Printed as submitted
Page 1 of 7 - Regular Board Meeting – Oct 11, 2010
State of Michigan
County of Shiawassee
Charter Township of Owosso
Be it known that the Owosso Charter Township Board of Trustees met in regular session on Monday October 11, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Township Board Room, located at 2998 W. M 21, Owosso, Michigan 48867.
Call to Order: Supervisor Miller led the Pledge to the Flag.
Members in attendance: Roll Call: Supervisor Miller-Yes, Trustee Schultz-Yes, Clerk Gute-Yes, Trustee Archer- Yes, Treasurer Cudney-Yes, Trustee Krajcovic-Yes. Absent: Trustee Campbell-(work related),
Others Present: Attorney Lynn Bowne, Fire Chief David Johnson, Asst. Chief Thornburg, Building/Zoning Administrator Robert Delaney and MMR Manager Jason MacDonald. Assessor Schweikert had an emergency and could not attend.
Agenda: Supervisor Miller requests that as usual he would like to address Williamston Products after the first public comments. Moved Treasurer Cudney, Second Clerk Gute to move Williamston Products – Public Hearing to Public Comments 6. A. and to accept the remainder of the agenda as printed. Roll Call: Trustee Krajcovic-Yes, Supervisor Miller-Yes, Treasurer Cudney-Yes, Clerk Gute-Yes, Trustee Schultz-Yes, Trustee Archer-Yes.
Minutes-Previous Meeting: Trustee Schultz states the minutes get thicker and thicker all the time and he would like to see the minutes shortened. He doesn’t feel it is necessary for the clerk to print her minutes word for word because the other place he goes their minutes are just one page. Clerk states they are her minutes and a previous advertisement called for more detailed minutes. Trustee Archer requests clarification on the zoning classification change that was made on August 4, 1994 for 1706 W. Main St. Moved Trustee Krajcovic, Second Trustee Archer to change parcel #006-14-300-095’s zoning classification to C1 within the clerk’s note area and to accept the remainder of the minutes as printed. Roll Call: Supervisor Miller-Yes, Treasurer Cudney-Yes, Clerk Gute-Yes, Trustee Schultz-No, Trustee Archer-Yes, Trustee Krajcovic-Yes.
Treasurer’s Report: Attached to minutes. Moved Trustee Schultz, Second Trustee Krajcovic to accept the August 31, 2010 treasurer’s report as printed. Roll Call: Supervisor Miller-Yes, Clerk Gute-Yes, Trustee Schultz-Yes, Trustee Krajcovic-Yes, Treasurer Cudney-Yes, Trustee Archer-Yes.
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Public Comments: Opened at 7:08 pm and closed at 7:14 pm.
Resident William Crawford – States he had an alarming experience within the past month. When he was at Hahn’s he witnessed an MMR Ambulance coming lickety-split with their siren on but no lights and did not turn on King St. to the hospital. MMR Manager MacDonald asked Mr. Crawford if he happened to have the exact date and time. Gute asked Mr. Crawford if he happen to notice if it was Chesaning or Owosso Township MMR. Mr. Crawford did not have that information nor did he make note of the date and time.
Manager Mac Donald states MMR takes safety very seriously and that their policy is to run lights with sirens. If lights were not on either something was wrong with the truck or the attendants did not have them on. Mac Donald will investigate the incident but because Mr. Crawford could not recall the exact date or time of the incident it will make it difficult for him to address.
6a) Williamston Products – Public Hearing: Brent Jones – SEDP: He is working with Williamston Products on Delaney Rd. The company is currently in the process of expansion that will allow them to hire an additional 76 people. There is a $304,000 grant offer on the table to help Williamston Products train new hires, though the township has to be the financial pass-through entity in order for Williamston Products to qualify for this grant. Therefore, Williamston Products will need approval from the township board. Based on timelines Mr. Jones would like Mike Isaac to further detail the project for this 1st public hearing and asks that the board table their decision until the November meeting. At November’s meeting the board will again open up for public hearing. A board resolution and adoption will be necessary for the project. The information previously provided to the board is out of date. He now has updated copies for the board.
Mike Isaacs CFO – Williamston Products: The Company is approximately 3 ½ yrs old with three (3) plants in Michigan and one (1) plant in Mexico. Their mission is to grow jobs in Michigan. The plant on Delaney Rd will be their largest employer. Currently there are 55 employees at this facility making interior trim components for corvettes, items for the new Chevrolet Cruise, Volt, the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger. Williamston Products will be investing approximately $400,000 to do this.
Comments from audience: Resident Jeff Sines inquired as to if Williamston Products would be hiring locally. Mr. Isaac stated they have hired a couple of unemployment groups to do the hiring for them. Resident Dave Chrenka inquires as to the hiring time frame. Mr. Isaac states between January and July.
Mr. Jones states the grant proposal is to cover training costs for 76 employees and anything beyond that is not going to effect what is coming before the board.
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6a) Williamston Products – Public Hearing (cont.):
Trustee Schultz inquired as to if most of their work was injection molding. Mr. Isaac states they do not do injection molding and that the grant monies will be used for training in their quality process, safety and cross training them for the differing jobs within the business. Trustee Archer asked if every employee is required to train for 13 weeks. Mr. Isaac stated that every employee would receive a fixed amount of training and that a lot of it was on the job training.
Moved Trustee Schultz, Second Trustee Archer to, table the Community Development Block Grant Plublic Hearing until November 09, 2010. Roll Call: Clerk Gute-Yes, Supervisor Miller-Yes, Trustee Schultz-Yes, Trustee Krajcovic-Yes, Treasurer Cudney-Yes, Trustee Archer-Yes.
Mr. Jones wants to make absolutely sure that all board members are using the new copy of the grant form he provided and to please destroy the old one.
Sheriff’s Dept. Rep./County/State Rep. Comments SCSD Report attached to minutes. The SCSD responded to one hundred and eighty (180) incidents within the Township during the month of September 2010.
Cemetery Report: Report on file. Four (4) open/close burials, (1) Foundation and Seven (7) lots sold reported for the month of September 2010, for a total income of $6,275. Clerk Gute reports that people are continuing to put their personal brush on the cemetery brush pile. Mr. Blevins has been taking the brush home to burn and the next time he comes back more has been added to the pile. Perhaps putting a sign up stating violators will be prosecuted would help.
Assessor Report: Report on file.
Fire Report: Report on file. The department responded to eight (8) alarms during the month of September 2010.
Assistant Chief Thornburg reported on a gas leak alarm the department responded to last Saturday at 9:50 A.M. at Stoney Creek Retirement Village. Within minutes the complex was being evacuated. The firemen found a 1 inch gas leak 3 feet from a 4800 volt transformer on the back side of the building. All residents were accounted for and both S.A.T.A. and the Red Cross were called to transport and house residents that did not have a place to go. The gas was back on at 3:00 P.M. and the electricity was restored at 7:00 P.M. It was determined that there was a short in the aluminum wires. The aluminum must have reached at least 1,400 degrees and then burned a 2 inch plastic gas line that was on top of the wires. It melted a ¾ inch hole in the gas line and was hot enough to turn the dirt to glass. One spark and the department could have had a real issue. Per a call to the manager she stated that the residents returned about 8:00 P.M. that night.
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Clerk Gute reported a strong natural gas odor this morning on M 21 between Chestnut St. and Delaney Rd. Assistant Chief Thornburg states it is not uncommon when the weather is real calm like it is. Chief Johnson states he smelled it on Delaney Rd. last night and checked the Industrial Park. It was Mid West Bus Rebuilders. There is a procedure they do to bleed off their propane and they bleed it off into the atmosphere. It does smell like gas though it is not flammable.
Ambulance Report: Report on file. MMR responded to fifty-three (53) medical calls for the month of September 2010.
Manager Mac Donald states he will go back and look at the road safety reports regarding Mr. Crawford’s public comment. The reports will tell him if the lights were turned on and if power went to the lights, though it will not tell him if the lights were actually working.
Clerk Gute states that quite some time ago she observed an ambulance driving through town at night with no break lights or tail lights. She called 911. Central Dispatch contacted the ambulance and they returned to base.
Mac Donald states ambulances are prone to those types of electrical problems because they are manufactured after they come off the assembly lines.
Building Inspector/Code Enforcer: Report on file. 3 Building, 7 Mechanical, 1 Plumbing, 3 Electrical and 2 other (Demolition & Fence) permits were issued for the month of September 2010. Total amount collected for permits fees is $2,402.00.
Unfinished Business:
A) Williamston Products – Public Hearing: Moved and addressed under Public Comments item 6. A.
B) M 21 Property Zoning Change: Parcel 006-14-300-096 was found to have been rezoned by the planning commission on August 04, 1994 and Centel Credit Union was the property owner at that time. Further research is necessary since it is not known if the Centel property was rezoned to include their current location and then split off or etc. Resident Frank Lorenz states the county had this property zoned C1 back in the 1970’s. Consensus of the board is to table this issue for further research.
C) Planning Commission: Administrator Delaney reports that the Planning Commission met on October 6th. Doug Piggot from Rowe Engineering gave a presentation on medical marijuana. Delaney’s opinion is that the more they get into this the more he feels the township would be opening a can of worms. Some municipalities have placed a moratorium on medical marijuana.
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C) Planning Commission (cont.):
Attorney Bowne was not able to attend the meeting, though he did send a memo stating he did not feel a moratorium was necessary for Owosso Township because the township already had the tools in effect. He has discussed this with both state and township attorney’s. If someone came in and wanted to sell marijuana that is more than the patient caregiver they are going to have people assisting them and now they’ve stepped outside of what the law allows. Bob is essentially saying is that our zoning doesn’t allow for that type of activity. They
could then go before the ZBA. Their recourse is to appeal the decision before Judge Lostracco. Let them get a judicial decision from Judge Lostracco said Bowne.
Regarding not having a moratorium we want to ensure that our current home occupation regulations are going to prevent an expansion of a home occupation where you have a caregiver and a patient. He doubts the township would want a boarding house in a residential setting. A commercial or industrial district would be more appropriate. Bowne’s opinion is that the township should look at the home occupation language to make sure the intent for home occupations is accomplished.
D) Weed Cutting/Weed Ordinance: Trustee Schultz states he spoke with Dick Gute and Todd Elliott and that they each of them spoke with each other as well. Everything is going to stay as is and we would probably do some changing next year. Supervisor states that if that was Schultz’s recommendation he would live with that.
E) Cemetery – Rules/Fence/Leaves:
Leaves: Supervisor Miller states it cost the township $1,350 for 7 rakers at the cemetery last year and asked if the board wanted to continue doing this. Clerk Gute states the reason for that is because they have to handle the leaves so many times. They have to put them on the trailer to haul them across the road to the farmer’s field or haul them to the back of the cemetery instead of burning them. Each load of leaves has to be put on the trailer and taken off. The farmer requests that they spread the leaves throughout the field and that takes time. Last year the farmer was not ready for the leaves so they had to haul them to the back of the cemetery said Gute. Consensus of the board was that Mr. Blevins would be allowed to burn leaves on the roads within the cemetery.
There was discussion regarding community service. Attorney Bowne states the Judge will often order 10 days of community service for drunk driving or etc. If you can hit somebody right and they can get them out there it would help. Consensus of the board was that Mr. Blevins can obtain persons in need of community service hours when possible to help rake.
Gute requests clarification that if Mr. Blevins is not able to get help or enough help from community service is he still able to hire help. Consensus of the board was that he could.
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Tree: Moved Trustee Schultz, Second Trustee Krajcovic to hire Wienert Tree Service to remove the oak tree that was struck by lightning at a cost not to exceed $1,200. Roll Call: Supervisor Miller-Yes, Trustee Archer-Yes, Clerk Gute-Yes, Trustee Krajcovic-Yes, Trustee Schultz-Yes, Treasurer Cudney-Yes.
Rules/Regulations: The board will consider adopting regulations at the November meeting.
New Business:
A) Demis & Wenzlick Auditors: Demis and Wenzlick has offered to, reduce auditing costs to the township by $500 if the township secured a 3 year audit agreement with them. Board members could not recall if the 2009-10 audit cost $8,000 or $8,500. Regardless, the board was interested in the reduced cost lock in price for 3 years. Moved Trustee Krajcovic, Second Trustee Archer to secure a 3 year audit cost agreement with Demis and Wenzlick PC, CPA’s at a cost of $500 less than the 2009-10 audit. Ayes: All. Nayes: None.
(Special Note: The 2009-10 Audit cost $8,500. The secured agreement will cost the township $8,000 per year for audit years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13)
B) Township Website: Supervisor Miller suggests the township set up a website. Clerk Gute states that at the March 09, 2009 board meeting the board authorized Supervisor Miller to obtain quotes. Miller did not recall such, though will now seek quotes.
C) MTA Annual Dinner: November 09, 2010 @ 6:00 PM. Cocktail hour begins at 6 P.M., dinner at 7:00 P.M. with entertainment provided by Craig Lawson. This event is open to the public at a cost of $11.00 per person. If interested, checks must be sent to Middlebury Township Trustee Erin Dutton.
Payment of Bills: Moved Treasurer Cudney, Second Trustee Schultz to approve the October 11, 2010 checklists for the payment of bills. Roll Call: Clerk Gute-Yes, Treasurer Cudney-Yes, Trustee Schultz-Yes, Trustee Archer-Yes, Supervisor Miller-Yes. Trustee Campbell-Yes.
(Ambulance check 1369, Cemetery checks – 1031 – 1036, Fire checks 3801 – 3834, General Fund checks 4615 – 4643, Sewer checks 380 - 381, T & A checks 2044 – 2047 and Water checks 590 – 592 shall be released for payment.
Public Comments: Opened @ 8:37 P.M. Closed @ 8:38P.M.
Kay Lauro states the agenda had cemetery fence on it but the board did not address it and asked if the board was going to address it. Clerk Gute asked Ms. Lauro if she was asking the board go back and address it because the cemetery fence was not on her agenda. Supervisor Miller states it was not on his agenda either and that it would not be addressed because we were out of the business portion of the meeting. Gute requests that it be put on next months agenda. Miller states it can.
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Board Reports and Comments: Trustee Schultz – Utility Authority. Trustee Krajcovic - Quarterly expense reports. Clerk Gute - Township Blazer repairs, when garage door openers will be installed and letter from Prein and Newhof regarding the possibility of MDNRE grants that pays 90% for planning and design for water and waste water projects . Attorney Bowne – Everyone needs to contact him if they observe mud bogging events on the Siminski property.
Adjournment: Moved Trustee Schultz, Second Trustee Campbell Treasurer Cudney to adjourn at 8:45p.m. Ayes: All. Nayes: None.
Respectfully Submitted,
Judy K. Gute
Owosso Charter Township, clerk
Danny C. Miller
Owosso Charter Township, supervisor
