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Presentation of the Quarter 2 Strategic Framework Report

City Manager Crystal VanVleck gave a brief recap of how the City has continued to be dedicated to the objectives of our current Strategic Framework. Some highlights include: the introduction of a Tri-Community Commerce Partnership between Berkley, Oak Park, and Huntington Woods to increase organizational effectiveness, Parks and Recreation’s continued efforts to determine residents’ vision for the future of the Community Center Campus as a community asset, and Senator Slotkin selecting our “Harvard Road Infrastructure Resiliency" project for submission to the Interior and Environment Subcommittee as a potential funding strategy for fiscal stewardship.

Presentation by and adoption of the Better City 2026 Economic Development Strategy for the City of Berkley

Jason Godfrey, CEO of Better City, gave a presentation on potential strategies that could shape the future business environment of Berkley. This presentation gave a few examples of ways that land could be developed in Berkley to provide more housing opportunities and business spaces, while keeping parking and cost limitations in mind. This collaboration with Better City brings the City one step closer to receiving a Redevelopment Ready Communities Accreditation which will open Berkley up to receiving additional funding for future improvements. 

Matter of approving participation in the "Tie Michigan Teal" campaign

The “Tie Michigan Teal” campaign is a volunteer-driven event where participants tie teal ribbons around lampposts, benches, and other approved landmarks to promote awareness of ovarian cancer and its symptoms. There is no cost to the City and ribbons will be taken down by volunteers at the end of the month. Approval of the City’s participation allows volunteers to take part in this annual event.

Second Reading of an Ordinance to amend Chapter 86 and Chapter 106 of the Berkley City Code of Ordinances to provide for the regulation of electric bicycles, electric skateboards/scooters, and bicycles

City Manager Crystal VanVleck presented the second reading of these Ordinance amendments. This Ordinance is intended to promote the safe coexistence of all users of the public right of way by directing bicycles, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, to appropriate travel areas as state law allows while preserving sidewalks and downtown pedestrian spaces and parks for their intended use. The rapid growth in use of e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-skateboards has introduced new safety concerns that this Ordinance hopes to intercept before any major incident occurs. The Ordinance has been adopted and will go into effect in 30 days, but can always be amended as is necessary to better serve the needs of the community.

The City remains committed to encouraging active mobility options such as bicycles, skateboards and scooters as a healthy and sustainable mode of transportation while balancing that goal with the responsibility to protect public safety. 

For more details, the full ordinance is available on CivicPlus.

Interlocal Agreement for Law Enforcement Services with Pleasant Ridge and the Village of Beverly Hills and Letter of Understanding with Berkley Police Service Aide Association/Michigan Association of Police (Dispatch Union)

The City of Berkley and City of Pleasant Ridge previously entered into an Interlocal Agreement for Law Enforcement Services in 2023. As part of this agreement, Berkley provides dispatch services, animal control, gun-range use, and lockup services to Pleasant Ridge. With approval of the new agreement, this partnership between both cities will be in effect for 4 years. The Interlocal Agreement with Beverly Hills is a new, and similar, agreement but will not include animal control services. This will be a five year agreement and to accommodate for the increased demand, Berkley will be adding two full-time dispatchers to its staff. With the increased dispatcher demand, a letter of understanding will be submitted to compensate for the expanded responsibilities and will provide various wage increases for dispatch staff. 

City Council 2026-2027 Meeting Dates Amendment

Typically, City Council meetings coinciding with a holiday would be held on the following Monday instead. However, this creates administrative challenges with back-to-back meetings. This amendment allows Council to experiment with holding meetings with such schedule conflicts on the Tuesday after the Monday holiday, rather than in the following week. To account for the Labor Day holiday, this moves the originally scheduled Monday, September 14 meeting to Tuesday, September 8.

Want to Learn More?

• Watch the meeting recording

• Review the agenda and minutes

• Our next Council meeting will be Tuesday, September 8 at 7pm - we’d love to see you there!

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