Paradise Township Board Meeting January 16, 2013 Meeting called to order by Supervisor Tim Trudell at: 6:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance Board Members Present: Tim Trudell (Supervisor), Lisa Gulliver (Clerk), William King (Treasurer), Robert Whims (Trustee) (arr. 6:04), Tim Wicksall (Trustee) Approval of Agenda: King/Gulliver: motion to accept the Agenda: Carried 4/0. Consent Calendar: The purpose of the consent calendar is to expedite business by grouping non-controversial items together to be dealt with in one Board Motion without discussion. Any member of the public, board, or staff may ask that any item of the consent calendar be removed and placed elsewhere on the Agenda for full discussion. Such request will be automatically respected. General Fund, Cemetery Fund, Park & Recreation bills Grand Traverse Rural Fire $24,931.25 Minutes of December 19, 2012 Zoning Report Clerk s Report Treasurer s Report County Association Report Supervisor s Report Sheriff Department Ambulance Mr. King asked that the minutes of December 19, 2012 be pulled from the Consent Calendar. King/Trudell: motion to accept the Consent Calendar as amended: Carried 4/0. The following changes were made to the minutes of December 19, 2012: Page 4 Under General Board Discussion, last sentence of paragraph 2 should read: Forest Area does not have the capability to provide this service. (Bold text was added). Page 1 First sentence, should read: Meeting called to order by Treasurer Bill King at 6:02 p.m. King/Wicksall: motion to approve the minutes of December 19, 2012 as amended: Carried 5/0. Announcements/Correspondence: Mrs. Gulliver indicated that the Township is in receipt of the following Correspondence: 1
Letter dated January 4, 2013 from the Commission on Aging regarding money awarded to the Kinsley Area Retirees. Two (2) Citizen Requests from Mrs. Connie Newell regarding concerns about the rebuilding of MDS Automotive. Mr. King announced that the Township is now using electronic depositing. Mr. King announced that the ice rink at Civic Center South is up and running. Turn out has been good. Mr. Trudell acknowledged that Mr. and Mrs. Newell were present and asked if they had any questions or comments for the Board regarding the letters she sent. Mrs. Newell thanked the Township for their response and attention to the situation. She stated that she understands that the Township cannot force MDS Automotive (Mike and Melissa Schichtel) to plant trees as a buffer. Mr. Radtke indicated that he has had conversations with the Schichtels regarding that possibility. They are unable to plant anything right now due to the time of year but they are willing to look into it in the spring. Mrs. Newell would like to know what the follow-up will be from here on out. She also asked for assurance that the Township s watchfulness will continue during the rebuilding process. Mr. Trudell assured her that Zoning will periodically check in during the building process. He also reiterated that MDS Automotive is subject to the Township s Junk Ordinance. Mrs. Newell again thanked the Township for their help. She stated that she values the Schichtel s friendship and their openness to suggestions during this difficult time. The fire was a tragedy and she is looking forward to seeing the new building. She also expressed her thanks to the Fire Department for their prompt response the day of the fire. Reports: County Commissioner Report: Mr. Charlie Renny reported on the following: The County Commissioners have been working on the budget. He has been attending his assigned committee meetings. He recently attended the Pugsley Quarterly Meeting and was very impressed with the facility. He has also visited Civic Center South. He was very impressed with the ice rink. Mr. Trudell indicated that he attended a Rural Fire Meeting recently where the Smart911 system was discussed. He was very impressed with it. They were told that they should approach the County Commissioners and encourage participation if interested in instituting this new system. Mr. Trudell asked Daryl Case, Medical Director for Blair Township, to educate those present on the Smart911 System. Mr. Case stated that the Smart911 is a pass through system for 911. It has the capability to work with all phone types (land lines, cell phones, etc.). Residents have the ability to log on to the system and provide valuable information such as: hidden key information, household residents and pets, pictures, and medical information. This system also has the ability to accept and respond to text messages. For example, a young lady was abducted and was able to text using her cell phone from the trunk of the car she was in. She was able to converse with 911 via texting and the Police were able to track her down and rescue her. Mr. Whims has questions about the security of the information 2
shared with this type of system. Is it subject to FOIA requests? Mr. Case indicated that he will pose the question to the company presenting information about this system. Fire Department: Calls for December 2012: - 14 Total Calls - 4 in Mayfield - 1 in Blair - 1 in Kalkaska - 5 in Paradise Calls consisted of gas smells, structure fire (Blair and Mayfield), a vehicle crash in to house (trailer park), and car accidents. It was announced that the Annual Pancake Breakfast will be March 24, 2013 at the High School. The ladder truck is back. Annual training and physicals are taking place. As always, volunteers are needed. Planning Commission: Mr. Wicksall reported that Mr. Harry Burkholder of the Complete Streets Coalition attended the Planning Commission Meeting and gave a presentation regarding complete streets. The Transportation Plan and the Boardman River Valley Plan will be on the next agenda. GTC Road Commission: No report given. Ambulance Report: Calls for November 2012: 40 Total Calls 25 Transport 15 Non-Transport/Fire Stand-by 16 in Paradise 6 in Mayfield 16 in Village of Kingsley 2 in Other Areas 2012 Year End Report: 469 Total Calls +14 more than previous year Samantha Tracey reported that they have received another insurance quote from Great Northern Benefits. She stated that it is less than the previous quote they received from a different insurance company. Public Input (Limited to 3 minutes, non-agenda items): None Old Business: 3
1. Heritage Land Company (discussion only) Mr. Steve Cavender indicated that he is still waiting for a response and/or information. There are currently two (2) leases the original lease from Heritage and the lease developed by Mr. Whims. Mr. Cavender indicated that he responded to the Mr. Whims with changes to the lease he submitted. Mr. Whims indicated that he will try to finalize the lease as soon as he can. Mr. Trudell requested that the lease be finalized within the next few days. He does not want to drag this out any longer as it is holding back the residents that have signed up with Heritage for this project. He indicated that a special meeting can be held to discuss and approve it. 2. Planning Commission Appointment Correction Mrs. Gulliver indicated that the Planning Commission terms are to be staggered. Mr. Joppich s expiration was set for the wrong date at the last meeting and needs to be corrected. King/Gulliver: motion to amend prior motion from December 19, 2012 to read Mr. Trudell nominated Jeffrey Joppich to the Planning Commission with his term to expire on December 31, 2015 : Wicksall yes, Trudell yes, King yes, Whims yes, Gulliver yes: Carried 5/0. *Note: Weber, Case and Cole are set to expire in December 2013 and Kelderhouse is set to expire in December 2014. 3. CPO Update It appears that school has opted to not participate in getting a CPO for the community. They have a $200,000 deficit and cannot spare funding for this. They stated that they value the concept but they just don t have the money to participate. Mr. Trudell indicated that he has approached John Ockert, Mayfield Township Supervisor, with the idea to see if Mayfield would be interested in participating. Mr. Trudell stated that he would like the CPO to still have a presence in the schools despite no contribution from the school. Mr. King and Mr. Trudell will meet in the coming weeks to go over the numbers for the next budget year. 4. Board of Review Appointments Mr. Trudell reported that Gerald Olson stated that he will not be able to participate in Board of Review. Therefore his application will be removed from consideration. There are two (2) applications that have been submitted. Applicants are Jennifer Hodges and Robert Hills. King/Wicksall: motion to appoint Robert Hills and Jennifer Hodges as members of the Board of Review, and Karen Send as alternate with terms to expire on December 31, 2014, leaving one (1) position open on the Board of Review: King yes, Whims yes, Trudell yes, Wicksall yes, Gulliver yes: Carried 5/0. 4
New Business: 1. Steve Largent Mr. Largent had and an emergency and is unable to attend the meeting tonight. This will be tabled for the next meeting. 2. IT Support Mrs. Gulliver indicated that she was unable to collect information. She requested that this be tabled until the February meeting. 3. Ambulance Mr. Trudell indicated that he is increasingly receiving inquiries regarding ambulance billing from the residents. He is researching the possibility of ALS/BLS training for the ambulance staff so that other townships will not need to be called in to attend. 4. Planning Commission - Lajko Mrs. Gulliver indicated that Rob Lajko s term on the Planning Commission expired December 2012. Trudell/Whims: motion to appoint Rob Lajko to a 3-year term on the Planning Commission which will expire December 31, 2015: Carried 5/0. 5. Budget Revisions Mr. King presented budget revisions for January 2013. King/Whims: motion to approve the budget revisions as presented: Wicksall yes, Gulliver yes, Trudell yes, King yes, Whims yes: Carried 5/0. 6. Tax Fund Mr. King indicated that now that the Township uses remote deposit through Northwestern Bank, they require that the funds be deposited to them. Therefore, the Tax Fund will need to be moved from Forest Area to Northwestern Bank. He would like this to happen with a Board motion. King/Whims: motion to open a new checking account at Northwestern Bank for the depositing of tax payments: Carried 5/0. General Board Discussion: Mrs. Gulliver indicated that the Board representatives for Civic Center South and Pugsley will need to be reappointed as the terms expired in November. 5
The Pugsley Meeting are held the 2 nd Tuesday of the month quarterly. Whims/King: motion to appoint Bill King as the Board Representative for Pugsley with Tim Trudell as alternate, term to expire on November 20, 2016: Carried 5/0. The Civic Center South Meeting are at 3:30 p.m. the 2 nd Thursday monthly. Whims/Trudell: motion to appoint Bill King as the Board Representative for Civic Center South with Tim Wicksall as alternate, term to expire on November 20, 2016: Carried 4/1. Mr. Trudell gave an update on the Septage Treatment Options. He reported that there are currently two (2) options that the Township is considering with the Village of Kingsley. He indicated that the Village Council and Village Manager have been great to work with. Mr. Trudell reported that he attended the Rural Fire Meeting. It became a very contentious meeting when the Chief s position was discussed. He is continuing his research on what it will require for Paradise to break away from Rural Fire. Mr. King gave an update on the payment of the Septage Legal fees by participating rural Townships. Mr. Trudell indicated that he recently met with Jim Johnson and Jim Cook of Grand Traverse County Road Commission regarding safety improvements to the Summit City Road/Sparling Road intersection. Mrs. Gulliver indicated that she would like to discuss listing local businesses on the Township website at the next meeting. Public Input (Limited to 3 minutes): Daryl Case applauded the Board for looking in to the CPO position. He would like to see more involvement in the school. He feels that the CPO would be a good tool to have to help out with enforcing the junk ordinance. He would also like to urge the Township to put a plan in place in case Rural Fire implodes. Whims/King: motion to adjourn: Carried 5/0. Meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Lisa K. Gulliver, Clerk Minutes prepared by Jennifer J. Scout, Recording Secretary T:\Township Board\Minutes\TB Minutes 2013\TB Minutes 1.16.2013.docx 6