City of Bronson Regular Council Meeting Jan. 10, 2011 Mayor Rissman called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Roll Call: Present: Rissman, Kenny, Cox, Weage Absent: Post Councilman Kenny moved to excuse Vice-Mayor Post from the meeting. Seconded by Councilwoman Cox. Motion carried. Presentation – Lisa Miller, Executive Director of the Branch County Growth Alliance, updated Council on the economic development in the County. Update on Brownfield Development – Manager Heydlauff said at a recent Brownfield Development Board meeting monies were approved for a Phase II assessment on the property at Mill and Matteson Streets and monies for a Phase I assessment were approved for 505 N. Douglas Street. Public Comments – Commissioner Dale Swift updated Council on the latest news from the Branch County Board of Commissioners. He said rising fuel costs are a real concern for the sheriff’s department. Dennis Sikorski said he was glad to hear a sidewalk was going to be put in next spring on Wayne Street but he was concerned his sprinkler system would be in the path of the sidewalk. DPW Supervisor Ransbottom told him the contractor would be contacting him before construction to make sure there would be no problems going around his sprinkler system. Jim Schafer asked Council if it would be possible for the City to look into curb side recycling or seeing if someone would be interested in putting the large recycling bins somewhere in the City. Manager Heydlauff said he would look into some possible options and report back to Council. Richard Rice thanked Council for putting in the sidewalk on U.S. 12. He asked if it was possible to look into some lighting along the sidewalk. Mayor Rissman said he thought it would cost prohibitive but Council would keep it in mind for possible future projects. Randy Ludwick was present to introduce a delegation of young men from Haiti. He said they are staying with his family for a few weeks and wanted to see how local government worked. Consent Agenda – Councilwoman Cox moved to approve the consent agenda including payment of invoices totaling $11,522.21. Seconded by Councilman Kenny. Motion carried. Old Business - Update on 505 N. Douglas Street – Manager Heydlauff told Council said he moving forward with the property maintenance code for the City in an effort to work towards the demolition of 505 N. Douglas. He said he was awaiting recommendations from Attorney Eley on the maintenance code and would keep them updated on the progress. New Business – Wayne Street Sidewalk Project – Manager Heydlauff said the DPW Committee had met and recommended accepting the bid from Carpenter Creations of $35,280.00 to put the sidewalk in on Wayne Street from the senior apartments to McDonald’s. Councilwoman Cox said the committee felt money would be better spent on the sidewalk then on a street reconstruction as this point. Councilwoman Cox move to approve the bid from Carpenter Creations. Seconded by Councilwoman Weage. Motion carried. Sign Ordinance Fee – Manager Heydlauff said when the sign application was approved the fee for A-frame signs was left off. He suggested a fee of $50.00 which was in line with the fee for awning signs. After some discussion Councilman Kenny moved to table the item until Vice-Mayor Post returns. Vice-Mayor Post was on the Planning Commission when the sign ordinance was written. Seconded by Councilwoman Weage. Motion carried. Police Ride Along Policy – Manager Heydlauff asked for approval of a revised along policy for the police department. He said he had been contacted by Carl Rifenburgh of the Branch Area Career Center asking Bronson

to reconsider the suspension of the program. Heydlauff said he felt the policy he was proposing would shield the city from some liability but does not completely erase all liability. He said he had spoken with the City’s insurance company and they had no objection to the new policy. He said this new policy would apply only to the BACC program or other educational programs as approved by City staff. Councilwoman Cox moved to approve the ride along policy. Seconded by Councilman Kenny. Motion carried. Personnel Policy Revisions – Manager Heydlauff said in looking at the personnel policy it would appear the last time revisions were made to it was 2001. He asked Council to give him authorization to update the policy. Councilwoman Cox moved to authorize Manager Heydlauff to update the personnel policy. Seconded by Councilman Kenny. Motion carried. City Office Update – Manager Heydlauff said he had received bids to recover the partitions in the office and a bid from the vendor who carpeted the first half of the office. He said it made sense to finish carpeting the office while the carpet style and color were still available. He asked approval for finishing the carpet and accepting the low bid for recovering the partitions. Councilwoman Cox moved to approve the City office updates. Seconded by Councilman Kenny. Motion carried. Drunken Driving Fines and Fees – Attorney Eley presented proposed new fines and fees for drunken driving cases. Councilwoman Cox moved to approve the proposed fines and fees. Seconded by Councilwoman Weage. Motion carried. DPW Barn Heaters – Manager Heydlauff said the heaters at the DPW barn are not working properly. He said one of the heaters was only burning at 20% efficiency. He said this was not a budgeted item but felt it was necessary. Councilman Kenny moved to have Good Heating replace the heaters at a cost of $5,160.00. Seconded by Councilwoman Weage. Motion carried. City Staff Comments & Other Reports – Commissioner Swift sent his monthly report for Council to review. Manager Comments – Manager Heydlauff updated Council on his activities for the past month. He said Richard th Stout had officially retired as of Jan. 7 . He said he has a draft posting for the police chief position written and will be sending it out soon to different publications. He said he would have a budget update for them at the February th meeting. He told Council he would be attending a manager’s conference in Detroit Feb. 1-4 . Recognition of Council Members – Council welcomed the Haitian visitors to the City and thanked them for coming to the meeting. They also thanked Lisa Miller for her presentation. Council wished Richard Stout well in his retirement. Council congratulated Councilman Kenny on the opening of his new business. Adjourn – Councilwoman Cox moved to adjourn. Seconded by Councilman Kenny. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen A. Smith, City Clerk