Middlebury Township Board Minutes Draft Minutes Middlebury Township Board Regular Meeting Thursday, December 14, 2011 7:00 pm Middlebury Township Hall 7627 W. M-21 Ovid, Michigan 48866 Minutes Clerk Tomasek-Swan called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm Call To Order With a Pledge to the Flag and a prayer led by Richard Semans. A motion was made by Tomasek-Swan to have Deputy Supervisor, Michael Herendeen chair the meeting due to the absence of the Supervisor. P. Dutton supported the motion. AYE: ALL NAY: None CARRIED Members Present: Clerk Susan Tomasek-Swan, Treasurer Carolyn Stevens, Trustee Erin Dutton and Trustee Paul Dutton. Absent Supervisor Anthony Sinicropi Roll Call Guests Present: There were twelve guests present. Among the guests were Jim McClelland, Linda Lupu, Susan Schafer, Gary Kiger, Bob Dennison, Richard Semans, Bill Lasher, Tony Newman, Michael Herendeen, Diane and Mike Dowler. Scheduled Comments: Scheduled Comments Tony Newman briefed the board about the Beeman drain to be assessed again for next year. There have been a couple of drains that residents have asked to clean out. Mr. Newman clarified that churches are not being exempted from drain assessments. Only drains that fall within township owned property are exempted due to the fact the township pays At-large fees. The Drain Commission office is working on updating maps of the county drains. While the updating is being done, the maps are also being scanned into the computer and placed on a disk for off site storage. The DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) is requiring county drain commissions in the state to fill out paper work for every drain being serviced and is implementing regulations such as: reducing the number of drains being serviced, requiring permits, and not using cement. Pulling a permit for every mile of drain work would cost $1000-3000. Public Comments Mr. Semans thanked the board for sending him to the MTA meeting regarding emergency services. Opened 7:04 pm Closed 7:10 pm Jim McClelland read a letter from Ovid township and requested it be included in the minutes (see enclosure). Bob Dennison wanted to know if the Maple Grove Cemetery was going to be discussed at tonight's meeting. Mr. Herendeen stated Maple Grove was not included on the agenda for tonight's meeting. Moved by P. Dutton, seconded by E. Dutton, to approve the agenda with additions of Ovid Middlebury Emergency Service Authority (OMESA) budget overage, adding phone service to the hall and P. Dutton’s report on the road program. Motion to Approve Agenda AYE: All NO: none CARRIED AGENDA APPROVED A motion to approve the November 7th, 2011 minutes as presented was moved by Stevens and seconded by E. Dutton. Minutes Approved November 7th, 2011 AYE: All NO: none CARRIED Moved by Tomasek-Swan and seconded by P. Dutton to approve the banking report as presented. Treasurer's Report Approved AYE: All NO: none CARRIED Moved by P. Dutton and seconded by Stevens to pay bills in with checks numbered 22968-2984 & 4 EFTs totaling $10,657.09. Bills Payment Approved AYE: All NO: none CARRIED Communications None The MTA annual meeting was discussed and no one on the board wanted to go to the meeting. Unfinished Business New Business Tomasek-Swan made an error in calculating the 4 inch border of Ida Destina’s headstone foundation. A motion was made by E. Dutton and supported by Stevens to excuse the $176.00 error from being paid by the family of Ida Destina for the foundation of her headstone. AYE:ALL NO: None CARRIED OMESA chairman, Richard Semans, informed the board that OMESA will be exceeding their budget by more than 10 percent due to the repair of their current ambulance or replacement of said ambulance. Any budget overages in excess of 10 percent need to have each municipal’s approval. The Village of Ovid has approved the budget overage while Ovid Township has tabled the approval pending exact figures. Mr. Semans voiced his concern that waiting for exact figures for Ovid Township would cause an excessive delay in ordering the new ambulance. Mr. Herendeen stated there is no argument about the need for a new ambulance, the issue is how much over budget OMESA will be. Bill Lasher, Village of Ovid's mayor, explained how the Village arrived at their figures. The Village council members understood the amount of money could only be estimated therefore, agreed to allow OMESA to exceed its budget by more than 10 percent. Jim McClelland, Ovid Township Supervisor, voiced his opinion that the Ovid Township board believed the ambulance issue should have been addressed several months ago instead of waiting for the matter to become urgent. Stevens made a motion to authorize Ovid Middlebury Emergency Service Authority to exceed their budget by more than 10 percent. E. Dutton seconded the motion. AYE Tomasek-Swan, Stevens, E. Dutton, P. Dutton No None Carried The board discussed placing a phone service in the township hall. The clerk and treasurer have paid for phone service with no reimbursement from the township and both would like to remove the landline from their homes. The township needs a phone line for faxing. Two different calling plans from Frontier were discussed. Bob Dennison brought to the board's attention Sprint's new calling plan which may work for the township. Tomasek-Swan made a motion to table a final decision until getting information from Sprint. E. Dutton seconded the motion. AYE: ALL NO: None CARRIED P. Dutton discussed information he received at a meeting with the Shiawassee Co. Road Commission. He started by discussing the success of fog sealing roads which the Road Commission has decided to use on future projects. The Commission set the deadline for the decisions on road projects for 2012 as April 30th, 2012. P. Dutton, Sinicropi and Herendeen drove the roads in the township to review the Road Commission’s proposed 2012 budget of $117,707.21. The township has 42 miles of gravel road and adding extra brine to this year's road budget has improved the quality of these roads. The brine contract will be discussed at the January meeting. The Road Commission is very dissatisfied with the current brush and grass control contractor and has decided to overtake this duty (hopefully with a better outcome). The Road Commission representatives are planning on attending the township board’s February meeting. A shared expense road project with Owosso township has been approved by the Owosso township board. All Road Commissions' funding are in serious trouble. It is unsure what method or how their funding will be collected. Shiawassee Co. Road Commission claims to have their budget at bare bones. There is a meeting on January 18, 2012 at the road commission. The cost is free but space is limited. Registration is needed to attend. Shiawassee Co. Road Commission had a change in mailing address; It was noted. Mr. Herendeen discussed the Board of Review meeting held on December 13, 2011. There was one hardship exemption and it was voted to continue the taxpayer's exemption. Final Comments Richard Semans corrected OMESA next meeting date. It will be December 21, 2011. Mr. Herendeen corrected the next regular meeting date. It will be January 11, 2012. Opened 7:59 pm Closed 8:01pm The meeting was adjourned at 8:01pm Motion to adjourn the meeting moved by Stevens and seconded by P. Dutton. ADJOURNED AYE: All NO: none CARRIED Minutes prepared by _______________________________________________________ ____ Susan Tomasek-Swan Susan Tomasek-Swan, Middlebury Township Clerk Clerk