Livonia council puts Seven Mile condos and Brome restaurant on consent agenda; Flock cameras dominate public comment
LIVONIA — 10/16/2026
At its Oct. 12 study session, council placed six items on the Oct. 26 consent agenda, including a committee referral for a new residential water-safety inspection program, and moved two Public Works equipment purchases to the regular agenda while a council member awaits answers.
The Livonia City Council used its Oct. 12, 2026 study session to set up a busy voting night on Monday, Oct. 26, when the 2,051st Regular Meeting will take final action on a redevelopment of the long-vacant bar at Seven Mile and Floral, a new Brome Modern Eatery in the former PNC Bank on Haggerty Road, an updated state conservation easement at Fox Creek Golf Course and four Department of Public Works equipment and repair requests.
Study meetings do not take binding votes. Instead, council members decide by consensus whether each item goes on the Oct. 26 consent agenda, where items are approved together without discussion, or the regular agenda, where they get individual debate and roll-call votes.
Council President Kayleigh Reid presided. Council Member Eileen McDonnell was absent; Reid told the audience McDonnell was home recovering from surgery and wished her well. McDonnell's absence shaped the evening: Council Member Carrie Budzinski asked that two equipment purchases go on the regular agenda because McDonnell had questions pending with the administration that touched those items.
Before the business agenda, five of eight public speakers urged council to drop or rein in the city's Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras. Another resident questioned the 2027 budget presentation, and Council Member Martha Ptashnik replied that the updated budget council votes on Oct. 26 will differ from the preliminary version shown so far.
Agenda at a glance
Solid gold rule = headed to the Oct. 26 consent agenda. Dashed rule = regular agenda or pending further review. Dotted rule = pulled. No items were approved or denied on Oct. 12; study sessions do not take final votes.
| # | Item | Details | Amount | Oct. 12 outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waiver Petition 2026-07-02-21 Infinity Homes & Co. LLC · 28001 Seven Mile Rd., 19021 and 19017 Floral St. |
Planned Residential Development replacing the vacant Up North Craft Bar (formerly the Sands bar) at the southwest corner of Seven Mile and Floral: seven attached ranch-style condominiums facing Seven Mile and two two-story single-family homes on 40-foot lots on Floral. No direct Seven Mile access; a one-way private drive enters from Gillman and exits to Floral. Rear public alley to be vacated through a separate process. Planning Commission recommended approval unanimously Sept. 1 with 11 conditions, including approval strictly as condominiums rather than for-lease apartments, each unit offered only for sale for at least six months after occupancy, and stone and Hardie board siding. | Private investment; developer estimated about $1.5 million | Consent – Oct. 26 Brandon McCullough offered an approving resolution on consent; no objection. |
| 2 | Waiver Petition 2026-08-02-23 Afor Concepts · Brome Modern Eatery, 19450 Haggerty Rd. |
Full-service restaurant in the 3,483-square-foot former PNC Bank inside the Pentagon Centre condominium (east side of Haggerty between Seven Mile and Eight Mile). 64 indoor and 40 patio seats; 56 parking spaces plus shared condominium parking. (The parking table on the petitioner's site plan still lists 51 indoor seats and 47 spaces; staff notes and the floor plan use 64 and 56.) The owner now plans to demolish the old drive-thru canopy and build an addition of roughly 2,300 square feet for a second tenant, which must return to the Planning Commission. Planning Commission recommended approval 5-1 on Sept. 22 with 13 conditions. | Private investment | Consent – Oct. 26 McCullough offered an approving resolution on consent; no objection. |
| 3 | Updated EGLE conservation easement Parks and Recreation · Bell Creek branch at Fox Creek Golf Course |
Replaces the easement council approved in 2025 (CR 214-25). Detailed design shrank the protected stream corridor from 3.37 to 2.52 acres. NorthPoint Development (permittee NP Lordstown 173, LLC, EGLE permit WRP034335) will stabilize eroding banks, restore the stream, plant natives and replace a bridge and culvert as off-site mitigation for a project outside Livonia, plus five years of monitoring. | $0 to the city | Consent – Oct. 26 Offered on consent; no objection. |
| 4 | Award of bid: golf maintenance building roofs Whispering Willows and Idyl Wyld golf courses |
Packet recommended Advanced Construction Group Inc. of Temperance, the second-lowest bidder, citing the lowest bidder's work on a previous city project. Fox Creek's roof was left out for budget reasons. | $219,740 ($127,900 Whispering Willows; $91,840 Idyl Wyld) | Pulled Reid announced it was removed from the Oct. 12 agenda. No reason was given. |
| 5 | Award of bid: five-year Residential Cross Connection Control Program Department of Public Works |
State-required program to inventory backflow risks (lawn irrigation, boilers, water-powered sump pumps, pools, softeners) at all 36,660 residential water connections, with interior mechanical-room inspections. Plan calls for 7,000 inspections in year one and 3,300 a year after, while also documenting service-line material for the city's lead service line inventory. Bids were due Oct. 13. Administration itself asked for a committee referral. | Bids not yet opened; staff estimated upwards of $600,000 in year one, ~$270,000–$300,000 a year after | Committee referral Martha Ptashnik moved to refer it to the Capital Outlay and Infrastructure Committee; the referral goes on the Oct. 26 consent agenda. |
| 6 | Purchase: 15-inch drum brush chipper 2027 Bandit 15XP via MiDEAL |
Replaces a 2012 chipper whose repairs exceed its value; used for curbside brush and storm cleanup. Vendor: Alta Equipment Co., 13211 Merriman Rd., Livonia. Old unit to be auctioned. | $56,644.85 (acct. 226-528-987-000) | Consent – Oct. 26 Offered on consent; no objection. |
| 7 | Purchase: 2026 Case 580SN backhoe Roads section |
Replaces a backhoe removed from service. Vendor: Southeastern Equipment Co., Novi. Price includes a 60-month/3,000-hour extended warranty ($4,950) and a Tink 520 claw ($17,100). The agenda title says MiDEAL; the packet's background cites Sourcewell contract 011723-CNH. | $162,029.95 (acct. 401-000-987-000) | Regular – Oct. 26 Moved to the regular agenda at Budzinski's request pending answers to McDonnell's questions. |
| 8 | Purchase: two Titan-Pro trailer-mounted leaf vacuums Roads section via MiDEAL |
Replaces two units bought before 2013 used in the bulk leaf pickup program. Vendor: Bell Equipment, Lake Orion. City units #2780 and #2781. | $185,082 ($92,541 each; acct. 226-528-987-000) | Regular – Oct. 26 Initially offered on consent; moved to regular at Budzinski's request, with agreement from the member who offered it. |
| 9 | Approve outside vendors for fleet maintenance Fiscal year 2027 |
Sixteen vendors for specialty, warranty and dealer repairs, including Penske Automotive Group, Wolverine Truck, Southeastern Equipment, Hutson Inc., Weingartz and Jam Best-One. Cap cut from $300,000 to $250,000 because fleet maintenance is back to seven employees. | Not to exceed $250,000 (acct. 101-443-933-050) | Consent – Oct. 26 Offered on consent; no objection. |
Consent agenda for Oct. 26 (from this study session)
- Item 1 – Infinity Homes Planned Residential Development, Seven Mile and Floral
- Item 2 – Brome Modern Eatery, 19450 Haggerty Road
- Item 3 – Updated EGLE conservation easement, Fox Creek Golf Course
- Item 5 – Referral of the residential cross-connection contract to the Capital Outlay and Infrastructure Committee
- Item 6 – Brush chipper, $56,644.85
- Item 9 – Outside fleet repair vendors, not to exceed $250,000
Regular agenda for Oct. 26
- Item 7 – Case backhoe, $162,029.95
- Item 8 – Two leaf vacuums, $185,082
Unfinished business
No unfinished business was on the Oct. 12 agenda. Matters left open by this meeting: the residential cross-connection contract now awaits a Capital Outlay and Infrastructure Committee meeting; Brome's drive-thru replacement addition must go back to the Planning Commission; the Floral/Gillman alley vacation needs its own petition through the City Clerk; the golf roof bid (Item 4) was pulled without a new date; and the 2027 budget comes up for a vote Oct. 26.
Seven Mile and Floral: condos and homes replace a blighted bar
Planning and Economic Development Director Mark Taormina said the planned residential development tool lets the city vary lot sizes, uses and setbacks to get a better project. The commercial parcel is about 100 feet deep by 265 feet wide, roughly six-tenths of an acre, and once held the Sands bar, later the Up North Craft Bar. The building would come down and the 20-foot public alley behind it would be vacated, with a full-width utility easement kept in place.
Taormina said the seven condominiums would face Seven Mile but sit about 42 feet back from the right of way, served by a private drive running parallel to Seven Mile. Taormina said a staff review of the surrounding three-block area found 45 of 83 parcels are 40 feet wide, matching the two proposed home lots.
Rob Donovic, a former Livonia council member, represented Infinity Homes of Novi alongside the project's civil engineer from Angle Design & Engineering. Donovic said dormers were added at the Planning Commission's request, though the renderings in council's packet did not show them. The condos will use white Hardie board planking, cultured stone and black windows, with three-dimensional shingles. End units are three-bedroom, roughly 1,650 square feet with a second-floor bedroom; interior units are two-bedroom, about 1,200 square feet. Condos have one-car garages and the homes two-car garages.
Donovic said the condos are for sale, not rent, which the Planning Commission wrote into its conditions. He told council they would sell for about $300,000 and the homes closer to $400,000, market dependent. At the Sept. 1 Planning Commission hearing he had estimated $270,000 to $290,000 for condos and $350,000 to $360,000 for the homes. He estimated the total investment at about $1.5 million and said he hopes to demolish this year, weather permitting, and break ground in early spring.
Under questioning from Council Member Robin Persiconi, Donovic agreed to install sod rather than seed and to provide irrigation. Brockway confirmed the price points. McCullough praised the materials and drainage and suggested a darker shingle color to complement the siding, then offered approval on consent. Budzinski called it a strong addition to northeast Livonia.
Resident Sandy Fleming pointed out that the Fire Marshal's letter requires the access drive to be 20 feet wide, not the 18 feet Donovic described. Reid said Donovic nodded in agreement and the drive will be 20 feet. Mike, of Hanlon Avenue, asked about a sidewalk along the Seven Mile buffer and was told one is planned. At the Planning Commission hearing, several Floral and Gillman residents had opposed putting two homes on the Floral lots and raised drainage and notice concerns; none of those residents spoke Oct. 12.
Brome Modern Eatery moves into the old PNC Bank
Taormina recounted the site's history: it held a Detroit Water Board storage tank, then an office built on the tank's foundation by Art and Joyce Carmichael, who bought the property in 1978. Failed rezoning attempts led to litigation and the Haggerty Road Investments consent judgment, after which the Pentagon Centre developers absorbed the parcel and it became a PNC Bank. The complex also includes AMC Livonia 20, J. Alexander's, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, a Hyatt Place hotel and the former Bahama Breeze, which Taormina said is soon to become a Yard House.
The outdoor patio would replace landscaping between the building and Haggerty Road. Taormina said a revised plan he received that night moves the dumpster behind the building where the Planning Commission wanted it and adds landscaping around the patio. Answering Brockway, Taormina said the drive-thru canopy, which split the Planning Commission, will now be removed entirely, with an addition of 2,000 to 2,300 square feet built in its place after Planning Commission review.
Owner Sam Abbas of Afor Concepts said Brome has five operating restaurants and Livonia would be its sixth and flagship location. A project manager for J&A Architectural Engineering of Bloomfield Hills said phase one design is complete and the second phase is in design development; there will be no drive-thru. One council member asked whether the rooftop feature was dining space; Taormina said it is a screen around mechanical units. McCullough offered approval on consent, saying the vacant bank sits in a busy corridor. Asked how to pronounce the name, an attendee said Brome is a grass that cattle graze on.
At the Sept. 22 Planning Commission meeting, Commissioner Sam Caramagno cast the lone no vote, saying he did not want to approve half a plan. The commission's resolution requires construction of the canopy replacement to start before any certificate of occupancy is issued for the restaurant.
Fox Creek stream restoration shrinks, still at no cost
Parks and Recreation Superintendent Michelle Koppin said more detailed data collection let the restoration meet EGLE's stream-mitigation requirements while disturbing less land. She shared an overlay from the developer showing the small changes. The project adds native plants, improves flow and flooding and costs the city nothing; after five years the city must keep trash out of the corridor and not develop there. A council member offered approval on consent, calling it the finalization of work already approved.
Residential backflow program heads to committee
Assistant Director of Public Works Zach Haapala asked council to send his own bid recommendation to committee. Livonia has run a commercial cross-connection program for 15-plus years, he said, but has no residential program, unlike neighboring communities, and no inventory of residential irrigation systems or boilers that could siphon contaminated water back into the mains during a pressure loss. He described the requirement as long overdue under Michigan's Safe Drinking Water Act, Public Act 399.
Inspectors would need to enter homes to look at mechanical rooms. Haapala said he wants to bring the likely contractor to committee to explain how residents would be contacted. He plans to start with homes that lack verified service-line records, to speed up the city's lead service line work, which he put at about $1.7 million a year. Ptashnik moved the referral to the Capital Outlay and Infrastructure Committee.
Equipment requests and fleet repairs
Haapala presented items 6 through 9. He described the chipper, backhoe and leaf vacuums as budgeted replacements for worn units whose repair costs now exceed their value, and said the old chipper and backhoe would be sold at auction. On the backhoe, Brockway noted council approved a similar 2025 backhoe on Feb. 24, 2025, and asked how many the city owns and on what replacement schedule. Haapala did not have the count, offered to provide it and said all city backhoes are Case models with wear driven by engine hours. Budzinski then asked to put the backhoe and leaf vacuums on the regular agenda so McDonnell can get answers to questions she sent the administration.
On outside repairs, Haapala said specialty, dealer and warranty work on dump trucks, backhoes, leaf vacuums and similar equipment is cheaper to outsource than to buy diagnostic systems. A council member said the fleet division was once a model for the region and welcomed both the restored staffing and the $50,000 reduction.
Public comment
Opening audience communication (items not on the agenda)
| Time | Speaker | Topic | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:11 | Steve King | Flock cameras | Said police sought a bid waiver for Flock on Sept. 22, 2025, and the $295,000 purchase passed on the Oct. 6 consent agenda without a public hearing. Asked council to halt expansion, publicly review the contract, data sharing, retention and search records, and create independent civilian oversight. |
| 4:11 | Lori, Livonia | Flock cameras | Said the cameras make her feel less safe and cited cases in Tennessee and Florida of people she said were wrongly arrested based on license plate reader data. Said residents never opted in and asked council to remove the cameras. |
| 6:44 | Elijah, Livonia | Flock cameras | Said he works in computer engineering. Raised Flock's AI investigation product, Flock Nova, and the risk of large data stores becoming targets. Referenced a controversy over data in the regional CLEMIS police records system. Argued contract terms cannot be enforced and Flock must access data to process it. |
| 9:51 | Jerry Krasinski | 2027 budget | Said the revised budget presentation showed the same gap of about $2,500 between revenue and expenditures as the earlier one despite council feedback, suggesting the proposed budget had not changed. |
| 10:59 | Francis Janice, Livonia | Vacant building | Asked council to work with the owner of the deteriorating Livonia Corporate Center at 29200 Vassar Street, near the former Livonia Mall site and next to a neighborhood, to reuse or demolish it. Said a storage-facility proposal there was previously rejected. |
| 12:13 | Frank McDermott, Rayburn Street | City Hall ramp | Noted Reid referred the permanent City Hall ramp to the Committee of the Whole at the last meeting, saying the proposed design would be too steep. Asked whether that design came from engineering and is ADA compliant, and why council is handling it when the cost, which he recalled as $8,000 to $10,000, is under $30,000. Urged action before winter. |
| 13:31 | Josie Leather, Livonia | Flock cameras | Thanked council for examining the information presented and being willing to possibly reconsider its stance, and said mass surveillance does not leave a better world for children. |
| 14:31 | Noah Joseph Wojcik, 15351 Brookfield | Flock cameras | Compared broad surveillance to authoritarian regimes and asked council not to go that direction. |
Comments on agenda items
| Time | Speaker | Item | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32:54 | Sandy Fleming, Livonia | Item 1 | Noted the fire department requires a 20-foot access drive, which would allow two-way traffic, rather than 18 feet. |
| 33:55 | Mike, Hanlon Avenue | Item 1 | Asked whether a sidewalk will run along the buffer between the drive and Seven Mile. Told yes. |
No one spoke from the audience on items 2, 3 or 5 through 9, and no one spoke during closing audience communication.
Council member updates
| Time | Member | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 0:12 | Carrie Budzinski | Led the Pledge of Allegiance. |
| 0:39 | President Kayleigh Reid | Opened the study session setting the agenda for the Oct. 26 Regular Meeting; noted McDonnell's absence. |
| 15:43 | President Kayleigh Reid | Announced Item 4, the golf course roof bid, was pulled from the agenda. |
| 15:57 | Martha Ptashnik | Responding to public comment, said the updated budget will be presented for a vote Oct. 26 and that what residents saw was the preliminary budget, with changes since made. |
| 59:44 | Council | No closing comments. |
Votes
City Council, Oct. 12: No formal votes. All placements were by consensus with no recorded objections. Members present: Reid, Brockway, Budzinski, McCullough, Persiconi and Ptashnik. Absent: McDonnell.
Planning Commission recommendations in the packet:
- Item 1, resolution 09-57-2026, Sept. 1: approval recommended unanimously on a motion by Peter Ventura, seconded by Sam Caramagno. Present: Wafa Dinaro, David Bongero, Caramagno, Ventura, Glen Long and Chairman Ian Wilshaw. Absent: Patrick Droze.
- Item 2, resolution 09-63-2026, Sept. 22: approval recommended 5-1 on a motion by Dinaro, seconded by Ventura. Yes: Dinaro, Droze, Bongero, Ventura, Wilshaw. No: Caramagno. Absent: Long.
- Item 3: council approved the original easement in 2025 as CR 214-25.
What's next
Council votes on items 1 through 3 and 6 through 9, the committee referral for Item 5, and the 2027 budget at the 2,051st Regular Meeting on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. The residential cross-connection contract will be taken up by the Capital Outlay and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Persiconi, at a date to be set.
Sources: City of Livonia agenda packet for the Oct. 12, 2026 Study Meeting, including Planning Commission minutes of Sept. 1 and Sept. 22, 2026; video transcript of the Oct. 12 meeting. Times refer to the meeting video. Names that were unclear in the transcript were checked against the city's council roster and the agenda packet; speakers who gave only a first name or no address are listed as given.