THE BENZIE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS January 16, 2007

Transcription

1 THE BENZIE COUNTY BOARD OF The Benzie County Board of Commissioners met in a regular meeting on Tuesday,, in the Commissioners Room, Government Center, Beulah, Michigan, Present were: Commissioners Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Walterhouse Absent: The pledge of allegiance was given with invocation by Commissioner Kelley. Agenda: Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Pitcher, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to approve the minutes of December 19, 2006, as presented. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Smeltzer, seconded by Walterhouse, to approve the minutes of the January 3, 2007 organizational meeting, as presented. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Pitcher, to approve the minutes of December 19, 2006 closed session, as presented. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and 9:10 a.m. PUBLIC INPUT Ray Nichols, Comm Mental Health Board Member, stated that they CMH board would like to meet with this board to discuss general fund issues. Eric VanDussen, Benzonia, asks why the clerk is not recording the meetings, very beneficial to him when he requests copies; tabled the evaluation minutes of Chuck Clarke, are they not subject to FOIA yet; asks if any commissioners have read any of the orders handed down by Judge Batzer and seen what violations you have committed; have taken the depositions of Don Howard and Chuck Clarke and it is clear that they don t comprehend these orders; request the ZBA fee be refunded to Mr. and Mrs. Chorley. 9:14 a.m. PUBLIC INPUT CLOSED Elected Officials & Dept Head Comments: Linda Wilson, County Treasurer, has two recycling appeals for this board to decide. Marlene Wood-Zylstra, Recycling Coordinator, states that the reduced fee is due to greater participation, the more we waive fees, the more the program will suffer. Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Pitcher, to not waive the recycling fee for two parcels in Frankfort, as presented. Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Marlene will respond to the homeowners.

2 Page 2 Craig Johnson, EMS Coordinator, presented information regarding the EMS garage bids. Bids were opened on January 11, 2007 and request awarding of bids to local contractors. Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Damm, to award the electrical bid to Glen Lake Electric in the amount of $13, for electrical work to be done on the EMS garage on 669. Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to award the mechanical bid to Moore Mechanical in the amount of $6, for mechanical work to be done on the EMS garage on 669. Roll call. Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Pitcher, to award the site work/demo bid to Honor Excavating in the amount of $14, for site work and demolition work to be done at the EMS garage on 669. Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Pitcher, to accept the bid from Dave Acha in the amount of $55,720.00, if he meets the qualification with liability insurance and workers comp, if not, then to Bob Johnson in the amount of $56, Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Pitcher, to add $1,000 to the bid for the builder to perform contracting services pertaining to scheduling and coordination. Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Letter received from Jay Pettitt, Chairman of the Building Authority, stating the authority s view on the project. Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Roper, to run the funds through the EMS fund for the new garage. Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Craig Johnson and Sam Miller gave a recap of the EMS system over the past year; 1,400 runs last year; 2007 highlights operations are going well; staffing is good; stations are running good; hired a new EMT in Honor; need to work on continuing education for staff and need community education too. One community concern is the cost we will be looking at hardship funds for donations; computerized documentation will be mandated by July 1, Craig says Thank You to the EMS staff. 10:05 a.m. Break 10:15 a.m. Resume

3 Page 3 Finance Committee Comm Pitcher presents Consent Calendar items Comm Pitcher removes item 8. Comm Roper removes item 1. Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to adopt Consent Calendar items 2-7 and 9-12 as presented. Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Discussion held on item 8 payment of Unger trial transcripts. Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to pay the expense for transcripts relating to the Unger trial in the amount of $9,642.05, from line number Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Discussion held on item 1 increasing of mileage rate reimbursement. Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to increase the mileage rate to $.48 per mile, effective. Roll call. Motion denied. Ayes: Walterhouse Nays: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman and Smeltzer Road Commissioner salaries: Comm Walterhouse states that the road commissioners are withdrawing their request for an increase in salary at this time. Personnel Committee Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Kelley, to accept the POAM contract as presented. Roll call. Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to reappoint Randy Olsen, Rodney Moore and Caleb Luibrand to the Construction Board of Appeals appoint Jeff Lousma and Richard Krupp as new members to the Construction Board of Appeals for a two year term ending December 31, Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to reappoint Charles Kehr and James Sheets to the Parks & Recreation Committee for a 3 year term, ending December 31, Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to reappoint Don Eichberger to the Workforce Development Board for a two year term, ending December 31, Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to reappoint Dr. Richard Nielsen to the Benzie Leelanau Health Dept Board for a three year term, ending December 31, Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and

4 Page 4 Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to reappoint Grant Brown, Jr. to the Health Dept Board of Appeals for a two year term, ending February 1, Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to reappoint F.E. (Tad) Peacock to the Betsie Valley Trail Management Council for a three year term, ending December 1, Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Comm Pitcher states that an ad has been placed for all opening for the first quarter of 2007; they are in the process of setting interviews for Zoning Administrator, Solid Waste and school board appointment to the planning commission. County Administrator s Report Requests a motion authorizing the sheriff to enter into contracts. Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Smeltzer, to authorize Sheriff Blank to enter into renewal seasonal contracts with municipalities without further board action, authorizing the Chairman to sign. Roll call. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Correspondence Report from Planning Commission Chair received. Airport Authority minutes of December 15, 2006 received. Animal Control report for December 2006 received. Building Dept report for December 2006 received. Report received of Manistee County salaries. Letter received regarding Emergency Telephone Service Chuck Clarke does this report. Letter and information received from Jon Keillor regarding FCCAA Project SAFE. Road Comm minutes from Nov 22, Dec 13 and Dec 27, 2006 and Jan 10, 2007 received. Airport Authority minutes of January 4, 2007 received. Michigan Northern Counties Assoc agenda and meeting dates received. 11:05 a.m. Ingemar Johansen, Tom Stobie and Sue Miller, Benzie Transportation Sue states that during the first week of operation they did 100 riders; the second week they had 238 riders; hours of operation are Monday Friday 6:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m. and Saturday 7:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.; they prefer 24 hours notice for reservations; they have eight drivers and one part time mechanic on call now; fare is $2.00 per ride; seniors 60 and over will be $1.00 but they are offering free passes for now; disabled is $1.00. Discuss held with Mr. Stobie regarding the changing of membership from ten to nine members. Motion by Walterhouse, seconded by Smeltzer, to adopt resolution as presented. Roll call.

5 Page 5 Ingemar states that Mike Moran would like to set up a meeting with CMH and this board. 11:30 a.m. Ted Skierski and Ralph Blakeney addressed the Board regarding the Acker Property in Crystal Lake Township Mr. Skierski read from a prepared statement and provided copies for all commissioners. States that you are doing the right thing in this matter by enforcing the Crystal Lake Watershed Overlay District. Mr. Blakeney reads from Article 24 of the Zoning Ordinance to conserve space; two members of the Crystal Lake Watershed Association are here today and would agree; Mr. and Mrs. Ray Warren drove three hours to be here today; you, the board, are doing the right thing by enforcing the ordinance. You have the change to correct this mistake; I encourage and request that you stick it out. You need to enforce the ordinance on the books if not, and then get it off the books. Thank you to the board. Mr. Figura is present and makes no comment. 11:45 a.m. Break 11:55 a.m. Resume PUBLIC INPUT Bob Appelford, President of the Crystal Lake Watershed Assoc, says the ordinance is good and we need it; it should be enforced. Stacy Daniels, owner of land in the overlay district and support the comments made today; consider this as an important issue; will give any letters of support needed. Cliff Graves states that the Planning Commission is working on a Waterways Ordinance and the content is similar to the Crystal Lake Watershed Overlay district the ordinance will be coming by the commissioners; all feedback that has been received has been positive. 12:00 p.m. PUBLIC INPUT CLOSED Break for Lunch 12:50 p.m. Resume Commissioner Reports Comm Sandman provides a written report. Comm Damm reports that the Village of Beulah needs a new water tower. Beulah made the decision to put a tank in Beulah that is 85 feet high and 30 feet in diameter, in a location next to 31 that will block the view of Crystal Lake driving into Beulah and be an unattractive entrance to Beulah and Benzonia. There has not been a public hearing yet, and few in the villages realize this plan exists. She states that in the next 10 years Benzonia will likely need another water tower for increased development. She states that if the two governments worked together using the same engineer, they might provide Beulah with water from Benzonia's existing tank, and build a second tank in Benzonia, thus avoiding the later building of a third tank at great expense. She thinks the two villages might work together to see if a less expensive, more attractive option could be worked out. Beulah already buys water for 17 homes from Benzonia, setting a precedent for cooperation.

6 Page 6 Comm Walterhouse has nothing to add. Comm Smeltzer the Herring Lake Watershed committee will be doing another round of water samples; attended a meeting at Frankfort with a citizens group for water sampling in Betsie Bay. Comm Kelley provides a written report. Comm Pitcher states that she attended her first Point Betsie meeting as liaison and feels it is good to have someone there; web site is making progress; will be interviewing for the zoning administrator s position this Friday. Comm Roper reviewed the commissioner appointments for the year Motion by Kelley, seconded by Walterhouse, to add Chamber of Commerce to the liaison portion of the committee appointments. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Smeltzer, to add Transportation Authority to the liaison portion of the committee appointments. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Smeltzer, to add an alternate appointment to the Airport Authority. Motion by Roper, seconded by Walterhouse, to add the Northwest Regional Community Corrections to the list of Appointments to Authorities and Agencies. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Walterhouse, to approve the Committee Appointments for 2007, as presented. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Chairman Roper states that per diem is paid for you attending committee meetings which you are appointed to; unless you are requested to appear and it is approved by the chair. Chairman Roper also discusses Commissioners Corner for the newspaper. He suggests that each commissioner take a certain month to write the article. Letter received from Mr. and Mrs. Chorley requesting financial restitution. Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Smeltzer, to refer the Chorley request to the finance committee.

7 Page 7 Letter received from the Goodwill Inn for grant support information only at this point. The Clerk will contact them to appear next month. Comm Walterhouse inquires if Comm Pitcher will still sit in on the janitor interviews? Yes Comm Kelley inquires if commissioners will be paid per diem to sit in on meetings to get brought up to speed? Yes 1:50 p.m. PUBLIC INPUT Al Brown, states that he has sat in on the Road Commission meetings and they seem to be very efficient and do an excellent job with three board members. 1:52 p.m. PUBLIC INPUT CLOSED Comm Roper states that Bob Rosa says thank you to the board for the bidding process for the EMS garage with Benzie County contractors being awarded the bids; this is a positive step. 1:53 p.m. Motion by Pitcher, seconded by Smeltzer, to adjourn until February 20, 2007, or the call of the chair. Motion carried. Ayes: Damm, Kelley, Pitcher, Roper, Sandman, Smeltzer and Mark E. Roper -- Chairman Dawn Olney Benzie County Clerk INDEX 1. Approved the agenda as presented. 2. Approved the minutes of December 19, 2006, as presented. 3. Approved the minutes of the January 3, 2007 organizational meeting, as presented. 4. Approved the minutes of December 19, 2006 closed session, as presented. 5. Denied the waiving of the recycling fee for two parcels in Frankfort, as presented. 6. Awarded the electrical bid to Glen Lake Electric. 7. Awarded the mechanical bid to Moore Mechanical. 8. Awarded the site work/demo bid to Honor Excavating. 9. Accepted the bid from Dave Acha if he meets all qualifications. 10. Auth additional $1,000 to the bid for the builder for scheduling and coordination. 11. Auth the running of the funds through the EMS fund for the new garage. 12. Adopted Consent Calendar items 2-7 and 9-12 as presented. 13. Auth to pay the expense for transcripts relating to the Unger trial. 14. Denied increasing the mileage rate. 15. Accept the POAM contract as presented. 16. Reappointed the Construction Board of Appeals members with two new. 17. Reappointed Charles Kehr and James Sheets to Parks & Rec. 18. Reappointed Don Eichberger to the Workforce Dev Bd. 19. Reappointed Dr. Richard Nielsen to the Benzie Leelanau Health Dept Board. 20. Reappointed Grant Brown, Jr. to the Health Dept BOA.

8 Page Reappointed F.E. (Tad) Peacock to the BVTMC. 22. Auth Sheriff Blank to enter into renewal seasonal contracts, auth the Chairman to sign. 23. Adopted resolution reducing the Transportation Auth membership. 24. Added Chamber of Commerce & Transportation Auth as new liaison positions. 25. Added an alternate appointment to the Airport Auth. 26. Added the NW Regional Comm Corr to the list of commissioner appointments. 27. Approved the Committee Appointments for 2007, as presented. 28. Referred request from Mr. and Mrs. Chorley to the finance committee.