Spring
Arbor Township Board Minutes 12-11-06
The
regular meeting of the Spring Arbor Township Board was held Monday,
December 11, 2006, at 7:01 p.m., with the following members present:
Supervisor Will DeGraaf, Clerk Randi Holthouse, Treasurer Gloria
Melchiori, Trustees Marston Fortress, Troy Ganton and Brent Williams.
Absent: Trustee Patricia Short. The Pledge of Allegiance was
led by the Supervisor.
Guests
were: Judy Reynolds, Chris Roe, Terry Maynard, Russ Ratkiewicz,
Tim McEldowney, Mark Kettner and Stan Lyon.
Public
Comment: Public comment opened at 7:03 p.m.
Terry
Maynard spoke on behalf of Chris Roe who is running for the open
seat on the Jackson County Road Commission.
Chris
Roe addressed the board regarding his interest in the open seat
on the Jackson County Road Commission. He said he is very interested
in being on the road commission and he has 16 years of experience
working on roads through his employment at MDOT. He works in the
field of road engineering as a construction technician overseeing
the construction of roads according to the design specifications.
He also stated that he wished he had more time to get to know
the Township officials.
Judy
Reynolds, County Commissioner, reported that the Township may have
a possible six foreclosures at this time. She also discussed the
bond rating for the County which is currently rated A+. The Commissioners
are currently working on the 2007 budget. She also mentioned the
split of the Chamber of Commerce and the Enterprise Group. The
County Commission meeting to be held the following evening will
consider various appointments, including a vote on the new Chairperson
for the next year. Status of the incinerator: a committee is
studying it with decisions to come next year. The potential of
contamination problems on airport property will be addressed; the
Commissioners don’t think it will be a serious problem and they
will take steps to have it cleaned up. She also reported that
the District Library is gearing up for a millage question on the
August 2007 ballot. She mentioned that this would be her last
meeting to attend here, commenting that she appreciated getting
to know everyone.
Public
comment closed at 7:20 p.m.
Expenditures.
Motion was made by Ganton and supported by Fortress
to approve the following expenditures for November 2006: General
Fund expenditures #44156-44277 totaling $51,665.28; Fire Department
Fund expenditures #44160-44278 totaling $14,744.19; Street Light
Fund expenditures #44163 totaling $3,409.24; Public Improvement
Fund Expenditures #44276 totaling $582.00; Building Inspection
Fund expenditures #44158-44271 totaling $4,419.50; Sewer O &
M Fund expenditures totaling $0.00; Sewer Receiving Fund disbursements
of $23,480.44; and Water O & M Fund expenditures totaling $2,683.80.
Roll call: 6 yes.
Minutes.
Motion was made by Fortress and supported by Williams
to approve the regular board meeting minutes of November 13, 2006;
carried.
Consent
Agenda. Motion was made by Ganton and supported by
Williams to approve the following items under the consent agenda
consisting of the financial reports for November 2006; general ledger
report of revenues and expenditures for November 2006; Senior Center
Advisory Board minutes of November 8, 2006; Fire Board minutes of
October 10, 2006 and November 27, 2006; and Planning Commission
minutes of November 14, 2006, and December 5, 2006; carried. The
financial report showed the following balances as of November 31:
General
Fund Cash
$189,551.65
Certificate
of Deposit
178,225.36
Fire
Operations Cash
(15,723.89)
Fire
Operations CD
274,768.13
Street
Light Fund
(6,673.28)
Public
Improvement Fund
1,622.81
P.I.F.
Certificate of Deposit
659.17
Building
Inspection Fund
20.74
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund
0.00
Falling
Waters Endowment Fund CD
30,382.99
Sewer
Funds
1,316,479.21
Water
Funds
307,602.69
Trust
& Agency Funds
0.00
Current
Taxes
28,393.70
REPORTS:
A.
Police and Fire Report. There were 45 medical rescue
runs, three fire alarms, no mutual aid calls, three fire runs, one
carbon monoxide incident, and no bomb threats or Hazmat responses
during November. Police statistics include: 178 complaints, 16
accidents, 41 tickets, 32 verbal warnings, five arrests, one semi
ticketed and 19 back-up calls to other departments.
The
Police Chief reported that the department participated in a countywide
sweep of registered sex offenders. Eight from Spring Arbor Township
were contacted to ensure that they had reported their correct address;
two of those failed and were issued arrest warrants. The department
also participated in the annual Trunk or Treat at the church; they
also worked with Western Schools on lock-down drills, noting that
the school system did an excellent job throughout the drill process.
They also assisted the Parma-Sandstone department with conducting
a drill at Parma Elementary. The Drive Michigan Safely Campaign
was in full force Thanksgiving weekend with several tickets issued.
The
Fire Chief reported that November was busy for them. The first
week they participated in school safety conducting fire alarm drills.
Part of the drill included blocking a door to see how the students
would react and they also brought in a smoke machine to gauge student
reaction in a crisis situation. The department also participated
in Fire Prevention week during November reaching approximately 740
students. The Chief also reported that the roof has been replaced
on the fire station and noted that some problems encountered during
that process were taken care of. The department is up by around
35 runs this year compared to last year and he expects to see a
yearly total of around 650. The department has also participated
in training exercises with the county tanker task force which included
burning a house out in Columbia Township and some flashover training.
The automatic aid agreement was put into practice the first of
December with one call responding to Hanover and a second call for
assistance to a Spring Arbor Township property. The Chief invited
the board members to attend the New Years Eve party at the fire
department for good food, good company and a good time. Chief
McEldowney’s final comments informed the board that West Shore and
E-One have parted ways; West Shore is no longer the distributor
for them. Service work and warranty work will now be handled by
a different company and they are recommending some work to be done
on the pumper/tanker.
B.
MTA E-News for December 2006, Township Law Newsletter.
Received the December issue of the MTA E-News and a Township Law
Newsletter.
C.
Zoning Board of Appeals. Received the minutes of
the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting of November 9, 2006.
D.
Building Permit Reports. The report of building
permits issued during the month of November showed new homes and
miscellaneous permits for a total value of $7,393,000.00.
E.
Supervisor’s Report . Advised the board: of the
status of ongoing projects; of recommended changes in the responsibilities
of the Fire Board and changing it to a Public Safety Board; of recommendations
for committee appointments and reappointments; and, of satisfactory
solutions regarding zoning ordinance violations.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
NEW
BUSINESS:
A.
2005-06 Annual Audit. Mark Kettner, Principal for
Rehmann Robson, discussed the audit and answered questions from
the board members. Motion was made by Fortress and supported by
Holthouse to approve the annual audit for the 2005-06 fiscal year
for Spring Arbor Township prepared by Rehmann Robson; carried.
B.
Audit Comments & Recommendations from Rehmann Robson.
Several recommendations were made by Rehmann Robson to streamline
township procedures. The first recommendation considered by the
board was about Cash Disbursements. Motion was made by Fortress
and supported by Williams to approve the recommendation to have the
cash disbursements for Sewer and Water processed through the Accounts
Payable software by the Clerk and to have the Treasurer reimburse
the General Fund effective January 1, 2007; carried. A recommendation
regarding Utility Billing was not voted on as the Treasurer stated
that the recommendation is already being done. The recommendation
regarding petty cash receipts was implemented from a prior year.
The payroll recommendation to have employees sign their timesheet
and forward to their Supervisor for approval was approved on motion
by Fortress and support by Williams; carried. The last two recommendations
considered dealt with existing policies not being followed regarding
bank reconciliations and payment of bills. Motion was made by Fortress
and supported by Williams to refer the recommendation to the Policy
Committee; carried.
C.
PA116 Agreements. Motion was made by Williams and
supported by Holthouse to approve the two PA116 agreements submitted
by Mark & Jill Sears for parcel numbers 000-12-36-401-003-03
and 000-12-36-326-002-00; carried.
D.
Fire Board Changes/Recommendations. Motion was
made by Williams and supported by Fortress to approve changing the
Fire Board to a Public Safety Board and approving the responsibilities
of the Public Safety Board attached in the Supervisor Report, with
a modification to have seven (7) members on the Public Safety Board;
carried.
E.
Resignation of Earl Poleski. Motion was made by
Fortress and supported by Holthouse to accept the resignation of
Earl Poleski from the Planning Commission and to send a letter expressing
our thanks for his contributions and efforts on the Planning Commission
and the Long-Range Master Land Use Plan; carried.
F.
Committee Appointments/Reappointments. Motion was
made by Williams and supported by Melchiori to approve the following
committee appointments and reappointments:
Mel
Rice, Board of Review, two-year term expiring 12/31/08,
Gordon
Holton, Board of Review, two-year term expiring 12/31/08,
Shane
Williams, Board of Review, two-year term expiring 12/31/08,
Michael
Kesterson, Board of Review Alternate, term expiring 12/31/06,
Michael
Kesterson, Board of Review Alternate, two-year term expiring 12/31/08,
Brent
Williams, Budget Committee, one-year term expiring 12/31/07,
Todd
Zeller, Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate, term expiring 12/31/06,
Todd
Zeller, Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate, two-year term expiring
12/31/08,
Kenneth
Hotchkiss, Public Safety Board, three-year term expiring 12/31/09,
Chief
of Police, Public Safety Board, permanent; carried.
G.
Summer Tax Collection Agreements. Motion was made
by Williams and supported by Holthouse to approve the summer tax
collection agreements for 2007 as presented by the Treasurer; carried.
H.
Performance Resolution for MDOT. Motion was made by
Williams and supported by Holthouse to approve the performance resolution
required by the Michigan Department of Transportation for the closure
of a state trunk line. Roll Call: 5 yes.
I. Text Amendment to Zoning Ordinance.
Motion was made by Williams and supported by Fortress to accept
the recommendation of the Township Planning Commission and Region
2 Planning Commission and approve the Zoning Ordinance text amendment,
amending Article 4, Section 4.5.1 B, regarding storage units, R2PC
number 06-64. Roll Call: 5 yes.
J.
Resignation of Deputy Clerk. Motion was made by
Fortress and supported by Williams to accept the resignation of
Chris Humberger as Deputy Clerk with our thanks; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Thank you notes to fire department.
Letters from Comcast and Millennium.
PUBLIC/BOARD
COMMENT: Public comment opened at 9:12 p.m.
Treasurer
Melchiori . The Treasurer reported that Jason Archer
updated the Township web site for the public display of records.
Trustee
Fortress. Trustee Fortress expressed his appreciation
for having the records available now on the web site and stated
that the realtor’s association is working with BS&A to negotiate
a contract for services. He also discussed a recent Voice of the
People article that referred to township’s as “little Hitler’s”;
he had contacted the author and expressed his dissatisfaction that
all townships were labeled with this image.
Adjournment.
Motion was made by Williams and supported by Fortress
to adjourn the meeting at 9:19 p.m.; carried.
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