By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Reporter
Despite severe storms thundering and shaking the skies outside, the Village of Oxford Village Council was able to complete its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 14, all while staying safe and dry. With all council members in attendance, topics of discussion included Burdick St. Planned Unit Development (PUD) updates, reviewing bids for maintenance jobs and ending the ban on marijuana businesses in Oxford.

Ordinance First and Second Readings
The council unanimously approved repealing ordinance 411 on its second reading, opening the village up to marijuana establishments that meet time, place and manner requirements.
The Public Notice of this (on Page 13 of this week’s Leader) reads in part, “An ordinance to prohibit marihuana establishments within the boundaries of the Village of Oxford pursuant to Initiated Law 1 of 2018, MCL 333.27951 et seq., has been repealed in its’ entirety at a regular meeting of the Village of Oxford Council held on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, where a quorum was present and voting and shall take effect 30-days from publication.”
The council also unanimously approved increasing the maximum building height in the R-1 single family residential district from 25 feet to 30 feet on its second reading.
An ordinance to ban mechanical engine brakes (also known as “Jake Brakes”) usage in the village passed its first reading unanimously.
A complaint regarding the noise produced by the engine braking was brought to the council at the July meeting, and the proposed ordinance allows for emergency uses and posting signs around the village to alert drivers of the ordinance.
The maximum fine for violating the ordinance will be $100. The ordinance will have a second reading at a later meeting.

PUD Agreement Amendment
Several amendments were made to the PUD Agreement between the village, the Downtown Development Authority and Weckle Properties following a meeting between David Weckle and Village Manager Joe Madore. The amendments include adding language that absolves Weckle’s responsibility for any site plan work on the “building A” site, explaining that windows on the 32 E. Burdick St. structures are not expected to be installed until 6-8 weeks after ordering and removing sentences about Weckle wanting to be compensated for “public infrastructure already installed” at the 32 E. Burdick St. site.
The council unanimously approved the amendments.

Bids for Contracts
Two projects were put out for bid prior to the meeting, one replacing water service leads and the other repaving the western end of Park St.
The water lead replacement is due to state’s rules regarding lead and copper pipes and is estimated to cost about $80,000 with $56,000 budgeted for contractor work. The village received two bids, one from DPW & Son offering $48,100 for the job and one from Watertap Pipeline Specialists for $49,400. The council voted unanimously to award DPW & Son the contract.
The Park St. repaving issue was brought to the council by homeowners in the area complaining about how the street’s poor condition was hindering certain kinds of work getting done. The village put the job out to bid budgeting $86,000 for the project, and the lone bid received priced the work at $96,000, which combined with engineering and construction management costs would make it $111,150. The council, on Madore’s recommendation, voted unanimously to reject the bid. The council is exploring rolling the Park St. repairs in with Spring 22 repairs to Hudson St.

Village Charter Discussion
On the insistence of Village Clerk and Treasurer Tere Onica, the council took up discussion on separating the Village Charter from the Code of Ordinances to be its own document. The idea behind removing the charter from the Code of Ordinances is that it will make amending the charter easier.
The council voted unanimously to set a first reading to remove the charter from the code. It will likely take place at a future meeting.

Other Business
The council voted 4-1 to allow the DDA to install a banner promoting the Scarecrow Festival on the Larry Obrecht Bridge. Council member Maureen Helmuth voted against the banner, citing concerns over the bridge becoming a billboard in the future.
The council unanimously voted to extend the lease agreement for the 72 S. Washington parking lot.
The council unanimously voted to renew the annual permit with MDOT to let the village use the M-24 right of way.