Councilman Scott Bahr

It has been my honor and privilege to serve Livonia for the last 12.5 years, first as a planning commissioner, then as a city councilman. To my fellow citizens: thank you for your support, your feedback, and your engagement in our community.

Scott Bahr's Farewell Comments to City Council After eight years on Livonia City Council, which followed 4.5 years on Livonia Planning Commission, term-limited Councilman Scott Bahr shared some final thou...

Notable items from Wednesday’s Regular Meeting of the City Council…

1. Amended consent judgment for a townhome development at 7 Mile & Victor Parkway. The site plan approval is still to come.
2. Appointed Lynda Scheel and Marc Rotondo to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
3. Received and filed salary increases for elected officials based on the recommendations of the Local Officers Compensation Commission.

Most of the rest of the meeting was devoted to end-of-year reflections and thanks. Here are time stamps for some of those moments:

-Resident Gini Krenz offered a heartwarming tribute to my service: 6:32
-Rob Donovic presenting me with a plaque: 7:04
-Scott Morgan presenting Kathleen McIntyre with a plaque: 9:38
-Laura Toy's comments: 12:04
-Jim Jolly's thanks to the community: 16:10
-Kathleen McIntyre's final words to Council: 27:35
-My farewell comments (see more details below): 31:32
-Laura Toy's tribute to Jolly's council presidency: 38:30
-Brandon McCullough's comments: 40:12

Livonia City Council Regular Meeting - December 13, 2023

Visited the GFL recycling facility today with Sam Caramagno and Sam Jr. Fascinating to see where all of that stuff in our curbside recycling bins goes. I was in awe of their process and how effective it is at separating the paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, etc., and amazed to see what 200 tons/day looks like and how almost all of it has a market. It also gave me some insight to help with city refuse decisions; even though my time is almost done, I can share it with our next councilmembers. Many thanks to Otis for the tour and Sam and Sam for hosting me.

Notable items from Monday's Regular Meeting of the City Council...

1. Approved a three-year contract agreement with the police that includes more flexibility for the City to shop other providers for comparable health plans to help keep costs down.

2. Approved a liquor license for Livonia Athletic District with a 5-2 vote (Toy and Morgan voted no). I had concern about this, but I felt better when I learned that they won't have an open bar, but rather drinks that customers can order to have brought to them. This has become fairly common at facilities like this, especially those that have activities like golf simulators.

3. Denied the Livonia Pavilion redevelopment with a 4-3 vote (McIntyre, Jolly, and I dissented), which would have invested $10M in the blighted eight-story building on Vassar St. - on the east side of Middlebelt across from Sears. This does not fit the Vision21 plans for that property, but the more I studied this, the more skeptical I was that we'll see something like that anytime soon. I chose to prioritize a real viable plan to clean up a major eyesore in our city rather than hope for the possibility of someone demolishing the building for mixed-use housing. With Council's denial, however, I sincerely hope I am wrong and we see a beautiful new project here quicker than I expect.

4. Approved my request to for the Administration to provide a list showing all current city user fees and who has authority to raise them. Recall this summer when we discovered the Administration planned to start charging residents and businesses for a property information look-up service that has always been provided by the City at no extra cost. Council unanimously supported my resolution to stop this, but failed to override the mayor's veto when Jolly, McCullough, and Toy switched their votes, denying us the necessary five votes. We recently discussed the overall topic of city user fees in committee, and I voiced my opinion that any changes to fees for a service exclusively provided by the City should require council approval. Otherwise, city administrators could potentially find all sorts of ways to raise revenue from residents - effectively raising taxes - without the consent of the peoples' elected representatives. This resolution will gather the information we need to take steps toward that ideal, and I hope the next council will address this topic once that becomes available.

5. Approved 6-1 (McCullough voted no) a plan for ten new homes on Sunset St, east of Merriman, south of 8 Mile. I completely understand the existing neighbors' disappointment in losing a beautiful line of trees that will come down for these new homes, but we cannot rightly deny a property owner from building homes on land that is zoned for that purpose. In response to my earlier concern about lot sizes that were too small, the petitioner reduced the number of homes so the lot sizes would be more conformable to the existing neighborhood. Thus, I felt I had to approve this.

6. Approved6-1 (McCullough voted no) a resolution asking Law to prepare the zoning ordinance for a small piece of land behind St. Mary's Basilica on Merriman (between 6 and 7 Mile) for the purpose of a Montessori school. This is strongly opposed by many residents in the area, so I took some time to explain in detail why I felt an approval was appropriate: https://youtu.be/erCiMouOPJk?feature=shared&t=4966

7. In response to an earlier request, we received a report from the Mayor's Office explaining why the City cannot remove dead deer from private property. If the carcass is moved to the curb, the trash service will pick it up, but due to liability and staffing reasons, the City cannot go onto private property to remove dead animals. Surrounding cities have the same approach.

8. Approved 4-3 (Jolly, McCullough, and Morgan voted no) a settlement that will allow Schostak Developers to move forward with the Wonderland Flats apartment project on the last remaining undeveloped land at Wonderland Village. A brief history: Council previously voted to deny this plan, so the developer sued the City saying their proposal matched the City's intent for the land as defined in Vision21. This was entirely predictable when we voted the first time, which is why Donovic and I voted to approve despite having our own misgivings about the project. We knew that a yes vote, while scoring points with the immediate neighbors, would likely subject the City to a costly lawsuit that we wouldn't win. That's exactly what has happened, and our city attorney advised us to approve the latest revise plan rather than subject the City to the likelihood of millions in losses in a lawsuit.

Livonia City Council Regular Meeting - December 4, 2023

Just received word that today’s Livonia Christmas Parade is canceled due to weather.

Notable items from Monday's Regular Meeting of the City Council...

1. Approved five new homes at 36143 Parkdale (south of Plymouth, east of Levan) with a 5-1 vote. I was the dissenting vote due to the proposed 52-foot lot widths, which don't match the 60-foot lot widths in the surrounding neighborhood.

2. Approved allocating unused funds from last year's budget (~$2.5M) to be split evenly between the Building Improvement Fund (savings for future facilities needs) and paying down our retirement health care liability.

3. Approved renaming three city parks. A nature area in the city's southwest corner will now be named after the Livonia Lions Club that has volunteered many hours there. Devon-Aire Park will now be John Dufour Park after Livonia's first Parks & Rec director John Dufour. The natatorium at the Kirksey Rec Center will now be named after former Parks & Rec director Ronald Reinke.

4. Approved extending the hazardous waste drop-off service at ERG Environmental Services to year-round. Prior to now, this service was only available from March to September. It still requires a $5 co-pay for Livonia residents.

5. Approved sending the topic of political misuse of city resources to committee. I sincerely hope the next Council takes a serious look at this. As I've said all along, my concern about this was not politically motivated for the recent election; I want to make sure we have appropriate rules in place to ensure no city official can inappropriately use city resources to assist a re-election campaign.

6. Denied extending the rec center sharing agreement with Canton Township. While the pool at the Summit rec center in Canton is under construction, we have been allowing Canton Summit members to use our pool with Canton Twp. reimbursing us at the non-resident rate. That project is going longer than expected, so Canton asked if we could extend the agreement, this time with the lower resident rate. I joined Brandon McCullough and Kathleen McIntyre in voting no, and the motion failed for lack of support with a 3-3 tie. I just feel this has gone long enough, and with record membership at the rec center along with other non-residents paying a higher price, I don't think we need to give the resident rate to Canton residents.

Livonia voters have been deluged with campaign mail recently. Having worked with both extensively and read their claims, I offer the following.

Brosnan's "partial list of accomplishments" is made up almost entirely of things that (a) are normal parts of city operations and/or (b) were also supported by McIntyre with her council vote. For example:

-Both candidates supported the return of public safety pensions, and both were involved in getting it done.
-Both candidates will continue to administer Livonia's voter-approved roads program to replace streets, sidewalks, and trees.
-Both candidates were on the Vision21 committee and will execute the new senior center and redevelopment of the city center.
-Both candidates will continue supporting necessary repair & maintenance projects on Livonia buildings.

There are some significant differentiators, however:

-When Kathleen McIntyre's vehicle is parked at City Hall, it's not just a cover to disguise that she's gone, it's because she's working hard for you.
-When outside protesters disparaged Livonia's residents and first responders, Kathleen McIntyre didn't avoid the public meetings; she faced the heat and stood up for us.
-When Kathleen McIntyre says she's the only candidate endorsed by a public safety union, it's because she is.
-Kathleen McIntyre doesn't have to claim credit for what others have done; her life is a pattern of community service regardless of who's watching.

Kathleen McIntyre will be the hardworking, accessible, and transparent mayor that Livonia deserves. Please join me in voting Kathleen McIntyre for Livonia Mayor on Tuesday, November 7.

For a full list of endorsements, see https://mailchi.mp/011733451bd6/city-council-update-13626691?e=be722b4152

Notable items from Wednesday's Regular Meeting of the City Council...

We unanimously approved a number of items, including the following:

1. Purchase of a new Dodge Charger police car before they are discontinued.

2. Hiring an outside firm to create a Golf Course Master Plan for Livonia’s three courses, which would come from the courses’ operational funds

3. New wayfinding signs throughout our parks (see the new sign near Celani Playground at Bicentennial Park for an example)

4. Purchase of new splash pad equipment at the recreation center to repair and update that amenity after 21 years

5. Approval of Ashley Capital's plans to invest $1M in the reinforcement of an eroding area of the Bell Creek system in Livonia’s Blue Grass Park (at the end of Hix Street north of 5 Mile)

6. Extension of the household hazardous waste drop-off contract with ERG Environmental Services that includes a $5 copay for residents. Previously offered only from March-September, we will pilot a year-round program for the next two years.

Also, our new library director talked about the strategic planning process that Council approved nearly a year ago and is finally getting underway. Whether you've been to the library recently or not, please complete the survey available to all Livonia residents to submit your thoughts on the future of our libraries. Visit

Livonia Public Library Strategic Plan -

Notable items from Monday's Regular Meeting of the City Council...

1. I asked that we place on our next study agenda a potential ordinance that places limits on when city mass mailings featuring pictures of elected officials can be sent during a campaign season. For example, U.S. congressional rules prohibit representatives from sending mass mailings fewer than 60 (Senate) or 90 (House) days prior to any election in which they are a candidate. I was prompted to study this upon learning that the Administration suddenly moved up the publication date for Livonia Connections magazine, which includes a picture of the mayor on the front cover and a message from the mayor inside, so it will arrive before the election rather than the original date of November 15. Featuring the mayor on the cover is not the issue - that is to be expected; the issue is the timing. We won't be able to stop this particular instance from happening, but to eliminate any appearance of impropriety in the future, I want to study a potential ordinance that keeps taxpayer-funded resources from being used to benefit current elected officials during campaign seasons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlQaF4W_V6A&t=934s

2. We formally approved the budget for the fiscal year beginning December 1, 2023. I have covered this in previous updates and offered a brief verbal overview during our meeting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlQaF4W_V6A&t=1503s

3. After several delays due to some issues with back taxes on the property, we finally approved the Clean Express Car Wash at the site of an old Burger King at 34835 Plymouth Rd. We repeated previous discussions about whether left turns should be allowed out of the property, but my resolution without the turn restrictions was approved.

4. Approved the Election Commission’s selection of the Housing Commission building at 10800 Farmington Rd. (south of Plymouth) for this purpose. Mayor Brosnan, Clerk Susan Nash, and City Attorney Paul Bernier sit on that commission. I pointed out to Nash that they have not posted any minutes from their 2023 meetings, as required, and she said she would rectify that.

5. Approved an agreement with Wayne County for $8M in federal dollars to go toward the new senior center, which will be an addition to the rec center. This will clear the way for the removal of the current senior center, making room for the Vision 21 plan for a multi-use city center development. The mayor deserves credit for getting us to this point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlQaF4W_V6A&t=5819s

Livonia City Council Regular Meeting - October 16, 2023

Two upcoming opportunities to meet the candidates for all Livonia offices in person:

This Sunday, October 8 from 2-4: "Treat and Meet" in Mies Park (West Chicago between Farmington & Merriman). Geared toward kids, the event includes candy, photo ops with Cinderella and Ariel, and the Lions game will be showing on a big screen. I'm told all candidates plan to be there.

Monday, October 9 at 6:00: Candidate forum at the Senior Center hosted by the Livonia Republican Club. All candidates and residents are invited regardless of political affiliation. From 6-7 is a meet & greet with candidates followed by a forum at 7:00.

Notable items from Monday's Regular Meeting of the City Council...

1. Put the subject of the City's 1994 agreement with Livonia Public Schools, Clarenceville Public Schools, and Schoolcraft College to reimburse tax collection costs in the Finance Committee for discussion of possible adjustments. We've had good discussions with LPS board members on this recently, and as chair of the Finance Committee, it is my intention to come to a decision on this before my council tenure is over.

2. Councilwoman Kathleen McIntyre, herself a breast cancer survivor, reminded the community of the importance of getting mammograms for early detection. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLdJJj4DOb8&t=812s

3. Sent the proposed redevelopment of the Livonia Pavilion, a 9-story building across Middlebelt from the Sears site, to committee for further discussion. (This failed 3-3 in our last meeting, but it requires a definitive vote.) I support this redevelopment of a blighted property, and I supported the committee resolution rather than subjecting it to a possible denial by my colleagues. Here's my explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLdJJj4DOb8&t=3025s

4. Tabled the proposal for a new car wash at 34385 Plymouth until the owner takes care of his overdue tax bill. Here's why I support this development when do vote on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLdJJj4DOb8&t=3238s

5. Approved a Scooter's drive-thru coffee shop and an ice cream shop (Lickity Split) on the southeast corner of 7 Mile & Farmington.

6. Sent the proposed rezoning for a new school behind the Basilica of St. Mary (Merriman between 6 & 7 Mile) to committee. I voted no because after multiple Planning Commission and City Council discussions of this, and considering that a rezoning would still have multiple steps including public comment, I feel we are ready to move forward on this. Here's my explanation why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLdJJj4DOb8&t=4712s

Livonia City Council Regular Meeting - October 2, 2023

When Angela Moore, proprietor of the new Uptown Cheapskate, came before Council a few months ago, her enthusiasm was contagious. It was my privilege to welcome her and her staff to Livonia at their official grand opening today. Folks, check out their store at 29508 Seven Mile; they have done a beautiful job.

(Ribbon cutting photos courtesy of Livonia Chamber of Commerce)

Notable items from Monday's Regular Meeting of the City Council...

1. Approved a proposal to build 11 residential condos at 35755 and 35841 Plymouth Road (just east of Levan). This is an old commercial property that has been vacant for some time. While it seems an odd place to build residential units, I think this is part of a larger trend where we're going to see former commercial properties converted to residential. We simply don't need as much commercially-zoned land anymore in today's retail environment.

2. Sent the proposal for new homes on Sunset St (east of Merriman and south of Eight Mile) to committee for further discussion. I had offered this option at the study meeting because I don't like the number of homes with smaller lot sizes the developer is planning for this location. I share the current homeowners' disappointment with losing their wooded buffer. However, with the property already zoned residential, we can't deny the property owner an opportunity to develop his land. I think we can find a resolution with a plan that more closely matches the density of the existing homes on the street. Here are my comments from the study meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DKfK5pO_yc&t=2650s

3. A proposal to invest $10M in the vacant and blighted Livonia Pavilion, a 9-story building across Middlebelt from the Sears site, failed with a 3-3 vote. The proposal was to make it a self-storage facility, nearly half of which would be occupied by the property restoration company ServiceMaster, and included landscaping improvements and new residential lots to buffer Parkville Street from the building. Though not my ideal use of the property, this proposal was consistent with the current zoning and offered an attractive cleanup to what is currently an eyesore. We received signatures from 200 area residents and the superintendent of Clarenceville Public Schools urging us to approve this project.

Laura Toy offered a denying motion with Brandon McCullough's support. I voted against that denial, as did Kathleen McIntyre and Jim Jolly, so the motion failed with a 3-3 vote. I then offered an approving resolution and made a final appeal to my dissenting colleagues to change their minds to clean up this property. Unfortunately, that also failed with a 3-3 vote. For now, the property remains as is.

Here is my explanation for supporting this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2bK2qa34pU&t=1852s

Livonia City Council Regular Meeting - September 18, 2023

Notable items from last Wednesday's Regular Meeting of the City Council...

1. We councilmembers tend to hear from people when they're upset, so it was nice to hear a few residents come to the podium to talk about things they were happy about!

Paul Condon thanked Council and St. Mary's Basilica for efforts to lower the noise at this summer's Family Fun Fest https://youtu.be/4SGBFVcU5Fs?feature=shared&t=239

New resident Stephen Ray expressed gratitude for the warm welcome he's received to the community https://youtu.be/4SGBFVcU5Fs?feature=shared&t=462

Ron Ervin talked about how much his family enjoyed Touch-a-Truck https://youtu.be/4SGBFVcU5Fs?feature=shared&t=4653

2. Approved the installation of solar panels in an unused portion of the parking lot at the Cambridge Office Center (southwest corner of Six Mile & I-275), which is expected to power 30% of their building.

3. Approved a 1-year extension to our waste contract with GFL. Per-home costs will rise about $36/house/year, but even this will keep us at or below the cost of most surrounding communities. With the increased cost of doing business, GFL has actually been losing money on the last few years of our current contract with them. You may recall that we lowered the refuse tax rate a couple years ago because we had built up a surplus in that account. These increased costs will likely result in raising that rate at some point, though it is still expected to remain below what the voter-approved millage allows us.

Future years may be different, however. The Administration seems to support the idea of going to city-provided covered trash bins and recycle bins. While there are some advantages to this approach (chiefly a cleaner look on trash day), it will also result in a significant cost increase that would likely require a raise to the millage. It's not a horrible idea, but having studied the issue, I feel the costs exceed the benefits. That decision will be considered next year after I have left Council, but I have made my opinion known that I don't think it is in our city's best interest to go that route.

4. Approved the rezoning of 20511, 20513, and 20515 Angling Road from commercial to residential for the building of several new homes on this long vacant piece of property.

5. Approved updates to the city's tree ordinance, which governs the care of trees on public lands. That includes trees between the sidewalk and street on residential lots. All residents should know that trees cannot be planted or removed in these areas without a city permit. Technically, you can't even prune them without a city permit, though we know (and appreciate) that well-intentioned residents do this frequently, as necessary. While there were a number of word changes to this pre-existing ordinance, the substantive changes were actually quite minimal.

Notable items from the last two regular meetings of the City Council. (I was on vacation for the August 9th meeting, so I'm combining my update from both here):

AUGUST 9
After a summer of way too many power outages in our community, Mayor Brosnan and DTE officials attended the council meeting to share their views on the matter. My main takeaways:
-DTE continues an aggressive tree-trimming program to reduce conflicts with overhead powerlines.
-Where applicable, DTE will work with the city to bury power lines in places where roadsides are already opened up for other projects.
-A few instances of upgraded transformers should offer some help.
-Kirksey Recreation Center now identified as a critical facility on DTE's list for power restoration since it is Livonia's designated emergency cooling center. It was a surprise to many of us on Council that this had not already been the case.

Though none of this entirely fixes the problem, each offers some small hope for incremental improvement. Getting DTE to a council meeting to explain what's going on was long overdue. (Ironically, power went out again on the City Hall campus and surrounding neighborhoods the morning following this meeting.)

AUGUST 21st
1. Approved six electric vehicle charging stations: two at the rec center, two at City Hall, and two at Fox Creek Golf Course or Bicentennial Park. Each of these are part of a GM program to expand charging infrastructure. The most critical point for me: the city bears no cost for these charging stations - not for the installation, not for the maintenance, and not for the electricity. In fact, the city will be paid a small commission per kilowatt-hour charged.

2. Offered first read on revisions to the tree ordinance. There are some word changes, and there are some instances where current policies are more explicitly called out in the ordinance language, but passing this ordinance will not change anything from the way we operate today. That's fine because I think our current policies are appropriate; I'm just surprised that after all the time our Tree Committee spent on this, we're essentially right where we started. Council offered first read on Monday, and I'll vote to approve in two weeks, but as I explained in the meeting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atPXTRZBFYM&t=4215s), I don't like making ordinance word changes just for the sake of making changes.

3. I reported out on our August 2nd Finance and Budget Committee meeting in which we discussed the City's financial situation heading into next year's budget and discussed ideas for the Administration to consider in preparing that budget. It's a detailed discussion that I won't fully recap here. Feel free to watch my report-out if you're interested in more details: https://youtu.be/atPXTRZBFYM?feature=shared&t=2498

Council shared two specific requests for the next budget. McCullough reaffirmed his support for a comprehensive capital improvement plan, which is a good idea. I repeated the request I've had virtually every year that I've served on Council: that the Administration get in the habit of setting aside savings each year toward future facility improvements. We know we have aging buildings, and the Administration is already talking about finding new revenue sources (i.e., tax increases) to fund necessary improvements. I emphatically stated that I don't know how we can even begin to talk about going to our residents for more money if we can't demonstrate that we've been setting aside money for this in our annual budget. To be clear, we've done a good job of putting windfalls in savings as they come up, but I want an annual line item in the general fund budget for this. I've asked for this every year, and every year, my request is denied. I'll keep asking for it. We do it in our personal budgets; the City should do the same.

Livonia City Council Regular Meeting - August 21, 2023

Hope you can join us

Notable items from Monday's Regular Meeting of the City Council...

1. An attempt to override the mayor's veto of Council's unanimous decision to keep property tax lookups free failed with only four voting in favor (five votes were needed).

Here's the background on this issue:
-To date, residents have been able to look up property tax information for any Livonia property at no extra charge. In December, Council approved an extension of this service with the understanding that it would continue to be offered free of charge.
-During our July 10 meeting, Treasurer Lynda Scheel alerted Council to the fact that our resolution did not in fact stipulate this service would remain free and that the Administration was moving to add a fee to this service. Council voted unanimously to amend the resolution to ensure the service remained free to residents.
-Since that meeting, Council learned that Mayor Brosnan had asked City Attorney Paul Bernier in April whether this fee could be added without council approval. He told her it could since our December resolution did not stipulate it should be free.
-We also learned that the Administration emailed several city department heads in late June with detailed plans for adding this fee beginning August 1, but Council was excluded from this email.
-At 4:45 on Monday (just over two hours before our council meeting), the mayor issued a veto of Council's unanimous decision to keep this service free of charge.
-I motioned to override the veto, but Jim Jolly, Laura Toy, and Brandon McCullough flipped their votes from two weeks ago and voted not to override the veto, paving the way for this fee to be added on August 1.

My position on this is that council approval should always be required to raise taxes or fees on our citizens. We are the people's representatives to approve budgets and expenditures. Without that, any mayor or department head can unilaterally add fees on residents for all kinds of services without public input.

In this particular case, I actually think some kind of fee structure for non-residents is worthy of discussion and might have received council approval had it been transparently presented to us. However, because the Administration chose not to involve Council, the only reason we (or you) found out about it is because Lynda Scheel brought it to our attention. Every taxpayer in Livonia should thank Scheel for looking out for their interests.

I am very disappointed in my three colleagues who switched their votes on this despite publicly expressing similar concerns. Fortunately, Councilman Rob Donovic put in committee the subject of Council's role in approving fees, and that passed unanimously. Maybe we can rectify this situation after that discussion, but for now, the Administration has succeeded in adding an additional cost to residents who seek this publicly available information that is already paid for with their tax dollars.

For those interested in the detailed (and long) discussion, I've included the link here: https://youtu.be/z5EdoNwbVrc?t=433

2. Approved allowing Canton Summit members to use the Kirksey Recreation Center with Canton Township reimbursing Livonia for those users' day rates while their pool is being repaired. We do not expect a large number of people to take advantage of this.

Livonia City Council Regular Meeting - July 24, 2023