Troy City Council: 6 new police officers, Family Daze Festival, Troy Town Center plans

TROY, Mich. – The Troy City Council held a regular meeting on Nov. 21, 2016. The meeting ended at 8:14 p.m. 

Here are items that came before the council:

POLICE OFFICERS: The council voted 7-0 to approve hiring six new uniformed police officers. The resolution said adding the officers would enhance officer safety and allow for more two-officer patrol vehicles. The proposal was introduced by Troy Police Chief Gary Mayer. It's expected to cost $630,000 per year. 

FAMILY DAZE FESTIVAL: The council voted 7-0 to give financial support to the annual Troy Family Daze Festival. Under the agreement, the city will pay $6,902 to cover the cost of fireworks at the 2015 festival and will wave $3,098 due under the current agreement between the city and the North Woodward Community Foundation. The council also agreed to wave the $10,000 fixed fee for use of public property for the 2016 festival and directed city staff to renegotiate a deal to ensure Family Daze continues for future years. The festival dates back to 1968. It's held each September.

TROY TOWN CENTER: Council members voted to support a plan to develop 100 acres of city-owned land at Big Beaver and I-75 into a "Town Center" that would include public spaces, retail, residential, and civic buildings. The plan calls for creating a Big Beaver District with mixed-use development focused "as much on the needs of the pedestrian as to those of the automobile."

Initial plans, backed by the council, call for 240,000 square feet of retail development, approximately 800 homes, 300 hotel rooms, civic buildings (already on the site) and a public square expected to be one of the most beautiful public squares in southeast Michigan.  

The plan was created by Gibbs Planning Group and CORE Partners. The council voted to embrace the plan and authorize Gibbs Planning Group and CORE Partners to promote and pursue the development. 

Here's a map of the plan: 

NEXT-GEN 911: The council approved an agreement with Oakland County to join an Emergency Services IP Network, which is critical for next-generation 911. The system will support transmission of video, images and other bandwidth-intensive data files used in future "Text to 911" applications.  

Troy Government 

Troy City Council members include: 

• Ellen Hodorek, mayor pro tem
• Edna Abrahim
• Ethan Baker 
• Dave Henderson 
• Paul McCown
• Ed Pennington 

The mayor of Troy is Dane Slater. 

Troy's website is: www.troymi.gov