General Meeting

In-person City Council meetings will resume on June 14th at City Hall. I believe you will have to be in-person to engage in the meetings but you can always watch them live via the following: AT&T Uverse Channel 99 / Spectrum Channel 203 / WOW Channel 10 / YouTube.com/LivoniaTV

You may have seen the petition to save the trees in the Castle Gardens subdivision on social media over the weekend. A number of trees are set to be removed as early as next week due to a road project. Residents feel that the trees are in good health and an asset to the neighborhoods both aesthetically and environmentally. There are questions as to whether they need to be removed for this project to take place or if the City is removing them pre-emptively and thus unnecessarily. This matter will be further reviewed by City Council. If you would like to show your support for protecting the trees you can sign the petition started by Castle Gardens resident Brent Sabo here: http://chng.it/6xF7TpB84k

There was a request to purchase and sell multiple vehicles for Public Works on auction. Betsy Calhoun called in to suggest that the City hold off on purchasing vehicles to invest in the new F-150s set to be released next year. 

The consent agenda from the previous Study Meeting passed.
The two issues related to new dog ordinances were discussed in detail and came to a conclusion. City Council passed a lease law (with no electronic collar alternative) 5 to 2 and it will go into effect once it is published in the paper. The proposal for a regulation that pets must be brought inside during inclement weather did not pass.

Livonia’s Parks & Rec Department is going through an official re-brand, stay tuned for a new logo.

The Space Shop Self Storage development at 31100 Plymouth Road by Merriman was discussed and sent to the committee of the whole for further review. Per the last Study Meeting, there are concerns about whether or not this business fits with the master plan for the Plymouth Road Corridor. Additionally an owner of Budget Storage called in to say that the storage rental market is saturated in Livonia. His business and Clover Storage will open this year, providing 170,000 sq ft of rental space. He also stated that the city currently has 16 facilities (I’m not sure if that number includes the 2 new units previously named).

The Study Meeting session previews what you can expect to hear more about in future Regular Meetings.

Charlie Mahoney will be reappointed to the Economic Development Corporation. Elizabeth McCue, Carol Smile and Ian Wilshaw will be reappointed to the Planning Commission.

Chief Caid called in to support the renewal of the City’s contract with Calhoun County for prisoner housing.

Exciting news! I love Parks improvements and there were two big requests in the Study Meeting. First, approval for seasonal/part-time positions at Greenmead including a Naturalist and Tour Coordinator. Country Homes Park (Yale + Orangelawn) is getting new playground equipment. The current structure is 23 years old and the 2nd oldest in the city.

Reminder: Bicentennial Park improvement was on the consent agenda from last month’s Study Meeting and it passed in the regular meeting.

Business Development News: Thomas’ is looking to build an outdoor patio for dining, a Dairy Queen is coming to Plymouth and Farmington (below is a similar exterior design to be presented to the Zoning Commission) and there are 2 new Biggby’s coming to Livonia. The Middlebelt and (South) Plymouth location was discussed a couple months ago. Tonight’s proposal is the same owner, who is looking to move from the old Family Video location on Newburgh and Ann Arbor Rd (lease ended) to a former bank in the Sunny Village plaza (near the Ann Arbor Rd/Ann Arbor Trail cross section). It will have a drive-thru and 34 person seating inside.

There’s lots happening in Livonia. What stands out to you from tonight’s meetings?

Friendly reminder, you can watch Council Meetings on YouTube (both live and past meetings): https://www.youtube.com/user/LivoniaTV/featured