:22:08observe during the workshop and it'll be

2:22:09up to the commission whether or not uh

2:22:12you will want to have the person start

2:22:14before January 1. If not, what we would

2:22:16recommend um if they're not appointed

2:22:19until January January one, we'd come

2:22:21back and have some type of special

2:22:23meeting, a continuation of the workshop

2:22:26to integrate that person's um thoughts

2:22:28as well as to focus on a couple areas

2:22:30that we might need to go deeper on, but

2:22:32that's certainly an option. We're not

2:22:33suggesting that at this point, but we

2:22:36will come back in um February of 2027

2:22:40for our midyear uh performance right

2:22:42before the budget uh presentation. uh of

2:22:45the preliminary fiscal plan and then

2:22:48your adoption in May.

2:22:51As [clears throat] as um referenced

2:22:54before, our values, our mission, and our

2:22:58prioritization and vision of our

2:23:00community remains unchanged. A lot of

2:23:01stuff has changed over the past few

2:23:04years, but we've been unwavering and

2:23:06consistent in terms of the kind of

2:23:08community we want and want to see here

2:23:11in Grand Rapids and committed to that

2:23:13vision.

2:23:15as you'll you'll hear updates today on

2:23:17the various focus areas that you agreed

2:23:18upon last November during our

2:23:21prioritization uh workshop. Um and we'll

2:23:25also start talking about the ones in the

2:23:27future.

2:23:29Just to remind um the commission and the

2:23:33organization, I'm really proud of the

2:23:34work that um we get done and not just

2:23:38how we recognize uh the work but not and

2:23:41not even just from the feedback.

2:23:43Certainly, we hear the challenges quite

2:23:45often, but it's often good to hear how

2:23:47others view our community, our

2:23:49organization around the country, and

2:23:51you'll see highlights of those uh honors

2:23:54and recognitions that's been received in

2:23:5626. So, we'll begin with the uh section

2:23:59of governmental excellence, and I'll

2:24:01start with uh Mr. Matthews.

2:24:04Thank you, Mr. Manager.

2:24:06So governmental excellence uh covers a

2:24:09lot of the work that happens behind the

2:24:11scenes to make sure that things are

2:24:12working the way that we want them to

2:24:13work. Um we've categorized this into a

2:24:16couple of key areas that relate back to

2:24:20um those focus priorities. Um, in terms

2:24:23of investing in our work workforce, of

2:24:25course, we've continued work on our

2:24:27comprehensive compensation and

2:24:28classification work. Um, and really

2:24:31leaned into some of the leadership

2:24:33development work both uh at the

2:24:35non-represented level, but also through

2:24:37a new program called Embark

2:24:40um where we're we're bringing new

2:24:43supervisors in to provide them with

2:24:45leadership orient orientation and

2:24:47training through the organizational

2:24:49development office. Um and we've also

2:24:52really tried to focus on areas where we

2:24:55know that we've got um we've got

2:24:58opportunities to reinvest in our

2:25:00employees. One of those areas is with uh

2:25:03trade professional and trade

2:25:05certifications.

2:25:06Um, and that actually relates to the the

2:25:09other column here on the competitive

2:25:10market side where in order to bring in

2:25:15um and retain employees, we're creating

2:25:18more opportunities where we can bring

2:25:19folks in and then help them get the

2:25:22certifications that they need to be a

2:25:24successful employee and to be able to

2:25:26advance within the organization. And

2:25:29that's particularly important in our

2:25:30skilled trades areas.

2:25:33um one of the programs that we've been

2:25:36doing for some time and it's always

2:25:37worth highlighting because it's one of

2:25:39the first examples we have of of

2:25:41bringing young people in and introducing

2:25:42them to the work and then hiring them

2:25:44into that work. Uh the um water career

2:25:48internship program is going on for a few

2:25:50years now. We've had 22 uh participants

2:25:54go through that program. All 22 of those

2:25:56participants have uh secured employment

2:25:59in water careers. of those 13 have been

2:26:03hired directly by the city over that

2:26:05period of time. And I think that's worth

2:26:07noting.

2:26:09I also want to note here at the bottom

2:26:10uh and this is good news. We we saw good

2:26:13movement last year. We've seen more

2:26:15positive movement this year. Um our

2:26:18employee turnover, our targets 10%. Um

2:26:21it actually went down another percent

2:26:22from 8 8.9% to 7.9%

2:26:26over uh FY26. We're hopeful that with

2:26:28the investments that we we're making

2:26:30that we continue to see that be

2:26:32successful. The other one that's uh

2:26:35really notable is we've uh almost cut

2:26:38our time to hire for nonsworn positions

2:26:40in half. Um and that's from FY25 to

2:26:44FY26.

2:26:46Um with a new HR director on board, I

2:26:49feel like we're going to be able to

2:26:51continue to push that number down. Um,

2:26:53of course, the longer it takes for us to

2:26:55bring people into the organization, the

2:26:57more likely it is that they may find

2:26:58another opportunity while they're

2:26:59waiting and we don't want that to

2:27:00happen.

2:27:03Uh, big point of conversation that we've

2:27:05had here uh at the dis artificial

2:27:07intelligence. Uh, as you know, we

2:27:10established an AI council. Uh, that's

2:27:13city leadership as well as a university

2:27:15leadership that's been walking through

2:27:17how exactly to organize our work. that's

2:27:20included subcommittees around policy and

2:27:22ethics, data governance, sustainability

2:27:24and education. Um that's both education

2:27:27outwards to the community but also

2:27:29education inside the organization. Um

2:27:33the key things for us that we found and

2:27:36we continue to prioritize are of course

2:27:38governance of that work u and then

2:27:40privacy, security, data integrity and

2:27:43responsible use. Um, this is not

2:27:46something that we want to dive into

2:27:48because I think we've all probably read

2:27:50articles about where things have gone

2:27:52wrong and that usually has to do with

2:27:54what an organization has done to

2:27:56adequately prepare itself to be able to

2:27:58implement something successfully.

2:28:00To that end, um, we did initiate a

2:28:03limited Microsoft co-pilot cohort. Um,

2:28:06that was self- selected employees who

2:28:08were either already using or were

2:28:10interested in using um, the co-pilot I

2:28:13AI tools. Um, we're running that for a

2:28:16period of time, getting feedback from

2:28:18them. We'll probably run a second cohort

2:28:20uh with uh some more detailed

2:28:22assignments that employees can provide

2:28:23us feedback on. The reason we want to do

2:28:26this is not only are there risks with

2:28:28AI. Um, these tools aren't cheap and we

2:28:33want to make sure where we're deploying

2:28:34them um for employee use that the

2:28:37employees are actually using them in a

2:28:39way that we gain some benefit from. Uh

2:28:44so that will happen through um probably

2:28:46through the end of this calendar year

2:28:48and then we'll probably start looking at

2:28:50what a broader deployment looks like.

2:28:52We've we're also looking at targeted

2:28:54applications where AI may be beneficial.

2:28:57I know that uh the city attorney's

2:28:59office has been looking at those

2:29:01applications for uh freedom of

2:29:03information act requests. uh 311 uh has

2:29:07been working well in FY26 they were

2:29:10working up an RFP that's now gone out

2:29:12and under evaluation for AI chatbot

2:29:15services that would be linked back

2:29:17initially to the scripts that our uh

2:29:21customer service representatives use.

2:29:23The goal would be that as we do that, we

2:29:25can start thinking about, okay, well,

2:29:27what are the areas where we might be

2:29:28able to integrate that chatbot with our

2:29:31systems of record to actually create

2:29:33service requests and be able to provide

2:29:35feedback. Um, again, we want to be

2:29:37thoughtful and intentional about that. I

2:29:39I was I was at a AI conference in New

2:29:42York, AI and government conference in

2:29:44New York and there was one really

2:29:45interesting presentation uh from a uh

2:29:51IT director for RPI in Rhode Island. And

2:29:56he characterized agentic AI in a really

2:30:00unique way. He he he explained to

2:30:03everyone that you've got to treat an AI

2:30:06agent the same way that you would treat

2:30:07an employee.

2:30:09That AI agent is given certain access

2:30:14um to certain systems of record.

2:30:18So they're walking around inside the

2:30:21organization with a badge. You need to

2:30:23know who that agent is, what they have

2:30:26access to, and you need to monitor that

2:30:29access.

2:30:30so that you can revoke that access if it

2:30:33does something that you didn't authorize

2:30:35it to do. Um, so just a little backstory

2:30:40on why we want to be as thoughtful as

2:30:42we're being.

2:30:45The last one I want to note here, and

2:30:46it's because it'll probably become part

2:30:48of uh our budget discussions internally.

2:30:51We contracted with a local group,

2:30:52Mutually Human, um, specifically to

2:30:55develop a long-term data strategy for

2:30:57the organization. The reason that's

2:30:59important is uh as with any system, and

2:31:02probably even more so with AI, if your

2:31:04data systems aren't well organized, um

2:31:08if they're not accurate, if they're not

2:31:11consistent across your systems of

2:31:12record, you run a high risk of one of

2:31:15the things I know that Commissioner

2:31:16Kilgore has brought up before, which is

2:31:18the the hallucinations.

2:31:20Um your data has to be tight. It has to

2:31:23be well organized and it has to be well

2:31:24managed in order for AI to provide the

2:31:26kind of results and answers that you

2:31:28want to provide to the public. Um, so

2:31:30we've done that additional that initial

2:31:32work and now we've got to talk about how

2:31:34is it that we implement that across the

2:31:36organization.

2:31:40Of course, we continue to work on the

2:31:41ERP. you all uh approved a contract with

2:31:44Iteria Solutions to continue our

2:31:46evaluation and refinement of those ERP

2:31:49tools and identify what the next round

2:31:51of improvements looks like. I know HR

2:31:54has been a major point of conversation

2:31:55inside the organization and we intend to

2:31:57continue to focus on that. Um in the

2:32:01water system they completed a major

2:32:03upgrade to their billing system. Um

2:32:06[snorts] I I'm assuming nobody noticed

2:32:08and that means that they did it well.

2:32:10uh but uh that's that wasn't a small

2:32:12lift but it was a thoughtful deployment

2:32:15that affected more than 83,000 accounts.

2:32:19We recently uh transitioned our

2:32:22utilities after call out after hours

2:32:25call center um to a software powered

2:32:27solution that more efficiently

2:32:29streamlines that outreach uh when we

2:32:31have incident response after hours call

2:32:33management things like that. Um and then

2:32:36we again something that you all approved

2:32:38here recently um we continued

2:32:42um the modern modernization of the uh

2:32:46utility control systems our SCADA

2:32:48systems. Uh that was a $3 million

2:32:50investment in fiscal year 26. We expect

2:32:53to have that done in FY27.

2:32:57The last thing here on governmental

2:32:58excellence of course is our uh

2:33:00facilities. We opened 1500 scribbler. Um

2:33:05we've also been looking at the

2:33:06facility's master plan to figure out

2:33:08what our next options might be. One of

2:33:10those was contracting with FishBck to

2:33:12look at a master plan for the WORF site

2:33:15um that could offer potential

2:33:17colllocation of our utilities

2:33:19departments on one site for efficiency

2:33:21and also for coordination of those

2:33:23services. Um no decisions been made

2:33:25there, but we want to know what that

2:33:26looks like so that we know whether or

2:33:28not it's something we want to invest in.

2:33:30We continued work on the fire training

2:33:32facility uh expected to open in 2027.

2:33:35Um started development of an RF RFI uh

2:33:39for a partner to envision what a

2:33:41redevelopment of Colbrook might look

2:33:42like. Um whether that's uh entirely

2:33:45private or some public private

2:33:46partnership

2:33:48that may also include uh 1120 Monroe.

2:33:51Then the last one here I mentioned we

2:33:53continue to evaluate those priorities

2:33:54from the facilities master plan.

2:33:58From a fiscal standpoint, uh we were

2:34:00able to restore the city's policy

2:34:01allocation of 5% of income tax revenue

2:34:03uh going to Capitol reserve. Um

2:34:06partnered with GBSU to enhance our

2:34:08income tax forecasting model to get that

2:34:10to be more accurate. um and developed uh

2:34:13our first formal internal audit plan

2:34:16that was in in partnership with the

2:34:18comprollers's office um to kind of look

2:34:20at what are the things that we really

2:34:22want to look at as an organization

2:34:24um to evaluate and see if there's ways

2:34:26that we can continue to improve uh

2:34:29either fiscally or operationally.

2:34:32We added automated income tax withdrawal

2:34:33capabilities. That's uh an access and

2:34:36convenience move for our residents and

2:34:39uh achieved the ninth consecutive year

2:34:41of double digit growth in electronic

2:34:42collections. Uh I believe Mr. Gleensky

2:34:45came forward here recently um to uh to

2:34:50celebrate that we actually crossed that

2:34:511 billion total uh in collections since

2:34:54the launch of uh that electronic payment

2:34:56system. Nonetheless, uh we did receive

2:34:59the 2025 GFOA award for financial

2:35:02reporting and budgeting excellence. Uh

2:35:05that came to us in a fiscal 26.

2:35:09If you look at our measures here, I

2:35:11mentioned a couple of the uh the

2:35:13positive notes in terms of our uh

2:35:16employee turnover. Um, some of the other

2:35:19things that I did want to point out, you

2:35:21note that we continue to maintain a high

2:35:24level of participation um, in our

2:35:27employee wellness programs. I mentioned

2:35:30the uh, time from requisition to offer

2:35:33acceptance going down pretty

2:35:35substantially and maintaining a a

2:35:38healthy vacancy rate as well as our uh,

2:35:41turnover rate mentioned before.

2:35:46Pardon me. And now that I've coughed all

2:35:48over this space, Kate, I'm gonna hand it

2:35:50over to you.

2:35:50>> Thank you so much.

2:35:52>> All right. So, just a reminder, the

2:35:54economic prosperity and affordability

2:35:57portion of our strategic plan is really

2:35:59focused on economic opportunity. That

2:36:01might be a captain obvious sort of uh

2:36:03objective of ours, but for both

2:36:05businesses and residents, as well as

2:36:07creating a thriving and resilient

2:36:09resilient business environment, ensuring

2:36:12that people have access to safe and

2:36:14stable permanent housing and of course

2:36:16placemaking. So being a place that

2:36:18people want to invest their time, their

2:36:20energy, their lives really uh is an

2:36:22important part of our strategy here. So

2:36:25looking at the programs and resources

2:36:27that we invested in fiscal year 2026 in

2:36:30economic opportunity and business

2:36:32climate uh hitting a couple of the um

2:36:36highlights here. Sorry I went ahead one

2:36:38too many slides. So we completed our

2:36:40first contract with the West Michigan

2:36:42Black Business Alliance. Under that

2:36:44first contract, they formalized what was

2:36:47initially the Black Business Voices

2:36:49Framework that was presented to the city

2:36:51commission into uh uh into a more formal

2:36:55structure and rebranded as the West

2:36:57Michigan Black Business Alliance. They

2:36:59were able to deploy capital access

2:37:01funding and then helped us with both

2:37:03trainings and with amplifying different

2:37:06city business initiatives. We also uh

2:37:09completed our retail specialist uh

2:37:12contract with some of our Oh, I'm sorry.

2:37:15My notes are a little bit garbled here.

2:37:17Um we were able to secure the state

2:37:20talent partnership grant of $4.3 million

2:37:24uh to support the North Monroe Business

2:37:26District and uh transformation along

2:37:28that corridor as a thriving not only

2:37:30business corridor but residential

2:37:32corridor. As you are aware, that is

2:37:34where Corwell's headquarters are. They

2:37:37are in the midst of uh constructing

2:37:39residential housing there uh all to

2:37:41drive talent attraction uh and retention

2:37:44which is one of the state's main goals

2:37:46as well. We were able to increase

2:37:48support for corridor improvement

2:37:50authorities by adding an FTE uh as we

2:37:53onboard that new position that allows us

2:37:56to provide more support not only in just

2:37:59staff time but also more sophisticated

2:38:02support to help those volunteer boards

2:38:04continue to focus on their strategic

2:38:05plans, help them transition as

2:38:07leadership changes and membership

2:38:09changes sort of keep their eye on the

2:38:11overall vision. We expect over the next

2:38:14uh period of time to be working with

2:38:16those CIAs uh with clarity around the

2:38:20services they can expect from the city

2:38:22as well as role clarity and uh some of

2:38:25that might take the form of agreements

2:38:26with CIA that you would see in the

2:38:28future. We also continue to focus on

2:38:32those opportunities for our residents in

2:38:34the employment uh arena. So, job

2:38:36training, obviously, youth employment,

2:38:39youth access to college and higher uh

2:38:41education and certification is something

2:38:43that we have a long history of

2:38:45supporting.

2:38:47Continuing on to business climate, I

2:38:49really want to emphasize here um some of

2:38:52those fine grained kind of business

2:38:54climate uh things that make a difference

2:38:56for businesses that are considering

2:38:59coming uh to Grand Rapids or staying in

2:39:01Grand Rapids. So, that's sort of the bis

2:39:03the permitting process. How does that

2:39:06work? How understandable is it? How

2:39:08predictable are those timelines? Uh so

2:39:12we've hit on a couple of uh services

2:39:14that we provide there that we think

2:39:16really lend to that sort of favorable

2:39:18climate. I it may seem a little bit odd

2:39:21to highlight the civil service job

2:39:24description improvements, but uh for

2:39:26that sector uh the construction sector

2:39:29and and our part of it, the the

2:39:31technical review of plans and the field

2:39:33inspection that is becoming a more and

2:39:35more significant issue. So, I want to

2:39:37celebrate both the win in the ways that

2:39:40we are trying to increase opportunities

2:39:42to get people to work for the city that

2:39:45have the right qualifications. Uh, but

2:39:47also flag that that will be an ongoing

2:39:48challenge for that sector. We also

2:39:51continue to really support local. Grand

2:39:53Rapids has a long history of supporting

2:39:56local entrepreneurship. We have worked

2:39:59very hard to ensure that as a buyer, we

2:40:02are really focused on supporting local

2:40:04businesses. Uh the um OEE hosted the

2:40:08first connect local Grand Rapids event

2:40:10that had 77 vendors and 450 small

2:40:13businesses there. We invited other large

2:40:16institutional buyers to that. So it was

2:40:18an opportunity for local businesses to

2:40:20understand what sorts of purchasing and

2:40:24contracting do we do, does Kent County

2:40:26do, do some of the major health care

2:40:28systems do? And how can you access those

2:40:30contracts or those opportunities? It was

2:40:32a very well-attended and um beneficial

2:40:36event and we intend to continue that

2:40:39into the future.

2:40:42Focusing on increasing our housing

2:40:44supply and affordability. This is a an

2:40:46issue across the nation. Uh we stack a

2:40:50number of programs and resources to try

2:40:52to bend the needle here and add units to

2:40:56our community so that we can have a

2:40:59beneficial impact on the affordability

2:41:01of all of those units. You'll see that

2:41:03in uh calendar year 2025,

2:41:07we were able to add significant uh

2:41:10affordable housing units. So 175 units

2:41:13affordable between 80 and 120% AMI. Many

2:41:17of those tend to be incentive based

2:41:19units. So a lot of the brownfield

2:41:20authority, housing tiff, those sorts of

2:41:24incentives that you see on a daily

2:41:25basis. You have a couple of public

2:41:27hearings tonight on those that can tend

2:41:29to support that level of affordability,

2:41:31that 80 to 120% AMI. Then 605 units

2:41:35affordable at or below 80% AMI. Those

2:41:39again tend to be where we make direct

2:41:41financial contributions to the capital

2:41:43stack just to get to that lower level of

2:41:45affordability. takes a little bit more

2:41:47in the current climate. We uh as I said

2:41:51um have stacked a number of incentives.

2:41:53So the commission uh launched a local

2:41:56land bank uh the prior fiscal year and

2:41:58we're continuing to expand the abilities

2:42:01of that land bank authority. So there

2:42:03have been a number of land bank

2:42:05properties sold through the end of

2:42:06fiscal year 26 and a number of other

2:42:09properties are under purchase agreement.

2:42:11So really trying to push those

2:42:12properties out uh to useful um uses and

2:42:17something that will enhance the

2:42:19neighborhoods in which those properties

2:42:20are found. Uh that is the majority of uh

2:42:24usable lots are under some level of

2:42:27interest at this point. We there are a

2:42:29number of non-usable non-buildable lots

2:42:33uh also in the portfolio and the

2:42:35landbank authority has done quite a bit

2:42:37to again find ways for those uh

2:42:40properties even if they can't strictly

2:42:42be built upon to start to contribute to

2:42:44the fabric of the neighborhoods in which

2:42:46they are found. Um

2:42:50we also have the workforce housing

2:42:52payment in lie of taxes policy that you

2:42:54updated and uh our first round of

2:42:57applications came in uh in this fiscal

2:43:01year. Six of nine were approved covering

2:43:04155 units again for occupants with

2:43:06household income at or below 120% AMI.

2:43:10So really the first time we've been able

2:43:12to see the results of that policy change

2:43:14here reported today. So making some uh

2:43:17more good traction in uh parts of our

2:43:20housing ecosystem.

2:43:22Traditionally we also support uh through

2:43:25our federal grant programs construction

2:43:27of units and uh also on the zoning front

2:43:31you recall we had a task force that was

2:43:34looking at how we could increase the

2:43:36opportunities to develop accessory

2:43:38dwelling units and a number of changes

2:43:40were made by this commission in fiscal

2:43:42year uh 26. There is also obviously a

2:43:46major zoning co uh code overhaul

2:43:49underway right now in line with the

2:43:50community master plan and we expect to

2:43:52see more uh zoning changes that will

2:43:55result uh in again uh ease or increase

2:44:01flexibility in unit types across the

2:44:03city that should help add to our housing

2:44:05stock. Again, we we always provide this.

2:44:08It's definitely needs your readers and

2:44:10uh a little bit more time to process it,

2:44:12but just wanting to put up uh for you

2:44:15those uh new affordable housing units

2:44:17below 80% AMI.

2:44:20I wanted to take a moment just to do a

2:44:23specific affordable housing fund board

2:44:24update. There have been a lot of

2:44:26questions about what the board is up to

2:44:29uh and how the board is approaching the

2:44:32recent uh transfer of nearly $10 million

2:44:35from the sale of 2011 market. So uh this

2:44:38slide just reveals what the affordable

2:44:40housing fund board has been able to do

2:44:42since inception. So they have invested

2:44:45in 11 different projects uh $5.8 million

2:44:48worth of investment that has translated

2:44:50into 161 rental units. those would be at

2:44:54or below 80% AMI per the policy that

2:44:57established this board. Also 59

2:45:00ownership units. So they invested in the

2:45:02community land trust model which drove

2:45:04some of those numbers up. But they've

2:45:05had good uh success working through the

2:45:09support of the community development

2:45:10department in also targeting ownership

2:45:12and again under their form for

2:45:14formulating policies that's at 100% or

2:45:17below AMI ownership uh opportunities.

2:45:21So, the fund currently has approximately

2:45:23$11 million available for investment.

2:45:26Uh, just last week, the board had a

2:45:28prioritization workshop to help give uh

2:45:31us guidance on how they wanted to see

2:45:33those funds invested. that work will

2:45:35continue but uh for now their

2:45:37preliminary direction was they are

2:45:39interested in retaining a portion of

2:45:42that in sort of a a model that will

2:45:45throw off annual income that they can

2:45:47then predictably uh feed into a process

2:45:51of uh supporting unit production.

2:45:53They're still highly prioritizing

2:45:56producing units at scale. Uh obviously

2:45:58the the order of magnitude of need in

2:46:00the community is such that it's hard not

2:46:02to want to prioritize that. uh they do

2:46:05recognize that the infusion of grant

2:46:08funds is something that will help drive

2:46:10affordability down. So they really are

2:46:13uh very focused on creating deeply

2:46:16affordable units, units that would be

2:46:17affordable at those levels below 80%

2:46:20AMI. Uh they also received at their

2:46:22workshop

2:46:24presentations from both a landbank

2:46:26authority and the brownfield

2:46:27redevelopment authority with specific

2:46:29asks to consider partnering with those

2:46:32bodies uh with the land bankank

2:46:34authority for acquisition that would

2:46:36lead to affordable housing and for the

2:46:38brown from the brownfield redevelopment

2:46:40authority uh support for the emerging

2:46:43developer grant program. So, if you

2:46:44recall, there are five applications that

2:46:47were unable to be a funded funded with

2:46:49the resources that the Brownfield

2:46:51Redevelopment Authority uh had

2:46:53available. And so, they're looking for

2:46:55ways to support those five applications

2:46:57as well as some ongoing uh ideas of how

2:47:00we could partner into the future on

2:47:02assistance for emerging developers. So,

2:47:05as I said, more work to be done before

2:47:08any of these uh investment scenarios are

2:47:10finalized, but we do expect that they

2:47:12will be giving us direction on that by

2:47:14December.

2:47:17All right. So, moving to placemaking,

2:47:19uh, something that I think Grand Rapids

2:47:21really does extremely well, could

2:47:24probably teach a master class on, but

2:47:26this year was really fiscal year 2026

2:47:28was really exciting in that we actually

2:47:30started to see coming to fruition that

2:47:33river restoration and the uh, so much

2:47:38work along the Grand River in terms of

2:47:40gathering places and the trail along the

2:47:43river that will eventually connect us

2:47:45out to Ottawa County and Lake Michigan

2:47:48and uh just really really big uh

2:47:50projects there. So wanted to celebrate

2:47:53that with a few a few slides and shots.

2:47:56So we're kind of working all along the

2:47:58river east side and west side within the

2:48:00downtown core with our museum project.

2:48:03You also see the Leonard to an trail

2:48:05there on the left hand side of the

2:48:06screen.

2:48:08We are being very intentional about

2:48:10connecting all of that infrastructure

2:48:12then to areas of the city that don't

2:48:14have a direct connection to the Grand

2:48:16River. So part of the ARPA award that

2:48:20the city received from DGRI included uh

2:48:23improvements to the Oxford Trail. So you

2:48:25see a little bit of that happening

2:48:26there. And then that's a great segue to

2:48:29a planning initiative called the

2:48:31Southside Creekways initiative that I

2:48:33wanted to highlight for the commission.

2:48:34Now, uh that has been a long process

2:48:38with a community leadership team that is

2:48:41very uh focused on not just connecting

2:48:44the southside to uh the river trail and

2:48:47and downtown infrastructure, but having

2:48:50that be a backbone catalyst project for

2:48:53transformation. So, real a real economic

2:48:56development opportunity. So, you will be

2:48:59seeing later this year, I'm looking at

2:49:01Laura, maybe early next year, uh the

2:49:04results of all of that planning

2:49:06initiative, but it was really a

2:49:07centerpiece uh investment that the city

2:49:10is working with the community to define

2:49:12and then create the infrastructure that

2:49:14will keep focus on executing uh a plan

2:49:17of that magnitude over the number of

2:49:19years that would take much like we have

2:49:21been able to do with the river

2:49:23restoration.

2:49:24Then we get to our traditional office of

2:49:26special events and support for um all of

2:49:29those activations that draw people into

2:49:32downtown and add uh a lot to the fabric

2:49:36of our community. So there there were 18

2:49:39cultural or heritage celebrations in

2:49:41fiscal year uh 26 with more than 200,000

2:49:44attendees. There's some stats there from

2:49:46art prize 2025. Art prize 2026 is

2:49:49underway right now. Uh everyone should

2:49:51go out and take advantage. Uh, and then

2:49:54some highlights from the Beer City Open.

2:49:55I actually had u one of my friends from

2:49:57Bend, Oregon text me and say, "Hey,

2:50:00you've got the pickle ball tournament

2:50:01there. Are you you should go watch this

2:50:03team." And I was, "Okay, it's a big

2:50:05deal." So, uh, Beer City Open is a big

2:50:07deal for the for that community and and

2:50:10putting Grand Rapids on the map in

2:50:11certain places that maybe we weren't

2:50:13before.

2:50:14Uh, so when we get down to the metrics

2:50:17again, um, there's a number of different

2:50:19metrics here with the latest strategic

2:50:21plan update. So, um, as you pour through

2:50:24this in more detail, happy to answer any

2:50:26questions. I do, um, want to point out

2:50:28some, uh, some major increases in the,

2:50:32um, commitments to MLBE through our

2:50:36inclusion plan. So, you see that took

2:50:38quite a big jump, uh, between calendar

2:50:41year 24 and calendar year 25, which is

2:50:45the time frame we report on in that one,

2:50:47from 4.5% to 16%. So again, I think the

2:50:51persistence of not only staff but the

2:50:54commission in focusing on that when you

2:50:56are approving those incentive plans has

2:50:59created a culture of expectation that we

2:51:01are seeing payoff for our our local

2:51:04businesses.

2:51:06Uh the next metric that I wanted to call

2:51:09out for you is uh that we did again some

2:51:12good uh leaps and strides in unit

2:51:14production just total number of new

2:51:16dwelling units permitted uh through our

2:51:18permitting department. So you see that

2:51:20number up at 1,621

2:51:22above our target of 1100. Uh that target

2:51:26is something that we're really happy to

2:51:28hit and also uh we need to produce at

2:51:32even an even higher level to technically

2:51:34meet the needs assessment a number of

2:51:36units that have been identified through

2:51:39a number of studies. So so not resting

2:51:41on our laurels on that one by any sense

2:51:44uh of the word.

2:51:47And with that, I'm going to turn it back

2:51:49over to Mr. Matthews.

2:51:58Okay. So, we're going to cover engaged

2:52:00and connected. We're going to co cover

2:52:01health and the environment, and then

2:52:02we're going to be taking an opportunity

2:52:04to answer questions.

2:52:09Okay. So, when we look at engaged and

2:52:10connected, there are a couple of key

2:52:11areas. One of those is our community

2:52:13connections. Uh the big achievement of

2:52:15course in FY26 was completion of the

2:52:18community engagement framework. Um

2:52:20shortly after that, so that would have

2:52:22been in the uh I believe in the fall. Um

2:52:26January of of this calendar year, we

2:52:29launched our first training cohort

2:52:31around that. So, uh, community

2:52:33engagement in partnership with the

2:52:35innovation office had a multi-part, um,

2:52:38training where they were bringing, uh,

2:52:40the organization and practitioners up to

2:52:43speed on some of the expectations of

2:52:44that framework. Um, alongside that, we

2:52:47deployed engaged GR. That's our online

2:52:49community engagement portal. Um, that's

2:52:52being used by all of our departments

2:52:54now. Uh, it's it's a landing spot for

2:52:57anything that we're actively doing

2:52:58community engagement on. That way folks

2:53:01have a single place uh that they can go

2:53:03to find out um what it is that we're

2:53:07doing and how it is that we're uh

2:53:08seeking feedback. It's not a singular

2:53:11source of information in terms of where

2:53:14we get information from the community,

2:53:15but it does compile the information that

2:53:17we get from other places as well.

2:53:20Um it's notable that our uh customer

2:53:22onbuds person um in the planning

2:53:25department uh participated in 97

2:53:28community meetings this past year. Uh in

2:53:30addition to that, you had 35 community

2:53:32outreach programs through water

2:53:34environmental services. Uh

2:53:36sustainability office had 864 touch

2:53:38points um with residents to build

2:53:41awareness of their opportunities. Um and

2:53:44uh public works conducted a six-month

2:53:47engagement with the community um to get

2:53:50feedback, but also to actually have them

2:53:52participate in the design uh the

2:53:55location and the implementation of our

2:53:58uh drop off composting pilot. It was

2:54:00really a great example of inclusive

2:54:02planning um for a program that

2:54:04ultimately we needed to be sure that the

2:54:06public was using.

2:54:10>> [clears throat]

2:54:10>> So when we look at our neighborhood

2:54:12investment plan um that includes a

2:54:14number of funding sources uh but uh is

2:54:17part of the CDBG program as well um

2:54:20educated more than 1900 people on

2:54:22leadership and civic civic engagement

2:54:24and uh 700 people in becoming more

2:54:26actively involved in leadership roles

2:54:28within their neighborhoods and their

2:54:29neighborhood associations.

2:54:31984 uh participated in our know your

2:54:34rights events through OPA as well as 333

2:54:38that were served through the clean slate

2:54:40expungement

2:54:42fair. Um you see participation here of

2:54:44course in the mayor's youth council, our

2:54:47critical conversations um program run

2:54:49through OPA and uh just generally

2:54:53expanded engagement with the immigrant

2:54:54refugee and our historically

2:54:56underrepresented communities which is u

2:54:59particularly vital um in the past year

2:55:03or so

2:55:07from a communications standpoint. Uh,

2:55:10one of the big achievements this year,

2:55:12we did a a full fullthroated uh, refresh

2:55:16of the website. Um, re reorganization of

2:55:18the content and visual redesign that was

2:55:21based more on what it is that our

2:55:23residents are looking for and less on

2:55:25how we're organized as a uh, as a city

2:55:28organization.

2:55:30Um, we had a number of community

2:55:32partnerships with the 175th anniversary

2:55:35celebration um, which is notable. That

2:55:38includes uh if you see actually on the

2:55:41sixth floor, we've got a a copy of the

2:55:43artwork that was uh created by a

2:55:46community member as part of our

2:55:48commemorative artwork competition. Um we

2:55:51also had a local designer that did all

2:55:53of the uh all the logo and and merch

2:55:56design for that program.

2:55:59We launched our index video service.

2:56:01Again, that's a big accessibility piece

2:56:03for the community. um rather than having

2:56:05to hunt through a single video to find

2:56:08the item that they're looking for, they

2:56:10can click on that item, it'll take them

2:56:11straight to that video. Uh we want to

2:56:14make sure that folks do have access to

2:56:15the items that they're interested in.

2:56:18We continue to provide our support on

2:56:20the major citywide uh initiatives. A lot

2:56:23of those were brought up by Miss Barren

2:56:24when we're talking about uh economic

2:56:26prosperity and affordability.

2:56:28We did complete the bannual national

2:56:30community survey uh on resident

2:56:32sentiment. In fact, that's something

2:56:34that we're going to be talking with you

2:56:35all about uh next month in preparation

2:56:37for our workshop uh upcoming at the

2:56:40beginning of November.

2:56:43We took the time to update some of the

2:56:44traditional resources that we provide

2:56:46for residents. Um that includes uh both

2:56:49the winter preparedness guide and the

2:56:52neighborhood living guide. We want to

2:56:54make sure that those remain uh those

2:56:56remain relevant um and accessible to the

2:56:59community. then continued our uh

2:57:02commission connected pilots expanding

2:57:04opportunities for direct community

2:57:05interaction with our elected officials.

2:57:10Then the last one here is 311. Um

2:57:12[clears throat] of course we continue to

2:57:14to drive folks towards 311 as a primary

2:57:17point of access. Um but we want to make

2:57:21sure that we're doing it well. We want

2:57:22to make sure that we're doing the things

2:57:23that folks want us to be doing. So, one

2:57:25of the things that they did this year,

2:57:27uh, was start evaluation of post survey

2:57:30services. So, anybody that's called

2:57:32their bank for anything, uh, you get

2:57:33towards the end of the call and they're

2:57:34like, would you like to stay on and

2:57:36provide us some some information? We're

2:57:38looking at opportunities like that to

2:57:39get feedback um, on whether or not folks

2:57:41were satisfied with the interaction.

2:57:44We also uh, started the evaluation of

2:57:46those chatbot capabilities. That was

2:57:48something that I brought up earlier in

2:57:49governmental excell excellence. We're

2:57:51hopeful and I don't want to put Mr.

2:57:54Canfield on the point, but we're hopeful

2:57:56that that uh that pilot will get

2:57:58launched this year. Uh well,

2:58:02in this fiscal year, I should say

2:58:05um and continue to look at other

2:58:07technology that can reduce uh the

2:58:09routine call call volume. Uh we know

2:58:11that one of the biggest issues that we

2:58:12have is that um weight times go up as

2:58:17the staffing fluctuates. Uh so the best

2:58:21way to smooth that out is to give folks

2:58:23more opportunities for self-service. Uh

2:58:26because what we've learned is in that

2:58:28role um we're going to have volatility

2:58:33um either because they're high

2:58:35performers, they learn a lot about the

2:58:36organization and they find other

2:58:38opportunities in the organization

2:58:40um or they they find another opportunity

2:58:42eventually. Um so we want to figure out

2:58:45ways that we can leverage technology in

2:58:47that space. Then continuing to to

2:58:50advance language access technology that

2:58:52can help support all of our residents.

2:58:56Um if you take a look at our our

2:58:58measures here, uh I mentioned weight

2:59:01times track with staffing levels. Um

2:59:05this year was uh this past fiscal year

2:59:08was pretty challenging from a staffing

2:59:10standpoint. You can see that in the

2:59:12numbers. Everything else stayed pretty

2:59:15flat. You'll see that there are a number

2:59:17of uh metrics that just pop up in FY26.

2:59:21That's because also in FY26, we updated

2:59:24the strategic plan um and we updated a

2:59:27lot of the metrics. So, some of these

2:59:28are things that we've added to our

2:59:30strategic plan metrics. We're measuring

2:59:32this fiscal year and then you'll see

2:59:33that continue to progress moving

2:59:35forward.

2:59:38Moving on to health and environment,

2:59:41we'll start with parks and recreation.

2:59:43um continued to invest in our current

2:59:45assets. Probably the best example of

2:59:47that is the MLK community center that

2:59:48opened in FY26.

2:59:50Um we continued uh the riverfront

2:59:52improvements around the public museum um

2:59:55and completed a comprehensive park asset

2:59:58uh condition assessment.

3:00:00In 2019, uh we had 15% of our parks were

3:00:04in an ARB con condition. Uh according to

3:00:07the assessment this past fiscal year,

3:00:09we're now at 81%. And I think that's a

3:00:11credit to uh the entire team over there

3:00:14as well as to the investments that we've

3:00:15chosen to make over the past few years.

3:00:19Looking towards the future, of course,

3:00:21we continue uh the construction and the

3:00:23investment in the river age parks and

3:00:24trails. uh that that's not solely in

3:00:26parks and recreation but um ultimately

3:00:29it's going to be a recreational benefit

3:00:30for the community as well as

3:00:33implementation for Leonard to uh as and

3:00:35advanced planning for the uh Silver

3:00:37Creek Plaster Creek corridor.

3:00:40When we look at programming

3:00:43park program participation continues to

3:00:45grow um it was 6% up uh from calendar

3:00:49year 25.

3:00:51um

3:00:53our uh pool pass program uh doubled

3:00:56versus the previous calendar year. Uh

3:00:58and then if you look at some of the

3:01:00initial programming numbers for MLK,

3:01:03uh 8,600 program and open gym visits uh

3:01:07over the time that it's been open.

3:01:10Looking at drinking water, public health

3:01:13uh focus here on lead. Um just over,400

3:01:17lead le service lines were replaced uh

3:01:19in fiscal year 26. Uh we were recognized

3:01:22in FY26 by the service line replacement

3:01:25collaborative um for the excellence of

3:01:28our work um and the comprehensive

3:01:30approach that we take in terms of

3:01:32implementing the program.

3:01:34Part of that is uh something that

3:01:37initially started with the participatory

3:01:39budgeting program uh distributing water

3:01:41education kits and lead reducing filters

3:01:43in the third ward. Uh that was a

3:01:45partnership with healthy homes

3:01:46coalition. Um that puts us up over 1,300

3:01:50that have been distributed since 2024.

3:01:53Uh as that program expires, uh the water

3:01:56department over this past budget did

3:01:59propose to put funding in to continue

3:02:01this as part of their overall lead

3:02:03reduction program.

3:02:06Um lead of course is not only a concern

3:02:08in the water, it's a concern in the

3:02:10homes, particularly with paint that's in

3:02:12homes. uh we cleared 39 homes uh through

3:02:16community developments housing and

3:02:17rehabil re rehabilitation programs uh

3:02:19over FY26.

3:02:21And then I wanted to note some of the

3:02:23regional partnerships. Um so these

3:02:25things kind of happen quietly in the

3:02:27background, but they're pretty

3:02:28significant not just for us um but for

3:02:31all of our regional partners because of

3:02:33course we provide water to multiple

3:02:34partners in the area. Um we completed

3:02:37the first phase transitioning Calonia

3:02:39Township to municipal water.

3:02:42um and initiated a pilot with the city

3:02:45of Wyoming uh where we're receiving and

3:02:47processing their wastewater sludge. Uh

3:02:49that benefits them because they were

3:02:51otherwise going to have to make a pretty

3:02:53significant uh capital investment to be

3:02:55able to uh manage their volume. Uh and

3:02:58it's important to us because it gives us

3:03:00more highquality uh feed stock for our

3:03:03bio bio gas production program which

3:03:07ultimately that revenue helps pay down

3:03:08the initial bonds that were used to

3:03:10build that digtor facility.

3:03:14Fuel cutter continued system maintenance

3:03:16over three miles of existing water man

3:03:18almost 5 miles uh of system funded

3:03:20expansion and three and a half of

3:03:22privately funded water main expansion

3:03:24over the past fiscal year. uh major

3:03:27upgrade to our filter filter control

3:03:29systems at the filtration plant. Um

3:03:32that's both for a security standpoint

3:03:34but also it gives us better access to

3:03:36the data so that we can determine better

3:03:38the performance of the system over time

3:03:40and tweak it.

3:03:42Uh as we as we typically do Mr.

3:03:46Jernburgg maintained a record of 100%

3:03:48compliance with our state and federal

3:03:50drinking water standards. Um on the ESD

3:03:53side, we secured over a million dollar

3:03:56state appropriation that's going to

3:03:57allow us to upgrade our UV filtration

3:03:59systems at the water treatment plant. Um

3:04:03that uh was a partnership primarily with

3:04:07um [snorts] with Hillary Sculton's

3:04:11um assistance.

3:04:13um continued to invest in modernization

3:04:16of the overall system in terms of our

3:04:17list stations and this past year leaned

3:04:21into uh cured in place piping as a means

3:04:25of accelerating some of our maintenance

3:04:27on our sewer systems. Um that's

3:04:29effectively uh lining the systems from

3:04:34outside of the pipes. Um that reduces

3:04:37the disruption. We're not open opening

3:04:39up the roads. So, we're reducing

3:04:41disruption to the neighborhoods and the

3:04:42communities and allows us to do a lot

3:04:44more a lot more efficiently. So, you see

3:04:46we've got 17,500 ft of sewers that were

3:04:49lined in FY26.

3:04:52The last one, just as an update, uh the

3:04:54Ash Lagoon uh remediation continues. Um

3:04:57we're hopeful that next year we'll have

3:04:59that work complete. Um that has been a

3:05:02long-standing issue. We're happy to be

3:05:04able to get some uh funding assistance

3:05:06to get that launched.

3:05:09Well, storm water is a major discussion

3:05:10in FY26. We had uh one of the wetest

3:05:14springs on record. Uh the the pattern of

3:05:18snow and then rain and then temperature

3:05:21uh we know didn't help us. And that that

3:05:24issue started in the fall. Uh that issue

3:05:27started with uh with a a fairly

3:05:29surprised snow system before we were

3:05:31able to sweep all the roads and then it

3:05:33all came back at the end when it got

3:05:34really wet really fast. Uh so we have

3:05:37talked about how we can address that um

3:05:39moving into this fall and feel like we

3:05:42have a pretty good program in place.

3:05:44That's something that we're going to be

3:05:45coming back and talking with you about.

3:05:47Um but we also realized that it was time

3:05:49to increase some of the technology that

3:05:50we have on our critical systems. Uh the

3:05:52wastewater treatment facility, as you

3:05:54all know, um anytime we have flooding,

3:05:57um that uh salvage yard is is is under

3:06:02quite a few feet of water. Um, so we've

3:06:05uh purchased some new flood barrier

3:06:07systems. They're going to help manage

3:06:08that at that facility. Uh, it's not one

3:06:11that we can fairly easily move somewhere

3:06:14else. So, we've got to figure out how to

3:06:15be more resilient there.

3:06:18Um, also [clears throat] to that end, in

3:06:20FY26, we launched our program to develop

3:06:23a new uh storm water resilience plan uh

3:06:26that'll address our issues over the next

3:06:27or at least give us a roadmap to address

3:06:29our issues over the next 20 or 30 years.

3:06:32Um the last one here is just a project

3:06:34that we have coming up in FY27. That's a

3:06:36million dollars to support the uh the

3:06:39improvements on Butterworth.

3:06:44In terms of our overall carbon

3:06:46footprint, of course, we uh accepted the

3:06:49uh climate action and adaptation plan

3:06:51and 20 priority items there. Uh overall,

3:06:55um not just because of the uh adoption

3:06:57of the plan, but also some of the other

3:06:59work that we've been doing. Um, we moved

3:07:01from a C to an A minus in the carbon

3:07:03disclosure project. Um, that's a a

3:07:07opt-in global benchmarking uh program

3:07:10that includes more than a thousand

3:07:12public agencies around the globe.

3:07:15We uh launched uh an air quality

3:07:18monitoring program that was a program

3:07:19that was previously run through DGRI um

3:07:22that we've now uh taken responsibility

3:07:25for. Uh the the big benefit there is we

3:07:27now have direct access to the data that

3:07:29comes from that system.

3:07:32And then uh converted another 18,000

3:07:34street lights to LED. Uh and we're

3:07:37looking at hopefully wrapping that up um

3:07:40before the end of the calendar year or

3:07:42before the end of 27.

3:07:45Um, in terms of facility and fleet

3:07:47performance, continue to make

3:07:48investments in in vehicles as well as

3:07:51working on our energy efficiency and

3:07:53decarbonization our own facilities.

3:07:55You'll see that reflected when we look

3:07:57at the measures.

3:07:59Then continuing to invest in diversion.

3:08:01Um, we mentioned the municipal

3:08:02composting project. Uh, we received a

3:08:06$350,000 grant to support um our

3:08:10organics processing. Uh, when we talk

3:08:12about organics, there's two pieces.

3:08:14There's the wood waste and there's the

3:08:15food waste. That 350 is going

3:08:17specifically towards the wi wood wood

3:08:18waste where we have traditionally spent

3:08:20about $100,000 a year to pay somebody

3:08:23else to process that wood.

3:08:26Um and then uh another little known fact

3:08:29is that uh part of the bio biodigestion

3:08:32process we're actually extracting

3:08:34phosphate

3:08:35um from that process uh and we're able

3:08:39to return that back to agricultural use.

3:08:43Um, we're processing about, I believe, a

3:08:46is it a ton a year?

3:08:49I I'll go back and get that number, but

3:08:52it's a not insignificant

3:08:54amount of phosphate. Um, that's

3:08:56something that received uh the

3:08:58Department of Energy's better project

3:08:59award in FY26.

3:09:02Investing renewable energy, of course,

3:09:04we have the uh the Butterworth solar

3:09:06project. We selected that developer,

3:09:09installed solar at community archives.

3:09:12um invested uh in zerocarbon steam and

3:09:16heating and heating and energy services

3:09:18from vicinity energy. Uh that's not 100%

3:09:21of our steam, but it was a move in the

3:09:22right direction.

3:09:24um and received additional support from

3:09:27uh the WGI Foundation to support E our

3:09:29EH0 initiatives, particularly to provide

3:09:32additional assistance to uh commercial

3:09:35building owners and business owners um

3:09:38to be able to find ways that we might be

3:09:40able to partner to help them uh make

3:09:42efficiency upgrades, maintained our

3:09:44renewable goal, increase biod bio gas

3:09:47production uh capacity

3:09:50um and continue to support homeowners

3:09:52through the solar ice program.

3:09:55Terms of our tree inventory, we planted

3:09:58more than 1,700 trees in FY26,

3:10:01completed almost 6,000 priority 2 tree

3:10:04prunings. So, we've only got about 100

3:10:05to remaining. Um, we ground 407 stumps

3:10:10uh with about half of those uh remaining

3:10:13to be done uh and conducted almost 500

3:10:16required tree removals.

3:10:19So, if we look at our our measures here,

3:10:23um you'll see that everything remains

3:10:25positive. One of the things I did want

3:10:27to notice right up at the top, uh

3:10:29percentage of carbon and green

3:10:30greenhouse gas emissions reduced from

3:10:32our 2008 benchmark, we've continued to

3:10:35push that up. We're now at 47%.

3:10:39Um notable that our original target was

3:10:4385% by 2030. Uh we're getting pretty

3:10:46close to 2030. Um, but we're going to

3:10:48continue to do what we can to push that

3:10:50percentage up based on our commitment.

3:10:56Okay. I think at this point we'll open

3:10:58it up for questions.

3:11:01It's a lot.

3:11:03>> Mayor, perhaps it's good to go section

3:11:05by section and see if commissioners have

3:11:07questions on each section.

3:11:08>> Yeah.

3:11:08>> Start with governmental excellence.

3:11:11>> Okay. Um, so anybody have any I I saw a

3:11:14number of you taking careful notes. I'm

3:11:16sure people have questions or comments.

3:11:18Um,

3:11:20anyone have any reactions on

3:11:21governmental excellence?

3:11:24>> Uh, yeah. Commissioner,

3:11:29>> I will take that as my been called on.

3:11:31>> Yeah.

3:11:32>> Okay. Um thank you very much for the um

3:11:36the excellence that we are providing in

3:11:38our ser in our services, the awards that

3:11:40our city is continues to earn across the

3:11:43si the various organizations that rate

3:11:45people. But um you know I I and I do

3:11:50love that we are reducing this employee

3:11:52turnover. So I want to just highlight

3:11:54that that you know we continue to have a

3:11:56lot of openings. So reminding folks to

3:11:58apply. Um so those are some of the good

3:12:01things. I don't want to belabor that

3:12:03because we're doing great things. just

3:12:05know that I'm know we are noticing uh I

3:12:08do think that um the work around AI

3:12:11which was a large discussion in the last

3:12:1318 months here on dis um that is an

3:12:18evolving and ever fastch changing maybe

3:12:20exponential

3:12:22uh industry and so as we continue to

3:12:25think about our ethics our data policy I

3:12:27think right now we're at a a good spot

3:12:29in terms of our municipal work and the

3:12:32kinds of things I hear you guys talking

3:12:34about But there are larger as you are

3:12:36very well aware um concerns about

3:12:39agentic AI in particular and the kinds

3:12:42of things that we still don't have a

3:12:44regulated industry. So as a municipality

3:12:48even though there's an urgency to go

3:12:49fast I do like that we can this is one

3:12:52area where I actually appreciate holding

3:12:54back the reinss a little bit. Um so one

3:12:57of my questions is how as you're

3:13:00integrating safety productive safety and

3:13:03being productive into our legacy

3:13:05systems. Um, and this isn't necessarily

3:13:07something to ask answer now, but in the

3:13:10conversations that the committee, the

3:13:12guidance guidance council is doing to

3:13:16really think about where do we really

3:13:17need true agentic versus just better

3:13:21data processing that a AI can help with

3:13:24to speed up human interaction and human

3:13:27touch. Um so keeping that that idea that

3:13:31you put forward that employee model um I

3:13:35think right now this the way AI

3:13:38technology is right now I don't think

3:13:40it's we're ready and I don't think it's

3:13:41ready as a whole for true agentic

3:13:45release into the wild as a welcomed

3:13:47employee on our team. Um

3:13:51I'm not welcoming it yet. Uh

3:13:55and so

3:13:57I think that that's my main my main

3:14:00thing under a government excellence that

3:14:03I will highlight.

3:14:07>> Thanks. Um uh Commissioner Purdue and

3:14:10then Commissioner Knight.

3:14:12>> Yes. Good morning. Thank you so much and

3:14:14thank you for city man. Did you say

3:14:16hundreds of staff who had their hands

3:14:18and their fingerprints on this? Uh so

3:14:20thank you. I know it takes a lot of

3:14:21effort to put everything together um in

3:14:23a very kind of cohesive and streamlined

3:14:25format. Um so echo the sentiments that

3:14:29say congrats and lots of great work

3:14:30being done um in this section. Um

3:14:34reducing turnover also really stuck out

3:14:36to me. Um I just wanted to make the note

3:14:38because it wasn't in the slides but

3:14:39years ago I think we started to have

3:14:41conversations about the importance of uh

3:14:44city employees living in the city as

3:14:48much as possible. And I know that we

3:14:50made some policy changes. We added some

3:14:52additional incentives around home

3:14:54ownership, but I just want to keep that

3:14:55front of mind. Um I think that's really

3:14:57important to u incentivize and encourage

3:15:00as much as possible for people to live

3:15:02in the communities in which they design

3:15:05and and engage with. Um and then also

3:15:08just celebrating

3:15:11our use of technology and particularly

3:15:14passing that $1 billion threshold. I

3:15:16might be in the wrong section now. Um,

3:15:18I'm in the right. Okay. Um, and just

3:15:20want to emphasize and I I I I haven't

3:15:23heard us say this, um, that we want to

3:15:25have 100% completely electronic

3:15:28payments. Uh, but just want to celebrate

3:15:31that that uptake, but also be clear that

3:15:33we think the human touch is so important

3:15:35and keeping those non- electronic

3:15:37options is really important, especially

3:15:39for our elders, our seniors, those with

3:15:42accessibility issues. You know, the the

3:15:44the the use case goes on and on. So, I

3:15:46wanted to point out those two things

3:15:47about residency and the importance of

3:15:49keeping the human touch and non-digital

3:15:51options as we continue to invest in

3:15:54technology.

3:15:56>> Mr. Nate,

3:15:56>> can I ask one one more thing on that?

3:15:58Um, I noticed that for this section, if

3:16:01you go to the dashboard or the key

3:16:03metrics that the equity tool kit item,

3:16:08it's on slide 13.

3:16:11There's one that we're not measuring.

3:16:19Sorry, so small here.

3:16:24There's one that we're not measuring

3:16:25that mentions engagement with equity

3:16:27toolkit to ensure I think maybe it's the

3:16:29next one unless you see it.

3:16:34>> I think Oh, yeah.

3:16:36>> Yeah. I can't. [laughter]

3:16:37>> I swear I saw it earlier, but it's so

3:16:40small.

3:16:40>> It might be slide 15.

3:16:41>> Is it 15? Okay, one more. Oh, this is

3:16:4415.

3:16:46Okay, I'll come. Oh, yeah, it is. 64.

3:16:48No, it's not that one. 65. 65.

3:16:50Percentage of departments utilizing

3:16:52equity toolkit to evaluate and report on

3:16:54equity and justice impact. Um, I think

3:16:56that is important to maintain. I noticed

3:16:59that it's not being measured. So, I'm

3:17:01curious around that and

3:17:03>> [clears throat]

3:17:03>> uh want to ensure that remains a focus

3:17:05of ours throughout each department.

3:17:07>> Yeah, we we certainly can get that

3:17:08information. I know we have the data on

3:17:10it.

3:17:11>> Thank you. Thanks, mayor.

3:17:15>> Commissioner Knight,

3:17:15>> I think my question might be in

3:17:17alignment with that u very question. I

3:17:19know there was something that we had

3:17:20asked a couple years ago ago about uh

3:17:22employee surveys and and finding out how

3:17:25employees actually felt about working in

3:17:27the city with the city, how they feel um

3:17:30uh with who they work with uh the

3:17:32climate of the organization um and maybe

3:17:35making that connection um uh with

3:17:38thinking about the turnover and like you

3:17:41know gave the stats on the numbers you

3:17:43know shifting and changing and and

3:17:45hiring practices um uh people being

3:17:48hired in a little bit quicker that that

3:17:51whole system. Um I I hear from a couple

3:17:54of people out in community that have had

3:17:56actually applied for positions and have

3:17:58gotten frustrated because of the the

3:18:00timeline, but it'd be interesting to see

3:18:02how those two uh kind of intersect.

3:18:05>> Okay,

3:18:07Commissioner Kver. Thank you, Mayor. Uh

3:18:09and uh thank you, city manager, uh Mr.

3:18:12Matthews and Miss Barren and all the

3:18:13staff that uh helped get this together.

3:18:16I um am always excited to give residents

3:18:18a video to refer back to about what

3:18:20we're doing in city hall and I think uh

3:18:22this meeting will certainly be helpful.

3:18:24I have a question referring to uh slide

3:18:28nine. Uh it's talking about uh

3:18:30thoughtful AI strategy. When we talk

3:18:33about the council,

3:18:36uh, h the city AI council, is there a

3:18:40way I I still am not familiar with who

3:18:43all sits on this body? And then how will

3:18:47the public interact and interface with

3:18:50this council? Is there a uh central

3:18:53location where folks in community can

3:18:55also find who sits on this council? uh

3:18:58our uh our community members. Is this

3:19:01something in the future that um as the

3:19:03chair of appointments uh that community

3:19:05members would be appointed to? Uh just

3:19:08trying to as this is an issue that

3:19:11constituents continue to reach out about

3:19:14see how they can really be right there

3:19:17alongside us lock step um as we're

3:19:20developing our thoughtful AI strategy.

3:19:22>> Yep. Well, I mean, for for the staff

3:19:26portion of this, um I know at least two

3:19:30of the committees have talked about um

3:19:33going through some public outreach,

3:19:35inviting community members in um in

3:19:38having specific conversations.

3:19:40Um the the question internally has been

3:19:44um at what point do we engage that

3:19:48conversation to make sure that it's a

3:19:49productive conversation?

3:19:51um because if you just throw AI out into

3:19:54the middle of the table, um you're going

3:19:55to get a lot of opinions, but it's not

3:19:57necessarily going to be informative to

3:19:59what it is that you're trying to do. So,

3:20:01that's actually something that we're

3:20:02engaging the next time that a group gets

3:20:03together is okay, well, what are the

3:20:06questions that we want to ask

3:20:09that will help inform the things that

3:20:12we've laid out are the most important

3:20:13for us when we think about

3:20:14implementation. Um, so, uh, it's been a

3:20:18process, uh, but that remains part of,

3:20:20uh, what it is that we want to be able

3:20:21to do.

3:20:22>> Yeah. Thank you so much, Mr. Matthews.

3:20:24I'm I'm um, so there's not currently a

3:20:28public central location where we can

3:20:30find everyone who sits on this body. No,

3:20:34[clears throat]

3:20:34>> let me let me So, so we started the AI

3:20:38council to help the organization

3:20:41>> more internal and I think we have a

3:20:43couple of representatives from GVSU or

3:20:45Ferris

3:20:46>> Ferris and GS

3:20:47>> GVSU to help and more of how we as an

3:20:50organization manage. I do think uh we

3:20:54can as Mr. Matthew says says evolve to

3:20:58have more engaging conversation, but the

3:21:00intent of the council was not to um

3:21:04provide oversight to the community or

3:21:08business organization. It's more so our

3:21:10own internal use. Happy to share once we

3:21:13actually get our practices together with

3:21:15the public and what other employers

3:21:17might be able to learn from us and we

3:21:19might be able to learn from other

3:21:20employers. But I I think we we're still

3:21:22in this is now has it been a year yet?

3:21:25Well, uh, since we launched the group,

3:21:27it's been about eight months.

3:21:28>> Yeah. Okay. Well, this is really good to

3:21:30hear and I hear you, city manager of

3:21:32it's it's like an internal tool

3:21:34currently that we're using, but

3:21:36everything that we do is for the public.

3:21:38So, I'm just going to continue to uh

3:21:41press for us to uh maybe evolve to a

3:21:44place where the public can easily access

3:21:46this, be right there with us. I think

3:21:49yes we would get a lot of feedback and a

3:21:51lot of opinions on the table but as we

3:21:53we discuss in uh later sections you know

3:21:56we're talking about a communication

3:21:58strategy which is ensuring that uh

3:22:02residents voices are included every step

3:22:04of the process so I encourage us even

3:22:07though we are a year out uh even though

3:22:08it's an internal tool to really consider

3:22:11this being something that is more

3:22:13front-facing in addition I think that uh

3:22:16by doing so we'll further We've done a

3:22:19lot uh on this commission particularly

3:22:21around transparency and public trust and

3:22:24this is one of those issues where folks

3:22:26in community uh feel as though they

3:22:28cannot trust government uh with how

3:22:31they're using AI. I mean we've heard a

3:22:33lot of that with Flock and the features

3:22:34that that has. So this is one of those

3:22:37uh areas where I really believe we have

3:22:39a good opportunity to show uh we're

3:22:42leading on an issue. we are taking our

3:22:45residents concerns uh seriously and we

3:22:48want to work alongside them. So, thank

3:22:50you so much for your update uh both city

3:22:52manager and Mr. Matthews on this and

3:22:54those were uh my comments and concerns

3:22:56on this section.

3:22:59>> I will say and if Commissioner Sass if I

3:23:01could go um before you a second. Um if

3:23:03you could turn to slide 34.

3:23:08I think there's a lot of I mean there's

3:23:10a lot of justifiable concern in the

3:23:12community about um

3:23:15AI as a macro discussion. Um and um is

3:23:19it 34? Where where was your 311 data?

3:23:22There we go. Okay. Yeah, that's it.

3:23:23Okay, that's it. 34. So um you know

3:23:27there's understandably a lot of lot of

3:23:29real anxiety in the community right now

3:23:31because um this technology is evolving

3:23:33so rapidly. Um, but that's really that's

3:23:38that's happening at several levels uh

3:23:41removed from the city. I mean, we're not

3:23:42controlling what's going on in Silicon

3:23:45Valley this afternoon. We're not

3:23:46controlling what's going on in China

3:23:47this afternoon.

3:23:49um what I am in in a lot of your uh

3:23:53presentation was about you know looking

3:23:56at controls and and and things like that

3:23:59but I want to at least point out that

3:24:02our average wait time for 311 phone

3:24:05customers at this point is 300 seconds

3:24:09which turns out to be 5 minutes. Now, um

3:24:13I think the me I don't know whether the

3:24:15median person who calls 311 is even

3:24:18going to be able to wait 5 minutes. Um

3:24:21when I use the system, I'm often trying

3:24:23to call in um snow shovel snow removal

3:24:27problems. Um, and that's when I'm

3:24:29walking to work and I there's somebody

3:24:31there's an unshoveled sidewalk and I try

3:24:33to call 311 and if I can't get through

3:24:36and can't get anything done um I hang up

3:24:39the phone and keep walking. Um, I think

3:24:42that's an area where um if we had a

3:24:46simple uh you know uh rubric for

3:24:50automated response to a lot of those

3:24:52things, I know what I want to do. What I

3:24:53want to do is say snow removal problem

3:24:56and then I want to get routed to

3:24:57something that will let me say that will

3:24:59prompt me to say what's the address

3:25:01you're concerned about and I can enter

3:25:02that in. That's what I'm doing with a

3:25:03human being right now uh if I can get

3:25:06them. But a system that makes you wait

3:25:07five minutes uh is a system that starts

3:25:11not being

3:25:12optimized to put it mildly. Um

3:25:15especially if our goal is under 30

3:25:17seconds. So we're about 10 times over

3:25:18our our goal for response time now. Um,

3:25:22so I I would I would welcome discussions

3:25:26about nuts and bolts, actual utilization

3:25:30and actual um things that are being done

3:25:34in the community right now. I mean, it's

3:25:36it's we all know that um those kinds of

3:25:39mechanisms are used by virtually every

3:25:41commercial platform out there right now.

3:25:44Um so I'm concerned that government

3:25:46doesn't hopelessly lag behind on the

3:25:48conversation. So, if we have a it's a

3:25:51little bit like, you know, if you have a

3:25:52conversation about a speeding car and

3:25:54you stand there and you talk about the

3:25:55speeding car for a year, well, the car

3:25:56is gone by the time you're done having

3:25:58your conversation. Um, and this is a

3:26:01very rapidly evolving uh technology, but

3:26:06I would I'd like to I'd like to get us

3:26:08to a place where we could have a

3:26:09conversation about instantiated, what

3:26:12are proposed uses, what would those look

3:26:13like? Um, and I think the guardrails are

3:26:15important and it's good we've laid the

3:26:17table for that, but I do think it's time

3:26:18we start thinking about ways we can

3:26:21demonstrate value and and you alluded to

3:26:22the fact that we want to be able to

3:26:24demonstrate value and I appreciate that.

3:26:25>> I'm uh if you see the third bullet here,

3:26:28that was one of the things that we

3:26:29mentioned with 311 is we did an RFP

3:26:31specifically around what you described

3:26:34that they're presently um evaluating.

3:26:39So, yes, it's something that that

3:26:41they've prioritized. It's something that

3:26:43we've prioritized as a great opportunity

3:26:46to start evaluating

3:26:48um because not only can you do exactly

3:26:52what you said, but then you can start to

3:26:54dip your toe into systems of record,

3:26:56which addresses one of the things that

3:26:57you said about agentic AI. Well,

3:27:01can we use one system and see how it

3:27:04performs? Because 311 right now touches

3:27:07so many systems. How do we incorporate

3:27:09the human and loop piece? Do we have the

3:27:12AI create a job ticket and then all

3:27:14those job tickets go to one employee

3:27:16that then processes them? That way we

3:27:18know that they're not in the system.

3:27:20Those are this is the first step in that

3:27:22process. And I'm glad you brought it up.

3:27:24It's one of the things that that teams

3:27:25prioritized.

3:27:27>> Mayor, before [clears throat] going

3:27:29because I I would also like to let the

3:27:32public know other ways to um get service

3:27:37even though there may be a wait time. I

3:27:39I can't think of a bank or credit card

3:27:41or airline that I've not called and had

3:27:43also to hold, but they also give the

3:27:45call back option and the other online

3:27:47reporting options. Mr. Canfield, and

3:27:49perhaps we should start reporting on

3:27:51those other ways of uh public engagement

3:27:55on city services.

3:27:56>> So, um 311 uh has uh a great dedicated

3:28:01team. They work hard every day. They

3:28:03stay late to clear the queue and and so

3:28:06we appreciate them. That said, um I do

3:28:09want to note that there is a challenge

3:28:11when you name a department after a phone

3:28:13number. It makes it sound like the only

3:28:15thing you can do is call, but um there

3:28:17actually are three ways to interact with

3:28:21the city's customer service department

3:28:22right now. Of course, 311,

3:28:25um which has been available since its

3:28:27inception 12 plus maybe 12 to 14 years

3:28:32ago. Um, there's also an app. We're in

3:28:36the process of replacing the app. So, we

3:28:38hope that will be done in the next few

3:28:40months. And it will actually include

3:28:43some pretty sophisticated features like

3:28:46you take a photo and it helps diagnose

3:28:50what do I think this photo is about? It

3:28:52looks like it's tall grass. So, that

3:28:54you're, you know, you're getting a head

3:28:55start in terms of that. But there is an

3:28:57app and we also have the um email

3:29:00address info@grcity.

3:29:03us. So anything that is not

3:29:04time-sensitive

3:29:06can be emailed.

3:29:09Um I also want to note we have call we

3:29:11have courtesy call back. Nobody has to

3:29:13wait on hold. So that's the thing the

3:29:15agents do at the end of the day. They're

3:29:17staying to clear the queue. So if you

3:29:19call and wait time is longer than you uh

3:29:22want to spend on the phone, they'll call

3:29:24you back. And then finally, this um this

3:29:27chatbot is something that will be

3:29:30totally new and we're trying to give

3:29:32people the options to interact with us

3:29:34in the way they choose. So I I don't

3:29:37know about you, but I don't generally

3:29:39choose to go to the bank and if I can

3:29:42avoid calling the bank, you know, I

3:29:44prefer to do that. And so we want people

3:29:47to be able to interact with us um in the

3:29:49way they choose. And all of that we

3:29:51think will add up to more time for the

3:29:56agents to spend with the kinds of

3:29:58customers Commissioner Purdue was

3:30:00alluding to, which is the seniors, the

3:30:02people with really complicated

3:30:04situations or or whatever that they need

3:30:06help with. So, uh, we're working on it.

3:30:08We think there will be more options,

3:30:10better options for people. Um, and

3:30:14they'll be going live this fiscal year.

3:30:17>> I appreciate it. And I I don't know if I

3:30:19shared from the dis but uh you know

3:30:21recently I was talking to a robot and I

3:30:22was reduced to saying would you like me

3:30:24to sing you a song um because it kept

3:30:26not doing anything because I wasn't

3:30:28making noise. Um, so yes, be the ability

3:30:31to talk to a human being is really

3:30:32important. Well, and I don't want to

3:30:34minimize that.

3:30:34>> And I'll and very briefly, I'll say one

3:30:36of our RFP

3:30:39uh questions that we want all proposed

3:30:42uh vendors to answer is how do you fail

3:30:45over to saying, would you like to talk

3:30:48to a person now? It seems like I'm not

3:30:49being helpful. So, we don't want anybody

3:30:52to get stuck talking to a machine.

3:30:55>> Absolutely. Thank you, uh, Commissioner

3:30:57Sassi.

3:30:59Thank you, mayor. Thanks for the

3:31:01presentation. Um, I just wanted to say,

3:31:04you know, I I think when we go through

3:31:06these, you know, it's a great recap and

3:31:08you're trying to remember what year runs

3:31:10into what year and the things that we

3:31:12did.

3:31:13Um, you know, I agree with a number of

3:31:17the comments. I always try to say to if

3:31:20I'm going to, you know, bring something

3:31:21up, what's the alternative? Like not to

3:31:23just say no to something, but like how

3:31:25do we move forward? And so, you know, I

3:31:27I am somebody who's still learning a lot

3:31:29about AI tools in my own. I've never

3:31:31used Chatg GPT. I've never prompted

3:31:34anything, but apparently you can do a

3:31:36lot of interesting things. And I think

3:31:38one of the ones I I think part of this

3:31:40is not only to hear from all of you, but

3:31:42sort of what is the prioritization?

3:31:44Um, and I guess for me, I think some of

3:31:46that prioritization is it is sort of

3:31:49like what are some of the biggest

3:31:51requests we have? How do we batch that

3:31:53out? You know, we talked about 311

3:31:54batching. The biggest other batch that

3:31:56I'm thinking about is like how do we use

3:31:58technology is around our foyer request,

3:32:00right? So, this is something that when

3:32:03um you our previous city attorney was

3:32:05here and I know that she and our current

3:32:07city attorney spent a lot of time trying

3:32:09to understand how other communities were

3:32:11designed, how we could, you know, we

3:32:13were also filling roles too. Um, so, um,

3:32:16and I appreciate the comments that we

3:32:17had last week, um, Phil, around the, you

3:32:21know, what else can we do to really get

3:32:23that time frame down? But a lot of times

3:32:25it is a lot of, you know, today I was

3:32:27listening to one of the committee

3:32:28meetings. It's 400 pages in a in one of

3:32:31the items. And I was like, okay, am I

3:32:34going to read the 400 pages? I'm I'm

3:32:36probably not. Commissioner Purdue

3:32:38probably will, but I will not. Um and so

3:32:41I think for me it is sort of looking at

3:32:43when we think about governmental

3:32:44excellence how do we sort of nominate or

3:32:47ensure that you know where are the

3:32:50priorities of how these projects will be

3:32:52utilized you know I think 311 obviously

3:32:54is a very large you know service uh

3:32:57foyer appeals it's going to you know or

3:32:59foyer requests it's going to depend

3:33:01right so the it's like we have these

3:33:03narrow users but they're really critical

3:33:06and then we have these broad users where

3:33:08you know somebody might feel like their

3:33:10grass, their neighbors grass being, you

3:33:12know, this high is going to be a

3:33:13priority, but we know in the scheme of

3:33:15the other things that we have to do,

3:33:16it's going to get deprioritized. So, um,

3:33:19so I don't really have a ask. It is more

3:33:21of a statement to say how do we, as I've

3:33:24heard all six of us say something

3:33:26different. How do we then, that's your

3:33:30favorite thing, right, city manager? Um,

3:33:32is then how do we prioritize? What are

3:33:35the things to focus on? whether it

3:33:36relates to internal technology use

3:33:38whether it relates to the technology use

3:33:40that's going to be you know and we have

3:33:42we have a couple of peels today so

3:33:44that's what my boy is top of mind

3:33:46>> this is good feedback and I think making

3:33:48sure our use is problem centric and

3:33:51we're having the biggest return on the

3:33:54time and benefit to the public and I

3:33:55think we have a good topic to follow up

3:33:58on during our workshop uh in November

3:34:00this would be a good topic to follow up

3:34:02on

3:34:02>> thank you

3:34:04>> so um I I'm noticing the time and

3:34:07noticing that we got another 45 slides

3:34:09to get through and that we've got public

3:34:10safety at 12:30. We may not have time

3:34:12for our um close session, but I I want

3:34:15to say let's can we uh next move on to

3:34:18any comments on any any topics in the

3:34:20next slides up to our break point. Um,

3:34:25colleagues,

3:34:34I guess I will lead off by saying I'm

3:34:36happy to see the uh great summary of the

3:34:39housing work. Um, I hope we can sustain

3:34:41that that um that energy and I guess

3:34:44that's going to be a challenge for all

3:34:46of us as we as we move forward. Um, I

3:34:50also, uh, want to at least flag that,

3:34:54um, when we were talking about the

3:34:56environmental stuff, I didn't see any

3:34:59work on either EV infrastructure or

3:35:02electrifying the fleet. So, uh,

3:35:04reference to a couple hybrid cars. Um,

3:35:06but I I just want to flag for the for my

3:35:09colleagues, I think it's really

3:35:10important. Um, I I saw a study recently

3:35:13that said that Michigan has something

3:35:15like a 1% electric vehicle adoption. And

3:35:18so we're vastly behind the nation and I

3:35:20don't think it's really going to be

3:35:21possible to get EV adoption without EV

3:35:24infrastructure. So um I think we need

3:35:27it's it's a chicken and egg problem. If

3:35:29you want actually want people to use the

3:35:30technology, they have to be able to have

3:35:32the the means to charge the vehicles

3:35:34they're intending to use. But I think

3:35:35there's a huge opportunity for us to do

3:35:38um city uh electrification of our fleet

3:35:41because we know how many cars these cars

3:35:43we know how many miles these cars go

3:35:45where these vehicles go and uh and we

3:35:47can build the infrastructure to charge

3:35:49them. But that's a longer conversation.

3:35:50I just note that it's not really part of

3:35:52our cap discussion at this point. So

3:35:55>> we'll share a little bit more in the

3:35:56mobility session on that. mayor.

3:36:00>> Uh, Commissioner Sask,

3:36:03>> I'm I'm happy to go rapid fire, too.

3:36:05Like you said at the time, I think the

3:36:08the item that I will have some followup

3:36:10is as it relates to the contract with

3:36:11the West Michigan Black Business

3:36:13Alliance. You know, we had our EDP

3:36:15meeting. Uh, Mayor and Commissioner

3:36:17Kilgore, we talked about we have our

3:36:20brownfield meeting. So, we've got money

3:36:21from a revolving fund. We've got a local

3:36:23legislator who's identified some fund.

3:36:25We have some of these other initiatives.

3:36:27There's at least two local organizations

3:36:31that have ARPA money and and probably

3:36:33got replaced with other money to do

3:36:34small business lending. And I'd love to

3:36:36get and I think so one of them I'm

3:36:38noting is the Urban League. And so I

3:36:40know they're anchor organization in some

3:36:42of this even though we weren't tied to

3:36:44that. That was county money. How do we

3:36:46collectively sort of match all of these

3:36:48things together so that it's you know

3:36:50and I know you mentioned the the um the

3:36:53affordable housing meeting and the land

3:36:54bank and both brownfield coming and do

3:36:56these requests. So I'd love to see that

3:36:58further alignment. I'd love to know get

3:37:00some reports of uh what that those

3:37:03dollars deployed are uh because you know

3:37:06again we've heard from businesses around

3:37:07concerns as it relates to construction.

3:37:09We have to invest in our infrastructure

3:37:11but we know that's challenging. We've

3:37:13heard from businesses about, you know, I

3:37:16mean, fuel costs, food costs,

3:37:18everything. And so, we want to continue

3:37:19to have this vibrant economy. We've also

3:37:21heard that the amphitheater has given a

3:37:24really great, you know, shot for a lot

3:37:26of our businesses and even outside of

3:37:28downtown corridors engaged. But what

3:37:31else can we do when we are faced with,

3:37:33you know, paying for gas that's $4.99?

3:37:35And so, I'd love to uh just dig into

3:37:38that one a little bit more, but don't

3:37:39need an answer. Thanks,

3:37:41>> Commissioner Knight.

3:37:42>> Uh, thank you for that. And I am uh

3:37:45happy about uh a lot of the changes that

3:37:47we have especially in the increase in

3:37:49the housing supply specifically uh the

3:37:52ones the 274 that we got below the 80%

3:37:55uh AMI and the more that are coming

3:37:57online um next year but also uh just

3:38:01thinking about growing the fund for the

3:38:03sustainable um housing fund for the

3:38:06annual investments and how we're looking

3:38:08at doing that um in the community. Is it

3:38:10going to be philanthropy adding to that?

3:38:12That is going to be some investments

3:38:13with the current amount of money that we

3:38:14already have in that, right? Because

3:38:16they all have a stake in increasing

3:38:19increasing this housing stock because we

3:38:21have a number of assets coming online.

3:38:23We got people coming into our community.

3:38:25Our community is growing still uh one of

3:38:27the fastest in the state and just trying

3:38:29to see how we're able to continue uh to

3:38:32build on that so that we can continue to

3:38:34increase that work. Um, again, I'm I'm

3:38:37not going to bellever at either. Um,

3:38:40th those were kind of my couple of

3:38:42thoughts. Great.

3:38:45>> All right. I will too go quickly. Um,

3:38:48things I would like to follow up on or

3:38:50get more information on um is the

3:38:53permitting process and the description

3:38:55that you had there about making

3:38:57improvements there. I'm happy to hear

3:38:58that. Happy to hear the continual

3:39:00improvement thought process. I just

3:39:02would like to, you know, maybe

3:39:03understand it a little better myself. I

3:39:05was at the West Michigan Housing Summit

3:39:07that the chamber put on. Um, and there

3:39:10were a lot of developers there. Some say

3:39:12it's easy to work with us. Some say it's

3:39:14really difficult. So, um, I would be

3:39:17curious to know what feedback you're

3:39:18addressing and just in general how

3:39:22that's going as we continue to make

3:39:23improvements. I also would like as we

3:39:26move forward to think about the emerging

3:39:29developer program and um get a little

3:39:31more clarity around what's going to be

3:39:34happening there. Um I believe I had the

3:39:37number nine in my head. Then I heard you

3:39:38say five people that were applied but

3:39:41unfunded, but there may have been a few

3:39:44more that were approved. or maybe I'm

3:39:46getting the numbers confused, but

3:39:48there's some handful of folks that were

3:39:51left in limbo. And I think it would be

3:39:52great if we could communicate with them.

3:39:54We're approaching a year out as to yes,

3:39:58stay on hold or move on with your

3:40:00project or you know that you know some

3:40:03sort of communication because I think

3:40:04that there's been a lot left kind of

3:40:07hanging.

3:40:08Um, but other than that, I love that to

3:40:10see how many housing units we are

3:40:12developing and and just to continue f to

3:40:15remind folks because it isn't our job

3:40:17only, right? We we have the the

3:40:19department that facilitates it, but you

3:40:21it does take people out in the community

3:40:23to decide to build the the density that

3:40:25we need. Specifically with respect to

3:40:28emerging developers, just because there

3:40:29have been a lot of questions and um if I

3:40:33get anything wrong, Sarah will come

3:40:34running up the aisle. But uh just a

3:40:36reminder, so we have a number of

3:40:38programs that support emerging

3:40:39developers. The thing that was paused by

3:40:41the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority

3:40:43was a specific uh earmark for grants

3:40:47into those projects. And the idea of the

3:40:49grants would they would come in early

3:40:51when you're doing your architecture and

3:40:53engineering and things like that that

3:40:56are uh somewhat riskier because you

3:40:59don't know. there some of the work you

3:41:00need to have done to see if your project

3:41:02is going to work and then to attract the

3:41:05other kinds of investment that you need.

3:41:07That uh program that that went on for

3:41:10two fiscal years was very very popular.

3:41:12So it proved out there's a lot of

3:41:13demand. What it also proved out is that

3:41:16the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority

3:41:18pool of funds, the the local Brownfield

3:41:21revolving fund, these were grants

3:41:24though, not revolving loans, they were

3:41:25grants, uh is not the sustainable source

3:41:28for those grants. Uh so that's why they

3:41:31were paused. We have tried to maintain

3:41:33communication with the the five

3:41:35applicants that are still interested in

3:41:37a grant that we're seeking different

3:41:39funds, but those funds are controlled by

3:41:41others. So, we have to get other people

3:41:44on board to say, "Yes, this is something

3:41:46worth doing." That was the reason for

3:41:50the presentation to the affordable

3:41:51housing fund board. I think our staff

3:41:53have really committed to trying to find

3:41:56other funders to come to the table for

3:41:58those five applications just because

3:42:00they're a little bit in limbo.

3:42:02Separately, also looking is there a

3:42:04government role for an ongoing grant

3:42:07program of that nature and who could

3:42:09partner with us in that. Um, so we have

3:42:13communicated to all those applicants, I

3:42:16think most recently back in June, trying

3:42:18to find out, are you still interested in

3:42:20a grant? Do you still need a grant of

3:42:22this nature? Uh, how much to to get to

3:42:25the place where the presentation was

3:42:27made to the affordable housing fund

3:42:28board. Um, and also we recognize and

3:42:32have heard from a number of applicants

3:42:34that the, you know, this is my the most

3:42:36important thing to me and so I need you

3:42:39to be talking to me more often, uh,

3:42:42maybe more clearly because I'm not sure

3:42:44what it is you're trying to tell me. Uh,

3:42:46so we are hearing that as well and

3:42:49trying to do better and proactively

3:42:51letting people know, but unfortunately

3:42:53the answer right now for can we make

3:42:56grants is no. We're trying to find

3:42:59different money to be able to do that,

3:43:01but we don't know whether we'll be

3:43:03successful and we don't know the

3:43:04timeline. So, that's not, you know, that

3:43:06doesn't satisfy. Um, and so we're

3:43:09continuing to try to connect people with

3:43:11other sources of funding. We're

3:43:13continuing to work in parallel with them

3:43:15on other incentives that they may be

3:43:16eligible for, how else to, you know, get

3:43:20a package that's really attractive um

3:43:22and keep things moving. But that is that

3:43:25is where we stand with that emerging

3:43:27developer grant program in particular.

3:43:29>> Commissioner Ker,

3:43:31>> thanks Mayor update.

3:43:32>> Uh I have um one question for slide 21.

3:43:37Uh the terminology is interesting of um

3:43:44let me see.

3:43:48Thank you. Thank you Miss We um deeply

3:43:51affordable. Yes. Um, if we could just

3:43:53expand for a moment on that. You know,

3:43:55Commissioner Knight has made some good

3:43:56comments on our diction around

3:43:59affordable housing. Um, and maybe

3:44:01accessible is a good word. It's just I

3:44:04would love to um as I do also believe

3:44:07that diction is important. Um, what is

3:44:10what do we mean by deeply affordable

3:44:12here? That is a very good point and I'm

3:44:14looking back at Connie again if I mess

3:44:16this up but generally speaking um

3:44:18especially at or below 60% AMI you

3:44:21really the market with just incentives

3:44:24is very unlikely to produce units at

3:44:27that level. So the board is really

3:44:29looking at that section and saying we we

3:44:31have funds we should be focusing on that

3:44:35sort of end of the spectrum because we

3:44:37know they won't be unlocked without

3:44:40subsidies of some sort. So 60% or below,

3:44:43but I will note and try to use uh more

3:44:46precise language.

3:44:47>> Thank you. And I think that speaks

3:44:48directly to what I hear in community a

3:44:50lot. Uh just a comment for the parks and

3:44:52recck department on uh slide 25 about

3:44:55the southside creekways planning

3:44:57initiative. Kudos to that team. I have

3:44:59really uh loved seeing the community and

3:45:02public engagement on that.

3:45:06Uh on slide 38 for health and

3:45:10environment,

3:45:15I'm wondering here if you know um a lot

3:45:18of our lead assistance uh for folks are

3:45:22for folks with children. I'm wondering

3:45:24if um you all could enlighten me on

3:45:26resources for folks that do not have

3:45:28children, are not expecting uh that the

3:45:30city offers or that the county offers.

3:45:34I'm seeing uh Miss Bo Hatch in the back

3:45:36of the room shaking her head. So that

3:45:37tells me that probably the funds are

3:45:40prioritized for families with children

3:45:42and generally limited. So we run out of

3:45:44funds by that time. But my understanding

3:45:47also is the highest risk exposure is due

3:45:49to

3:45:50>> children that are under three or four

3:45:53that are crawling close to the

3:45:55>> and colleagues if we can get through

3:45:57this maybe flag things for like future

3:45:59that like you'd like to hear more in the

3:46:00future because otherwise we're just we

3:46:02got another 45 slides to go. Um so

3:46:05commission

3:46:05>> my last Oh y go ahead mayor. One moment

3:46:07wasn't finished yet. Thank you. Okay so

3:46:09thank you on the lead and then uh my

3:46:11last note here is uh on slide 41.

3:46:21So, uh, launch the air quality

3:46:23monitoring program. If you could tell me

3:46:25a little bit more about that and will we

3:46:27have continued support of our

3:46:28partnership with just air and then that

3:46:30concludes my questions for this section.

3:46:32>> Yeah, that was the transition of just

3:46:34air from DJRI that's now being managed

3:46:36by the sustainability office.

3:46:38>> I'm very happy to hear that. Thank you

3:46:39all.

3:46:40>> Thanks, Commissioner Rue.

3:46:42>> Thank you. So, a few comments and

3:46:43colleagues, these are really just as

3:46:45much for you and city manager. Um,

3:46:48there's three things I want to quickly

3:46:49touch on. Uh, so we've heard about the

3:46:52land bank um and affordable housing fund

3:46:55and the need for more resources for both

3:46:57of them. We also know that more than

3:47:01likely both bodies are going to come to

3:47:02city commission to request access to the

3:47:05$5 million that uh we got from the the

3:47:08rest of the sale of 121 market. Um what

3:47:11has been um in our a lot of our plans

3:47:15over the last few years is a policy or

3:47:17really in our adopted plan is a

3:47:20commitment to create an

3:47:21anti-displacement policy.

3:47:23>> And we yet I think we still have we have

3:47:26a number of good things in place. We

3:47:27have home repair assistance. We have the

3:47:30affordable housing fund. We have the

3:47:31community land trust. We have the lion

3:47:33bank. So we have a lot of a really

3:47:35strong foundation. Um, but we still

3:47:37don't have a full robust

3:47:39anti-displacement strategy. And I think

3:47:42that it's important that we slow down a

3:47:46little bit and make sure that we get

3:47:47that in place before we move forward in

3:47:51a very aggressive way with land bank

3:47:53activity um, in particular. And I think

3:47:56there's some um, and I think there's

3:47:59some things that we can do to that end

3:48:01to support the work of the affordable

3:48:03housing board too. Um, so that includes

3:48:05things like preserving existing

3:48:07affordable housing, uh, stabilization,

3:48:10ensuring that we are meeting our goals

3:48:12around community ownership. So, I want

3:48:14to plug that. I think that that needs to

3:48:15be a priority, and I think it really

3:48:18should be a precursor to some of the

3:48:20more aggressive we work we're doing,

3:48:22especially when we're talking about

3:48:24having property exchange hands um, and

3:48:27having new development in our

3:48:28neighborhoods. So, I wanted to flag that

3:48:30around economic development.

3:48:33relatedly on economic development in the

3:48:35KPIs and the metrics uh we have items

3:48:38related to the inclusion plan and we

3:48:42typically report that out and we know

3:48:44inclusion plans are considered

3:48:46aspirational. Um so they don't have a

3:48:49ton of teeth. Um and so the way we

3:48:51report out is what's committed versus

3:48:54what's executed. And I think it's

3:48:56important that we go back and we find

3:48:57what's executed. So, I would love that

3:48:59as a followup um and and even

3:49:01considering adding that to our metric

3:49:02dashboard. And then finally, um we kind

3:49:05of breezed over it, but the cap was in

3:49:07here and the 20 priorities. Uh so I just

3:49:10want to flag that um and speaking

3:49:12particularly with climate advocates who

3:49:14are really in really really invested in

3:49:17how we operationalize that plan. um that

3:49:21I think we need to clarify what is the

3:49:23process for selecting additional

3:49:26priorities.

3:49:28Typically, we approve a plan and it's up

3:49:31to departments to operationalize it and

3:49:34implement it. But with this one, we took

3:49:36a different approach. The city

3:49:38commission decided on the top 20. And

3:49:40so, I think it's really important that

3:49:42we clarify,

3:49:44is this meant to come back to city

3:49:45commission to edit those top 20 as ones

3:49:48are, you know, checked off? Is it up to

3:49:50us? I don't think that that's the

3:49:51appropriate way forward. I think that we

3:49:53trust um our department, our office of

3:49:56sustainability to lead that. So, I want

3:49:57to flag that and I think that's an

3:49:59action item for followup like what is

3:50:00that process? And I've been asked that

3:50:03in um really in really clear language.

3:50:05What is the process? What can the public

3:50:07expect around how we approach those top

3:50:1020 priorities moving forward?

3:50:14>> Okay.

3:50:15>> Thank you. Um I think let's move on to

3:50:17our next 45 slides on.

3:50:24>> All right. So uh with mobility as our

3:50:27strategic plan objectives there first

3:50:29and foremost and you've heard me say

3:50:31this a number of times is safety. Safety

3:50:33for all users. We want to ensure that

3:50:36people have choices of how they get

3:50:37around uh and where they want to get

3:50:39around and that they can plan uh to do

3:50:42that. We have objectives around

3:50:44transportation asset management. So

3:50:46again, it is very important to maintain

3:50:48what we have uh before we add more. And

3:50:51then parking and curb management, ever a

3:50:54popular topic in Grand Rapids. Uh so

3:50:57just hitting a few highlights around our

3:51:00efforts to uh be looking at safety and

3:51:03safety improvements uh throughout our

3:51:05network. You'll see here that we were

3:51:07able to successfully install additional

3:51:09ADA curb ramps um including 65 locations

3:51:13where there had been actual physical

3:51:15barriers uh with uh complete or

3:51:18continuous curbs instead of curb cuts.

3:51:20So that's uh some significant work. We

3:51:23were able to close a halfmile sidewalk

3:51:25gap uh in the city in fiscal year 26 and

3:51:29that's from Michigan Street on Michigan

3:51:30Street. Uh and then we have uh the

3:51:34ability with some budget decisions you

3:51:35made in fiscal year 26 expanding the

3:51:38resources we have in neighborhood

3:51:40traffic calming to be a little bit more

3:51:42proactive on that work. Uh so we

3:51:44continue to go out and respond to uh

3:51:46neighborhood requests for traffic

3:51:48calming, but we were able to do a little

3:51:49bit more proactive and complete analysis

3:51:52um in order to uh lead to some more

3:51:55robust uh improvements to to deal with

3:51:59traffic calming. So here with the this

3:52:01$340,000 I understand probably still

3:52:04doesn't look like a lot but it is double

3:52:06what we've had historically in that

3:52:08program. Uh so we appreciate the

3:52:10commission's support there. That does

3:52:12allow us to look at a more diverse mix

3:52:15of kinds of things that we can apply to

3:52:17a street. So we come in uh through this

3:52:20program. We come into streets that are

3:52:21existing. We don't have a vital streets

3:52:23project. We don't have anything else

3:52:24going on. and we look at what are those

3:52:26tools that we can apply in this existing

3:52:29right ofway to slow people down. The

3:52:31increased investment allowed us to use

3:52:33some different tools that we wouldn't

3:52:34have been able to afford in the past,

3:52:36including a traffic circle. Uh again, I

3:52:39understand that traffic circles are very

3:52:41controversial and some people do and do

3:52:43not like them, but they do slow people

3:52:45down and they do tend to change the type

3:52:48of accident you might have at an

3:52:49intersection to one that is less

3:52:52dangerous to the drivers and less

3:52:54costly. So, uh, just continue to shout

3:52:57out for traffic circles. Um, we have

3:53:00also continued to expand and, uh,

3:53:02encourage folks to use different modes

3:53:05of travel, uh, which is why safety is so

3:53:08important. As we try to get people out

3:53:09of cars and using our infrastructure

3:53:12with different kinds of mobility

3:53:14devices, we want that to feel safe. Uh,

3:53:16so we did expand um our EV car share

3:53:20fleet. So that allows some people to

3:53:22live without cars uh but able to access

3:53:24a car when they need one. And so we've

3:53:27seen quite a bit of growth in uh users

3:53:30there and uh can um happy that we're

3:53:33able to provide that service. We uh see

3:53:36also growth in those micromobility

3:53:38devices. Uh and as you heard recently,

3:53:41we have we are in the process of

3:53:43transitioning to a different vendor and

3:53:45you see uh some of the images of the

3:53:48types of micromobility devices that are

3:53:50now available from that vendor which

3:53:52again might add some more accessibility

3:53:54in terms of uh people feeling able to

3:53:56use those.

3:53:58Uh with respect to uh transit, we did

3:54:01redesign the dash. uh that was uh

3:54:04intentional in order to deal with the

3:54:07affordability and sustainability from a

3:54:09cost perspective uh for the city with

3:54:12our partnership with the rapid there on

3:54:14dash. We really focused in the route to

3:54:18zero in on kind of downtown destinations

3:54:21and getting people to that kind of park

3:54:23once strategy downtown. uh and w with

3:54:27that we were able to reduce cost and

3:54:29increase the frequency of uh those

3:54:32coaches coming along and around the

3:54:34route. Uh we are just preliminarily now

3:54:37kind of assessing that route change but

3:54:40you'll see some very early information

3:54:43that uh basically ridership between

3:54:46across the dash and the rapid stayed

3:54:48steady. So I don't have separate data

3:54:51points for you uh but ridership stayed

3:54:53steady. We did see quite a bit of

3:54:56increase in ridership on event nights.

3:54:58Uh and you see there some uh just one

3:55:01night when we did an audit uh more

3:55:03evening trips on a concert night than a

3:55:05non-event Saturday. So people are

3:55:08finding the dash to be something useful

3:55:09for events in and around downtown.

3:55:13On our next objective, it's maintaining

3:55:16what we have. Uh and so we talked about

3:55:18that a little bit at community

3:55:19development today, but uh we have a

3:55:21robust process where we do projects all

3:55:24around the city uh and try to ensure

3:55:26that we are um looking very carefully at

3:55:30our assets and maintaining those um

3:55:33maintaining those projects. So just a

3:55:34few highlights for you of things we were

3:55:36able to uh do in the last construction

3:55:39season. So there was a significant uh

3:55:42project on an street and you see here uh

3:55:44the cross section of what we were able

3:55:47to provide there with uh safe options

3:55:49for people outside of their vehicles.

3:55:52We um are sustaining that investment in

3:55:55our in our major corridor. So here you

3:55:58have Leonard Street. The aerial photo is

3:56:00sort of the finished project and then on

3:56:01the lefth hand side you have a before

3:56:02and after of some of the things that we

3:56:05are bringing to bear there to again deal

3:56:08with safety and uh continued investment

3:56:11in that corridor. Boston Street is

3:56:14another rebuild. You have a lot of

3:56:16aerial photos. These are all after

3:56:18shots. I did want to flag that this

3:56:20corridor was slated for a number of

3:56:23roundabouts and as a result of uh

3:56:25feedback we did eliminate one of those.

3:56:27So, it's been an interest of this body

3:56:30and the and the city staff who work

3:56:31really hard on these projects to

3:56:33continue to improve our community

3:56:35engagement. So, just wanted to to flag

3:56:38there that we that we do take that

3:56:39feedback seriously and and take it into

3:56:42account with design. Uh, another major

3:56:44uh investment that we made here. So, uh

3:56:47Godfrey was a significant investment on

3:56:50the lower left. I'll just call out that

3:56:52was a significant safety improvement

3:56:53there. So, you see some strategies at

3:56:55play. This was a very wide sort of

3:56:57sweeping turn that you could take at a

3:56:59pretty fast clip. Uh and so now you see

3:57:03those that intersection there is squared

3:57:05up. So so you have less right of way.

3:57:07You have more sort of signals as a

3:57:09driver to slow down that you're about to

3:57:12to enter a different street.

3:57:15And then with parking uh just really

3:57:17wanted to focus because of the effort

3:57:18that it took uh for the whole city

3:57:21really to be prepared for the

3:57:22amphitheater. And I think the number one

3:57:25thing we got questions about leading up

3:57:26to the opening of the amphitheater was

3:57:28but where are we going to park? Uh so we

3:57:31had started preparing for these downtown

3:57:33facilities with respect to understanding

3:57:36the downtown parking dynamic well before

3:57:39uh we anticipated those openings. So if

3:57:42you recall, we started a downtown

3:57:44parking system assessment maybe in 2025

3:57:48uh to understand both the public and

3:57:50private parking. What was available,

3:57:52what was being used, what were peak

3:57:53demands, where were uh people going to

3:57:56park, what was really out there as an

3:57:58asset. And what that result told us was

3:58:01we're pretty confident we have enough

3:58:02parking stalls already. We are not

3:58:04worried about trying to add to that

3:58:06portfolio right now. Let's really double

3:58:08down on having people understand where

3:58:10they can park. Uh so we did a number of

3:58:12things not least of which was launching

3:58:15our first parking reservation system and

3:58:17there was a lot of publicity around

3:58:19that. So a lot of ability for people to

3:58:21plan their trip which is really

3:58:23important. So if people know where

3:58:25they're going to go, they're more

3:58:26comfortable doing that. They can plan in

3:58:28advance. They know they're going to be

3:58:29able to find a place to park. They can

3:58:31kind of understand their route. How am I

3:58:33going to get to the venue itself? They,

3:58:36as you saw, use the dash. a lot of

3:58:38people walking, which is really a lot of

3:58:40what we want to do. We want people

3:58:41circulating around downtown if they are

3:58:44able to, and if they aren't, we have ADA

3:58:47accessible uh stalls in the ramp

3:58:49immediately adjacent to the amphitheater

3:58:51and at the uh cherry lot as well. So, uh

3:58:55really just wanted to highlight that

3:58:57that has been I think really a great

3:58:59experience for uh the businesses

3:59:01adjacent and near the amphitheater as

3:59:03well as the the folks visiting the

3:59:05venue. You see, we did a survey there

3:59:07and more than 90% of downtown event

3:59:10parkers were satisfied or extremely

3:59:12satisfied with that experience, which I

3:59:14think if we had told the public that in

3:59:16about January or February, they would

3:59:18have laughed us out of existence. Uh, so

3:59:21just a lot of good work there that I

3:59:23wanted to highlight.

3:59:25Uh, with respect to metrics, uh, those

3:59:27of you that have seen this report a

3:59:28number of times, you'll see we've added

3:59:30quite a few metrics with the strategic

3:59:32plan update. So again, as you have more

3:59:34time to go through those, if you have

3:59:35follow-up questions for us, please feel

3:59:37free to send those. I did want to flag

3:59:39that we exceeded our target on uh

3:59:42reducing those traffic fatalities and

3:59:44serious injuries. So that's one you can

3:59:47see from the data here fluctuates up and

3:59:49down and obviously um we are pleased to

3:59:52see that it went down quite a bit uh

3:59:54over the last measuring period. And

3:59:56again, that increased uh ability for us

3:59:59to come in and do safety projects is um

4:00:02something that we think is moving the

4:00:03needle there. Uh I do want to also call

4:00:06out at the bottom of this chart here,

4:00:09you'll see there is the annual

4:00:11investment in streets by ward on the

4:00:13last three lines. And year by year, and

4:00:16this is something you hear every time in

4:00:18the budget presentation, but it's the

4:00:19first time we've added these metrics to

4:00:21to this strategic plan, so I just want

4:00:23to flag it. This uh is reported every

4:00:26budget cycle. Year toyear the a third a

4:00:31third a third investment level in each

4:00:33ward fluctuates. It's the size of the

4:00:35projects. It's you know a couple other

4:00:37nuances but over the life of the vital

4:00:39streets um investment that will be

4:00:43roughly a third a third a third across

4:00:44the wards. And with each budget we do uh

4:00:46show you where we are cumulatively.

4:00:50Uh so with that just a little bit of a

4:00:51look ahead. Um so the mobility blueprint

4:00:54is something that we have started uh and

4:00:57so you see the kind of project

4:00:58deliverables and engagement timeline and

4:01:01where we expect to be uh towards the end

4:01:05of of calendar year 2027. So this will

4:01:08will uh be all of fiscal year 27 and

4:01:11part of fiscal year 28. Uh this

4:01:15product uh will help us quite a bit with

4:01:18and be a companion to a lot of our other

4:01:20investment guidelines. So we have a

4:01:22bicycle plan. We have a transportation

4:01:25asset management plan that again you

4:01:27spoke about today. Um we have the

4:01:29strategic plan, we have the community

4:01:31master plan. All of those have

4:01:34components of how we'd like to get

4:01:36around where we'd like to go and what we

4:01:38would like the right of way to do for

4:01:40us. In addition to carrying cars, we

4:01:42want it to have sidewalk cafes. We want

4:01:45it to be green. We want, you know, safe

4:01:47mobility choices. This mobility

4:01:50blueprint will help us all be

4:01:51reggrounded in what it is we're trying

4:01:53to ask the right of way to do. We want

4:01:55it to allow us to park. We want it to

4:01:56allow us to do drop offs. Uh so we

4:01:59wanted to do a lot. This is going to

4:02:01allow us to regground uh what it is that

4:02:04we're going to do and what are those

4:02:05priority projects that from a safety and

4:02:08mobility perspective uh we need to take

4:02:10into account as we're putting together

4:02:12our vital streets uh initiative moving

4:02:15forward. So, it'll allow us to have some

4:02:17of those prioritization conversations.

4:02:19It will allow us to look at some budget

4:02:21questions. It will allow us to refresh

4:02:24uh design guidelines and design

4:02:25standards and really uh provide a

4:02:28platform to engage on the renewal of

4:02:31vital streets when we get to that place

4:02:32in 2030. So, um it's a little engine

4:02:36that could and we are excited to be

4:02:38talking to the public about that.

4:02:41And with that, I will turn it over to

4:02:44Mr. your manager.

4:02:45>> Thank you. And I'll take us home and

4:02:47we'll talk about safe community. I do

4:02:50want to highlight I think uh city

4:02:51attorney and I have agreed for the close

4:02:54session. Uh legislative committee may

4:02:57only take 30 minutes. So if the

4:02:58commission's able, we can convene at

4:03:012:30 close session if that works for

4:03:03everyone.

4:03:04>> Yeah, that sounds good.

4:03:05>> Oh, Commissioner Sassi,

4:03:07>> don't forget that we have um civilian

4:03:09appeals board at 3 p.m.

4:03:11>> Right. So I'm sorry. We We should be

4:03:14>> My bad.

4:03:15>> City attorney assures me we should be

4:03:16done in 30 minutes.

4:03:17>> Okay. All right. Thank you.

4:03:20>> I'm getting all the acronyms.

4:03:22>> Okay. All right. Crime um select crime

4:03:25trends. Uh you'll see a decrease in

4:03:29crimes against property, motor vehicle

4:03:31theft. These are frequently highlighted

4:03:32during p uh public safety committee. um

4:03:35crimes against persons have uh

4:03:37increased. Uh the number of um murder

4:03:41victims, homicides about the same, one

4:03:44more than the previous fiscal year. Um

4:03:47and crimes against society have

4:03:49increased where they're essentially

4:03:50victimless crimes.

4:03:53Uh in terms of the police department, uh

4:03:57one notable increase is the um beat

4:03:59coverage. 100% of um beats are covered

4:04:02now on patrol. That's the first time I

4:04:04think we met the target in quite a bit.

4:04:06Uh we talked about 311 earlier. I want

4:04:08to give a shout out to our 911 dispatch

4:04:11employees. 96% 97 almost 97% of those

4:04:15calls are answered within 15 seconds.

4:04:18Almost all 100 of them are answered 40

4:04:21seconds. That's a different operation.

4:04:23They're staffed more than 311. They're

4:04:25paid more than 311. And they're 247 uh

4:04:28because of the critical nature.

4:04:30[clears throat]

4:04:30So we can get similar outcomes in 311,

4:04:34but it's going to cost uh more

4:04:36investment in personnel if we wanted to

4:04:37have that kind of interaction. Uh you

4:04:40see that the response times from uh

4:04:42dispatch to arrival and particularly

4:04:45when there is critical incidents around

4:04:46shootings less than 3 minutes. Um the

4:04:51fire department gave an update a while

4:04:52back on the empower program with the uh

4:04:56collaboration with uh Corwell Health on

4:04:59some of those frequent users of some of

4:05:00our emergency medical services and

4:05:03trying to be a little bit more proactive

4:05:06in outreach efforts. Uh we continue to

4:05:09partner with uh network 180 on the call

4:05:13response model. you see almost uh 2,800

4:05:16calls in the current calendar year and

4:05:19uh the number of referrals to the crisis

4:05:22uh stabilization unit almost 80% of

4:05:25those that are encountered get

4:05:26transferred to that otherwise it would

4:05:28go to either jail or hospitals

4:05:32we had a this is not the most recent

4:05:34expungement fair I think this is a

4:05:35result of the previous expungement fair

4:05:37333 individuals uh I can't recall the

4:05:41exact number from this past um

4:05:44>> 700.

4:05:44>> Yeah, it was significantly more.

4:05:46Significantly more. Um

4:05:48we continue to um improve our efforts

4:05:53for supporting uh safety through our

4:05:55community development program. Uh and

4:05:58we'll have a more in-depth briefing. I

4:06:00won't go over this in detail. Our code

4:06:02compliance department will give us an

4:06:04in-depth briefing today during the

4:06:06public safety uh committee meeting. I

4:06:08know that's been requested several times

4:06:10and but these are some of the things

4:06:12they do at a um at a glance at a

4:06:14highlight. I know the mayor is really um

4:06:17interested in some mediation efforts and

4:06:19I wanted to point out that last uh

4:06:21bullet in terms of challenging cases

4:06:23where we do have a community lison

4:06:25person in the code compliance department

4:06:27who works on some of those hard to to uh

4:06:30resolve cases and helping uh bring

4:06:33compliance to them.

4:06:35Again, we recently had a very robust um

4:06:39briefing from

4:06:41uh office of uh public accountability

4:06:43and Miss Lipkcom on some of the things

4:06:45that we're doing for violence

4:06:46prevention. You'll see uh if you take

4:06:49the collective of the 727 youth through

4:06:52those summer programs, those evening and

4:06:54afterhour programs, as well as uh you

4:06:58add in the over 300 youth that we've

4:07:01employed and the safe task force

4:07:03interaction with you, those are well

4:07:04over a thousand youth that have been

4:07:06served um at least through some of the

4:07:08city program. really uh looking uh

4:07:12forward to do many of those positive

4:07:14contacts and we continue to um um

4:07:18utilize our partnership with Cure

4:07:20Violence and Urban League and uh they've

4:07:22engaged almost 3,000 individuals. I know

4:07:25the mayor and I have talked about having

4:07:26more uh conversations with Mr. Davis

4:07:29with uh Cure Violence Alliance uh global

4:07:32and I think that conversation is going

4:07:34to take place sometime this month.

4:07:37uh across the fire [clears throat]

4:07:38department. A lot of facility expansions

4:07:40as you're aware of over $68 million and

4:07:43you've seen those open up in Kendall

4:07:45Street uh when we open up that fire

4:07:48station third W division avenue is

4:07:51forthcoming and we continue to make

4:07:53progress on the training center. If

4:07:55those of you who have not been by panel

4:07:57lately, it's uh really a sight to

4:07:59behold.

4:08:01uh always mindful of both how we prepare

4:08:04for emergencies, respond to emergencies,

4:08:07and recover from them. And uh Benjamin

4:08:09Rants has been really doing outstanding

4:08:11job leading our department. Uh engaging

4:08:14the community. You see we have over 101

4:08:16residents who are completed the uh

4:08:20community emergency response training.

4:08:22Uh we've reviewed 100% of those plans.

4:08:26uh doing emergency plans at and I want

4:08:28to just go back to Commissioner Purdue's

4:08:30ear effort on the equity toolkit. Um

4:08:34during the budget process, the equity

4:08:36lens is utilized on every uh department

4:08:40proposal as we review in terms of uh

4:08:43their um efforts to impact uh community

4:08:47as well as um uh staffing levels. So,

4:08:52um, going back [clears throat] to the

4:08:54emergency management, uh, we continue to

4:08:57focus on the disaster relief efforts,

4:09:00uh, partnering with United Way on our

4:09:02disaster relief fund. That should be,

4:09:05uh, more update coming, uh, in the fall.

4:09:08Hopefully, we can have that, uh,

4:09:09unveiled by the time we have our, um,

4:09:13winter, uh, retreat.

4:09:15I won't go over these metrics in detail.

4:09:17I've highlighted some. You see where

4:09:19we're going in some places from green to

4:09:21to red like uh the beats covered to

4:09:24100%. You've seen the the improve I

4:09:26mentioned improvement in crime to

4:09:28society and um I won't highlight

4:09:33I will highlight uh the one that still

4:09:36remains in red but I'd like to see more

4:09:37improvement and that's the number of

4:09:38people who are enrolled in our emergency

4:09:41alert notification system. The more we

4:09:43can enroll people the better and there

4:09:45has been improvement. Our goal is to get

4:09:47more than 9% and we are went from about

4:09:517 to 8%. So we'll see what happens next

4:09:54time we take measurement. A couple of

4:09:56other things and we don't have to

4:09:59[clears throat]

4:09:59get through this today. I can schedule

4:10:02some time at one of our future uh

4:10:04committee of the whole meetings. We

4:10:06wanted to really take time to talk about

4:10:08the good discussions we had at the end

4:10:11of the budget around the uh mediation

4:10:14trauma-informed pilot. we've kind of

4:10:17framed uh some of the things that we

4:10:19could do to invest uh in both of those

4:10:23programs.

4:10:24And um again, we we alluded to that last

4:10:28time. What I'd like to do instead of

4:10:29rushing through the discussion now

4:10:31because I think it it merits a lot of

4:10:33conversation is to um defer this part of

4:10:37the presentation to another future cow

4:10:40uh briefing. But you can see some of the

4:10:42thinking that we have at this point

4:10:45around that service as well as the uh

4:10:48third ward uh neighborhood association

4:10:51fund. [clears throat] This commission

4:10:53authorizes to allocate over $100,000.

4:10:55You can see uh the neighborhood

4:10:59association or neighborhood like

4:11:01entities that uh are doing work in third

4:11:04ward. And if you allocate the money,

4:11:05it's roughly around uh $9,900

4:11:09per

4:11:11um group. Uh and we are framing a

4:11:17process in which we will contact each of

4:11:19them directly, notice them of uh the

4:11:23application. They will have to submit.

4:11:24It's not just a open grant. They have to

4:11:27submit what type of services uh the city

4:11:30and the public will benefit from. and

4:11:32we'll give them an application deadline

4:11:36uh for the end of November and then come

4:11:38back and make awards by the end of the

4:11:41calendar uh calendar years. I'm sorry.

4:11:44I'm sorry. Um is this maybe I need to Is

4:11:48this right? 2027.

4:11:51>> That's what I thought. By the end of the

4:11:52calendar year 2026. Okay. So, all of

4:11:55that is due at where it says 2027 the

4:11:57end of this year. This calendar year.

4:12:01Okay. Um, couple other things as well

4:12:05that we will continue to discuss. Um,

4:12:07you got you authorized the

4:12:11funding of several positions and

4:12:13programs

4:12:15uh for a partial year through the end of

4:12:17calendar year 2026 but not authorized it

4:12:20full fully in 20 for the entire fiscal

4:12:23year. And uh those are programs in our

4:12:28uh office of equity engagement, our

4:12:30sustainability office as well as the

4:12:32enhanced communication support. Um we

4:12:36will need to know by the time we get to

4:12:40our fall workshop whether or not those

4:12:42services are going to be continue to be

4:12:44funded in the balance of the second half

4:12:47of the fiscal year um or um

4:12:52piloted some more. We we need to get

4:12:54more direction, but we'd like to um hear

4:12:57more from the commission on on your

4:13:00preference. My my assumption from

4:13:02talking to everyone individually is that

4:13:04there's a strong sense for these

4:13:06programs to continue, but I didn't want

4:13:07to um make that presumption without

4:13:10getting feedback.

4:13:13And again [clears throat]

4:13:15um closing out these are the dates uh

4:13:19for additional conversation the

4:13:22leadership uh retreat I'm excuse me the

4:13:24workshop rather in November the 12th as

4:13:27I committed earlier I'll come back with

4:13:29some other topics before then and then

4:13:31we'll have another briefing around

4:13:33February for our midyear uh performance

4:13:36update. So mayor with that I'll pause

4:13:38and see what questions the commission

4:13:40has.

4:13:40>> Great. Thanks. Um, and just a couple

4:13:42high level comments I will make. Um,

4:13:44I've said I said before, um, that I

4:13:46think on our mobility, um, when we're

4:13:48looking at, um, non car transportation

4:13:51[clears throat]

4:13:52options and and design, a couple things.

4:13:55One is I'm I'm glad we have the

4:13:56consultant coming in, but I do think we

4:13:58ought to have a long-term conversation

4:14:00about whether we need somebody doing

4:14:02this visioning work who's embedded in

4:14:04the staff and really focus on it

4:14:05full-time. Um it's great to have

4:14:08engineering working on making but

4:14:10engineering functionally the core

4:14:11function of engineering is to make sure

4:14:13things don't break. Um and I think that

4:14:16having uh more of an architectural focus

4:14:19on some of this stuff means having

4:14:21somebody um looking looking at visioning

4:14:23and and I know that's part of the um

4:14:26part of the consulting work we're doing,

4:14:27but I think it's going to be an ongoing

4:14:29need and I' I'd love to have further

4:14:30discussion about that. Um, as we do this

4:14:33work, I think I'm always looking to make

4:14:36sure that if we do new things, they're

4:14:37continuous, they're potentially

4:14:39reversible, they're relatively

4:14:40affordable, but they're also compatible.

4:14:42So, um, you know, the tension between

4:14:45making bulbouts, for example, that make

4:14:47it that are pro pedestrian, but turn out

4:14:49to make it more difficult to cycle. Um,

4:14:51I think we have to always be looking at

4:14:53making sure that those those systems are

4:14:56mutually compatible. And you know, same

4:14:58with the fact that the fact is most of

4:15:00our uh community drives as a form of

4:15:03transportation most of the time in

4:15:04individual vehicles. So we don't want to

4:15:06make that impossible. Um or uh worse. We

4:15:10I think that there's a space to make it

4:15:12make everything better. Um as far as

4:15:14public safety goes, um great work lot in

4:15:17a lot of different directions. I'm

4:15:19excited to see um uh where we can go

4:15:22next and I think that um leveraging some

4:15:24of these really good initiatives uh

4:15:26excites me. So, you know, we've got a

4:15:28co-response model. Can that get fully uh

4:15:32can that get grown to the point where we

4:15:34really have it available 24 hours a day.

4:15:36Um and and looking at those needs and

4:15:38whether we're meeting them, but also

4:15:40ultimately, you know, are we could we

4:15:42have not a co-response but a social

4:15:44worker only response to some categories.

4:15:46Um those are conversations that I'd love

4:15:48to have um on the dis and um exciting to

4:15:53I mean just GR is on the horizon but so

4:15:56is um uh I think that uh Mr. Davis and

4:15:59and city manager and I are going to go

4:16:01talk with the folks at Cure Violence

4:16:03because that's a a very comprehensive

4:16:06and bold uh vision for how you actually

4:16:09do community-based

4:16:11um it's the vision of cure violence is

4:16:14looking at violence as though it's an

4:16:15epidemic. it's potentially

4:16:17transmissible. Uh there are carriers,

4:16:19there are outbreaks, and and and looking

4:16:21at at that almost through a medical

4:16:23lens. It's a it's an extended metaphor,

4:16:25but it's a very powerful metaphor. So,

4:16:27um looking forward to uh continuing to

4:16:30really really see how we can drill down

4:16:32on that, but exciting. I think it's all

4:16:34I think it's all good trend lines and

4:16:36things we can I hope we can move move to

4:16:38the next steps on. Uh Commissioner

4:16:40Kiler,

4:16:40>> thank you, Mayor. I concur with a lot of

4:16:42the points made. Uh, Miss Beerren, if I

4:16:45may start on slide 50 with the fun

4:16:50picture of Vio. I still I've seen the

4:16:52scooters around. I have yet to see a uh

4:16:55is it a trike? The what do you call

4:16:56that? A is that the word? All right.

4:17:00I I really want to try one of those. Um

4:17:04I I just want to highlight I I believe

4:17:06this may be mobile GR or the team

4:17:08working uh a positive and productive use

4:17:11of social media. A friend, a few friends

4:17:14sent me a Reddit post um about uh for

4:17:18directly from staff on VO services uh

4:17:21and the concerns they've heard and

4:17:22addressing them directly. Uh there was a

4:17:25lots of good feedback like hundreds of

4:17:27comments uh and thousands of

4:17:29interactions with the post. So I am

4:17:32always just like recently I highlighted

4:17:34cure violence doing a great job of using

4:17:36social media. we are truly modernizing

4:17:39uh how we connect with folks um and

4:17:42without AI that was a human giving that

4:17:44feedback but I digress um but that was

4:17:47really uh really great to see so thank

4:17:49you to Mobile GR and the staff for that

4:17:51of we're we are we're coming we're there

4:17:53we're going to be in the future

4:17:54commissioner Knight and I also tried out

4:17:56VO uh scooters in DC last week at the

4:18:00Congressional Black Caucus uh annual

4:18:03legislative conference and that was a

4:18:04ton of fun. I can say the geo fencing

4:18:07works for sure. We were going to the

4:18:09eighth street festival and when I to we

4:18:12were like okay we're gonna get up close

4:18:14off uh and uh it just alerts you better

4:18:19than lime. I really felt like okay there

4:18:21is no going there. So thankfully they

4:18:24had little pedals so we got to pedal

4:18:25away [laughter]

4:18:27as you know as the little battery turned

4:18:30off. That was hilarious. Uh, and then

4:18:32also why I want to highlight the trike

4:18:34is um I'm really happy to see us in

4:18:36every way we can supporting folks with

4:18:38different mobility needs.

4:18:41Moving forward here to safe community.

4:18:44If I may go to slide 64.

4:18:49I just wanted to highlight the last

4:18:51bullet point here and uh say a thank you

4:18:53to the Grand Rapids Police uh officers

4:18:56uh Grand Rapids Police Department

4:18:58officers and Chief Trigg for

4:19:00participating in a safe interactions

4:19:02with the uh 2SLGBTQ plus community. Uh

4:19:06it was meaningful to see the chief

4:19:07there. Uh, I think that sends a very

4:19:10strong message that our police

4:19:11department is really working hard to be

4:19:13accessible, responsive, and caring and

4:19:16open to all members of our communities.

4:19:18And it means a lot to see a director,

4:19:20the executive there along with other uh

4:19:24folks. And then lastly here on uh slide

4:19:2769

4:19:30uh the mayor actually discussed this and

4:19:32this is something maybe we can uh come

4:19:35back to later but just wanted to talk

4:19:36about when we talk about response to

4:19:39community emergency we talked about uh

4:19:41sort of wellness line so sort of support

4:19:43for seniors and folks in need of social

4:19:45support. And a really good example that

4:19:48I examined about this is Cleveland

4:19:50Cares. So, these are regular calls to

4:19:53seniors and folks in need of social

4:19:54support. Uh, and that was something that

4:19:56the mayor noted, and I'd love to uh uh

4:19:59flush that out and see if that's

4:20:01possible. And also with Cleveland Cares,

4:20:04uh there is a section where it's

4:20:05volunteer-led. So, it may be uh

4:20:07something that may not come at a

4:20:09significant cost. And with that, that

4:20:11concludes my comments on these uh on

4:20:13this section.

4:20:14>> Thank you,

4:20:16Commissioner Knight.

4:20:18>> Sure. Thank you, Mayor. Um just that

4:20:20[clears throat] you did not have to

4:20:21share that about the ve

4:20:24the seats are too short and they don't

4:20:25raise up. So I had issues. Um I I did

4:20:28want to uh think about though uh when

4:20:30we're talking about the expanded use of

4:20:32transportation choices. I know there

4:20:34have been a number of smaller units that

4:20:36have come on on uh line kind of the golf

4:20:40cartish the the karaoke and thinking

4:20:43about even adding that. I know there's

4:20:45some challenges though with um

4:20:47insuranceances and different things like

4:20:49that because I had a couple

4:20:50conversations with some people, but just

4:20:52trying to think about how we even look

4:20:54at that as an expanded access um for

4:20:57other mobility choices and try to help

4:21:00uh really help them work through some of

4:21:01those issues because um again insurance

4:21:04can be hefty. So, how do we look at what

4:21:07our requirements are for them to be able

4:21:10to do that? Cuz there's some that are

4:21:11out there that are are doing the work

4:21:14and they just call them something

4:21:15different so it's easier for them to

4:21:18access what they need. Um, but I think

4:21:20that that also um just opens us up to

4:21:23more opportunities for people to engage

4:21:25and move around our city. Um, when we

4:21:28have a lot of things going on and not

4:21:29just when the amphitheater is open, but

4:21:31when the amphitheater is no longer doing

4:21:32any concerts in the wintertime, how are

4:21:35we still helping people get across the

4:21:37city and into these other communities to

4:21:39support um their uh economic growth in

4:21:42there? So, that was kind of one of my

4:21:44>> So, just with that one in particular, I

4:21:46might ask the city attorney to provide

4:21:48follow-up with the commission. So, the

4:21:49state has defined certain vehicles that

4:21:51are allowed to be on the streets. We the

4:21:54the city is generally preempted, but I

4:21:56will ask the city attorney to provide

4:21:58you more information on what is and

4:21:59isn't allowed in that sphere because we

4:22:01we looked at it quite a bit.

4:22:06Colleagues, Commissioner Belchuk,

4:22:07>> I'll just say very quickly that I uh had

4:22:10the opportunity to attend the level one

4:22:13for the emergency readiness uh program

4:22:16and so I guess I officially am one of th

4:22:19those neighbors that knows a little more

4:22:20about how to prepare our own selves for

4:22:22emergencies. The programmed at level two

4:22:25actually prepares you quite extensively

4:22:27to be able to be a neighborhood resource

4:22:30for your for in the event a real

4:22:33tragedy, disaster or emergency happens.

4:22:39>> Colleagues, uh, okay,

4:22:41>> mayor, if I could, so this is good

4:22:44feedback. U, it seems like we can

4:22:47continue conversation on AI at our

4:22:51workshop. I heard CAP anti-displacement

4:22:55strategy

4:22:57the emerging development program and I

4:23:00thought I heard you did we get your

4:23:03questions on EV parking structure

4:23:04satisfied or is that more conversation

4:23:07>> that's a longer conversation but I I I

4:23:08think

4:23:09>> I think I'm saying that the fall

4:23:10workshop

4:23:11>> okay and just to note just that

4:23:14Cleveland cares I am familiar with that

4:23:16program they do use automated phone

4:23:20services and

4:23:22AI

4:23:23>> to reach out to seniors and do wellness

4:23:25checks. So, that's appropriate use of

4:23:27technology. So, I look forward to that

4:23:29uh conversation.

4:23:30>> Great. All right. Thank you all. That

4:23:32gives us a 13 minute break before Oh,

4:23:33I'm sorry.

4:23:34>> Um

4:23:35>> yeah, for um city manager for November,

4:23:37do we also want to add 311 and foyer to

4:23:39that list?

4:23:41>> Yeah, I assume that would be part of the

4:23:43AI discussion specifically customer

4:23:45service and and foyer. That's great.

4:23:47>> Okay, thank you.

4:23:48>> Great. Okay, that adjourns us. Thank

4:23:50you.

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