Spring
Arbor Township Board Minutes: January 10, 2005
The
regular meeting of the Spring Arbor Township Board was held Monday,
January 10, 2005, at 7:30 p.m., with the following members present:
Supervisor Will DeGraaf , Clerk Randi Holthouse, Treasurer Gloria
Melchiori , Trustees Marston Fortress, Troy Ganton, and Brent Williams.
Trustee Patricia Short arrived at 7:33 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance
was led by Supervisor DeGraaf.
Guests
were: Stan Lyon, Lynn Kusiak, Carrie Valdivia, Greg Gallagher, Russ
Ratkiewicz , Judy Reynolds, Tim McEldowney, Brandt Prentice, Jeff
Kurfess, and James Videto.
Public
Comment: Public comment opened at 7:34 p.m.
Judy
Reynolds, County Commissioner, discussed the lagoon project at Cascades
Park, two grants for the walkway and well in Cascades Park, completion
of the bandshell by the Rotary Club in Cascades Park and revenue
sources. Public comment closed at 7:42 p.m.
Expenditures.
Motion was made by Short and supported by Ganton
to approve the following expenditures for December 2004: General
Fund vouchers #41531-41675 totaling $43,601.50; Fire Department
Fund vouchers #41532-41628 totaling $25,681.08; Street Light Fund
expenditures totaling $2,956.67; Public Improvement Fund expenditures
totaling $2,500.00; Building Inspection Fund expenditures totaling
$4,202.25; Sewer Receiving Fund disbursements of $0.00; Sewer O
& M Fund expenditures totaling $20,142.19; and Water O &
M Fund expenditures totaling $2,867.00. 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 meeting minutes of December 13, 2004,
special board meeting minutes of December 20, 2004, the financial
report for December 2004, Planning Commission minutes of December
7 and December 14, 2004, and the Senior Center Advisory Board minutes
of December 14, 2004; carried. The financial report showed the
following balances as of December 31:
General
Fund Cash
$(18,899.76)
Certificate
of Deposit
197,860.84
Fire
Operations Cash
29,022.02
Fire
Operations CD
30,349.70
Street
Light Fund 8,685.36)
Public Improvement Fund
(1,500.00)
P.I.F.
Certificate of Deposit
114,566.17
Building
Inspection Fund
58,867.52
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund
(973.42)
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund CD
11,667.37
Sewer
Funds 1,320,243.35
Water
Funds 183,630.10
Trust
& Agency Funds
0.00
Current
Taxes 1,012,830.60.
REPORTS:
A.
Police and Fire Report. There were 44 medical rescue
runs, three fire alarms, three mutual aid calls, eight fire runs,
one carbon monoxide incident, and no bomb threats or Hazmat responses
during December. Police statistics include: 170 complaints, 26
accidents, 58 tickets, 28 verbal warnings, 12 arrests, one semi
ticketed and 10 back-up calls to other departments.
Chief
Ratkiewicz reported a slight increase of 1% in calls comparing 2003
to 2004. The department has passed the state audit of the LIEN
records and will be making some suggested improvements to the system.
The Chief was also out for two weeks for surgery during the month
of December. Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Fortress
to accept the police report; carried.
Chief
McEldowney reported that the department had a good year overall.
The runs increased by 17 to 621. They saw a huge decrease
in grass fires with seven during 2004 and 40 the prior year. The
department assisted on two mutual aid calls for house fires on Christmas
Eve and Christmas day. They also sponsored a family for Christmas
through the American Red Cross and are starting to work on raising
money for the Relay For Life. He also reported that two new volunteers
for the fire department are fully trained. Motion was made by
Ganton and supported by Williams to accept the fire report; carried.
B.
Strategic Planning Goal #1. Goal #1, assigned to
Supervisor DeGraaf, is to expand the sewer and water systems.
The Supervisor reported that they are working on expanding the water
systems although it is time-consuming. Working with residents
is important.
C.
Strategic Planning Goal #10. Goal #10, assigned
to Clerk Holthouse, is to analyze the township office operations.
A report was not available.
D.
Supervisor’s Report. Advised the board: of the
status of ongoing projects; of the recommendation to reappoint members
to the Board of Review; of the status of the township revenue sharing
received; of an agreement for police training; of the sewer system
annual report; of Recovery Technology; of an increase in mileage
allowance by the IRS; of a township agreement regarding a border
property of the cemetery; and, of an article in the local newspaper
regarding Geoffrey Cope.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
A.
Recovery Technology, LLC. Representatives from
Recovery Technology were present and explained the purpose of the
organization. Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Short
that we commend Mr. Gallagher for his vision and ambition and that
we support the project for the two homes in Arbor Village; carried.
B.
L. Ganton/ Spring Arbor Twp . Property Agreement.
Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Williams to accept
the letters from Ganton Retirement Centers dated August 4, 2004
and October 25, 2004 as pertaining to the use of the property and
that the records remain as currently established; carried. The
letters refer to an agreement to leave the trees in place (next
to Arbor Manor on cemetery property) and build a fence on the east
side of the trees, with Arbor Manor providing water to the center
of the cemetery at no charge for the water usage.
C.
King Rd. Water Project. Motion was made by Short
and supported by Williams to approve the resolution for the special
assessments related to the King Rd. Water Project. Roll Call:
7 yes. Motion was made by Williams and supported by Fortress to
approve the resolution for the bond contract. Roll Call: 7 yes.
D.
Harmony Rd. Property. Motion was made by Short
and supported by Holthouse to authorize the Supervisor, in consultation
with Trustee Fortress, to choose either five years at 3.85% or seven
years at 3.98%, whichever is the better choice, or to consider an
outright purchase. Roll Call: 7 yes. Motion was made by Fortress
and supported by Ganton to approve the purchase agreement. Roll
Call: 7 yes.
NEW
BUSINESS:
A.
Approval of agreements for summer tax collection.
Motion was made by Melchiori and supported by Ganton to approve
the requests to collect the summer tax and authorize the Clerk and
Supervisor to sign the agreements; carried.
B.
Conditional Use Permit C04-7 - William & Carmen Bradley.
Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Williams to
accept the recommendation of the Planning Commission and approve
the Conditional Use Permit requested by William & Carmen Bradley
for parking business trucks on property located at 205 S. Harrington
Rd., Parma, Spring Arbor Township; carried.
C.
Board of Review Appointments. Motion was made by
Ganton and supported by Williams to approve the reappointments of
Gordon Holton, Shane Williams and Melvin Rice to the Board of Review
with terms expiring December 31, 2006; carried.
D.
Police Training Agreement. Motion was made by Fortress
and supported by Ganton to approve the police training agreement
with the Southern Michigan Criminal Justice Training Consortium.
Roll Call: 7 yes.
E.
Mileage Reimbursement. Motion was made by Fortress
and supported by Short to approve the increase to .405 cents for
mileage reimbursement per Internal Revenue Service guidelines; carried.
F.
Deputy Clerk Resignation. Motion was made by Fortress
and supported by Williams to accept the resignation of Chris Humberger,
Deputy Clerk with regrets; carried.
G.
Extra Hours for Deputy Treasurer. Motion was made
by Fortress and supported by Williams to approve 1.25 extra hours
for the Deputy Treasurer; carried.
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 $845,000.00.
Assessing/Building
Report. During the month of December, one new home
permit was issued, for a total of 69 year to date. The Assessor
reported that two new applications for home permits have already
been received this year. He plans to have the 2005 assessment
roll on schedule.
Z.B.A.
Meeting of December. The Zoning Board of Appeals
had no variance requests in December.
Planning
Commission. Unapproved minutes of the January 4 meeting
of the Planning Commission included discussion and review of a Conditional
Use Permit for William Bradley and proposed amendments to the Zoning
Ordinance.
CORRESPONDENCE:
County
Press article regarding Spring Arbor Fire Department.
Thank-you
note from the Parma-Sandstone Fire Department to the Spring Arbor
Fire Department for their assistance in fighting the Christmas Eve
and Christmas day fires.
Several
letters from Western High School students to the Spring Arbor Police
Department thanking them for their job shadowing experiences.
Letter
of resignation from Chris Humberger, Deputy Clerk, effective January
7, 2005.
PUBLIC/BOARD
COMMENT--GENERAL: Public comment opened
at 8:58 p.m.
Jim
Videto. Jim Videto, County Commissioner, reported
that he is impressed with the new County Administrator. He feels
that he has the right attitude and has a good approach to problem
solving. He expects him to be an asset to Jackson County, and
is already undertaking the 2006 budget.
Judy
Reynolds. Judy Reynolds, County Commissioner, passed
out her business cards and stated that she agrees with fellow Commissioner
Videto regarding his comments of the new County Administrator.
Troy
Ganton. Trustee Ganton asked that thank-you letters
be sent to Mel Rice, Egor from Spring Arbor University, Lloyd Ganton
and Kevin Ganton for their assistance in putting up the Christmas
lights and decorations in the township.
Adjournment.
Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Williams
to adjourn the meeting at 9:02 p.m.; carried.
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