Politics & Government

Storm Cleanup Report Due Next Week, How to Get Absentee Ballot

Hits from call to council during Monday night's City Council meeting, plus Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter's push to streamline the agenda.

Just a few things from Call to Council on Monday night, plus Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter streamlines the agenda.

So, how much did that storm cost?

On  knocking down trees, damaging houses, pulling down electric poles and wires and cutting power to thousands of Ferndale resident.  and the cleanup lasted well into the next week. To recoup costs of the damage, estimated by the city to be more than $100,000, , which allowed the city to apply for $30,000 in state emergency aid. For part of the process, the city had to assess the damage to homes and structures. Ferndale City Manger April McGrath said that specific report, with the final overall cost of the damage cleanup, will be available by next week.

Candidates forum Oct. 3 at City Hall

Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter reminded everyone that at 7 p.m. Monday, at the Ferndale , the League of Woman Voters is hosting a candidates forum for the Ferndale City Council and mayoral candidates. 

Find out what's happening in Ferndalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The local seniors group also is hosting a meet-and-greet event for the City Council and mayoral candidates at 11 a.m. Oct. 12 at , Ferndale Seniors President Jeannie Davis announced during public comment.

Absentee ballot?

Want an absentee ballot for the Nov. 8 election? Call the City Clerk's office at 248-546-2384 to request an application or you can download the application here.

Find out what's happening in Ferndalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Governmental side note: Streamlining council's agenda

To streamline the Ferndale City Council agenda, Coulter introduced a request to amend City Council's rules and procedures by eliminated liaison reports. These reports offer an designated portion of the agenda where each member of council may bring up information about various organizations they are liaisons to. They include:

  • Eight Mile Boulevard Association
  • Michigan Suburbs Alliance
  • South Oakland County Mayors Association
  • Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG)
  • Transportation Riders United
  • Woodward Avenue Action Association

Coulter said there aren't always reports from Council coming from these organizations. When there is, however, Council can give the report during the call to council portion of the meeting.

"It occurred to me that there is an opportunity for us to report during our call to council," he said. "(Council liaison reports is) a redundant item to me. To streamline our agenda, I'd like to remove it and include (liaison reports) in call to council."

The other members of council approved and it passed 4-0. (Mayor Pro Tem Kate Baker was ill and had an excused absence from council.)


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here