Shores City Council Supports Building Plan

Grosse Pointe Shores City Council voted 5-1 Tuesday to approve construction maps for a new multipurpose building despite protests by three residents. 

The building will be paid for by donations and has been a project organized by the Grosse Pointe Shores Improvement Foundation. President Lynn Galbenski outlined the fund-raising for council. 

The foundation donated $70,000 to the project and Mrs. Eleanor Schroeder, the widow of a former long-term city employee, donated another $20,000 for naming rights. Residents have donated $17,000 so far, Galbenski said.

In total, the building is expected to cost $117,500, and Galbenski said the foundation is confident they can raise the $10,500 before breaking ground in March.

The building will serve as a hub for anyone who is using the field area year-round, including ice-skaters, sledders, baseball players and soccer teams. It will have bathrooms, coat racks and tables and chairs. It will also house the guard for the park and allow the city to rid itself of the small outdoor guard shack, where space heaters are used to keep employees warm during the winter.

Three Shores residents spoke against the building, explaining they didn't want to take the financial burden of caring for the building long-term. A fourth resident spoke after the vote in support of the building and commended the foundation's efforts. 

Councilman Thaddeus Kedzierski recused himself from voting as he is a member of the foundation and in charge of signing the checks for such donations. He felt voting would be a conflict of interest. There was much debate about this among council, which ultimately voted in favor of the building without him. 

Councilman Daniel Schulte voted against the building. Among his reasons were aesthetics of the building and the city's financial difficulties. During labor negotiations it's hard to explain to employees why they can get a raise when a new building is being built next to the city offices, he said. 

After addressing many of Schulte's concerns, Galbenski explained the foundation's purpose has never been to fund employee pay and its goal is to improve the city. 

"We'll give the city a $110,000 asset," she said. "All we ask is that you maintain it. This has been supported by many, many people."

Councilwoman Victoria Boyce said to the council the support from the public is clear by the funds raised in private donations.

City Clerk Brian Vick told council that the building maintenance expenses would be  low, in part due to the energy-efficient fixtures to be installed. The building will also not have carpet, which reduces the cleaning expenses, he said.

In more donation news, Shores Public Safety Director Stephen Poloni announced to council that a family in the Shores who wishes to remain anonymous has donated a 2010 Ford Crown Victoria to the department. 

The family has historically been supportive of the department and the city as whole, Poloni said. The department is expecting the delivery of the police car next month. It will replace a patrol car with more than 126,000 miles on it, which Poloni noted is extremely high for a police car. 

In other business, the council unanimously passed a new two-year labor agreement with city dispatchers that will expire in June 2012. The new agreement decreases dispatchers' pay by three percent effective April 1 and replaces the current health care plan with a plan that requires higher premiums.

The agreement also includes a severance package only if there is a consolidation or outsourcing that happens during the contract—a provision included due to the many discussions among the cities of the Pointes about consolidating all of the dispatch departments into one. Vick explained no consolidation will happen but it was necessary to include the provision. 

Council also unanimously approved an increase in marina well fees from $3.10 to $3.38 per square foot. One percent of the 9-percent increase will pay for an electric golf cart to be used at the marina to help boaters to and from their cars out to the farthest wells, Vick said. The increase was a recommendation from the Parks & Harbor Committee to council. 

Similarly, the committee recommended the council extend the incentive of free boat wells to those who purchase a home in the Shores. The council unanimously approved this recommendation.