Waverly Township Regular Meeting M-43 Hwy., Paw Paw, MI January 3, 2019

Transcription

1 Waverly Township Regular Meeting M-43 Hwy., Paw Paw, MI January 3, 2019 At 7:00 p.m., Supervisor Reits opened the meeting. Reits invited the board members and 8 members of the audience to join in the Pledge of Allegiance. The board members introduced themselves: Robert Reits, Supervisor; Sandra Oakleaf, Clerk; Fay Dorr, Treasurer; Tom Fleetwood, Trustee. Tony Millek, Trustee, was absent. Attorney Harold Schuitmaker, Randall Peat, County Commissioner, and Emilly Hickmott, Van Buren Conservation Recycling Coordinator were present. Sheriff s Department Report: Deputy Rick Loper reported the December 2018 activity. Total calls were 90, which included the EMS calls 33, General assists 12, traffic crashes 8, and Larceny/B&E 2, Obstructing Justice 3, Suspicious situations 5. Agenda Approval: January agenda was not available so Reits used December agenda as a guide. Minutes from December 6, 2018: MOTION by Reits, which was seconded by Oakleaf, to approve the December 6, 2018, board minutes as prepared. Roll call vote: Fleetwood, yes; Reits, yes; Millek, absent; Oakleaf, yes; Dorr, yes. The motion carried by Presentation of the bills: MOTION by Oakleaf to pay the following bills by line item as reviewed: $44, GF vendor checks GF payroll checks , GF payroll direct deposits 1, GF FICA & WH GF State WH $ 50, Total General Fund Expenditures for December 2018 Second by Fleetwood. Roll call vote: Fleetwood, yes; Reits, yes; Millek, absent; Oakleaf, yes; Dorr, yes. The motion carried by Supervisor Reits Comments: Planning Commission: MOTION by Reits, which was seconded by Fleetwood to change the Planning Commission meetings from every month to every other month and reduce the PC members from 7 to 5 members. Roll call vote: Fleetwood, yes; Reits, yes; Millek, absent; Oakleaf, yes; Dorr, yes. The motion carried by majority roll call vote. Note: The next two normal rotation of commissioner s terms to expire, will be the positions removed Meeting Dates for Planning Commission and Township Board: MOTION by Dorr, which was seconded by Oakleaf to publish the following dates for the 2019 Meeting Dates for Planning Commission and Township Board. Page 1 of 5

2 Planning Commission at 7:00 p.m. Township Board at 7:00 p.m. Monday, following the First Thursday First Thursday of the month. January 7, 2019 January 3, 2019 March 11, 2019 February 2019 NO MEETING May 6, 2019 March 7, 2019 July 8, 2019 April 4, 2019 September 9, 2019 May 2, 2019 November 11, 2019 June 6, 2019 July 11, 2019 CHANGED DUE TO JULY 4TH August 1, 2019 September 5, 2019 October 3, 2019 November 7, 2019 December 5, 2019 Cancel February 2019 Township Board Meeting: MOTION by Reits, which was seconded by Fleetwood to cancel the February 7, 2019, meeting of the Township Board and adopt the following statement for publication in the newspaper: It appears that it will not be possible to obtain a quorum of the Board for the February 2019 meeting, therefore, no meeting will be scheduled. However, a special meeting could be called on a date other than the 1 st Thursday of the month. As to the payment of the bills, the list and amount of all of the normal, recurring bills could be ed to each Board member, who shall note approval or disapproval and that list back to the clerk. The clerk and treasurer could then pay the bills that are approved. Cemeteries and Lawn Care: MOTION by Reits, which was seconded by Fleetwood to accept Mike Makowski s Lawn Care contract for $6400; payable at $ per month in 7 installments April through October. Cemetery Sexton: Mike Makowski has worked with Dave Clark Lawn Care for more than 20 years. Mike Makowski performed the sexton duties for the township in the absence of a sexton for two recent funerals. Attorney Schuitmaker brought the Sexton Contract tonight; however, Makowski has not seen the contract. Reits is to give a copy of the Sexton Contract to Makowski so he can review the terms and suggest possible changes. The contract will be signed and approved at the March 2019 Township Board meeting. Attorney Schuitmaker suggested the Township Board revise the schedule of burial fees prior to the final approval of the sexton contract. Termination of JJ Lawn Care Contract: Reits requested Attorney Schuitmaker to prepare a termination letter to JJ Lawn Care, as outlined in their contract. Page 2 of 5

3 Unpaid funeral expenses: Dorr explained to the Township Board that the final funeral performed by the Haluch Family was paid to them as unusual; however, the $650 due to the township was not paid by the funeral home, which is the normal payment method. This time, the $650 is to be paid out of the deceased s funds, which are tied up in Probate Court. Attorney Schuitmaker will get the information from Reits and present a petition to the Probate Court because the normal line of disbursement of decedent s funds would make funeral expenses 2 nd in line for payment. Paw Paw River Watershed Cleanout Agreement: Reits suggested Waverly follow Paw Paw Township s decision to table further discussion until April. Paw Paw Fire Department Report: Paul DeYoung reported the January meeting was not be held because it fell on New Year s Day. The meeting will be January 8 th. The proposed fire budget will be $240,757, which is a 1.86% increase for an overall total of $4400 or $880 for each of the five municipalities. MOTION by Reits, which was seconded by Oakleaf to approve the proposed Fire Department budget $240,757. Roll call vote: Fleetwood, yes; Reits, yes; Millek, absent; Oakleaf, yes; Dorr, yes. The motion carried by Resignation of Fire Board Representative Paul DeYoung: Paul DeYoung tendered his resignation as the Waverly Township Representative to the Paw Paw Fire Department Board after 6 years of faithful service to the Township Board and Waverly Township residents. The Township Board and residents thanked Paul for his dedicated service. DeYoung s term of office will expire following the February 2019 Fire Board Meeting. Appointment of New Representative to the Paw Paw Fire Department Board: MOTION by Reits, which was seconded by Fleetwood to appoint Trustee Tony Millek to the Paw Paw Fire Department Board as the Waverly Township representative and appoint Supervisor Robert Reits as the alternate. Millek s term of office will begin with the March 5, 2019, fire board meeting. Roll call vote: Fleetwood, yes; Reits, yes; Millek, absent; Oakleaf, yes; Dorr, yes. The motion carried by majority roll call vote. Clerk Sandra Oakleaf Report: None. Treasurer Fay Dorr: Senior Services of Van Buren County Budget Amendment: MOTION by Dorr, which was seconded by Reits, to approve the budget amendment for Senior Services Fund for a total of both milages of $33,673. Roll call vote: Fleetwood, yes; Reits, yes; Millek, absent; Oakleaf, yes; Dorr, yes. The motion carried by Trustee Tom Fleetwood: no report Trustee Tony Millek: no report Attorney Report: 1. Blight: Letters have been sent to all property owners and occupants requesting compliance with Township Ordinances. Page 3 of 5

4 2. Cemetery Sexton/Lawn Maintenance: New contracts with suggestions to revise the Schedule of Fees were given to the board members for consideration/approval. Reits wanted to postpone a decision on cemetery fees until the March meeting. It may cost the township the difference between the current fee schedule and our agreement with the new sexton fees until the fee schedule is updated, if there are funerals 3. Recreational Marijuana: The New Law took effect 12/6/18 that allows recreation use of marijuana. As indicated by MTA, there is NO requirement for a township to adopt a non-zoning, regulatory ordinance now. LARA will need to implement a new licensing program. 4. Planning Commission By-Laws and membership: The proposed amendment to the Planning Commission By-Laws to reduce membership and change meetings was provided for the Planning Commission for adoption at their January 7, meeting. 5. River Clean-up: On hold for now. 6. Township Roads and Right-Of-Ways: Cell companies are going to 5G and need more cell towers. On March 10, 2019, a new law comes into effect, which was passed by the Michigan Legislation to exempt from local zoning because it is in the ROW. The Township will only have 25 to 30 days to act on any applications from the cell companies to use the ROW for cell towers attached to infrastructure already existing in the ROW, ie. power poles. The township must act quickly in response to any applications. Fleetwood said many homeowners may be upset by this new law because owners believe they own and pay taxes to the center of the road and that any ROW was given for township use and not cell towers. Unfinished Business: None. New Business: Board of Review: Waverly Township Assessor, Anne Richmond, proposed meeting days for the 2019 March Board of Review dates and times as follows: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. Organizational meeting no public Monday, March 11, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. public invited Tuesday, March 12, 2019 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. public invited Tuesday, March 12, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. public invited Board Comments: None. Audience Comments: County Commissioner Randall Peat: In the past month, the Cass/Van Buren Health Department approved a $4 million bond to develop a health department unit at the Lawrence Skill Center grounds. They will build a dental unit at Lawrence to serve 10,000 children needing dental care. If the project works as expected and is successful at getting students to serve for 1 year, the federal government will forgive individual student loans up to $35,000. It is a win/win situation for the health department, students learning to be dental hygienists, and children needing dental care. The county only had to cosign agreements but no financial contributions were required of the county. Van Buren County Commissioners re-appointments and new appointments of road commissioners experienced some corrections due to citizen s input regarding certain reappointments. While Commissioner Peat was not yet a part of the newly elected County Page 4 of 5

5 Commission concerning these road commission positions, Peat did express concern. Peat also briefly discussed the 2018 defeat of the two road commission milage defeats. Emilly Hickmott, Recycling Coordinator for the Van Buren County Conservation District: Emilly and the recycling program are funded through the Conservation District milage. She is very active working with municipalities to coordinate recycling programs in their jurisdictions. She brought several outstanding pamphlets and brochures on the subject, while encouraging citizens to visit the web site: The web page is frequently updated to keep the public informed regarding recycling opportunities and used tire collections through the county. Reits declared the regular meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Fay A. Dorr, Treasurer Page 5 of 5