Chris Khorey

The regular meeting commenced with the approval of the agenda and consent agenda items. Key discussions included the Pharmacy Parking Lot matter, where the Council decided to review options for legally securing access for utility line maintenance, which led to a closed session discussion regarding the property access. The Council also affirmed the Village President's decision concerning the formal reprimand and associated discipline for Mr. Jones, rejecting his grievance. During public comment, concerns were raised regarding key issuance policies for the DPW garage access.

The regular meeting included the approval of the agenda and the consent agenda. Key reports covered the Summit Street project, where the bid process was released with bids due on March 17, 2026, and the scope extended to Cherry Street. The Council approved setting a public hearing for Civil Infractions for March 10, 2026, and passed Resolution 2026-10 approving the pharmacy Parking lot easement. Council members discussed and agreed to revisit the issue of determining responsibility for on-street parking regulation enforcement at a future meeting.

The meeting commenced with the pledge and approval of the agenda. Public comment was opened and closed with no attendees speaking. The consent agenda, including council meeting minutes from February 10th and financial reports, was approved. The engineer reported on the bid release for the Summit Street plans, noting the bid deadline is March 17th, and clarified that pavement replacement extends beyond the alley to Cherry Street per the official plans. New business included scheduling a public hearing for civil infractions regarding outdated ordinances, particularly in light of new language concerning data centers, setting the hearing for March 10th, 2026. The council also reviewed and approved Resolution 2026-10 concerning the pharmacy parking lot easement, which includes updated language restricting usage to surface vehicular parking and pedestrian access, and outlines the village's investment recovery process for lock repairs. During council comments, there was a discussion regarding the enforcement of existing ordinances pertaining to street parking and junk vehicles, with consensus to address enforcement responsibilities concurrently with other related ordinance modifications.

The meeting reconvened into the regular agenda (New Business Item Number Two) following an executive session to discuss formal disciplinary action rendered against an employee, Mr. Jones, who specifically requested the matter be discussed in an open meeting after filing a grievance regarding a one-day unpaid suspension for insubordination. The core issue revolved around the employee's refusal to provide the Village President with a master key to the DPW facilities, citing concerns over security, licensing, and established personnel manual policy regarding key dispersal. The Village President cited Michigan Law MCL 64.1 and MCL 64.3 regarding supervision of public property and inspection of records to support the request for key access. The Council ultimately voted to affirm the Village President's decision, upholding the formal reprimand and punishment, thereby rejecting Mr. Jones's grievance.

The meeting included a public hearing regarding the zoning definition update, the purpose of which was to define data centers and restrict their usage to certain zoning districts. During public comment, a potential resident expressed concerns about infrastructure impacts from planned data centers. Key agenda items included the approval of the agenda, reports from Police (including an incident report and equipment status), DPW (discussing heavy snow removal efforts, salt usage, equipment breakdowns, and advising residents to seal crawl spaces), Clerk Treasurer (reporting on newsletter availability, budget amendment/budget work, and progress toward becoming a redevelopment ready community), WDDA (providing updates on the four buildings project and planning for the bricks building), and Attorney reports (addressing a revised easement and insurance coverage related to KJ). New business primarily focused on reviewing the proposed ordinance language for data center definitions (distinguishing between principal and accessory uses based on energy usage thresholds, such as 20 megawatts, and detailing water system capacity requirements). The council discussed adjusting the energy usage cutoff for accessory uses and the necessity of stringent approval processes for larger data centers.