Highland Park council accepts $45,000 youth-employment grant, approves fourth-quarter budget amendment and adds two police vehicles

Highland Park — The Highland Park City Council voted Monday to accept a $45,000 grant from Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network to fund the city’s summer youth employment program and approved related fourth-quarter budget amendments, then later approved purchasing two police vehicles as a walk-on item.

The council accepted the grant and moved the walk-on resolution onto the administration agenda as item 7b. Councilwoman Monika (Manuka/Manneka; recorded as Manuka) moved the acceptance; roll call on the grant resolution was recorded as: Councilman Ashafi — Yes; Councilwoman Martin — Yes; Councilwoman Manuka — Yes; Council Pro Tem Robinson — Yes; Council President Thomas — Yes. The resolution approves the acceptance of $45,000 from Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network to fund the summer youth program.

The acceptance followed a separate vote to approve a proposed general-fund budget amendment for the fourth quarter ending June 30, 2025. Council voted on the budget amendment (item 7a) with these roll-call results: Councilman Ashafi — Yes; Councilwoman Martin — Yes; Councilwoman Manuka — Yes; Council Pro Tem Robinson — No; Council President Thomas — Yes. The amendment package included an increase of $6,000 recorded for summer youth program expenditures in the general fund and line-item notes that building/property revenue exceeded budget in the property fund by roughly $235,000; combined revisions left a net fund-balance reduction of about $35,000 in the property fund as presented to council.

Council members and staff discussed several line items during the budget debate, including legal expenditures, settlements and technology costs (the packet noted a server migration cost to the cloud). Council asked for more breakdowns of the amended items and confirmation that the summer youth expenditures tied to the $45,000 grant would be fully reimbursed by the third-party payer named in the grant agreement.

On staffing for the youth program, city council discussed the number of hires. The packet and remarks from the administration indicated the 2025 summer program planned to hire around 20 participants; council recorded that figure during the roll call on the grant resolution.

Later in the meeting the council approved a walk-on resolution to purchase two new police vehicles from Gorno (Gorno/Garno recorded variants) Ford under the state MyDeal program. The motion to buy two 2025 vehicles for $93,770 and to permit upfitting at a cost not to exceed $20,000 passed by roll call: Councilman Ashafi — Yes; Councilwoman Martin — Yes; Councilwoman Manuka — Yes; Council Pro Tem Robinson — Yes; Council President Thomas — Yes. Council staff said vehicles were budgeted as capital outlay and that the purchase was intended to reduce maintenance costs and improve fleet uptime.

Votes at a glance - Agenda amendments (adding summer youth grant and two police vehicles as walk-ons): motion carried (roll call recorded in transcript). - 7a — Resolution approving fourth-quarter budget amendments (ending 06/30/2025): motion carried (Ashafi, Martin, Manuka, Thomas Yes; Robinson No). - 7b — Resolution accepting $45,000 from Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network for the summer youth employment program: motion carried (unanimous recorded Yes). - 12 — Resolution to purchase two 2025 police vehicles from Gorno Ford for $93,770 plus upfitting not to exceed $20,000: motion carried (unanimous recorded Yes).

Why it matters: The $45,000 grant funds summer wages for about 20 young residents and required the council to amend the fiscal-year accounts to reflect additional grant revenue and related expenditures. The police-vehicle purchase uses capital funds set aside for fleet replacement and reduces reliance on aging, high-maintenance patrol cars.

What’s next: Administration staff said the summer employment agreement and any resulting budget transactions would be implemented in the coming weeks; the vehicles will proceed to procurement and upfitting as allowed by the MyDeal purchase program and the city’s capital plan.