Spring Arbor Board Meeting Minutes:  March 14, 2005                                                           

The regular meeting of the Spring Arbor Township Board was held Monday, March 14, 2005, at 7:30 p.m., with the following members present: Supervisor Will DeGraaf, Clerk Randi Holthouse, Treasurer Gloria Melchiori, Trustees Troy Ganton and Brent Williams.   Trustee Short arrived at 7:33 p.m.   Absent:   Trustee Marston Fortress.   The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Supervisor DeGraaf.

Guests were: Judy Reynolds, Mike Justian, Tim McEldowney, Russ Ratkiewicz, Stan Lyon, Jeff Kurfess, Scott Greenslade, John Asbury and Michelle Asbury.

Public Comment:   Public comment opened at 7:32 p.m.

Judy Reynolds, County Commissioner, commented on the following issues: one foreclosed property (taxes) in Spring Arbor Township; Human Services open house planned for March 23, to tour building; Board of Commissioners met as a committee of the whole with an attorney to discuss Open Meetings Act; County Affairs Committee accepted the five-year recreational plan for the County Parks; possible closing of the facilities garage; a new public act regarding child support payments; yearly report from the Youth Center showing 536 detentions; Jackson Co. Sheriff’s Dept. participating in the program, “A Child Is Missing”; Falling Waters Trail progress; grant for new radio system in the Sheriff’s dept.; and, a proposal from the new County Administrator to change the 2nd floor of the Tower Building into offices.   Public comment closed at 7:47 p.m.

Expenditures.   Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Williams to approve the following expenditures for February 2005: General Fund vouchers #41766-41851 totaling $46,609.63; Fire Department Fund vouchers #41767-41850 totaling $11,498.46; Street Light Fund expenditures totaling $3,778.12; Building Inspection Fund expenditures totaling $4,381.97; Sewer Receiving Fund disbursements of $0.00; Sewer O & M Fund expenditures totaling $51,363.29; and Water O & M Fund expenditures totaling $24,233.64.   Roll call: 6 yes.

Consent Agenda.   Motion was made by Holthouse and supported by Ganton to approve the following items under the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes of February 14, 2005, special board meeting minutes of March 9, 2005, the financial report for February 2005, Park Committee minutes of January 31, 2005, February 7, 14 & 28, 2005, Budget Committee minutes of February 10, 17, & 24, 2005, and March 2 & 8, 2005, and the Senior Center Advisory Board minutes of February 17, 2005; carried.   The financial report showed the following balances as of February 28:

General Fund Cash                                                          $91,374.78

Certificate of Deposit                                                       198,515.81

Fire Operations Cash                                                         88,043.12

Fire Operations CD                                                                  78.54

Street Light Fund                                                                 5,366.34

Public Improvement Fund                                                   (1,500.00)

P.I.F. Certificate of Deposit                                                45,483.51

Building Inspection Fund                                                     59,269.13

Falling Waters Endowment Fund                                              653.84

Falling Waters Endowment Fund CD                                      11,705.99

Sewer Funds                                                                1,337,380.48

Water Funds                                                                    186,554.42

Trust & Agency Funds                                                                0.00

Current Taxes                                                                   845,844.29.

REPORTS:

A.   Police and Fire Report.   There were 38 medical rescue runs, three fire alarms, one mutual aid call, four fire runs, one carbon monoxide incident, and no bomb threats or Hazmat responses during February.   Police statistics include: 153 complaints, 20 accidents, 48 tickets, 25 verbal warnings, eight arrests, one semi ticketed and eight back-up calls to other departments.

      Chief Ratkiewicz reported that the department was busy during the last month and that they are up over last year by 21 calls.   He took part in the Unified Incident Command training, as well as three other officers.   The department has approximately 19 vacation checks to do at this time.   Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Williams to accept the police report; carried.

      Chief McEldowney reported that the department participated in the Unified Incident Command training.   The training program is a federally mandated program to qualify for federal funding.   The department is currently up by about 26 calls compared to last year.   The department is functioning well with interest from a community member to join the department.   He is also starting to do inspections at local businesses to determine where hazardous materials are stored, locate exits, etc. Motion was made by Williams and supported by Ganton to accept the fire report; carried.

B.   MTA E-News for March 2005.   The MTA E-News for March 2005 included information about revenue sharing, record retention schedule, fireworks permits, MTA Policy Platform, Department of Homeland Security Newsletter, Watershed-Based funding opportunities, upcoming workshops and how to E-mail the MTA.

C.   Supervisor’s Report.   Advised the board: of the status of ongoing projects; that the inspectors had signed their new contracts; of the King Rd. Water Project hearing; of the status of the Master Plan; of a payment request made to Consumers Energy; of a recommendation regarding the Sewer Communication System; of a recommendation regarding sewer and water connections; and, of the status of the Township’s revenue sharing from the State.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS:

A.   Subdivision Land Division Application - Asbury.   The board members discussed the requested land division application made by Jayne Asbury to split the current lot into two parcels.   The board members were assured that by splitting the land a variance would not be required to build on the lot.   Motion was made by Short and supported by Williams to approve the land division application for lot 11 in College Heights Subdivision, 171 Harmony Rd. as submitted; carried.

B.   Sewer Communication System.   Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Holthouse to approve the upgrade of the Sewer Communication System at a cost of $7,622.50, with OMM Engineering paying the other half.   Roll Call: 6 yes.

C.   Water and/or Sewer Connections.   Motion was made by Short and supported by Williams to update the policy regarding water and sewer connections to read that “The fee for direct connections to a primary main will be eliminated when the contractor is paying for indirects on a secondary main that will be connected to the primary main”; carried.  

D.   Street Light Resolution No. 3 - Greenbriar Sub.   Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Holthouse to approve Resolution No. 3 for a street light special assessment district in Greenbriar Subdivision.   Roll Call: 6 yes.

E.   Street Light Resolution No. 4 - Greenbriar Sub.   Motion was made by Short and supported by Ganton to approve Resolution No. 4 for a street light special assessment district in Greenbriar Subdivision.   Roll Call: 6 yes.

F.   Resolution Establishing Water Connection Fees.   Motion was made by Williams and supported by Holthouse to approve the resolution establishing water connection fees.   Roll Call: 6 yes.

G.   Pension Plan Amendment.   Motion was made by Short and supported by Holthouse to elect the threshhold for forceout distribution in the Township’s pension plan be $1,000.00.   Roll Call: 6 yes.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Building Permit Report.   The report of building permits issued during the month of February showed new homes and miscellaneous permits for a total value of $2,285,000.00.

Assessing/Building Report.   During the month of February, 15 new home permits were issued, for a total of 21 this year.   The Assessor reported that new potential businesses for Village Crossing would include a hair styling shop and a credit union.   The Assessor will be busy with the upcoming Board of Review and will be working on Building Department permit fees after that to discuss with the board.

Z.B.A. Meeting of February.   The Zoning Board of Appeals had no variance requests in February.

Sewer & Water Committee.   Unapproved minutes of the February 28 meeting of the Sewer & Water Committee included a motion for the Sewer Communication System, a communication to Consumers Energy, bids for the Willoway generator, policy regarding shutoff valves, and a motion regarding connection fees.

Planning Commission.   Unapproved minutes of the March 1 meeting of the Planning Commission included discussion of drainage and curb cuts for the proposed Dollar General Store.

Washington Report.   The board received the January/February 2005 issue of the Washington Report.

CORRESPONDENCE:

Letter from Comcast, channel lineups and new products and services.

Thank-you letter to Chief Ratkiewicz regarding vacation checks.

Letter from Comcast, channel lineups.

Thank-you letter from Luren Dickinson, Jackson District Library.

Invitation from MTA to Clerk Holthouse, participation in land use planning event.

PUBLIC/BOARD   COMMENT--GENERAL:          Public comment opened at 8:28 p.m.

Chief Ratkiewicz.   Chief Ratkiewicz reported that the Circuit Court found a defendant guilty of first degree murder related to a body found out on McCain Rd. in Spring Arbor Township about two   years ago.

John Asbury.   John Asbury expressed his thanks to the board for approving the Subdivision Land Division application so that he and his wife could build a home.

Supervisor DeGraaf.   The Supervisor reminded the board members of the King Rd. Water Project hearing scheduled for March 28 at 7 PM and the budget hearing scheduled for March 29 at 6 PM.

Adjournment.   Motion was made by Williams and supported by Ganton to adjourn the meeting at 8:34 p.m.; carried.