By SUE SUCHYTA
Special to the Sunday Times
RIVERVIEW — Restocking city commissions figured prominently on the agenda at Monday’s City Council meeting.
The council approved appointments to the city’s Beautification, Planning, Parks and Recreation, and Cable Commissions. The terms of five of the nine Beautification Commission members will expire Friday. The council appointed four commission incumbents — Pamela Brown, Cynthia Loeschner, Margaret Cooney and Betty Hajkus — to new three-year terms, which will run through July 31, 2012. Incumbent Connie Clausen declined to seek reappointment.
Council members also approved three appointments to the Planning Commission, which currently has eight of its nine positions filled. Incumbents Valli Mohammadi and Theodore Orosz, whose terms expire Friday, were reappointed to new three-year terms. Andrew Frazier, who resigned from the Historical Commission, was appointed to a three-year Planning Commission term, which will run through July 31, 2012.
Four terms on the 13-member Parks and Recreation Commission expire Friday. John D. Kelley, David Mizzi, and Rose Mosolgo each were appointed to two-year terms, which will run through July 31, 2011. Incumbent Debbie Thomas, whose term expires Friday, had not responded to a reappointment inquiry prior to Monday’s meeting.
The seven-member Cable Commission currently has three board members. The board was impacted by recent state legislation pre-empting local cable control, a decline in the number of meetings and the recent deaths of two active members. The council appointed Fred Stull Jr. to a three-year term, which will run through July 31, 2012. Incumbent Jack Miles had not responded to a reappointment inquiry prior to Monday’s meeting.
Nicole Nation, William Singer and George T. Tear were appointed to the nine-member Senior Recreation Commission for two-year terms, which will run through July 31, 2011.
The council also reappointed incumbent Mary Jarosz to a three-year term through July 31, 2012, to the Zoning Board of Appeals and Adjustments.
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In other city news, the council approved an agreement for landfill disposal services for the Windsor, Ontario, Pillette Transfer Station.
City Manager Dean Workman explained that city revenue from landfill services has been impacted negatively by the recent economic downturn, and that the drop in manufacturing has resulted in a decreased need for solid waste disposal. City attorneys, with input from the Land Preserve Committee, has prepared a proposed contract for the Pillette station for landfill disposal. Payment will be initially guaranteed by prepayment or a letter of credit.
Yearly expected landfill revenue of $300,000 to $1.3 million per year is expected if a three-year term is implemented. The Land Preserve Committee had recommended the contract in time for the council’s consideration on July 13. • The council approved an amendment proposed by City Finance Director Douglas Drysdale to carry forward funds appropriated for video security upgrades for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Members originally approved the project June 15, but work did not start until this fiscal year.
• The council also approved a $965 change order to Vidcom Solutions of Wixom for the purchase of an additional DVR for the video surveillance system in the Land Preserve Administration Building. The new equipment was determined to be a low-cost solution when it was discovered that additional cable could not be run through the existing conduit that travels beneath the scales and connects the ticket and administrative buildings because of a conduit collapse. The existing wiring in the conduit continues to function, but additional new wiring cannot be pulled through the conduit.
• A resolution to form an ad hoc committee to explore new and innovative funding approaches for the city’s annual Summerfest and Cruisin’ Downriver also was passed by the council. Officials said Riverview’s current financial condition has jeopardized the future of such events. The ad hoc committee would include a cross-section of stakeholders and interested parties.