On the Agenda: Commissioners to Discuss Library Millage, Ordinance Changes

If they want to place a millage request for funding library services before the voters this fall, members of the Bloomfield Hills City Commission will likely have to approve the language for that ballot at their business meeting Tuesday.

The commission is expected to review a proposal on a library millage that would fund a three-year agreement for service with the Baldwin Public Library. The commission will discuss the official language that will appear on the ballot and on the services contract Bloomfield Hills would enter into if voters approve a 0.39-mill request. If the proposed millage passed, Bloomfield Hills residents would gain borrowing and other privileges offered by Baldwin.

Commissioners discussed the matter at their previous meeting and approved a $268,000 contract in the first year with annual increases at the rate of inflation or 5 percent. The contract includes mechanisms for yearly extensions as well as a termination clause, should Bloomfield Hills decide to secure library services elsewhere.

City Attorney William Hampton said the city would have to have ballot language approved quickly to meet an August filing deadline with the Oakland County Clerk's Office to have the issue appear on the Nov. 8 election.

The city has never had a library and had been contracting with the city of Troy for many years. That option ended when Troy was forced to shutter its own libraries in response to a budget crisis. A citizen-led initiative to create a library within the city was defeated in the most recent November elections.

Also on Tuesday's agenda:

• The commission is also expected to discuss a change to its ordinances regarding bids for contracted services. The ordinance will address how large a bill has to be before it is automatically submitted to the full commission, rather than to the city manager, for approval.
• Commissioners will consider adoption of a fence and gate ordinance, as recommended by the Planning Commission.
• Commissioners will review an amendment to the planned unit development agreement for The Plaza of Bloomfield Hills.