City of Sterling Heights
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CITY OF STERLING HEIGHTS MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2017 IN CITY HALL Mayor Michael C. Taylor called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Mayor Taylor led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and Melanie D. Ryska, City Clerk, gave the Invocation. Council Members present at roll call: Deanna Koski, Gary Lusk, Maria G. Schmidt, Nate Shannon, Liz Sierawski, Michael C. Taylor, Barbara A. Ziarko. Also Present: Mark Vanderpool, City Manager; Marc D. Kaszubski, City Attorney; Melanie D. Ryska, City Clerk; Carol Sobosky, Recording Secretary. APPROVAL OF AGENDA, Moved by Koski, seconded by Ziarko, to approve the Agenda with the deletion of Ordinance Introduction – Item #2. Yes: All. The motion carried. REPORT FROM CITY MANAGER Mr. Vanderpool reminded everyone that Columbus Day will be observed on Monday, October 9, 2017, and all city offices will be closed for an in-service training day for staff. He added that there will be no interruption in refuse collection. Mr. Vanderpool highlighted several important construction projects centered on major manufacturing investments throughout the City. He began with a PowerPoint presentation of how manufacturing investments have created an economic impact by way of jobs, new supply chain investments, spin-off on commercial investments, and more demand for housing. These manufacturing investments include Fiat Chrysler’s investment at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, which amounted to about $1 billion for a new paint shop about five years ago, and a $1.4 billion investment for production of the Dodge Ram pick-up truck. This latest investment will result in 750 new jobs and is gearing up to start by the year end. He explained the economic impact has resulted in supply chain Regular City Council Meeting Tuesday, October 3, 2017 Page 2 investments, and as a result, the former Sunnybrook Golf Course is now being developed as Enterprise Park. Mitchell Plastics, a supplier of FCA, is opening a state-of-the-art high-tech facility on Enterprise Drive in Sterling Heights. He informed that the entire manufacturing park is fiber-ready, so that will be a big attraction to businesses. He reviewed other large industrial investments along Metro Parkway and Van Dyke, and noted that BAE and General Dynamic Land Systems are also headquartered in Sterling Heights, and they are also making large investments. BAE, an aerospace manufacturer, is investing $12 million adjacent to their flagship building, which will result in ancillary spin-off in the region. Mr. Vanderpool stated the demand for manufacturing space is so strong in Sterling Heights that existing companies wanting to expand are not looking elsewhere, and they are constructing new buildings in the City, and he cited some of those projects. He showed some of the commercial developments, including commercial centers being upgraded and new commercial centers being built on vacant land. He also noted a few new hotels going up along the entire Van Dyke corridor, including a Hilton brand called “Tru.” He stated the Venezia Grand Banquet Hall has resumed construction. Mr. Vanderpool stated this economic impact has resulted in new housing demands, so the City is witnessing unprecedented growth in new housing. He showed some examples of the high- end housing being built and is in great demand, and he mentioned the Maple Lane development scheduled for next year, involving the construction of over 800 new residential units called “The Verandas,” which will also preserve 18 holes of golf, along with a separate 9-hole golf course. Mr. Vanderpool introduced the City’s Economic Development Advisor, Mr. Luke Bonner, to explain the overall impact of this development compared to other areas in the country, and to announce an exciting branding initiative. Mr. Luke Bonner reviewed the work they have been doing over the last couple of months. He stated they often get used to the construction they are seeing and the investments regularly occurring by Ford and FCA, but he raised the question as to what that means in terms of impact, jobs, wages and how this City has been Regular City Council Meeting Tuesday, October 3, 2017 Page 3 shaped by those factors. He explained they retained two different companies to assist them to “tell that story.” He stated they hired EMSI (Economic Model Specialists, Inc.), which is an economic model specialist to conduct an economic impact study of their most recent investments but also to look at the city overall to determine the impact of all manufacturing, and Ms. Olivia Metz is here tonight to review that information. He also acknowledged Ms. Sarah Stanley, CEO of Hoyden Creative Group, who helped them creatively articulate this in a video which will be shown at the end of the presentation, to reflect how the manufacturing community has come into play to form the City of Sterling Heights over time and dictates what they are today. Ms. Alivia Metz, of EMSI, talked about the “multiplier effect” and provided an overview of the report. She explained that one manufacturing job in Sterling Heights equates to approximately one-half of a job created in other industries. There are 25,000 manufacturing jobs in Sterling Heights, which equates to 14,000 jobs created in other industries, including retail and commercial space. She advised that with Sterling Heights Assembly Plant and the Sterling Stamping Plant, that multiplier is higher, so for every job created there, another two jobs are created in other industries in the area because of their strong supply chain, and even more in the greater region, as that region grows. Ms. Metz stated that Sterling Heights has 5.5 times the number of private-sector engineers per capita than any other city of its size, and the average annual salary of an engineer in Sterling Heights is $93,000. She reviewed the Peer Region Review, comparing Sterling Heights to other areas that have the same concentration of engineering jobs and manufacturing jobs. She noted there are a lot of skilled trade jobs very significant to the Sterling Heights region and overall economy. Mr. Bonner explained the numbers Ms. Metz reviewed are concentrated in their 6- square-mile “industrial corridor,” from Mound to Van Dyke, and from 14 Mile north to the city border, which has 28 million square feet of industrial high-tech spaces that houses corporate giants like FCA, Ford, General Dynamics, BAE Systems, Kuka and Key Safety Systems. He stated that, based on the information Regular City Council Meeting Tuesday, October 3, 2017 Page 4 they have in being unparalleled across the country from a peer perspective, they are taking the approach of identifying their industrial corridor in a new way, and today they officially launched what they are calling the “Sterling Innovation District.” He noted that there will be four tasteful signs identifying this district and he showed one of the signs located on 18 Mile Road at Velocity Drive. He stated the area, which involves automotive, defense contracting or aerospace, does $30 billion of imports and exports annually, which is significant. If some of the area outside of that area is included, the City’s gross regional product exceeds that of ten other states. A video, created with the help of Hoyton Creative Group, was shown and will be used to help promote the City. He explained it is more of promoting the narrative of the City backed by the research just completed and the constant investments that occur here. Mr. Vanderpool stated this is a video they will be using on retention and recruitment efforts. He thanked the entire team for the hard work they put into the presentation and video, and he is confident it will pay additional dividends going forward. Mr. Vanderpool stated the FBI’s Preliminary Crime Statistics Report was released a couple of weeks ago, and the City of Sterling Heights fared very well. He introduced Police Chief Dale Dwojakowski to review the report. Police Chief Dwojakowski stated that on September 25, 2017, the FBI released the 2016 Crime Statistics. He explained each community reports their crime statistics to the State of Michigan, and they report them to the FBI. The FBI takes about ten months to release the numbers, so these are the figures just released for last year. He stated the City did very well, recording lower crime rates than 2015 in seven of the ten crime categories the FBI tracks. He noted that Sterling Heights is already one of the safest cities in the United States with a population of over 100,000 residents, and the 2016 crime statistics show a continued trend of making Sterling Heights an even safer community. Chief Dwojakowski proceeded to review the numbers, pointing out that in property crimes, the City of Sterling Heights has the lowest of any of the seven cities in the State of Michigan with Regular City Council Meeting Tuesday, October 3, 2017 Page 5 population over 100,000. He added that the statistics showed a decrease in property crimes, burglaries, larceny and thefts, forcible rape, arson, murders and motor vehicle thefts. There was a slight increase in robberies and aggravated assault, but only Ann Arbor reported less. Violent crimes were up slightly at 3.8 percent but he stressed that is a national trend, with the national average rising by 4.1 percent. He stressed the Sterling Heights police force works relentlessly to keep the crime rate low, but he also attributed it to a collaborative effort with the residents, business owners and city officials working together to keep Sterling Heights a fabulous place to work, live and play. He thanked Council for their support and funding to keep the Police Department the best in the State of Michigan.