City Hall Insider … 7/23/24

By Charles Sercombe
The city council met on July 23, and all councilmembers, except for Khalil Refai and Muhtasin Sadman, were in attendance.
Given a split vote, Mayor Amer Ghalib was forced to break the tie over whether to pull an agenda item that would have had the council appoint Councilmember Mohammed Hassan to the Planning Commission.
Ghalib agreed to postpone the appointment until all of the councilmembers are present.
In another agenda adjustment, the council agreed, with Councilmember Mohammed Alsomiri objecting, to pull a resolution excusing Councilmembers Refai and Sadman from their absences.
In public comment, Charles Blackwell accused Councilmember Muhith Mahmood of being a “con artist.”
Blackwell also said that Congressman Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) was “a puppet, who is not qualified to be on city council.”
A resident, speaking for a homeowner, complained about property taxes being increased to the point where people can’t afford to live here.
He said his acquaintance’s taxes went up 200 percent.
Mayor Ghalib said that city assessments are “out of control. … I’m not happy with what I see.”
Moving on to regular business, the council OK’d a state grant for $891,300 that will allow the west side alley of Jos. Campau to be more pedestrian friendly, and will install traffic bumpouts at intersections running along the alleyway.
In another grant, the council agreed to accept $1 million from a federal agency to fund tree planting.
The grant will also fund the hiring of an Urban Forestry Program Coordinator to oversee the program.
In a yearly renewal, the city accepted a $53,000 grant to fund a summer youth employment program.
The resolution read, in part: “This program is expected to be both beneficial to youth interns and to the city, and also provide an educational program for youth who otherwise may not have employment or educational opportunities during the summer months. …”
A site plan was approved to allow a developer to build a second story onto a Jos. Campau building, at the corner of Pulaski, that will create six new apartments.
In two items for the Fire Department, the council OK’d spending $69,150 to make repairs to the department’s pumper truck. The council also allowed the department to purchase fire fighting gear, using a grant from the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Another grant, worth over $7.3 million, will allow the city to construct a new sewer line on Jos. Campau, between Goodson and Lehman, and also on Goodson between Lumpkin and Jos. Campau.
Also, it will allow for the Goodson water main replacement to include lead service line replacement between Jos. Campau and Lumpkin.
The Yemeni Café, on Jos. Campau next to Veterans Park, was given permission to create an outdoor patio in the park that will be open to the public.
The resolution to allow the project, read, in part:
“The Hamtramck Parks Conservancy has been working with the owners of Yemen Café & Restaurant to design, plan, and ultimately fund a patio for the mutual use of Veterans Park and the Yemen Café’s patrons. The patio has been carefully designed to both be useful for general park patrons and for the Café to be able to use it for services for their patrons. …”
The projected cost is $75,000 to $100,000.
Councilmember Hassan said the project is of public interest and a “good project.”
Posted Sept. 13, 2024