THE CITY OF THE VILLAGE OF DOUGLAS
MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
MINUTES
Monday, January 7, 2008
7:00 p.m.

1. Call to Order/Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Balmer
Members Present: Bailey, Balmer, Harvath, Hoexter, Mayer, Moore
Absent: Waddell
Also Present: City Manager Kowal, and Clerk Neve.

2. Pledge of Allegiance - Mayor

3. Changes/Additions/Deletions to Agenda
Closed session to discuss property acquisition will be added as Item #17 with
Adjournment changed to #18.
Motion by Moore with support from Bailey to approve the agenda as
amended. Motion carried.

4. Approval of Minutes
A. Regular Meeting of City Council of December 17, 2007
B. Closed Session Minutes of City Council of December 17, 2007
C. Special Meeting of City Council of December 19, 2007
D. Closed Session Minutes of City Council of December 19, 2007
E. Special Meeting of City Council of January 3, 2008
Motion by Hoexter with support from Mayer to approve all
meeting minutes as presented. Motion carried.

5. Appointments /Resignations
A. Reappointment of John R. Thomas to the Board of the Douglas
Downtown Development Authority (DDA); Term Expires January 2012
Motion by Mayer with support from Hoexter to approve
the reappointment of John R. Thomas to the DDA Board with
a term to expire January 2012. Motion carried.

6. Proclamations/Awards
None

7. Public Communications (Limit of three minutes for comments regarding
agenda items)
Verbal:
A. Fritz Royce, 144 Lakeshore, commented on having a plan in place for
future purchase of properties. He would like to see a plan on what properties
to acquire and when to acquire them. He urged council to join with Saugatuck
Township to address what Douglas can do to preserve R-4 zoning of the Denison property.

Written:
A. Article from The Grand Rapids Press dated December 9, 2007; “Dredging
Plan for Black River Takes Shape”
B. Email Communication Received from the Saugatuck-Douglas Convention &
Visitors Bureau (CVB) dated December 19, 2007 RE: Email Communication
from David Swan “The Fate of the Denison and the Potential Impact on Taxes”
C. Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Saugatuck Township Fire District
Board of November 12, 2007 and Workshop Meeting of November 26, 2007
D. Article from The Wall Street Journal; “Whose Beach Is This Anyway?”
E. Letter from Dayle Harrison, KRPA, dated December 27, 2007 RE: Proposed
Agenda for Upcoming Meeting on Tuesday, January 8, 2008, Saugatuck High
School, 7:00 P.M. Presenters/Speakers to Include Representatives from the
US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality (MDEQ), Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), etc.
F. Summary dated December 21, 2007 of Interurban Transit Authority Board
of December 18, 2007
G. Letter from Allegan Township Board dated December 21, 2007 RE: Resolution Adopted by the Allegan Township Board Regarding Proposed
Allegan County Jail
Written communications noted as received and filed.
Kowal noted that he and Balmer will attend the Tuesday, January 8th meeting
at Saugatuck High School. (7E)

8. Unfinished Business
None

9. New Business
A. Motion to Approve a Banking Resolution with Macatawa Bank
Motion by Mayer with support from Harvath to approve the
Macatawa Bank resolution authorizing Mayor Balmer, Clerk
Neve and Councilperson Hoexter signers on Macatawa Bank
accounts. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

B Motion to Approve the City of the Village of Douglas 2008 Meeting
Schedule for the City Council, Planning Commission, Downtown
Development Authority (DDA) and the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)
Motion by Bailey with support from Moore to approve the City of the
Village of Douglas 2008 Meeting Schedule with the amendment to
include an additional Planning Commission meeting on the 1st Wednesday
of each month. Motion carried.

11. Staff Reports
A. Building/Planning/Zoning/Enforcement:
1. Saugatuck Storage Facility (Dean Borland)
Kowal reviewed the issue at the storage facility is that Mr. Borland
is operating without a certificate of occupancy. The requirement
for a revised site plan has never been resolved. Letters were
written to Mr. Borland’s attorney. Council has been steadfast in
their determination to not tolerate further operations without an
occupancy permit. A response was received from Mr. Borland on
January 4, 2008 which is now under review by staff and City
Attorney. A clear message was sent that there are going
to be consequences to these actions.

2. Newly Installed Billboard Sign at Union Street and
Blue Star Highway
Zoning staff Kilpatrick has sent a letter to the realtor that the
sign is in the right-of-way.

3. Park Drive
Kowal related this is an issue that has been ongoing for some
time. Developers constructed homes with no access to public
improvements. Property owners were promised street paving
would be done by the developer. A staff meeting and a meeting
with the residents is scheduled to try to resolve these issues.

4. Swing Bridge
Kowal reported a total of three plot plans have been submitted
and rejected as non-compliance with the zoning ordinance.
Developers have been notified that no future reviews will be
considered until a $5,000 cash escrow is posted with the City.
The developer started moving some ground during the holidays.
Kowal related a stop work order was issued and placed on the
property. A letter will go to the developer detailing why the order
will remain in place.

12. Committee Reports
A. Zoning Ordinance Ad Hoc Committee
No report

B. Planning Commission
Next scheduled meeting is January 16th.

C Joint Planning Committee
No report

D. Community Recreation Advisory Board
Have not met.

E. Police Commission
January 9th meeting is cancelled. Next scheduled meeting is February 13th.

F. Kalamazoo Lake Sewer & Water Authority (KLSWA)
Next scheduled meeting is January 21st.

13. Council Comments
Bailey remarked the packet received from R.J. Peterson contained a very caustic
letter. She related she is quite comfortable with the information received from
Manager Kowal. At the last council meeting Kowal asked if we wanted to have
another meeting with Peterson. Council agreed we did not.
Harvath asked if there is any way to recover some of the attorney fees. Kowal
responded a required cash escrow will be in place for future projects. Those that
benefit from the service should pay for the service.
Harvath commented on the many dogs in the downtown area walking on a high
level of ice melting chemicals. It is very caustic to animal paws.
Moore remarked he actually prefers using less salt/chemicals. Moore asked about
the Wild Dog temporary certificate of occupancy permit. Kowal responded the
Planning Commission will be discussing parking structure changes at the January
16th meeting.
Hoexter also commented on the packet received from Peterson. She related she
had received a call from Peterson last week in which many negative comments
were made about our City Manager. She offered her full support of Manager
Kowal.
Mayer commented she too fully supports our manager. Compliments to the
DPW on doing a great job on the roads.

14. Mayor’s Report/Comments
Balmer encouraged everyone to attend the meeting on Tuesday evening at
Saugatuck High School to hear from representatives of the US Environmental
Protection Agency, MDEQ and MDNR.

15. Approval of Invoices
A. Consideration of Approval of Invoices dated 1/3/08
Motion by Moore with support from Bailey to approve invoices dated 1/3/08 in the amount of $64,096.63. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

B. Consideration of Approval of Payroll for the Month Ended
December 2007
Motion by Hoexter with support from Bailey to approve payroll
for the month ended December 2007. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

15. Manager’s Report
Kowal remarked he appreciates the support and comments from council members.
He thanked council for their professionalism in handling the separation agreement
with Treasurer Rett.
Thursday, January 10th interviews with the candidates for the Zoning
Administrator position will be conducted.

16. Hear from the Audience (Limit three minutes for general comments)
Dick Waskin, Saugatuck Township, commented on a call from Tom Scott,
Swingbridge, regarding the stop work order. Mr. Scott indicated to Waskin that
he received no answers when the Manager was asked which permits were
missing. Waskin indicated he has no connection to Swingbridge but related he feels this developer is being treated unfairly and almost harassed by the City.
Kowal responded saying there were a significant number of errors and
misstatements made by Mr. Waskin.

Fritz Royce, 144 Lakeshore, commented he appreciates how the stop work order
was articulated. He thanked Kowal for acting in the best interest of the
community and has always found the office staff very responsive to his requests.
Royce questioned if the interviews for Zoning Administrator were going to be
open to the public.

17. Closed Session
A. Discussion on acquisition of property.
Motion by Bailey with support from Moore to go into closed session at 8:17.p.m.
for the purpose of a discussion on acquisition of property. Motion carried
unanimously by roll call vote.

Motion by Mayer with support from Hoexter to end the closed session at
8:32 p.m. and return to the regular meeting. Motion carried.

Bailey suggested that council direct Manager Kowal to gather more
information on the size, ownership, appraisal, title, listing and survey of
the property at 7 S. Washington. Council agreed to Manager to proceed.

18. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by:

Jean E. Neve, CMC
Clerk

Approved by: ____________________________________________________________
Matt Balmer, Mayor

Certification of Minutes

I hereby certify that the attached is a true and correct copy of the minutes of a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of the Village of Douglas held on January 3, 2008. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.

________________________________________ __________________
Jean E. Neve, City Clerk Date