Spring
Arbor Township Board Minutes, 01.09.06
The
regular meeting of the Spring Arbor Township Board was held Monday,
January 9, 2006, at 7:00 p.m., with the following members present:
Supervisor Will DeGraaf, Clerk Randi Holthouse, Treasurer Gloria
Melchiori, Trustees Marston Fortress, Troy Ganton, Patricia Short
and Brent Williams. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Supervisor
DeGraaf.
Guests
were: Stan Lyon, Robert Elliott, Tim McEldowney, Russ Ratkiewicz,
Steve Rand, Judy Reynolds and Jim Buck.
Public
Comment: Public comment opened at 7:02 p.m.
Judy
Reynolds, County Commissioner, commented on the newly elected County
Board Chairman, Steve Shotwell, her appointments as Chair of County
Agencies and liaison to Township Supervisors, the appointment of
Phil Duckham to replace John Day, the Woolworth building put up
for sale by the county, the county becoming a member of the Upper
Grand River Watershed Council, income amounts for the county parks,
restoration efforts for the Cascades lagoons, the Friend of the
Court Advisory Committee, drunk driving arrests in 2005, and a 2006
taxable value increase of 3.3%.
Robert
Elliott, County Administrator, addressed the board regarding his
past experiences with Emergency Management Disaster Plans and the
changes to the county’s plan since his arrival a year ago. Additionally,
Lt. Steve Rand, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, discussed the
county’s plan and answered questions from the board members. Mr.
Elliott also discussed the county facility operations, noting that
they reduced the county fleet by 30 vehicles in 2005 and plan to
cut another 30 in 2006. They are looking to reduce the number
of employees through attrition rather than lay-offs and are looking
at cost reductions without a reduction in service
Expenditures.
Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Williams
to approve the following expenditures for December 2005: General
Fund expenditures #42886-43021 totaling $47,634.84; Fire Department
Fund expenditures #42887-43021 totaling $32,656.99; Street Light
Fund expenditures totaling $3,178.24; Public Improvement Fund expenditures
totaling $192.43; Building Inspection Fund expenditures totaling
$4,302.66; Sewer Receiving Fund expenditures of $0.00; Sewer O &
M Fund expenditures totaling $40,556.24; and Water O & M Fund
expenditures totaling $6,494.55. Roll call: 7 yes.
Consent
Agenda. Motion was made by Fortress and supported
by Williams to approve the following items under the consent agenda
consisting of the regular board meeting minutes of December 12,
2005, financial reports for December 2005, Budget Committee minutes
of October 19, 2005, Planning Commission minutes of December 6,
2005, and Sewer & Water Committee minutes of November 28, 2005;
carried. The financial report showed the following balances as
of December 31:
General
Fund Cash
$74,385.87
Certificate
of Deposit
200,052.40
Fire
Operations Cash
(13,875.42)
Fire
Operations CD
100,027.18
Street
Light Fund (6,933.46)
Public Improvement Fund
40,000.00
P.I.F.
Certificate of Deposit
26,352.20
Building
Inspection Fund
3,305.31
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund
0.00
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund CD
27,677.75
Sewer
Funds 1,272,969.94
Water
Funds
287,937.06
Trust
& Agency Funds
0.00
Current
Taxes 451,338.51
REPORTS:
A.
Police and Fire Report. There
were 46 medical rescue runs, five fire alarms, four mutual aid calls,
seven fire runs, and no carbon monoxide incidents, bomb threats
or Hazmat responses during December. Police statistics include:
180 complaints, 21 accidents, 30 tickets, 21 verbal warnings, six
arrests,
four semis ticketed and nine back-up calls to other departments.
Chief
Ratkiewicz reported that the month of December was relatively quiet
for the department. Responses to accidents were down from a year
ago. In November, the police department received a
check
for $1,800 from the Village & Township Police Association.
Chief
McEldowney reported that their totals were also down from a year
ago for a total of 602. 128 calls were for fire runs and the rest
were medical in nature. Mutual aid calls were up significantly
compared to the prior year. The department will be participating
in disaster training at the airport along with other townships in
the county. He also discussed a meeting he would be attending
the following evening regarding a program called automatic mutual
aid.
Motion
was made by Holthouse and supported by Williams to accept the police
and fire reports; carried.
B.
MTA E-News for January 2006. Received the January
issue of the MTA E-News.
C.
Supervisor’s Report . Advised the board: of the
status of ongoing projects and zoning violations; of the status
of revenue sharing; of an agreement to provide well abandonment
access to Summit Township; of the rates for the Jackson County
Fleet Garage; of a traffic study done at M-60 and Moscow Rd.; and,
of the result of the King Rd. water case before the Michigan Tax
Tribunal. The Supervisor noted that Mr. Laymon may appeal the
courts decision favoring the Township. In the first 21 days he
is guaranteed that a judge would review the appeal. After that
he has 365 days to file an appeal, but is not guaranteed that the
appeal would be considered. A budget meeting was established for
the entire board, to be held on Thursday, January 12, 2006 at 4:00
p.m.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
NEW
BUSINESS:
A.
Summit Township Well Abandonment Access Agreement.
Motion was made by Short and supported by Holthouse to approve the
Well Abandonment Access Agreement with Summit Township; carried.
B.
License Fee for Telecommunication Facilities. A
recommendation was presented from the Zoning Administrator to establish
a fee of $400.00 to cover the costs of administering telecommunication
facilities. The board members discussed attorney fees related
to the subject matter. Motion was made by Fortress and supported
by Williams that the board establish a fee of $500.00 to administer
the Telecommunications Ordinance; carried.
C.
MACI Lift Station. The Sewer & Water Committee
recommended that a bid be awarded to N. R. Mitchell Company for
two pumps for the MACI Lift Station at a cost not to exceed $30,000.00
and would include “soft start”. The motion coming from the committee
was supported by Ganton. Roll Call: 7 yes.
MISCELLANEOUS:
Building
Permit Report. The report of building permits issued
during the month of December showed new homes and miscellaneous
permits for a total value of $1,152,000.00.
Assessing/Building
Report. During the month of December, five new home
permits were issued, for a total of 54 this year. Mr. Renner attended
the Planning Commission meeting regarding the zoning ordinance text
amendments.
Sewer
& Water Committee. Minutes of the December 19,
2005 meeting of the Sewer & Water Committee included MACI Lift
Station bids for pumps and labor, a new chemical plant near MACI,
Parma/Sandstone sewer routed through Spring Arbor lagoons, the Laymon
appeal, and overrun of costs on the King Rd. Water Project.
Planning
Commission. Minutes of the January 3 meeting of the
Planning Commission were received.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Thank-you note to fire department from the Greenslade’s.
Thank-you note to fire department from the Richard Hood family.
Newspaper article about fire department charitable activity.
Letters dated 12/13 and 12/29 from Comcast regarding channel line
ups.
Various thank-you letters to decorating committee and others.
PUBLIC
AND/OR BOARD COMMENT: Public comment opened at 8:26 p.m.
Judy Reynolds. Judy Reynolds commented
that the township had 10 tax foreclosures (property) in December.
Trustee Short. Trustee Short thanked the
Clerk for all the thank you letters.
Trustee Ganton. Trustee Ganton commented
that all of the Christmas decorations have been taken down and reminded
board members to thank Mel Rice.
Trustee
Fortress. Trustee Fortress asked for a contact name
and phone number for Comcast regarding their changes to the channel
line up that vary between Jackson and Spring Arbor. He also brought
up personnel issues that the board discussed a few months ago, and
suggested that the board go back and pay Barb Pohanka for the two
hours she was gone one afternoon when Will gave her the approval
to go. Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Short to pay
Barb Pohanka for two hours of time when she was gone from the office;
carried. Three no votes were cast.
Public
comment closed at 8:31 p.m.
Adjournment.
Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Williams
to adjourn the meeting at 8:32 p.m.; carried.
Randi
Holthouse, Township Clerk
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