Spin Scooters Banished, Tree Maintenance Approved by City Council

The city is taking action to keep electric scooters out of the Red Cedar River by revoking a scooter company’s license to operate in East Lansing, a decision made at the Tuesday (March 5) City Council meeting. 

The meeting also saw the city’s labor counsel explain that changes are being made to the text of the regulating ordinance of the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission (ELIPOC) due to litigation between the city and a police union. The changes to the ordinance specify that ELIPOC does not play a role in disciplining officers, a role the commission has not played. 

Additionally, Council approved a contract that will pay for proactive measures to care for trees in the city and added two budget work sessions to be held in April. 

Spin’s license to operate in East Lansing pulled after hundreds of scooters removed from the Red Cedar River. 

Council voted to permanently revoke electric scooter company Spin’s license to operate in the city, largely because the scooters are being thrown into the Red Cedar River and the company is not taking enough action to protect the waterway. The scooters can often be seen on city sidewalks, as users purchase them for rides and then park them on sidewalks once they are finished. 

President and Founder of Michigan Waterways Stewards Mike Stout has previously spoken about the harm Spin scooters have done to the river, as his organization has removed 225 scooters from the Red Cedar River since the beginning of November, 2022. Speaking at the meeting, Stout estimated 191 of those scooters belonged to Spin, and he is uncertain how many are still in the river. 

“Our retrieval rate far exceeds Spin’s reported loss rate,” he said, adding Spin declined his group’s offer for help.

The lithium batteries that power Spin scooters contaminating the river is a concern to Stout. 

“Lithium batteries are regulated as a hazardous material under the U.S. Department of Transportation,” Stout said. “There are specific rules regulating their disposal. The abandonment of Spin scooters in the Red Cedar River is not an accepted practice.”

Stout advocated for Spin to have its license revoked.

“Ultimately, Spin is solely responsible for all matters regarding their products and their company’s performance,” he said. 

On the business agenda, Council opted to pull Spin’s license to operate in the city. City Attorney Anthony Chubb explained this was a process started when City Manager Robert Belleman issued a license revocation to Spin on Sept. 28, 2023. Spin appealed and Hearing Officer Thomas Lapka was appointed to oversee the appeal. 

In addition to the scooters being routinely found in the river, Lapka found that Spin had violated its license by not removing the scooters between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., by deploying scooters in improper areas and impeding sidewalk or crosswalk access. With these findings, Lapka found it proper to permanently revoke Spin’s license. 

Councilmember Mark Meadows asked if there are other actions the city can take because of the lithium batteries being disposed in the river. 

“That is separate and distinct from this item,” Chubb replied. “But yes, I know that [Environmental Sustainability and Resilience Manager] Cliff [Walls] and several other of the community members are working on that and trying to determine who would have jurisdiction for seeking bigger sanctions as a result of what was found in the river.”

Councilmember Dana Watson was the only vote against revoking Spin’s license. She explained she does not want to permanently bar the company from operating in the city and would prefer a five-to-seven year suspension. 

Mayor George Brookover offered a differing perspective.

“Somebody dumped over 200 of their scooters in the Red Cedar River,” he said. “I’m not interested in doing business with somebody any longer that allowed that to happen.”

Brookover added that Spin has filed for bankruptcy, which is why the city did not levy a financial penalty. 

Ultimately, Council voted 4-1 to permanently ban Spin from operating in the city. The company will have a week to collect their scooters from city streets, then the city will begin impounding them. 

Dispute between police union and ELIPOC brings textual changes to ordinance regulating commission. 

On the consent agenda, there was a first reading for amendments to ELIPOC regulations. The changes specify that ELIPOC does not weigh-in on disciplinary action towards officers, a role the commission has never played. 

Councilmember Dana Watson, who serves as a Council liaison to ELIPOC, requested that someone explain why these changes were being made. Chubb said the changes were a result of pending litigation and called on the city’s labor counsel Gouri Sashital to explain the background. 

Sashital explained there is a pending dispute between the city and the Capitol City Labor Program non-supervisory unit, a police union, about if how ELIPOC operates is subjective to collective bargaining with the union. 

“The city’s position is that they are not, the union’s position is that they are,” she said. “The city filed an unfair labor practice with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission in 2022 to seek clarification from that body as to whether or not there is a bargaining obligation over aspects of [EL]IPOC, and in connection with that disputed matter… one of the main disputes between the parties is whether or not [EL]IPOC has disciplinary authority over members of the police department. Because, the law requires bargaining if there’s a body that has disciplinary authority over bargaining unit members.”

Sashital added that disciplinary power over police has never been a function of ELIPOC, but that there is ambiguity in the ordinance establishing the commission. The changes being made clarify ELIPOC does not have disciplinary authority.

Councilmember Erik Altmann, Meadows and Watson all voiced concerns about communications surrounding the move, as it was not stated in the agenda report that the litigation was the reason for the changes. Because of the legal nature of the matter, Meadows, who is also a liaison to ELIPOC, said he was unsure what he could say to commissioners about the changes.

Communication between Council and ELIPOC was an issue recently, when commission reappointments were left off an agenda they were expected to appear on. It was later explained it was just an organizational decision and the reappointments would be done at the next meeting, but multiple commissioners voiced displeasure with the lack of communication around the move. 

The second reading for the ordinance will take place at Council’s March 19 meeting. If approved, the changes to the ordinance’s text would be made. ELIPOC will discuss the changes at its meeting tonight. (March 6)

Nearly $250,000 to be dedicated towards caring for city trees. 

Council unanimously voted to award $246,547 to Top Notch Tree Care, LLC for tree care services. 

The decision signals a change in the city’s urban forestry approach. Top Notch Tree Care will provide maintenance for roughly 15% of the city’s street trees (1,200 trees) each year for a seven-year cycle. This way, every tree on city land is examined over the cycle, instead of just responding to resident pruning requests or hazardous trees. 

“The goal of this is to make sure there is expert eyes on every tree on a routine cycle, and to make sure we’re giving them the best shot to grow to maturity,” Walls said. “We have plenty of these trees that don’t get trained when they’re young… 50 years later they fail at the ultimate point of benefit for the community.”

Walls said the contract amount is a spending limit and the actual cost will likely be lower. He added that the approach is “efficient” and “cost effective.”

While pruning is the maintenance method specified in the agenda report, Walls said best-practice, proactive measures will be used. 

“We want to be very clear with people that this is not what they’re used to hearing when they hear pruning, this is tree care,” Walls said. “Pruning is a component of that, but this is not something necessarily to be scared of.”

Residents will be notified before a tree near their home is pruned by mailers and likely door hangers. The program is to care for trees on city property, not in resident’s yards. Additionally, a map of trees being maintained will be posted to the city website, Walls said. 

Brookover offered a lighthearted warning to Walls before voting in favor of the contract. 

“Cliff, I love you like a son but if you show up and you do anything to that Princeton Elm that you planted in my front right-of-way, we’re going to have some words,” he said. 

Two budget work sessions approved for April.

At the end of the meeting, Council approved budget work sessions to be held at 5 p.m. on April 16 and 23, before scheduled Council meetings. 

Council will next convene on Tuesday, March 12 for a discussion-only meeting.