Spring Arbor Township Board Minutes: January 13, 2003

The regular meeting of the Spring Arbor Township Board was held Monday, January 13, 2003, at 7:30 p.m., with the following members present: Supervisor Willard DeGraaf, Clerk Randi DeVries, Treasurer Gloria Melchiori, Trustees Marston Fortress, Troy Ganton, Patricia Short and Brent Williams. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Supervisor DeGraaf.

Guests were: Russ Ratkiewicz, Mike Justian and Dick Greenslade.

Public Comment: Public comment opened at 7:33 p.m. There was no public comment.

Minutes. Minutes of the regular meeting of December 9 were approved on motion by Ganton and support by Williams; carried. Minutes of the special meeting of December 10 were approved on motion by Fortress and support by Ganton; carried. Motion was made by Short and supported by Fortress to send a letter of appreciation to June Dodd for her offer of supervising the care of the garden at the Senior Center; carried.

Financial Report. The financial report for the month was received on motion by Williams and support by DeVries, showing the following balances as of December 31:

General Cash Fund                           $182,340.26
Certificate of Deposit                         385,532.30
Fire Operations Cash                           (2,982.38)
Fire Operations CD                             33,000.00
Street Light Fund                               (7,234.80)
Public Improvement Fund                      (4,323.80)
P.I.F. Certificate of Deposit                  74,483.83
Building Inspection Fund                      28,844.88
Falling Waters Endowment Fund              1,653.46
Falling Waters Endowment Fund CD         6,000.00
Sewer Funds                                  1,422.047.85
Water Funds                                    196,137.85
Trust & Agency Funds                                 0.00
Current Taxes                                    763,073.29
motion carried.

Expenditures. Motion was made by Short and supported by DeVries to approve the following expenditures: General Fund vouchers #38664-38823 totaling $60,719.21, including the Pension Plan Contribution (by wire transfer) of $2,146.03; Fire Department Fund vouchers #38666-38821 totaling $30,288.37, including the Fire Department Pension Plan contribution (by wire transfer) of $344.27; Street Light Fund expenditures totaling $2,696.84; Public Improvement Fund voucher #38817 totaling $15,200.00; Building Inspection Fund expenditures totaling $4,313.95, including the Pension Plan contribution (by wire transfer) of $34.07; Sewer Receiving Fund disbursements of $600.42; Sewer O&M Fund expenditures totaling $123,743.00; and Water O&M Fund expenditures totaling $2,195.45 Roll; call: 7 yes.

BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:

Sewer & Water Committee. Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Williams to approve the minutes of the November 18, 2002 meeting of the Sewer and Water Committee; carried.

Planning Commission. Motion was made by DeVries and supported by Williams to approve the minutes of the December 3 meeting of the Planning Commission; carried.

POLICE/FIRE ACTIVITY:

Police and Fire Report. There were 54 medical rescue runs, two fire alarms, no mutual aid calls, 10 fire runs, one carbon monoxide incident and no bomb threats during December. Police statistics include: 178 complaints, 31 accidents, 58 tickets, 21 verbal warnings, 6 arrests and 16 back-up calls to other departments.

Chief Ratkiewicz reported that the year to date totals were slightly higher in 2002 than in 2001, although the activity did slow down in December. Motion was made by Williams and supported by Short to accept the police report.

Chief Greenslade reported that activity for the fire department increased approximately 20% over the previous year, with December being the busiest one they have had in some time. The Chief also reported on a rescue from a creek on Moscow Rd., discussing the extra effort put in by the fire department. Motion was made by Williams and supported by Ganton to accept the fire report; carried.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Approval of Summer Tax Agreements. Motion was made by Melchiori and supported by Short to approve the summer tax agreements; carried.

B. MACI Sewer Allocation. The Supervisor discussed the letter and contract received from the City of Jackson regarding the increase in sewer allocation specifically for the MACI plant. Motion was made by Short and supported by Fortress to accept the letter and contract from the City of Jackson, and to authorize the Supervisor and Clerk to sign the contract. Roll Call: 7 yes. Clerk DeVries discussed the perpetuity charge in which MACI agrees to pay a specific amount annually, but the township did not have an agreement with the City of Jackson to pay a specific amount on an annual basis. The Supervisor was requested to discuss the fluctuation in perpetuity charges with MACI.

C. Senior Center-Kitchen Renovation. Motion was made by Short and supported by Fortress to approve the cost of $2,375.00 to install a new sink, faucet, disposal and Plexiglas wall shield through Bob Boss Construction, LLC. Roll Call: 7 Yes.

D. Cemetery Fee Increase/Perpetual Care Fund Establishment. The board members discussed the comparison report presented by the Supervisor showing charges by other townships for grave site sales and open/close fees in their cemeteries. Those municipalities having a perpetual care fund were listed also. The Clerk and the Treasurer opposed the perpetual care fund citing several reasons to not implement the fund. Motion was made by Short and supported by Williams to increase the grave site fee in the cemetery from $50.00 to $200.00 effective January 14, 2003; carried. Trustee Fortress asked how many lots were available for sale in the cemetery. Supervisor DeGraaf also presented some language to be included in the cemetery ordinance. Trustee Williams suggested that the language may not be necessary as the township would be covered through the insurance policy. The Supervisor was asked to contact the insurance company to determine if the township was covered for losses, and to pursue the amendment to the cemetery ordinance with the appropriate language as necessary.

E. Contracts for Inspectors. Motion was made by Short and approved by Fortress to table the approval of the contracts for the inspectors until the February board meeting; carried.

F. Approval of Compensation for Deputy Clerk. Motion was made by Short and supported by Fortress to approve an hourly wage of $10.00 per hour for the deputy clerk. Roll Call: 7 Yes.

G. Water Expansion Plan. Trustee Williams discussed the proposed project cost for a water expansion plan in Spring Arbor Township. Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Short to approve the concept of the water expansion plan, and with approval from the township attorney to borrow funds for the expansion from the Sewer Fund if necessary; carried.

H. Park Grant Application Request. Clerk DeVries discussed a potential grant through Able To Play, an organization funded by W.K. Kellogg Foundation for playgrounds. Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Short to approve the request to write a grant application to Able To Play; carried.

REPORTS:

A. MTA E-News for January 2003. The MTA E-News for January included information regarding the annual conference, publishing requirements, new poverty guidelines, uniform traffic code model ordinance, salary surveys, mileage rate decrease, new township web sites, other workshops and how to email the MTA.

B. Report of Strategic Planning Goal #1. Goal #1, to expand the sewer and water system in the township, was assigned to the Supervisor. The Sewer & Water Committee have been working on the water e4xpansion plan as discussed under New Business by Trustee Williams.

C. Report of Strategic Planning Goal #4. Goal #4, to increase police involvement in the local schools, was assigned to Police Chief Ratkiewicz. Chief Ratkiewicz has been unable to pursue this due to lack of funds. The board members concurred that this goal should be considered inactive until funds are available.

D. Report of Strategic Planning Goal #10. Goal #10, to analyze the township office operations, was assigned to the Clerk. The Clerk had prepared a list of suggestions previously, and it was agreed that those suggestions would be discussed at the next staff meeting on January 21, 2003.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Building Permit Report. The report of the building permits issued during the month of December showed new homes and miscellaneous permits for a total value of $902,000.00

Assessing/Building Report. During the month of December, permits for five new homes were issued, for a total of 50 this year, eight ahead of last year, a 19% increase. The Assessor is working on having the assessment roll ready by February 14, with 390 new parcels for this year for a total of 3,667 parcels.

Supervisor’s Report. Advised the board: of the status of ongoing projects; of the request from MACI for an increase in sewer allocation’ of a bid for installing a new sink area at the Senior Center; of a newsletter from OMM Engineering; of a recommendation to increase the cemetery fees and create a perpetual care fund; of an issue with a mobile home extending on township property, and; of a recommendation to approve the contracts for the inspectors.

Z.B.A. Meeting of December. The Zoning Board of Appeals meeting in December had two variance requests, both regarding signs and requested by Lloyd Ganton. The first variance was for a new sign at Arbor Oaks with approximately a 30 square foot area. The second variance was for a new sign at Arbor Meadows with approximately a 45 square foot area. Both variances were approved.

Planning Commission. Unapproved minutes of the Planning Commission of January 7 included a site plan review from John Lucas for Cambria Site Condominiums on Dearing Rd., a site plan review from Ken Moe for a storage building on Sandstone Rd., and a site plan review from Kowach, Inc. for Village Green on Chapel Rd.

Sewer & Water Committee. Unapproved minutes of the Sewer & Water Committee of December 16 included discussion of the water expansion plan for Spring Arbor Township and preliminary cost estimates of the project.

CORRESPONDENCE:

No correspondence.

PUBLIC/BOARD COMMENT—GENERAL: 9:40 p.m.

Supervisor DeGraaf. The Supervisor discussed a potential change to the Falling Waters Endowment Fund as requested by Beverly Cunningham, to include the Veteran’s Memorial and the School House Restoration Project. The Supervisor also reminded the board members of the next budget meeting scheduled for Monday, January 20, 2003 at 6:30 p.m. The office furniture is expected to be in around mid-February and the Supervisor expects to close the office for a day to install and move furniture.

Trustee Ganton. Trustee Ganton asked of the staff meetings scheduled for Monday mornings worked well for the staff. The issue was discussed and the staff meeting was changed to Tuesday mornings.

Adjournment. Adjournment at 10:00 p.m. on motion by Short and support by Ganton; carried.