Work on updating the village’s zoning ordinance could be delayed.
Lake Orion Village Council members, who are not happy with McKenna Associates’ proposed amended contract agreement and the cost of working on the update, are also threatening to go out for bids on updating the ordinance
Updating the zoning ordinance is necessary because a new village Master Plan was adopted by the planning commission earlier this year.
McKenna’s base fee for doing the updating is $32,500 with an additional $2,000 to $2,900 based on the type of zoning map the village wants.
“I have a problem with McKenna — their objectivity. We’ve paid a lot of money to them over the years,” councilman Tom Albert said at the council meeting on Aug. 11
“I don’t think they always follow usage. I’m going to be looking at things a lot closer.”
According to McKenna planner Sally Hodges, the proposal for updating the zoning ordinance the council seeing was not the first to be submitted to the village.
“We substantialia lowered our fee (about $5,000). It’s now bare bones, without losing quality of content. The proposal was put together based on similar projects. We bring to the table our knowledge and history with Lake Orion,” Hodges said.
Council members had also expected to talk about a proposed amended contract that would increase the fees McKenna charges for its planning services. But the company removed it from the agenda.
Hodges said several issues in the contract needed refining.
Phil McKenna was also at the meeting and, although he said his company competes well in bidding processes, he asked the council not to seek bids on updating the zoning ordinance.
“Our price is now out on the street. Somebody will bid cheaper just to get into this community,” he added.
Further discussion on McKenna was postponed until the next council meeting.