Spring
Arbor Township Board Minutes: August 9, 2004
The
regular meeting of the Spring Arbor Township Board was held Monday,
August 9, 2004, at 7:30 p.m., with the following members present:
Supervisor Will 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, Bruce Wallace, Todd Zeller, Charles Ragain
, Tim McEldowney , Scott Greenslade, John Bacon, Steve Brigham,
Warren Dexter, Jim Hannen , Earl Habecker , and Ruth Mayday representing
Congressman Nick Smith’s office.
Public
Comment: Public comment opened at 7:31 p.m.
Jim
Hannen, Earl Habecker and Steve Brigham questioned the board regarding
water mains that were installed for a developer with interest-free
loans from township funds. They stated that their subdivision that
they live in is interested in having public water systems installed
and that they would like to have the same interest-free financing
available to them. Ruth Mayday, from Congressman Nick Smith’s
office, was on hand to present flags to the township board members
that had 15 or more years of service. Flags that had been flown
over the Capitol were presented to Trustees Fortress and Ganton.
Public comment closed at 7:48 p.m.
Expenditures.
Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Williams
to approve the following expenditures for July 2004: General Fund
vouchers #40925-41034 totaling $51,313.60; Fire Department Fund
vouchers #40928-41030 totaling $2,962.64; Street Light Fund expenditures
totaling $6,529.81; Building Inspection Fund expenditures totaling
$4,613.25; Falling Waters Endowment Fund expenditures totaling $223.93;
Sewer O & M Fund expenditures totaling $41,235.74; and Water
O & M Fund expenditures totaling $5,281.20. Roll call: 7 yes.
Consent
Agenda. The Sewer & Water Committee minutes,
Land Use Subcommittee minutes and the Police & Fire Report were
requested to be removed from the consent agenda. Motion was made
by Williams and supported by Ganton to approve the remaining items
under the consent agenda consisting of the regular meeting minutes
of July 12, the financial report for July 2004, and the Senior Center
Advisory Board minutes of July 20; carried. The financial report
showed the following balances as of July 31:
General
Fund Cash
$ 53,357.46
Certificate
of Deposit
197,060.87
Fire
Operations Cash
(422.46)
Fire
Operations CD
30,181.32
Street
Light Fund
3,287.98
Public Improvement Fund
(1,018.60)
P.I.F.
Certificate of Deposit
113,930.54
Building
Inspection Fund
57,722.33
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund
(479.92)
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund CD
11,602.62
Sewer
Funds
1,299,294.68
Water
Funds
190,019.20
Trust
& Agency Funds
0.00
Current
Taxes 233,818.44;
motion
carried.
BOARDS
AND COMMITTEES:
Sewer
& Water Committee. Motion was made by Williams
and supported by Fortress to approve the minutes of the June 28,
2004 meeting of the Sewer & Water Committee; carried. Treasurer
Melchiori asked for clarification of the threshold referred to in
the minutes.
Land
Use Subcommittee. Motion was made by Fortress and
supported by Short to approve the minutes of the Land Use Subcommittee
meetings from July 8, 2004 and July 22, 2004; carried.
REPORTS:
A.
Police and Fire Report. There were 44 medical rescue
runs, five fire alarms, two mutual aid calls, 11 fire runs, and
no bomb threats, carbon monoxide incidents or Hazmat responses during
July. Police statistics include: 208 complaints, 11 accidents,
49 tickets, 40 verbal warnings, 10 arrests, three semis ticketed
and 14 back-up calls to other departments. The Fire Chief reported
that they had a fairly busy month. He is working on the problems
with the new fire truck and also reported that the department recently
participated in the Relay for Life, winning the Spirit Award and
raising over $10,000.00 for the event. Chief McEldowney also reported
that we may receive a couple of different serious inquiries on the
sale of the old fire truck. Motion was made by Ganton and supported
by Williams to accept the fire report; carried.
Chief
Ratkiewicz reported that they have continued to be busy during the
summer months, and that last month the department participated in
the SAU Learning Fair. The department also assisted in traffic
control for the runners in a race. Chief Ratkiewicz also participated
in the Relay for Life. Motion was made by Williams and supported
by Fortress to accept the police report; carried.
B.
MTA E-News for August 2004. The MTA E-News for
August included information regarding the interactive township map
program, Leadership Training Fellowships, America’s town meeting,
legal counsel opinion, upcoming workshops, annual conference information
and how to E-mail the MTA.
C.
Strategic Planning Goal #5. Goal #5, assigned to
Supervisor DeGraaf, is to develop a plan with MDOT for traffic flow
on M-60. The Supervisor reported that he is still working with
MDOT; the biggest two problems are funding and working around the
cemetery.
D.
Strategic Planning Goal #7. Goal #7, assigned to
the Fire Chief, is to develop a fire safety plan. Chief McEldowney
reported that the plan is pretty much complete and he reported on
the areas that were specified in the goal. He is to provide a
written plan to the board members.
E.
Strategic Planning Goal #9. Goal #9, assigned to
the Clerk, is to implement the park plan. Clerk DeVries reported
that the basketball court and softball diamond are scheduled for
completion this summer. She also discussed the opening in the
fence behind the fire station for a connection to Teft Rd., indicating
the problem of kids jumping the fence and the liability that the
township may have. The board members discussed the width that
the opening should be; Park Committee member Todd Zeller was present
at the meeting and has volunteered to create the fence opening at
no charge.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
NEW
BUSINESS:
A.
Regional Planning. The board members discussed
the Regional Planning effort led by Consumers Energy and decided
to review it again in January. No action was taken on this item.
B.
King Rd. Subdivision Resolution. Motion was made
by Short and supported by Fortress to approve the resolution to
set guidelines for review of advisory surveys for the King Rd. Subdivision
water main extension project. Roll Call: 7 yes. Motion was made
by Short and supported by Ganton to approve the advisory survey
as printed; carried. Motion was made by Williams and supported
by DeVries to approve the contents of the letter to be sent to property
owners in the water main extension project area; carried.
C.
Hutch’s Food Center Request to Sell Alcohol. Motion
was made by Williams and supported by Fortress to approve the hours
requested by Hutch’s Food Store to sell liquor; carried.
D.
Ganton Retirement Community Request. Motion was
made by Short and supported by DeVries that in the interest of cooperating
with Spring Arbor businesses, the Township of Spring Arbor grants
the request by Lloyd Ganton Retirement Community to place a privacy
fence between Arbor Manor and the Township cemetery; and in the
interest of clarity for the record, the Township requests that Lloyd
Ganton write a letter stipulating that the fence and row of trees
are on Township property; carried.
E.
Rezoning Request - Norfolk Development - 000-12-01-226-003-00.
Based on the recommendation of the Planning Commission
and County Affairs, motion was made by Fortress and supported by
Williams to approve the rezoning request from Norfolk Development
to rezone parcel #000-12-01-226-003-00 from Agricultural (AG-1)
to Suburban Residential (RS-1). Roll Call: 7 yes.
F.
Rezoning Request - Norfolk Development - 000-12-01-226-005-00.
Based on the recommendation of the Planning Commission
and County Affairs, motion was made by Fortress and supported by
Ganton to approve the rezoning request from Norfolk Development
to rezone parcel #000-12-01-226-005-00 from Agricultural (AG-1)
to Suburban Residential (RS-1). Roll Call: 7 yes.
G.
Private Road Maintenance Agreements. Motion was
made by DeVries and supported by Williams to approve the private
road maintenance agreements with the Jackson County Road Commission
for Pineland Trail, College St., and Howe St.; carried.
H.
Extra Hours for Deputy Treasurer. Motion was made
by Melchiori and supported by Williams to approve additional hours
for the deputy treasurer as follows: 5 hours to cross train the
deputy for sewer and water delinquencies, 10 hours to apply sewer
and water delinquencies to taxes, and 10 hours for taxes to record
payments on the system; carried.
MISCELLANEOUS:
Building
Permit Report. The report of building permits issued
during the month of July showed new homes and miscellaneous permits
for a total value of $523,000.00.
Assessing/Building
Report. During the month of July, no permits for
new homes were issued. Three subdivisions are expected to begin
construction fairly soon. The Assessor also reported that the
Westbrook Townhouse appeal of the taxes is in the counsel conference
stage of the process.
Supervisor’s
Report. Advised the board: of the status of ongoing
projects; of a regional planning effort recommended by Consumers
Energy; of information related to the extension of water mains for
a King Rd. Subdivision; of problems encountered with the new fire
truck; of hours requested to sell liquor by Hutch’s Food Center;
and, of a request by Lloyd Ganton to construct a fence between Arbor
Manor and the cemetery.
Z.B.A.
Meeting of July 15. The Zoning Board of Appeals meeting
for July was canceled as there were no variance requests.
CORRESPONDENCE:
A
Project Review Notice dated 7/23/04 re. Brownfield Redevelopment.
A
thank-you letter to Chief Ratkiewicz from the Parma-Sandstone Police
Department.
An
email from Mike Karazim dated 8/4/04 re. the O’Brien Rd. Speed Limit.
A
thank-you note to the fire department from Patty Johnston.
PUBLIC/
BOARD COMMENT --GENERAL: Public comment
opened at 9:25 p.m.
Trustee
Short. Trustee Short requested that for future board
meeting agendas that the police and fire report be removed from
the consent agenda, and that the Supervisor Report be moved from
the Miscellaneous section to the Reports section.
Clerk
DeVries. Clerk DeVries reported that of the 20 additional
hours approved for the Deputy Clerk to work for the August Primary
election, that only 16.5 hours were used.
Adjournment.
Motion was made by Short and supported by Williams
to adjourn the meeting at 9:28 p.m.; carried.
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