Birmingham Planning Board - May 28th, 2014. Palladium theatre discussion.

To see this meting its one hour and twenty six minute entirety  click on the link below.
Planning Board - May 28th, 2014

Agenda
2 N. Old Woodward, Palladium Building - Renovation of Palladium
Building, conversion of floor 2 of existing theater into two floors of office
use and construction of 3 new residential units on SE corner of roof.

G. Preliminary Site Plan Review & Community Impact Study

1. 122 E. Brown and 511 Pierce Street – New construction of mixed use
building containing 2 story medical office building and 4 stories of
residential units. (postponed to June 25, 2014)

H. Study Session Items
Rules of Procedure for Study Sessions: Site Plan and Design Review, Special Land Use Permit Review and other review decisions will not be made during study sessions; Each person (member of the public) will be allowed to speak at the end of the study session; Each person will be allowed to speak only once; The length of time for each person to speak will be decided by the Chairman at the beginning of the meeting; Board members may seek information from the public at any time during the meeting.
 1. Debrief of Duany Visit

I. Meeting Open to the Public for items not on the Agenda

J. Miscellaneous Business and Communications:
a. Communications
b. Administrative Approval Correspondence
c. Draft Agenda for the next Regular Planning Board Meeting (June 11, 2014)
d. Other Business

N. Planning Division Action Items
a. Staff Report on Previous Requests

Birmingham City Commission - May 19th, 2014. Appointments and Chesterfield/ Quarton Discussion

 To see this meeting in it's 3 hour and 12 minute entirety  
 Click  on below link or using the agenda as a reference, fast forward to topics of interest.

City Commission - May 19th, 2014

BIRMINGHAM CITY COMMISSION AGENDA 

MAY 19, 2014 

MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 151 MARTIN 

7:30 P.M. 

I. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

Scott D. Moore, Mayor 

II. ROLL CALL 

Laura M. Pierce, City Clerk 

III. PROCLAMATIONS, CONGRATULATORY RESOLUTIONS, AWARDS, APPOINTMENTS, 

RESIGNATIONS AND CONFIRMATIONS, ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS, INTRODUCTION 

OF GUESTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

Announcements: 

 The Village Fair will be held May 29th – June 1st in Shain Park. 

 The Andres Duany visit will take place on May 19th-21st. 

Appointments: 

A. Interviews for appointment to the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. 

1. Beth Gotthelf, 550 Chester (unable to attend) 

B. To concur in the Mayor’s appointment of _________ to the City of Birmingham 

Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to serve a three-year term to expire May 23, 2017. 

C. Interviews for appointment to the Parks and Recreation Board. 

1. Patricia Bordman, 1091 Lakepark 

2. Tina Krizanic, 2450 Northlawn 

D. To appoint ________ to the Parks and Recreation Board to complete a three-year term 

to expire March 13, 2016. 

E. Interviews for appointment to the Public Arts Board. 

1. Kara Lividini, 412 Berwyn 

F. To appoint ________ to the Public Arts Board as the resident member to complete a 

three-year term to expire January 28, 2017. 

G. Administration of oath to the appointed board members. 

IV. CONSENT AGENDA 

All items listed on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one 

motion and approved by a roll call vote. There will be no separate discussion of the items unless a 

commissioner or citizen so requests, in which event the item will be removed from the general order 

of business and considered under the last item of new business. 

A. Approval of City Commission Budget Hearing minutes of April 26, 2014. 

B. Approval of City Commission minutes of May 5, 2014. 

C. Approval of warrant list, including Automated Clearing House payments, of May 7, 2014 

in the amount of $469,782.99. 

D. Approval of warrant list, including Automated Clearing House payments, of May 14, 

2014 in the amount of $998,736.70. 2 May 19, 2014 

E. Resolution setting a public hearing of necessity on June 9, 2014 for the installation of 

lateral sewers within the Clark St. Paving Project area. Should the district be 

declared at that time, to set a public hearing to confirm the roll for the installation of 

lateral sewers in the Clark St. Paving Project area on June 23, 2014. 

V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 

A. Quarton Road and Chesterfield Avenue Intersection Improvements Final Design 

Review. 

1. SUGGESTED RESOLUTION A (SIDEWALK CHARGED TO GENERAL FUND): 

Resolution approving the final design for the Quarton Rd. and Chesterfield 

Ave. intersection improvements, consistent with the conceptual design 

provided at the meeting of May 19, 2014 and directing the Mayor and Clerk 

to sign the agreement between the City of Bloomfield Hills and the City of 

Birmingham, consistent with the modifications requested by the City of 

Bloomfield Hills, and further, to include the installation of the new sidewalk 

across the frontage of 1725 Quarton Rd to be funded by the City’s general 

fund account number 101-444.001-981.0100. 

- OR - 

SUGGESTED RESOLUTION B (TO CONSIDER A SPECIAL ASSESSMENT 

DISTRICT): 

Resolution receiving the report submitted by the Engineering Dept., and 

adopting the following: 

Resolved, To approve the final design for the Quarton Rd. and Chesterfield 

Ave. intersection improvements, consistent with the conceptual design 

provided at the meeting of May 19, 2014 and direct the Mayor and Clerk 

to sign the agreement between the City of Bloomfield Hills and the City of 

Birmingham, consistent with the modifications requested by the City of 

Bloomfield Hills, and 

Resolved, That this Commission shall meet on Monday, June 23, 2014, at 

7:30 P.M., for the purpose of conducting a public hearing of necessity for 

the improvement known as the 1725 Quarton Rd. sidewalk, and 

Further Resolved, if necessity is determined on June 23, 2014, a hearing to 

review the assessments and to confirm the roll will be held on July 14, 

2014, at 7:30 P.M. 

VI. NEW BUSINESS 

A. Resolution approving the budget appropriations resolution adopting the City of 

Birmingham’s budget and establishing the total number of mills for ad valorem property 

taxes to be levied for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 

2015. (complete resolution in agenda packet) 

B. Resolution amending the Schedule of Fees, Charges, Bonds and Insurance, Water and 

Sewer Service Sections, for changes in water and sewer rates and changes in industrial 

surcharges and industrial waste control charges to be effective for bills rendered on or 

after July 1, 2014. 3 May 19, 2014 

C. Resolution accepting the Greenwood Cemetery Advisory Committee Final Report and 

directing the Interim City Manager to begin the process to complete the necessary 

preparations and advance the recommendations contained in the report. 

D. Resolution awarding the Lincoln Ave. Resurfacing Project, Contract #1-14(P), to Cadillac 

Asphalt, Inc., of Clarkston, MI, in the amount of $1,482,263.82, to be funded from the 

following accounts: 

Sewer Fund 590-536.001-981.0100 $ 90,140.00 

Water Mains Fund 591-537.004-981.0100 $ 18,800.00 

Local Streets Fund 203-449.001-985.6600 $ 120,444.90 

Major Streets Fund 202-449.001-981.0100 $ 1,252,978.92 

TOTAL $ 1,482,363.82 

Further, approving the appropriations and budget amendments as listed. (complete 

resolution in agenda packet) 

VII. REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA 

VIII. COMMUNICATIONS 

A. First United Methodist Church regarding West Maple 

IX. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA 

X. REPORTS 

A. Commissioner Reports 

B. Commissioner Comments 

C. Advisory Boards, Committees, Commissions’ Reports and Agendas 

D. Legislation 

E. City Staff 

1. Oakland Co. Water Resources Commissioner’s Office Evergreen-Farmington 

Sewage District Update, submitted by City Engineer O’Meara 

XI. ADJOURN 

The Kingsley Inn sold to Birmingham Michigan based Elia Group.

The Macomb Daily, in an article by  Megan Semeraz  reported that the sales was completed May 1st.

 The Macomb Daily account also reported  that the Hotel will be renovated and for the time being and keep the Radisson name and affiliation. A new deli restaurant, Nosh and Rye  is scheduled to open  on the premises on early July. It will replace the Deli Unique and will hire back it's former staff. It is  expected that the fine dining restaurant vacancy  will also be filled shortly. The Elia group is no stranger to food service operating  more than 100 Subway Sandwich locations through out  the metro area.

 ________________________________________________

The Kingsley Inn which sits on eight acres of land is a long time Bloomfield Hills landmark and location of lore.  Weddings, anniversaries, birthdays,  corporate meetings and other occasions have been celebrated  there. The hotel conveniently accommodated  out of town guests coming for such  events. 

In 1971  Arthur Hailey, author of popular novels which featured  the inner workings  of various professions such as Airport and Hotel which later became movies and  TV mini series, wrote Wheels about the Auto Industry. Hailey novels are known the meticulous research  he employed for each of  the industries he wrote about. Some critics felt the story line dragged a bit in "Wheels," but praised  the research that integrated the community  with the Industry.

In the suburbia of best seller Wheels, characters of note meet for drinks at the Kingsley Inn, contemplate the meaning of life while strolling around Quarton Lake, and talk about the Eccentric Newspaper.

"Wheels" in 1978 became a made for TV mini series  starring Rock Hudson and Lee Remick. Naturally Hollywood  jazzed it up and filmed it in Los Angeles. 

Above is the mini series introduction en francais. 

Good golly, Miss Molly.The City of Bloomfield Hills Blog is four years old today !

If you are counting,  today's edition is the 592nd and we are pleased to inform you that due the support of the Oakland Press and the miracle of cyber space all 592 posts are available to you on the lower  left hand corner of the very page you are now reading. In addition thanks to Google you may use the search engine on top of this page to look for topics presented here or news in other local media. 

Google also allows you to translate the blog into any one of almost a hundred different languages. Don't underestimate the value of the last item. It may come in handy if you happen to be, as a result of a lack of a village hotel, house guests of relatives  in Slovakia. 

The City of Bloomfield Hills Blog can take the City with you, and serve as an on the spot text translator.  Google statistics say that 

2 % of our readers  read us on Iphones and  1% on Ipads which is about right for residents  planning extended stay visits to Slovakian villages that lack hotels.

In terms of this publications  and diligence to duty, our 592 editions over a four year period,  and assuming a two week annual vacation is eight shy of the three posts per week the Oakland Press requested at outset. That eight edition deficit however assumes a seven day week as opposed a five day week.

Our reward for said services is our readers and in that regard we are delighted to report that, true to our name, over a four year period the majority of our readers, 20% or 2405 to be exact, hail from  The City of Bloomfield Hills.  The Communities  of Birmingham, Keego Harbor,Bloomfield, Franklin, Clarkston, West Bloomfield, Troy, Detroit, and undetermined round out the top ten.

 Google Analytics, is an impressive  marketing tool, that comes free of charge with  Google Blogger which is also available free of charge. Google Analytics has been widely praised by businesses, marketers, consultants, Citizen outreach efforts. and anyone one who wishes to know what  effect  a campaign or a message delivered  by any of the many Google products is having in the community. Free of charge tutorials area available on Youtube and often turn up on marketing web sites as well. 

 Google is quite strict in defining what was once was called a hit, and later a page visit. Now Google counts sessions with a session being....

the period time a user is actively engaged with your website, app, etc  All usage data (Screen Views, Events, Ecommerce, etc.) is associated with a session.

 To be a user,  at least one session is  require in a specific time period is required, For example  from May 2nd 2014  to June 1st  2014  the City of Bloomfield Hills Blog had 333 sessions from 193 users, who viewed 810 pages, averaging, 2.43 pages per session, with the average session being five minutes and twelve seconds. The bounce rate was a whopping 65.47% 

Bounce Rate is the percentage of single-page visits (i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page without interacting with the page).

They either like topic of the day or don't with  little in between. The  54% percentage of new sessions might also indicate that. The below numbers are for the last month in all areas. The squiggly line below the number is a  graph by day.