The Wayland City Council Monday evening decided against moving to in-person meetings, at least not until June.
Council took up the issue because municipalities in the state legally may have in-person meetings after March 31, and City Manager Josh Eggleston asked members how they feel about it.
Though they will have to call a special meeting next Monday to officially adopt a resolution, it appears council members will continue to have the on-line Zoom meetings, mostly because of the tight quarters of council chambers.
Eggleston noted capacity for attendance at council chambers would be between 14 and 16, but that would include city officials, so only about three to five could attend from the public. That could be a problem when students start showing up as part of their government class assignments.
The city manager said council could declare a temporary state of emergency for 30 to 90 days, which would give people more time to get vaccines and perhaps conditions would greatly improve with the Coronavirus.
Councilman Rick Mathis said, “We’ve come this far, let’s err on the side of caution.”
In another matter Monday night, council once again tabled a request for an easement from Consumers Energy, asking
thata proposed written agreement be submitted.
Mathis reiterated his opposition because an easement in perpetuity could be unfair to future property owners should the city sell the land.
Blake Conklin, representing Consumers, tried to explain that the company’s request would be very limited to clear cutting trees that get in the way of the utility’s wires near the site. He said Consumers Energy has agreed to pay for any repairs necessary as the result of the utility’s activity.
Mathis insisted Consumers, “remove the clause that binds all future land owners.”
Council will take up the issue for a third time at its first meeting in April.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the council:
- Was told by intern Katie Beemer from Michigan State University that her survey of adults about what kind of recreation people would like to see if a grant is available has yielded 69 responses on the city’s web site.
- Authorized hiring Beckett & Raeder of Ann Arbor for overseeing master plan revision at a cost of more than $40,000, but 75% of the cost will be absorbed by a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
- Learned from Police Chief Mark Garnsey that he is working on arrangement for more cameras at the Windsor Woods mobile home community, much in the same manner as the schools and parks. Windsor Woods would pay for the equipment and lease it annually.
- Agreed to place an ad on the city’s website for selling a couple of old copiers, as is, for best offer.
- Approved the appointment of Tonya Lyons to the Downtown Development Authority.
