Spring
Arbor Township Board - January 14, 2008
The
regular meeting of the Spring Arbor Township Board was held Monday,
January 14, 2008, at 7:00 p.m., with the following members present:
Supervisor Will DeGraaf, Clerk Randi Holthouse, Treasurer Gloria
Melchiori, Trustees Marston Fortress and Troy Ganton. Trustee Patricia
Short arrived at 7:02 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by the
Supervisor.
Guests
were: Ken Wyatt, Russ Ratkiewicz, Earl Poleski and Stan Lyon.
Public
Comment: Public comment opened at 7:02 p.m.
Earl
Poleski, County Commissioner, reported that the Sheriff’s department
has requested an upgrade to their software and hardware. Funds for
this project would probably be generated from a new 911 surcharge
yet to be determined. The Sheriff’s department also reported that
they are satisfied with the current traffic safety in the county.
The new members of the road commission are now in place and Ken
Straub is the Acting Superintendent of that commission. He also
commented that the county has now closed on the purchase of property
for the new animal shelter, that they will be reevaluating the incinerator
and that they will be looking at the wastewater treatment plant
in Leoni Township.
Expenditures.
Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Holthouse
to approve the following expenditures for December 2007: General
Fund expenditures #45794-45928 totaling $54,655.37; Fire Department
Fund expenditures #45794-45928 totaling $33,296.11; Street Light
Fund expenditure #45794 totaling $3,658.68; Public Improvement Fund
expenditure #45799 totaling $4,475.00; Building Inspection Fund
expenditures #45796-45928 totaling $3,085.70; Sewer O & M Fund
expenditures #45797-45928 totaling $32,402.75; Water O & M Fund
expenditures #45835-45928 totaling $1,851.62; Trust & Agency
fund expenditures #1899-1900 totaling $561.00; Tax Fund expenditures
#4229-4232 totaling $10,538.02; and, Historical Fund expenditure
#45863 totaling $545.00. Roll call: 6 yes.
Minutes.
Motion was made by Williams and supported by Ganton
to approve the regular board meeting minutes of December 10, 2007;
carried. Trustee Short suggested that the job description for the
Zoning Administrator should include a requirement to attend Zoning
Board of Appeals meetings.
Consent
Agenda. Motion was made by Ganton and supported by
Melchiori to approve the following items under the consent agenda
consisting of the financial reports for December 2007; general ledger
report of revenues and expenditures for December 2007; Senior Center
Advisory Board minutes of December 12, 2007; Security Task Force
minutes of January 4, 2008; and, Planning Commission minutes of
January 8, 2008. The financial report showed the following balances
as of December 31:
General
Fund Cash
$24,604.60
Certificate
of Deposit
288,160.01
Fire
Operations Cash
4,190.18
Fire
Operations CD
270,121.00
Street
Light Fund
(10,721.78)
Public
Improvement Fund
0.00
P.I.F.
Certificate of Deposit
33,451.74
Building
Inspection Fund
(397.27)
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund
(545.00)
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund CD
31,038.41
Sewer
Funds
1,113,509.00
Water
Funds
321,135.59
Trust
& Agency Funds
0.00
Current
Taxes
1,047,922.41;
carried.
REPORTS:
A.
Police and Fire Reports. There were 63 medical rescue
runs, four fire alarms, four mutual aid calls, 11 fire runs, and
no carbon monoxide incidents, bomb threats or Hazmat responses during
December. Police statistics include: 167 complaints, 28 accidents,
20 tickets, seven verbal warnings, three arrests, no semis ticketed
and 13 back-up calls to other departments.
The
Chief of Police reported that the month of December finished out
relatively quiet, and that the year, when compared to the prior
year, was down slightly across several categories. The police department
coordinated efforts with County National Bank to help out a family
at Christmas time. They also worked with their local association
to participate in a program called “Shop With A Cop”. Wal-Mart and
Little Ceasar’s were also involved in the community program. The
radios that the Chief was waiting for were received from the Sheriff’s
department through a Homeland Security grant. He also received a
check from the local village and township police association for
$1,500.00 to use towards equipment needs for the department. Thefts
of catalytic converters have seemed to slow down for now.
Motion
was made by Ganton and supported by Fortress to approve the police
and fire reports; carried.
B.
Building Permit Reports. The report of building permits
issued during the month of December showed miscellaneous permits
for a total value of $17,200. No new home permits were issued compared
to six in December 2006, although one commercial building permit
was issued. Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Short to
accept the building permit report; carried.
C.
Supervisor's Report . Advised the board: of the status
of ordinance compliance by cell tower companies; of the report issued
regarding completed road projects in the county using federal funds
and of his recommendation for an improvement to the King Rd. and
Spring Arbor Rd. intersection; of the status of the Parma Township
wastewater system; and, of the status of revenue sharing payments
received. The Supervisor informed the board that Wakefield Ct. is
now a public road as the county has approved all of the changes
to the road. He also distributed a letter to board members regarding
his resignation effective March 31, 2008.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
NEW
BUSINESS:
A.
Road Improvement Plan Change. The Supervisor discussed
his recommended change to the intersection of King Rd. and Spring
Arbor Rd. His recommendation would change the intersection to 90
degrees instead of the existing angle to improve the vision of traffic.
Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Short to approve the
recommendation of the Supervisor regarding the intersection at King
Rd. and Spring Arbor Rd. and to direct the Supervisor to communicate
the desire of the Township; carried.
B.
Security Task Force Recommendations. The Security Task
Force reviewed the recommendations submitted out of Budget Committee.
Those recommendations included a letter from the auditor dated December
12, 2007 with three recommendations, minutes of the Budget Committee
dated December 5, 2007 with nine recommendations, and a listing
of 16 recommendations from the Chief of Police dated November 21,
2007.
Motion
was made by Short and supported by Fortress to accept the following
recommendations in the letter from the auditor dated December 10,
2007:
1,
where it says that a document will be reviewed, verified, approved
and the like, the person doing the review, verification, etc. should
initial and date the document as evidence of the work performed;
and
2, moving the sewer and water fund cash (i.e., checking account)
to County National Bank ; carried. Item number three from the auditor’s
letter will be referred back to the Budget Committee.
Motion
was made by Short and supported by Holthouse to accept the recommendations
in the Budget Committee minutes of December 5, 2007, as follows:
1,
Deposit receipt slips should be verified by the Clerk’s office after
the Treasurer’s office has made the deposit;
2,
The Clerk’s office will be responsible for the issuance of all checks,
the assigning of account numbers and maintaining the invoice and
vendor files. A person other than the check preparer (Supervisor)
should approve all signed checks. This will be done through a log
of all the checks, verifying there is appropriate documentation
for each check and all checks are present sequentially. The Treasurer’s
office will be responsible for mailing the Accounts Payable checks;
3,
An individual should review the bank statement before being given
to the Treasurer. The Clerk can review the bank statement and the
Supervisor can review the bank reconciliation;
4,
Annually, the Township Board should approve the authorized banks
and check signers on record for the Township (April board meeting);
5,
An individual should review all investment statements before being
given to the Treasurer;
6,
Accounting personnel should be subject to a background check before
hiring;
7,
Journal entries should be reviewed by someone other than the preparer;
8,
The cash funds for Sewer and Water should be transferred to the
checking account at County National Bank ;
with
the exception of the last item, number nine; carried. Item number
nine from the December 5, 2007 Budget Committee minutes will be
referred back to the Budget Committee.
Motion
was made by Short and supported by Fortress to accept the following
recommendations in the letter dated November 21, 2007 from the Chief
of Police:
1,
Change the safe combination whenever an employee in the office quits,
including the door key to the vault room;
3,
Have special cash drop envelopes made up to put the cash drops in;
4,
Install a key box in the office area;
11,
Install an outside drop box, via mail slot, so that payments (tax,
sewer and water payments) could be made after hours;
12,
Have criminal, credit history and background checks for new hires;
16,
Have either the State Police or the Sheriff’s department do the
investigation if criminal activity occurs. This will prevent conflict
of interest and a bias-free investigation; carried.
The
remaining items from the Chief of Police’s letter will be referred
to the Budget Committee or the Supervisor and Chief of Police for
review.
C.
Software Upgrade for Metered Water Billing. Treasurer
Melchiori explained that BS&A Software can do an upgrade to
our Utility Billing program to accommodate importing the water meter
reads directly from Summit Township and applying the 10% increase
to it automatically, rather than the billing department doing it
via a spreadsheet. Motion was made by Fortress and supported by
Holthouse to approve the $800 programming fee for the software upgrade
and request that BS&A not hard code the percentage amount, but
instead allow us to put in the percentage amount for the calculation
in the program. Roll Call: 6 yes.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Letters
from Comcast.
Newsletter
from FSC&S, OMM, Par-Plan and the NATaT Report.
Thank-you
letter; newspaper articles.
PUBLIC/BOARD
COMMENT: Public comment opened at 8:00 p.m.
Stan Lyon. Stan Lyon asked if the Supervisor
would be able to procure the flyover for the Memorial Day Parade.
The Supervisor indicated that he is working on it.
Trustee Short. Trustee Short asked if there
were any flooding complications in the Cottage and Second street
areas with the recent snow melt. She also thanked the Supervisor
for his service to the Township.
Treasurer Melchiori. Treasurer Melchiori
indicated that she would be sad to see the Supervisor leave.
Trustee Ganton. Trustee Ganton reported
that Mel Rice, Charlie Ragain, Jim Kohl and himself were the volunteers
for the Christmas decorations.
Clerk Holthouse. Clerk Holthouse reminded
everyone that the following day is Election Day.
Adjournment.
Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Fortress
to adjourn the meeting at 8:04 p.m.; carried.
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