General Meeting

The consent agenda was approved.

The Livonia Community Foundation granted $10,000 to Livonia’s first responders to help cover the cost of sanitizing equipment.

[The Community Foundation was founded as a permanent endowment in 1993 and has assets of $2.5 million. Local non-profit organizations can apply for funding annually].

Council was provided an update on city-wide delays with trash/waste collection. The delays in Livonia are consistent with surrounding communities. The Mayor’s office receives a daily map of any missed neighborhoods in order to be able to quickly respond to constituent concerns. GFL is also using a DPW site for interim waste drop-off to speed up collection time.  GFL Director and Livonia resident, Sam Caramagno, spoke about efforts to address the worker shortage. At one point the company was down 45 workers but with a wage increase ($23 per hour for drivers and $17 per hour for loader), retention bonuses ($350 per month), referral bonus ($1,000) and hiring bonus($1,000) this number is now down to 20 with additional prospects in the pipeline. The overall sense is the delays will let up come fall.

The Vision 21 Zoning Ordinance continues its path forward. Read more about Vision21 here: https://www.livoniavision21.com/

A temporary pay increase was approved for Rec Center employees. The amount ranges from $1.50 to $2.50 and a 90 day signing bonus of $500 was also established. This will cost the Rec Center a total of $350,000 but by investing in the services offered, it’s expected that the Recreation Center will be able to maintain membership levels and services to the community as a whole. 

There will be a Finance and Budget Committee Meeting at 7pm this Wednesday, August 11th to discuss priorities for the budget. A public hearing will also be scheduled.

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

Movie Night (The Sandlot) at Kleinert Park is September 18th at 8pm + block party at Beacon Avenue neighborhood on September 11th (it will include recognition of 9/11) on consent agenda.

Previously, Council approved use of funds for 3 new dump trucks but due to increase in steel prices additional funds are needed for the dump part of the truck. This was put on consent.

Due to worker shortage, Civil Service requested a wage increase of $1 for seasonal workers (with recurring increase thru 2024). In 2019 there were 35 workers and in 2021 there were 10.  

An increase was also requested for the substitute librarian position. Livonia has 13 substitute librarians who have Masters degrees (as all librarians do) but are paid less than temporary clerks (who do not have a degree requirement). There has been no increase in 14 years and would bring Livonia on par with surrounding communities. This item was placed on the regular agenda.

The Livonia Housing Commission requested the approval of a $95k grant from SMART to fund Livonia’s Community Transit program. This supplements the millage and helps cover the costs of the over one million dollar program. It was put on the consent agenda. Learn about the program here: https://livonia.gov/213/Livonia-Community-Transit

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