City Council gives Fuerst Farm supporters 90 days to find way to save old barns
April 9, 2008 by Sami Khan

Monday's Novi City Council meeting began with a presentation about possible uses of the Fuerst Property. Terry Croad, Vice President of McKenna Associates, began by describing the property. The old homestead is surrounded by a 160-acre municipal campus and residential low-density housing. Current facilities on the homestead property include 3 barns, a chicken coop, a pump house, an outhouse, and a dog house. The property also features a knoll with an elevation of about 20 feet.

An assessment of the property's potential uses began with community input. Community members were given several opportunities to voice concerns and opinions regarding the project, including a web survey and several focus groups. Citizens of the community have mentioned several aspects of the property that they would like to see improved, including an expansion of its financial and operational usefulness. When asked to put together a wish list of possible uses for the property, they suggested such options as creating a community/recreation center, making a historical village, or establishing a central gathering space or park.

Two distinct concept plans were suggested for the development of the old homestead. The first focused on the idea of restoration. This plan featured restoring the Fuerst house so that it could be used for meeting space, or possibly even a museum. The plan also includes art and water features.  The total cost was estimated at nearly $3 million.

The second plan focuses on the idea of adaptive reuse. One of the plan's main ideas is the removal or destruction of the property's barns. One example was that the city could sell the barns to interested parties such as Maybury State Park. The plan opts to create a "new, multipurpose arts and crafts building" in their stead, although the old township hall is preserved in both proposals. Proposal B is also a nearly $3 million proposal.

There was some disagreement over the exact costs of the two proposals, but taking those into account the proposals were still fairly similar.

In the end at the suggestion of Member Staudt, council gave supporters of Fuerst Farm 90 days to come up with the money to renovate the old buildings. If that doesn't happen, council decided the barns and house will have to go to make way for the upgrades in Proposal B. Members Mutch and Crawford dissented.

Next on the agenda was this year's Novi Youth Council candidate interviews. These young men and women represented many schools from the area, including Novi High School, Detroit Catholic Central, and Walled Lake High School - all located within the city limits. The students highlighted their many qualifications, including their personal qualities, volunteering experiences, and extracurricular activities. Students from both high school and middle school expressed their desire to be members of this youth leadership organization.

Also, this meeting featured discussion about City Entryway Signs. Despite technical difficulties, a proposed sign was approved. The sign features different design aspects that will be visible from different ranges, resulting in a dynamic appearance. Due to contrasting opinions on the sign, it was only approved by a thin margin.

CONSENT AGENDA:  The Consent Agenda was approved as follows:  Items H and J were removed and later approved.

A.         Approve Minutes of the March 17, 2008 regular meeting           

B.         Enter Executive Session immediately following the regular meeting of April 7, 2008 in the Council Annex for the purpose of discussing pending litigation, property acquisition and privileged correspondence from legal counsel.    

C.         Approval of Ordinance 08-37.34 for the change in delinquent water and sewer charges to be added to the tax roll when account is three months (previously six months) delinquent.  Second Reading 

D.         Approval of amendments to Chapter 20, Massage, Ordinance No. 08-120.05, amending Article I, In General, Article II, Business License, and Article III, Massage Therapist Permit.  Second Reading

E.         Approval to enter into agreement with Oakland County for the use and maintenance of Live Scan Equipment for submission and exchange of fingerprint information. 

F.         Approval to award the 2008 landscape contract for service at Meadowbrook Commons to Absolute Outdoor Service, the low bidder, in the amount of $24,000 and the fertilization contract to Weed Man, the low bidder, in the amount of $3,000.

G.         Approval of the second year renewal option to Meadowbrook Commons Management Agreement with KMG - Prestige (Keystone Management Group).

H.         Approval to award the spring 2008 Tree Planting bid of 500 trees to Panoramic Landscaping, Inc., in the amount of $95,580.00. 

I.          Approval of a Completion Agreement for SP04-43 Bolingbroke Site Condominiums in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 26.5.

J.         Approval of Traffic Control Orders: 

a)         No. 08-02 for No Left Turn from northbound Willowbrook Drive onto the northern and middle drives of Village Oaks School from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

b)         No. 08-03 for No Left Turn from Village Oaks School drives onto Willowbrook Drive from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

K.        Approval of Uninsured Claims to Midwest Claims in the amount
           of $40,000. 

L.         Approval of Claims and Accounts – Warrant No. 766

MATTERS FOR COUNCIL ACTION – Part I

1.         Approval of City Entryway Signage design and authorization to bid for construction and installation.  APPROVED 4-3

2.         Consideration of the request of Best Buy for (a) Special Land Use and (b) Preliminary Site Plan approvals.  The subject property is located in Section 14, on the east side of Novi Road, between I-96 and Twelve Mile Road.  The subject property is approximately 3.3 acres and the applicant is proposing to remove the closed bank and furniture store and construct a 30,891 square foot Best Buy store. SPECIAL LAND USE – APPROVED, SITE PLAN APPROVED

3.         Approval to award a construction contract for the 2007 Neighborhood Road Program Contract 3 (Elizabeth Lane and Sunnybrook Lane from Beck to Whitehall) to Century Cement Co., Inc., the lowest qualified bidder, in the amount of $466,776.  APPROVED

4.         Approval of engineering contract amendment to URS Corporation for additional construction engineering services for the 2007 Neighborhood Road Program in the amount of $29,874 (equal to 6.4% of the Contract 3 construction award amount). APPROVED

5.         Discussion and/or action on the Fuerst Farm. APPROVED to move forward with Plan B and come back with a feasible phasing plan that can be discussed in the budget and leave open the option of restoration if someone can raise the funds within 90 days.