Votes at a glance: council approves restaurant patio license, pickleball contract, splash-pad repair and other items

Pontiac’s city council approved multiple regular-agenda items Wednesday, including a revocable license allowing outdoor patio use for Route 66 Roadhouse, acceptance of the lowest responsive bid for city pickleball courts, a resurfacing contract for the splash pad, temporary use of a city building as an art-car studio and an archaeological survey required before ambulance-substation construction.

The council handled each item by separate motion and roll call; votes and key details are summarized below.

Why it matters: The items authorized range from small-scale business support (a patio license and insurance conditions) to capital spending that affects parks, public facilities and federally funded construction steps. Several approvals tie to existing budget sources including TIF and ARPA funds.

Votes at a glance

1) Route 66 Roadhouse — license agreement
- Motion: Approve a revocable license allowing Noah Nelson’s Route 66 Roadhouse to use patio furniture placed on city property while preserving public access when the restaurant is closed.
- Mover/Second: Jamie (mover) / Barb (second).
- Key terms: City to provide patio furniture (approx. $9,000), restaurant required to maintain area, certificate of insurance naming the city as additional insured with $1,000,000 aggregate coverage on file.
- Vote: Unanimous roll call “Yes” recorded in transcript; outcome: approved.

2) Pickleball courts — construction contract
- Motion: Accept lowest responsive base bid from Visserang Construction (base bid $396,000) and proceed with project.
- Mover/Second: Barb (mover) / Scott Cranford (second).
- Funding: Project cost reported around $425,779 total after engineering and contingencies; funding sources listed as the Thomasin Trust, ARPA parks allocation, a Bank of Pontiac pledge and available TIF funds (specific amounts in packet: Thomasin Trust $17,075, Bank of Pontiac $25,000, remaining from TIF/ARPA as described by staff).
- Vote: Roll-call recorded with a majority in favor (one or more no votes recorded for a small number of members in the transcript); outcome: approved.

3) Splash pad surface recoating — maintenance contract
- Motion: Approve Cunningham Recreation quote of $18,596.48 to reseal the splash-pad surface to prevent material failure.
- Mover/Second: Jerry (mover) / Mike Barr (second).
- Funding: Use of TIF-1 funds within repairs line item.
- Vote: Roll-call majority “Yes” recorded; outcome: approved. Staff said coating generally required every seven to eight years.

4) Art cars project — temporary studio space
- Motion: Approve temporary use of 218 West Madison Street for art-car work and adopt a rolling application approach for additional art-car entries.
- Mover/Second: Scott (mover) / Jerry (second).
- Note: Committee accepted two proposals; staff recommended activating the downtown property to assist artists and public engagement.
- Vote: Unanimous “Yes” on roll call; outcome: approved.

5) Archaeological survey for ambulance substation (USDA prerequisite)
- Motion: Accept scope of work and approve Farnsworth’s cultural-resource analysis on a time-and-materials, not-to-exceed basis of $4,335 to satisfy state and USDA review requirements.
- Mover/Second: (motion recorded; mover and seconder identified in transcript; roll call followed).
- Note: Staff said the review is a required step before USDA fund release and bidding; if archaeological resources are discovered further study could pause work.
- Vote: Roll-call majority “Yes”; outcome: approved.

Other business: Council also received committee updates on housing studies and approved parameters for a downtown social district; votes on those items were recorded by roll call with one recorded “No” on the social-district parameters and otherwise carried.

Next steps: Staff will finalize contract documents, pursue required interagency reviews (for the ambulance substation) and proceed to scheduling and construction as funding and permitting allow.